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Sir Robert Aytoun or Ayton (1570–1638) was a Scottish poet.
Aytoun was the son of Andrew Ayton of Kinaldie Castle, in
"Bothwell"
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ayton, Robert 1570 births 1638 deaths Writers from Fife Household of Anne of Denmark Alumni of the University of St Andrews University of Paris alumni Burials at Westminster Abbey 16th-century Scottish writers 16th-century male writers 17th-century Scottish writers 16th-century Scottish poets 17th-century Scottish poets Kingdom of Scotland expatriates in France
Biography
Aytoun was the son of Andrew Ayton of Kinaldie Castle, in Fife, Scotland
Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i. ...
, and Mary Lundie.
Aytoun and his elder brother John entered St Leonard's College in St Andrews in 1584. After graduating MA from St Andrews in 1588, he studied civil law at Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
.
He appears to have been well known to his literary contemporaries in Scotland and England. He became a groom in the privy chamber of King James in succession to Laurence Marbury, was knighted and became a gentleman of the bedchamber in 1612. He became secretary to Anne of Denmark
Anne of Denmark (; 12 December 1574 – 2 March 1619) was the wife of King James VI and I; as such, she was Queen of Scotland from their marriage on 20 August 1589 and Queen of England and Ireland from the union of the Scottish and Eng ...
in succession to another Scottish poet, William Fowler. He was sent as ambassador to Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor
Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–1608). He was a member of the H ...
in 1609. He was later secretary to Henrietta Maria
Henrietta Maria (french: link=no, Henriette Marie; 25 November 1609 – 10 September 1669) was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland from her marriage to King Charles I on 13 June 1625 until Charles was executed on 30 January 1649. She was ...
.
He wrote poems in Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
, Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
, and English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
, and was one of the first Scots to write in standard English. His major work was ''Diophantus and Charidora''.
''Inconstancy Upbraided'' is perhaps the best of his short poems. He is credited with a little poem, ''Old Long Syne'', which probably suggested Robert Burns
Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...
's famous '' Auld Lang Syne''.
Aytoun died at Whitehall Palace
The Palace of Whitehall (also spelt White Hall) at Westminster was the main residence of the English monarchs from 1530 until 1698, when most of its structures, except notably Inigo Jones's Banqueting House of 1622, were destroyed by fire. H ...
and is buried in the south ambulatory area of in Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the Unite ...
. The monument includes a bronze bust, attributed, variously, to either Hubert Le Sueur
Hubert Le Sueur (c. 1580 – 1658) was a French sculptor with the contemporaneous reputation of having trained in Giambologna's Florentine workshop. He assisted Giambologna's foreman, Pietro Tacca, in Paris, in finishing and erecting the equestria ...
or Francesco Fanelli. Amongst his bequests, Aytoun gave a diamond hatband to William Murray and his French bed to Jane Whorwood
Jane Whorwood ( Ryder; 1612 – September 1684) was a Cavalier, Royalist agent during the English Civil War. She managed circulation of intelligence, as well as smuggling of funds to sustain the Royalist faction. Whorwood was a close confidante o ...
.Charles Rogers, 'Memoir and Poems of Sir Robert Aytoun', ''Transactions of the Royal Historical Society'', vol. 1 (London, 1875), pp. 112.
Bothwell and Little Jock Elliot
He is also the author of a ballad called "Bothwell" about the battle fought byJames Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell
James Hepburn, 1st Duke of Orkney and 4th Earl of Bothwell ( – 14 April 1578), better known simply as Lord Bothwell, was a prominent Scottish nobleman. He was known for his marriage to Mary, Queen of Scots, as her third and final husband ...
with the border reiver
Border reivers were raiders along the Anglo-Scottish border from the late 13th century to the beginning of the 17th century. They included both Scottish and English people, and they raided the entire border country without regard to their vi ...
, John Elliot of Park, also known as Little Jock Elliot or Little Jock of the Park. The ballad recounts how Bothwell, in attempting to arrest Little Jock Elliot, suffers life-threatening wounds, though he ends by slaying his foe. Ayton was eight years old at the time Bothwell perished in a dungeon in Denmark, and hence must have heard about the attempted arrest of Elliot by people familiar with the story, particularly as Bothwell was a figure of national renown.
The Border ballad
Border ballads are a group of songs in the long tradition of balladry collected from the Anglo-Scottish border. Like all traditional ballads, they were traditionally sung unaccompanied. There may be a repeating motif, but there is no "chorus" as ...
" Little Jock Elliot" celebrates (among other events) the achievements of Little Jock Elliot on this occasion and has the refrain "My name is little Jock Elliot and wha daur meddle wi' me!". This latter ballad (of indeterminate age) also implicitly states that Little Jock Elliot survived the encounter with Bothwell.
Notes
References
* Attribution: *Further reading
* * * * * Smith, Sydney Goodsir (1961), review of Helena Mennie Shire (ed.), ''Poems and Songs of Sir Robert Ayton'', in Gordon, Giles and Scott-Moncrieff, Michael (eds.), ''New Saltire'': Summer 1961,The Saltire Society
The Saltire Society is a membership organisation which aims to promote the understanding of the culture and heritage of Scotland. Founded in 1936, the society was "set up to promote and celebrate the uniqueness of Scottish culture and Scotland’s ...
, Edinburgh, pp. 83 & 84.
External links
"Bothwell"
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ayton, Robert 1570 births 1638 deaths Writers from Fife Household of Anne of Denmark Alumni of the University of St Andrews University of Paris alumni Burials at Westminster Abbey 16th-century Scottish writers 16th-century male writers 17th-century Scottish writers 16th-century Scottish poets 17th-century Scottish poets Kingdom of Scotland expatriates in France