William Stewart (c. 1476c. 1548) was a Scottish poet working in the first half of the 16th century.

Life

William Stewart was great-grandson of one of the illegitimate sons of

Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan, called the Wolf of Badenoch (1343 – July 1394), was a Scottish royal prince, the third son of King Robert II of Scotland by his first wife Elizabeth Mure. He was Justiciar of Scotia and held large territories ...

. He was educated like his namesake

William Stewart (1479–1545) William Stewart (c. 1490–1545) was a late medieval Scottish prelate. Born around 1490 in Glasgow, he was the son of Thomas Stewart of Minto. Details about his early life are obscure, but it is known that he attended the University of Glasgow ...

, the future

bishop of Aberdeen The Bishop of Aberdeen (originally Bishop of Mortlach, in Latin Murthlacum) was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Aberdeen, one of Scotland's 13 medieval bishoprics, whose first recorded bishop is an early 12th-century cleric named Nech ...

, at the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

. Destined for the church, he later became a courtier. In 1527 he held a pension from

James V of Scotland James V (10 April 1512 – 14 December 1542) was List of Scottish monarchs, King of Scotland from 9 September 1513 until his death in 1542. He was crowned on 21 September 1513 at the age of seventeen months. James was the son of King James IV a ...

, and the last payment (of £40) was recorded in the accounts of 1541. He died before 1560.

Works

Stewart wrote a number of advice poems for the young

, and a verse translation of

Hector Boece Hector Boece (; also spelled Boyce or Boise; 1465–1536), known in Latin as Hector Boecius or Boethius, was a Scottish philosopher and historian, and the first Ancient university governance in Scotland, Principal of King's College, Aberdeen, ...

's Latin History of Scotland. He was the poet mentioned twice in David Lindsay of the Mount's ''Complaynt of the Papingo''. Stewart was also mentioned by

John Rolland John Rolland (fl. 1560), Scottish poet, appears to have been a priest of the diocese of Glasgow, and to have been known in Dalkeith in 1555. He is the author of two poems, the ''Court of Venus'' and a translation of the ''Seven Wise Masters''. The ...

in his prologue to the ''Seven Sages''. There were two students with this name at St Andrews University at the same time, giving rise to possible confusions of identity; in the ''Buik of Chronicles'', Stewart said he was a student there for 14 years. Although it has usually been assumed the poet and minor courtier Stewart wrote both the translation and the court poems, the critic Matthew McDiarmid attributed the translation to the other William Stewart, the bishop.

Court poetry

Some of Stewart's surviving poems describe life in the Stewart court, and play on the frustration felt by courtiers hoping for royal favour and reward. This stanza is from ''First Lerges'', (largesse) referring to New Year's Day gifts expected from James V and from his late mother

Margaret Tudor Margaret Tudor (28 November 1489 – 18 October 1541) was List of Scottish royal consorts, Queen of Scotland from 1503 until 1513 by marriage to King James IV. She then served as regent of Scotland during her son's minority, and fought to exte ...

;

The thesaur and compttrollar,
Thay bade me cum I wait nocht quhair,
And thay suld gar I wait nocht quhay,
Gif me I wat nocht quhat full fair,
For lerges of this new yeirday,
* * * * * *
The Treasurer and Comptroller
They call me come: I know not where,
And they would do: I know not why/who,
Give me I know not what, full fair,
For largesse of this New Year's Day.

Translation of Boece

A metrical version of the Latin history of Scotland

was commissioned by James V or his mother

. The work had been published in Latin at Paris in 1527 as the ''Historia Gentis Scotorum'' (''History of the Scottish People''). James V requested

John Bellenden John Bellenden or Ballantyne ( 1533–1587?) of Moray (why Moray, a lowland family) was a Scottish writer of the 16th century. Life He was born towards the close of the 15th century, and educated at St. Andrews and Paris. At the request of ...

to translate it into Scots prose and Stewart into Scots verse. Bellenden's version appeared in 1536, but Stewart's, which was begun in 1531, remained in manuscript until 1858, when it was published in the Rolls Series; it was edited by

William Barclay Turnbull William Barclay David Donald Turnbull (1811–1863) was a Scottish antiquary and archivist. Life Born in Edinburgh, Turnbull studied law, and was admitted as an advocate at the Scottish bar 1832, but devoted much time to the study of the anti ...

from a unique manuscript which, after being in the possession of Hew Craufurd of Cloverhill, Bishop John Moore, and George I, went to

Cambridge University Library Cambridge University Library is the main research library of the University of Cambridge. It is the largest of over 100 libraries Libraries of the University of Cambridge, within the university. The library is a major scholarly resource for me ...

. Stewart shows an acquaintance with the works of

John Mair John Mair may refer to: *John Mair (philosopher) (1467–1550, also called John Major), Scottish philosopher and historian *John Mair (journalist), British journalist and academic *John Mair (architect) (1876–1959), New Zealand government archite ...

Jean Froissart Jean Froissart ( Old and Middle French: ''Jehan''; sometimes known as John Froissart in English; – ) was a French-speaking medieval author and court historian from the Low Countries who wrote several works, including ''Chronicles'' and ''Meli ...

, and

John of Fordun John of Fordun (before 1360 – c. 1384) was a Scottish chronicler. It is generally stated that he was born at Fordoun, Mearns. It is certain that he was a secular priest, and that he composed his history in the latter part of the 14th ...

. In parts he amplified the original. He supplied a prologue, and there his narrator, Discretion's cousin, explains that the English destroyed all the written historical records of Scotland they could find during the Wars of Independence in the time of

William Wallace Sir William Wallace (, ; Norman French: ; 23 August 1305) was a Scottish knight who became one of the main leaders during the First War of Scottish Independence. Along with Andrew Moray, Wallace defeated an English army at the Battle of St ...

. She says that scraps of books, loose pages, and memories had been recovered after preservation at

Iona Abbey Iona Abbey is an abbey located on the island of Iona, just off the Isle of Mull on the West Coast of Scotland. It is one of the oldest History of early Christianity, Christian religious centres in Western Europe. The abbey was a focal point ...

and bound together to form Boece's source material;

Our auld storeis befoir thir mony yeir, (thir = these)
Thai war distroyit all with Inglismen,
In Wallace weir as it eith to ken; (weir = war)
Syne efterwart, quhen that thai wreit the storie,
Auld eldaris deidis to put into memorie,
Tha maid thair buikis, thair tractatis, and thair tabillis,
Part by gues, and part be fenyeit fabillis;
Part tha fand in ald broades of bukkis,
Part in lous quarris lyand wer in nukkis, (lous quarris = loose pages)
* * * * * *
Ane abbay sumtyme of authoritie,
In Iona yle within the occident se,
And in that place thair wes thir storeis fund,
Sum in lowss quarris and uther sum weill bund.W. B. Turnbull
''Buik of the Chroniclis of Scotland'', vol. 1 (London, 1858), pp. 3-4, from lines 79-103
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Life

Works

Court poetry

Translation of Boece

References

Further reading