Dunbar, William

(?1465-?1513)

   One of the "Scottish Chaucerians," probably a native of East Lothian and thought to be related to the Earls of March. He graduated M.A. from St. Andrews University in 1479 and joined the order of Franciscan friars. On one of his begging trips he survived being shipwrecked on the coast of Denmark. He was with the ambassadors sent to the court of Henry VII to negotiate the marriage of his daughter Margaret Tudor to James IV, for whom he became the court poet, and from whom he received a pension. He distinguished himself in royal service and possibly died with his king in the Battle of Flodden in 1513. Some of his poems: "A Ballat of the Abbot of Tungland," "Ballad of Our Lady," "Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedie," "In Honour of the City of London," "The Ballad of Kynd Kittok," "The Dance of the Sevin Deidly Synnis," "The Goldyn Targe," "The Quenis Progress at Aberdeen," "The Thrissill and the Rois" (written in honor of the royal marriage), "Tua Mariit Wemen and the Wedo."

   Sources: Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, 2006. English Poetry: Author Search. Chadwyck-Healey Ltd., 1995 (http://www.lib.utexas.edu:8080/search/epoetry/author.html). First Scottish Books (Chepman & Myller Prints)Digital Library (http://www.nls.uk/digitallibrary/chepman/page.htm). Great Books Online (www.bartleby.com). The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org). The Oxford Book of Light Verse. W.H. Auden, ed. Oxford University Press, 1938. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000. The Poems of William Dunbar. 2 Vols. Priscilla Bawcutt, ed. Assoc. for Scottish Lit. Studies. 1998.