- Barbour, John
- (?1316-1395)Archdeacon of Aberdeen and author of a Scottish national epic of 13,000 lines, The Bruce, which celebrates the story of the War of Independence and the deeds of King Robert of Scotland and James Douglas at the Battle of Bannockburn, 1314. Barbour helped in the negotiations for ransoming King David II, who had been a prisoner in England after his capture in the Battle of Neville's Cross (1346). He enjoyed royal favor and in 1388 was given a life pension from Robert II. "Bruce's address to his captains before Bannockburn" is written in broad Scots. It is a poem of praise for the gallant Scots who preferred death to slavery. A translation by Archie Duncan can be found at www2.arts.gla.ac.uk/SESLL/STELLA/STARN/poetry/BRUS/intro.htm.Sources: Canongate Books Ltd (www.canongate.net). Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, 2006. Great Books Online (www.bartleby.com). Oldpoetry (www.oldpoetry.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 Companion to English Literature. 6th edition. Margaret Drabble, ed. Oxford University Press, 2000.
British and Irish poets. A biographical dictionary. William Stewart. 2015.