John Barbour was archdeacon of Aberdeen, an auditor of the Scottish
exchequer, and a royal pensioner. Consequently a number of isolated
records of his activities have been preserved. In 1364 he was granted a
safe-conduct to travel with four students to Oxford. In 1365 and 1368 he
had permission to travel through England so that he might study in
France. The notices of his journeys, his offices, and his rewards point
to a busy and successful life. He died in 1395.
According to Wyntoun, Barbour's works were (1) _The Bruce_; (2) _The
Stewartis Oryginalle_ (or _Pedigree of the Stewarts_), now lost; (3) a
_Brut_, which some have identified with extant fragments of a Troy Book
(see the prefatory note to No. VII), and others with (2) _The Stewartis
Oryginalle_.
_The Bruce_ is found in two late MSS., both copied by John Ramsay; the
first, St. John's College, Cambridge, MS. G 23, in the year 1487; the
second, now at the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh, in 1489. It has been
edited by Skeat for the Early English Text Society, and for the Scottish
Text Society. The poem is valuable for the history, more especially the
traditional history, of the period 1304-33. Barbour speaks of it as a
romance, and the freedom and vividness of the narrative, with its
hero-worship of Robert Bruce and Douglas, place it well above the
ordinary chronicle. But far from disclaiming historical accuracy,
Barbour prides himself that truth well told should have a double claim
to popularity:
Storys to rede ar delitabill
Suppos that thai be nocht bot fabill:
Than suld storys that suthfast wer,
And thai war said on gud maner,
Hawe doubill plesance in heryng:
The fyrst plesance is the carpyng,
And the tothir the suthfastnes,
That schawys the thing rycht as it wes.
He did not misjudge the taste of his country, and _The Bruce_,
with which the Scottish contribution to English literature begins,
long held its place as the national epic of Scotland.
The specimen describes an incident in the unsuccessful siege
of Berwick, 1319.
THE BRUCE, Bk. xvii, ll. 593 ff.
St. John's College (Cambridge) MS. G 23 (A.D. 1487).
Thai <that> at the sege lay,
Or it wes passit the fift day,
Had maid thame syndry apparale
To gang eftsonis till assale.
Of gret gestis ane sow thai maid 5
That stalward heling owth it had,
With armyt men enew tharin,
And instrumentis als for to myne.
Syndry scaffatis thai maid vithall
That war weill hyar than the wall, 10
And ordanit als that by the se
The toune suld weill assalȝeit be.
And thai vithin that saw thame swa
So gret apparale schap till ma,
Throu Cra_bb_is consale, that ves sle, 15
Ane cren thai haf gert dres vp hye,
Rynand on quhelis, that thai mycht bring
It quhar neid war of mast helping.
And pik and ter als haf thai tane,
And lynt <and> hardis, with brynstane, 20
And dry treis that weill wald byrne,
And mellit syne athir othir in;
And gret flaggatis tharof thai maid,
Gyrdit with irnebandis braid;
Of thai flaggatis mycht mesurit be 25
Till a gret twnnys quantité.
Thai flaggatis, byrnand in a baill,
With thair cren thoucht thai till availl,
And, gif the sow come to the wall,
Till lat thame byrnand on hir fall, 30
And with ane stark cheyne hald thame thar
Quhill all war brint <vp> that ves thar.
Engynys alsua for till cast
Thai ordanit and maid redy fast,
And set ilk man syne till his ward; 35
And Schir Valter, the gude Steward,
With armyt men suld ryde about,
And se quhar at thar var mast dout,
And succur thar with his menȝhe.
And quhen thai into sic degré 40
Had maid thame for thair assaling,
On the Rude-evyn in the dawing,
The Inglis host blew till assale.
Than mycht men with ser apparale
Se that gret host cum sturdely. 45
The toune enveremyt thai in hy,
And assalit with sa gud will,—
For all thair mycht thai set thartill,—
That thai thame pressit fast of the toune.
Bot thai that can thame abandoune 50
Till ded, or than till woundis sare,
So weill has thame defendit thare
That ledderis to the ground thai slang,
And vith stanys so fast thai dang
Thair fais, that feill thai left lyand, 55
Sum ded, sum hurt, and sum swavnand.
Bot thai that held on fut in hy
Drew thame avay deliuerly,
And skunnyrrit tharfor na kyn thing,
Bot went stoutly till assalyng; 60
And thai abovin defendit ay,
And set thame till so harde assay,
_Quhill_ that feill of thame voundit war,
_And_ thai so gret defens maid thar,
That thai styntit thair fais mycht. 65
Apon sic maner can thai ficht
Quhill it wes neir noyne of the day.
Than thai without, in gret aray,
Pressit thair sow toward the wall;
And thai within weill soyne gert call 70
The engynour that takyne was,
And gret manans till him mais,
And swoir that he suld de, bot he
Provit on the sow sic sutelté
That he t_o_frusch_yt_ hir ilke deill. 75
And he, that has persauit weill
That the dede wes neir hym till,
Bot gif he mycht fulfill thar will,
Thoucht that he all his mycht vald do:
Bendit in gret hy than wes scho, 80
And till the sow wes soyn evin set.
In hye he gert draw the cleket,
And smertly swappit out the stane,
That evyn out our the sow is gane,
And behynd hir a litill we 85
It fell, and than thai cryit hye
That war in hir: 'Furth to the wall,
For dreid<les> it is ouris all.'
The engynour than deliuerly
Gert bend the gyne in full gret hy, 90
And the stane smertly swappit out.
It flaw <out> quhedirand with a rout,
And fell richt evin befor the sow.
Thair hertis than begouth till grow,
Bot ȝeit than with thair mychtis all 95
Thai pressit the sow toward the wall,
And has hir set thar_to_ iuntly.
The gynour than gert bend in hy
The gyne, and swappit out the stane,
That evin toward the lift is gane, 100
And with gret wecht syne duschit doune
Richt by the wall, in a randoune,
That hyt the sow in sic maner
That it that wes the mast summer,
And starkast for till stynt a strak, 105
In swndir with that dusche he brak.
The men ran out in full gret hy,
And on the wallis thai can cry
That 'thair sow ferryit wes thair!'
Iohne Crab, that had his geir all ȝar, 110
In his faggatis has set the fyre,
And our the wall syne can thame wyre,
And brynt the sow till brandis bair.
With all this fast assalȝeand war
The folk without, with felloune ficht; 115
And thai within with mekill mycht
Defendit manfully thar stede
Intill gret auentur of dede.
The schipmen with gret apparale
Com with thair schippes till assale, 120
With top-castellis warnist weill,
And wicht men armyt intill steill;
Thair batis vp apon thair mastis
Drawyn weill hye and festnyt fast is,
And pressit with that gret atour 125
Toward the wall. Bot the gynour
Hit in ane hespyne with a stane,
And the men that war tharin gane
Sum dede, _sum_ dosnyt, <come doun> vyndland.
Fra thine furth durst nane tak vpon hand 130
With schippes pres thame to the vall.
But the laiff war assalȝeand all
On ilk a syde sa egyrly,
That certis it wes gret ferly
That thai folk sic defens has maid, 135
For the gret myscheif that thai had:
For thair wallis so law than weir
That a man richt weill with a sper
Micht strik ane othir vp in the face,
As eir befor tald till ȝow was; 140
And feill of thame war woundit sare,
And the layf so fast travaland war
That nane had tume rest for till ta,
Thair aduersouris assailȝeit swa.
Thai war within sa stratly stad 145
That thar wardane with _him_ had
Ane hundreth men in cumpany
Armyt, that wicht war and hardy,
And raid about for till se quhar
That his folk hardest pressit war, 150
Till releif thame that had mister,
Com syndry tymes in placis ser
Quhar sum of the defensouris war
All dede, and othir woundit sare,
Swa that he of his cumpany 155
Behufit to leiff thair party;
Swa that, be he ane cours had maid
About, _of_ all _the_ men he had
Thair wes levit with him bot ane,
That he ne had thame left ilkane 160
To releve quhar he saw mister.
And the folk that assalȝeand wer
At Mary-ȝet behevin had
The barras, and a fyre had maid
At the drawbrig, and brynt it doune, 165
And war thringand in gret foysoune
Richt in the ȝet, ane fire till ma.
And thai within gert smertly ga
Ane to the wardane, for till say
How thai war set in hard assay. 170
And quhen Schir Valter Steward herd
How men sa stratly with thame ferd,
He gert cum of the castell then
All that war thar of armyt men,—
For thar that day assalȝeit nane,— 175
And with that rout in hy is gane
Till Mary-ȝet, and till the wall
Is went, and saw the myscheif all,
And vmbethoucht hym suddandly,
Bot gif gret help war set in hy 180
Tharto, thai suld burne vp the ȝet
_With_ the fire _he_ fand tharat.
Tharfor apon gret hardyment
He suddanly set his entent,
And gert all wyde set vp the ȝet, 185
And the fyre that he fand tharat
With strinth of men he put avay.
He set hym in full hard assay,
For thai that war assalȝeand thar
Pressit on hym with vapnys bair, 190
And he defendit with all his mycht.
Thar mycht men se a felloune sicht:
With staffing, stoking, and striking
Thar maid thai sturdy defending,
For with gret strynth of men the ȝet 195
Thai defendit, and stude tharat,
Magré thair fais, quhill the nycht
Gert thame on bath halfis leif the ficht.
[Foot-note: 15 Crabbis] Craggis _MS._: Crabys _MS. Edinburgh_.]
[Foot-note: 63 Quhill] How _MS._]
[Foot-note: 64 And] þat _MS._]
[Foot-note: 75 tofruschyt] till frusche _MS._]
[Foot-note: 97 tharto] þar in _MS._]
[Foot-note: 129 Sum dede dosnyt sum dede vyndland _MS._]
[Foot-note: 146 him] þame _MS._]
[Foot-note: 158 of] to _MS._ the] to _MS._]
[Foot-note: 182 With] And _MS._ he fand] haffand _MS._]