''The Buke of the Howlat'', often referred to simply as ''The Howlat'', is a humorous 15th century Scots poem by

Richard Holland Richard Holland or Richard de Holande (died in or after 1483) was a Scottish cleric and poet, author of the ''Buke of the Howlat''. Life Holland was secretary or chaplain to Archibald Douglas, Earl of Moray (c. 1450) and rector of Halkirk, nea ...

Description

The poem is a comic

allegory As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory th ...

in which all the characters are birds with human attributes, with a howlet, or

owl Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...

, the protagonist. The symbolism is debatable but two of its purposes are clear; it serves as a moral

fable Fable is a literary genre: a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are anthropomorphized, and that illustrates or leads to a particular mo ...

warning against

vanity Vanity is the excessive belief in one's own abilities or attractiveness to others. Prior to the 14th century it did not have such narcissistic undertones, and merely meant ''futility''. The related term vainglory is now often seen as an archaic s ...

and excessive pride, and it is also a piece of propaganda praising the Douglas dynasty of Scots nobles.The Printed Edition of 1823 (Bannatyne Club)
/ref> Other themes dealt with in the work include satire of the

bureaucracy The term bureaucracy () refers to a body of non-elected governing officials as well as to an administrative policy-making group. Historically, a bureaucracy was a government administration managed by departments staffed with non-elected offi ...

of the medieval church, and the mocking of

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

Scots and their

language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...

. ''The Howlat'' is a long, narrative piece full of exuberant comic detail. It is written in rhyming verse heavy with

alliteration Alliteration is the conspicuous repetition of initial consonant sounds of nearby words in a phrase, often used as a literary device. A familiar example is "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers". Alliteration is used poetically in various ...

. The text is preserved in the Asloan and Bannatyne manuscripts. A printed transcript, based mainly on the Asloan text was published by the

Bannatyne Club The Bannatyne Club, named in honour of George Bannatyne and his famous anthology of Scots literature the Bannatyne Manuscript, was a text publication society founded by Sir Walter Scott to print rare works of Scottish interest, whether in history, ...

in 1823.

Synopsis

An owl, unhappy with his appearance, decides to appeal to the Pope ( a peacock), to be made more handsome. The Pope, assisted by his secretary ( a turtledove) and his herald ( a swallow) calls a council to discuss the matter. Church dignitaries assemble first, followed by lay representatives led by the Emperor, an

eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

. A long interlude of praise for the Douglas family follows. It includes a retelling of the career of

Sir James Douglas James Douglas may refer to: Scottish noblemen Lords of Angus * James Douglas, 3rd Earl of Angus (1426–1446), Scottish nobleman * James Douglas, Earl of Angus (1671–1692), son of the 2nd Marquess of Douglas Lords of Douglas * James Douglas, L ...

. The narrative resumes with the Pope holding a banquet for his guests. A series of entertainers are presented in vivid comic detail; The

mavis Mavis is a female given name, derived from a name for the common Old World song thrush. Its first modern usage was in Marie Corelli's 1895 novel ''The Sorrows of Satan'', which featured a character named Mavis Clare (whose name was said to be "rat ...

leads a band of musicians; the

jay A jay is a member of a number of species of medium-sized, usually colorful and noisy, passerine birds in the Crow family (biology), family, Corvidae. The evolutionary relationships between the jays and the magpies are rather complex. For examp ...

performs juggling; the

rook Rook (''Corvus frugilegus'') is a bird of the corvid family. Rook or rooks may also refer to: Games *Rook (chess), a piece in chess *Rook (card game), a trick-taking card game Military *Sukhoi Su-25 or Rook, a close air support aircraft * USS ' ...

, as a highland bard, gives a recitation in mock Gaelic before being driven out by two fools (a peewit and a gowk). The fools then quarrel with each other. After the feast, the council agrees to meet the owl's request and, after praying to ''Dame Nature'' she descends from heaven and arranges a beautiful new plumage for the owl. Each of the assembled birds is required to give up one of his feathers. Due to his grand new appearance, the owl becomes extremely arrogant and the birds pray again to Dame Nature; this time they request that the owl's gift be revoked. Nature agrees and, deprived of his fine plumage, the owl reflects bitterly on the lesson he has learnt about pride and vanity.

Representative passage

The following stanzas describe some of the entertainment at the birds' feast. They open with the entrance of the bard, who demands food and drink in exchange for his recitation on Irish royal genealogy. He speaks a mixture of mock Gaelic and

pidgin A pidgin , or pidgin language, is a grammatically simplified means of communication that develops between two or more groups of people that do not have a language in common: typically, its vocabulary and grammar are limited and often drawn from s ...

Scots. : : : : : : : : : : : : : The bard is heckled by the

Rural Dean In the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion as well as some Lutheran denominations, a rural dean is a member of clergy who presides over a "rural deanery" (often referred to as a deanery); "ruridecanal" is the corresponding adjective. ...

raven A raven is any of several larger-bodied bird species of the genus ''Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between "crows" and "ravens", common names which are assigned t ...

, but then gives as good as he gets in a Scots which is suddenly very eloquent. The blushing raven retires from the stage. : : : : : : : : : : : : : The Bard is then unceremoniously ejected from the hall by two fools. : : : : : : : : : : : : :

References

{{Reflist, 2 Scottish poems Medieval poetry Scots-language works Fables Humorous poems 15th century in Scotland 15th-century poems Poetry of the Bannatyne Manuscript Middle Scots poems