Thomas Davidson was licensed to be the King's Printer in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

during the reign of James V. He was born in

Birse Birse ( gd, Braois/Breis) is a parish in the Lower Deeside area of Aberdeenshire, Scotland, which includes the communities of Finzean and Ballogie. However the name Birse is often used to refer only to the northwestern part of the parish which l ...

, Aberdeenshire, a son of Thomas Davidson of Auchenlayes, close to the beginning of the 16th century. His family held lands near to

Huntly Huntly ( gd, Srath Bhalgaidh or ''Hunndaidh'') is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, formerly known as Milton of Strathbogie or simply Strathbogie. It had a population of 4,460 in 2004 and is the site of Huntly Castle. Its neighbouring settlement ...

and on the monastic estates of

Monymusk Monymusk ( gd, Monadh Musga) is a planned village in the Marr area of Aberdeenshire, Scotland. History Malcolm Canmore first established Celtic foundation on the site in 1078 The Culdees of Munimusc are recorded as inhabiting the site in 117 ...

. Davidson did not remain in Aberdeenshire and is on record as being a Burgess of Edinburgh in 1528, the year the king finally came to power after a fifteen-year minority. Davidson's

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

press probably began operations around this time. His productions over the next decade-or-so included the first edition of Bellenden's '' The hystory and croniklis of Scotland'', 1536, as well as a commission from the king to publish '' The New Actis and Constitutionis of Parliament'', the first ever printed edition of Scottish legislation. After many years in preparation this latter title appeared in 1542 and two of the three surviving copies are printed on

vellum Vellum is prepared animal skin or membrane, typically used as writing material. Parchment is another term for this material, from which vellum is sometimes distinguished, when it is made from calfskin, as opposed to that made from other anima ...

. Other works Davidson is thought to have printed include a conjectured c.1540 edition (now lost) of the long poem '' The Palice of Honour'' by the ''

makar A makar () is a term from Scottish literature for a poet or bard, often thought of as a royal court poet. Since the 19th century, the term ''The Makars'' has been specifically used to refer to a number of poets of fifteenth and sixteenth cen ...

'' and churchman

Gavin Douglas Gavin Douglas (c. 1474 – September 1522) was a Scottish bishop, makar and translator. Although he had an important political career, he is chiefly remembered for his poetry. His main pioneering achievement was the '' Eneados'', a full and fa ...

. In Davidson's childhood, Douglas had held ecclesiastical charge of Monymusk.

Sources

Printing in Scotland
by

Duncan Glen Professor Duncan Munro Glen (11 January 1933 – 20 September 2008) was a Scottish poet, literary editor and Emeritus Professor of Visual Communication at Nottingham Trent University. He became known with his first full-length book, ''Hugh MacDia ...

Imprentit: 550 Years of the Scottish Printed Word
National Library of Scotland
Auchenhamperis and Monymusk references
for Clan Davidson {{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson, Thomas Scottish printers 16th-century Scottish people Court of James V of Scotland People from Aberdeenshire Burgesses in Scotland Year of birth missing Year of death missing 16th-century Scottish businesspeople