The ''Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland'' ("Original Chronicle of Scotland") is a history of

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 ...

from the beginning of the world until the accession of King

James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) *James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) *James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu *James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...

. Attributed to Andrew of Wyntoun, a learned scholar of the time, it is one of the only manuscripts composed in Scots verse before the seventeenth century, though it is also said to be written in northern English. Wyntoun himself calls his language "Ynglys". The ''Cronykil'' survives in eleven manuscripts, such as those in the Cotton library, the Harleian library, and the library of the faculty of Advocates at Edinburgh. The purest is the Royal MS, Brit. Museum. There is speculation over the date of the Royal manuscript, but scholars have determined that it likely could not have been written prior to 1420. (Wyntoun was born around 1350.) Andrew of Wyntoun and

John of Fordun John of Fordun (before 1360 – c. 1384) was a Scottish chronicler. It is generally stated that he was born at Fordoun, Mearns. It is certain that he was a secular priest, and that he composed his history in the latter part of the 14th ce ...

were contemporary historians, and though they did not know of each other, they share a claim to the title of ''original historian of Scotland.''. Wyntoun wrote in eight syllable verse and couplets to form a primitive poetry. Composed of 30,000 verses, the ''Cronykil'' is divided into nine books, and each book is divided into chapters. The first five books focus on the creation of the world in general, and Scottish history commences in the sixth. The eighth book is longer than the first four combined. Wyntoun received the last eighty-three years of the history, covering King David II to Robert II, from an acquaintance. Among other topics, Wyntoun records the churches and Bishops of St. Andrew, as well as information about the royal families of Scotland, lines from Barbour and an elegiac cantus for Alexander III. However, he skims over

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

and the wars of the

Anglo-Saxons The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

with the

Ancient Britons The Britons ( *''Pritanī'', la, Britanni), also known as Celtic Britons or Ancient Britons, were people of Celtic language and culture who inhabited Great Britain from at least the British Iron Age and into the Middle Ages, at which point the ...

, merely directing readers to find such histories in other books. Most notably, the ''Cronykil'' contains the original story of Macbeth and the witches (in Book Six). Wyntoun provided a second, revised ''Cronykil'', correcting minor mistakes made in the first edition.

Notes

References

* {{cite book , last=Albano , first=Robert A. , title=Middle English Historiography 1420 books 15th-century history books 15th-century poems Early Scots poems History books about Scotland