''The Complaynt of Scotland'' is a Scottish book printed in 1549 as

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

during the war of the

Rough Wooing The Rough Wooing (December 1543 – March 1551), also known as the Eight Years' War, was part of the Anglo-Scottish Wars of the 16th century. Following its break with the Roman Catholic Church, England attacked Scotland, partly to break th ...

against the

Kingdom of England The Kingdom of England (, ) was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from 12 July 927, when it emerged from various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. On ...

, and is an important work of the

Scots language Scots ( endonym: ''Scots''; gd, Albais, ) is an Anglic language variety in the West Germanic language family, spoken in Scotland and parts of Ulster in the north of Ireland (where the local dialect is known as Ulster Scots). Most commo ...

Context and authorship

The book was part of the war of words between Scotland and England in the sixteenth century. English policy was directed towards

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of S ...

, marrying the son of

Henry VIII of England Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

, Edward, later

Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and the first E ...

. English pamphlets were published promoting the idea of uniting the two countries, and the Scottish ''Complaynt'' was a response to these works. Another Scottish work, a dialogue similar in outlook, ''Ane Resonyng'', by William Lamb from the same period was abandoned unpublished. The ''Complaynt'' is anonymous, probably due to its dangerous political content, and has been variously ascribed to Robert Wedderburn, James Inglis and David Lyndsay, though the 1979 Scottish Text Society edition of the work supports the Wedderburn attribution, as does the

National Library of Scotland The National Library of Scotland (NLS) ( gd, Leabharlann Nàiseanta na h-Alba, sco, Naitional Leebrar o Scotland) is the legal deposit library of Scotland and is one of the country's National Collections. As one of the largest libraries in t ...

It was once thought to have been among the first books printed in Scotland but it is now believed to have been published in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

. The book owes much of its structure, and some of its content, to the French work

Alain Chartier Alain Chartier (1430) was a French poet and political writer. Life Alain Chartier was born in Bayeux to a family marked by considerable ability. His eldest brother Guillaume became bishop of Paris; and Thomas became notary to the king. Jean ...

's ''

Quadrilogue-invectif The ''Quadrilogue invectif'' is a work of allegorical prose written by Alain Chartier in 1422 in which the author, through the use of a fictional dialogue between the Three Estates ("Le Peuple," "Le Chevalier," and "Le Clerge") and France, perso ...

'', a similar political work also attacking England.

Letter of Dedication

The ''Complaynt'' was dedicated to

Mary of Guise Mary of Guise (french: Marie de Guise; 22 November 1515 – 11 June 1560), also called Mary of Lorraine, was a French noblewoman of the House of Guise, a cadet branch of the House of Lorraine and one of the most powerful families in France. Sh ...

, rather than the ruler of Scotland at the time, the Regent Arran. The letter of dedication to Mary of Guise compares her to virtuous and heroic women including Valeria daughter of Publius Valerius Poplicola, Cloelia, Lucretia, Penelope, Cornelia, Semiramis, Tomyris, and Penthesilea, Queen of the

Amazons In Greek mythology, the Amazons (Ancient Greek: Ἀμαζόνες ''Amazónes'', singular Ἀμαζών ''Amazōn'', via Latin ''Amāzon, -ŏnis'') are portrayed in a number of ancient epic poems and legends, such as the Labours of Hercule ...

. The letter next references the Biblical stories of Esther and

Haman Haman ( ; also known as Haman the Agagite or Haman the evil) is the main antagonist in the Book of Esther, who according to the Hebrew Bible was an official in the court of the Persian empire under King Ahasuerus, commonly identified as Xerxes I ...

and Judith and Holofernes. After mentioning the absence of

in France, the author relates the story of her ancestor Godfrey de Bouillon, one of the Nine Worthies.

Dame Scotia

The book itself, subtitled "wyth ane exortatione to the thre estaits to be vigilante in the deffens of their public weil", contains a miscellany of stories, classical legends, biblical tales,

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or '' ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

s and allegories emphasising Scotland's separateness and the rewards of virtue and courage. The unifying structure is the narration of Dame Scotia in the final twelve chapters. She hears the complaints of her three sons, the " Thrie Estaits" of Scottish society, and then offers her encouragement and rebuke to the clergy, nobility, and populace in turn. Dame Scotia appears to the narrator in a dream. She was a lady of "ancient genealogy", her hair was the colour of fine gold but untidy, and her gold crown was "like to fall down from her head to the cold earth." She held the shield of the red

lion rampant The lion is a common charge in heraldry. It traditionally symbolises courage, nobility, royalty, strength, stateliness and valour, because historically the lion has been regarded as the "king of beasts". The lion also carries Judeo-Chris ...

but the lion had several wounds. Her dress was made in three fashions according to her three sons, embroidered with the precious stones of the nobility which were engraved with weapons, embroidered with the texts and books of the Spirituality, and the livestock, crops, merchandise, and tools of craftsmen, merchants and farmers. However this ancient fabric was worn with many losses.

Merlin

The English works it was aimed against included the

pagan Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. I ...

prophecies of

Merlin Merlin ( cy, Myrddin, kw, Marzhin, br, Merzhin) is a mythical figure prominently featured in the legend of King Arthur and best known as a mage, with several other main roles. His usual depiction, based on an amalgamation of historic and leg ...

to back up their claim of a united Great Britain, whilst the ''Complaynt'' stuck to

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

ideals. In Chapter 10, the author declares the English, lending more credence to Merlin's prophecies than the

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

, justify their wars upon Scotland under the basis of nebulous prophecy that the two nations shall be ruled under one king:

"the prophesies of Merlyne, to the quhilk the Inglishmen giffis more confidens nor thai gif to the evangel, by cause that there ald prophane prophesis sais, that ingland and scotland sal be baitht undir ane prince, on this misteous prophesis, thai have intendit weyris contrar Scotland.""misteous. 'misty'. obscure." ()A variant text is perhaps somewhat harsher:"diuerse prophane prophesies of merlyne, and vther ald corruptit vaticinaris, the quhilkis hes affermit in there rusty ryme, that scotland and ingland sal be vndir ane prince," ()

Monologue recreative

The ''Complaynt'' is an important source for information on

Border ballad Border ballads are a group of songs in the long tradition of balladry collected from the Anglo-Scottish border. Like all traditional ballads, they were traditionally sung unaccompanied. There may be a repeating motif, but there is no "chorus" as ...

s and it contains some of the first references to important ballads such as '' Tam Lin'', '' Froggy would a-wooing go'' and ''

The Ballad of Chevy Chase "The Ballad of Chevy Chase" is an English ballad, catalogued as Child Ballad 162 (Roud 223Sehere/ref>). There are two extant ballads under this title, both of which narrate the same story. As ballads existed within oral tradition before being wri ...

''. The names of these songs and poems are recited in Chapter 6, called the ''Monologue Recreative''. This dream-like sequence introduces the main 'Dame Scotia' narration. In the ''Monologue Recreative'' the author describes putting his pen down and walking into a beautiful summer day. He hears shepherds speaking of poetry and astronomy, then sees a Scottish warship and its crew and hears their calls. This passage supplies a maritime vocabulary and an insight to seamanship of the period. The ''Complaynt'' is also a significant example of Middle Scots language, and the ''

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a c ...

'' cites the ''Complaynt'' as the earliest source for numerous words, including: ''axis'', ''barbarian'', ''buffoon'', ''cabinet'', ''crackling'', ''decadence'', ''excrement'', ''heroic'', ''humid'', ''imbecile'', ''moo'', ''parallel'', ''robust'', ''suffocation'', ''superb'', ''timid'' and ''water-lily''.

Explanatory notes

References

External links

''The Complaynt of Scotlande'', 1549, Early English Text Society, (1872)
''includes appendix of English works''.
L.A.J.R Houwen, 'Cacophonous Catalogues: the Complaynt of Scotland', in ''Journal of the Northern Renaissance'', no.4 (2012)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Complaynt of Scotland, The Scottish non-fiction books 1549 books Political books Books about Scotland Political history of Scotland 1540s in Scotland Scots-language works Works published anonymously Rough Wooing