Andrew Wyntoun, known as Andrew of Wyntoun (), was a Scottish poet, a

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and

prior of Loch Leven The Prior of Loch Leven was the head of lands and of the community Augustinian canons of St Serf's Inch Priory, Loch Leven (a.k.a. Portmoak Priory). There was a Scottish ''Céli Dé'' (or Culdee) establishment there in the first half of the 12th ...

St Serf's Inch St Serf's Inch or St Serf's Island is an island in Loch Leven, in south-eastern Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It was the home of a Culdee and then an Augustinian monastic community, St Serf's Inch Priory. History There was a monastic community on ...

and, later, a canon of St. Andrews. Andrew Wyntoun is most famous for his completion of an eight-syllabled metre entitled, '' Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland'', which contains an early mention of ''

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is dep ...

''; it is also cited by 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 co ...

'' as the earliest work in English to use the word "

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": pelling modernised"He was a constant Catholic;/All

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he hated and heretic." Wyntoun wrote the 'Chronicle' at the request of his patron, Sir John of Wemyss, whose representative, Mr. Erskine Wemyss of

Wemyss Castle Wemyss Castle (pronounced eems is situated in Wemyss on the sea cliffs between the villages of East Wemyss and West Wemyss in Fife, Scotland. Wemyss Castle is considered to be a multi-period building, and today's castle includes many elements ...

, Fife, possessed the oldest extant

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in ...

of the work. The subject of the 'Chronicle' is the history of Scotland from the mythical period to the death of

Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany (c. 1340 – 3 September 1420) was a member of the Scottish royal family who served as regent (at least partially) to three Scottish monarchs ( Robert II, Robert III, and James I). A ruthless politician, Albany w ...

in 1420. The nine original manuscripts of the ''Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland'' still subsist today and are preserved within various facilities throughout the United Kingdom. Three out of the eight original manuscripts are currently preserved by the

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, two are in the possession of the

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in Edinburgh; one, within the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

Library; another, within the confines of

and the eighth, privately owned by Mister John Ferguson of Duns, Scottish Borders, Berwickshire. The first edition of the 'Chronicle' (based on the Royal manuscript) was published by David Macpherson in 1795; the second edition was produced by David Laing and published in 1872 and the current standard edition was published by

F. J. Amours F is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet. F may also refer to: Science and technology Mathematics * F or f, the number 15 (number), 15 in hexadecimal and higher positional systems * ''p'F'q'', the hypergeometric function * F-distributi ...

as ''The Original Chronicle of Andrew of Wyntoun: Printed on Parallel Pages from the Cottonian and Wemyss MSS., with the Variants of the Other Texts''. The ''Chronicle'' is entirely composed of couplets, usually of eight syllables, although frequently there also are lines of six or 10 syllables.

References

* ''Oxford English Dictionary'', New York:

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 1989

External links

*
The Robin Hood passage
at the TEAMS Medieval Texts website. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wyntoun, Andrew Of Scottish chroniclers 15th-century Scottish writers 15th-century Scottish historians Priors of Loch Leven Year of birth uncertain Early Scots poets 14th-century Scottish historians