David Lyndsay
Sir David Lyndsay of the Mount (alternative spelling: David Lindsay ; * around 1490 ; † April 18, 1554 ) was a Scottish poet ( Makar ) and courtier.
Life
Lyndsay was of aristocratic descent and attended St. Andrews University. He served for a long time as a courtier at the court of the Scottish kings Jacob IV and Jacob V. First he was stable master (equerry) and then assistant teacher (usher) for the later Jacob V. In 1522 he married the court tailor Janet Douglas. He held various positions as a herald and diplomat. He was Snowdon Herald and from 1529 Lord Lyon King of Armsand was ennobled on this occasion. In addition to being responsible for court ceremonies and was on a diplomatic mission, including in the Netherlands and France. After the death of Jacob V (1542) he was in the Scottish Parliament and in 1548 a member of a diplomatic mission to Denmark dealing with trade privileges. He probably died around 1555.
At court, Lindsay wrote verses on historical, moral and political topics that were characterized by their satirical liveliness. Lyndsay was best known for his morality "Ane Satyre of the Thrie Estaits" ( A Satire on the Three Estates ), a pungent satire on Church, Society and State in Scotland that is still regularly performed in Scotland today. There are also shorter poems by him, such as Testament of the Papyngo and Squyer Meldrum . The Justing betwix James Watsoun and Jhone Barbour is a comical poem that describes the duel between a doctor and a wound healer (leche) who can handle the knightly weapons and finally slap each other with gloves. His works were well known in Scotland and it was said that a Scottish household in the late 16th to 18th centuries would have a high probability of containing two books, the Bible and the works of Sir David Lyndsay.
He is also known for a Scottish coat of arms book known as Lyndsay of the Mount Roll . It forms the basis for Scottish heraldry to this day. A facsimile was published in Edinburgh in 1878.
literature
- Matthew P. McDiarmid (Ed.): A Satire of the Three Estates. Theater Arts Books, 1968.
- Janet Hadley Williams (Ed.): Sir David Lyndsay: Selected Poems. Association for Scottish Literary Studies, Glasgow, 2001.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Lyndsay, David |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Sir David Lyndsay of the Mount; Lindsay, David |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Scottish poet |
| DATE OF BIRTH | around 1490 |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 18, 1554 |