The Poetry of William Dunbar

Along with his contemporary Robert Henryson, William Dunbar is the foremost figure of Scottish medieval literature. Writing as a court poet during the reign of James IV, Dunbar was at the intellectual heart of Scotland’s Renaissance. His poetry is among the greatest in the Scots language: sophisticated, versatile and stylish, the work of a master of considerable literary genius. Ronald Jack’s SCOTNOTE study guide examines a number of Dunbar’s most important works – The Thrissil and the Rois, The Lament for the Makaris, The Golden Targe, The Twa Mariit Wemen and the Wedo and others – and explains the background, history, language and influences for senior school pupils and students at all levels.