The Complaynt of Scotlande is a puzzling book, and many of the opinions in regard to it cherished by the most competent scholars have since 1890 been completely overthrown. The work was originally published soon after the disastrous battle of Pinkie, when internal factions and foreign intrigues had reduced the country's credit and prosperity to the lowest pass. The author was a strong upholder of the French alliance, and the aim of the book was to denounce and render impossible any rapprochement to England. The original issue, printed apparently in Paris in 1549, is extremely scarce: only four copies have come down to modern times. Dr John Leyden edited and reprinted it in 1801, and Dr J. A. H. Murray, with much scholarly learning, in 1872, under the auspices of the Early English Text Society. But neither editor had any suspicion the work was not original; that it was mainly unacknowledged translation or plagiarism. Murray agrees with Leyden that 'the Complaynt is well written and fraught with great learning; the style of remark is shrewd and forcible, though frequently quaint and affected; and the arrangement, though sometimes careless, is not devoid of method.' And Professor Masson treated the work as the most notable book of impassioned prose that had till then been produced in either England or Scotland. But, alas! the learning is almost wholly second-hand, the plan and arrangement mainly that of a famous old French poet's work, and much of the most impassioned and effective prose in it a direct translation from the French. Mr Neilson has proved that the plan of the whole is mutatis mutandis that of the Quadrilogue Invectif of Alain Chartier (13861458), an appeal to all ranks and conditions of the French nation to unite against the English invaders and tyrants; and long passages of the Complaynt are mere translations, with occasional adaptations. Plagiarisms from other sources have also been pointed out. The Scottish translator-adapter follows his model in exhorting the three estates to be vigilant for the commonweal, and in ransacking Hebrew, Greek, and Roman history and literature for examples of the curse attending on discord, self-seeking, indolence, and other public and private crimes. Fatigued by his argument, he seeks rest in the wholesome air of the country, beneath verdant trees and by beryl streams, sleeps, and has a vision (as in so many poems of that and preceding ages), in this case of Dame Scotia and her three sons Nobility, Spirituality, and Commons or labourers. Then the argument begins anew, the dramatic form being little heeded. The 'affligit lady' reasons with her sons, hears their mutual recriminations, and reprimands and warns them sharply, with much more exhortation, to concord and union against the public enemy. The 'Monologue Recreative' or 'Monolog of the Actor' thrust into the middle of the argument is a very odd but interesting interruption, and bears evidence of having been much extended after the first draft. For not only does it describe with extraordinary particularity the sounds and voices of a great variety of beasts and birds, but adds an account of a sea-fight with the names of the tackle and the shouts of the seamen. Then an exposition of the excellence of the shepherd's life leads to an exposition of the cosmogony, and a page or two on meteorology; with a long list of tales then current in Scotland (as told by the highly intelligent shepherds, their sons and daughters, to one another), with the songs they sang and the tunes they danced to; together with a catalogue of medicinal herbs! The list of popular stories and romances (The Well of the World's End, The Red Etin, Lancelot du Lac, Arthur Knight, Wallace, The Bruce, &c.) and the songs (Pastance with good Company, Under the Leavis Green, The Frog cam to the Mill Door, The Battle of Harlaw, The Hunt of Cheviot, The Sang of Gilquhiskar, &c.) is much more interesting than the political disquisitions. Some parts of this 'Monologue Recreative' are, we may be confident, translations or adaptations also; some must surely be original, such as, for example, this description of a Scottish shepherd's al-fresco breakfast after the naval battle: [The noise of the engagement was 'hiddeus ;'] 'and the stink of the gun puldir fylit ale the ayr, maist lyke as plutois paleis had been birnand in ane bald fyir, quhilk genrit sik mirknes and myst that I culd nocht see my lyntht about me. Quhar for I rais and returnit to the fresche feildis that I cam fra, quhar I beheld mony hudit hirdis blawand ther buc hornis and ther cornepipis, calland and convoyand mony fat floc to be fed on the feildis. Than the scheiphirdis pat their scheip on bankis and brais and on dry hillis to get ther pastour. Than 1 beheld the scheiphirdis wyvis and ther childir that brocht ther morning bracfast to the scheiphirdis. Than the scheiphirdis wyvis cuttit raschis and seggis, and gadrit mony fragrant grene meduart, witht the quhilkis tha covvrit the end of ane leye rig, and syne sat doune al togyddir to tak there refectione, quhar they maid grit cheir of evyrie sort of mylk, baytht of ky mylk and zoue mylk, sueit mylk and suir mylk, curdis and quhaye, sourkittis, fresche buttir and salt buttir, reyme, flot quhaye, grene cheis, kyrn mylk. Everie scheiphird hed ane horne spune in the lug of there bonet: thai had na breid bot ry caikis and fustean skonnis maid of flour. Than after there disjune, tha began to talk of grit myrrines that was rycht plesand to be hard. Bald fyir, bale-fire, bonfire; raschis and seggis, rushes and sedges; meduart, meadwort, meadow-sweet (in modern Scotch, 'queen-of-the-meadow'); sourkittis, clouted cream; Alot quhaye, boiled whey; fustean skonnis, homely scones; disjune, déjeuner. The language is Scottish of the middle period and of the southern type, but is a literary or 'Ciceronian' style, full of Latin and French words utterly unknown to shepherds or plain vernacular Scotsmen at any date. The book, early known as 'Wedderburn's Complaynt,' has been attributed (as by Leyden) to Sir David Lyndsay; (as by Laing) to Robert Wedderburn, vicar of Dundee, one of the same family to which we owe the Gude and Godlie Ballatis (pages 216-17); to Sir James Inglis, abbot of Culross (died in 1531); and to Sir James Inglis, chaplain of Cambuskenneth Abbey-in no case on conclusive evidence. Thus Leyden, having remarked on imitations of Gavin Douglas in the Complaynt, insisted that the coincidences in detached thoughts, arguments, illustrations, and words between the Complaynt and Sir David Lyndsay's works were sufficient to justify the attribution of the Complaynt to the Lyon King (four of whose acknowledged works are called Complaynt). Mr Craigie's discovery that the author of the Complaynt plagiarised from an unprinted translation of Ovid, by Octavien de St Gelais, Bishop of Angoulême-possibly from the same MS. now in the Bibliothèque de l'Arsenalmakes it almost certain that the work was written as well as printed in Paris, and probable that the author was in attendance on the young Queen of Scotland. Robert Wedderburn was also, it should be noted, in Paris in 1534-49. The following is another portion of this odd miscellany, the 'Monologue': There eftir I herd the rumour of rammasche foulis ande of beystis that made grite beir, quhilk past besyde burnis and boggis on green bankis to seik ther sustentatione. Their brutal sound did redond to the hie skyis, quhil the deepe hou cauernis of cleuchis and rotche craggis ansuert vitht ane high not of that samyn sound as thay beystis hed blauen. It aperit be presumyng and presuposing that blaberand Eccho had been hid in ane hou hole, cryand hyr half ansueir, quhen Narcissus rycht sorye socht for his saruandis, quhen he vas in ane forrest, far fra ony folkis, and there eftir for loue of Eccho he drounit in ane drau vel. Nou to tel treutht of the beystis that made sic beir, and of the dyn that the foulis did, ther syndry soundis hed nothir temperance nor tune. For fyrst furtht on the fresche fieldis the nolt maid noyis vitht mony loud lou. Baytht horse and meyris did fast nee, and the folis nechyr. The bullis began to bullir, quhen the scheip began to blait, because the calfis began till mo, quhen the doggis berkit. Than the suyne began to quhryne quhen thai herd the asse rair, quhilk gart the hennis kekkyl quhen the cokis creu. The chekyns began to peu quhen the gled quhissillit. The fox follouit the fed geise and gart them cry claik. The gayslingis cryit quhilk quhilk, and the dukis cryit quaik. The ropeen of the rauynis gart the crans crope. The huddit crauis cryit varrok varrok, quhen the suannis murnit, because the gray goul mau pronosticat ane storme. The turtil began for to greit, quhen the cuschet zoulit. The titlene followit the goilk, and gart hyr sing guk guk. The dou croutit hyr sad sang that soundit lyik sorrou. Robeen and the liti vran var hamely in vyntir. The jargolyne of the suallou gart the iay iangil, than the maueis maid myrtht, for to mok the merle. The lauerok maid melody vp hie in the skyis. The nychtingal al the nycht sang sueit notis. The tuechitis cryit theuis nek, quhen the piettis clattrit. The garruling❘ of the stirlene gart the sparrou cheip. The lyntquhit The grene The sang cuntirpoint quhen the oszil zelpit. serene sang sueit, quhen the gold spynk chantit. rede schank cryit my fut my fut, and the oxee cryit tueit. The herrons gaif ane vyild skrech as the kyl hed bene in fyir, quhilk gart the quhapis for fleyitnes fle far fra hame. Rammasche (Fr. ramassée), collected; beir, birr, noise; cleughs, dells; rotche (Fr. roche), rock; blaberand, whispering; nolt, neatcattle; gled, kite; crans, cranes; goul mau, gull maw; cuschet, cushat-dove: titlene, hedge-sparrow; goilk, gowk, cuckoo; dou, dove; maneis, thrush; merle, blackbird; lauerok, lark; tuechitis, pee-wits, lapwings; piet, magpie; stirlene, starling; iyntquhit, linnet; os3il, ousel; grene serene, greenfinch; gold spynk, goldfinch; oxee, ox-eye tomtit; quhapis, whaups, curlews; fleyitnes, frightenedness. The odd list of beast and bird cries has a noteworthy resemblance to the seventy-one given by Urquhart in translating from Rabelais, Book iii. chap. 13, though only a few of Urquhart's quite correspond (e.g. kekyl instead of cackle; rammasche and ramage are used differently). Rabelais had but nine cries, the rest being Urquhart's additions. Not merely the sudden and incongruous transitions of the 'Monologue,' but its method of giving detailed and preposterous lists of odd or unusual words and names is in the Rabelaisian manner; and Pantagruel's voyage in Book iv.-if we were sure that it was by Rabelais and was known before the Complaynt in its first form was issued-might almost be held to have suggested several things in the 'Monologue'-the nautical words of command, shipmen's chanties, the list of culverins and other guns, and the confounding noise of the gunnery in the naval battle. Thus it is difficult to believe, for example, that the odd cry holabar is other than the hault la barre shouted in the storm in Rabelais. The third book was doubtless the book of the season at Paris in 1546; and the fourth, like the third, may have been read in MS. before it was printed or published. See the editions of Leyden and Murray, above mentioned; for the dependence on Alain Chartier, see Mr W. A. Neilson, in the Journal of Germanic Philology, No. 4; for the plagiarism from St Gelais, Mr Craigie in the Modern Quarterly of Language and Literature, No. 4 (1899). John Bellenden was born towards the close of the fifteenth century, and in 1508 matriculated at St Andrews as of the Lothian nation.' He completed his education at Paris, where he took the degree of D.D. at the Sorbonne. He was attached to the court of James V., had some charge of the young king's studies, and for him executed his famous translation of Boece's Historia Gentis Scotorum. This and his version of the first five books of Livy (both done in 1533) are interesting as early specimens of Scottish prose. On the strength of his metrical 'Prohemes,' or prologues, the Dictionary of National Biography has described him as a poet. The Croniklis of Scotland is a very free rendering, and contains so many passages not to be found in Boece that it is in some places almost an original work -though not an original authority. Bellenden enjoyed great favour at the court of James V., at whose request he executed the translations. As a reward he received considerable grants from the Treasury, and afterwards was made archdeacon of Moray and canon of Ross. Becoming involved, however, in ecclesiastical controversy, he went to Rome, where he died about 1550, or as late as 1587. The History was printed at Edinburgh in 1536, and edited in 1821 by Thomas Maitland (afterwards Lord Dundrennan), who first published in 1822 the traductioun' of Livy (being re-edited for the Scottish Text Society in 1900). The pithy yet not unpolished vernacular of Bellenden (whose family name is also spelt Ballantyne) is in sharp contrast to the artificial or Ciceronian style of the Complaynt of Scotlande. Part of the Story of Macbeth. Nocht lang eftir, hapnit ane uncouth and wounderfull thing, be quhilk followit sone ane gret alteration in the realme. Be aventure, Makbeth and Banquho wer passand to Fores, quhair King Duncane hapnit to be for the time, and met be the gait thre wemen, clothit in elrage and uncouth weid. Thay wer jugit be the pepill to be weird sisteris. The first of thaim said to Makbeth : 'Hale, Thane of Glammis !' the secound said: 'Hale, Thane of Cawder!' and the thrid said: 'Hale, King of Scotland!' Than said Banquho: Quhat wemen be ye, sa unmercifull to me, and sa favourabil to my companyeon? For ye gaif to him nocht onlie landis and gret rentis, bot gret lordschippis and kingdomes; and gevis me nocht.' To this answerit the first of thir weird sisteris: 'We schaw more felicite appering to thee than to him; for thoucht he happin to be ane king, his empire sall end unhappelie, and nane of his blude sall efter him succeid; be contrar, thow sall nevir be king, bot of the sal cum mony kingis, quhilkis with lang progressioun sall rejose the croun of Scotland.' Als sone as thir wourdis wer said, they suddanlie evanist out of sicht. This prophecy and divinatioun wes haldin mony dayis in derision to Banquho and Makbeth. For sum time, Banquho wald call Makbeth King of Scottis, for derisioun; and he, on the samin maner, wald call Banquho the fader of mony kingis. Yit becaus al thingis succedit as thir wemen devinit, the pepill traistit and jugit thaim to be weird sisteris. Not long eftir, it hapnit that the Thane of Cawder wes disherist and forfaltit of his landis, for certane crimes of lese majeste; and his landis wer gevin be King Duncane to Makbeth. It hapnit in the next nicht, that Banquho and Makbeth wer sportand togiddir at thair supper. Than said Banquho: Thow hes gottin all that the first two weird sisteris hecht. Restis nocht bot the croun, quhilk wes hecht be the thrid sister.' Makbeth, revolving all thingis as thay wer said be thir weird sisteris, began to covat the croun; and yit he concludit to abide quhil he saw the time ganand thairto, fermelie beleving that the thrid weird suld cum, as the first two did afore. In the mene time, King Duncane maid his son Malcolme Prince of Cumbir, to signify that he suld regne eftir him. Quhilk wes gret displeseir to Makbeth; for it maid plane derogatioun to the thrid weird, promittit afore to him be thir weird sisteris. Nochtheles he thocht, gif Duncane wer slane, he had maist richt to the croun, becaus he wes nerest of blud thairto, be tennour of the auld lawis maid eftir the deith of King Fergus, "Quhen young children wer unabil to govern the croun, the nerrest of thair blude sall regne.' Als, the respons of thir weird sisteris put him in beleif, that the thrid weird suld cum als weill as the first two. Attour, his wife, impacient of lang tary, as al wemen ar, specially quhare thay ar desirus of ony purpos, gaif him gret artation to persew the thrid weird, that scho micht be ane quene; calland him oft timis febil cowart, and nocht desirus of honouris; sen he durst not assailye the thing with manheid and curage, quhilk is offerit to 'him be benivolence of fortoun; howbeit sindry otheris hes assailyeit sic thingis afore, with maist terribil jeopardyis, quhen thay had not sic sickernes to suc ceid in the end of thair laubouris as he had. Makbeth be persuasion of his wife gaderit his freindis to ane counsall at Innernes, quhare King Duncane happinnit to be for the time. And because he fand sufficient oportunite, be support of Banquho and otheris his freindis, he slew King Duncane, the vii yeir of his regne. His body was buryit in Elgin, and eftir tane up and brocht to Colmekill, quhare it remanis yit, amang the sepulturis of uthir kingis; fra our redemption, MXLVI yeris. The weird sisters are not 'weird-looking,' but cunning or powerful in weirds-destinies, prophecies, fates; Gray calls them 'Fatal Sisters.' Eirage weid, eldritch, weird-looking raiment; rejose, enjoy; kecht, promised; quhil, till; ganand, appropriate, belonging; Cumbir, Cumberland; als, also; attour, out-over,' furthermore; artation, incitement, pressure (a Low-Latin word); sickernes, security; Colmekill, Iona. The Gude and Godlie Ballatis is the name that has long been the popular one for a collection of oddly mixed devotional and satirical poems in vernacular Scotch, more formally calling itself Ane Compendious Buik of Godlie Psalmes and Spirituall Sangis, which seems in a rudimentary shape to have been published before 1546. These rude but pithy poems became immensely popular in Scotland, were committed to memory, circulated and sung, and often reprinted. They had a marked influence in promoting the Reformation in Scotland, and provoked a corresponding hostility on the part of the Church. The bulk of the book seems to be due to three brothers, James, John, and Robert Wedderburne, sons of a wealthy and respected burgess family of Dundee, who entered St Andrews University in 1514, 1525, and 1526 respectively. They had all to flee the country as heretics or as suspected by Cardinal Beaton. James became a merchant at Dieppe, John lived long in Germany, at Wittenberg and elsewhere, till the Reformation triumphed in Scotland; Robert, who succeeded his uncle as Vicar of Dundee, returned to Scotland after the death of Beaton. James wrote both tragedies and comedies, some of which were acted, though none have been preserved. The Complaynt of Scotlande (page 214) has been by many attributed to Robert; John had most to do with the Ballatis, to which the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, a short Catechism in prose and another in verse, with graces &c., are prefixed. Then follow sixteen Spirituall Sangis, mostly translations, some freer and some closer, from the German Lutheran hymns. The second main division, The Psalms of David with other new plesand Ballatis, contains again translations mainly direct from German versions. But to each part are added a number of miscellaneous pieces, some probably quite original, some possibly from English sources. More of them are religious, either devotional or controversial; many of them are profane songs spiritualised, such as those that still retain the old first lines Quho is at my windo, quho; Johne, cum kis me now; Hay now the day dawis. One, Welcum, Fortoun, was as obviously a song of worldly love, which, proscribed by the General Assembly of 1568, was unknown till Dr Mitchell printed it in 1896; one not in the oldest editions-The Pape, that Pagane full of pryde—and not from Wedderburne's pen, was not proscribed, has survived to be perhaps the best known, and yet is, in its reprobation of the ways of priests, monks, and nuns, in places so scurrilous that Dr Mitchell, editing a standard text for a learned society, has thought it advisable to suppress some of the lines. Several of those from the German were originally done into German from old Latin hymns; one, In dulci Jubilo, is originally a macaronic of Latin and German, Scotch taking the place of the German in the Dundee version, and the Latin being left untranslated. Of the collection Dr Julian, supreme authority on hymns, says: 'Some of the pieces, though rude, have a wonderful pathos, and even beauty.' It should be noted that at the same date the English people had no popular collection of anything that could be called hymns. Sternhold and Hopkins in the various issues contained only versions of the psalms. Coverdale's Psalms and Spirituall Songs, which are much tamer than the Ballatis, never took hold on the popular mind. Coverdale's were largely translated from the same sources, and four of them very closely agree with four of the Ballatis, so that it has been alleged that Coverdale's four were simply done by Wedderburne into Scotch. But Dr Mitchell inclines to think the Scots version the older. The attempt to utilise for sacred purposes popular profane tunes, and to supersede unholy songs by pious ones, was nothing new; it had been practised in France and Germany long before the Reformation; and Bardesanes, the Syrian Gnostic, and his son Harmodius, in the third century, were amongst the number of those who, as John Wesley put it, refused to let the devil have all the good tunes. The first verse only of the following is an adaptation of the old English song usually printed: The hunt is up, the hunt is up, And it is well-nigh day, And Harry our king is gone hunting The spiritualised version runs thus: With huntis vp, with huntis vp, As no German original is known for the following, it may both be a spiritualised form of the song with the same name mentioned in The Complaynt of Scotlande: Rycht sorelie musyng in my mynde, Nane culd me saif from thyne till ynde He is the way, trothe, lyfe and lycht, That wald presume be his awin mycht I grant that I haif faultit sore, War nocht his mercy is the more here to India Saved have committed faults giving his glory In dulci Jubilo, printed both by Laing and Mitchell in four lines, thus begins: In dulci jubilo now let us sing with mirth and jo, Our hartis consolatioun lyis in presepio; And schynis as the Sone, Alpha es et O. In 1878 Dr David Laing edited the Gude and Godlie Ballatis (1863), from the edition of 1578; Professor Mitchell, in his elaborate edition for the Scottish Text Society, had also for comparison a copy of the older edition of 1567, one copy of which he had heard of first in 1866. Archbishop Hamilton's Catechism.—The Catechism known as Archbishop Hamilton's because it was issued by his authority after being examined and approved by the Provincial Council over which he presided in Edinburgh, January 26, 1551-2, is a masterpiece of its kind. It was very carefully prepared for its purpose as a popular exposition of Roman Catholic doctrine to be read by the parish priest from the pulpit in lieu of a sermon. Dignified in style, free from colloquialisms or any affectation of foreign phraseology, it is one of the best standards of the literary Scots of the period (see page 167). The Catechism thus expounds the ninth sin against the first command-the first in the Catholic reckoning including what most Protestants divide into first and second. Witchcraft, it will be seen, was as real a trouble to the Catholic Kirk in Scotland as it was afterwards to the Church of the Reformation : The nynt, thai brek this Command, quhasaevir usis Wichecraft, Nicromansie, Enchantment, Juglarie or trastis in thame, or seikis thair help, quhasa lippinnis to werdis or dremis, quhasa lippinnis to defend thair self, or thair beistis, or geir aganis fyre, watter, swerd, noysum beistis, with certene takinnis or writingis supersticiously. or And gyf ony man or woman wald say: Oft tymis we se, that thingis cummis to passe, quhilk divinaris sais. Oft tymes men and beistis ar helpit be wytchis charmis. Oft tymes geir, tynt or stowin, is gettin agane be cowngerars, and sa apperandly, it is nocht evil done to seike for siclike help. O thou wretchit and blind man woman, that thinkis or says siclike wordis, knaw thow weil and understand, that quhen saevir thow speris or seikis for ony help, counsel, remede, consolation or defence at ony wytche, socerar, cowngerar or siclike dissaveris, thow dois greit injure to thi Lord God, because that thow takis the honour and service quhilk aucht to be gevin to God allanerly, and giffis it to the devil, quhilk is deidly enemie to thy saul. For without dout, all Wytches, Nigromanceris and siclike, workis be operatioun of the devil under a paction, condition, band or obligation of service and honour to be made to him. Mairouir thow sa doand, condemnis thi awn saule to panis eternal, because that thow forsakis utterly thi Lord God quhilk hais creat the to his awin ymage and liknes, and redemit the with na lesse price than with the precious blud of his awin natural sone our salviour Jesus Christ. Attouir thow brekis thi condition and band of service made to him in the sacrament of Baptyme. Finally thou art made as ane Pagan, Saracene or Infidele and sall perische for evirmair, except thou amend thy lyfe be trew, scharp, and lang penance. Quhat is deidly syn, bot wilfull transgressioun of the command of God? Than, how can thow that is ane wytche, or giffis credite to be helpit be Wytchcraft, excuse the fra deidly syn and endles damnation, seand that God almychty expresly in his haly law forbiddis al kindis of wytchecraft and siclike devilrie saiand thus: Non augurabimini, nec observabitis somnia. Use na kynd of wytchcraft, and tak na tent to dremis. And a litle efter hend: Non declinetis ad Magos, nec ab ariolis aliquid sciscitemini ut polluamini per eos, ego dominus deus vester. Gang nocht to witchis for ony help or confort, nother seik for counsell at ony socerar, for sa doand, ye are fylit in your saulis be thame, for I am your Lord God. And to mak an answar to thi argument. The devil sumtyme in smal matters schawis to the the verite, bot to that effeck, that finally he may cause the gif credit to his lesingis and black falset, in maters of greit wecht concerning thi saul. Sumtyme he will help the to get agane the guddis of this warld, bot his intent is, that finally he may cause the tyne the guddis of the warld to cum. Sumtyme he wil help the to recover the helth of thi body, bot to that effeck, that finally he may bring the to eternal dede of thi saul. Quharfor all trew christin men and wemen, suld nocht only be the command of God use na kind of witchcraft, bot alswa suld seik for na help at witchis, because that all siclike doing is injurius to God, and damnable to mans saul. Nother can thai excuse thame self fra transgression of the first command, that supersticiously observis ane day mair than ane other, as certane craftis men, quhilk will nocht begin thair warke on the saterday, certane schipmen or marinars will nocht begin to sail on the satterday, certane travelars will nocht begin thair jornay on the sattarday, quhilk is plane superstition, because that God almychty made the satterday as well as he made all other dayis of the wouke. Quharfor all lesum warkis may be begon als wel on the Satterday as ony other day of the wouke, quhilk is nocht commandit haly day. Siclik supersticion is amang thame, that will nocht berisch or erde the bodis of thair freindis on the North part of the kirk yard, trowand that thair is mair halynes or vertew on the South syde than on the North. It is nocht unknawin to us, that mony and sundry uther sinfull and damnable kindis of witchecraftis and superstitionis ar usit amang sum men and wemen, quhilk at this tyme we can nocht reherse and reprove in special, thairfor according to our dewtie we require yow forbeir thame all, because thai ar all damnable to your saulis. Trastis, trusts; werdis, weirds, predictions: lippin, trust: takinnis, tokens; speris, asks; dissaveris, deceivers; lesing, lying; tyne, lose; dede, death; wouke, week; lesum, lawful. T. G. L. [The Catechism was edited by Dr Thomas Graves Law for the Clarendon Press in 1884; the extract follows that edition.-ED.] John Knox.-Though in the first place and pre-eminently a man of action, it is by undoubted right that John Knox claims a place in the history of English literature. His published writings fill six thick volumes, and two at least out of the six, alike by their literary quality and the importance of the themes with which they deal, may fairly be ranked among the great books of the language. |