Talk:Blind Harry

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BetacommandBot (talk) 19:08, 13 February 2008 (UTC)

Just to compound the problems, I have seen an Encyclopedia of Scottish History question whether the "Blin Hary" in Dunbar's Lament for the Makkars is the Harry the Minstrel who wrote "Wallace". This is probably untrue, otherwise I would have heard more about it, but can anyone cast light? PatGallacher (talk) 20:56, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Translation Info Unclear
This page says "Blind Harry's words were made more accessible by a translation written by William Hamilton of Gilbertfield (c. 1665–1751) published in 1722".

The Wiki page on the Wallace poem however says: " The book was originally published in 1508 by Chepman and Myllar of Edinburgh, and went through over 20 editions.... It was later republished in the late 18th century by the poet William Hamilton, in the Scots language. This version also went through over 20 editions, with the last published in 1859."

This is unclear. Did Harry write in English and was was only translatetd into 'Scots' in 1722? And if so how did that make it 'more accessible'. Or if it was written in Middle English (which strictly it must have been since its writing date preceeds the earliest ever reference to 'Scots' as the lowland language) was it perhaps not 'translated' in 1722 but rather simply 'transcribed' into more modern English spelling?

A bit of a mystery. Cassandra.


 * Per the Hamilton article, his version was in 18th century English (with the very occasional term in Scots). The article on the poem is inaccurate.


 * When Scots was not yet being referred to as Scots, Middle English was not yet being referred to as Middle English. Mutt Lunker (talk) 13:20, 15 July 2013 (UTC)
 * He must have been a master of language if he wrote in 18th century English, since he died in the late 15th century. 155.213.224.59 (talk) 16:13, 11 August 2014 (UTC)
 * I'm not clear as to the point you are making. Hamilton, who produced the 18th century English version, died in 1751. Mutt Lunker (talk) 16:33, 11 August 2014 (UTC)