Corona Borealis : Scottish Neo-Latin Poets on King James VI and His Reign, 1566–1603

Latin was Scotland’s third language in the early modern period, alongside Scots and Gaelic, and the reign of King James VI and I is considered to be a golden age of Scottish neo-Latin literature. Corona Borealis examines Latin poems by Scottish authors written between 1566 and 1603, and highlights the role of Latin in Scottish cultural life.

Latin was Scotland’s third language in the early modern period, alongside Scots and Gaelic, and the reign of King James VI and I is considered to be a golden age of Scottish neo-Latin literature.Corona Borealis considers Latin texts by Scottish authors written between James’s birth in 1566 and his removal to England in 1603, and highlights the role of Latin in Scottish cultural life. The production of Latin poetry by Scots grew exponentially in the decades immediately following the Protestant Reformation (1560), bolstered by a new focus on renaissance education in Scotland’s schools and universities, and Scottish neo-Latinists were part of a European community of humanist scholars fascinated by the Classical past. Verses by George Buchanan, Patrick Adamson, Thomas Craig of Riccarton, Thomas Maitland, Hercules Rollock, Henry Anderson, and Andrew Melville – most of which have never appeared in translation before – are presented with facing English translations. Steven J. Reid and David McOmish provide clear, accessible editions of each text, along with scholarly introductions and detailed linguistic and historical notes.