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Red Lining and Blue Penciling The Kingis Quair

Red Lining and Blue Penciling The Kingis Quair by William A. Quinn HE integrity of the The Kingis Quair has been repeatedly questionedintwoways:itsgenuinenessasanautobiographicalpoem hasbeendoubted,anditsunityasaworkofarthasbeendisputed. Intheory,theunityofthispoemandtheidentityofitsauthorshouldbe discreteissues.But,inpractice,thesetwouncertaintiesaboutThe Kingis Quairremaininextricableconsiderations.Againstthedeixisofthetitle (whichmaybedismissedasascribe'sfiction)andagainstallprima facie indicationsofthepoem'sautobiographicalsignificance,skepticshave insistentlypointedoutthatthis"littletreatise"(1352)containsnonamingofjamesnoranyexplicitreferencetothedreamer- arratorasaking; n furthermore,nootherpoemscanstillbelegitimatelyattributedtothe pen of King james I of Scotland.1 Nevertheless, all readers, including 1Unlessotherwisenoted,allquotationsofThe Kingis Quairinthisessayfollowjohn Norton- mith's edition (james I of Scotland, The Kingis Quair [Leiden: E. j. Brill, 1981; S OxfordUniversityPress,1971])andwillbecitedwithinthetextparentheticallywhere possible. william Tytler published the first modern edition of the Quair in Poetical Remains of James the First, King of Scotland(Edinburgh,1783).Tytlerincluded"Christ'sKirk of the Green" (accredited to james I rather than james V) and a "Dissertation on ScottishMusic";thetextofQuairisprecededby"AHistoricalandCriticalDissertationon the Life and writings of james I, King of Scotland" (1­52). An anonymous edition of The Works of James I, King of Scotland, Containing the "Kingis Quair," "Christis Kirk of the Grene," and "Peplis to the Play"wasprintedbyR.Morison,jr.(London,1786);walterw. SkeatidentifiestheeditorasMorisonhimselfandconsidersthispublication"practically a mere reprint of Tytler" ("The Kingis Quair," Together with "A Ballad of Good Councel" by James I. of Scotland,ed.Skeat,2ndrev.ed.[1884;repr.London:ScottishTextSociety/ Blackwood,1911],xlvi).williamMackean'sJames I of Scotland, "Kingis Quair"(London, 1886)alsoincludes"GoodCouncil"(67­68)because"Dr.Skeatholdstheauthorshipto beundoubted"(xiii).Inhiseditionof"The Kingis Quair" and "The Quare of Jelusy"(London:AdamandCharlesBlack,1910),AlexanderLawsonalsoincludesapoemfromGude and Godlie BallatisattributedtojamesinBannatyneMS(102)andtheCambridgeMS"BalladofGoodCounsel"(103).LawsonconsiderstheliteraryrelationsoftheQuare of Jelusy, Lancelot of the Laik,andtheQuair.Healsoincludes"Christ'sKirkoftheGreen"(113­14) 189 ©2011TheUniversityofNorthCarolinaPress myself,whoapplaudthesingularachievementoftheQuairasapoem, attributeitsvitalityandcoherencetothehighlypersonalvoiceofareal "I"who(forconvenience'ssake,inlieuofevidencetothecontrary)may mostreadilybenamed"Kingjames."2EventheQuair'sleastapproving readershavetacitlyassumedthatsomenowlostautographcopyofthis poemmusthavebeencomposedbyonepoetandthenpublished­that is,circulateduponcompletion­atonetime.Iwishtomaintainthatthe QuairwasindeedcomposedbyKingjamesIofScotland(1394­1437) himself.Itseemsfarmorelikely,however,thathepresentedhisQuair ontwoquiteseparateoccasionstotwoquitedifferentreaderships:one manuscriptwasspecificallyintendedforthepleasureofhisintended bride,joanBeaufort,andhercircleofinfluenceinEngland;asecond, expandedversionofhisQuairwasreissuedsometimethereaftertobe readbyasomewhatbroaderaudienceinScotland.Assuggestedbythe poemitself,theinitialprocessofcompositionbeganonesleeplessnight after james had first http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Studies in Philology University of North Carolina Press

Red Lining and Blue Penciling The Kingis Quair

Quinn, William A.
Studies in Philology , Volume 108 (2) – Apr 20, 2011
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Abstract

by William A. Quinn HE integrity of the The Kingis Quair has been repeatedly questionedintwoways:itsgenuinenessasanautobiographicalpoem hasbeendoubted,anditsunityasaworkofarthasbeendisputed. Intheory,theunityofthispoemandtheidentityofitsauthorshouldbe discreteissues.But,inpractice,thesetwouncertaintiesaboutThe Kingis Quairremaininextricableconsiderations.Againstthedeixisofthetitle (whichmaybedismissedasascribe'sfiction)andagainstallprima facie indicationsofthepoem'sautobiographicalsignificance,skepticshave insistentlypointedoutthatthis"littletreatise"(1352)containsnonamingofjamesnoranyexplicitreferencetothedreamer- arratorasaking; n furthermore,nootherpoemscanstillbelegitimatelyattributedtothe pen of King james I of Scotland.1 Nevertheless, all readers, including 1Unlessotherwisenoted,allquotationsofThe Kingis Quairinthisessayfollowjohn Norton- mith's edition (james I of Scotland, The Kingis Quair [Leiden: E. j. Brill, 1981; S OxfordUniversityPress,1971])andwillbecitedwithinthetextparentheticallywhere possible. william Tytler published the first modern edition of the Quair in Poetical Remains of James the First, King of Scotland(Edinburgh,1783).Tytlerincluded"Christ'sKirk of the Green" (accredited to james I rather than james V) and a "Dissertation on ScottishMusic";thetextofQuairisprecededby"AHistoricalandCriticalDissertationon the Life and writings of james I, King of Scotland" (1­52). An anonymous edition of The Works of James I, King of Scotland, Containing the "Kingis Quair," "Christis Kirk of the Grene," and "Peplis to the Play"wasprintedbyR.Morison,jr.(London,1786);walterw. SkeatidentifiestheeditorasMorisonhimselfandconsidersthispublication"practically a mere reprint of Tytler" ("The Kingis Quair," Together with "A Ballad of Good Councel" by James I. of Scotland,ed.Skeat,2ndrev.ed.[1884;repr.London:ScottishTextSociety/ Blackwood,1911],xlvi).williamMackean'sJames I of Scotland, "Kingis Quair"(London, 1886)alsoincludes"GoodCouncil"(67­68)because"Dr.Skeatholdstheauthorshipto beundoubted"(xiii).Inhiseditionof"The Kingis Quair" and "The Quare of Jelusy"(London:AdamandCharlesBlack,1910),AlexanderLawsonalsoincludesapoemfromGude and Godlie BallatisattributedtojamesinBannatyneMS(102)andtheCambridgeMS"BalladofGoodCounsel"(103).LawsonconsiderstheliteraryrelationsoftheQuare of Jelusy, Lancelot of the Laik,andtheQuair.Healsoincludes"Christ'sKirkoftheGreen"(113­14) 189 ©2011TheUniversityofNorthCarolinaPress myself,whoapplaudthesingularachievementoftheQuairasapoem, attributeitsvitalityandcoherencetothehighlypersonalvoiceofareal "I"who(forconvenience'ssake,inlieuofevidencetothecontrary)may mostreadilybenamed"Kingjames."2EventheQuair'sleastapproving readershavetacitlyassumedthatsomenowlostautographcopyofthis poemmusthavebeencomposedbyonepoetandthenpublished­that is,circulateduponcompletion­atonetime.Iwishtomaintainthatthe QuairwasindeedcomposedbyKingjamesIofScotland(1394­1437) himself.Itseemsfarmorelikely,however,thathepresentedhisQuair ontwoquiteseparateoccasionstotwoquitedifferentreaderships:one manuscriptwasspecificallyintendedforthepleasureofhisintended bride,joanBeaufort,andhercircleofinfluenceinEngland;asecond, expandedversionofhisQuairwasreissuedsometimethereaftertobe readbyasomewhatbroaderaudienceinScotland.Assuggestedbythe poemitself,theinitialprocessofcompositionbeganonesleeplessnight after james had first

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Studies in Philology – University of North Carolina Press

Published: Apr 20, 2011

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