HENRYSON, Robert, one of the most celebrated of the early Scotish poets, is described as chief schoolmaster of Dunfermline, and this is almost the only particular of his life that is sufficiently ascertained. According to one writer, he was a notary public, as well as a schoolmaster; and another is inclined to identify him with Henryson of Fordell, the father of James Henryson, who was king’s advocate and justice clerk, and who perished in the fatal battle of Floddon. This very dubious account seems to have originated with Sir Robert Douglas; who avers that Robert Henryson appears to have been a person of distinction in the reign of James the Third, and that he was the father of the king’s advocate. Douglas refers to a certain charter, granted by the abbot of Dunfermline in 1478, where Robert Henryson subscribes as a witness;^[1. Douglas’s Baronage of Scotland, p. 518. ] but in this charter he certainly appears without any particular distinction, as he merely attests it in the character of a notary public. A later writer is still more inaccurate when he pretends that the same witness is described as Robert Henryson of Fordell:^[2. Sibbald’s Chronicle of Scottish Poetry, vol. i. p. 88. ] in this and other two charters which occur in the chartulary of Dunfermline, he is described as a notary public, without any other addition.^[3. Chartulary of Dunfermline, f. 64. a—Robert Henryson is a witness to other two charters which occur in the same record, f. 63. a. b. His only mark of distinction is that of being designated Magister, while the names of several other witnesses appear without this title. He had perhaps taken the degree of master of arts. ] That the notary public, the schoolmaster of Dunfermline, and the proprietor of Fordell, were one and the same individual, is by no means to be admitted upon such slender and defective evidence. Henryson, or, according to its more modern and less correct form, Henderson, was not at that period an uncommon surname. It is not however improbable that the schoolmaster may have exercised the profession of a notary. While the canon law prevailed in Scotland, this profession was generally exercised by ecclesiastics, and some vestiges of the ancient practice are still to be traced: every notary designates himself a clerk of a particular diocese; and by the act of 1584, which under the penalty of deprivation prohibited the clergy from following the profession of the law, they still retained the power of making testaments; so that we continue to admit the rule of the canon law, which sustains a will attested by the parish priest and two or three witnesses.^[4. Decretales Gregorii IX. lib. iii. tit. xxvi. cap. χ. ] If therefore Henryson was a notary, it is highly probable that he was also an ecclesiastic, and if he was an ecclesiastic, he could not well leave any legitimate offspring. The poet, in one of his works, describes himself as “ane man of age ;” and from Sir Francis Kinaston we learn that “being very old he dyed of a diarrhea or fluxe.” With respect to the period of his decease, it is at least certain that he died before Dunbar, [7:11:238]who in his Lament, printed in the year 1508, commemorates him among other departed poets.

In Dunfermling he hes tane Broun, With gude Mr. Robert Henryfoun.

The compositions of Henryson evince a poetical fancy, and, for the period when he lived, an elegant simplicity of taste. He has carefully avoided that cumbrous and vitiated diction which had begun to prevail among the Scotish as well as the English poets. With his power of poetical conception he unites no inconsiderable skill in versification: his lines, if divested of their uncouth orthography, might often be mistaken for those of a much more modern poet. His principal work is the collection of Fables, thirteen in number, which have been printed in various forms. They are written in a pleasing manner, and are frequently distinguished by their arch simplicity; but in compositions of this nature, brevity is a quality which may be considered as almost indispensable, nor can it be denied that those of Henryson sometimes extend to too great a length. The collection is introduced by a prologue, and another is prefixed to the fable of the lion and the mouse. The latter prologue exhibits a curious specimen of the literature of that age. In a delightful morning of June, the poet wanders into a wood, and reclines himself, in the midst of flowers, under the shade of a hawthorn; where, having made the sign of the cross, he falls asleep, and fancies himself to be accosted by a person of a goodly appearance. This venerable stranger proves to be Aesop; who is here represented as a Roman and a poet, and in whom it is not easy to recognise the reputed author of the fables written in Greek prose. Mr Tyrwhitt, who was equally familiar with classical and with Gothic literature, has remarked that in many passages quoted from Aesop by writers of the middle ages, it is difficult to ascertain what author they mean.

Henryson’s Tale of the vponlands Mouse and the bur-gesse Mouse may be regarded as one of his happiest efforts in this department. The same tale, which is borrowed from Aesop, has been told tíy many other poets, ancient as well as modern. Babrius has dispatched the story of the two mice in a few verses,^[5. Babrii Fabularum choliambicarum libri tres, collegit Fr. Xav. Berger, p. 9. Monachii, 18IG, 8vo. ] but Henryson has extended it over a surface of several pages. To this fable of the Scotish poet, it does not, in the opinion of Dr Nott, seem improbable that Sir Thomas Wyatt might have been indebted, if not for the idea of his first satire, at least for the manner of telling the story.^[6. Nott’s Essay on Wyatt’s Poems, p. cxliii—In the'Appendix, No∙vi. Dr Nott has printed Henryson’s fable from the Harleian MS. ] Henryson’s Tale of Sire Chauntecleire and the Foxe is evidently borrowed from Chaucer’s Nonnes Preestes Tale. From these apologues some curious fragments of information may be gleaned. That of the Sheepe and the Dog contains all the particulars of an action before the consistory court, and probably as complete an exposure of such transactions as the author could prudently hazard. The proceedings of the ecclesiastical courts seem about this period to have been felt as a common grievance; and they are still more decidedly reprehended in the Satyre of Sir David Lindsay, whose works furnish many valuable contributions to the history of manners and customs.

Another conspicuous production of Henryson is the Testament of Cresseid,^[7. The Testament of Cresseid, compylit be Μ. Robert Henrysone, Sculemaister in Dunfermeling, Imprentit at Edinburgh be Henrie Charteris, 1593, 4to—“Ffor the author of this supplement,” says Sir Francis Kinaston, “called the Testament of Crescid, which may passe for the sixt and last booke of this story, I have very sufficiently bin informed by Sr. Tho. Ereskin, late carleof Kelly, and divers aged schollers of the Scottish nation, that it was made and written by one Mr. Robert Henderson, sometime cheife schoole-master in Dumfermling, much about the time that Chaucer was first printed and dedicated to King Henry the 8th by Mr. Thinne, which was neere the end of his raigne. This Mr. Henderson wittily observing that Chaucer in his 5th booke had related the death of Troilus, but made no mention what became of Crescid, he learnedly takes upon him, in a fine poeticall way, to exprès the punishment and end due to a false unconstant whore, which commonly terminates in extreme misery.” See the Loves of Troilus and Crescid, written by Chaucer; with a Commentary by Sir Francis Kinastou, p. xxix. Lond. 179θ, 8vo. Kinaston had translated into Latin rhyme two books of Chaucer’s poem, and had published them under the title of Amorum Troili et Crescidce libri duo priores Angtì- co-Latini. Oxoniae, 163δ, 4to. He completed his version of the poem, together with a commentary; and his manuscript at length came into the possession of Mr Waldron, who announced his intention of committing it to the press, but did not find encouragement to proceed beyond a short specimen. ] which is a sequel to Chaucer’s Troy-lus and Creseyde, and is commonly printed among the works of that poet.^[8. This poem is quoted as Chaucer’s, by Mr Strutt in his View of the Dress and Habits of the People of England, vol. ii. p. 279, and by Mr Douce in his Illustrations of Shakspeare, vol. i. p. 15. 487∙ ] It evidently rises above the ordinary standard of that period, and on some occasions evinces no mean felicity of conception. The silent interview between Troilus and Cresseid is skilfully delineated; and the entire passage has been described as beautiful by a very competent judge of old poetry.^[9. Scott’s Notes to Sir Tristrem, p. 362. ] It is unnecessary to remark that for “the tale of Troy divine,” neither Chaucer nor Henryson had recourse to the classical sources:^[10. See Warton’s Hist, of English Poetry, vol. ii. p. 220, and Douce’s Illustrations of Shakspeare, vol. ii. p. 65. ] this, like some other subjects of ancient history, had been invested with all the characteristics of modern romance; nor could the Scotish poet be expected to deviate from the models which delighted his contemporaries. Sir Troilus is commended for his knightly piety; a temple is converted into a hirh ; Mercury is elected speaker of the parliament; and Cresseid, on being afflicted with a leprosy, is consigned to a spittal-house, in order to beg with cup and clapper. The personages are ancient, but the institutions and manners are all modern.

Henryson’s tale of Orpheus is not free from similar incongruities, and possesses fewer attractions; it is indeed somewhat languid and feeble, and may have been a lucubration of the author’s old age. Sir Orpheus is represented as a king of Thrace, and is first dispatched to heaven in search of the lost Eurydice.

Quhen endit was the sangis lamentable, He tuke his harp, and on his brest can hyng, Syne passit to the hevin, as fais the fable, To seke his wyf, bot that auailit no thing: By Wadlyng ftrete^[11. Watling Street is a name given to one of the great Roman ways in Britain. (Horsley’s Roman Antiquities of Britain, p. 387∙ Lond. 1732, fol.) This passage, which to some persons may appear so unintelligible, will be best explained by a quotation from Chaucer’s House of Fame, b. ii. Lo, quod he, caste vp thyne eye, Se yonder, lo, the Galaxye, The whiche men clepe the Milky Way, For it is whyte; and some perfay Callen it Watlynge ftrete. ] he went but tarying, Syne come doun throu the fpere of Saturn aid, Quhilk fader is of all thir fternis cald.^[12. Heire begynnis the Traitie of Orpheus Kyng, and how he yeid to Hewyn and to Hel to seik his Queue: and ane othir Ballad in the lattir end. Edinburgh, Chepman and Myllar i 1508, 4to. ]
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Having searched the sun and planets without success, he directs his course towards the earth, and in his passage is regaled with the music of the spheres. His subsequent adventures are circumstantially, but not very poetically detailed. In enumerating the various characters whom he finds in the domains of Pluto, the poet is guilty of a glaring anachronism: here Orpheus finds Julius Caesar, Nero, and even popes and cardinals; and it is likewise to be remarked that the heathen and the Christian notions of hell are blended together. But such anachronisms are very frequently to be found in the writers of the middle ages. Mr Warton remarks that Chaucer has been guilty of a very diverting, and what may be termed a double anachronism, by representing Creseyde and two of her female companions as reading the Thebaid of Statius. Like the fables of Henryson, his tale of Orpheus is followed by a long moral; and here he professes to have derived his materials from Boethius and one of his commentators.

The Bludy Serk is an allegorical poem of considerable ingenuity. The poet represents the fair daughter of an ancient and worthy king as having been carried away by a hideous giant, and cast into a dungeon, where she was doomed to linger until some valiant knight should achieve her deliverance. A worthy prince at length appeared as her champion, vanquished the giant, and thrust him into his own loathsome dungeon. Having restored the damsel to her father, he felt that he had received a mortal wound. He requested her to retain his bloody shirt, and to contemplate it whenever a new lover should present himself. It is unnecessary to add that the interpretation of this allegory involves the high mysteries of the Christian faith. The poem bears an obvious resemblance to two distinct tales which occur in the Gesta Romanorum. In the first of these, a noble lady having been cruelly oppressed by a tyrant, is relieved by a valiant pilgrim, who falls in the moment of victory. According to his injunctions, she places his staff and scrip in her chamber; but on being addressed by three kings, in whom we are instructed to recognize the devil, the world, and the flesh, she afterwards removes these memorials, and forgets her obligations. The other tale represents the daughter of a king as having suffered dishonour from a tyrannical duke. When reduced to poverty and wretchedness, she is accosted at the wayside by a certain valiant knight, who, on condition of obtaining her hand, undertakes to fight the oppressor, and to recover her inheritance. A fierce combat ensues. Before he slays his antagonist, he receives a mortal wound, which, after an interval of three days, terminates his life. She hangs up his bloody armour in a chamber, and on being addressed by any new suitor, she surveys this memorial of her deliverer, and declares her resolution to form no new attachment.^[13. Gesta Rhomanorum, cum applicationibus moralizatis ac mysticis, f. xiii. xxvii. edit. Hagenaw, 1508, 4to. ]

The Abbay Walk is of a solemn character, and is not altogether incapable of impressing the imagination. Its object is to inculcate submission to the various dispensations of Providence, and this theme is managed with some degree of skill. Of his poem entitled the Garment of Gude Ladyis, Lord Hailes has remarked that “the comparison between female ornaments and female virtues, is extended throughout so many lines, and with so much of a tire-woman’s detail, that it becomes somewhat ridiculous.”^[14. Bailes’s Ancient Scottish Poems, p. 279. Edinb. 1770, 12mo. ] But the most beautiful of Henryson’s productions is Robene and Makyne, the earliest specimen of pastoral poetry in the Scotish language. We consider it as superior in many respects to the similar attempts of Spenser and Browne: it is free from the glaring improprieties which sometimes appear in the pastorals of those more recent writers, and it exhibits many genuine strokes of poetical delineation. The shepherd’s indifference is indeed too suddenly converted into love; but this is almost the only instance in which the operations of nature are not faithfully represented. The story is skilfully conducted, the sentiments and manners are truly pastoral, and the diction possesses wonderful terseness and suavity.

The Fables of Henryson have lately been reprinted^[15. Edinb. 1832, 4to. This edition was printed for the Maitland Club. ] from the edition of Andrew Hart; of which the only copy known to exist was lately added to that great repository of Scotish literature, the Advocates Library. It is a small octavo volume, which, although in a very frail condition, cost no small price. This edition, printed in 1621, is not however the first; and indeed the title-page indicates the work to be “newlie reuised and corrected.” In the library of Sir Andrew Balfour, which was sold by auction in 1695, there appears to have been a copy of an edition printed at Edinburgh in 1570. And after a short interval the work was exhibited in an English dress: “The fabulous Tales of Esope and Phrygian, compiled moste eloquently in Scottishe metre, by Mr. Robert Henrison, and now lately Englished.” London, printed by Richard Smith, 1577, 8vo. Of this edition there is a copy in the library of Sion College. Among the Harleian manuscripts in the British Museum are preserved “The morall Fai-billis of Esope, compylit be Maister Robert Henrisoun, Scolmaister of Dunfermling, 1571.” This is apparently the date of the transcript, which is conjectured to have been taken from tiie edition of the preceding year. The manuscript, as Mr Pinkerton has stated, “is well writen and preserved, and has some curious illuminations, tho poorly done.”^[16. Pinkerton’s List of the Scotish Poets, p. c. ] Ten of the fables, together with several other poems of the same author, are to be found in Bannatyne’s manuscript. The various works of Henryson afford so excellent a specimen of the Scotish language and versification, that a complete collection, printed with due accuracy and accompanied with proper illustrations, could not fail to be highly acceptable to the lovers of our early literature. (x.)