Apart from its literary quality, the poem is notable for the list of makars it contains, some of whom are historically attestable as poets only from Dunbar's testimony in this work. After listing Lydgate, Gower and Chaucer, the makars invoked are Scottish. All but two are cited as having died by the time of the composition. The two exceptions are the courtier Patrick Johnston and known poet Walter Kennedy, the latter of whom died c. 1508. From internal evidence, the lament is generally thought to have been composed c. 1505.
Most of the names can be traced to either the fourteenth or fifteenth centuries.
List of names in the Lament
The list of names in the Lament for the Makaris, all of which are from what Dunbar in the poem calls his "facultie", suggests a picture of the Scottish literary culture of the period which is wider than that otherwise handed down to us from the surviving record. In order and form of citation, the makars that Dunbar mourns in 'The Lament' are:
Maister Johne Clerk — not identified; the name occurs in the Bannatyne MS; the title maister signifies university education
Jame(s) Afflek — (James or Jamie Auchinleck)?, no known works; Dunbar's text might imply Afflek, and Clerk before him (mentioned in the same line), were noted for serious themes ("ballad" and "tragedy")
Patrik Johnestoun — Scottish courtier, no known works; the citation implies Johnston, who probably staged entertainments for the royal court in Dunbar's day,[1] was still living at the time
Merseir — not identified; Dunbar praises him for 'quickness', 'terseness' and 'elevation'; some love poems extant in the Bannatyne MS are attributed to a Mersar
Stobo — no known works; he is identified with John Reid, priest in Kirkcudbright,[1] who served as clerk and notary in royal courts of James II, III and IV
Dunbar offers some small tantalising details beyond customary compliments for the lost poets cited. The title of one poem is given: Clerk of Tranent's "Anteris of Gawane", an otherwise unknown work. Of Mercer, Dunbar extends his critical opinion to say that he "did in luf so lifly write,/ So schort, so quyk, of sentence hie", and the reference to him as a poet of love also accords with the fact that some love poems are attributed to a "Mersar" in the Bannatyne MS. Finally, if the lines "That scorpion fell hes done infek,/ Maister Johne Clerk, and James Afflek,/ Fra balat making and tragidie" can be taken to impart literal information, then it might infer that some particular reputation for work with more serious themes attached to these names. At that time in Scotland "tragedy" denoted any "story, play or poem with a disastrous or sorrowful outcome".[5]
Extract
On to the ded gois all estatis,
Princis, prelotis, and potestatis,
Baith riche and pur of al degre; Timor mortis conturbat me.
He takis the knychtis in to feild,
Anarmit under helme and scheild;
Victour he is at all mellie; Timor mortis conturbat me.[6]
(Lament for the Makaris, Lines 17-24)
References
^ abcTasioulas, J.A. The Makars Canongate 1999, p.788-9.
