music in mediaeval scotland
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This article was downloaded by: [Columbia University]On: 09 December 2014, At: 17:43Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales RegisteredNumber: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK
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Music in MediaevalScotlandHenry George Farmer M.A., Ph.D.Published online: 28 Jan 2009.
To cite this article: Henry George Farmer M.A., Ph.D. (1929) Musicin Mediaeval Scotland, Proceedings of the Musical Association, 56:1,69-90, DOI: 10.1093/jrma/56.1.69
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MARCH 18, 1930.
PROF. EDWARD J. DENT, M.A., Mus. B.,
PRESIDENT,
IN THE CHAIR.
MUSIC IN MEDIAEVAL SCOTLAND
BY HENRY GEORGE FARMER, M.A., Ph.D.
THE history of music in North Britain1 during the MiddleAges may conveniently be divided into three periods:(1) The Beginnings (A.P. 563-1124), (2) The Anglo-NormanPeriod (A.P. 1124-1424), and (3) The Golden Age (A.D.1424-1542).
1. THE BEGINNINGS (563-1124).This period need not detain us very long, because we do
not possess sufficient data for a comprehensive survey.By the sixth century, which is the starting point of ourenquiry. North Britain was peopled by the Goedelic Celts ofPictland, the Scots of Dalriada, the Britons of Strathclydeand the Angles of Lothian. We know very little abouttheir music. Suffice it to say that the Goedelic culture ofthe Scots of Dalriada carried all before it at this period.Outside of St. Columba (d. 597) and his disciples, we havesparse data to draw upon for information concerning themusic of the Scots. St. Columba is credited with a wonderfulvoice, but the late Dr. Grattan Flood's opinion, based on apassage in St. Adamnan's Life of St. Columba (i, 42)that the Scots (i.e., the Irish) " sang canticles incounterpoint," has no support from the text itself.
St. Columba's successors probably led the singing withharp or cithara in hand as in Ireland and Bernicia, yet wedo not know what the music was like, save that the CelticChurch appears to have had a style of chanting which wasdifferent from other methods, and we know that the liturgyof this church was different from Roman usage. At the
1 It would not be proper to use the term Scotland in the earlyperiod, because at this time, the term could only refer to the land ofthe Scots of Dalriada, the modern Argyll.
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70 Music in Medieval Scotland
court we see the bard who played the harp (clairseach) orcithara (cruit). He was generally an officer of importance,and we read of him chanting a poem on the ancestry of theCeltic kings. Although the harper-bard died out at courtduring the Anglo-Norman period, he still remained a featurein baronial houses until the seventeenth and eighteenthcenturies.
That the music of Scotland* stood high above that of bothIreland and England at the close of the period that we aredealing with, we know from Giraldus Cambrensis. Writinghis Descriptio Cambrensis in the twelfth century, heobserves that the Irish only used two instruments—theharp (cithara) and psaltery (timpan); the Scots thxeethree instruments—the harp (cithara), psaltery (timpan)and cithara (choro); and the Welsh three instruments—the harp (cithara), pipe (tibia), and cithara (choro).
The Irish, he said, were better instructed in music thanany other nation, yet, on his own showing, they were to beeclipsed eventually by the Scots. He says, in his Topo-graphia Hibernica: "In the opinion of many, Scotland hasnot only equalled Ireland her teacher in music, but hasprevailed over and surpassed her, so that they look to thatcountry [Scotland] as the fountain of this art."
Thus we see that at the very outset of our enquiry,Scotland was leading the musical culture of these " TightLittle Islands."
2. THE ANGLO-NORMAN PERIOD (I 124-1424).Although we can discern a definite tendency in the
Scottish court towards Southern manners and civilisationat the time of Malcolm Canmore (1057-93), it was not untilthe reign of David I (1124-53) that it ostensibly began toassert itself. Let us consider the effect of these southerninfluences in music.
The Anglo-Norman period marks two important featuresin the history of music in Scotland: (1) The Rise of theWandering Musician, and the Folk Song; (2) The FeudalOrganisation and the Musician.(i) The Wandering Musician, and the Folk Song.
The ancient Celtic bard was a person of high socialposition who resided at the court of the prince. Under thenew regime, however, another type of musician appeared inthe land. This was the wandering musician. Here wehave a " jack of all trades " in the entertainment business,
» By this time we can speak of Scotland in the geographical sensethat we do to-day.
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as this individual generally possessed the accomplishmentsof juggler, tumbler, reciter, instrumentalist, singer, andmerchant, a type that did not exist in Celtic times.3 Menfrom other countries were to be found in the ranks of thewandering musicians, and this brought new ideas in music,especially in novel instruments and fresh song and dance forms.
Socially these musicians were outcasts, denied the pro-tection of the law, and debarred from the Christiansacrament and even the church precincts. Yet theycrowded to court festival and city fair, to the market placeand the shrine, where they were well received by king, baron,burgess and serf, in spite of the law and the fulminations ofthe church, earning fair " rewards " either in money, food,or raiment.
Of their influence on musical culture there can be littledoubt. I believe that it was this class that contributedconsiderably to that " triumph of English speech andcivilisation" that took place in Scotland at this period.The influence was far-reaching. The first noticeable changeis in nomenclature. The old Celtic term bard and the Anglo-Saxon designation scop, pass out of ken in favour of theNorman word minstrel. The Celtic instrument known asthe clairseach is named the harp. The wandering musicianbrought into use a number of new instruments like therybybe, lute, citere, naker, and tabor.
The whole aspect of music changed with these wanderingfolk, and here we have the real starting-point of the folksong and folk dance in the recreative sense. The people atlarge for the first time became participators in generalculture. The forms of music were certainly affected. Theold bard of court and castle, and the chanter of abbey andmonastery, bound everywhere by a strict conservatism,had kept musical art at a standstill. With the wealth offresh ideas in melody, rhythm, and form, that must haveswept the country, it was inevitable that the more seriousforms of the art were influenced. It was no longer thebardic and church song that alone obtained, but compositionsof a more varied nature such as have come down to us inballad'literature like the simple cantus made on the victoryof Bannockburn (1314), the lament on the death ofAlexander III (1286) preserved by Wyntoun {circa 1420), orlong poems like " Sir Tristrem" (? thirteenth century),which were perhaps sung and not recited.
3 There were wandering bards in Ireland, but they were of adifferent type from those of the time we are speaking of.
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(ii) The Feudal Organisation and the Musician.The old status of the ancient bard had been unsettled
by the laws of church and state against the musician, andthe feudal system gave the minstrel at the court, castle, andborough, a definite and protected position. The Scottishking had his chief minstrel, besides other minstrels, includingtrumpeters, fiddlers, pipers, harpers, etc. In 1278, whenAlexander III went to London to pay homage to Edward I,he was accompanied by his court minstrels, and we readof payments made to Elyas, the king's harper, twotrumpeters, and six minstrels.
The king's harper was, apparently, the chief minstrel.He seems to have taken the place of the old Celtic sennachie,of whom we read at the coronation of Malcolm Canmore(1057) and Alexander III (1249) chanting a poem in Gaelic.The king's harper was invariably the recipient of substantial" rewards," and these sometimes took the form of gifts ofland, as was customary in Celtic times. In 1296, Edward Iordered the sheriffs of Perth and Fife to restore to Elyas,the king's harper, the lands that had been taken from him.The Ragman's Roll of 1296 contains the names of Rogier leHarpur, Uctins le Harpur, Johan le Harpur, Robert leHarpur, and William le Harpur, names which carry theirown story. The seals of two of these, bearing the designof a harp, have been preserved. Robert I (1306-29) grantedland to Thomas Citharist. David II (1329-71) gave lands toPatrick Citharist, Ade Chichariste, and Nicolas Chicharist.
The ordinary minstrels of the court, among whom weresundry players on the harp (cithara), fiddle (videle), andpsaltery (cimphan), also held high positions. Whilst theking's harper was doubtless a privileged artist who sangand played in the privy chamber, the ordinary minstrelsattended to the more domestic musical needs of the court,not only on the great occasions of church and state, whichwe so often read abput, but also at mealtimes, and duringthe sports and pastimes of the court. Some of themtravelled. We find that the court minstrels of Robert II(1371-90) were received at the Spanish court.
Pipers, such as those who played on the shawm, wayght,quhissel, and droone-pipe (bagpipe), were also counted amongthe ordinary minstrels of the court, although their dutieswere probably more generally connected with out-door music.Like the English minstrels of this class, they probablyannounced the hours of the day and night.
Trumpeters and drummers, whose music was bound up
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with Royal insignia, were necessary, not only for the" fanfares " at state functions, but also for military purposes,as it was by their notes that signals were conveyed. Weknow from the ballad literature how important all theseminstrels were. In the fourteenth century Orfeo andHeurodis we read:—
" In the castel the steward sat atte mete,And mani lording was bi him sete.Ther were trotnpour and labourers,Harpours fele and crouders,Miche melody thei maked alle, . . .And Orfeo sat stille in the halleAnd herkneth."
In Thomas of Ersyldoune we read:—" Harpe and fethill both they fande,
Gitterne and als so the sawtrye",Lute, and rybybe, bothe gargande,And all manere of mynstralsye."
This was clearly the music of courtly festivity. For thehunt, it was the horn that sounded, as we also learn fromThomas of Ersyldoune (thirteenth century):—
" Scho blewe hir home with mayne and mode."When the army was marshalled it was the drum and
trumpet that cheered the soldier and affrighted the enemy,as we know from Orfeo and Heurodis:—
" Wele attourned ten hundred knightes,Ich y-armed to his rightes ;
Tabours and trimpes yede hem bi,And al maner menstraci."
The wandering minstrel is also represented in contemporarypoetry. In Orfeo and Heurodis, his welcome at the castle isdescribed thus:—
" Befor the king he sat adounAnd tok his harp so miri of soun,And tempreth his harp, as he wele can,And blissful notes he ther gan,
Than seyd to him the king:' Menstral, me liketh wele thi gle.' "
The music of the households of the high officers of state,as well as that of the great barons, was much on the sameplan as that of the king's court, but, in virtue of feudal
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etiquette, it was not so imposing. In 1325 we read of theharper of the Steward of Scotland being released fromprison in London. Minstrels were also attached to theboroughs. These were generally pipers, who played on theshawm, droone-pipe, and such-like instruments. Theyprobably piped the hours of the day and night, and playedat civic functions. In 1303-4, the minstrels of Perth playedbefore Edward I on his leaving the city, on which occasionwe are told that they consisted of " fiddlers, psaltery-players,and other minstrels."
Whilst in secular life, the bards and minstrels learnedtheir music only by rote for the greater part in the earlydays, the chanter and his assessors in the church had booksand music. There were schools for singing and chantingin the different cathedral cities as early as the thirteenthcentury. In 1279, we read that the Master of the CathedralSchool at Aberdeen had to regulate the attendance of foursinging boys at matins and high mass, as well as at thegreater festivals. The sang schoil in Scotland was destinedto play a very important part in the musical progress of thecountry.
The organ, as an instrument of divine worship, was oflater introduction. The earliest reference to it in Scotlandis in the thirteenth century. Fordun (died circa 1384)mentions the instrument in 1250 on the occasion of theremoval of the remains of Queen Margaret from the outerchurch at Dunfermline to the high altar. It was atDunfermline, strange to say, that we hear of a certain John,the organist of the Earl of Warenne, playing beforeEdward I in 1303-4. In view of this we cannot accept thestatement of W. Tytler, that it was James I (1424-37) whointroduced organs into Scotland, a statement that has creptinto Grove's Dictionary of Music.
Church music appears to have fallen into decay in Scotlandin the thirteenth century. One writer describes it as" barbarous." Its parlous state roused a Scottish ecclesiasticto action. This was Simon Tailler. He had studied musicat Rome and Paris, the latter city being the hub of themusical world in these days. Tailler set to work to reformthe church music of Scotland, and was so successful, weare told by Dempster (died 1625), the Scottish ecclesiasticalhistorian, that " the church music in Scotland wasconsidered to rival that of Rome."
Of the musical compositions of the period written inScotland or by Scotsmen, we have little or nothing. I once
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possessed a fragment of Scottish church music belongingto the twelfth or thirteenth century, which was probablyunique. Unfortunately it was stolen. It was dated by theBritish Museum and the late Professor J. S. Phillimore, ofGlasgow, as the twelfth century. A mass, said to date fromthe twelfth century, composed by a certain Robert Carbor,is mentioned by some writers. I have been unable to tracethis composer and I believe that he is really thesixteenth century Carver of the Scone Antiphonary.
In secular music, traditional melodies may probablyexist to-day, although we must bear in mind that we donot possess the title of a solitary song prior to the fifteenthcentury.
Of Scottish writers on music during this period we mightinstance two important names—Aaron and Tailler. Aaron(circa 992-1052) was born in Scotland, and became Abbotof St. Martin's at Cologne. He was the author of twotreatises on music: De utilitate cantus vocalis et de modocaniandi atque psallendi and De regulis tonorum elsymphoniarum. Simon Tailler (//. 1230-40) already mentionedon account of his reform in Scottish church music, was theauthor of four books on music: De cantu ecclesiasticocorrigendo [reformando], De tenore musicali, Tetrachordorum,and Pentachordorum.
To sum up the position of music in Scotland during thisperiod we can focus upon two points. Firstly, that if it istrue that Tailler's reform in church led to Scotland becoming" the rival of Rome," then it means that this country, evenallowing for patriotic exaggeration, must have had someeminence in this respect. Secondly, it would appear thatScotland still maintained the same level as that remarkedby Giraldus Cambrensis in the twelfth century. The musiciansof the Scottish court were certainly as imposing in numbersas those of the English court, some of them being receivedat foreign courts. Lastly, the important place which musicoccupies in Scottish ballad literature of the fourteenthcentury shows that it stood quite as high in popular esteemas with the English.
3. THE GOLDEN AGE (1424-1542).The fifteenth and sixteenth centuries have well been
called the " Golden Age " for Scotland, so far as culture isconcerned. When Ayala, the Spanish ambassador visitedScotland in 1498, he sent home an interesting account ofhis impressions, from which we learn that Scotland, in spite
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of all her tribulations, was quite abreast of Europeancivilisation.
The real creator of the " Golden Age" was James I(1424-37).* It was this king who established the bodypolitic on a secure foundation. Once this was safe, there wasnothing to prevent the country from pursuing its economicand cultural development. Just as the commercial treatiesand state papers reveal how important Scotland had becomein the trading and political world, so we are able to discernin the rising universities and the galaxy of poets and literarymen, how culture was progressing by leaps and bounds.Music was almost certain to follow the trail of the generalculture movement.
Nearly all the Scottish rulers from James I to Mary werenot only well disposed towards music, but many weremusicians of no mean order. This, together with the growingtaste of the upper classes for music, came at a propitiousmoment when new art theories and schools were influencingmusic in general. How this affected Scotland we shall see.In the meantime let us consider the material upon whichthis new culture was to operate, as reflected in the Court,the Gentry, the Church, the Boroughs, and the People.
(i) The Court.James I (1424-37) was educated in England, a circum-
stance due to his enforced stay at the English court. Hewas not only a skilled performer on several musical instru-ments, but was also a composer. Unfortunately, theextant Treasurer's Accounts for the Scottish RoyalHousehold do not extend so far back as his reign, but thereis sufficient evidence elsewhere to warrant the opinion thathe was probably the founder of the brilliant court music ofhis successors. We know that on the very eve of hisassassination he passed his time " yn redyng, yn syngyngand pypynge, yn harpynge, and yn other honest solaces ofgrete pleasance and disport."
James II (1437-60) was too much occupied with militaryaffairs to pay much attention to music. Yet it was in hisreign that the Buke of the Howlate was written. In thiswork we have a relation of such a wealth of names ofmusical instruments that it seems to tell us quite enoughfor our purpose. We read:—
" All thus our lady thai lovit, with lyking and lysh,Menstralis and musicianis, mo than I mene may.
4 James I was in captivity in England from 1406 to 1424-
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The psaltery, the sytholis, the soft syiharist,The croude and the monycordis, the gittyrnis gay;The rote, and the recordour, the rivupe [ribus], the rts<,The trumpe and the talburn, the tympane but tray;The Kfl ##<: and the J«fc, the /y<tt/Z in fist.The dulset, the dulsacordis, the schaltne of assay ;The amyable organis usit full oft;Claryonis lowde knellis,Portatius and 6eWis,Cymbaclanis [cymbaelanis] in the cellis,That soundis so soft."
James III (1460-88) inherited his grandfather's love ofmusic and drew to his court at Stirling all who cherishedthe art, including the English musician, Dr. William Rogers.It was Lindsay of Pitscottie who accused the king ofdelighting more in music than " in the governance of hisrealm." His endowment of the Chapel Royal, which was tobe a music school, marks the epoch. The king also senthis minstrels abroad for further instruction, and we havean item in the Treasurer's Accounts for 1473 : " T o JohnneBroune, lutare, at his passage oure sey to lere his craft."
James IV (1488-1513) was a musician, and Young, theSomerset Herald says that on his wedding day he enter-tained his bride by performing on the claryshordes and lute.The latter instrument had now taken the place of the oldCeltic harp, the clairseach, and there were generally four orfive lutars at court in preference to harpers. During thisreign singers were introduced from Italy into the courtmusic, as well as taubroners and cornatt players from France,and harpers, trumpeters, and pipers from England. In thelist of the court minstrels appears the name of the famousBlind Harry, the " makkar " of the Wallace poem. Besidesthe above mentioned instruments, there are performerson the monochordis, fithel, schawm, quhissel, organ, andportative mentioned.
Gavin Douglas (died 1522), who lived at this time,mentions a number of instruments in his Police ofHonour :—
" On croud, lute, harp, with mony gudlie spring;Schaltnes, clariounes, portatiues, hard I ring,Monycord, organe, tympane, and cymbell,Sytholl, psalterie, and voices sweet as bell."
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That the minstrels of these days knew something ofmusical science appears to be hinted at by Gavin:—
" Proj>ortionis fine with sound celestiall,Duplat, tripled, diatesserial,Sesqui alter a, and dtcupla resortisDiapason of mony sindrie sortis."
And again:—" In modtdatioun hard I play and sing
Faburdoun, priksang, discard, countering.Cant organe, figuratioun, and gemmell;
On New Year's Day 1506-7, no fewer than sixty-ninepersons of the minstrel class received " rewards " from theking.
James V (1513-42) was himself a performer on the lute,and, like his predecessors, he continued to shower favourson his court minstrels. The Italian and French minstrelswere still prominent at court, and new instruments, suchas the swesch, viol, howboy, and bumbarde were introducedfrom abroad. Throughout the whole of this period we findthat the court band comprised about twenty minstrels,who were clothed and paid by the king, besides sundryitinerant minstrels who received " rewards," all of whichcompares favourably with the English court.
(ii) The Gentry.In imitation of the ways of the court, and also with a
view of maintaining some of the old feudal dignity andclan independence, the nobility had their minstrels. Weread of the Thane of Calder's harper (1502), the Countess ofCrawford's harper (1503), Lord SemphiU's harper (1504), andthe Laird of Balnagownis' harper (1512).
(iii) The Boroughs.Between 1497 and 1505 we find pipers and other
minstrels employed by Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Dumbarton,Biggar, Wigton, Glenluce, and other towns. They attendedthe civic functions, such as when the magistrates were afoot,and in some places played morning and evening. Whenfestival time came round they played at the mysteries andmoralities, which were the forerunners of the more modemstage plays. These pipers were not necessarily all bag-pipers. Some played on the shawm or wayght. In 1505,the " Four Italian piparis " at court played on shawms.
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(iv) The Church.Like the rest, the bishops and priors had their minstrels.
In 1507, the Bishop of Ross had his harper, as had also thePrior of Quhitherne. It is within the church that musicplayed so important a part at this period. James I(1424-37) is stated to have introduced " organs of improvedconstruction." At Aberdeen there is record of a salarypaid to a church organist in 1437, and in 1485 the citizensare taxed to defray the expenses of a new organ. In 1505,the Chapel Royal at Stirling had three organs, one of themwith wooden, and the other two with tin or lead pipes.
The modern method of fingering the keys of the organ,and indeed, the style of our modern keys, were quiteunknown in Scotland in these days. About 1520-30, theseinnovations appear to have been introduced into Scotlandby Sir John Futhy, who is described as " the first Organeistthat euer brought into Scotland the curious new fingeringand playing on Organs." The instrument was certainly inevidence in all the cathedrals.(v) The People.
In the sang schoils the youth of the country were taughtsinging, not only in the cathedral cities but also in thesmaller towns, even as far north as the Orkneys. Aberdeenhad the most famous of these schools, and it was here thatthe famous John Leslie, Bishop of Ross, taught.
Of the music of the common people, Scottish literatureabounds with references. In Colkelbie's Sow, where the folkmake revelry with song and dance, we are told:—
" . . . all the minstrallis attonis [at once]Blew up and playit for the nonis."
They played on quite rustic instruments, such as thefloyt (flute) of Diky Doyt, and the pype of Davy Doyte,which was made of a " borit bourtre."
Gavin Douglas, in his Virgil, says:—" Some sang ring-songs, dancis, ledis, and roundis,
With voices schil, quhil all the dale resoundis,Quhareto they walk into thare karoling,For amouris layis dois all the rochis ring."
" Thare thir birdis singis on thare schawis,As menstralis playis The joly day now dawis."
This last melody is mentioned by Dunbar (died circa 1520)in his satire on the Merchants of Edinburgh:—
" Your commone menstralis hes no tone,But Now the day dawis and Into joun."
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What strengthened the taste for music and dance withthe people at large was the influence of the wanderingminstrel, who was always given a hearty welcome at cottageand fair.
The Wandering Minstrels.With the return of James I in 1424, there began that
movement for the supremacy of the crown. It resulted ina stern and ruthless policy against the Lowland barons andHighland chiefs, with a view of bringing them to a tractableframe of mind. This policy was continued by his successors,and out of this attempt to enforce law and order there issueda decree against the wandering minstrel, who was lookedupon as a social and political danger.
In 1449, James II passed an act for the supression ofthese wanderers, which could scarcely have been a successsince in 1579, James VI had to pass another such act, andeven " Bluidy M'Kenzie" was operating with a similaredict a century later. The most disreputable of thesewanderers were, no doubt, eliminated, but the better class,despite the law, always found willing listeners, even at thecourt itself.
Influences.This was a period of new art theories. Two great music
schools were dominating Europe: The English School(1380-1536), and the Franco-Belgian School (1380-1594).
The English School had its pioneer in Dunstable, whohas been called " the father of counterpoint." The stayof James I in England coincided with the period when thisnew art was creating a stir. It is therefore not improbablethat the " new kind of music " which James is said to haveintroduced into Scotland, was what had been borrowed fromthe English School. That James was an accomplishedinstrumentalist cannot be doubted, and that he wasacquainted with the science of music, and composition,is explicitly stated. In 1646, the Italian writer Tassoni,in a work entitled Pensieti Diversi, speaks of James thus:" We may reckon among the moderns, James, King ofScotland, who not only composed sacred poems set to music,but also of himself invented (trovo) a new, melancholy, andplaintive kind of music, different from all other."
The English influence was probably continued by Dr.William Rogers, who is said to have been educated in thesame school (Cambridge) that produced Hanboys. Ferreriuscalls Rogers rarissimus musicus, and says that by bis
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excellent singing and performance on various instruments,so captivated James III, that he made him a knight. Theking planned that the Chapel Royal, which he had instituted,should be a College of Music, and probably Rogers was tohave been its principal. The assassination of Rogers put anend to this plan, although the school apparently did actuallyfunction, since Ferrerius clearly states that when he wrote(1529) there were people who boasted of having studied inthe schola of Rogers.
The Franco-Belgian School had taken up the theories ofthe English so effectively that they actually left theirmentors far behind. Political circumstances led to a closeunion between France and Scotland, and French influencebegan to make itself felt very markedly at this period. Inmere externals, such as language, the influence was quiteconsiderable. Institutions also became affected. Architectureand literary forms at this period reveal French styles, andwe must expect to find the stream flowing into music. Ina work of 1546 entitled The Boke named the Governour,the writer, enumerating some of the ancient dances, says:" In stede of these we have now Base daunces, bargenenethes,fyauyons, turgions, and roundes." Here the French influenceis clearly discerned. We see the same thing in theComplaynt of Scotlande, a contemporary work. Frenchminstrels were employed at the Scottish court during almostthe whole of this period. Instruments of French originshow themselves in the viol, hoyboy, curtail, cornett, andbatterie.
Flanders, which was allied to Scotland by commercialties, also influenced Scottish life. The court minstrels wereeven sent to Flanders " to learn their craft." The solitaryScottish treatise on music which has come down to usfrom this period is now in the British Museum (circa 1540).It relies mainly on the authority of the German Ornithoparchusand the Franco-Belgian Josquin des Pris.
Yet we must bear in mind that if France sent minstrelsto the Scottish court, the compliment was returned. Thecomposer to the French court of Henri II (1519) was WilliamCosteley, whilst the two favourite lute players of Henri IV(1553) were James and Charles Hedington, all of whomhave been claimed as Scots.
Although Scotland took advantage of the musical cultureof other countries, she was able, in turn, to influence others.The Italian Tassoni, already referred to, says that it wasthe " new kind of music " from Scotland that was imitatedby Carlo Gesualda, the Prince of Venosa, " who in our age,"
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he says, " has improved music with new and admirableinventions." Italy gave the Scottish court some minstrels,but some of these, such as the Drummonds, were probablythe descendants of Scots who had settled in Italy. Indeed,in the Frottole of Petrucci (1466-1539) there are fiveworks by a certain Paulus Scotus. Could he have been oneof the schola of Dt. William Rogers who had settled in Italy ?Petrucci handed over his printing business about 1513 toAmadeo Scotti (Scotus). Other famous music printers ofVenice during this century were Ottaviano Scotto (Scotus)and Girolamo Scotto.
Of Scottish musical compositions of the period, verylittle has survived. As Davy says: " Doubtless thecompositions of the old Scottish school—from James Ionwards—perished largely in the general confusion anddevastation " of the Reformation, although, at the presenttime, diligent search is being made in continental libraries,and promising results are predicted. Indeed, when ThomasWood the compiler of the St. Andrew's Psalter wrote (1566),the taste for music had already declined. He says: " Ihave said . . . that Musik will pereishe. . . . We se beexperiance that craft nor syence is not learnit bot to theend he may leiue be it quhen he has the craft or science;and if Dr. Farfax [Fairfax] wer alyue in this cuntry hewald be contemmit, and pereise for layk of mentinance;and sa of neid force it man dikeay."
What a loss we have suffered in the disappearance of thoseilluminated music books of the Chapel Royal, painted, itwould seem, by so excellent an artist as Sir ThomasGalbraith (?) What has become of the sang-book by Wilzeanof Lithgow for which James IV paid £10 ?
We certainly have the Scone Antiphonary {circa 1546),now in the National Library at Edinburgh, which containssufficient evidence of the ability of Scottish composers atthis period. Among other items, this MS. contains a motet" O bone Jesu," for nineteen voices, composed by a certainRobert Carver, Canonicus of the Abbey of Scone. Thiswork, for beauty and originality, will probably standcomparison with any of its kind.
The famous St. Andrew's Psalter (1566) is anothersilent witness to the greatness of Scotland's pre-Reformationmusic. It comprises five part-books, three being preservedat Edinburgh University, and a fourth in the British Museum,whilst a supplementary volume is in the Library of TrinityCollege, Dublin. The composers of the music of the psaherare John Angus {circa 1515-97), David Peebles (died 1579),
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Sir John Futhy (circa 1532-92), Andrew Kemp {circa 1570)Andrew Blackball (died 1609), and Robert Johnson, whofled to England " lang before the Reformation." Theyare described by Edward Miller, the compiler of the ScottishPsalter of 1635, as " the primest musicians that ever thiskingdom had." The best work in the 5/. Andrew'sPsalter is to be found in the canticles, notably the one infive parts entitled " Si quis diliget me," composed by Peeblesfor James V in 1530. Johnson composed the hymn " Dominein virtute " in five parts in this psalter. He was to shedlustre on English church music.
The British Museum MS. treatise on music entitled TheArt of Music colledit out of all ancient Dodouris of Mustek,also contains examples of motets and magnificats, as wellas a complete mass for four voices in score.
In summing up the results of the " Golden Age" asreflected in music, it is not too much to say that hereScotland reached her zenith. Every phrase of her musicallife testifies to that. The compositions of Carver, Johnson,and those in the St. Andrew's Psalter speak volumes.As for secular music, the instrumental pieces attached tothe above psalter, the poetry of the period, the number ofmusicians attached to the court, castle, and borough, andthe cultivation of the sang schoils, show that Scotland wasprobably abreast of European culture in music.
DISCUSSION.THE CHAIRMAN : We have listened to an extremely eruditepaper of the greatest possible interest, on a subject whichI expect very few of us know anything about. But I believethere axe one or two people present who are specialists. Ihope Sir Richard Terry has something to say on the subject.
SIR RICHARD TERRY : It is rather embarrassing to beappealed to as a specialist. I can only claim to be an" interested party" in a profoundly interesting subject
The first thing that strikes one is that in the matter ofher music, Scotland (I speak under correction) seems to havebeen continually wiping the slate and beginning afresh.
What the lecturer says about Celtic culture is very true.When Scottish culture was Celtic she shared the amenitiesof it with France, Cambria and Hibernia. When the Celticpredominance was on the wane we hear no more about thisCeltic culture in music so far as Scotland is concerned.
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Similarly with regard to the music of the Minstrels. Ofcourse, the trouble with any European music of that periodis that we have all the academic stuff preserved ; we havealso a remarkably complete corpus of Church Music; butof the real music of the people we have very little record.Stringed music has been employed from time immemorial,but it was not until the sixteenth century that we had any-thing like written music for strings; and, as to the windinstruments employed with them, I have not found anythingto indicate what they did,—whether they doubled the stringsor played independently.
It is true that the Reformation has been blamed for thewholesale destruction of Choir-books, and no doubt Scotlanddid lose valuable music at that period and from that cause.But we have to remember that the same destruction tookplace in England, and that—in spite of it—the English (withwhom Scottish Musicians would appear to have been in closetouch) have left quite a number of musical monuments whiletheir Scottish contemporaries have left practically none.I make one exception,—that of Robert Johnson.
About thirty years ago it was news to me to findthat there had been a sixteenth century Scottish composerof that name. Unfortunately very little of his music hassurvived, but I think I have scored and performed all thatis known. But even Robert Johnson can hardly be termeda typical Scottish composer. The traces of English influencein his music are very strong. Looking carefully through hismusic you might almost imagine it to have been writtenby the Englishman John Shepherd. The fluency ofJohnson's counterpoint and the general lay-out of hismotets is strikingly like Shepherd, and is distinctly Englishin character.
I know that this argument will have small appeal to themodern musician to whom all polyphonic music sounds" exactly alike," and who would assert that there was there-fore nothing remarkable about Johnson and Shepherd" sounding exactly alike." But the student of polyphonicmusic does know that the individuality of composers wasthen as marked as it is to-day. Compare Shepherd's musicwith that of his Italian contemporary Palestrina, his Spanishcontemporary Morales, or his Flemish contemporary di Lasso,and you will note its marked difference in style from all andeach of them. Such Scottish music as has come down tous shows none of these differences and seems to me to havebeen wholly inspired by the English.
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Again, Scotland seems to have " wiped the slate " in thevery important matter of secular music. Of course aquantity of admirable dance music has been handed downtraditionally, but any concerted secular music (Madrigals,Ayres etc.) of equal distinction with Johnson's ecclesiasticalcompositions is conspicuous by its absence.
The one form of music in which Scotland is especially richis her folk-songs. But she did not seem to be able to enjoyeven her folk-songs without applying the slate-wiping processto them also.
Let me explain:—Robert Burns occupied himself largelyin setting new words to the old traditional folk-tunes. Healways headed his poem with the name of the particular airto which it was to be sung. His poems have become immortaland have ousted the original words of these folk-songs.Under the glamour of Burns' new words, Scotsmen ceasedto sing the old originals, and a priceless heritage of nationalfolk-ballads and folk-poems is lost to us forever.
In fact, music in Scotland does not, to my mind, seemto have stood on the same solid basis as other forms of culture.The pursuit of learning in Scotland has always been anational one. Long before the English yokel had learnt to readand write decently, every village boy in Scotland could studythe ancient classics in his village school. In that respect weEnglish must take off our hats to Scotland, but sofar as I have observed it would seem as though Scotlandnever took her music seriously enough to evolve anythingbeyond her folk-songs; never took herself seriously enoughto follow out any other musical form to its logical conclusion.
The history of Scottish music is full of paradoxes. Mostof us are old enough to have caught echoes of the furiousopposition to instrumental music in the Kirk. This wassupposed to be a protest against " Popish practices," andit is only in modern times that Scottish church music hasceased to be exclusively vocal. As a matter of actual fact,whatever it may have become in practice, the music of" the Popish church" is in theory exclusively vocal also.Instruments are only legislated for by being spoken of as" permitted." In the Pope's own chapel no instrumentalmusic has ever been heard. So in her Presbyterian protestagainst the " Kist o' whustles " Scotland was really revertingto a distinctly " Popish" practice.
But to come back to the point from which I started,—when any particular influence has been withdrawn fromScotland, the form of music engendered by that influenceseems to have disappeared too. If you take Scottish counter-
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point of the early sixteenth century (as you find it in RobertJohnson) it is flowing, it is skilful, it is effortless, it is con-vincing, it achieves real distinction.
But when we come to the " Scottish Psalter" of theseventeenth century things are very different. The Psalterwas finally completed—as to its words and music—in 1635and the musical student is confronted with the curious factthat a country which could produce such polished counter-point as that of Robert Johnson should—in the nextcentury—produce a Psalter in which the counterpoint isdecrepit to a degree.
Please do not think that I underrate the importance ofthe Scottish Psalter. That now neglected book is in certainrespects a very great work. But one cannot help sayingthat its contents show a marked decline in contrapuntal skill.
The Psalter is divided into three sections. First come" The Common Tunes " which could be used to any wordsthat were in-"Ballad Metre." Lastly comes the psalterproper, with the " proper " tunes to which the psalms weresung. Between these two divisions come the " Psalms inReports." These Psalms in Reports are nothing more thanshort motets with the melody of some " proper " psalm asthe canto fermo. As these motets have no words, the modemstudent may well enquire how on earth they were sung.
The explanation would seem to be this:—The professionalchoirmen of the pre-Reformation period guarded the mys-teries of their craft as jealously as any other mediaeval guild.They knew all about the intricacies of text-underlaying.So when the disciples of John Knox compiled their Psalter(skilled singing having been almost banished from publicworship) they came forward with a sop to the old singersand offered them the Psalms in Reports where they couldexercise their skill and show that they knew something whichthe new singers did not. A distinctly pawky piece of Scottishhumour which seems to prove (as I have several times saidin print) that Knox's disciples were not such " dour " bodiesas is popularly supposed.
While I am on the subject of the Scottish Psalter I mayperhaps say that in one respect it sets an example whichall subsequent psalters (especially the English ones) wouldhave done well to follow. The English psalters are character-ised by the monotonous preponderance of Ballad Metre.In the Scottish Psalter you find as much variety and freedomof rhythm and metre as in the German chorales. After youhave eliminated the ordinary rpetres (L.M., S.M. and CM.),there still remain thirty-five varieties in the Scottish Psalter.
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I will not detain you with further details of what I havecome to regard as a remarkable book. But what seems tome equally remarkable is the fact that Scotland has allowedsuch a distinctively national musical monument to fall intooblivion. The absence of the fine tunes of the old Psalterfrom modern Scottish hymn-books (the present Scottish" Psalter in Metre " includes only thirteen out of the 226old tunes) would seem to indicate that—in music at anyrate—Scotland has not abandoned her old habit of " wipingthe slate."
Mr. Fox: There ,was a Robert Johnson who wrote amadrigal in " The Triumphs of Oriana." Is that the same ?
Sir RICHARD TERRY : There are two Robert Johnsonsand it is very doubtful which wrote what. But the one thelecturer alluded to did practise so successfully that he wasdenounced as a heretic and had to fly to England for pro-tection.
CHAIRMAN : That is not the Robert Johnson who wrotemusic for Masques in the time of James I of England ?
Dr. FARMER: NO.CHAIRMAN : I should like to ask what is the authority
for Costeley being a Scotsman. I have seen it mentionedthat he was a Scotsman, but I have never found any definiteindication of his birth.
Dr. FARMER : I cannot recall at the moment, but I willlook it up when I go home. These lecture notes are justscattered leaves from an unfinished book of mine. I willbear the question in mind.
CHAIRMAN : I have never been able to trace it definitely.I wondered what the authority for it was. I think itis alluded to by English writers; Grove's Dictionary andothers, but I find no mention of it in the Frenchauthorities.
(Dr. FARMER : Later. My " authority " appears to havebeen Fe"tis, Grove, Brown and Stratton.)
CHAIRMAN : When was music printing introduced intoScotland ?
Dr. FARMER : I cannot, at the moment, give the precisedate for music printing, but 1477 is the first English datefor ordinary printing, and 1507 saw the first printer inScotland, i.e. thirty years after. Music printing came later.(Later. The earliest example of music printing in Scotlandis The Forme of Prayers printed at Edinburgh by RobertLekprevik in 1564.)
8 Vol. 56
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Major HOBY: The question arose two or three lecturesback. It is only a small matter. What is the actual dateof the introduction of the bagpipe into Scotland, and is ittrue that it apparently came through England and foundits way into Scotland.?
Dr. FARMER : I think we have an earlier trace in Englandof the bagpipe. I know we consider it in Scotland to be anold martial instrument. We have no reference to it earlierthan Harlaw, and even then the older chroniclers refer tothe (see Barbour's Brus) drum and trumpet. At Bannock-burn (1337) we have reference to " horns " but when weget to Harlaw (1411) " trumpets and drums " are mentionedThe bagpipe was a later introduction into Scottish martialmusic, I think.
Mr. DOUGLAS : 1411, I think.Miss LAKE : Geoffrey of Monmouth mentions the bag-
pipes as being Welsh, not Scottish.Dr. FROGGATT : All evidence seems to prove that in the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the standard of civilisationin Scotland was very much lower than in England or France.We know that in more recent times in the eighteenth andearly nineteenth century education was much more advancedin Scotland than in England, but I do not think that canpossibly be supposed to apply to the fifteenth and sixteenthcenturies. For instance, we are told that when James VIwanted to receive the foreign ambassadors and to appearat his best before them, he had to borrow a pair of silkstockings from the Earl of Mar because such things wereunknown in Scotland at the time.
Another thing seems to point to the same conclusion :when you think of the extraordinary wealth of masses andmadrigals and motets in England, Flanders and Italy duringthe whole of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, in Scotlandyou have practically nothing. The motet of Carver in nine-teen parts seems to have been a sort of oasis in the desert.
Dr. FARMER : In reply to Dr. Froggatt, I stopped beforethe period of the madrigals, at the period before Byrd, Whyte,Tallis, Orlando Gibbons and so forth. I am stopping at themid-sixteenth century. Of course, in the thirteenth andfourteenth centuries we have nobody in England.
Sir RICHARD TERRY : Did you say in England, sir ?Dr. FARMER : In England, yes. I know we have theorists.
I am not referring to Walter Odington and so forth.Sir RICHARD TERRY : There was a lecture delivered here
some years ago (the last time I was here) concerning a MS.
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now at Eton College. It contains a large number of highlyelaborate works by Englishmen. The composers' namesare given, and some of them belong to the fifteenth century.The Eton example is one of many.
CHAIRMAN: The "Old Hall" MS. tooSir RICHARD TERRY : Of course. The " Old Hall " MS.
dates from about 1450*. I merely mentioned the Eton MS.because it had already been spoken of here. But, of course,one could give many other MSS. which prove the existenceof skilled English composers even of the fourteenth century.In fact, the lecturer said himself that the Flemings learnttheir business from the English.
Dr. FARMER: I mentioned Dunstable, of course, andFairfax.
Sir RICHARD TERRY : Fairfax was much later. Thereis quite a long string of English composers. I have scoredtheir works so I may presume to know something about them.
Dr. FARMER : I know that Fairfax was later thanDunstable. The latter died in 1453, and the former in 1523.{Later. Sir Richard and the Chairman mention the Etonand "Old Hall" MSS., both of the fifteenth century. I saidthat we had nobody in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.There are fragments in the Worcester MSS., but outside ofthese, I was quite unaware that there are " many other MSS.where there are a host of composers in England in the four-teenth century.")
CHAIRMAN : If no one has any remarks to contributefurther to the discussion, I might express our warmest thanksto Dr. Farmer for his most interesting paper. It has beena great pleasure to us to have him here this afternoon. Asyou all know, he is an extremely learned authority on thehistory of military music, and also on Arabic music. I shouldlike to hear him on either of those two subjects as well, andI hope perhaps someday we may.
Sir RICHARD TERRY : As I may have appeared to bea critic of the lecturer, may I ask to be allowed tosecond very heartily the vote of thanks to him. If onehas had to disagree on certain minor points, I should verymuch like to say how stimulating his paper has been and
*The Old Hall MS. contains Masses and other important com-positions under such names as Dunstable, Lionel, Cooke, Bleyn,Sturgeon, Damett, Burrell, King Henry VI, Gyttering, Tyes, Excetre,Picard, Rowland, Queldrick, Gervase, Fonteyns, Oliver, Chirbury,Typp, Forest, Swynford, Pennard, Lamb, Mayshut. (R.R.T.)
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how much we thank him for it. He has given us all somethingto think about, and I very heartily second this vote of thanksto him.
Dr. FARMER : I thank you very much for your very kindwords of appreciation. I really ought to confess why thispaper was read to you. These studies began many yearsago when I was an undergraduate, and I have had to furbishup my memory concerning Scottish music to come downand address you to-day. Fourteen or fifteen years ago Istarted to write a book about it, and since then the subjecthas been a blank with me until I had the invitation fromyour Secretary. I have trotted out my old stuff for thisoccasion, but for the past fifteen years I have been immersedin Arabic MSS., so if I have not come up to the scratch, Ihope you will forgive me for any shortcomings in my paperthis afternoon.
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