Chapter Hemans to Henryson of H by Biographical Dictionary of English Literature

Henryson, Robert (1430?-1506?).—Scottish poet. Few details of his life are known, even the dates of his birth and death being uncertain. He appears to have been a schoolmaster, perhaps in the Benedictine Convent, at Dunfermline, and was a member of the University of Glasgow in 1462. He also practised as a Notary Public, and may have been in orders. His principal poems are The Moral Fables of Esope the Phrygian, The Testament of Cresseide, a sequel to the Troilus and Cressida of Chaucer, to whom it was, until 1721, attributed, Robene and Makyne, the first pastoral, not only in Scottish vernacular, but in the English tongue, The Uplandis Mous and The Burges Mous (Country and Town Mouse), and the Garmond of Gude Ladeis. Henryson, who was versed in the learning and general culture of his day, had a true poetic gift. His verse is strong and swift, full of descriptive power, and sparkling with wit. He is the first Scottish lyrist and the introducer of the pastoral to English literature.