C.D. Warner, et al., comp.
The Library of the World’s Best Literature. An Anthology in Thirty Volumes. 1917.
William Dunbar (1460?–1520?)
Dunbar, William. A renowned Scottish poet; born at Salton in Lothian, about 1460?; died about 1520?. He was a Franciscan friar, but later became a priest and was often employed by James IV. in affairs of State. Among his works is the panegyric poem ‘The Thistle and the Rose,’ written (1503) on the marriage of James with Margaret of England; ‘The Golden Targe’ (1508), consisting of allegories in the fashion of the time and of Chaucer. He is at his best in burlesque poetry, as witness the autobiographical ‘Visitation of St. Francis.’ (See Critical and Biographical Introduction).