The Dregy of Dunbar

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

The Dregy of Dunbar is a humorous poem in Scots and Latin written by William Dunbar, who was born around 1459–60. The date of its composition is unknown. The poem is a playful appeal to King James IV to come back from Stirling to Edinburgh, where his courtiers say life is more pleasant. It spoofs the Office of the Dead, a ritual prayer for souls in Purgatory, by treating Stirling as purgatory and Edinburgh as Heaven.

In the poem, Edinburgh’s courtiers joke that Stirling is dull, strict, and uncheerful, while Edinburgh offers luxury and refined pleasures. Stirling is described as a place of penance and hardship, and the Edinburgh side writes to their Stirling friends as if they were hermits who must dine poorly and lack good company. To cheer the Stirling folk up, the Edinburgh writers propose a Dirge to help them move from their “painful purgatory” to Edinburgh’s joy.

The work has three lessons and three responses. At first, it seems to address the whole court, but it becomes clear that Dunbar may be speaking directly to the king. The first lesson asks the heavenly court to carry the Stirling courtiers from their pain to Edinburgh’s many good things. The second lesson asks God and Saint Giles to bring the Stirling court to comfort and delight, focusing on Edinburgh’s fine foods and wines. The third lesson, the longest, calls on all the saints and ends with a more direct appeal to the king to return home, abandoning penance, before Christmas. The third response again mocks Stirling’s gloom and its poor fare, and the king is urged twice to “come home.”

The poem ends with a mock Latin prayer and uses a style reminiscent of the Office of the Dead, blending with phrases from the Lord’s Prayer and the Requiem. Stirling is repeatedly rated as dreary compared with Edinburgh.

Translations of the poem were prepared in the 20th century by William Mackay Mackenzie. After Edinburgh, Stirling became James IV’s favored residence, and Stirling Castle saw major building work during his reign. The king spent Easter at Stirling’s Franciscan friary, which he had founded. The Franciscans’ frugal way of life may help explain why the poem’s references to penance and abstinence sound especially telling.