Panegyris Ad Serenissimum Potentissimumque Regem Iacobum VI, Perthanam urbem ingredientem v Cal Iunias 1580

Frustratingly little is known about Henry Anderson, who is fascinating both as an example of a merchant burgess who was highly literate in Latin, and as a poet who wrote verses celebrating James VI and I almost four decades apart. Anderson was the son of the merchant John Anderson senior, and both Henry and his brother Robert followed in their father's footsteps. All three also served the kirk extensively as elders, with Henry serving almost annually between 1589 and 1603; he also sat on the town council in 1596 and 1598-1600, and went to parliament as Perth's representative in 1596. Henry was designated as 'Mr', and is very likely the 'Henricus Andersoun' who matriculated at St Leonard's College in St Andrews in 1576; he is probably also the Henry Anderson who appeared with Helen Coll, or Colt, to proclaim their marriage banns before the Perth kirk session on 6 May 1588, and whose testament was registered in Perth on 9 June 1627 (see J.M. Anderson, Early Records of the University of St Andrews (Edinburgh, 1926), p. 289); Robert Smart, Biographical Register of the University of St Andrews, 1579-1747 (St Andrews, 2012), s.v. 'Anderson'; Margo Todd (ed.), The Perth Kirk Session Books 1577-1590 (Scottish History Society, 2012), pp. 396, 464-465).

Adamson's only known published works outwith the DPS are the small collection of poems in The Muses Welcome to the High and Mightie Prince James ... at his Maiestie's happy return (Edinburgh, 1618), pp. 142-150, two of which are reprinted here (d1_AndH_003 and d1_AndH_004). It is unknown if this poem, which marked James' entry to the burgh in 1580 and which is Anderson's earliest known piece, was published at the time. However, Anderson's only other known poem, which also appeared in The Muses Welcome (p. 149; it was not reprinted in the DPS), was addressed to the king in the name of 'Pons Perthanus, Subsidii expectantissimus' ('Perth Bridge, in strong expectation of financial support'). Its plea for funds reflects one of the central themes of this piece, along with thanks given to James for funding already provided in the course of the 1570s to aid its repair (see lines 73-96, 128-144). Perth Bridge was continually prone to flooding, and James would provide a range of support measures (in terms of both finance and personnel) to repair the bridge over the course of his reign (for further details, see notes below). The poem also has an underlying current of anti-Catholic rhetoric (particularly at lines 185-212), which reflect Anderson's strong Protestant sensibilities. Metre: hexameter.

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PANEGYRIS, Ad Serenissimum Potentissimumque Regem IACOBUM VI, Perthanam urbem ingredientem v Cal. Iunias, c I ɔ I ɔ LXXX

1Clarior Oceano radiis insigne decoris
exere Phaebe caput, 1 roseoque invectus Olympo
pulchrius auricomum diffunde per aera lumen
pulchrior, insuetoque novum splendore refulgens
5erige flammiferos caeli super currus:
indomitumque furens rabiosa licentia ponti 2
murmura componat: mollique Favonius aura
leniter aspirans, placidisque innoxius alis
aerios tepido verrat spiramine campos.

10O decus, o placidae numen memorabile 3 lucis!
O praeclara dies, niveis argentea pennis 4
quae columen regni, et magni venerabile mundi
huc jubar in nostram foeliciter advehis urbem!
Tu (nisi vana meam ludunt praesagia mentem) 5
15inclyta perpetuis lux annumerabere fastis.

Ergo (Pater patriae, terrae spes alta Britannae,
et gentis lux alma tuae) post dira tuorum
funera, post rabidas ferri, flammaeque procellas,
et miseras variis exhaustas cladibus urbes, 6
20quem Deus in solium miserans erexit avitum,
et patrio teneros cinxit diademate crines,
quem validis late populis praefecit, et alto
subjecit domitans Mavortia pectora sceptro,
clara Caledoniae qua se plaga porrigit orae,
25et gravido insignem complectitur ubere gentem,
exoptatus ades, Rex invictissime, vultus
hospita terra tuos alacri placidissima mente
Link to an image of this page  [p19] suspicit; et meritos venienti instaurat honores.
Tu vero facili patriam dignabere gentem
30lumine, et antiqua repetens ab origine cives
antiquos agnosce, tuamque advectus in urbem
exiguis ingens succede penatibus hospes.
Atque alacres animos ardore accensus amico
aspicias, qui te (tendes quocunque) sequemur
35per rigidos casus; per saeva pericula, quorum
tu decus et sancti mensura novissima voti.

Sed neque quas rapidis fundit Pactolus arenis, 7
aut Tagus, aut rutilo ditissimus agmine Ganges,
degeneres sperabis opes: sine munera tantum
40ista agitent curvas telluris ad intima mentes,
tu faciles animos, et jussa capescere 8 promptos,
si quando te fata vocent, et prodiga vitae
pectora; 9 cum rebus Mavors terrebit in arctis
et dira audaces in praelia suggeret hostes,
45pro summis alacris, Patriae pater, accipe donis:
ista per ignotas surgat tibi didita gentes
gloria, et extremas penetret celeberrima terras.

nec tibi tam multae merita in praeconia linguae
sufficiunt, nec nos satis admiramur honores
50rex invicte tuos: verum (circumspice) passim
ipsa tibi vultu tellus applaudit ovanti
Dedala; cernis enim ut rerum Natura 10 decoros
omniparo 11 foecunda sinu profundat honores:
ut stupefacta suo testentur gaudia plausu
55Maenia, ceu molli Saturnia germine regna;
et nova mutatis accedant secula rebus. 12
nec non et fremitu dextra laevaque secundo
emicat et blando circumsonat aera plausu:
cum populo patribusque animis sincera benignis
60plebs ruit, atque libens coetum glomeratur in unum, 13
ut placide sua colla tuis submittat habenis.

Quin etiam occiduas urbs qua declinat ad oras,
qua medio nitet orbe dies, qua turbidus alto
nubila ab axe fugat Boreas, placidissima campos
65explicat, et longo dimensos limite claudit,
quo te laeta cohors studiis invitat amicis:
Link to an image of this page  [p20] seu te cornipedum capiat certamen equorum: 14
seu juvet ardenti volitantes flectere gyro:
seu saltu, aut volucri per mollia tendere cursu
70gramina: seu melior veterem sententia luctam
suadeat: aut cum tu scenis indulseris: aut cum
spicula limato direxeris eminus arcu.

Nec minus et partes (Rex) aspice lenis eoas,
quas placidis insignis aquis Taus alluit alto
75flumine per foetas viridanti gramine ripas 15
cultaque foecundo se gurgite praedia volvens,
hic tibi verticibus pons eminet arduus altis,
et decurrentes undeno fornice lymphas 16
circuit; et curvos late falcatus in arcus, 17
80non uno vastum gremio complectitur amnem:
quem fortuna licet diris inimica procellis
concussit, casuque nimis tremefecit acerbo:
at tua tam praesens dubiis solertia rebus,
(quem nec sera dies, nec saecula longa filebunt)
85quas prior atrocis truculentia sustulit undae,
cautibus excisas evexit in alta columnas:
et pulchra placidam junxit testudine molem.

Quos 18 tibi pro tantis solvent Perthensia grates
agmina muneribus? quas integra denique solvet
90ipsa metalliferis uberrima Scotia venis?
Attamen haud unquam immemores nos arguet aetas
ulla, 19 sed haec inter tanto res auspice gestas
ignotum late vivent aeterna per orbem,
qua sua Sol terris diffundit amica repostis
95lumina, si quicquam longinqua per oppida 20 possit
Delius, et castae potis Lebethrides undis.

Tu pia praeterea sancti penetralia templi,
quae divina sonant sacri mysteria verbi,
consilio stipatus adi, populique frequentis
100consessu medius, solioque insignis in alto
suppliciter pius aeternum in tua vota parentem
intemerata voca: et tanto defunctus honore
ad tua regifico laqueata palatia luxu 21
tende libens; hilarique tuos dignare clientes
105alloquio; et dictis affare benignus amicis.
Link to an image of this page  [p21] Neu fugias urbis nulli pietate secundae
hospitium, tibi quae sanctos promptissima fasces
subjicit, et densis celeberrima coetibus ambit.

Si seriem a prima repetamus origine rerum, 22
110et juvet annales nostraeque et gentis et urbis
agnovisse tuae primordia, et inclyta fastis
tempora, et ambiguos post tot modo saecula casus,
fortuna variante levesque iterante recursus;
prisca Britannorum superabit tempora Regum.
115Quos Picti Australem profugos egere 23 sub axem,
cum sedes posuere suas Almonis ad alti
ostia, qua veteris direpta palatia Berthae
permodicis monstrantur aquis; et in aggere ripae, 24
qua Taus Almonem spumantibus excipit undis;
120oceani nec amarus aquis nec flumine largo
impetuosus agros nisi cum furiosus inundat.
Hic bissena suo postquam revoluta videret
saecula circuitu, donec res Pictica regno
floruerat, vixdum socias discordia gentes
125effera 25 divulsit, Pictisque infesta cruentam
exilii molita viam, jam Marte secundo
Scota triumphatis successit adorea Pictis.

At simul ac rerum summas Gulielmus habenas
iam senior placida compostas pace regebat;
130(heu quoties insperato miscentur amaro
dulcia, et indignis placidissima mella venenis!)
Indomito ferus amne Taus, ferus ingruit Almon,
cum tegeret nox atra polum, cum forte furentes
iam vires augeret hyems, metuenda procellis
135tristibus; ah miseris afflixit cladibus urbem
saevior, et rerum crudelibus obruit undis
haud partem exiguam, et sub gurgite mersit atroci.

Ergo Pater patriae casum miseratus acerbum
huc cives indigna suos tot funera passos,
140relliquias urbis miserae monumenta ruinae
transtulit in pulchrae vallem virtutis amaenam:
qua Taus, atque idem auspiciis melioribus Almon,
compositis fraenantur aquis, positoque furore
alta serenatis volvuntur in aequora lymphis.
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145Quid memorem placidosque sinus, quid strata viarum
iucundo porrecta situ? Turritaque blando
maenia circuitu sublimibus ardua pinnis?
quid populum sanctosque patres, veneranda Senatus
agmina, conspicuoque graves in honore ministros,
150qui sacra pervigili celebrant solennia cura?
Quid fora? Quid sacram venerandae Palladis aedem?
Quid placidos juvenum coetus, gentemque togatam?
Quid mercatorum pulchras splendore catervas?
Artificumque tribus, lectissimaque agmina vulgi
155ordinibus discreta suis, per compita certis
in seriem digesta locis? quid templa columnis
ardua, pyramidisque erectam ad sidera turrim
instar: Apollineoque sonantia cymbola cantu,
tam placidis variata sonis, tantoque fragore
160eminus aerias jactu quatientia nubes?
Si quando pia sacra vocant populumque patresque
in commune jubet respublica provida curis
consuluisse suis: seu cum Paeane canoro
laetitiae dare signa novae gratissimus ardet
165coetus; et applausu Regis patriaeque saluti:
quam merito gratatur ovans noctemque diemque
laeta cohors celebrat, tenebras et inertia noctis
frigora Vulcano flammis superante coruscis:
o genio faelice diem! Quid amoena theatra
170innumeris foecunda jocis? Quid avita parentum
gesta, per externas recolam Mavortia gentes?
Quid domitum ferro Cimbrum? Quid Saxonis iram,
quae toties caesis viduavit civibus urbem,
inque vicem nostri toties vim pertulit ensis?
175Cum Bellona ferox nostras in mutua gentes
funere vah furiis armaret atrocibus: eheu
regna Britannorum regnis contraria tanto
in ferrum rabide libuit concurrere motu!
quae sceptrum coitura brevi speramus in unum,
180ceu veterum sacra promittunt oracula vatum,
*quae Cadavalliaci rata sanguinis ultimus haeres
26 sceptra Britanna tenens, duroque subactus ab hoste
Link to an image of this page  [p23] praedixit, jussitque suos sperare nepotes:
iam tibi Rex genioque tuo data fata reposcunt.

185Haec quoque prima novo surgentem lumine Christum
faelici complexa sinu, domibusque superbis
agmina sacrilegae decussit inertia Romae.
Neve voluptatum blandis allecta ministris
posteritas ignava, novo descisceret ausu,
190atria nequicquam vanis distincta figuris,
tectaque et infames cineri permiscuit aras.

nunc eadem tibi prona pedes procumbit ad imos
adventum gratata tuum; tibi fausta precatur.
Tu facili pia vota animo (pulcherrime rerum)
195suscipe, nec placidas averte precantibus aures.

Sic tua per terras virtus faeliciter altas
radices agat, et justo succrescat honore
integra, et attonitas immenso nomine gentes 27
concutiat: sic te (dum magnum attingis Olympum
200vertice) primaevae vernantem flore juventae
aeterna subnixa Deo pietasque fidesque
imbuat, et recto properantem tramite sistat.
Sic ductum mirata tuum clarissima rerum
Scotia, foetentes vitiorum exosa lacunas,
205immundo sanctos avertat ab agmine vultus.
Quin et Tenariae letalia pocula Lernae,
quae jam multa triceps Romanae Cerberus aulae
ebria per vasti diffudit climata mundi,
effugiat: castumque sacrae virtutis amorem,
210et monstrante pio grato praecone salutem
fontibus e vivis, sacrique volumine verbi
hauriat. Ecce autem roseo pulcherrima vultu
ipsa suas tibi sydereo de vertice Pallas
mandat amica vices, ut tristibus horrida dumis
215semita, quae niveae celsam virtutis in arcem
per rigidos scopulos, per scabra crepidine tesqua
ducit, et aethereos cursum commonstrat in orbes
auspiciis mollita tuis, clarescere cunctis
incipiat populis, Clariaeque virescere Lauri
220gloria, et excusso (duce te Rex magne) veterno 28
iustior accendat resides solertia mentes.
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Haec ubi tranquilla maturum aetate gerentem,
et placidum serae compostum pace senectae
videris, o dextro Mavortia numine faelix
225Scotia, jam demum bellis pacata quietis
226Scotia faelici quantum gaudebis alumno!

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A panegyric to the most serene and powerful King James VI, upon entering the city of Perth five days before the calends of June 1580

1Bright Phoebus, lift up from the ocean your head distinguished by its brilliant rays, and after you have been borne into rosy Olympus, beautifully extend your beautiful golden-haired light through the sky, and as you shine your new light with its unaccustomed splendour, direct your flame-bearing chariot over heaven's court; and may the sea's dissolution, raging uncontrollably, set aside its fierce roars; and, as it gently blows with a soft breeze, may the West Wind sweep harmlessly on pleasant wings across the airy plains with a warming breath.

10O glory, o remarkable divinity of a pleasing light, o outstanding day, white on snowy wings, who is the zenith of our kingdom, and the praise-worthy brilliance of the great universe, happily do you come hence to our city! Unless worthless prophecies trick my mind, you will be added to the fasti a for ever, o glorious day!

16Therefore, father of the fatherland, high hope of Britain, and nourishing light of your nation, having been long hoped-for you are here - you whom God in his pity - after the many bitter deaths of your people and savage disasters of sword and flame, and the wretched cities were worn down by many calamities - placed upon your ancestral throne, and whose tender hair God bound with your native crown, whom God made commander over powerful peoples far and wide, and he subjected and tamed martial hearts with his high sceptre, where the famous region of the Caledonian shore extends itself, and contains a breed marked out by its rich fertility. This welcoming and most pleasing land receives your presence with eagerness;Link to an image of this page  [p19]and may it convey honours worthy for you on your arrival. For you will deem your native race worthy of your favourable light, and as you return ackowledge your old citizen from your ancient stock, and upon your return to your city, enter our meagre homes as our great guest. Also, fired with a befriending passion, may you regard us ready spirits, who will follow you (wherever you lead) through harsh misfortunes, through fierce dangers; you are the glory and utmost extent of our sacred wishes.

37Yet you will not expect the ignoble riches that either the Pactolus expels from its swift sands, or the Tagus, or that which the very rich Ganges expels from its golden currents. b Let those sorts of rewards excite minds stooped only towards the bowels of the earth. Receive those minds ready and eager to follow orders and hearts hungry for life, whenever the fates summon you; instead of money receive these ready gifts, father of the fatherland, whenever Mars threatens in Northern affairs and rouses the audacious enemy into wretched wars; and may that glory rise up for you and spread abroad among unknown tribes, and may it breach the farthest reaches of the earth en masse.

48There are not enough tongues to supply praises worthy of you, nor do we sufficiently appreciate your glories, o unconquerable king. Look around you: truly everywhere the skilful earth itself applauds with an approving look; indeed you can see that the nature of the universe richly pours forth her charming glories from her all-producing bosom; and that her thunderstruck walls in heaven attest their joy with their own clap, just as the Saturnian Kingdom attests with its gentle child; and that a new age has come and the universe has changed! c Moreover, the commoners appear left and right roaring favourably and they fill the air with their agreeable applause; with genuine affection they rush forward with the people and the nobles, and they freely converge into one body to submitt their necks tamely to your bridles.

62Indeed, where the city bends towards the western regions, as the day shone at midday, as the violent North Wind puts the clouds to flight from the North Pole, most pleasingly it extended its plains, and marked out and enclosed them with an extended boundary where a happy troop invite you with friendly pursuits: d Link to an image of this page  [p20]whether the jousts of hoofed horses hold you, or you delight in driving them in flight round a blistering lap, or in the hunt; or your better judgement suggests an ancient wrestling match; or should you be fond of the theatre, or direct the arrow-point from a distance with your fine bow.

73Look no less kindly upon the easter parts, king, which the Tay, noted for its pleasing waters, nourishes with its deep river across the banks rich in verdant lawn, and it supports well-kept estates as it rolls on with its fertile tides. On it a high bridge stands over the deep, eddying tides, and it bestrides it with twelve arches. e And curved into extended arcs all along, it embraces the vast river with not just one bosom - even if inimicable fortune has struck it with harsh storms, and on occasion made it shudder violently. Yet your ingenuity (which no far-off day, or age long in the future will silence) ready to alleviate the harsh times that the ferocity of the fierce waves brought, lifted columns cut from hard rock into the deep, and joined their welcome weight to a beautiful arch. f

88What thanks will Perth's legions give to you for such great works? What thanks will the whole of Scotland itself, so rich in precious metal seams, give? And although no following age will ever state that we were ungrateful, nevertheless these deeds, along with the many other things done by so great a leader, will live for ever far and wide across the unknown world, where the Sun spreads out its friendly light upon distant lands, if Apollo has any power at all in far-off towns, and also the chaste Muses of Helicon when one drinks from their spring.

97Moreover, surrounded by your ministers, enter the inner sanctum of the holy temple in which the divine mysteries of the sacred word resounds; and in the middle of an assembly of crowded people, and prominent upon your high throne, in dutiful supplication call upon the eternal father to hear your chaste prayers. After having performed such great duty, happily make your way to your palace panelled with kingly splendour, and honour your followers with a joyous oration, and give a pleasing speech with friendly words.Link to an image of this page  [p21]And may you not leave the reception without any devotion from a fair city that has so readily submitted its sacred fasces g to you, and so profusely surrounded you with its assembled throng.

109Should we recall our descent from the very first origin of our history, and we delight to acknowledge the beginings of our (and your) city and race, both the glorious times in our fasti, and the dark misfortunes across so many ages, and the swift setbacks as our fortunes fell and rose, it will then stretch far beyond the ancient times of the British kings. The Picts had put them to flight towards the south when they established their homelands at the mouth of the upper Almond, where the ruined palaces of ancient Bertha h can be seen by its little streams, and on the bank of the river, where the Tay receives the Almond into its foaming tides, i it neither bitterly covers its surrounding fields with briney sea-water, nor intemperantly bursts its banks unless in a rage. After it had witnessed twelve ages turn upon their circuit, during which time the Picts' affairs had flourished in the kingdom, violent unrest scarely touched the neighbouring nations, then the Scots, renowned for martial success, opposed the Picts, and caused them to take the bloody path to exile; for after they had defeated the Picts, they then supplanted them.

128But as soon as the elder William then was directing the highest reins of the state, j orderedly and in welcome peace (alas how often delights are mixed with unexpected bitterness, and most welcome sweetness with ill-deserved poison!), then the savage Tay in incontrollable torrent, and savage Almond attacked, as black night covered the sky, and winter, fearful with its miserable storms, was just then rising in its raging force. Ah, so savagely it assailed the city with wretched disasters, and destroyed a not insubstantial part of the city's fabric with its cruel waves, and it engulfed it under its frightful deluge.

138Thereupon the father of the fatherland, lamenting the bitter disaster that his own citizens had endured so many ill-deserved deaths, transported the remains and the monuments of the wretched to a pleasant valley of fine excellence, where the Tay, and even the Almond under better direction, were both restrained with settled waters, and with their fury put aside, where they rolled on into the high sea with calmed waters.Link to an image of this page  [p22]Should I bring to mind the welcoming bays? The streets laid out in pleasant arrangement? And the walls turreted along its charming circuit and soaring on lofted wings? What about the people, and the holy fathers, the venerable assembly of the Senate, and the ministers laden with conspiuous honour, who conduct the sacred rites with ever-vigilant devotion? What about the squares, and the sacred precincts of the venerable Virgin? The gentle assembly of youths? The tribe in togas? k What about the band of merchants handsome in their finery? And the tribe of artisans, the choicest troops of the commoners, divided into their own orders, and arranged into a line in their order of precedence along the street? Should I bring to mind the temples with soaring columns, the tower pointing to the stars like a pyramid? The cymbals resounding with Apollo's song, as they exchange their gentle notes and, with such a great din, strike the clouds at a distance in the sky with their clash? Whenever the religious rites call, the Republic, mindful of its responsibilities, summons both people and the fathers together to discuss them - be that, for example, when the assembly desires in extreme gratitude to show tokens of its new joy in a sonorous hymn, and in a salute to the health of their king and fatherland, which the happy cohort celebrate as they justly exult and rejoice through the night and day, as Vulcan's torches subdue the darkness and still cold of night with their ruddy flames. O what a day under a smiling deity! Should I speak again about the delightful shows redolent with inummerable jokes? The historical recitations of the Martial deeds of our forefathers amid foreign tribes? The Danes tamed by our steel? The anger of the Saxons, which so often deprived our city of our murdered citizens, and who in turn felt the force of our sword? While savage Bellona was arming our peoples to kill each other (alas with awful violence), ah how much it delighted one kingdom of the Britons to run furiously to meet the swords of another! We hope that these kingdoms will soon come together into one kingdom, just as the sacred oracles of the ancient prophets promise; and which, while he was holding sceptres of Britain, and after he had been defeated by his bitter foe, the final heir to Cadwaller's line predicted would be fulfilled, l Link to an image of this page  [p23]and he ordered that their hope be placed in his descendants: and now, King, the oracles summon your gifts and talents.

185These predictions also first embraced Christ in their happy folds as he rose with his new light, and struck the sluggish crowds of profane Rome in their grand homes. And lest in ignorance future generations, won over by the enticing ministers of pleasure, abandon the new adventure, it mixed its temples and filthy altars with destruction, and its halls adorned in vain with its meaningless statues.

192Now that same generation readily rejoices that you are here and it falls down at your feet, and it prays for your fortune. Please take up these dutiful wishes with an accepting mind, most beautiful of beings, and do not avert your ears in welcome to our prayers.

196So may your virtue happily plant its roots deeply across the earth, and may it strongly flourish in lawful glory, and strike down upon nations and stun them with your boundless renown. Thus may piety and faith, eternally supported by God, inspire you, as you approach the top pf highest Olympus and also bloom in the flower of your youth's first age, and may it sustain you as you hurry along the right path. And thus may most fair Scotia, in wonder at your leadership of the state, and extremely averse to the stinking pools of vices, turn her holy face from the unclean crowd. Indeed may it also flee from the Hellish Hydra's death-bearing goblets filled full, which the Cerberus of the Roman court m has splattered across the regions of the whole world; and may it drink in the chaste love of sacred virtue, and health from the living fountains and body of the sacred word, under the dutiful minister's grateful instruction. See, however, how Minerva, most beautiful with rosey face, sends her own fortune to you from the starry heights so that the path bristling with stern thorn bushes, which leads through rough crags towards the upper citadel of snowy virtue, and through the places jaggy with rocks, and which shows the route to the ethereal spheres, may begin to reveal itself to all the people after it has been cleared under your guidance, and so that the glory of Apollo's Laurel may grow strong, and that a more just skill may fire sluggish minds after torpor has been banished (under your leadership, great king).Link to an image of this page  [p24]When you see him doing these things after he has matured into the serene time of his life, and has become gently mellowed by the peace of an extended old-age, o Scotland who is blessed by Mar's helping divinity, then finally, pacified with your wars at an end, how greatly you will be delighted with your blessed son!

Notes:

Original

1: Buchanan, De Sphaera I.446-7. Also, cf. Buchanan, Silvae VII.6.

2: Cf. Ovid, Metamorphoses I.309

3: Cf. Virgil, Aeneid IV.94

4: Ovid, Metamorphoses II.536

5: Cf. Ovid, Metamorphoses XV.879

6: This and the previous three lines are a paraphrase of Virgil, Aeneid II.281-285.

7: This and the next line Cf. Claudian, Panegyricus Probino et Olybrio 54.

8: Cf. Virgil, Aeneid I.77

9: Statius, Thebaid III.69

10: 'tellus...Dedala' is taken from Lucretius, De Rerum Natura I.7. Anderson's use of the title of Lucretius' work ('rerum Natura') is a less subtle reference to Lucretius.

11: A specifically neo-Latin adjective, which is found nowhere in classical Latin. The Helleno-Italian Michael Marullus used the adjective as an attribute of Natura/Tellus: Hymni IV.5.29-30. George Buchanan also uses the adjective as an attribute of the earth as producer of all things: Psalms 50.16. Anderson's use of the adjective pointedly draws the reader back to his Lucretian 'Natura' of the previous three lines.

12: A concentrated set of literary and philosophical allusions make up this and the previous three lines. Firstly, the walls (maenia/moenia) here are an allusion to the heavens via Lucretius, De Rerum Natura I.73. Next, the Saturnian kingdom and the birth of the child is an allusion to the return of the Golden Age via Virgil, Eclogues IV.6-7. At line 5 in Eclogue IV, Virgil explicitly states that the new age has come and a cycle has been started again, and this informs Anderson's changed universe and new age in the present line.

13: Like the next six lines, this phrase reuses imagery from astronomical didactic poetry. See d2_KinA_001 note 13. The present form is close to Ovid, Metamorphoses XIII.604.

14: See: Virgil, Aeneid VI.591; the poetic colour of the present passage comes from the noise of the steeds articulated in the literary point of reference.

15: Virgil, Georgics III.144

16: Buchanan, Psalms 104.7; and 18

17: Ovid, Metamorphoses XI.229

18: Mistake for 'Quas'.

19: Paraphrase of famous passage from Catullus, Carmina 64.322.

20: 'Ignotum...oppida': Buchanan, Psalms 18.112.

21: 'regifico...luxu': Virgil, Aeneid VI.605.

22: Virgil, Aeneid I.372-3

23: Virgil, Aeneid VIII.118

24: Lucan, Bellum Civile VI.778. Anderson mines the same passage from Lucan below: see note to lines 124-5.

25: 'discordia...effera': Lucan, Bellum Civile VI.780.

26: *Polyd. hist. lib. 3, pag. 61. Item lib. 26, pag. 566.

27: Buchanan, Psalms 18.112-3; See Anderson's reuse of the same passage at note to line 95 above.

28: Cf. Virgil, Georgics I.124

Translation

a: Fasti: the Roman calendar of dies fasti , dies comitiales, and dies nefasti, which indicated when legal processes and business could and could not take place. However, the term also covers fasti consulares (lists of consuls who gave their name to that year in the calendar), fasti triumphales (lists of triumphs), fasti sacerdotales (lists of priests), and the fasti Capitolini, the famous list of consuls and triumphs which were inscribed on the forum Romanum in 18/17BC, and whose records have been proven largely accurate from c.300BC onwards. See also d1_AytR_002, note b.

b: The Tagus (rio Tajo, or Tejo), the Ganges and the Pactolus were famed in antiquity for large sedimentary deposits of gold. The Tagus is also directly referenced in d1_AytR_001, d1_AytR_003, and d2_RolH_003; the Pactolus in d1_AndH_001 and d2_MaiT_004.

c: See note to Latin text.

d: The southern and western approaches to Perth incorporated the main roads to Edinburgh and Stirling respectively, with James coming from the latter. However, both roads came close to the South Inch, the flat plain outside the town, which seems to be the probable site for the festivities mentioned here.

e: The bridge to the east of Perth spans the Tay, and was recorded as early as the twelfth century. Flooding frequently destroyed the bridge in the medieval and early modern periods, and it was continually rebuilt until the great flood of 1621 completely destroyed it. The town would rely on ferry as the sole means of crossing the river until the current bridge was built by the engineer George Smeaton (the arches were completed in 1771).

f: The reference to James' repair of the bridge may refer to the restoration of three collapsed arches in 1573, but the exact number of arches the bridge had is a matter of debate. Timothy Pont's maps of Scotland show a bridge with three, and possibly four, arches. Interestingly, James commissioned his own master mason, John Mylne, to replace the bridge between 1604 and 1616, which was reputed to have eleven arches.

g: Fasces: bundles of rods, often with an embedded axe blade, carried by the lictors of ancient Rome to denote the legal power of their magistrate.

h: Perth's ancient name was Bertha, or Bert. See City of Perth, Memorabilia of Perth (Perth, 1806), p. 56.

i: The Almond flows into the Tay several kilometres north of the city, just before the Tay flows past Scone.

j: The Perth bridge was destroyed in 1210 during the reign of William the Lion (r.1165-1214), and also destroyed Perth Castle, killing some of the king's family. It was restored by the time of the king's death, presumably by William himself, as his son Alexander met his funeral cortege there.

k: Presumably the town council in this context.

l: A footnote to the original text (see note to Latin text) indicates the source of the discussion is Polydore Vergil's Anglica Historia (first published 1534). For the context of the prophecies surrounding James' potential accession to the throne of England, see the introduction to d1_CraT_004.

m: The papacy, in this context the Antichrist.