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He Is Na Dog, He Is a Lam

Poem by William Dunbar

He Is Na Dog, He Is a Lam
Summary

Poem by William Dunbar

Do weill to James, your wardraipair,

Quhais faythfull bruder maist freind I am. He is na dog, he is a lam.}}]] He Is Na Dog, He Is A Lam is a poem by William Dunbar addressed to Queen Margaret Tudor of Scotland.

The poem's theme follows from the same author's work "Of James Dog" in which Dunbar complained about the allegedly rude behaviour of the Queen's servant of the same name. He worked in the wardrobe and sometimes carried letters. James Dog was referred to as "A dangerous dog".

In He Is Na Dog, He Is A Lam Dunbar declares to have renounced his former opinions of the "dangerous dog" because, apparently, he has been helpful to the poet. James Dog is subsequently compared to a lamb.

However, for reasons which are not explained, it is clear that Dunbar's change of heart is insincere. While praising Dog extravagantly for his good nature and helpfulness, the poet introduces new insults far more offensive than the previous ones.

The poem's text is found in the Maitland Folio Manuscript, entitled "Of the Aforesaid James Dog," which has the postscript "Quod Dunbar of the said James quhen he had plesett him."

The Poem

Dunbar appeals to the Queen to treat his "faithful brother" well.

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He asserts that, although he joked with James Dog in verse, no malice was intended. He merely wanted to entertain the Queen.

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He dispenses more praise for Dog.

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Then with mock sympathy for the man he has just praised he prays that Dog's wife, who supposedly beats her husband, should be "drowned in a dam."

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Mrs. Dog, who is also unfaithful to her husband, should be "thoroughly beaten with a rail".

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Dunbar then seamlessly returns to his praise of the "obedient" James Dog and so concludes the poem.

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References

References

  1. W. Mackay Mackenzie, The Poems of William Dunbar. Faber and Faber, London, 1932. pp. 62-63, 210.
  2. [http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/teams/dunfrm2.htm The full text with notes at TEAMS]
  3. Helen Newsome-Chandler, ''The Holograph Letters of Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scots, 1489–1541'' (Cambridge: Camden, 2025), p. 28. {{doi. 10.1017/S0960116325000041
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

scottish-poems poetry-by-william-dunbar scottish-literature 16th-century-poems 1500s-in-scotland court-of-james-iv-of-scotland
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