# Andrew of Wyntoun

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Andrew_of_Wyntoun
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Andrew_of_Wyntoun.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_of_Wyntoun
> Source revision: 1278879592
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

Scottish poet, prior of Loch Leven, and a canon

**Andrew Wyntoun**, known as **Andrew of Wyntoun** (c. 1350 – c. 1425), was a Scottish poet, a [canon](/source/Canon_(priest)) and [prior of Loch Leven](/source/Prior_of_Loch_Leven) on [St Serf's Inch](/source/St_Serf's_Inch) and, later, a canon of [St. Andrews](/source/St._Andrews).

Andrew Wyntoun is most famous for his completion of an eight-syllabled metre entitled, *[Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland](/source/Orygynale_Cronykil_of_Scotland)*, which contains an early mention of *[Robin Hood](/source/Robin_Hood)*; it is also cited by the *[Oxford English Dictionary](/source/Oxford_English_Dictionary)* as the earliest work in English to use the word "[Catholic](/source/Catholic)": [spelling modernised] "He was a constant Catholic;/All [Lollard](/source/Lollard) he hated and heretic." Wyntoun wrote the 'Chronicle' at the request of his patron, [Sir John of Wemyss](/source/Earls_of_Wemyss), whose representative, Mr. Erskine Wemyss of [Wemyss Castle](/source/Wemyss_Castle), Fife, possessed the oldest extant [manuscript](/source/Manuscript) of the work.[1] The subject of the 'Chronicle' is the history of Scotland from the mythical period to the death of [Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany](/source/Robert_Stewart%2C_Duke_of_Albany) in 1420.[2]

The nine original manuscripts of the *Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland* still subsist today and are preserved within various facilities throughout the United Kingdom. Three out of the eight original manuscripts are currently preserved by the [British Library](/source/British_Library), two are in the possession of the [Advocates' Library](/source/Advocates'_Library) in Edinburgh; one, within the [University of St Andrews](/source/University_of_St_Andrews) Library; another, within the confines of [Wemyss Castle](/source/Wemyss_Castle) and the eighth, privately owned by Mister John Ferguson of [Duns, Scottish Borders](/source/Duns%2C_Scottish_Borders), Berwickshire.[1] The first edition of the 'Chronicle' (based on the Royal manuscript) was published by [David Macpherson](/source/David_Macpherson_(historian)) in 1795; the second edition was produced by [David Laing](/source/David_Laing_(antiquary)) and published in 1872[3] and the current standard edition was published by [F. J. Amours](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=F._J._Amours&action=edit&redlink=1) as *The Original Chronicle of Andrew of Wyntoun: Printed on Parallel Pages from the Cottonian and Wemyss MSS., with the Variants of the Other Texts*.

The *Chronicle* is entirely composed of couplets, usually of eight syllables, although frequently there also are lines of six or 10 syllables.[4]

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-EB1911_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-EB1911_1-1) One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the [public domain](/source/Public_domain): [Chisholm, Hugh](/source/Hugh_Chisholm), ed. (1911). "[Wyntoun, Andrew of](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Wyntoun,_Andrew_of)". *[Encyclopædia Britannica](/source/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica_Eleventh_Edition)*. Vol. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 873.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Wyntoun's Chronicle Prologue IX

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** *The Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland by Androw of Wyntoun*, Edited by David Laing in three volumes, Edinburgh, Scottish Text Society, 1872

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Robert Chambers, ed. (1875). [*A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen*](http://digital.nls.uk/74514690). Glasgow: Blackie & Sons. p. 562. Retrieved 5 November 2013.

- *Oxford English Dictionary*, New York: [Oxford University Press](/source/Oxford_University_Press), 1989

## External links

- Works by or about [Andrew of Wyntoun](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Author:Andrew_of_Wyntoun) at [Wikisource](/source/Wikisource)

- [The Robin Hood passage](http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/teams/orygnale.htm) at the TEAMS Medieval Texts website.

Religious titles Preceded by David Bell or Thomas Mason Prior of Loch Leven 1390–1421 Succeeded by John Cameron

v t e Scots makars c. 1370 – c. 1460 John Barbour Huchoun James I Sir Gilbert Hay Andrew of Wyntoun Richard Holland c. 1460 – c. 1560 Blind Harry Robert Henryson Walter Kennedy William Dunbar Gavin Douglas David Lyndsay Richard Maitland John Stewart of Baldynneis William Stewart c. 1560 – 17th century Castalian Band Robert Aytoun William Drummond Alexander Scott Alexander Montgomerie James VI William Fowler Christian Lindsay Elizabeth Melville Alexander Hume Robert Sempill Robert Sempill the younger Francis Sempill John Stewart of Baldynneis 18th century – 20th century Allan Ramsay Robert Fergusson Robert Burns Robert Louis Stevenson Alicia Ann Spottiswoode William Soutar Robert Garioch Sydney Goodsir Smith Tom Scott George Campbell Hay Alexander Scott Hamish Henderson William Neill Makar or National Poet for Scotland (from 2004) Edwin Morgan Liz Lochhead Jackie Kay Kathleen Jamie Pàdraig MacAoidh

Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF GND WorldCat National United States Czech Republic Netherlands Israel People Trove Deutsche Biographie DDB Other IdRef Open Library Yale LUX

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Andrew of Wyntoun](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_of_Wyntoun) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_of_Wyntoun?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.