STARN: Scots Teaching and Resource Network
Robert Henryson
The Thirteen Moral Fables of Robert Henryson
A Modernised Edition
by R. W. Smith
Introduction
This is a modernisation of one of Robert Henryson's greatest poems, his Morall Fabillis, and it has been undertaken with the purpose of introducing Henryson and his works to as wide a readership as possible.
There have been difficulties for the average reader with his works as they exist in the original, simply because he wrote in his native language, the language of Scotland in the fifteenth century, a language somewhat different from that used today. The major differences are to be seen in vocabulary, and, especially, spelling conventions. To deal with these differences, modern editions of Henryson have been required to compile glossaries containing over 4,000 terms (in the Denton Fox edition, around 60% of these are taken up with spellings alone, of items which would give no problems to a reader reasonably familiar with present-day spoken Scots); and the consultation of these inevitably interferes with natural and easy appreciation of his poetry. In this modernisation of the Fables, no glossary is needed.
Henryson's metres and rhyme-schemes have been retained with exactitude, as well as his rhythms and timings, and, by adhering strictly to meaning in each stanza, his intentions . His talents as a story-teller, a humorist, and a social critic should now be more easily appreciated.
We do not know the exact dates of his birth and death. We do know that his greatest poetry was written during the mid- to late-1400s, when he held an important position in the Benedictine abbey of Dunfermline. A University graduate, in holy orders and a trained Church lawyer, what scanty evidence we have suggests that he switched his career from the law to training and education. Fifteen of his poems have come down to us ; twelve of these can be classed as short, and they tend to be overshadowed by his three major works, Orpheus and Eurydice, The Morall Fabillis, and The Testament of Cresseid. This last, the Testament, is recognised as the finest poem to appear in Europe in the fifteenth century, and, indeed, may be classed as one of the greatest poems ever written. These three major poems are of comparable quality, and might seem to be equally suitable for modernisation. This is not the case. Their similarities, which lie mainly in versification, are apparent rather than real, for it is clear that Henryson created each one with a different purpose in mind. The Morall Fabillis is distinguished from the others by its effective fusion of two themes, a moralist's advice on personal behaviour - and a criticism of certain aspects of important social institutions : the Church, the State, the Law. This criticism is sometimes open and severe; much of the time it is softened and enlivened by humour. And it is all presented with the highest degree of literary craftmanship.
The Morall Fabillis lends itself to modernisation much more sensibly than do the other two major poems. For instance, it would be unthinkable to modernise The Testament of Cresseid; too much would be lost, especially in the music of the language. And one of the reasons for choosing the Fabillis is that it offers ample proof of one of Henryson's talents, a talent which sets him in the highest rank of poets : the art of relating the particulars of daily life to the great universals of the human condition. Moreover, he has succeeded in the most difficult of literary tasks, the re-writing of familiar and age-old material to present it in a form fresh, new, and vigorous.
In belief and philosophy, he was very much a man of his times, the late Middle Ages. He employed conventional themes and topics, borrowing heavily from past literature and folklore for his subjects. However, he was not merely a copyist or imitator, but an original and creative artist, taking existing material and shaping it to his own ends. (And in doing so, Henryson has presented us moderns with a free gift: an accurately-recorded picture of many aspects of Lowland Scottish society in the 1400s.)
Notes on certain of the above points are provided in a short introduction to each Fable.
To return to the language difficulty referred to in the opening of this Introduction: The language of 1400s Scotland is now called Middle Scots, and modern Scots is, very obviously, its direct and closely-related descendant. It would seem that there is therefore a case for rendering Henryson's Middle Scots into modern Scots. The case for doing so is attractive, but he case against is more powerful. It is this : Middle Scots was a completely national language, used in all situations and for all purposes; modern Scots is largely confined to colloquial speech, with only occasional ventures into literature. Henryson's Scots is highly literary, carefully crafted, the language of an educated social group - except when he has certain of his characters speaking. To change his crafted formalities into the unavoidable informalities of present-day Scots speech would be too much of a misrepresentation of his style. An attempt to retain his style and general tone has therefore required the use of standard English in narrative or recitative, with Scots where appropriate, which is frequently in direct speech. Occasionally, his Scots must be employed in the interests of metre, rhyme, or exactitude of expression; for the convenience of readers unfamiliar with Scots, Middle or Modern, vocabulary notes - few are needed - are provided.
Henryson's method, in the Fables, is to tell the story, the particular Fable itself, and then explain its significance in a Moralitas, the "Moral" here. No two of the Fables have the same moral or political message, nor do they have the same emotional or dramatic impact; sometimes we laugh, sometimes we merely smile, sometimes we are sympathetic and thoughtful. Usually, the Moral can be seen as an integral component of its Fable; yet there are one or two instances where the modern reader might find Henryson's analysis slightly strained. Not to worry; there is some suspicion that Robert Henryson himself might have had a little difficulty with some of his Moralitates.
He knew very well that the story is the thing.