Robert Henryson
15th-century Scottish makar (poet) · United Kingdom · On the map · Writers · Lived 1425 to 1506 · aged 81
Robert Henryson was a poet who flourished in Scotland in the period c. 1460-1500. Counted among the Scots makars, he lived in the royal burgh of Dunfermline and is a distinctive voice in the Northern Renaissance at a time when the culture was on a cusp between medieval and renaissance sensibilities.
Robert Henryson is read about 16 times a day, in 16 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 15 June 2026
The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 60 days, one point a day.
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Photos 5
The Firth of Forth which separates Fife (north) and the Lothians (south). Dunfermline is close to the principal crossing point on the Fife side.
The west door of Dunfermline Abbey.
Figure in Abbot House which purports to imagine Henryson; more strictly speaking, the image depicts Aesop as portrayed in Henryson's Morall Fabillis
Dunfermline Abbey from a 17th-century engraving which gives a more complete impression of the original building complex than survives today.
Abbot House Window, Dunfermline, depicting Henryson's Lion and the Mouse.About this person
Little is known of his life, but evidence suggests that he was a teacher who had training in law and the humanities, that he had a connection with Dunfermline Abbey and that he may also have been associated for a period with Glasgow University. His poetry was composed in Middle Scots at a time when this was the state language. His writing consists mainly of narrative works. His surviving body of work amounts to almost 5000 lines.
