This poem presents us with another panegyrical poem on the succession of King James to the throne of England, and was probably written close to the event in 1603. A few aspects of this poem make it stand out from many of the other encomia written by Scottish Latin writers on the same subject. Adam King's attachment to King James VI is noteworthy. King was a known Catholic and had been subjected to an inquisition by the Kirk upon his return to Scotland in the late sixteenth century (see May's feature on King here). Yet King returned to Edinburgh to find an environment in which King James displayed no inclination to block the advancement of those who were suspected of Catholic leanings. Adam King's own brother, Alexander (on whom see note 21 and passim in October's feature), despite having taken part in what an excited English ambassador described as a treasonous Catholic plot, was not long after advanced to the position of judge on the Admiralty Court (W. Boyd , Calendar of State Papers relating to Scotland and Mary Queen of Scots, volume 10 (Edinburgh, 1936), nos 124, 138 (especially), and 257. For his advancement see link to Craig feature above). In 1601 King also composed a poem defending King James' role in the 'Gowrie Conspiracy', Ad Iacobum Sextum Scotorum Regem a nefaria fratrum Ruvenorum coniuratione divinitus servatum Soteria (for the background to this affair and an edition of the text, see: Jamie Reid-Baxter, The Philological Museum). We should, then, read this poem as very much the product of someone who had a deep and abiding personal attachment to James. One futher aspect of this particular poem that makes it of interest to the historian of Latin literature is its reception in the Latin reading world. As we can see from note 1 below, the Danish royal poet Vitus Bering (uncle of the Danish explorer Vitus Bering, after whom the Bering Strait and Sea were named) was a fan of Adam King's poetry, and reused it liberally in his own compositions (as well as that of King's family friend Thomas Craig). One final note: like all of King's poems his academic attachment to astronomy and its many literary manifestations are not too far from the surface. He references both Buchanan and Aratus (see note 52 below) in this poem, two poets whose impact upon the rise of scientific discourse during the early scientific revolution in Scotland is only now begining to be understood (see David Mcomish, 'A community of scholarship: scientific discourse in early-modern Scotland', in Mcomish and Reid (eds), Neo-Latin Literature and the Republic of Letters in Early Modern Scotland (forthcoming)). King's love of didactic literature and its traditions (especially the tradition perpetuated in the universities, such as the enduring study of Sacrobosco and Cleomedes) is in many ways a defining characteristic of his work. Metre: hexameter.
Panegyris de haerediteria Iacobi VI, Scotorum Regis, in Angliae & Hiberniae regna successione (1603)
Panegyris de haerediteria Iacobi VI, Scotorum Regis, in Angliae et Hiberniae regna successione
1Quid generi, et titulis longaevo e sanguinis alti
ordine deductis, virtus comes addita, coelo
iam sperare nequit? Terris non jure mereri
fortunae secura potest? 1 Satis usque verendam
5majestate sua 2 spretus vestigat, et ultro
ambit honor: meritis dignam summoque potentem
tantum stare loco, sceptris onerata potestas
arrogat: amplexusque suos venerata sequentem
pacatum spondet fatis melioribus orbem. 3
10Scilicet id curae Superis, coeloque secundo
virtutes ea fata tuas Iacobe manebant:
ut quae tot longa serie diademata mundo
[p228]
dispersit Stuarta domus: te principe tandem
discordes toties populos, et in arma feroces
15mutua, perpetua sub pace, coerceat uno
imperio: et sceptro late dominetur aheno:
qua circumfusa stagnata Britannia ponte,
non modo Parrhasiam contracto vertice in Arcton 4
Orcadas inspersas pelago, Thulenque propinquam
20prospicit, et famulis pulsatas Aebudas undis:
quin etiam Oceanum qua dedignata prementem, 5
longius humentes dum se diffundit in Austros, 6
Armoricis Neustrisque latus praetendit arenis,
Iuvernae qua pingue solum, qua roscida prata
25perpetuis rident Zephyris, 7 semperque virescunt
gramina, 8 nusquam impune vagis reptata cerastis. 9
Ergo Deo tua chara salus: totiesque periclis
ereptum valida munivit ab aethere dextra. 10
Nulli unquam faustis coelum praesentius astris
30nascenti affulsit: te te congessit in unum
quae divisa beant: primo mens ardua in ortu,
iam propriis foecunda bonis, sibi credita sceptra
sensit, et imperii jam tunc majoris honorem
spirabat: teneris cui spes succrevit ab annis.
35Nec minor oris honos: jam tunc frons aemula mentis
aethereo fulgore nitet: placidoque resedit
augusta in vultu cum majestate venustas. 11
Mox ubi Palladiis acclivior artibus aetas 12
imbuitur, cultuque adolescunt semina magnae
40indolis, Aonios lucos, Cyrrhaeaque templa
pulsantem, et sacros properantem accedere fontes, 13
ducit Apollo manu, penitusque Helicone refuso
proluit, et gemina cingit diademata lauro.
Tum canos animi sensus, fastisque futuris
45digna loqui; faecundae et dulcia pondera linguae
Aonides stupuere Deae. Seu quando liberet
Castalios animare modos, atque ore rotundo 14
fundere quae saturent Permessia mella nepotes:
seu mavis late numeris undare solutis,
50et populos mulcere gravi, vel ducere leni
sermone, attonitas non plenius imbuit aures
[p229]
Dulichius Pyliusve senex: non ille diserto
eloquii Romanus apex, quum fulmine rostris
intonuit, traxitque suos in vota Quirites. 15
55Iamque ubi primaevis animo cedentibus annis
maturum imperio te publica cura tuorum
poscit: et arreptas regni moderaris habenas:
prisca Caledoniis crevit reverentia 16 sceptris.
Te populi complexus amor, quum sensit amari,
60nil votis superesse suis exultat: et altae
iam pacis sibi spondet opes: quum protinus omnes
virtutes caelo reduces coiisse sub unum
pectus, et in nostros se didere cerneret usus. 17
Iustitia armorum victrix metitur honesto
65utile; jus summum moderato temperat aequo;
perpetua recti norma, decurrit eodem
tramite; non odio indulget, non cedit amori.
Consiliis suffulta suis prudentia in omnem
excubat eventum rerum; ratione sagaci
70deprendit quaecunque latent: ea sola licere,
quae deceant, rebus non sese efferre secundis:
nec frangi adversis: venienti occurrere damno: 18
fortuna praesente frui: gravitate modesta
imperii retinere decus: fastuque remoto
75accessus faciles praestat. Clementia 19 poenis
turpe putat pasci: ratio si suadeat, ultro
ignovisse velit: non implacabilis ira,
sed lenis delicta domat, 20 se mallet amari, 21
quam metui, colere officiis, donisque merentes,
80respuere offensas facilis. Sine labe pudoris, 22
servat inoffensi genialia foedera lecti
temperies: 23 mensis, cultuque, habituque modesto,
quem statuit natura modum, 24 pietate, fideque
iam vitae pars nulla vacat. Virtutibus istis
85sic faelix Iacobe tui moderamina sceptri
dirigis: ut possis longe majora mereri.
Nec, quoties positis solatia quaerere curis
forte datum, molles luxus, et foeta malorum
otia, 25 vel somnos defes sectaris inertes: 26
90sed cursu lassare feras, 27 indagine sylvas
[p230]
exercere juvat: damam, leporemve daturas,
explorant avidis Agasaei naribus auras: 28
pulvereas spumantis equi nunc ungula nubes
conglomerat, fictique movet certamina Martis:
95assuescis tolerare aestus, et frigora, nimbos,
et stomacho latrante famem: 29 pluvioque ruentem
axe Iovem, 30 atque imis commotas sedibus undas.
Quinetiam cultis cedunt sua tempora Musis,
indulgesque vices studiis: tibi pagina dives,
100et genio victura suo, nunc intonat armis
Christiadum, Ionii serventia caerula ponti,
et multo undatas Turcarum sanguine Echidnas:
Austriaco quum laeta Duci victoria opimos
parturit Osmanidum immensa de strage triumphos:
105et debellatas Achelous decolor undas
corporibus crevisse videt: metuitque teneri,
atque iterum Herculea truncari gymnade frontem. 31
Nunc Sophiae civilis opes, et sacra resignat
Socraticae decreta scholae: quum maxima nostri
110spes voti Enricus, 32 vita scriptisque docente
te discit, quo se virtus concludat honesti
limite: quo medium insistat tutissima callem
tramite: qua norma justi moderetur habenas
imperii: expendat leges: injusta recidat:
115expugnet qua parte metus, qua leniat iras:
qua luxum et sordes vitet: qua fraenet amores:
ut nostris tandem votis, majorque futurus
imperio, patrias faelix succrescat in artes. 33
Interea his studiis dum se tua fama per orbem
120didit, et erectum caput inter nubila condens, 34
iam meritis non aequa tuis data sceptra, diuque
debita tardari queritur, fera bella minari
Eumenidas, camposque hominum sub strage latentes
Diva Themis; fatis reginam ut vidit Elisam
125funera maturo cessuram, et in astra vocari:
signifero delapsa polo, qua lucibus umbras
exaequant chelae, 35 languenti talibus instat:
heroina potens, animi cui mascula virtus
Saxonidum firmavit opes: fortuna triumphos
[p231]
130hostibus occisis peperit: prudentia tuta
iustitia illustri populos sub pace beavit:
quae bona jam multos fudit tua vita per annos:
esse tuis aeterna velis: frustrare maligna
spe Furias: pacemque etiam post funera dones.
135Iam tandem meminisse juvet: tibi jure secundum
deberi his sceptris Stuartum: cede favori
fatorum: votoque tuo sibi vendicet Anglos,
virtutis fortisque tuae non degener haeres.
Illa sub haec, moribunda trahens suspiria: Nec mens,
140nec mihi fas legisse alium: cum Saxone Scotus
imperio coeat, regnet Stuartius heros,
quem genus et virtus, quem publica commoda poscunt. 36
Assensere animis omnes, 37 proceresque Patresque,
quos penes arbitrium regni, vel cura popelli.
145Nec mora, pallentes reginae spiritus artus
vix liquit, frigusque rigentia membra resolvit:
quum jam fama volat, 38 votoque edicit Elisae
supremo, fatisque suis, procerumque, Patrumque
iudicio, in regnum Scotum meruisse vocari.
150Fluctuat ancipiti vulgus ignobile motu:
hinc dolor amissae dominae, et ne nubila frontem
corruget fortuna, metus affligit: at illinc
in te fixus amor: virtutum summa tuarum
gloria; majorum sub te spes magna bonorum,
155componunt luctus; vultusque, animosque serenant. 39
Templa calent votis, applausibus omnia fervent
compita; 40 te poscunt unum: tibi lene fluentes
sternit aquas Tamesis: lentisque remissior undis
obviat Oceano: dum te suspirat et ardet,
160incusatque moras: Plinlimone laetior exit
se longo sinuans tractu Sabrina: refingit
Humber inauratum cervinae frontis honorem.
Iamque ubi complecti licuit, coramque tueri;
quacunque ingrederis, flavos tibi compta capillos,
165et dites adaperta sinus, formosa videri
Anglia promeruit: famulas tibi porrigit ulnas: 41
obsequiisque suos placidis testatur amores
hostilis nil ausa manus: nil turbida rupto
[p232]
ordine tentavit novitas: nec principe sese
170orbari: aut regni mutatas sensit habenas. 42
Nec minus interea positis pacatior armis
imperio gavisa tuo sibi ponere leges
exultat: pacisque habitu Iuverna resumpto,
in falcem curvari enses, in aratra domari
175fraxineum robur, 43 sua reddi rura colono,
et gregibus colles, et bubus pascua gestit.
At tua quae primae dedit incunabula vitae,
et fovit spes laeta tuas, sibi Scotia quanquam
lugeat ereptum, et mallet, quae saepe solebas,
180praesentem te ferre suis solatia curis:
ut sentit tamen, acclivi ceu lampade Phoebum
altius elatum caelo, diffusius aucto
lumine, vitales spirare potentius ignes:
communi laetata bono, gratatur honorum
185incrementa tibi, pacem orbi, foedera gentis
cognatae firmata sibi: et numerosa precatur
felicis quocunque loco tibi saecula vitae,
nullaque sit patrio tellus tibi charior arvo.
Nec peregrina velint studiis cessisse tuorum
190gaudia; legatis strepit aula frequentibus: omni
curritur Europa: numerosior advena 44 nuncquam
implevisse sinus Tamesis, ditesque recessus
creditur. Augeri veterem te laetus amicum
Gallus ovat titulis: tandemque ea sceptra tenere,
195quae toties metuit, toties sibi noxia sensit:
ut jam Saxonidis, quo Scotis speret eodem
foedere conjungi: quod nullis turbidus armis
Mars, non livor edax, non ambitus, improba nuncquam
vindicatae regnive fames dissolvere possit.
200Calaicis oleam praetendit Iberus ab oris
impiger, et Morino veniens de littore Belga
pacem orat, longo finemque imponere bello.
At Batavus deposcit opem. Bellator ab Arcto
Cimber adest, crevisse tibi sine sanguine gaudet
205imperium: parvoque sua de stirpe nepoti,
spem tot sceptrorum fato propiore foveri.
Saxo ferox Albim, Cauci liquere Visurgim 45
[p233]
excitusque tua Rheni venit accola fama:
quique Antenoreas superi maris 46 arbiter arces
210incolit, et magnis Venetus se regibus aequat.
At ne laetitia caedat mortalibus aether:
iam puras Phryxaea novant tibi sydera flammas,
blanda serenati tepet indulgentia coeli,
raraque Phoebaeos obducunt nubilia vultus:
215sive Europaei frontem et palearea Tauri;
arduus Oebalidas seu lustret lampade fratres.
Terra salutares non plenius imbibit ignes 47
laetior, aut vernos unquam spiravit honores.
Imperii ver illud erat. 48 Foecunda sereno
220arrisit Natura tuo: caeloque relicto
virtutes terris reduces, atque aurea spondet
saecula: et in seros felicia sceptra nepotes.
Perge modo, qua fata ferunt, Iacobe, tuorum
spes superes, virtute tua da gaudia fastis 49
225perpetua: et lucem ducant a principe sceptra. 50
Nec rugam trahat auctus honos, 51 animumve beatum
obnubat: non te ferri metuenda potestas
sed populi tutetur amor: certusque merenti
constet ut ante favor: pacem te judice mundus
230accipiat: secura fides cum pace triumphet:
nil impune malis liceat: virtutibus adsint
praemia: praeclaras non obruat ambitus artes.
Sic te faelicem populi venerentur, amentque:
quoscunque exoriens, vel quum se condit in undis, 52
235Phoebus 53 obit: sic te successibus usque secundet
increscens fortuna novis, cumuletque triumphis:
sic meritis animisque gravem Deus ille Deorum
serius educat terris, coeloque reponat:
et sceptris titulisque tuis, longo ordine fati,
240surroget innumeros foecunda prole nepotes.
A panegyric on the hereditary succession of James VI, King of Scots, to the kingdoms of England and Ireland
1What can your virtue, joined as companion to your race, and to your titles, which have been derived from the ancient line of your noble bloodline, not now hope for from heaven? What is it not able to obtain by right on earth, untroubled by the vicissitudes of fortune? Spurned honour follows in the footsteps of your virtue, which it ceaselessly reveres in its own majesty, and of its own accord it strives after it. Power burdened by royal sceptres acquires an ability worthy of its merits, and worthy only to stand in the highest place. When paid due attention, and with its protection sought, your virtue promises a world made tranquil by more favourable fates.
10Undoubtedly this is a concern for those above, and, James, in a favourable heaven those fates were expecting your virtues. Since the House of Stewart has scattered so many crowns [p228]over the world over its long course, may it, with you as leader, finally bring together in one empire, under an ever-lasting peace, peoples who were so often at war, and violently inclined towards each other. With its invincible sceptre may it rule far and wide: where Britain from its tower, surrounded and waterlogged, with head turned up to the Northern Constellations, looks out towards the Orkneys splattered by the ocean, and nearby Shetlands, and the Hebrides beaten by its now subjugated waters; and, moreover, where it has scorned the harrying Ocean, as it stretches itself far to the cool South, and extends its coast before the Armorican and Neustrian shores; a and where the rich Land of Ireland is, where the dewy fields delight in ever-lasting Zephyrs, and the meadows are ever-green, and it has never been subjected to the slither of wandering serpents without a fight! b
27Because of this your well-being is dear to God; and so many times he has protected you and snatched you from dangers with his strong right hand from heaven. Heaven has never shone forth in auspicious stars more powerfully upon any new beginning. He has brought together in your one person lands which were divided and they enrich you. An elevated mind at the very start, then rich with its rightful goods, it understood that the sceptres had been promised to it, and it was its practice then to radiate the dignity of a greater empire, as its expectation gradually increased from its tender years. No less is the dignity of your face. Even now your countenance, in competition with your mind, shines with ethereal splendour: and its beauty consists of gentle features combined with imperial majesty. Soon, when your later life is versed in Athena's arts, and the seedlings of your great genius grow with cultivation, Apollo will lead you by the hand, as you rouse the Aonian groves, c and the temples of Cyrrha, d and hasten to enter the sacred fountains. And he cleanses you completely in Helicon's flood, and surrounds your twin crown with laurel. Then will your time of life be ripe to proclaim for future record the aged sentiments of your mind; and the Aonian Goddesses e were astounded by the sweet weight of your rich language. Whether because it pleases you to sing a Castalian beat, f and to pour forth Permessian g honey from your puckered lips, in order to provide nourishment for your descendants: or whether you prefer to pitch your voice high and low in unregulated verse, and comfort the people with a serious sermon, or direct them with a gentle one, not more completely did [p229]either Odysseus or ancient Nestor impress their amazed audience's ears h - nor that Roman who was the summit of eloquence in speech, i when he thundered lightning bolts from the rostra, and he bent his fellow citizens to his wishes.
55And now, as your early years recede from your mind, when public duty calls you in your maturity to the governance of your people, and while you guide the the reins of your kingdom which you have taken possesion of, the ancient honour of the Caledonian royal sceptres has grown. The people's love has enveloped you, and when they come to know that they were loved by you, they rejoice that there remains nothing more to pray for. And their love guarantees the bounty of a deep peace, because it beheld before its eyes that all the virtues restored from heaven had come together in one heart, and that it extends itself out for our benefit.
64Victorious Justice, in arms, balances out what is right with virtue; she regulates the highest justice with due fairness; she is the eternal measure of right, and always treads the same path, neither legislating for hate, nor bending to love. Prudence, supported by its own wisdom, watches out for every eventuality, and whatever lies hidden it reveals through its sharp reasoning. And it thinks it best to decree right whatever fits the occasion, not to become too grand when things go well; and not to be overcome by adversity, but rush to meet any harm at its source: and it thinks it best to enjoy one's present fortune, and to maintain the dignity of one's rule with a measured solemnity; and, with haughtiness put aside, it affords easy access. Clemency thinks it shameful to thrive from the punishment of others: if reasoning can persuade, it freely wishes to forgive. Its anger is not implacable, but it rather subdues misdeeds gently, and would prefer to be loved, than to be feared, and would prefer to reward those who deserve it with kindness and gifts, and quick to forget offences. Without shame's blow, moderation preserves the nuptial pledge of an untouched chamber: at dinner, in its refinement, in modest appearance (the boundaries of which nature has set), in piety, and in faith it has everything. With such virtues, James, happily direct the rudder of your kingdom, so that at length you can earn greater rewards.
87Besides, how often has chance permitted you to seek out respite and put your cares aside, or to seek out enfeebling excess, and the plump indolence of the wicked; or how often do you indolently yearn for sluggish sleep? Rather [p230]it pleases you to vex the woods with your hunt, and to wear out wild beast in the chase. j The gazehounds k seek out with their greedy noses the scents that will give away the presence of the hare or the deer; and now the frothing horse's hoof kicks up clouds of dust, and it initiates the manoeuvres of its mock battle. You are quite used to enduring thunder storms, the heat, and the cold, and the hunger of a rumbling stomach. In short you are accustomed to bear Jove the Rainmaker falling from the open heavens, and the ocean's waves impelled from their deepest recesses.
98Indeed your own head bows down before your cherished Muses, and you reserve a place for their study. For your rich work, which will also triumph through its brilliance, now makes the raging blue expanse of the Ionian Sea, and the Ionian Islands awash with the blood of the Turks, and resound with the weapons of the Christians. l And when the happy victory of the Austrian Duke brought forth the copious spoils from the Ottomans' complete defeat, the discoloured Achelous m beholds that his wearied waters swell with their bodies - and he fears that his forehead will be grabbed and mutilated once again in a Herculean fight. Now your work reveals Wisdom's civic potential, and the sacred doctrines of Socrates' school of thought; as Henry, the greatest hope for our prayers, learns from your example (through your life and writings) within which limits virtue should strive for honesty, on which path it may most safely follow the middle way, which measure he should employ to regulate the governance of a just empire, to consider the laws, to lessen injustices, in what way he may overcome his fears, how he may moderate his temper, how he may avoid depravity and debauchery, how he may curb his passions, so that finally, in answer to our prayers, he may happily be raised up by his father's skills and become a very great ruler.
119However, as your reputation in these activities spreads far across the world, and hides your head raised-up amid the clouds, Divine Themis n laments that even now authority has not been bequeathed to you to equal to your merits, that the Furies menace with savage wars, and that the fields lay low under the slaughter of men. When she saw that Queen Elizabeth was about to surrender her body to its final rest, and be summoned by the fates to the stars, the goddess came down from the heavenly zodiac, from the place where Libra makes the darkness equal to daylight, and she drew near the ailing queen with these words: 'Mighty heroine, through whom a manly courage of spirit has fortified the power of the Saxons, fortune has brought forth [p231]the spoils from your vanquished foes, and prudence under Justice's protection has blessed your people with an illustrious peace; what bounty has your life already spread across the many years! Grant that it will be everlasting for your people; disappoint the Furies in their wicked hope; and may you bestow peace to your people ever after your death. May it comfort you to remember that a Stewart, who is next in line to you by right, is destined for these sceptres: submit to the will of the Fates, and with your blessing may he who is not an unworthy heir to your fortune and virtue take the English into his own care.' Dragging out her dying breaths, the queen responds to these words: 'Neither was I minded to, nor did divine right dictate that I choose anyone else. May the Scot unite with the Saxon under his rule, may the Stewart hero rule over them - his noble birth and virtue recommend him, the public good demands him. All the nobles and the senators who cared for the people and controlled the state approved. Then, without delay, scarely did the queen's spirit depart her fading body, and cold relieve her stiff limbs, when the news travels fast, and makes it be known that, in accordance with Elizabeth's final wish, and her own will, by the decree of the nobles and the Senators, a Scot deserves to be summoned to rule. The common people are in turmoil, moving between two extremes: on the one hand there is grief for their dead mistress, and a fear afflicts them, lest gloomy fortune wrinkle their brow; and on the other their love has been attached to you. The highest renown of your virtues, and their great hope for greater bounty under you combine to lay aside their laments; and their spirits and faces light up. The temples are aflame with offerings and every street corner crackles with applause. They call for your alone, and the Thames spreads out its gently-flowing waters for you, and very softly it comes to meet the Ocean with its pliant waves; as it becomes impatient and longs for you, and complains about the delay. Curving round its long path, the River Severn joyously departs Mount Plynlimon, o and the Humber renews the gilded glory of it horns.
163And now when you were at hand to embrace and behold, wherever you go England has opened her rich bosom and wreathed her golden hair for you, and has been deservedly regarded as beautiful; and she spreads out her compliant arms, and with gentle obedience, she pledges her love. She neither dared hostile arms, nor, with stability undermined, [p232]attempted any disturbing change. It neither sensed that the reigns of the state had changed, nor that it had been deprived of its ruler.
171No less meanwhile do the people peacefully celebrate, with their arms lain aside, delighted that your rule brings with it the rule of law. And with a state of peace again established in her land, Ireland cheerfully turns its swords into scythes, bends its ashen oak into ploughs, returns its land to the farmer, and the hills to the flocks, and the pastures to the cattle.
177Yet your own Scotland, which provided the cradle for your early years, and happily nurtured your promise, although she laments that you are torn from her, and should prefer that you were present to offer relief to her troubles (as you often used to do), nevertheless, when she comes to know that he, just like Phoebus raised on high with his rising light, with his brightness increased far and wide, more powerfully breathes in the life-giving fires, then delighted for the common good she celebrates your increased glories, the peace brought to the world, and her enduring pact with her kindred race. And then she prays that you pass the many ages of a happy life wherever you are, and that no place may be more dear to you than your native land. May your foreign delights not mark the end to your regard for your own people; for your court resounds with crowds of ambassadors, and is assailed by all Europe! So many a foreigner is never believed to have filled up the Thames' banks and rich dwellings. The Frenchman joyfully celebrates that you, his old friend, have been endowed with new honours; at last he sees that you hold those sceptres that he so often feared, and were so often harmful to him. And therefore now he trusts that the English are united with the Scots in a pact that neither Mars in the chaos of war, nor voracious envy, nor greed, nor a lust for power or vengeance could ever break. Spain readily holds out an olive branch from the Gallician coast, and the Belgian, arriving from his Morinian shore, p petitions that a peace mark an end to protracted war. Moreover, the Dutch seek your help. And the warlike Dane is present from the North, and he rejoices that you have attained your power without bloodshed, and that the promise of your many kingdoms is taken care of by a destiny close at hand: a little child born of their stock. The savage Saxon has left the Elbe, and the Chauci have left the River Weser, q [p233]and, stirred up by your reputation, the dwellers of the Rhine have come - so too the mistress of the Adriatic, Venice, who dwells in the Paduan cities, and makes herself equal to great kings.
211Yet, so that heaven may not yield in joy to mortals, Aries renews its bright fires, and the soothing kindness of bright heaven glows forth, and few clouds cover Apollo's face; whether he is shining on the horns and sagging chin of Europa's Bull r with his light on high, or doing the same for the twins Castor and Pollux. The earth has happily absorbed Apollo's life-giving heat just a little, or ever has it emitted its vernal glories. It was the springtime of his rule. Fertile nature smiled upon your fair weather; and promises that virtues have left heaven and returned to earth, and that there will also be a golden age, and that the kingdoms will live happily under your descendants.
223Come now, James, may you surpass the expectations of your people: with your virtue add your eternal joys to the calendar, and let your kingdoms draw their light from their prince! And may your increased glory not wrinkle your brow, and cloud over your happy soul; may the love of the people keep you safe, not the fearful power of the sword; also, as before, may your favour be always fixed upon the worthy; may the world receive peace under your direction; and with peace may faith safely rejoice; may the wicked not go unpunished; may there be a reward for virtues; and may corruption not destroy the noble arts. Thus may the people honour you in your success, and may they also love you - all those whom Phoebus goes to meet, when either on the rise or setting below the waves. In a smiliar repeated succession may Fortune favour you, and heap up your triumphs. Thus may that serious God of Gods provide earth with a man outstanding in worth and soul, and may he then restore him to heaven. And for your kingdoms, and your titles, and the long procession of your house's destiny may he replace you with innumerable descendants from a fertile stock.
Notes:
Original
1: The Danish royal court poet Vitus Pederson Bering (1617-1675) reused these lines in his Serenissimo Christiano, 94-7, which can be found in volume 2, p.193 of the Delitiae Poetarum Danorum (Leiden, 1693). Bering was also familiar with the poetry of a good friend of Adam King's family, Thomas Craig (a correspondant of the great Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe, who valued Craig's poetry highly - see: http://www.dps.gla.ac.uk/features/display/?fid=ThomasCraig2) and Bering's use of Craig can be seen here: d1_CraT_001 notes 6 and 7.
2: Cf. Buchanan, Psalms, 104.2
3: Virgil, Eclogues, IV.17
4: 'Parrhasiam...Arcton': a poetical description of Ursa Major used by Ovid at Tristia I.3.48. However King is clearly following Buchanan's use of the image from De Sphaera, I.501. Buchanan also uses the phrase to describe the Great Bear at III.312.
5: Cf. Ovid, Fasti, I.286
6: Buchanan, De Sphaera, I.504-5. See note to line 18 for King's use of this type of imagery from the De Sphaera.
7: Cf. Martial, Epigrams, I.88.6
8: Virgil, Georgics, I.55-6
9: For phrase see: Lucan, Bellum Civile, IX.716; however, for idea see: Virgil, Eclogues IV.24.
10: Buchanan, Psalms, 18.45-7
11: Buchanan, Silvae, IV.150
12: From same passage in Buchanan as previous line: Buchanan, Silvae, IV.152
13: Buchanan, De Sphaera, I.19; Lucretius, De Rerum Natura I.927 is perhaps Buchanan's inspiration.
14: Cf. Horace, Ars Poetica, 323
15: Lines 50-54: Poliziano, Manto, 21-5. King's phraseology at line 52 shows that he is familiar with Poliziano's inspiration, Statius, Silvae V.3.114-5.
16: Claudian, De Consulatu Honorii, VI.35
17: A favourite passage of King's, taken from Buchanan, Psalms, VI104.33 and 55; King reuses the phrase at d2_KinA_001 lines 9, 51, and 58; and d2_KinA_008 line 498.
18: Cf. Persius, Satires, III.64: '...venienti occurrite morbo'.
19: Lines 75-86 are a richly embroidered paraphrase of Claudian, De Consulatu Stilichonis, II.9-29. Lucan, Buchanan, Sannazaro, and King's own poetry embellish the core Claudianic passage (see following notes).
20: Claudian, De Consulatu Stilichonis, II.17-19
21: A very pointed allusion to Lucan, Bellum Civile, III.83.
22: A passage from Sannazaro, De Partu Virginis, I.189 that King reuses at d2_KinA_001 line 133.
23: See Buchanan's Genethliacon to James: Silvae, VII.54-5.
24: A reworking of Buchanan, Silvae, VII.52-3.
25: 'Ocia' in DPS.
26: This and the previous line: Claudian, De Consulatu Honorii, III.40-1.
27: This phrase comes from: Poliziano, Rusticus, 54. Poliziano's inspiration for his own passage is undoubtedly Claudian, De Consulatu Honorii III.39-50.
28: Virgil, Georgics, I.376
29: Buchanan, Silvae, IV.175
30: Statius, Thebaid, IV.759
31: Statius, Thebaid, IV.106-7. King uses this passage to refer to King James' poem on the battle of Lepanto.
32: 'Erricus' in DPS.
33: Lines 113-118 are an elaboration of Buchanan, Silvae VII.113-4, using the language of didactic poetry ('discit...quo...qua...qua' etc). See note 3 to d1_CraT_007 for a fuller discussion of the literary evolution of the phrase in classical and Scots Latin literature.
34: Virgil, Aeneid, IV.173-7
35: The autumn equinox: Lucretius, De Rerum Natura, V.687.
36: Buchanan, Silvae, I.11
37: Virgil, Aeneid, II.130
38: A Virgilian commonplace: Aeneid, III.121; VIII.554; VII.392; and XI.139.
39: Cf. Virgil, Aeneid, IV.477
40: Buchanan, Silvae, IV.21-2
41: Buchanan, Silvae, I.12 - see line 142 above for King's use of same passage from Buchanan.
42: Claudian, De Consulatu Stilichonis, I.148-152
43: This and the previous line present a classicising paraphrase of Isaiah, 2.4, using Statius, Thebaid VII.716, and Claudian, De Consulatu Stilichonis I.222-3.
44: Cf. d2_KinA_001 27
45: Claudian, De Consulatu Honorii, IV.452
46: The Adriatic. See: Cicero, De Oratore, III.19.89.
47: Cf. Buchanan, De Sphaera, V.121
48: Cf. Sidonius Appolinaris, Carmina, II.132
49: Statius, Silvae, IV.1.20
50: Statius, Silvae, IV.1.26-7
51: Juvenal, Satires, XIV.325
52: From Virgil's extended translation of Aratus, Phaenomena 819-890, found at Georgics, I.438.
53: 'Phaebus' in DPS.
Translation
a: Armorica and Neustria were names (in the Roman and Frankish periods respectively) for territories stretching along the western coast of Frnace.
b: A reference to the patron saint of Ireland, Saint Patrick, whose miracles included the expulsion of all snakes from the island.
c: The home of the muses on Mount Helicon.
d: Cyrrha (or Cirrha): the port at Delphi.
e: The Muses.
f: The Castalian Spring was where all visitors to Delphi stopped to wash their hair, and drinking from it was said to provide inspiration for poetry.
g: The Permessus Spring was also sacred to Apollo and the Muses.
h: Odysseus' cunning and wiles were proverbial, while Nestor was the King of Pylos, whose advice is sought in the Iliad by the Achaeans on account of his venerable age and wisdom.
i: Cicero.
j: A nod to James' favourite pastime.
k: Or sighthounds: dogs (such as whippets) that rely on speed and sight to track prey, rather than their sense of smell.
l: The Battle of Lepanto was a naval battle fought in 1571 at the entrance to the Gulf of Corinth. The Christian forces of Rome, Venice, and Spain, under the leadership of Don John of Austria (see further below), defeated a large Turkish fleet, ending Turkish naval domination in the eastern Mediterranean. James wrote a well-known poem on the same event (see also note to Latin text).
m: Longest river in Greece, which empties into the Gulf of Corinth.
n: Daughter of Uranus and Gaia, and the personification of justice and order.
o: The Severn, the longest river in England and Wales, does indeed flow across Mount Plynlimon in west Wales.
p: In this context, the 'Belgians' are actually the Celtic tribe that resided in the area known today as the Pas-de-Calais, so this is a reference to the French.
q: The Chauci were a Germanic tribe based around the River Weser in north-west Germany.
r: The constellation Taurus.