Scotland—to land at England’s ports. Elizabeth will
also not allow invasion by “seditious sects” (l. 27), a
reference to Roman Catholicism—seditious because
the Pope had excommunicated Elizabeth and declared
that any potential murderer would not be committing
a mortal sin to kill her.
In the last stanza, we learn that Elizabeth’s sword of
state may be rusty from lack of use because her reign
has not previously been threatened. She will not hesi-
tate to use it, however, to “pull their tops who seek
such change” (l. 31). “Pull” is probably a misprint for
“poll,” a practice by which the tops of trees were cut off
to keep them from growing too tall. Elizabeth will not
hesitate to lop the heads off anyone who thinks he or
she can stand above the queen. The last Latin line,
“Vivat Regina,” means “Long live the queen”—Eliza-
beth’s hope and, perhaps, her threat.
FURTHER READING
Elizabeth I. Elizabeth I. Collected Works. Edited by Leah S.
Marcus, Janel Mueller, and Mary Beth Rise. Chicago and
London: University of Chicago Press, 2000.
Hopkins, Lisa. Writing Renaissance Queens: Texts by and
about Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots. Newark, Del.:
Associated University Presses, 2002.
Theodora A. Jankowski
DOUGLAS, GAVIN (ca. 1474–1522) Gavin
Douglas was the third son of the fi fth earl of Angus. He
matriculated at St. Andrews University in 1489 and
took a master’s degree in 1494. Upon reaching his
majority in 1496, he took holy orders, which was not
uncommon for younger sons of nobility. Douglas
moved up the ecclesiastical ladder from the deanery of
Dunkeld to the provost of St. Giles (1503) and then to
the bishopric of Dunkeld (1516). He died of the plague
in September 1522 at the London home of Cardinal
Wolsey while attempting to win support for the arch-
bishopric of Edinburgh.
Along with several of his fellow MIDDLE SCOTS poets,
Douglas is often considered one of the SCOTTISH CHAU-
CERIANS. However, of this group, Douglas was the fi rst to
refer to his language not as “Inglis” but as “Scottis.” He
sought to legitimize the VERNACULAR—in this case the
Scottish vernacular—as a worthy vehicle for poetry.
Among other pieces, Douglas wrote a DREAM VISION,
Palice of Honour, (ca. 1501–13) and may be the author
of the minor poem King Hart (ca. 1500) as well. How-
ever, he is best known for his Eneados, which he com-
pleted on July 22, 1513. It was the fi rst and only
complete translation of VIRGIL’s Aeneid until John
Dryden’s in 1700. Because he added the glosses of Ser-
vius Maurus Honoratus, the fourth-century grammar-
ian, and Jodocus Badius Ascensius, the printer and
scholar, as well as his own ideas about Virgil’s text, this
work is an important contribution to the TRANSLATION
TRADITION.
Douglas’s powerful use of his own culture, home-
land, and literary dialect helped to establish and pre-
serve Scotland’s linguistic freedom from the political
power of England and the cultural force of the English
language.
FURTHER READING
Bawcutt, Priscilla. Gavin Douglas: A Critical Study. Edin-
burgh: University of Edinburgh Press, 1976.
———. The Shorter Poems of Gavin Douglas. Edinburgh: The
Scottish Text Society, 2003.
Douglas, Gavin. Eneados. Edited David F. C. Coldwell. 4
vols. Scottish Text Society. Edinburgh: William Black-
wood, 1957–64.
Mark DiCiccoDOWLAND, JOHN (1563–1626) As a young
man, John Dowland spent several years in Paris serving
as clerk to the English ambassadors. During this time,
he converted to Roman Catholicism. Returning to Eng-
land, Dowland married and, in 1588, was admitted to
Christ Church, Oxford, where he earned a bachelor’s
degree in music. His reputation grew, as did his com-
missions; however, the coveted post of court lutenist
eluded him, as ELIZABETH I was reluctant to appoint a
Catholic to any post. In 1594, Dowland departed for
Rome, seeking education, experience, and further
commissions. He became very well known and was
respected across Europe. Ironically, upon his return to
England after 1606, he found his own people disdain-
ful of his music. In 1612, a weary Dowland was fi nally
granted his wish and named a “King’s lute.” He died 14
years later.148 DOUGLAS, GAVIN