Virgil's Aeneid translated into Scottish verse :: :: University of Virginia Library

Belive Eneas membris schuk for cald,
And murnand baith his handis vp did hald
Towart the sternys, with petuus voce thus gan say:
“O sevin tymys quhou happy and blissit war thai

Vnder hie wallis of Troy, by dynt of swerd,
Deit in thar faderis syght, bytand the erd!
O thou of Grekis mast forcy, Diomed,
Quhy mycht I not on feldis of Troy haue deit
And by thi rycht hand ȝaldin forth my sprete
Quhar that the valiant Hectour losit the swete
On Achillis speir, and grisly Sarpedon,
And ondyr flude Symois mony one
With scheld and helm stalwart bodeis lyis warpit?”
And al invane thus quhil Eneas carpit,
A blastrand bub out from the north brayng
Gan our the forschip in the baksaill dyng,
And to the sternys vp the flude gan cast.
The aris, hechis and the takillis brast,
The schippis stevin frawart hyr went gan wryth,
And turnyt hir braid syde to the wallis swyth.
Heich as a hill the iaw of watir brak
And in ane hepe cam on thame with a swak.
Sum hesit hoverand on the wallis hycht,
And sum the swowchand sey so law gart lycht
Thame semyt the erd oppynnyt amyd the flude—
The stour vp bullyrrit sand as it war wode.
The sowth wynd, Nothus, thre schippis draif away
Amang blynd cragis, quhilk huge rolkis thai say
Amyd the sey Italianys Altaris callis;
And othir thre Eurus from the deip wallis
Cachit amang the schald bankis of sand—
Dolorus to se thame chop on grond, and stand

Lyke as a wall with sand warpit about.
Ane othir, in quham salit the Lycianys stowt,
Quhilum fallowis to Kyng Pandor in weir,
And Orontes, Eneas fallow deir,
Befor his eyn from the north wynd
Ane hydduuss sey schippit at hir stern behynd,
Smate furth the skippar clepit Lewcaspis,
His hed doune warpit, and the schip with this
Thryss thar the flude quhirlit about round,
The swokand swelth sank vnder sey and drond.
On the huge deip quhoyn salaris dyd appeir;
The Troianys armour, takillis and othir geir
Flet on the wallis; and the strang barge tho
Bair Ilioneus, and scho that bair also
Forcy Achates, and scho that bair Abas,
And scho quharin ancyant Alethes was,
The storm ourset, raif rovis and syde semmys—
Thai all lekkit, the salt watir stremmys
Fast bullerand in at euery ryft and boyr.
In the meyn quhile, with mony rowt and royr
The sey thus trublit, and this tempest furth sent
Felt Neptune, and his watir movit and schent,
The deip furthȝet in schaldis heir and thair.
Gretly commovit, out of the sey gan stair

His plesand hede, rasit on the hyast wall,
Lukand about, behaldis the sey our all
Eneas navy skatterit fer ysundir,
With fludis ourset the Troianys and at vnder
By flaggis and rayn dyd from the hevin discend:
Iunois dissate and ire full weill he kend.
He callis till hym Eurus and Ȝephirus,
Tha est and west wyndis, and said thame thus:
“Ar ȝe sa gretly assurit in ȝour hie kyn,
Ȝe wyndis,” quod he, “but my leif durst begyn
Baith erd and ayr to move on this maneir
And eik the sey with sa stowt stormys steir?
I sal ȝou chastyss; bot me behuffis first meyss
The motioune of fludis and thame appess.
Traist weill onpunyst ȝe sal me not astart
On sik awyss gif ȝe falt efterwart.
Withdraw ȝou hens and to ȝour kyng say ȝe
He has na power nor autorite
On seys, nor on the thre granyt ceptour wand
Quhilk is by cut gevin me to beir in hand;
Hald him on craggis and amang rochis hie,
Thair is ȝour dwelling place, Eurus,” quod he.
“Byd Eolus kepe hym in that hald conding,
Do cloyss the presoun of wyndis and tharon ryng.”
Thus said he, and with that word hastely
The swelland seys has swagit, and fra the sky
Gaderit the clowdis and chasit sone away,
Brocht hame the son agane and the brycht day.
Hys douchter Cymothoe and hys son Tryton
Enforsis thame the Troianys schippis onone

To rayss and lift of the scharp rolkis blynd;
The god hym self gan hesyng thame behynd
With his byg ceptour havand granys thre,
Oppynnys schald sandis and temperis weill the see,
Ourslidand lychtly the croppis of the wallis.
And as ȝe se, oft amangis commonys fallis
Stryfe and debait in thar wod fulych ire,
Now fleys the stanys and now the broyndis of fyre
(Thar greif and fury mynysteris wapynnys plente),
Bot than percace gif thai behald or se
Sum man of gret autorite and efferis,
Thai cess and, all stil standand, gevis him eris;
He wyth his wordis gan slaik thar mynd and swage.
On the sammyn wyss fell all the seys rage.

(1) Her fyrst namys Virgill Eneas. (2) This cald, sais Seruyus, coym of dreid; nocht that Eneas dred the ded, bot this maner of ded; and alsso he that dredis na thyng, nor kan haf na dred, is not hardy, but fuyll hardy and beistly.

The maner was swa in tha dais that nobillis slan in feld tuke ther mouth full of erd, to that effect that in the ded thrawis nain myssyttand word nor voce suldbe hard of ther mowth.

Mast forcy, that is to sey, on of the maste forcy.

Sarpedon, son of Iupiter and Laodomya, dochtyr to Bellerophon, was kyng of Lycia; of huge statur, and slan by Patroclus.

Thar lyis betwix Affryk and the ile of Sardynia, amyd the sey, a hirst or ryg of craggy rolkis, quhilk beyn callit “altaris of suple or help,” becaus therat on a tyme the pepill of Affrik and Romanys band vp perpetwall payce. And thir schald bankis of sand heir nammyt bein the twa dangeris of the sey Affrican, callit Syrtis, the mair and the less; mar perellus than Ȝairmuth sandis or Holland cost.

Off Orontes and Lewcaspis sum thing in the v c. of the vi buyk, and of this Pander or Pandarus in the ix c. of the v buyk.

Of this Ilioneus and the otheris Troianys heir nammyt beyn oft benath maid mension.

Neptun or Neptunus, brother to Iove and Pluto and son to Saturn. For that the partis of his heritage lay in Creit by the sey cost, and for he vsit mekill salyng and rowyng, and fand the craft or art therof, therfor is he clepit god of the sey. He was alsswa an the first tawcht to dant and taym horsss; and onto hym beyn consecret the fundment of wallis, for alsmekill as it is said he biggyt the wallis of Troy, or than becauss the watyr inclusyt ondyr the erth is oft tymys causs of erdqwkyng and trimbillyng or moving of the erth, as we se by experiens in watyr brekis. And perchanss thir thre poweris signefeis the thre granyt ceptour, quhilk his statw in ald days bair in hand, lyk a crepar or a graip wyth thre granys. Tha discryve hym rydand in a cart, quhilk betakinnys the weltyng our of the sey wallys, that rollys, hurlys and brais lyke cart quhelis. Quha lykis mair of him, go reid Bocas, in the first c. and tent buyk of the Genealogy of Goddis.

Heir is an notabyll doctryn, that nan nobill man suld hastely reveng him eftyr his greif. Tharfor was gevin consell to August Octavian the empriour, that eftir his commotion, or euer he did or said ocht, he suld wryte xxiiii lettiris.

This thre granyt ceptour in sum part haf I twychis [sic] abuf. It may betakyn alsswa the thre properteis of the watyr, quhis is flowand, drynkabyll and ganand to sayll or swym intyll.

Cymothoe, as sais Seruyus, is in Grew alss mekyll to say in our language as the flowand or rinnand flud, quhilk may be clepit a ganand dochtir to Neptun, god of seys. Tryton, as sais Bocas, is the bruyt or rowtyng of the wally sey: quharfor iustly is he fenȝeit trumpet to the occian and son to Neptun. Netheless, Plynyus in his Naturall History reherssis that Triton is a verray monstre of the sey, and that in the tym of Tyberius the emperour syk an was hard and seyn. His schap and portatour is discryvit in the x buyk in the iiii c., and he slais Mesenus in the iii c. of the vi buyk.

Noyte Virgill in this comparison and symilytud, for therin and in syk lyke baris he the palm of lawd, as I haf said in my proheme. It is to be considderit alsso that our all this wark, he comparis batell tyll spayt or dyluge of watyr, or than to suddan fyr, and to nocht ellis.

Cristoferus Landynus, that writis moraly apon Virgill, says thus: Eneas purposis to Italy, his land of promyssion; that is to say, a iust perfyte man entendis to mast soueran bonte and gudnes, quhilk as witnessyth Plato, is situate in contemplation of godly thyngis or dyvyn warkis. His onmeysabill ennymy Iuno, that is fenȝeit queyn of realmys, entendis to dryve him from Italle to Cartage; that is, Avesion, or concupissence to ryng or haf warldly honouris, wald draw him fra contemplation to the actyve lyve; quhilk, quhen scho falis by hir self, tretis scho with Eolus, the neddyr part of raison, quhilk sendis the storm of mony warldly consalis in the iust manis mynd. Bot, quhoubeyt the mynd lang flowis and delitis heirintyll, fynaly by the fre wyll and raison predomynent, that is, ondirstand, by Neptun, the storm is cessit, and, as followis in the nyxt c., arryvit in sond havin, quhilk is tranquilite of consciens; and fynaly Venus, in the vi c. following, schawis Ene his feris recouerit again, quhilk is, fervent lufe and cherite schawis the iust man his swete meditationys and feruour of deuotion, quham he tynt by warldly curis, restorit to hym again, and all his schippis bot on, be quham I ondyrstand the tyme lost.