To Be or Not to Be?

“fre liking is yharnyt our all other thing”

[“Free decision is longed for above all else.”]

This is part of one of the most famous passages in a medieval Scottish manuscript called The Brus (Modern English: The Bruce). Here is a slightly longer bit of the original:

A! Fredome is a noble thing

Fredome mays man to haiff liking.

Fredome all solace to man giffis,

He levys at es that frely levys.

A noble hart may haiff nane es

Na ellys nocht that may him ples

Giff fredome failyhe, for fre liking

Is yharnyt our all other thing.

                        Book I, lines 225-32

Ah! Freedom is a noble thing

Freedom lets a man have pleasure,

Freedom all solace to man gives,

He lives at ease who freely lives,

A noble heart will have no ease

Nor aught else that pleases him

If freedom fails, for free decision

Is longed for above all else.

                        Translation by A.A.M. Duncan

The author, John Barbour, wrote The Brus c. 1375. It’s a long narrative poem about King Robert I, the actual Braveheart (not William Wallace—sorry, Mel).

Today, Scotland is voting for or against its independence from the U.K. As an American and a medieval literature student, I have pretty much zero qualifications to be writing on this topic. Instead, I invite you to check out this website, which breaks down some of the major issues surrounding Scottish independence. We’ll see what tomorrow brings!