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Blind Harry's Wallace (Paperback)

by William Hamilton (Author), Owain Kirby (Illustrator), Elspeth King (Introduction)
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 227 pages
  • Publisher: Luath Press Ltd; illustrated edition edition (Jan 1998)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0946487332
  • ISBN-13: 978-0946487332
  • Product Dimensions: 20.6 x 14 x 2.3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 369,226 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Product Description

The epic verse of "Blind Harry" (or "Henry the Minstrel") is the main source on the life of Sir William Wallace. It was written around 1477 and based on the now lost Latin book of John Blair, commisioned by 'the fetching bishop' William Sinclair, Bishop of Dunkeld, to send to the Pope. Blind Harry gathered stories and traditions of Wallace from all over Scotland and sang or recited his verse. He was well recieved at the Renaissance court of King James IV. Blind Harry's "Acts and Deidis of the Illustre and Vallyeant Campioun Schir William Wallace" was one of the first Scottish books printed in Scotland. Hamilton's edition, "wherein the old obsolete words are rendered more intelligible", first published in 1722, had a great influence on Burns (whom it inspired to visit many of the sites mentioned and to write a number of poems including "Scots Wha Hae") and many others, including Wordsworth and Byron. Elspeth King, has long campaigned to bring Blind Harry's work back into print in an accessible form, and argues for its significance amd relevance today.

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Customer Reviews

5 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars This blood and gore epic will have your heart racing., 26 May 2003
By Mr. Hugh Harkin "hugh_harkin" (Scotland) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Blind Harry's "Wallace" (Hardcover)
Recorded by a blind minstrel, name of Harry, this epic poem of classical proportions records the life of one William Wallace. It was written over 100 years after Wallace died for his part in the Scottish Wars of Independance, yet it is considered the main source of information on the life of the warrior knight, famously portrayed by Mel Gibson in the film 'Braveheart'.
This particular version is the William Hamilton translation, which cleans-up and modernises much of the original in a way which allows the 21st century reader to enjoy the poem without having to scratch their head at every single word. Therefore I would recommend this 1722 version above the original. I am from Scotland, but even I would struggle with the Blind Harry version.
The poem follows Wallace from his days as an Ayrshire boy, through much splitting of skulls and slicing of throats, to his death in London in 1305 and each page is alive with both humour and dare I say it, an anti-English sentiment. But I feel we can forgive Blind Harry for this as he did live in an era where things were happening in Scotland which were not unlike what has recently happened in the Balkan Wars.
I must salute Luath Press for their book. It is the first Luath book I have owned and I particularlly love the illustrations by Owain Kirby, especially the way they are placed at key pieces of the text to indicate when, for example, a female figure appears in the poem.
This book is Scotland's Homer (not Simpson - Doh!) and deserves to be presented to a wider audience, which I'm sure this edition will do.
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10 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars a must for those Studying William Wallace, 2 Nov 2002
By Deborah MacGillivray "Author," (US & UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)      
For the person wanting to have a balanced view of Wallace, they need to include this text. Blind Harry or Blin Hary the Minstrel is believed to live from 1440-1493. Very little is really known about him. However, he is recalled for this major achievement of gathering and recording stories of Wallace. Supposedly the first written work about Wallace. He sang or recited these stories in verse form, and it is noted that he was well received at the Renaissance Court of James IV. One must recall these tales were collected well over 100 years after Wallace's death, giving plenty of time for the legend to already take root. Many of the details of Harry's epic are very accurate, some are not (but then he certainly is a lot closer than Randall Wallace!!).

William Hamilton(c1665-1751) brought Wallace back into the minds of everyone with the translation of Blind Harry's original poem.

One needs to understand this is written from a very pro Scots point of view, and tends to see Scots as the good guys and English as the bad ones, with few areas of grey. But taken on a whole, with most of the works on Wallace stemming from English records, it gives a balanced picture in studying Wallace.

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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Thank goodness!, 11 Jul 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Blind Harry's "Wallace" (Hardcover)
Thank goodness! Finally, a Modern English edition of Harry's Wallace in verse form since 1859! Great job by Mr. William Hamilton and a great introduction by Mr. Elspeth King. The translation is incredibly accurate and very close to the original text. Mr. King gives an introduction with a great account of all the texts, editions and translations of the poem ever printed (for those of us into a more detailed study of the poem.)And everything magnificently decorated with Middle Ages-like illustrations by Owan Kirby. A must for anybody into Scottish (or English) studies.
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