Henry the Minstrel
| Blind Harry | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1440 |
| Died | 1492 (aged c. 50) |
| Occupation | minstrel |
| Years active | c. 1470–1492 |
| Notable work | The Actes and Deidis of the Illustre and Vallyeant Campioun Schir William Wallace |
Blind Harry (c. 1440 – 1492), also known as Harry, Hary or Henry the Minstrel, is renowned as the author of The Actes and Deidis of the Illustre and Vallyeant Campioun Schir William Wallace, more commonly known as The Wallace. This was a lengthy poem recounting the life of William Wallace, the Scottish independence leader, written around 1477, 172 years after Wallace's death.
Little is known about Blind Harry's life. One source is the Lord High Treasurer's accounts of 1473–1492, which recorded payments to him for performances at the court of James IV. Blind Harry was given gifts of money by the King at New Year, as were other minor courtiers, but a payment on 2 January 1492 seems to relate to the singing of a ballad accompanied by two Gaelic harpers, "Ersche clareschaw", mentioned in adjacent entries. This is the last mention of Harry in the accounts.
He is mentioned by William Dunbar on line 69 of his Lament for the Makeris early in the 16th century. Historian John Major also wrote about Harry in 1518. These sources differed on whether or not he was blind from birth, but Harry almost certainly seems to have had a military background.
Blind Harry claimed his work was based on a book by Father John Blair, Wallace's boyhood friend and personal chaplain. This book has not been seen in modern times and may never have existed; the poet's attribution of his story to a written text may have been a literary device; many contemporary critics believe that Acts and Deeds is based on oral history and the national traditions of Blind Harry's homeland.
Most historians nowadays regard Acts and Deeds as a versified historical novel, written at a time of strong anti-English sentiment in Scotland. At twelve volumes, the work is also doubted to be solely his work. Elspeth King maintained that despite any inaccuracies, Harry's patriotic and nationalistic portrayal was to ensure Wallace's continuing reputation as a hero. Robert Burns acknowledged his debt to Harry, paraphrasing the following lines from Harry's Wallace in his own poem Robert Bruce's Address to his Army at Bannockburn (Scots, wha hae wi' Wallace bled):
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