Musicians of the Scottish Reformation: with special reference to Crown policy, c.1560-1650

Abstract

Whilst many generalisations have, from time to time, been made about the effect of the Reformation on the lives of the Scottish musicians, precise information is lacking on this subject. Here an effort is made to provide factual support for the general thesis, i.e. the deprivations they incurred. during the redistribution of church property, and the genuine though only partially successful efforts of the Regents and of James VI to rehabilitate the art of music throughout the country.

The MS of Thomas Wood, commonly' styled the "Psalter of 1566", has been the subject of several monographs, notably by Livingstone and Laing. In the present work, the internal evidence provided by Wood is related to contemporary events, particularly the first meetings of the Reformers in St. Andrews. We trace the activities of the chief contributors to the Psalter, and show the part played by some of them in formulating the requirements of the new music.

Lastly, an overall account of the lives of the Scottish musicians is provided ~ the Biographical Index, which lists about a hundred names in addition to those already dealt with in the body of the work. The inevitable shortcomings, as well as the compensations of such a list are described at the beginning of the Index.

The total number of :musicians dealt with is in excess of one hundred and fifty.

The unusual form of the work has been dictated partly by the nature of the material used, and partly by the demands of classification. Musicians are grouped under four main headings.Where possible, the relevant quotations are placed at the end of each chapter For reasons which will be obvious this procedure is not followed in the, last chapter.