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.