HUCHOWN

huchown, "of the awle ryale" (fl. 14th century), scottish poet, is referred to by wyntoun in his _chronicle_ in these words:-- "hucheon, that cunnande was in littratur. he made a gret gest of arthure, and the awntyr of gawane, the pistil als of suet susane. he was curyousse in his stille, fayr of facunde and subtile, and ay to pleyssance hade delyte, mad in metyr meit his dyte litil or noucht neuir the lesse wauerande fra the suythfastnes." (cott. ms. bk. v. ii, 4308-4318). much critical ingenuity has been spent in endeavouring to identify (a) the poet and (b) the works named in the foregoing passage. it has been assumed that "huchown," or "hucheon," represents the "gude sir hew of eglyntoun" named by dunbar (q.v.) in his _lament for the makaris_ (i. 53). the only known sir hugh of eglintoun of the century is frequently mentioned in the public records from the middle of the century onwards, as an auditor of accounts and as witness to several charters. by 1360 he had married dame egidia, widow of sir james lindsay and half-sister of robert the steward. his public office and association with the steward sorts well with the designation "of the awle ryale," if that be interpreted as "aula regalis" or "royal palace." he appears to have died late in 1376 or early in 1377. the first of the poems named above, the _gest of arthure_ or _gest historyalle_ (_ib._ i. 4288), has been identified by dr trautmann, "anglia," _der dichter huchown_ (1877), with the alliterative _morte arthure_ in the thornton ms. at lincoln, printed by the e.e.t.s. (ed. brock, 1865). the problem of the second (_the awntyr of gawane_) is still in dispute. there are difficulties in the way of accepting the conjecture that the poem is the "awntyres of arthure at the tern wathelyne" (see s.t.s., _scottish alliterative poems_, 1897, and introduction, pp. 11 et seq.), and little direct evidence in favour of the view that the reference is to the greatest of middle english romances, _sir gawain and the grene knight_. the third may be safely accepted as the well-known _pistil_ [epistle] _of swete susan_, printed by laing (_select remains_, 1822) and by the s.t.s. (_scottish alliterative poems, u.s._). see, in addition to the works named, above, g. neilson's _sir hew of eglintoun and huchown of the awle ryale_ (glasgow, 1901), which contains a full record of references to the historical sir hew of eglintoun; _huchown of the awle ryale, the alliterative poet_ (glasgow, 1902) by the same; j. t. t. brown's _huchown of the awle ryale and his poems_ (glasgow, 1902), in answer to the foregoing. see also the correspondence in the _athenaeum_, 1900-1901, and the review of mr neilson's pamphlets, ib. (nov. 22, 1902); and j. h. millar's _literary history of scotland_ (1903), pp. 8-14.