Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedie
Quick Summary
The "Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedie" is a notable example of a poetic competition from 15th and 16th-century Scotland. This tradition, known as flyting, involved rival poets exchanging fierce and extravagant verbal abuse in verse.12
The poem features the Scottish poets William Dunbar and Walter Kennedy, who alternate in hurling outrageous insults at each other. While the exchanges were intense, the poets maintained a professional respect for each other's skill in invective. This form of poetic combat, rooted in the Gaelic tradition of professional poets composing tirades, was a popular "sport" among Scottish poets of the era.13
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- William Dunbar
ā¦quite different vein, the alliterative Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedie is a virtuoso demonstration of personal abuse directed against his professional rival Walter Kennedy, who is, incidentally, mentioned with affection in The Lament for the Makaris, Dunbarās reminiscence of dead poets. Dunbarās most celebrated and shocking satire is the alliterativeā¦
Read Moreā¦quite different vein, the alliterative Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedie is a virtuoso demonstration of personal abuse directed against his professional rival Walter Kennedy, who is, incidentally, mentioned with affection in The Lament for the Makaris, Dunbarās reminiscence of dead poets. Dunbarās most celebrated and shocking satire is the alliterativeā¦
Read More - Walter Kennedy
The Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedie, in which the two poets alternate in heaping outrageous abuse on one another, is the outstanding example of this favourite sport of the 16th-century Scots poets.
Read MoreThe Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedie, in which the two poets alternate in heaping outrageous abuse on one another, is the outstanding example of this favourite sport of the 16th-century Scots poets.
Read More