Did John Lydgate Write the Original for the “Scotch Copy of a Poem on Heraldry”?

Abstract

Evidence is presented, from heraldic, linguistic and political–historical evidence, that the original author of the “Scotch Copy of a Poem on Heraldry” was not Adam Loutfut ca. 1494 but the earlier English writer John Lydgate, possibly drawing from French heraldic sources. A new transcription from the Harleian MS 6149 is given with a comparison to the text from a copy in Queen’s MS. 161, plus a modern-language “translation” and critical commentary.