Blind Harry, English Literature To 1499, Biographies

Related Category: English Literature To 1499, Biographies

Blind Harry or Henry the Minstrel, fl. late 15th cent., supposed Scottish poet. He is considered the author of the patriotic epic, The Wallace, which celebrates the life of Sir William Wallace. Violently anti-English, the poem was popular in Scotland down to the 18th cent. Since the skillful literary technique of The Wallace makes its composition by the traditionally blind and humble Harry unlikely, it is felt that the poem owes much to another hand.

See edition by W. A. Craigie (1940).