William Dunbar
(1460-1520?)
V. The Dance of the Seven Deadly Sins
One of Dunbar’s most telling satires, as well as one of the most powerful in the language.
I.
Of Februar the fiftene nicht
Full lang before the dayis licht
I lay intill a trance
And then I saw baith Heaven and Hell
Me thocht, amang the fiendis fell
Mahoun gart cry ane dance
Of shrews that were never shriven,110
Agains the feast of Fastern’s even,111
To mak their observance.
He bad gallants gae graith a gyis,112
And cast up gamountis113 in the skies,
As varlets do in France.
II.
Helie harlots on hawtane wise,114
Come in with mony sundry guise,
But yet leuch never Mahoun,
While priests come in with bare shaven necks;
Then all the fiends leuch, and made gecks,
Black-Belly and Bawsy Brown.115
III.
Let see, quoth he, now wha begins:
With that the foul Seven Deadly Sins
Begoud to leap at anis.
And first of all in Dance was Pride,
With hair wyld back, and bonnet on side,
Like to make vaistie wanis;116
And round about him, as a wheel,
Hang all in rumples to the heel
His kethat for the nanis:117
Mony proud trumpour118 with him trippit;
Through scalding fire, aye as they skippit
They girned with hideous granis.119
IV.
Then Ire came in with sturt and strife;
His hand was aye upon his knife,
He brandished like a beir:120
Boasters, braggars, and bargainers,121
After him passit in to pairs,
All bodin in feir of weir;122
In jacks, and scryppis, and bonnets of steel,
Their legs were chainit to the heel,123
Frawart was their affeir:124
Some upon other with brands beft,125
Some jaggit others to the heft,
With knives that sharp could shear.
V.
Next in the Dance followit Envy,
Filled full of feud and felony,
Hid malice and despite:
For privy hatred that traitor tremlit;
Him followit mony freik dissemlit,126
With fenyeit wordis quhyte:127
And flatterers in to men’s faces;
And backbiters in secret places,
To lie that had delight;
And rownaris of false lesings,128
Alace! that courts of noble kings
Of them can never be quit.
VI.
Next him in Dance came Covetyce,
Root of all evil, and ground of vice,
That never could be content:
Catives, wretches, and ockeraris,129
Hudpikes,130 hoarders, gatheraris,
All with that warlock went:
Out of their throats they shot on other
Het, molten gold, me thocht, a futher131
As fire-flaucht maist fervent;
Aye as they toomit them of shot,
Fiends filled them new up to the throat
With gold of all kind prent.132
VII.
Syne Sweirness, at the second bidding,
Came like a sow out of a midding,
Full sleepy was his grunyie:133
Mony swear bumbard belly huddroun,134
Mony slut, daw, and sleepy duddroun,
Him servit aye with sonnyie;135
He drew them furth intill a chain,
And Belial with a bridle rein
Ever lashed them on the lunyie:136
In Daunce they were so slaw of feet,
They gave them in the fire a heat,
And made them quicker of cunyie.137
VIII.
Then Lechery, that laithly corpse,
Came berand like ane baggit horse,138
And Idleness did him lead;
There was with him ane ugly sort,
And mony stinking foul tramort,139
That had in sin been dead:
When they were enterit in the Dance,
They were full strange of countenance,
Like torches burning red.
IX.
Then the foul monster, Gluttony,
Of wame insatiable and greedy,
To Dance he did him dress:
Him followit mony foul drunkart,
With can and collop, cup and quart,
In surfit and excess;
Full mony a waistless wally-drag,
With wames unweildable, did furth wag,
In creesh140 that did incress:
Drink! aye they cried, with mony a gaip,
The fiends gave them het lead to laip,
Their leveray was na less.141
X.
Nae minstrels played to them but doubt,142
For gleemen there were halden out,
Be day, and eke by nicht;
Except a minstrel that slew a man,
So to his heritage he wan,
And enterit by brieve of richt.143
Then cried Mahoun for a Hieland Padyane:144
Syne ran a fiend to fetch Makfadyane,
Far northwast in a neuck;
Be he the coronach145 had done shout,
Ersche men so gatherit him about,
In hell great room they took:
Thae tarmigants, with tag and tatter,
Full loud in Ersche begoud to clatter,
And roup like raven and rook.146
The Devil sae deaved147 was with their yell;
That in the deepest pot of hell
He smorit148 them with smoke!
Notes
110 Mahoun, or the devil, proclaimed a dance of sinners that had not received absolution.
111 The evening before Lent, usually a festival at the Scottish court.
112 go prepare a show in character.
113 gambols.
114 Holy harlots (hypocrites), in a haughty manner. The term harlot was applied indiscriminately to both sexes.
115 Names of spirits, like Robin Goodfellow in England, and Brownie in Scotland.
116 Pride, with hair artfully put back, and bonnet on side: “vaistie wanis” is now unintelligible; some interpret the phrase as meaning “wasteful wants”, but this seems improbable, considering the locality or scene of the poem.
117 His cassock for the nonce or occasion.
118 a cheat or impostor.
119 groans.
120 bear.
121 Boasters, braggarts, and bullies.
122 Arrayed in the accoutrements of war.
123 In coats of armour, and covered with iron network to the heel.
124 Wild was their aspect.
125 brands beat.
126 many strong dissemblers.
127 With feigned words fair or white.
128 spreaders of false reports.
129 usurers.
130 Misers.
131 a great quantity.
132 gold of every coinage.
133 his grunt.
134 Many a lazy glutton.
135 served with care.
136 loins.
137 quicker of apprehension.
138 neighing like an entire horse.
139 corpse.
140 grease.
141 Their reward, or their desire not diminished.
142 No minstrels without doubt—a compliment to the poetical profession: there were no gleemen or minstrels in the infernal regions.
143 letter of right.
144 Pageant.
145 By the time he had done shouting the coronach or cry of help, the Highlanders speaking Erse or Gaelic gathered about him.
146 croaked like ravens and rooks.
147 deafened.
148 smothered.