David Lindsay

David Lindsay, called Sir David Lyndsay of the Mount (1490?-1555?), Scottish poet and courtier. Lindsay held several offices in the household of James V, king of Scotland, and was knighted in 1529. His major works include The Dreme (1528), which comments on conditions in Scotland; The Monarchy (1554); and Ane Satyre of the Thrie Estaitis (1540?), a long dramatic poem in the tradition of the morality plays (see Miracle, Mystery, and Morality Plays). Lindsay's considerable body of minor verse gives a vivid picture of the Scottish society of his time.

Lindsay's work, with its easy rhymes and broad satires on church corruption, was influential in establishing the Reformation in Scotland, and remained widely popular for two centuries after his death. In recent years, the Satyre has been revived and presented at the annual Edinburgh International Festival of Music and Drama.