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Walter Bower or Bowmaker (1385 – December 24 1449), Scottish
Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
 chronicler, was born about 1385 at Haddington
Haddington, East Lothian

Haddington is a town and former Royal Burgh in East Lothian, Scotland. It is the main administrative, cultural and geographical centre for East Lothian, which was known officially as Haddingtonshire before 1921....
, East Lothian
East Lothian

East Lothian is one of 32 unitary council areas in Scotland, UK, and a Lieutenancy areas of Scotland. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Scottish Borders and Midlothian....
.

He was abbot
Abbot

The word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery....
 of Inchcolm Abbey
Inchcolm Abbey

Inchcolm Abbey is a medieval abbey located on the island of Inchcolm in the Firth of Forth in Scotland. The Abbey, which is located at the centre of the island, was in the 12th century during the episcopate of Gregoir of Dunkeld, Bishop of Dunkeld....
 (in the Firth of Forth
Firth of Forth

The Firth of Forth is the estuary or firth of Scotland River Forth, where it flows into the North Sea between Fife to the north, and West Lothian, the City of Edinburgh, and East Lothian to the south....
) from 1418, was one of the commissioners for the collection of the ransom
Ransom

Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner to extort money or property to secure their release, or it can refer to the sum of money involved....
 of James I
James I of Scotland

James I was nominal King of Scots from 4 April 1406, and reigning King of Scots from May 1424 until 21 February 1437....
, King of Scots, in 1423 and 1424, and in 1433 one of the embassy to Paris
Paris

Paris is the Capital of France and the country's largest city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the ?le-de-France Regions of France ....
 on the business of the marriage of the king's daughter to the dauphin. He played an important part at the council of Perth (1432) in the defence of Scottish rights.

During his closing years he was engaged on his work the Scotichronicon
Scotichronicon

The Scotichronicon is a 15th century work of literature which has been described by the National Library of Scotland as "probably the most important mediaeval account of early Scotland history" and as providing both a strong expression of national identity and a window into the world view of mediaeval commentators....
, on which his reputation now chiefly rests.






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Walter Bower or Bowmaker (1385 – December 24 1449), Scottish
Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
 chronicler, was born about 1385 at Haddington
Haddington, East Lothian

Haddington is a town and former Royal Burgh in East Lothian, Scotland. It is the main administrative, cultural and geographical centre for East Lothian, which was known officially as Haddingtonshire before 1921....
, East Lothian
East Lothian

East Lothian is one of 32 unitary council areas in Scotland, UK, and a Lieutenancy areas of Scotland. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Scottish Borders and Midlothian....
.

He was abbot
Abbot

The word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery....
 of Inchcolm Abbey
Inchcolm Abbey

Inchcolm Abbey is a medieval abbey located on the island of Inchcolm in the Firth of Forth in Scotland. The Abbey, which is located at the centre of the island, was in the 12th century during the episcopate of Gregoir of Dunkeld, Bishop of Dunkeld....
 (in the Firth of Forth
Firth of Forth

The Firth of Forth is the estuary or firth of Scotland River Forth, where it flows into the North Sea between Fife to the north, and West Lothian, the City of Edinburgh, and East Lothian to the south....
) from 1418, was one of the commissioners for the collection of the ransom
Ransom

Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner to extort money or property to secure their release, or it can refer to the sum of money involved....
 of James I
James I of Scotland

James I was nominal King of Scots from 4 April 1406, and reigning King of Scots from May 1424 until 21 February 1437....
, King of Scots, in 1423 and 1424, and in 1433 one of the embassy to Paris
Paris

Paris is the Capital of France and the country's largest city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the ?le-de-France Regions of France ....
 on the business of the marriage of the king's daughter to the dauphin. He played an important part at the council of Perth (1432) in the defence of Scottish rights.

During his closing years he was engaged on his work the Scotichronicon
Scotichronicon

The Scotichronicon is a 15th century work of literature which has been described by the National Library of Scotland as "probably the most important mediaeval account of early Scotland history" and as providing both a strong expression of national identity and a window into the world view of mediaeval commentators....
, on which his reputation now chiefly rests. This work, undertaken in 1440 by desire of a neighbour, Sir David Stewart
David Stewart

David Stewart may refer to:*David Stewart, Earl of Strathearn *David Stewart, Duke of Rothesay, heir to the throne of Scotland *David Stewart , Scotland international goalkeeper...
 of Rosyth
Rosyth

Rosyth is a town with a population of approx 15,000 located on the Firth of Forth on Scotland's east coast, three miles south of the centre of Dunfermline....
, was a continuation of the Chronica gentis Scotorum of John of Fordun
John of Fordun

John of Fordun was a Scotland chronicler. It is generally stated that he was born at Fordoun, Mearns. It is certain that he was a secular priest, and that he composed his history in the latter part of the 14th century; and it is probable that he was a chaplain in the cathedral of Aberdeen....
. The completed work, in its original form, consisted of sixteen books, of which the first five and a portion of the sixth (to 1163) are Fordun's—or mainly his, for Bower added to them at places. In the later books, down to the reign of Robert I
Robert I of Scotland

Robert I, King of the Scots usually known in modern English as Robert the Bruce was King of the Scots from 1306 until his death in 1329....
 (1371), he was aided by Fordun's Gesta Annalia, but from that point to the close the work is original and of contemporary importance, especially for James I, with whose death it ends. The task was finished in 1447.

In the two remaining years of his life he was engaged on a reduction or "abridgment" of this work, which is known as the Book of Cupar, and is preserved in the Advocates' library
Advocates' Library

The Advocates' Library is a law library belonging to the Faculty of Advocates in Edinburgh, founded in 1682. Until 1925 it was the deposit library for Scotland, after which the role was taken on by the National Library of Scotland....
, Edinburgh
Edinburgh

Edinburgh ; is the Capital city of Scotland, a position it has held since 1437. It is the seventh largest city in the United Kingdom and the second largest Scottish City status in the United Kingdom after Glasgow....
 (MS. 35. 1. 7). Other abridgments, not by Bower, were made about the same time, one about 1450 (perhaps by Patrick Russell
Patrick Russell

Patrick Russell can refer to:* Sir Thomas Patrick Russell , an English High Court judge and a member of the Privy Council* Patrick Russell , a Scottish surgeon and naturalist who worked in India...
, a Carthusian
Carthusian

The Carthusian Order, also called the Order of St. Bruno, is a Roman Catholic religious order of Enclosed religious orders Monasticism. The order was founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns....
 of Perth
Perth, Scotland

Perth is a town and former royal burgh in central Scotland. Sitting on the banks of the River Tay, it is the administrative headquarters of Perth and Kinross council area....
) preserved in the Advocates' library (MS. 35. 6. 7) and another in 1461 by an unknown writer, also preserved in the same collection (MS. 35. 5. 2). Copies of the full text of the Scotichronicon, by different scribes, are extant. There are two in the British Library
British Library

The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. It is based in London and is one of the world's largest List of Research libraries, holding over 150 million items in all known languages and formats; books, journals, newspapers, magazines, Sound recording, patents, databases, maps, stamps, Printmaking, drawings and much mor...
, in The Black Book of Paisley, and in Harl. MS. 712; one in the Advocates' library, from which Walter Goodall
Walter Goodall

Walter Goodall , historical writer, born in Banffshire, and educated at King's College, Aberdeen, University of Aberdeen. Afterwards he became assistant librarian to the Advocates' Library in Edinburgh....
 printed his edition (Edin., 1759), and one in the library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge

Corpus Christi College is a College of the University of Cambridge. It is notable for being the only college to have been founded by Cambridge townspeople, having been founded in 1352 by the Guilds of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary....
.

See also WF Skene
William Forbes Skene

William Forbes Skene , Scotland historian and antiquary, was the second son of Sir Walter Scott's friend, James Skene , of Rubislaw, near Aberdeen....
's edition of Fordun in the series of Historians of Scotland (1871). Personal references are to be found in the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland, iii. and iv.

A revised and updated translation of Bower's work was produced under the leadership of Professor D. E. R. Watt
D. E. R. Watt

Donald Elmslie Robertson Watt Royal Society of Edinburgh was a Scotland historian and Professor Emeritus at St Andrews University.Born in Aberdeen, D.E.R....
, in nine volumes, published between 1977 and 1997.