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Scottish Literature is taken here in the familiar sense of the Teutonic vernacular of Scotland, not in the more comprehensive sense of the literature of Scotland or of writings by men of Scottish birth, whether in Gaelic, Latin or Northern English. The difference between the two definitions, however, is of small practical concern. The Scottish-Gaelic literature, which is separately dealt with is, by comparison, of minor importance; and the Latin, though it has a range and influence in Scotland to which it is difficult to find a parallel in the history of the literature's of Europe, is (perhaps for the very reason of its persistency and extent) so bound up with the vernacular that it may be conveniently treated with that literature. It is true that down to the 15th century there were many Teutonic Scots who had difficulty in expressing themselves in "Ynglis" and that, at a later date the literary vocabulary was strongly influenced by the Latin habit of Scottish culture; but the difficulty was generally academic, arising from a scholarly sensitiveness to style in the use of a medium which
had no literary traditions; perhaps also from medieval and humanistic contempt of the vulgar tongue; in some cases from the cosmopolitan circumstance of the Scot and the special nature of his appeal to the learned world. The widespread use of Latin was, however, seldom or never antagonistic to the preservation of national sentiment. That it was used for other than literary purposes strengthened that sentiment in a way which mere scholarly or literary interest could not have done. The Scottish timbre is rarely wanting, even in places where scholastic or classical custom might have claimed, as in other literature's, an exclusive privilege. And to say this implies no disrespect to the quality of early Scottish Latinity.
In a survey of the vernacular literature of Scotland it is advantageous to keep in mind that there are two main streams or threads running throughout, the one literary in the higher sense, expressing itself in "schools" of a more artificial or academic type; the other popular, also in the better sense of that term, more native, more rooted in national tradition. The former is represented by the group known as the Scottish Chaucerians, by the 17th century Court poets, by the "English" writings of literacy Edinburgh of the 18th century; the latter by the domestic and rustic muse from Christis Kirk on the Grene to the work the 18th century revival begun in Ramsay. There is, of course, frequent interaction between these two movements, but recognition of their separate development is necessary to the understanding of such contemporary contrasts as the Thrissil and the Rois and Peblis to the Play, Drummond and Montgomerie, Ramsay and Hume. In our own day, when the literary medium of Scotland is identical with that of England, the term Scottish literature has been reserved for certain dialectal revivals, more or less bookish in origin, and often as artificial and as unrelated to existing conditions as the most "aureate" and Chaucerian "Ynglis" of the 15th century was to the popular speech of that time.
This sketch is concerned only with the general process of Scottish literature. An estimate of the writings of individual authors will be found in separate articles, to which the reader is, in each case, referred.
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