Ane Dance in the Quenis Chalmer
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Ane Dance in the Quenis Chalmer or A dance in the Queen's chamber is a humorous or satiric Scots poem by William Dunbar.[1]
The verses describe a dance in the chamber of Margaret Tudor, wife of James IV of Scotland.[2] Various courtiers are introduced and their dance moves described in comic terms.[3] The refrain, in modern spelling is, "A merrier dance might no man see". Dancers include Master Robert Schaw who provided medicinal recipes to the queen's apothecary William Foular,[4] and appears to have been a physician serving the women of the court.[5] Perhaps to widen the appeal of the poem for a court audience that may have include the subjects of the satire, Dunbar introduces himself as a dancer who clumsily sheds a slipper or panton.[6]
- Sir Jhon Sinclair begowthe to dance,
- For he was new cum owt of France.
- For ony thing that he do mycht
- The an futt yeid ay onrycht
- And to the tother wald nocht gree.
- Quod an, "Tak up the quenis knycht!"
- A mirrear dance mycht na man see.[7]
Sinclair was an attendant of Margaret Tudor.[8] In April 1513 an English diplomat, Nicholas West, came to Linlithgow Palace and was met by John Sinclair, who conveyed him to Margaret Tudor.[9] He may have been the Scottish courtier recorded in November 1490 and January 1491 playing cards with James IV.[10]
