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Ar sliocht Gaodhal ó Ghort Gréag: An Dàn “Flodden” ann an Leabhar Deadhan Lios-mòir

Scholars originally linked this poem to James IV's Flodden campaign of 1513; one called it ‘the most remarkable example of Scottish patriotism between the Declaration of Arbroath and the seventeenth century’. Recent revisionism locates it a decade earlier in a radically different context. A deeply-felt nationalist manifesto, with Gaelic and non-Gaelic Scotland, in partnership with Gaelic Ireland, uniting against the common English enemy, becomes instead a profound expression of Scottish disunity. This article supports the older interpretation, through a close reading of the text, comparison with near-contemporary classical Gaelic poems of Scottish origin, and reconsideration of the immediate pre-Flodden context.