John Barbour

John Barbour (c. 1320–1395) was a Scottish churchman and the first major poet to write in Scots. Educated at Oxford and Paris, he became archdeacon of Aberdeen in 1356 and later served in the household of his patron, Robert II.

For the king he composed The Brus, a verse chronicle of Robert the Bruce and the Scottish wars of independence, including the victory at Bannockburn. He died at Aberdeen in 1395, leaving The Brus as the founding epic of Scottish poetry.