500-Year-Old Manuscript Contains Earliest Known Use of the "F-Word"

martyb writes:

Scotland's claim to fame as birthplace of the F-word revealed:

[...] Experts say the origins of the profanity can be traced all the way back to the 16th century equivalent of a rap battle.

An account of a "flyting" duel between two poets, held in the collection of the National Library of Scotland, is said to be its first recorded use anywhere in the world.

The hour-long BBC Scotland programme, which airs on Tuesday[1], sees actress, singer and theatre-maker Cora Bissett[2] trace the nation's long love affair with swearing and insults, despite the long-standing efforts of religious leaders to condemn it as a sin.

[...] [The documentary] In Scotland - Contains Strong Language, [explores] the Bannatyne Manuscript, one of the most important collections of medieval Scottish literature, which was compiled by the Edinburgh merchant George Bannatyne in 1568 when a plague struck the city and he was forced to stay at home.

The collection contains The Flyting Of Dunbar And Kennedy, an account by the poet William Dunbar of a duel with Walter Kennedy, said to have been conducted in Edinburgh before the court of King James IV of Scotland in around 1500.

[...] A spokeswoman for the National Library said: "The Bannatyne Manuscript[3] is a collection of some 400 poems compiled by the young Edinburgh merchant George Bannatyne in the last months of 1568, when an outbreak of plague in Edinburgh compelled him to stay indoors. It is one of the most important surviving sources of Older Scots poetry.

"The manuscript remained in his descendants' possession until they gifted it to the National Library's predecessor - in 1772.

[...] "It has long been known that the manuscript contains some strong swearwords that are now common in everyday language, although at the time, they were very much used in good-natured jest.

[1] Scotland-Contains Strong Language
[2] Cora Bissett
[3] Bannatyne Manuscript

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