Portrait of John Barbour

John Barbour

Scottish poet

Lived
1316–1395
Country
Kingdom of Scotland

Updated September 2026

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About John Barbour

John Barbour was a Scottish poet and the first major named literary figure to write in Scots. His principal surviving work is the historical verse romance, The Brus, and his reputation from this poem is such that other long works in Scots which survive from the period are sometimes thought to be by him. He is known to have written a number of other works, but other titles definitely ascribed to his authorship, such as The Stewartis Oryginalle and The Brut (Brutus), are now lost.

Biography from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.

Authors like John Barbour

Sources: book lists and dates from Wikidata and Open Library, ratings from Open Library readers, free texts from Project Gutenberg. Last updated September 2026.