Lyndsay, Sir David (1490-1555), was a Scottish poet who wrote mainly satirical and moralizing verse in the common language of his day. Testament and Complaynt of Our Soveraine Lordis Papyngo (1530) is a blend of humor, satire, and moral instruction. It is written as advice to the king and his court given by the king’s dying parrot. Lyndsay also wrote the satirical The Complaynt and Publict Confessioun of the Kingis Auld Hound callit Bagsche (about 1536), a poem satirizing life in the court as observed by a dog. Ane Satyre of the Thrie Estaits (1540, 1552), which pokes fun at abuses in church and state, is the only surviving complete morality play in Scottish literature.
Lyndsay, whose name is also spelled Lindsay, was born into a noble family near Haddington, Scotland. He wrote most of his poetry while a member of the royal court. His first work was The Dreme (1528), an allegory on the condition of Scotland during Lyndsay’s time.
