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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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William Dunbar
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(c.1460–c.1520) Scottish poet, at the court of *James IV. Little is known of his life but he was master of a wide range of poetic styles, including *alliterative verse. His lament for dead poets (Lament for the Makaris) is deliberately chilling, as the list of distinguished names creeps closer to his own generation; each verse ends with the refrain Timor mortis conturbat me (Latin for 'the fear of death disturbs me'). He has been remembered with affection south of the border for a poem in praise of the English capital, including the line 'London, thou art the flower of cities all', but it is now thought not to be by him.
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