Ane Dance in the Quenis Chalmer facts for kids

Ane Dance in the Quenis Chalmer or A dance in the Queen's chamber is a humorous or satiric Scots poem by William Dunbar.

The verses describe a dance in the chamber of Margaret Tudor, wife of James IV of Scotland. Various courtiers are introduced and their dance moves described in comic terms. The refrain, in modern spelling is, "A merrier dance might no man see". Dancers include Master Robert Schaw who provided medicinal recipes to the queen's apothecary William Foular, and appears to have been a physician serving the women of the court. Perhaps to widen the appeal of the poem for a court audience that may have include the subjects of the satire, Dunbar introduces himself as a dancer who clumsily sheds a slipper or panton.

Sir John Sinclair

Sir Jhon Sinclair begowthe to dance,

For he was new cum owt of France.

For ony thing that he do mycht

The an futt yeid ay onrycht

And to the tother wald nocht gree.

Quod an, "Tak up the quenis knycht!"

A mirrear dance mycht na man see.

Sinclair was an attendant of Margaret Tudor. In April 1513 an English diplomat, Nicholas West, came to Linlithgow Palace and was met by John Sinclair, who conveyed him to Margaret Tudor. He may have been the Scottish courtier recorded in November 1490 and January 1491 playing cards with James IV.