Huchoun facts for kids

Huchoun (pronounced "Hoo-chown"), also known as "little Hugh," was a mysterious poet who lived in the 1300s. We don't know much about him for sure. Some experts, like a Scottish historian named George Neilson, thought Huchoun was actually a Scottish knight named Hugh of Eglinton. They believed he wrote several important poems that used a special style called alliterative verse. However, most experts today don't think there's enough proof to say this for certain.

What We Know About Huchoun

Most of what we know about Huchoun comes from an old book called the Chronicle of Andrew of Wyntoun. This book mentions a poet named Hucheon who was very skilled with words.

Wyntoun's Description of Huchoun

Andrew of Wyntoun wrote that Huchoun:

• Was very good at writing.
• Wrote a long poem about King Arthur, called the Gest of Arthure.
• Also wrote a poem called The Awntyr of Gawane.
• And another poem called The Pistil of Suet Susane.
• He was careful and clever in his writing style.
• He always aimed to please his readers.
• His poems were well-written and stuck to the truth.

George Neilson's Research

For a long time, Huchoun was mostly forgotten. Then, in the early 1900s, a lawyer and historian named George Neilson became very interested in him. Neilson gave talks and published a book about Huchoun. He believed he could identify some of the poems Wyntoun mentioned.

Possible Poems by Huchoun

Of the poems Andrew of Wyntoun listed, Þe Pistil als of Suet Susane is the easiest to identify. Many experts agree that this is very likely The Pistel of Swete Susan. This poem uses alliteration, where many words in a line start with the same sound.

The Gest of Arthure was also mentioned by Wyntoun. Some people think this might be the famous poem called Alliterative Morte Arthure. This poem is about the death of King Arthur.

The Awntyr of Gawane means "The Adventure of Gawain." Neilson thought this might be the well-known poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. If that were true, Huchoun would also be credited with other poems like Patience, Pearl, and Cleanness. However, the language in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is very different from Swete Susan. Because of this, most experts today don't believe Huchoun wrote Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. It's more likely that The Awntyr of Gawane refers to a different poem called The Awntyrs off Arthure. This poem is also about King Arthur and Gawain and has a similar style to Swete Susan.

Who Was Huchoun?

Besides trying to figure out what Huchoun might have written, people also wondered who he really was.

The Sir Hugh of Eglinton Theory

A Scottish poet named William Dunbar wrote a poem called Lament for the Makaris. In it, he mentions a poet named "gude Sir Hew of Eglyntoun," whose works are now lost. Hugh of Eglington was a knight who was related to Robert II of Scotland, the king.

George Neilson suggested that Huchoun, "little Hugh," could be the same person as Sir Hugh of Eglington. Sir Hugh was close to the king and even traveled to London. Neilson thought the name "of the Awle Ryale" might mean "of the Royal Palace," which would make sense if he was connected to the king.

The Dialect Problem

However, there's a big problem with saying Huchoun was Hugh of Eglington. The poems that Neilson thought Huchoun wrote are in different English dialects, and none of them are Scottish.

• The Pistel of Swete Susan, which is most likely Huchoun's work, seems to be from northern England, possibly the Yorkshire dialect.
• Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and other poems often linked to it come from the northwest of England.
• Alliterative Morte Arthure is thought to be from the East Midlands of England.

Neilson suggested that maybe a Scottish poet wrote in an English dialect because he studied in England. Or perhaps later scribes changed the language. But it seems more likely that either Huchoun was not Scottish (and therefore not Sir Hugh), or the poems Wyntoun mentioned were different works that are now lost.

Today, most experts agree that if Huchoun existed, he might have written Swete Susan. But there isn't much proof to connect him to other major alliterative poems.