A ‘Scoto-British-European’ Rediscovered: the Life and Writings of George Lauder

Abstract

Review of: Alasdair A. MacDonald, George Lauder (1603-1670): Life and Writings. Cambridge: D.S. Brewer, 2018.The review suggests that, until Alasdair MacDonald’s book, the "originality, ingenuity, and significance" of the expatriate Scots soldier and poet George Lauder (1603-1670) "have been radically underestimated," and in exploring MacDonald's book, which is both biography and edition, provides a introductory critical assessment of Lauder's varied poetry and translations, endorsing as more widely applicable MacDonald's argument that "Scots writing in English deserve equal attention as their Scotophone counterparts" and that "'authors who are innovative in drawing inspiration from new foreign models deserve better than to be dismissed as derivative.'"