FORDUN, JOHN DE, the father of Scottish history, is believed to have been a canon of Aberdeeu, and to have been born in the parish of Fordun, in the Mearns, in the early part of the 14th century. He probably died in the year 1336, or very soon after. His history, as far as completed by himself, is in five books, and comes down to the end of the reign of David I. (1153); it begins at the creation, the first chapter being entitled 'Do Mundo sensibili, terra scilicet at anis quatuor punctis principalibus, orientali, occidentali, australt et boreali,' and a great deal that immediately follows, being rather a treatise on cosmogony than a chronicle or history. But, in addition to the five books, he left materials for bringing down the narrative to 1385, which were put in order by Walter Bower, abbot of Inchcolm, who, as he tells us himself, was born in that year. Bower also continued the history to the death of James I. (1437), the whole work being thus extended to sixteen books. Fordun states that he spent much time in collecting the materials for his history, both by inquiry and by travel ; and he appears to have made a diligent use of all the sources of information that were accessible to him. He has undoubtedly pre served many facts which otherwise would have perished. Although
by no means free from the credulity which belonged to the spirit of his age, he deserves to be considered as, by comparison, both an honest and a sensible writer; • the mythology of the Scottish history appears in a much simpler shape in his account than it assumes in the hands of his successors. The first five books of Fordun's work were first printed under the title of Joarinis Fordun Scoti Chrouicon, site Scotorum Historia,' in Gale's Historian Britannicm, Saxonicre, &c., Scriptores xv.' (commonly referred to as the first volume of Gale's collection), fot, Oxoo, 1691, pp. 563-701. The first complete editiou of the work was published by Hearne at Oxford, in 5 vols. 8vo, in 1722, under the title of 'Jeannie de Fordun, Scotichronicou.' A more complete and accurate edition appeared at Edinburgh in 1759, in 2 vole. fol., entitled ‘Joanuis Fordun Scotichronicon, cum supplementis et continnatione Walteri Boweri, Insulin Sancti Columba; Abbatis, &c., curs Gualteri GoodalL' Some copies of this publication are said to have a different title-page, with the date 1775. Goodall'is introduction is a very poor performance. Many manuscripts of Forduu are extant.