At the turn of the Seventeenth Century, Scottish clergyman and poet Alexander Hume dedicated his 1599 volume of poetry to “the faithfvll and vertvovs Ladie, Elizabeth Ma-vill, Ladie Cumrie”. Today this lady is better known by her birth name, Elizabeth Melvill(e). She is the earliest known Scottish woman writer, and her most famous writing is the Calvinist dream-vision poem, Ane Godlie Dreame. It should be noted that the earliest prints of this poem are housed at the National Library of Scotland, but Melville is listed as author in only one. The cover page of the dated print, bears the Scots title, Ane Godlie Dreame, and is said to be “Compylit in Scottish Meter be M. M. Gentelwoman in Culros,

This article in full comprises 925 words but only the first 150 or so words are available to non-members.

All our articles have been written recently by experts in their field, more than 95% of them university professors. To read about membership, please click here.

First published 19 April 2005

Citation: Evans, Deanna. "Elizabeth Melville". The Literary Encyclopedia. 19 April 2005.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5616, accessed 9 February 2010.]