George Bannatyne

George Bannatyne (1545–1608), a native of Angus, Scotland, was an Edinburgh merchant and burgess.

[3] Bannatyne began compiling his manuscript in 1568 while isolated in his home in Edinburgh during an outbreak of the plague.

[6] The document was passed by Bannatyne to his descendants, Janet and her husband George Foulis of Woodhall and Ravelston, and then, via several private owners, to the Advocates' Library of Edinburgh.

[3] More recent scholarship on the Bannatyne Manuscript suggests an earlier date of 1565 for its composition.

A. MacDonald, 'The Bannatyne Manuscript: a Marian Anthology', IR xxxvii (1986), 36–47) demonstrate this and Michael Lynch points out that its compilation at this time was appropriate given that it contains a great deal of love poetry and was put together at the time of the royal marriage between Mary I and Lord Darnley.