A Voyage to Arcturus

David Lyndsay, (born c. 1490—died before April 18, 1555), Scottish poet of the pre-Reformation period who satirized the corruption of the Roman Catholic church and contemporary government. He was one of the company of gifted courtly poets (makaris) who flourished in the golden age of Scottish literature. His didactic writings in colloquial Scots were characterized by a ribald buffoonery and a combination of moralizing and humour.
Born into an aristocratic family, Lyndsay was appointed attendant and companion to the infant prince (born 1512), the son of King James IV. Dismissed from court 12 years later, when his charge, then James V, fell under the control of the Douglas faction, he returned to the king’s service in 1528. An influential diplomat, Lyndsay represented the king on important missions to the courts of Henry VIII, Charles V, Francis I (after James’s death in 1542), and other European monarchs. Most of his verse, with a work on heraldry, was written during his prosperous years at court.