Scottish Text Society publications > Third series > Ratis raving and other early Scots poems on morals

PREFACE.
When I was asked to edit Ratis Raving and other texts
from MS. Kk. i. 5 the intention was that only the four
longer poems should be included. It early seemed to me
advantageous to print also the version of The Thewis
of Gud Women preserved in the library of St John’s
College, Cambridge. Later I became convinced that the
whole MS. should be printed, since the prose pieces have
an interest also, and especially The Cvaft of Deyng, which
is probably the earliest extant piece of Scots literary
prose. The Council of the Society agreed to my suggestion
to print the whole, but the work on the text was already
so advanced that the additional pieces had to be relegated
to an appendix. This is an explanation of and apology
for the unsatisfactory way in which the texts are arranged.
An apology is also necessary for the undue delay in
issuing the volume. After doing something on the text
a number of years ago, I put it aside in favour of work
which seemed more urgent, the more readily since at
that time there was an abundance of more important
texts ready for issue or in an advanced state of preparation.
The work on which I was engaged took longer to complete
than I expected, and when I resumed preparation of this
volume the time I was able to devote to it was greatly
reduced.