5 MAY 1939, Page 24

FOR STUDENTS OF DUNBAR

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR]

Six,—Mr. Rowse mentions the description in The Great Chronicle of London of the dinner at which Dunbar's " Lon- don, thou art the flower of cities all " was recited by " a Scottish priest " to the Lord Mayor and a distinguished com- pany. I have little doubt that the priest was Dunbar himself. But I write for the purpose of communicating a hint to the students of that poet. When the manuscript of The Great Chronicle was in the possession of the late Mr. Dring, of Quaritch's, he was good enough to copy the " London " for me from its pages, and I found the text to be the most satisfactory I had seen, disposing of more than one difficulty presented by other versions.—Yours, &c.,

HOWARD A. GRAY.