Combining integral discussions of literatures in Older Scots, Gaelic, Latin and English, this volume introduces material written in the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. It discusses the cultural impact of key intellectual and political movements and events, such as the Reformation and the Union of the Crowns. The thematic and generic approach encourages engagement with the cultural and historical assumptions underpinning the texts of this period, while writers from Gilbert Hay to Thomas Urquhart are fully covered. Lists of further reading are provided for each chapter.