Bower, Walter

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Bower, Walter (d. 1449). Author of the Scotichronicon, and abbot of Inchcolm (1417–49). He was born in Haddington in east Lothian (1385), entering St Andrews cathedral priory as a youth, and probably graduated from St Andrews University shortly after its foundation (1410). As abbot of Inchcolm he promoted the revival in interest in Scottish saints at his abbey, dedicated to Columba. He was intimately involved in government in the reigns of James I and II, administering collection of taxes raised for James I's ransom in 1424, and attending parliaments and general councils as late as 1445.

He is best remembered for the Scotichronicon, a Latin chronicle of Scotland composed in the 1440s, based on Fordun's 14th-cent. chronicle, but altering and continuing it to the death of James I. Bower's intimate knowledge of the contemporary government and church makes the Scotichronicon an invaluable source for late medieval Scotland.

Roland Tanner

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