David Scott-Macnab

BA (Hons) (Natal); PhD (Dublin)

David Scott-Macnab began his academic career in 1982 as a junior lecturer at the University of Durban-Westville. He has subsequently held teaching or research positions at the University of Pretoria, the University of Dublin and the University of Sydney, before joining the University of Johannesburg in 2005.  David has been an NRF-rated scholar since 2008 (B3, recently upgraded to B2), and has published widely on medieval literature.  He is Chairman of the Southern African Society for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Co-Editor of the Southern African Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies, and a member of the editorial board of Medieval and Renaissance Court Cultures, published by the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Trinity College, Dublin.  In recent years David has been a Visiting Scholar at the Medieval and Early Modern Centre, University of Sydney (2011) and the Department of English / College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Arizona State University (2013).  

Teaching and research interests

David’s main research interest is in medieval English literature, especially of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, with particular focus on the topos and symbolism of the hunt in medieval art and literature; the specialised lexicons of the aristocratic sports of hawking and hunting, and the range of meanings assigned to them in medieval literature.  He is also interested in medieval comic and satiric genres; commonplace books and late-medieval miscellanies; manuscript and textual studies; and medieval weaponry.  He is currently working on a book-length project concerning the figure of the Satanic Hunter in medieval literature. 

Publications

(i) Books

·         The Middle English Texts of William Twiti’s ‘The Art of Hunting’, Middle English Texts, 40 (Heidelberg, 2009).
Nominated for the 2011 MLA Prize for a Distinguished Scholarly Edition.

·         A Fifteenth-Century Sporting Lexicon: The ‘J.B. Treatise’, Medium Ævum Monographs, New Series 23 (Oxford, 2003). 

(ii) Refereed Articles and Peer-Reviewed Chapters

·          ‘Medieval Folk Etymologizing and Modern Misconstruals of Old French Archegaie’, Zeitschrift für franzosische Sprache und Literatur (forthcoming, 2013).

·          The Names of All Manner of Hounds: A Unique Inventory in a Fifteenth-Century Manuscript, Viator (forthcoming, 2013)

·          ‘Lexical Borrowing and Code-Switching: The Case of archegay / hasegaye / harsegay in the Middle Ages and Later’, Anglia: Zeitschrift für Englische Philologie, 130 (2012): 264–75.

·          ‘The Animals of the Hunt and the Limits of Chaucer’s Sympathies’,
Studies in the Age of Chaucer, 34 (2012): 331–37.

·          ‘Sir Thopas and his Lancegay’, in Chaucer in Context, ed. Gerald Morgan (Oxford–Bern: Peter Lang, 2012): 109–134. 

·          ‘The Treatment of assagai and zagaie by the OED, and of assegai by the Dictionary of South African English’, Neophilologus, 96 (2012): 151–63.

·          ‘New Information Regarding the Ashton Manuscript of Twiti’s The Art of Hunting’, Notes and Queries, 58 (2011): 352–56. 

·          ‘The Medieval Boar and its Haslets’, Neuphilologische Mitteilungen, 111 (2010): 355–66.

·          ‘The Hunting of the Hare in the Heege Manuscript’, Anglia: Zeitschrift für Englische Philologie, 128 (2010): 102–123.

·          Sir John Fastolf and the Diverse Affinities of the Medieval Lancegay,
Journal of the Southern African of Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 19 (2009):
97–116.

·          ‘The J. B. Treatise: A Self-Instruction Manual for Aspiring Gentlemen of the Fifteenth-Century’, Journal of the Southern African of Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 16 (2007): 15–36.

·          ‘An Autonomous and Unpublished Version of the J. B. Treatise in Exeter Cathedral MS 3533’, Medium Ævum, 76 (2007): 88–103.

·          ‘Caxton’s Printings of The Hors, the Shepe and the Ghoos: Some Further Considerations’, Transactions of the Cambridge Bibliographical Society, 13
(2006): 1–13.

·      ‘Polysemy in Middle English embosen and the Hart of The Book of the Duchess’, Leeds Studies in English, 36 (2005): 175–94. 

·      ‘ “Of prickyng and of huntyng for the hare”: General Prologue to The Canterbury
Tales I 191’, Journal of English and Germanic Philology, 104 (2005): 373–84.

·      ‘Hawking Information in the Tollemache Book of Secrets’, Notes and Queries, 51 (2004): 348–50.

·      ‘Burlesque Romance and the Bourgeoisie’, in Noble and Joyous Histories: English Romances 1375–1650, ed. Eileán ní Cuilleanáin and J. D. Pheifer (Irish Academic Press, 1993): 113–35.

·      ‘A Re-examination of Octovyen’s Hunt in The Book of the Duchess’, Medium Ævum, 56 (1987): 183–99.

(iii) Book Reviews

·      John Fletcher, Gardens of Earthly Delight: The History of Deer Parks (Oxford, 2011); The Medieval Review (2012: 12.01.02)
<https://scholarworks.iu.edu/dspace/handle/2022/3631>.

·      Jim Phelps and Nigel Bell (eds), D. H. Lawrence around the World: South African Perspectives (Empangeni, 2007); scrutiny2, 13 (2008): 99–101.

·      William Perry Marvin, Hunting Law and Ritual in Medieval English Literature (Cambridge, 2006); Medium Ævum, 76 (2007): 156–57.

·      Robin S. Oggins, The Kings and their Hawks (New Haven, CT, 2004); Medium Ævum, 75 (2006): 138–39.

·      Richard Almond, Medieval Hunting (Thrupp, 2003); Envoi: A Review Journal of Medieval Literature, 11 (2005 for 2002): 21–30.

·      Ken Duncan, America Wide: In God We Trust (Sydney, 2002), Australian Geographic, 66 (2002), p. 122.

(iv) Other Non-Fiction Writing

·      ‘Guide to Heraldry’ and ‘Reading Medieval Manuscripts’, in Explore Your Family’s Past (London, 1999): 273–87, 288–97.

·      ‘Aboriginal Rock Art’, Gnews (South African Archaeological Society), 44 (2000):
4–5.

·      ‘Poles Apart’, Wild, 75 (2000): 50–51.

·      ‘Medieval Castles’, in Guide to Western Europe (London, 2000): 75–76. 

·      ‘Coming Home: Memorial to Sir Hubert Wilkins’, Australian Geographic, 64
(2001): 36–41.

·      ‘Pioneering Archaeologist: John Mulvaney’, Australian Geographic, 64 (2001):
116–17.

·      ‘Rare Square-Rigger Sails Again’, Australian Geographic, 66 (2002): 27–28.

·      ‘Kimberley Explorer: In the Footsteps of Frederick Brockman’, Australian Geographic, 66 (2002): 108–17.

·      ‘A Controversial Crop’, Australian Geographic, 68 (2002), 30. 

(v) Editorial Work (Reference Books)

·      The Reverse Dictionary (London, 1989)

·      How to Write and Speak Better (London, 1990)

·      Modernity and its Futures, 4 vols (Cambridge, 1992)

·      Illustrated Dictionary of Essential Knowledge (London, 1993)

·      Encyclopaedia of World History (London, 1996)

·      Yesterday’s Britain (London, 1997)

·      Essential Atlas of the Bible (Munich, 1998)

·      Illustrated History of the Modern World, 8 vols (London, 1998)

·      The Space Race (London, 1999)

Conference Papers and Public Addresses

·         ‘The Hunter Turned Prey: William Rufus and the Noonday Demon’
– Arizona Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 19th Annual Conference,
Phoenix, AZ, February 2013. 

·         ‘The Many Manifestations of the Satanic Hunter in Medieval English Literature’
– Department of English, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Arizona State University, January 2013.

·         ‘Interpreting the Jokes of a Half-Alien Culture: The Case of Chaucer’s Tale of Sir Thopas’
– The Medieval and Early Modern Centre, University of Sydney, August 2011. 

·         ‘Lances, Darts and Archegaies: Cavalry Weapons in 14th-Century France’
– Leeds International Medieval Congress, July 2011.

·         ‘Knightly Arms: Romance and Reality’
– Australian and New Zealand Society for Medieval and Early Modern Studies,
February 2011.

·         ‘The Comedy of Chaucer’s Tale of Sir Thopas and Richard II’
– Southern African Society for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, September 2010.

·         ‘The Mystery of the Medieval English Lancegay’
– Leeds International Medieval Conference, July 2010.

·         ‘When Sir Thopas Rides Out with his Lancegay’
– Medieval and Renaissance Symposium, University of Johannesburg, October 2009.

·         ‘The Hunting of the Hare: An Agony in Two Fits; Text Editing and some Problems of Medieval Comic Writings’
– University of Johannesburg, September 2009.

·         ‘Aristocratic Mythologising of the Medieval Forest’
– Medieval and Renaissance Symposium, University of Johannesburg, September 2007.

·         ‘Textual Instabilities: Postmodern Difficulties for a Medievalist’
– University of Pretoria, September 2007.  

·         ‘Where is the Comedy in The Tempest?’
– Johannesburg Shakespeare Circle, August 2007. 

·         ‘Issues in Codicology’,
– University of Johannesburg, March 2007.

·         ‘Emancipation through Education: A Self-Instruction Manual for Aspiring Gentlemen of the Fifteenth Century’
– Southern African Society for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, September 2006.

·         ‘Jerome’s daemonio meridiano and the Figure of the Satanic Hunter in Medieval Literature’
– Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Sydney, April 2006.

·         ‘Medieval English Forests and their Uses’
– Richard III Society, Sydney, August 2005.

·         ‘Images of Hunting and Falconry in Medieval England’
– Plantagenet Society, Sydney, March 2004.

·         ‘Archaeological Issues Concerning English Incunables’
– South African Archaeological Society, September 2002.

·         ‘The J.B. Treatise: A Sportsman’s Lexicon or a Fifteenth-Century Bluffer’s Guide?’
– Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Sydney, August 2002.

·         ‘Venus and Diana as Huntresses and Patrons: Medieval Transformations of Mythical Antagonisms’
– Medieval Society of Southern Africa, University of Stellenbosch, July 1984. 

·         ‘The Medieval Hunt: Contemporary Practice and Literary Representation’
– Medieval Society of Southern Africa, University of the Witwatersrand, July 1982. 

Contact Details
Tel: +27 (0)11 559 3456
Fax: +27 (0)11 559 3615
AucklandPark Kingsway Campus: B-Ring 732
Email