And nevertheless with support and correction

And nevertheless with support and correction,

for the natural love and friendly affection,

that I bear to thy works and achievements,

although, God knows, I know them very little;

And that your fruitful meaning might be sung,

In our language as well as Latin tongue,

'As well'...no, no, it were impossible, by God;

Yet, with thy leave, Virgil, to follow you,

I would, into my rural, vulgar tongue,

write something savoring of thine Eneados.

But sore I dread to stain your name,

through my corrupt, imperfect cadence;

'Stain you', nay, truly, that I could not,

I might well show my course and rough thoughts,

but your work shall endure in praise and glory,

without spot or fault, worthy of eternal memory.

Though I offend, your name is unharmed,

the credit is yours, and any shame is mine.

And netheles with support and correctioun,

For natural lufe and freyndly affectioun,

Quilkis I beir to thy werkis and endyte,

All thocht, God wat, tharin I knaw ful lyte;

And that thy fecund sentence mycht be song

In our langage alsweill as Latyn tong,

Alsweill, na, na, impossibill war, per de;

Yit with thy leif, Virgill, to follow the,

I wald, into my rurall vulgar gros,

Wryte sum savoryng of thyne Eneados.

Bot sair I drede forto disteyn the quyte,

Throu my corruptit cadens imperfyte;

Disteyn the, nay forsuyth, that may I cnocht,

Weill may I schwa my burall busteous thocht,

But thy wark sall endur in lawd and glory,

Bot spot or falt, condyng etern memory.

Thocht I offend, onhermit is thy fame,

Thyne is the thank, and myne salbe the schame.

God wat -  'God knows'. Used to express a statement as true.

Alsweill -  Here Douglas indulges in a bit of word-play, with the first 'alsweill' taking the meaning of 'in addition to' and the second meaning 'to the same standard'.

per de - 'by God'. Used to positively affirm a statement. An interesting example of how religion permeates language. People still use 'oh my God' today, even those who aren't religious; although looking at the phrase in isolation it seems terribly archaic, it's perhaps more common to see it written as 'ohmygod!' or even OMG... (!)

burall - course/rough. 'Burel' was a type of rough woollen medieval cloth. Possibly stems from late Latin burra for wool/shaggy cloth. A burl is a knot of wool, a rough spot.

busteous - rough, rude, harsh. Perhaps related to 'bustling' and 'boisterous'?

condyng - deserved. From the Latin 'condignus' (worthy) by way of Middle English and Old French.


Bibliography
Dictionary of the Scots Language
Online Etymology Dictionary
The Poetical Works of Gavin Douglas - John Small ed.
University of Toronto Libraries
Elizabeth Chadwick @ blogger
'Word' Origins by John Ayto
Chambers Scots Dictionary