Scottish literature in the Middle Ages Scottish literature in the Middle Ages Scottish literature in the Middle Ages is literature written in Scotland, or by Scottish writers, between the departure of the Romans from Britain in the fifth century, until the establishment of the Renaissance in the late fifteenth century and early sixteenth century. It includes literature written in Brythonic, Scottish Gaelic, Scots, French and Latin. Much of the earliest Welsh literature was actually composed in or near the country now called Scotland, in the Brythonic speech, from which Welsh would be derived. This includes the epic poem "The Gododdin", considered the earliest surviving verse from
England in the Late Middle Ages the use of hand mills, with the older horizontal mills gradually supplanted by a new vertical mill design. Windmills began to be built in the late twelfth century and slowly became more common. Water-powered fulling mills and powered hammers first appeared in the twelfth century; water power was harnessed to assist in smelting by the fourteenth century, with the first blast furnace opening in 1496. New mining methods were developed and horse-powered pumps were installed in English mines by the end of the Middle Ages. The introduction of hopped beer transformed the brewing industry in the fourteenth century, and new