Court to London under James after 1603 is usually regarded as marking the eclipse of the distinctively Scottish tradition of poetry initiated by the Makars, but figures such as William Drummond might loosely be seen as forming a continuation into the seventeenth century. The Makars have often been referred to by literary critics as Scots Chaucerians. While Chaucer's influence on fifteenth-century Scottish literature was certainly important, the makars drew strongly on a native tradition predating Chaucer, exemplified by Barbour, as well as the courtly literature of France. In the more general application of the term which is current today the word can be applied to poets of the Scots revival in the eighteenth century, such as Allan Ramsay and Robert Fergusson. In recent times, other examples of poets that have seemed to particularly exemplify the traditions of the makars have included Robert Garioch, Sydney Goodsir Smith, George Campbell Hay and Norman MacCaig among many others. Modern usage The Scots Makar A position of national laureate, entitled The Scots Makar, was established in 2004 by the Scottish Parliament. The first appointment was made directly by the Parliament in that year when Edwin Morgan received the honour to become Scotland's first ever official national poet. He was succeeded in 2011 by Liz Lochhead. Jackie Kay was announced as the third holder of this post in 2016. Before Kay was appointed, it was suggested that the role might now only be referred to as the National Poet for Scotland, because of concerns that the word makar had to be explained outside of Scotland. Kay states that she argued for retaining the Makar name, which is still used. In August 2021 Kathleen Jamie was announced as the fourth holder of the post. The city Makars In 2002 the City of Edinburgh, Scotland's capital, instituted a post of makar, known as the Edinburgh Makar. Each term lasts for three years and the first three incumbents were Stewart Conn (2002), Valerie Gillies (2005), and Ron Butlin (2008, 2011). The current incumbent (as of 2021) is Hannah Lavery. The previous Edinburgh makars were Alan Spence. and Shetlandic dialect writer and advocate Christine De Luca. Other cities to create Makar posts include Glasgow (Liz Lochhead), Stirling (Magi Gibson), Aberdeen (Sheena Blackhall) and Dundee (W.N. Herbert). Other uses American poet John Berryman uses the word in The Dream Songs #43 and #94. Makar is the name of a fictional