James Graham, first Marquess of Montrose, was born in 1612 and died on 21 May 1650. He occupies an unusual place in British literary and political history: a Scottish aristocrat whose short life contained religious revolution, civil war, spectacular military success, exile, defeat, and execution; a Royalist commander remembered as “the Great Montrose”; and a poet whose surviving verses, though few, have remained memo…
“I am come hither to die as a good Christian and a loyal subject, in the faith of Christ and the service of my king.”
Neighbourhood:
Cavalier Poets, Love Poets, Scottish Poets
Emotional landscape: Sorrow, Despair, Fear
Alexander Montgomerie, born about 1545 and dead by August 1598, occupies a singular position in Scottish literary history: he was at once court poet, soldier, religious dissenter, satirist, lyricist, and maker of one of the most enduring allegorical poems in the Scots language. His career unfolded during the reign of James VI of Scotland, before that king inherited the English throne as James I, and it reflects the p…
Neighbourhood:
Devotional Poets, Love Poets, Renaissance Poets, Scottish Poets
Emotional landscape: Longing, Tenderness, Wonder
