Robert Cunninghame-Graham, later more commonly styled Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham of Gartmore and Finlaystone, was born in 1735 and died at Gartmore on 11 December 1797. He is remembered, if at all, by most readers for a single durable lyric, “If Doughty Deeds My Lady Please,” a poem whose compact music and courtly ardour secured it a place in Victorian anthologies and in the repertory of composers. Yet the poe…
“The greatest luxury in life is to be able to do what you like, when you like, and how you like.”
Neighbourhood:
Light Verse Poets, Romantic Poets, Scottish Poets, Social Justice Poets
Emotional landscape: Longing, Tenderness, Joy
Sir Robert Ayton, born in 1570 and dead on 25 February 1638, lived through one of the most consequential cultural and political transitions in British history. A Scot by birth, education, family connection, and literary temperament, he became a successful servant of the Stuart court in England after James VI of Scotland inherited the English throne as James I in 1603. His career therefore unfolded across the newly jo…
Neighbourhood:
Cavalier Poets, Renaissance Poets, Scottish Poets
Emotional landscape: Sorrow, Irony, Longing