Grant of royal pension to Alexander Montgomerie
Poet involved
What happened
In 1583 King James VI granted Alexander Montgomerie a substantial pension of five hundred merks drawn from the revenues of the bishopric or archbishopric of Glasgow. The award recognised his service as a familiar servitor and court poet at the Scottish royal court in Edinburgh and Holyrood. Payment was computed from the previous year and confirmed the king's personal regard for the Ayrshire poet, whom he addressed as 'Belouit Sandirs'.
Literary impact
The pension secured Montgomerie's material position at court and encouraged his production of lyrics, sonnets and occasional verse for the royal circle. It underpinned the period of closest literary collaboration with James VI, including contributions that the king later quoted as models of Scottish prosody, and reinforced Montgomerie's standing as a leading makar.
Source: Poems of Alexander Montgomerie and Other Pieces from Laing MS. No. 447, ed. George Stevenson
