Defeat in lawsuit over pension
Poet involved
What happened
In July 1593 the Scottish Court of Session delivered final judgment against Alexander Montgomerie in the long-running litigation concerning his royal pension. The case, centred on claims to the revenues of the bishopric of Glasgow, had arisen after the pension was intercepted during his absence abroad. Official records of the suit, including a lengthy decreet, survive in the Register House, Edinburgh.
Literary impact
The adverse judgment inspired a well-known series of sonnets in which Montgomerie voiced personal bitterness and attacked those he held responsible. The legal ordeal deepened the note of grievance and isolation in his later verse and marked a turning-point away from secure court favour toward more precarious circumstances.
Source: Poems of Alexander Montgomerie and Other Pieces from Laing MS. No. 447, ed. George Stevenson
