Montgomerie declared outlaw after Ailsa Craig plot
Poet involved
What happened
On 14 July 1597 Alexander Montgomerie was declared an outlaw by the Scottish Privy Council for his involvement in the Catholic conspiracy led by Hugh Barclay of Ladyland. The plot aimed to seize the rocky island of Ailsa Craig in the Firth of Clyde as a base for Spanish intervention. Barclay was killed in a scuffle off the shores of the island; Montgomerie remained in Scotland until his death the following year.
Literary impact
The episode of political intrigue and outlawry closes the documented public career of the poet and underscores the Catholic sympathies that shaped both his alliances and his final years. Although few poems can be dated precisely to this period, the experience of conspiracy, failure and legal peril forms the biographical backdrop to the enduring popularity of his earlier allegory and lyrics.
Source: Poems of Alexander Montgomerie and Other Pieces from Laing MS. No. 447, ed. George Stevenson
