The latest in my Nigel Tranter project remains in the period of James VI and I. This time, the story is told through the rise of Sir William Alexander of Menstrie.
Alexander came to James' attention as a poet. If you are thinking this doesn't look like a promising storyline, you would be right. The first part of the book covers similar ground to previous books and is quite slow going.
In fairness, it picks up when it starts to cover some significant new elements of James' reign, including the publication of the King James Bible and the early plantations in Ulster. Yes, we have James to blame for the Troubles. Alexander is later tasked with developing British colonies in Canada, specifically Nova Scotia. His baronets provided the Coat of Arms of Nova Scotia and the Flag of Nova Scotia, which are still in use today. An attempt to create a colony in what is today Long Island was something of an overreach.
There is no doubt that Alexander had a remarkable rise to power, from a minor laird to being created 1st Earl of Stirling. He struggled to make this pay for himself personally, despite numerous opportunities to reap a profit. He was appointed Secretary of State for Scotland in 1626 by Charles I, whom he had helped tutor as a child. The weaknesses in the theory of the Divine Right of Kings were obviously not on the curriculum!
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| The young Charles I. National Portrait Gallery Alexander was one of the most highly regarded Scottish poets in early seventeenth-century Scotland and England. If seventeenth-century poetry is your thing, this book may be of interest. For me, I struggled. |
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