Scottish Text Society publications > Old series > Poems of Alexander Montgomerie

THE GENEALOGY OF ALEXANDER MONTGOMERIE. 251
My Muse, which nought doth challenge worthy fame,
Save from Montgomery she her birth doth claim
(Although his Phoenix ashes have sent forth
Pan for Apollo, if compared in worth)
Pretendeth title to supply his place,
By right hereditar to serve thy grace.
The note in Lyle’s volume goes on to state that Mure of Rowallan
was the son of Elizabeth Montgomery, who “ appears to have been
daughter to Hugh Montgomery of Hazelhead, Ayrshire (descended
of Eglintoun), by Marioun Sempill, daughter of Lord Sempill, and
sister to Montgomery, author of ‘ The Cherry and the Slae.’ ” Oc¬
casion will be taken later to show that this conjecture as to Rowallan’s
parentage on his mother’s side is so far erroneous, inasmuch as
it confuses two Elizabeths of the Hessilheid family belonging to
different generations. But otherwise the connection of Sir William
Mure with the Montgomeries is well vouched for.
A detailed account of the House of Montgomerie in its various
branches was included by James Paterson, a well-known antiquary of
last century, in his ‘ History of the County of Ayr,’ published in 1847.
Unfortunately, in the section dealing with the Hessilheid family no
specific references are given to his sources of information ; but it is
quite clear he had access to authentic documents of some kind.
The successive heads of the family from its origin to its close are
traced with accuracy : this it has been possible to verify from in¬
dependent sources. On the other hand, as will be shown later,
junior members are not always assigned to their proper generations;
some are included that probably ought not to be,1 while a number,
well authenticated, pass unnoted. In his preface Paterson mentions
that for the general purposes of his history, in which he includes
genealogies of all the more important Ayrshire families, he had
consulted the public records and various private charter - chests.
Further, it appears he had examined two manuscript accounts of
the family of the Montgomeries,— one written by a Hugh Mont¬
gomerie of Broomlands (another of the junior branches), not later
than the year 1750; the other of more recent date by Captain John
Hamilton Montgomerie of Barnahill, County Ayr. He was also
acquainted with a printed volume entitled ‘ The Montgomerie Manu¬
scripts, 1603-1706.’ This interesting work was compiled by a certain
William Montgomery of Rosemount in the County of Down, Ireland,
early in the eighteenth century; but it did not actually appear in
print till 1830, in which year it was published at Belfast. In 1869
1 The most notable example is the statement that Robert Montgomerie, the
well-known Archbishop of Glasgow, was the poet’s brother. I have not been able
to find any definite evidence to connect him with the Hessilheid family. Sibbald
is probably the source of this conjecture. See ‘Chronicle of Scottish Poetry’
(1802), vol. iii. p. 343, where he describes Robert as “perhaps the brother of
Captain Montgomery.”