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

MONTGOMERIE IN THE SCOTTISH LAW COURTS. 263
and irritation. He appeals to the King to come to his assistance,
raises points for the judges’ consideration, complains querulously of
their long delays, and urges them to make a speedy end of the
matter—
“ Then mak the poet pensioner, I pray,
And byde be justice, as Je haif begun.
Sen I haif richt, vhy suld I be ou’r-run ? ”
There is, finally, a complete loss of temper and an unedifying dis¬
play of reckless abuse and bitter invective, in which he spares neither
the Lords of Session nor his own counsel. Were there no other
evidence, the mood in which these sonnets close should be sufficient
to assure us that the final pronouncement of the Court had been
adverse to Montgomerie. Later, when the first rage of disappoint¬
ment had spent itself, he recovers, and writes with some approach to
dignity about his loss. There can be scarcely any doubt that the
following sonnet was penned at this time :—
Adeu, my King, Court, Cuntrey, and my Kin :
Adeu, suete Duke, vhose father held me deir :
Adeu, Companiones, Constable and Keir :
Thrie treuar hairts, I trou, sail neuer tuin.
If byganes to revolve I suld begin,
My Tragedie wald cost 30U mony a teir
To heir how hardly I am handlit heir,
Considring once the honour I wes in.
Shirs, je haif sene me griter with his grace,
And with Jour vmquhyle Maister, to, and myne :
Quha thoght the Poet somtyme worth his place,
Suppose Je sie they shot him out sensyne.
Sen wryt, nor wax, nor word is not a word :
I must perforce ga seik my fathers suord.”
It is clear from what we now know of the circumstances that the
result of this lawsuit had a disastrous effect on Montgomerie’s for¬
tunes. Besides depriving him of a substantial pension, it would
necessarily involve him in a heavy monetary loss. The legal pro¬
ceedings had engaged the Courts, off and on, for seven years. The
view hitherto held that the writ of the Privy Seal, already alluded to,
subsequently restored to the poet his pension is quite erroneous, for,
as we shall see, the decision in the trial was reached five years after
the date of the writ. Far more serious to Montgomerie than these
pecuniary losses was the breach occasioned in his friendly relations
with the King, and his consequent expulsion from the Court. That
this was in some way due to the lawsuit is tolerably certain. It
will be more convenient, however, to return to this point later, when
the reader has been made acquainted with what can now be told of
the matter.