James Graham, 1st Marquis of Montrose

James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose (1612 – 21 May 1650). Montrose was a Scottish nobleman, poet, soldier, viceroy and captain-general of Scotland. He initially joined the Covenanters during the Bishops' Wars in Scotland but would switch his support to King Charles I as Civil War spread throughout Britain. From 1644 to 1646, and again in 1650, he fought in the civil war in Scotland on behalf of the King. He would become known as the Great Montrose and earned a reputation as a skilled general during a brutal campaign in Scotland where he won several bloody battles. He was executed in Edinburgh on May 21, 1650.

Less widely known however is the fact that Montrose was also a poet of considerable ability.

Some 13 or so poems have been attributed to Montrose although no contemporary manuscripts of his work have survived. Three of his more well known poems deal respectively with love, revenge and death. "My dear and only Love" was composed to his wife Magdalene whilst he was imprisoned in 1643. His Metrical Vow is a promise of a 'Epitaph in Blood and Wound' after hearing of the death by execution of Charles I in 1649. His Metrical Prayer was tied around his neck and recovered after his execution in 1650.

Montrose's body is interned in St Giles Cathedral.

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Comments

  1. McCabeGall10 February 2024 at 00:29

    My Dear and Only Love
    BY JAMES GRAHAM, MARQUIS OF MONTROSE

    My dear and only Love, I pray
    This noble world of thee
    Be govern'd by no other sway
    But purest monarchy;
    For if confusion have a part,
    Which virtuous souls abhor,
    And hold a synod in thy heart,
    I'll never love thee more.

    Like Alexander I will reign,
    And I will reign alone,
    My thoughts shall evermore disdain
    A rival on my throne.
    He either fears his fate too much,
    Or his deserts are small,
    That puts it not unto the touch
    To win or lose it all.

    But I must rule and govern still,
    And always give the law,
    And have each subject at my will,
    And all to stand in awe.
    But 'gainst my battery, if I find
    Thou shunn'st the prize so sore
    As that thou sett'st me up a blind,
    I'll never love thee more.

    Or in the empire of thy heart,
    Where I should solely be,
    Another do pretend a part
    And dares to vie with me;
    Or if committees thou erect,
    And go on such a score,
    I'll sing and laugh at thy neglect,
    And never love thee more.

    But if thou wilt be constant then,
    And faithful of thy word,
    I'll make thee glorious by my pen
    And famous by my sword:
    I'll serve thee in such noble ways
    Was never heard before;
    I'll crown and deck thee all with bays,
    And love thee evermore.

    ReplyDelete
  2. McCabeGall16 February 2024 at 05:47

    Metrical Prayer written in the Tollbooth on, Edinburgh on the eve of his execution

    Let them bestow on every airth a limb,
    Then open all my veins, that I may swim
    To thee, my Maker, in that crimson lake,
    Then place my par boiled head upon a stake;
    Scatter my ashes, strow them in the air.
    Lord, since thou knowest where all these atoms are,
    I'm hopeful thou'lt recover once my dust,
    And confident thou'lt raise me with the just.

    ReplyDelete

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