Section II., 1892. [ 79 ] Trans. Roy. Soc, Canada. 



V. — Sir William Alexander and the Scottish Attempt to colonize Acadia. 

 By the Rev. G-eorge Patterson, D.D. 



(Read 31st May, 1892.) 



Sir William Alexander, Earl of Stirling, was boru about the year 1.56Y ' at Meustrie, 

 situated about five miles to the east of Stirling, at the base of the Ochils, in 

 Clackmannanshire, Scotland. It was afterward the birthplace of Sir Ralph Abercrombie, 

 and is now distinguished for the manufacture of Scotch blankets, but was then noted as 

 the seat of a good family, who traced their descent from Somerled, the Lord of the Isles, 

 through his younger son Alexander, who married the Princess Margaret, daughter of 

 Robert IL, King of Scotland. His father having died in February, 1581, he was brought 

 up by a granduncle, a burgess of Stirling. It seems certain that he obtained his early 

 education at the grammar school of that town, then under the charge of Thomas 

 Buchanan, nephew of the celebrated George. He appears afterward to have studied at 

 one of the universities of Scotland, and is asserted also to have attended the University of 

 Leyden. Having gained a reputation as a scholar, he accompanied the young Duke of 

 Argyle in his travels on the continent. 



On his return, through the influence of that nobleman, he was introduced at court, 

 and became tiitor to Prince Henry. His poetical writings had by this time begun to 

 attract attention, and, together with his general learning, brought him into favour with 

 the King, James VI. of Scotland, a position which he continued to hold amid all the 

 changing humours of that pedantic monarch. Accordingly, when in 1603 James succeeded 

 to the throne of England, Alexander followed in his train. He was soon afterward 

 enrolled one of the thirty-two gentlemen extraordinary of Prince Henry's private 

 bedchamber, and, after the death of the latter, held a similar position in the siiite of 

 Prince Charles. 



Prior to his going to England, even as early as while travelling on the continent, he 

 had commenced to woo the muses, and, soon after his return to Scotland, some of his 

 poetical works were published, the first being " The Tragédie of Darius " in 160-3. These 

 productions are somewhat numerous and various, embracing tragedies, elegies, sonnets, 

 sacred jioems, etc. They are described as too often characterized by a wearying wordiness, 

 but at times much elegance of expression. His " Domesday " is said to contain some 



' It is commonly said in 1580, but Mr. Rogers lias shown that this is an error. See Memorials of the Earl of 

 Stirling, I. p. 32. To this work I am indebted for the information regarding his early years, for which the author 

 refers to the Hawthorne MSS. in the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh. See also Slafter's Life, published by Prince 

 Society. 



