Scott, Alexander

(?1525-?1584)

   Nothing certain is known of the life of this Scottish poet, though his father was linked with Chapel Royal, Stirling Castle. His poems, many of them written in the Scots metrical form, allude to his being in Edinburgh. Scott's works, consisting of thirty-six short pieces-the longest numbering a little over two hundred lines - are preserved in the Manuscript of George Bannatyne (1545-c. 1608) compiled in 1568 (Bannatyne's Manuscript, in two volumes, contains the work of 40 named, as well as many anonymous, authors). Scott's earliest poem was "The Lament of the Maister of Erskyn" (1547). "A New Yeir Gift to Quene Mary" (of Scots) (1562) throws light on the social life and lamentable condition at that time. Allan Ramsay (see entry) first printed seven of Scott's poems in The Evergreen (1724). In 1770, Lord Hailes published seven of Scott's poems from Bannatyne's Manuscript in Ancient Scottish Poems. Scott wrote many love lyrics as well as translating some of the Psalms. Some of his poems: "Coronach," "Glasgow," "My Heart is High Above," "Of May," "Return Thee, Heart," "The Justing at the Drum," "The First Psalm."

   Sources: A Book of Scottish Verse. Maurice Lindsay and R.L. Mackie, eds. St. Martin's Press, 1983. Chapel Royal, A Collegiate Church for the Scottish Royal Family (http://www.rosslyntemplars.org.uk/chapel_royal.htm). Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, 2006. English Poetry: Author Search. Chadwyck-Healey Ltd., 1995 (http://www.lib.utexas.edu:8080/search/epoetry/author.html). Microsoft Encarta 2006 (DVD). Microsoft Corporation, 2006. The Bannatyne Manuscript Written in Time of Pest. Johnson Reprint Corporation, 1988. The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org). The New Penguin Book of Scottish Verse. Robert Crawford and Mick Imlah, eds. Penguin Books, 2000. The Oxford Book of Scottish Verse, John MacQueen and Tom Scott, eds. Oxford University Press, 1966.