Alexander Montgomerie (c. 1550? - 1598), Scottish Jacobean courtier and poet, or makar, born in Ayrshire. He was one of the principal members of the Castalian Band, a circle of poets in the court of James VI in the 1580s which included the king himself. Montgomerie was for a time in favour as one of the king's "favourites". He was a Catholic in a largely Protestant court and his involvement in political controversy led to his expulsion as an outlaw in the mid 1590s.
Montgomerie's poetry, much of which examines themes of love, includes autobiographical sonnets and foreshadows the later metaphysical poets in England. He is sometimes, by tradition, given the epithet "Captain".
Read more about Alexander Montgomerie: Early Life, Works, Courtier, Expulsion and Death, Literary Assessment, Bibliography, Selected Early Imprints, Discography
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