''Montrose'' (''Montrose: a history'' in the US) is a 1928 biography of
James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose by the Scottish author
John Buchan.
Background
From his undergraduate days at Oxford, Buchan had always had a fascination with Montrose, and came to feel that earlier historians had not done him justice.
In 1913, Buchan’s publishers
T Nelson released his first attempt at a biography, ''The Marquis of Montrose,''
which was dedicated to his brother Willie who had died a year earlier.
The earlier book did not receive universal acclaim, and his old antagonist D. Hay Fleming took the opportunity to attack the author for giving insufficient credit to
Argyll
Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland.
Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...
.
Buchan’s enthusiasm for his subject had laid him open to the charge of romancing,
and Buchan later admitted that many of the judgements that he had made in the work were “exaggerated and hasty”.
Over the next fifteen years he collected material for a more historically-expansive work, adding to previous scholarship with a study of the
pamphlet literature of the time,
and in 1928 T Nelson published the scholarly ''Montrose''. A US printing by
Houghton Mifflin
The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star.
Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...
also appeared, under the title ''Montrose: A History''.
The historical research that Buchan had been doing for ''Montrose'' underpinned further works.
In 1930 he gave a lecture at
St Andrews on ''Montrose and Leadership'', which was published separately.
But most important to Buchan was its influence on his historical novel ''
Witch Wood
''Witch Wood'' is a 1927 novel by the Scottish author John Buchan that critics have called his masterpiece. The book is set in the Scottish Borders during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, and combines the author's interests in landscape, 17t ...
'' (1927),
within which Montrose appears as a minor character.
Content
''Montrose'' is a detailed account of the life of
James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose who sought to combine adherence to Scotland's
1638 National Covenant with loyalty to
Charles I Charles I may refer to:
Kings and emperors
* Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings
* Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily
* Charles I of ...
. As Charles's
lieutenant-general in Scotland, Montrose was, argues Buchan, a skilful general during a series of
Highland
Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...
and
Lowland
Upland and lowland are conditional descriptions of a plain based on elevation above sea level. In studies of the ecology of freshwater rivers, habitats are classified as upland or lowland.
Definitions
Upland and lowland are portions of p ...
battles in 1645-46, but who was ultimately thwarted later in 1646 by the disaster of
Philiphaugh. Buchan then goes on to consider the aftermath, Montrose’s new campaign in the North for
Charles II after his father’s
execution in 1649, and his defeat, betrayal, trial and finally his own execution.
Critical reception
As a scholarly edition, ''Montrose'' was widely praised.
The biography is, said one later critic, presented with a reverent, dignified but not exaggerated dramatic power;
while another praised Buchan’s research while expressing some regret at the loss of “good sharp phrases” from his earlier work.
considered the book to be a masterly historical biography, Buchan’s chief contribution to historical research, written wholly from original sources.
References
External links
*
{{John Buchan
1928 books
Works by John Buchan
Thomas Nelson (publisher) books