William Alexander, 1st Earl of Stirling

William Alexander, 1st Earl of Stirling, was a Scottish poet, courtier and colonial promoter who served James VI and I and Charles I. He wrote courtly and religious verse and held senior administrative office in Scotland.

Alexander promoted the Scottish colony of Nova Scotia and devised the baronetcy scheme intended to finance settlement. The project brought him titles and influence but also financial difficulty and limited lasting colonial success.

Nigel Tranter’s Poetic Justice makes William Alexander’s talents with language the engine of his political ascent. Beginning as a relatively modest laird and poet, Alexander enters James VI and I’s service, acquires offices and titles, and becomes involved in the projected colonisation of Nova Scotia and its baronetage scheme. Tranter also stresses the cost of that advancement: royal favour raises Alexander to the earldom of Stirling but leaves him exposed to debt, rivalry and the fragility of court patronage.