At Menstrie, near Stirling, a sixteenth-century fortified house was the cradle of a man whose name resounds in Canada: Sir William Alexander, poet, statesman, and founder of the colony of Nova Scotia. Menstrie thus links central Scotland to the colonial adventure of the New World.
The cradle of William Alexander
The fortified house of Menstrie was established around 1560 by the Alexander family. It was there that, around 1577, Sir William Alexander, 1st Earl of Stirling was born — one of the figures of Scottish letters and expansion under James VI and I. A recognised poet (author of tragedies and sonnets), he was also a statesman, entering the Privy Council in 1615. Menstrie, a three-storey fortified house with its sixteenth-century entrance arch, keeps the memory of this son of the country become a great figure of the realm.
The dream of Nova Scotia
William Alexander's most famous work was not a poem, but a colony. In 1621, he was appointed governor of Nova Scotia, a vast territory of North America that he wanted to colonise in the name of Scotland. To finance the enterprise, he had created in 1624 the order of baronets of Nova Scotia: for a fee and the grant of colonial lands, gentlemen bought this hereditary title. The project failed, however — Nova Scotia was returned to France in 1632 —, but the name remains on the map of present-day Canada. Menstrie Castle today displays the arms of all the baronets of Nova Scotia, a memory of this Scottish colonial dream. To see: the three-storey fortified house and its sixteenth-century entrance arch, the exhibition rooms with the arms of the baronets of Nova Scotia.
Did you know?
The name of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia comes directly from this modest fortified house of Menstrie: it was there that its founder, Sir William Alexander, was born. To people his colony, he invented an ingenious system — to sell titles of 'baronet of Nova Scotia' to gentlemen who, in exchange, received lands across the Atlantic. The flag and arms of present-day Nova Scotia descend from this project — a piece of Canada born in the hills of Scotland.
Notes
Menstrie Castle lies at Menstrie, near Stirling, Clackmannanshire; a house-museum (National Trust for Scotland / local council), exhibition rooms open. Hours to check.
Quiz
- Who was born at Menstrie Castle around 1577?
- Sir William Alexander, 1st Earl of Stirling
- Mary Stuart
- John Knox
- Which colony did William Alexander found?
- Nova Scotia
- Virginia
- Maryland
- How did he finance the colonisation?
- By selling titles of baronet of Nova Scotia
- By piracy
- By a royal tax