Robertson, Alexander

Fascinating: Robertson's life is straight out of Scott: he lived as head of his clan taking hundreds of fighting men out in '88, '15, and '45 (though in this last, aet 75, he did not fight directly), refusing to build roads back to his estate lest duns get in, and drinking huge quantities of whiskey and brandy. He spent long periods of time in exile in France and Italy, fighting in the French army, and as a semi-outlaw in England. But he also wrote substantial quantities of what appears to be polished magazine-quality verse: epigrams, love lyrics, psalm paraphrases, translations from Horace and other classical authors. On one level he falls into the aristocratic man of letters pattern, beside Charles Sackville or even Horace Walpole. On another level he reminds one of the Dread Pirate Roberts or something.