Edmund Waller and the Duke of Monmouth

This post originally appeared on line in the blog A Burnt Ship in 2019. Does not necessarily reflect my current opinion about the Monmouth Rebellion 

                           James Duke of Monmouth portrayed in poetry Part I 
'
                  On the Duke of Monmouth's Expedition Into Scotland In The Summer Solstice 1679' by Edmund Waller

'        James Duke of Monmouth in Garter Robes' by Sir Peter Lely, courtesy of pinterest.co.uk 




                        Edmund Waller was born in 1606, educated at Eton and Kings College Cambridge, and presented at the Court of King James when he was 18.He became an MP by 1624, and leaned more towards the Parliamentarian side during the disputes of Charles I reign. However once war broke out in 1642,  Waller was in favour of a negotiated settlement  between Parliament and  the King. in 1643, he was arrested for his part in a conspiracy to seize London for Charles I.

Waller had no qualms about bribing fellow MPs and readily implicated his co-conspirators. He had to pay over some £10,000, spent 18 months in the Tower of London, before going into exile in 1644. A collection of his poems was published in 1645. Waller managed to reach an accord with Cromwell's regime and returned to England in 1652. Like contemporaries Andrew Marvell and John Dryden, Waller wrote poems lauding Oliver Cromwell, and also switched sides to welcome the Restoration in verse. And Waller returned to Parliament in 1661, and spoke regularly in favour of religious toleration, trade, during the sporadic parliaments of Charles II reign. He wrote poetry throughout his life, dying in 1687. His best known poems are 'To The King On His Navy' along with  love poems such as 'The Story of Pheobus and Dahpne, applied' and 'Go Lovely Rose' ,   His writing talent was average. 'James Duke of Monmouth in  Scotland ' is more interesting for historical reasons, rather than ground breaking literature.

                       James Scott, sometimes known as James Scott, Duke of Monmouth ( born 9th April 1649) , is most famous for leading the ill-fated 1685 West Country Rebellion against newly crowned James II, which ended in defeat at Sedgemoor on 15th July 1685 and his subsequent execution. Charles II had recognised him as his illegitimate son, welcoming him to court and awarding him titles but would Charles II would never concede that he had actually married his son mother Lucy Walter, ( also known as Mrs. Barlow) , whilst they had an affair as Royalist exiles in Holland, during the Commonwealth era. Monmouth was later to claim that he was indeed the legitimate son, and therefore heir to the throne, becoming a leader of a Protestant movement against his Catholic uncle James' succession. Charles II sent him into exile, and he was in Holland when Charles died in on 6th February 1685.

The most famous poems that feature James Duke of Monmouth as John Dryden's 'Absaolm and Achtophel' part one ( 1681) and part  two (1682) . Dryden was not sympathetic to Monmouth and particularly  hostile to the 'Protestant Duke' cult that was constructed round him, and these two poems sound as a warning against Monmouth's rebellious nature, and how he was being manipulated by unscrupulous politicians to defy Charles II.

 Edmund Waller in his poem 'The Duke of Monmouth in Scotland' adopted a more sympathetic view. I have not been able to trace when it was written and published.  Waller was keen to recognise the Duke of Monmouth's military ability  -

His fame, his conduct, and that martial look,
The guilty Scots with such a terror strook

His attempts to persuade the rebels to accept terms and disarm

He might have rush'd ; but noble pity held
His hand awhile, and to their choice gave space

And desire not to extract a bloody retribution

Glad that so little loyal blood it cost,
He grieves so many Britons should be lost.

Waller's poem took the opposite view of Dryden concerning Monmouth's relationship to his  royal father

And give a secret joy to him that reigns', 
To see his blood triumph in Monmouth's veins ;
 To see a leader whom he got and chose, 
Firm to his friends, and fatal to his foes.

It  is intriguing to see a war poem that blatantly constructs heroism around a military commander, something that is hard to imagine happening in the 21st century. But the poem acknowledges that war should be fought on an ethical basis, even when rebellion has broken out. Waller had already seen the horror of civil war in his lifetime.


The poem concerns the  few thousand arch Protestant Covenanters  who rose up against Charles II administration in Scotland in June 1679. The Duke of Monmouth was sent north to tackle them. Within six days, the rebels were defeated at the Battle of Bothwell Bridge on 22nd June 1679, Monmouth's force was outnumbered nearly 2:1 , though had field guns- the rebels had precisely one . And Monmouth had fighting experience  at the siege of Maastricht in 1672-3 in the third Anglo-Dutch War. The fighting lasted a matter of minutes, with few casualties amongst Monmouth's forces whilst 600 rebels were killed. 

               There is a certain irony that Monmouth triumphed in quashing a hopeless rebellion against the crown, with the rebels being associated with Protestant Dissenters- a strange forerunner to his own 1685 rebellion: An uprising that was allied to a further failed Covenanters rebellion in 1685 led by the Duke of Argyll.  Monmouth gained a reputation of being compassionate the defeated prisoners immediately after the battle. His troops  preferred to take prisoners rather than slaughter opponents fleeing the battlefield. But the prisoners given over to the judiciary, and tried in Edinburgh, where they  risked transportation or dying of jail condition.  It is possible that  the Battle of Bothwell possibly led Monmouth to over-rate his skills as a commander. Whilst in 1679 Monmouth acted swiftly and with confidence, a total contrast to his actions in the West Country in 1685.


   On the Duke of Monmouth's Expedition Into Scotland In The Summer Solstice 1679' ( first 35 lines) 

Swift as Jove's messenger, (the winged god!)
 With sword as potent as his charming rod,
He flew to execute the King's command,
And in a moment reach'd that northern land,
Where day contending with approaching night,
Assists the hero with continued light.
On foes surprised, and by no night conceal'd,
He might have rush'd ; but noble pity held
His hand awhile, and to their choice gave space
Which they would prove, his valour or his grace.
This not well heard, his cannon louder spoke,
And then, like lightning, through that cloud he broke.
His fame, his conduct, and that martial look,
The guilty Scots with such a terror strook,
That to his courage they resign the field,
Who to his bounty had refused to yield.
Glad that so little loyal blood it cost,
He grieves so many Britons should be lost.
To save the fliers than to win the field ;
And at the Court his interest does employ, 
That none, who scaped his fatal sword, should die. 
And now these rash bold men their error find, 
Not trusting one beyond his promise kind ; 
One ! whose great mind, so bountiful and brave, 
Had learn'd the art to conquer and to save.
 In vulgar breasts no royal virtues dwell ; 
Such deeds as these his high extraction tell, 
And give a secret joy to him that reigns', 
To see his blood triumph in Monmouth's veins ;
 To see a leader whom he got and chose, 
Firm to his friends, and fatal to his foes.............



Collection of Edmund Waller's poetry on line  ( Page 48 has full text of  the poem)

Poetry Foundation entry  on Edmund Waller.

Reformation History page on Battle of Bothwell 

Interesting page about  Covenanter prisoners in Edinburgh after the Battle of Bothwell Bridge

                           Monument to the defeated Covenanters at Bothwell Bridge-Courtesy of Wikipedia Commons