William Lauder ( – February 1573) was a sixteenth-century Scottish cleric, playwright, and poet. Early life William Lauder was a native of the Lothians. The precise date and place of his birth, or anything regarding his family connections, have not yet been ascertained, although he is almost certainly a member of one of the great Lauder families of that time - Lauder of The Bass, or Lauder of Haltoun. It appears that he had a liberal education and was probably intended for The Church. In the Registers of the University of St. Andrews the name Willielmus Lauder, Lothian is among the students who were incorporated in St Salvator's College in the year 1537. Ministry Upon leaving the university the poet may have taken Holy Orders as a Roman Catholic priest and been connected with one of the religious establishments of Edinburgh. It is not known when he joined the Reformers, whether before, or subsequent to, the establishment of Protestantism, in August 1560. However about 1563 or 1564 he was admitted Minister of the united parishes of Forgandenny, Forteviot, and Muckarsie, in the Presbytery of Perth, and his name appears in the earliest Register of Ministers, and thair Stipends, sen the year of God 1567 when he was receiving £80 sterling per annum. However, in the margin of this very early Register, against his entry, it is written "Deid at Candilmes, 1572". This is confirmed in the accounts of the collectors for the 'Thirds of benefices for Perth and Strathearn', and where, in 1572, his "relict" is mentioned (but without giving her name). Literary career He distinguished himself by his literary talents from an early date. In February 1549 the Treasurer's accounts show a payment to "Williame Lauder, for making of his play, and expensis maid thairupoun, £11:5:0" performed at the wedding celebrations of Alexander, Lord Gordon, and Lady Barbara Hamilton. A few years later he is on record furnishing a play, or dramatic representation, which was performed at the expense of the Magistrates and Council of Edinburgh for the Dowager Queen, Mary of Guise, on 28 December 1554, for which he was handsomely paid. Four years later, Lauder's inventive powers were again exercised in producing one of those plays, or 'moralities', which were so common at that time, to celebrate the marriage of the young Mary, Queen of Scots with Francis, Dauphin of France, at Paris, in July 1558. Although