Talk:William Alexander, 1st Earl of Stirling

"Long Island" section needs rewrite
The section under the heading "Long Island" has some serious syntactical problems and needs a rewrite. Here I've inserted what I *think* may be the missing words and punctuation (enclosed in brackets), and I've struck-through words that I think should go: "On 22 April 1636 Charles [was] told that the Plymouth Colony[,] which had laid claim to the Long Island but had not settled it[,] [was giving] the island to Alexander. Through his agent James Farret (who personally received Shelter Island and Robins Island) in turn [Alexander] sold most of the eastern island to the New Haven Colony and Connecticut Colony [Colonies]. Farret arrived in New Amsterdam in 1637 to present his claim of English sovereignty and [but] was arrested and sent to prison in Holland[,] where [from which] he [later] escaped.  In 1640 [the] English attempted to settle at Cow Bay at what today is Port Washington, New York but . [The settlers] were arrested and [but were] released after saying they were mistaken about the title [no freakin' idea!]"  Any help with the re-write would be appreciated! Bricology (talk) 05:50, 18 October 2013 (UTC)

Correct attribution or misattribution?
The following is sometimes attributed to William Alexander, and alternately, it's sometimes said to be a traditional prayer of the Ute people:


 * Earth teach me - stillness as the grasses are stilled with light.
 * Earth teach me - suffering as old stones suffer with memory.
 * Earth teach me - humility as blossoms are humble with beginning.
 * Earth teach me - caring as the mother who secures her young.
 * Earth teach me - courage as the tree which stands all alone.
 * Earth teach me - freedom as the eagle which soars in the sky.
 * Earth teach me - resignation as the leaves which die in the fall.
 * Earth teach me - regeneration as the seed which rises in the spring.
 * Earth teach me - to forget myself as melted snow forgets its life.
 * Earth teach me - to remember kindness as dry fields weep with rain.''

Neither attribution sounds correct to me, but I am not an expert at literary attributions, so perhaps someone could definitively nail this down? Either way – correct attribution or misattribution – the article could be improved by giving the correct facts of the matter. 2601:281:CC80:5AE0:293F:3BCE:AE6B:7CE9 (talk) 22:18, 1 September 2019 (UTC)