In the introduction to his edition of Guillaume le Clerc's Fergus (Halle, 1872) Ernst Martin surmised that Guillaume had composed his romance for a patron, Alan of Galloway, presumably while at the court of this powerful noble, in order to glorify Alan's ancestors, Fergus of Galloway and Somarled of Argyle. The validity of this hypothesis, reaffirmed by Margaret Schlauch in her article on “The Historical Background of Fergus et Galiene,” has been challenged, as far as I know, only by E. Brugger, and then merely in passing. Any close connection between Guillaume and Alan—or even between Guillaume and Galloway —seems so improbable to me that I wish to re-examine the problem, first reviewing the evidence which has led scholars to accept—or at least not to reject—the theory advanced by Martin and supported by Schlauch.