The article presents the problems pertaining to the Polish perception of Scottish, modern Latin writer John Barclay, its manifestations evident in the works by Lukasz Gornicki Jr., Lukasz Opalinski, Jan Andrzej Morsztyn, anonymous texts (including little known prosaic translation of the 'Argenis'), although it focuses on the poem by Waclaw Potocki - 'Argenida', which is an adaptation of the already mentioned famous Barclay's novel of 'Argenis'. Under analysis are technique of paraphrase and a model of lecture objectivised in it, which testifies that the political issues included in the literary work of the Scotsman induced the Sarmatian poet to interpret the 'Argenida' as a novel pertaining to the 17th-century Poland, and for him became a means of expression of his own political views. According to the opinion of the authoress, more thorough examination of the reception of the Barclay work and identification of the circles of intellectuals interested in it, could reveal a relatively wide range of impact of his political thought among the Polish 'szlachta' and the role it could have played in the development of reformational ideas and attitudes.