"The same supernatural circumstance is alluded to by the
anonymous author of Grim, the Collier of Croydon:
'-----[Dunstant's harp sounds on the wall.]
'Forrest. Hark, hark, my lord, the holy abbot's harp
Sounds by itself so hanging on the wall!
'Dunstan. Unhallow'd man, that scorn'st the sacred rede,
Hark, how the testimony of my truth
Sounds heavenly music with an angel's hand,
To testify Dunstan's integrity,
And prove thy active boast of no effect.'"
141. Bothwell's bannered hall. The picturesque ruins of
Bothwell Castle stand on the banks of the Clyde, about nine miles
above Glasgow. Some parts of the walls are 14 feet thick, and 60
feet in height. They are covered with ivy, wild roses, and wall-
flowers.
"The tufted grass lines Bothwell's ancient hall,
The fox peeps cautious from the creviced wall,
Where once proud Murray, Clydesdale's ancient lord,
A mimic sovereign, held the festal board."
142. Ere Douglases, to ruin driven. Scott says: "The downfall
of the Douglases of the house of Angus, during the reign of James
V., is the event alluded to in the text. The Earl of Angus, it
will be remembered, had married the queen dowager, and availed
himself of the right which he thus acquired, as well as of his
extensive power, to retain the king in a sort of tutelage, which
approached very near to captivity. Several open attempts were
made to rescue James from this thraldom, with which he was well
known to be deeply disgusted; but the valor of the Douglases, and
their allies, gave them the victory in every conflict. At
length, the king, while residing at Falkland, contrived to escape
by night out of his own court and palace, and rode full speed to
Stirling Castle, where the governor, who was of the opposite
faction, joyfully received him. Being thus at liberty, James
speedily summoned around him such peers as he knew to be most
inimical to the domination of Angus, and laid his complaint
before them, says Pitscottie, 'with great lamentations: showing
to them how he was holding in subjection, thir years bygone, by
the Earl of Angus, and his kin and friends, who oppressed the
whole country, and spoiled it, under the pretence of justice and
his authority; and had slain many of his lieges, kinsmen, and
friends, because they would have had it mended at their hands,
and put him at liberty, as he ought to have been, at the counsel
of his whole lords, and not have been subjected and corrected
with no particular men, by the rest of his nobles: Therefore,
said he, I desire, my lords, that I may be satisfied of the said
earl, his kin, and friends; for I avow, that Scotland shall not
hold us both, while [i.e. till] I be revenged on him and his.
'The lords hearing the king's complaint and lamentation, and also
the great rage, fury, and malice, that he bure toward the Earl of
Angus, his kin and friends, they concluded all and thought it
best, that he should be summoned to underly the law; if he fand
not caution, nor yet compear himself, that he should be put to
the horn, with all his kin and friends, so many as were contained
in the letters. And further, the lords ordained, by advice of
his majesty, that his brother and friends should be summoned to
find caution to underly the law within a certain day, or else be
put to the horn. But the earl appeared not, nor none for him; and
so he was put to the horn, with all his kin and friends: so many
as were contained in the summons, that compeared not, were
banished, and holden traitors to the king.'"
159. From Tweed to Spey. From the Tweed, the southern boundary
of Scotland, to the Spey, a river far to the north in Inverness-
shire; that is, from one end of the land to the other.
170. Reave. Tear away. The participle reft is still used, at
least in poetry. Cf. Shakespeare, V. and A. 766: "Or butcher-
sire that reaves his son of life" (that is, bereaves); Spenser,
F. Q. i. 3. 36: "He to him lept, in minde to reave his life;" Id.
ii. 8. 15: "I will him reave of arms," etc.
178. It drinks, etc. The MS. has "No blither dewdrop cheers the
rose."
195, 196. To see ... dance. This couplet is not in the MS.
200. The Lady of the Bleeding Heart. The bleeding heart was the
cognizance of the Douglas family. Robert Bruce, on his death-
bed, bequeathed his heart to his friend, the good Lord James, to
be borne in war against the Saracens. "He joined Alphonso, King
of Leon and Castile, then at war with the Moorish chief Osurga,
of Granada, and in a keen contest with the Moslems he flung
before him the casket containing the precious relic, crying out,
'Onward as thou wert wont, thou noble heart, Douglas will follow
thee.' Douglas was slain, but his body was recovered, and also
the precious casket, and in the end Douglas was laid with his
ancestors, and the heart of Bruce deposited in the church of
Melrose Abbey" (Burton's Hist. of Scotland).
201. Fair. The 1st ed. (and probably the MS., though not noted
by Lockhart) has "Gay."
203. Yet is this, etc. The MS. and 1st ed. read:
"This mossy rock, my friend, to me
Is worth gay chair and canopy."
205. Footstep. The reading of the 1st and other early eds.;
"footsteps" in recent ones.
206. Strathspey. A Highland dance, which takes its name from
the strath, or broad valley, of the Spey (159 above).
213. Clan-Alpine's pride. "The Siol Alpine, or race of Alpine,
includes several clans who claimed descent from Kenneth McAlpine,
an ancient king. These are the Macgregors, the Grants, the
Mackies, the Mackinnans, the MacNabs, the MacQuarries, and the
Macaulays. Their common emblem was the pine, which is now
confined to the Macgregors" (Taylor).
214. Loch Lomond. This beautiful lake, "the pride of Scottish
lakes," is about 23 miles in length and 5 miles in its greatest
breadth. At the southern end are many islands, one of which,
Inch-Cailliach (the Island of Women, so called from a nunnery
that was once upon it), was the burial-place of Clan-Alpine. See
iii. 191 below.
216. A Lennox foray. That is, a raid in the lands of the Lennox
family, bordering on the southern end of Loch Lomond. On the
island of Inch-Murrin, the ruins of Lennox Castle, formerly a
residence of the Earls of Lennox, are still to be seen. There
was another of their strongholds on the shore of the lake near
Balloch, where the modern Balloch Castle now stands.
217. Her glee. The 1st ed. misprints "his glee;" not noted in
the Errata.
220. Black Sir Roderick. Roderick Dhu, or the Black, as he was
called.
221. In Holy-Rood a knight he slew. That is, in Holyrood
Palace. "This was by no means an uncommon occurrence in the Court
of Scotland; nay, the presence of the sovereign himself scarcely
restrained the ferocious and inveterate feuds which were the
perpetual source of bloodshed among the Scottish nobility"
(Scott).
223. Courtiers give place, etc. The MS. reads:
"Courtiers give place with heartless stride
Of the retiring homicide."
227. Who else, etc. The MS. has the following couplet before
this line:
"Who else dared own the kindred claim
That bound him to thy mother's name?"
229. The Douglas, etc. Scott says here: "The exiled state of
this powerful race is not exaggerated in this and subsequent
passages. The hatred of James against the race of Douglas was so
inveterate, that numerous as their allies were, and disregarded
as the regal authority had usually been in similar cases, their
nearest friends, even in the most remote part of Scotland, durst
not entertain them, unless under the strictest and closest
disguise. James Douglas, son of the banished Earl of Angus,
afterwards well known by the title of Earl of Morton, lurked,
during the exile of his family, in the north of Scotland, under
the assumed name of James Innes, otherwise James the Grieve (i.e.
reve or bailiff). 'And as he bore the name,' says Godscroft, 'so
did he also execute the office of a grieve or overseer of the
lands and rents, the corn and cattle of him with whom he lived.'
From the habits of frugality and observation which he acquired in
his humble situation, the historian traces that intimate
acquaintance with popular character which enabled him to rise so
high in the state, and that honorable economy by which he
repaired and established the shattered estates of Angus and
Morton (History of the House of Douglas, Edinburgh, 1743, vol.
ii. p. 160)."
235. Guerdon. Reward; now rarely used except in poetry. Cf.
Spenser, F. Q. i. 10. 59: "That glory does to them for guerdon
graunt," etc.
236. Dispensation. As Roderick and Ellen were cousins, they
could not marry without a dispensation from the Pope.
251. Orphan. Referring to child, not to she, as its position
indicates.
254. Shrouds. Shields, protects. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. i. 1. 6:
"And this faire couple eke to shroud themselves were fain" (that
is, from the rain). So the noun = shelter, protection; as in
Shakespeare, A. and C. iii. 13. 71: "put yourself under his
shroud," etc. See also on 757 below.
260. Maronnan's cell. "The parish of Kilmaronock, at the
eastern extremity of Loch Lomond, derives its name from a cell,
or chapel, dedicated to Saint Maronock, or Marnock, or Maronnan,
about whose sanctity very little is now remembered" (Scott).
Kill = cell; as in Colmekill (Macb. ii. 4. 33), "the cell of
Columba," now known as Icolmkill, or Iona.
270. Bracklinn's thundering wave. This beautiful cascade is on
the Keltie, a mile from Callander. The height of the fall is
about fifty feet. "A few years ago a marriage party of Lowland
peasants met with a tragic end here, two of them having tumbled
into the broken, angry waters, where they had no more chance of
life than if they had dropped into the crater of Hecla" (Black).
271. Save. Unless; here followed by the subjunctive.
274. Claymore. The word means "a large sword" (Gaelic
claidheamh, sword, and more, great).
294. Shadowy plaid and sable plume. Appropriate to Roderick
Dhu. See on 220 above.
303. Woe the while. Woe be to the time, alas the time! Cf.
Shakespeare, J. C. i. 3. 82: "But, woe the while! our fathers'
minds are dead," etc. See also on i. 166 above.
306. Tine-man. "Archibald, the third Earl of Douglas, was so
unfortunate in all his enterprises, that he acquired the epithet
of 'tine-man,' because he tined, or lost, his followers in every
battle which he fought. He was vanquished, as every reader must
remember, in the bloody battle of Homildon-hill, near Wooler,
where he himself lost an eye, and was made prisoner by Hotspur.
He was no less unfortunate when allied with Percy, being wounded
and taken at the battle of Shrewsbury. He was so unsuccessful in
an attempt to beseige Roxburgh Castle, that it was called the
'Foul Raid,' or disgraceful expedition. His ill fortune left him
indeed at the battle of Beauge, in France; but it was only to
return with double emphasis at the subsequent action of Vernoil,
the last and most unlucky of his encounters, in which he fell,
with the flower of the Scottish chivalry, then serving as
auxiliaries in France, and about two thousand common soldiers,
A.D. 1424" (Scott).
307. What time, etc. That is, at the time when Douglas allied
himself with Percy in the rebellion against Henry IV. of England.
See Shakespeare, 1 Hen. IV.
309. Did, self unscabbarded, etc. Scott says here: "The ancient
warriors, whose hope and confidence rested chiefly in their
blades, were accustomed to deduce omens from them, especially
from such as were supposed to have been fabricated by enchanted
skill, of which we have various instances in the romances and
legends of the time. The wonderful sword Skofnung, wielded by the
celebrated Hrolf Kraka, was of this description. It was
deposited in the tomb of the monarch at his death, and taken from
thence by Skeggo, a celebrated pirate, who bestowed it upon his
son-in-law, Kormak, with the following curious directions: '"The
manner of using it will appear strange to you. A small bag is
attached to it, which take heed not to violate. Let not the rays
of the sun touch the upper part of the handle, nor unsheathe it,
unless thou art ready for battle. But when thou comest to the
place of fight, go aside from the rest, grasp and extend the
sword, and breathe upon it. Then a small worm will creep out of
the handle; lower the handle, that he may more easily return into
it." Kormak, after having received the sword, returned home to
his mother. He showed the sword, and attempted to draw it, as
unnecessarily as ineffectually, for he could not pluck it out of
the sheath. His mother, Dalla, exclaimed, "Do not despise the
counsel given to thee, my son." Kormak, however, repeating his
efforts, pressed down the handle with his feet, and tore off the
bag, when Skofung emitted a hollow groan; but still he could not
unsheathe the sword. Kormak then went out with Bessus, whom he
had challenged to fight with him, and drew apart at the place of
combat. He sat down upon the ground, and ungirding the sword,
which he bore above his vestments, did not remember to shield the
hilt from the rays of the sun. In vain he endeavored to draw it,
till he placed his foot against the hilt; then the worm issued
from it. But Kormak did not rightly handle the weapon, in
consequence whereof good fortune deserted it. As he unsheathed
Skofnung, it emitted a hollow murmur' (Bartholini de Causis
Contemptae a Danis adhuc Gentilibus Mortis, Libri Tres. Hafniae,
1689, 4to, p. 574).
"To the history of this sentient and prescient weapon, I beg
leave to add, from memory, the following legend, for which I
cannot produce any better authority. A young nobleman, of high
hopes and fortune, chanced to lose his way in the town which he
inhabited, the capital, if I mistake not, of a German province.
He had accidentally involved himself among the narrow and winding
streets of a suburb, inhabited by the lowest order of the people,
and an approaching thunder-shower determined him to ask a short
refuge in the most decent habitation that was near him. He
knocked at the door, which was opened by a tall man, of a grisly
and ferocious aspect, and sordid dress. The stranger was readily
ushered to a chamber, where swords, scourges, and machines, which
seemed to be implements of torture, were suspended on the wall.
One of these swords dropped from its scabbard, as the nobleman,
after a moment's hesitation, crossed the threshold. His host
immediately stared at him with such a marked expression, that the
young man could not help demanding his name and business, and the
meaning of his looking at him so fixedly. 'I am,' answered the
man, 'the public executioner of this city; and the incident you
have observed is a sure augury that I shall, in discharge of my
duty, one day cut off your head with the weapon which has just
now spontaneously unsheathed itself.' The nobleman lost no time
in leaving his place of refuge; but, engaging in some of the
plots of the period, was shortly after decapitated by that very
man and instrument.
"Lord Lovat is said, by the author of the Letters from Scotland
(vol. ii. p. 214), to have affirmed that a number of swords that
hung up in the hall of the mansion-house, leaped of themselves
out of the scabbard at the instant he was born. The story passed
current among his clan, but, like that of the story I have just
quoted, proved an unfortunate omen."
311. If courtly spy hath, etc. The 1st ed. has "If courtly spy,
and harbored," etc. The ed. of 1821 reads "had harbored."
319. Beltane. The first of May, when there was a Celtic
festival in honor of the sun. Beltane = Beal-tein, or the fire
of Beal, a Gaelic name for the sun. It was celebrated by
kindling fires on the hill-tops at night, and other ceremonies,
followed by dances, and merry-making. Cf. 410 below. See also
The Lord of the Isles, i. 8: "The shepherd lights his belane-
fire;" and Glenfinlas:
"But o'er his hills, in festal day,
How blazed Lord Ronald's beltane-tree!"
323. But hark! etc. "The moving picture--the effect of the
sounds --and the wild character and strong peculiar nationality
of the whole procession, are given with inimitable spirit and
power of expression" (Jeffrey).
327. The canna's hoary beard. The down of the canna, or cotton-
grass.
335. Glengyle. A valley at the northern end of Lock Katrine.
337. Brianchoil. A promontory on the northern shore of the
lake.
342. Spears, pikes, and axes. The 1st ed. and that of 1821 have
Spears, but all the recent ones misprint "Spear." The "Globe"
ed. has "Spear, spikes," etc.
343. Tartans. The checkered woollen cloth so much worn in
Scotland. Curiously enough, the name is not Gaelic but French.
See Jamieson or Wb.
Brave. Fine, beautiful; the same word as the Scottish braw. Cf.
Shakespeare, Sonn. 12. 2: "And see the brave day sunk in hideous
night;" Ham. ii. 2. 312: "This brave o'erhanging firmament," etc.
It is often used of dress, as also is bravery (= finery); as in
T. of S. iv. 3. 57: "With scarfs and fans and double change of
bravery." See also Spenser, Mother Hubberds Tale, 858: "Which
oft maintain'd his masters braverie" (that is, dressed as well as
his master).
351. Chanters. The pipes of the bagpipes, to which long ribbons
were attached.
357. The sounds. Misprinted "the sound" in the ed. of 1821, and
all the more recent eds. that we have seen. Cf. 363 below.
363. Those thrilling sounds, etc. Scott says here: "The
connoisseurs in pipe-music affect to discover in a well-composed
pibroch, the imitative sounds of march, conflict, flight,
pursuit, and all the 'current of a heady fight.' To this opinion
Dr. Beattie has given his suffrage, in that following elegant
passage:--'A pibroch is a species of tune, peculiar, I think, to
the Highlands and Western Isles of Scotland. It is performed on
a bagpipe, and differs totally from all other music. Its rhythm
is so irregular, and its notes, especially in the quick movement,
so mixed and huddled together, that a stranger finds it
impossible to reconcile his ear to it, so as to perceive its
modulation. Some of these pibrochs, being intended to represent
a battle, begin with a grave motion, resembling a march; then
gradually quicken into the onset; run off with noisy confusion,
and turbulent rapidity, to imitate the conflict and pursuit; then
swell into a few flourishes of triumphant joy; and perhaps close
with the wild and slow wailings of a funeral procession' (Essay
on Laughter and Ludicrious Composition, chap. iii. note)."
367. Hurrying. Referring to their, or rather to the them
implied in that word.
392. The burden bore. That is, sustained the burden, or chorus,
of the song. Cf. Shakespeare, Temp. i. 2. 381: "And, sweet
sprites, the burden bear."
399. Hail to the Chief, etc. The metre of the song is dactylic;
the accents being on the 1st, 4th, 7th, and 10th syllables. It
is little used in English. Tennyson's Charge of the Light
Brigade and Longfellow's Skeleton in Armor are familiar examples
of it.
405. Bourgeon. Bud. Cf. Fairfax, Tasso, vii. 76: When first on
trees bourgeon the blossoms soft;" and Tennyson, In Memoriam,
115:
"Now burgeons every maze of quick
About the flowering squares," etc.
408. Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu. "Besides his ordinary name and
surname, which were chiefly used in the intercourse with the
Lowlands, every Highland chief had an epithet expressive of his
patriarchal dignity as head of the clan, and which was common to
all his predecessors and successors, as Pharaoh to the kings of
Egypt, or Arsaces to those of Parthia. This name was usually a
patronymic, expressive of his descent from the founder of the
family. Thus the Duke of Argyll is called MacCallum More, or the
son of Colin the Great. Sometimes, however, it is derived from
armorial distinctions, or the memory of some great feat; thus
Lord Seaforth, as chief of the Mackenzies, or Clan-Kennet, bears
the epithet of Caber-fae, or Buck's Head, as representative of
Colin Fitzgerald, founder of the family, who saved the Scottish
king, when endangered by a stag. But besides this title, which
belonged to his office and dignity, the chieftain had usually
another peculiar to himself, which distinguished him from the
chieftains of the same race. This was sometimes derived from
complexion, as dhu or roy; sometimes from size, as beg or more;
at other times, from some peculiar exploit, or from some
peculiarity of habit or appearance. The line of the text
therefore signifies,
Black Roderick, the descendant of Alpine.
"The song itself is intended as an imitation of the jorrams, or
boat songs, of the Highlanders, which were usually composed in
honor of a favorite chief. They are so adapted as to keep time
with the sweep of the oars, and it is easy to distinguish between
those intended to be sung to the oars of a galley, where the
stroke is lengthened and doubled, as it were, and those which
were timed to the rowers of an ordinary boat" (Scott).
410. Beltane. See on 319 above.
415. Roots him. See on i. 142 above.
416. Breadalbane. The district north of Loch Lomond and around
Loch Tay. The seat of the Earl of Breadalbane is Taymouth
Castle, near the northern end of Loch Tay.
For Menteith, see on i. 89 above.
419. Glen Fruin. A valley to the southwest of Loch Lomond. The
ruins of the castle of Benuchara, or Bannochar (see on 422 just
below), still overhang the entrance to the glen.
Glen Luss is another valley draining into the lake, a few miles
from Glen Fruin, and Ross-dhu is on the shore of the lake, midway
between the two. Here stands a tower, the only remnant of the
ancient castle of the family of Luss, which became merged in that
of Colquhoun.
422. The best of Loch Lomond, etc. Scott has the following note
here:
"The Lennox, as the district is called which encircles the lower
extremity of Loch Lomond, was peculiarly exposed to the
incursions of the mountaineers, who inhabited the inaccessible
fastnesses at the upper end of the lake, and the neighboring
district of Loch Katrine. These were often marked by
circumstances of great ferocity, of which the noted conflict of
Glen Fruin is a celebrated instance. This was a clan-battle, in
which the Macgregors, headed by Allaster Macgregor, chief of the
clan, encountered the sept of Colquhouns, commanded by Sir
Humphry Colquhoun of Luss. It is on all hands allowed that the
action was desperately fought, and that the Colquhouns were
defeated with slaughter, leaving two hundred of their name dead
upon the field. But popular tradition has added other horrors to
the tale. It is said that Sir Humphry Colquhoun, who was on
horseback, escaped to the Castle of Benechra, or Bannochar, and
was next day dragged out and murdered by the victorious
Macgregors in cold blood. Buchanan of Auchmar, however, speaks
of his slaughter as a subsequent event, and as perpetrated by the
Macfarlanes. Again, it is reported that the Macgregors murdered
a number of youths, whom report of the intended battle had
brought to be spectators, and whom the Colquhouns, anxious for
their safety, had shut up in a barn to be out of danger. One
account of the Macgregors denies this circumstance entirely;
another ascribes it to the savage and bloodthirsty disposition of
a single individual, the bastard brother of the Laird of
Macgregor, who amused himself with this second massacre of the
innocents, in express disobedience to the chief, by whom he was
left their guardian during the pursuit of the Colquhouns. It is
added that Macgregor bitterly lamented this atrocious action, and
prophesied the ruin which it must bring upon their ancient clan.
...
"The consequences of the battle of Glen Fruin were very
calamitous to the family of Macgregor, who had already been
considered as an unruly clan. The widows of the slain
Colquhouns, sixty, it is said, in number, appeared in doleful
procession before the king at Stirling, each riding upon a white
palfrey, and bearing in her hand the bloody shirt of her husband
displayed upon a pike. James VI. was so much moved by the
complaints of this 'choir of mourning dames,' that he let loose
his vengeance against the Macgregors without either bounds or
moderation. The very name of the clan was proscribed, and those
by whom it had been borne were given up to sword and fire, and
absolutely hunted down by bloodhounds like wild beasts. Argyll
and the Campbells, on the one hand, Montrose, with the Grahames
and Buchanans, on the other, are said to have been the chief
instruments in suppressing this devoted clan. The Laird of
Macgregor surrendered to the former, on condition that he would
take him out of Scottish ground. But, to use Birrel's
expression, he kept 'a Highlandman's promise;' and, although he
fulfilled his word to the letter, by carrying him as far as
Berwick, he afterwards brought him back to Edinburgh, where he
was executed with eighteen of his clan (Birrel's Diary, 2d Oct.
1903). The clan Gregor being thus driven to utter despair, seem
to have renounced the laws from the benefit of which they were
excluded, and their depredations produced new acts of council,
confirming the severity of their proscription, which had only the
effect of rendering them still more united and desperate. It is
a most extraordinary proof of the ardent and invincible spirit of
clanship, that notwithstanding the repeated proscriptions
providently ordained by the legislature, 'for the timeous
preventing the disorders and oppression that may fall out by the
said name and clan of Macgregors, and their followers,' they
were, in 1715 and 1745, a potent clan, and continue to subsist as
a distinct and numerous race."
426. Leven-glen. The valley of the Leven, which connects Loch
Lomond with the Clyde.
431. The rosebud. That is, Ellen. "Note how this song connects
Allan's forebodings with Roderick's subsequent offer" (Taylor).
444. And chorus wild, etc. The MS. has "The chorus to the
chieftain's fame."
476. Weeped. The form is used for the rhyme. Cf. note on i.
500 above.
477. Nor while, etc. The MS. reads:
"Nor while on Ellen's faltering tongue
Her filial greetings eager hung,
Marked not that awe (affection's proof)
Still held yon gentle youth aloof;
No! not till Douglas named his name,
Although the youth was Malcolm Graeme.
Then with flushed cheek and downcast eye,
Their greeting was confused and shy."
495. Bothwell. See on 141 above.
497. Percy's Norman pennon. Taken in the raid which led to the
battle of Otterburn, in Northumberland, in the year 1388, and
which forms the theme of the ballads of Chevy Chase.
501. My pomp. My triumphal procession; the original meaning of
pomp.
504. Crescent. The badge of the Buccleuch family (Miss Yonge).
506. Blantyre. A priory, the ruins of which are still to be
seen on a height above the Clyde, opposite Bothwell Castle.
521. The dogs, etc. The MS. has "The dogs with whimpering notes
repaid."
525. Unhooded. The falcon was carried on the wrist, with its
head covered, or hooded, until the prey was seen, when it was
unhooded for flight. Cf. vi. 665 below.
526. Trust. Believe me.
527. Like fabled Goddess. The MS. has "Like fabled huntress;"
referring of course to Diana.
534. Stature fair. The reading of the 1st ed. and that of 1821;
"stature tall" in most of the other eds.
541. The ptarmigan. A white bird.
543. Menteith. See on i. 89 above.
548. Ben Lomond. This is much the highest (3192 feet) of the
mountains on the shores of Loch Lomond. The following lines on
the ascent were scratched upon the window-pane of the old inn at
Tarbet a hundred years or more ago:
"Trust not at first a quick adventurous pace;
Six miles its top points gradual from its base;
Up the high rise with panting haste I past,
And gained the long laborious steep at last;
More prudent thou--when once you pass the deep,
With cautious steps and slow ascend the steep."
549. Not a sob. That is, without panting, or getting out of
breath, like the degenerate modern tourist.
574. Glenfinlas. A wooded valley between Ben-an and Benledi,
the entrance to which is between Lochs Achray and Vennachar. It
is the scene of Scott's ballad, Glenfinlas, or Lord Ronald's
Coronach. A mile from the entrance are the falls of the Hero's
Targe. See iv. 84 below.
577. Still a royal ward. Still under age, with the king for
guardian.
583. Strath-Endrick. A valley to the southeast of Loch Lomond,
drained by Endrick Water.
584. Peril aught. Incur any peril. Milton uses the verb
intransitively in Reason of Church Government, ii. 3: "it may
peril to stain itself."
587. Not in action. The 1st ed. has "nor in action."
594. News. Now generally used as a singular; but in old writers
both as singular and as plural. Cf. Shakespeare, K. John, iii.
4. 164: "at that news he dies;" and Id. v. 7. 65: "these dead
news," etc.
601. As. As if. See on 56 above.
606. Glozing. That glosses over the truth, not plain and
outspoken. Sometimes it means to flatter, or deceive with smooth
words; as in Spenser, F. Q. iii. 8. 14:
"For he could well his glozing speeches frame
To such vaine uses that him best became;"
Smith, Sermons (A. D. 1609): "Every smooth tale is not to be
believed; and every glosing tongue is not to be trusted;" Milton,
P. L. iii. 93: "his glozing lies;" Id. ix. 549: "So glozed the
Tempter;" Comus, 161: "well-placed words of glozing courtesy,"
etc.
615. The King's vindictive pride, etc. Scott says here: "In
1529, James made a convention at Edinburgh, for the purpose of
considering the best mode of quelling the Border robbers, who,
during the license of his minority, and the troubles which
followed, had committed many exorbitances. Accordingly he
assembled a flying army of ten thousand men, consisting of his
principal nobility and their followers, who were directed to
bring their hawks and dogs with them, that the monarch might
refresh himself with sport during the intervals of military
execution. With this array he swept through Ettrick Forest,
where he hanged over the gate of his own castle Piers Cockburn of
Henderland, who had prepared, according to tradition, a feast for
his reception. He caused Adam Scott of Tushiclaw also to be
executed, who was distinguished by the title of King of the
Border. But the most noted victim of justice during that
expedition was John Armstrong of Gilnockie, famous in Scottish
song, who, confiding in his own supposed innocence, met the King,
with a retinue of thirty-six persons, all of whom were hanged at
Carlenrig, near the source of the Teviot. The effect of this
severity was such, that, as the vulgar expressed it, 'the rush-
bush kept the cow,' and 'thereafter was great peace and rest a
long time, wherethrough the King had great profit; for he had ten
thousand sheep going in the Ettrick Forest in keeping by Andrew
Bell, who made the king as good count of them as they had gone in
the bounds of Fife' (Pitscottie's History, p. 153)."
623. Meggat's mead. The Meggat, or Megget, is a mountain stream
flowing into the Yarrow, a branch of the Etrrick, which is itself
a branch of the Tweed. The Teviot is also a branch of the Tweed.
627. The dales, etc. The MS. has "The dales where clans were
wont to bide."
634. By fate of Border chivalry. Scott says: "James was, in
fact, equally attentive to restrain rapine and feudal oppression
in every part of his dominions. 'The King past to the isles, and
there held justice courts, and punished both thief and traitor
according to their demerit. And also he caused great men to show
their holdings, wherethrough he found many of the said lands in
non-entry; the which he confiscate and brought home to his own
use, and afterwards annexed them to the crown, as ye shall hear.
Syne brought many of the great men of the isles captive with him,
such as Mudyart, M'Connel, M'Loyd of the Lewes, M'Neil, M'Lane,
M'Intosh, John Mudyart, M'Kay, M'Kenzie, with many other that I
cannot rehearse at this time. Some of them he put in ward and
some in court, and some he took pledges for good rule in time
coming. So he brought the isles, both north and south, in good
rule and peace; wherefore he had great profit, service, and
obedience of people a long time hereafter; and as long as he had
the heads of the country in subjection, they lived in great peace
and rest, and there was great riches and policy by the King's
justice' (Pitscottie, p. 152)."
638. Your counsel. That is, give me your counsel. Streight =
strait.
659. The Bleeding Heart. See on 200 above.
662. Quarry. See on i. 127 above.
672. To wife. For wife. Cf. Shakespeare, Temp. ii. 1. 75:
"such a paragon to their queen;" Rich. II. iv. 1. 306: "I have a
king here to my flatterer," etc. See also Matt. iii. 9, Luke,
iii. 8, etc.
674. Enow. The old plural of enough; as in Shakespeare, Hen. V.
iv. 1. 240: "we have French quarrels enow," etc.
678. The Links of Forth. The windings of the Forth between
Stirling and Alloa.
679. Stirling's porch. The gate of Stirling Castle.
683. Blench. Start, shrink.
685. Heat. Misprinted "heart" in many eds.
690. From pathless glen. The MS. has "from hill and glen."
692. There are who have. For the ellipsis, cf. Shakespeare,
Temp. ii. 1. 262: "There be that can rule Naples," etc. See also
iii. 10 below.
694. That beetled o'er. Cf. Hamlet, i. 4. 71:
"the dreadful summit of the cliff That beetles o'er his
base into the sea."
696. Their dangerous dream. The MS. has "their desperate
dream."
702. Battled. Battlemented; as in vi. 7 below.
703. It waved. That it waved; an ellipsis very common in
Elizabethan and earlier English. Cf. 789 below.
708. Astound. Astounded. This contraction of the participle
(here used for the sake of the rhyme) was formerly not uncommon
in verbs ending in d and t. Thus in Shakespeare we find the
participles bloat (Ham. iii. 4. 182), enshield (M. for M. ii. 4.
80), taint (1 Hen. VI. v. 3. 183), etc.
710. Crossing. Conflicting.
716. Ere. The 1st ed. misprints "e'er."
731. Level. Aim; formerly a technical term. Cf. 2 Hen. IV.
iii. 2. 286: "The foeman may with as great aim level at the edge
of a penknife," etc.
747. Nighted. Benighted. It is to be regarded as a contraction
of that word; like lated for belated in Macbeth, iii. 3. 6, etc.
Nighted (= dark, black) in Hamlet, i. 2. 68 ("thy nighted
colour") is an adjective formed from the noun night.
757. Checkered shroud. Tartain plaid. The original meaning of
shroud (see Wb.) was garment.
763. Parting. Departing. See on 94 above.
768. So deep, etc. According to Lockhart, the MS. reads:
"The deep-toned anguish of despair
Flushed, in fierce jealousy, to air;"
but we suspect that "Flushed" should be "Flashed."
774. So lately. At the "Beltane game" (319 above).
781. Thus as they strove, etc. The MS. reads:
"Thus, as they strove, each better hand
Grasped for the dagger or the brand."
786. I hold, etc. Scott has the following note on the last page
of the 1st ed.: "The author has to apologize for the inadvertent
appropriation of a whole line from the tragedy of Douglas: 'I
hold the first who strikes my foe.'"
789. His daughter's hand, etc. For the ellipsis of that, see on
703 above. Deemed is often misprinted "doomed."
791. Sullen and slowly, etc. The MS. reads:
"Sullen and slow the rivals bold
Loosed at his hest their desperate hold,
But either still on other glared," etc.
795. Brands. A pet word with Scott. Note how often it has been
used already in the poem.
798. As faltered. See on 601 above.
801. Pity 't were, etc. Scott says here: "Hardihood was in
every respect so essential to the character of a Highlander, that
the reproach of effeminacy was the most bitter which could be
thrown upon him. Yet it was sometimes hazarded on what we might
presume to think slight grounds. It is reported of old Sir Ewen
Cameron of Lochiel, when upwards of seventy, that he was
surprised by night on a hunting or military expedition. He
wrapped him in his plaid, and lay contentedly down upon the snow,
with which the ground happened to be covered. Among his
attendants, who were preparing to take their rest in the same
manner, he observed that one of his grandsons, for his better
accommodation, had rolled a large snow-ball, and placed it below
his head. The wrath of the ancient chief was awakened by a
symptom of what he conceived to be degenerate luxury. 'Out upon
thee,' said he, kicking the frozen bolster from the head which it
supported, 'art thou so effeminate as to need a pillow?' The
officer of engineers, whose curious Letters from the Highlands
have been more than once quoted, tells a similar story of
Macdonald of Keppoch, and subjoins the following remarks: 'This
and many other stories are romantick; but there is one thing,
that at first thought might seem very romantick, of which I have
been credibly assured, that when the Highlanders are constrained
to lie among the hills, in cold dry weather, they sometimes soak
the plaid in some river or burn (i.e. brook), and then holding up
a corner of it a little above their heads, they turn themselves
round and round, till they are enveloped by the whole mantle.
They then lay themselves down on the heath, upon the leeward side
of some hill, where the wet and the warmth of their bodies make a
steam, like that of a boiling kettle. The wet, they say, keeps
them warm by thickening the stuff, and keeping the wind from
penetrating. I must confess I should have been apt to question
this fact, had I not frequently seen them wet from morning to
night, and, even at the beginning of the rain, not so much as
stir a few yards to shelter, but continue in it without
necessity, till they were, as we say, wet through and through.
And that is soon effected by the looseness and spunginess of the
plaiding; but the bonnet is frequently taken off, and wrung like
a dishclout, and then put on again. They have been accustomed
from their infancy to be often wet, and to take the water like
spaniels, and this is become a second nature, and can scarcely be
called a hardship to them, insomuch that I used to say, they
seemed to be of the duck kind, and to love water as well. Though
I never saw this preparation for sleep in windy weather, yet,
setting out early in a morning from one of the huts, I have seen
the marks of their lodging, where the ground has been free from
rime or snow, which remained all round the spot where they had
lain' (Letters from Scotland, Lond. 1754, 8vo, ii. p. 108)."
809. His henchman. Scott quotes again the Letters from Scotland
(ii. 159): "This officer is a sort of secretary, and is to be
ready, upon all occasions, to venture his life in defence of his
master; and at drinking-bouts he stands behind his seat, at his
haunch, from whence his title is derived, and watches the
conversation, to see if any one offends his patron. An English
officer being in company with a certain chieftain, and several
other Highland gentlemen, near Killichumen, had an argument with
the great man; and both being well warmed with usky [whisky], at
last the dispute grew very hot. A youth who was henchman, not
understanding one word of English, imagined his chief was
insulted, and thereupon drew his pistol from his side, and
snapped it at the officer's head; but the pistol missed fire,
otherwise it is more than probable he might have suffered death
from the hand of that little vermin. But it is very disagreeable
to an Englishman over a bottle with the Highlanders, to see every
one of them have his gilly, that is, his servant, standing behind
him all the while, let what will be the subject of conversation."
829. On the morn. Modifying should circle, not the nearer verb
had sworn.
831. The Fiery Cross. See on iii. 18 below.
846. Point. Point out, appoint. Cf. Shakespeare, Sonn. 14. 6:
"Nor can I fortune to brief minutes tell,
Pointing to each his thunder, rain, and wind."
The word in this and similar passages is generally printed
"'point" by modern editors, but it is not a contraction of
appoint.
860. Then plunged, etc. The MS. has "He spoke, and plunged into
the tide."
862. Steered him. See on i. 142 above.
865, 866. Darkening ... gave. In the 1st ed. these lines are
joined to what precedes, as they evidently should be; in all the
more recent eds. they are joined to what follows.
Canto Third.
3. Store. See on i. 548 above.
5. That be. in old English, besides the present tense am, etc.,
there was also this form be, from the Anglo-Saxon beon. The 2d
person singular was beest. The 1st and 3d person plural be is
often found in Shakespeare and the Bible.
10. Yet live there still, etc. See on ii. 692 above.
15. What time. Cf. ii. 307 above.
17. The gathering sound. The sound, or signal, for the
gathering. The phrase illustrates the difference between the
participle and the verbal noun (or whatever it may be called) in
-ing. Cf. "a laboring man" and "a laboring day" (Julius Caesar,
i. 1. 4); and see our ed. of J. C. p. 126.
18. The Fiery Cross. Scott says here: "When a chieftain
designed to summon his clan, upon any sudden or important
emergency, he slew a goat, and making a cross of any light wood,
seared its extremities in the fire, and extinguished them in the
blood of the animal. This was called the Fiery Cross, also Crean
Tarigh, or the Cross of Shame, because disobedience to what the
symbol implied, inferred infamy. It was delivered to a swift and
trusty messenger, who ran full speed with it to the next hamlet,
where he presented it to the principal person, with a single
word, implying the place of rendezvous. He who received the
symbol was bound to send it forward, with equal despatch, to the
next village; and thus it passed with incredible celerity through
all the district which owed allegiance to the chief, and also
among his allies and neighbours, if the danger was common to
them. At sight of the Fiery Cross, every man, from sixteen years
old to sixty, capable of bearing arms, was obliged instantly to
repair, in his best arms and accoutrements, to the place of
rendezvous. He who failed to appear suffered the extremities of
fire and sword, which were emblematically denounced to the
disobedient by the bloody and burnt marks upon this warlike
signal. During the civil war of 1745-6, the Fiery Cross often
made its circuit; and upon one occasion it passed through the
whole district of Breadalbane, a tract of thirty-two miles, in
three hours. The late Alexander Stewart, Esq., of Invernahyle,
described to me his having sent round the Fiery Cross through the
district of Appine, during the same commotion. The coast was
threatened by a descent from two English trigates, and the flower
of the young men were with the army of Prince Charles Edward,
then in England; yet the summons was so effectual that even old
age and childhood obeyed it; and a force was collected in a few
hours, so numerous and so enthusiastic, that all attempt at the
intended diversion upon the country of the absent warriors was in
prudence abandoned, as desperate."
19. The Summer dawn's reflected hue, etc. Mr. Ruskin says
(Modern Painters, iii. 278): "And thus Nature becomes dear to
Scott in a threefold way: dear to him, first, as containing those
remains or memories of the past, which he cannot find in cities,
and giving hope of Praetorian mound or knight's grave in every
green slope and shade of its desolate places; dear, secondly, in
its moorland liberty, which has for him just as high a charm as
the fenced garden had for the mediaeval; ... and dear to him,
finally, in that perfect beauty, denied alike in cities and in
men, for which every modern heart had begun at last to thirst,
and Scott's, in its freshness and power, of all men's most
earnestly.
"And in this love of beauty, observe that the love of colour is a
leading element, his healthy mind being incapable of losing,
under any modern false teaching, its joy in brilliancy of hue.
... In general, if he does not mean to say much about things, the
one character which he will give is colour, using it with the
most perfect mastery and faithfulness."
After giving many illustrations of Scott's use of colour in his
poetry, Ruskin quotes the present passage, which he says is
"still more interesting, because it has no form in it at all
except in one word (chalice), but wholly composes its imagery
either of colour, or of that delicate half-believed life which we
have seen to be so important an element in modern landscape."
"Two more considerations," he adds, "are, however, suggested by
the above passage. The first, that the love of natural history,
excited by the continual attention now given to all wild
landscape, heightens reciprocally the interest of that landscape,
and becomes an important element in Scott's description, leading
him to finish, down to the minutest speckling of breast, and
slightest shade of attributed emotion, the portraiture of birds
and animals; in strange opposition to Homer's slightly named
'sea-crows, who have care of the works of the sea,' and Dante's
singing-birds, of undefined species. Compare carefully the 2d
and 3d stanzas of Rokeby.
"The second point I have to note is Scott's habit of drawing a
slight moral from every scene, ... and that this slight moral is
almost always melancholy. Here he has stopped short without
entirely expressing it:
"The mountain-shadows ..
..................... lie
Like future joys to Fancy's eye.'
His completed thought would be, that these future joys, like the
mountain-shadows, were never to be attained. It occurs fully
uttered in many other places. He seems to have been constantly
rebuking his own worldly pride and vanity, but never
purposefully:
'The foam-globes on her eddies ride,
Thick as the schemes of human pride
That down life's current drive amain,
As frail, as frothy, and as vain.'"
Ruskin adds, among other illustrations, the reference to
"foxglove and nightshade" in i. 218, 219 above.
28. Like future joys, etc. This passage, quoted by Ruskin
above, also illustrates what is comparatively rare in figurative
language-- taking the immaterial to exemplify the material. The
latter is constantly used to symbolize or elucidate the former;
but one would have to search long in our modern poetry to find a
dozen instances where, as here, the relation is reversed. Cf.
639 below. We have another example in the second passage quoted
by Ruskin. Cf. also Tennyson's
"thousand wreaths of dangling water-smoke,
That like a broken purpose waste in air;"
and Shelly's
"Our boat is asleep on Serchio's stream;
Its sails are folded like thoughts in a dream."
30. Reared. The 1st ed. has "oped."
32. After this line the MS. has the couplet,
"Invisible in fleecy cloud,
The lark sent down her matins loud,"
which reappears in altered form below.
33. Gray mist. The MS. has "light mist."
38. Good-morrow gave, etc. Cf. Byron, Childe Harold:
"and the bills
Of summer-birds sing welcome as ye pass."
39. Cushat dove. Ring-dove.
46. His impatient blade. Note the "transferred epithet." It is
not the blade that is impatient.
47. Beneath a rock, etc. The MS. reads:
"Hard by, his vassals' early care
The mystic ritual prepare."
50. Antiquity. The men of old; "the abstract for the concrete."
59. With her broad shadow, etc. Cf. Longfellow, Maidenhood:
"Seest thou shadows sailing by,
As the dove, with startled eye,
Sees the falcon's shadow fly?"
62. Rowan. The mountain-ash.
71. That monk, of savage form and face. Scott says here: "The
state of religion in the middle ages afforded considerable
facilities for those whose mode of life excluded them from
regular worship, to secure, nevertheless, the ghostly assistance
of confessors, perfectly willing to adapt the nature of their
doctrine to the necessities and peculiar circumstances of their
flock. Robin Hood, it is well known, had his celebrated domestic
chaplain Friar Tuck. And that same curtal friar was probably
matched in manners and appearance by the ghostly fathers of the
Tynedale robbers, who are thus described in an excommunication
fulminated against their patrons by Richard Fox, Bishop of
Durham, tempore Henrici VIII.: 'We have further understood, that
there are many chaplains in the said territories of Tynedale and
Redesdale, who are public and open maintainers of concubinage,
irregular, suspended, excommunicated, and interdicted persons,
and withal so utterly ignorant of letters, that it has been found
by those who objected this to them, that there were some who,
having celebrated mass for ten years, were still unable to read
the sacramental service. We have also understood there are
persons among them who, although not ordained, do take upon them
the offices of priesthood, and, in contempt of God, celebrate the
divine and sacred rites, and administer the sacraments, not only
in sacred and dedicated places, but in those which are prophane
and interdicted, and most wretchedly ruinous, they themselves
being attired in ragged, torn, and most filthy vestments,
altogether unfit to be used in divine, or even in temporal
offices. The which said chaplains do administer sacraments and
sacramental rites to the aforesaid manifest and infamous thieves,
robbers, depredators, receivers of stolen goods, and plunderers,
and that without restitution, or intention to restore, as evinced
by the act; and do also openly admit them to the rites of
ecclesiastical sepulchre, without exacting security for
restitution, although they are prohibited from doing so by the
sacred canons, as well as by the institutes of the saints and
fathers. All which infers the heavy peril of their own souls,
and is a pernicious example to the other believers in Christ, as
well as no slight, but an aggravated injury, to the numbers
despoiled and plundered of their goods, gear, herds, and
chattels.'"
