74. Benharrow. A mountain near the head of Loch Lomond.
77. Brook. See on i. 566 above.
81. The hallowed creed. The Christian creed, as distinguished
from heathen lore. The MS. has "While the blest creed," etc.
85. Bound. That is, of his haunts.
87. Glen or strath. A glen is the deep and narrow valley of a
small stream, a strath the broader one of a river.
89. He prayed, etc. The MS. reads:
"He prayed, with many a cross between,
And terror took devotion's mien."
91. Of Brian's birth, etc. Scott says that the legend which
follows is not of his invention, and goes on to show that it is
taken with slight variation from "the geographical collections
made by the Laird of Macfarlane."
102. Bucklered. Served as a buckler to, shielded.
114. Snood. Cf. i. 363 above. Scott has the following note
here: "The snood, or riband, with which as Scottish lass braided
her hair, had an emblematical signification, and applied to her
maiden character. It was exchanged for the curch, toy, or coif,
when she passed, by marriage, into the matron state. But if the
damsel was so unfortunate as to lose pretensions to the name of
maiden, without gaining a right to that of matron, she was
neither permitted to use the snood, nor advanced to the graver
dignity of the curch. In old Scottish songs there occur many sly
allusions to such misfortune; as in the old words to the popular
tune of 'Ower the muir amang the heather:'
'Down amang the broom, the broom,
Down amang the broom, my dearie,
The lassie lost her silken snood,
That gard her greet till she was wearie.'"
120. Or ... or. For either ... or, as often in poetry.
131. Till, frantic, etc. The MS. reads:
"Till, driven to frenzy, he believed
The legend of his birth received."
136. The cloister. Here personified as feminine.
138. Sable-lettered. "Black-letter;" the technical term for the
"old English" form of letter, used in the earliest English
manuscripts and books.
142. Cabala. Mysteries. For the original meaning of the word,
see Wb.
144. Curious. Inquisitive, prying into hidden things.
148. Hid him. See on i. 142 above.
149. The desert gave him, etc. Scott says here: "In adopting
the legend concerning the birth of the Founder of the Church of
Kilmallie, the author has endeavored to trace the effects which
such a belief was likely to produce, in a barbarous age, on the
person to whom it related. It seems likely that he must have
become a fanatic or an impostor, or that mixture of both which
forms a more frequent character than either of them, as existing
separately. In truth, mad persons are frequently more anxious to
impress upon others a faith in their visions, than they are
themselves confirmed in their reality; as, on the other hand, it
is difficult for the most cool-headed impostor long to personate
an enthusiast, without in some degree believing what he is so
eager to have believed. It was a natural attribute of such a
character as the supposed hermit, that he should credit the
numerous superstitions with which the minds of ordinary
Highlanders are almost always imbued. A few of these are
slightly alluded to in this stanza. The River Demon, or River-
horse, for it is that form which he commonly assumes, is the
Kelpy of the Lowlands, an evil and malicious spirit, delighting
to forebode and to witness calamity. He frequents most Highland
lakes and rivers; and one of his most memorable exploits was
performed upon the banks of Loch Vennachar, in the very district
which forms the scene of our action: it consisted in the
destruction of a funeral procession, with all its attendants.
The 'noontide hag,' called in Gaelic Glas-lich, a tall,
emaciated, gigantic female figure, is supposed in particular to
haunt the district of Knoidart. A goblin dressed in antique
armor, and having one hand covered with blood, called, from that
circumstance, Lham-dearg, or Red-hand, is a tenant of the forests
of Glenmore and Rothiemurcus. Other spirits of the desert, all
frightful in shape and malignant in disposition, are believed to
frequent different mountains and glens of the Highlands, where
any unusual appearance, produced by mist, or the strange lights
that are sometimes thrown upon particular objects, never fails to
present an apparition to the imagination of the solitary and
melancholy mountaineer."
161. Mankind. Accented on the first syllable; as it is almost
invariably in Shakespeare, except in Timon of Athens, where the
modern accent prevails. Milton uses either accent, as suits the
measure. We find both in P. L. viii. 358: "Above mankind, or
aught than mankind higher."
166. Alpine's. Some eds. misprint "Alpine;" also "horsemen" in
172 below.
168. The fatal Ben-Shie's boding scream. The MS. reads:
"The fatal Ben-Shie's dismal scream,
And seen her wrinkled form, the sign
Of woe and death to Alpine's line."
Scott has the following note here: "Most great families in the
Highlands were supposed to have a tutelar, or rather a domestic,
spirit, attached to them, who took an interest in their
prosperity, and intimated, by its wailings, any approaching
disaster. That of Grant of Grant was called May Moullach, and
appeared in the form of a girl, who had her arm covered with
hair. Grant of Rothiemurcus had an attendant called Bodach-an-
dun, or the Ghost of the Hill; and many other examples might be
mentioned. The Ben-Shie implies the female fairy whose
lamentations were often supposed to precede the death of a
chieftain of particular families. When she is visible, it is in
the form of an old woman, with a blue mantle and streaming hair.
A superstition of the same kind is, I believe, universally
received by the inferior ranks of the native Irish.
"The death of the head of a Highland family is also sometimes
supposed to be announced by a chain of lights of different
colours, called Dr'eug, or death of the Druid. The direction
which it takes marks the place of the funeral." [See the Essay
on Fairy Superstitions in Scott's Border Minstrelsy.]
169. Sounds, too, had come, etc. Scott says: "A presage of the
kind alluded to in the text, is still believed to announce death
to the ancient Highland family of M'Lean of Lochbuy. The spirit
of an ancestor slain in battle is heard to gallop along a stony
bank, and then to ride thrice around the family residence,
ringing his fairy bridle, and thus intimating the approaching
calamity. How easily the eye as well as the ear may be deceived
upon such occasions, is evident from the stories of armies in the
air, and other spectral phenomena with which history abounds.
Such an apparition is said to have been witnessed upon the side
of Southfell mountain, between Penrith and Keswick, upon the 23d
June, 1744, by two persons, William Lancaster of Blakehills, and
Daniel Stricket his servant, whose attestation to the fact, with
a full account of the apparition, dated the 21st of July, 1745,
is printed in Clarke's Survey of the Lakes. The apparition
consisted of several troops of horse moving in regular order,
with a steady rapid motion, making a curved sweep around the
fell, and seeming to the spectators to disappear over the ridge
of the mountain. Many persons witnessed this phenomenon, and
observed the last, or last but one, of the supposed troop,
occasionally leave his rank, and pass, at a gallop, to the front,
when he resumed the steady pace. The curious appearance, making
the necessary allowance for imagination, may be perhaps
sufficiently accounted for by optical deception."
171. Shingly. Gravelly, pebbly.
173. Thunderbolt. The 1st ed. has "thunder too."
188. Framed. The reading of the 1st ed.; commonly misprinted
"formed," which occurs in 195.
190. Limbs. The 1st ed. has "limb."
191. Inch-Cailliach. Scott says: "Inch-Cailliach, the Isle of
Nuns, or of Old Women, is a most beautiful island at the lower
extremity of Loch Lomond. The church belonging to the former
nunnery was long used as the place of worship for the parish of
Buchanan, but scarce any vestiges of it now remain. The burial-
ground continues to be used, and contains the family places of
sepulture of several neighboring clans. The monuments of the
lairds of Macgregor, and of other families claiming a descent
from the old Scottish King Alpine, are most remarkable. The
Highlanders are as zealous of their rights of sepulture as may be
expected from a people whose whole laws and government, if
clanship can be called so, turned upon the single principle of
family descent. 'May his ashes be scattered on the water,' was
one of the deepest and most solemn imprecations which they used
against an enemy." [See a detailed description of the funeral
ceremonies of a Highland chieftain in the Fair Maid of Perth.]
203. Dwelling low. That is, burial-place.
207. Each clansman's execration, etc. The MS. reads:
"Our warriors, on his worthless bust,
Shall speak disgrace and woe;"
and below:
"Their clattering targets hardly strook;
And first they muttered low."
212. Stook. One of the old forms of struck. In the early eds.
of Shakespeare, we find struck, stroke, and strook (or strooke)
for the past tense, and all these, together with stricken,
strucken, stroken, and strooken, for the participle. Cf. Milton,
Hymn of Nativity, 95:
"When such music sweet
Their hearts and ears did greet
As never was by mortal finger strook;"
where, as here, it used for the sake of the rhyme.
214. Then, like the billow, etc. The repetition of the same
rhyme here gives well the cumulative effect of the rising billow.
217. Burst, with load roar. See on i. 73 above; and cf. 227
below.
228. Holiest name. The MS. has "holy name."
245. Mingled with childhood's babbling trill, etc. "The whole
of this stanza is very impressive; the mingling of the children's
curses is the climax of horror. Note the meaning of the triple
curse. The cross is of ancestral yew--the defaulter is cut off
from communion with his clan; it is sealed in the fire--the fire
shall destroy his dwelling; it is dipped in blood--his heart's
blood is to be shed" (Taylor).
253. Coir-Uriskin. See on 622 below.
255. Beala-nam-bo. "The pass of the cattle," on the other side
of Benvenue from the Goblin's Cave; "a magnificent glade,
overhung with birch-trees, by which the cattle, taken in forays,
were conveyed within the protection of the Trosachs" (Black).
279. This sign. That is, the cross. To all, which we should
not expect with bought, was apparently suggested by the
antithetical to him in the preceding line; but if all the
editions did not read bought, we might suspect that Scott wrote
brought.
281. The murmur, etc. The MS. has "The slowly muttered deep
Amen."
286. The muster-place, etc. The MS. reads "Murlagan is the spot
decreed."
Lanrick Mead is a meadow at the northwestern end of Loch
Vennachar.
300. The dun deer's hide, etc. Scott says: "The present brogue
of the Highlanders is made of half-dried leather, with holes to
admit and let out the water; for walking the moors dry-shod is a
matter altogether out of the question. The ancient buskin was
still ruder, being made of undressed deer's hide, with the hair
outwards,-- a circumstance which procured the Highlanders the
well-known epithet of Red-shanks. The process is very accurately
described by one Elder (himself a Highlander), in the project for
a union between England and Scotland, addressed to Henry VIII.:
'We go a-hunting, and after that we have slain red-deer, we flay
off the skin by and by, and setting of our barefoot on the inside
thereof, for want of cunning shoemakers, by your grace's pardon,
we play the cobblers, compassing and measuring so much thereof as
shall reach up to our ankles, pricking the upper part thereof
with holes, that the water may repass where it enters, and
stretching it up with a strong thong of the same above our said
ankles. So, and please your noble grace, we make our shoes.
Therefore, we using such manner of shoes, the rough hairy side
outwards, in your grace's dominions of England, we be called
Rough-footed Scots' (Pinkerton's History, vol. ii. p. 397)."
Cf. Marmion, v. 5:
"The hunted red-deer's undressed hide
Their hairy buskins well supplied."
304. Steepy. For the word (see also iv. 374 below) and the
line, cf. Shakespeare, T. of A. i. 1. 75:
"Bowing his head against the steepy mount
To climb his happiness."
309. Questing. Seeking its game. Bacon (Adv. of Learning, v.
5) speaks of "the questing of memory."
310. Scaur. Cliff, precipice; the same word as scar. Cf.
Tennyson's Bugle Song: "O sweet and far, from cliff and scar;"
and in the Idyls of the King: "shingly scaur."
314. Herald of battle, etc. The MS. reads:
"Dread messenger of fate and fear,
Herald of danger, fate and fear,
Stretch onward in thy fleet career!
Thou track'st not now the stricken doe,
Nor maiden coy through greenwood bough."
322. Fast as the fatal symbol flies, etc. "The description of
the starting of the Fiery Cross bears more marks of labor than
most of Mr. Scott's poetry, and borders, perhaps, on straining
and exaggeration; yet it shows great power" (Jeffrey).
332. Cheer. In its original sense of countenance, or look. Cf.
Shakespeare, M. N. D. iii. 2. 96: "pale of cheer;" Spenser, F. Q.
i. 1. 2: "But of his cheere did seeme too solemne sad;" Dryden,
Hind and Panther, iii. 437: "Till frowning skies began to change
their cheer," etc.
333. His scythe. The reading of the 1st and other early eds.;
"the scythe" in more recent ones.
342. Alas, thou lovely lake! etc. "Observe Scott's habit of
looking at nature, neither as dead, nor merely material, nor as
altered by his own feelings; but as having an animation and
pathos of its own, wholly irrespective of human passion--an
animation which Scott loves and sympathizes with, as he would
with a fellow creature, forgetting himself altogether, and
subduing his own humanity before what seems to him the power of
the landscape. ... Instead of making Nature anywise subordinate
to himself, he makes himself subordinate to HER--follows her lead
simply--does not venture to bring his own cares and thoughts into
her pure and quiet presence--paints her in her simple and
universal truth, adding no result of momentary passion or fancy,
and appears, therefore, at first shallower than other poets,
being in reality wider and healthier" (Ruskin).
344. Bosky. Bushy, woody. Cf. Milton, Comus, 313: "And every
bosky bourn from side to side;" Shakespeare, Temp. iv. i. 81: "My
bosky acres and my unshrubb'd down," etc.
347. Seems for the scene, etc. The MS. has "Seems all too
lively and too loud."
349. Duncraggan's huts. A homestead between Lochs Achray and
Vennachar, near the Brigg of Turk.
355. Shot him. See on i. 142 above. Scott is much given to
this construction.
357. The funeral yell, etc. The MS. has "'T is woman's scream,
't is childhood's wail."
Yell may at first seem too strong a word here, but it is in
keeping with the people and the times described. Besides Scott
was familiar with old English poetry, in which it was often used
where a modern writer would choose another word. Cf. Surrey,
Virgil's AEneid: "With wailing great and women's shrill yelling;"
and Gascoigne, De Profundis:
"From depth of doole wherein my soule dooth dwell,
. . . . . . . . . . .
O gracious God, to thee I crie and yell."
362. Torch's ray. The 1st ed. reads "torches ray" and supply;"
corrected in the Errata to read as in the text. Most eds. print
"torches' ray."
369. Coronach. Scott has the following note here: "The Coronach
of the Highlanders, like the Ululatus of the Romans, and the
Ululoo of the Irish, was a wild expression of lamentation, poured
forth by the mourners over the body of a departed friend. When
the words of it were articulate, they expressed the praises of
the deceased, and the loss the clan would sustain by his death.
The following is a lamentation of this kind, literally translated
from the Gaelic, to some of the ideas of which the text stands
indebted. The tune is so popular that it has since become the
war-march, or gathering of the clan.
Coronach on Sir Lauchlan, Chief of Maclean.
'Which of all the Senachies
Can trace thy line from the root, up to Paradise,
But Macvuirih, the son of Fergus?
No sooner had thine ancient stately tree
Taken firm root in Albin,
Than one of thy forefathers fell at Harlaw.--
'T was then we lost a chief of deathless name.
''T is no base weed--no planted tree,
Nor a seedling of last Autumn;
Nor a sapling planted at Beltain;[FN#7]
Wide, wide around were spread its lofty branches--
But the topmost bough is lowly laid!
Thou hast forsaken us before Sawaine.[FN#8]
'Thy dwelling is the winter house;--
Loud, sad, and mighty is thy death-song!
Oh! courteous champion of Montrose!
Oh! stately warrior of the Celtic Isles!
Thou shalt buckle thy harness on no more!'
"The coronach has for some years past been suspended at funerals
by the use of the bagpipe; and that also is, like many other
Highland peculiarities, falling into disuse, unless in remote
districts."
370. He is gone, etc. As Taylor remarks, the metre of this
dirge seems to be amphibrachic; that is, made up of feet, or
metrical divisions, of three syllables, the second of which is
accented. Some of the lines appear to be anapestic (made up of
trisyllabic feet, with the last syllable accented); but the
rhythm of these is amphibrachic; that is, the rhythmic pause is
after the syllable that follows the accent.
"(He) is gone on | the mountain,
{Like) a summer- | dried fountain."
Ten lines out of twenty-four are distinctly amphibrachic, as
"To Duncan | no morrow."
So that it seems best to treat the rest as amphibrachic, with a
superfluous unaccented syllable at the beginning of the line.
Taylor adds: "The song is very carefully divided. To each of the
three things, mountain, forest, fountain, four lines are given,
in the order 3, 1, 2."
384. In flushing. In full bloom. Cf. Hamlet, iii. 3. 81:
"broad blown, as flush as May."
386. Correi. A hallow in the side of a hill, where game usually
lies.
387. Cumber. Trouble, perplexity. Cf. Fairfax, Tasso ii. 73:
"Thus fade thy helps, and thus thy cumbers spring;" and Sir John
Harrington, Epigrams, i. 94: "without all let [hindrance] or
cumber."
388. Red. Bloody, not afraid of the hand-to-hand fight.
394. Stumah. "Faithful; the name of a dog" (Scott).
410. Angus, the heir, etc. The MS. reads:
"Angus, the first of Duncan's line,
Sprung forth and seized the fatal sign,
And then upon his kinsman's bier
Fell Malise's suspended tear.
In haste the stripling to his side
His father's targe and falchion tied."
439. Hest. Behest, bidding; used only in poetry. Cf.
Shakespeare, Temp. iii. 1. 37: "I have broke your hest to say
so;" Id. iv. 1. 65: "at thy hest," etc.
452. Benledi saw the Cross of Fire, etc. Scott says here:
"Inspection of the provincial map of Perthshire, or any large map
of Scotland, will trace the progress of the signal through the
small district of lakes and mountains, which, in exercise of my
imaginary chieftain, and which, at the period of my romance, was
really occupied by a clan who claimed a descent from Alpine,--a
clan the most unfortunate and most persecuted, but neither the
least distinguished, least powerful, nor least brave of the
tribes of the Gael.
"The first stage of the Fiery Cross is to Duncraggan, a place
near the Brigg of Turk, where a short stream divides Loch Achray
from Loch Vennachar. From thence, it passes towards Callander,
and then, turning to the left up the pass of Leny, is consigned
to Norman at the Chapel of Saint Bride, which stood on a small
and romantic knoll in the middle of the valley, called Strath-
Ire. Tombea and Arnandave, or Adrmandave, are names of places in
the vicinity. The alarm is then supposed to pass along the Lake
of Lubnaig, and through the various glens in the district of
Balquidder, including the neighboring tracts of Glenfinlas and
Strath-Gartney."
453. Strath-Ire. This valley connects Lochs Voil and Lubnaig.
The Chapel of Saint Bride is about half a mile from the southern
end of Loch Lubnaig, on the banks of the River Leny, a branch of
the Teith (hence "Teith's young waters"). The churchyard, with a
few remains of the chapel, are all that now mark the spot.
458. Until, where, etc. The MS. reads:
"And where a steep and wooded knoll
Graced the dark strath with emerald green."
465. Though reeled his sympathetic eye. That is, his eye reeled
in sympathy with the movement of the waters--a poetic expression
of what every one has felt when looking into a "dizzily dancing"
stream.
478. That morning-tide. That morning time. Tide in this sense
is now used only in a few poetic compounds like eventide,
springtide, etc. See iv. 59 below. For its former use, cf.
Spenser, F. Q. i. 2. 29: "and rest their weary limbs a tide;" Id.
iii. 6. 21: "that mine may be your paine another tide," etc. See
also Scott's Lay, vi. 50: "Me lists not at this tide declare."
483. Bridal. Bridal party; used as a collective noun.
485. Coif-clad. Wearing the coif, or curch. See on 114 above;
as also for snooded.
488. Unwitting. Unknowing. Cf. 367 above. For the verb wit,
see on i. 596 above.
495. Kerchief. Curch, which is etymologically the same word,
and means a covering for the head. Some eds. print "'kerchief,"
as if the word were a contraction of handkerchief.
508. Muster-place. The 1st ed. has "mustering place;" and in
519 "brooks" for brook.
510. And must he, etc. The MS. reads: "And must he then
exchange the hand."
528. Lugnaig's lake. loch Lubnaig is about four miles long and
a mile broad, hemmed in by steep, and rugged mountains. The view
of Benledi from the lake is peculiarly grand and impressive.
530. The sickening pang, etc. Cf. The Lord of the Isles, vi. 1:
"The heartsick faintness of the hope delayed." See Prov. xiii.
12.
531. And memory, etc. The MS. reads:
"And memory brought the torturing train
Of all his morning visions vain;
But mingled with impatience came
The manly love of martial fame."
541. Brae. The brow or side of a hill.
545. The heath, etc. The metre of the song is the same as that
of the poem, the only variation being in the order of the rhymes.
546. Bracken. Fern; "the Pteris aquilina" (Taylor).
553. Fancy now. The MS. has "image now."
561. A time will come, etc. The MS. reads:
"A time will come for love and faith,
For should thy bridegroom yield his breath,
'T will cheer him in the hour of death,
The boasted right to thee, Mary."
570. Balquidder. A village near the eastern end of Loch Voil,
the burial-place of Rob Roy and the scene of many of his
exploits. The Braes extend along the north side of the lake and
of the Balvaig which flows into it.
Scott says here: "It may be necessary to inform the Southern
reader that the heath on the Scottish moorlands is often set fire
to, that the sheep may have the advantage of the young herbage
produced, in room of the tough old heather plants. This custom
(execrated by sportsmen) produces occasionally the most beautiful
nocturnal appearances, similar almost to the discharge of a
volcano. This simile is not new to poetry. The charge of a
warrior, in the fine ballad of Hardyknute, is said to be 'like
fire to heather set.'"
575. Nor faster speeds it, etc. "The eager fidelity with which
this fatal signal is hurried on and obeyed, is represented with
great spirit and felicity" (Jeffrey).
577. Coil. Turmoil. Cf. Shakespeare, Temp. i. 2. 207:
"Who was so firm, so constant, that this coil
Would not infect his reason?"
C. of E. iii. 1. 48: "What a coil is there, Dromio?" etc.
579. Loch Doine. A lakelet just above Loch Voil, and almost
forming a part of it. The epithets sullen and still are
peculiarly appropriate to this valley. "Few places in Scotland
have such an air of solitude and remoteness from the haunts of
men" (Black).
582. Strath-Gartney. The north side of the basin of Loch
Katrine.
583. Each man might claim. That is, WHO could claim. See on i.
528 above.
600. No law but Roderick Dhu's command. Scott has the following
note here:
"The deep and implicit respect paid by the Highland clansmen to
their chief, rendered this both a common and a solemn oath. In
other respects, they were like most savage nations, capricious in
their ideas concerning the obligatory power of oaths. One solemn
mode of swearing was by kissing the dirk, imprecating upon
themselves death by that, or a similar weapon, if they broke
their vow. But for oaths in the usual form, they are said to
have had little respect. As for the reverence due to the chief,
it may be guessed from the following odd example of a Highland
point of honour:
'The clan whereto the above-mentioned tribe belongs, is the only
one I have heard of which is without a chief; that is, being
divided into families, under several chieftains, without any
particular patriarch of the whole name. And this is a great
reproach, as may appear from an affair that fell out at my table,
in the Highlands, between one of that name and a Cameron. The
provocation given by the latter was, "Name your chief." The
return of it at once was, "You are a fool." They went out next
morning, but having early notice of it, I sent a small party of
soldiers after them, which, in all probability, prevented some
barbarous mischief that might have ensued; for the chiefless
Highlander, who is himself a petty chieftain, was going to the
place appointed with a small-sword and pistol, whereas the
Cameron (an old man) took with him only his broadsword, according
to the agreement.
'When all was over, and I had, at least seemingly, reconciled
them, I was told the words, of which I seemed to think but
slightly, were, to one of the clan, the greatest of all
provocations' (Letters from Scotland, vol. ii. p. 221)."
604. Menteith. See on i. 89 above.
607. Rednock. The ruins of Rednock Castle are about two miles
to the north of Loch Menteith, on the road to Callander.
Cardross Castle (in which Robert Bruce died) was on the banks of
the Clyde, a few miles below Dumbarton. Duchray Castle is a mile
south of Lochard. Loch Con, or Chon, is a lakelet, about three
miles northwest from Lochard (into which it drains) and two miles
south of Loch Katrine.
611. Wot ye. Know ye. See on i. 596 above.
622. Coir-nan-Uriskin. Scott has the following note here: "This
is a very steep and most romantic hollow in the mountain of
Benvenue, overhanging the southeastern extremity of Loch Katrine.
It is surrounded with stupendous rocks, and overshadowed with
birch-trees, mingled with oaks, the spontaneous production of the
mountain, even where its cliffs appear denuded of soil. A dale
in so wild a situation, and amid a people whose genius bordered
on the romantic, did not remain without appropriate deities. The
name literally implies the Corri, or Den, of the Wild or Shaggy
Men. Perhaps this, as conjectured by Mr. Alexander Campbell
(Journey from Edinburgh, 1802, p. 109), may have originally only
implied its being the haunt of a ferocious banditti. But
tradition has ascribed to the Urisk, who gives name to the
cavern, a figure between a goat and a man; in short, however much
the classical reader may be startled, precisely that of the
Grecian Satyr. The Urisk seems not to have inherited, with the
form, the petulance of the silvan deity of the classics; his
occupation, on the contrary, resembled those of Milton's Lubbar
Fiend, or of the Scottish Brownie, though he differed from both
in name and appearance. 'The Urisks,' says Dr. Graham, 'were a
sort of lubberly supernaturals, who, like the Brownies, could be
gained over by kind attention to perform the drudgery of the
farm, and it was believed that many families in the Highlands had
one of the order attached to it. They were supposed to be
dispersed over the Highlands, each in his own wild recess, but
the solemn stated meetings of the order were regularly held in
this Cave of Benvenue. This current superstition, no doubt,
alludes to some circumstance in the ancient history of this
country' (Scenery on the Southern Confines of Perthshire, p. 19,
1806). It must be owned that the Coir, or Den, does not, in its
present state, meet our ideas of a subterraneous grotto or cave,
being only a small and narrow cavity, among huge fragments of
rocks rudely piled together. But such a scene is liable to
convulsions of nature which a Lowlander cannot estimate, and
which may have choked up what was originally a cavern. At least
the name and tradition warrant the author of a fictitious tale to
assert its having been such at the remote period in which this
scene is laid."
639. With such a glimpse, etc. See on 28 above.
641. Still. Stillness; the adjective used substantively, for
the sake of the rhyme.
656. Satyrs. "The Urisk, or Highland satyr" (Scott).
664. Beal-nam-bo. See on 255 above; and for the measure of the
first half of the line, on i. 73 above.
667. 'Cross. Scott (1st ed.) prints "cross," as in 750 below.
672. A single page, etc. Scott says: "A Highland chief, being
as absolute in his patriarchal authority as any prince, had a
corresponding number of officers attached to his person. He had
his body-guards, called Luichttach, picked from his clan for
strength, activity, and entire devotion to his person. These,
according to their deserts, were sure to share abundantly in the
rude profusion of his hospitality. It is recorded, for example,
by tradition, that Allan MacLean, chief of that clan, happened
upon a time to hear one of these favorite retainers observe to
his comrade, that their chief grew old. 'Whence do you infer
that?' replied the other. 'When was it,' rejoined the first,
'that a solider of Allan's was obliged, as I am now, not only to
eat the flesh from the bone, but even to tear off the inner skin,
or filament?' The hint was quite sufficient, and MacLean next
morning, to relieve his followers from such dire necessity,
undertook an inroad on the mainland, the ravage of which
altogether effaced the memory of his former expeditions for the
like purpose.
"Our officer of Engineers, so often quoted, has given us a
distinct list of the domestic officers who, independent of
Luichttach, or gardes de corps, belonged to the establishment of
a Highland chief. These are, 1. The Henchman. 2. The Bard. See
preceding notes. 3. Bladier, or spokesman. 4. Gillie-more, or
sword-bearer, alluded to in the text. 5. Gillie-casflue, who
carried the chief, if on foot, over the fords. 6. Gillie-
comstraine, who leads the chief's horse. 7. Gillie-
Trushanarinsh, the baggage-man. 8. The piper. 9. The piper's
gillie, or attendant, who carries the bagpipe (Letters from
Scotland, vol. ii. p. 158). Although this appeared, naturally
enough, very ridiculous to an English officer, who considered the
master of such a retinue as no more than an English gentleman of
Е“500 a year, yet in the circumstances of the chief, whose
strength and importance consisted in the number and attachment of
his followers, it was of the last consequence, in point of
policy, to have in his gift subordinate offices, which called
immediately round his person those who were most devoted to him,
and, being of value in their estimation, were also the means of
rewarding them."
693. To drown, etc. The MS. reads:
"To drown his grief in war's wild roar,
Nor think of love and Ellen more."
713. Ave Maria! etc. "The metrical peculiarity of this song is
that the rhymes of the even lines of the first quatrain (or set
of four lines) are taken up as those of the odd lines in the
second, and that they are the same in all three stanzas"
(Taylor).
722. We now must share. The MS. has "my sire must share;" and
in 725 "The murky grotto's noxious air."
733. Bow us. See on i. 142, and cf. 749 below.
754. Lanrick height. Overlooking Lanrick Mead. See on 286
above.
755. Where mustered, etc. The MS. reads:
"Where broad extending far below,
Mustered Clan-Alpine's martial show."
On the first of these lines, cf. i. 88 above.
773. Yell. See on 357 above.
774. Bochastle's plain. See on i. 106 above.
Canto Fourth.
2. And hope, etc. The MS. has "And rapture dearest when
obscured by fears."
5. Wilding. Wild; a rare word, used only in poetry. Cf.
Tennyson, Geraint and Enid: "And like a crag was gay with wilding
flowers." Spenser has the noun (= wild apples) in F. Q. iii. 7.
17: "Oft from the forrest wildings he did bring," etc. Whom is
used on account of the personification.
9. What time. Cf. ii. 307 and iii. 15 above.
19. Braes of Doune. The undulating region between Callander and
Doune, on the north side of the Teith. The Doune of 37 below is
the old Castle of that name, the ruins of which still form a
majestic pile on the steep banks of the Teith. It figures in
Waverley as the place where the hero was confined by the
Highlanders.
36. Boune. Prepared, ready; a Scottish word. Cf. 157 and vi.
396 below.
42. Bide. Endure; not to be printed 'bide, as if a contraction
of abide. Cf. Shakespeare, Lear, iii. 4. 29: "That bide the
pelting of this pitiless storm," etc.
Bout. Turn (of fortune).
47. Repair. That is, to repair.
55. 'T is well advised. Well thought of, well planned. Cf.
advised careful, well considered; as in M. of V. i. 1. 142: "with
more advised watch," etc.
The MS. reads:
"'Tis well advised--a prudent plan,
Worthy the father of his clan."
59. Evening-tide. See on iii. 478 above.
63. The Taghairm. Scott says here: "The Highlanders, like all
rude people, had various superstitious modes of inquiring into
futurity. One of the most noted was the Taghairm, mentioned in
the text. A person was wrapped up in the skin of a newly-slain
bullock, and deposited beside a waterfall, or at the bottom of a
precipice, or in some other strange, wild, and unusual situation,
where the scenery around him suggested nothing but objects of
horror. In this situation, he revolved in his mind the question
proposed; and whatever was impressed upon him by his exalted
imagination, passed for the inspiration of the disembodied
spirits, who haunt these desolate recesses. In some of the
Hebrides they attributed the same oracular power to a large black
stone by the sea-shore, which they approached with certain
solemnities, and considered the first fancy which came into their
own minds, after they did so, to be the undoubted dictate of the
tutelar deity of the stone, and, as such, to be, if possible,
punctually complied with."
68. Gallangad. We do not find this name elsewhere, but it
probably belongs to some part of the district referred to in
Scott's note inserted here: "I know not if it be worth observing
that this passage is taken almost literally from the mouth of an
old Highland kern, or Ketteran, as they were called. He used to
narrate the merry doings of the good old time when he was
follower of Rob Roy MacGregor. This leader, on one occasion,
thought proper to make a descent upon the lower part of the Loch
Lomond district, and summoned all the heritors and farmers to
meet at the Kirk of Drymen, to pay him black-mail; i.e., tribute
for forbearance and protection. As this invitation was supported
by a band of thirty or forty stout fellows, only one gentleman,
an ancestor, if I mistake not, of the present Mr. Grahame of
Gartmore, ventured to decline compliance. Rob Roy instantly swept
his land of all he could drive away, and among the spoil was a
bull of the old Scottish wild breed, whose ferocity occasioned
great plague to the Ketterans. 'But ere we had reached the Row
of Dennan,' said the old man, 'a child might have scratched his
ears.' The circumstance is a minute one, but it paints the time
when the poor beeve was compelled
'To hoof it o'er as many weary miles,
With goading pikemen hollowing at his heels,
As e'er the bravest antler of the woods' (Ethwald)."
73. Kerns. The Gaelic and Irish light-armed soldiers, the
heavy-armed being known as gallowglasses. The names are often
associated; as in Macbeth, i. 2. 13: "kerns and gallowglasses;" 2
Hen. VI. iv. 9. 26: "gallowglasses and stout kerns;" Drayton,
Heroical Epist.: "the Kerne and Irish Galliglasse," etc.
74. Beal'maha. "The pass of the plain," on the east of Loch
Lomond, opposite Inch-Cailliach. In the olden time it was one of
the established roads for making raids into the Lowlands.
77. Dennan's Row. The modern Rowardennan, on Loch Lomond at the
foot of Ben Lomond, and a favorite starting=point for the ascent
of that mountain.
82. Boss. Knob; in keeping with Targe.
83. Verge. Pronounced varge, as the rhyme shows. In v. 219
below it has its ordinary sound; but cf. v. 812.
84. The Hero's Targe. "There is a rock so named in the Forest
of Glenfinlas, by which a tumultuary cataract takes its course.
This wild place is said in former times to have afforded refuge
to an outlaw, who was supplied with provisions by a woman, who
lowered them down from the brink of the precipice above. His
water he procured for himself, by letting down a flagon tied to a
string into the black pool beneath the fall" (Scott).
98. Broke. Quartered. Cf. the quotation from Jonson below.
Scott says here: "Everything belonging to the chase was matter of
solemnity among our ancestors; but nothing was more so than the
mode of cutting up, or, as it was technically called, breaking,
the slaughtered stag. The forester had his allotted portion; the
hounds had a certain allowance; and, to make the division as
general as possible, the very birds had their share also. 'There
is a little gristle,' says Tubervile, 'which is upon the spoone
of the brisket, which we call the raven's bone; and I have seen
in some places a raven so wont and accustomed to it, that she
would never fail to croak and cry for it all the time you were in
breaking up of the deer, and would not depart till she had it.'
In the very ancient metrical romance of Sir Tristrem, that
peerless knight, who is said to have been the very deviser of all
rules of chase, did not omit the ceremony:
'The rauen he yaue his yiftes
Sat on the fourched tre.' [FN#9]
"The raven might also challenge his rights by the Book of St.
Albans; for thus says Dame Juliana Berners:
'slitteth anon
The bely to the side, from the corbyn bone;
That is corbyns fee, at the death he will be.'
Jonson, in The Sad Shepherd, gives a more poetical account of the
same ceremony:
'Marian. He that undoes him,
Doth cleave the brisket bone, upon the spoon
Of which a little gristle grows--you call it
Robin Hood. The raven's bone.
Marian. Now o'er head sat a raven
On a sere bough, a grown, great bird, and hoarse,
Who, all the while the deer was breaking up,
So croaked and cried for 't, as all the huntsmen,
Especially old Scathlock, thought it ominous.'"
115. Rouse. Rise, stand erect. Cf. Macbeth, v. 5. 12:
"The time has been, my senses would have cool'd
To hear a night-shriek, and my fell of hair
Would at a dismal treatise rouse and stir
As life were in 't."
119. Mine. Many eds. have "my."
128. Fateful. The reading of the 1st ed. and that of 1821;
"fatal" in some recent eds.
132. Which spills, etc. The MS. has "Which foremost spills a
foeman's life."
"Though this be in the text described as a response of the
Taghairm, or Oracle of the Hide, it was of itself an augury
frequently attended to. The fate of the battle was often
anticipated, in the imagination of the combatants, by observing
which party first shed blood. It is said that the Highlanders
under Montrose were so deeply imbued with this notion, that on
the morning of the battle of Tippermoor, they murdered a
defenceless herdsman, whom they found in the fields, merely to
secure an advantage of so much consequence to their party"
(Scott).
140. A spy. That is, Fitz-James. For has sought, the 1st ed.
has "hath sought."
144. Red Murdoch, etc. The MS. has "The clansman vainly deemed
his guide," etc.
147. Those shall bring him down. For the ellipsis of who, see
on i. 528 above. The MS. has "stab him down."
153. Pale. In the heraldic sense of "a broad perpendicular
stripe in an escutcheon." See Wb.
155. I love to hear, etc Cf. v. 238 below.
156. When move they on? etc. The MS reads:
"'When move they on?' |'This sun | at noon
|'To-day |
'T is said will see them march from Doune.'
'To-morrow then |makes| meeting stern.'"
|sees |
160. Earn. That is, the district about Loch Earn and the river
of the same name flowing from the lake.
164. Shaggy glen. As already stated, Trosachs means bristling.
174. Stance. Station; a Scottish word.
177. Trusty targe. The MS. has "Highland targe."
197. Shifting like flashes, etc. That is, like the Northern
Lights. Cf. the Lay, ii. 86:
"And red and bright the streamers light
Were dancing in the glowing north.
. . . . . . .
He knew by the streamers that shot so bright
That spirits were riding the northern light."
The MS. reads:
"Thick as the flashes darted forth
By morrice-dancers of the north;
And saw at morn their |barges ride,
|little fleet,
Close moored by the lone islet's side.
Since this rude race dare not abide
Upon their native mountain side,
'T is fit that Douglas should provide
For his dear child some safe abode,
And soon he comes to point the road."
207. No, Allan, etc. The MS. reads:
"No, Allan, no! His words so kind
Were but pretexts my fears to blind.
When in such solemn tone and grave
Douglas a parting blessing gave."
212. Fixed and high. Often misprinted "fixed on high."
215. Stroke. The MS. has "shock," and in the next line
"adamantine" for invulnerable.
223. Trowed. Trusted, believed. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. v. 2. 34:
"So much is more then [than] just to trow." See also Luke, xvii.
9.
231. Cambus-kenneth's fane. Cambus-kenneth Abbey, about a mile
from Stirling, on the other side of the Forth. The massive tower
is now the only part remaining entire.
235. Friends'. Many recent eds. misprint "friend's."
250. Sooth. True. See on i. 476 above.
261. Merry it is, etc. Scott says: "This little fairy tale is
founded upon a very curious Danish ballad which occurs in the
Kaempe Viser, a collection of heroic songs first published in
1591, and reprinted in 1695, inscribed by Anders Sofrensen, the
collector and editor, to Sophia, Queen of Denmark."
The measure is the common ballad-metre, the basis of which is a
line of eight syllables followed by one of six, the even
syllables accented, with the alternate lines rhyming, so as to
form a four-line stanza. It is varied by extra unaccented
syllables, and by rhymes within the longer lines (both of which
modifications we have in 263 and 271), and by "double rhymes"
(like singing and ringing).
262. Mavis and merle. Thrush and blackbird.
267. Wold. Open country, as opposed to wood. Cf. Tennyson, In
Memoriam, 11: "Calm and deep peace on this high wold," etc. See
also 724 below.
274. Glaive. Broadsword. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. iv. 7. 38: "laying
both his hands upon his glave," etc. See also v. 253 below.
277. Pall. A rich fabric used for making palls, or mantles. Cf.
F. Q. i. 7. 16: "He gave her gold and purple pall to weare."
278. Wont. Were accustomed. See on i. 408 above.
282. 'Twas but, etc. The MS. reads:
"'Twas but a midnight chance;
For blindfold was the battle plied,
And fortune held the lance."
283. Darkling. In the dark; a poetical word. Cf. Milton, P. L.
iii. 39:
"as the wakeful bird
Sings darkling;"
Shakespeare, Lear, i. 4. 237: "So out went the candle, and we
were left darkling," etc. See also 711 below.
285. Vair. The fur of the squirrel. See Wb.
286. Sheen. See on i. 208 above.
291. Richard. Here accented on the final syllable. Such
license is not unusual in ballad poetry.
298. Woned. Dwelt. See on i. 408 above. Scott has the
following note here:
"In a long dissertation upon the Fairy Superstitions, published
in the Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, the most valuable part
of which was supplied by my learned and indefatigable friend, Dr.
John Leyden, most of the circumstances are collected which can
throw light upon the popular belief which even yet prevails
respecting them in Scotland. Dr. Grahame, author of an
entertaining work upon the Scenery of the Perthshire Highlands,
already frequently quoted, has recorded with great accuracy the
peculiar tenets held by the Highlanders on this topic, in the
vicinity of Loch Katrine. The learned author is inclined to
deduce the whole mythology from the Druidical system--an opinion
to which there are many objections.
'The Daoine Shi', or Men of Peace, of the Highlanders, though not
absolutely malevolent, are believed to be a peevish, repining
race of beings, who, possessing themselves but a scanty portion
of happiness, are supposed to envy mankind their more complete
and substantial enjoyments. They are supposed to enjoy, in their
subterraneous recesses, a sort of shadowy happiness,--a tinsel
grandeur; which, however, they would willingly exchange for the
more solid joys of mortality.
'They are believed to inhabit certain round grassy eminences,
where they celebrate their nocturnal festivities by the light of
the moon. About a mile beyond the source of the Forth, above Loch
Con, there is a placed called Coirshi'an, or the Cove of the Men
of Peace, which is still supposed to be a favorite place of their
residence. In the neighborhood are to be seen many round conical
eminences, particularly one near the head of the lake, by the
skirts of which many are still afraid to pass after sunset. It
is believed that if, on Hallow-eve, any person, alone, goes round
one of these hills nine times, towards the left hand
(sinistrorsum) a door shall open, by which he will be admitted
into their subterraneous abodes. Many, it is said, of mortal
race have been entertained in their secret recesses. There they
have been received into the most splendid apartments, and regaled
with the most sumptuous banquets and delicious wines. Their
females surpass the daughters of men in beauty. The seemingly
happy inhabitants pass their time in festivity, and in dancing to
notes of the softest music. But unhappy is the mortal who joins
in their joys or ventures to partake of their dainties. By this
indulgence he forfeits for ever the society of men, and is bound
down irrevocably to the condition of Shi'ich, or Man of Peace.'"
301. Why sounds, etc. "It has been already observed that
fairies, if not positively malevolent, are capricious, and easily
offended. They are, like other proprietors of forests, peculiarly
jealous of their rights of vert and venison. ... This jealousy
was also an attribute of the northern Duergar, or dwarfs; to many
of whose distinctions the fairies seem so have succeeded, if,
indeed, they are not the same class of beings. In the huge
metrical record of German chivalry entitled the Helden-Buch, Sir
Hildebrand, and the other heroes of whom it treats, are engaged
in one of their most desperate adventures, from a rash violation
of the rose-garden of an Elfin or Dwarf King.
"There are yet traces of a belief in this worst and most
malicious order of fairies among the Border wilds. Dr. Leyden
has introduced such a dwarf into his ballad entitled The Cout of
Keeldar, and has not forgot his characteristic detestation of the
chase.
'The third blast that young Keeldar blew,
Still stood the limber fern,
And a wee man, of swarthy hue,
Upstarted by a cairn.
'His russet weeds were brown as heath
That clothes the upland fell,
And the hair of his head was frizzy red
As the purple heather-bell.
'An urchin, clad in prickles red,
Clung cow'ring to his arm;
The hounds they howl'd, and backward fled,
As struck by fairy charm.
'"Why rises high the staghound's cry,
Where staghound ne'er should be?
Why wakes that horn the silent morn,
Without the leave of me?"--
'"Brown Dwarf, that o'er the muirland strays,
Thy name to Keeldar tell!"--
"The Brown Man of the Muirs, who stays
Beneath the heather-bell.
'"'T is sweet beneath the heather-bell
To live in autumn brown;
And sweet to hear the lav'rock's swell,
Far, far from tower and town.
'"But woe betide the shrilling horn,
The chase's surly cheer!
And ever that hunter is forlorn
Whom first at morn I hear."'
"The poetical picture here given of the Duergar corresponds
exactly with the following Northumberland legend, with which I
was lately favored by my learned and kind friend, Mr. Surtees of
Mainsforth, who has bestowed indefatigable labor upon the
antiquities of the English Border counties. The subject is in
itself so curious, that the length of the note will, I hope, be
pardoned:
'I have only one record to offer of the appearance of our
Northumbrian Duergar. My narratrix is Elizabeth Cockburn, and
old wife of Offerton, in this country, whose credit, in a case of
this kind, will not, I hope, be much impeached when I add that
she is by her dull neighbors supposed to be occasionally insane,
but by herself to be at those times endowed with a faculty of
seeing visions and spectral appearances which shun the common
ken.
