355. Snatched away, etc. "The subjects of Fairy-land were recruited from the regions of humanity by a sort of crimping system, which extended to adults as well as to infants. Many of those who were in this world supposed to have discharged the debt of nature, had only become denizens of the 'Londe of Faery'" (Scott).

357. But wist I, etc. But if I knew, etc. Wist is the past tense of wit (Matzner). See on i. 596 above.

371. Dunfermline. A town in Fifeshire, 17 miles northwest of Edinburgh. It was long the residence of the Scottish kings, and the old abbey, which succeeded Iona as the place of royal sepulture, has been called "the Westminster of Scotland." Robert Bruce was the last sovereign buried here.

374. Steepy. Cf. iii. 304 above.

376. Lincoln green. See on i. 464 above.

386. Morning-tide. Cf. iii. 478 above.

387. Bourne. Bound, limit. Cf. the quotation from Milton in note on iii. 344 above.

392. Scathe. Harm, mischief. Spenser uses the word often; as in F. Q. i. 12, 34: "To worke new woe and improvided scath," etc. Cf. Shakespeare, K. John, ii. 1. 75: "To do offence and scathe in Christendom;" Rich. III. i. 3. 317: "To pray for them that have done scathe to us," etc.

393. Kern. See on 73 above.

395. Conjure. In prose we should have to write "conjure him."

403. Yet life I hold, etc. Cf. Julius Caesar, i. 2. 84:

"If it be aught toward the general good, Set honor in one eye and death i' the other, And I will look on both indifferently; For let the gods so speed me as I love The name of honor more than I fear death."

411. Near Bochastle. The MS. has "By Cambusmore." See on i. 103 and 106 above.

413. Bower. Lodging, dwelling. See on i. 217 above.

415. Art. Affectation.

417. Before. That is, at his visit to the Isle. Cf. ii. 96 fol. above.

418. Was idly soothed, etc. The MS. has "Was idly fond thy praise to hear."

421. Atone. Atone for. Shakespeare uses the verb transitively several times, but in the sense of reconcile; as in Rich. II. i. 1. 202: "Since we cannot atone you," etc. Cf. v. 735 below.

433. If yet he is. If he is still living.

437. Train. Lure; as in Macbeth, iv. 3. 118:

"Devilish Macbeth By many of these trains hath sought to win me Into his power."

Cf. the use of the verb (= allure, entice); as in C. of E. iii. 2. 45: "O, train me not, sweet mermaid, with thy note;" Scott's Lay, iii. 146: "He thought to train him to the wood," etc. James was much given to gallantry, and many of his travels in disguise were on adventures of this kind. See on i. 409 above and vi. 740 below.

446. As death, etc. As if death, etc. See on ii. 56 above, and cf. 459 below.

464. This ring. The MS. has "This ring of gold the monarch gave."

471. Lordship. Landed estates.

473. Reck of. Care for; poetical.

474. Ellen, thy hand. The MS. has "Permit this hand;" and below:

"'Seek thou the King, and on thy knee Put forth thy suit, whate'er it be, As ransom of his pledge to me; My name and this shall make thy way.' He put the little signet on," etc.

492. He stammered, etc. The MS. reads:

"He stammered forth confused reply: 'Saxon, I shouted but to scare 'Sir Knight, Yon raven from his dainty fare.'"

500. Fared. Went; the original sense of the word. Cf. farewell (which was at first a friendly wish for "the parting guest"), wayfarer, thoroughfare, etc.

506. In tattered weeds, etc. The MS. has "Wrapped in a tattered mantle gray." Weeds is used in the old sense of garments. Cf. Shakespeare, M. N. D. ii. 1. 256: "Weed wide enough to wrap a fairy in;" Id. ii. 2. 71: "Weeds of Athens he doth wear;" Milton L'Allegro, 120: "In weeds of peace," etc. See also v. 465 below.

523. In better time. That is, in better times or days; not in the musical sense.

524. Chime. Accord, sing; a poetical use of the word. Cf. vi. 592 below.

531. Allan. "The Allan and Devan are two beautiful streams—the latter celebrated in the poetry of Burns—which descend from the hills of Perthshire into the great carse, or plain, of Stirling" (Lockhart).

548. 'T is Blanche, etc. The MS. has:

"'A Saxon born, a crazy maid— T is Blanche of Devan,' Murdoch said."

552. Bridegroom. Here accented on the second syllable. In 682 below it has the ordinary accent.

555. 'Scapes. The word may be so printed here, but not in Elizabethan poetry. We find it in prose of that day; as in Bacon, Adv. of L. ii. 14. 9: "such as had scaped shipwreck." See Wb., and cf. state and estate, etc.

559. Pitched a bar. That is, in athletic contests. Cf. v. 648 below.

562. See the gay pennons, etc. The MS. reads:

"With thee these pennons will I share, Then seek my true love through the air; But I'll not lend that savage groom, To break his fall, one downy plume! Deep, deep, mid yon disjointed stones, The wolf shall batten his bones."

567. Batten. Fatten; as in Hamlet, iii. 4. 67: "Batten on this moor." Milton uses it transitively in Lycidas, 29: "Battening our flocks with the fresh dews of night."

575. The Lincoln green. "The Lowland garb" (520). Cf. also 376 above.

578. For O my sweet William, etc. The MS. reads:

"Sweet William was a woodsman true, He stole poor Blanche's heart away; His coat was of the forest hue, And sweet he sung the Lowland Lay."

590. The toils are pitched. The nets are set. Cf. Shakespeare, L. L. L., iv. 3. 2: "they have pitched a toil," etc. "The meaning is obvious. The hunters are Clan-Alpine's men; the stag of ten is Fitz-James; the wounded doe is herself" (Taylor).

594. A stag of ten. "Having ten branches on his antlers" (Scott). Nares says that antlers is an error here, the word meaning "the short brow horns, not the branched horns;" but see Wb. Cf. Jonson, Sad Shepherd, i. 2:

"Aud a hart of ten, Madam, I trow to be;"

and Massinger, Emperor of the East, iv. 2:

"He'll make you royal sport; he is a deer Of ten, at least."

595. Sturdily. As Taylor notes, the "triple rhymes" in this song are "of a very loose kind."

609. Blanche's song. Jeffrey says: "No machinery can be conceived more clumsy for effecting the deliverance of a distressed hero than the introduction of a mad woman, who, without knowing or caring about the wanderer, warns him by a song to take care of the ambush that was set for him. The maniacs or poetry have indeed had a prescriptive right to be musical, since the days of Ophelia downwards; but it is rather a rash extension of this privilege to make them sing good sense, and to make sensible people be guided by them."

To this Taylor well replied: "This criticism seems unjust. The cruelty of Roderick's raids in the Lowlands has already been hinted at, and the sight of the Lowland dress might well stir associations in the poor girl's mind which would lead her to look to the knight for help and protection and also to warn him of his danger. It is plain, from Murdoch's surprise, that her being out of her captors' sight is looked on as dangerous, from which we may infer that she is not entirely crazed. Her song is not the only hint that Fitz-James follows. His suspicions had already twice been excited, so that the episode seems natural enough. As giving a distinct personal ground for the combat in canto v., it serves the poet's purpose still further. Without it, we should sympathize too much with the robber chief, who thinks that 'plundering Lowland field and fold is naught but retribution true;' but the sight of this sad fruit of his raids wins us back to the cause of law and order."

614. Forth at full speed, etc. The MS. reads:

"Forth at full speed the Clansman went, But in his race his bow he bent, Halted—and back an arrow sent."

617. Thrilled. Quivered.

627. Thine ambushed kin, etc. The MS. transposes this line and the next, and goes on thus:

"Resistless as the lightning's flame, The thrust betwixt his shoulder came."

Just below it reads:

"The o'er him hung, with falcon eye, And grimly smiled to see him die."

642. Daggled. Wet, soaked. Cf. the Lay, i. 316: "Was daggled by the dashing spray."

649. Helpless. The MS. has "guiltless."

657. Shred. Cut off; a sense now obsolete. Cf. Withal's Dictionary (ed. 1608): "The superfluous and wast sprigs of vines, being cut and shreaded off are called sarmenta."

659. My brain, etc. The MS. has "But now, my champion, it shall wave."

672. Wreak. Avenge. Cf. Shakespeare, R. and J. iii. 5. 102:

"To wreak the love I bore my cousin Upon his body that hath slaughter'd him;"

Spenser, F. Q. ii. 3. 13: "to wreak so foule despight;" etc.

679. God, in my need, etc. The MS. reads:

"God, in my need, to me be true, As I wreak this on Roderick Dhu."

686. Favor. The token of the next line; referring to the knightly custom of wearing such a gift of lady-love or mistress. Cf. Rich. II. v. 3. 18:

"And from the common'st creature pluck a glove, And wear it as a favour," etc.

See also the Lay, iv. 334:

"With favor in his crest, or glove, Memorial of his layde-love."

691. At bay. See on i. 133 above; and for the dangerous foe, cf. the note on i. 137.

698. Couched him. Lay down. See on i. 142 above.

700. Rash adventures. See on 437 above.

701. Must prove. The 1st ed. has "will prove."

705. Bands at Doune. Cf. 150 above.

711. Darkling. See on 283 above.

722. Not the summer solstice. Not even the heat of the summer.

724. Wold. See on 267 above.

731. Beside its embers, etc. The MS. reads:

"By the decaying flame was laid A warrior in his Highland plaid."

For the rhyme here, see on i. 363 above. Cf. 764 below.

741. I dare, etc. The MS. reads:

"I dare! to him and all the swarm He brings to aid his murderous arm."

746. Slip. A hunter's term for letting loose the greyhounds from the slips, or nooses, by which they were held until sent after the game. Tubervile (Art of Venerie) says: "We let slip a greyhound, and we cast off a hound." Cf. Shakespeare, Cor. i. 6. 39:

"Holding Corioli in the name of Rome, Even like a fawning greyhound in the leash, To let him slip at will;"

and for the noun, Hen. V. iii. 1. 31:

"I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips, Straining upon the start."

747. Who ever recked, etc. Scott says: "St. John actually used this illustration when engaged in confuting the plea of law proposed for the unfortunate Earl of Strafford: 'It was true, we gave laws to hares and deer, because they are beasts of chase; but it was never accounted either cruelty or foul play to knock foxes or wolves on the head as they can be found, because they are beasts of prey. In a word, the law and humanity were alike: the one being more fallacious, and the other more barbarous, than in any age had been vented in such an authority' (Clarendon's History of the Rebellion)."

762. The hardened flesh of mountain deer. "The Scottish Highlanders, in former times, had a concise mode of cooking their venison, or rather of dispensing with cooking it, which appears greatly to have surprised the French, whom chance made acquainted with it. The Vidame of Chartres, when a hostage in England, during the reign of Edward VI., was permitted to travel into Scotland, and penetrated as far as to the remote Highlands (au fin fond des Sauvages). After a great hunting-party, at which a most wonderful quantity of game was destroyed, he saw these Scottish savages devour a part of their venison raw, without any farther preparation than compressing it between two batons of wood, so as to force out the blood, and render it extremely hard. This they reckoned a great delicacy; and when the Vidame partook of it, his compliance with their taste rendered him extremely popular. This curious trait of manners was communicated by Mons. de Montmorency, a great friend of the Vidame, to Brantome, by whom it is recorded in Vies des Hommes Illustres, lxxxix. 14.... After all, it may be doubted whether la chaire nostree, for so the French called the venison thus summarily prepared, was anything more than a mere rude kind of deer ham" (Scott).

772. A mighty augury. That of the Taghairm.

777. Not for clan. The 1st ed. has "nor for clan."

785. Stock and stone. Cf. i. 130 above.

787. Coilantogle's ford. On the Teith just below its exit from Loch Vennachar.

791. The bittern's cry. See on i. 642 above.

797. And slept, etc. The MS. has "streak" and "lake" for beam and stream.



Canto Fifth.

1. Fair as the earliest beam, etc. "This introductory stanza is well worked in with the story. The morning beam 'lights the fearful path on mountain side' which the two heroes of the poem are to traverse, and the comparison which it suggest enlists our sympathy for Roderick, who is to be the victim of defeat" (Taylor).

5. And lights, etc. The MS. has "And lights the fearful way along its side."

10. Sheen. See on i. 208.

14. The dappled sky. Cf. Milton, L'Allegro, 44: "Till the dappled dawn doth rise;" and Shakespeare, Much Ado, v. 3. 25:

"and look, the gentle day, Before the wheels of Phoebus, round about Dapples the drowsy east with spots of gray."

15. By. The word is used for the rhyme, but perhaps gives the idea of a hurry—muttered off the prayers.

16. Steal. The word here is expressive of haste.

18. Gael. "The Scottish Highlander calls himself, Gael, or Gaul, and terms the Lowlanders Sassenach, or Saxons" (Scott).

22. Wildering. Bewildering. See on i. 274 above. For winded, see on i. 500.

32. Bursting through. That is, as it burst through—"a piece of loose writing" (Taylor).

36. At length, etc. The MS. reads:

"At length they paced the mountain's side, And saw beneath the waters wide."

44. The rugged mountain's scanty cloak, etc. The MS. reads:

"The rugged mountain's stunted screen Was dwarfish shrubs with cliffs between." copse

46. Shingles. Gravel or pebbles. See on iii. 171 above.

Taylor says: "Note how the details of this description are used in stanza ix.—shingles, bracken, broom."

51. Dank. Damp, moist. Cf. Shakespeare, R. and J. ii. 3. 6: "and night's dank dew;" Milton, Sonnet to Mr. Lawrence: "Now that the fields are dank, and ways are mire," etc.

64. Sooth to tell. To tell the truth. See on i. 476 above. Sooth to say, to say sooth, in sooth, in good sooth, etc., are common in old writers. Cf. the Lay, introd. 57: "the sooth to speak."

65. To claim its aid. The MS. has "to draw my blade."

78. Enough. Suffice it that.

81. A knight's free footsteps, etc. The MS. reads:

"My errant footsteps far and wide." A Knight's bold wanderings

86. I urge thee not. The MS. has "I ask it not," and in 95 "hall" for Doune.

106. Outlawed. The 1st ed. has "exiled."

108. In the Regent's court, etc. Cf. ii. 221 above.

124. Albany. The Regent of 108 above. He was the son of a younger brother of James III., who had been driven into exile by his brother's attempts on his life. He took refuge in France, where his son was made Lord High Admiral. On the death of James IV. he was called home by the Scottish nobles to assume the regency.

126. Mewed. Shut up. The word seems originally to have meant to moult, or shed the feathers; and as a noun, "the place, whether it be abroad or in the house, in which the hawk is put during the time she casts, or doth change her feathers" (R. Holmes's Academy of Armory, etc.). Spenser has both noun and verb; as in F. Q. i. 5. 20: "forth comming from her darksome mew;" and Id. ii. 3. 34: "In which vaine Braggadocchio was mewd." Milton uses the verb in the grand description of Liberty in Of Unlicensed Printing: "Methinks I see her as an eagle mewing her mighty youth, and kindling her undazzled eyes at the full midday beam." In England the noun is still used in the plural to denote a stable for horses. Pennant says that the royal stables in London were called mews from the fact that the buildings were formerly used for keeping the king's falcons.

Scott says here: "There is scarcely a more disorderly period of Scottish history than that which succeeded the battle of Flodden, and occupied the minority of James V. Feuds of ancient standing broke out like old wounds, and every quarrel among the independent nobility, which occurred daily, and almost hourly, gave rise to fresh bloodshed. 'There arose,' said Pitscottie, 'great trouble and deadly feuds in many parts of Scotland, both in the north and west parts. The Master of Forbes, in the north, slew the Laird of Meldrum, under tryst' (that is, at an agreed and secure meeting). 'Likewise, the Laird of Drummelzier slew the Lord Fleming at the hawking; and, likewise, there was slaughter among many other great lords.' Nor was the matter much mended under the government of the Earl of Angus; for though he caused the King to ride through all Scotland, 'under the pretence and color of justice, to punish thief and traitor, none were found greater than were in their own company. And none at that time durst strive with a Douglas, nor yet a Douglas's man; for if they would, they got the worst. Therefore none durst plainzie of no extortion, theft, reiff, nor slaughter done to them by the Douglases or their men; in that cause they were not heard so long as the Douglas had the court in guiding."

150. Shingles. Cf. 46 above.

152. As to your sires. The target and claymore were the weapons of the Ancient Britons. Taylor quotes Tacitus, Agricola: "ingentibus gladiis et brevibus cetris."

161. Rears. Raises. The word was formerly less restricted in its application than at present. Cf. Shakespeare's "rear my hand" (Temp. ii. 1. 295, J. C. iii. 1. 30), "rear the higher our opinion" (A. and C. ii. 1. 35), etc.; Milton's "he rear'd me," that is, lifted me up (P. L. viii. 316), "rear'd her lank head" (Comus, 836), etc. Spenser uses it in the sense of take away (like the cant lift = steal); as in F. Q. iii. 10. 12:

"She to his closet went, where all his wealth Lay hid; thereof she countlesse summes did reare;"

and Id. iii. 10. 53:

"like as a Beare, That creeping close among the hives to reare An hony-combe," etc.

Wb. does not give this sense, which we believe is found only in Spenser.

165. Shall with strong hand, etc. Scott has the following note here: "The ancient Highlanders verified in their practice the lines of Gray (Fragment on the Alliance of Education and Government):

'An iron race the mountain cliffs maintain, Foes to the gentler genius of the plain; For where unwearied sinews must be found, With side-long plough to quell the flinty ground, To turn the torrent's swift descending flood, To tame the savage rushing from the wood, What wonder if, to patient valor train'd, They guard with spirit what by strength they gain'd; And while their rocky ramparts round they see The rough abode of want and liberty (As lawless force from confidence will grow), Insult the plenty of the vales below?'

"So far, indeed, was a Creagh, or foray, from being held disgraceful, that a young chief was always expected to show his talents for command so soon as he assumed it, by leading his clan on a successful enterprise of this nature, either against a neighboring sept, for which constant feuds usually furnished an apology, or against the Sassencach, Saxons, or Lowlanders, for which no apology was necessary. The Gael, great traditional historians, never forgot that the Lowlands had, at some remote period, been the property of their Celtic forefathers, which furnished an ample vindication of all the ravages that they could make on the unfortunate districts which lay within their reach. Sir James Grant of Grant is in possession of a letter of apology from Cameron of Lochiel, whose men had committed some depredation upon a farm called Moines, occupied by one of the Grants. Lochiel assures Grant that, however the mistake had happened, his instructions were precise, that the party should foray the province of Moray (a Lowland district), where, as he coolly observes, 'all men take their prey.'"

177. Good faith. In good faith, bona fide; as often in old writers.

192. Bower. See on i. 217 above.

195. This rebel Chieftain, etc. The MS. reads:

"This dark Sir Roderick and his band;" This savage Chieftain

and below:

"From copse to copse the signal flew. Instant, through copse and crags, arose;"

and in 205 "shoots" for sends.

208. And every tuft, etc. The MS. reads:

"And each lone tuft of broom gives life To plaided warrior armed for strife. That whistle manned the lonely glen With full five hundred armed men;"

and below (214):

"All silent, too, they stood, and still, Watching their leader's beck and will, While forward step and weapon show They long to rush upon the foe, Like the loose crag whose tottering mass Hung threatening o'er the hollow pass."

219. Verge. See on iv. 83 above.

230. Manned himself. Cf. Addison's "manned his soul," quoted by Wb.

238. The stern joy, etc. Cf. iv. 155 above.

239. Foeman. The reading of the 1st ed. and that of 1821; "foeman" in many recent eds.

246. Their mother Earth, etc. Alluding to the old myths of the earth-born Giants and of Cadmus.

252. Glinted. Flashed; a Scottish word. Jamieson defines glint "to glance, gleam, or pass suddenly like a flash of lightning."

253. Glaive. See on iv. 274 above. The jack was "a horseman's defensive upper garment, quilted and covered with strong leather" (Nares). It was sometimes also strengthened with iron rings, plates, or bosses. Cf. Lyly, Euphues: "jackes quilted, and covered over with leather, fustian, or canvas, over thick plates of yron that are sowed to the same." Scott, in the Eve of St. John, speaks of "his plate-jack." For spear the 1st ed. has "lance."

267. One valiant hand. The MS. has "one brave man's hand."

268. Lay. Were staked.

270. I only meant, etc. Scott says: "This incident, like some other passages in the poem, illustrative of the character of the ancient Gael, is not imaginary, but borrowed from fact. The Highlanders, with the inconsistency of most nations in the same state, were alternately capable of great exertions of generosity and of cruel revenge and perfidy. The following story I can only quote from tradition, but with such an assurance from those by whom it was communicated as permits me little doubt of its authenticity. Early in the last century, John Gunn, a noted Cateran, or Highland robber, infested Inverness-shire, and levied black-mail up to the walls of the provincial capital. A garrison was then maintained in the castle of that town, and their pay (country banks being unknown) was usually transmitted in specie under the guard of a small escort. It chanced that the officer who commanded this little party was unexpectedly obliged to halt, about thirty miles from Inverness, at a miserable inn. About nightfall, a stranger in the Highland dress, and of very prepossessing appearance, entered the same house. Separate accommodations being impossible, the Englishman offered the newly-arrived guest a part of his supper, which was accepted with reluctance. By the conversation he found his new acquaintance knew well all the passes of the country, which induced him eagerly to request his company on the ensuing morning. He neither disguised his business and charge, nor his apprehensions of that celebrated freebooter, John Gunn. The Highlander hesitated a moment, and then frankly consented to be his guide. Forth they set in the morning; and in travelling through a solitary and dreary glen, the discourse again turned on John Gunn. 'Would you like to see him?' said the guide; and without waiting an answer to this alarming question, he whistled, and the English officer, with his small party, were surrounded by a body of Highlanders, whose numbers put resistance out of question, and who were all well armed. 'Stranger,' resumed the guide, 'I am that very John Gunn by whom you feared to be intercepted, and not without cause; for I came to the inn last night with the express purpose of learning your route, that I and my followers might ease you of your charge by the road. But I am incapable of betraying the trust you reposed in me, and having convinced you that you were in my power, I can only dismiss you unplundered and uninjured.' He then gave the officer directions for his journey, and disappeared with his party as suddenly as they had presented themselves."

277. Flood. Flow; used for the sake of the rhyme, like drew just below. Wont = wonted.

286. And still, etc. The MS. reads:

"And still, from copse and heather bush, Fancy saw spear and broadsword ruch."

298. Three mighty lakes. Katrine, Achray, and Vennachar. Scott says: "The torrent which discharges itself from Loch Vennachar, the lowest and eastmost of the three lakes which form the scenery adjoining to the Trosachs, sweeps through a flat and extensive moor, called Bochastle. Upon a small eminence called the Dun of Bochastle, and indeed on the plain itself, are some intrenchments which have been thought Roman. There is adjacent to Callander a sweet villa, the residence of Captain Fairfoul, entitled the Roman Camp."

301. Mouldering. The MS. has "martial."

309. This murderous Chief, etc. Cf. 106 above.

315. All vantageless, etc. Scott says: "The duellists of former times did not always stand upon those punctilios respecting equality of arms, which are not judged essential to fair combat. It is true that in formal combats in the lists the parties were, by the judges of the field, put as nearly as possible in the same circumstances. But in private duel it was often otherwise. In that desperate combat which was fought between Quelus, a minion of Henry III. of France, and Antraguet, with two seconds on each side, from which only two persons escaped alive, Quelus complained that his antagonist had over him the advantage of a poniard which he used in parrying, while his left hand, which he was forced to employ for the same purpose, was cruelly mangled. When he charged Antraguet with this odds, 'Thou hast done wrong,' answered he, 'to forget thy dagger at home. We are here to fight, and not to settle punctilios of arms.' In a similar duel, however, a young brother of the house of Aubayne, in Angoulesme, behaved more generously on the like occasion, and at once threw away his dagger when his enemy challenged it as an undue advantage. But at this time hardly anything can be conceived more horridly brutal and savage than the mode in which private quarrels were conducted in France. Those who were most jealous of the point of honor, and acquired the title of Ruffines, did not scruple to take advantage of strength, numbers, surprise, and arms, to accomplish their revenge."

329. By prophet bred, etc. See iii. 91 fol. above; and for the expression cf. iv. 124.

347. Dark lightning, etc. The MS. has "In lightning flashed the Chief's dark eye," which might serve as a comment on Dark lightning.

349. Kern. See on iv. 73 above.

351. He yields not, etc. The MS. has "He stoops not, he, to James nor Fate."

356. Carpet knight. Cf. Shakespeare, T. N. iii. 4. 257: "He is knight, dubbed with unhatched rapier and on carpet consideration."

364. Ruth. Pity; obsolete, though we still have ruthless. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. i. 1. 50:

"to stirre up gentle ruth Both for her noble blood, and for her tender youth;"

Milton, Lycidas, 163: "Look homeward, Angel, now, and melt with ruth," etc.

380. His targe. Scott says: "A round target of light wood, covered with strong leather and studded with brass or iron, was a necessary part of a Highlander's equipment. In charging regular troops they received the thrust of the bayonet in this buckler, twisted it aside, and used the broadsword against the encumbered soldier. In the civil war of 1745 most of the front rank of the clans were thus armed; and Captain Grose (Military Antiquities, vol. i. p. 164) informs us that in 1747 the privates of the 42d regiment, then in Flanders, were for the most part permitted to carry targets. A person thus armed had a considerable advantage in private fray. Among verses between Swift and Sheridan, lately published by Dr. Barrett, there is an account of such an encounter, in which the circumstances, and consequently the relative superiority of the combatants, are precisely the reverse of those in the text:

'A Highlander once fought a Frenchman at Margate, The weapons, a rapier, a backsword, and target; Brisk Monsieur advanced as fast as he could, But all his fine pushes were caught in the wood, And Sawny, with backsword, did slash him and nick him, While t'other, enraged that he could not once prick him, Cried, "Sirrah, you rascal, you son of a whore, Me will fight you, be gar! if you'll come from your door."'"

383. Trained abroad. That is, in France. See on i. 163 above. Scott says here: "The use of defensive armor, and particularly of the buckler, or target, was general in Queen Elizabeth's time, although that of the single rapier seems to have been occasionally practised much earlier (see Douce's Illustrations of Shakespeare, vol. ii. p. 61). Rowland Yorke, however, who betrayed the fort of Zutphen to the Spaniards, for which good service he was afterwards poisoned by them, is said to have been the first who brought the rapier-fight into general use. Fuller, speaking of the swash-bucklers, or bullies, of Queen Elizabeth's time, says, 'West Smithfield was formerly called Ruffian's Hall, where such men usually met, casually or otherwise, to try masteries with sword or buckler. More were frightened than hurt, more hurt than killed therewith, it being accounted unmanly to strike beneath the knee. But since that desperate traitor Rowland Yorke first introduced thrusting with rapiers, sword and buckler are disused.' In The Two Angry Women of Abingdon, a comedy, printed in 1599, we have a pathetic complaint: 'Sword and buckler fight begins to grow out of use. I am sorry for it; I shall never see good manhood again. If it be once gone, this poking fight of rapier and dagger will come up; then a tall man and a good sword and buckler man will be spitted like a cat or rabbit.' But the rapier had upon the Continent long superseded, in private duel, the use of sword and shield. The masters of the noble science of defence were chiefly Italians. They made great mystery of their art and mode of instruction, never suffered any person to be present but the scholar who was to be taught, and even examined closets, beds, and other places of possible concealment. Their lessons often gave the most treacherous advantages; for the challenged, having the right to choose his weapons, frequently selected some strange, unusual, and inconvenient kind of arms, the use of which he practised under these instructors, and thus killed at his ease his antagonist, to whom it was presented for the first time on the field of battle. See Brantome's Discourse on Duels, and the work on the same subject, 'si gentement ecrit,' by the venerable Dr. Paris de Puteo. The Highlanders continued to use broadsword and target until disarmed after the affair of 1745-6."

385. Ward. Posture of defence; a technical term in fencing. Cf. Falstaff's "Thou knowest my old ward" (1 Hen. IV. ii. 4. 215), etc.

387. While less expert, etc. The MS. reads:

"Not Roderick thus, though stronger far, More tall, and more inured to war."

401, 402. And backward, etc. This couplet is not in the MS.; and the same is true of 405, 406.

406. Let recreant yield, etc. The MS. has "Yield they alone who fear to die." Scott says: "I have not ventured to render this duel so savagely desperate as that of the celebrated Sir Ewan of Lochiel, chief of the clan Cameron, called, from his sable complexion, Ewan Dhu. He was the last man in Scotland who maintained the royal cause during the great Civil War, and his constant incursions rendered him a very unpleasant neighbor to the republican garrison at Inverlochy, now Fort William. The governor of the fort detached a party of three hundred men to lay waste Lochiel's possessions and cut down his trees; by in a sudden and desperate attack made upon them by the chieftain with very inferior numbers, they were almost all cut to pieces. The skirmish is detailed in a curious memoir of Sir Ewan's life, printed in the Appendix of Pennant's Scottish Tour (vol. i. p. 375):

'In this engagement Lochiel himself had several wonderful escapes. In the retreat of the English, one of the strongest and bravest of the officers retired behind a bush, when he observed Lochiel pursuing, and seeing him unaccompanied with any, he leapt out and thought him his prey. They met one another with equal fury. The combat was long and doubtful: the English gentleman had by far the advantage in strength and size; but Lochiel, exceeding him in nimbleness and agility, in the end tript the sword out of his hand; they closed and wrestled, till both fell to the ground in each other's arms. The English officer got above Lochiel, and pressed him hard, but stretching forth his neck, by attempting to disengage himself, Lochiel, who by this time had his hands at liberty, with his left hand seized him by the collar, and jumping at his extended throat, he bit it with his teeth quite through, and kept such a hold of his grasp, that he brought away his mouthful; this, he said, was the sweetest bit he ever had in his lifetime.'"

435. Unwounded, etc. The MS. reads:

"Panting and breathless on the sands, But all unwounded, now he stands;"

and just below:

"Redeemed, unhoped, from deadly strife: Next on his foe his look he cast, threw, Whose every breath appeared his last."

447. Unbonneted. Past tense, not participle.

449. Then faint afar. The MS. has "Faint and afar."

452. Lincoln green. See on i. 464 above.

462. We destined, etc. Cf. iv. 411 above.

465. Weed. Dress. See on iv. 506 above.

466. Boune. Ready. See on iv. 36 above.

479. Steel. Spur. Cf. i. 115 above.

485. Carhonie's hill. About a mile from the lower end of Loch Vennachar.

486. Pricked. Spurred. It came to mean ride; as in F. Q. i. 1. 1: "A gentle Knight was pricking on the plaine," etc. Cf. 754 below.

490. Torry and Lendrick. These places, like Deanstown, Doune (see on iv. 19 above), Blair-Drummond, Ochtertyre, and Kier, are all on the banks of the Teith, between Callander and Stirling. Lockhart says: "It may be worth noting that the poet marks the progress of the King by naming in succession places familiar and dear to his own early recollections—Blair-Drummond, the seat of the Homes of Kaimes; Kier, that of the principal family of the name of Stirling; Ochtertyre, that of John Ramsay, the well-known antiquary, and correspondent of Burns; and Craigforth, that of the Callenders of Craigforth, almost under the walls of Stirling Castle;—all hospitable roofs, under which he had spent many of his younger days."

494. Sees the hoofs strike fire. The MS. has "Saw their hoofs of fire."

496. They mark, etc. The to of the infinitive is omitted in glance, as if mark had been see.

498. Sweltering. The 1st ed. has "swelling."

506. Flinty. The MS. has "steepy;" and in 514 "gains" for scales.

525. Saint Serle. "The King himself is in such distress for a rhyme as to be obliged to apply to one of the obscurest saints in the calendar" (Jeffrey). The MS. has "by my word," and "Lord" for Earl in the next line.

534. Cambus-kenneth's abbey gray. See on iv. 231 above.

547. By. Gone by, past.

551. O sad and fatal mound! "An eminence on the northeast of the Castle, where state criminals were executed. Stirling was often polluted with noble blood. It is thus apostrophized by J. Johnston:

'Discordia tristis Heu quotis procerum sanguine tinxit humum! Hoc uno infelix, et felix cetera; nusquam Laetior aut caeli frons geniusve soli.'

"The fate of William, eighth Earl of Douglas, whom James II. stabbed in Stirling Castle with his own hand, and while under his royal safe-conduct, is familiar to all who read Scottish history. Murdack Duke of Albany, Duncan Earl of Lennox, his father-in-law, and his two sons, Walter and Alexander Stuart, were executed at Stirling, in 1425. They were beheaded upon an eminence without the Castle walls, but making part of the same hill, from whence they could behold their strong Castle of Doune and their extensive possessions. This 'heading hill,' as it was sometimes termed, bears commonly the less terrible name of Hurly-hacket, from its having been the scene of a courtly amusement alluded to by Sir David Lindsay, who says of the pastimes in which the young King was engaged:

'Some harled him to the Hurly-hacket;'

which consisted in sliding—in some sort of chair, it may be supposed—from top to bottom of a smooth bank. The boys of Edinburgh, about twenty years ago, used to play at the hurly-hacket on the Calton Hill, using for their seat a horse's skull" (Scott).

558. The Franciscan steeple. The Greyfriars Church, built by James IV. in 1594 on the hill not far from the Castle, is still standing, and has been recently restored. Here James VI. was crowned on the 29th of July, 1567, and John Knox preached the coronation sermon.

562. Morrice-dancers. The morrice or morris dance was probably of Spanish (or Moorish, as the name implies) origin, but after its introduction into England it became blended with the Mayday games. A full historical account of it is given in Douce's Illustrations of Shakespeare. The characters in it in early times were the following: "Robin Hood, Little John, Friar Tuck, Maid Marian (Robin's mistress and the queen or lady of the May), the fool, the piper, and several morris-dancers habited, as it appears, in various modes. Afterwards a hobby-horse and a dragon were added" (Douce). For a description of the game, see Scott's Abbot, ch. xiv., and the author's note. See also on 614 below.

564. The burghers hold their sports to-day. Scott has the following note here:

"Every burgh of Scotland of the least note, but more especially the considerable towns, had their solemn play, or festival, when feats of archery were exhibited, and prized distributed to those who excelled in wrestling, hurling the bar, and the other gymnastic exercises of the period. Stirling, a usual place of royal residence, was not likely to be deficient in pomp upon such occasions, especially since James V. was very partial to them. His ready participation in these popular amusements was one cause of his acquiring the title of the King of the Commons, or Rex Plebeiorum, as Lesley has latinized it. The usual prize to the best shooter was a silver arrow. Such a one is preserved at Selkirk and at Peebles. At Dumfries a silver gun was substituted, and the contention transferred to firearms. The ceremony, as there performed, is the subject of an excellent Scottish poem, by Mr. John Mayne, entitled the Siller Gun 1808, which surpasses the efforts of Fergusson, and comes near those of Burns.

"Of James's attachment to archery, Pitscottie, the faithful though rude recorder of the manners of that period, has given us evidence:

'In this year there came an ambassador out of England, named Lord William Howard, with a bishop with him, with many other gentlemen, to the number of threescore horse, which were all able men and waled [picked] men for all kind of games and pastimes, shooting, louping, running, wrestling, and casting of the stone, but they were well sayed [essayed or tried] ere they past out of Scotland, and that by their own provocation; but ever they tint: till at last, the Queen of Scotland, the King's mother, favoured the English-men, because she was the King of England's sister; and therefore she took an enterprise of archery upon the Englishmen's hands, contrary her son the King, and any six in Scotland that he would wale, either gentlemen or yeomen, that the Englishmen should shoot against them either at pricks, revers, or buts, as the Scots pleased.

'The King, hearing this of his mother, was content, and gart her pawn a hundred crowns and a tun of wine upon the English-men's hands; and he incontinent laid down as much for the Scottish-men. The field and ground was chosen in St. Andrews, and three landed men and three yeomen chosen to shoot against the English-men,—to wit, David Wemyss of that ilk, David Arnot of that ilk, and Mr. John Wedderburn, vicar of Dundee; the yeomen, John Thomson, in Leith, Steven Taburner, with a piper, called Alexander Bailie; they shot very near, and warred [worsted] the English-men of the enterprise, and wan the hundred crowns and the tun of wine, which made the King very merry that his men wan the victory.'"

571. Play my prize. The same expression occurs in Shakespeare, T. A. i. 1. 399: "You have play'd your prize." Cf. also M. of V. iii. 2. 142: "Like one of two contending in a prize," etc.

575. The Castle gates. The main entrance to the Castle, not the postern gate of 532 above.

580. Fair Scotland's King, etc. The MS. reads:

"King James and all his nobles went... Ever the King was bending low To his white jennet's saddle-bow, Doffing his cap to burgher dame, Who smiling blushed for pride and shame."

601. There nobles, etc. The MS. reads:

"Nobles who mourned their power restrained, And the poor burgher's joys disdained; Dark chief, who, hostage for his clan, Was from his home a banished man, Who thought upon his own gray tower, The waving woods, his feudal bower, And deemed himself a shameful part Of pageant that he cursed in heart."

611. With bell at heel. Douce says that "the number of bells round each leg of the morris-dancers amounted from twenty to forty;" but Scott, in a note to The Fair Maid of Perth, speaks of 252 small bells in sets of twelve at regular musical intervals.

612. Their mazes wheel. The MS. adds:

"With awkward stride there city groom Would part of fabled knight assume."

614. Robin Hood. Scott says here: "The exhibition of this renowned outlaw and his band was a favorite frolic at such festivals as we are describing. This sporting, in which kings did not disdain to be actors, was prohibited in Scotland upon the Reformation, by a statute of the 6th Parliament of Queen Mary, c. 61, A. D. 1555, which ordered, under heavy penalties that 'na manner of person be chosen Robert Hude, nor Little John, Abbot of Unreason, Queen of May, nor otherwise.' But in 1561, the 'rascal multitude,' says John Knox, 'were stirred up to make a Robin Hude, whilk enormity was of mony years left and damned by statute and act of Paliament; yet would they not be forbidden.' Accordingly they raised a very serious tumult, and at length made prisoners the magistrates who endeavored to suppress it, and would not release them till they extorted a formal promise that no one should be punished for his share of the disturbance. It would seem, from the complaints of the General Assembly of the Kirk, that these profane festivities were continued down to 1592 (Book of the Universal Kirk, p. 414). Bold Robin was, to say the least, equally successful in maintaining his ground against the reformed clergy of England; for the simple and evangelical Latimer complains of coming to a country church where the people refused to hear him because it was Robin Hood's day, and his mitre and rochet were fain to give way to the village pastime. Much curious information on this subject may be found in the Preliminary Dissertation to the late Mr. Ritson's edition of the songs respecting this memorable outlaw. The game of Robin Hood was usually acted in May; and he was associated with the morrice-dancers, on whom so much illustration has been bestowed by the commentators on Shakespeare. A very lively picture of these festivities, containing a great deal of curious information on the subject of the private life and amusements of our ancestors, was thrown, by the late ingenious Mr. Strutt, into his romance entitled Queen-hoo Hall, published after his death, in 1808."

615. Friar Tuck. "Robin Hood's fat friar," as Shakespeare calls him (T. G. of V. iv. 1. 36), who figures in the Robin Hood ballads and in Ivanhoe. Scarlet and Little John are mentioned in one of Master Silence's snatches of song in 2 Hen. IV. v. 3. 107: "And Robin, Scarlet, and John." Scathelocke is a brother of Scarlet in Ben Jonson's Sad Shepherd, which is a "Tale of Robin Hood," and Mutch is a bailiff in the same play.

626. Stake. Prize.

627. Fondly he watched, etc. The MS. reads:

"Fondly he watched, with watery eye, For answering glance of sympathy, But no emotion made reply! Indifferent as to unknown wight, Cold as to unknown yeoman The King gave forth the arrow bright."

630. To archer wight. That is, to any ordinary archer. Scott has the following note here:

"The Douglas of the poem is an imaginary person, a supposed uncle of the Earl of Angus. But the King's behavior during an unexpected interview with the Laird of Kilspindie, one of the banished Douglases, under circumstances similar to those in the text, is imitated from a real story told by Hume of Godscroft. I would have availed myself more fully of the simple and affecting circumstances of the old history, had they not been already woven into a pathetic ballad by my friend Mr. Finlay. [11]

'His [the King's] implacability [towards the family of Douglas] did also appear in his carriage towards Archibald of Kilspinke, whom he, when he was a child, loved singularly well for his ability of body, and was wont to call him his Gray-Steill. [12] Archibald, being banished into England, could not well comport with the humor of that nation, which he thought to be too proud, and that they had too high a conceit of themselves, joined with a contempt and despising of all others. Wherefore, being wearied of that life, and remembering the King's favor of old towards him, he determined to try the King's mercifulness and clemency. So he comes into Scotland, and taking occasion of the King's hunting in the park at Stirling he casts himself to be in his way, as he was coming home to the Castle. So soon as the King saw him afar off, ere he came near, he guessed it was he, and said to one of his courtiers, "Yonder is my Gray-Steill, Archibald of Kilspindie, if he be alive." The other answered that it could not be he, and that he durst not come into the King's presence. The King approaching, he fell upon his knees and craved pardon, and promised from thenceforward to abstain from meddling in public affairs, and to lead a quiet and private life. The King went by without giving him any answer, and trotted a good round pace up the hill. Kilspindie followed, and though he wore on him a secret, or shirt of mail, for his particular enemies, was as soon at the Castle gate as the King. There he sat him down upon a stone without, and entreated some of the King's servants for a cup of drink, being weary and thirsty; but they, fearing the King's displeasure, durst gave him none. When the King was set at his dinner, he asked what he had done, what he had said, and whither he had gone? It was told him that he had desired a cup of drink, and had gotten none. The King reproved them very sharply for their discourtesy, and told them that if he had not taken an oath that no Douglas should ever serve him, he would have received him into his service, for he had seen him sometime a man of great ability. Then he sent him word to go to Leith, and expect his further pleasure. Then some kinsman of David Falconer, the cannonier, that was slain at Tantallon, began to quarrel with Archibald about the matter, wherewith the King showed himself not well pleased when he heard of it. Then he commanded him to go to France for a certain space, till he heard further from him. And so he did, and died shortly after. This gave occasion to the King of England (Henry VIII.) to blame his nephew, alleging the old saying, That a king's face should give grace. For this Archibald (whatsoever were Angus's or Sir George's fault) had not been principal actor of anything, nor no counsellor nor stirrer up, but only a follower of his friends, and that noways cruelly disposed' (Hume of Godscroft, ii. 107)."

637. Larbert is a town about ten miles to the south of Stirling, and Alloa another seven miles to the east on the north side of the Forth.

641. To Douglas gave a golden ring. Scott says: "The usual prize of a wrestling was a ram and a ring, but the animal would have embarrassed my story. Thus, in the Cokes Tale of Gamelyn, ascribed to Chaucer:

'There happed to be there beside Tryed a wrestling; And therefore there was y-setten A ram and als a ring."

Again, the Litil Geste of Robin Hood:

'By a bridge was a wrestling, And there taryed was he And there was all the best yemen Of all the west countrey. A full fayre game there was set up, A white bull up y-pight, A great courser with saddle and brydle, With gold burnished full bryght; A payre of gloves, a red golde ringe, A pipe of wine, good day; What man bereth him best, I wis, The prise shall bear away.'"

648. To hurl the massive bar. Cf. iv. 559 above.

658. Scottish strength. The MS. has "mortal strength."

660. The Ladies' Rock. A point in the "valley" between the Castle and the Greyfriars Church. It was formerly the chief place for viewing the games, which were held in this "valley," or depression in the hill on which the Castle stands. It must not be confounded with the Ladies' Lookout, a favorite point of view on the Castle walls.

662. Well filled. The MS. has "weighed down;" and in 664, "Scattered the gold among the crowd."

674. Ere Douglas, etc. The MS. has "Ere James of Douglas' stalwart hand;" and in 677, "worn" for wrecked.

681. Murmurs. Some eds. have "murmur."

685. The banished man. The MS. has "his stately form."

724. Needs but a buffet. Only a single blow is needed.

728. Then clamored, etc. The MS. and 1st ed. have "Clamored his comrades of the train;" and in 730 the MS. has "warrior's" for Baron's.

735. Atone. See on iv. 421 above.

744. But shall a Monarch's presence, etc. The MS. reads:

"But in my court injurious blow, And bearded thus, and thus out-dared? What, ho!" etc.

747. Ward. Guarding, confinement under guard. Cf. Gen. xl. 3.

752. Misarray. Disorder, confusion. Neither Wb. nor Worc. gives the word.

754. Pricked. Spurred, rode. See on 486 above.

755. Repelled, etc. The MS. has "Their threats repelled by insult loud."

768. Hyndford. A village on the Clyde, a few miles above Lanark.

790. Widow's mate expires. An instance of prolepsis, or "anticipation" in the use of a word. He must expire before she can be a widow. Cf. Macbeth, iii. 4. 76:

"Blood hath been shed ere now, i' the olden time, Ere human statute purg'd the gentle weal;"

that is, purged it and made it gentle.

794. Ward. Ward off, avert.

796. The crowd's wild fury, etc. The MS. reads:

"The crowd's wild fury ebbed amain In tears, as tempests sink in rain."

The 1st ed. reads as in the text, but that of 1821 has "sunk amain."

The figure here is a favorite one with Shakespeare. Cf. R. of L. 1788:

"This windy tempest, till it blow up rain, Held back his sorrow's tide, to make it more; At last it rains, and busy winds give o'er;"

3 Hen. VI. i. 4. 146:

"For raging wind blows up incessant showers, And, when the rage allays, the rain begins;"

Id. ii. 5. 85:

"see, see, what showers arise, Blown with the windy tempest of my heart;"

T. and C. iv. 4. 55: "Where are my tears? rain, to lay this wind, or my heart will be blown up by the root;" and Macbeth, i. 7. 25: "That tears shall down the wind."

808. The rough soldier. Sir John of Hyndford (768 above).

811. He led. The 1st ed. has "they led," and "their" for his in 813.

812. Verge. Note the rhyme with charge, and see on iv. 83 above.

819. This common fool. Cf. Shakespeare's "fool multitude" (M. of V. ii. 9. 26). Just below Lockhart quotes Coriolanus, i. 1. 180:

"Who deserves greatness Deserves your hate; and your affections are A sick man's appetite, who desires most that Which would increase his evil. He that depends Upon your favors swims with fins of lead And hews down oaks with rushes. Hang ye! Trust ye? With every minute you do change a mind, And call him noble that was now your hate, Him vile that was your garland."

821. Douglas. The reading of the 1st ed., as in 825 below; not "Douglas'," as in some recent eds.

830. Vain as the leaf, etc. The MS. has "Vain as the sick man's idle dream."

838. Cognizance. "The sable pale of Mar." See on iv. 153 above.

853. With scanty train, etc. The MS. has "On distant chase you will not ride."

856. Lost it. Forgot it.

858. For spoiling of. For fear of ruining. Cf. Shakespeare, Sonn. 52. 4:

"The which he will not every hour survey, For blunting the fine point of seldom pleasure;

T. G. of V. i. 2. 136: "Yet here they shall not lie for catching cold;" Beaumont and Fletcher, Captain, iii. 5: "We'll have a bib for spoiling of thy doublet," etc.

887. Earl William. The Douglas who was stabbed by James II. See on 551 above.



Canto Sixth.

"Lord Jeffrey has objected to the guard-room scene and its accompanying song as the greatest blemish in the whole poem. The scene contrasts forcibly with the grace which characterizes the rest; but in a poem which rests its interest upon incident, such a criticism seems overstrained. It gives us a vigorous picture of a class of men who played a very important part in the history of the time, especially across the Border; men who, many of them outlaws, and fighting, not for country or for king, but for him who paid them best, were humored with every license when they were not on strict military duty. The requirements of the narrative might have been satisfied without these details, it is true; but the use which Sir Walter has made of them—to show the power of beauty and innocence, and the chords of tenderness and goodness which lie ready to vibrate in the wildest natures—may surely reconcile us to such a piece of realism.

"The scene of Roderick's death harmonizes well with his character. The minstrel's account of the battle the poet himself felt to be somewhat long, and yet it is difficult to see how it could be curtailed without spoiling it. It is full of life and vigor, and our only cause of surprise is that the lay should only come to a sudden stand when it is really completed" (Taylor).

6. Scaring, etc. The 1st ed. reads: "And scaring prowling robbers to their den."

7. Battled. Battlemented; as in ii. 702 above.

9. The kind nurse of men. Cf. 2 Hen. IV. iii. 1. 5:

"O sleep, O gentle sleep, Nature's soft nurse," etc.

23. Through narrow loop, etc. The MS. has "Through blackened arch," etc.; and below:

"The lights in strange alliance shone Beneath the arch of blackened stone."

25. Struggling with. Some recent eds. misprint "struggling through."

47. Adventurers they, etc. Scott says: "The Scottish armies consisted chiefly of the nobility and barons, with their vassals, who held lands under them for military service by themselves and their tenants. The patriarchal influence exercised by the heads of clans in the Highlands and Borders was of a different nature, and sometimes at variance with feudal principles. It flowed from the Patria Potestas, exercised by the chieftain as representing the original father of the whole name, and was often obeyed in contradiction to the feudal superior. James V. seems first to have introduced, in addition to the militia furnished from these sources, the service of a small number of mercenaries, who formed a body-guard, called the Foot-Band. The satirical poet, Sir David Lindsay (or the person who wrote the prologue to his play of the Three Estaites), has introduced Finlay of the Foot-Band, who after much swaggering upon the stage is at length put to flight by the Fool, who terrifies him by means of a sheep's skull upon a pole. I have rather chosen to give them the harsh features of the mercenary soldiers of the period, than of this Scottish Thraso. These partook of the character of the Adventurous Companions of Froissart, or the Condottieri of Italy."

53. The Fleming, etc. The soil of Flanders is very fertile and productive, in marked contrast to the greater part of Scotland.

60. Halberd. A combination of spear and battle-axe. See Wb.

63. Holytide. Holiday. For tide = time, see on iii. 478 above.

73. Neighboring to. That is, lying in adjacent rooms.

75. Burden. Alluding to the burden, or chorus, of a song. Cf. ii. 392 above. The MS. has "jest" for joke; and in the next line "And rude oaths vented by the rest."

78. Trent. the English river of that name. Cf. 231 below.

84. That day. Modifying cut shore, not grieved.

87. A merry catch, I troll. Cf. Shakespeare, Temp, iii. 2. 126: "will you troll the catch," etc.

88. Buxom. Lively, brisk; as in Hen. V. iii. 6. 27: "of buxom valour," etc. Its original sense was yielding, obedient; as in F. Q. i. 11. 37: "the buxome aire" (see also Milton, P. L. ii. 842); and Id. iii. 2. 23: "Of them that to him buxome are and prone." For the derivation, see Wb.

90. Poule. Paul; an old spelling, found in Chaucer and other writers. The measure of the song is anapestic (that is, with the accent on every third syllable), with modifications.

92. Black-jack. A kind of pitcher made of leather. Taylor quotes Old Mortality, chap. viii.: "The large black-jack filled with very small beer."

93. Sack. A name applied to Spanish and Canary wines in general; but sometimes the particular kind was specified. Cf. 2 Hen. IV. iv. 3. 104: "good sherris-sack" (that is, sherry wine); and Herrick, Poems:

"thy isles shall lack Grapes, before Herrick leaves Canarie sack."

95. Upsees. "Bacchanalian interjection, borrowed from the Dutch" (Scott). Nares criticises Scott for using the word as a noun. It is generally found in the phrases "upsee Dutch" and "upsee Freeze" (the same thing, Frise being = Dutch), which appear to mean "in the Dutch fashion." Cf. Ben Jonson, Alchemist, iv. 6:

"I do not like the dullness of your eye, It hath a heavy east, 't is upsee Dutch;"

that is, looks like intoxication. See also Beaumont and Fletcher, Beggar's Bush, iv. 4: "The bowl... which must be upsey English, strong, lusty, London beer."

98. Kerchief. See on iii. 495 above.

100. Gillian. A common old English name (according to Coles and others, a corruption of Juliana), often contracted into Gill of Jill, and used as a familiar term for a woman, as Jack was for a man. The two are often associated; as in the proverbs "Every Jack must have his Jill," and "A good Jack makes a good Jill."

103. Placket. Explained by some as = stomacher; by others as = petticoat, or the slit or opening in those garments. Cf. Wb. It is often used figuratively for woman, as here. Placket and pot = women and wine.

104. Lurch. Rob. Cf. Shakespeare, Cor. ii. 2. 105: "He lurch'd all swords of the garland;" that is, robbed them all of the prize.

112. The drum. The 1st ed. has "your drum."

116. Plaid. For the rhyme, see on i. 363 above.

124. Store of blood. Plenty of blood. Cf. Milton, L'Allegro, 121: "With store of ladies," etc. See also on the adjective, i. 548 above.

127. Reward thy toil. The MS. goes on thus:

"Get thee an ape, and then at once Thou mayst renounce the warder's lance, And trudge through borough and through land, The leader of a juggler band."

Scott has the following note here: "The jongleurs, or jugglers, as we learn from the elaborate work of the late Mr. Strutt, on the sports and pastimes of the people of England, used to call in the aid of various assistants, to render these performances as captivating as possible. The glee-maiden was a necessary attendant. Her duty was tumbling and dancing; and therefore the Anglo-Saxon version of Saint Mark's Gospel states Herodias to have vaulted or tumbled before King Herod. In Scotland these poor creatures seem, even at a late period, to have been bondswomen to their masters, as appears from a case reported by Fountainhall: 'Reid the mountebank pursues Scot of Harden and his lady for stealing away from him a little girl, called the tumbling-lassie, that dance upon his stage; and he claimed damages, and produced a contract, whereby he bought her from her mother for L30 Scots. But we have no slaves in Scotland, and mothers cannot sell their bairns; and physicians attested the employment of tumbling would kill her; and her joints were now grown stiff, and she declined to return; though she was at least a 'prentice, and so could not run away from her master; yet some cited Moses's law, that if a servant shelter himself with thee against his master's cruelty, thou shalt surely not deliver him up. The Lords, renitente cancellario, assoilzied Harden on the 27th of January (1687)' (Fountainhall's Decisions, vol. i. p. 439)."

136. Purvey. Provide. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. v. 12. 10: "He all things did purvay which for them needfull weare."

147. Bertram, etc. The MS. has "Bertram his such violence withstood."

152. The tartan screen. That is, the tartan which she had drawn over her head as a veil.

155. The savage soldiery, etc. The MS. has "While the rude soldiery, amazed;" and in 164 below, "Should Ellen Douglas suffer wrong."

167. I shame me. I shame myself, I am ashamed. The very was formerly used intransitively in this sense. Cf. Shakespeare, R. of L. 1143: "As shaming any eye should thee behold;" A. Y. L. iv. 3. 136: "I do not shame to tell you what I was," etc.

170. Needwood. A royal forest in Staffordshire.

171. Poor Rose, etc. The MS. reads:

"'My Rose,'—he wiped his iron eye and brow,— 'Poor Rose,—if Rose be living now.'"

178. Part. Act; used for the rhyme. The expression is not unlike "do the part of an honest man" (Much Ado, ii. 1. 172), or "act the part," as we should now put it.

183. Tullibardine. The name of an old seat of the Murray family, about twenty miles from Stirling.

199. Errant damosel. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 1. 19: "Th' adventure of the Errant damozell."

209. Given by the Monarch, etc. The MS. has "The Monarch gave to James Fitz-James."

218. Bower. Chamber. See on i. 217 above.

222. Permit I marshal you the way. Permit that I conduct you thither.

233. The vacant purse, etc. The MS. reads:

"The silken purse shall serve for me, And in my barret-cap shall flee""—

a forced rhyme which the poet did well to get rid of.

234. Barret-cap. Cloth cap. Cf. the Lay, iii. 216:

"Old England's sign, St. George's cross, His barret-cap did grace."

He puts the purse in his cap as a favor. See on iv. 686 above.

242. Master's. He means the Douglas, but John of Brent takes it to refer to Roderick. See 305 below.

261. Wot. Know, understand. See on i. 596 above.

276. Rugged vaults. The MS. has "low broad vaults;" and in 279, "stretching" for crushing.

291. Oaken floor. The MS. and 1st ed. have "flinty floor;" and below:

"'thou mayst remain;' And then, retiring, bolt and chain, And rusty bar, he drew again. Roused at the sound," etc.

292, 293. Such... hold. This couplet is not in the 1st ed., and presumably not in the MS., though the fact is not noted by Lockhart.

295. Leech. Physician. Cf. F. Q. iii. 3. 18: "Yf any leaches skill," etc.; and in the preceding stanza, "More neede of leach-crafte hath your Damozell," etc.

306. Prore. Prow (Latin prora); used only in poetry.

309. Astrand. On strand (cf. ashore), stranded.

316. At sea. The MS. has "on main," and "plain" for lea in the rhyme. The 1st ed. and that of 1821 have "on sea."

334. Has never harp, etc. The MS. reads:

"Shall never harp of minstrel tell Of combat fought so fierce and well."

348. Strike it! Scott says: "There are several instances, at least in tradition, of persons so much attached to particular tunes, as to require to hear them on their death-bed. Such an anecdote is mentioned by the late Mr. Riddel of Glenriddel, in his collection of Border tunes, respecting an air called the 'Dandling of the Bairns,' for which a certain Gallovidian laird is said to have evinced this strong mark of partiality. It is popularly told of a famous freebooter, that he composed the tune known by the name of Macpherson's Rant while under sentence of death, and played it at the gallows-tree. Some spirited words have been adapted to it by Burns. A similar story is recounted of a Welsh bard, who composed and played on his death-bed the air called Dafyddy Garregg Wen. But the most curious example is given by Brantome of a maid of honor at the court of France, entitled Mademoiselle de Limeuil: 'Durant sa maladie, dont elle trespassa, jamais elle ne cessa, ainsi causa tousjours; car elle estoit fort grande parleuse, brocardeuse, et tres-bien et fort a propos, et tres-belle avec cela. Quand l'heure de sa fin fut venue, elle fit venir a soy son valet (ainsi que les filles de la cour en ont chacune un), qui s'appelloit Julien, et scavoit tres-bien jouer du violon. "Julien," luy dit elle, "prenez vostre violon, et sonnez moy tousjours jusques a ce que vous me voyez morte (car je m'y en vais) la Defaite des Suisses, et le mieux que vous pourrez, et quand vous serez sur le mot, 'Tout est perdu,' sonnez le par quatre ou cing fois, le plus piteusement que vous pourrez," ce qui fit l'autre, et elle-mesme luy aidoit de la voix, et quand ce vint "tout est perdu," elle le reitera par deux fois; et se tournant de l'autre coste du chevet, elle dit a ses compagnes: "Tout est perdu a ce coup, et a bon escient;" et ainsi deceda. Voila une morte joyeuse et plaisante. Je tiens ce conte de deux de ses compagnes, dignes de foi, qui virent jouer ce mystere' (OEuvres de Brantome, iii. 507). The tune to which this fair lady chose to make her final exit was composed on the defeat of the Swiss of Marignano. The burden is quoted by Panurge in Rabelais, and consists of these words, imitating the jargon of the Swiss, which is a mixture of French and German:

'Tout est verlore, La Tintelore, Tout est verlore bi Got.'"

362. With what, etc. This line is not in the MS.

369. Battle of Beal' au Duine. Scott has the following note here:

"A skirmish actually took place at a pass thus called in the Trosachs, and closed with the remarkable incident mentioned in the text. It was greatly posterior in date to the reign of James V.

'In this roughly-wooded island [13] the country people secreted their wives and children and their most valuable effects from the rapacity of Cromwell's soldiers during their inroad into this country, in the time of the republic. These invaders, not venturing to ascend by the ladders along the lake, took a more circuitous road through the heart of the Trosachs, the most frequented path at that time, which penetrates the wilderness about half way between Binean and the lake by a tract called Yea-chilleach, or the Old Wife's Bog.

'In one of the defiles of this by-road the men of the country at that time hung upon the rear of the invading enemy, and shot one of Cromwell's men, whose grave marks the scene of action, and gives name to that pass. [14] In revenge of this insult, the soldiers resolved to plunder the island, to violate the women, and put the children to death. With this brutal intention, one of the party, more expert than the rest, swam towards the island, to fetch the boat to his comrades, which had carried the women to their asylum, and lay moored in one of the creeks. His companions stood on the shore of the mainland, in full view of all that was to pass, waiting anxiously for his return with the boat. But just as the swimmer had got to the nearest point of the island, and was laying hold of a black rock to get on shore, a heroine, who stood on the very point where he meant to land, hastily snatching a dagger from below her apron, with one stroke severed his head from the body. His party seeing this disaster, and relinquishing all future hope of revenge or conquest, made the best of their way out of their perilous situation. This amazon's great grandson lives at Bridge of Turk, who, besides others, attests the anecdote' (Sketch of the Scenery near Callander, Stirling, 1806, p. 20). I have only to add to this account that the heroine's name was Helen Stuart."

376. No ripple on the lake. "The liveliness of this description of the battle is due to the greater variety of the metre, which resembles that of Marmion. The three-accent lines introduced at intervals give it lightness, and the repetition of the same rhyme enables the poet to throw together without break all that forms part of one picture" (Taylor).

377. Erne. Eagle. See Wb.

392. I see, etc. Cf. iv. 152 above.

396. Boune. See on iv. 36 above. Most eds. misprint "bound."

404. Barded. The reading of the 1st ed. and that of 1821; "corrected" in all the recent ones into "barbed." Scott doubtless wrote barded (= armored, or wearing defensive armor; but applied only to horses), a word found in many old writers. Cf. Holinshed (quoted by Nares): "with barded horses, all covered with iron," etc. See also Wb. Scott has the word again in the Lay, i. 311:

"Above the foaming tide, I ween, Scarce half the charger's neck was seen; For he was barded from counter to tail, And the rider was armed complete in mail."

405. Battalia. Battalion, army. The word is not a plural of battalion, as some have seemed to think. See Wb.

414. Vaward. In the vanward, or vanguard; misprinted "vanward" in some editions. Shakespeare has the noun several times; as in Hen. V. iv. 3. 130: "The leading of the vaward;" Cor. i. 6. 53: "Their bands i' the vaward;" and figuratively in M. N. D. iv. 1. 110: "the vaward of the day," etc.

419. Pride. Some eds. misprint "power."

429. As. As if. See on ii. 56 above.

434. Their flight they ply. The reading of the 1st ed. and that of 1821. Most of the eds. have "plight" for flight, and Taylor has the following note on Their plight they ply: "The meaning of this is not very clear. Possibly 'they keep up a constant fire,' but they seem in too complete a rout for that." Cf. iii. 318 above.

438. The rear. The 1st ed. has "their rear."

443. Twilight wood. Cf. 403 above. "The appearance of the spears and pikes was such that in the twilight they might have been mistaken at a distance for a wood" (Taylor).

449-450. And closely shouldering, etc. This couplet is not in the MS.

452. Tinchel. "A circle of sportsmen, who, by surrounding a great space, and gradually narrowing, brought immense quantities of deer together, which usually made desperate efforts to breach through the Tinchel" (Scott).

459. The tide. The 1st ed. has "their tide."

473. Now, gallants! etc. Cf. Macaulay, Battle of Ivry:

"Now by the lips of those ye love, Fair gentlemen of France, Charge for the golden lilies,— Upon them with the lance!"

483. And refluent, etc. The MS. reads:

"And refluent down the darksome pass The battle's tide was poured; There toiled the spearman's struggling spear, There raged the mountain sword."

488. Linn. Here the word is = cataract. See on i. 71 and ii. 270 above.

497. Minstrel, away! The MS. has "Away! away!"

509. Surge. Note the imperfect rhyme. See on i. 223 above.

511. That sullen. The reading of the 1st ed. and that of 1821; "the sullen" in many eds.

514. That parts not, etc. Lockhart quotes Byron, Giaour:

"the loveliness in death That parts not quite with parting breath."

515. Seeming, etc. The MS. reads:

"And seemed, to minstrel ear, to toll The parting dirge of many a soul."

For part = depart, see on ii. 94 above.

523. While by the lake, etc. The MS. reads:

"While by the darkened lake below File out the spearmen of the foe."

525. At weary bay. See on i. 133 above.

527. Tattered sail. The 1st ed. has "shattered sail;" not noted in the Errata.

532. Saxons. Some eds. misprint "Saxon."

538. Wont. See on i. 408 above.

539. Store. See on i. 548 above. Bonnet-pieces were gold coins on which the King's head was represented with a bonnet instead of a crown.

540. To him will swim. For the ellipsis, see on i. 528 above.

556. Her billows, etc. The 1st ed. has "Her billow reared his snowy crest," and "its" for they in the next line.

564. It tinged, etc. The MS. has "It tinged the boats and lake with flame."

Lines 561-568 are interpolated in the MS. on a slip of paper.

565. Duncraggan's widowed dame. Cf. iii. 428 fol. above.

567. A naked dirk. The 1st ed. has "Her husband's dirk."

592. Chime. Music. Cf. iv. 524 above.

595. Varied his look, etc. The MS. has "Glowed in his look, as swelled the song;" and in 600,

"his glazing eye." fiery

602. Thus, motionless, etc. Cf. the Introduction to Rob Roy; "Rob Roy, while on his death-bed, learned that a person, with whom he was at enmity, proposed to visit him. 'Raise me from my bed,' said the invalid; 'throw my plaid around me, and bring me my claymore, dirk, and pistols: it shall never be said that a foeman saw Rob Roy MacGregor defenceless and unarmed.' His foeman, conjectured to be one of the MacLarens, entered and paid his compliments, inquiring after the health of his formidable neighbor. Rob Roy maintained a cold, haughty civility during their short conference; and so soon as he had left the house, 'Now,' he said, 'all is over—let the piper play Ha til mi tulidh' [we return no more], and he is said to have expired before the dirge was finished."

605. Grim and still. Originally "stern and still." In a note to the printer, sent with the final stanzas, Scott writes: "I send the grand finale, and so exit the Lady of the Lake from the head she has tormented for six months. In canto vi. stanza 21,—stern and still, read grim and still; sternly occurs four lines higher. For a similar reason, stanza 24,—dun deer read fleet deer."

608. And art thou, etc. The MS. has "'And art thou gone,' the Minstrel said."

609. Foeman's. Misprinted "foeman's" in some eds.

610. Breadalbane. See on ii. 416 above.

614. The shelter, etc. The MS. has "The mightiest of a mighty line."

631. Even she. That is, Ellen.

638. Storied. Referring to the scenes depicted on the painted glass. Cf. Milton, Il Penseroso, 159: "And storied windows, richly dight." The change of tense in fall is of course for the rhyme; but we might expect "lighten" for lightened.

643. The banquet, etc. The MS. reads:

"The banquet gay, the chamber's pride, Scarce drew one curious glance aside;"

and in 653, "earnest on his game."

665. Of perch and hood. That is, of enforced idleness. See on ii. 525 above. In some eds. this song is printed without any division into stanzas.

670. Forest. The 1st ed. and that of 1821 have "forests," but we suspect that Scott wrote forest.

672. Is meet for me. The MS. has "was meant for me." For the ellipsis, cf. 540 above.

674. From yon dull steeple's," etc. The MS. has "From darkened steeple's" etc. See on v. 558 above.

677. The lark, etc. The MS. has "The lively lark my matins rung," and "sung" in the rhyme. The omission of to with ring and sing is here a poetic license; but in Elizabethan English it is common in many cases where it would not now be admissible. Cf. Othello, ii. 3. 190: "you were wont be civil;" F. Q. i. 1. 50: "He thought have slaine her," etc.

680. A hall, etc. The MS. has "a hall should harbor me."

683. Fleet deer. See on 605 above.

707. At morning prime. Early in the morning. Prime is properly the first canonical hour of prayer, or 6 a.m. For its looser use here, cf. F. Q. ii. 9. 25: "at evening and at prime."

712. Stayed. Supported; not to be printed "staid," as in some editions.

716. Within, etc. The MS. reads:

"Within 't was brilliant all, and bright The vision glowed on Ellen's sight."

726. Presence. Presence-chamber. Cf. Rich. II. i. 3. 289:

"Suppose the singing birds musicians, The grass whereon thou tread'st the presence strew'd"

(that is, strewn with rushes); Hen. VIII. iii. 1. 17:

"the two great cardinals Wait in the presence," etc.

727. For him, etc. The MS. reads: "For him who owned this royal state."

737. Sheen. Bright. See on i. 208 above.

740. And Snowdoun's Knight is Scotland's King. Scott says: "This discovery will probably remind the reader of the beautiful Arabian tale of Il Bondocani. Yet the incident is not borrowed from that elegant story, but from Scottish tradition. James V., of whom we are treating, was a monarch whose good and benevolent intentions often rendered his romantic freaks venial, if not respectable, since, from his anxious attention to the interests of the lower and most oppressed class of his subjects, he was, as we have seen, popularly termed the King of the Commons. For the purpose of seeing that justice was regularly administered, and frequently from the less justifiable motive of gallantry, he used to traverse the vicinage of his several palaces in various disguises. The two excellent comic songs entitled The Gaberlunzie Man and We'll gae nae mair a roving are said to have been founded upon the success of his amorous adventures when travelling in the disguise of a beggar. The latter is perhaps the best comic ballad in any language.

"Another adventure, which had nearly cost James his life, is said to have taken place at the village of Cramond, near Edinburgh, where he had rendered his addresses acceptable to a pretty girl of the lower rank. Four or five persons, whether relations or lovers of his mistress is uncertain, beset the disguised monarch as he returned from his rendezvous. Naturally gallant, and an admirable master of his weapon, the King took post on the high and narrow bridge over the Almond river, and defended himself bravely with his sword. A peasant who was thrashing in a neighboring barn came out upon the noise, and, whether moved by compassion or by natural gallantry, took the weaker side, and laid about with his flail so effectually as to disperse the assailants, well thrashed, even according to the letter. He then conducted the King into his barn, where his guest requested a basin and a towel, to remove the stains of the broil. This being procured with difficulty, James employed himself in learning what was the summit of the deliverer's earthly wishes, and found that they were bounded by the desire of possessing, in property, the farm of Braehead, upon which he labored as a bondsman. The lands chanced to belong to the Crown; and James directed him to come to the palace of Holyrood and inquire for the Guidman (that is, farmer) of Ballenguich, a name by which he was known in his excursions, and which answered to the Il Bondocani of Haroun Alraschid. He presented himself accordingly, and found, with due astonishment, that he had saved his monarch's life, and that he was to be gratified with a crown charter of the lands of Braehead, under the service of presenting a ewer, basin, and towel for the King to wash his hands when he shall happen to pass the bridge of Cramond. This person was ancestor of the Howisons of Braehead, in Mid-Lothian, a respectable family, who continue to hold the lands (now passed into the female line) under the same tenure. [15]

"Another of James's frolics is thus narrated by Mr. Campbell from the Statistical Account: 'Being once benighted when out a-hunting, and separated from his attendants, he happened to enter a cottage in the midst of a moor, at the foot of the Ochil hills, near Alloa, where, unknown, he was kindly received. In order to regale their unexpected guest, the gudeman desired the gudewife to fetch the hen that roosted nearest the cock, which is always the plumpest, for the stranger's supper. The King, highly pleased with his night's lodging and hospitable entertainment, told mine host, at parting, that he should be glad to return his civility, and requested that the first time he came to Stirling he would call at the Castle, and inquire for the Gudeman of Ballenguich. Donaldson, the landlord, did not fail to call on the Gudeman of Ballenguich, when his astonishment at finding that the King had been his guest afforded no small amusement to the merry monarch and his courtiers; and to carry on the pleasantry, he was thenceforth designated by James with the title of King of the Moors, which name and designation have descended from father to son ever since, and they have continued in possession of the identical spot, the property of Mr. Erskine of Mar, till very lately, when this gentleman with reluctance turned out the descendant and representative of the King of the Moors, on account of his Majesty's invincible indolence, and great dislike to reform or innovation of any kind, although, from the spirited example of his neighbor tenants on the same estate, he is convinced similar exertion would promote his advantage.'

"The author requests permission yet farther to verify the subject of his poem, by an extract from the genealogical work of Buchanan of Auchmar, upon Scottish surnames (Essay upon the Family of Buchanan, p. 74):

'This John Buchanan of Auchmar and Arnpryor was afterwards termed King of Kippen [a small district of Perthshire] upon the following account: King James V., a very sociable, debonair prince, residing at Stirling, in Buchanan of Arnpryor's time, carriers were very frequently passing along the common road, being near Arnpryor's house, with necessaries for the use of the King's family; and he, having some extraordinary occasion, ordered one of these carriers to leave his load at his house, and he would pay him for it; which the carrier refused to do, telling him he was the King's carrier, and his load for his Majesty's use; to which Arnpryor seemed to have small regard, compelling the carrier, in the end, to leave his load; telling him, if King James was King of Scotland, he was King of Kippen, so that it was reasonable he should share with his neighbor king in some of these loads, so frequently carried that road. The carrier representing these usage, and telling the story as Arnpryor spoke it, to some of the King's servants, it came at length to his majesty's ears, who shortly thereafter, with a few attendants, came to visit his neighbor king, who was in the meantime at dinner. King James, having sent a servant to demand access, was denied the same by a tall fellow with a battle-axe, who stood porter at the gate, telling there could be no access till dinner was over. This answer not satisfying the King, he sent to demand access a second time; upon which he was desired by the porter to desist, otherwise he would find cause to repent his rudeness. His Majesty finding this method would not do, desired the porter to tell his master that the Goodman of Ballangeigh desired to speak with the King of Kippen. The porter telling Arnpryor so much, he, in all humble manner, came and received the King, and having entertained him with much sumptuousness and jollity, became so agreeable to King James, that he allowed him to take so much of any provision he found carrying that road as he had occasion for; and seeing he made the first visit, desired Arnpryor in a few days to return him a second to Stirling, which he performed, and continued in very much favor with the King, always thereafter being termed King of Kippen while he lived.'

"The readers of Ariosto must give credit for the amiable features with which James is represented, since he is generally considered as the prototype of Zerbino, the most interesting hero of the Orlando Furioso."

743. Glided from her stay. The MS. has "shrinking, quits her stay."

Ruskin asks us to "note the northern love of rocks" in this passage, and adds: "Dante could not have thought of his 'cut rocks' as giving rest even to snow. He must put it on the pine branches, if it is to be at peace." Taylor quotes Holmes, Autocrat of Breakfast Table: "She melted away from her seat like an image of snow."

780. Pry. Look pryingly or curiously. In prose on would not be used with pry.

784. To speed. To a fortunate issue; unless speed be the verb, and = pass.

786. In life's more low but happier way. The MS. has "In lowly life's more happy way."

789. The name of Snowdoun. Scott says: "William of Worcester, who wrote about the middle of the fifteenth century, calls Stirling Castle Snowdoun. Sir David Lindsay bestows the same epithet upon it in his Complaint of the Papingo:

'Adieu, fair Snawdoun, with thy towers high, Thy chaple-royal, park, and table round; May, June, and July, would I dwell in thee, Were I a man, to hear the birdis sound, Whilk doth agane thy royal rock rebound.'

"Mr. Chalmers, in his late excellent edition of Sir David Lindsay's works, has refuted the chimerical derivation of Snawdoun from snedding, or cutting. It was probably derived from the romantic legend which connected Stirling with King Arthur, to which the mention of the Round Table gives countenance. The ring within which justs were formerly practised in the Castle park, is still called the Round Table. Snawdoun is the official title of one of the Scottish heralds, whose epithets seem in all countries to have been fantastically adopted from ancient history or romance.

"It appears from the preceding note that the real name by which James was actually distinguished in his private excursions was the Goodman of Ballenguich; derived from a steep pass leading up to the Castle of Stirling, so called. But the epithet would not have suited poetry, and would besides at once, and prematurely, have announced the plot to many of my country men, among whom the traditional stories above mentioned are still current."

798. My spell-bound steps. The MS. has

"Thy sovereign back to Benvenue." Thy sovereign's steps

800. Glaive. Sword. See on iv. 274 above.

803. Pledge of my faith, etc. The MS. has "Pledge of Fitz-James's faith, the ring."

808. A lightening. Some eds. have "A lightning."

809. And more, etc. The MS. reads:

"And in her breast strove maiden shame; More deep she deemed the Monarch's ire Kindled 'gainst him, who, for her sire, Against his Sovereign broadsword drew; And, with a pleading, warm and true, She craved the grace of Roderick Dhu."

813. Grace. Pardon.

825. Stained. Reddened.

829. The Graeme. Jeffrey says: "Malcolm Graeme has too insignificant a part assigned him, considering the favor in which he is held both by Ellen and the author; and in bringing out the shaded and imperfect character of Roderick Dhu as a contrast to the purer virtue of his rival, Mr. Scott seems to have fallen into the common error of making him more interesting than him whose virtues he was intended to set off, and converted the villain of the piece in some measure into its hero. A modern poet, however, may perhaps be pardoned for an error of which Milton himself is thought not to have kept clear, and for which there seems so natural a cause in the difference between poetical and amiable characters."

837. Warder. Guard, jailer.

841. Lockhart quotes here the following extract from a letter of Byron's to Scott, dated July 6, 1812:

"And now, waiving myself, let me talk to you of the Prince Regent. He ordered me to be presented to him at a ball; and after some saying, peculiarly pleasing from royal lips, as to my own attempts, he talked to me of you and your immoralities: he preferred you to every bard past and present, and asked which of your works pleased me most. It was a difficult question. I answered, I thought the Lay. He said his own opinion was nearly similar. In speaking of the others, I told him that I thought you more particularly the poet of princes, as they never appeared more fascinating than in Marmion and The Lady of the Lake. He was pleased to coincide, and to dwell on the description of your James's as no less royal than poetical. He spoke alternately of Homer and yourself, and seemed well acquainted with both."

842. Harp of the North, farewell! Cf. the introduction to the poem.

846. Wizard elm. See on i. 2 above.

850. Housing. Returning to the hive.

858. The grief devoured. For the figure, cf. Ps. xlii. 3, lxxx. 5, and Isa. xxx. 20.

859. O'erlive. Several eds. misprint "o'erlived."



Addendum.

Since our first edition appeared we have had the privilege of examining a copy of Scott's 2d ed. (1810), belonging to Mr. E. S. Gould, of Yonkers, N. Y. This 2d ed. is in smaller type than the 1st, and in octavo form, the 1st being in quarto. A minute collation of the text with that of the 1st ed. and our own shows that Scott carefully revised the poem for this 2d ed., and that the changes he afterwards made in it were few and unimportant. For instance, the text includes the verbal changes which we have adopted in i. 198, 290, 432, ii. 103, 201, 203, 534, iii. 30, 173, 190, 508, v. 106, 253, 728, 811, iv. 6, 112, 527, 556, 567, etc. In vi. 291 fol. it reads (including the omissions and insertions) as in our text. In i. 336, 340, the pointing is the same as in the 1st ed.; and in i. 360, the reading is "dear." In ii. 865, 866, it varies from the pointing of the 1st ed.; but we are inclined to regard this as a misprint, not a correction. In ii. 76 this 2d ed. has "lingerewave" for "lingerer wave," and in ii. 217 it repeats the preposterous misprint of "his glee" from the 1st ed. If Scott could overlook such palpable errors as these, he might easily fail to detect the misplacing of a comma. We have our doubts as to i. 336, 340, where the 1st and 2d eds. agree; but there a misprint may have been left uncorrected, as in ii. 217.

Jan. 25, 1884.



FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1: One of Scott's (on vi. 47) has suffered badly in Lockhart's edition. In a quotation from Lord Berners's Froissart (which I omit) a whole page seems to have dropped out, and the last sentence, as it now stands, is made up of pans of the one preceding and the one following the lost matter. It reads thus (I mark the gap): "There all the companyons made them[... ] breke no poynt of that ye have ordayned and commanded.,' This is palpable nonsense, but it has been repeated without correction in every reprint of Lockhart's edition for the last fifty years.]

[Footnote 2: Lockhart says: "The lady with whom Sir Walter Scott held this conversation was, no doubt, his aunt, Miss Christian Rutherford; there was no other female relation DEAD when this Introduction was written, whom I can suppose him to have consulted on literary questions. Lady Capulet, on seeing the corpse of Tybalt, exclaims,—

'Tybalt, my cousin! O my brother's child!'"]

[Footnote 3: Lockhart quotes Byron, Don Juan, xi. 55:

"In twice five years the 'greatest living poet,' Like to the champion in the fisty ring, Is called on to support his claim, or show it, Although 't is an imaginary thing," etc.]

[Footnote 4: "Sir Walter reigned before me," etc. (Don Juan, xi. 57).]

[Footnote 5: The Spenserian stanza, first used by Spenser in his Faerie Queene, consists of eight lines of ten syllables, followed by a line of twelve syllables, the accents throughout being on the even syllables (the so-called iambic measure). There are three sets of rhymes: one for the first and third lines; another for the second, fourth, fifth, and seventh; and a third for the sixth, eighth, and ninth.]

[Footnote 6: Vide Certayne Matters concerning the Realme of Scotland, etc., as they were Anno Domini 1597. London, 1603.]

[Footnote 7: See on ii. 319 above.]

[Footnote 8: Hallowe'en.]

[Footnote 9: To the raven that sat on the forked tree he gave his gifts.]

[Footnote 10: "This story is still current in the moors of Staffordshire, and adapted by the peasantry to their own meridian. I have repeatedly heard it told, exactly as here, by rustics who could not read. My last authority was a nailer near Cheadle" (R. Jamieson).]

[Footnote 11: See Scottish Historical and Romantic Ballads, Glasgow, 1808, vol. ii. p. 117.]

[Footnote 12: A champion of popular romance; see Ellis's Romances, vol. iii.]

[Footnote 13: "That at the eastern extremity of Loch Katrine, so often mentioned in the text."]

[Footnote 14: "Beallach an duine."]

[Footnote 15: "The reader will find this story told at greater length, and with the addition in particular of the King being recognized, like the Fitz-James of the Lady of the Lake, by being the only person covered, in the First Series of Tales of a Grandfather, vol. iii, p. 37. The heir of Braehead discharged his duty at the banquet given to King George IV. in the Parliament House at Edinburgh, in 1822" (Lockhart).]

THE END