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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/3011-8.txt b/3011-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ecb2ff3 --- /dev/null +++ b/3011-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12948 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Lady of the Lake, by Sir Walter Scott + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Lady of the Lake + +Author: Sir Walter Scott + +Commentator: William J. Rolfe + +Editor: William J. Rolfe + +Posting Date: February 9, 2009 [EBook #3011] +Release Date: January, 2002 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LADY OF THE LAKE *** + + + + +Produced by J.C. Byers + + + + + +THE LADY OF THE LAKE + +By Sir Walter Scott, Bart. + + + +Edited with Notes By William J. Rolfe, + +Formerly Head Master of the High School, Cambridge, Mass. + + +Boston + +1883 + + + + +Preface + + + +When I first saw Mr. Osgood's beautiful illustrated edition of The Lady +of the Lake, I asked him to let me use some of the cuts in a cheaper +annotated edition for school and household use; and the present volume +is the result. + +The text of the poem has given me unexpected trouble. When I edited +some of Gray's poems several years ago, I found that they had not been +correctly printed for more than half a century; but in the case of Scott +I supposed that the text of Black's so-called "Author's Edition" could +be depended upon as accurate. Almost at the start, however, I detected +sundry obvious misprints in one of the many forms in which this edition +is issued, and an examination of others showed that they were as bad in +their way. The "Shilling" issue was no worse than the costly illustrated +one of 1853, which had its own assortment of slips of the type. No two +editions that I could obtain agreed exactly in their readings. I tried +in vain to find a copy of the editio princeps (1810) in Cambridge and +Boston, but succeeded in getting one through a London bookseller. This +I compared, line by line, with the Edinburgh edition of 1821 (from the +Harvard Library), with Lockhart's first edition, the "Globe" edition, +and about a dozen others English and American. I found many misprints +and corruptions in all except the edition of 1821, and a few even in +that. For instance in i. 217 Scott wrote "Found in each cliff a narrow +bower," and it is so printed in the first edition; but in every other +that I have seen "cliff" appears in place of clift,, to the manifest +injury of the passage. In ii. 685, every edition that I have seen since +that of 1821 has "I meant not all my heart might say," which is worse +than nonsense, the correct reading being "my heat." In vi. 396, the +Scottish "boune" (though it occurs twice in other parts of the poem) +has been changed to "bound" in all editions since 1821; and, eight lines +below, the old word "barded" has become "barbed." Scores of similar +corruptions are recorded in my Notes, and need not be cited here. + +I have restored the reading of the first edition, except in cases where +I have no doubt that the later reading is the poet's own correction or +alteration. There are obvious misprints in the first edition which Scott +himself overlooked (see on ii. 115, 217,, Vi. 527, etc.), and it is +sometimes difficult to decide whether a later reading--a change of a +plural to a singular, or like trivial variation--is a misprint or the +author's correction of an earlier misprint. I have done the best I +could, with the means at my command, to settle these questions, and am +at least certain that the text as I give it is nearer right than in +any edition since 1821 As all the variae lectiones are recorded in the +Notes, the reader who does not approve of the one I adopt can substitute +that which he prefers. + +I have retained all Scott's Notes (a few of them have been somewhat +abridged) and all those added by Lockhart. [1] My own I have made as +concise as possible. There are, of course, many of them which many of +my readers will not need, but I think there are none that may not be of +service, or at least of interest, to some of them; and I hope that no +one will turn to them for help without finding it. + +Scott is much given to the use of Elizabethan words and constructions, +and I have quoted many "parallelisms" from Shakespeare and his +contemporaries. I believe I have referred to my edition of Shakespeare +in only a single instance (on iii. 17), but teachers and others who have +that edition will find many additional illustrations in the Notes on the +passages cited. + +While correcting the errors of former editors, I may have overlooked +some of my own. I am already indebted to the careful proofreaders of the +University Press for the detection of occasional slips in quotations or +references; and I shall be very grateful to my readers for a memorandum +of any others that they may discover. + +Cambridge, June 23, 1883.. + + + + +ARGUMENT. + + +The scene of the following Poem is laid chiefly in the vicinity of Loch +Katrine, in the Western Highlands of Perthshire. The time of Action +includes Six Days, and the transactions of each Day occupy a Canto. + + + + + +THE LADY OF THE LAKE. + + + + +CANTO FIRST. + +The Chase. + + + + Harp of the North! that mouldering long hast hung + On the witch-elm that shades Saint Fillan's spring + And down the fitful breeze thy numbers flung, + Till envious ivy did around thee cling, + Muffling with verdant ringlet every string,-- + O Minstrel Harp, still must thine accents sleep? + Mid rustling leaves and fountains murmuring, + Still must thy sweeter sounds their silence keep, + Nor bid a warrior smile, nor teach a maid to weep? + + Not thus, in ancient days of Caledon, [10] + Was thy voice mute amid the festal crowd, + When lay of hopeless love, or glory won, + Aroused the fearful or subdued the proud. + At each according pause was heard aloud + Thine ardent symphony sublime and high! + Fair dames and crested chiefs attention bowed; + For still the burden of thy minstrelsy + Was Knighthood's dauntless deed, and Beauty's matchless eye. + + O, wake once more! how rude soe'er the hand + That ventures o'er thy magic maze to stray; + O, wake once more! though scarce my skill command + Some feeble echoing of thine earlier lay: + Though harsh and faint, and soon to die away, + And all unworthy of thy nobler strain, + Yet if one heart throb higher at its sway, + The wizard note has not been touched in vain. + Then silent be no more! Enchantress, wake again! + + + I. + + The stag at eve had drunk his fill, + Where danced the moon on Monan's rill, + And deep his midnight lair had made + In lone Glenartney's hazel shade; + But when the sun his beacon red + Had kindled on Benvoirlich's head, + The deep-mouthed bloodhound's heavy bay + Resounded up the rocky way, + And faint, from farther distance borne, + Were heard the clanging hoof and horn. + + + II. + + As Chief, who hears his warder call, + 'To arms! the foemen storm the wall,' + The antlered monarch of the waste + Sprung from his heathery couch in haste. + But ere his fleet career he took, + The dew-drops from his flanks he shook; + Like crested leader proud and high + Tossed his beamed frontlet to the sky; + A moment gazed adown the dale, + A moment snuffed the tainted gale, + A moment listened to the cry, + That thickened as the chase drew nigh; + Then, as the headmost foes appeared, + With one brave bound the copse he cleared, + And, stretching forward free and far, + Sought the wild heaths of Uam-Var. + + + III. + + Yelled on the view the opening pack; + Rock, glen, and cavern paid them back; + To many a mingled sound at once + The awakened mountain gave response. + A hundred dogs bayed deep and strong, + Clattered a hundred steeds along, + Their peal the merry horns rung out, + A hundred voices joined the shout; + With hark and whoop and wild halloo, + No rest Benvoirlich's echoes knew. + Far from the tumult fled the roe, + Close in her covert cowered the doe, + The falcon, from her cairn on high, + Cast on the rout a wondering eye, + Till far beyond her piercing ken + The hurricane had swept the glen. + Faint, and more faint, its failing din + Returned from cavern, cliff, and linn, + And silence settled, wide and still, + On the lone wood and mighty hill. + + + IV. + + Less loud the sounds of sylvan war + Disturbed the heights of Uam-Var, + And roused the cavern where, 't is told, + A giant made his den of old; + For ere that steep ascent was won, + High in his pathway hung the sun, + And many a gallant, stayed perforce, + Was fain to breathe his faltering horse, + And of the trackers of the deer + Scarce half the lessening pack was near; + So shrewdly on the mountain-side + Had the bold burst their mettle tried. + + + V. + + The noble stag was pausing now + Upon the mountain's southern brow, + Where broad extended, far beneath, + The varied realms of fair Menteith. + With anxious eye he wandered o'er + Mountain and meadow, moss and moor, + And pondered refuge from his toil, + By far Lochard or Aberfoyle. + But nearer was the copsewood gray + That waved and wept on Loch Achray, + And mingled with the pine-trees blue + On the bold cliffs of Benvenue. + Fresh vigor with the hope returned, + With flying foot the heath he spurned, + Held westward with unwearied race, + And left behind the panting chase. + + + VI. + + 'T were long to tell what steeds gave o'er, + As swept the hunt through Cambusmore; + What reins were tightened in despair, + When rose Benledi's ridge in air; + Who flagged upon Bochastle's heath, + Who shunned to stem the flooded Teith,-- + For twice that day, from shore to shore, + The gallant stag swam stoutly o'er. + Few were the stragglers, following far, + That reached the lake of Vennachar; + And when the Brigg of Turk was won, + The headmost horseman rode alone. + + + VII. + + Alone, but with unbated zeal, + That horseman plied the scourge and steel; + For jaded now, and spent with toil, + Embossed with foam, and dark with soil, + While every gasp with sobs he drew, + The laboring stag strained full in view. + Two dogs of black Saint Hubert's breed, + Unmatched for courage, breath, and speed, + Fast on his flying traces came, + And all but won that desperate game; + For, scarce a spear's length from his haunch, + Vindictive toiled the bloodhounds stanch; + Nor nearer might the dogs attain, + Nor farther might the quarry strain + Thus up the margin of the lake, + Between the precipice and brake, + O'er stock and rock their race they take. + + + VIII. + + The Hunter marked that mountain high, + The lone lake's western boundary, + And deemed the stag must turn to bay, + Where that huge rampart barred the way; + Already glorying in the prize, + Measured his antlers with his eyes; + For the death-wound and death-halloo + Mustered his breath, his whinyard drew:-- + But thundering as he came prepared, + With ready arm and weapon bared, + The wily quarry shunned the shock, + And turned him from the opposing rock; + Then, dashing down a darksome glen, + Soon lost to hound and Hunter's ken, + In the deep Trosachs' wildest nook + His solitary refuge took. + There, while close couched the thicket shed + Cold dews and wild flowers on his head, + He heard the baffled dogs in vain + Rave through the hollow pass amain, + Chiding the rocks that yelled again. + + + IX. + + Close on the hounds the Hunter came, + To cheer them on the vanished game; + But, stumbling in the rugged dell, + The gallant horse exhausted fell. + The impatient rider strove in vain + To rouse him with the spur and rein, + For the good steed, his labors o'er, + Stretched his stiff limbs, to rise no more; + Then, touched with pity and remorse, + He sorrowed o'er the expiring horse. + 'I little thought, when first thy rein + I slacked upon the banks of Seine, + That Highland eagle e'er should feed + On thy fleet limbs, my matchless steed! + Woe worth the chase, woe worth the day, + That costs thy life, my gallant gray!' + + + X. + + Then through the dell his horn resounds, + From vain pursuit to call the hounds. + Back limped, with slow and crippled pace, + The sulky leaders of the chase; + Close to their master's side they pressed, + With drooping tail and humbled crest; + But still the dingle's hollow throat + Prolonged the swelling bugle-note. + The owlets started from their dream, + The eagles answered with their scream, + Round and around the sounds were cast, + Till echo seemed an answering blast; + And on the Hunter tried his way, + To join some comrades of the day, + Yet often paused, so strange the road, + So wondrous were the scenes it showed. + + + XI. + + The western waves of ebbing day + Rolled o'er the glen their level way; + Each purple peak, each flinty spire, + Was bathed in floods of living fire. + But not a setting beam could glow + Within the dark ravines below, + Where twined the path in shadow hid, + Round many a rocky pyramid, + Shooting abruptly from the dell + Its thunder-splintered pinnacle; + Round many an insulated mass, + The native bulwarks of the pass, + Huge as the tower which builders vain + Presumptuous piled on Shinar's plain. + The rocky summits, split and rent, + Formed turret, dome, or battlement. + Or seemed fantastically set + With cupola or minaret, + Wild crests as pagod ever decked, + Or mosque of Eastern architect. + Nor were these earth-born castles bare, + Nor lacked they many a banner fair; + For, from their shivered brows displayed, + Far o'er the unfathomable glade, + All twinkling with the dewdrop sheen, + The briar-rose fell in streamers green, + kind creeping shrubs of thousand dyes + Waved in the west-wind's summer sighs. + + + XII. + + Boon nature scattered, free and wild, + Each plant or flower, the mountain's child. + Here eglantine embalmed the air, + Hawthorn and hazel mingled there; + The primrose pale and violet flower + Found in each cliff a narrow bower; + Foxglove and nightshade, side by side, + Emblems of punishment and pride, + Grouped their dark hues with every stain + The weather-beaten crags retain. + With boughs that quaked at every breath, + Gray birch and aspen wept beneath; + Aloft, the ash and warrior oak + Cast anchor in the rifted rock; + And, higher yet, the pine-tree hung + His shattered trunk, and frequent flung, + Where seemed the cliffs to meet on high, + His boughs athwart the narrowed sky. + Highest of all, where white peaks glanced, + Where glistening streamers waved and danced, + The wanderer's eye could barely view + The summer heaven's delicious blue; + So wondrous wild, the whole might seem + The scenery of a fairy dream. + + + XIII. + + Onward, amid the copse 'gan peep + A narrow inlet, still and deep, + Affording scarce such breadth of brim + As served the wild duck's brood to swim. + Lost for a space, through thickets veering, + But broader when again appearing, + Tall rocks and tufted knolls their face + Could on the dark-blue mirror trace; + And farther as the Hunter strayed, + Still broader sweep its channels made. + The shaggy mounds no longer stood, + Emerging from entangled wood, + But, wave-encircled, seemed to float, + Like castle girdled with its moat; + Yet broader floods extending still + Divide them from their parent hill, + Till each, retiring, claims to be + An islet in an inland sea. + + + XIV. + + And now, to issue from the glen, + No pathway meets the wanderer's ken, + Unless he climb with footing nice + A far-projecting precipice. + The broom's tough roots his ladder made, + The hazel saplings lent their aid; + And thus an airy point he won, + Where, gleaming with the setting sun, + One burnished sheet of living gold, + Loch Katrine lay beneath him rolled, + In all her length far winding lay, + With promontory, creek, and bay, + And islands that, empurpled bright, + Floated amid the livelier light, + And mountains that like giants stand + To sentinel enchanted land. + High on the south, huge Benvenue + Down to the lake in masses threw + Crags, knolls, and mounds, confusedly hurled, + The fragments of an earlier world; + A wildering forest feathered o'er + His ruined sides and summit hoar, + While on the north, through middle air, + Ben-an heaved high his forehead bare. + + + XV. + + From the steep promontory gazed + The stranger, raptured and amazed, + And, 'What a scene were here,' he cried, + 'For princely pomp or churchman's pride! + On this bold brow, a lordly tower; + In that soft vale, a lady's bower; + On yonder meadow far away, + The turrets of a cloister gray; + How blithely might the bugle-horn + Chide on the lake the lingering morn! + How sweet at eve the lover's lute + Chime when the groves were still and mute! + And when the midnight moon should lave + Her forehead in the silver wave, + How solemn on the ear would come + The holy matins' distant hum, + While the deep peal's commanding tone + Should wake, in yonder islet lone, + A sainted hermit from his cell, + To drop a bead with every knell! + And bugle, lute, and bell, and all, + Should each bewildered stranger call + To friendly feast and lighted hall. + + + XVI. + + 'Blithe were it then to wander here! + But now--beshrew yon nimble deer-- + Like that same hermit's, thin and spare, + The copse must give my evening fare; + Some mossy bank my couch must be, + Some rustling oak my canopy. + Yet pass we that; the war and chase + Give little choice of resting-place;-- + A summer night in greenwood spent + Were but to-morrow's merriment: + But hosts may in these wilds abound, + Such as are better missed than found; + To meet with Highland plunderers here + Were worse than loss of steed or deer.-- + I am alone;--my bugle-strain + May call some straggler of the train; + Or, fall the worst that may betide, + Ere now this falchion has been tried.' + + + XVII. + + But scarce again his horn he wound, + When lo! forth starting at the sound, + From underneath an aged oak + That slanted from the islet rock, + A damsel guider of its way, + A little skiff shot to the bay, + That round the promontory steep + Led its deep line in graceful sweep, + Eddying, in almost viewless wave, + The weeping willow twig to rave, + And kiss, with whispering sound and slow, + The beach of pebbles bright as snow. + The boat had touched this silver strand + Just as the Hunter left his stand, + And stood concealed amid the brake, + To view this Lady of the Lake. + The maiden paused, as if again + She thought to catch the distant strain. + With head upraised, and look intent, + And eye and ear attentive bent, + And locks flung back, and lips apart, + Like monument of Grecian art, + In listening mood, she seemed to stand, + The guardian Naiad of the strand. + + + XVIII. + + And ne'er did Grecian chisel trace + A Nymph, a Naiad, or a Grace, + Of finer form or lovelier face! + What though the sun, with ardent frown, + Had slightly tinged her cheek with brown,-- + The sportive toil, which, short and light + Had dyed her glowing hue so bright, + Served too in hastier swell to show + Short glimpses of a breast of snow: + What though no rule of courtly grace + To measured mood had trained her pace,-- + A foot more light, a step more true, + Ne'er from the heath-flower dashed the dew; + E'en the slight harebell raised its head, + Elastic from her airy tread: + What though upon her speech there hung + The accents of the mountain tongue,--- + Those silver sounds, so soft, so dear, + The listener held his breath to hear! + + + XIX. + + A chieftain's daughter seemed the maid; + Her satin snood, her silken plaid, + Her golden brooch, such birth betrayed. + And seldom was a snood amid + Such wild luxuriant ringlets hid, + Whose glossy black to shame might bring + The plumage of the raven's wing; + And seldom o'er a breast so fair + Mantled a plaid with modest care, + And never brooch the folds combined + Above a heart more good and kind. + Her kindness and her worth to spy, + You need but gaze on Ellen's eye; + Not Katrine in her mirror blue + Gives back the shaggy banks more true, + Than every free-born glance confessed + The guileless movements of her breast; + Whether joy danced in her dark eye, + Or woe or pity claimed a sigh, + Or filial love was glowing there, + Or meek devotion poured a prayer, + Or tale of injury called forth + The indignant spirit of the North. + One only passion unrevealed + With maiden pride the maid concealed, + Yet not less purely felt the flame;-- + O, need I tell that passion's name? + + + XX. + + Impatient of the silent horn, + Now on the gale her voice was borne:-- + 'Father!' she cried; the rocks around + Loved to prolong the gentle sound. + Awhile she paused, no answer came;-- + 'Malcolm, was thine the blast?' the name + Less resolutely uttered fell, + The echoes could not catch the swell. + 'A stranger I,' the Huntsman said, + Advancing from the hazel shade. + The maid, alarmed, with hasty oar + Pushed her light shallop from the shore, + And when a space was gained between, + Closer she drew her bosom's screen;-- + So forth the startled swan would swing, + So turn to prune his ruffled wing. + Then safe, though fluttered and amazed, + She paused, and on the stranger gazed. + Not his the form, nor his the eye, + That youthful maidens wont to fly. + + + XXI. + + On his bold visage middle age + Had slightly pressed its signet sage, + Yet had not quenched the open truth + And fiery vehemence of youth; + Forward and frolic glee was there, + The will to do, the soul to dare, + The sparkling glance, soon blown to fire, + Of hasty love or headlong ire. + His limbs were cast in manly could + For hardy sports or contest bold; + And though in peaceful garb arrayed, + And weaponless except his blade, + His stately mien as well implied + A high-born heart, a martial pride, + As if a baron's crest he wore, + And sheathed in armor bode the shore. + Slighting the petty need he showed, + He told of his benighted road; + His ready speech flowed fair and free, + In phrase of gentlest courtesy, + Yet seemed that tone and gesture bland + Less used to sue than to command. + + + XXII. + + Awhile the maid the stranger eyed, + And, reassured, at length replied, + That Highland halls were open still + To wildered wanderers of the hill. + 'Nor think you unexpected come + To yon lone isle, our desert home; + Before the heath had lost the dew, + This morn, a couch was pulled for you; + On yonder mountain's purple head + Have ptarmigan and heath-cock bled, + And our broad nets have swept the mere, + To furnish forth your evening cheer.'-- + 'Now, by the rood, my lovely maid, + Your courtesy has erred,' he said; + 'No right have I to claim, misplaced, + The welcome of expected guest. + A wanderer, here by fortune toss, + My way, my friends, my courser lost, + I ne'er before, believe me, fair, + Have ever drawn your mountain air, + Till on this lake's romantic strand + I found a fey in fairy land!'-- + + + XXIII. + + 'I well believe,' the maid replied, + As her light skiff approached the side,-- + 'I well believe, that ne'er before + Your foot has trod Loch Katrine's shore + But yet, as far as yesternight, + Old Allan-bane foretold your plight,-- + A gray-haired sire, whose eye intent + Was on the visioned future bent. + He saw your steed, a dappled gray, + Lie dead beneath the birchen way; + Painted exact your form and mien, + Your hunting-suit of Lincoln green, + That tasselled horn so gayly gilt, + That falchion's crooked blade and hilt, + That cap with heron plumage trim, + And yon two hounds so dark and grim. + He bade that all should ready be + To grace a guest of fair degree; + But light I held his prophecy, + And deemed it was my father's horn + Whose echoes o'er the lake were borne.' + + + XXIV. + + The stranger smiled:--'Since to your home + A destined errant-knight I come, + Announced by prophet sooth and old, + Doomed, doubtless, for achievement bold, + I 'll lightly front each high emprise + For one kind glance of those bright eyes. + Permit me first the task to guide + Your fairy frigate o'er the tide.' + The maid, with smile suppressed and sly, + The toil unwonted saw him try; + For seldom, sure, if e'er before, + His noble hand had grasped an oar: + Yet with main strength his strokes he drew, + And o'er the lake the shallop flew; + With heads erect and whimpering cry, + The hounds behind their passage ply. + Nor frequent does the bright oar break + The darkening mirror of the lake, + Until the rocky isle they reach, + And moor their shallop on the beach. + + + XXV. + + The stranger viewed the shore around; + 'T was all so close with copsewood bound, + Nor track nor pathway might declare + That human foot frequented there, + Until the mountain maiden showed + A clambering unsuspected road, + That winded through the tangled screen, + And opened on a narrow green, + Where weeping birch and willow round + With their long fibres swept the ground. + Here, for retreat in dangerous hour, + Some chief had framed a rustic bower. + + + XXVI. + + It was a lodge of ample size, + But strange of structure and device; + Of such materials as around + The workman's hand had readiest found. + Lopped of their boughs, their hoar trunks bared, + And by the hatchet rudely squared, + To give the walls their destined height, + The sturdy oak and ash unite; + While moss and clay and leaves combined + To fence each crevice from the wind. + The lighter pine-trees overhead + Their slender length for rafters spread, + And withered heath and rushes dry + Supplied a russet canopy. + Due westward, fronting to the green, + A rural portico was seen, + Aloft on native pillars borne, + Of mountain fir with bark unshorn + Where Ellen's hand had taught to twine + The ivy and Idaean vine, + The clematis, the favored flower + Which boasts the name of virgin-bower, + And every hardy plant could bear + Loch Katrine's keen and searching air. + An instant in this porch she stayed, + And gayly to the stranger said: + 'On heaven and on thy lady call, + And enter the enchanted hall!' + + + XXVII. + + 'My hope, my heaven, my trust must be, + My gentle guide, in following thee!'-- + He crossed the threshold,--and a clang + Of angry steel that instant rang. + To his bold brow his spirit rushed, + But soon for vain alarm he blushed + When on the floor he saw displayed, + Cause of the din, a naked blade + Dropped from the sheath, that careless flung + Upon a stag's huge antlers swung; + For all around, the walls to grace, + Hung trophies of the fight or chase: + A target there, a bugle here, + A battle-axe, a hunting-spear, + And broadswords, bows, and arrows store, + With the tusked trophies of the boar. + Here grins the wolf as when he died, + And there the wild-cat's brindled hide + The frontlet of the elk adorns, + Or mantles o'er the bison's horns; + Pennons and flags defaced and stained, + That blackening streaks of blood retained, + And deer-skins, dappled, dun, and white, + With otter's fur and seal's unite, + In rude and uncouth tapestry all, + To garnish forth the sylvan hall. + + + XXVIII. + + The wondering stranger round him gazed, + And next the fallen weapon raised:-- + Few were the arms whose sinewy strength + Sufficed to stretch it forth at length. + And as the brand he poised and swayed, + 'I never knew but one,' he said, + 'Whose stalwart arm might brook to wield + A blade like this in battle-field.' + She sighed, then smiled and took the word: + 'You see the guardian champion's sword; + As light it trembles in his hand + As in my grasp a hazel wand: + My sire's tall form might grace the part + Of Ferragus or Ascabart, + But in the absent giant's hold + Are women now, and menials old.' + + + XXIX. + + The mistress of the mansion came, + Mature of age, a graceful dame, + Whose easy step and stately port + Had well become a princely court, + To whom, though more than kindred knew, + Young Ellen gave a mother's due. + Meet welcome to her guest she made, + And every courteous rite was paid + That hospitality could claim, + Though all unasked his birth and name. + Such then the reverence to a guest, + That fellest foe might join the feast, + And from his deadliest foeman's door + Unquestioned turn the banquet o'er + At length his rank the stranger names, + 'The Knight of Snowdoun, James Fitz-James; + Lord of a barren heritage, + Which his brave sires, from age to age, + By their good swords had held with toil; + His sire had fallen in such turmoil, + And he, God wot, was forced to stand + Oft for his right with blade in hand. + This morning with Lord Moray's train + He chased a stalwart stag in vain, + Outstripped his comrades, missed the deer, + Lost his good steed, and wandered here.' + + + XXX. + + Fain would the Knight in turn require + The name and state of Ellen's sire. + Well showed the elder lady's mien + That courts and cities she had seen; + Ellen, though more her looks displayed + The simple grace of sylvan maid, + In speech and gesture, form and face, + Showed she was come of gentle race. + 'T were strange in ruder rank to find + Such looks, such manners, and such mind. + Each hint the Knight of Snowdoun gave, + Dame Margaret heard with silence grave; + Or Ellen, innocently gay, + Turned all inquiry light away:-- + 'Weird women we! by dale and down + We dwell, afar from tower and town. + We stem the flood, we ride the blast, + On wandering knights our spells we cast; + While viewless minstrels touch the string, + 'Tis thus our charmed rhymes we sing.' + She sung, and still a harp unseen + Filled up the symphony between. + + + XXXI. + + Song. + + Soldier, rest! thy warfare o'er, + Sleep the sleep that knows not breaking; + Dream of battled fields no more, + Days of danger, nights of waking. + In our isle's enchanted hall, + Hands unseen thy couch are strewing, + Fairy strains of music fall, + Every sense in slumber dewing. + Soldier, rest! thy warfare o'er, + Dream of fighting fields no more; + Sleep the sleep that knows not breaking, + Morn of toil, nor night of waking. + + 'No rude sound shall reach thine ear, + Armor's clang or war-steed champing + Trump nor pibroch summon here + Mustering clan or squadron tramping. + Yet the lark's shrill fife may come + At the daybreak from the fallow, + And the bittern sound his drum + Booming from the sedgy shallow. + Ruder sounds shall none be near, + Guards nor warders challenge here, + Here's no war-steed's neigh and champing, + Shouting clans or squadrons stamping.' + + + XXXII. + + She paused,--then, blushing, led the lay, + To grace the stranger of the day. + Her mellow notes awhile prolong + The cadence of the flowing song, + Till to her lips in measured frame + The minstrel verse spontaneous came. + + Song Continued. + + 'Huntsman, rest! thy chase is done; + While our slumbrous spells assail ye, + Dream not, with the rising sun, + Bugles here shall sound reveille. + Sleep! the deer is in his den; + Sleep! thy hounds are by thee lying; + Sleep! nor dream in yonder glen + How thy gallant steed lay dying. + Huntsman, rest! thy chase is done; + Think not of the rising sun, + For at dawning to assail ye + Here no bugles sound reveille.' + + + XXXIII. + + The hall was cleared,--the stranger's bed, + Was there of mountain heather spread, + Where oft a hundred guests had lain, + And dreamed their forest sports again. + But vainly did the heath-flower shed + Its moorland fragrance round his head; + Not Ellen's spell had lulled to rest + The fever of his troubled breast. + In broken dreams the image rose + Of varied perils, pains, and woes: + His steed now flounders in the brake, + Now sinks his barge upon the lake; + Now leader of a broken host, + His standard falls, his honor's lost. + Then,--from my couch may heavenly might + Chase that worst phantom of the night!-- + Again returned the scenes of youth, + Of confident, undoubting truth; + Again his soul he interchanged + With friends whose hearts were long estranged. + They come, in dim procession led, + The cold, the faithless, and the dead; + As warm each hand, each brow as gay, + As if they parted yesterday. + And doubt distracts him at the view,-- + O were his senses false or true? + Dreamed he of death or broken vow, + Or is it all a vision now? + + + XXXIV. + + At length, with Ellen in a grove + He seemed to walk and speak of love; + She listened with a blush and sigh, + His suit was warm, his hopes were high. + He sought her yielded hand to clasp, + And a cold gauntlet met his grasp: + The phantom's sex was changed and gone, + Upon its head a helmet shone; + Slowly enlarged to giant size, + With darkened cheek and threatening eyes, + The grisly visage, stern and hoar, + To Ellen still a likeness bore.-- + He woke, and, panting with affright, + Recalled the vision of the night. + The hearth's decaying brands were red + And deep and dusky lustre shed, + Half showing, half concealing, all + The uncouth trophies of the hall. + Mid those the stranger fixed his eye + Where that huge falchion hung on high, + And thoughts on thoughts, a countless throng, + Rushed, chasing countless thoughts along, + Until, the giddy whirl to cure, + He rose and sought the moonshine pure. + + + XXXV. + + The wild rose, eglantine, and broom + Wasted around their rich perfume; + The birch-trees wept in fragrant balm; + The aspens slept beneath the calm; + The silver light, with quivering glance, + Played on the water's still expanse,-- + Wild were the heart whose passion's sway + Could rage beneath the sober ray! + He felt its calm, that warrior guest, + While thus he communed with his breast:-- + 'Why is it, at each turn I trace + Some memory of that exiled race? + Can I not mountain maiden spy, + But she must bear the Douglas eye? + Can I not view a Highland brand, + But it must match the Douglas hand? + Can I not frame a fevered dream, + But still the Douglas is the theme? + I'll dream no more,--by manly mind + Not even in sleep is will resigned. + My midnight orisons said o'er, + I'll turn to rest, and dream no more.' + His midnight orisons he told, + A prayer with every bead of gold, + Consigned to heaven his cares and woes, + And sunk in undisturbed repose, + Until the heath-cock shrilly crew, + And morning dawned on Benvenue. + + + + +CANTO SECOND. + +The Island. + + + I. + + At morn the black-cock trims his jetty wing, + 'T is morning prompts the linnet's blithest lay, + All Nature's children feel the matin spring + Of life reviving, with reviving day; + And while yon little bark glides down the bay, + Wafting the stranger on his way again, + Morn's genial influence roused a minstrel gray, + And sweetly o'er the lake was heard thy strain, + Mixed with the sounding harp, O white-haired Allan-bane! + + + II. + + Song. + + 'Not faster yonder rowers' might + Flings from their oars the spray, + Not faster yonder rippling bright, + That tracks the shallop's course in light, + Melts in the lake away, + Than men from memory erase + The benefits of former days; + Then, stranger, go! good speed the while, + Nor think again of the lonely isle. + + 'High place to thee in royal court, + High place in battled line, + Good hawk and hound for sylvan sport! + Where beauty sees the brave resort, + The honored meed be thine! + True be thy sword, thy friend sincere, + Thy lady constant, kind, and dear, + And lost in love's and friendship's smile + Be memory of the lonely isle! + + + III. + + Song Continued. + + 'But if beneath yon southern sky + A plaided stranger roam, + Whose drooping crest and stifled sigh, + And sunken cheek and heavy eye, + Pine for his Highland home; + Then, warrior, then be thine to show + The care that soothes a wanderer's woe; + Remember then thy hap erewhile, + A stranger in the lonely isle. + + 'Or if on life's uncertain main + Mishap shall mar thy sail; + If faithful, wise, and brave in vain, + Woe, want, and exile thou sustain + Beneath the fickle gale; + Waste not a sigh on fortune changed, + On thankless courts, or friends estranged, + But come where kindred worth shall smile, + To greet thee in the lonely isle.' + + + IV. + + As died the sounds upon the tide, + The shallop reached the mainland side, + And ere his onward way he took, + The stranger cast a lingering look, + Where easily his eye might reach + The Harper on the islet beach, + Reclined against a blighted tree, + As wasted, gray, and worn as he. + To minstrel meditation given, + His reverend brow was raised to heaven, + As from the rising sun to claim + A sparkle of inspiring flame. + His hand, reclined upon the wire, + Seemed watching the awakening fire; + So still he sat as those who wait + Till judgment speak the doom of fate; + So still, as if no breeze might dare + To lift one lock of hoary hair; + So still, as life itself were fled + In the last sound his harp had sped. + + + V. + + Upon a rock with lichens wild, + Beside him Ellen sat and smiled.-- + Smiled she to see the stately drake + Lead forth his fleet upon the lake, + While her vexed spaniel from the beach + Bayed at the prize beyond his reach? + Yet tell me, then, the maid who knows, + Why deepened on her cheek the rose?-- + Forgive, forgive, Fidelity! + Perchance the maiden smiled to see + Yon parting lingerer wave adieu, + And stop and turn to wave anew; + And, lovely ladies, ere your ire + Condemn the heroine of my lyre, + Show me the fair would scorn to spy + And prize such conquest of her eve! + + + VI. + + While yet he loitered on the spot, + It seemed as Ellen marked him not; + But when he turned him to the glade, + One courteous parting sign she made; + And after, oft the knight would say, + That not when prize of festal day + Was dealt him by the brightest fair + Who e'er wore jewel in her hair, + So highly did his bosom swell + As at that simple mute farewell. + Now with a trusty mountain-guide, + And his dark stag-hounds by his side, + He parts,--the maid, unconscious still, + Watched him wind slowly round the hill; + But when his stately form was hid, + The guardian in her bosom chid,-- + 'Thy Malcolm! vain and selfish maid!' + 'T was thus upbraiding conscience said,-- + 'Not so had Malcolm idly hung + On the smooth phrase of Southern tongue; + Not so had Malcolm strained his eye + Another step than thine to spy.'-- + 'Wake, Allan-bane,' aloud she cried + To the old minstrel by her side,-- + 'Arouse thee from thy moody dream! + I 'll give thy harp heroic theme, + And warm thee with a noble name; + Pour forth the glory of the Graeme!' + Scarce from her lip the word had rushed, + When deep the conscious maiden blushed; + For of his clan, in hall and bower, + Young Malcolm Graeme was held the flower. + + + VII. + + The minstrel waked his harp,--three times + Arose the well-known martial chimes, + And thrice their high heroic pride + In melancholy murmurs died. + 'Vainly thou bidst, O noble maid,' + Clasping his withered hands, he said, + 'Vainly thou bidst me wake the strain, + Though all unwont to bid in vain. + Alas! than mine a mightier hand + Has tuned my harp, my strings has spanned! + I touch the chords of joy, but low + And mournful answer notes of woe; + And the proud march which victors tread + Sinks in the wailing for the dead. + O, well for me, if mine alone + That dirge's deep prophetic tone! + If, as my tuneful fathers said, + This harp, which erst Saint Modan swayed, + Can thus its master's fate foretell, + Then welcome be the minstrel's knell.' + + + VIII. + + 'But ah! dear lady, thus it sighed, + The eve thy sainted mother died; + And such the sounds which, while I strove + To wake a lay of war or love, + Came marring all the festal mirth, + Appalling me who gave them birth, + And, disobedient to my call, + Wailed loud through Bothwell's bannered hall. + Ere Douglases, to ruin driven, + Were exiled from their native heaven.-- + O! if yet worse mishap and woe + My master's house must undergo, + Or aught but weal to Ellen fair + Brood in these accents of despair, + No future bard, sad Harp! shall fling + Triumph or rapture from thy string; + One short, one final strain shall flow, + Fraught with unutterable woe, + Then shivered shall thy fragments lie, + Thy master cast him down and die!' + + + IX. + + Soothing she answered him: 'Assuage, + Mine honored friend, the fears of age; + All melodies to thee are known + That harp has rung or pipe has blown, + In Lowland vale or Highland glen, + From Tweed to Spey--what marvel, then, + At times unbidden notes should rise, + Confusedly bound in memory's ties, + Entangling, as they rush along, + The war-march with the funeral song?-- + Small ground is now for boding fear; + Obscure, but safe, we rest us here. + My sire, in native virtue great, + Resigning lordship, lands, and state, + Not then to fortune more resigned + Than yonder oak might give the wind; + The graceful foliage storms may reeve, + 'Fine noble stem they cannot grieve. + For me'--she stooped, and, looking round, + Plucked a blue harebell from the ground,-- + 'For me, whose memory scarce conveys + An image of more splendid days, + This little flower that loves the lea + May well my simple emblem be; + It drinks heaven's dew as blithe as rose + That in the King's own garden grows; + And when I place it in my hair, + Allan, a bard is bound to swear + He ne'er saw coronet so fair.' + Then playfully the chaplet wild + She wreathed in her dark locks, and smiled. + + + X. + + Her smile, her speech, with winning sway + Wiled the old Harper's mood away. + With such a look as hermits throw, + When angels stoop to soothe their woe + He gazed, till fond regret and pride + Thrilled to a tear, then thus replied: + 'Loveliest and best! thou little know'st + The rank, the honors, thou hast lost! + O. might I live to see thee grace, + In Scotland's court, thy birthright place, + To see my favorite's step advance + The lightest in the courtly dance, + The cause of every gallant's sigh, + And leading star of every eye, + And theme of every minstrel's art, + The Lady of the Bleeding Heart!' + + + XI. + + 'Fair dreams are these,' the maiden cried,-- + Light was her accent, yet she sighed,-- + 'Yet is this mossy rock to me + Worth splendid chair and canopy; + Nor would my footstep spring more gay + In courtly dance than blithe strathspey, + Nor half so pleased mine ear incline + To royal minstrel's lay as thine. + And then for suitors proud and high, + To bend before my conquering eye,-- + Thou, flattering bard! thyself wilt say, + That grim Sir Roderick owns its sway. + The Saxon scourge, Clan-Alpine's pride, + The terror of Loch Lomond's side, + Would, at my suit, thou know'st, delay + A Lennox foray--for a day.'-- + + + XII.. + + The ancient bard her glee repressed: + 'Ill hast thou chosen theme for jest! + For who, through all this western wild, + Named Black Sir Roderick e'er, and smiled? + In Holy-Rood a knight he slew; + I saw, when back the dirk he drew, + Courtiers give place before the stride + Of the undaunted homicide; + And since, though outlawed, hath his hand + Full sternly kept his mountain land. + + Who else dared give--ah! woe the day, + That I such hated truth should say!-- + The Douglas, like a stricken deer, + Disowned by every noble peer, + Even the rude refuge we have here? + Alas, this wild marauding + Chief Alone might hazard our relief, + And now thy maiden charms expand, + Looks for his guerdon in thy hand; + Full soon may dispensation sought, + To back his suit, from Rome be brought. + Then, though an exile on the hill, + Thy father, as the Douglas, still + Be held in reverence and fear; + And though to Roderick thou'rt so dear + That thou mightst guide with silken thread. + Slave of thy will, this chieftain dread, + Yet, O loved maid, thy mirth refrain! + Thy hand is on a lion's mane.'-- + + + XIII. + + Minstrel,' the maid replied, and high + Her father's soul glanced from her eye, + 'My debts to Roderick's house I know: + All that a mother could bestow + To Lady Margaret's care I owe, + Since first an orphan in the wild + She sorrowed o'er her sister's child; + To her brave chieftain son, from ire + Of Scotland's king who shrouds my sire, + A deeper, holier debt is owed; + And, could I pay it with my blood, Allan! + Sir Roderick should command + My blood, my life,--but not my hand. + Rather will Ellen Douglas dwell + A votaress in Maronnan's cell; + Rather through realms beyond the sea, + Seeking the world's cold charity + Where ne'er was spoke a Scottish word, + And ne'er the name of Douglas heard + An outcast pilgrim will she rove, + Than wed the man she cannot love. + + + XIV. + + 'Thou shak'st, good friend, thy tresses gray,-- + That pleading look, what can it say + But what I own?--I grant him brave, + But wild as Bracklinn's thundering wave; + And generous,--save vindictive mood + Or jealous transport chafe his blood: + I grant him true to friendly band, + As his claymore is to his hand; + But O! that very blade of steel + More mercy for a foe would feel: + I grant him liberal, to fling + Among his clan the wealth they bring, + When back by lake and glen they wind, + And in the Lowland leave behind, + Where once some pleasant hamlet stood, + A mass of ashes slaked with blood. + The hand that for my father fought + I honor, as his daughter ought; + But can I clasp it reeking red + From peasants slaughtered in their shed? + No! wildly while his virtues gleam, + They make his passions darker seem, + And flash along his spirit high, + Like lightning o'er the midnight sky. + While yet a child,--and children know, + Instinctive taught, the friend and foe,-- + I shuddered at his brow of gloom, + His shadowy plaid and sable plume; + A maiden grown, I ill could bear + His haughty mien and lordly air: + But, if thou join'st a suitor's claim, + In serious mood, to Roderick's name. + I thrill with anguish! or, if e'er + A Douglas knew the word, with fear. + To change such odious theme were best,-- + What think'st thou of our stranger guest? '-- + + + XV. + + 'What think I of him?--woe the while + That brought such wanderer to our isle! + Thy father's battle-brand, of yore + For Tine-man forged by fairy lore, + What time he leagued, no longer foes + His Border spears with Hotspur's bows, + Did, self-unscabbarded, foreshow + The footstep of a secret foe. + If courtly spy hath harbored here, + What may we for the Douglas fear? + What for this island, deemed of old + Clan-Alpine's last and surest hold? + If neither spy nor foe, I pray + What yet may jealous Roderick say?-- + Nay, wave not thy disdainful head! + Bethink thee of the discord dread + That kindled when at Beltane game + Thou least the dance with Malcolm Graeme; + Still, though thy sire the peace renewed + Smoulders in Roderick's breast the feud: + Beware!--But hark! what sounds are these? + My dull ears catch no faltering breeze + No weeping birch nor aspens wake, + Nor breath is dimpling in the lake; + Still is the canna's hoary beard, + Yet, by my minstrel faith, I heard-- + And hark again! some pipe of war + Sends the hold pibroch from afar.' + + + XVI. + + Far up the lengthened lake were spied + Four darkening specks upon the tide, + That, slow enlarging on the view, + Four manned and massed barges grew, + And, bearing downwards from Glengyle, + Steered full upon the lonely isle; + The point of Brianchoil they passed, + And, to the windward as they cast, + Against the sun they gave to shine + The bold Sir Roderick's bannered Pine. + Nearer and nearer as they bear, + Spears, pikes, and axes flash in air. + Now might you see the tartars brave, + And plaids and plumage dance and wave: + Now see the bonnets sink and rise, + As his tough oar the rower plies; + See, flashing at each sturdy stroke, + The wave ascending into smoke; + See the proud pipers on the bow, + And mark the gaudy streamers flow + From their loud chanters down, and sweep + The furrowed bosom of the deep, + As, rushing through the lake amain, + They plied the ancient Highland strain. + + + XVII. + + Ever, as on they bore, more loud + And louder rung the pibroch proud. + At first the sounds, by distance tame, + Mellowed along the waters came, + And, lingering long by cape and bay, + Wailed every harsher note away, + Then bursting bolder on the ear, + The clan's shrill Gathering they could hear, + Those thrilling sounds that call the might + Of old Clan-Alpine to the fight. + Thick beat the rapid notes, as when + The mustering hundreds shake the glen, + And hurrying at the signal dread, + 'Fine battered earth returns their tread. + Then prelude light, of livelier tone, + Expressed their merry marching on, + Ere peal of closing battle rose, + With mingled outcry, shrieks, and blows; + And mimic din of stroke and ward, + As broadsword upon target jarred; + And groaning pause, ere yet again, + Condensed, the battle yelled amain: + The rapid charge, the rallying shout, + Retreat borne headlong into rout, + And bursts of triumph, to declare + Clan-Alpine's congest--all were there. + Nor ended thus the strain, but slow + Sunk in a moan prolonged and low, + And changed the conquering clarion swell + For wild lament o'er those that fell. + + + XVIII. + + The war-pipes ceased, but lake and hill + Were busy with their echoes still; + And, when they slept, a vocal strain + Bade their hoarse chorus wake again, + While loud a hundred clansmen raise + Their voices in their Chieftain's praise. + Each boatman, bending to his oar, + With measured sweep the burden bore, + In such wild cadence as the breeze + Makes through December's leafless trees. + The chorus first could Allan know, + 'Roderick Vich Alpine, ho! fro!' + And near, and nearer as they rowed, + Distinct the martial ditty flowed. + + + XIX. + + Boat Song + + Hail to the Chief who in triumph advances! + Honored and blessed be the ever-green Pine! + Long may the tree, in his banner that glances, + Flourish, the shelter and grace of our line! + Heaven send it happy dew, + Earth lend it sap anew, + Gayly to bourgeon and broadly to grow, + While every Highland glen + Sends our shout back again, + 'Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho! ieroe!' + + Ours is no sapling, chance-sown by the fountain, + + Blooming at Beltane, in winter to fade; + When the whirlwind has stripped every leaf on the mountain, + The more shall Clan-Alpine exult in her shade. + Moored in the rifted rock, + Proof to the tempest's shock, + Firmer he roots him the ruder it blow; + Menteith and Breadalbane, then, + Echo his praise again, + 'Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho! ieroe!' + + + XX. + + Proudly our pibroch has thrilled in Glen Fruin, + And Bannochar's groans to our slogan replied; + Glen Luss and Ross-dhu, they are smoking in ruin, + And the best of Loch Lomond lie dead on her side. + Widow and Saxon maid + Long shall lament our raid, + Think of Clan-Alpine with fear and with woe; + Lennox and Leven-glen + Shake when they hear again, + 'Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho! ieroe!' + + Row, vassals, row, for the pride of the Highlands! + Stretch to your oars for the ever-green Pine! + O that the rosebud that graces yon islands + Were wreathed in a garland around him to twine! + O that some seedling gem, + Worthy such noble stem, + Honored and blessed in their shadow might grow! + Loud should Clan-Alpine then + Ring from her deepmost glen, + Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho! ieroe!' + + + XXI. + + With all her joyful female band + Had Lady Margaret sought the strand. + Loose on the breeze their tresses flew, + And high their snowy arms they threw, + As echoing back with shrill acclaim, + And chorus wild, the Chieftain's name; + While, prompt to please, with mother's art + The darling passion of his heart, + The Dame called Ellen to the strand, + To greet her kinsman ere he land: + 'Come, loiterer, come! a Douglas thou, + And shun to wreathe a victor's brow?' + Reluctantly and slow, the maid + The unwelcome summoning obeyed, + And when a distant bugle rung, + In the mid-path aside she sprung:-- + 'List, Allan-bane! From mainland cast + I hear my father's signal blast. + Be ours,' she cried, 'the skiff to guide, + And waft him from the mountain-side.' + Then, like a sunbeam, swift and bright, + She darted to her shallop light, + And, eagerly while Roderick scanned, + For her dear form, his mother's band, + The islet far behind her lay, + And she had landed in the bay. + + + XXII. + + Some feelings are to mortals given + With less of earth in them than heaven; + And if there be a human tear + From passion's dross refined and clear, + A tear so limpid and so meek + It would not stain an angel's cheek, + 'Tis that which pious fathers shed + Upon a duteous daughter's head! + And as the Douglas to his breast + His darling Ellen closely pressed, + Such holy drops her tresses steeped, + Though 't was an hero's eye that weeped. + Nor while on Ellen's faltering tongue + Her filial welcomes crowded hung, + Marked she that fear--affection's proof-- + Still held a graceful youth aloof; + No! not till Douglas named his name, + Although the youth was Malcolm Graeme. + + + XXIII. + + Allan, with wistful look the while, + Marked Roderick landing on the isle; + His master piteously he eyed, + Then gazed upon the Chieftain's pride, + Then dashed with hasty hand away + From his dimmed eye the gathering spray; + And Douglas, as his hand he laid + On Malcolm's shoulder, kindly said: + 'Canst thou, young friend, no meaning spy + In my poor follower's glistening eye? + I 'll tell thee:--he recalls the day + When in my praise he led the lay + O'er the arched gate of Bothwell proud, + While many a minstrel answered loud, + When Percy's Norman pennon, won + In bloody field, before me shone, + And twice ten knights, the least a name + As mighty as yon Chief may claim, + Gracing my pomp, behind me came. + Yet trust me, Malcolm, not so proud + Was I of all that marshalled crowd, + Though the waned crescent owned my might, + And in my train trooped lord and knight, + Though Blantyre hymned her holiest lays, + And Bothwell's bards flung back my praise, + As when this old man's silent tear, + And this poor maid's affection dear, + A welcome give more kind and true + Than aught my better fortunes knew. + Forgive, my friend, a father's boast,-- + O, it out-beggars all I lost!' + + + XXIV. + + Delightful praise!--like summer rose, + That brighter in the dew-drop glows, + The bashful maiden's cheek appeared, + For Douglas spoke, and Malcolm heard. + The flush of shame-faced joy to hide, + The hounds, the hawk, her cares divide; + The loved caresses of the maid + The dogs with crouch and whimper paid; + And, at her whistle, on her hand + The falcon took his favorite stand, + Closed his dark wing, relaxed his eye, + Nor, though unhooded, sought to fly. + And, trust, while in such guise she stood, + Like fabled Goddess of the wood, + That if a father's partial thought + O'erweighed her worth and beauty aught, + Well might the lover's judgment fail + To balance with a juster scale; + For with each secret glance he stole, + The fond enthusiast sent his soul. + + + XXV. + + Of stature fair, and slender frame, + But firmly knit, was Malcolm Graeme. + The belted plaid and tartan hose + Did ne'er more graceful limbs disclose; + His flaxen hair, of sunny hue, + Curled closely round his bonnet blue. + Trained to the chase, his eagle eye + The ptarmigan in snow could spy; + Each pass, by mountain, lake, and heath, + He knew, through Lennox and Menteith; + Vain was the bound of dark-brown doe + When Malcolm bent his sounding bow, + And scarce that doe, though winged with fear, + Outstripped in speed the mountaineer: + Right up Ben Lomond could he press, + And not a sob his toil confess. + His form accorded with a mind + Lively and ardent, frank and kind; + A blither heart, till Ellen came + Did never love nor sorrow tame; + It danced as lightsome in his breast + As played the feather on his crest. + Yet friends, who nearest knew the youth + His scorn of wrong, his zeal for truth + And bards, who saw his features bold + When kindled by the tales of old + Said, were that youth to manhood grown, + Not long should Roderick Dhu's renown + Be foremost voiced by mountain fame, + But quail to that of Malcolm Graeme. + + + XXVI. + + Now back they wend their watery way, + And, 'O my sire!' did Ellen say, + 'Why urge thy chase so far astray? + And why so late returned? And why '-- + The rest was in her speaking eye. + 'My child, the chase I follow far, + 'Tis mimicry of noble war; + And with that gallant pastime reft + Were all of Douglas I have left. + I met young Malcolm as I strayed + Far eastward, in Glenfinlas' shade + Nor strayed I safe, for all around + Hunters and horsemen scoured the ground. + This youth, though still a royal ward, + Risked life and land to be my guard, + And through the passes of the wood + Guided my steps, not unpursued; + And Roderick shall his welcome make, + Despite old spleen, for Douglas' sake. + Then must he seek Strath-Endrick glen + Nor peril aught for me again.' + + + XXVII. + + Sir Roderick, who to meet them came, + Reddened at sight of Malcolm Graeme, + Yet, not in action, word, or eye, + Failed aught in hospitality. + In talk and sport they whiled away + The morning of that summer day; + But at high noon a courier light + Held secret parley with the knight, + Whose moody aspect soon declared + That evil were the news he heard. + Deep thought seemed toiling in his head; + Yet was the evening banquet made + Ere he assembled round the flame + His mother, Douglas, and the Graeme, + And Ellen too; then cast around + His eyes, then fixed them on the ground, + As studying phrase that might avail + Best to convey unpleasant tale. + Long with his dagger's hilt he played, + Then raised his haughty brow, and said:-- + + + XXVIII. + + 'Short be my speech;--nor time affords, + Nor my plain temper, glozing words. + Kinsman and father,--if such name + Douglas vouchsafe to Roderick's claim; + Mine honored mother;--Ellen,--why, + My cousin, turn away thine eye?-- + And Graeme, in whom I hope to know + Full soon a noble friend or foe, + When age shall give thee thy command, + And leading in thy native land,-- + List all!--The King's vindictive pride + Boasts to have tamed the Border-side, + Where chiefs, with hound and trawl; who came + To share their monarch's sylvan game, + Themselves in bloody toils were snared, + And when the banquet they prepared, + And wide their loyal portals flung, + O'er their own gateway struggling hung. + Loud cries their blood from Meggat's mead, + From Yarrow braes and banks of Tweed, + Where the lone streams of Ettrick glide, + And from the silver Teviot's side; + The dales, where martial clans did ride, + Are now one sheep-walk, waste and wide. + This tyrant of the Scottish throne, + So faithless and so ruthless known, + Now hither comes; his end the same, + The same pretext of sylvan game. + What grace for Highland Chiefs, judge ye + By fate of Border chivalry. + Yet more; amid Glenfinlas' green, + Douglas, thy stately form was seen. + This by espial sure I know: + Your counsel in the streight I show.' + + + XXIX. + + Ellen and Margaret fearfully + Sought comfort in each other's eye, + Then turned their ghastly look, each one, + This to her sire, that to her son. + The hasty color went and came + In the bold cheek of Malcohm Graeme, + But from his glance it well appeared + 'T was but for Ellen that he feared; + While, sorrowful, but undismayed, + The Douglas thus his counsel said: + 'Brave Roderick, though the tempest roar, + It may but thunder and pass o'er; + Nor will I here remain an hour, + To draw the lightning on thy bower; + For well thou know'st, at this gray head + The royal bolt were fiercest sped. + For thee, who, at thy King's command, + Canst aid him with a gallant band, + Submission, homage, humbled pride, + Shall turn the Monarch's wrath aside. + Poor remnants of the Bleeding Heart, + Ellen and I will seek apart + The refuge of some forest cell, + There, like the hunted quarry, dwell, + Till on the mountain and the moor + The stern pursuit be passed and o'er,'-- + + + XXX. + + 'No, by mine honor,' Roderick said, + 'So help me Heaven, and my good blade! + No, never! Blasted be yon Pine, + My father's ancient crest and mine, + If from its shade in danger part + The lineage of the Bleeding Heart! + Hear my blunt speech: grant me this maid + To wife, thy counsel to mine aid; + To Douglas, leagued with Roderick Dhu, + Will friends and allies flock enow; + Like cause of doubt, distrust, and grief, + Will bind to us each Western Chief + When the loud pipes my bridal tell, + The Links of Forth shall hear the knell, + The guards shall start in Stirling's porch; + And when I light the nuptial torch, + A thousand villages in flames + Shall scare the slumbers of King James!-- + Nay, Ellen, blench not thus away, + And, mother, cease these signs, I pray; + I meant not all my heat might say.-- + Small need of inroad or of fight, + When the sage Douglas may unite + Each mountain clan in friendly band, + To guard the passes of their land, + Till the foiled King from pathless glen + Shall bootless turn him home again.' + + + XXXI. + + There are who have, at midnight hour, + In slumber scaled a dizzy tower, + And, on the verge that beetled o'er + The ocean tide's incessant roar, + Dreamed calmly out their dangerous dream, + Till wakened by the morning beam; + When, dazzled by the eastern glow, + Such startler cast his glance below, + And saw unmeasured depth around, + And heard unintermitted sound, + And thought the battled fence so frail, + It waved like cobweb in the gale; + Amid his senses' giddy wheel, + Did he not desperate impulse feel, + Headlong to plunge himself below, + And meet the worst his fears foreshow?-- + Thus Ellen, dizzy and astound, + As sudden ruin yawned around, + By crossing terrors wildly tossed, + Still for the Douglas fearing most, + Could scarce the desperate thought withstand, + To buy his safety with her hand. + + + XXXII. + + Such purpose dread could Malcolm spy + In Ellen's quivering lip and eye, + And eager rose to speak,--but ere + His tongue could hurry forth his fear, + Had Douglas marked the hectic strife, + Where death seemed combating with life; + For to her cheek, in feverish flood, + One instant rushed the throbbing blood, + Then ebbing back, with sudden sway, + Left its domain as wan as clay. + 'Roderick, enough! enough!' he cried, + 'My daughter cannot be thy bride; + Not that the blush to wooer dear, + Nor paleness that of maiden fear. + It may not be,--forgive her, + Chief, Nor hazard aught for our relief. + Against his sovereign, Douglas ne'er + Will level a rebellious spear. + 'T was I that taught his youthful hand + To rein a steed and wield a brand; + I see him yet, the princely boy! + Not Ellen more my pride and joy; + I love him still, despite my wrongs + By hasty wrath and slanderous tongues. + O. seek the grace you well may find, + Without a cause to mine combined!' + + + XXXIII. + + Twice through the hall the Chieftain strode; + The waving of his tartars broad, + And darkened brow, where wounded pride + With ire and disappointment vied + Seemed, by the torch's gloomy light, + Like the ill Demon of the night, + Stooping his pinions' shadowy sway + Upon the righted pilgrim's way: + But, unrequited Love! thy dart + Plunged deepest its envenomed smart, + And Roderick, with thine anguish stung, + At length the hand of Douglas wrung, + While eyes that mocked at tears before + With bitter drops were running o'er. + The death-pangs of long-cherished hope + Scarce in that ample breast had scope + But, struggling with his spirit proud, + Convulsive heaved its checkered shroud, + While every sob--so mute were all + Was heard distinctly through the ball. + The son's despair, the mother's look, + III might the gentle Ellen brook; + She rose, and to her side there came, + To aid her parting steps, the Graeme. + + + XXXIV. + + Then Roderick from the Douglas broke-- + As flashes flame through sable smoke, + Kindling its wreaths, long, dark, and low, + To one broad blaze of ruddy glow, + So the deep anguish of despair + Burst, in fierce jealousy, to air. + With stalwart grasp his hand he laid + On Malcolm's breast and belted plaid: + 'Back, beardless boy!' he sternly said, + 'Back, minion! holdst thou thus at naught + The lesson I so lately taught? + This roof, the Douglas, and that maid, + Thank thou for punishment delayed.' + Eager as greyhound on his game, + Fiercely with Roderick grappled Graeme. + 'Perish my name, if aught afford + Its Chieftain safety save his sword!' + Thus as they strove their desperate hand + Griped to the dagger or the brand, + And death had been--but Douglas rose, + And thrust between the struggling foes + His giant strength:--' Chieftains, forego! + I hold the first who strikes my foe.-- + Madmen, forbear your frantic jar! + What! is the Douglas fallen so far, + His daughter's hand is deemed the spoil + Of such dishonorable broil?' + Sullen and slowly they unclasp, + As struck with shame, their desperate grasp, + And each upon his rival glared, + With foot advanced and blade half bared. + + + XXXV. + + Ere yet the brands aloft were flung, + Margaret on Roderick's mantle hung, + And Malcolm heard his Ellen's scream, + As faltered through terrific dream. + Then Roderick plunged in sheath his sword, + And veiled his wrath in scornful word:' + Rest safe till morning; pity 't were + Such cheek should feel the midnight air! + Then mayst thou to James Stuart tell, + Roderick will keep the lake and fell, + Nor lackey with his freeborn clan + The pageant pomp of earthly man. + More would he of Clan-Alpine know, + Thou canst our strength and passes show.-- + Malise, what ho!'--his henchman came: + 'Give our safe-conduct to the Graeme.' + Young Malcolm answered, calm and bold:' + Fear nothing for thy favorite hold; + The spot an angel deigned to grace + Is blessed, though robbers haunt the place. + Thy churlish courtesy for those + Reserve, who fear to be thy foes. + As safe to me the mountain way + At midnight as in blaze of day, + Though with his boldest at his back + Even Roderick Dhu beset the track.-- + Brave Douglas,--lovely Ellen,--nay, + Naught here of parting will I say. + Earth does not hold a lonesome glen + So secret but we meet again.-- + Chieftain! we too shall find an hour,'-- + He said, and left the sylvan bower. + + + XXXVI. + + Old Allan followed to the strand-- + Such was the Douglas's command-- + And anxious told, how, on the morn, + The stern Sir Roderick deep had sworn, + The Fiery Cross should circle o'er + Dale, glen, and valley, down and moor + Much were the peril to the Graeme + From those who to the signal came; + Far up the lake 't were safest land, + Himself would row him to the strand. + He gave his counsel to the wind, + While Malcolm did, unheeding, bind, + Round dirk and pouch and broadsword rolled, + His ample plaid in tightened fold, + And stripped his limbs to such array + As best might suit the watery way,-- + + + XXXVII. + + Then spoke abrupt: 'Farewell to thee, + Pattern of old fidelity!' + The Minstrel's hand he kindly pressed,-- + 'O, could I point a place of rest! + My sovereign holds in ward my land, + My uncle leads my vassal band; + To tame his foes, his friends to aid, + Poor Malcolm has but heart and blade. + Yet, if there be one faithful Graeme + Who loves the chieftain of his name, + Not long shall honored Douglas dwell + Like hunted stag in mountain cell; + Nor, ere yon pride-swollen robber dare,-- + I may not give the rest to air! + Tell Roderick Dhu I owed him naught, + Not tile poor service of a boat, + To waft me to yon mountain-side.' + Then plunged he in the flashing tide. + Bold o'er the flood his head he bore, + And stoutly steered him from the shore; + And Allan strained his anxious eye, + Far mid the lake his form to spy, + Darkening across each puny wave, + To which the moon her silver gave. + Fast as the cormorant could skim. + The swimmer plied each active limb; + Then landing in the moonlight dell, + Loud shouted of his weal to tell. + The Minstrel heard the far halloo, + And joyful from the shore withdrew. + + + + +CANTO THIRD. + +The Gathering. + + + I. + + Time rolls his ceaseless course. The race of yore, + Who danced our infancy upon their knee, + And told our marvelling boyhood legends store + Of their strange ventures happed by land or sea, + How are they blotted from the things that be! + How few, all weak and withered of their force, + Wait on the verge of dark eternity, + Like stranded wrecks, the tide returning hoarse, + To sweep them from out sight! Time rolls his ceaseless course. + + Yet live there still who can remember well, + How, when a mountain chief his bugle blew, + Both field and forest, dingle, cliff; and dell, + And solitary heath, the signal knew; + And fast the faithful clan around him drew. + What time the warning note was keenly wound, + What time aloft their kindred banner flew, + While clamorous war-pipes yelled the gathering sound, + And while the Fiery Cross glanced like a meteor, round. + + + II. + + The Summer dawn's reflected hue + To purple changed Loch Katrine blue; + Mildly and soft the western breeze + Just kissed the lake, just stirred the trees, + And the pleased lake, like maiden coy, + Trembled but dimpled not for joy + The mountain-shadows on her breast + Were neither broken nor at rest; + In bright uncertainty they lie, + Like future joys to Fancy's eye. + The water-lily to the light + Her chalice reared of silver bright; + The doe awoke, and to the lawn, + Begemmed with dew-drops, led her fawn; + The gray mist left the mountain-side, + The torrent showed its glistening pride; + Invisible in flecked sky The lark sent clown her revelry: + The blackbird and the speckled thrush + Good-morrow gave from brake and bush; + In answer cooed the cushat dove + Her notes of peace and rest and love. + + + III. + + No thought of peace, no thought of rest, + Assuaged the storm in Roderick's breast. + With sheathed broadsword in his hand, + Abrupt he paced the islet strand, + And eyed the rising sun, and laid + His hand on his impatient blade. + Beneath a rock, his vassals' care + Was prompt the ritual to prepare, + With deep and deathful meaning fraught; + For such Antiquity had taught + Was preface meet, ere yet abroad + The Cross of Fire should take its road. + The shrinking band stood oft aghast + At the impatient glance he cast;-- + Such glance the mountain eagle threw, + As, from the cliffs of Benvenue, + She spread her dark sails on the wind, + And, high in middle heaven reclined, + With her broad shadow on the lake, + Silenced the warblers of the brake. + + + IV. + + A heap of withered boughs was piled, + Of juniper and rowan wild, + Mingled with shivers from the oak, + Rent by the lightning's recent stroke. + Brian the Hermit by it stood, + Barefooted, in his frock and hood. + His grizzled beard and matted hair + Obscured a visage of despair; + His naked arms and legs, seamed o'er, + The scars of frantic penance bore. + That monk, of savage form and face + The impending danger of his race + Had drawn from deepest solitude + Far in Benharrow's bosom rude. + Not his the mien of Christian priest, + But Druid's, from the grave released + Whose hardened heart and eye might brook + On human sacrifice to look; + And much, 't was said, of heathen lore + Mixed in the charms he muttered o'er. + The hallowed creed gave only worse + And deadlier emphasis of curse. + No peasant sought that Hermit's prayer + His cave the pilgrim shunned with care, + The eager huntsman knew his bound + And in mid chase called off his hound;' + Or if, in lonely glen or strath, + The desert-dweller met his path + He prayed, and signed the cross between, + While terror took devotion's mien. + + + V. + + Of Brian's birth strange tales were told. + His mother watched a midnight fold, + Built deep within a dreary glen, + Where scattered lay the bones of men + In some forgotten battle slain, + And bleached by drifting wind and rain. + It might have tamed a warrior's heart + To view such mockery of his art! + The knot-grass fettered there the hand + Which once could burst an iron band; + Beneath the broad and ample bone, + That bucklered heart to fear unknown, + A feeble and a timorous guest, + The fieldfare framed her lowly nest; + There the slow blindworm left his slime + On the fleet limbs that mocked at time; + And there, too, lay the leader's skull + Still wreathed with chaplet, flushed and full, + For heath-bell with her purple bloom + Supplied the bonnet and the plume. + All night, in this sad glen the maid + Sat shrouded in her mantle's shade: + She said no shepherd sought her side, + No hunter's hand her snood untied. + Yet ne'er again to braid her hair + The virgin snood did Alive wear; + Gone was her maiden glee and sport, + Her maiden girdle all too short, + Nor sought she, from that fatal night, + Or holy church or blessed rite + But locked her secret in her breast, + And died in travail, unconfessed. + + + VI. + + Alone, among his young compeers, + Was Brian from his infant years; + A moody and heart-broken boy, + Estranged from sympathy and joy + Bearing each taunt which careless tongue + On his mysterious lineage flung. + Whole nights he spent by moonlight pale + To wood and stream his teal, to wail, + Till, frantic, he as truth received + What of his birth the crowd believed, + And sought, in mist and meteor fire, + To meet and know his Phantom Sire! + In vain, to soothe his wayward fate, + The cloister oped her pitying gate; + In vain the learning of the age + Unclasped the sable-lettered page; + Even in its treasures he could find + Food for the fever of his mind. + Eager he read whatever tells + Of magic, cabala, and spells, + And every dark pursuit allied + To curious and presumptuous pride; + Till with fired brain and nerves o'erstrung, + And heart with mystic horrors wrung, + Desperate he sought Benharrow's den, + And hid him from the haunts of men. + + + VII. + + The desert gave him visions wild, + Such as might suit the spectre's child. + Where with black cliffs the torrents toil, + He watched the wheeling eddies boil, + Jill from their foam his dazzled eyes + Beheld the River Demon rise: + The mountain mist took form and limb + Of noontide hag or goblin grim; + The midnight wind came wild and dread, + Swelled with the voices of the dead; + Far on the future battle-heath + His eye beheld the ranks of death: + Thus the lone Seer, from mankind hurled, + Shaped forth a disembodied world. + One lingering sympathy of mind + Still bound him to the mortal kind; + The only parent he could claim + Of ancient Alpine's lineage came. + Late had he heard, in prophet's dream, + The fatal Ben-Shie's boding scream; + Sounds, too, had come in midnight blast + Of charging steeds, careering fast + Along Benharrow's shingly side, + Where mortal horseman ne'er might ride; + The thunderbolt had split the pine,-- + All augured ill to Alpine's line. + He girt his loins, and came to show + The signals of impending woe, + And now stood prompt to bless or ban, + As bade the Chieftain of his clan. + + + VIII. + + 'T was all prepared;--and from the rock + A goat, the patriarch of the flock, + Before the kindling pile was laid, + And pierced by Roderick's ready blade. + Patient the sickening victim eyed + The life-blood ebb in crimson tide + Down his clogged beard and shaggy limb, + Till darkness glazed his eyeballs dim. + The grisly priest, with murmuring prayer, + A slender crosslet framed with care, + A cubit's length in measure due; + The shaft and limbs were rods of yew, + Whose parents in Inch-Cailliach wave + Their shadows o'er Clan-Alpine's grave, + And, answering Lomond's breezes deep, + Soothe many a chieftain's endless sleep. + The Cross thus formed he held on high, + With wasted hand and haggard eye, + And strange and mingled feelings woke, + While his anathema he spoke:-- + + + IX. + + 'Woe to the clansman who shall view + This symbol of sepulchral yew, + Forgetful that its branches grew + Where weep the heavens their holiest dew + On Alpine's dwelling low! + Deserter of his Chieftain's trust, + He ne'er shall mingle with their dust, + But, from his sires and kindred thrust, + Each clansman's execration just + Shall doom him wrath and woe.' + He paused;--the word the vassals took, + With forward step and fiery look, + On high their naked brands they shook, + Their clattering targets wildly strook; + And first in murmur low, + Then like the billow in his course, + That far to seaward finds his source, + And flings to shore his mustered force, + Burst with loud roar their answer hoarse, + 'Woe to the traitor, woe!' + Ben-an's gray scalp the accents knew, + The joyous wolf from covert drew, + The exulting eagle screamed afar,-- + They knew the voice of Alpine's war. + + + X. + + The shout was hushed on lake and fell, + The Monk resumed his muttered spell: + Dismal and low its accents came, + The while he scathed the Cross with flame; + And the few words that reached the air, + Although the holiest name was there, + Had more of blasphemy than prayer. + But when he shook above the crowd + Its kindled points, he spoke aloud:-- + 'Woe to the wretch who fails to rear + At this dread sign the ready spear! + For, as the flames this symbol sear, + His home, the refuge of his fear, + A kindred fate shall know; + Far o'er its roof the volumed flame + Clan-Alpine's vengeance shall proclaim, + While maids and matrons on his name + Shall call down wretchedness and shame, + And infamy and woe.' + Then rose the cry of females, shrill + As goshawk's whistle on the hill, + Denouncing misery and ill, + Mingled with childhood's babbling trill + Of curses stammered slow; + Answering with imprecation dread, + 'Sunk be his home in embers red! + And cursed be the meanest shed + That o'er shall hide the houseless head + We doom to want and woe!' + A sharp and shrieking echo gave, + Coir-Uriskin, thy goblin cave! + And the gray pass where birches wave + On Beala-nam-bo. + + + XI. + + Then deeper paused the priest anew, + And hard his laboring breath he drew, + While, with set teeth and clenched hand, + And eyes that glowed like fiery brand, + He meditated curse more dread, + And deadlier, on the clansman's head + Who, summoned to his chieftain's aid, + The signal saw and disobeyed. + The crosslet's points of sparkling wood + He quenched among the bubbling blood. + And, as again the sign he reared, + Hollow and hoarse his voice was heard: + 'When flits this Cross from man to man, + Vich-Alpine's summons to his clan, + Burst be the ear that fails to heed! + Palsied the foot that shuns to speed! + May ravens tear the careless eyes, + Wolves make the coward heart their prize! + As sinks that blood-stream in the earth, + So may his heart's-blood drench his hearth! + As dies in hissing gore the spark, + Quench thou his light, Destruction dark! + And be the grace to him denied, + Bought by this sign to all beside! + He ceased; no echo gave again + The murmur of the deep Amen. + + + XII. + + Then Roderick with impatient look + From Brian's hand the symbol took: + 'Speed, Malise, speed' he said, and gave + The crosslet to his henchman brave. + 'The muster-place be Lanrick mead-- + Instant the time---speed, Malise, speed!' + Like heath-bird, when the hawks pursue, + A barge across Loch Katrine flew: + High stood the henchman on the prow; + So rapidly the barge-mall row, + The bubbles, where they launched the boat, + Were all unbroken and afloat, + Dancing in foam and ripple still, + When it had neared the mainland hill; + And from the silver beach's side + Still was the prow three fathom wide, + When lightly bounded to the land + The messenger of blood and brand. + + + XIII. + + Speed, Malise, speed! the dun deer's hide + On fleeter foot was never tied. + Speed, Malise, speed! such cause of haste + Thine active sinews never braced. + Bend 'gainst the steepy hill thy breast, + Burst down like torrent from its crest; + With short and springing footstep pass + The trembling bog and false morass; + Across the brook like roebuck bound, + And thread the brake like questing hound; + The crag is high, the scaur is deep, + Yet shrink not from the desperate leap: + Parched are thy burning lips and brow, + Yet by the fountain pause not now; + Herald of battle, fate, and fear, + Stretch onward in thy fleet career! + The wounded hind thou track'st not now, + Pursuest not maid through greenwood bough, + Nor priest thou now thy flying pace + With rivals in the mountain race; + But danger, death, and warrior deed + Are in thy course--speed, Malise, speed! + + + XIV. + + Fast as the fatal symbol flies, + In arms the huts and hamlets rise; + From winding glen, from upland brown, + They poured each hardy tenant down. + Nor slacked the messenger his pace; + He showed the sign, he named the place, + And, pressing forward like the wind, + Left clamor and surprise behind. + The fisherman forsook the strand, + The swarthy smith took dirk and brand; + With changed cheer, the mower blithe + Left in the half-cut swath his scythe; + The herds without a keeper strayed, + The plough was in mid-furrow staved, + The falconer tossed his hawk away, + The hunter left the stag at hay; + Prompt at the signal of alarms, + Each son of Alpine rushed to arms; + So swept the tumult and affray + Along the margin of Achray. + Alas, thou lovely lake! that e'er + Thy banks should echo sounds of fear! + The rocks, the bosky thickets, sleep + So stilly on thy bosom deep, + The lark's blithe carol from the cloud + Seems for the scene too gayly loud. + + + XV. + + Speed, Malise, speed! The lake is past, + Duncraggan's huts appear at last, + And peep, like moss-grown rocks, half seen + Half hidden in the copse so green; + There mayst thou rest, thy labor done, + Their lord shall speed the signal on.-- + As stoops the hawk upon his prey, + The henchman shot him down the way. + What woful accents load the gale? + The funeral yell, the female wail! + A gallant hunter's sport is o'er, + A valiant warrior fights no more. + Who, in the battle or the chase, + At Roderick's side shall fill his place!-- + Within the hall, where torch's ray + Supplies the excluded beams of day, + Lies Duncan on his lowly bier, + And o'er him streams his widow's tear. + His stripling son stands mournful by, + His youngest weeps, but knows not why; + The village maids and matrons round + The dismal coronach resound. + + + XVI. + + Coronach. + + He is gone on the mountain, + He is lost to the forest, + Like a summer-dried fountain, + When our need was the sorest. + The font, reappearing, + From the rain-drops shall borrow, + But to us comes no cheering, + To Duncan no morrow! + + The hand of the reaper + Takes the ears that are hoary, + But the voice of the weeper + Wails manhood in glory. + The autumn winds rushing + Waft the leaves that are searest, + But our flower was in flushing, + When blighting was nearest. + + Fleet foot on the correi, + Sage counsel in cumber, + Red hand in the foray, + How sound is thy slumber! + Like the dew on the mountain, + Like the foam on the river, + Like the bubble on the fountain, + Thou art gone, and forever! + + + XVII. + + See Stumah, who, the bier beside + His master's corpse with wonder eyed, + Poor Stumah! whom his least halloo + Could send like lightning o'er the dew, + Bristles his crest, and points his ears, + As if some stranger step he hears. + 'T is not a mourner's muffled tread, + Who comes to sorrow o'er the dead, + But headlong haste or deadly fear + Urge the precipitate career. + All stand aghast:--unheeding all, + The henchman bursts into the hall; + Before the dead man's bier he stood, + Held forth the Cross besmeared with blood; + 'The muster-place is Lanrick mead; + Speed forth the signal! clansmen, speed!' + + + XVIII, + + Angus, the heir of Duncan's line, + Sprung forth and seized the fatal sign. + In haste the stripling to his side + His father's dirk and broadsword tied; + But when he saw his mother's eye + Watch him in speechless agony, + Back to her opened arms he flew + Pressed on her lips a fond adieu,-- + 'Alas' she sobbed,--'and yet be gone, + And speed thee forth, like Duncan's son!' + One look he cast upon the bier, + Dashed from his eye the gathering tear, + Breathed deep to clear his laboring breast, + And tossed aloft his bonnet crest, + Then, like the high-bred colt when, freed, + First he essays his fire and speed, + He vanished, and o'er moor and moss + Sped forward with the Fiery Cross. + Suspended was the widow's tear + While yet his footsteps she could hear; + And when she marked the henchman's eye + Wet with unwonted sympathy, + 'Kinsman,' she said, 'his race is run + That should have sped thine errand on. + The oak teas fallen?--the sapling bough Is all + Duncraggan's shelter now + Yet trust I well, his duty done, + The orphan's God will guard my son.-- + And you, in many a danger true + At Duncan's hest your blades that drew, + To arms, and guard that orphan's head! + Let babes and women wail the dead.' + Then weapon-clang and martial call + Resounded through the funeral hall, + While from the walls the attendant band + Snatched sword and targe with hurried hand; + And short and flitting energy + Glanced from the mourner's sunken eye, + As if the sounds to warrior dear + Might rouse her Duncan from his bier. + But faded soon that borrowed force; + Grief claimed his right, and tears their course. + + + XIX. + + Benledi saw the Cross of Fire, + It glanced like lightning up Strath-Ire. + O'er dale and hill the summons flew, + Nor rest nor pause young Angus knew; + The tear that gathered in his eye + He deft the mountain-breeze to dry; + Until, where Teith's young waters roll + Betwixt him and a wooded knoll + That graced the sable strath with green, + The chapel of Saint Bride was seen. + Swoln was the stream, remote the bridge, + But Angus paused not on the edge; + Though the clerk waves danced dizzily, + Though reeled his sympathetic eye, + He dashed amid the torrent's roar: + His right hand high the crosslet bore, + His left the pole-axe grasped, to guide + And stay his footing in the tide. + He stumbled twice,--the foam splashed high, + With hoarser swell the stream raced by; + And had he fallen,--forever there, + Farewell Duncraggan's orphan heir! + But still, as if in parting life, + Firmer he grasped the Cross of strife, + Until the opposing bank he gained, + And up the chapel pathway strained. + A blithesome rout that morning-tide + Had sought the chapel of Saint Bride. + Her troth Tombea's Mary gave + To Norman, heir of Armandave, + And, issuing from the Gothic arch, + The bridal now resumed their march. + In rude but glad procession came + Bonneted sire and coif-clad dame; + And plaided youth, with jest and jeer + Which snooded maiden would not hear: + And children, that, unwitting why, + Lent the gay shout their shrilly cry; + And minstrels, that in measures vied + Before the young and bonny bride, + Whose downcast eye and cheek disclose + The tear and blush of morning rose. + With virgin step and bashful hand + She held the kerchief's snowy band. + The gallant bridegroom by her side + Beheld his prize with victor's pride. + And the glad mother in her ear + Was closely whispering word of cheer. + + + XXI. + + Who meets them at the churchyard gate? + The messenger of fear and fate! + Haste in his hurried accent lies, + And grief is swimming in his eyes. + All dripping from the recent flood, + Panting and travel-soiled he stood, + The fatal sign of fire and sword + Held forth, and spoke the appointed word: + 'The muster-place is Lanrick mead; + Speed forth the signal! Norman, speed!' + And must he change so soon the hand + Just linked to his by holy band, + For the fell Cross of blood and brand? + And must the day so blithe that rose, + And promised rapture in the close, + Before its setting hour, divide + The bridegroom from the plighted bride? + O fatal doom'--it must! it must! + Clan-Alpine's cause, her Chieftain's trust, + Her summons dread, brook no delay; + Stretch to the race,--away! away! + + + XXII. + + Yet slow he laid his plaid aside, + And lingering eyed his lovely bride, + Until he saw the starting tear + Speak woe he might not stop to cheer: + Then, trusting not a second look, + In haste he sped hind up the brook, + Nor backward glanced till on the heath + Where Lubnaig's lake supplies the Teith,-- + What in the racer's bosom stirred? + The sickening pang of hope deferred, + And memory with a torturing train + Of all his morning visions vain. + Mingled with love's impatience, came + The manly thirst for martial fame; + The stormy joy of mountaineers + Ere yet they rush upon the spears; + And zeal for Clan and Chieftain burning, + And hope, from well-fought field returning, + With war's red honors on his crest, + To clasp his Mary to his breast. + Stung by such thoughts, o'er bank and brae, + Like fire from flint he glanced away, + While high resolve and feeling strong + Burst into voluntary song. + + + XXIII. + + Song. + + The heath this night must be my bed, + The bracken curtain for my head, + My lullaby the warder's tread, + Far, far, from love and thee, Mary; + To-morrow eve, more stilly laid, + My couch may be my bloody plaid, + My vesper song thy wail, sweet maid! + It will not waken me, Mary! + + I may not, dare not, fancy now + The grief that clouds thy lovely brow, + I dare not think upon thy vow, + And all it promised me, Mary. + No fond regret must Norman know; + When bursts Clan-Alpine on the foe, + His heart must be like bended bow, + His foot like arrow free, Mary. + + A time will come with feeling fraught, + For, if I fall in battle fought, + Thy hapless lover's dying thought + Shall be a thought on thee, Mary. + And if returned from conquered foes, + How blithely will the evening close, + How sweet the linnet sing repose, + To my young bride and me, Mary! + + + XXIV. + + Not faster o'er thy heathery braes + Balquidder, speeds the midnight blaze, + Rushing in conflagration strong + Thy deep ravines and dells along, + Wrapping thy cliffs in purple glow, + And reddening the dark lakes below; + Nor faster speeds it, nor so far, + As o'er thy heaths the voice of war. + The signal roused to martial coil + The sullen margin of Loch Voil, + Waked still Loch Doine, and to the source + Alarmed, Balvaig, thy swampy course; + Thence southward turned its rapid road + Adown Strath-Gartney's valley broad + Till rose in arms each man might claim + A portion in Clan-Alpine's name, + From the gray sire, whose trembling hand + Could hardly buckle on his brand, + To the raw boy, whose shaft and bow + Were yet scarce terror to the crow. + Each valley, each sequestered glen, + Mustered its little horde of men + That met as torrents from the height + In Highland dales their streams unite + Still gathering, as they pour along, + A voice more loud, a tide more strong, + Till at the rendezvous they stood + By hundreds prompt for blows and blood, + Each trained to arms since life began, + Owning no tie but to his clan, + No oath but by his chieftain's hand, + No law but Roderick Dhu's command. + + + XXV. + + That summer morn had Roderick Dhu + Surveyed the skirts of Benvenue, + And sent his scouts o'er hill and heath, + To view the frontiers of Menteith. + All backward came with news of truce; + Still lay each martial Graeme and Bruce, + In Rednock courts no horsemen wait, + No banner waved on Cardross gate, + On Duchray's towers no beacon shone, + Nor scared the herons from Loch Con; + All seemed at peace.--Now wot ye wily + The Chieftain with such anxious eye, + Ere to the muster he repair, + This western frontier scanned with care?-- + In Benvenue's most darksome cleft, + A fair though cruel pledge was left; + For Douglas, to his promise true, + That morning from the isle withdrew, + And in a deep sequestered dell + Had sought a low and lonely cell. + By many a bard in Celtic tongue + Has Coir-nan-Uriskin been sung + A softer name the Saxons gave, + And called the grot the Goblin Cave. + + + XXVI. + + It was a wild and strange retreat, + As e'er was trod by outlaw's feet. + The dell, upon the mountain's crest, + Yawned like a gash on warrior's breast; + Its trench had stayed full many a rock, + Hurled by primeval earthquake shock + From Benvenue's gray summit wild, + And here, in random ruin piled, + They frowned incumbent o'er the spot + And formed the rugged sylvan "rot. + The oak and birch with mingled shade + At noontide there a twilight made, + Unless when short and sudden shone + Some straggling beam on cliff or stone, + With such a glimpse as prophet's eye + Gains on thy depth, Futurity. + No murmur waked the solemn still, + Save tinkling of a fountain rill; + But when the wind chafed with the lake, + A sullen sound would upward break, + With dashing hollow voice, that spoke + The incessant war of wave and rock. + Suspended cliffs with hideous sway + Seemed nodding o'er the cavern gray. + From such a den the wolf had sprung, + In such the wild-cat leaves her young; + Yet Douglas and his daughter fair + Sought for a space their safety there. + Gray Superstition's whisper dread + Debarred the spot to vulgar tread; + For there, she said, did fays resort, + And satyrs hold their sylvan court, + By moonlight tread their mystic maze, + And blast the rash beholder's gaze. + + + XXVII. + + Now eve, with western shadows long, + Floated on Katrine bright and strong, + When Roderick with a chosen few + Repassed the heights of Benvenue. + Above the Goblin Cave they go, + Through the wild pass of Beal-nam-bo; + The prompt retainers speed before, + To launch the shallop from the shore, + For 'cross Loch Katrine lies his way + To view the passes of Achray, + And place his clansmen in array. + Yet lags the Chief in musing mind, + Unwonted sight, his men behind. + A single page, to bear his sword, + Alone attended on his lord; + The rest their way through thickets break, + And soon await him by the lake. + It was a fair and gallant sight + To view them from the neighboring height, + By the low-levelled sunbeam's light! + For strength and stature, from the clan + Each warrior was a chosen man, + As even afar might well be seen, + By their proud step and martial mien. + Their feathers dance, their tartars float, + Their targets gleam, as by the boat + A wild and warlike group they stand, + That well became such mountain-strand. + + + XXVI + + Their Chief with step reluctant still + Was lingering on the craggy hill, + Hard by where turned apart the road + To Douglas's obscure abode. + It was but with that dawning morn + That Roderick Dhu had proudly sworn + To drown his love in war's wild roar, + Nor think of Ellen Douglas more; + But he who stems a stream with sand, + And fetters flame with flaxen band, + Has yet a harder task to prove,-- + By firm resolve to conquer love! + Eve finds the Chief, like restless ghost, + Still hovering near his treasure lost; + For though his haughty heart deny + A parting meeting to his eye + Still fondly strains his anxious ear + The accents of her voice to hear, + And inly did he curse the breeze + That waked to sound the rustling trees. + But hark! what mingles in the strain? + It is the harp of Allan-bane, + That wakes its measure slow and high, + Attuned to sacred minstrelsy. + What melting voice attends the strings? + 'Tis Ellen, or an angel, sings. + + + XXIX. + + Hymn to the Virgin. + + Ave. Maria! maiden mild! + Listen to a maiden's prayer! + Thou canst hear though from the wild, + Thou canst save amid despair. + Safe may we sleep beneath thy care, + Though banished, outcast, and reviled-- + Maiden! hear a maiden's prayer; + Mother, hear a suppliant child! + Ave Maria! + + Ave Maria! undefiled! + The flinty couch we now must share + Shall seem with down of eider piled, + If thy protection hover there. + The murky cavern's heavy air + Shall breathe of balm if thou hast smiled; + Then, Maiden! hear a maiden's prayer, + Mother, list a suppliant child! + Ave Maria! + + Ave. Maria! stainless styled! + Foul demons of the earth and air, + From this their wonted haunt exiled, + Shall flee before thy presence fair. + We bow us to our lot of care, + Beneath thy guidance reconciled: + Hear for a maid a maiden's prayer, + And for a father hear a child! + Ave Maria! + + + XXX. + + Died on the harp the closing hymn,-- + Unmoved in attitude and limb, + As listening still, Clan-Alpine's lord + Stood leaning on his heavy sword, + Until the page with humble sign + Twice pointed to the sun's decline. + Then while his plaid he round him cast, + 'It is the last time--'tis the last,' + He muttered thrice,--'the last time e'er + That angel-voice shall Roderick hear'' + It was a goading thought,--his stride + Hied hastier down the mountain-side; + Sullen he flung him in the boat + An instant 'cross the lake it shot. + They landed in that silvery bay, + And eastward held their hasty way + Till, with the latest beams of light, + The band arrived on Lanrick height' + Where mustered in the vale below + Clan-Alpine's men in martial show. + + + XXXI. + + A various scene the clansmen made: + Some sat, some stood, some slowly strayed: + But most, with mantles folded round, + Were couched to rest upon the ground, + Scarce to be known by curious eye + From the deep heather where they lie, + So well was matched the tartan screen + With heath-bell dark and brackens green; + Unless where, here and there, a blade + Or lance's point a glimmer made, + Like glow-worm twinkling through the shade. + But when, advancing through the gloom, + They saw the Chieftain's eagle plume, + Their shout of welcome, shrill and wide, + Shook the steep mountain's steady side. + Thrice it arose, and lake and fell + Three times returned the martial yell; + It died upon Bochastle's plain, + And Silence claimed her evening reign. + + + + +CANTO FOURTH. + +The Prophecy. + + + + I. + + The rose is fairest when 't is budding new, + And hope is brightest when it dawns from fears; + The rose is sweetest washed with morning dew + And love is loveliest when embalmed in tears. + O wilding rose, whom fancy thus endears, + I bid your blossoms in my bonnet wave, + Emblem of hope and love through future years!' + Thus spoke young Norman, heir of Armandave, + What time the sun arose on Vennachar's broad wave. + + + II. + + Such fond conceit, half said, half sung, + Love prompted to the bridegroom's tongue. + All while he stripped the wild-rose spray, + His axe and bow beside him lay, + For on a pass 'twixt lake and wood + A wakeful sentinel he stood. + Hark!--on the rock a footstep rung, + And instant to his arms he sprung. + 'Stand, or thou diest!--What, Malise?--soon + Art thou returned from Braes of Doune. + By thy keen step and glance I know, + Thou bring'st us tidings of the foe.'-- + For while the Fiery Cross tried on, + On distant scout had Malise gone.-- + 'Where sleeps the Chief?' the henchman said. + 'Apart, in yonder misty glade; + To his lone couch I'll be your guide.'-- + Then called a slumberer by his side, + And stirred him with his slackened bow,-- + 'Up, up, Glentarkin! rouse thee, ho! + We seek the Chieftain; on the track + Keep eagle watch till I come back.' + + + III. + + Together up the pass they sped: + 'What of the foeman?' Norman said.-- + 'Varying reports from near and far; + This certain,--that a band of war + Has for two days been ready boune, + At prompt command to march from Doune; + King James the while, with princely powers, + Holds revelry in Stirling towers. + Soon will this dark and gathering cloud + Speak on our glens in thunder loud. + Inured to bide such bitter bout, + The warrior's plaid may bear it out; + But, Norman, how wilt thou provide + A shelter for thy bonny bride?''-- + 'What! know ye not that Roderick's care + To the lone isle hath caused repair + Each maid and matron of the clan, + And every child and aged man + Unfit for arms; and given his charge, + Nor skiff nor shallop, boat nor barge, + Upon these lakes shall float at large, + But all beside the islet moor, + That such dear pledge may rest secure?'-- + + + IV. + + ''T is well advised,--the Chieftain's plan + Bespeaks the father of his clan. + But wherefore sleeps Sir Roderick Dhu + Apart from all his followers true?' + 'It is because last evening-tide + Brian an augury hath tried, + Of that dread kind which must not be + Unless in dread extremity, + The Taghairm called; by which, afar, + Our sires foresaw the events of war. + Duncraggan's milk-white bull they slew,'-- + + Malise. + + 'Ah! well the gallant brute I knew! + The choicest of the prey we had + When swept our merrymen Gallangad. + His hide was snow, his horns were dark, + His red eye glowed like fiery spark; + So fierce, so tameless, and so fleet, + Sore did he cumber our retreat, + And kept our stoutest kerns in awe, + Even at the pass of Beal 'maha. + But steep and flinty was the road, + And sharp the hurrying pikeman's goad, + And when we came to Dennan's Row + A child might scathless stroke his brow.' + + + V. + + Norman. + + 'That bull was slain; his reeking hide + They stretched the cataract beside, + Whose waters their wild tumult toss + Adown the black and craggy boss + Of that huge cliff whose ample verge + Tradition calls the Hero's Targe. + Couched on a shelf beneath its brink, + Close where the thundering torrents sink, + Rocking beneath their headlong sway, + And drizzled by the ceaseless spray, + Midst groan of rock and roar of stream, + The wizard waits prophetic dream. + Nor distant rests the Chief;--but hush! + See, gliding slow through mist and bush, + The hermit gains yon rock, and stands + To gaze upon our slumbering bands. + Seems he not, Malise, dike a ghost, + That hovers o'er a slaughtered host? + Or raven on the blasted oak, + That, watching while the deer is broke, + His morsel claims with sullen croak?' + + Malise. + + 'Peace! peace! to other than to me + Thy words were evil augury; + But still I hold Sir Roderick's blade + Clan-Alpine's omen and her aid, + Not aught that, gleaned from heaven or hell, + Yon fiend-begotten Monk can tell. + The Chieftain joins him, see--and now + Together they descend the brow.' + + + VI. + + And, as they came, with Alpine's Lord + The Hermit Monk held solemn word:--. + 'Roderick! it is a fearful strife, + For man endowed with mortal life + Whose shroud of sentient clay can still + Feel feverish pang and fainting chill, + Whose eye can stare in stony trance + Whose hair can rouse like warrior's lance, + 'Tis hard for such to view, unfurled, + The curtain of the future world. + Yet, witness every quaking limb, + My sunken pulse, mine eyeballs dim, + My soul with harrowing anguish torn, + This for my Chieftain have I borne!-- + The shapes that sought my fearful couch + A human tongue may ne'er avouch; + No mortal man--save he, who, bred + Between the living and the dead, + Is gifted beyond nature's law + Had e'er survived to say he saw. + At length the fateful answer came + In characters of living flame! + Not spoke in word, nor blazed in scroll, + But borne and branded on my soul:-- + WHICH SPILLS THE FOREMOST FOEMAN'S LIFE, + THAT PARTY CONQUERS IN THE STRIFE.' + + + VII. + + 'Thanks, Brian, for thy zeal and care! + Good is thine augury, and fair. + Clan-Alpine ne'er in battle stood + But first our broadswords tasted blood. + A surer victim still I know, + Self-offered to the auspicious blow: + A spy has sought my land this morn,-- + No eve shall witness his return! + My followers guard each pass's mouth, + To east, to westward, and to south; + Red Murdoch, bribed to be his guide, + Has charge to lead his steps aside, + Till in deep path or dingle brown + He light on those shall bring him clown. + But see, who comes his news to show! + Malise! what tidings of the foe?' + + + VIII. + + 'At Doune, o'er many a spear and glaive + Two Barons proud their banners wave. + I saw the Moray's silver star, + And marked the sable pale of Mar.' + 'By Alpine's soul, high tidings those! + I love to hear of worthy foes. + When move they on?' 'To-morrow's noon + Will see them here for battle boune.' + 'Then shall it see a meeting stern! + But, for the place,--say, couldst thou learn + Nought of the friendly clans of Earn? + Strengthened by them, we well might bide + The battle on Benledi's side. + Thou couldst not?--well! Clan-Alpine's men + Shall man the Trosachs' shaggy glen; + Within Loch Katrine's gorge we'll fight, + All in our maids' and matrons' sight, + Each for his hearth and household fire, + Father for child, and son for sire Lover + for maid beloved!--But why + Is it the breeze affects mine eye? + Or dost thou come, ill-omened tear! + A messenger of doubt or fear? + No! sooner may the Saxon lance + Unfix Benledi from his stance, + Than doubt or terror can pierce through + The unyielding heart of Roderick Dhu! + 'tis stubborn as his trusty targe. + Each to his post!--all know their charge.' + The pibroch sounds, the bands advance, + The broadswords gleam, the banners dance' + Obedient to the Chieftain's glance.-- + I turn me from the martial roar + And seek Coir-Uriskin once more. + + + IX. + + Where is the Douglas?--he is gone; + And Ellen sits on the gray stone + Fast by the cave, and makes her moan, + While vainly Allan's words of cheer + Are poured on her unheeding ear. + 'He will return--dear lady, trust!-- + With joy return;--he will--he must. + Well was it time to seek afar + Some refuge from impending war, + When e'en Clan-Alpine's rugged swarm + Are cowed by the approaching storm. + I saw their boats with many a light, + Floating the livelong yesternight, + Shifting like flashes darted forth + By the red streamers of the north; + I marked at morn how close they ride, + Thick moored by the lone islet's side, + Like wild ducks couching in the fen + When stoops the hawk upon the glen. + Since this rude race dare not abide + The peril on the mainland side, + Shall not thy noble father's care + Some safe retreat for thee prepare?' + + + X. + + Ellen. + + 'No, Allan, no' Pretext so kind + My wakeful terrors could not blind. + When in such tender tone, yet grave, + Douglas a parting blessing gave, + The tear that glistened in his eye + Drowned not his purpose fixed and high. + My soul, though feminine and weak, + Can image his; e'en as the lake, + Itself disturbed by slightest stroke. + Reflects the invulnerable rock. + He hears report of battle rife, + He deems himself the cause of strife. + I saw him redden when the theme + Turned, Allan, on thine idle dream + Of Malcolm Graeme in fetters bound, + Which I, thou saidst, about him wound. + Think'st thou he bowed thine omen aught? + O no' 't was apprehensive thought + For the kind youth,--for Roderick too-- + Let me be just--that friend so true; + In danger both, and in our cause! + Minstrel, the Douglas dare not pause. + Why else that solemn warning given, + 'If not on earth, we meet in heaven!' + Why else, to Cambus-kenneth's fane, + If eve return him not again, + Am I to hie and make me known? + Alas! he goes to Scotland's throne, + Buys his friends' safety with his own; + He goes to do--what I had done, + Had Douglas' daughter been his son!' + + + XI. + + 'Nay, lovely Ellen!--dearest, nay! + If aught should his return delay, + He only named yon holy fane + As fitting place to meet again. + Be sure he's safe; and for the Graeme,-- + Heaven's blessing on his gallant name!-- + My visioned sight may yet prove true, + Nor bode of ill to him or you. + When did my gifted dream beguile? + Think of the stranger at the isle, + And think upon the harpings slow + That presaged this approaching woe! + Sooth was my prophecy of fear; + Believe it when it augurs cheer. + Would we had left this dismal spot! + Ill luck still haunts a fairy spot! + Of such a wondrous tale I know-- + Dear lady, change that look of woe, + My harp was wont thy grief to cheer.' + + Ellen. + + 'Well, be it as thou wilt; + I hear, But cannot stop the bursting tear.' + The Minstrel tried his simple art, + Rut distant far was Ellen's heart. + + + XII. + + Ballad. + + Alice Brand. + + Merry it is in the good greenwood, + When the mavis and merle are singing, + When the deer sweeps by, and the hounds are in cry, + And the hunter's horn is ringing. + + 'O Alice Brand, my native land + Is lost for love of you; + And we must hold by wood and word, + As outlaws wont to do. + + 'O Alice, 't was all for thy locks so bright, + And 't was all for thine eyes so blue, + That on the night of our luckless flight + Thy brother bold I slew. + + 'Now must I teach to hew the beech + The hand that held the glaive, + For leaves to spread our lowly bed, + And stakes to fence our cave. + + 'And for vest of pall, thy fingers small, + That wont on harp to stray, + A cloak must shear from the slaughtered deer, + To keep the cold away.' + + 'O Richard! if my brother died, + 'T was but a fatal chance; + For darkling was the battle tried, + And fortune sped the lance. + + 'If pall and vair no more I wear, + Nor thou the crimson sheen + As warm, we'll say, is the russet gray, + As gay the forest-green. + + 'And, Richard, if our lot be hard, + And lost thy native land, + Still Alice has her own Richard, + And he his Alice Brand.' + + + XIII. + + Ballad Continued. + + 'tis merry, 'tis merry, in good greenwood; + So blithe Lady Alice is singing; + On the beech's pride, and oak's brown side, + Lord Richard's axe is ringing. + + Up spoke the moody Elfin King, + Who woned within the hill,-- + Like wind in the porch of a ruined church, + His voice was ghostly shrill. + + 'Why sounds yon stroke on beech and oak, + Our moonlight circle's screen? + Or who comes here to chase the deer, + Beloved of our Elfin Queen? + Or who may dare on wold to wear + The fairies' fatal green? + + 'Up, Urgan, up! to yon mortal hie, + For thou wert christened man; + For cross or sign thou wilt not fly, + For muttered word or ban. + + 'Lay on him the curse of the withered heart, + The curse of the sleepless eye; + Till he wish and pray that his life would part, + Nor yet find leave to die.' + + + XIV. + + Ballad Continued. + + 'Tis merry, 'tis merry, in good greenwood, + Though the birds have stilled their singing; + The evening blaze cloth Alice raise, + And Richard is fagots bringing. + + Up Urgan starts, that hideous dwarf, + Before Lord Richard stands, + And, as he crossed and blessed himself, + 'I fear not sign,' quoth the grisly elf, + 'That is made with bloody hands.' + + But out then spoke she, Alice Brand, + That woman void of fear,-- + 'And if there 's blood upon his hand, + 'Tis but the blood of deer.' + + 'Now loud thou liest, thou bold of mood! + It cleaves unto his hand, + The stain of thine own kindly blood, + The blood of Ethert Brand.' + + Then forward stepped she, Alice Brand, + And made the holy sign,-- + 'And if there's blood on Richard's hand, + A spotless hand is mine. + + 'And I conjure thee, demon elf, + By Him whom demons fear, + To show us whence thou art thyself, + And what thine errand here?' + + + XV. + + Ballad Continued. + + "Tis merry, 'tis merry, in Fairy-land, + When fairy birds are singing, + When the court cloth ride by their monarch's side, + With bit and bridle ringing: + + 'And gayly shines the Fairy-land-- + But all is glistening show, + Like the idle gleam that December's beam + Can dart on ice and snow. + + 'And fading, like that varied gleam, + Is our inconstant shape, + Who now like knight and lady seem, + And now like dwarf and ape. + + 'It was between the night and day, + When the Fairy King has power, + That I sunk down in a sinful fray, + And 'twixt life and death was snatched away + To the joyless Elfin bower. + + 'But wist I of a woman bold, + Who thrice my brow durst sign, + I might regain my mortal mould, + As fair a form as thine.' + + She crossed him once--she crossed him twice-- + That lady was so brave; + The fouler grew his goblin hue, + The darker grew the cave. + + She crossed him thrice, that lady bold; + He rose beneath her hand + The fairest knight on Scottish mould, + Her brother, Ethert Brand! + + Merry it is in good greenwood, + When the mavis and merle are singing, + But merrier were they in Dunfermline gray, + When all the bells were ringing. + + + XVI. + + Just as the minstrel sounds were stayed, + A stranger climbed the steepy glade; + His martial step, his stately mien, + His hunting-suit of Lincoln green, + His eagle glance, remembrance claims-- + 'Tis Snowdoun's Knight, 'tis James Fitz-James. + Ellen beheld as in a dream, + Then, starting, scarce suppressed a scream: + 'O stranger! in such hour of fear + What evil hap has brought thee here?' + 'An evil hap how can it be + That bids me look again on thee? + By promise bound, my former guide + Met me betimes this morning-tide, + And marshalled over bank and bourne + The happy path of my return.' + 'The happy path!--what! said he naught + Of war, of battle to be fought, + Of guarded pass?' 'No, by my faith! + Nor saw I aught could augur scathe.' + 'O haste thee, Allan, to the kern: + Yonder his tartars I discern; + Learn thou his purpose, and conjure + That he will guide the stranger sure!-- + What prompted thee, unhappy man? + The meanest serf in Roderick's clan + Had not been bribed, by love or fear, + Unknown to him to guide thee here.' + + + XVII. + + 'Sweet Ellen, dear my life must be, + Since it is worthy care from thee; + Yet life I hold but idle breath + When love or honor's weighed with death. + Then let me profit by my chance, + And speak my purpose bold at once. + I come to bear thee from a wild + Where ne'er before such blossom smiled, + By this soft hand to lead thee far + From frantic scenes of feud and war. + Near Bochastle my horses wait; + They bear us soon to Stirling gate. + I'll place thee in a lovely bower, + I'll guard thee like a tender flower--' + 'O hush, Sir Knight! 't were female art, + To say I do not read thy heart; + Too much, before, my selfish ear + Was idly soothed my praise to hear. + That fatal bait hath lured thee back, + In deathful hour, o'er dangerous track; + And how, O how, can I atone + The wreck my vanity brought on!-- + One way remains--I'll tell him all-- + Yes! struggling bosom, forth it shall! + Thou, whose light folly bears the blame, + Buy thine own pardon with thy shame! + But first--my father is a man + Outlawed and exiled, under ban; + The price of blood is on his head, + With me 't were infamy to wed. + Still wouldst thou speak?--then hear the truth! + Fitz-James, there is a noble youth-- + If yet he is!--exposed for me + And mine to dread extremity-- + Thou hast the secret of my bears; + Forgive, be generous, and depart!' + + + XVIII. + + Fitz-James knew every wily train + A lady's fickle heart to gain, + But here he knew and felt them vain. + There shot no glance from Ellen's eye, + To give her steadfast speech the lie; + In maiden confidence she stood, + Though mantled in her cheek the blood + And told her love with such a sigh + Of deep and hopeless agony, + As death had sealed her Malcolm's doom + And she sat sorrowing on his tomb. + Hope vanished from Fitz-James's eye, + But not with hope fled sympathy. + He proffered to attend her side, + As brother would a sister guide. + 'O little know'st thou Roderick's heart! + Safer for both we go apart. + O haste thee, and from Allan learn + If thou mayst trust yon wily kern.' + With hand upon his forehead laid, + The conflict of his mind to shade, + A parting step or two he made; + Then, as some thought had crossed his brain + He paused, and turned, and came again. + + + XIX. + + 'Hear, lady, yet a parting word!-- + It chanced in fight that my poor sword + Preserved the life of Scotland's lord. + This ring the grateful Monarch gave, + And bade, when I had boon to crave, + To bring it back, and boldly claim + The recompense that I would name. + Ellen, I am no courtly lord, + But one who lives by lance and sword, + Whose castle is his helm and shield, + His lordship the embattled field. + What from a prince can I demand, + Who neither reck of state nor land? + Ellen, thy hand--the ring is thine; + Each guard and usher knows the sign. + Seek thou the King without delay; + This signet shall secure thy way: + And claim thy suit, whate'er it be, + As ransom of his pledge to me.' + He placed the golden circlet on, + Paused--kissed her hand--and then was gone. + The aged Minstrel stood aghast, + So hastily Fitz-James shot past. + He joined his guide, and wending down + The ridges of the mountain brown, + Across the stream they took their way + That joins Loch Katrine to Achray. + + + XX + + All in the Trosachs' glen was still, + Noontide was sleeping on the hill: + Sudden his guide whooped loud and high-- + 'Murdoch! was that a signal cry?'-- + He stammered forth, 'I shout to scare + Yon raven from his dainty fare.' + He looked--he knew the raven's prey, + His own brave steed: 'Ah! gallant gray! + For thee--for me, perchance--'t were well + We ne'er had seen the Trosachs' dell.-- + Murdoch, move first---but silently; + Whistle or whoop, and thou shalt die!' + Jealous and sullen on they fared, + Each silent, each upon his guard. + + + XXI. + + Now wound the path its dizzy ledge + Around a precipice's edge, + When lo! a wasted female form, + Blighted by wrath of sun and storm, + In tattered weeds and wild array, + Stood on a cliff beside the way, + And glancing round her restless eye, + Upon the wood, the rock, the sky, + Seemed naught to mark, yet all to spy. + Her brow was wreathed with gaudy broom; + With gesture wild she waved a plume + Of feathers, which the eagles fling + To crag and cliff from dusky wing; + Such spoils her desperate step had sought, + Where scarce was footing for the goat. + The tartan plaid she first descried, + And shrieked till all the rocks replied; + As loud she laughed when near they drew, + For then the Lowland garb she knew; + And then her hands she wildly wrung, + And then she wept, and then she sung-- + She sung!--the voice, in better time, + Perchance to harp or lute might chime; + And now, though strained and roughened, still + Rung wildly sweet to dale and hill. + + + XXII. + + Song. + + They bid me sleep, they bid me pray, + They say my brain is warped and wrung-- + I cannot sleep on Highland brae, + I cannot pray in Highland tongue. + But were I now where Allan glides, + Or heard my native Devan's tides, + So sweetly would I rest, and pray + That Heaven would close my wintry day! + + 'Twas thus my hair they bade me braid, + They made me to the church repair; + It was my bridal morn they said, + And my true love would meet me there. + But woe betide the cruel guile + That drowned in blood the morning smile! + And woe betide the fairy dream! + I only waked to sob and scream. + + + XXIII. + + 'Who is this maid? what means her lay? + She hovers o'er the hollow way, + And flutters wide her mantle gray, + As the lone heron spreads his wing, + By twilight, o'er a haunted spring.' + ''Tis Blanche of Devan,' Murdoch said, + 'A crazed and captive Lowland maid, + Ta'en on the morn she was a bride, + When Roderick forayed Devan-side. + The gay bridegroom resistance made, + And felt our Chief's unconquered blade. + I marvel she is now at large, + But oft she 'scapes from Maudlin's charge.-- + Hence, brain-sick fool!'--He raised his bow:-- + 'Now, if thou strik'st her but one blow, + I'll pitch thee from the cliff as far + As ever peasant pitched a bar!' + 'Thanks, champion, thanks' the Maniac cried, + And pressed her to Fitz-James's side. + 'See the gray pennons I prepare, + To seek my true love through the air! + I will not lend that savage groom, + To break his fall, one downy plume! + No!--deep amid disjointed stones, + The wolves shall batten on his bones, + And then shall his detested plaid, + By bush and brier in mid-air stayed, + Wave forth a banner fail and free, + Meet signal for their revelry.' + + + XXIV + + 'Hush thee, poor maiden, and be still!' + 'O! thou look'st kindly, and I will. + Mine eye has dried and wasted been, + But still it loves the Lincoln green; + And, though mine ear is all unstrung, + Still, still it loves the Lowland tongue. + + 'For O my sweet William was forester true, + He stole poor Blanche's heart away! + His coat it was all of the greenwood hue, + And so blithely he trilled the Lowland lay! + + 'It was not that I meant to tell... + But thou art wise and guessest well.' + Then, in a low and broken tone, + And hurried note, the song went on. + Still on the Clansman fearfully + She fixed her apprehensive eye, + Then turned it on the Knight, and then + Her look glanced wildly o'er the glen. + + + XXV. + + 'The toils are pitched, and the stakes are set,-- + Ever sing merrily, merrily; + The bows they bend, and the knives they whet, + Hunters live so cheerily. + + It was a stag, a stag of ten, + Bearing its branches sturdily; + He came stately down the glen,-- + Ever sing hardily, hardily. + + 'It was there he met with a wounded doe, + She was bleeding deathfully; + She warned him of the toils below, + O. so faithfully, faithfully! + + 'He had an eye, and he could heed,-- + Ever sing warily, warily; + He had a foot, and he could speed,-- + Hunters watch so narrowly.' + + + XXVI. + + Fitz-James's mind was passion-tossed, + When Ellen's hints and fears were lost; + But Murdoch's shout suspicion wrought, + And Blanche's song conviction brought. + Not like a stag that spies the snare, + But lion of the hunt aware, + He waved at once his blade on high, + 'Disclose thy treachery, or die!' + Forth at hell speed the Clansman flew, + But in his race his bow he drew. + The shaft just grazed Fitz-James's crest, + And thrilled in Blanche's faded breast.-- + Murdoch of Alpine! prove thy speed, + For ne'er had Alpine's son such need; + With heart of fire, and foot of wind, + The fierce avenger is behind! + Fate judges of the rapid strife-- + The forfeit death--the prize is life; + Thy kindred ambush lies before, + Close couched upon the heathery moor; + Them couldst thou reach!--it may not be + Thine ambushed kin thou ne'er shalt see, + The fiery Saxon gains on thee!-- + Resistless speeds the deadly thrust, + As lightning strikes the pine to dust; + With foot and hand Fitz-James must strain + Ere he can win his blade again. + Bent o'er the fallen with falcon eye, + He grimly smiled to see him die, + Then slower wended back his way, + Where the poor maiden bleeding lay. + + + XXVII. + + She sat beneath the birchen tree, + Her elbow resting on her knee; + She had withdrawn the fatal shaft, + And gazed on it, and feebly laughed; + Her wreath of broom and feathers gray, + Daggled with blood, beside her lay. + The Knight to stanch the life-stream tried,-- + 'Stranger, it is in vain!' she cried. + 'This hour of death has given me more + Of reason's power than years before; + For, as these ebbing veins decay, + My frenzied visions fade away. + A helpless injured wretch I die, + And something tells me in thine eye + That thou wert mine avenger born. + Seest thou this tress?--O. still I 've worn + This little tress of yellow hair, + Through danger, frenzy, and despair! + It once was bright and clear as thine, + But blood and tears have dimmed its shine. + I will not tell thee when 't was shred, + Nor from what guiltless victim's head,-- + My brain would turn!--but it shall wave + Like plumage on thy helmet brave, + Till sun and wind shall bleach the stain, + And thou wilt bring it me again. + I waver still.--O God! more bright + Let reason beam her parting light!-- + O. by thy knighthood's honored sign, + And for thy life preserved by mine, + When thou shalt see a darksome man, + Who boasts him Chief of Alpine's Clan, + With tartars broad and shadowy plume, + And hand of blood, and brow of gloom + Be thy heart bold, thy weapon strong, + And wreak poor Blanche of Devan's wrong!-- + They watch for thee by pass and fell... + Avoid the path... O God!... farewell.' + + + XXVIII. + + A kindly heart had brave Fitz-James; + Fast poured his eyes at pity's claims; + And now, with mingled grief and ire, + He saw the murdered maid expire. + 'God, in my need, be my relief, + As I wreak this on yonder Chief!' + A lock from Blanche's tresses fair + He blended with her bridegroom's hair; + The mingled braid in blood he dyed, + And placed it on his bonnet-side: + 'By Him whose word is truth, I swear, + No other favour will I wear, + Till this sad token I imbrue + In the best blood of Roderick Dhu!-- + But hark! what means yon faint halloo? + The chase is up,--but they shall know, + The stag at bay 's a dangerous foe.' + Barred from the known but guarded way, + Through copse and cliffs Fitz-James must stray, + And oft must change his desperate track, + By stream and precipice turned back. + Heartless, fatigued, and faint, at length, + From lack of food and loss of strength + He couched him in a thicket hoar + And thought his toils and perils o'er:-- + 'Of all my rash adventures past, + This frantic feat must prove the last! + Who e'er so mad but might have guessed + That all this Highland hornet's nest + Would muster up in swarms so soon + As e'er they heard of bands at Doune?-- + Like bloodhounds now they search me out,-- + Hark, to the whistle and the shout!-- + If farther through the wilds I go, + I only fall upon the foe: + I'll couch me here till evening gray, + Then darkling try my dangerous way.' + + + XXIX. + + The shades of eve come slowly down, + The woods are wrapt in deeper brown, + The owl awakens from her dell, + The fox is heard upon the fell; + Enough remains of glimmering light + To guide the wanderer's steps aright, + Yet not enough from far to show + His figure to the watchful foe. + With cautious step and ear awake, + He climbs the crag and threads the brake; + And not the summer solstice there + Tempered the midnight mountain air, + But every breeze that swept the wold + Benumbed his drenched limbs with cold. + In dread, in danger, and alone, + Famished and chilled, through ways unknown, + Tangled and steep, he journeyed on; + Till, as a rock's huge point he turned, + A watch-fire close before him burned. + + + XXX. + + Beside its embers red and clear + Basked in his plaid a mountaineer; + And up he sprung with sword in hand,-- + 'Thy name and purpose! Saxon, stand!' + 'A stranger.' 'What dost thou require?' + 'Rest and a guide, and food and fire + My life's beset, my path is lost, + The gale has chilled my limbs with frost.' + 'Art thou a friend to Roderick?' 'No.' + 'Thou dar'st not call thyself a foe?' + 'I dare! to him and all the band + He brings to aid his murderous hand.' + 'Bold words!--but, though the beast of game + The privilege of chase may claim, + Though space and law the stag we lend + Ere hound we slip or bow we bend + Who ever recked, where, how, or when, + The prowling fox was trapped or slain? + Thus treacherous scouts,--yet sure they lie + Who say thou cam'st a secret spy!'-- + 'They do, by heaven!--come Roderick Dhu + And of his clan the boldest two + And let me but till morning rest, + I write the falsehood on their crest.' + If by the blaze I mark aright + Thou bear'st the belt and spur of Knight.' + 'Then by these tokens mayst thou know + Each proud oppressor's mortal foe.' + 'Enough, enough; sit down and share + A soldier's couch, a soldier's fare.' + + + XXXI.. + + He gave him of his Highland cheer, + The hardened flesh of mountain deer; + Dry fuel on the fire he laid, + And bade the Saxon share his plaid. + He tended him like welcome guest, + Then thus his further speech addressed:-- + 'Stranger, I am to Roderick Dhu + A clansman born, a kinsman true; + Each word against his honour spoke + Demands of me avenging stroke; + Yet more,--upon thy fate, 'tis said, + A mighty augury is laid. + It rests with me to wind my horn,-- + Thou art with numbers overborne; + It rests with me, here, brand to brand, + Worn as thou art, to bid thee stand: + But, not for clan, nor kindred's cause, + Will I depart from honour's laws; + To assail a wearied man were shame, + And stranger is a holy name; + Guidance and rest, and food and fire, + In vain he never must require. + Then rest thee here till dawn of day; + Myself will guide thee on the way, + O'er stock and stone, through watch and ward, + Till past Clan-Alpine's outmost guard, + As far as Coilantogle's ford; + From thence thy warrant is thy sword.' + 'I take thy courtesy, by heaven, + As freely as 'tis nobly given!' + Well, rest thee; for the bittern's cry + Sings us the lake's wild lullaby.' + With that he shook the gathered heath, + And spread his plaid upon the wreath; + And the brave foemen, side by side, + Lay peaceful down like brothers tried, + And slept until the dawning beam + Purpled the mountain and the stream. + + + + +CANTO FIFTH. + +The Combat. + + + + I. + + Fair as the earliest beam of eastern light, + When first, by the bewildered pilgrim spied, + It smiles upon the dreary brow of night + And silvers o'er the torrent's foaming tide + And lights the fearful path on mountain-side,-- + Fair as that beam, although the fairest far, + Giving to horror grace, to danger pride, + Shine martial Faith, and Courtesy's bright star + Through all the wreckful storms that cloud the brow of War. + + + II. + + That early beam, so fair and sheen, + Was twinkling through the hazel screen + When, rousing at its glimmer red, + The warriors left their lowly bed, + Looked out upon the dappled sky, + Muttered their soldier matins try, + And then awaked their fire, to steal, + As short and rude, their soldier meal. + That o'er, the Gael around him threw + His graceful plaid of varied hue, + And, true to promise, led the way, + By thicket green and mountain gray. + A wildering path!--they winded now + Along the precipice's brow, + Commanding the rich scenes beneath, + The windings of the Forth and Teith, + And all the vales between that lie. + Till Stirling's turrets melt in sky; + Then, sunk in copse, their farthest glance + Gained not the length of horseman's lance. + 'Twas oft so steep, the foot was as fain + Assistance from the hand to gain; + So tangled oft that, bursting through, + Each hawthorn shed her showers of dew,-- + That diamond dew, so pure and clear, + It rivals all but Beauty's tear! + + + III. + + At length they came where, stern and steep, + The hill sinks down upon the deep. + Here Vennachar in silver flows, + There, ridge on ridge, Benledi rose; + Ever the hollow path twined on, + Beneath steep hank and threatening stone; + A hundred men might hold the post + With hardihood against a host. + The rugged mountain's scanty cloak + Was dwarfish shrubs of birch and oak + With shingles bare, and cliffs between + And patches bright of bracken green, + And heather black, that waved so high, + It held the copse in rivalry. + But where the lake slept deep and still + Dank osiers fringed the swamp and hill; + And oft both path and hill were torn + Where wintry torrent down had borne + And heaped upon the cumbered land + Its wreck of gravel, rocks, and sand. + So toilsome was the road to trace + The guide, abating of his pace, + Led slowly through the pass's jaws + And asked Fitz-James by what strange cause + He sought these wilds, traversed by few + Without a pass from Roderick Dhu. + + + IV. + + 'Brave Gael, my pass, in danger tried + Hangs in my belt and by my side + Yet, sooth to tell,' the Saxon said, + 'I dreamt not now to claim its aid. + When here, but three days since, + I came Bewildered in pursuit of game, + All seemed as peaceful and as still + As the mist slumbering on yon hill; + Thy dangerous Chief was then afar, + Nor soon expected back from war. + Thus said, at least, my mountain-guide, + Though deep perchance the villain lied.' + 'Yet why a second venture try?' + 'A warrior thou, and ask me why!-- + Moves our free course by such fixed cause + As gives the poor mechanic laws? + Enough, I sought to drive away + The lazy hours of peaceful day; + Slight cause will then suffice to guide + A Knight's free footsteps far and wide,-- + A falcon flown, a greyhound strayed, + The merry glance of mountain maid; + Or, if a path be dangerous known, + The danger's self is lure alone.' + + + V. + + 'Thy secret keep, I urge thee not;-- + Yet, ere again ye sought this spot, + Say, heard ye naught of Lowland war, + Against Clan-Alpine, raised by Mar?' + 'No, by my word;--of bands prepared + To guard King James's sports I heard; + Nor doubt I aught, but, when they hear + This muster of the mountaineer, + Their pennons will abroad be flung, + Which else in Doune had peaceful hung.' + 'Free be they flung! for we were loath + Their silken folds should feast the moth. + Free be they flung!--as free shall wave + Clan-Alpine's pine in banner brave. + But, stranger, peaceful since you came, + Bewildered in the mountain-game, + Whence the bold boast by which you show + Vich-Alpine's vowed and mortal foe?' + 'Warrior, but yester-morn I knew + Naught of thy Chieftain, Roderick Dhu, + Save as an outlawed desperate man, + The chief of a rebellious clan, + Who, in the Regent's court and sight, + With ruffian dagger stabbed a knight; + Yet this alone might from his part + Sever each true and loyal heart.' + + + VI. + + Wrathful at such arraignment foul, + Dark lowered the clansman's sable scowl. + A space he paused, then sternly said, + 'And heardst thou why he drew his blade? + Heardst thou that shameful word and blow + Brought Roderick's vengeance on his foe? + What recked the Chieftain if he stood + On Highland heath or Holy-Rood? + He rights such wrong where it is given, + If it were in the court of heaven.' + 'Still was it outrage;--yet, 'tis true, + Not then claimed sovereignty his due; + While Albany with feeble hand + Held borrowed truncheon of command, + The young King, mewed in Stirling tower, + Was stranger to respect and power. + But then, thy Chieftain's robber life!-- + Winning mean prey by causeless strife, + Wrenching from ruined Lowland swain + His herds and harvest reared in vain,-- + Methinks a soul like thine should scorn + The spoils from such foul foray borne.' + + + VII. + + The Gael beheld him grim the while, + And answered with disdainful smile: + 'Saxon, from yonder mountain high, + I marked thee send delighted eye + Far to the south and east, where lay, + Extended in succession gay, + Deep waving fields and pastures green, + With gentle slopes and groves between:-- + These fertile plains, that softened vale, + Were once the birthright of the Gael; + The stranger came with iron hand, + And from our fathers reft the land. + Where dwell we now? See, rudely swell + Crag over crag, and fell o'er fell. + Ask we this savage hill we tread + For fattened steer or household bread, + Ask we for flocks these shingles dry, + And well the mountain might reply,-- + "To you, as to your sires of yore, + Belong the target and claymore! + I give you shelter in my breast, + Your own good blades must win the rest." + Pent in this fortress of the North, + Think'st thou we will not sally forth, + To spoil the spoiler as we may, + And from the robber rend the prey? + Ay, by my soul!--While on yon plain + The Saxon rears one shock of grain, + While of ten thousand herds there strays + But one along yon river's maze,-- + The Gael, of plain and river heir, + Shall with strong hand redeem his share. + Where live the mountain Chiefs who hold + That plundering Lowland field and fold + Is aught but retribution true? + Seek other cause 'gainst Roderick Dhu.' + + + VIII. + + Answered Fitz-James: 'And, if I sought, + Think'st thou no other could be brought? + What deem ye of my path waylaid? + My life given o'er to ambuscade?' + 'As of a meed to rashness due: + Hadst thou sent warning fair and true,-- + I seek my hound or falcon strayed, + I seek, good faith, a Highland maid,-- + Free hadst thou been to come and go; + But secret path marks secret foe. + Nor yet for this, even as a spy, + Hadst thou, unheard, been doomed to die, + Save to fulfil an augury.' + 'Well, let it pass; nor will I now + Fresh cause of enmity avow + To chafe thy mood and cloud thy brow. + Enough, I am by promise tied + To match me with this man of pride: + Twice have I sought Clan-Alpine's glen + In peace; but when I come again, + I come with banner, brand, and bow, + As leader seeks his mortal foe. + For love-lore swain in lady's bower + Ne'er panted for the appointed hour + As I, until before me stand + This rebel Chieftain and his band!' + + + IX. + + 'Have then thy wish!'--He whistled shrill + And he was answered from the hill; + Wild as the scream of the curlew, + From crag to crag the signal flew. + Instant, through copse and heath, arose + Bonnets and spears and bended bows + On right, on left, above, below, + Sprung up at once the lurking foe; + From shingles gray their lances start, + The bracken bush sends forth the dart, + The rushes and the willow-wand + Are bristling into axe and brand, + And every tuft of broom gives life + 'To plaided warrior armed for strife. + That whistle garrisoned the glen + At once with full five hundred men, + As if the yawning hill to heaven + A subterranean host had given. + Watching their leader's beck and will, + All silent there they stood and still. + Like the loose crags whose threatening mass + Lay tottering o'er the hollow pass, + As if an infant's touch could urge + Their headlong passage down the verge, + With step and weapon forward flung, + Upon the mountain-side they hung. + The Mountaineer cast glance of pride + Along Benledi's living side, + Then fixed his eye and sable brow + Full on Fitz-James: 'How say'st thou now? + These are Clan-Alpine's warriors true; + And, Saxon,--I am Roderick Dhu!' + + + X. + + Fitz-James was brave:--though to his heart + The life-blood thrilled with sudden start, + He manned himself with dauntless air, + Returned the Chief his haughty stare, + His back against a rock he bore, + And firmly placed his foot before:-- + 'Come one, come all! this rock shall fly + From its firm base as soon as I.' + Sir Roderick marked,--and in his eyes + Respect was mingled with surprise, + And the stern joy which warriors feel + In foeman worthy of their steel. + Short space he stood--then waved his hand: + Down sunk the disappearing band; + Each warrior vanished where he stood, + In broom or bracken, heath or wood; + Sunk brand and spear and bended bow, + In osiers pale and copses low; + It seemed as if their mother Earth + Had swallowed up her warlike birth. + The wind's last breath had tossed in air + Pennon and plaid and plumage fair,-- + The next but swept a lone hill-side + Where heath and fern were waving wide: + The sun's last glance was glinted back + From spear and glaive, from targe and jack,-- + The next, all unreflected, shone + On bracken green and cold gray stone. + + + XI. + + Fitz-James looked round,--yet scarce believed + The witness that his sight received; + Such apparition well might seem + Delusion of a dreadful dream. + Sir Roderick in suspense he eyed, + And to his look the Chief replied: + 'Fear naught--nay, that I need not say + But--doubt not aught from mine array. + Thou art my guest;--I pledged my word + As far as Coilantogle ford: + Nor would I call a clansman's brand + For aid against one valiant hand, + Though on our strife lay every vale + Rent by the Saxon from the Gael. + So move we on;--I only meant + To show the reed on which you leant, + Deeming this path you might pursue + Without a pass from Roderick Dhu.' + They moved;--I said Fitz-James was brave + As ever knight that belted glaive, + Yet dare not say that now his blood + Kept on its wont and tempered flood, + As, following Roderick's stride, he drew + That seeming lonesome pathway through, + Which yet by fearful proof was rife + With lances, that, to take his life, + Waited but signal from a guide, + So late dishonored and defied. + Ever, by stealth, his eye sought round + The vanished guardians of the ground, + And stir'd from copse and heather deep + Fancy saw spear and broadsword peep, + And in the plover's shrilly strain + The signal whistle heard again. + Nor breathed he free till far behind + The pass was left; for then they wind + Along a wide and level green, + Where neither tree nor tuft was seen, + Nor rush nor bush of broom was near, + To hide a bonnet or a spear. + + + XII. + + The Chief in silence strode before, + And reached that torrent's sounding shore, + Which, daughter of three mighty lakes, + From Vennachar in silver breaks, + Sweeps through the plain, and ceaseless mines + On Bochastle the mouldering lines, + Where Rome, the Empress of the world, + Of yore her eagle wings unfurled. + And here his course the Chieftain stayed, + Threw down his target and his plaid, + And to the Lowland warrior said: + 'Bold Saxon! to his promise just, + Vich-Alpine has discharged his trust. + This murderous Chief, this ruthless man, + This head of a rebellious clan, + Hath led thee safe, through watch and ward, + Far past Clan-Alpine's outmost guard. + Now, man to man, and steel to steel, + A Chieftain's vengeance thou shalt feel. + See, here all vantageless I stand, + Armed like thyself with single brand; + For this is Coilantogle ford, + And thou must keep thee with thy sword.' + + + XIII. + + The Saxon paused: 'I ne'er delayed, + When foeman bade me draw my blade; + Nay more, brave Chief, I vowed thy death; + Yet sure thy fair and generous faith, + And my deep debt for life preserved, + A better meed have well deserved: + Can naught but blood our feud atone? + Are there no means?'--' No, stranger, none! + And hear,--to fire thy flagging zeal,-- + The Saxon cause rests on thy steel; + For thus spoke Fate by prophet bred + Between the living and the dead:" + Who spills the foremost foeman's life, + His party conquers in the strife."' + 'Then, by my word,' the Saxon said, + "The riddle is already read. + Seek yonder brake beneath the cliff,-- + There lies Red Murdoch, stark and stiff. + Thus Fate hath solved her prophecy; + Then yield to Fate, and not to me. + To James at Stirling let us go, + When, if thou wilt be still his foe, + Or if the King shall not agree + To grant thee grace and favor free, + I plight mine honor, oath, and word + That, to thy native strengths restored, + With each advantage shalt thou stand + That aids thee now to guard thy land.' + + + XIV. + + Dark lightning flashed from Roderick's eye: + 'Soars thy presumption, then, so high, + Because a wretched kern ye slew, + Homage to name to Roderick Dhu? + He yields not, he, to man nor Fate! + Thou add'st but fuel to my hate;-- + My clansman's blood demands revenge. + Not yet prepared?--By heaven, I change + My thought, and hold thy valor light + As that of some vain carpet knight, + Who ill deserved my courteous care, + And whose best boast is but to wear + A braid of his fair lady's hair.' 'I thank thee, + Roderick, for the word! + It nerves my heart, it steels my sword; + For I have sworn this braid to stain + In the best blood that warms thy vein. + Now, truce, farewell! and, rush, begone!-- + Yet think not that by thee alone, + Proud Chief! can courtesy be shown; + Though not from copse, or heath, or cairn, + Start at my whistle clansmen stern, + Of this small horn one feeble blast + Would fearful odds against thee cast. + But fear not--doubt not--which thou wilt-- + We try this quarrel hilt to hilt.' + Then each at once his falchion drew, + Each on the ground his scabbard threw + Each looked to sun and stream and plain + As what they ne'er might see again; + Then foot and point and eye opposed, + In dubious strife they darkly closed. + + + XV. + + Ill fared it then with Roderick Dhu, + That on the field his targe he threw, + Whose brazen studs and tough bull-hide + Had death so often dashed aside; + For, trained abroad his arms to wield + Fitz-James's blade was sword and shield. + He practised every pass and ward, + To thrust, to strike, to feint, to guard; + While less expert, though stronger far, + The Gael maintained unequal war. + Three times in closing strife they stood + And thrice the Saxon blade drank blood; + No stinted draught, no scanty tide, + The gushing flood the tartars dyed. + Fierce Roderick felt the fatal drain, + And showered his blows like wintry rain; + And, as firm rock or castle-roof + Against the winter shower is proof, + The foe, invulnerable still, + Foiled his wild rage by steady skill; + Till, at advantage ta'en, his brand + Forced Roderick's weapon from his hand, + And backward borne upon the lea, + Brought the proud Chieftain to his knee. + + + XVI. + + Now yield thee, or by Him who made + The world, thy heart's blood dyes my blade!; + 'Thy threats, thy mercy, I defy! + Let recreant yield, who fears to die.' + Like adder darting from his coil, + Like wolf that dashes through the toil, + Like mountain-cat who guards her young, + Full at Fitz-James's throat he sprung; + Received, but recked not of a wound, + And locked his arms his foeman round. + Now, gallant Saxon, hold thine own! + No maiden's hand is round thee thrown! + That desperate grasp thy frame might feel + Through bars of brass and triple steel! + They tug, they strain! down, down they go, + The Gael above, Fitz-James below. + The Chieftain's gripe his throat compressed, + His knee was planted on his breast; + His clotted locks he backward threw, + Across his brow his hand he drew, + From blood and mist to clear his sight, + Then gleamed aloft his dagger bright! + But hate and fury ill supplied + The stream of life's exhausted tide, + And all too late the advantage came, + To turn the odds of deadly game; + For, while the dagger gleamed on high, + Reeled soul and sense, reeled brain and eye. + Down came the blow! but in the heath + The erring blade found bloodless sheath. + The struggling foe may now unclasp + The fainting Chief's relaxing grasp; + Unwounded from the dreadful close, + But breathless all, Fitz-James arose. + + + XVII. + + He faltered thanks to Heaven for life, + Redeemed, unhoped, from desperate strife; + Next on his foe his look he cast, + Whose every gasp appeared his last + In Roderick's gore he dipped the braid,-- + 'Poor Blanche! thy wrongs are dearly paid; + Yet with thy foe must die, or live, + The praise that faith and valor give.' + With that he blew a bugle note, + Undid the collar from his throat, + Unbonneted, and by the wave + Sat down his brow and hands to rave. + Then faint afar are heard the feet + Of rushing steeds in gallop fleet; + The sounds increase, and now are seen + Four mounted squires in Lincoln green; + Two who bear lance, and two who lead + By loosened rein a saddled steed; + Each onward held his headlong course, + And by Fitz-James reined up his horse,-- + With wonder viewed the bloody spot,-- + 'Exclaim not, gallants' question not.-- + You, Herbert and Luffness, alight + And bind the wounds of yonder knight; + Let the gray palfrey bear his weight, + We destined for a fairer freight, + And bring him on to Stirling straight; + I will before at better speed, + To seek fresh horse and fitting weed. + The sun rides high;--I must be boune + To see the archer-game at noon; + But lightly Bayard clears the lea.-- + De Vaux and Herries, follow me. + + + XVIII. + + 'Stand, Bayard, stand!'--the steed obeyed, + With arching neck and bended head, + And glancing eye and quivering ear, + As if he loved his lord to hear. + No foot Fitz-James in stirrup stayed, + No grasp upon the saddle laid, + But wreathed his left hand in the mane, + And lightly bounded from the plain, + Turned on the horse his armed heel, + And stirred his courage with the steel. + Bounded the fiery steed in air, + The rider sat erect and fair, + Then like a bolt from steel crossbow + Forth launched, along the plain they go. + They dashed that rapid torrent through, + And up Carhonie's hill they flew; + Still at the gallop pricked the Knight, + His merrymen followed as they might. + Along thy banks, swift Teith! they ride, + And in the race they mock thy tide; + Torry and Lendrick now are past, + And Deanstown lies behind them cast; + They rise, the bannered towers of Doune, + They sink in distant woodland soon; + Blair-Drummond sees the hoofs strike fire, + They sweep like breeze through Ochtertyre; + They mark just glance and disappear + The lofty brow of ancient Kier; + They bathe their coursers' sweltering sides + Dark Forth! amid thy sluggish tides, + And on the opposing shore take ground + With plash, with scramble, and with bound. + Right-hand they leave thy cliffs, Craig-Forth! + And soon the bulwark of the North, + Gray Stirling, with her towers and town, + Upon their fleet career looked clown. + + + XIX. + + As up the flinty path they strained, + Sudden his steed the leader reined; + A signal to his squire he flung, + Who instant to his stirrup sprung:-- + 'Seest thou, De Vaux, yon woodsman gray, + Who townward holds the rocky way, + Of stature tall and poor array? + Mark'st thou the firm, yet active stride, + With which he scales the mountain-side? + Know'st thou from whence he comes, or whom?' + 'No, by my word;--a burly groom + He seems, who in the field or chase + A baron's train would nobly grace--' + 'Out, out, De Vaux! can fear supply, + And jealousy, no sharper eye? + Afar, ere to the hill he drew, + That stately form and step I knew; + Like form in Scotland is not seen, + Treads not such step on Scottish green. + 'Tis James of Douglas, by Saint Serle! + The uncle of the banished Earl. + Away, away, to court, to show + The near approach of dreaded foe: + The King must stand upon his guard; + Douglas and he must meet prepared.' + Then right-hand wheeled their steeds, and straight + They won the Castle's postern gate. + + + XX. + + The Douglas, who had bent his way + From Cambus-kenneth's abbey gray, + Now, as he climbed the rocky shelf, + Held sad communion with himself:-- + 'Yes! all is true my fears could frame; + A prisoner lies the noble Graeme, + And fiery Roderick soon will feel + The vengeance of the royal steel. + I, only I, can ward their fate,-- + God grant the ransom come not late! + The Abbess hath her promise given, + My child shall be the bride of Heaven;-- + Be pardoned one repining tear! + For He who gave her knows how dear, + How excellent!--but that is by, + And now my business is--to die.-- + Ye towers! within whose circuit dread + A Douglas by his sovereign bled; + And thou, O sad and fatal mound! + That oft hast heard the death-axe sound. + As on the noblest of the land + Fell the stern headsmen's bloody hand,-- + The dungeon, block, and nameless tomb + Prepare--for Douglas seeks his doom! + But hark! what blithe and jolly peal + Makes the Franciscan steeple reel? + And see! upon the crowded street, + In motley groups what masquers meet! + Banner and pageant, pipe and drum, + And merry morrice-dancers come. + I guess, by all this quaint array, + The burghers hold their sports to-day. + James will be there; he loves such show, + Where the good yeoman bends his bow, + And the tough wrestler foils his foe, + As well as where, in proud career, + The high-born filter shivers spear. + I'll follow to the Castle-park, + And play my prize;--King James shall mark + If age has tamed these sinews stark, + Whose force so oft in happier days + His boyish wonder loved to praise.' + + + XXI. + + The Castle gates were open flung, + The quivering drawbridge rocked and rung, + And echoed loud the flinty street + Beneath the coursers' clattering feet, + As slowly down the steep descent + Fair Scotland's King and nobles went, + While all along the crowded way + Was jubilee and loud huzza. + And ever James was bending low + To his white jennet's saddle-bow, + Doffing his cap to city dame, + Who smiled and blushed for pride and shame. + And well the simperer might be vain,-- + He chose the fairest of the train. + Gravely he greets each city sire, + Commends each pageant's quaint attire, + Gives to the dancers thanks aloud, + And smiles and nods upon the crowd, + Who rend the heavens with their acclaims,-- + 'Long live the Commons' King, King James!' + Behind the King thronged peer and knight, + And noble dame and damsel bright, + Whose fiery steeds ill brooked the stay + Of the steep street and crowded way. + But in the train you might discern + Dark lowering brow and visage stern; + There nobles mourned their pride restrained, + And the mean burgher's joys disdained; + And chiefs, who, hostage for their clan, + Were each from home a banished man, + There thought upon their own gray tower, + Their waving woods, their feudal power, + And deemed themselves a shameful part + Of pageant which they cursed in heart. + + + XXII. + + Now, in the Castle-park, drew out + Their checkered bands the joyous rout. + There morricers, with bell at heel + And blade in hand, their mazes wheel; + But chief, beside the butts, there stand + Bold Robin Hood and all his band,-- + Friar Tuck with quarterstaff and cowl, + Old Scathelocke with his surly scowl, + Maid Marian, fair as ivory bone, + Scarlet, and Mutch, and Little John; + Their bugles challenge all that will, + In archery to prove their skill. + The Douglas bent a bow of might,-- + His first shaft centred in the white, + And when in turn he shot again, + His second split the first in twain. + From the King's hand must Douglas take + A silver dart, the archers' stake; + Fondly he watched, with watery eye, + Some answering glance of sympathy,-- + No kind emotion made reply! + Indifferent as to archer wight, + The monarch gave the arrow bright. + + + XXIII. + + Now, clear the ring! for, hand to hand, + The manly wrestlers take their stand. + Two o'er the rest superior rose, + And proud demanded mightier foes,-- + Nor called in vain, for Douglas came.-- + For life is Hugh of Larbert lame; + Scarce better John of Alloa's fare, + Whom senseless home his comrades bare. + Prize of the wrestling match, the King + To Douglas gave a golden ring, + While coldly glanced his eye of blue, + As frozen drop of wintry dew. + Douglas would speak, but in his breast + His struggling soul his words suppressed; + Indignant then he turned him where + Their arms the brawny yeomen bare, + To hurl the massive bar in air. + When each his utmost strength had shown, + The Douglas rent an earth-fast stone + From its deep bed, then heaved it high, + And sent the fragment through the sky + A rood beyond the farthest mark; + And still in Stirling's royal park, + The gray-haired sires, who know the past, + To strangers point the Douglas cast, + And moralize on the decay + Of Scottish strength in modern day. + + + XXIV. + + The vale with loud applauses rang, + The Ladies' Rock sent back the clang. + The King, with look unmoved, bestowed + A purse well filled with pieces broad. + Indignant smiled the Douglas proud, + And threw the gold among the crowd, + Who now with anxious wonder scan, + And sharper glance, the dark gray man; + Till whispers rose among the throng, + That heart so free, and hand so strong, + Must to the Douglas blood belong. + The old men marked and shook the head, + To see his hair with silver spread, + And winked aside, and told each son + Of feats upon the English done, + Ere Douglas of the stalwart hand + Was exiled from his native land. + The women praised his stately form, + Though wrecked by many a winter's storm; + The youth with awe and wonder saw + His strength surpassing Nature's law. + Thus judged, as is their wont, the crowd + Till murmurs rose to clamours loud. + But not a glance from that proud ring + Of peers who circled round the King + With Douglas held communion kind, + Or called the banished man to mind; + No, not from those who at the chase + Once held his side the honoured place, + Begirt his board, and in the field + Found safety underneath his shield; + For he whom royal eyes disown, + When was his form to courtiers known! + + + XXV. + + The Monarch saw the gambols flag + And bade let loose a gallant stag, + Whose pride, the holiday to crown, + Two favorite greyhounds should pull down, + That venison free and Bourdeaux wine + Might serve the archery to dine. + But Lufra,--whom from Douglas' side + Nor bribe nor threat could e'er divide, + The fleetest hound in all the North,-- + Brave Lufra saw, and darted forth. + She left the royal hounds midway, + And dashing on the antlered prey, + Sunk her sharp muzzle in his flank, + And deep the flowing life-blood drank. + The King's stout huntsman saw the sport + By strange intruder broken short, + Came up, and with his leash unbound + In anger struck the noble hound. + The Douglas had endured, that morn, + The King's cold look, the nobles' scorn, + And last, and worst to spirit proud, + Had borne the pity of the crowd; + But Lufra had been fondly bred, + To share his board, to watch his bed, + And oft would Ellen Lufra's neck + In maiden glee with garlands deck; + They were such playmates that with name + Of Lufra Ellen's image came. + His stifled wrath is brimming high, + In darkened brow and flashing eye; + As waves before the bark divide, + The crowd gave way before his stride; + Needs but a buffet and no more, + The groom lies senseless in his gore. + Such blow no other hand could deal, + Though gauntleted in glove of steel. + + + XXVI. + + Then clamored loud the royal train, + And brandished swords and staves amain, + But stern the Baron's warning: + 'Back! Back, on your lives, ye menial pack! + Beware the Douglas.--Yes! behold, + King James! The Douglas, doomed of old, + And vainly sought for near and far, + A victim to atone the war, + A willing victim, now attends, + Nor craves thy grace but for his friends.--' + 'Thus is my clemency repaid? + Presumptuous Lord!' the Monarch said: + 'Of thy misproud ambitious clan, + Thou, James of Bothwell, wert the man, + The only man, in whom a foe + My woman-mercy would not know; + But shall a Monarch's presence brook + Injurious blow and haughty look?-- + What ho! the Captain of our Guard! + Give the offender fitting ward.-- + Break off the sports!'--for tumult rose, + And yeomen 'gan to bend their bows, + 'Break off the sports!' he said and frowned, + 'And bid our horsemen clear the ground.' + + + XXVII. + + Then uproar wild and misarray + Marred the fair form of festal day. + The horsemen pricked among the crowd, + Repelled by threats and insult loud; + To earth are borne the old and weak, + The timorous fly, the women shriek; + With flint, with shaft, with staff, with bar, + The hardier urge tumultuous war. + At once round Douglas darkly sweep + The royal spears in circle deep, + And slowly scale the pathway steep, + While on the rear in thunder pour + The rabble with disordered roar + With grief the noble Douglas saw + The Commons rise against the law, + And to the leading soldier said: + 'Sir John of Hyndford, 'twas my blade + That knighthood on thy shoulder laid; + For that good deed permit me then + A word with these misguided men.-- + + + XXVIII, + + 'Hear, gentle friends, ere yet for me + Ye break the bands of fealty. + My life, my honour, and my cause, + I tender free to Scotland's laws. + Are these so weak as must require + 'Fine aid of your misguided ire? + Or if I suffer causeless wrong, + Is then my selfish rage so strong, + My sense of public weal so low, + That, for mean vengeance on a foe, + Those cords of love I should unbind + Which knit my country and my kind? + O no! Believe, in yonder tower + It will not soothe my captive hour, + To know those spears our foes should dread + For me in kindred gore are red: + 'To know, in fruitless brawl begun, + For me that mother wails her son, + For me that widow's mate expires, + For me that orphans weep their sires, + That patriots mourn insulted laws, + And curse the Douglas for the cause. + O let your patience ward such ill, + And keep your right to love me still!' + + + XXIX. + + The crowd's wild fury sunk again + In tears, as tempests melt in rain. + With lifted hands and eyes, they prayed + For blessings on his generous head + Who for his country felt alone, + And prized her blood beyond his own. + Old men upon the verge of life + Blessed him who stayed the civil strife; + And mothers held their babes on high, + The self-devoted Chief to spy, + Triumphant over wrongs and ire, + To whom the prattlers owed a sire. + Even the rough soldier's heart was moved; + As if behind some bier beloved, + With trailing arms and drooping head, + The Douglas up the hill he led, + And at the Castle's battled verge, + With sighs resigned his honoured charge. + + + XXX. + + The offended Monarch rode apart, + With bitter thought and swelling heart, + And would not now vouchsafe again + Through Stirling streets to lead his train. + 'O Lennox, who would wish to rule + This changeling crowd, this common fool? + Hear'st thou,' he said, 'the loud acclaim + With which they shout the Douglas name? + With like acclaim the vulgar throat + Strained for King James their morning note; + With like acclaim they hailed the day + When first I broke the Douglas sway; + And like acclaim would Douglas greet + If he could hurl me from my seat. + Who o'er the herd would wish to reign, + Fantastic, fickle, fierce, and vain? + Vain as the leaf upon the stream, + And fickle as a changeful dream; + Fantastic as a woman's mood, + And fierce as Frenzy's fevered blood. + Thou many-headed monster-thing, + O who would wish to be thy king?-- + + + XXXI.. + + 'But soft! what messenger of speed + Spurs hitherward his panting steed? + I guess his cognizance afar-- + What from our cousin, John of Mar?' + 'He prays, my liege, your sports keep bound + Within the safe and guarded ground; + For some foul purpose yet unknown,-- + Most sure for evil to the throne,-- + The outlawed Chieftain, Roderick Dhu, + Has summoned his rebellious crew; + 'Tis said, in James of Bothwell's aid + These loose banditti stand arrayed. + The Earl of Mar this morn from Doune + To break their muster marched, and soon + Your Grace will hear of battle fought; + But earnestly the Earl besought, + Till for such danger he provide, + With scanty train you will not ride.' + + + XXXII. + + 'Thou warn'st me I have done amiss,-- + I should have earlier looked to this; + I lost it in this bustling day.-- + Retrace with speed thy former way; + Spare not for spoiling of thy steed, + The best of mine shall be thy meed. + Say to our faithful Lord of Mar, + We do forbid the intended war; + Roderick this morn in single fight + Was made our prisoner by a knight, + And Douglas hath himself and cause + Submitted to our kingdom's laws. + The tidings of their leaders lost + Will soon dissolve the mountain host, + Nor would we that the vulgar feel, + For their Chief's crimes, avenging steel. + Bear Mar our message, Braco, fly!' + He turned his steed,--'My liege, I hie, + Yet ere I cross this lily lawn + I fear the broadswords will be drawn.' + The turf the flying courser spurned, + And to his towers the King returned. + + + XXXIII. + + Ill with King James's mood that day + Suited gay feast and minstrel lay; + Soon were dismissed the courtly throng, + And soon cut short the festal song. + Nor less upon the saddened town + The evening sunk in sorrow down. + The burghers spoke of civil jar, + Of rumoured feuds and mountain war, + Of Moray, Mar, and Roderick Dhu, + All up in arms;--the Douglas too, + They mourned him pent within the hold, + 'Where stout Earl William was of old.'-- + And there his word the speaker stayed, + And finger on his lip he laid, + Or pointed to his dagger blade. + But jaded horsemen from the west + At evening to the Castle pressed, + And busy talkers said they bore + Tidings of fight on Katrine's shore; + At noon the deadly fray begun, + And lasted till the set of sun. + Thus giddy rumor shook the town, + Till closed the Night her pennons brown. + + + + +CANTO SIXTH. + +The Guard-room. + + + + I. + + The sun, awakening, through the smoky air + Of the dark city casts a sullen glance, + Rousing each caitiff to his task of care, + Of sinful man the sad inheritance; + Summoning revellers from the lagging dance, + Scaring the prowling robber to his den; + Gilding on battled tower the warder's lance, + And warning student pale to leave his pen, + And yield his drowsy eyes to the kind nurse of men. + + What various scenes, and O, what scenes of woe, + Are witnessed by that red and struggling beam! + The fevered patient, from his pallet low, + Through crowded hospital beholds it stream; + The ruined maiden trembles at its gleam, + The debtor wakes to thought of gyve and jail, + 'The love-lore wretch starts from tormenting dream: + The wakeful mother, by the glimmering pale, + Trims her sick infant's couch, and soothes his feeble wail. + + + II. + + At dawn the towers of Stirling rang + With soldier-step and weapon-clang, + While drums with rolling note foretell + Relief to weary sentinel. + Through narrow loop and casement barred, + The sunbeams sought the Court of Guard, + And, struggling with the smoky air, + Deadened the torches' yellow glare. + In comfortless alliance shone + The lights through arch of blackened stone, + And showed wild shapes in garb of war, + Faces deformed with beard and scar, + All haggard from the midnight watch, + And fevered with the stern debauch; + For the oak table's massive board, + Flooded with wine, with fragments stored, + And beakers drained, and cups o'erthrown, + Showed in what sport the night had flown. + Some, weary, snored on floor and bench; + Some labored still their thirst to quench; + Some, chilled with watching, spread their hands + O'er the huge chimney's dying brands, + While round them, or beside them flung, + At every step their harness rung. + + + III. + + These drew not for their fields the sword, + Like tenants of a feudal lord, + Nor owned the patriarchal claim + Of Chieftain in their leader's name; + Adventurers they, from far who roved, + To live by battle which they loved. + There the Italian's clouded face, + The swarthy Spaniard's there you trace; + The mountain-loving Switzer there + More freely breathed in mountain-air; + The Fleming there despised the soil + That paid so ill the labourer's toil; + Their rolls showed French and German name; + And merry England's exiles came, + To share, with ill-concealed disdain, + Of Scotland's pay the scanty gain. + All brave in arms, well trained to wield + The heavy halberd, brand, and shield; + In camps licentious, wild, and bold; + In pillage fierce and uncontrolled; + And now, by holytide and feast, + From rules of discipline released. + + + IV. + + 'They held debate of bloody fray, + Fought 'twixt Loch Katrine and Achray. + Fierce was their speech, and mid their words + 'Their hands oft grappled to their swords; + Nor sunk their tone to spare the ear + Of wounded comrades groaning near, + Whose mangled limbs and bodies gored + Bore token of the mountain sword, + Though, neighbouring to the Court of Guard, + Their prayers and feverish wails were heard,-- + Sad burden to the ruffian joke, + And savage oath by fury spoke!-- + At length up started John of Brent, + A yeoman from the banks of Trent; + A stranger to respect or fear, + In peace a chaser of the deer, + In host a hardy mutineer, + But still the boldest of the crew + When deed of danger was to do. + He grieved that day their games cut short, + And marred the dicer's brawling sport, + And shouted loud, 'Renew the bowl! + And, while a merry catch I troll, + Let each the buxom chorus bear, + Like brethren of the brand and spear.' + + + V. + + Soldier's Song. + + Our vicar still preaches that Peter and Poule + Laid a swinging long curse on the bonny brown bowl, + That there 's wrath and despair in the jolly black-jack, + And the seven deadly sins in a flagon of sack; + Yet whoop, Barnaby! off with thy liquor, + Drink upsees out, and a fig for the vicar! + + Our vicar he calls it damnation to sip + The ripe ruddy dew of a woman's dear lip, + Says that Beelzebub lurks in her kerchief so sly, + And Apollyon shoots darts from her merry black eye; + Yet whoop, Jack! kiss Gillian the quicker, + Till she bloom like a rose, and a fig for the vicar! + + Our vicar thus preaches,--and why should he not? + For the dues of his cure are the placket and pot; + And 'tis right of his office poor laymen to lurch + Who infringe the domains of our good Mother Church. + Yet whoop, bully-boys! off with your liquor, + Sweet Marjorie 's the word and a fig for the vicar! + + + VI. + + The warder's challenge, heard without, + Stayed in mid-roar the merry shout. + A soldier to the portal went,-- + 'Here is old Bertram, sirs, of Ghent; + And--beat for jubilee the drum!-- + A maid and minstrel with him come.' + Bertram, a Fleming, gray and scarred, + Was entering now the Court of Guard, + A harper with him, and, in plaid + All muffled close, a mountain maid, + Who backward shrunk to 'scape the view + Of the loose scene and boisterous crew. + 'What news?' they roared:--' I only know, + From noon till eve we fought with foe, + As wild and as untamable + As the rude mountains where they dwell; + On both sides store of blood is lost, + Nor much success can either boast.'-- + 'But whence thy captives, friend? such spoil + As theirs must needs reward thy toil. + Old dost thou wax, and wars grow sharp; + Thou now hast glee-maiden and harp! + Get thee an ape, and trudge the land, + The leader of a juggler band.' + + + VII. + + 'No, comrade;--no such fortune mine. + After the fight these sought our line, + That aged harper and the girl, + And, having audience of the Earl, + Mar bade I should purvey them steed, + And bring them hitherward with speed. + Forbear your mirth and rude alarm, + For none shall do them shame or harm.-- + 'Hear ye his boast?' cried John of Brent, + Ever to strife and jangling bent; + 'Shall he strike doe beside our lodge, + And yet the jealous niggard grudge + To pay the forester his fee? + I'll have my share howe'er it be, + Despite of Moray, Mar, or thee.' + Bertram his forward step withstood; + And, burning in his vengeful mood, + Old Allan, though unfit for strife, + Laid hand upon his dagger-knife; + But Ellen boldly stepped between, + And dropped at once the tartan screen:-- + So, from his morning cloud, appears + The sun of May through summer tears. + The savage soldiery, amazed, + As on descended angel gazed; + Even hardy Brent, abashed and tamed, + Stood half admiring, half ashamed. + + + VIII. + + Boldly she spoke: 'Soldiers, attend! + My father was the soldier's friend, + Cheered him in camps, in marches led, + And with him in the battle bled. + Not from the valiant or the strong + Should exile's daughter suffer wrong.' + Answered De Brent, most forward still + In every feat or good or ill: + 'I shame me of the part I played; + And thou an outlaw's child, poor maid! + An outlaw I by forest laws, + And merry Needwood knows the cause. + Poor Rose,--if Rose be living now,'-- + He wiped his iron eye and brow,-- + 'Must bear such age, I think, as thou.-- + Hear ye, my mates! I go to call + The Captain of our watch to hall: + There lies my halberd on the floor; + And he that steps my halberd o'er, + To do the maid injurious part, + My shaft shall quiver in his heart! + Beware loose speech, or jesting rough; + Ye all know John de Brent. Enough.' + + + IX. + + Their Captain came, a gallant young,-- + Of Tullibardine's house he sprung,-- + Nor wore he yet the spurs of knight; + Gay was his mien, his humor light + And, though by courtesy controlled, + Forward his speech, his bearing bold. + The high-born maiden ill could brook + The scanning of his curious look + And dauntless eye:--and yet, in sooth + Young Lewis was a generous youth; + But Ellen's lovely face and mien + Ill suited to the garb and scene, + Might lightly bear construction strange, + And give loose fancy scope to range. + 'Welcome to Stirling towers, fair maid! + Come ye to seek a champion's aid, + On palfrey white, with harper hoar, + Like errant damosel of yore? + Does thy high quest a knight require, + Or may the venture suit a squire?' + Her dark eye flashed;--she paused and sighed:-- + 'O what have I to do with pride!-- + Through scenes of sorrow, shame, and strife, + A suppliant for a father's life, + I crave an audience of the King. + Behold, to back my suit, a ring, + The royal pledge of grateful claims, + Given by the Monarch to Fitz-James.' + + + X. + + The signet-ring young Lewis took + With deep respect and altered look, + And said: 'This ring our duties own; + And pardon, if to worth unknown, + In semblance mean obscurely veiled, + Lady, in aught my folly failed. + Soon as the day flings wide his gates, + The King shall know what suitor waits. + Please you meanwhile in fitting bower + Repose you till his waking hour. + Female attendance shall obey + Your hest, for service or array. + Permit I marshal you the way.' + But, ere she followed, with the grace + And open bounty of her race, + She bade her slender purse be shared + Among the soldiers of the guard. + The rest with thanks their guerdon took, + But Brent, with shy and awkward look, + On the reluctant maiden's hold + Forced bluntly back the proffered gold:-- + 'Forgive a haughty English heart, + And O, forget its ruder part! + + The vacant purse shall be my share, + Which in my barrel-cap I'll bear, + Perchance, in jeopardy of war, + Where gayer crests may keep afar.' + With thanks--'twas all she could--the maid + His rugged courtesy repaid. + + + XI. + + When Ellen forth with Lewis went, + Allan made suit to John of Brent:-- + 'My lady safe, O let your grace + Give me to see my master's face! + His minstrel I,--to share his doom + Bound from the cradle to the tomb. + Tenth in descent, since first my sires + Waked for his noble house their Iyres, + Nor one of all the race was known + But prized its weal above their own. + With the Chief's birth begins our care; + Our harp must soothe the infant heir, + Teach the youth tales of fight, and grace + His earliest feat of field or chase; + In peace, in war, our rank we keep, + We cheer his board, we soothe his sleep, + Nor leave him till we pour our verse-- + A doleful tribute!--o'er his hearse. + Then let me share his captive lot; + It is my right,--deny it not!' + 'Little we reck,' said John of Brent, + 'We Southern men, of long descent; + Nor wot we how a name--a word-- + Makes clansmen vassals to a lord: + Yet kind my noble landlord's part,-- + God bless the house of Beaudesert! + And, but I loved to drive the deer + More than to guide the labouring steer, + I had not dwelt an outcast here. + Come, good old Minstrel, follow me; + Thy Lord and Chieftain shalt thou see.' + + + XII. + + Then, from a rusted iron hook, + A bunch of ponderous keys he took, + Lighted a torch, and Allan led + Through grated arch and passage dread. + Portals they passed, where, deep within, + Spoke prisoner's moan and fetters' din; + Through rugged vaults, where, loosely stored, + Lay wheel, and axe, and headsmen's sword, + And many a hideous engine grim, + For wrenching joint and crushing limb, + By artists formed who deemed it shame + And sin to give their work a name. + They halted at a Iow-browed porch, + And Brent to Allan gave the torch, + While bolt and chain he backward rolled, + And made the bar unhasp its hold. + They entered:--'twas a prison-room + Of stern security and gloom, + Yet not a dungeon; for the day + Through lofty gratings found its way, + And rude and antique garniture + Decked the sad walls and oaken floor, + Such as the rugged days of old + Deemed fit for captive noble's hold. + 'Here,' said De Brent, 'thou mayst remain + Till the Leech visit him again. + Strict is his charge, the warders tell, + To tend the noble prisoner well.' + Retiring then the bolt he drew, + And the lock's murmurs growled anew. + Roused at the sound, from lowly bed + A captive feebly raised his head. + The wondering Minstrel looked, and knew-- + Not his dear lord, but Roderick Dhu! + For, come from where Clan-Alpine fought, + They, erring, deemed the Chief he sought. + + + XIII. + + As the tall ship, whose lofty prore + Shall never stem the billows more, + Deserted by her gallant band, + Amid the breakers lies astrand,-- + So on his couch lay Roderick Dhu! + And oft his fevered limbs he threw + In toss abrupt, as when her sides + Lie rocking in the advancing tides, + That shake her frame with ceaseless beat, + Yet cannot heave her from her seat;-- + O, how unlike her course at sea! + Or his free step on hill and lea!-- + Soon as the Minstrel he could scan,-- + 'What of thy lady?--of my clan?-- + My mother?--Douglas?--tell me all! + Have they been ruined in my fall? + Ah, yes! or wherefore art thou here? + Yet speak,--speak boldly,--do not fear.'-- + For Allan, who his mood well knew, + Was choked with grief and terror too.-- + 'Who fought?--who fled?--Old man, be brief;-- + Some might,--for they had lost their Chief. + Who basely live?--who bravely died?' + 'O, calm thee, Chief!' the Minstrel cried, + 'Ellen is safe!' 'For that thank Heaven!' + 'And hopes are for the Douglas given;-- + The Lady Margaret, too, is well; + And, for thy clan,--on field or fell, + Has never harp of minstrel told + Of combat fought so true and bold. + Thy stately Pine is yet unbent, + Though many a goodly bough is rent.' + + + XIV. + + The Chieftain reared his form on high, + And fever's fire was in his eye; + But ghastly, pale, and livid streaks + Checkered his swarthy brow and cheeks. + 'Hark, Minstrel! I have heard thee play, + With measure bold on festal day, + In yon lone isle,--again where ne'er + Shall harper play or warrior hear!-- + That stirring air that peals on high, + O'er Dermid's race our victory.-- + Strike it!--and then,--for well thou canst,-- + Free from thy minstrel-spirit glanced, + Fling me the picture of the fight, + When met my clan the Saxon might. + I'll listen, till my fancy hears + The clang of swords' the crash of spears! + These grates, these walls, shall vanish then + For the fair field of fighting men, + And my free spirit burst away, + As if it soared from battle fray.' + The trembling Bard with awe obeyed,-- + Slow on the harp his hand he laid; + But soon remembrance of the sight + He witnessed from the mountain's height, + With what old Bertram told at night, + Awakened the full power of song, + And bore him in career along;-- + As shallop launched on river's tide, + 'That slow and fearful leaves the side, + But, when it feels the middle stream, + Drives downward swift as lightning's beam. + + + XV. + + Battle of Beal' An Duine. + + 'The Minstrel came once more to view + The eastern ridge of Benvenue, + For ere he parted he would say + Farewell to lovely loch Achray + Where shall he find, in foreign land, + So lone a lake, so sweet a strand!-- + There is no breeze upon the fern, + No ripple on the lake, + Upon her eyry nods the erne, + The deer has sought the brake; + The small birds will not sing aloud, + The springing trout lies still, + So darkly glooms yon thunder-cloud, + That swathes, as with a purple shroud, + Benledi's distant hill. + Is it the thunder's solemn sound + That mutters deep and dread, + Or echoes from the groaning ground + The warrior's measured tread? + Is it the lightning's quivering glance + That on the thicket streams, + Or do they flash on spear and lance + The sun's retiring beams?-- + I see the dagger-crest of Mar, + I see the Moray's silver star, + Wave o'er the cloud of Saxon war, + That up the lake comes winding far! + + To hero boune for battle-strife, + Or bard of martial lay, + 'Twere worth ten years of peaceful life, + One glance at their array! + + + XVI. + + 'Their light-armed archers far and near + Surveyed the tangled ground, + Their centre ranks, with pike and spear, + A twilight forest frowned, + Their barded horsemen in the rear + The stern battalia crowned. + No cymbal clashed, no clarion rang, + Still were the pipe and drum; + Save heavy tread, and armor's clang, + The sullen march was dumb. + There breathed no wind their crests to shake, + Or wave their flags abroad; + Scarce the frail aspen seemed to quake + That shadowed o'er their road. + Their vaward scouts no tidings bring, + Can rouse no lurking foe, + Nor spy a trace of living thing, + Save when they stirred the roe; + The host moves like a deep-sea wave, + Where rise no rocks its pride to brave + High-swelling, dark, and slow. + The lake is passed, and now they gain + A narrow and a broken plain, + Before the Trosachs' rugged jaws; + And here the horse and spearmen pause + While, to explore the dangerous glen + Dive through the pass the archer-men. + + + XVII. + + 'At once there rose so wild a yell + Within that dark and narrow dell, + As all the fiends from heaven that fell + Had pealed the banner-cry of hell! + Forth from the pass in tumult driven, + Like chaff before the wind of heaven, + The archery appear: + For life! for life! their flight they ply-- + And shriek, and shout, and battle-cry, + And plaids and bonnets waving high, + And broadswords flashing to the sky, + Are maddening in the rear. + Onward they drive in dreadful race, + Pursuers and pursued; + Before that tide of flight and chase, + How shall it keep its rooted place, + The spearmen's twilight wood?--" + "Down, down," cried Mar, "your lances down' + Bear back both friend and foe! "-- + Like reeds before the tempest's frown, + That serried grove of lances brown + At once lay levelled low; + And closely shouldering side to side, + The bristling ranks the onset bide.--" + "We'll quell the savage mountaineer, + As their Tinchel cows the game! + They come as fleet as forest deer, + We'll drive them back as tame." + + + XVIII. + + 'Bearing before them in their course + The relics of the archer force, + Like wave with crest of sparkling foam, + Right onward did Clan-Alpine come. + Above the tide, each broadsword bright + Was brandishing like beam of light, + Each targe was dark below; + And with the ocean's mighty swing, + When heaving to the tempest's wing, + They hurled them on the foe. + I heard the lance's shivering crash, + As when the whirlwind rends the ash; + I heard the broadsword's deadly clang, + As if a hundred anvils rang! + But Moray wheeled his rearward rank + Of horsemen on Clan-Alpine's flank,-- + "My banner-man, advance! + I see," he cried, "their column shake. + Now, gallants! for your ladies' sake, + Upon them with the lance!"-- + The horsemen dashed among the rout, + As deer break through the broom; + + Their steeds are stout, their swords are out, + They soon make lightsome room. + Clan-Alpine's best are backward borne-- + Where, where was Roderick then! + One blast upon his bugle-horn + Were worth a thousand men. + And refluent through the pass of fear + The battle's tide was poured; + Vanished the Saxon's struggling spear, + Vanished the mountain-sword. + As Bracklinn's chasm, so black and steep, + Receives her roaring linn + As the dark caverns of the deep + Suck the wild whirlpool in, + So did the deep and darksome pass + Devour the battle's mingled mass; + None linger now upon the plain + Save those who ne'er shall fight again. + + + XIX. + + 'Now westward rolls the battle's din, + That deep and doubling pass within.-- + Minstrel, away! the work of fate + Is bearing on; its issue wait, + Where the rude Trosachs' dread defile + Opens on Katrine's lake and isle. + Gray Benvenue I soon repassed, + Loch Katrine lay beneath me cast. + The sun is set;--the clouds are met, + The lowering scowl of heaven + An inky hue of livid blue + To the deep lake has given; + Strange gusts of wind from mountain glen + Swept o'er the lake, then sunk again. + I heeded not the eddying surge, + Mine eye but saw the Trosachs' gorge, + Mine ear but heard that sullen sound, + Which like an earthquake shook the ground, + And spoke the stern and desperate strife + That parts not but with parting life, + Seeming, to minstrel ear, to toll + The dirge of many a passing soul. + Nearer it comes--the dim-wood glen + The martial flood disgorged again, + But not in mingled tide; + The plaided warriors of the North + High on the mountain thunder forth + And overhang its side, + While by the lake below appears + The darkening cloud of Saxon spears. + At weary bay each shattered band, + Eying their foemen, sternly stand; + Their banners stream like tattered sail, + That flings its fragments to the gale, + And broken arms and disarray + Marked the fell havoc of the day. + + + XX. + + 'Viewing the mountain's ridge askance, + The Saxons stood in sullen trance, + Till Moray pointed with his lance, + And cried: "Behold yon isle!-- + See! none are left to guard its strand + But women weak, that wring the hand: + 'Tis there of yore the robber band + Their booty wont to pile;-- + My purse, with bonnet-pieces store, + To him will swim a bow-shot o'er, + And loose a shallop from the shore. + Lightly we'll tame the war-wolf then, + Lords of his mate, and brood, and den." + Forth from the ranks a spearman sprung, + On earth his casque and corselet rung, + He plunged him in the wave:-- + All saw the deed,--the purpose knew, + And to their clamors Benvenue + A mingled echo gave; + The Saxons shout, their mate to cheer, + The helpless females scream for fear + And yells for rage the mountaineer. + 'T was then, as by the outcry riven, + Poured down at once the lowering heaven: + A whirlwind swept Loch Katrine's breast, + Her billows reared their snowy crest. + Well for the swimmer swelled they high, + To mar the Highland marksman's eye; + For round him showered, mid rain and hail, + The vengeful arrows of the Gael. + In vain.--He nears the isle--and lo! + His hand is on a shallop's bow. + Just then a flash of lightning came, + It tinged the waves and strand with flame; + I marked Duncraggan's widowed dame, + Behind an oak I saw her stand, + A naked dirk gleamed in her hand:-- + It darkened,--but amid the moan + Of waves I heard a dying groan;-- + Another flash!--the spearman floats + A weltering corse beside the boats, + And the stern matron o'er him stood, + Her hand and dagger streaming blood. + + + XXI. + + "'Revenge! revenge!" the Saxons cried, + The Gaels' exulting shout replied. + Despite the elemental rage, + Again they hurried to engage; + But, ere they closed in desperate fight, + Bloody with spurring came a knight, + Sprung from his horse, and from a crag + Waved 'twixt the hosts a milk-white flag. + Clarion and trumpet by his side + Rung forth a truce-note high and wide, + While, in the Monarch's name, afar + A herald's voice forbade the war, + For Bothwell's lord and Roderick bold + Were both, he said, in captive hold.'-- + But here the lay made sudden stand, + The harp escaped the Minstrel's hand! + Oft had he stolen a glance, to spy + How Roderick brooked his minstrelsy: + At first, the Chieftain, to the chime, + With lifted hand kept feeble time; + That motion ceased,--yet feeling strong + Varied his look as changed the song; + At length, no more his deafened ear + The minstrel melody can hear; + His face grows sharp,--his hands are clenched' + As if some pang his heart-strings wrenched; + Set are his teeth, his fading eye + Is sternly fixed on vacancy; + Thus, motionless and moanless, drew + His parting breath stout Roderick Dhu!-- + Old Allan-bane looked on aghast, + While grim and still his spirit passed; + But when he saw that life was fled, + He poured his wailing o'er the dead. + + + XXII. + + Lament. + + 'And art thou cold and lowly laid, + Thy foeman's dread, thy people's aid, + Breadalbane's boast, Clan-Alpine's shade! + For thee shall none a requiem say?-- + For thee, who loved the minstrel's lay, + For thee, of Bothwell's house the stay, + The shelter of her exiled line, + E'en in this prison-house of thine, + I'll wail for Alpine's honored Pine! + + 'What groans shall yonder valleys fill! + What shrieks of grief shall rend yon hill! + What tears of burning rage shall thrill, + When mourns thy tribe thy battles done, + Thy fall before the race was won, + Thy sword ungirt ere set of sun! + There breathes not clansman of thy line, + But would have given his life for thine. + O, woe for Alpine's honoured Pine! + + 'Sad was thy lot on mortal stage!-- + The captive thrush may brook the cage, + The prisoned eagle dies for rage. + Brave spirit, do Dot scorn my strain! + And, when its notes awake again, + Even she, so long beloved in vain, + Shall with my harp her voice combine, + And mix her woe and tears with mine, + To wail Clan-Alpine's honoured Pine.' + + + XXIII. + + Ellen the while, with bursting heart, + Remained in lordly bower apart, + Where played, with many-coloured gleams, + Through storied pane the rising beams. + In vain on gilded roof they fall, + And lightened up a tapestried wall, + And for her use a menial train + A rich collation spread in vain. + The banquet proud, the chamber gay, + Scarce drew one curious glance astray; + Or if she looked, 't was but to say, + With better omen dawned the day + In that lone isle, where waved on high + The dun-deer's hide for canopy; + Where oft her noble father shared + The simple meal her care prepared, + While Lufra, crouching by her side, + Her station claimed with jealous pride, + And Douglas, bent on woodland game, + Spoke of the chase to Malcolm Graeme, + Whose answer, oft at random made, + The wandering of his thoughts betrayed. + Those who such simple joys have known + Are taught to prize them when they 're gone. + But sudden, see, she lifts her head; + The window seeks with cautious tread. + What distant music has the power + To win her in this woful hour? + 'T was from a turret that o'erhung + Her latticed bower, the strain was sung. + + + XXIV. + + Lay of the Imprisoned Huntsman. + + 'My hawk is tired of perch and hood, + My idle greyhound loathes his food, + My horse is weary of his stall, + And I am sick of captive thrall. + I wish I were as I have been, + Hunting the hart in forest green, + With bended bow and bloodhound free, + For that's the life is meet for me. + + I hate to learn the ebb of time + From yon dull steeple's drowsy chime, + Or mark it as the sunbeams crawl, + Inch after inch, along the wall. + The lark was wont my matins ring, + The sable rook my vespers sing; + These towers, although a king's they be, + Have not a hall of joy for me. + + No more at dawning morn I rise, + And sun myself in Ellen's eyes, + Drive the fleet deer the forest through, + And homeward wend with evening dew; + A blithesome welcome blithely meet, + And lay my trophies at her feet, + While fled the eve on wing of glee,-- + That life is lost to love and me!' + + + XXV. + + The heart-sick lay was hardly said, + The listener had not turned her head, + It trickled still, the starting tear, + When light a footstep struck her ear, + And Snowdoun's graceful Knight was near. + She turned the hastier, lest again + The prisoner should renew his strain. + 'O welcome, brave Fitz-James!' she said; + 'How may an almost orphan maid + Pay the deep debt--' 'O say not so! + To me no gratitude you owe. + Not mine, alas! the boon to give, + And bid thy noble father live; + I can but be thy guide, sweet maid, + With Scotland's King thy suit to aid. + No tyrant he, though ire and pride + May lay his better mood aside. + Come, Ellen, come! 'tis more than time, + He holds his court at morning prime.' + With heating heart, and bosom wrung, + As to a brother's arm she clung. + Gently he dried the falling tear, + And gently whispered hope and cheer; + Her faltering steps half led, half stayed, + Through gallery fair and high arcade, + Till at his touch its wings of pride + A portal arch unfolded wide. + + + XXVI. + + Within 't was brilliant all and light, + A thronging scene of figures bright; + It glowed on Ellen's dazzled sight, + As when the setting sun has given + Ten thousand hues to summer even, + And from their tissue fancy frames + Aerial knights and fairy dames. + Still by Fitz-James her footing staid; + A few faint steps she forward made, + Then slow her drooping head she raised, + And fearful round the presence gazed; + For him she sought who owned this state, + The dreaded Prince whose will was fate!-- + She gazed on many a princely port + Might well have ruled a royal court; + On many a splendid garb she gazed,-- + Then turned bewildered and amazed, + For all stood bare; and in the room + Fitz-James alone wore cap and plume. + To him each lady's look was lent, + On him each courtier's eye was bent; + Midst furs and silks and jewels sheen, + He stood, in simple Lincoln green, + The centre of the glittering ring,-- + And Snowdoun's Knight is Scotland's King! + + + XXVII. + + As wreath of snow on mountain-breast + Slides from the rock that gave it rest, + Poor Ellen glided from her stay, + And at the Monarch's feet she lay; + No word her choking voice commands,-- + She showed the ring,--she clasped her hands. + O, not a moment could he brook, + The generous Prince, that suppliant look! + Gently he raised her,--and, the while, + Checked with a glance the circle's smile; + Graceful, but grave, her brow he kissed, + And bade her terrors be dismissed:-- + 'Yes, fair; the wandering poor + Fitz-James The fealty of Scotland claims. + To him thy woes, thy wishes, bring; + He will redeem his signet ring. + Ask naught for Douglas;--yester even, + His Prince and he have much forgiven; + Wrong hath he had from slanderous tongue, + I, from his rebel kinsmen, wrong. + We would not, to the vulgar crowd, + Yield what they craved with clamor loud; + Calmly we heard and judged his cause, + Our council aided and our laws. + I stanched thy father's death-feud stern + With stout De Vaux and gray Glencairn; + And Bothwell's Lord henceforth we own + The friend and bulwark of our throne.-- + But, lovely infidel, how now? + What clouds thy misbelieving brow? + Lord James of Douglas, lend thine aid; + Thou must confirm this doubting maid.' + + + XXVIII. + + Then forth the noble Douglas sprung, + And on his neck his daughter hung. + The Monarch drank, that happy hour, + The sweetest, holiest draught of Power,-- + When it can say with godlike voice, + Arise, sad Virtue, and rejoice! + Yet would not James the general eye + On nature's raptures long should pry; + He stepped between--' Nay, Douglas, nay, + Steal not my proselyte away! + The riddle 'tis my right to read, + That brought this happy chance to speed. + Yes, Ellen, when disguised I stray + In life's more low but happier way, + 'Tis under name which veils my power + Nor falsely veils,--for Stirling's tower + Of yore the name of Snowdoun claims, + And Normans call me James Fitz-James. + Thus watch I o'er insulted laws, + Thus learn to right the injured cause.' + Then, in a tone apart and low,-- + 'Ah, little traitress! none must know + What idle dream, what lighter thought + What vanity full dearly bought, + Joined to thine eye's dark witchcraft, drew + My spell-bound steps to Benvenue + In dangerous hour, and all but gave + Thy Monarch's life to mountain glaive!' + Aloud he spoke: 'Thou still dost hold + That little talisman of gold, + Pledge of my faith, Fitz-James's ring,-- + What seeks fair Ellen of the King?' + + + XXIX. + + Full well the conscious maiden guessed + He probed the weakness of her breast; + But with that consciousness there came + A lightening of her fears for Graeme, + And more she deemed the Monarch's ire + Kindled 'gainst him who for her sire + Rebellious broadsword boldly drew; + And, to her generous feeling true, + She craved the grace of Roderick Dhu. + 'Forbear thy suit;--the King of kings + Alone can stay life's parting wings. + I know his heart, I know his hand, + Have shared his cheer, and proved his brand; + My fairest earldom would I give + To bid Clan-Alpine's Chieftain live!-- + Hast thou no other boon to crave? + No other captive friend to save?' + Blushing, she turned her from the King, + And to the Douglas gave the ring, + As if she wished her sire to speak + The suit that stained her glowing cheek. + 'Nay, then, my pledge has lost its force, + And stubborn justice holds her course. + Malcolm, come forth!'--and, at the word, + Down kneeled the Graeme to Scotland's Lord. + 'For thee, rash youth, no suppliant sues, + From thee may Vengeance claim her dues, + Who, nurtured underneath our smile, + Hast paid our care by treacherous wile, + And sought amid thy faithful clan + A refuge for an outlawed man, + Dishonoring thus thy loyal name.-- + Fetters and warder for the Graeme!' + His chain of gold the King unstrung, + The links o'er Malcolm's neck he flung, + Then gently drew the glittering band, + And laid the clasp on Ellen's hand. + + Harp of the North, farewell! The hills grow dark, + On purple peaks a deeper shade descending; + In twilight copse the glow-worm lights her spark, + The deer, half seen, are to the covert wending. + Resume thy wizard elm! the fountain lending, + And the wild breeze, thy wilder minstrelsy; + Thy numbers sweet with nature's vespers blending, + With distant echo from the fold and lea, + And herd-boy's evening pipe, and hum of housing bee. + + Yet, once again, farewell, thou Minstrel Harp! + Yet, once again, forgive my feeble sway, + And little reck I of the censure sharp + May idly cavil at an idle lay. + Much have I owed thy strains on life's long way, + Through secret woes the world has never known, + When on the weary night dawned wearier day, + And bitterer was the grief devoured alone.-- + That I o'erlive such woes, Enchantress! is thine own. + + Hark! as my lingering footsteps slow retire, + Some Spirit of the Air has waked thy string! + 'Tis now a seraph bold, with touch of fire, + 'Tis now the brush of Fairy's frolic wing. + Receding now, the dying numbers ring + Fainter and fainter down the rugged dell; + And now the mountain breezes scarcely bring + A wandering witch-note of the distant spell-- + And now, 'tis silent all!--Enchantress, fare thee well! + + + + +ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE NOTES. + + + +Cf. (confer), compare. F.Q., Spenser's Faerie Queene. Fol., following. +Id. (idem), the same. Lockhart, J. G. Lockhart's edition of Scott's +poems (various issues). P.L., Milton's Paradise Lost. Taylor, R. W. +Taylor's edition of The Lady of the Lake (London, 1875). Wb., Webster's +Dictionary (revised quarto edition of 1879). Worc., Worcester's +Dictionary (quarto edition). The abbreviations of the names of +Shakespeare's plays will be readily understood. The line-numbers are +those of the "Globe" edition. + +The references to Scott's Lay of the Last Minstrel are to canto and +line; those to Marmion and other poems to canto and stanza. + + + + +NOTES. + + + + +Introduction. + + +The Lady of the Lake was first published in 1810, when Scott was +thirty-nine, and it was dedicated to "the most noble John James, Marquis +of Abercorn." Eight thousand copies were sold between June 2d and +September 22d, 1810, and repeated editions were subsequently called for. +In 1830, the following "Introduction" was prefixed to the poem by the +author:-- + +After the success of Marmion, I felt inclined to exclaim with Ulysses in +the Odyssey: + + [Greek Letters] Odys. X. 5. + + "One venturous game my hand has won to-day-- + Another, gallants, yet remains to play." + +The ancient manners, the habits and customs of the aboriginal race by +whom the Highlands of Scotland were inhabited, had always appeared to +me peculiarly adapted to poetry. The change in their manners, too, had +taken place almost within my own time, or at least I had learned many +particulars concerning the ancient state of the Highlands from the old +men of the last generation. I had always thought the old Scottish +Gael highly adapted for poetical composition. The feuds and political +dissensions which, half a century earlier, would have rendered the +richer and wealthier part of the kingdom indisposed to countenance a +poem, the scene of which was laid in the Highlands, were now sunk in the +generous compassion which the English, more than any other nation, feel +for the misfortunes of an honourable foe. The Poems of Ossian had +by their popularity sufficiently shown that, if writings on Highland +subjects were qualified to interest the reader, mere national prejudices +were, in the present day, very unlikely to interfere with their success. + +I had also read a great deal, seen much, and heard more, of that +romantic country where I was in the habit of spending some time +every autumn; and the scenery of Lock Katrine was connected with the +recollection of many a dear friend and merry expedition of former days. +This poem, the action of which lay among scenes so beautiful and so +deeply imprinted on my recollections, was a labour of love, and it was +no less so to recall the manners and incidents introduced. The frequent +custom of James IV., and particularly of James V., to walk through their +kingdom in disguise, afforded me the hint of an incident which never +fails to be interesting if managed with the slightest address or +dexterity. + +I may now confess, however, that the employment, though attended with +great pleasure, was not without its doubts and anxieties. A lady, to +whom I was nearly related, and with whom I lived, during her whole life, +on the most brotherly terms of affection, was residing with me at the +time when the work was in progress, and used to ask me, what I could +possibly do to rise so early in the morning (that happening to be the +most convenient to me for composition). At last I told her the subject +of my meditations; and I can never forget the anxiety and affection +expressed in her reply. "Do not be so rash," she said, "my dearest +cousin. [2] You are already popular,--more so, perhaps, than you +yourself will believe, or than even I, or other partial friends, can +fairly allow to your merit. You stand high,--do not rashly attempt +to climb higher, and incur the risk of a fall; for, depend upon it, +a favourite will not be permitted even to stumble with impunity." I +replied to this affectionate expostulation in the words of Montrose,-- + + "'He either fears his fate too much, + Or his deserts are small, + Who dares not put it to the touch + To gain or lose it all.' + +"If I fail," I said, for the dialogue is strong in my recollection, "it +is a sign that I ought never to have succeeded, and I will write prose +for life: you shall see no change in my temper, nor will I eat a single +meal the worse. But if I succeed, + + 'Up with the bonnie blue bonnet, + The dirk, and the feather, and a'!'" + +Afterwards I showed my affectionate and anxious critic the first canto +of the poem, which reconciled her to my imprudence. Nevertheless, +although I answered thus confidently, with the obstinacy often said to +be proper to those who bear my surname, I acknowledge that my confidence +was considerably shaken by the warning of her excellent taste and +unbiased friendship. Nor was I much comforted by her retraction of +the unfavourable judgment, when I recollected how likely a natural +partiality was to effect that change of opinion. In such cases, +affection rises like a light on the canvas, improves any favourable +tints which it formerly exhibited, and throws its defects into the +shade. + +I remember that about the same time a friend started in to "heeze up my +hope," like the "sportsman with his cutty gun," in the old song. He was +bred a farmer, but a man of powerful understanding, natural good taste, +and warm poetical feeling, perfectly competent to supply the wants of +an imperfect or irregular education. He was a passionate admirer of +field-sports, which we often pursued together. + +As this friend happened to dine with me at Ashestiel one day, I took the +opportunity of reading to him the first canto of The Lady of the Lake, +in order to ascertain the effect the poem was likely to produce upon a +person who was but too favourable a representative of readers at large. +It is of course to be supposed that I determined rather to guide my +opinion by what my friend might appear to feel, than by what he might +think fit to say. His reception of my recitation, or prelection, was +rather singular. He placed his hand across his brow, and listened with +great attention through the whole account of the stag-hunt, till the +dogs threw themselves into the lake to follow their master, who embarks +with Ellen Douglas. He then started up with a sudden exclamation, struck +his hand on the table, and declared, in a voice of censure calculated +for the occasion, that the dogs must have been totally ruined by being +permitted to take the water after such a severe chase. I own I was much +encouraged by the species of revery which had possessed so zealous a +follower of the sports of the ancient Nimrod, who had been completely +surprised out of all doubts of the reality of the tale. Another of his +remarks gave me less pleasure. He detected the identity of the King with +the wandering knight, Fitz-James, when he winds his bugle to summon +his attendants. He was probably thinking of the lively, but somewhat +licentious, old ballad, in which the denouement of a royal intrigue +takes place as follows: + + "He took a bugle frae his side, + He blew both loud and shrill, + And four and twenty belted knights + Came skipping over the hill; + Then he took out a little knife, + Let a' his duddies fa', + And he was the brawest gentleman + That was amang them a'. + And we'll go no more a roving," etc. + +This discovery, as Mr. Pepys says of the rent in his camlet cloak, was +but a trifle, yet it troubled me; and I was at a good deal of pains to +efface any marks by which I thought my secret could be traced before the +conclusion, when I relied on it with the same hope of producing effect, +with which the Irish post-boy is said to reserve a "trot for the +avenue." + +I took uncommon pains to verify the accuracy of the local circumstances +of this story. I recollect, in particular, that to ascertain whether I +was telling a probable tale, I went into Perthshire, to see whether King +James could actually have ridden from the banks of Loch Vennachar +to Stirling Castle within the time supposed in the poem, and had the +pleasure to satisfy myself that it was quite practicable. + +After a considerable delay, The Lady of the Lake appeared in June, 1810; +and its success was certainly so extraordinary as to induce me for the +moment to conclude that I had at last fixed a nail in the proverbially +inconstant wheel of Fortune, whose stability in behalf of an individual +who had so boldly courted her favours for three successive times had not +as yet been shaken. I had attained, perhaps, that degree of reputation +at which prudence, or certainly timidity, would have made a halt, and +discontinued efforts by which I was far more likely to diminish my fame +than to increase it. But, as the celebrated John Wilkes is said to have +explained to his late Majesty, that he himself, amid his full tide of +popularity, was never a Wilkite, so I can, with honest truth, exculpate +myself from having been at any time a partisan of my own poetry, even +when it was in the highest fashion with the million. It must not be +supposed that I was either so ungrateful, or so superabundantly candid, +as to despise or scorn the value of those whose voice had elevated me +so much higher than my own opinion told me I deserved. I felt, on +the contrary, the more grateful to the public, as receiving that from +partiality to me, which I could not have claimed from merit; and I +endeavoured to deserve the partiality, by continuing such exertions as I +was capable of for their amusement. + +It may be that I did not, in this continued course of scribbling, +consult either the interest of the public or my own. But the former had +effectual means of defending themselves, and could, by their coldness, +sufficiently check any approach to intrusion; and for myself, I had now +for several years dedicated my hours so much to literary labour that I +should have felt difficulty in employing myself otherwise; and so, +like Dogberry, I generously bestowed all my tediousness on the public, +comforting myself with the reflection that, if posterity should think +me undeserving of the favour with which I was regarded by my +contemporaries, "they could not but say I had the crown," and had +enjoyed for a time that popularity which is so much coveted. + +I conceived, however, that I held the distinguished situation I +had obtained, however unworthily, rather like the champion of +pugilism, [3] on the condition of being always ready to show proofs of +my skill, than in the manner of the champion of chivalry, who performs +his duties only on rare and solemn occasions. I was in any case +conscious that I could not long hold a situation which the caprice, +rather than the judgment, of the public, had bestowed upon me, and +preferred being deprived of my precedence by some more worthy rival, to +sinking into contempt for my indolence, and losing my reputation by what +Scottish lawyers call the negative prescription. Accordingly, those who +choose to look at the Introduction to Rokeby, will be able to trace +the steps by which I declined as a poet to figure as a novelist; as +the ballad says, Queen Eleanor sunk at Charing Cross to rise again at +Queenhithe. + +It only remains for me to say that, during my short pre-eminence of +popularity, I faithfully observed the rules of moderation which I had +resolved to follow before I began my course as a man of letters. If +a man is determined to make a noise in the world, he is as sure to +encounter abuse and ridicule, as he who gallops furiously through +a village must reckon on being followed by the curs in full cry. +Experienced persons know that in stretching to flog the latter, the +rider is very apt to catch a bad fall; nor is an attempt to chastise +a malignant critic attended with less danger to the author. On this +principle, I let parody, burlesque, and squibs find their own level; +and while the latter hissed most fiercely, I was cautious never to catch +them up, as schoolboys do, to throw them back against the naughty boy +who fired them off, wisely remembering that they are in such cases apt +to explode in the handling. Let me add, that my reign [4] (since Byron +has so called it) was marked by some instances of good-nature as well +as patience. I never refused a literary person of merit such services +in smoothing his way to the public as were in my power; and I had the +advantage, rather an uncommon one with our irritable race, to enjoy +general favour without incurring permanent ill-will, so far as is known +to me, among any of my contemporaries. + + W.S. + Abbotsford, April, 1830. + +Our limits do not permit us to add any extended selections from the many +critical notices of the poem. The verdict of Jeffrey, in the Edinburgh +Review, on its first appearance, has been generally endorsed:-- + +"Upon the whole, we are inclined to think more highly of The Lady of +the Lake than of either of its author's former publications [the Lay and +Marmion]. We are more sure, however, that it has fewer faults than that +it has greater beauties; and as its beauties bear a strong resemblance +to those with which the public has been already made familiar in these +celebrated works, we should not be surprised if its popularity were less +splendid and remarkable. For our own parts, however, we are of opinion +that it will be oftener read hereafter than either of them; and that, +if it had appeared first in the series, their reception would have been +less favourable than that which it has experienced. It is more polished +in its diction, and more regular in its versification; the story is +constructed with infinitely more skill and address; there is a greater +proportion of pleasing and tender passages, with much less antiquarian +detail; and, upon the whole, a larger variety of characters, more +artfully and judiciously contrasted. There is nothing so fine, perhaps, +as the battle in Marmion, or so picturesque as some of the scattered +sketches in the Lay; but there is a richness and a spirit in the whole +piece which does not pervade either of those poems,--a profusion of +incident and a shifting brilliancy of colouring that reminds us of the +witchery of Ariosto, and a constant elasticity and occasional energy +which seem to belong more peculiarly to the author now before us." + + + + +Canto First. + + +Each canto is introduced by one or more Spenserian stanzas, [5] +forming a kind of prelude to it. Those prefixed to the first canto serve +as an introduction to the whole poem, which is "inspired by the spirit +of the old Scottish minstrelsy." + + +2. Witch-elm. The broad-leaved or wych elm (Ulmus montana), indigenous +to Scotland. Forked branches of the tree were used in the olden time as +divining-rods, and riding switches from it were supposed to insure good +luck on a journey. In the closing stanzas of the poem (vi. 846) it is +called the "wizard elm." Tennyson (In Memoriam, 89) refers to + + "Witch-elms that counterchange the floor + Of this flat lawn with dusk and bright." + +Saint Fillan was a Scotch abbot of the seventh century who became famous +as a saint. He had two springs, which appear to be confounded by some +editors of the poem. One was at the eastern end of Loch Earn, where the +pretty modern village of St. Fillans now stands, under the shadow of +Dun Fillan, or St. Fillan's Hills, six hundred feet high, on the top of +which the saint used to say his prayers, as the marks of his knees in +the rock still testify to the credulous. The other spring is at another +village called St. Fillans, nearly thirty miles to the westward, just +outside the limits of our map, on the road to Tyndrum. In this Holy +Pool, as it is called, insane folk were dipped with certain ceremonies, +and then left bound all night in the open air. If they were found loose +the next morning, they were supposed to have been cured. This treatment +was practised as late as 1790, according to Pennant, who adds that +the patients were generally found in the morning relieved of their +troubles--by death. Another writer, in 1843, says that the pool is still +visited, not by people of the vicinity, who have no faith in its virtue, +but by those from distant places. Scott alludes to this spring in +Marmion, i. 29: + + "Thence to Saint Fillan's blessed well, + Whose springs can frenzied dreams dispel, + And the crazed brain restore." + + +3. And down the fitful breeze, etc. The original MS. reads: + + "And on the fitful breeze thy numbers flung, + Till envious ivy, with her verdant ring, + Mantled and muffled each melodious string,-- + O Wizard Harp, still must thine accents sleep?" + + +10. Caledon. Caledonia, the Roman name of Scotland. + + +14. Each according pause. That is, each pause in the singing. In +Marmion, ii. 11, according is used of music that fills the intervals of +other music: + + "Soon as they neared his turrets strong, + The maidens raised Saint Hilda's song, + And with the sea-wave and the wind + Their voices, sweetly shrill, combined, + And made harmonious close; + Then, answering from the sandy shore, + Half-drowned amid the breakers' roar, + According chorus rose." + +The MS. reads here: + + "At each according pause thou spokest aloud + Thine ardent sympathy sublime and high." + + +28. The stag at eve had drunk his fill. The metre of the poem proper +is iambic, that is, with the accent on the even syllables, and +octosyllabic, or eight syllables to the line. + + +29. Monan's rill. St. Monan was a Scotch martyr of the fourth century. +We can find no mention of any rill named for him. + + +31. Glenartney. A valley to the north-east of Callander, with +Benvoirlich (which rises to the height of 3180 feet) on the north, and +Uam-Var (see 53 below) on the south, separating it from the valley of +the Teith. It takes its name from the Artney, the stream flowing through +it. + + +32. His beacon red. The figure is an appropriate one in describing this +region, where fires on the hill-tops were so often used as signals in +the olden time. Cf. the Lay, iii. 379: + + "And soon a score of fires, I ween, + From height, and hill, and cliff, were seen, + Each with warlike tidings fraught; + Each from each the signal caught," etc. + + +34. Deep-mouthed. Cf. Shakespeare, 1 Hen. VI. ii. 4. 12: "Between +two dogs, which hath the deeper mouth;" and T. of S. ind. 1. 18: "the +deep-mouthed brach" (that is, hound). + +The MS. reads: + + "The bloodhound's notes of heavy bass + Resounded hoarsely up the pass." + + +35. Resounded... rocky. The poet often avails himself of "apt +alliteration's artful aid," as here, and in the next two lines; most +frequently in pairs of words. + + +38. As Chief, etc. Note here, as often, the simile put BEFORE that +which it illustrates,--an effective rhetorical, though not the logical, +arrangement. + + +45. Beamed frontlet. Antlered forehead. + + +46. Adown. An instance of a purely poetical word, not admissible in +prose. + + +49. Chase. Here put for those engaged in the chase; as in 101 and 171, +below. One of its regular meanings is the OBJECT of the chase, or the +animal pursued. + + +53. Uam-Var. "Ua-Var, as the name is pronounced, or more properly +Uaigh-mor, is a mountain to the north-east of the village of Callander, +in Menteith, deriving its name, which signifies the great den, or +cavern, from a sort of retreat among the rocks on the south side, said, +by tradition, to have been the abode of a giant. In latter times, it was +the refuge of robbers and banditti, who have been only extirpated within +these forty or fifty years. Strictly speaking, this stronghold is not a +cave, as the name would imply, but a sort of small enclosure, or recess, +surrounded with large rocks and open above head. It may have been +originally designed as a toil for deer, who might get in from the +outside, but would find it difficult to return. This opinion prevails +among the old sportsmen and deer-stalkers in the neighborhood" (Scott). + + +54. Yelled. Note the emphatic force of the inversion, as in 59 below. +Cf. 38 above. + +Opening. That is, barking on view or scent of the game; a hunting term. +Cf. Shakespeare, M. W. iv. 2. 209: "If I bark out thus upon no trail +never trust me when I open again." + +The description of the echo which follows is very spirited. + + +66. Cairn. Literally, a heap of stones; here put poetically for the +rocky point which the falcon takes as a look-out. + + +69. Hurricane. A metaphor for the wild rush of the hunt. + + +71. Linn. Literally, a deep pool; but often = cataract, as in Bracklinn, +ii. 270 below (cf. vi. 488), and sometimes = precipice. + + +73. On the lone wood. Note the musical variation in the measure here; +the 1st, 3d, and 4th syllables being accented instead of the 2d and 4th. +It is occasionally introduced into iambic metre with admirable effect. +Cf. 85 and 97 below. + + +76. The cavern, etc. See on 53 above. + + +80. Perforce. A poetical word. See on 46 above. + + +84. Shrewdly. Severely, keenly; a sense now obsolete. Shrewd originally +meant evil, mischievous. Cf. Shakespeare, A. Y. L. v. 4. 179, where it +is said that those + + "That have endur'd shrewd days and nights with us + Shall share the good of our returned fortune." + +In Chaucer (Tale of Melibocus) we find, "The prophete saith: Flee +shrewdnesse, and do goodnesse" (referring to Ps. xxxiv. 14). + + +89. Menteith. The district in the southwestern part of Perthshire, +watered by the Teith. + + +91. Mountain and meadow, etc. See on 35 above. Moss is used in the +North-of-England sense of a boggy or peaty district, like the famous +Chat Moss between Liverpool and Manchester. + + +93. Lochard. Loch Ard is a beautiful lakelet, about five miles south +of Loch Katrine. On its eastern side is the scene of Helen Macgregor's +skirmish with the King's troops in Rob Roy; and near its head, on the +northern side, is a waterfall, which is the original of Flora MacIvor's +favorite retreat in Waverley. Aberfoyle is a village about a mile and a +half to the east of the lake. + + +95. Loch Achray. A lake between Loch Katrine and Loch Vennachar, lying +just beyond the pass of the Trosachs. + + +97. Benvenue. A mountain, 2386 feet in height, on the southern side of +Loch Katrine. + + +98. With the hope. The MS. has "with the THOUGHT," and "flying HOOF" in +the next line. + + +102. 'Twere. It would be. Cf. Shakespeare, Macb. ii. 2. 73: "To know my +deed, 't were best not know myself." + + +103. Cambusmore. The estate of a family named Buchanan, whom Scott +frequently visited in his younger days. It is about two miles from +Callander, on the wooded banks of the Keltie, a tributary of the Teith. + + +105. Benledi. A mountain, 2882 feet high, northwest from Callander. The +name is said to mean "Mountain of God." + + +106. Bochastle's heath. A moor between the east end of Loch Vennachar +and Callander. See also on v. 298 below. + + +107. The flooded Teith. The Teith is formed by streams from Loch Voil +and from Loch Katrine (by way of Loch Achray and Loch Vennachar), which +unite at Callander. It joins the Forth near Stirling. + + +111. Vennachar. As the map shows, this "Lake of the Fair Valley" is the +most eastern of the three lakes around which the scenery of the poem +lies. It is about five miles long and a mile and a half wide. + + +112. The Brigg of Turk. This brig, or bridge (cf. Burns's poem of The +Brigs of Ayr), is over a stream that comes down from Glenfinlas and +flows into the one connecting Lochs Achray and Vennachar. According to +Graham, it is "the scene of the death of a wild boar famous in Celtic +tradition." + + +114. Unbated. Cf. Shakespeare, M. of V. ii. 6. 11: + + "Where is the horse that doth untread again + His tedious measures with the unbated fire + That he did pace them first?" + + +115. Scourge and steel. Whip and spur. Steel is often used for the sword +(as in v. 239 below: "foeman worthy of their steel"), the figure being +of the same sort as here--"the material put for the thing made of it." +Cf. v. 479 below. + + +117. Embossed. An old hunting term. George Turbervile, in his Noble Art +of Venerie or Hunting (A.D. 1576), says: "When the hart is foamy at the +mouth, we say, that he is emboss'd." Cf. Shakespeare, T. of S. ind. 1. +17: "Brach Merriman, the poor cur, is emboss'd;" and A. and C. iv. 13. +3: + + "the boar of Thessaly + Was never so emboss'd." + + +120. Saint Hubert's breed. Scott quotes Turbervile here: "The hounds +which we call Saint Hubert's hounds are commonly all blacke, yet +neuertheless, the race is so mingled at these days, that we find them +of all colours. These are the hounds which the abbots of St. Hubert haue +always kept some of their race or kind, in honour or remembrance of the +saint, which was a hunter with S. Eustace. Whereupon we may conceiue +that (by the grace of God) all good huntsmen shall follow them into +paradise." + + +127. Quarry. The animal hunted; another technical term. Shakespeare uses +it in the sense of a heap of slaughtered game; as in Cor. i. 1. 202: + + "Would the nobility lay aside their ruth, + And let me use my sword, I'd make a quarry + With thousands of these quarter'd slaves," etc. + + +Cf. Longfellow, Hiawatha: + + "Seldom stoops the soaring vulture + O'er his quarry in the desert." + + +130. Stock. Tree-stump. Cf. Job, xiv. 8. + + +133. Turn to bay. Like stand at bay, etc., a term used when the +stag, driven to extremity, turns round and faces his pursuers. Cf. +Shakespeare, 1. Hen. VI. iv. 2. 52, where it is used figuratively (as in +vi. 525 below): + + "Turn on the bloody hounds with heads of steel, + And make the cowards stand aloof at bay;" + +and T. of S. v. 2. 56: "'T is thought your deer does hold you at a bay," +etc. + + +137. For the death-wound, etc. Scott has the following note here: "When +the stag turned to bay, the ancient hunter had the perilous task of +going in upon, and killing or disabling, the desperate animal. At +certain times of the year this was held particularly dangerous, a +wound received from a stag's horn being then deemed poisonous, and more +dangerous than one from the tusks of a boar, as the old rhyme testifies: + + 'If thou be hurt with hart, it bring thee to thy bier, + But barber's hand will boar's hurt heal, therefore thou + need'st not fear.' + +At all times, however, the task was dangerous, and to be adventured upon +wisely and warily, either by getting behind the stag while he was gazing +on the hounds, or by watching an opportunity to gallop roundly in upon +him, and kill him with the sword. See many directions to this purpose +in the Booke of Hunting, chap. 41. Wilson, the historian, has recorded +a providential escape which befell him in the hazardous sport, while a +youth, and follower of the Earl of Essex: + +'Sir Peter Lee, of Lime, in Cheshire, invited my lord one summer to hunt +the stagg. And having a great stagg in chase, and many gentlemen in the +pursuit, the stag took soyle. And divers, whereof I was one, alighted, +and stood with swords drawne, to have a cut at him, at his coming out of +the water. The staggs there being wonderfully fierce and dangerous, made +us youths more eager to be at him. But he escaped us all. And it was my +misfortune to be hindered of my coming nere him, the way being sliperie, +by a falle; which gave occasion to some, who did not know mee, to speak +as if I had falne for feare. Which being told mee, I left the stagg, +and followed the gentleman who [first] spake it. But I found him of that +cold temper, that it seems his words made an escape from him; as by his +denial and repentance it appeared. But this made mee more violent in the +pursuit of the stagg, to recover my reputation. And I happened to be the +only horseman in, when the dogs sett him up at bay; and approaching near +him on horsebacke, he broke through the dogs, and run at mee, and tore +my horse's side with his hornes, close by my thigh. Then I quitted my +horse, and grew more cunning (for the dogs had sette him up againe), +stealing behind him with my sword, and cut his hamstrings; and then got +upon his back, and cut his throate; which, as I was doing, the company +came in, and blamed my rashness for running such a hazard' (Peck's +Desiderata Curiosa, ii. 464)." + + +138. Whinyard. A short stout sword or knife; the same as the whinger of +the Lay of Last Minstrel, v. 7: + + "And whingers, now in friendship bare + The social meal to part and share, + Had found a bloody sheath." + + +142. Turned him. In Elizabethan, and still more in earlier English, +personal pronouns were often used reflexively; and this, like many other +old constructions, is still used in poetry. + + +145. Trosachs. "The rough or bristled territory" (Graham); the wild +district between Lochs Katrine and Vennachar. The name is now especially +applied to the pass between Lochs Katrine and Achray. + + +147. Close couched. That is, as he lay close couched, or hidden. Such +ellipses are common in poetry. + + +150. Amain. With main, or full force. We still say "with might and +main." + + +151. Chiding. Not a mere figurative use of chide as we now understand it +(cf. 287 below), but an example of the old sense of the word as applied +to any oft-repeated noise. Shakespeare uses it of the barking of dogs in +M. N. D. iv. 1. 120: + + "never did I hear + Such gallant chiding;" + +of the wind, as in A. Y. L. ii. 1. 7: "And churlish chiding of the +winter's wind;" and of the sea, as in 1 Hen. IV. iii. 1. 45: + + "the sea + That chides the banks of England;" + +and Hen. VIII. iii. 2. 197: "the chiding flood." + + +163. The banks of Seine. James visited France in 1536, and sued for the +hand of Magdalen, daughter of Francis I. He married her the following +spring, but she died a few months later. He then married Mary of Guise, +whom he had doubtless seen while in France. + + +166. Woe worth the chase. That is, woe be to it. This worth is from the +A. S. weorthan, to become. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 6. 32: + + "Wo worth the man, + That first did teach the cursed steele to bight + In his owne flesh, and make way to the living spright!" + +See also Ezek. xxx. 2. + + +180. And on the hunter, etc. The MS. reads: + + "And on the hunter hied his pace, + To meet some comrades of the chase;" + +and the 1st ed. retains "pace" and "chase." + + +184. The western waves, etc. This description of the Trosachs was +written amid the scenery it delineates, in the summer of 1809. The +Quarterly Review (May, 1810) says of the poet: "He sees everything +with a painter's eye. Whatever he represents has a character of +individuality, and is drawn with an accuracy and minuteness of +discrimination which we are not accustomed to expect from mere verbal +description. It is because Mr. Scott usually delineates those objects +with which he is perfectly familiar that his touch is so easy, correct, +and animated. The rocks, the ravines, and the torrents which he exhibits +are not the imperfect sketches of a hurried traveller, but the finished +studies of a resident artist." See also on 278 below. + +Ruskin (Modern Painters, iii. 278) refers to "the love of color" as +a leading element in Scott's love of beauty. He might have quoted the +present passage among the illustrations he adds. + + +195. The native bulwarks, etc. The MS. has "The mimic castles of the +pass." + + +196. The tower, etc. Cf. Gen. xi. 1-9. + + +198. The rocky. The 1st ed. has "Their rocky," etc. + + +204. Nor were, etc. The MS. reads: "Nor were these mighty bulwarks +bare." + + +208. Dewdrop sheen. Not "dewdrops sheen," or "dewdrops' sheen," as +sometimes printed. Sheen = shining, bright; as in v. 10 below. Cf. +Spenser, F. Q. ii. 1. 10: "So faire and sheene;" Id. iii. 4. 51: "in +top of heaven sheene," etc. See Wb. The MS. has here: "Bright glistening +with the dewdrop sheen." + + +212. Boon. Bountiful. Cf. Milton, P. L. iv. 242: + + "Flowers worthy of Paradise, which not nice art + In beds and curious knots, but nature boon + Pour'd forth profuse on hill, and dale, and plain." + +See also P. L. ix. 793: "jocund and boon." + + +217. Bower. In the old sense of chamber, lodging-place; as in iv. 413 +and vi. 218 below. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 1. 58: + + "Eftesoones long waxen torches weren light + Unto their bowres to guyden every guest." + +For clift (= cleft), the reading of the 1st ed. and unquestionably what +Scott wrote, every other edition that we have seen reads "cliff." + + +219. Emblems of punishment and pride. See on iii. 19 below. + + +222, 223. Note the imperfect rhyme in breath and beneath. Cf. 224-25, +256-57, 435-36, 445-46 below. Such instances are comparatively rare +in Scott's poetry. Some rhymes that appear to be imperfect are to be +explained by peculiarities of Scottish pronunciation. See on 363 below. + + +227. Shaltered. The MS. has "scathed;" also "rugged arms athwart the +sky" in 229, and "twinkling" for glistening in 231. The 1st ed. has +"scattered" for shattered; corrected in the Errata. + + +231. Streamers. Of ivy or other vines. + + +238. Affording, etc. The MS. reads: + + "Affording scarce such breadth of flood + As served to float the wild-duck's brood." + + +247. Emerging, etc. The MS. has "Emerging dry-shod from the wood." + + +254. And now, to issue from the glen, etc. "Until the present road was +made through the romantic pass which I have presumptuously attempted to +describe in the preceding stanzas, there was no mode of issuing out of +the defile called the Trosachs, excepting by a sort of ladder, composed +of the branches and roots of trees" (Scott). + + +263. Loch Katrine. In a note to The Fair Maid of Perth, Scott derives +the name from the Catterans, or Highland robbers, that once infested the +shores of the lake. Others make it "the Lake of the Battle," in memory +of some prehistoric conflict. + + +267. Livelier. Because in motion; like living gold above. + + +270. Benvenue. See on 97 above. + + +271. Down to. Most editions misprint "down on." + + +272. Confusedly. A trisyllable; as in ii. 161 below, and in the Lay, +iii. 337: "And helms and plumes, confusedly tossed." + + +274. Wildering. Bewildering. Cf. Dryden, Aurungzebe, i. 1: "wilder'd in +the way," etc. See also 434 and v. 22 below. + + +275. His ruined sides, etc. The MS. reads: + + "His ruined sides and fragments hoar, + While on the north to middle air." + + +277. Ben-an. This mountain, 1800 feet high, is north of the Trosachs, +separating that pass from Glenfinlas. + + +278. From the steep, etc. The MS. reads: + + "From the high promontory gazed + The stranger, awe-struck and amazed." + +The Critical Review (Aug. 1820) remarks of this portion of the poem (184 +fol.): "Perhaps the art of landscape-painting in poetry has never been +displayed in higher perfection than in these stanzas, to which rigid +criticism might possibly object that the picture is somewhat too minute, +and that the contemplation of it detains the traveller somewhat too long +from the main purpose of his pilgrimage, but which it would be an act of +the greatest injustice to break into fragments and present by piecemeal. +Not so the magnificent scene which bursts upon the bewildered hunter +as he emerges at length from the dell, and commands at one view the +beautiful expanse of Loch Katrine." + + +281. Churchman. In its old sense of one holding high office in the +church. Cf. Shakespeare, 2 Hen. VI. i. 3. 72, where Cardinal Beaufort is +called "the imperious churchman," etc. + + +285. Cloister. Monastery; originally, the covered walk around the inner +court of the building. + + +287. Chide. Here, figuratively, in the modern sense. See in 151 above. + + +290. Should lave. The 1st ed. has "did lave," which is perhaps to be +preferred. + + +294. While the deep peal's. For the measure, see on 73 above. + + +300. To friendly feast, etc. The MS. has "To hospitable feast and hall." + + +302. Beshrew. May evil befall (see on shrewdly, 84 above); a mild +imprecation, often used playfully and even tenderly. Cf. Shakespeare, 2 +Hen. IV. ii. 3. 45: + + "Beshrew your heart, + Fair daughter, you do draw my spirits from me + With new lamenting ancient oversights!" + + +305. Some mossy bank, etc. The MS. reads: + + "And hollow trunk of some old tree + My chamber for the night must be." + + +313. Highland plunderers. "The clans who inhabited the romantic regions +in the neighborhood of Loch Katrine were, even until a late period, much +addicted to predatory excursions upon their Lowland neighbors" (Scott). + + +317. Fall the worst. If the worst befall that can happen. Cf. +Shakespeare, M. of V. i. 2. 96: "an the worst fall that ever fell, I +hope I shall make shift to go without him." + + +319. But scarce again, etc. The MS. reads: + + "The bugle shrill again he wound, + And lo! forth starting at the sound;" + +and below: + + "A little skiff shot to the bay. + The hunter left his airy stand, + And when the boat had touched the sand, + Concealed he stood amid the brake, + To view this Lady of the Lake." + + +336. Strain. The 1st ed. has a comma after strain, and a period after +art in 340. The ed. of 1821 points as in the text. + + +342. Naiad. Water nymph. + + +343. And ne'er did Grecian chisel, etc. The MS. reads: + + "A finer form, a fairer face, + Had never marble Nymph or Grace, + That boasts the Grecian chisel's trace;" + +and in 359 below, "a stranger tongue." + + +353. Measured mood. The formal manner required by court etiquette. + + +360. Dear. This is the reading of the 1st ed. and almost every other +that we have seen. We are inclined, however, to believe that Scott wrote +"clear." The facsimiles of his handwriting show that his d's and cl's +might easily be confounded by a compositor. + + +363. Snood. The fillet or ribbon with which the Scotch maidens bound +their hair. See on iii. 114 below. It is the rich materials of snood, +plaid, and brooch that betray her birth. + + +The rhyme of plaid with maid and betrayed is not imperfect, the Scottish +pronunciation of plaid being like our played. + + +385. One only. For the inversion, cf. Shakespeare, J. C. i. 2. 157: +"When there is in it but one only man;" Goldsmith, D. V. 39: "One only +master grasps the whole domain," etc. + + +393. Awhile she paused, etc. The MS. reads: + + "A space she paused, no answer came,-- + 'Alpine, was thine the blast?' the name + Less resolutely uttered fell, + The echoes could not catch the swell. + 'Nor foe nor friend,' the stranger said, + Advancing from the hazel shade. + The startled maid, with hasty oar, + Pushed her light shallop from the shore." + +and just below: + + "So o'er the lake the swan would spring, + Then turn to prune its ruffled wing." + + +404. Prune. Pick out damaged feathers and arrange the plumage with the +bill. Cf. Shakespeare, Cymb. v. 4. 118: + + "his royal bird + Prunes the immortal wing," etc. + + +408. Wont. Are wont, or accustomed; now used only in the participle. The +form here is the past tense of the obsolete won, or wone, to dwell. The +present is found in Milton, P. L. vii. 457: + + "As from his lair the wild beast, where he wons + In forest wild, in thicket, brake, or den." + +Cf. Spenser, Virgil's Gnat: + + "Of Poets Prince, whether we woon beside + Faire Xanthus sprincled with Chimaeras blood, + Or in the woods of Astery abide;" + +and Colin Clouts Come Home Againe: + + "I weened sure he was out God alone, + And only woond in fields and forests here." + +See also iv. 278 and 298 below. + + +409. Middle age. As James died at the age of thirty (in 1542), this is +not strictly true, but the portrait in other respects is quite accurate. +He was fond of going about disguised, and some of his freaks of this +kind are pleasantly related in Scott's Tales of a Grandfather. See on +vi. 740 below. + + +425. Slighting, etc. "Treating lightly his need of food and shelter." + + +432. At length. The 1st ed. has "at last." + + +433. That Highland halls were, etc. The MS. has "Her father's hall was," +etc. + + +434. Wildered. See on 274 above. + + +438. A couch. That is, the heather for it. Cf. 666 below. + + +441. Mere. Lake; as in Windermere, etc. + + +443. Rood. Cross, or crucifix. By the rood was a common oath; so by the +holy rood, as in Shakespeare, Rich. III. iii. 2. 77, iv. 4. 165. Cf. the +name of Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh. See ii. 221 below. + + +451. Romantic. The MS. has "enchanting." + + +457. Yesternight. We have lost this word, though we retain yesterday. +Cf. yester-morn in v. 104 below. As far = as far back as. + + +460. Was on, etc. The MS. reads: "Is often on the future bent." If +force of evidence could authorize us to believe facts inconsistent with +the general laws of nature, enough might be produced in favor of the +existence of the second-sight. It is called in Gaelic Taishitaraugh, +from Taish, an unreal or shadowy appearance; and those possessed of +the faculty are called Taishatrin, which may be aptly translated +visionaries. Martin, a steady believer in the second-sight, gives the +following account of it:-- + +'The second-sight is a singular faculty of seeing an otherwise invisible +object without any previous means used by the person that uses if for +that end: the vision makes such a lively impression upon the seers, that +they neither see nor think of any thing else, except the vision, as long +as it continues; and then they appear pensive or jovial, according to +the object that was represented to them. + +'At the sight of a vision, the eyelids of the person are erected, and +the eyes continue staring until the object vanish. This is obvious to +others who are by when the persons happen to see a vision, and occurred +more than once to my own observation, and to others that were with +me.... + +'If a woman is seen standing at a man's left hand, it is a presage that +she will be his wife, whether they be married to others, or unmarried at +the time of the apparition. + +'To see a spark of fire fall upon one's arm or breast is a forerunner of +a dead child to be seen in the arms of those persons; of which there are +several fresh instances.... + +'To see a seat empty at the time of one's sitting in it, is a presage +of that person's death soon after' (Martin's Description of the Western +Islands, 1716, 8vo, p. 300, et seq.). + +"To these particulars innumerable examples might be added, all attested +by grave and credible authors. But, in despite of evidence which neither +Bacon, Boyle, nor Johnson were able to resist, the Taish, with all its +visionary properties, seems to be now universally abandoned to the use +of poetry. The exquisitely beautiful poem of Lochiel will at once occur +to the recollection of every reader" (Scott). + + +462. Birchen. Shaded by birches. Cf. Milton's "cedarn alleys" in Comus, +990. + + +464. Lincoln green. A cloth made in Lincoln, much worn by hunters. + + +467. Heron. The early eds. have "heron's." + + +475. Errant-knight. Knight-errant. + + +476. Sooth. True. We find soothest in Milton, Comus, 823. The noun sooth +(truth) is more common, and still survives in soothsayer (teller of +hidden truth). Cf. v. 64 below. + + +478. Emprise. Enterprise. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 7. 39: "But give me +leave to follow my emprise," etc. + + +485. His noble hand. The MS. has "This gentle hand;" and in the next +line, "the oars he drew." + + +490. Frequent. Often; one of the many instances of the adjective used +adverbially in the poem. + + +492. The rocky isle. It is still known as Ellen's Isle. "It is rather +high, and irregularly pyramidal. It is mostly composed of dark-gray +rocks, mottled with pale and gray lichens, peeping out here and +there amid trees that mantle them,--chiefly light, graceful birches, +intermingled with red-berried mountain ashes and a few dark-green, spiry +pines. The landing is beneath an aged oak; and, as did the Lady and the +Knight, the traveller now ascends 'a clambering unsuspected road,' by +rude steps, to the small irregular summit of the island. A more +poetic, romantic retreat could hardly be imagined: it is unique. It is +completely hidden, not only by the trees, but also by an undergrowth of +beautiful and abundant ferns and the loveliest of heather" (Hunnewell's +Lands of Scott). + + +500. Winded. Wound; used for the sake of the measure, as in v. 22 below. +We find the participle winded in Much Ado, i. 1. 243; but it is = blown. +The verb in that sense is derived from the noun wind (air in motion), +and has no connection with wind, to turn. Cf. Wb. + + +504. Here for retreat, etc. Scott has the following note here: "The +Celtic chieftains, whose lives were continually exposed to peril, +had usually, in the most retired spot of their domains, some place of +retreat for the hour of necessity, which, as circumstances would +admit, was a tower, a cavern, or a rustic hut, in a strong and secluded +situation. One of these last gave refuge to the unfortunate Charles +Edward, in his perilous wanderings after the battle of Culloden. + +"It was situated in the face of a very rough, high, and rocky mountain, +called Letternilichk, still a part of Benalder, full of great stones and +crevices, and some scattered wood interspersed. The habitation called +the Cage, in the face of that mountain, was within a small thick bush of +wood. There were first some rows of trees laid down, in order to level +the floor for a habitation; and as the place was steep, this raised the +lower side to an equal height with the other: and these trees, in the +way of joists or planks, were levelled with earth and gravel. There were +betwixt the trees, growing naturally on their own roots, some stakes +fixed in the earth, which, with the trees, were interwoven with ropes, +made of heath and birch twigs, up to the top of the Cage, it being of a +round or rather oval shape; and the whole thatched and covered over with +fog. The whole fabric hung, as it were, by a large tree, which reclined +from the one end, all along the roof, to the other, and which gave it +the name of the Cage; and by chance there happened to be two stones at +a small distance from one another, in the side next the precipice, +resembling the pillars of a chimney, where the fire was placed. The +smoke had its vent out here, all along the fall of the rock, which was +so much of the same color, that one could discover no difference in +the clearest day' (Home's History of the Rebellion, Lond. 1802, 4to, p. +381)." + + +525. Idoean vine. Some have taken this to refer to the "red +whortleberry," the botanical name of which is Vaccinium vitis Idoea; but +as that is not a climber, it is more probably that the common vine is +here meant. Idoean is from Ida, a mountain near ancient Troy (there was +another in Crete), famous for its vines. + + +526. Clematis. The Climatis vitalba, one of the popular English names of +which is virgin-bower. + + +528. And every favored plant could bear. That is, which could endure. +This ellipsis of the relative was very common in Elizabethan English. +Cf. Shakespeare, M. for M. ii. 2. 23: "I have a brother is condemned to +die;" Rich. II. ii. 2. 128: "The hate of those love not the king," etc. +See also John, iii. 11, etc. + + +532. On heaven and on thy lady call. This is said gayly, or sportively, +as keeping up the idea of a knight-errant. Cf. 475 above. + + +542. Careless. See on 490 above. + + +546. Target. Buckler; the targe of iii. 445, etc. See Scott's note on v. +380 below. + + +548. Store. Stored, laid up; an obsolete adjective. Cf. iii. 3 below, +and see also on vi. 124. + + +551. And there the wild-cat's, etc. The MS. reads: + + "There hung the wild-cat's brindled hide, + Above the elk's branched brow and skull, + And frontlet of the forest bull." + + +559. Garnish forth. Cf. furnish forth in 442 above. + + +566. Brook. Bear, endure; now seldom used except with reference to what +is endured against one's will or inclination. It seems to be a favorite +word with Scott. + + +573. Ferragus or Ascabart. "These two sons of Anak flourished in +romantic fable. The first is well known to the admirers of Ariosto by +the name of Ferrau. He was an antagonist of Orlando, and was at length +slain by him in single combat.... Ascapart, or Ascabart, makes a very +material figure in the History of Bevis of Hampton, by whom he was +conquered. His effigies may be seen guarding one side of the gate at +Southampton, while the other is occupied by Bevis himself" (Scott). + + +580. To whom, though more than kindred knew. The MS. reads: + + "To whom, though more remote her claim, + Young Ellen gave a mother's name." + +She was the maternal aunt of Ellen, but was loved as a mother by her, or +more than (such) kindred (usually) knew (in way of affection). + + +585. Though all unasked, etc. "The Highlanders, who carried hospitality +to a punctilious excess, are said to have considered it as churlish +to ask a stranger his name or lineage before he had taken refreshment. +Feuds were so frequent among them, that a contrary rule would in many +cases have produced the discovery of some circumstance which might have +excluded the guest from the benefit of the assistance he stood in need +of" (Scott). + + +591. Snowdoun. An old name of Stirling Castle. See vi. 789 below. + + +592. Lord of a barren heritage. "By the misfortunes of the earlier +Jameses, and the internal feuds of the Scottish chiefs, the kingly power +had become little more than a name. Each chief was a petty king in his +own district, and gave just so much obedience to the king's authority as +suited his convenience" (Taylor). + + +596. Wot. Knows; the present of the obsolete wit (the infinitive to +wit is still use in legal forms), not of weet, as generally stated. See +Matzner, Eng. Gram. i. 382. Cf. Shakespeare, Rich. III. ii. 3. 18: "No, +no, good friends, God wot." He also uses wots (as in Hen. V. iv. 1. 299) +and a participle wotting (in W. T. iii. 2. 77). + + +602. Require. Request, ask; as in Elizanethan English. Cf. Shakespeare, +Hen. VIII. ii. 4. 144: "In humblest manner I require your highness," +etc. + + +603. The elder lady's mien. The MS. has "the mother's easy mien." + + +606. Ellen, though more, etc. The MS. reads: + + "Ellen, though more her looks betrayed + The simple heart of mountain maid, + In speech and gesture, form and grace, + Showed she was come of gentle race; + 'T was strange, in birth so rude, to find + Such face, such manners, and such mind. + Each anxious hint the stranger gave, + The mother heard with silence grave." + + +616. Weird women we, etc. See on 35 above. Weird here = skilled in +witchcraft; like the "weird sisters" of Macbeth. Down = hill (the Gaelic +dun). + + +622. A harp unseen. Scott has the following note here: "'"They +[the Highlanders] delight much in musicke, but chiefly in harps and +clairschoes of their own fashion. The strings of the clairschoes are +made of brasse wire, and the strings of the harps of sinews; which +strings they strike either with their nayles, growing long, or else with +an instrument appointed for that use. They take great pleasure to decke +their harps and clairschoes with silver and precious stones; the poore +ones that cannot attayne hereunto, decke them with christall. They sing +verses prettily compound, contayning (for the most part) prayses of +valiant men. There is not almost any other argument, whereof their +rhymes intreat. They speak the ancient French language, altered a +little." [6] + +"The harp and chairschoes are now only heard of in the Highlands in +ancient song. At what period these instruments ceased to be used, is not +on record; and tradition is silent on this head. But, as Irish harpers +occasionally visited the Highlands and Western Isles till lately, +the harp might have been extant so late as the middle of the present +century. Thus far we know, that from remote times down to the present, +harpers were received as welcome guests, particularly in the Highlands +of Scotland; and so late as the latter end of the sixteenth century, as +appears by the above quotations, the harp was in common use among +the natives of the Western Isles. How it happened that the noisy and +inharmonious bagpipe banished the soft and expressive harp, we cannot +say; but certain it is, that the bagpipe is now the only instrument +that obtains universally in the Highland districts' (Campbell's Journey +through North Britain. London, 1808, 4to, i. 175). + +"Mr. Gunn, of Edinburgh, has lately published a curious Essay upon the +Harp and Harp Music of the Highlands of Scotland. That the instrument +was once in common use there, is most certain. Cleland numbers an +acquaintance with it among the few accomplishments which his satire +allows to the Highlanders:-- + + 'In nothing they're accounted sharp, + Except in bagpipe or in harm.'" + + +624. Soldier, rest! etc. The metre of this song is trochaic; that is, +the accents fall regularly on the odd syllables. + + +631. In slumber dewing. That is, bedewing. For the metaphor, cf. +Shakespeare, Rich. III. iv. 1. 84: "the golden dew of sleep;" and J. C. +ii. 1. 230: "the honey-heavy dew of slumber." + + +635. Morn of toil, etc. The MS. has "noon of hunger, night of waking;" +and in the next line, "rouse" for reach. + + +638. Pibroch. "A Highland air, suited to the particular passion which +the musician would either excite or assuage; generally applied to those +airs that are played on the bagpipe before the Highlanders when they go +out to battle" (Jamieson). Here it is put for the bagpipe itself. See +also on ii. 363 below. + + +642. And the bittern sound his drum. Goldsmith (D. V. 44) calls the bird +"the hollow-sounding bittern;" and in his Animated Nature, he says that +of all the notes of waterfowl "there is none so dismally hollow as the +booming of the bittern." + + +648. She paused, etc. The MS. has "She paused--but waked again the lay." + + +655. The MS. reads: "Slumber sweet our spells shall deal ye;" and in +657: + + "Let our slumbrous spells| avail ye + | beguile ye." + + +657. Reveille. The call to rouse troops or huntsmen in the morning. + + +669. Forest sports. The MS. has "mountain chase." + + +672. Not Ellens' spell. That is, not even Ellen's spell. On the passage, +cf. Rokeby, i. 2: + + "Sleep came at length, but with a train + Of feelings true and fancies vain, + Mingling, in wild disorder cast, + The expected future with the past." + + +693. Or is it all a vision now? Lockhart quotes here Thomson's Castle of +Indolence: + + "Ye guardian spirits, to whom man is dear, + From these foul demons shield the midnight gloom: + Angels of fancy and love, be near. + And o'er the blank of sleep diffuse a bloom: + Evoke the sacred shades of Greece and Rome, + And let them virtue with a look impart; + But chief, awhile, O! lend us from the tomb + Those long-lost friends for whom in love we smart, + and fill with pious awe and joy-mixt woe the heart. + + "Or are you sportive?--bid the morn of youth + Rise to new light, and beam afresh the days + Of innocence, simplicity, and truth; + To cares estranged, and manhood's thorny ways. + What transport, to retrace our boyish plays, + Our easy bliss, when each thing joy supplied; + The woods, the mountains, and the warbling maze + Of the wild books!" + +The Critical Review says of the following stanza (xxxiv): "Such a +strange and romantic dream as may be naturally expected to flow from the +extraordinary events of the day. It might, perhaps, be quoted as one +of Mr. Scott's most successful efforts in descriptive poetry. Some +few lines of it are indeed unrivalled for delicacy and melancholy +tenderness." + + +704. Grisly. Grim, horrible; an obsolete word, much used in old poetry. +Cf. Spenser, F. Q. i. 5. 30: "her darke griesly looke;" Shakespeare, +1 Hen. VI. i. 4. 47: "My grisly countenance made others fly," etc. See +also iv. 322, etc. below. + + +723. Played, etc. The MS. reads: + + "Played on/ the bosoms of the lake, + / Lock Katrine's still expanse; + The birch, the wild rose, and the broom + Wasted around their rich perfume... + The birch-trees wept in balmy dew; + The aspen slept on Benvenue; + Wild were the heart whose passions' power + Defied the influence of the hour." + + +724. Passion's. The reading of the 1st ed. and that of 1821; some recent +eds. have "passions'." + + +738. Orisons. The 1st ed. has "orison" both here and in 740 (the ed. of +1821 only in the latter); but the word is almost invariably plural, both +in poetry and prose--always in Shakespeare and Milton. + + + + +Canto Second. + + +7. A minstrel gray. "That Highland chieftains, to a late period, +retained in their service the bard, as a family officer, admits of very +easy proof. The author of the Letters from the North of Scotland, an +officer of engineers, quartered at Inverness about 1720, who certainly +cannot be deemed a favorable witness, gives the following account of +the office, and of a bard, whom he heard exercise his talent of +recitation:--'The bard is killed in the genealogy of all the Highland +families, sometimes preceptor to the young laird, celebrates in Irish +verse the original of the tribe, the famous warlike actions of the +successive heads, and sings his own lyricks as an opiate to the chief, +when indisposed for sleep; but poets are not equally esteemed and +honored in all countries. I happened to be a witness of the dishonour +done to the muse, at the house of one of the chiefs, where two of these +bards were set at a good distance, at the lower end of a long table, +with a parcel of Highlanders of no extraordinary appearance, over a cup +of ale. Poor inspiration! They were not asked to drink a glass of wine +at our table, though the whole company consisted only of the great man, +one of his near relations, and myself. After some little time, the chief +ordered one of them to sing me a Highland song. The bard readily obeyed, +and with a hoarse voice, and in a tune of few various notes, began, as +I was told, one of his own lyricks; and when he had proceeded to the +fourth of fifth stanza, I perceived, by the names of several persons, +glens, and mountains, which I had known or heard of before, that it +was an account of some clan battle. But in his going on, the chief (who +piques himself upon his school-learning) at some particular passage, +bid him cease, and cryed out, "There's nothing like that in Virgil or +Homer." I bowed, and told him I believed so. This you may believe was +very edifying and delightful'" (Scott). + + +15. Than men, etc. "It is evident that the old bard, with his +second-sight, has a glimmering notion who the stranger is. He speaks +below {311} of 'courtly spy,' and James's speech had betrayed a +knowledge of the Douglas" (Taylor). + + +20. Battled. The reading of the 1st ed. and that of 1821; "battle" in +most others. Cf. i. 626 above. + + +22. Where beauty, etc. The MS. has "At tourneys where the brave resort." +The reference is to the tournaments, "Where," as Milton says (L'Allegro, +119), + + "throngs of knights and barons bold. + In weeds of peace, high triumphs hold, + With store of ladies, whose bright eyes + Rain influence, and judge the prize + Of wit or arms, while both contend + To win her grace whom all commend." + +Cf. 87 below. + + +26. Love's. The reading of the 1st ed. and that of 1821; most eds. have +"love." + + +29. Plaided. The plaid was properly the dress of a Highlander, though it +was worn also in the Lowlands. + + +51. The Harper on the islet beach. "This picture is touched with the +hand of the true poet" (Jeffrey). + + +56. As from. As if from. Cf. 64 and 83 below. This ellipsis was common +in Elizabethan English. Cf. Shakespeare, Macb. ii. 2. 28: + + "One cried 'God bless us!' and 'Amen' the other, + As they had seen me with these hangman's hands." + + +65. In the last sound. For the measure, see on i. 73 above. + + +69. His fleet. That is, of ducks. Cf. i. 239 above. + + +80. Would scorn. Who would scorn. See on i. 528 above. + + +84. Turned him. See on i. 142 above, and cf. 106 below. + + +86. After. Afterwards; as in Shakespeare, Temp. ii. 2. 10: "And after +bite me," etc. The word is not now used adverbially of time, though we +may say "he followed after," etc. The 1st ed. reads "that knight." + + +94. Parts. Departs; as often in poetry and earlier English. Cf. +Goldsmith, D. V. 171: "Beside the bed where parting life was laid;" +Gray, Elegy, 1: "the knell of parting day," etc. On the other hand, +depart was used in the sense of part. In the Marriage Service "till +death us do part" is a corruption of "till death us depart." Wiclif's +Bible, in Matt. xix. 6, has "therfor a man departe not that thing that +God hath ioyned." + + +103. Another step, etc. The MS. has "The loveliest Lowland fair to spy;" +and the 1st ed. reads "The step of parting fair to spy." + + +109. The Graeme. Scott has the following note here: "The ancient and +powerful family of Graham (which, for metrical reasons, is here smelled +after the Scottish pronunciation) held extensive possessions in the +counties of Dumbarton and Stirling. Few families can boast of more +historical renown, having claim to three of the most remarkable +characters in the Scottish annals. Sir John the Graeme, the faithful and +undaunted partaker of the labors and patriotic warfare of Wallace, fell +in the unfortunate field of Falkirk, in 1298. The celebrated Marquis of +Montrose, in whom De Retz saw realized his abstract idea of the heroes +of antiquity, was the second of these worthies. And, not withstanding +the severity of his temper, and the rigor with which he executed the +oppressive mandates of the princes whom he served, I do not hesitate +to name as the third, John Graeme, of Claverhouse, Viscount of Dundee, +whose heroic death, in the arms of victory, may be allowed to cancel +the memory of his cruelty to the non-conformists, during the reigns of +Charles II. and James II." + + +112. Bower. The word meant a chamber (see on i. 217 above), and was +often used of the ladies' apartments in a house. In hall and bower = +among men and women. The words are often thus associated. Cf. Spenser, +Astrophel, 28: "Merily masking both in bowre and hall," etc. + + +115. Arose. The 1st ed. misprints "Across;" not noted in the Errata. + + +126. And the proud march. See on i. 73 above. + + +131. Saint Modan. A Scotch abbot of the 7th century. Scott says here: "I +am not prepared to show that Saint Modan was a performer on the harp. It +was, however, no unsaintly accomplishment; for Saint Dunstan certainly +did play upon that instrument, which retaining, as was natural, a +portion of the sanctity attached to its master's character, announced +future events by its spontaneous sound. 'But labouring once in these +mechanic arts for a devout matrone that had sett him on work, his violl, +that hung by him on the wall, of its own accord, without anie man's +helpe, distinctly sounded this anthime: Gaudent in coelis animae +sanctorum qui Christi vestigia sunt secuti; et quia pro eius amore +sanguinem suum fuderunt, ideo cum Christo gaudent aeternum. Whereat all +the companie being much astonished, turned their eyes from beholding him +working, to looke on that strange accident.... Not long after, manie of +the court that hitherunto had born a kind of fayned friendship towards +him, began now greatly to envie at his progresse and rising in goodness, +using manie crooked, backbiting meanes to diffame his vertues with the +black markes of hypocrisie. And the better to authorise their calumnie, +they brought in this that happened in the violl, affirming it to have +been done by art magick. What more? this wicked rumour encreased, dayly, +till the king and others of the nobilitie taking hould thereof, Dunstan +grew odious in their sight. Therefore he resolued to leaue the court, +and goe to Elphegus, surnamed the Bauld, then bishop of Winchester, who +was his cozen. Which his enemies understanding, they layd wayte for him +in the way, and hauing throwne him off his horse, beate him, and dragged +him in the durt in the most miserable manner, meaning to have slaine +him, had not a companie of mastiue dogges, that came unlookt uppon them, +defended and redeemed him from their crueltie. When with sorrow he +was ashamed to see dogges more humane than they. And giuing thankes to +Almightie God, he sensibly againe perceaued that the tunes of his violl +had giuen him a warning of future accidents' (Flower of the Lives of +the most renowned Sainets of England, Scotland, and Ireland, by the R. +Father Hierome Porter. Doway, 1632 4to. tome i. p. 438). + +"The same supernatural circumstance is alluded to by the anonymous +author of Grim, the Collier of Croydon: + + '-----[Dunstant's harp sounds on the wall.] + 'Forrest. Hark, hark, my lord, the holy abbot's harp + Sounds by itself so hanging on the wall! + 'Dunstan. Unhallow'd man, that scorn'st the sacred rede, + Hark, how the testimony of my truth + Sounds heavenly music with an angel's hand, + To testify Dunstan's integrity, + And prove thy active boast of no effect.'" + + +141. Bothwell's bannered hall. The picturesque ruins of Bothwell Castle +stand on the banks of the Clyde, about nine miles above Glasgow. Some +parts of the walls are 14 feet thick, and 60 feet in height. They are +covered with ivy, wild roses, and wall-flowers. + + "The tufted grass lines Bothwell's ancient hall, + The fox peeps cautious from the creviced wall, + Where once proud Murray, Clydesdale's ancient lord, + A mimic sovereign, held the festal board." + + +142. Ere Douglases, to ruin driven. Scott says: "The downfall of the +Douglases of the house of Angus, during the reign of James V., is the +event alluded to in the text. The Earl of Angus, it will be remembered, +had married the queen dowager, and availed himself of the right which he +thus acquired, as well as of his extensive power, to retain the king +in a sort of tutelage, which approached very near to captivity. Several +open attempts were made to rescue James from this thraldom, with +which he was well known to be deeply disgusted; but the valor of the +Douglases, and their allies, gave them the victory in every conflict. +At length, the king, while residing at Falkland, contrived to escape by +night out of his own court and palace, and rode full speed to Stirling +Castle, where the governor, who was of the opposite faction, joyfully +received him. Being thus at liberty, James speedily summoned around him +such peers as he knew to be most inimical to the domination of Angus, +and laid his complaint before them, says Pitscottie, 'with great +lamentations: showing to them how he was holding in subjection, thir +years bygone, by the Earl of Angus, and his kin and friends, who +oppressed the whole country, and spoiled it, under the pretence of +justice and his authority; and had slain many of his lieges, kinsmen, +and friends, because they would have had it mended at their hands, and +put him at liberty, as he ought to have been, at the counsel of +his whole lords, and not have been subjected and corrected with no +particular men, by the rest of his nobles: Therefore, said he, I +desire, my lords, that I may be satisfied of the said earl, his kin, and +friends; for I avow, that Scotland shall not hold us both, while [i.e. +till] I be revenged on him and his. + +'The lords hearing the king's complaint and lamentation, and also the +great rage, fury, and malice, that he bure toward the Earl of Angus, his +kin and friends, they concluded all and thought it best, that he should +be summoned to underly the law; if he fand not caution, nor yet compear +himself, that he should be put to the horn, with all his kin and +friends, so many as were contained in the letters. And further, the +lords ordained, by advice of his majesty, that his brother and friends +should be summoned to find caution to underly the law within a certain +day, or else be put to the horn. But the earl appeared not, nor none +for him; and so he was put to the horn, with all his kin and friends: +so many as were contained in the summons, that compeared not, were +banished, and holden traitors to the king.'" + + +159. From Tweed to Spey. From the Tweed, the southern boundary of +Scotland, to the Spey, a river far to the north in Invernessshire; that +is, from one end of the land to the other. + + +170. Reave. Tear away. The participle reft is still used, at least in +poetry. Cf. Shakespeare, V. and A. 766: "Or butcher-sire that reaves his +son of life" (that is, bereaves); Spenser, F. Q. i. 3. 36: "He to him +lept, in minde to reave his life;" Id. ii. 8. 15: "I will him reave of +arms," etc. + + +178. It drinks, etc. The MS. has "No blither dewdrop cheers the rose." + + +195, 196. To see... dance. This couplet is not in the MS. + + +200. The Lady of the Bleeding Heart. The bleeding heart was the +cognizance of the Douglas family. Robert Bruce, on his death-bed, +bequeathed his heart to his friend, the good Lord James, to be borne in +war against the Saracens. "He joined Alphonso, King of Leon and Castile, +then at war with the Moorish chief Osurga, of Granada, and in a keen +contest with the Moslems he flung before him the casket containing the +precious relic, crying out, 'Onward as thou wert wont, thou noble +heart, Douglas will follow thee.' Douglas was slain, but his body was +recovered, and also the precious casket, and in the end Douglas was laid +with his ancestors, and the heart of Bruce deposited in the church of +Melrose Abbey" (Burton's Hist. of Scotland). + + +201. Fair. The 1st ed. (and probably the MS., though not noted by +Lockhart) has "Gay." + + +203. Yet is this, etc. The MS. and 1st ed. read: + + "This mossy rock, my friend, to me + Is worth gay chair and canopy." + + +205. Footstep. The reading of the 1st and other early eds.; "footsteps" +in recent ones. + + +206. Strathspey. A Highland dance, which takes its name from the strath, +or broad valley, of the Spey (159 above). + + +213. Clan-Alpine's pride. "The Siol Alpine, or race of Alpine, includes +several clans who claimed descent from Kenneth McAlpine, an ancient +king. These are the Macgregors, the Grants, the Mackies, the Mackinnans, +the MacNabs, the MacQuarries, and the Macaulays. Their common emblem was +the pine, which is now confined to the Macgregors" (Taylor). + + +214. Loch Lomond. This beautiful lake, "the pride of Scottish lakes," +is about 23 miles in length and 5 miles in its greatest breadth. At the +southern end are many islands, one of which, Inch-Cailliach (the Island +of Women, so called from a nunnery that was once upon it), was the +burial-place of Clan-Alpine. See iii. 191 below. + + +216. A Lennox foray. That is, a raid in the lands of the Lennox +family, bordering on the southern end of Loch Lomond. On the island of +Inch-Murrin, the ruins of Lennox Castle, formerly a residence of the +Earls of Lennox, are still to be seen. There was another of their +strongholds on the shore of the lake near Balloch, where the modern +Balloch Castle now stands. + + +217. Her glee. The 1st ed. misprints "his glee;" not noted in the +Errata. + + +220. Black Sir Roderick. Roderick Dhu, or the Black, as he was called. + + +221. In Holy-Rood a knight he slew. That is, in Holyrood Palace. "This +was by no means an uncommon occurrence in the Court of Scotland; nay, +the presence of the sovereign himself scarcely restrained the ferocious +and inveterate feuds which were the perpetual source of bloodshed among +the Scottish nobility" (Scott). + + +223. Courtiers give place, etc. The MS. reads: + + "Courtiers give place with heartless stride + Of the retiring homicide." + + +227. Who else, etc. The MS. has the following couplet before this line: + + "Who else dared own the kindred claim + That bound him to thy mother's name?" + + +229. The Douglas, etc. Scott says here: "The exiled state of this +powerful race is not exaggerated in this and subsequent passages. The +hatred of James against the race of Douglas was so inveterate, that +numerous as their allies were, and disregarded as the regal authority +had usually been in similar cases, their nearest friends, even in the +most remote part of Scotland, durst not entertain them, unless under the +strictest and closest disguise. James Douglas, son of the banished Earl +of Angus, afterwards well known by the title of Earl of Morton, lurked, +during the exile of his family, in the north of Scotland, under the +assumed name of James Innes, otherwise James the Grieve (i.e. reve or +bailiff). 'And as he bore the name,' says Godscroft, 'so did he also +execute the office of a grieve or overseer of the lands and rents, the +corn and cattle of him with whom he lived.' From the habits of frugality +and observation which he acquired in his humble situation, the historian +traces that intimate acquaintance with popular character which enabled +him to rise so high in the state, and that honorable economy by which +he repaired and established the shattered estates of Angus and Morton +(History of the House of Douglas, Edinburgh, 1743, vol. ii. p. 160)." + + +235. Guerdon. Reward; now rarely used except in poetry. Cf. Spenser, F. +Q. i. 10. 59: "That glory does to them for guerdon graunt," etc. + + +236. Dispensation. As Roderick and Ellen were cousins, they could not +marry without a dispensation from the Pope. + + +251. Orphan. Referring to child, not to she, as its position indicates. + + +254. Shrouds. Shields, protects. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. i. 1. 6: "And this +faire couple eke to shroud themselves were fain" (that is, from the +rain). So the noun = shelter, protection; as in Shakespeare, A. and +C. iii. 13. 71: "put yourself under his shroud," etc. See also on 757 +below. + + +260. Maronnan's cell. "The parish of Kilmaronock, at the eastern +extremity of Loch Lomond, derives its name from a cell, or chapel, +dedicated to Saint Maronock, or Marnock, or Maronnan, about whose +sanctity very little is now remembered" (Scott). Kill = cell; as +in Colmekill (Macb. ii. 4. 33), "the cell of Columba," now known as +Icolmkill, or Iona. + + +270. Bracklinn's thundering wave. This beautiful cascade is on the +Keltie, a mile from Callander. The height of the fall is about fifty +feet. "A few years ago a marriage party of Lowland peasants met with +a tragic end here, two of them having tumbled into the broken, angry +waters, where they had no more chance of life than if they had dropped +into the crater of Hecla" (Black). + + +271. Save. Unless; here followed by the subjunctive. + + +274. Claymore. The word means "a large sword" (Gaelic claidheamh, sword, +and more, great). + + +294. Shadowy plaid and sable plume. Appropriate to Roderick Dhu. See on +220 above. + + +303. Woe the while. Woe be to the time, alas the time! Cf. Shakespeare, +J. C. i. 3. 82: "But, woe the while! our fathers' minds are dead," etc. +See also on i. 166 above. + + +306. Tine-man. "Archibald, the third Earl of Douglas, was so unfortunate +in all his enterprises, that he acquired the epithet of 'tine-man,' +because he tined, or lost, his followers in every battle which he +fought. He was vanquished, as every reader must remember, in the bloody +battle of Homildon-hill, near Wooler, where he himself lost an eye, and +was made prisoner by Hotspur. He was no less unfortunate when allied +with Percy, being wounded and taken at the battle of Shrewsbury. He was +so unsuccessful in an attempt to beseige Roxburgh Castle, that it was +called the 'Foul Raid,' or disgraceful expedition. His ill fortune left +him indeed at the battle of Beauge, in France; but it was only to return +with double emphasis at the subsequent action of Vernoil, the last and +most unlucky of his encounters, in which he fell, with the flower of the +Scottish chivalry, then serving as auxiliaries in France, and about two +thousand common soldiers, A.D. 1424" (Scott). + + +307. What time, etc. That is, at the time when Douglas allied +himself with Percy in the rebellion against Henry IV. of England. See +Shakespeare, 1 Hen. IV. + + +309. Did, self unscabbarded, etc. Scott says here: "The ancient +warriors, whose hope and confidence rested chiefly in their blades, +were accustomed to deduce omens from them, especially from such as were +supposed to have been fabricated by enchanted skill, of which we have +various instances in the romances and legends of the time. The wonderful +sword Skofnung, wielded by the celebrated Hrolf Kraka, was of this +description. It was deposited in the tomb of the monarch at his death, +and taken from thence by Skeggo, a celebrated pirate, who bestowed it +upon his son-in-law, Kormak, with the following curious directions: +'"The manner of using it will appear strange to you. A small bag is +attached to it, which take heed not to violate. Let not the rays of the +sun touch the upper part of the handle, nor unsheathe it, unless thou +art ready for battle. But when thou comest to the place of fight, go +aside from the rest, grasp and extend the sword, and breathe upon it. +Then a small worm will creep out of the handle; lower the handle, that +he may more easily return into it." Kormak, after having received the +sword, returned home to his mother. He showed the sword, and attempted +to draw it, as unnecessarily as ineffectually, for he could not pluck +it out of the sheath. His mother, Dalla, exclaimed, "Do not despise the +counsel given to thee, my son." Kormak, however, repeating his efforts, +pressed down the handle with his feet, and tore off the bag, when +Skofung emitted a hollow groan; but still he could not unsheathe the +sword. Kormak then went out with Bessus, whom he had challenged to fight +with him, and drew apart at the place of combat. He sat down upon the +ground, and ungirding the sword, which he bore above his vestments, did +not remember to shield the hilt from the rays of the sun. In vain he +endeavored to draw it, till he placed his foot against the hilt; then +the worm issued from it. But Kormak did not rightly handle the weapon, +in consequence whereof good fortune deserted it. As he unsheathed +Skofnung, it emitted a hollow murmur' (Bartholini de Causis Contemptae a +Danis adhuc Gentilibus Mortis, Libri Tres. Hafniae, 1689, 4to, p. 574). + +"To the history of this sentient and prescient weapon, I beg leave to +add, from memory, the following legend, for which I cannot produce any +better authority. A young nobleman, of high hopes and fortune, chanced +to lose his way in the town which he inhabited, the capital, if I +mistake not, of a German province. He had accidentally involved himself +among the narrow and winding streets of a suburb, inhabited by the +lowest order of the people, and an approaching thunder-shower determined +him to ask a short refuge in the most decent habitation that was near +him. He knocked at the door, which was opened by a tall man, of a grisly +and ferocious aspect, and sordid dress. The stranger was readily ushered +to a chamber, where swords, scourges, and machines, which seemed to be +implements of torture, were suspended on the wall. One of these swords +dropped from its scabbard, as the nobleman, after a moment's hesitation, +crossed the threshold. His host immediately stared at him with such a +marked expression, that the young man could not help demanding his name +and business, and the meaning of his looking at him so fixedly. 'I am,' +answered the man, 'the public executioner of this city; and the incident +you have observed is a sure augury that I shall, in discharge of my +duty, one day cut off your head with the weapon which has just now +spontaneously unsheathed itself.' The nobleman lost no time in leaving +his place of refuge; but, engaging in some of the plots of the period, +was shortly after decapitated by that very man and instrument. + +"Lord Lovat is said, by the author of the Letters from Scotland (vol. +ii. p. 214), to have affirmed that a number of swords that hung up in +the hall of the mansion-house, leaped of themselves out of the scabbard +at the instant he was born. The story passed current among his clan, +but, like that of the story I have just quoted, proved an unfortunate +omen." + + +311. If courtly spy hath, etc. The 1st ed. has "If courtly spy, and +harbored," etc. The ed. of 1821 reads "had harbored." + + +319. Beltane. The first of May, when there was a Celtic festival in +honor of the sun. Beltane = Beal-tein, or the fire of Beal, a Gaelic +name for the sun. It was celebrated by kindling fires on the hill-tops +at night, and other ceremonies, followed by dances, and merry-making. +Cf. 410 below. See also The Lord of the Isles, i. 8: "The shepherd +lights his belane-fire;" and Glenfinlas: + + "But o'er his hills, in festal day, + How blazed Lord Ronald's beltane-tree!" + + +323. But hark! etc. "The moving picture--the effect of the sounds--and +the wild character and strong peculiar nationality of the whole +procession, are given with inimitable spirit and power of expression" +(Jeffrey). + + +327. The canna's hoary beard. The down of the canna, or cotton-grass. + + +335. Glengyle. A valley at the northern end of Lock Katrine. + + +337. Brianchoil. A promontory on the northern shore of the lake. + + +342. Spears, pikes, and axes. The 1st ed. and that of 1821 have Spears, +but all the recent ones misprint "Spear." The "Globe" ed. has "Spear, +spikes," etc. + + +343. Tartans. The checkered woollen cloth so much worn in Scotland. +Curiously enough, the name is not Gaelic but French. See Jamieson or Wb. + +Brave. Fine, beautiful; the same word as the Scottish braw. Cf. +Shakespeare, Sonn. 12. 2: "And see the brave day sunk in hideous night;" +Ham. ii. 2. 312: "This brave o'erhanging firmament," etc. It is often +used of dress, as also is bravery (= finery); as in T. of S. iv. 3. 57: +"With scarfs and fans and double change of bravery." See also Spenser, +Mother Hubberds Tale, 858: "Which oft maintain'd his masters braverie" +(that is, dressed as well as his master). + + +351. Chanters. The pipes of the bagpipes, to which long ribbons were +attached. + + +357. The sounds. Misprinted "the sound" in the ed. of 1821, and all the +more recent eds. that we have seen. Cf. 363 below. + + +363. Those thrilling sounds, etc. Scott says here: "The connoisseurs in +pipe-music affect to discover in a well-composed pibroch, the imitative +sounds of march, conflict, flight, pursuit, and all the 'current of a +heady fight.' To this opinion Dr. Beattie has given his suffrage, +in that following elegant passage:--'A pibroch is a species of tune, +peculiar, I think, to the Highlands and Western Isles of Scotland. It +is performed on a bagpipe, and differs totally from all other music. Its +rhythm is so irregular, and its notes, especially in the quick movement, +so mixed and huddled together, that a stranger finds it impossible to +reconcile his ear to it, so as to perceive its modulation. Some of +these pibrochs, being intended to represent a battle, begin with a grave +motion, resembling a march; then gradually quicken into the onset; +run off with noisy confusion, and turbulent rapidity, to imitate the +conflict and pursuit; then swell into a few flourishes of triumphant +joy; and perhaps close with the wild and slow wailings of a funeral +procession' (Essay on Laughter and Ludicrious Composition, chap. iii. +note)." + + +367. Hurrying. Referring to their, or rather to the them implied in that +word. + + +392. The burden bore. That is, sustained the burden, or chorus, of the +song. Cf. Shakespeare, Temp. i. 2. 381: "And, sweet sprites, the burden +bear." + + +399. Hail to the Chief, etc. The metre of the song is dactylic; the +accents being on the 1st, 4th, 7th, and 10th syllables. It is little +used in English. Tennyson's Charge of the Light Brigade and Longfellow's +Skeleton in Armor are familiar examples of it. + + +405. Bourgeon. Bud. Cf. Fairfax, Tasso, vii. 76: When first on trees +bourgeon the blossoms soft;" and Tennyson, In Memoriam, 115: + + "Now burgeons every maze of quick + About the flowering squares," etc. + + +408. Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu. "Besides his ordinary name and surname, +which were chiefly used in the intercourse with the Lowlands, every +Highland chief had an epithet expressive of his patriarchal dignity +as head of the clan, and which was common to all his predecessors and +successors, as Pharaoh to the kings of Egypt, or Arsaces to those of +Parthia. This name was usually a patronymic, expressive of his descent +from the founder of the family. Thus the Duke of Argyll is called +MacCallum More, or the son of Colin the Great. Sometimes, however, it +is derived from armorial distinctions, or the memory of some great feat; +thus Lord Seaforth, as chief of the Mackenzies, or Clan-Kennet, bears +the epithet of Caber-fae, or Buck's Head, as representative of Colin +Fitzgerald, founder of the family, who saved the Scottish king, when +endangered by a stag. But besides this title, which belonged to his +office and dignity, the chieftain had usually another peculiar to +himself, which distinguished him from the chieftains of the same race. +This was sometimes derived from complexion, as dhu or roy; sometimes +from size, as beg or more; at other times, from some peculiar exploit, +or from some peculiarity of habit or appearance. The line of the text +therefore signifies, + + Black Roderick, the descendant of Alpine. + +"The song itself is intended as an imitation of the jorrams, or boat +songs, of the Highlanders, which were usually composed in honor of a +favorite chief. They are so adapted as to keep time with the sweep of +the oars, and it is easy to distinguish between those intended to +be sung to the oars of a galley, where the stroke is lengthened and +doubled, as it were, and those which were timed to the rowers of an +ordinary boat" (Scott). + + +410. Beltane. See on 319 above. + + +415. Roots him. See on i. 142 above. + + +416. Breadalbane. The district north of Loch Lomond and around Loch +Tay. The seat of the Earl of Breadalbane is Taymouth Castle, near the +northern end of Loch Tay. + +For Menteith, see on i. 89 above. + + +419. Glen Fruin. A valley to the southwest of Loch Lomond. The ruins +of the castle of Benuchara, or Bannochar (see on 422 just below), still +overhang the entrance to the glen. + +Glen Luss is another valley draining into the lake, a few miles from +Glen Fruin, and Ross-dhu is on the shore of the lake, midway between the +two. Here stands a tower, the only remnant of the ancient castle of the +family of Luss, which became merged in that of Colquhoun. + + +422. The best of Loch Lomond, etc. Scott has the following note here: + + +"The Lennox, as the district is called which encircles the lower +extremity of Loch Lomond, was peculiarly exposed to the incursions of +the mountaineers, who inhabited the inaccessible fastnesses at the upper +end of the lake, and the neighboring district of Loch Katrine. These +were often marked by circumstances of great ferocity, of which the noted +conflict of Glen Fruin is a celebrated instance. This was a clan-battle, +in which the Macgregors, headed by Allaster Macgregor, chief of the +clan, encountered the sept of Colquhouns, commanded by Sir Humphry +Colquhoun of Luss. It is on all hands allowed that the action was +desperately fought, and that the Colquhouns were defeated with +slaughter, leaving two hundred of their name dead upon the field. But +popular tradition has added other horrors to the tale. It is said that +Sir Humphry Colquhoun, who was on horseback, escaped to the Castle of +Benechra, or Bannochar, and was next day dragged out and murdered by +the victorious Macgregors in cold blood. Buchanan of Auchmar, however, +speaks of his slaughter as a subsequent event, and as perpetrated by the +Macfarlanes. Again, it is reported that the Macgregors murdered a +number of youths, whom report of the intended battle had brought to be +spectators, and whom the Colquhouns, anxious for their safety, had shut +up in a barn to be out of danger. One account of the Macgregors denies +this circumstance entirely; another ascribes it to the savage and +bloodthirsty disposition of a single individual, the bastard brother of +the Laird of Macgregor, who amused himself with this second massacre of +the innocents, in express disobedience to the chief, by whom he was left +their guardian during the pursuit of the Colquhouns. It is added that +Macgregor bitterly lamented this atrocious action, and prophesied the +ruin which it must bring upon their ancient clan. ... + +"The consequences of the battle of Glen Fruin were very calamitous to +the family of Macgregor, who had already been considered as an unruly +clan. The widows of the slain Colquhouns, sixty, it is said, in number, +appeared in doleful procession before the king at Stirling, each riding +upon a white palfrey, and bearing in her hand the bloody shirt of +her husband displayed upon a pike. James VI. was so much moved by the +complaints of this 'choir of mourning dames,' that he let loose his +vengeance against the Macgregors without either bounds or moderation. +The very name of the clan was proscribed, and those by whom it had been +borne were given up to sword and fire, and absolutely hunted down by +bloodhounds like wild beasts. Argyll and the Campbells, on the one hand, +Montrose, with the Grahames and Buchanans, on the other, are said to +have been the chief instruments in suppressing this devoted clan. The +Laird of Macgregor surrendered to the former, on condition that he would +take him out of Scottish ground. But, to use Birrel's expression, he +kept 'a Highlandman's promise;' and, although he fulfilled his word to +the letter, by carrying him as far as Berwick, he afterwards brought +him back to Edinburgh, where he was executed with eighteen of his clan +(Birrel's Diary, 2d Oct. 1903). The clan Gregor being thus driven to +utter despair, seem to have renounced the laws from the benefit of which +they were excluded, and their depredations produced new acts of council, +confirming the severity of their proscription, which had only the +effect of rendering them still more united and desperate. It is a most +extraordinary proof of the ardent and invincible spirit of clanship, +that notwithstanding the repeated proscriptions providently ordained +by the legislature, 'for the timeous preventing the disorders and +oppression that may fall out by the said name and clan of Macgregors, +and their followers,' they were, in 1715 and 1745, a potent clan, and +continue to subsist as a distinct and numerous race." + + +426. Leven-glen. The valley of the Leven, which connects Loch Lomond +with the Clyde. + + +431. The rosebud. That is, Ellen. "Note how this song connects Allan's +forebodings with Roderick's subsequent offer" (Taylor). + + +444. And chorus wild, etc. The MS. has "The chorus to the chieftain's +fame." + + +476. Weeped. The form is used for the rhyme. Cf. note on i. 500 above. + + +477. Nor while, etc. The MS. reads: + + "Nor while on Ellen's faltering tongue + Her filial greetings eager hung, + Marked not that awe (affection's proof) + Still held yon gentle youth aloof; + No! not till Douglas named his name, + Although the youth was Malcolm Graeme. + Then with flushed cheek and downcast eye, + Their greeting was confused and shy." + + +495. Bothwell. See on 141 above. + + +497. Percy's Norman pennon. Taken in the raid which led to the battle +of Otterburn, in Northumberland, in the year 1388, and which forms the +theme of the ballads of Chevy Chase. + + +501. My pomp. My triumphal procession; the original meaning of pomp. + + +504. Crescent. The badge of the Buccleuch family (Miss Yonge). + + +506. Blantyre. A priory, the ruins of which are still to be seen on a +height above the Clyde, opposite Bothwell Castle. + + +521. The dogs, etc. The MS. has "The dogs with whimpering notes repaid." + + +525. Unhooded. The falcon was carried on the wrist, with its head +covered, or hooded, until the prey was seen, when it was unhooded for +flight. Cf. vi. 665 below. + + +526. Trust. Believe me. + + +527. Like fabled Goddess. The MS. has "Like fabled huntress;" referring +of course to Diana. + + +534. Stature fair. The reading of the 1st ed. and that of 1821; "stature +tall" in most of the other eds. + + +541. The ptarmigan. A white bird. + + +543. Menteith. See on i. 89 above. + + +548. Ben Lomond. This is much the highest (3192 feet) of the mountains +on the shores of Loch Lomond. The following lines on the ascent were +scratched upon the window-pane of the old inn at Tarbet a hundred years +or more ago: + + "Trust not at first a quick adventurous pace; + Six miles its top points gradual from its base; + Up the high rise with panting haste I past, + And gained the long laborious steep at last; + More prudent thou--when once you pass the deep, + With cautious steps and slow ascend the steep." + + +549. Not a sob. That is, without panting, or getting out of breath, like +the degenerate modern tourist. + + +574. Glenfinlas. A wooded valley between Ben-an and Benledi, the +entrance to which is between Lochs Achray and Vennachar. It is the scene +of Scott's ballad, Glenfinlas, or Lord Ronald's Coronach. A mile from +the entrance are the falls of the Hero's Targe. See iv. 84 below. + + +577. Still a royal ward. Still under age, with the king for guardian. + + +583. Strath-Endrick. A valley to the southeast of Loch Lomond, drained +by Endrick Water. + + +584. Peril aught. Incur any peril. Milton uses the verb intransitively +in Reason of Church Government, ii. 3: "it may peril to stain itself." + + +587. Not in action. The 1st ed. has "nor in action." + + +594. News. Now generally used as a singular; but in old writers both as +singular and as plural. Cf. Shakespeare, K. John, iii. 4. 164: "at that +news he dies;" and Id. v. 7. 65: "these dead news," etc. + + +601. As. As if. See on 56 above. + + +606. Glozing. That glosses over the truth, not plain and outspoken. +Sometimes it means to flatter, or deceive with smooth words; as in +Spenser, F. Q. iii. 8. 14: + + "For he could well his glozing speeches frame + To such vaine uses that him best became;" + +Smith, Sermons (A. D. 1609): "Every smooth tale is not to be believed; +and every glosing tongue is not to be trusted;" Milton, P. L. iii. 93: +"his glozing lies;" Id. ix. 549: "So glozed the Tempter;" Comus, 161: +"well-placed words of glozing courtesy," etc. + + +615. The King's vindictive pride, etc. Scott says here: "In 1529, James +made a convention at Edinburgh, for the purpose of considering the best +mode of quelling the Border robbers, who, during the license of +his minority, and the troubles which followed, had committed many +exorbitances. Accordingly he assembled a flying army of ten thousand +men, consisting of his principal nobility and their followers, who were +directed to bring their hawks and dogs with them, that the monarch might +refresh himself with sport during the intervals of military execution. +With this array he swept through Ettrick Forest, where he hanged +over the gate of his own castle Piers Cockburn of Henderland, who had +prepared, according to tradition, a feast for his reception. He caused +Adam Scott of Tushiclaw also to be executed, who was distinguished by +the title of King of the Border. But the most noted victim of justice +during that expedition was John Armstrong of Gilnockie, famous in +Scottish song, who, confiding in his own supposed innocence, met the +King, with a retinue of thirty-six persons, all of whom were hanged at +Carlenrig, near the source of the Teviot. The effect of this severity +was such, that, as the vulgar expressed it, 'the rush-bush kept the +cow,' and 'thereafter was great peace and rest a long time, wherethrough +the King had great profit; for he had ten thousand sheep going in the +Ettrick Forest in keeping by Andrew Bell, who made the king as good +count of them as they had gone in the bounds of Fife' (Pitscottie's +History, p. 153)." + + +623. Meggat's mead. The Meggat, or Megget, is a mountain stream flowing +into the Yarrow, a branch of the Etrrick, which is itself a branch of +the Tweed. The Teviot is also a branch of the Tweed. + + +627. The dales, etc. The MS. has "The dales where clans were wont to +bide." + + +634. By fate of Border chivalry. Scott says: "James was, in fact, +equally attentive to restrain rapine and feudal oppression in every part +of his dominions. 'The King past to the isles, and there held justice +courts, and punished both thief and traitor according to their demerit. +And also he caused great men to show their holdings, wherethrough he +found many of the said lands in non-entry; the which he confiscate and +brought home to his own use, and afterwards annexed them to the crown, +as ye shall hear. Syne brought many of the great men of the isles +captive with him, such as Mudyart, M'Connel, M'Loyd of the Lewes, +M'Neil, M'Lane, M'Intosh, John Mudyart, M'Kay, M'Kenzie, with many other +that I cannot rehearse at this time. Some of them he put in ward and +some in court, and some he took pledges for good rule in time coming. +So he brought the isles, both north and south, in good rule and peace; +wherefore he had great profit, service, and obedience of people a +long time hereafter; and as long as he had the heads of the country +in subjection, they lived in great peace and rest, and there was great +riches and policy by the King's justice' (Pitscottie, p. 152)." + + +638. Your counsel. That is, give me your counsel. Streight = strait. + + +659. The Bleeding Heart. See on 200 above. + + +662. Quarry. See on i. 127 above. + + +672. To wife. For wife. Cf. Shakespeare, Temp. ii. 1. 75: "such a +paragon to their queen;" Rich. II. iv. 1. 306: "I have a king here to my +flatterer," etc. See also Matt. iii. 9, Luke, iii. 8, etc. + + +674. Enow. The old plural of enough; as in Shakespeare, Hen. V. iv. 1. +240: "we have French quarrels enow," etc. + + +678. The Links of Forth. The windings of the Forth between Stirling and +Alloa. + + +679. Stirling's porch. The gate of Stirling Castle. + + +683. Blench. Start, shrink. + + +685. Heat. Misprinted "heart" in many eds. + + +690. From pathless glen. The MS. has "from hill and glen." + + +692. There are who have. For the ellipsis, cf. Shakespeare, Temp. ii. 1. +262: "There be that can rule Naples," etc. See also iii. 10 below. + + +694. That beetled o'er. Cf. Hamlet, i. 4. 71: + + + "the dreadful summit of the cliff That beetles o'er his +base into the sea." + + +696. Their dangerous dream. The MS. has "their desperate dream." + + +702. Battled. Battlemented; as in vi. 7 below. + + +703. It waved. That it waved; an ellipsis very common in Elizabethan and +earlier English. Cf. 789 below. + + +708. Astound. Astounded. This contraction of the participle (here used +for the sake of the rhyme) was formerly not uncommon in verbs ending in +d and t. Thus in Shakespeare we find the participles bloat (Ham. iii. 4. +182), enshield (M. for M. ii. 4. 80), taint (1 Hen. VI. v. 3. 183), etc. + + +710. Crossing. Conflicting. + + +716. Ere. The 1st ed. misprints "e'er." + + +731. Level. Aim; formerly a technical term. Cf. 2 Hen. IV. iii. 2. 286: +"The foeman may with as great aim level at the edge of a penknife," etc. + + +747. Nighted. Benighted. It is to be regarded as a contraction of that +word; like lated for belated in Macbeth, iii. 3. 6, etc. Nighted (= +dark, black) in Hamlet, i. 2. 68 ("thy nighted colour") is an adjective +formed from the noun night. + + +757. Checkered shroud. Tartain plaid. The original meaning of shroud +(see Wb.) was garment. + + +763. Parting. Departing. See on 94 above. + + +768. So deep, etc. According to Lockhart, the MS. reads: + + "The deep-toned anguish of despair + Flushed, in fierce jealousy, to air;" + +but we suspect that "Flushed" should be "Flashed." + + +774. So lately. At the "Beltane game" (319 above). + + +781. Thus as they strove, etc. The MS. reads: + + "Thus, as they strove, each better hand + Grasped for the dagger or the brand." + + +786. I hold, etc. Scott has the following note on the last page of the +1st ed.: "The author has to apologize for the inadvertent appropriation +of a whole line from the tragedy of Douglas: 'I hold the first who +strikes my foe.'" + + +789. His daughter's hand, etc. For the ellipsis of that, see on 703 +above. Deemed is often misprinted "doomed." + + +791. Sullen and slowly, etc. The MS. reads: + + "Sullen and slow the rivals bold + Loosed at his hest their desperate hold, + But either still on other glared," etc. + + +795. Brands. A pet word with Scott. Note how often it has been used +already in the poem. + + +798. As faltered. See on 601 above. + + +801. Pity 't were, etc. Scott says here: "Hardihood was in every respect +so essential to the character of a Highlander, that the reproach of +effeminacy was the most bitter which could be thrown upon him. Yet it +was sometimes hazarded on what we might presume to think slight grounds. +It is reported of old Sir Ewen Cameron of Lochiel, when upwards of +seventy, that he was surprised by night on a hunting or military +expedition. He wrapped him in his plaid, and lay contentedly down +upon the snow, with which the ground happened to be covered. Among his +attendants, who were preparing to take their rest in the same manner, +he observed that one of his grandsons, for his better accommodation, had +rolled a large snow-ball, and placed it below his head. The wrath of +the ancient chief was awakened by a symptom of what he conceived to be +degenerate luxury. 'Out upon thee,' said he, kicking the frozen bolster +from the head which it supported, 'art thou so effeminate as to need +a pillow?' The officer of engineers, whose curious Letters from the +Highlands have been more than once quoted, tells a similar story of +Macdonald of Keppoch, and subjoins the following remarks: 'This and +many other stories are romantick; but there is one thing, that at +first thought might seem very romantick, of which I have been credibly +assured, that when the Highlanders are constrained to lie among the +hills, in cold dry weather, they sometimes soak the plaid in some river +or burn (i.e. brook), and then holding up a corner of it a little +above their heads, they turn themselves round and round, till they are +enveloped by the whole mantle. They then lay themselves down on the +heath, upon the leeward side of some hill, where the wet and the warmth +of their bodies make a steam, like that of a boiling kettle. The wet, +they say, keeps them warm by thickening the stuff, and keeping the wind +from penetrating. I must confess I should have been apt to question this +fact, had I not frequently seen them wet from morning to night, and, +even at the beginning of the rain, not so much as stir a few yards to +shelter, but continue in it without necessity, till they were, as we +say, wet through and through. And that is soon effected by the looseness +and spunginess of the plaiding; but the bonnet is frequently taken +off, and wrung like a dishclout, and then put on again. They have been +accustomed from their infancy to be often wet, and to take the water +like spaniels, and this is become a second nature, and can scarcely be +called a hardship to them, insomuch that I used to say, they seemed to +be of the duck kind, and to love water as well. Though I never saw this +preparation for sleep in windy weather, yet, setting out early in a +morning from one of the huts, I have seen the marks of their lodging, +where the ground has been free from rime or snow, which remained all +round the spot where they had lain' (Letters from Scotland, Lond. 1754, +8vo, ii. p. 108)." + + +809. His henchman. Scott quotes again the Letters from Scotland (ii. +159): "This officer is a sort of secretary, and is to be ready, upon +all occasions, to venture his life in defence of his master; and at +drinking-bouts he stands behind his seat, at his haunch, from whence +his title is derived, and watches the conversation, to see if any one +offends his patron. An English officer being in company with a certain +chieftain, and several other Highland gentlemen, near Killichumen, had +an argument with the great man; and both being well warmed with usky +[whisky], at last the dispute grew very hot. A youth who was henchman, +not understanding one word of English, imagined his chief was insulted, +and thereupon drew his pistol from his side, and snapped it at the +officer's head; but the pistol missed fire, otherwise it is more than +probable he might have suffered death from the hand of that little +vermin. But it is very disagreeable to an Englishman over a bottle with +the Highlanders, to see every one of them have his gilly, that is, his +servant, standing behind him all the while, let what will be the subject +of conversation." + + +829. On the morn. Modifying should circle, not the nearer verb had +sworn. + + +831. The Fiery Cross. See on iii. 18 below. + + +846. Point. Point out, appoint. Cf. Shakespeare, Sonn. 14. 6: + + "Nor can I fortune to brief minutes tell, + Pointing to each his thunder, rain, and wind." + +The word in this and similar passages is generally printed "'point" by +modern editors, but it is not a contraction of appoint. + + +860. Then plunged, etc. The MS. has "He spoke, and plunged into the +tide." + + +862. Steered him. See on i. 142 above. + + +865, 866. Darkening... gave. In the 1st ed. these lines are joined to +what precedes, as they evidently should be; in all the more recent eds. +they are joined to what follows. + + + + +Canto Third. + + +3. Store. See on i. 548 above. + + +5. That be. in old English, besides the present tense am, etc., there +was also this form be, from the Anglo-Saxon beon. The 2d person singular +was beest. The 1st and 3d person plural be is often found in Shakespeare +and the Bible. + + +10. Yet live there still, etc. See on ii. 692 above. + + +15. What time. Cf. ii. 307 above. + + +17. The gathering sound. The sound, or signal, for the gathering. The +phrase illustrates the difference between the participle and the verbal +noun (or whatever it may be called) in -ing. Cf. "a laboring man" and "a +laboring day" (Julius Caesar, i. 1. 4); and see our ed. of J. C. p. 126. + + +18. The Fiery Cross. Scott says here: "When a chieftain designed to +summon his clan, upon any sudden or important emergency, he slew a goat, +and making a cross of any light wood, seared its extremities in the +fire, and extinguished them in the blood of the animal. This was called +the Fiery Cross, also Crean Tarigh, or the Cross of Shame, because +disobedience to what the symbol implied, inferred infamy. It was +delivered to a swift and trusty messenger, who ran full speed with it to +the next hamlet, where he presented it to the principal person, with +a single word, implying the place of rendezvous. He who received the +symbol was bound to send it forward, with equal despatch, to the next +village; and thus it passed with incredible celerity through all the +district which owed allegiance to the chief, and also among his allies +and neighbours, if the danger was common to them. At sight of the Fiery +Cross, every man, from sixteen years old to sixty, capable of +bearing arms, was obliged instantly to repair, in his best arms and +accoutrements, to the place of rendezvous. He who failed to appear +suffered the extremities of fire and sword, which were emblematically +denounced to the disobedient by the bloody and burnt marks upon this +warlike signal. During the civil war of 1745-6, the Fiery Cross often +made its circuit; and upon one occasion it passed through the whole +district of Breadalbane, a tract of thirty-two miles, in three hours. +The late Alexander Stewart, Esq., of Invernahyle, described to me his +having sent round the Fiery Cross through the district of Appine, during +the same commotion. The coast was threatened by a descent from two +English trigates, and the flower of the young men were with the army of +Prince Charles Edward, then in England; yet the summons was so effectual +that even old age and childhood obeyed it; and a force was collected in +a few hours, so numerous and so enthusiastic, that all attempt at +the intended diversion upon the country of the absent warriors was in +prudence abandoned, as desperate." + + +19. The Summer dawn's reflected hue, etc. Mr. Ruskin says (Modern +Painters, iii. 278): "And thus Nature becomes dear to Scott in a +threefold way: dear to him, first, as containing those remains or +memories of the past, which he cannot find in cities, and giving hope of +Praetorian mound or knight's grave in every green slope and shade of its +desolate places; dear, secondly, in its moorland liberty, which has for +him just as high a charm as the fenced garden had for the mediaeval;... +and dear to him, finally, in that perfect beauty, denied alike in cities +and in men, for which every modern heart had begun at last to thirst, +and Scott's, in its freshness and power, of all men's most earnestly. + +"And in this love of beauty, observe that the love of colour is a +leading element, his healthy mind being incapable of losing, under any +modern false teaching, its joy in brilliancy of hue. ... In general, if +he does not mean to say much about things, the one character which +he will give is colour, using it with the most perfect mastery and +faithfulness." + +After giving many illustrations of Scott's use of colour in his +poetry, Ruskin quotes the present passage, which he says is "still more +interesting, because it has no form in it at all except in one word +(chalice), but wholly composes its imagery either of colour, or of that +delicate half-believed life which we have seen to be so important an +element in modern landscape." + +"Two more considerations," he adds, "are, however, suggested by the +above passage. The first, that the love of natural history, excited +by the continual attention now given to all wild landscape, heightens +reciprocally the interest of that landscape, and becomes an important +element in Scott's description, leading him to finish, down to the +minutest speckling of breast, and slightest shade of attributed emotion, +the portraiture of birds and animals; in strange opposition to Homer's +slightly named 'sea-crows, who have care of the works of the sea,' and +Dante's singing-birds, of undefined species. Compare carefully the 2d +and 3d stanzas of Rokeby. + +"The second point I have to note is Scott's habit of drawing a slight +moral from every scene,... and that this slight moral is almost always +melancholy. Here he has stopped short without entirely expressing it: + + "The mountain-shadows.. + ..................... lie + Like future joys to Fancy's eye.' + +His completed thought would be, that these future joys, like the +mountain-shadows, were never to be attained. It occurs fully uttered +in many other places. He seems to have been constantly rebuking his own +worldly pride and vanity, but never purposefully: + + 'The foam-globes on her eddies ride, + Thick as the schemes of human pride + That down life's current drive amain, + As frail, as frothy, and as vain.'" + +Ruskin adds, among other illustrations, the reference to "foxglove and +nightshade" in i. 218, 219 above. + + +28. Like future joys, etc. This passage, quoted by Ruskin above, also +illustrates what is comparatively rare in figurative language--taking +the immaterial to exemplify the material. The latter is constantly used +to symbolize or elucidate the former; but one would have to search +long in our modern poetry to find a dozen instances where, as here, +the relation is reversed. Cf. 639 below. We have another example in the +second passage quoted by Ruskin. Cf. also Tennyson's + + "thousand wreaths of dangling water-smoke, + That like a broken purpose waste in air;" + +and Shelly's + + "Our boat is asleep on Serchio's stream; + Its sails are folded like thoughts in a dream." + + +30. Reared. The 1st ed. has "oped." + + +32. After this line the MS. has the couplet, + + "Invisible in fleecy cloud, + The lark sent down her matins loud," + +which reappears in altered form below. + + +33. Gray mist. The MS. has "light mist." + + +38. Good-morrow gave, etc. Cf. Byron, Childe Harold: + + "and the bills + Of summer-birds sing welcome as ye pass." + + +39. Cushat dove. Ring-dove. + + +46. His impatient blade. Note the "transferred epithet." It is not the +blade that is impatient. + + +47. Beneath a rock, etc. The MS. reads: + + "Hard by, his vassals' early care + The mystic ritual prepare." + + +50. Antiquity. The men of old; "the abstract for the concrete." + + +59. With her broad shadow, etc. Cf. Longfellow, Maidenhood: + + "Seest thou shadows sailing by, + As the dove, with startled eye, + Sees the falcon's shadow fly?" + + +62. Rowan. The mountain-ash. + + +71. That monk, of savage form and face. Scott says here: "The state of +religion in the middle ages afforded considerable facilities for those +whose mode of life excluded them from regular worship, to secure, +nevertheless, the ghostly assistance of confessors, perfectly willing +to adapt the nature of their doctrine to the necessities and peculiar +circumstances of their flock. Robin Hood, it is well known, had his +celebrated domestic chaplain Friar Tuck. And that same curtal friar was +probably matched in manners and appearance by the ghostly fathers of +the Tynedale robbers, who are thus described in an excommunication +fulminated against their patrons by Richard Fox, Bishop of Durham, +tempore Henrici VIII.: 'We have further understood, that there are many +chaplains in the said territories of Tynedale and Redesdale, who are +public and open maintainers of concubinage, irregular, suspended, +excommunicated, and interdicted persons, and withal so utterly ignorant +of letters, that it has been found by those who objected this to them, +that there were some who, having celebrated mass for ten years, were +still unable to read the sacramental service. We have also understood +there are persons among them who, although not ordained, do take upon +them the offices of priesthood, and, in contempt of God, celebrate the +divine and sacred rites, and administer the sacraments, not only +in sacred and dedicated places, but in those which are prophane and +interdicted, and most wretchedly ruinous, they themselves being attired +in ragged, torn, and most filthy vestments, altogether unfit to be used +in divine, or even in temporal offices. The which said chaplains do +administer sacraments and sacramental rites to the aforesaid manifest +and infamous thieves, robbers, depredators, receivers of stolen goods, +and plunderers, and that without restitution, or intention to restore, +as evinced by the act; and do also openly admit them to the rites of +ecclesiastical sepulchre, without exacting security for restitution, +although they are prohibited from doing so by the sacred canons, as well +as by the institutes of the saints and fathers. All which infers the +heavy peril of their own souls, and is a pernicious example to the other +believers in Christ, as well as no slight, but an aggravated injury, +to the numbers despoiled and plundered of their goods, gear, herds, and +chattels.'" + + +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; [7] + Wide, wide around were spread its lofty branches-- + But the topmost bough is lowly laid! + Thou hast forsaken us before Sawaine. [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 £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.' [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. + +'In the year before the great rebellion, two young men from Newcastle +were sporting on the high moors above Eldson, and after pursuing their +game several hours, sat down to dine in a green glen near one of the +mountain streams. After their repast, the younger lad ran to the brook +for water, and after stooping to drink, was surprised, on lifting his +head again, by the appearance of a brown dwarf, who stood on a crag +covered with brackens, across the burn. This extraordinary personage +did not appear to be above half the stature of a common man, but +was uncommonly stout and broad-built, having the appearance of vast +strength. His dress was entirely brown, the color of the brackens, and +his head covered with frizzled red hair. His countenance was expressive +of the most savage ferocity, and his eyes glared like a bull. It seems +he addressed the young man first, threatening him with his vengeance for +having trespassed on his demesnes, and asking him if he knew in whose +presence he stood? The youth replied that he now supposed him to be the +lord of the moors; that he offended through ignorance; and offered to +bring him the game he had killed. The dwarf was a little mollified by +this submission, but remarked that nothing could be more offensive +to him than such an offer, as he considered the wild animals as his +subjects, and never failed to avenge their destruction. He condescended +further to inform him that he was, like himself, mortal, though of years +far exceeding the lot of common humanity, and (what I should not have +had an idea of) that he hoped for salvation. He never, he added, fed on +anything that had life, but lived in the summer on whortleberries, and +in winter on nuts and apples, of which he had great store in the woods. +Finally, he invited his new acquaintance to accompany him home and +partake his hospitality, an offer which the youth was on the point of +accepting, and was just going to spring across the brook (which if he +had done, says Elizabeth, the dwarf would certainly have torn him in +pieces), when his foot was arrested by the voice of his companion, who +thought he had tarried long, and on looking round again, "the wee brown +man was fled." The story adds that he was imprudent enough to slight the +admonition, and to sport over the moors on his way homewards, but soon +after his return he fell into a lingering disorder, and died within the +year'" (Scott). + + +302. Our moonlight circle's. The MS. has "Our fairy ringlet's." + + +306. The fairies' fatal green. "As the Daoine Shi', or Men of Peace, +wore green habits, they were supposed to take offence when any mortals +ventured to assume their favorite color. Indeed, from some reason, which +has been, perhaps originally a general superstition, green is held in +Scotland to be unlucky to particular tribes and counties. The Caithness +men, who hold this belief, allege as a reason that their bands wore that +color when they were cut off at the battle of Flodden; and for the same +reason they avoid crossing the Ord on a Monday, being the day of the +week on which their ill-omened array set forth. Green is also disliked +by those of the name of Ogilvy; but more especially it is held fatal to +the whole clan of Grahame. It is remembered of an aged gentleman of that +name that when his horse fell in a fox-chase, he accounted for it at +once by observing that the whipcord attached to his lash was of this +unlucky color" (Scott). + + +308. Wert christened man. Scott says: "The Elves were supposed greatly +to envy the privileges acquired by Christian initiation, and they gave +to those mortals who had fallen into their power a certain precedence, +founded upon this advantageous distinction. Tamlane, in the old ballad, +describes his own rank in the fairy procession: + + 'For I ride on a milk-white steed, + And aye nearest the town; + Because I was a christen'd knight, + They give me that renown.'" + + +312. The curse of the sleepless eye. Cf. Macbeth, i. 3. 19: + + "Sleep shall neither night nor day + Hang upon his pent-house lid," etc. + + +313. Part. Depart. See on ii. 94 above. + + +322. Grisly. See on i. 704 above. + + +330. Kindly. Kindred, natural. See Wb., and cf. Shakespeare, Much Ado, +iv. 1. 75: + + "that fatherly and kindly power + That you have in her," etc. + + +345. All is glistening show. "No fact respecting Fairy-land seems to +be better ascertained than the fantastic and illusory nature of their +apparent pleasure and splendour. It has been already noticed in the +former quotations from Dr. Grahame's entertaining volume, and may be +confirmed by the following Highland tradition:--'A woman, whose new-born +child had been conveyed by them into their secret abodes, was also +carried thither herself, to remain, however, only until she should +suckle her infant. She one day, during this period, observed the +Shi'ichs busily employed in mixing various ingredients in a boiling +caldron, and as soon as the composition was prepared, she remarked that +they all carefully anointed their eyes with it, laying the remainder +aside for future use. In a moment when they were all absent, she also +attempted to anoint her eyes with the precious drug, but had time to +apply it to one eye only, when the Daoine Shi' returned. But with that +eye she was henceforth enabled to see everything as it really passed in +their secret abodes; she saw every object, not as she hitherto had done, +in deceptive splendour and elegance, but in its genuine colours and +form. The gaudy ornaments of the apartment were reduced to the walls +of a gloomy cavern. Soon after, having discharged her office, she was +dismissed to her own home. Still, however, she retained the faculty of +seeing, with her medicated eye, everything that was done, anywhere +in her presence, by the deceptive art of the order. One day, amidst a +throng of people, she chanced to observe the Shi'ich, or man of peace, +in whose possession she had left her child, though to every other eye +invisible. Prompted by maternal affection, she inadvertently accosted +him, and began to inquire after the welfare of her child. The man +of peace, astonished at being thus recognized by one of mortal race, +demanded how she had been enabled to discover him. Awed by the terrible +frown of his countenance, she acknowledged what she had done. He spat in +her eye, and extinguished it for ever.' + +"It is very remarkable that this story, translated by Dr. Grahame from +popular Gaelic tradition, is to be found in the Otia Imperialia of +Gervase of Tilbury. [FN #10] A work of great interest might be compiled +upon the original of popular fiction, and the transmission of similar +tales from age to age, and from country to country. The mythology of one +period would then appear to pass into the romance of the next century, +and that into the nursery tale of the subsequent ages. Such an +investigation, while it went greatly to diminish our ideas of the +richness of human invention, would also show that these fictions, +however wild and childish, possess such charms for the populace as +enable them to penetrate into countries unconnected by manners and +language, and having no apparent intercourse to afford the means +of transmission. It would carry me far beyond my bounds to produce +instances of fable among nations who never borrowed from each other any +thing intrinsically worth learning. Indeed the wide diffusion of popular +factions may be compared to the facility with which straws and feathers +are dispersed abroad by the wind, while valuable metals cannot be +transported without trouble and labour. There lives, I believe, only one +gentleman whose unlimited acquaintance with this subject might enable +him to do it justice,--I mean my friend Mr. Francis Douce, of the +British Museum, whose usual kindness will, I hope, pardon my mentioning +his name while on a subject so closely connected with his extensive and +curious researches" (Scott). + + +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 £30 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).] + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Lady of the Lake, by Sir Walter Scott + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LADY OF THE LAKE *** + +***** This file should be named 3011-8.txt or 3011-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/1/3011/ + +Produced by J.C. Byers + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/3011-8.zip b/3011-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3b4ea31 --- /dev/null +++ b/3011-8.zip diff --git a/3011-h.zip b/3011-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..af4fd20 --- /dev/null +++ b/3011-h.zip diff --git a/3011-h/3011-h.htm b/3011-h/3011-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..525d3d5 --- /dev/null +++ b/3011-h/3011-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,13550 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + The Lady of the Lake, by Sir Walter Scott, Bart. + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd7; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Lady of the Lake, by Sir Walter Scott + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Lady of the Lake + +Author: Sir Walter Scott + +Commentator: William J. Rolfe + +Editor: William J. Rolfe + +Release Date: February 9, 2009 [EBook #3011] +Last Updated: November 6, 2012 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LADY OF THE LAKE *** + + + + +Produced by J.C. Byers, and David Widger + + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + THE LADY OF THE LAKE + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Sir Walter Scott, Bart. + </h2> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h3> + Edited with Notes By William J. Rolfe, + </h3> + <h4> + Formerly Head Master of the High School, Cambridge, Mass. + </h4> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h3> + Boston + </h3> + <h2> + 1883 + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_PREF"> Preface </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> ARGUMENT. </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> <b>THE LADY OF THE LAKE.</b> </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> CANTO FIRST. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> CANTO SECOND. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> CANTO THIRD. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> CANTO FOURTH. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> CANTO FIFTH. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> CANTO SIXTH. </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0010"> ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE NOTES. </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_NOTE"> <b>NOTES.</b> </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_INTR"> Introduction. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0013"> Canto First. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0014"> Canto Second. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0015"> Canto Third. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0016"> Canto Fourth. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0017"> Canto Fifth. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0018"> Canto Sixth. </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0019"> Addendum. </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_FOOT"> FOOTNOTES: </a> + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_PREF" id="link2H_PREF"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h2> + Preface + </h2> + <p> + When I first saw Mr. Osgood's beautiful illustrated edition of The Lady of + the Lake, I asked him to let me use some of the cuts in a cheaper + annotated edition for school and household use; and the present volume is + the result. + </p> + <p> + The text of the poem has given me unexpected trouble. When I edited some + of Gray's poems several years ago, I found that they had not been + correctly printed for more than half a century; but in the case of Scott I + supposed that the text of Black's so-called "Author's Edition" could be + depended upon as accurate. Almost at the start, however, I detected sundry + obvious misprints in one of the many forms in which this edition is + issued, and an examination of others showed that they were as bad in their + way. The "Shilling" issue was no worse than the costly illustrated one of + 1853, which had its own assortment of slips of the type. No two editions + that I could obtain agreed exactly in their readings. I tried in vain to + find a copy of the editio princeps (1810) in Cambridge and Boston, but + succeeded in getting one through a London bookseller. This I compared, + line by line, with the Edinburgh edition of 1821 (from the Harvard + Library), with Lockhart's first edition, the "Globe" edition, and about a + dozen others English and American. I found many misprints and corruptions + in all except the edition of 1821, and a few even in that. For instance in + i. 217 Scott wrote "Found in each cliff a narrow bower," and it is so + printed in the first edition; but in every other that I have seen "cliff" + appears in place of clift,, to the manifest injury of the passage. In ii. + 685, every edition that I have seen since that of 1821 has "I meant not + all my heart might say," which is worse than nonsense, the correct reading + being "my heat." In vi. 396, the Scottish "boune" (though it occurs twice + in other parts of the poem) has been changed to "bound" in all editions + since 1821; and, eight lines below, the old word "barded" has become + "barbed." Scores of similar corruptions are recorded in my Notes, and need + not be cited here. + </p> + <p> + I have restored the reading of the first edition, except in cases where I + have no doubt that the later reading is the poet's own correction or + alteration. There are obvious misprints in the first edition which Scott + himself overlooked (see on ii. 115, 217,, Vi. 527, etc.), and it is + sometimes difficult to decide whether a later reading—a change of a + plural to a singular, or like trivial variation—is a misprint or the + author's correction of an earlier misprint. I have done the best I could, + with the means at my command, to settle these questions, and am at least + certain that the text as I give it is nearer right than in any edition + since 1821 As all the variae lectiones are recorded in the Notes, the + reader who does not approve of the one I adopt can substitute that which + he prefers. + </p> + <p> + I have retained all Scott's Notes (a few of them have been somewhat + abridged) and all those added by Lockhart. <a href="#linknote-1" + name="linknoteref-1" id="linknoteref-1"><small>1</small></a> My own I have + made as concise as possible. There are, of course, many of them which many + of my readers will not need, but I think there are none that may not be of + service, or at least of interest, to some of them; and I hope that no one + will turn to them for help without finding it. + </p> + <p> + Scott is much given to the use of Elizabethan words and constructions, and + I have quoted many "parallelisms" from Shakespeare and his contemporaries. + I believe I have referred to my edition of Shakespeare in only a single + instance (on iii. 17), but teachers and others who have that edition will + find many additional illustrations in the Notes on the passages cited. + </p> + <p> + While correcting the errors of former editors, I may have overlooked some + of my own. I am already indebted to the careful proofreaders of the + University Press for the detection of occasional slips in quotations or + references; and I shall be very grateful to my readers for a memorandum of + any others that they may discover. + </p> + <p> + Cambridge, June 23, 1883.. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + ARGUMENT. + </h2> + <p> + The scene of the following Poem is laid chiefly in the vicinity of Loch + Katrine, in the Western Highlands of Perthshire. The time of Action + includes Six Days, and the transactions of each Day occupy a Canto. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h1> + THE LADY OF THE LAKE. + </h1> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CANTO FIRST. + </h2> + <h3> + The Chase. + </h3> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Harp of the North! that mouldering long hast hung + On the witch-elm that shades Saint Fillan's spring + And down the fitful breeze thy numbers flung, + Till envious ivy did around thee cling, + Muffling with verdant ringlet every string,— + O Minstrel Harp, still must thine accents sleep? + Mid rustling leaves and fountains murmuring, + Still must thy sweeter sounds their silence keep, + Nor bid a warrior smile, nor teach a maid to weep? + + Not thus, in ancient days of Caledon, <a href="#linknote-10" + name="linknoteref-10" id="linknoteref-10">10</a> + Was thy voice mute amid the festal crowd, + When lay of hopeless love, or glory won, + Aroused the fearful or subdued the proud. + At each according pause was heard aloud + Thine ardent symphony sublime and high! + Fair dames and crested chiefs attention bowed; + For still the burden of thy minstrelsy + Was Knighthood's dauntless deed, and Beauty's matchless eye. + + O, wake once more! how rude soe'er the hand + That ventures o'er thy magic maze to stray; + O, wake once more! though scarce my skill command + Some feeble echoing of thine earlier lay: + Though harsh and faint, and soon to die away, + And all unworthy of thy nobler strain, + Yet if one heart throb higher at its sway, + The wizard note has not been touched in vain. + Then silent be no more! Enchantress, wake again! +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + I. + + The stag at eve had drunk his fill, + Where danced the moon on Monan's rill, + And deep his midnight lair had made + In lone Glenartney's hazel shade; + But when the sun his beacon red + Had kindled on Benvoirlich's head, + The deep-mouthed bloodhound's heavy bay + Resounded up the rocky way, + And faint, from farther distance borne, + Were heard the clanging hoof and horn. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + II. + + As Chief, who hears his warder call, + 'To arms! the foemen storm the wall,' + The antlered monarch of the waste + Sprung from his heathery couch in haste. + But ere his fleet career he took, + The dew-drops from his flanks he shook; + Like crested leader proud and high + Tossed his beamed frontlet to the sky; + A moment gazed adown the dale, + A moment snuffed the tainted gale, + A moment listened to the cry, + That thickened as the chase drew nigh; + Then, as the headmost foes appeared, + With one brave bound the copse he cleared, + And, stretching forward free and far, + Sought the wild heaths of Uam-Var. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + III. + + Yelled on the view the opening pack; + Rock, glen, and cavern paid them back; + To many a mingled sound at once + The awakened mountain gave response. + A hundred dogs bayed deep and strong, + Clattered a hundred steeds along, + Their peal the merry horns rung out, + A hundred voices joined the shout; + With hark and whoop and wild halloo, + No rest Benvoirlich's echoes knew. + Far from the tumult fled the roe, + Close in her covert cowered the doe, + The falcon, from her cairn on high, + Cast on the rout a wondering eye, + Till far beyond her piercing ken + The hurricane had swept the glen. + Faint, and more faint, its failing din + Returned from cavern, cliff, and linn, + And silence settled, wide and still, + On the lone wood and mighty hill. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + IV. + + Less loud the sounds of sylvan war + Disturbed the heights of Uam-Var, + And roused the cavern where, 't is told, + A giant made his den of old; + For ere that steep ascent was won, + High in his pathway hung the sun, + And many a gallant, stayed perforce, + Was fain to breathe his faltering horse, + And of the trackers of the deer + Scarce half the lessening pack was near; + So shrewdly on the mountain-side + Had the bold burst their mettle tried. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + V. + + The noble stag was pausing now + Upon the mountain's southern brow, + Where broad extended, far beneath, + The varied realms of fair Menteith. + With anxious eye he wandered o'er + Mountain and meadow, moss and moor, + And pondered refuge from his toil, + By far Lochard or Aberfoyle. + But nearer was the copsewood gray + That waved and wept on Loch Achray, + And mingled with the pine-trees blue + On the bold cliffs of Benvenue. + Fresh vigor with the hope returned, + With flying foot the heath he spurned, + Held westward with unwearied race, + And left behind the panting chase. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + VI. + + 'T were long to tell what steeds gave o'er, + As swept the hunt through Cambusmore; + What reins were tightened in despair, + When rose Benledi's ridge in air; + Who flagged upon Bochastle's heath, + Who shunned to stem the flooded Teith,— + For twice that day, from shore to shore, + The gallant stag swam stoutly o'er. + Few were the stragglers, following far, + That reached the lake of Vennachar; + And when the Brigg of Turk was won, + The headmost horseman rode alone. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + VII. + + Alone, but with unbated zeal, + That horseman plied the scourge and steel; + For jaded now, and spent with toil, + Embossed with foam, and dark with soil, + While every gasp with sobs he drew, + The laboring stag strained full in view. + Two dogs of black Saint Hubert's breed, + Unmatched for courage, breath, and speed, + Fast on his flying traces came, + And all but won that desperate game; + For, scarce a spear's length from his haunch, + Vindictive toiled the bloodhounds stanch; + Nor nearer might the dogs attain, + Nor farther might the quarry strain + Thus up the margin of the lake, + Between the precipice and brake, + O'er stock and rock their race they take. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + VIII. + + The Hunter marked that mountain high, + The lone lake's western boundary, + And deemed the stag must turn to bay, + Where that huge rampart barred the way; + Already glorying in the prize, + Measured his antlers with his eyes; + For the death-wound and death-halloo + Mustered his breath, his whinyard drew:— + But thundering as he came prepared, + With ready arm and weapon bared, + The wily quarry shunned the shock, + And turned him from the opposing rock; + Then, dashing down a darksome glen, + Soon lost to hound and Hunter's ken, + In the deep Trosachs' wildest nook + His solitary refuge took. + There, while close couched the thicket shed + Cold dews and wild flowers on his head, + He heard the baffled dogs in vain + Rave through the hollow pass amain, + Chiding the rocks that yelled again. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + IX. + + Close on the hounds the Hunter came, + To cheer them on the vanished game; + But, stumbling in the rugged dell, + The gallant horse exhausted fell. + The impatient rider strove in vain + To rouse him with the spur and rein, + For the good steed, his labors o'er, + Stretched his stiff limbs, to rise no more; + Then, touched with pity and remorse, + He sorrowed o'er the expiring horse. + 'I little thought, when first thy rein + I slacked upon the banks of Seine, + That Highland eagle e'er should feed + On thy fleet limbs, my matchless steed! + Woe worth the chase, woe worth the day, + That costs thy life, my gallant gray!' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + X. + + Then through the dell his horn resounds, + From vain pursuit to call the hounds. + Back limped, with slow and crippled pace, + The sulky leaders of the chase; + Close to their master's side they pressed, + With drooping tail and humbled crest; + But still the dingle's hollow throat + Prolonged the swelling bugle-note. + The owlets started from their dream, + The eagles answered with their scream, + Round and around the sounds were cast, + Till echo seemed an answering blast; + And on the Hunter tried his way, + To join some comrades of the day, + Yet often paused, so strange the road, + So wondrous were the scenes it showed. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XI. + + The western waves of ebbing day + Rolled o'er the glen their level way; + Each purple peak, each flinty spire, + Was bathed in floods of living fire. + But not a setting beam could glow + Within the dark ravines below, + Where twined the path in shadow hid, + Round many a rocky pyramid, + Shooting abruptly from the dell + Its thunder-splintered pinnacle; + Round many an insulated mass, + The native bulwarks of the pass, + Huge as the tower which builders vain + Presumptuous piled on Shinar's plain. + The rocky summits, split and rent, + Formed turret, dome, or battlement. + Or seemed fantastically set + With cupola or minaret, + Wild crests as pagod ever decked, + Or mosque of Eastern architect. + Nor were these earth-born castles bare, + Nor lacked they many a banner fair; + For, from their shivered brows displayed, + Far o'er the unfathomable glade, + All twinkling with the dewdrop sheen, + The briar-rose fell in streamers green, + kind creeping shrubs of thousand dyes + Waved in the west-wind's summer sighs. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XII. + + Boon nature scattered, free and wild, + Each plant or flower, the mountain's child. + Here eglantine embalmed the air, + Hawthorn and hazel mingled there; + The primrose pale and violet flower + Found in each cliff a narrow bower; + Foxglove and nightshade, side by side, + Emblems of punishment and pride, + Grouped their dark hues with every stain + The weather-beaten crags retain. + With boughs that quaked at every breath, + Gray birch and aspen wept beneath; + Aloft, the ash and warrior oak + Cast anchor in the rifted rock; + And, higher yet, the pine-tree hung + His shattered trunk, and frequent flung, + Where seemed the cliffs to meet on high, + His boughs athwart the narrowed sky. + Highest of all, where white peaks glanced, + Where glistening streamers waved and danced, + The wanderer's eye could barely view + The summer heaven's delicious blue; + So wondrous wild, the whole might seem + The scenery of a fairy dream. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XIII. + + Onward, amid the copse 'gan peep + A narrow inlet, still and deep, + Affording scarce such breadth of brim + As served the wild duck's brood to swim. + Lost for a space, through thickets veering, + But broader when again appearing, + Tall rocks and tufted knolls their face + Could on the dark-blue mirror trace; + And farther as the Hunter strayed, + Still broader sweep its channels made. + The shaggy mounds no longer stood, + Emerging from entangled wood, + But, wave-encircled, seemed to float, + Like castle girdled with its moat; + Yet broader floods extending still + Divide them from their parent hill, + Till each, retiring, claims to be + An islet in an inland sea. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XIV. + + And now, to issue from the glen, + No pathway meets the wanderer's ken, + Unless he climb with footing nice + A far-projecting precipice. + The broom's tough roots his ladder made, + The hazel saplings lent their aid; + And thus an airy point he won, + Where, gleaming with the setting sun, + One burnished sheet of living gold, + Loch Katrine lay beneath him rolled, + In all her length far winding lay, + With promontory, creek, and bay, + And islands that, empurpled bright, + Floated amid the livelier light, + And mountains that like giants stand + To sentinel enchanted land. + High on the south, huge Benvenue + Down to the lake in masses threw + Crags, knolls, and mounds, confusedly hurled, + The fragments of an earlier world; + A wildering forest feathered o'er + His ruined sides and summit hoar, + While on the north, through middle air, + Ben-an heaved high his forehead bare. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XV. + + From the steep promontory gazed + The stranger, raptured and amazed, + And, 'What a scene were here,' he cried, + 'For princely pomp or churchman's pride! + On this bold brow, a lordly tower; + In that soft vale, a lady's bower; + On yonder meadow far away, + The turrets of a cloister gray; + How blithely might the bugle-horn + Chide on the lake the lingering morn! + How sweet at eve the lover's lute + Chime when the groves were still and mute! + And when the midnight moon should lave + Her forehead in the silver wave, + How solemn on the ear would come + The holy matins' distant hum, + While the deep peal's commanding tone + Should wake, in yonder islet lone, + A sainted hermit from his cell, + To drop a bead with every knell! + And bugle, lute, and bell, and all, + Should each bewildered stranger call + To friendly feast and lighted hall. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XVI. + + 'Blithe were it then to wander here! + But now—beshrew yon nimble deer— + Like that same hermit's, thin and spare, + The copse must give my evening fare; + Some mossy bank my couch must be, + Some rustling oak my canopy. + Yet pass we that; the war and chase + Give little choice of resting-place;— + A summer night in greenwood spent + Were but to-morrow's merriment: + But hosts may in these wilds abound, + Such as are better missed than found; + To meet with Highland plunderers here + Were worse than loss of steed or deer.— + I am alone;—my bugle-strain + May call some straggler of the train; + Or, fall the worst that may betide, + Ere now this falchion has been tried.' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XVII. + + But scarce again his horn he wound, + When lo! forth starting at the sound, + From underneath an aged oak + That slanted from the islet rock, + A damsel guider of its way, + A little skiff shot to the bay, + That round the promontory steep + Led its deep line in graceful sweep, + Eddying, in almost viewless wave, + The weeping willow twig to rave, + And kiss, with whispering sound and slow, + The beach of pebbles bright as snow. + The boat had touched this silver strand + Just as the Hunter left his stand, + And stood concealed amid the brake, + To view this Lady of the Lake. + The maiden paused, as if again + She thought to catch the distant strain. + With head upraised, and look intent, + And eye and ear attentive bent, + And locks flung back, and lips apart, + Like monument of Grecian art, + In listening mood, she seemed to stand, + The guardian Naiad of the strand. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XVIII. + + And ne'er did Grecian chisel trace + A Nymph, a Naiad, or a Grace, + Of finer form or lovelier face! + What though the sun, with ardent frown, + Had slightly tinged her cheek with brown,— + The sportive toil, which, short and light + Had dyed her glowing hue so bright, + Served too in hastier swell to show + Short glimpses of a breast of snow: + What though no rule of courtly grace + To measured mood had trained her pace,— + A foot more light, a step more true, + Ne'er from the heath-flower dashed the dew; + E'en the slight harebell raised its head, + Elastic from her airy tread: + What though upon her speech there hung + The accents of the mountain tongue,—- + Those silver sounds, so soft, so dear, + The listener held his breath to hear! +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XIX. + + A chieftain's daughter seemed the maid; + Her satin snood, her silken plaid, + Her golden brooch, such birth betrayed. + And seldom was a snood amid + Such wild luxuriant ringlets hid, + Whose glossy black to shame might bring + The plumage of the raven's wing; + And seldom o'er a breast so fair + Mantled a plaid with modest care, + And never brooch the folds combined + Above a heart more good and kind. + Her kindness and her worth to spy, + You need but gaze on Ellen's eye; + Not Katrine in her mirror blue + Gives back the shaggy banks more true, + Than every free-born glance confessed + The guileless movements of her breast; + Whether joy danced in her dark eye, + Or woe or pity claimed a sigh, + Or filial love was glowing there, + Or meek devotion poured a prayer, + Or tale of injury called forth + The indignant spirit of the North. + One only passion unrevealed + With maiden pride the maid concealed, + Yet not less purely felt the flame;— + O, need I tell that passion's name? +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XX. + + Impatient of the silent horn, + Now on the gale her voice was borne:— + 'Father!' she cried; the rocks around + Loved to prolong the gentle sound. + Awhile she paused, no answer came;— + 'Malcolm, was thine the blast?' the name + Less resolutely uttered fell, + The echoes could not catch the swell. + 'A stranger I,' the Huntsman said, + Advancing from the hazel shade. + The maid, alarmed, with hasty oar + Pushed her light shallop from the shore, + And when a space was gained between, + Closer she drew her bosom's screen;— + So forth the startled swan would swing, + So turn to prune his ruffled wing. + Then safe, though fluttered and amazed, + She paused, and on the stranger gazed. + Not his the form, nor his the eye, + That youthful maidens wont to fly. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXI. + + On his bold visage middle age + Had slightly pressed its signet sage, + Yet had not quenched the open truth + And fiery vehemence of youth; + Forward and frolic glee was there, + The will to do, the soul to dare, + The sparkling glance, soon blown to fire, + Of hasty love or headlong ire. + His limbs were cast in manly could + For hardy sports or contest bold; + And though in peaceful garb arrayed, + And weaponless except his blade, + His stately mien as well implied + A high-born heart, a martial pride, + As if a baron's crest he wore, + And sheathed in armor bode the shore. + Slighting the petty need he showed, + He told of his benighted road; + His ready speech flowed fair and free, + In phrase of gentlest courtesy, + Yet seemed that tone and gesture bland + Less used to sue than to command. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXII. + + Awhile the maid the stranger eyed, + And, reassured, at length replied, + That Highland halls were open still + To wildered wanderers of the hill. + 'Nor think you unexpected come + To yon lone isle, our desert home; + Before the heath had lost the dew, + This morn, a couch was pulled for you; + On yonder mountain's purple head + Have ptarmigan and heath-cock bled, + And our broad nets have swept the mere, + To furnish forth your evening cheer.'— + 'Now, by the rood, my lovely maid, + Your courtesy has erred,' he said; + 'No right have I to claim, misplaced, + The welcome of expected guest. + A wanderer, here by fortune toss, + My way, my friends, my courser lost, + I ne'er before, believe me, fair, + Have ever drawn your mountain air, + Till on this lake's romantic strand + I found a fey in fairy land!'— +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXIII. + + 'I well believe,' the maid replied, + As her light skiff approached the side,— + 'I well believe, that ne'er before + Your foot has trod Loch Katrine's shore + But yet, as far as yesternight, + Old Allan-bane foretold your plight,— + A gray-haired sire, whose eye intent + Was on the visioned future bent. + He saw your steed, a dappled gray, + Lie dead beneath the birchen way; + Painted exact your form and mien, + Your hunting-suit of Lincoln green, + That tasselled horn so gayly gilt, + That falchion's crooked blade and hilt, + That cap with heron plumage trim, + And yon two hounds so dark and grim. + He bade that all should ready be + To grace a guest of fair degree; + But light I held his prophecy, + And deemed it was my father's horn + Whose echoes o'er the lake were borne.' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXIV. + + The stranger smiled:—'Since to your home + A destined errant-knight I come, + Announced by prophet sooth and old, + Doomed, doubtless, for achievement bold, + I 'll lightly front each high emprise + For one kind glance of those bright eyes. + Permit me first the task to guide + Your fairy frigate o'er the tide.' + The maid, with smile suppressed and sly, + The toil unwonted saw him try; + For seldom, sure, if e'er before, + His noble hand had grasped an oar: + Yet with main strength his strokes he drew, + And o'er the lake the shallop flew; + With heads erect and whimpering cry, + The hounds behind their passage ply. + Nor frequent does the bright oar break + The darkening mirror of the lake, + Until the rocky isle they reach, + And moor their shallop on the beach. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXV. + + The stranger viewed the shore around; + 'T was all so close with copsewood bound, + Nor track nor pathway might declare + That human foot frequented there, + Until the mountain maiden showed + A clambering unsuspected road, + That winded through the tangled screen, + And opened on a narrow green, + Where weeping birch and willow round + With their long fibres swept the ground. + Here, for retreat in dangerous hour, + Some chief had framed a rustic bower. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXVI. + + It was a lodge of ample size, + But strange of structure and device; + Of such materials as around + The workman's hand had readiest found. + Lopped of their boughs, their hoar trunks bared, + And by the hatchet rudely squared, + To give the walls their destined height, + The sturdy oak and ash unite; + While moss and clay and leaves combined + To fence each crevice from the wind. + The lighter pine-trees overhead + Their slender length for rafters spread, + And withered heath and rushes dry + Supplied a russet canopy. + Due westward, fronting to the green, + A rural portico was seen, + Aloft on native pillars borne, + Of mountain fir with bark unshorn + Where Ellen's hand had taught to twine + The ivy and Idaean vine, + The clematis, the favored flower + Which boasts the name of virgin-bower, + And every hardy plant could bear + Loch Katrine's keen and searching air. + An instant in this porch she stayed, + And gayly to the stranger said: + 'On heaven and on thy lady call, + And enter the enchanted hall!' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXVII. + + 'My hope, my heaven, my trust must be, + My gentle guide, in following thee!'— + He crossed the threshold,—and a clang + Of angry steel that instant rang. + To his bold brow his spirit rushed, + But soon for vain alarm he blushed + When on the floor he saw displayed, + Cause of the din, a naked blade + Dropped from the sheath, that careless flung + Upon a stag's huge antlers swung; + For all around, the walls to grace, + Hung trophies of the fight or chase: + A target there, a bugle here, + A battle-axe, a hunting-spear, + And broadswords, bows, and arrows store, + With the tusked trophies of the boar. + Here grins the wolf as when he died, + And there the wild-cat's brindled hide + The frontlet of the elk adorns, + Or mantles o'er the bison's horns; + Pennons and flags defaced and stained, + That blackening streaks of blood retained, + And deer-skins, dappled, dun, and white, + With otter's fur and seal's unite, + In rude and uncouth tapestry all, + To garnish forth the sylvan hall. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXVIII. + + The wondering stranger round him gazed, + And next the fallen weapon raised:— + Few were the arms whose sinewy strength + Sufficed to stretch it forth at length. + And as the brand he poised and swayed, + 'I never knew but one,' he said, + 'Whose stalwart arm might brook to wield + A blade like this in battle-field.' + She sighed, then smiled and took the word: + 'You see the guardian champion's sword; + As light it trembles in his hand + As in my grasp a hazel wand: + My sire's tall form might grace the part + Of Ferragus or Ascabart, + But in the absent giant's hold + Are women now, and menials old.' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXIX. + + The mistress of the mansion came, + Mature of age, a graceful dame, + Whose easy step and stately port + Had well become a princely court, + To whom, though more than kindred knew, + Young Ellen gave a mother's due. + Meet welcome to her guest she made, + And every courteous rite was paid + That hospitality could claim, + Though all unasked his birth and name. + Such then the reverence to a guest, + That fellest foe might join the feast, + And from his deadliest foeman's door + Unquestioned turn the banquet o'er + At length his rank the stranger names, + 'The Knight of Snowdoun, James Fitz-James; + Lord of a barren heritage, + Which his brave sires, from age to age, + By their good swords had held with toil; + His sire had fallen in such turmoil, + And he, God wot, was forced to stand + Oft for his right with blade in hand. + This morning with Lord Moray's train + He chased a stalwart stag in vain, + Outstripped his comrades, missed the deer, + Lost his good steed, and wandered here.' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXX. + + Fain would the Knight in turn require + The name and state of Ellen's sire. + Well showed the elder lady's mien + That courts and cities she had seen; + Ellen, though more her looks displayed + The simple grace of sylvan maid, + In speech and gesture, form and face, + Showed she was come of gentle race. + 'T were strange in ruder rank to find + Such looks, such manners, and such mind. + Each hint the Knight of Snowdoun gave, + Dame Margaret heard with silence grave; + Or Ellen, innocently gay, + Turned all inquiry light away:— + 'Weird women we! by dale and down + We dwell, afar from tower and town. + We stem the flood, we ride the blast, + On wandering knights our spells we cast; + While viewless minstrels touch the string, + 'Tis thus our charmed rhymes we sing.' + She sung, and still a harp unseen + Filled up the symphony between. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXXI. + + Song. + + Soldier, rest! thy warfare o'er, + Sleep the sleep that knows not breaking; + Dream of battled fields no more, + Days of danger, nights of waking. + In our isle's enchanted hall, + Hands unseen thy couch are strewing, + Fairy strains of music fall, + Every sense in slumber dewing. + Soldier, rest! thy warfare o'er, + Dream of fighting fields no more; + Sleep the sleep that knows not breaking, + Morn of toil, nor night of waking. + + 'No rude sound shall reach thine ear, + Armor's clang or war-steed champing + Trump nor pibroch summon here + Mustering clan or squadron tramping. + Yet the lark's shrill fife may come + At the daybreak from the fallow, + And the bittern sound his drum + Booming from the sedgy shallow. + Ruder sounds shall none be near, + Guards nor warders challenge here, + Here's no war-steed's neigh and champing, + Shouting clans or squadrons stamping.' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXXII. + + She paused,—then, blushing, led the lay, + To grace the stranger of the day. + Her mellow notes awhile prolong + The cadence of the flowing song, + Till to her lips in measured frame + The minstrel verse spontaneous came. + + Song Continued. + + 'Huntsman, rest! thy chase is done; + While our slumbrous spells assail ye, + Dream not, with the rising sun, + Bugles here shall sound reveille. + Sleep! the deer is in his den; + Sleep! thy hounds are by thee lying; + Sleep! nor dream in yonder glen + How thy gallant steed lay dying. + Huntsman, rest! thy chase is done; + Think not of the rising sun, + For at dawning to assail ye + Here no bugles sound reveille.' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXXIII. + + The hall was cleared,—the stranger's bed, + Was there of mountain heather spread, + Where oft a hundred guests had lain, + And dreamed their forest sports again. + But vainly did the heath-flower shed + Its moorland fragrance round his head; + Not Ellen's spell had lulled to rest + The fever of his troubled breast. + In broken dreams the image rose + Of varied perils, pains, and woes: + His steed now flounders in the brake, + Now sinks his barge upon the lake; + Now leader of a broken host, + His standard falls, his honor's lost. + Then,—from my couch may heavenly might + Chase that worst phantom of the night!— + Again returned the scenes of youth, + Of confident, undoubting truth; + Again his soul he interchanged + With friends whose hearts were long estranged. + They come, in dim procession led, + The cold, the faithless, and the dead; + As warm each hand, each brow as gay, + As if they parted yesterday. + And doubt distracts him at the view,— + O were his senses false or true? + Dreamed he of death or broken vow, + Or is it all a vision now? +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXXIV. + + At length, with Ellen in a grove + He seemed to walk and speak of love; + She listened with a blush and sigh, + His suit was warm, his hopes were high. + He sought her yielded hand to clasp, + And a cold gauntlet met his grasp: + The phantom's sex was changed and gone, + Upon its head a helmet shone; + Slowly enlarged to giant size, + With darkened cheek and threatening eyes, + The grisly visage, stern and hoar, + To Ellen still a likeness bore.— + He woke, and, panting with affright, + Recalled the vision of the night. + The hearth's decaying brands were red + And deep and dusky lustre shed, + Half showing, half concealing, all + The uncouth trophies of the hall. + Mid those the stranger fixed his eye + Where that huge falchion hung on high, + And thoughts on thoughts, a countless throng, + Rushed, chasing countless thoughts along, + Until, the giddy whirl to cure, + He rose and sought the moonshine pure. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXXV. + + The wild rose, eglantine, and broom + Wasted around their rich perfume; + The birch-trees wept in fragrant balm; + The aspens slept beneath the calm; + The silver light, with quivering glance, + Played on the water's still expanse,— + Wild were the heart whose passion's sway + Could rage beneath the sober ray! + He felt its calm, that warrior guest, + While thus he communed with his breast:— + 'Why is it, at each turn I trace + Some memory of that exiled race? + Can I not mountain maiden spy, + But she must bear the Douglas eye? + Can I not view a Highland brand, + But it must match the Douglas hand? + Can I not frame a fevered dream, + But still the Douglas is the theme? + I'll dream no more,—by manly mind + Not even in sleep is will resigned. + My midnight orisons said o'er, + I'll turn to rest, and dream no more.' + His midnight orisons he told, + A prayer with every bead of gold, + Consigned to heaven his cares and woes, + And sunk in undisturbed repose, + Until the heath-cock shrilly crew, + And morning dawned on Benvenue. +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CANTO SECOND. + </h2> + <h3> + The Island. + </h3> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + I. + + At morn the black-cock trims his jetty wing, + 'T is morning prompts the linnet's blithest lay, + All Nature's children feel the matin spring + Of life reviving, with reviving day; + And while yon little bark glides down the bay, + Wafting the stranger on his way again, + Morn's genial influence roused a minstrel gray, + And sweetly o'er the lake was heard thy strain, + Mixed with the sounding harp, O white-haired Allan-bane! +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + II. + + Song. + + 'Not faster yonder rowers' might + Flings from their oars the spray, + Not faster yonder rippling bright, + That tracks the shallop's course in light, + Melts in the lake away, + Than men from memory erase + The benefits of former days; + Then, stranger, go! good speed the while, + Nor think again of the lonely isle. + + 'High place to thee in royal court, + High place in battled line, + Good hawk and hound for sylvan sport! + Where beauty sees the brave resort, + The honored meed be thine! + True be thy sword, thy friend sincere, + Thy lady constant, kind, and dear, + And lost in love's and friendship's smile + Be memory of the lonely isle! +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + III. + + Song Continued. + + 'But if beneath yon southern sky + A plaided stranger roam, + Whose drooping crest and stifled sigh, + And sunken cheek and heavy eye, + Pine for his Highland home; + Then, warrior, then be thine to show + The care that soothes a wanderer's woe; + Remember then thy hap erewhile, + A stranger in the lonely isle. + + 'Or if on life's uncertain main + Mishap shall mar thy sail; + If faithful, wise, and brave in vain, + Woe, want, and exile thou sustain + Beneath the fickle gale; + Waste not a sigh on fortune changed, + On thankless courts, or friends estranged, + But come where kindred worth shall smile, + To greet thee in the lonely isle.' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + IV. + + As died the sounds upon the tide, + The shallop reached the mainland side, + And ere his onward way he took, + The stranger cast a lingering look, + Where easily his eye might reach + The Harper on the islet beach, + Reclined against a blighted tree, + As wasted, gray, and worn as he. + To minstrel meditation given, + His reverend brow was raised to heaven, + As from the rising sun to claim + A sparkle of inspiring flame. + His hand, reclined upon the wire, + Seemed watching the awakening fire; + So still he sat as those who wait + Till judgment speak the doom of fate; + So still, as if no breeze might dare + To lift one lock of hoary hair; + So still, as life itself were fled + In the last sound his harp had sped. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + V. + + Upon a rock with lichens wild, + Beside him Ellen sat and smiled.— + Smiled she to see the stately drake + Lead forth his fleet upon the lake, + While her vexed spaniel from the beach + Bayed at the prize beyond his reach? + Yet tell me, then, the maid who knows, + Why deepened on her cheek the rose?— + Forgive, forgive, Fidelity! + Perchance the maiden smiled to see + Yon parting lingerer wave adieu, + And stop and turn to wave anew; + And, lovely ladies, ere your ire + Condemn the heroine of my lyre, + Show me the fair would scorn to spy + And prize such conquest of her eve! +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + VI. + + While yet he loitered on the spot, + It seemed as Ellen marked him not; + But when he turned him to the glade, + One courteous parting sign she made; + And after, oft the knight would say, + That not when prize of festal day + Was dealt him by the brightest fair + Who e'er wore jewel in her hair, + So highly did his bosom swell + As at that simple mute farewell. + Now with a trusty mountain-guide, + And his dark stag-hounds by his side, + He parts,—the maid, unconscious still, + Watched him wind slowly round the hill; + But when his stately form was hid, + The guardian in her bosom chid,— + 'Thy Malcolm! vain and selfish maid!' + 'T was thus upbraiding conscience said,— + 'Not so had Malcolm idly hung + On the smooth phrase of Southern tongue; + Not so had Malcolm strained his eye + Another step than thine to spy.'— + 'Wake, Allan-bane,' aloud she cried + To the old minstrel by her side,— + 'Arouse thee from thy moody dream! + I 'll give thy harp heroic theme, + And warm thee with a noble name; + Pour forth the glory of the Graeme!' + Scarce from her lip the word had rushed, + When deep the conscious maiden blushed; + For of his clan, in hall and bower, + Young Malcolm Graeme was held the flower. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + VII. + + The minstrel waked his harp,—three times + Arose the well-known martial chimes, + And thrice their high heroic pride + In melancholy murmurs died. + 'Vainly thou bidst, O noble maid,' + Clasping his withered hands, he said, + 'Vainly thou bidst me wake the strain, + Though all unwont to bid in vain. + Alas! than mine a mightier hand + Has tuned my harp, my strings has spanned! + I touch the chords of joy, but low + And mournful answer notes of woe; + And the proud march which victors tread + Sinks in the wailing for the dead. + O, well for me, if mine alone + That dirge's deep prophetic tone! + If, as my tuneful fathers said, + This harp, which erst Saint Modan swayed, + Can thus its master's fate foretell, + Then welcome be the minstrel's knell.' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + VIII. + + 'But ah! dear lady, thus it sighed, + The eve thy sainted mother died; + And such the sounds which, while I strove + To wake a lay of war or love, + Came marring all the festal mirth, + Appalling me who gave them birth, + And, disobedient to my call, + Wailed loud through Bothwell's bannered hall. + Ere Douglases, to ruin driven, + Were exiled from their native heaven.— + O! if yet worse mishap and woe + My master's house must undergo, + Or aught but weal to Ellen fair + Brood in these accents of despair, + No future bard, sad Harp! shall fling + Triumph or rapture from thy string; + One short, one final strain shall flow, + Fraught with unutterable woe, + Then shivered shall thy fragments lie, + Thy master cast him down and die!' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + IX. + + Soothing she answered him: 'Assuage, + Mine honored friend, the fears of age; + All melodies to thee are known + That harp has rung or pipe has blown, + In Lowland vale or Highland glen, + From Tweed to Spey—what marvel, then, + At times unbidden notes should rise, + Confusedly bound in memory's ties, + Entangling, as they rush along, + The war-march with the funeral song?— + Small ground is now for boding fear; + Obscure, but safe, we rest us here. + My sire, in native virtue great, + Resigning lordship, lands, and state, + Not then to fortune more resigned + Than yonder oak might give the wind; + The graceful foliage storms may reeve, + 'Fine noble stem they cannot grieve. + For me'—she stooped, and, looking round, + Plucked a blue harebell from the ground,— + 'For me, whose memory scarce conveys + An image of more splendid days, + This little flower that loves the lea + May well my simple emblem be; + It drinks heaven's dew as blithe as rose + That in the King's own garden grows; + And when I place it in my hair, + Allan, a bard is bound to swear + He ne'er saw coronet so fair.' + Then playfully the chaplet wild + She wreathed in her dark locks, and smiled. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + X. + + Her smile, her speech, with winning sway + Wiled the old Harper's mood away. + With such a look as hermits throw, + When angels stoop to soothe their woe + He gazed, till fond regret and pride + Thrilled to a tear, then thus replied: + 'Loveliest and best! thou little know'st + The rank, the honors, thou hast lost! + O. might I live to see thee grace, + In Scotland's court, thy birthright place, + To see my favorite's step advance + The lightest in the courtly dance, + The cause of every gallant's sigh, + And leading star of every eye, + And theme of every minstrel's art, + The Lady of the Bleeding Heart!' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XI. + + 'Fair dreams are these,' the maiden cried,— + Light was her accent, yet she sighed,— + 'Yet is this mossy rock to me + Worth splendid chair and canopy; + Nor would my footstep spring more gay + In courtly dance than blithe strathspey, + Nor half so pleased mine ear incline + To royal minstrel's lay as thine. + And then for suitors proud and high, + To bend before my conquering eye,— + Thou, flattering bard! thyself wilt say, + That grim Sir Roderick owns its sway. + The Saxon scourge, Clan-Alpine's pride, + The terror of Loch Lomond's side, + Would, at my suit, thou know'st, delay + A Lennox foray—for a day.'— +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XII.. + + The ancient bard her glee repressed: + 'Ill hast thou chosen theme for jest! + For who, through all this western wild, + Named Black Sir Roderick e'er, and smiled? + In Holy-Rood a knight he slew; + I saw, when back the dirk he drew, + Courtiers give place before the stride + Of the undaunted homicide; + And since, though outlawed, hath his hand + Full sternly kept his mountain land. + + Who else dared give—ah! woe the day, + That I such hated truth should say!— + The Douglas, like a stricken deer, + Disowned by every noble peer, + Even the rude refuge we have here? + Alas, this wild marauding + Chief Alone might hazard our relief, + And now thy maiden charms expand, + Looks for his guerdon in thy hand; + Full soon may dispensation sought, + To back his suit, from Rome be brought. + Then, though an exile on the hill, + Thy father, as the Douglas, still + Be held in reverence and fear; + And though to Roderick thou'rt so dear + That thou mightst guide with silken thread. + Slave of thy will, this chieftain dread, + Yet, O loved maid, thy mirth refrain! + Thy hand is on a lion's mane.'— +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XIII. + + Minstrel,' the maid replied, and high + Her father's soul glanced from her eye, + 'My debts to Roderick's house I know: + All that a mother could bestow + To Lady Margaret's care I owe, + Since first an orphan in the wild + She sorrowed o'er her sister's child; + To her brave chieftain son, from ire + Of Scotland's king who shrouds my sire, + A deeper, holier debt is owed; + And, could I pay it with my blood, Allan! + Sir Roderick should command + My blood, my life,—but not my hand. + Rather will Ellen Douglas dwell + A votaress in Maronnan's cell; + Rather through realms beyond the sea, + Seeking the world's cold charity + Where ne'er was spoke a Scottish word, + And ne'er the name of Douglas heard + An outcast pilgrim will she rove, + Than wed the man she cannot love. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XIV. + + 'Thou shak'st, good friend, thy tresses gray,— + That pleading look, what can it say + But what I own?—I grant him brave, + But wild as Bracklinn's thundering wave; + And generous,—save vindictive mood + Or jealous transport chafe his blood: + I grant him true to friendly band, + As his claymore is to his hand; + But O! that very blade of steel + More mercy for a foe would feel: + I grant him liberal, to fling + Among his clan the wealth they bring, + When back by lake and glen they wind, + And in the Lowland leave behind, + Where once some pleasant hamlet stood, + A mass of ashes slaked with blood. + The hand that for my father fought + I honor, as his daughter ought; + But can I clasp it reeking red + From peasants slaughtered in their shed? + No! wildly while his virtues gleam, + They make his passions darker seem, + And flash along his spirit high, + Like lightning o'er the midnight sky. + While yet a child,—and children know, + Instinctive taught, the friend and foe,— + I shuddered at his brow of gloom, + His shadowy plaid and sable plume; + A maiden grown, I ill could bear + His haughty mien and lordly air: + But, if thou join'st a suitor's claim, + In serious mood, to Roderick's name. + I thrill with anguish! or, if e'er + A Douglas knew the word, with fear. + To change such odious theme were best,— + What think'st thou of our stranger guest? '— +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XV. + + 'What think I of him?—woe the while + That brought such wanderer to our isle! + Thy father's battle-brand, of yore + For Tine-man forged by fairy lore, + What time he leagued, no longer foes + His Border spears with Hotspur's bows, + Did, self-unscabbarded, foreshow + The footstep of a secret foe. + If courtly spy hath harbored here, + What may we for the Douglas fear? + What for this island, deemed of old + Clan-Alpine's last and surest hold? + If neither spy nor foe, I pray + What yet may jealous Roderick say?— + Nay, wave not thy disdainful head! + Bethink thee of the discord dread + That kindled when at Beltane game + Thou least the dance with Malcolm Graeme; + Still, though thy sire the peace renewed + Smoulders in Roderick's breast the feud: + Beware!—But hark! what sounds are these? + My dull ears catch no faltering breeze + No weeping birch nor aspens wake, + Nor breath is dimpling in the lake; + Still is the canna's hoary beard, + Yet, by my minstrel faith, I heard— + And hark again! some pipe of war + Sends the hold pibroch from afar.' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XVI. + + Far up the lengthened lake were spied + Four darkening specks upon the tide, + That, slow enlarging on the view, + Four manned and massed barges grew, + And, bearing downwards from Glengyle, + Steered full upon the lonely isle; + The point of Brianchoil they passed, + And, to the windward as they cast, + Against the sun they gave to shine + The bold Sir Roderick's bannered Pine. + Nearer and nearer as they bear, + Spears, pikes, and axes flash in air. + Now might you see the tartars brave, + And plaids and plumage dance and wave: + Now see the bonnets sink and rise, + As his tough oar the rower plies; + See, flashing at each sturdy stroke, + The wave ascending into smoke; + See the proud pipers on the bow, + And mark the gaudy streamers flow + From their loud chanters down, and sweep + The furrowed bosom of the deep, + As, rushing through the lake amain, + They plied the ancient Highland strain. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XVII. + + Ever, as on they bore, more loud + And louder rung the pibroch proud. + At first the sounds, by distance tame, + Mellowed along the waters came, + And, lingering long by cape and bay, + Wailed every harsher note away, + Then bursting bolder on the ear, + The clan's shrill Gathering they could hear, + Those thrilling sounds that call the might + Of old Clan-Alpine to the fight. + Thick beat the rapid notes, as when + The mustering hundreds shake the glen, + And hurrying at the signal dread, + 'Fine battered earth returns their tread. + Then prelude light, of livelier tone, + Expressed their merry marching on, + Ere peal of closing battle rose, + With mingled outcry, shrieks, and blows; + And mimic din of stroke and ward, + As broadsword upon target jarred; + And groaning pause, ere yet again, + Condensed, the battle yelled amain: + The rapid charge, the rallying shout, + Retreat borne headlong into rout, + And bursts of triumph, to declare + Clan-Alpine's congest—all were there. + Nor ended thus the strain, but slow + Sunk in a moan prolonged and low, + And changed the conquering clarion swell + For wild lament o'er those that fell. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XVIII. + + The war-pipes ceased, but lake and hill + Were busy with their echoes still; + And, when they slept, a vocal strain + Bade their hoarse chorus wake again, + While loud a hundred clansmen raise + Their voices in their Chieftain's praise. + Each boatman, bending to his oar, + With measured sweep the burden bore, + In such wild cadence as the breeze + Makes through December's leafless trees. + The chorus first could Allan know, + 'Roderick Vich Alpine, ho! fro!' + And near, and nearer as they rowed, + Distinct the martial ditty flowed. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XIX. + + Boat Song + + Hail to the Chief who in triumph advances! + Honored and blessed be the ever-green Pine! + Long may the tree, in his banner that glances, + Flourish, the shelter and grace of our line! + Heaven send it happy dew, + Earth lend it sap anew, + Gayly to bourgeon and broadly to grow, + While every Highland glen + Sends our shout back again, + 'Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho! ieroe!' + + Ours is no sapling, chance-sown by the fountain, + + Blooming at Beltane, in winter to fade; + When the whirlwind has stripped every leaf on the mountain, + The more shall Clan-Alpine exult in her shade. + Moored in the rifted rock, + Proof to the tempest's shock, + Firmer he roots him the ruder it blow; + Menteith and Breadalbane, then, + Echo his praise again, + 'Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho! ieroe!' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XX. + + Proudly our pibroch has thrilled in Glen Fruin, + And Bannochar's groans to our slogan replied; + Glen Luss and Ross-dhu, they are smoking in ruin, + And the best of Loch Lomond lie dead on her side. + Widow and Saxon maid + Long shall lament our raid, + Think of Clan-Alpine with fear and with woe; + Lennox and Leven-glen + Shake when they hear again, + 'Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho! ieroe!' + + Row, vassals, row, for the pride of the Highlands! + Stretch to your oars for the ever-green Pine! + O that the rosebud that graces yon islands + Were wreathed in a garland around him to twine! + O that some seedling gem, + Worthy such noble stem, + Honored and blessed in their shadow might grow! + Loud should Clan-Alpine then + Ring from her deepmost glen, + Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho! ieroe!' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXI. + + With all her joyful female band + Had Lady Margaret sought the strand. + Loose on the breeze their tresses flew, + And high their snowy arms they threw, + As echoing back with shrill acclaim, + And chorus wild, the Chieftain's name; + While, prompt to please, with mother's art + The darling passion of his heart, + The Dame called Ellen to the strand, + To greet her kinsman ere he land: + 'Come, loiterer, come! a Douglas thou, + And shun to wreathe a victor's brow?' + Reluctantly and slow, the maid + The unwelcome summoning obeyed, + And when a distant bugle rung, + In the mid-path aside she sprung:— + 'List, Allan-bane! From mainland cast + I hear my father's signal blast. + Be ours,' she cried, 'the skiff to guide, + And waft him from the mountain-side.' + Then, like a sunbeam, swift and bright, + She darted to her shallop light, + And, eagerly while Roderick scanned, + For her dear form, his mother's band, + The islet far behind her lay, + And she had landed in the bay. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXII. + + Some feelings are to mortals given + With less of earth in them than heaven; + And if there be a human tear + From passion's dross refined and clear, + A tear so limpid and so meek + It would not stain an angel's cheek, + 'Tis that which pious fathers shed + Upon a duteous daughter's head! + And as the Douglas to his breast + His darling Ellen closely pressed, + Such holy drops her tresses steeped, + Though 't was an hero's eye that weeped. + Nor while on Ellen's faltering tongue + Her filial welcomes crowded hung, + Marked she that fear—affection's proof— + Still held a graceful youth aloof; + No! not till Douglas named his name, + Although the youth was Malcolm Graeme. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXIII. + + Allan, with wistful look the while, + Marked Roderick landing on the isle; + His master piteously he eyed, + Then gazed upon the Chieftain's pride, + Then dashed with hasty hand away + From his dimmed eye the gathering spray; + And Douglas, as his hand he laid + On Malcolm's shoulder, kindly said: + 'Canst thou, young friend, no meaning spy + In my poor follower's glistening eye? + I 'll tell thee:—he recalls the day + When in my praise he led the lay + O'er the arched gate of Bothwell proud, + While many a minstrel answered loud, + When Percy's Norman pennon, won + In bloody field, before me shone, + And twice ten knights, the least a name + As mighty as yon Chief may claim, + Gracing my pomp, behind me came. + Yet trust me, Malcolm, not so proud + Was I of all that marshalled crowd, + Though the waned crescent owned my might, + And in my train trooped lord and knight, + Though Blantyre hymned her holiest lays, + And Bothwell's bards flung back my praise, + As when this old man's silent tear, + And this poor maid's affection dear, + A welcome give more kind and true + Than aught my better fortunes knew. + Forgive, my friend, a father's boast,— + O, it out-beggars all I lost!' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXIV. + + Delightful praise!—like summer rose, + That brighter in the dew-drop glows, + The bashful maiden's cheek appeared, + For Douglas spoke, and Malcolm heard. + The flush of shame-faced joy to hide, + The hounds, the hawk, her cares divide; + The loved caresses of the maid + The dogs with crouch and whimper paid; + And, at her whistle, on her hand + The falcon took his favorite stand, + Closed his dark wing, relaxed his eye, + Nor, though unhooded, sought to fly. + And, trust, while in such guise she stood, + Like fabled Goddess of the wood, + That if a father's partial thought + O'erweighed her worth and beauty aught, + Well might the lover's judgment fail + To balance with a juster scale; + For with each secret glance he stole, + The fond enthusiast sent his soul. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXV. + + Of stature fair, and slender frame, + But firmly knit, was Malcolm Graeme. + The belted plaid and tartan hose + Did ne'er more graceful limbs disclose; + His flaxen hair, of sunny hue, + Curled closely round his bonnet blue. + Trained to the chase, his eagle eye + The ptarmigan in snow could spy; + Each pass, by mountain, lake, and heath, + He knew, through Lennox and Menteith; + Vain was the bound of dark-brown doe + When Malcolm bent his sounding bow, + And scarce that doe, though winged with fear, + Outstripped in speed the mountaineer: + Right up Ben Lomond could he press, + And not a sob his toil confess. + His form accorded with a mind + Lively and ardent, frank and kind; + A blither heart, till Ellen came + Did never love nor sorrow tame; + It danced as lightsome in his breast + As played the feather on his crest. + Yet friends, who nearest knew the youth + His scorn of wrong, his zeal for truth + And bards, who saw his features bold + When kindled by the tales of old + Said, were that youth to manhood grown, + Not long should Roderick Dhu's renown + Be foremost voiced by mountain fame, + But quail to that of Malcolm Graeme. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXVI. + + Now back they wend their watery way, + And, 'O my sire!' did Ellen say, + 'Why urge thy chase so far astray? + And why so late returned? And why '— + The rest was in her speaking eye. + 'My child, the chase I follow far, + 'Tis mimicry of noble war; + And with that gallant pastime reft + Were all of Douglas I have left. + I met young Malcolm as I strayed + Far eastward, in Glenfinlas' shade + Nor strayed I safe, for all around + Hunters and horsemen scoured the ground. + This youth, though still a royal ward, + Risked life and land to be my guard, + And through the passes of the wood + Guided my steps, not unpursued; + And Roderick shall his welcome make, + Despite old spleen, for Douglas' sake. + Then must he seek Strath-Endrick glen + Nor peril aught for me again.' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXVII. + + Sir Roderick, who to meet them came, + Reddened at sight of Malcolm Graeme, + Yet, not in action, word, or eye, + Failed aught in hospitality. + In talk and sport they whiled away + The morning of that summer day; + But at high noon a courier light + Held secret parley with the knight, + Whose moody aspect soon declared + That evil were the news he heard. + Deep thought seemed toiling in his head; + Yet was the evening banquet made + Ere he assembled round the flame + His mother, Douglas, and the Graeme, + And Ellen too; then cast around + His eyes, then fixed them on the ground, + As studying phrase that might avail + Best to convey unpleasant tale. + Long with his dagger's hilt he played, + Then raised his haughty brow, and said:— +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXVIII. + + 'Short be my speech;—nor time affords, + Nor my plain temper, glozing words. + Kinsman and father,—if such name + Douglas vouchsafe to Roderick's claim; + Mine honored mother;—Ellen,—why, + My cousin, turn away thine eye?— + And Graeme, in whom I hope to know + Full soon a noble friend or foe, + When age shall give thee thy command, + And leading in thy native land,— + List all!—The King's vindictive pride + Boasts to have tamed the Border-side, + Where chiefs, with hound and trawl; who came + To share their monarch's sylvan game, + Themselves in bloody toils were snared, + And when the banquet they prepared, + And wide their loyal portals flung, + O'er their own gateway struggling hung. + Loud cries their blood from Meggat's mead, + From Yarrow braes and banks of Tweed, + Where the lone streams of Ettrick glide, + And from the silver Teviot's side; + The dales, where martial clans did ride, + Are now one sheep-walk, waste and wide. + This tyrant of the Scottish throne, + So faithless and so ruthless known, + Now hither comes; his end the same, + The same pretext of sylvan game. + What grace for Highland Chiefs, judge ye + By fate of Border chivalry. + Yet more; amid Glenfinlas' green, + Douglas, thy stately form was seen. + This by espial sure I know: + Your counsel in the streight I show.' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXIX. + + Ellen and Margaret fearfully + Sought comfort in each other's eye, + Then turned their ghastly look, each one, + This to her sire, that to her son. + The hasty color went and came + In the bold cheek of Malcohm Graeme, + But from his glance it well appeared + 'T was but for Ellen that he feared; + While, sorrowful, but undismayed, + The Douglas thus his counsel said: + 'Brave Roderick, though the tempest roar, + It may but thunder and pass o'er; + Nor will I here remain an hour, + To draw the lightning on thy bower; + For well thou know'st, at this gray head + The royal bolt were fiercest sped. + For thee, who, at thy King's command, + Canst aid him with a gallant band, + Submission, homage, humbled pride, + Shall turn the Monarch's wrath aside. + Poor remnants of the Bleeding Heart, + Ellen and I will seek apart + The refuge of some forest cell, + There, like the hunted quarry, dwell, + Till on the mountain and the moor + The stern pursuit be passed and o'er,'— +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXX. + + 'No, by mine honor,' Roderick said, + 'So help me Heaven, and my good blade! + No, never! Blasted be yon Pine, + My father's ancient crest and mine, + If from its shade in danger part + The lineage of the Bleeding Heart! + Hear my blunt speech: grant me this maid + To wife, thy counsel to mine aid; + To Douglas, leagued with Roderick Dhu, + Will friends and allies flock enow; + Like cause of doubt, distrust, and grief, + Will bind to us each Western Chief + When the loud pipes my bridal tell, + The Links of Forth shall hear the knell, + The guards shall start in Stirling's porch; + And when I light the nuptial torch, + A thousand villages in flames + Shall scare the slumbers of King James!— + Nay, Ellen, blench not thus away, + And, mother, cease these signs, I pray; + I meant not all my heat might say.— + Small need of inroad or of fight, + When the sage Douglas may unite + Each mountain clan in friendly band, + To guard the passes of their land, + Till the foiled King from pathless glen + Shall bootless turn him home again.' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXXI. + + There are who have, at midnight hour, + In slumber scaled a dizzy tower, + And, on the verge that beetled o'er + The ocean tide's incessant roar, + Dreamed calmly out their dangerous dream, + Till wakened by the morning beam; + When, dazzled by the eastern glow, + Such startler cast his glance below, + And saw unmeasured depth around, + And heard unintermitted sound, + And thought the battled fence so frail, + It waved like cobweb in the gale; + Amid his senses' giddy wheel, + Did he not desperate impulse feel, + Headlong to plunge himself below, + And meet the worst his fears foreshow?— + Thus Ellen, dizzy and astound, + As sudden ruin yawned around, + By crossing terrors wildly tossed, + Still for the Douglas fearing most, + Could scarce the desperate thought withstand, + To buy his safety with her hand. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXXII. + + Such purpose dread could Malcolm spy + In Ellen's quivering lip and eye, + And eager rose to speak,—but ere + His tongue could hurry forth his fear, + Had Douglas marked the hectic strife, + Where death seemed combating with life; + For to her cheek, in feverish flood, + One instant rushed the throbbing blood, + Then ebbing back, with sudden sway, + Left its domain as wan as clay. + 'Roderick, enough! enough!' he cried, + 'My daughter cannot be thy bride; + Not that the blush to wooer dear, + Nor paleness that of maiden fear. + It may not be,—forgive her, + Chief, Nor hazard aught for our relief. + Against his sovereign, Douglas ne'er + Will level a rebellious spear. + 'T was I that taught his youthful hand + To rein a steed and wield a brand; + I see him yet, the princely boy! + Not Ellen more my pride and joy; + I love him still, despite my wrongs + By hasty wrath and slanderous tongues. + O. seek the grace you well may find, + Without a cause to mine combined!' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXXIII. + + Twice through the hall the Chieftain strode; + The waving of his tartars broad, + And darkened brow, where wounded pride + With ire and disappointment vied + Seemed, by the torch's gloomy light, + Like the ill Demon of the night, + Stooping his pinions' shadowy sway + Upon the righted pilgrim's way: + But, unrequited Love! thy dart + Plunged deepest its envenomed smart, + And Roderick, with thine anguish stung, + At length the hand of Douglas wrung, + While eyes that mocked at tears before + With bitter drops were running o'er. + The death-pangs of long-cherished hope + Scarce in that ample breast had scope + But, struggling with his spirit proud, + Convulsive heaved its checkered shroud, + While every sob—so mute were all + Was heard distinctly through the ball. + The son's despair, the mother's look, + III might the gentle Ellen brook; + She rose, and to her side there came, + To aid her parting steps, the Graeme. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXXIV. + + Then Roderick from the Douglas broke— + As flashes flame through sable smoke, + Kindling its wreaths, long, dark, and low, + To one broad blaze of ruddy glow, + So the deep anguish of despair + Burst, in fierce jealousy, to air. + With stalwart grasp his hand he laid + On Malcolm's breast and belted plaid: + 'Back, beardless boy!' he sternly said, + 'Back, minion! holdst thou thus at naught + The lesson I so lately taught? + This roof, the Douglas, and that maid, + Thank thou for punishment delayed.' + Eager as greyhound on his game, + Fiercely with Roderick grappled Graeme. + 'Perish my name, if aught afford + Its Chieftain safety save his sword!' + Thus as they strove their desperate hand + Griped to the dagger or the brand, + And death had been—but Douglas rose, + And thrust between the struggling foes + His giant strength:—' Chieftains, forego! + I hold the first who strikes my foe.— + Madmen, forbear your frantic jar! + What! is the Douglas fallen so far, + His daughter's hand is deemed the spoil + Of such dishonorable broil?' + Sullen and slowly they unclasp, + As struck with shame, their desperate grasp, + And each upon his rival glared, + With foot advanced and blade half bared. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXXV. + + Ere yet the brands aloft were flung, + Margaret on Roderick's mantle hung, + And Malcolm heard his Ellen's scream, + As faltered through terrific dream. + Then Roderick plunged in sheath his sword, + And veiled his wrath in scornful word:' + Rest safe till morning; pity 't were + Such cheek should feel the midnight air! + Then mayst thou to James Stuart tell, + Roderick will keep the lake and fell, + Nor lackey with his freeborn clan + The pageant pomp of earthly man. + More would he of Clan-Alpine know, + Thou canst our strength and passes show.— + Malise, what ho!'—his henchman came: + 'Give our safe-conduct to the Graeme.' + Young Malcolm answered, calm and bold:' + Fear nothing for thy favorite hold; + The spot an angel deigned to grace + Is blessed, though robbers haunt the place. + Thy churlish courtesy for those + Reserve, who fear to be thy foes. + As safe to me the mountain way + At midnight as in blaze of day, + Though with his boldest at his back + Even Roderick Dhu beset the track.— + Brave Douglas,—lovely Ellen,—nay, + Naught here of parting will I say. + Earth does not hold a lonesome glen + So secret but we meet again.— + Chieftain! we too shall find an hour,'— + He said, and left the sylvan bower. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXXVI. + + Old Allan followed to the strand— + Such was the Douglas's command— + And anxious told, how, on the morn, + The stern Sir Roderick deep had sworn, + The Fiery Cross should circle o'er + Dale, glen, and valley, down and moor + Much were the peril to the Graeme + From those who to the signal came; + Far up the lake 't were safest land, + Himself would row him to the strand. + He gave his counsel to the wind, + While Malcolm did, unheeding, bind, + Round dirk and pouch and broadsword rolled, + His ample plaid in tightened fold, + And stripped his limbs to such array + As best might suit the watery way,— +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXXVII. + + Then spoke abrupt: 'Farewell to thee, + Pattern of old fidelity!' + The Minstrel's hand he kindly pressed,— + 'O, could I point a place of rest! + My sovereign holds in ward my land, + My uncle leads my vassal band; + To tame his foes, his friends to aid, + Poor Malcolm has but heart and blade. + Yet, if there be one faithful Graeme + Who loves the chieftain of his name, + Not long shall honored Douglas dwell + Like hunted stag in mountain cell; + Nor, ere yon pride-swollen robber dare,— + I may not give the rest to air! + Tell Roderick Dhu I owed him naught, + Not tile poor service of a boat, + To waft me to yon mountain-side.' + Then plunged he in the flashing tide. + Bold o'er the flood his head he bore, + And stoutly steered him from the shore; + And Allan strained his anxious eye, + Far mid the lake his form to spy, + Darkening across each puny wave, + To which the moon her silver gave. + Fast as the cormorant could skim. + The swimmer plied each active limb; + Then landing in the moonlight dell, + Loud shouted of his weal to tell. + The Minstrel heard the far halloo, + And joyful from the shore withdrew. +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CANTO THIRD. + </h2> + <h3> + The Gathering. + </h3> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + I. + + Time rolls his ceaseless course. The race of yore, + Who danced our infancy upon their knee, + And told our marvelling boyhood legends store + Of their strange ventures happed by land or sea, + How are they blotted from the things that be! + How few, all weak and withered of their force, + Wait on the verge of dark eternity, + Like stranded wrecks, the tide returning hoarse, + To sweep them from out sight! Time rolls his ceaseless course. + + Yet live there still who can remember well, + How, when a mountain chief his bugle blew, + Both field and forest, dingle, cliff; and dell, + And solitary heath, the signal knew; + And fast the faithful clan around him drew. + What time the warning note was keenly wound, + What time aloft their kindred banner flew, + While clamorous war-pipes yelled the gathering sound, + And while the Fiery Cross glanced like a meteor, round. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + II. + + The Summer dawn's reflected hue + To purple changed Loch Katrine blue; + Mildly and soft the western breeze + Just kissed the lake, just stirred the trees, + And the pleased lake, like maiden coy, + Trembled but dimpled not for joy + The mountain-shadows on her breast + Were neither broken nor at rest; + In bright uncertainty they lie, + Like future joys to Fancy's eye. + The water-lily to the light + Her chalice reared of silver bright; + The doe awoke, and to the lawn, + Begemmed with dew-drops, led her fawn; + The gray mist left the mountain-side, + The torrent showed its glistening pride; + Invisible in flecked sky The lark sent clown her revelry: + The blackbird and the speckled thrush + Good-morrow gave from brake and bush; + In answer cooed the cushat dove + Her notes of peace and rest and love. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + III. + + No thought of peace, no thought of rest, + Assuaged the storm in Roderick's breast. + With sheathed broadsword in his hand, + Abrupt he paced the islet strand, + And eyed the rising sun, and laid + His hand on his impatient blade. + Beneath a rock, his vassals' care + Was prompt the ritual to prepare, + With deep and deathful meaning fraught; + For such Antiquity had taught + Was preface meet, ere yet abroad + The Cross of Fire should take its road. + The shrinking band stood oft aghast + At the impatient glance he cast;— + Such glance the mountain eagle threw, + As, from the cliffs of Benvenue, + She spread her dark sails on the wind, + And, high in middle heaven reclined, + With her broad shadow on the lake, + Silenced the warblers of the brake. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + IV. + + A heap of withered boughs was piled, + Of juniper and rowan wild, + Mingled with shivers from the oak, + Rent by the lightning's recent stroke. + Brian the Hermit by it stood, + Barefooted, in his frock and hood. + His grizzled beard and matted hair + Obscured a visage of despair; + His naked arms and legs, seamed o'er, + The scars of frantic penance bore. + That monk, of savage form and face + The impending danger of his race + Had drawn from deepest solitude + Far in Benharrow's bosom rude. + Not his the mien of Christian priest, + But Druid's, from the grave released + Whose hardened heart and eye might brook + On human sacrifice to look; + And much, 't was said, of heathen lore + Mixed in the charms he muttered o'er. + The hallowed creed gave only worse + And deadlier emphasis of curse. + No peasant sought that Hermit's prayer + His cave the pilgrim shunned with care, + The eager huntsman knew his bound + And in mid chase called off his hound;' + Or if, in lonely glen or strath, + The desert-dweller met his path + He prayed, and signed the cross between, + While terror took devotion's mien. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + V. + + Of Brian's birth strange tales were told. + His mother watched a midnight fold, + Built deep within a dreary glen, + Where scattered lay the bones of men + In some forgotten battle slain, + And bleached by drifting wind and rain. + It might have tamed a warrior's heart + To view such mockery of his art! + The knot-grass fettered there the hand + Which once could burst an iron band; + Beneath the broad and ample bone, + That bucklered heart to fear unknown, + A feeble and a timorous guest, + The fieldfare framed her lowly nest; + There the slow blindworm left his slime + On the fleet limbs that mocked at time; + And there, too, lay the leader's skull + Still wreathed with chaplet, flushed and full, + For heath-bell with her purple bloom + Supplied the bonnet and the plume. + All night, in this sad glen the maid + Sat shrouded in her mantle's shade: + She said no shepherd sought her side, + No hunter's hand her snood untied. + Yet ne'er again to braid her hair + The virgin snood did Alive wear; + Gone was her maiden glee and sport, + Her maiden girdle all too short, + Nor sought she, from that fatal night, + Or holy church or blessed rite + But locked her secret in her breast, + And died in travail, unconfessed. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + VI. + + Alone, among his young compeers, + Was Brian from his infant years; + A moody and heart-broken boy, + Estranged from sympathy and joy + Bearing each taunt which careless tongue + On his mysterious lineage flung. + Whole nights he spent by moonlight pale + To wood and stream his teal, to wail, + Till, frantic, he as truth received + What of his birth the crowd believed, + And sought, in mist and meteor fire, + To meet and know his Phantom Sire! + In vain, to soothe his wayward fate, + The cloister oped her pitying gate; + In vain the learning of the age + Unclasped the sable-lettered page; + Even in its treasures he could find + Food for the fever of his mind. + Eager he read whatever tells + Of magic, cabala, and spells, + And every dark pursuit allied + To curious and presumptuous pride; + Till with fired brain and nerves o'erstrung, + And heart with mystic horrors wrung, + Desperate he sought Benharrow's den, + And hid him from the haunts of men. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + VII. + + The desert gave him visions wild, + Such as might suit the spectre's child. + Where with black cliffs the torrents toil, + He watched the wheeling eddies boil, + Jill from their foam his dazzled eyes + Beheld the River Demon rise: + The mountain mist took form and limb + Of noontide hag or goblin grim; + The midnight wind came wild and dread, + Swelled with the voices of the dead; + Far on the future battle-heath + His eye beheld the ranks of death: + Thus the lone Seer, from mankind hurled, + Shaped forth a disembodied world. + One lingering sympathy of mind + Still bound him to the mortal kind; + The only parent he could claim + Of ancient Alpine's lineage came. + Late had he heard, in prophet's dream, + The fatal Ben-Shie's boding scream; + Sounds, too, had come in midnight blast + Of charging steeds, careering fast + Along Benharrow's shingly side, + Where mortal horseman ne'er might ride; + The thunderbolt had split the pine,— + All augured ill to Alpine's line. + He girt his loins, and came to show + The signals of impending woe, + And now stood prompt to bless or ban, + As bade the Chieftain of his clan. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + VIII. + + 'T was all prepared;—and from the rock + A goat, the patriarch of the flock, + Before the kindling pile was laid, + And pierced by Roderick's ready blade. + Patient the sickening victim eyed + The life-blood ebb in crimson tide + Down his clogged beard and shaggy limb, + Till darkness glazed his eyeballs dim. + The grisly priest, with murmuring prayer, + A slender crosslet framed with care, + A cubit's length in measure due; + The shaft and limbs were rods of yew, + Whose parents in Inch-Cailliach wave + Their shadows o'er Clan-Alpine's grave, + And, answering Lomond's breezes deep, + Soothe many a chieftain's endless sleep. + The Cross thus formed he held on high, + With wasted hand and haggard eye, + And strange and mingled feelings woke, + While his anathema he spoke:— +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + IX. + + 'Woe to the clansman who shall view + This symbol of sepulchral yew, + Forgetful that its branches grew + Where weep the heavens their holiest dew + On Alpine's dwelling low! + Deserter of his Chieftain's trust, + He ne'er shall mingle with their dust, + But, from his sires and kindred thrust, + Each clansman's execration just + Shall doom him wrath and woe.' + He paused;—the word the vassals took, + With forward step and fiery look, + On high their naked brands they shook, + Their clattering targets wildly strook; + And first in murmur low, + Then like the billow in his course, + That far to seaward finds his source, + And flings to shore his mustered force, + Burst with loud roar their answer hoarse, + 'Woe to the traitor, woe!' + Ben-an's gray scalp the accents knew, + The joyous wolf from covert drew, + The exulting eagle screamed afar,— + They knew the voice of Alpine's war. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + X. + + The shout was hushed on lake and fell, + The Monk resumed his muttered spell: + Dismal and low its accents came, + The while he scathed the Cross with flame; + And the few words that reached the air, + Although the holiest name was there, + Had more of blasphemy than prayer. + But when he shook above the crowd + Its kindled points, he spoke aloud:— + 'Woe to the wretch who fails to rear + At this dread sign the ready spear! + For, as the flames this symbol sear, + His home, the refuge of his fear, + A kindred fate shall know; + Far o'er its roof the volumed flame + Clan-Alpine's vengeance shall proclaim, + While maids and matrons on his name + Shall call down wretchedness and shame, + And infamy and woe.' + Then rose the cry of females, shrill + As goshawk's whistle on the hill, + Denouncing misery and ill, + Mingled with childhood's babbling trill + Of curses stammered slow; + Answering with imprecation dread, + 'Sunk be his home in embers red! + And cursed be the meanest shed + That o'er shall hide the houseless head + We doom to want and woe!' + A sharp and shrieking echo gave, + Coir-Uriskin, thy goblin cave! + And the gray pass where birches wave + On Beala-nam-bo. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XI. + + Then deeper paused the priest anew, + And hard his laboring breath he drew, + While, with set teeth and clenched hand, + And eyes that glowed like fiery brand, + He meditated curse more dread, + And deadlier, on the clansman's head + Who, summoned to his chieftain's aid, + The signal saw and disobeyed. + The crosslet's points of sparkling wood + He quenched among the bubbling blood. + And, as again the sign he reared, + Hollow and hoarse his voice was heard: + 'When flits this Cross from man to man, + Vich-Alpine's summons to his clan, + Burst be the ear that fails to heed! + Palsied the foot that shuns to speed! + May ravens tear the careless eyes, + Wolves make the coward heart their prize! + As sinks that blood-stream in the earth, + So may his heart's-blood drench his hearth! + As dies in hissing gore the spark, + Quench thou his light, Destruction dark! + And be the grace to him denied, + Bought by this sign to all beside! + He ceased; no echo gave again + The murmur of the deep Amen. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XII. + + Then Roderick with impatient look + From Brian's hand the symbol took: + 'Speed, Malise, speed' he said, and gave + The crosslet to his henchman brave. + 'The muster-place be Lanrick mead— + Instant the time—-speed, Malise, speed!' + Like heath-bird, when the hawks pursue, + A barge across Loch Katrine flew: + High stood the henchman on the prow; + So rapidly the barge-mall row, + The bubbles, where they launched the boat, + Were all unbroken and afloat, + Dancing in foam and ripple still, + When it had neared the mainland hill; + And from the silver beach's side + Still was the prow three fathom wide, + When lightly bounded to the land + The messenger of blood and brand. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XIII. + + Speed, Malise, speed! the dun deer's hide + On fleeter foot was never tied. + Speed, Malise, speed! such cause of haste + Thine active sinews never braced. + Bend 'gainst the steepy hill thy breast, + Burst down like torrent from its crest; + With short and springing footstep pass + The trembling bog and false morass; + Across the brook like roebuck bound, + And thread the brake like questing hound; + The crag is high, the scaur is deep, + Yet shrink not from the desperate leap: + Parched are thy burning lips and brow, + Yet by the fountain pause not now; + Herald of battle, fate, and fear, + Stretch onward in thy fleet career! + The wounded hind thou track'st not now, + Pursuest not maid through greenwood bough, + Nor priest thou now thy flying pace + With rivals in the mountain race; + But danger, death, and warrior deed + Are in thy course—speed, Malise, speed! +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XIV. + + Fast as the fatal symbol flies, + In arms the huts and hamlets rise; + From winding glen, from upland brown, + They poured each hardy tenant down. + Nor slacked the messenger his pace; + He showed the sign, he named the place, + And, pressing forward like the wind, + Left clamor and surprise behind. + The fisherman forsook the strand, + The swarthy smith took dirk and brand; + With changed cheer, the mower blithe + Left in the half-cut swath his scythe; + The herds without a keeper strayed, + The plough was in mid-furrow staved, + The falconer tossed his hawk away, + The hunter left the stag at hay; + Prompt at the signal of alarms, + Each son of Alpine rushed to arms; + So swept the tumult and affray + Along the margin of Achray. + Alas, thou lovely lake! that e'er + Thy banks should echo sounds of fear! + The rocks, the bosky thickets, sleep + So stilly on thy bosom deep, + The lark's blithe carol from the cloud + Seems for the scene too gayly loud. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XV. + + Speed, Malise, speed! The lake is past, + Duncraggan's huts appear at last, + And peep, like moss-grown rocks, half seen + Half hidden in the copse so green; + There mayst thou rest, thy labor done, + Their lord shall speed the signal on.— + As stoops the hawk upon his prey, + The henchman shot him down the way. + What woful accents load the gale? + The funeral yell, the female wail! + A gallant hunter's sport is o'er, + A valiant warrior fights no more. + Who, in the battle or the chase, + At Roderick's side shall fill his place!— + Within the hall, where torch's ray + Supplies the excluded beams of day, + Lies Duncan on his lowly bier, + And o'er him streams his widow's tear. + His stripling son stands mournful by, + His youngest weeps, but knows not why; + The village maids and matrons round + The dismal coronach resound. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XVI. + + Coronach. + + He is gone on the mountain, + He is lost to the forest, + Like a summer-dried fountain, + When our need was the sorest. + The font, reappearing, + From the rain-drops shall borrow, + But to us comes no cheering, + To Duncan no morrow! + + The hand of the reaper + Takes the ears that are hoary, + But the voice of the weeper + Wails manhood in glory. + The autumn winds rushing + Waft the leaves that are searest, + But our flower was in flushing, + When blighting was nearest. + + Fleet foot on the correi, + Sage counsel in cumber, + Red hand in the foray, + How sound is thy slumber! + Like the dew on the mountain, + Like the foam on the river, + Like the bubble on the fountain, + Thou art gone, and forever! +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XVII. + + See Stumah, who, the bier beside + His master's corpse with wonder eyed, + Poor Stumah! whom his least halloo + Could send like lightning o'er the dew, + Bristles his crest, and points his ears, + As if some stranger step he hears. + 'T is not a mourner's muffled tread, + Who comes to sorrow o'er the dead, + But headlong haste or deadly fear + Urge the precipitate career. + All stand aghast:—unheeding all, + The henchman bursts into the hall; + Before the dead man's bier he stood, + Held forth the Cross besmeared with blood; + 'The muster-place is Lanrick mead; + Speed forth the signal! clansmen, speed!' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XVIII, + + Angus, the heir of Duncan's line, + Sprung forth and seized the fatal sign. + In haste the stripling to his side + His father's dirk and broadsword tied; + But when he saw his mother's eye + Watch him in speechless agony, + Back to her opened arms he flew + Pressed on her lips a fond adieu,— + 'Alas' she sobbed,—'and yet be gone, + And speed thee forth, like Duncan's son!' + One look he cast upon the bier, + Dashed from his eye the gathering tear, + Breathed deep to clear his laboring breast, + And tossed aloft his bonnet crest, + Then, like the high-bred colt when, freed, + First he essays his fire and speed, + He vanished, and o'er moor and moss + Sped forward with the Fiery Cross. + Suspended was the widow's tear + While yet his footsteps she could hear; + And when she marked the henchman's eye + Wet with unwonted sympathy, + 'Kinsman,' she said, 'his race is run + That should have sped thine errand on. + The oak teas fallen?—the sapling bough Is all + Duncraggan's shelter now + Yet trust I well, his duty done, + The orphan's God will guard my son.— + And you, in many a danger true + At Duncan's hest your blades that drew, + To arms, and guard that orphan's head! + Let babes and women wail the dead.' + Then weapon-clang and martial call + Resounded through the funeral hall, + While from the walls the attendant band + Snatched sword and targe with hurried hand; + And short and flitting energy + Glanced from the mourner's sunken eye, + As if the sounds to warrior dear + Might rouse her Duncan from his bier. + But faded soon that borrowed force; + Grief claimed his right, and tears their course. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XIX. + + Benledi saw the Cross of Fire, + It glanced like lightning up Strath-Ire. + O'er dale and hill the summons flew, + Nor rest nor pause young Angus knew; + The tear that gathered in his eye + He deft the mountain-breeze to dry; + Until, where Teith's young waters roll + Betwixt him and a wooded knoll + That graced the sable strath with green, + The chapel of Saint Bride was seen. + Swoln was the stream, remote the bridge, + But Angus paused not on the edge; + Though the clerk waves danced dizzily, + Though reeled his sympathetic eye, + He dashed amid the torrent's roar: + His right hand high the crosslet bore, + His left the pole-axe grasped, to guide + And stay his footing in the tide. + He stumbled twice,—the foam splashed high, + With hoarser swell the stream raced by; + And had he fallen,—forever there, + Farewell Duncraggan's orphan heir! + But still, as if in parting life, + Firmer he grasped the Cross of strife, + Until the opposing bank he gained, + And up the chapel pathway strained. + A blithesome rout that morning-tide + Had sought the chapel of Saint Bride. + Her troth Tombea's Mary gave + To Norman, heir of Armandave, + And, issuing from the Gothic arch, + The bridal now resumed their march. + In rude but glad procession came + Bonneted sire and coif-clad dame; + And plaided youth, with jest and jeer + Which snooded maiden would not hear: + And children, that, unwitting why, + Lent the gay shout their shrilly cry; + And minstrels, that in measures vied + Before the young and bonny bride, + Whose downcast eye and cheek disclose + The tear and blush of morning rose. + With virgin step and bashful hand + She held the kerchief's snowy band. + The gallant bridegroom by her side + Beheld his prize with victor's pride. + And the glad mother in her ear + Was closely whispering word of cheer. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXI. + + Who meets them at the churchyard gate? + The messenger of fear and fate! + Haste in his hurried accent lies, + And grief is swimming in his eyes. + All dripping from the recent flood, + Panting and travel-soiled he stood, + The fatal sign of fire and sword + Held forth, and spoke the appointed word: + 'The muster-place is Lanrick mead; + Speed forth the signal! Norman, speed!' + And must he change so soon the hand + Just linked to his by holy band, + For the fell Cross of blood and brand? + And must the day so blithe that rose, + And promised rapture in the close, + Before its setting hour, divide + The bridegroom from the plighted bride? + O fatal doom'—it must! it must! + Clan-Alpine's cause, her Chieftain's trust, + Her summons dread, brook no delay; + Stretch to the race,—away! away! +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXII. + + Yet slow he laid his plaid aside, + And lingering eyed his lovely bride, + Until he saw the starting tear + Speak woe he might not stop to cheer: + Then, trusting not a second look, + In haste he sped hind up the brook, + Nor backward glanced till on the heath + Where Lubnaig's lake supplies the Teith,— + What in the racer's bosom stirred? + The sickening pang of hope deferred, + And memory with a torturing train + Of all his morning visions vain. + Mingled with love's impatience, came + The manly thirst for martial fame; + The stormy joy of mountaineers + Ere yet they rush upon the spears; + And zeal for Clan and Chieftain burning, + And hope, from well-fought field returning, + With war's red honors on his crest, + To clasp his Mary to his breast. + Stung by such thoughts, o'er bank and brae, + Like fire from flint he glanced away, + While high resolve and feeling strong + Burst into voluntary song. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXIII. + + Song. + + The heath this night must be my bed, + The bracken curtain for my head, + My lullaby the warder's tread, + Far, far, from love and thee, Mary; + To-morrow eve, more stilly laid, + My couch may be my bloody plaid, + My vesper song thy wail, sweet maid! + It will not waken me, Mary! + + I may not, dare not, fancy now + The grief that clouds thy lovely brow, + I dare not think upon thy vow, + And all it promised me, Mary. + No fond regret must Norman know; + When bursts Clan-Alpine on the foe, + His heart must be like bended bow, + His foot like arrow free, Mary. + + A time will come with feeling fraught, + For, if I fall in battle fought, + Thy hapless lover's dying thought + Shall be a thought on thee, Mary. + And if returned from conquered foes, + How blithely will the evening close, + How sweet the linnet sing repose, + To my young bride and me, Mary! +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXIV. + + Not faster o'er thy heathery braes + Balquidder, speeds the midnight blaze, + Rushing in conflagration strong + Thy deep ravines and dells along, + Wrapping thy cliffs in purple glow, + And reddening the dark lakes below; + Nor faster speeds it, nor so far, + As o'er thy heaths the voice of war. + The signal roused to martial coil + The sullen margin of Loch Voil, + Waked still Loch Doine, and to the source + Alarmed, Balvaig, thy swampy course; + Thence southward turned its rapid road + Adown Strath-Gartney's valley broad + Till rose in arms each man might claim + A portion in Clan-Alpine's name, + From the gray sire, whose trembling hand + Could hardly buckle on his brand, + To the raw boy, whose shaft and bow + Were yet scarce terror to the crow. + Each valley, each sequestered glen, + Mustered its little horde of men + That met as torrents from the height + In Highland dales their streams unite + Still gathering, as they pour along, + A voice more loud, a tide more strong, + Till at the rendezvous they stood + By hundreds prompt for blows and blood, + Each trained to arms since life began, + Owning no tie but to his clan, + No oath but by his chieftain's hand, + No law but Roderick Dhu's command. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXV. + + That summer morn had Roderick Dhu + Surveyed the skirts of Benvenue, + And sent his scouts o'er hill and heath, + To view the frontiers of Menteith. + All backward came with news of truce; + Still lay each martial Graeme and Bruce, + In Rednock courts no horsemen wait, + No banner waved on Cardross gate, + On Duchray's towers no beacon shone, + Nor scared the herons from Loch Con; + All seemed at peace.—Now wot ye wily + The Chieftain with such anxious eye, + Ere to the muster he repair, + This western frontier scanned with care?— + In Benvenue's most darksome cleft, + A fair though cruel pledge was left; + For Douglas, to his promise true, + That morning from the isle withdrew, + And in a deep sequestered dell + Had sought a low and lonely cell. + By many a bard in Celtic tongue + Has Coir-nan-Uriskin been sung + A softer name the Saxons gave, + And called the grot the Goblin Cave. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXVI. + + It was a wild and strange retreat, + As e'er was trod by outlaw's feet. + The dell, upon the mountain's crest, + Yawned like a gash on warrior's breast; + Its trench had stayed full many a rock, + Hurled by primeval earthquake shock + From Benvenue's gray summit wild, + And here, in random ruin piled, + They frowned incumbent o'er the spot + And formed the rugged sylvan "rot. + The oak and birch with mingled shade + At noontide there a twilight made, + Unless when short and sudden shone + Some straggling beam on cliff or stone, + With such a glimpse as prophet's eye + Gains on thy depth, Futurity. + No murmur waked the solemn still, + Save tinkling of a fountain rill; + But when the wind chafed with the lake, + A sullen sound would upward break, + With dashing hollow voice, that spoke + The incessant war of wave and rock. + Suspended cliffs with hideous sway + Seemed nodding o'er the cavern gray. + From such a den the wolf had sprung, + In such the wild-cat leaves her young; + Yet Douglas and his daughter fair + Sought for a space their safety there. + Gray Superstition's whisper dread + Debarred the spot to vulgar tread; + For there, she said, did fays resort, + And satyrs hold their sylvan court, + By moonlight tread their mystic maze, + And blast the rash beholder's gaze. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXVII. + + Now eve, with western shadows long, + Floated on Katrine bright and strong, + When Roderick with a chosen few + Repassed the heights of Benvenue. + Above the Goblin Cave they go, + Through the wild pass of Beal-nam-bo; + The prompt retainers speed before, + To launch the shallop from the shore, + For 'cross Loch Katrine lies his way + To view the passes of Achray, + And place his clansmen in array. + Yet lags the Chief in musing mind, + Unwonted sight, his men behind. + A single page, to bear his sword, + Alone attended on his lord; + The rest their way through thickets break, + And soon await him by the lake. + It was a fair and gallant sight + To view them from the neighboring height, + By the low-levelled sunbeam's light! + For strength and stature, from the clan + Each warrior was a chosen man, + As even afar might well be seen, + By their proud step and martial mien. + Their feathers dance, their tartars float, + Their targets gleam, as by the boat + A wild and warlike group they stand, + That well became such mountain-strand. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXVI + + Their Chief with step reluctant still + Was lingering on the craggy hill, + Hard by where turned apart the road + To Douglas's obscure abode. + It was but with that dawning morn + That Roderick Dhu had proudly sworn + To drown his love in war's wild roar, + Nor think of Ellen Douglas more; + But he who stems a stream with sand, + And fetters flame with flaxen band, + Has yet a harder task to prove,— + By firm resolve to conquer love! + Eve finds the Chief, like restless ghost, + Still hovering near his treasure lost; + For though his haughty heart deny + A parting meeting to his eye + Still fondly strains his anxious ear + The accents of her voice to hear, + And inly did he curse the breeze + That waked to sound the rustling trees. + But hark! what mingles in the strain? + It is the harp of Allan-bane, + That wakes its measure slow and high, + Attuned to sacred minstrelsy. + What melting voice attends the strings? + 'Tis Ellen, or an angel, sings. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXIX. + + Hymn to the Virgin. + + Ave. Maria! maiden mild! + Listen to a maiden's prayer! + Thou canst hear though from the wild, + Thou canst save amid despair. + Safe may we sleep beneath thy care, + Though banished, outcast, and reviled— + Maiden! hear a maiden's prayer; + Mother, hear a suppliant child! + Ave Maria! + + Ave Maria! undefiled! + The flinty couch we now must share + Shall seem with down of eider piled, + If thy protection hover there. + The murky cavern's heavy air + Shall breathe of balm if thou hast smiled; + Then, Maiden! hear a maiden's prayer, + Mother, list a suppliant child! + Ave Maria! + + Ave. Maria! stainless styled! + Foul demons of the earth and air, + From this their wonted haunt exiled, + Shall flee before thy presence fair. + We bow us to our lot of care, + Beneath thy guidance reconciled: + Hear for a maid a maiden's prayer, + And for a father hear a child! + Ave Maria! +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXX. + + Died on the harp the closing hymn,— + Unmoved in attitude and limb, + As listening still, Clan-Alpine's lord + Stood leaning on his heavy sword, + Until the page with humble sign + Twice pointed to the sun's decline. + Then while his plaid he round him cast, + 'It is the last time—'tis the last,' + He muttered thrice,—'the last time e'er + That angel-voice shall Roderick hear'' + It was a goading thought,—his stride + Hied hastier down the mountain-side; + Sullen he flung him in the boat + An instant 'cross the lake it shot. + They landed in that silvery bay, + And eastward held their hasty way + Till, with the latest beams of light, + The band arrived on Lanrick height' + Where mustered in the vale below + Clan-Alpine's men in martial show. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXXI. + + A various scene the clansmen made: + Some sat, some stood, some slowly strayed: + But most, with mantles folded round, + Were couched to rest upon the ground, + Scarce to be known by curious eye + From the deep heather where they lie, + So well was matched the tartan screen + With heath-bell dark and brackens green; + Unless where, here and there, a blade + Or lance's point a glimmer made, + Like glow-worm twinkling through the shade. + But when, advancing through the gloom, + They saw the Chieftain's eagle plume, + Their shout of welcome, shrill and wide, + Shook the steep mountain's steady side. + Thrice it arose, and lake and fell + Three times returned the martial yell; + It died upon Bochastle's plain, + And Silence claimed her evening reign. +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0007" id="link2H_4_0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CANTO FOURTH. + </h2> + <h3> + The Prophecy. + </h3> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + I. + + The rose is fairest when 't is budding new, + And hope is brightest when it dawns from fears; + The rose is sweetest washed with morning dew + And love is loveliest when embalmed in tears. + O wilding rose, whom fancy thus endears, + I bid your blossoms in my bonnet wave, + Emblem of hope and love through future years!' + Thus spoke young Norman, heir of Armandave, + What time the sun arose on Vennachar's broad wave. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + II. + + Such fond conceit, half said, half sung, + Love prompted to the bridegroom's tongue. + All while he stripped the wild-rose spray, + His axe and bow beside him lay, + For on a pass 'twixt lake and wood + A wakeful sentinel he stood. + Hark!—on the rock a footstep rung, + And instant to his arms he sprung. + 'Stand, or thou diest!—What, Malise?—soon + Art thou returned from Braes of Doune. + By thy keen step and glance I know, + Thou bring'st us tidings of the foe.'— + For while the Fiery Cross tried on, + On distant scout had Malise gone.— + 'Where sleeps the Chief?' the henchman said. + 'Apart, in yonder misty glade; + To his lone couch I'll be your guide.'— + Then called a slumberer by his side, + And stirred him with his slackened bow,— + 'Up, up, Glentarkin! rouse thee, ho! + We seek the Chieftain; on the track + Keep eagle watch till I come back.' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + III. + + Together up the pass they sped: + 'What of the foeman?' Norman said.— + 'Varying reports from near and far; + This certain,—that a band of war + Has for two days been ready boune, + At prompt command to march from Doune; + King James the while, with princely powers, + Holds revelry in Stirling towers. + Soon will this dark and gathering cloud + Speak on our glens in thunder loud. + Inured to bide such bitter bout, + The warrior's plaid may bear it out; + But, Norman, how wilt thou provide + A shelter for thy bonny bride?''— + 'What! know ye not that Roderick's care + To the lone isle hath caused repair + Each maid and matron of the clan, + And every child and aged man + Unfit for arms; and given his charge, + Nor skiff nor shallop, boat nor barge, + Upon these lakes shall float at large, + But all beside the islet moor, + That such dear pledge may rest secure?'— +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + IV. + + ''T is well advised,—the Chieftain's plan + Bespeaks the father of his clan. + But wherefore sleeps Sir Roderick Dhu + Apart from all his followers true?' + 'It is because last evening-tide + Brian an augury hath tried, + Of that dread kind which must not be + Unless in dread extremity, + The Taghairm called; by which, afar, + Our sires foresaw the events of war. + Duncraggan's milk-white bull they slew,'— + + Malise. + + 'Ah! well the gallant brute I knew! + The choicest of the prey we had + When swept our merrymen Gallangad. + His hide was snow, his horns were dark, + His red eye glowed like fiery spark; + So fierce, so tameless, and so fleet, + Sore did he cumber our retreat, + And kept our stoutest kerns in awe, + Even at the pass of Beal 'maha. + But steep and flinty was the road, + And sharp the hurrying pikeman's goad, + And when we came to Dennan's Row + A child might scathless stroke his brow.' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + V. + + Norman. + + 'That bull was slain; his reeking hide + They stretched the cataract beside, + Whose waters their wild tumult toss + Adown the black and craggy boss + Of that huge cliff whose ample verge + Tradition calls the Hero's Targe. + Couched on a shelf beneath its brink, + Close where the thundering torrents sink, + Rocking beneath their headlong sway, + And drizzled by the ceaseless spray, + Midst groan of rock and roar of stream, + The wizard waits prophetic dream. + Nor distant rests the Chief;—but hush! + See, gliding slow through mist and bush, + The hermit gains yon rock, and stands + To gaze upon our slumbering bands. + Seems he not, Malise, dike a ghost, + That hovers o'er a slaughtered host? + Or raven on the blasted oak, + That, watching while the deer is broke, + His morsel claims with sullen croak?' + + Malise. + + 'Peace! peace! to other than to me + Thy words were evil augury; + But still I hold Sir Roderick's blade + Clan-Alpine's omen and her aid, + Not aught that, gleaned from heaven or hell, + Yon fiend-begotten Monk can tell. + The Chieftain joins him, see—and now + Together they descend the brow.' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + VI. + + And, as they came, with Alpine's Lord + The Hermit Monk held solemn word:—. + 'Roderick! it is a fearful strife, + For man endowed with mortal life + Whose shroud of sentient clay can still + Feel feverish pang and fainting chill, + Whose eye can stare in stony trance + Whose hair can rouse like warrior's lance, + 'Tis hard for such to view, unfurled, + The curtain of the future world. + Yet, witness every quaking limb, + My sunken pulse, mine eyeballs dim, + My soul with harrowing anguish torn, + This for my Chieftain have I borne!— + The shapes that sought my fearful couch + A human tongue may ne'er avouch; + No mortal man—save he, who, bred + Between the living and the dead, + Is gifted beyond nature's law + Had e'er survived to say he saw. + At length the fateful answer came + In characters of living flame! + Not spoke in word, nor blazed in scroll, + But borne and branded on my soul:— + WHICH SPILLS THE FOREMOST FOEMAN'S LIFE, + THAT PARTY CONQUERS IN THE STRIFE.' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + VII. + + 'Thanks, Brian, for thy zeal and care! + Good is thine augury, and fair. + Clan-Alpine ne'er in battle stood + But first our broadswords tasted blood. + A surer victim still I know, + Self-offered to the auspicious blow: + A spy has sought my land this morn,— + No eve shall witness his return! + My followers guard each pass's mouth, + To east, to westward, and to south; + Red Murdoch, bribed to be his guide, + Has charge to lead his steps aside, + Till in deep path or dingle brown + He light on those shall bring him clown. + But see, who comes his news to show! + Malise! what tidings of the foe?' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + VIII. + + 'At Doune, o'er many a spear and glaive + Two Barons proud their banners wave. + I saw the Moray's silver star, + And marked the sable pale of Mar.' + 'By Alpine's soul, high tidings those! + I love to hear of worthy foes. + When move they on?' 'To-morrow's noon + Will see them here for battle boune.' + 'Then shall it see a meeting stern! + But, for the place,—say, couldst thou learn + Nought of the friendly clans of Earn? + Strengthened by them, we well might bide + The battle on Benledi's side. + Thou couldst not?—well! Clan-Alpine's men + Shall man the Trosachs' shaggy glen; + Within Loch Katrine's gorge we'll fight, + All in our maids' and matrons' sight, + Each for his hearth and household fire, + Father for child, and son for sire Lover + for maid beloved!—But why + Is it the breeze affects mine eye? + Or dost thou come, ill-omened tear! + A messenger of doubt or fear? + No! sooner may the Saxon lance + Unfix Benledi from his stance, + Than doubt or terror can pierce through + The unyielding heart of Roderick Dhu! + 'tis stubborn as his trusty targe. + Each to his post!—all know their charge.' + The pibroch sounds, the bands advance, + The broadswords gleam, the banners dance' + Obedient to the Chieftain's glance.— + I turn me from the martial roar + And seek Coir-Uriskin once more. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + IX. + + Where is the Douglas?—he is gone; + And Ellen sits on the gray stone + Fast by the cave, and makes her moan, + While vainly Allan's words of cheer + Are poured on her unheeding ear. + 'He will return—dear lady, trust!— + With joy return;—he will—he must. + Well was it time to seek afar + Some refuge from impending war, + When e'en Clan-Alpine's rugged swarm + Are cowed by the approaching storm. + I saw their boats with many a light, + Floating the livelong yesternight, + Shifting like flashes darted forth + By the red streamers of the north; + I marked at morn how close they ride, + Thick moored by the lone islet's side, + Like wild ducks couching in the fen + When stoops the hawk upon the glen. + Since this rude race dare not abide + The peril on the mainland side, + Shall not thy noble father's care + Some safe retreat for thee prepare?' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + X. + + Ellen. + + 'No, Allan, no' Pretext so kind + My wakeful terrors could not blind. + When in such tender tone, yet grave, + Douglas a parting blessing gave, + The tear that glistened in his eye + Drowned not his purpose fixed and high. + My soul, though feminine and weak, + Can image his; e'en as the lake, + Itself disturbed by slightest stroke. + Reflects the invulnerable rock. + He hears report of battle rife, + He deems himself the cause of strife. + I saw him redden when the theme + Turned, Allan, on thine idle dream + Of Malcolm Graeme in fetters bound, + Which I, thou saidst, about him wound. + Think'st thou he bowed thine omen aught? + O no' 't was apprehensive thought + For the kind youth,—for Roderick too— + Let me be just—that friend so true; + In danger both, and in our cause! + Minstrel, the Douglas dare not pause. + Why else that solemn warning given, + 'If not on earth, we meet in heaven!' + Why else, to Cambus-kenneth's fane, + If eve return him not again, + Am I to hie and make me known? + Alas! he goes to Scotland's throne, + Buys his friends' safety with his own; + He goes to do—what I had done, + Had Douglas' daughter been his son!' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XI. + + 'Nay, lovely Ellen!—dearest, nay! + If aught should his return delay, + He only named yon holy fane + As fitting place to meet again. + Be sure he's safe; and for the Graeme,— + Heaven's blessing on his gallant name!— + My visioned sight may yet prove true, + Nor bode of ill to him or you. + When did my gifted dream beguile? + Think of the stranger at the isle, + And think upon the harpings slow + That presaged this approaching woe! + Sooth was my prophecy of fear; + Believe it when it augurs cheer. + Would we had left this dismal spot! + Ill luck still haunts a fairy spot! + Of such a wondrous tale I know— + Dear lady, change that look of woe, + My harp was wont thy grief to cheer.' + + Ellen. + + 'Well, be it as thou wilt; + I hear, But cannot stop the bursting tear.' + The Minstrel tried his simple art, + Rut distant far was Ellen's heart. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XII. + + Ballad. + + Alice Brand. + + Merry it is in the good greenwood, + When the mavis and merle are singing, + When the deer sweeps by, and the hounds are in cry, + And the hunter's horn is ringing. + + 'O Alice Brand, my native land + Is lost for love of you; + And we must hold by wood and word, + As outlaws wont to do. + + 'O Alice, 't was all for thy locks so bright, + And 't was all for thine eyes so blue, + That on the night of our luckless flight + Thy brother bold I slew. + + 'Now must I teach to hew the beech + The hand that held the glaive, + For leaves to spread our lowly bed, + And stakes to fence our cave. + + 'And for vest of pall, thy fingers small, + That wont on harp to stray, + A cloak must shear from the slaughtered deer, + To keep the cold away.' + + 'O Richard! if my brother died, + 'T was but a fatal chance; + For darkling was the battle tried, + And fortune sped the lance. + + 'If pall and vair no more I wear, + Nor thou the crimson sheen + As warm, we'll say, is the russet gray, + As gay the forest-green. + + 'And, Richard, if our lot be hard, + And lost thy native land, + Still Alice has her own Richard, + And he his Alice Brand.' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XIII. + + Ballad Continued. + + 'tis merry, 'tis merry, in good greenwood; + So blithe Lady Alice is singing; + On the beech's pride, and oak's brown side, + Lord Richard's axe is ringing. + + Up spoke the moody Elfin King, + Who woned within the hill,— + Like wind in the porch of a ruined church, + His voice was ghostly shrill. + + 'Why sounds yon stroke on beech and oak, + Our moonlight circle's screen? + Or who comes here to chase the deer, + Beloved of our Elfin Queen? + Or who may dare on wold to wear + The fairies' fatal green? + + 'Up, Urgan, up! to yon mortal hie, + For thou wert christened man; + For cross or sign thou wilt not fly, + For muttered word or ban. + + 'Lay on him the curse of the withered heart, + The curse of the sleepless eye; + Till he wish and pray that his life would part, + Nor yet find leave to die.' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XIV. + + Ballad Continued. + + 'Tis merry, 'tis merry, in good greenwood, + Though the birds have stilled their singing; + The evening blaze cloth Alice raise, + And Richard is fagots bringing. + + Up Urgan starts, that hideous dwarf, + Before Lord Richard stands, + And, as he crossed and blessed himself, + 'I fear not sign,' quoth the grisly elf, + 'That is made with bloody hands.' + + But out then spoke she, Alice Brand, + That woman void of fear,— + 'And if there 's blood upon his hand, + 'Tis but the blood of deer.' + + 'Now loud thou liest, thou bold of mood! + It cleaves unto his hand, + The stain of thine own kindly blood, + The blood of Ethert Brand.' + + Then forward stepped she, Alice Brand, + And made the holy sign,— + 'And if there's blood on Richard's hand, + A spotless hand is mine. + + 'And I conjure thee, demon elf, + By Him whom demons fear, + To show us whence thou art thyself, + And what thine errand here?' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XV. + + Ballad Continued. + + "Tis merry, 'tis merry, in Fairy-land, + When fairy birds are singing, + When the court cloth ride by their monarch's side, + With bit and bridle ringing: + + 'And gayly shines the Fairy-land— + But all is glistening show, + Like the idle gleam that December's beam + Can dart on ice and snow. + + 'And fading, like that varied gleam, + Is our inconstant shape, + Who now like knight and lady seem, + And now like dwarf and ape. + + 'It was between the night and day, + When the Fairy King has power, + That I sunk down in a sinful fray, + And 'twixt life and death was snatched away + To the joyless Elfin bower. + + 'But wist I of a woman bold, + Who thrice my brow durst sign, + I might regain my mortal mould, + As fair a form as thine.' + + She crossed him once—she crossed him twice— + That lady was so brave; + The fouler grew his goblin hue, + The darker grew the cave. + + She crossed him thrice, that lady bold; + He rose beneath her hand + The fairest knight on Scottish mould, + Her brother, Ethert Brand! + + Merry it is in good greenwood, + When the mavis and merle are singing, + But merrier were they in Dunfermline gray, + When all the bells were ringing. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XVI. + + Just as the minstrel sounds were stayed, + A stranger climbed the steepy glade; + His martial step, his stately mien, + His hunting-suit of Lincoln green, + His eagle glance, remembrance claims— + 'Tis Snowdoun's Knight, 'tis James Fitz-James. + Ellen beheld as in a dream, + Then, starting, scarce suppressed a scream: + 'O stranger! in such hour of fear + What evil hap has brought thee here?' + 'An evil hap how can it be + That bids me look again on thee? + By promise bound, my former guide + Met me betimes this morning-tide, + And marshalled over bank and bourne + The happy path of my return.' + 'The happy path!—what! said he naught + Of war, of battle to be fought, + Of guarded pass?' 'No, by my faith! + Nor saw I aught could augur scathe.' + 'O haste thee, Allan, to the kern: + Yonder his tartars I discern; + Learn thou his purpose, and conjure + That he will guide the stranger sure!— + What prompted thee, unhappy man? + The meanest serf in Roderick's clan + Had not been bribed, by love or fear, + Unknown to him to guide thee here.' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XVII. + + 'Sweet Ellen, dear my life must be, + Since it is worthy care from thee; + Yet life I hold but idle breath + When love or honor's weighed with death. + Then let me profit by my chance, + And speak my purpose bold at once. + I come to bear thee from a wild + Where ne'er before such blossom smiled, + By this soft hand to lead thee far + From frantic scenes of feud and war. + Near Bochastle my horses wait; + They bear us soon to Stirling gate. + I'll place thee in a lovely bower, + I'll guard thee like a tender flower—' + 'O hush, Sir Knight! 't were female art, + To say I do not read thy heart; + Too much, before, my selfish ear + Was idly soothed my praise to hear. + That fatal bait hath lured thee back, + In deathful hour, o'er dangerous track; + And how, O how, can I atone + The wreck my vanity brought on!— + One way remains—I'll tell him all— + Yes! struggling bosom, forth it shall! + Thou, whose light folly bears the blame, + Buy thine own pardon with thy shame! + But first—my father is a man + Outlawed and exiled, under ban; + The price of blood is on his head, + With me 't were infamy to wed. + Still wouldst thou speak?—then hear the truth! + Fitz-James, there is a noble youth— + If yet he is!—exposed for me + And mine to dread extremity— + Thou hast the secret of my bears; + Forgive, be generous, and depart!' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XVIII. + + Fitz-James knew every wily train + A lady's fickle heart to gain, + But here he knew and felt them vain. + There shot no glance from Ellen's eye, + To give her steadfast speech the lie; + In maiden confidence she stood, + Though mantled in her cheek the blood + And told her love with such a sigh + Of deep and hopeless agony, + As death had sealed her Malcolm's doom + And she sat sorrowing on his tomb. + Hope vanished from Fitz-James's eye, + But not with hope fled sympathy. + He proffered to attend her side, + As brother would a sister guide. + 'O little know'st thou Roderick's heart! + Safer for both we go apart. + O haste thee, and from Allan learn + If thou mayst trust yon wily kern.' + With hand upon his forehead laid, + The conflict of his mind to shade, + A parting step or two he made; + Then, as some thought had crossed his brain + He paused, and turned, and came again. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XIX. + + 'Hear, lady, yet a parting word!— + It chanced in fight that my poor sword + Preserved the life of Scotland's lord. + This ring the grateful Monarch gave, + And bade, when I had boon to crave, + To bring it back, and boldly claim + The recompense that I would name. + Ellen, I am no courtly lord, + But one who lives by lance and sword, + Whose castle is his helm and shield, + His lordship the embattled field. + What from a prince can I demand, + Who neither reck of state nor land? + Ellen, thy hand—the ring is thine; + Each guard and usher knows the sign. + Seek thou the King without delay; + This signet shall secure thy way: + And claim thy suit, whate'er it be, + As ransom of his pledge to me.' + He placed the golden circlet on, + Paused—kissed her hand—and then was gone. + The aged Minstrel stood aghast, + So hastily Fitz-James shot past. + He joined his guide, and wending down + The ridges of the mountain brown, + Across the stream they took their way + That joins Loch Katrine to Achray. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XX + + All in the Trosachs' glen was still, + Noontide was sleeping on the hill: + Sudden his guide whooped loud and high— + 'Murdoch! was that a signal cry?'— + He stammered forth, 'I shout to scare + Yon raven from his dainty fare.' + He looked—he knew the raven's prey, + His own brave steed: 'Ah! gallant gray! + For thee—for me, perchance—'t were well + We ne'er had seen the Trosachs' dell.— + Murdoch, move first—-but silently; + Whistle or whoop, and thou shalt die!' + Jealous and sullen on they fared, + Each silent, each upon his guard. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXI. + + Now wound the path its dizzy ledge + Around a precipice's edge, + When lo! a wasted female form, + Blighted by wrath of sun and storm, + In tattered weeds and wild array, + Stood on a cliff beside the way, + And glancing round her restless eye, + Upon the wood, the rock, the sky, + Seemed naught to mark, yet all to spy. + Her brow was wreathed with gaudy broom; + With gesture wild she waved a plume + Of feathers, which the eagles fling + To crag and cliff from dusky wing; + Such spoils her desperate step had sought, + Where scarce was footing for the goat. + The tartan plaid she first descried, + And shrieked till all the rocks replied; + As loud she laughed when near they drew, + For then the Lowland garb she knew; + And then her hands she wildly wrung, + And then she wept, and then she sung— + She sung!—the voice, in better time, + Perchance to harp or lute might chime; + And now, though strained and roughened, still + Rung wildly sweet to dale and hill. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXII. + + Song. + + They bid me sleep, they bid me pray, + They say my brain is warped and wrung— + I cannot sleep on Highland brae, + I cannot pray in Highland tongue. + But were I now where Allan glides, + Or heard my native Devan's tides, + So sweetly would I rest, and pray + That Heaven would close my wintry day! + + 'Twas thus my hair they bade me braid, + They made me to the church repair; + It was my bridal morn they said, + And my true love would meet me there. + But woe betide the cruel guile + That drowned in blood the morning smile! + And woe betide the fairy dream! + I only waked to sob and scream. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXIII. + + 'Who is this maid? what means her lay? + She hovers o'er the hollow way, + And flutters wide her mantle gray, + As the lone heron spreads his wing, + By twilight, o'er a haunted spring.' + ''Tis Blanche of Devan,' Murdoch said, + 'A crazed and captive Lowland maid, + Ta'en on the morn she was a bride, + When Roderick forayed Devan-side. + The gay bridegroom resistance made, + And felt our Chief's unconquered blade. + I marvel she is now at large, + But oft she 'scapes from Maudlin's charge.— + Hence, brain-sick fool!'—He raised his bow:— + 'Now, if thou strik'st her but one blow, + I'll pitch thee from the cliff as far + As ever peasant pitched a bar!' + 'Thanks, champion, thanks' the Maniac cried, + And pressed her to Fitz-James's side. + 'See the gray pennons I prepare, + To seek my true love through the air! + I will not lend that savage groom, + To break his fall, one downy plume! + No!—deep amid disjointed stones, + The wolves shall batten on his bones, + And then shall his detested plaid, + By bush and brier in mid-air stayed, + Wave forth a banner fail and free, + Meet signal for their revelry.' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXIV + + 'Hush thee, poor maiden, and be still!' + 'O! thou look'st kindly, and I will. + Mine eye has dried and wasted been, + But still it loves the Lincoln green; + And, though mine ear is all unstrung, + Still, still it loves the Lowland tongue. + + 'For O my sweet William was forester true, + He stole poor Blanche's heart away! + His coat it was all of the greenwood hue, + And so blithely he trilled the Lowland lay! + + 'It was not that I meant to tell... + But thou art wise and guessest well.' + Then, in a low and broken tone, + And hurried note, the song went on. + Still on the Clansman fearfully + She fixed her apprehensive eye, + Then turned it on the Knight, and then + Her look glanced wildly o'er the glen. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXV. + + 'The toils are pitched, and the stakes are set,— + Ever sing merrily, merrily; + The bows they bend, and the knives they whet, + Hunters live so cheerily. + + It was a stag, a stag of ten, + Bearing its branches sturdily; + He came stately down the glen,— + Ever sing hardily, hardily. + + 'It was there he met with a wounded doe, + She was bleeding deathfully; + She warned him of the toils below, + O. so faithfully, faithfully! + + 'He had an eye, and he could heed,— + Ever sing warily, warily; + He had a foot, and he could speed,— + Hunters watch so narrowly.' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXVI. + + Fitz-James's mind was passion-tossed, + When Ellen's hints and fears were lost; + But Murdoch's shout suspicion wrought, + And Blanche's song conviction brought. + Not like a stag that spies the snare, + But lion of the hunt aware, + He waved at once his blade on high, + 'Disclose thy treachery, or die!' + Forth at hell speed the Clansman flew, + But in his race his bow he drew. + The shaft just grazed Fitz-James's crest, + And thrilled in Blanche's faded breast.— + Murdoch of Alpine! prove thy speed, + For ne'er had Alpine's son such need; + With heart of fire, and foot of wind, + The fierce avenger is behind! + Fate judges of the rapid strife— + The forfeit death—the prize is life; + Thy kindred ambush lies before, + Close couched upon the heathery moor; + Them couldst thou reach!—it may not be + Thine ambushed kin thou ne'er shalt see, + The fiery Saxon gains on thee!— + Resistless speeds the deadly thrust, + As lightning strikes the pine to dust; + With foot and hand Fitz-James must strain + Ere he can win his blade again. + Bent o'er the fallen with falcon eye, + He grimly smiled to see him die, + Then slower wended back his way, + Where the poor maiden bleeding lay. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXVII. + + She sat beneath the birchen tree, + Her elbow resting on her knee; + She had withdrawn the fatal shaft, + And gazed on it, and feebly laughed; + Her wreath of broom and feathers gray, + Daggled with blood, beside her lay. + The Knight to stanch the life-stream tried,— + 'Stranger, it is in vain!' she cried. + 'This hour of death has given me more + Of reason's power than years before; + For, as these ebbing veins decay, + My frenzied visions fade away. + A helpless injured wretch I die, + And something tells me in thine eye + That thou wert mine avenger born. + Seest thou this tress?—O. still I 've worn + This little tress of yellow hair, + Through danger, frenzy, and despair! + It once was bright and clear as thine, + But blood and tears have dimmed its shine. + I will not tell thee when 't was shred, + Nor from what guiltless victim's head,— + My brain would turn!—but it shall wave + Like plumage on thy helmet brave, + Till sun and wind shall bleach the stain, + And thou wilt bring it me again. + I waver still.—O God! more bright + Let reason beam her parting light!— + O. by thy knighthood's honored sign, + And for thy life preserved by mine, + When thou shalt see a darksome man, + Who boasts him Chief of Alpine's Clan, + With tartars broad and shadowy plume, + And hand of blood, and brow of gloom + Be thy heart bold, thy weapon strong, + And wreak poor Blanche of Devan's wrong!— + They watch for thee by pass and fell... + Avoid the path... O God!... farewell.' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXVIII. + + A kindly heart had brave Fitz-James; + Fast poured his eyes at pity's claims; + And now, with mingled grief and ire, + He saw the murdered maid expire. + 'God, in my need, be my relief, + As I wreak this on yonder Chief!' + A lock from Blanche's tresses fair + He blended with her bridegroom's hair; + The mingled braid in blood he dyed, + And placed it on his bonnet-side: + 'By Him whose word is truth, I swear, + No other favour will I wear, + Till this sad token I imbrue + In the best blood of Roderick Dhu!— + But hark! what means yon faint halloo? + The chase is up,—but they shall know, + The stag at bay 's a dangerous foe.' + Barred from the known but guarded way, + Through copse and cliffs Fitz-James must stray, + And oft must change his desperate track, + By stream and precipice turned back. + Heartless, fatigued, and faint, at length, + From lack of food and loss of strength + He couched him in a thicket hoar + And thought his toils and perils o'er:— + 'Of all my rash adventures past, + This frantic feat must prove the last! + Who e'er so mad but might have guessed + That all this Highland hornet's nest + Would muster up in swarms so soon + As e'er they heard of bands at Doune?— + Like bloodhounds now they search me out,— + Hark, to the whistle and the shout!— + If farther through the wilds I go, + I only fall upon the foe: + I'll couch me here till evening gray, + Then darkling try my dangerous way.' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXIX. + + The shades of eve come slowly down, + The woods are wrapt in deeper brown, + The owl awakens from her dell, + The fox is heard upon the fell; + Enough remains of glimmering light + To guide the wanderer's steps aright, + Yet not enough from far to show + His figure to the watchful foe. + With cautious step and ear awake, + He climbs the crag and threads the brake; + And not the summer solstice there + Tempered the midnight mountain air, + But every breeze that swept the wold + Benumbed his drenched limbs with cold. + In dread, in danger, and alone, + Famished and chilled, through ways unknown, + Tangled and steep, he journeyed on; + Till, as a rock's huge point he turned, + A watch-fire close before him burned. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXX. + + Beside its embers red and clear + Basked in his plaid a mountaineer; + And up he sprung with sword in hand,— + 'Thy name and purpose! Saxon, stand!' + 'A stranger.' 'What dost thou require?' + 'Rest and a guide, and food and fire + My life's beset, my path is lost, + The gale has chilled my limbs with frost.' + 'Art thou a friend to Roderick?' 'No.' + 'Thou dar'st not call thyself a foe?' + 'I dare! to him and all the band + He brings to aid his murderous hand.' + 'Bold words!—but, though the beast of game + The privilege of chase may claim, + Though space and law the stag we lend + Ere hound we slip or bow we bend + Who ever recked, where, how, or when, + The prowling fox was trapped or slain? + Thus treacherous scouts,—yet sure they lie + Who say thou cam'st a secret spy!'— + 'They do, by heaven!—come Roderick Dhu + And of his clan the boldest two + And let me but till morning rest, + I write the falsehood on their crest.' + If by the blaze I mark aright + Thou bear'st the belt and spur of Knight.' + 'Then by these tokens mayst thou know + Each proud oppressor's mortal foe.' + 'Enough, enough; sit down and share + A soldier's couch, a soldier's fare.' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXXI.. + + He gave him of his Highland cheer, + The hardened flesh of mountain deer; + Dry fuel on the fire he laid, + And bade the Saxon share his plaid. + He tended him like welcome guest, + Then thus his further speech addressed:— + 'Stranger, I am to Roderick Dhu + A clansman born, a kinsman true; + Each word against his honour spoke + Demands of me avenging stroke; + Yet more,—upon thy fate, 'tis said, + A mighty augury is laid. + It rests with me to wind my horn,— + Thou art with numbers overborne; + It rests with me, here, brand to brand, + Worn as thou art, to bid thee stand: + But, not for clan, nor kindred's cause, + Will I depart from honour's laws; + To assail a wearied man were shame, + And stranger is a holy name; + Guidance and rest, and food and fire, + In vain he never must require. + Then rest thee here till dawn of day; + Myself will guide thee on the way, + O'er stock and stone, through watch and ward, + Till past Clan-Alpine's outmost guard, + As far as Coilantogle's ford; + From thence thy warrant is thy sword.' + 'I take thy courtesy, by heaven, + As freely as 'tis nobly given!' + Well, rest thee; for the bittern's cry + Sings us the lake's wild lullaby.' + With that he shook the gathered heath, + And spread his plaid upon the wreath; + And the brave foemen, side by side, + Lay peaceful down like brothers tried, + And slept until the dawning beam + Purpled the mountain and the stream. +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0008" id="link2H_4_0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CANTO FIFTH. + </h2> + <h3> + The Combat. + </h3> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + I. + + Fair as the earliest beam of eastern light, + When first, by the bewildered pilgrim spied, + It smiles upon the dreary brow of night + And silvers o'er the torrent's foaming tide + And lights the fearful path on mountain-side,— + Fair as that beam, although the fairest far, + Giving to horror grace, to danger pride, + Shine martial Faith, and Courtesy's bright star + Through all the wreckful storms that cloud the brow of War. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + II. + + That early beam, so fair and sheen, + Was twinkling through the hazel screen + When, rousing at its glimmer red, + The warriors left their lowly bed, + Looked out upon the dappled sky, + Muttered their soldier matins try, + And then awaked their fire, to steal, + As short and rude, their soldier meal. + That o'er, the Gael around him threw + His graceful plaid of varied hue, + And, true to promise, led the way, + By thicket green and mountain gray. + A wildering path!—they winded now + Along the precipice's brow, + Commanding the rich scenes beneath, + The windings of the Forth and Teith, + And all the vales between that lie. + Till Stirling's turrets melt in sky; + Then, sunk in copse, their farthest glance + Gained not the length of horseman's lance. + 'Twas oft so steep, the foot was as fain + Assistance from the hand to gain; + So tangled oft that, bursting through, + Each hawthorn shed her showers of dew,— + That diamond dew, so pure and clear, + It rivals all but Beauty's tear! +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + III. + + At length they came where, stern and steep, + The hill sinks down upon the deep. + Here Vennachar in silver flows, + There, ridge on ridge, Benledi rose; + Ever the hollow path twined on, + Beneath steep hank and threatening stone; + A hundred men might hold the post + With hardihood against a host. + The rugged mountain's scanty cloak + Was dwarfish shrubs of birch and oak + With shingles bare, and cliffs between + And patches bright of bracken green, + And heather black, that waved so high, + It held the copse in rivalry. + But where the lake slept deep and still + Dank osiers fringed the swamp and hill; + And oft both path and hill were torn + Where wintry torrent down had borne + And heaped upon the cumbered land + Its wreck of gravel, rocks, and sand. + So toilsome was the road to trace + The guide, abating of his pace, + Led slowly through the pass's jaws + And asked Fitz-James by what strange cause + He sought these wilds, traversed by few + Without a pass from Roderick Dhu. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + IV. + + 'Brave Gael, my pass, in danger tried + Hangs in my belt and by my side + Yet, sooth to tell,' the Saxon said, + 'I dreamt not now to claim its aid. + When here, but three days since, + I came Bewildered in pursuit of game, + All seemed as peaceful and as still + As the mist slumbering on yon hill; + Thy dangerous Chief was then afar, + Nor soon expected back from war. + Thus said, at least, my mountain-guide, + Though deep perchance the villain lied.' + 'Yet why a second venture try?' + 'A warrior thou, and ask me why!— + Moves our free course by such fixed cause + As gives the poor mechanic laws? + Enough, I sought to drive away + The lazy hours of peaceful day; + Slight cause will then suffice to guide + A Knight's free footsteps far and wide,— + A falcon flown, a greyhound strayed, + The merry glance of mountain maid; + Or, if a path be dangerous known, + The danger's self is lure alone.' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + V. + + 'Thy secret keep, I urge thee not;— + Yet, ere again ye sought this spot, + Say, heard ye naught of Lowland war, + Against Clan-Alpine, raised by Mar?' + 'No, by my word;—of bands prepared + To guard King James's sports I heard; + Nor doubt I aught, but, when they hear + This muster of the mountaineer, + Their pennons will abroad be flung, + Which else in Doune had peaceful hung.' + 'Free be they flung! for we were loath + Their silken folds should feast the moth. + Free be they flung!—as free shall wave + Clan-Alpine's pine in banner brave. + But, stranger, peaceful since you came, + Bewildered in the mountain-game, + Whence the bold boast by which you show + Vich-Alpine's vowed and mortal foe?' + 'Warrior, but yester-morn I knew + Naught of thy Chieftain, Roderick Dhu, + Save as an outlawed desperate man, + The chief of a rebellious clan, + Who, in the Regent's court and sight, + With ruffian dagger stabbed a knight; + Yet this alone might from his part + Sever each true and loyal heart.' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + VI. + + Wrathful at such arraignment foul, + Dark lowered the clansman's sable scowl. + A space he paused, then sternly said, + 'And heardst thou why he drew his blade? + Heardst thou that shameful word and blow + Brought Roderick's vengeance on his foe? + What recked the Chieftain if he stood + On Highland heath or Holy-Rood? + He rights such wrong where it is given, + If it were in the court of heaven.' + 'Still was it outrage;—yet, 'tis true, + Not then claimed sovereignty his due; + While Albany with feeble hand + Held borrowed truncheon of command, + The young King, mewed in Stirling tower, + Was stranger to respect and power. + But then, thy Chieftain's robber life!— + Winning mean prey by causeless strife, + Wrenching from ruined Lowland swain + His herds and harvest reared in vain,— + Methinks a soul like thine should scorn + The spoils from such foul foray borne.' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + VII. + + The Gael beheld him grim the while, + And answered with disdainful smile: + 'Saxon, from yonder mountain high, + I marked thee send delighted eye + Far to the south and east, where lay, + Extended in succession gay, + Deep waving fields and pastures green, + With gentle slopes and groves between:— + These fertile plains, that softened vale, + Were once the birthright of the Gael; + The stranger came with iron hand, + And from our fathers reft the land. + Where dwell we now? See, rudely swell + Crag over crag, and fell o'er fell. + Ask we this savage hill we tread + For fattened steer or household bread, + Ask we for flocks these shingles dry, + And well the mountain might reply,— + "To you, as to your sires of yore, + Belong the target and claymore! + I give you shelter in my breast, + Your own good blades must win the rest." + Pent in this fortress of the North, + Think'st thou we will not sally forth, + To spoil the spoiler as we may, + And from the robber rend the prey? + Ay, by my soul!—While on yon plain + The Saxon rears one shock of grain, + While of ten thousand herds there strays + But one along yon river's maze,— + The Gael, of plain and river heir, + Shall with strong hand redeem his share. + Where live the mountain Chiefs who hold + That plundering Lowland field and fold + Is aught but retribution true? + Seek other cause 'gainst Roderick Dhu.' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + VIII. + + Answered Fitz-James: 'And, if I sought, + Think'st thou no other could be brought? + What deem ye of my path waylaid? + My life given o'er to ambuscade?' + 'As of a meed to rashness due: + Hadst thou sent warning fair and true,— + I seek my hound or falcon strayed, + I seek, good faith, a Highland maid,— + Free hadst thou been to come and go; + But secret path marks secret foe. + Nor yet for this, even as a spy, + Hadst thou, unheard, been doomed to die, + Save to fulfil an augury.' + 'Well, let it pass; nor will I now + Fresh cause of enmity avow + To chafe thy mood and cloud thy brow. + Enough, I am by promise tied + To match me with this man of pride: + Twice have I sought Clan-Alpine's glen + In peace; but when I come again, + I come with banner, brand, and bow, + As leader seeks his mortal foe. + For love-lore swain in lady's bower + Ne'er panted for the appointed hour + As I, until before me stand + This rebel Chieftain and his band!' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + IX. + + 'Have then thy wish!'—He whistled shrill + And he was answered from the hill; + Wild as the scream of the curlew, + From crag to crag the signal flew. + Instant, through copse and heath, arose + Bonnets and spears and bended bows + On right, on left, above, below, + Sprung up at once the lurking foe; + From shingles gray their lances start, + The bracken bush sends forth the dart, + The rushes and the willow-wand + Are bristling into axe and brand, + And every tuft of broom gives life + 'To plaided warrior armed for strife. + That whistle garrisoned the glen + At once with full five hundred men, + As if the yawning hill to heaven + A subterranean host had given. + Watching their leader's beck and will, + All silent there they stood and still. + Like the loose crags whose threatening mass + Lay tottering o'er the hollow pass, + As if an infant's touch could urge + Their headlong passage down the verge, + With step and weapon forward flung, + Upon the mountain-side they hung. + The Mountaineer cast glance of pride + Along Benledi's living side, + Then fixed his eye and sable brow + Full on Fitz-James: 'How say'st thou now? + These are Clan-Alpine's warriors true; + And, Saxon,—I am Roderick Dhu!' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + X. + + Fitz-James was brave:—though to his heart + The life-blood thrilled with sudden start, + He manned himself with dauntless air, + Returned the Chief his haughty stare, + His back against a rock he bore, + And firmly placed his foot before:— + 'Come one, come all! this rock shall fly + From its firm base as soon as I.' + Sir Roderick marked,—and in his eyes + Respect was mingled with surprise, + And the stern joy which warriors feel + In foeman worthy of their steel. + Short space he stood—then waved his hand: + Down sunk the disappearing band; + Each warrior vanished where he stood, + In broom or bracken, heath or wood; + Sunk brand and spear and bended bow, + In osiers pale and copses low; + It seemed as if their mother Earth + Had swallowed up her warlike birth. + The wind's last breath had tossed in air + Pennon and plaid and plumage fair,— + The next but swept a lone hill-side + Where heath and fern were waving wide: + The sun's last glance was glinted back + From spear and glaive, from targe and jack,— + The next, all unreflected, shone + On bracken green and cold gray stone. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XI. + + Fitz-James looked round,—yet scarce believed + The witness that his sight received; + Such apparition well might seem + Delusion of a dreadful dream. + Sir Roderick in suspense he eyed, + And to his look the Chief replied: + 'Fear naught—nay, that I need not say + But—doubt not aught from mine array. + Thou art my guest;—I pledged my word + As far as Coilantogle ford: + Nor would I call a clansman's brand + For aid against one valiant hand, + Though on our strife lay every vale + Rent by the Saxon from the Gael. + So move we on;—I only meant + To show the reed on which you leant, + Deeming this path you might pursue + Without a pass from Roderick Dhu.' + They moved;—I said Fitz-James was brave + As ever knight that belted glaive, + Yet dare not say that now his blood + Kept on its wont and tempered flood, + As, following Roderick's stride, he drew + That seeming lonesome pathway through, + Which yet by fearful proof was rife + With lances, that, to take his life, + Waited but signal from a guide, + So late dishonored and defied. + Ever, by stealth, his eye sought round + The vanished guardians of the ground, + And stir'd from copse and heather deep + Fancy saw spear and broadsword peep, + And in the plover's shrilly strain + The signal whistle heard again. + Nor breathed he free till far behind + The pass was left; for then they wind + Along a wide and level green, + Where neither tree nor tuft was seen, + Nor rush nor bush of broom was near, + To hide a bonnet or a spear. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XII. + + The Chief in silence strode before, + And reached that torrent's sounding shore, + Which, daughter of three mighty lakes, + From Vennachar in silver breaks, + Sweeps through the plain, and ceaseless mines + On Bochastle the mouldering lines, + Where Rome, the Empress of the world, + Of yore her eagle wings unfurled. + And here his course the Chieftain stayed, + Threw down his target and his plaid, + And to the Lowland warrior said: + 'Bold Saxon! to his promise just, + Vich-Alpine has discharged his trust. + This murderous Chief, this ruthless man, + This head of a rebellious clan, + Hath led thee safe, through watch and ward, + Far past Clan-Alpine's outmost guard. + Now, man to man, and steel to steel, + A Chieftain's vengeance thou shalt feel. + See, here all vantageless I stand, + Armed like thyself with single brand; + For this is Coilantogle ford, + And thou must keep thee with thy sword.' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XIII. + + The Saxon paused: 'I ne'er delayed, + When foeman bade me draw my blade; + Nay more, brave Chief, I vowed thy death; + Yet sure thy fair and generous faith, + And my deep debt for life preserved, + A better meed have well deserved: + Can naught but blood our feud atone? + Are there no means?'—' No, stranger, none! + And hear,—to fire thy flagging zeal,— + The Saxon cause rests on thy steel; + For thus spoke Fate by prophet bred + Between the living and the dead:" + Who spills the foremost foeman's life, + His party conquers in the strife."' + 'Then, by my word,' the Saxon said, + "The riddle is already read. + Seek yonder brake beneath the cliff,— + There lies Red Murdoch, stark and stiff. + Thus Fate hath solved her prophecy; + Then yield to Fate, and not to me. + To James at Stirling let us go, + When, if thou wilt be still his foe, + Or if the King shall not agree + To grant thee grace and favor free, + I plight mine honor, oath, and word + That, to thy native strengths restored, + With each advantage shalt thou stand + That aids thee now to guard thy land.' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XIV. + + Dark lightning flashed from Roderick's eye: + 'Soars thy presumption, then, so high, + Because a wretched kern ye slew, + Homage to name to Roderick Dhu? + He yields not, he, to man nor Fate! + Thou add'st but fuel to my hate;— + My clansman's blood demands revenge. + Not yet prepared?—By heaven, I change + My thought, and hold thy valor light + As that of some vain carpet knight, + Who ill deserved my courteous care, + And whose best boast is but to wear + A braid of his fair lady's hair.' 'I thank thee, + Roderick, for the word! + It nerves my heart, it steels my sword; + For I have sworn this braid to stain + In the best blood that warms thy vein. + Now, truce, farewell! and, rush, begone!— + Yet think not that by thee alone, + Proud Chief! can courtesy be shown; + Though not from copse, or heath, or cairn, + Start at my whistle clansmen stern, + Of this small horn one feeble blast + Would fearful odds against thee cast. + But fear not—doubt not—which thou wilt— + We try this quarrel hilt to hilt.' + Then each at once his falchion drew, + Each on the ground his scabbard threw + Each looked to sun and stream and plain + As what they ne'er might see again; + Then foot and point and eye opposed, + In dubious strife they darkly closed. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XV. + + Ill fared it then with Roderick Dhu, + That on the field his targe he threw, + Whose brazen studs and tough bull-hide + Had death so often dashed aside; + For, trained abroad his arms to wield + Fitz-James's blade was sword and shield. + He practised every pass and ward, + To thrust, to strike, to feint, to guard; + While less expert, though stronger far, + The Gael maintained unequal war. + Three times in closing strife they stood + And thrice the Saxon blade drank blood; + No stinted draught, no scanty tide, + The gushing flood the tartars dyed. + Fierce Roderick felt the fatal drain, + And showered his blows like wintry rain; + And, as firm rock or castle-roof + Against the winter shower is proof, + The foe, invulnerable still, + Foiled his wild rage by steady skill; + Till, at advantage ta'en, his brand + Forced Roderick's weapon from his hand, + And backward borne upon the lea, + Brought the proud Chieftain to his knee. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XVI. + + Now yield thee, or by Him who made + The world, thy heart's blood dyes my blade!; + 'Thy threats, thy mercy, I defy! + Let recreant yield, who fears to die.' + Like adder darting from his coil, + Like wolf that dashes through the toil, + Like mountain-cat who guards her young, + Full at Fitz-James's throat he sprung; + Received, but recked not of a wound, + And locked his arms his foeman round. + Now, gallant Saxon, hold thine own! + No maiden's hand is round thee thrown! + That desperate grasp thy frame might feel + Through bars of brass and triple steel! + They tug, they strain! down, down they go, + The Gael above, Fitz-James below. + The Chieftain's gripe his throat compressed, + His knee was planted on his breast; + His clotted locks he backward threw, + Across his brow his hand he drew, + From blood and mist to clear his sight, + Then gleamed aloft his dagger bright! + But hate and fury ill supplied + The stream of life's exhausted tide, + And all too late the advantage came, + To turn the odds of deadly game; + For, while the dagger gleamed on high, + Reeled soul and sense, reeled brain and eye. + Down came the blow! but in the heath + The erring blade found bloodless sheath. + The struggling foe may now unclasp + The fainting Chief's relaxing grasp; + Unwounded from the dreadful close, + But breathless all, Fitz-James arose. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XVII. + + He faltered thanks to Heaven for life, + Redeemed, unhoped, from desperate strife; + Next on his foe his look he cast, + Whose every gasp appeared his last + In Roderick's gore he dipped the braid,— + 'Poor Blanche! thy wrongs are dearly paid; + Yet with thy foe must die, or live, + The praise that faith and valor give.' + With that he blew a bugle note, + Undid the collar from his throat, + Unbonneted, and by the wave + Sat down his brow and hands to rave. + Then faint afar are heard the feet + Of rushing steeds in gallop fleet; + The sounds increase, and now are seen + Four mounted squires in Lincoln green; + Two who bear lance, and two who lead + By loosened rein a saddled steed; + Each onward held his headlong course, + And by Fitz-James reined up his horse,— + With wonder viewed the bloody spot,— + 'Exclaim not, gallants' question not.— + You, Herbert and Luffness, alight + And bind the wounds of yonder knight; + Let the gray palfrey bear his weight, + We destined for a fairer freight, + And bring him on to Stirling straight; + I will before at better speed, + To seek fresh horse and fitting weed. + The sun rides high;—I must be boune + To see the archer-game at noon; + But lightly Bayard clears the lea.— + De Vaux and Herries, follow me. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XVIII. + + 'Stand, Bayard, stand!'—the steed obeyed, + With arching neck and bended head, + And glancing eye and quivering ear, + As if he loved his lord to hear. + No foot Fitz-James in stirrup stayed, + No grasp upon the saddle laid, + But wreathed his left hand in the mane, + And lightly bounded from the plain, + Turned on the horse his armed heel, + And stirred his courage with the steel. + Bounded the fiery steed in air, + The rider sat erect and fair, + Then like a bolt from steel crossbow + Forth launched, along the plain they go. + They dashed that rapid torrent through, + And up Carhonie's hill they flew; + Still at the gallop pricked the Knight, + His merrymen followed as they might. + Along thy banks, swift Teith! they ride, + And in the race they mock thy tide; + Torry and Lendrick now are past, + And Deanstown lies behind them cast; + They rise, the bannered towers of Doune, + They sink in distant woodland soon; + Blair-Drummond sees the hoofs strike fire, + They sweep like breeze through Ochtertyre; + They mark just glance and disappear + The lofty brow of ancient Kier; + They bathe their coursers' sweltering sides + Dark Forth! amid thy sluggish tides, + And on the opposing shore take ground + With plash, with scramble, and with bound. + Right-hand they leave thy cliffs, Craig-Forth! + And soon the bulwark of the North, + Gray Stirling, with her towers and town, + Upon their fleet career looked clown. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XIX. + + As up the flinty path they strained, + Sudden his steed the leader reined; + A signal to his squire he flung, + Who instant to his stirrup sprung:— + 'Seest thou, De Vaux, yon woodsman gray, + Who townward holds the rocky way, + Of stature tall and poor array? + Mark'st thou the firm, yet active stride, + With which he scales the mountain-side? + Know'st thou from whence he comes, or whom?' + 'No, by my word;—a burly groom + He seems, who in the field or chase + A baron's train would nobly grace—' + 'Out, out, De Vaux! can fear supply, + And jealousy, no sharper eye? + Afar, ere to the hill he drew, + That stately form and step I knew; + Like form in Scotland is not seen, + Treads not such step on Scottish green. + 'Tis James of Douglas, by Saint Serle! + The uncle of the banished Earl. + Away, away, to court, to show + The near approach of dreaded foe: + The King must stand upon his guard; + Douglas and he must meet prepared.' + Then right-hand wheeled their steeds, and straight + They won the Castle's postern gate. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XX. + + The Douglas, who had bent his way + From Cambus-kenneth's abbey gray, + Now, as he climbed the rocky shelf, + Held sad communion with himself:— + 'Yes! all is true my fears could frame; + A prisoner lies the noble Graeme, + And fiery Roderick soon will feel + The vengeance of the royal steel. + I, only I, can ward their fate,— + God grant the ransom come not late! + The Abbess hath her promise given, + My child shall be the bride of Heaven;— + Be pardoned one repining tear! + For He who gave her knows how dear, + How excellent!—but that is by, + And now my business is—to die.— + Ye towers! within whose circuit dread + A Douglas by his sovereign bled; + And thou, O sad and fatal mound! + That oft hast heard the death-axe sound. + As on the noblest of the land + Fell the stern headsmen's bloody hand,— + The dungeon, block, and nameless tomb + Prepare—for Douglas seeks his doom! + But hark! what blithe and jolly peal + Makes the Franciscan steeple reel? + And see! upon the crowded street, + In motley groups what masquers meet! + Banner and pageant, pipe and drum, + And merry morrice-dancers come. + I guess, by all this quaint array, + The burghers hold their sports to-day. + James will be there; he loves such show, + Where the good yeoman bends his bow, + And the tough wrestler foils his foe, + As well as where, in proud career, + The high-born filter shivers spear. + I'll follow to the Castle-park, + And play my prize;—King James shall mark + If age has tamed these sinews stark, + Whose force so oft in happier days + His boyish wonder loved to praise.' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXI. + + The Castle gates were open flung, + The quivering drawbridge rocked and rung, + And echoed loud the flinty street + Beneath the coursers' clattering feet, + As slowly down the steep descent + Fair Scotland's King and nobles went, + While all along the crowded way + Was jubilee and loud huzza. + And ever James was bending low + To his white jennet's saddle-bow, + Doffing his cap to city dame, + Who smiled and blushed for pride and shame. + And well the simperer might be vain,— + He chose the fairest of the train. + Gravely he greets each city sire, + Commends each pageant's quaint attire, + Gives to the dancers thanks aloud, + And smiles and nods upon the crowd, + Who rend the heavens with their acclaims,— + 'Long live the Commons' King, King James!' + Behind the King thronged peer and knight, + And noble dame and damsel bright, + Whose fiery steeds ill brooked the stay + Of the steep street and crowded way. + But in the train you might discern + Dark lowering brow and visage stern; + There nobles mourned their pride restrained, + And the mean burgher's joys disdained; + And chiefs, who, hostage for their clan, + Were each from home a banished man, + There thought upon their own gray tower, + Their waving woods, their feudal power, + And deemed themselves a shameful part + Of pageant which they cursed in heart. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXII. + + Now, in the Castle-park, drew out + Their checkered bands the joyous rout. + There morricers, with bell at heel + And blade in hand, their mazes wheel; + But chief, beside the butts, there stand + Bold Robin Hood and all his band,— + Friar Tuck with quarterstaff and cowl, + Old Scathelocke with his surly scowl, + Maid Marian, fair as ivory bone, + Scarlet, and Mutch, and Little John; + Their bugles challenge all that will, + In archery to prove their skill. + The Douglas bent a bow of might,— + His first shaft centred in the white, + And when in turn he shot again, + His second split the first in twain. + From the King's hand must Douglas take + A silver dart, the archers' stake; + Fondly he watched, with watery eye, + Some answering glance of sympathy,— + No kind emotion made reply! + Indifferent as to archer wight, + The monarch gave the arrow bright. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXIII. + + Now, clear the ring! for, hand to hand, + The manly wrestlers take their stand. + Two o'er the rest superior rose, + And proud demanded mightier foes,— + Nor called in vain, for Douglas came.— + For life is Hugh of Larbert lame; + Scarce better John of Alloa's fare, + Whom senseless home his comrades bare. + Prize of the wrestling match, the King + To Douglas gave a golden ring, + While coldly glanced his eye of blue, + As frozen drop of wintry dew. + Douglas would speak, but in his breast + His struggling soul his words suppressed; + Indignant then he turned him where + Their arms the brawny yeomen bare, + To hurl the massive bar in air. + When each his utmost strength had shown, + The Douglas rent an earth-fast stone + From its deep bed, then heaved it high, + And sent the fragment through the sky + A rood beyond the farthest mark; + And still in Stirling's royal park, + The gray-haired sires, who know the past, + To strangers point the Douglas cast, + And moralize on the decay + Of Scottish strength in modern day. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXIV. + + The vale with loud applauses rang, + The Ladies' Rock sent back the clang. + The King, with look unmoved, bestowed + A purse well filled with pieces broad. + Indignant smiled the Douglas proud, + And threw the gold among the crowd, + Who now with anxious wonder scan, + And sharper glance, the dark gray man; + Till whispers rose among the throng, + That heart so free, and hand so strong, + Must to the Douglas blood belong. + The old men marked and shook the head, + To see his hair with silver spread, + And winked aside, and told each son + Of feats upon the English done, + Ere Douglas of the stalwart hand + Was exiled from his native land. + The women praised his stately form, + Though wrecked by many a winter's storm; + The youth with awe and wonder saw + His strength surpassing Nature's law. + Thus judged, as is their wont, the crowd + Till murmurs rose to clamours loud. + But not a glance from that proud ring + Of peers who circled round the King + With Douglas held communion kind, + Or called the banished man to mind; + No, not from those who at the chase + Once held his side the honoured place, + Begirt his board, and in the field + Found safety underneath his shield; + For he whom royal eyes disown, + When was his form to courtiers known! +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXV. + + The Monarch saw the gambols flag + And bade let loose a gallant stag, + Whose pride, the holiday to crown, + Two favorite greyhounds should pull down, + That venison free and Bourdeaux wine + Might serve the archery to dine. + But Lufra,—whom from Douglas' side + Nor bribe nor threat could e'er divide, + The fleetest hound in all the North,— + Brave Lufra saw, and darted forth. + She left the royal hounds midway, + And dashing on the antlered prey, + Sunk her sharp muzzle in his flank, + And deep the flowing life-blood drank. + The King's stout huntsman saw the sport + By strange intruder broken short, + Came up, and with his leash unbound + In anger struck the noble hound. + The Douglas had endured, that morn, + The King's cold look, the nobles' scorn, + And last, and worst to spirit proud, + Had borne the pity of the crowd; + But Lufra had been fondly bred, + To share his board, to watch his bed, + And oft would Ellen Lufra's neck + In maiden glee with garlands deck; + They were such playmates that with name + Of Lufra Ellen's image came. + His stifled wrath is brimming high, + In darkened brow and flashing eye; + As waves before the bark divide, + The crowd gave way before his stride; + Needs but a buffet and no more, + The groom lies senseless in his gore. + Such blow no other hand could deal, + Though gauntleted in glove of steel. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXVI. + + Then clamored loud the royal train, + And brandished swords and staves amain, + But stern the Baron's warning: + 'Back! Back, on your lives, ye menial pack! + Beware the Douglas.—Yes! behold, + King James! The Douglas, doomed of old, + And vainly sought for near and far, + A victim to atone the war, + A willing victim, now attends, + Nor craves thy grace but for his friends.—' + 'Thus is my clemency repaid? + Presumptuous Lord!' the Monarch said: + 'Of thy misproud ambitious clan, + Thou, James of Bothwell, wert the man, + The only man, in whom a foe + My woman-mercy would not know; + But shall a Monarch's presence brook + Injurious blow and haughty look?— + What ho! the Captain of our Guard! + Give the offender fitting ward.— + Break off the sports!'—for tumult rose, + And yeomen 'gan to bend their bows, + 'Break off the sports!' he said and frowned, + 'And bid our horsemen clear the ground.' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXVII. + + Then uproar wild and misarray + Marred the fair form of festal day. + The horsemen pricked among the crowd, + Repelled by threats and insult loud; + To earth are borne the old and weak, + The timorous fly, the women shriek; + With flint, with shaft, with staff, with bar, + The hardier urge tumultuous war. + At once round Douglas darkly sweep + The royal spears in circle deep, + And slowly scale the pathway steep, + While on the rear in thunder pour + The rabble with disordered roar + With grief the noble Douglas saw + The Commons rise against the law, + And to the leading soldier said: + 'Sir John of Hyndford, 'twas my blade + That knighthood on thy shoulder laid; + For that good deed permit me then + A word with these misguided men.— +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXVIII, + + 'Hear, gentle friends, ere yet for me + Ye break the bands of fealty. + My life, my honour, and my cause, + I tender free to Scotland's laws. + Are these so weak as must require + 'Fine aid of your misguided ire? + Or if I suffer causeless wrong, + Is then my selfish rage so strong, + My sense of public weal so low, + That, for mean vengeance on a foe, + Those cords of love I should unbind + Which knit my country and my kind? + O no! Believe, in yonder tower + It will not soothe my captive hour, + To know those spears our foes should dread + For me in kindred gore are red: + 'To know, in fruitless brawl begun, + For me that mother wails her son, + For me that widow's mate expires, + For me that orphans weep their sires, + That patriots mourn insulted laws, + And curse the Douglas for the cause. + O let your patience ward such ill, + And keep your right to love me still!' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXIX. + + The crowd's wild fury sunk again + In tears, as tempests melt in rain. + With lifted hands and eyes, they prayed + For blessings on his generous head + Who for his country felt alone, + And prized her blood beyond his own. + Old men upon the verge of life + Blessed him who stayed the civil strife; + And mothers held their babes on high, + The self-devoted Chief to spy, + Triumphant over wrongs and ire, + To whom the prattlers owed a sire. + Even the rough soldier's heart was moved; + As if behind some bier beloved, + With trailing arms and drooping head, + The Douglas up the hill he led, + And at the Castle's battled verge, + With sighs resigned his honoured charge. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXX. + + The offended Monarch rode apart, + With bitter thought and swelling heart, + And would not now vouchsafe again + Through Stirling streets to lead his train. + 'O Lennox, who would wish to rule + This changeling crowd, this common fool? + Hear'st thou,' he said, 'the loud acclaim + With which they shout the Douglas name? + With like acclaim the vulgar throat + Strained for King James their morning note; + With like acclaim they hailed the day + When first I broke the Douglas sway; + And like acclaim would Douglas greet + If he could hurl me from my seat. + Who o'er the herd would wish to reign, + Fantastic, fickle, fierce, and vain? + Vain as the leaf upon the stream, + And fickle as a changeful dream; + Fantastic as a woman's mood, + And fierce as Frenzy's fevered blood. + Thou many-headed monster-thing, + O who would wish to be thy king?— +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXXI.. + + 'But soft! what messenger of speed + Spurs hitherward his panting steed? + I guess his cognizance afar— + What from our cousin, John of Mar?' + 'He prays, my liege, your sports keep bound + Within the safe and guarded ground; + For some foul purpose yet unknown,— + Most sure for evil to the throne,— + The outlawed Chieftain, Roderick Dhu, + Has summoned his rebellious crew; + 'Tis said, in James of Bothwell's aid + These loose banditti stand arrayed. + The Earl of Mar this morn from Doune + To break their muster marched, and soon + Your Grace will hear of battle fought; + But earnestly the Earl besought, + Till for such danger he provide, + With scanty train you will not ride.' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXXII. + + 'Thou warn'st me I have done amiss,— + I should have earlier looked to this; + I lost it in this bustling day.— + Retrace with speed thy former way; + Spare not for spoiling of thy steed, + The best of mine shall be thy meed. + Say to our faithful Lord of Mar, + We do forbid the intended war; + Roderick this morn in single fight + Was made our prisoner by a knight, + And Douglas hath himself and cause + Submitted to our kingdom's laws. + The tidings of their leaders lost + Will soon dissolve the mountain host, + Nor would we that the vulgar feel, + For their Chief's crimes, avenging steel. + Bear Mar our message, Braco, fly!' + He turned his steed,—'My liege, I hie, + Yet ere I cross this lily lawn + I fear the broadswords will be drawn.' + The turf the flying courser spurned, + And to his towers the King returned. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXXIII. + + Ill with King James's mood that day + Suited gay feast and minstrel lay; + Soon were dismissed the courtly throng, + And soon cut short the festal song. + Nor less upon the saddened town + The evening sunk in sorrow down. + The burghers spoke of civil jar, + Of rumoured feuds and mountain war, + Of Moray, Mar, and Roderick Dhu, + All up in arms;—the Douglas too, + They mourned him pent within the hold, + 'Where stout Earl William was of old.'— + And there his word the speaker stayed, + And finger on his lip he laid, + Or pointed to his dagger blade. + But jaded horsemen from the west + At evening to the Castle pressed, + And busy talkers said they bore + Tidings of fight on Katrine's shore; + At noon the deadly fray begun, + And lasted till the set of sun. + Thus giddy rumor shook the town, + Till closed the Night her pennons brown. +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CANTO SIXTH. + </h2> + <h3> + The Guard-room. + </h3> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + I. + + The sun, awakening, through the smoky air + Of the dark city casts a sullen glance, + Rousing each caitiff to his task of care, + Of sinful man the sad inheritance; + Summoning revellers from the lagging dance, + Scaring the prowling robber to his den; + Gilding on battled tower the warder's lance, + And warning student pale to leave his pen, + And yield his drowsy eyes to the kind nurse of men. + + What various scenes, and O, what scenes of woe, + Are witnessed by that red and struggling beam! + The fevered patient, from his pallet low, + Through crowded hospital beholds it stream; + The ruined maiden trembles at its gleam, + The debtor wakes to thought of gyve and jail, + 'The love-lore wretch starts from tormenting dream: + The wakeful mother, by the glimmering pale, + Trims her sick infant's couch, and soothes his feeble wail. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + II. + + At dawn the towers of Stirling rang + With soldier-step and weapon-clang, + While drums with rolling note foretell + Relief to weary sentinel. + Through narrow loop and casement barred, + The sunbeams sought the Court of Guard, + And, struggling with the smoky air, + Deadened the torches' yellow glare. + In comfortless alliance shone + The lights through arch of blackened stone, + And showed wild shapes in garb of war, + Faces deformed with beard and scar, + All haggard from the midnight watch, + And fevered with the stern debauch; + For the oak table's massive board, + Flooded with wine, with fragments stored, + And beakers drained, and cups o'erthrown, + Showed in what sport the night had flown. + Some, weary, snored on floor and bench; + Some labored still their thirst to quench; + Some, chilled with watching, spread their hands + O'er the huge chimney's dying brands, + While round them, or beside them flung, + At every step their harness rung. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + III. + + These drew not for their fields the sword, + Like tenants of a feudal lord, + Nor owned the patriarchal claim + Of Chieftain in their leader's name; + Adventurers they, from far who roved, + To live by battle which they loved. + There the Italian's clouded face, + The swarthy Spaniard's there you trace; + The mountain-loving Switzer there + More freely breathed in mountain-air; + The Fleming there despised the soil + That paid so ill the labourer's toil; + Their rolls showed French and German name; + And merry England's exiles came, + To share, with ill-concealed disdain, + Of Scotland's pay the scanty gain. + All brave in arms, well trained to wield + The heavy halberd, brand, and shield; + In camps licentious, wild, and bold; + In pillage fierce and uncontrolled; + And now, by holytide and feast, + From rules of discipline released. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + IV. + + 'They held debate of bloody fray, + Fought 'twixt Loch Katrine and Achray. + Fierce was their speech, and mid their words + 'Their hands oft grappled to their swords; + Nor sunk their tone to spare the ear + Of wounded comrades groaning near, + Whose mangled limbs and bodies gored + Bore token of the mountain sword, + Though, neighbouring to the Court of Guard, + Their prayers and feverish wails were heard,— + Sad burden to the ruffian joke, + And savage oath by fury spoke!— + At length up started John of Brent, + A yeoman from the banks of Trent; + A stranger to respect or fear, + In peace a chaser of the deer, + In host a hardy mutineer, + But still the boldest of the crew + When deed of danger was to do. + He grieved that day their games cut short, + And marred the dicer's brawling sport, + And shouted loud, 'Renew the bowl! + And, while a merry catch I troll, + Let each the buxom chorus bear, + Like brethren of the brand and spear.' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + V. + + Soldier's Song. + + Our vicar still preaches that Peter and Poule + Laid a swinging long curse on the bonny brown bowl, + That there 's wrath and despair in the jolly black-jack, + And the seven deadly sins in a flagon of sack; + Yet whoop, Barnaby! off with thy liquor, + Drink upsees out, and a fig for the vicar! + + Our vicar he calls it damnation to sip + The ripe ruddy dew of a woman's dear lip, + Says that Beelzebub lurks in her kerchief so sly, + And Apollyon shoots darts from her merry black eye; + Yet whoop, Jack! kiss Gillian the quicker, + Till she bloom like a rose, and a fig for the vicar! + + Our vicar thus preaches,—and why should he not? + For the dues of his cure are the placket and pot; + And 'tis right of his office poor laymen to lurch + Who infringe the domains of our good Mother Church. + Yet whoop, bully-boys! off with your liquor, + Sweet Marjorie 's the word and a fig for the vicar! +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + VI. + + The warder's challenge, heard without, + Stayed in mid-roar the merry shout. + A soldier to the portal went,— + 'Here is old Bertram, sirs, of Ghent; + And—beat for jubilee the drum!— + A maid and minstrel with him come.' + Bertram, a Fleming, gray and scarred, + Was entering now the Court of Guard, + A harper with him, and, in plaid + All muffled close, a mountain maid, + Who backward shrunk to 'scape the view + Of the loose scene and boisterous crew. + 'What news?' they roared:—' I only know, + From noon till eve we fought with foe, + As wild and as untamable + As the rude mountains where they dwell; + On both sides store of blood is lost, + Nor much success can either boast.'— + 'But whence thy captives, friend? such spoil + As theirs must needs reward thy toil. + Old dost thou wax, and wars grow sharp; + Thou now hast glee-maiden and harp! + Get thee an ape, and trudge the land, + The leader of a juggler band.' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + VII. + + 'No, comrade;—no such fortune mine. + After the fight these sought our line, + That aged harper and the girl, + And, having audience of the Earl, + Mar bade I should purvey them steed, + And bring them hitherward with speed. + Forbear your mirth and rude alarm, + For none shall do them shame or harm.— + 'Hear ye his boast?' cried John of Brent, + Ever to strife and jangling bent; + 'Shall he strike doe beside our lodge, + And yet the jealous niggard grudge + To pay the forester his fee? + I'll have my share howe'er it be, + Despite of Moray, Mar, or thee.' + Bertram his forward step withstood; + And, burning in his vengeful mood, + Old Allan, though unfit for strife, + Laid hand upon his dagger-knife; + But Ellen boldly stepped between, + And dropped at once the tartan screen:— + So, from his morning cloud, appears + The sun of May through summer tears. + The savage soldiery, amazed, + As on descended angel gazed; + Even hardy Brent, abashed and tamed, + Stood half admiring, half ashamed. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + VIII. + + Boldly she spoke: 'Soldiers, attend! + My father was the soldier's friend, + Cheered him in camps, in marches led, + And with him in the battle bled. + Not from the valiant or the strong + Should exile's daughter suffer wrong.' + Answered De Brent, most forward still + In every feat or good or ill: + 'I shame me of the part I played; + And thou an outlaw's child, poor maid! + An outlaw I by forest laws, + And merry Needwood knows the cause. + Poor Rose,—if Rose be living now,'— + He wiped his iron eye and brow,— + 'Must bear such age, I think, as thou.— + Hear ye, my mates! I go to call + The Captain of our watch to hall: + There lies my halberd on the floor; + And he that steps my halberd o'er, + To do the maid injurious part, + My shaft shall quiver in his heart! + Beware loose speech, or jesting rough; + Ye all know John de Brent. Enough.' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + IX. + + Their Captain came, a gallant young,— + Of Tullibardine's house he sprung,— + Nor wore he yet the spurs of knight; + Gay was his mien, his humor light + And, though by courtesy controlled, + Forward his speech, his bearing bold. + The high-born maiden ill could brook + The scanning of his curious look + And dauntless eye:—and yet, in sooth + Young Lewis was a generous youth; + But Ellen's lovely face and mien + Ill suited to the garb and scene, + Might lightly bear construction strange, + And give loose fancy scope to range. + 'Welcome to Stirling towers, fair maid! + Come ye to seek a champion's aid, + On palfrey white, with harper hoar, + Like errant damosel of yore? + Does thy high quest a knight require, + Or may the venture suit a squire?' + Her dark eye flashed;—she paused and sighed:— + 'O what have I to do with pride!— + Through scenes of sorrow, shame, and strife, + A suppliant for a father's life, + I crave an audience of the King. + Behold, to back my suit, a ring, + The royal pledge of grateful claims, + Given by the Monarch to Fitz-James.' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + X. + + The signet-ring young Lewis took + With deep respect and altered look, + And said: 'This ring our duties own; + And pardon, if to worth unknown, + In semblance mean obscurely veiled, + Lady, in aught my folly failed. + Soon as the day flings wide his gates, + The King shall know what suitor waits. + Please you meanwhile in fitting bower + Repose you till his waking hour. + Female attendance shall obey + Your hest, for service or array. + Permit I marshal you the way.' + But, ere she followed, with the grace + And open bounty of her race, + She bade her slender purse be shared + Among the soldiers of the guard. + The rest with thanks their guerdon took, + But Brent, with shy and awkward look, + On the reluctant maiden's hold + Forced bluntly back the proffered gold:— + 'Forgive a haughty English heart, + And O, forget its ruder part! + + The vacant purse shall be my share, + Which in my barrel-cap I'll bear, + Perchance, in jeopardy of war, + Where gayer crests may keep afar.' + With thanks—'twas all she could—the maid + His rugged courtesy repaid. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XI. + + When Ellen forth with Lewis went, + Allan made suit to John of Brent:— + 'My lady safe, O let your grace + Give me to see my master's face! + His minstrel I,—to share his doom + Bound from the cradle to the tomb. + Tenth in descent, since first my sires + Waked for his noble house their Iyres, + Nor one of all the race was known + But prized its weal above their own. + With the Chief's birth begins our care; + Our harp must soothe the infant heir, + Teach the youth tales of fight, and grace + His earliest feat of field or chase; + In peace, in war, our rank we keep, + We cheer his board, we soothe his sleep, + Nor leave him till we pour our verse— + A doleful tribute!—o'er his hearse. + Then let me share his captive lot; + It is my right,—deny it not!' + 'Little we reck,' said John of Brent, + 'We Southern men, of long descent; + Nor wot we how a name—a word— + Makes clansmen vassals to a lord: + Yet kind my noble landlord's part,— + God bless the house of Beaudesert! + And, but I loved to drive the deer + More than to guide the labouring steer, + I had not dwelt an outcast here. + Come, good old Minstrel, follow me; + Thy Lord and Chieftain shalt thou see.' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XII. + + Then, from a rusted iron hook, + A bunch of ponderous keys he took, + Lighted a torch, and Allan led + Through grated arch and passage dread. + Portals they passed, where, deep within, + Spoke prisoner's moan and fetters' din; + Through rugged vaults, where, loosely stored, + Lay wheel, and axe, and headsmen's sword, + And many a hideous engine grim, + For wrenching joint and crushing limb, + By artists formed who deemed it shame + And sin to give their work a name. + They halted at a Iow-browed porch, + And Brent to Allan gave the torch, + While bolt and chain he backward rolled, + And made the bar unhasp its hold. + They entered:—'twas a prison-room + Of stern security and gloom, + Yet not a dungeon; for the day + Through lofty gratings found its way, + And rude and antique garniture + Decked the sad walls and oaken floor, + Such as the rugged days of old + Deemed fit for captive noble's hold. + 'Here,' said De Brent, 'thou mayst remain + Till the Leech visit him again. + Strict is his charge, the warders tell, + To tend the noble prisoner well.' + Retiring then the bolt he drew, + And the lock's murmurs growled anew. + Roused at the sound, from lowly bed + A captive feebly raised his head. + The wondering Minstrel looked, and knew— + Not his dear lord, but Roderick Dhu! + For, come from where Clan-Alpine fought, + They, erring, deemed the Chief he sought. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XIII. + + As the tall ship, whose lofty prore + Shall never stem the billows more, + Deserted by her gallant band, + Amid the breakers lies astrand,— + So on his couch lay Roderick Dhu! + And oft his fevered limbs he threw + In toss abrupt, as when her sides + Lie rocking in the advancing tides, + That shake her frame with ceaseless beat, + Yet cannot heave her from her seat;— + O, how unlike her course at sea! + Or his free step on hill and lea!— + Soon as the Minstrel he could scan,— + 'What of thy lady?—of my clan?— + My mother?—Douglas?—tell me all! + Have they been ruined in my fall? + Ah, yes! or wherefore art thou here? + Yet speak,—speak boldly,—do not fear.'— + For Allan, who his mood well knew, + Was choked with grief and terror too.— + 'Who fought?—who fled?—Old man, be brief;— + Some might,—for they had lost their Chief. + Who basely live?—who bravely died?' + 'O, calm thee, Chief!' the Minstrel cried, + 'Ellen is safe!' 'For that thank Heaven!' + 'And hopes are for the Douglas given;— + The Lady Margaret, too, is well; + And, for thy clan,—on field or fell, + Has never harp of minstrel told + Of combat fought so true and bold. + Thy stately Pine is yet unbent, + Though many a goodly bough is rent.' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XIV. + + The Chieftain reared his form on high, + And fever's fire was in his eye; + But ghastly, pale, and livid streaks + Checkered his swarthy brow and cheeks. + 'Hark, Minstrel! I have heard thee play, + With measure bold on festal day, + In yon lone isle,—again where ne'er + Shall harper play or warrior hear!— + That stirring air that peals on high, + O'er Dermid's race our victory.— + Strike it!—and then,—for well thou canst,— + Free from thy minstrel-spirit glanced, + Fling me the picture of the fight, + When met my clan the Saxon might. + I'll listen, till my fancy hears + The clang of swords' the crash of spears! + These grates, these walls, shall vanish then + For the fair field of fighting men, + And my free spirit burst away, + As if it soared from battle fray.' + The trembling Bard with awe obeyed,— + Slow on the harp his hand he laid; + But soon remembrance of the sight + He witnessed from the mountain's height, + With what old Bertram told at night, + Awakened the full power of song, + And bore him in career along;— + As shallop launched on river's tide, + 'That slow and fearful leaves the side, + But, when it feels the middle stream, + Drives downward swift as lightning's beam. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XV. + + Battle of Beal' An Duine. + + 'The Minstrel came once more to view + The eastern ridge of Benvenue, + For ere he parted he would say + Farewell to lovely loch Achray + Where shall he find, in foreign land, + So lone a lake, so sweet a strand!— + There is no breeze upon the fern, + No ripple on the lake, + Upon her eyry nods the erne, + The deer has sought the brake; + The small birds will not sing aloud, + The springing trout lies still, + So darkly glooms yon thunder-cloud, + That swathes, as with a purple shroud, + Benledi's distant hill. + Is it the thunder's solemn sound + That mutters deep and dread, + Or echoes from the groaning ground + The warrior's measured tread? + Is it the lightning's quivering glance + That on the thicket streams, + Or do they flash on spear and lance + The sun's retiring beams?— + I see the dagger-crest of Mar, + I see the Moray's silver star, + Wave o'er the cloud of Saxon war, + That up the lake comes winding far! + + To hero boune for battle-strife, + Or bard of martial lay, + 'Twere worth ten years of peaceful life, + One glance at their array! +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XVI. + + 'Their light-armed archers far and near + Surveyed the tangled ground, + Their centre ranks, with pike and spear, + A twilight forest frowned, + Their barded horsemen in the rear + The stern battalia crowned. + No cymbal clashed, no clarion rang, + Still were the pipe and drum; + Save heavy tread, and armor's clang, + The sullen march was dumb. + There breathed no wind their crests to shake, + Or wave their flags abroad; + Scarce the frail aspen seemed to quake + That shadowed o'er their road. + Their vaward scouts no tidings bring, + Can rouse no lurking foe, + Nor spy a trace of living thing, + Save when they stirred the roe; + The host moves like a deep-sea wave, + Where rise no rocks its pride to brave + High-swelling, dark, and slow. + The lake is passed, and now they gain + A narrow and a broken plain, + Before the Trosachs' rugged jaws; + And here the horse and spearmen pause + While, to explore the dangerous glen + Dive through the pass the archer-men. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XVII. + + 'At once there rose so wild a yell + Within that dark and narrow dell, + As all the fiends from heaven that fell + Had pealed the banner-cry of hell! + Forth from the pass in tumult driven, + Like chaff before the wind of heaven, + The archery appear: + For life! for life! their flight they ply— + And shriek, and shout, and battle-cry, + And plaids and bonnets waving high, + And broadswords flashing to the sky, + Are maddening in the rear. + Onward they drive in dreadful race, + Pursuers and pursued; + Before that tide of flight and chase, + How shall it keep its rooted place, + The spearmen's twilight wood?—" + "Down, down," cried Mar, "your lances down' + Bear back both friend and foe! "— + Like reeds before the tempest's frown, + That serried grove of lances brown + At once lay levelled low; + And closely shouldering side to side, + The bristling ranks the onset bide.—" + "We'll quell the savage mountaineer, + As their Tinchel cows the game! + They come as fleet as forest deer, + We'll drive them back as tame." +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XVIII. + + 'Bearing before them in their course + The relics of the archer force, + Like wave with crest of sparkling foam, + Right onward did Clan-Alpine come. + Above the tide, each broadsword bright + Was brandishing like beam of light, + Each targe was dark below; + And with the ocean's mighty swing, + When heaving to the tempest's wing, + They hurled them on the foe. + I heard the lance's shivering crash, + As when the whirlwind rends the ash; + I heard the broadsword's deadly clang, + As if a hundred anvils rang! + But Moray wheeled his rearward rank + Of horsemen on Clan-Alpine's flank,— + "My banner-man, advance! + I see," he cried, "their column shake. + Now, gallants! for your ladies' sake, + Upon them with the lance!"— + The horsemen dashed among the rout, + As deer break through the broom; + + Their steeds are stout, their swords are out, + They soon make lightsome room. + Clan-Alpine's best are backward borne— + Where, where was Roderick then! + One blast upon his bugle-horn + Were worth a thousand men. + And refluent through the pass of fear + The battle's tide was poured; + Vanished the Saxon's struggling spear, + Vanished the mountain-sword. + As Bracklinn's chasm, so black and steep, + Receives her roaring linn + As the dark caverns of the deep + Suck the wild whirlpool in, + So did the deep and darksome pass + Devour the battle's mingled mass; + None linger now upon the plain + Save those who ne'er shall fight again. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XIX. + + 'Now westward rolls the battle's din, + That deep and doubling pass within.— + Minstrel, away! the work of fate + Is bearing on; its issue wait, + Where the rude Trosachs' dread defile + Opens on Katrine's lake and isle. + Gray Benvenue I soon repassed, + Loch Katrine lay beneath me cast. + The sun is set;—the clouds are met, + The lowering scowl of heaven + An inky hue of livid blue + To the deep lake has given; + Strange gusts of wind from mountain glen + Swept o'er the lake, then sunk again. + I heeded not the eddying surge, + Mine eye but saw the Trosachs' gorge, + Mine ear but heard that sullen sound, + Which like an earthquake shook the ground, + And spoke the stern and desperate strife + That parts not but with parting life, + Seeming, to minstrel ear, to toll + The dirge of many a passing soul. + Nearer it comes—the dim-wood glen + The martial flood disgorged again, + But not in mingled tide; + The plaided warriors of the North + High on the mountain thunder forth + And overhang its side, + While by the lake below appears + The darkening cloud of Saxon spears. + At weary bay each shattered band, + Eying their foemen, sternly stand; + Their banners stream like tattered sail, + That flings its fragments to the gale, + And broken arms and disarray + Marked the fell havoc of the day. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XX. + + 'Viewing the mountain's ridge askance, + The Saxons stood in sullen trance, + Till Moray pointed with his lance, + And cried: "Behold yon isle!— + See! none are left to guard its strand + But women weak, that wring the hand: + 'Tis there of yore the robber band + Their booty wont to pile;— + My purse, with bonnet-pieces store, + To him will swim a bow-shot o'er, + And loose a shallop from the shore. + Lightly we'll tame the war-wolf then, + Lords of his mate, and brood, and den." + Forth from the ranks a spearman sprung, + On earth his casque and corselet rung, + He plunged him in the wave:— + All saw the deed,—the purpose knew, + And to their clamors Benvenue + A mingled echo gave; + The Saxons shout, their mate to cheer, + The helpless females scream for fear + And yells for rage the mountaineer. + 'T was then, as by the outcry riven, + Poured down at once the lowering heaven: + A whirlwind swept Loch Katrine's breast, + Her billows reared their snowy crest. + Well for the swimmer swelled they high, + To mar the Highland marksman's eye; + For round him showered, mid rain and hail, + The vengeful arrows of the Gael. + In vain.—He nears the isle—and lo! + His hand is on a shallop's bow. + Just then a flash of lightning came, + It tinged the waves and strand with flame; + I marked Duncraggan's widowed dame, + Behind an oak I saw her stand, + A naked dirk gleamed in her hand:— + It darkened,—but amid the moan + Of waves I heard a dying groan;— + Another flash!—the spearman floats + A weltering corse beside the boats, + And the stern matron o'er him stood, + Her hand and dagger streaming blood. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXI. + + "'Revenge! revenge!" the Saxons cried, + The Gaels' exulting shout replied. + Despite the elemental rage, + Again they hurried to engage; + But, ere they closed in desperate fight, + Bloody with spurring came a knight, + Sprung from his horse, and from a crag + Waved 'twixt the hosts a milk-white flag. + Clarion and trumpet by his side + Rung forth a truce-note high and wide, + While, in the Monarch's name, afar + A herald's voice forbade the war, + For Bothwell's lord and Roderick bold + Were both, he said, in captive hold.'— + But here the lay made sudden stand, + The harp escaped the Minstrel's hand! + Oft had he stolen a glance, to spy + How Roderick brooked his minstrelsy: + At first, the Chieftain, to the chime, + With lifted hand kept feeble time; + That motion ceased,—yet feeling strong + Varied his look as changed the song; + At length, no more his deafened ear + The minstrel melody can hear; + His face grows sharp,—his hands are clenched' + As if some pang his heart-strings wrenched; + Set are his teeth, his fading eye + Is sternly fixed on vacancy; + Thus, motionless and moanless, drew + His parting breath stout Roderick Dhu!— + Old Allan-bane looked on aghast, + While grim and still his spirit passed; + But when he saw that life was fled, + He poured his wailing o'er the dead. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXII. + + Lament. + + 'And art thou cold and lowly laid, + Thy foeman's dread, thy people's aid, + Breadalbane's boast, Clan-Alpine's shade! + For thee shall none a requiem say?— + For thee, who loved the minstrel's lay, + For thee, of Bothwell's house the stay, + The shelter of her exiled line, + E'en in this prison-house of thine, + I'll wail for Alpine's honored Pine! + + 'What groans shall yonder valleys fill! + What shrieks of grief shall rend yon hill! + What tears of burning rage shall thrill, + When mourns thy tribe thy battles done, + Thy fall before the race was won, + Thy sword ungirt ere set of sun! + There breathes not clansman of thy line, + But would have given his life for thine. + O, woe for Alpine's honoured Pine! + + 'Sad was thy lot on mortal stage!— + The captive thrush may brook the cage, + The prisoned eagle dies for rage. + Brave spirit, do Dot scorn my strain! + And, when its notes awake again, + Even she, so long beloved in vain, + Shall with my harp her voice combine, + And mix her woe and tears with mine, + To wail Clan-Alpine's honoured Pine.' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXIII. + + Ellen the while, with bursting heart, + Remained in lordly bower apart, + Where played, with many-coloured gleams, + Through storied pane the rising beams. + In vain on gilded roof they fall, + And lightened up a tapestried wall, + And for her use a menial train + A rich collation spread in vain. + The banquet proud, the chamber gay, + Scarce drew one curious glance astray; + Or if she looked, 't was but to say, + With better omen dawned the day + In that lone isle, where waved on high + The dun-deer's hide for canopy; + Where oft her noble father shared + The simple meal her care prepared, + While Lufra, crouching by her side, + Her station claimed with jealous pride, + And Douglas, bent on woodland game, + Spoke of the chase to Malcolm Graeme, + Whose answer, oft at random made, + The wandering of his thoughts betrayed. + Those who such simple joys have known + Are taught to prize them when they 're gone. + But sudden, see, she lifts her head; + The window seeks with cautious tread. + What distant music has the power + To win her in this woful hour? + 'T was from a turret that o'erhung + Her latticed bower, the strain was sung. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXIV. + + Lay of the Imprisoned Huntsman. + + 'My hawk is tired of perch and hood, + My idle greyhound loathes his food, + My horse is weary of his stall, + And I am sick of captive thrall. + I wish I were as I have been, + Hunting the hart in forest green, + With bended bow and bloodhound free, + For that's the life is meet for me. + + I hate to learn the ebb of time + From yon dull steeple's drowsy chime, + Or mark it as the sunbeams crawl, + Inch after inch, along the wall. + The lark was wont my matins ring, + The sable rook my vespers sing; + These towers, although a king's they be, + Have not a hall of joy for me. + + No more at dawning morn I rise, + And sun myself in Ellen's eyes, + Drive the fleet deer the forest through, + And homeward wend with evening dew; + A blithesome welcome blithely meet, + And lay my trophies at her feet, + While fled the eve on wing of glee,— + That life is lost to love and me!' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXV. + + The heart-sick lay was hardly said, + The listener had not turned her head, + It trickled still, the starting tear, + When light a footstep struck her ear, + And Snowdoun's graceful Knight was near. + She turned the hastier, lest again + The prisoner should renew his strain. + 'O welcome, brave Fitz-James!' she said; + 'How may an almost orphan maid + Pay the deep debt—' 'O say not so! + To me no gratitude you owe. + Not mine, alas! the boon to give, + And bid thy noble father live; + I can but be thy guide, sweet maid, + With Scotland's King thy suit to aid. + No tyrant he, though ire and pride + May lay his better mood aside. + Come, Ellen, come! 'tis more than time, + He holds his court at morning prime.' + With heating heart, and bosom wrung, + As to a brother's arm she clung. + Gently he dried the falling tear, + And gently whispered hope and cheer; + Her faltering steps half led, half stayed, + Through gallery fair and high arcade, + Till at his touch its wings of pride + A portal arch unfolded wide. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXVI. + + Within 't was brilliant all and light, + A thronging scene of figures bright; + It glowed on Ellen's dazzled sight, + As when the setting sun has given + Ten thousand hues to summer even, + And from their tissue fancy frames + Aerial knights and fairy dames. + Still by Fitz-James her footing staid; + A few faint steps she forward made, + Then slow her drooping head she raised, + And fearful round the presence gazed; + For him she sought who owned this state, + The dreaded Prince whose will was fate!— + She gazed on many a princely port + Might well have ruled a royal court; + On many a splendid garb she gazed,— + Then turned bewildered and amazed, + For all stood bare; and in the room + Fitz-James alone wore cap and plume. + To him each lady's look was lent, + On him each courtier's eye was bent; + Midst furs and silks and jewels sheen, + He stood, in simple Lincoln green, + The centre of the glittering ring,— + And Snowdoun's Knight is Scotland's King! +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXVII. + + As wreath of snow on mountain-breast + Slides from the rock that gave it rest, + Poor Ellen glided from her stay, + And at the Monarch's feet she lay; + No word her choking voice commands,— + She showed the ring,—she clasped her hands. + O, not a moment could he brook, + The generous Prince, that suppliant look! + Gently he raised her,—and, the while, + Checked with a glance the circle's smile; + Graceful, but grave, her brow he kissed, + And bade her terrors be dismissed:— + 'Yes, fair; the wandering poor + Fitz-James The fealty of Scotland claims. + To him thy woes, thy wishes, bring; + He will redeem his signet ring. + Ask naught for Douglas;—yester even, + His Prince and he have much forgiven; + Wrong hath he had from slanderous tongue, + I, from his rebel kinsmen, wrong. + We would not, to the vulgar crowd, + Yield what they craved with clamor loud; + Calmly we heard and judged his cause, + Our council aided and our laws. + I stanched thy father's death-feud stern + With stout De Vaux and gray Glencairn; + And Bothwell's Lord henceforth we own + The friend and bulwark of our throne.— + But, lovely infidel, how now? + What clouds thy misbelieving brow? + Lord James of Douglas, lend thine aid; + Thou must confirm this doubting maid.' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXVIII. + + Then forth the noble Douglas sprung, + And on his neck his daughter hung. + The Monarch drank, that happy hour, + The sweetest, holiest draught of Power,— + When it can say with godlike voice, + Arise, sad Virtue, and rejoice! + Yet would not James the general eye + On nature's raptures long should pry; + He stepped between—' Nay, Douglas, nay, + Steal not my proselyte away! + The riddle 'tis my right to read, + That brought this happy chance to speed. + Yes, Ellen, when disguised I stray + In life's more low but happier way, + 'Tis under name which veils my power + Nor falsely veils,—for Stirling's tower + Of yore the name of Snowdoun claims, + And Normans call me James Fitz-James. + Thus watch I o'er insulted laws, + Thus learn to right the injured cause.' + Then, in a tone apart and low,— + 'Ah, little traitress! none must know + What idle dream, what lighter thought + What vanity full dearly bought, + Joined to thine eye's dark witchcraft, drew + My spell-bound steps to Benvenue + In dangerous hour, and all but gave + Thy Monarch's life to mountain glaive!' + Aloud he spoke: 'Thou still dost hold + That little talisman of gold, + Pledge of my faith, Fitz-James's ring,— + What seeks fair Ellen of the King?' +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + XXIX. + + Full well the conscious maiden guessed + He probed the weakness of her breast; + But with that consciousness there came + A lightening of her fears for Graeme, + And more she deemed the Monarch's ire + Kindled 'gainst him who for her sire + Rebellious broadsword boldly drew; + And, to her generous feeling true, + She craved the grace of Roderick Dhu. + 'Forbear thy suit;—the King of kings + Alone can stay life's parting wings. + I know his heart, I know his hand, + Have shared his cheer, and proved his brand; + My fairest earldom would I give + To bid Clan-Alpine's Chieftain live!— + Hast thou no other boon to crave? + No other captive friend to save?' + Blushing, she turned her from the King, + And to the Douglas gave the ring, + As if she wished her sire to speak + The suit that stained her glowing cheek. + 'Nay, then, my pledge has lost its force, + And stubborn justice holds her course. + Malcolm, come forth!'—and, at the word, + Down kneeled the Graeme to Scotland's Lord. + 'For thee, rash youth, no suppliant sues, + From thee may Vengeance claim her dues, + Who, nurtured underneath our smile, + Hast paid our care by treacherous wile, + And sought amid thy faithful clan + A refuge for an outlawed man, + Dishonoring thus thy loyal name.— + Fetters and warder for the Graeme!' + His chain of gold the King unstrung, + The links o'er Malcolm's neck he flung, + Then gently drew the glittering band, + And laid the clasp on Ellen's hand. + + Harp of the North, farewell! The hills grow dark, + On purple peaks a deeper shade descending; + In twilight copse the glow-worm lights her spark, + The deer, half seen, are to the covert wending. + Resume thy wizard elm! the fountain lending, + And the wild breeze, thy wilder minstrelsy; + Thy numbers sweet with nature's vespers blending, + With distant echo from the fold and lea, + And herd-boy's evening pipe, and hum of housing bee. + + Yet, once again, farewell, thou Minstrel Harp! + Yet, once again, forgive my feeble sway, + And little reck I of the censure sharp + May idly cavil at an idle lay. + Much have I owed thy strains on life's long way, + Through secret woes the world has never known, + When on the weary night dawned wearier day, + And bitterer was the grief devoured alone.— + That I o'erlive such woes, Enchantress! is thine own. + + Hark! as my lingering footsteps slow retire, + Some Spirit of the Air has waked thy string! + 'Tis now a seraph bold, with touch of fire, + 'Tis now the brush of Fairy's frolic wing. + Receding now, the dying numbers ring + Fainter and fainter down the rugged dell; + And now the mountain breezes scarcely bring + A wandering witch-note of the distant spell— + And now, 'tis silent all!—Enchantress, fare thee well! +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0010" id="link2H_4_0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE NOTES. + </h2> + <p> + Cf. (confer), compare. F.Q., Spenser's Faerie Queene. Fol., following. Id. + (idem), the same. Lockhart, J. G. Lockhart's edition of Scott's poems + (various issues). P.L., Milton's Paradise Lost. Taylor, R. W. Taylor's + edition of The Lady of the Lake (London, 1875). Wb., Webster's Dictionary + (revised quarto edition of 1879). Worc., Worcester's Dictionary (quarto + edition). The abbreviations of the names of Shakespeare's plays will be + readily understood. The line-numbers are those of the "Globe" edition. + </p> + <p> + The references to Scott's Lay of the Last Minstrel are to canto and line; + those to Marmion and other poems to canto and stanza. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_NOTE" id="link2H_NOTE"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + NOTES. + </h2> + <p> + <a name="link2H_INTR" id="link2H_INTR"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Introduction. + </h2> + <p> + The Lady of the Lake was first published in 1810, when Scott was + thirty-nine, and it was dedicated to "the most noble John James, Marquis + of Abercorn." Eight thousand copies were sold between June 2d and + September 22d, 1810, and repeated editions were subsequently called for. + In 1830, the following "Introduction" was prefixed to the poem by the + author:— + </p> + <p> + After the success of Marmion, I felt inclined to exclaim with Ulysses in + the Odyssey: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [Greek Letters] Odys. X. 5. + + "One venturous game my hand has won to-day— + Another, gallants, yet remains to play." +</pre> + <p> + The ancient manners, the habits and customs of the aboriginal race by whom + the Highlands of Scotland were inhabited, had always appeared to me + peculiarly adapted to poetry. The change in their manners, too, had taken + place almost within my own time, or at least I had learned many + particulars concerning the ancient state of the Highlands from the old men + of the last generation. I had always thought the old Scottish Gael highly + adapted for poetical composition. The feuds and political dissensions + which, half a century earlier, would have rendered the richer and + wealthier part of the kingdom indisposed to countenance a poem, the scene + of which was laid in the Highlands, were now sunk in the generous + compassion which the English, more than any other nation, feel for the + misfortunes of an honourable foe. The Poems of Ossian had by their + popularity sufficiently shown that, if writings on Highland subjects were + qualified to interest the reader, mere national prejudices were, in the + present day, very unlikely to interfere with their success. + </p> + <p> + I had also read a great deal, seen much, and heard more, of that romantic + country where I was in the habit of spending some time every autumn; and + the scenery of Lock Katrine was connected with the recollection of many a + dear friend and merry expedition of former days. This poem, the action of + which lay among scenes so beautiful and so deeply imprinted on my + recollections, was a labour of love, and it was no less so to recall the + manners and incidents introduced. The frequent custom of James IV., and + particularly of James V., to walk through their kingdom in disguise, + afforded me the hint of an incident which never fails to be interesting if + managed with the slightest address or dexterity. + </p> + <p> + I may now confess, however, that the employment, though attended with + great pleasure, was not without its doubts and anxieties. A lady, to whom + I was nearly related, and with whom I lived, during her whole life, on the + most brotherly terms of affection, was residing with me at the time when + the work was in progress, and used to ask me, what I could possibly do to + rise so early in the morning (that happening to be the most convenient to + me for composition). At last I told her the subject of my meditations; and + I can never forget the anxiety and affection expressed in her reply. "Do + not be so rash," she said, "my dearest cousin. <a href="#linknote-2" + name="linknoteref-2" id="linknoteref-2"><small>2</small></a> You are + already popular,—more so, perhaps, than you yourself will believe, + or than even I, or other partial friends, can fairly allow to your merit. + You stand high,—do not rashly attempt to climb higher, and incur the + risk of a fall; for, depend upon it, a favourite will not be permitted + even to stumble with impunity." I replied to this affectionate + expostulation in the words of Montrose,— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "'He either fears his fate too much, + Or his deserts are small, + Who dares not put it to the touch + To gain or lose it all.' +</pre> + <p> + "If I fail," I said, for the dialogue is strong in my recollection, "it is + a sign that I ought never to have succeeded, and I will write prose for + life: you shall see no change in my temper, nor will I eat a single meal + the worse. But if I succeed, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 'Up with the bonnie blue bonnet, + The dirk, and the feather, and a'!'" +</pre> + <p> + Afterwards I showed my affectionate and anxious critic the first canto of + the poem, which reconciled her to my imprudence. Nevertheless, although I + answered thus confidently, with the obstinacy often said to be proper to + those who bear my surname, I acknowledge that my confidence was + considerably shaken by the warning of her excellent taste and unbiased + friendship. Nor was I much comforted by her retraction of the unfavourable + judgment, when I recollected how likely a natural partiality was to effect + that change of opinion. In such cases, affection rises like a light on the + canvas, improves any favourable tints which it formerly exhibited, and + throws its defects into the shade. + </p> + <p> + I remember that about the same time a friend started in to "heeze up my + hope," like the "sportsman with his cutty gun," in the old song. He was + bred a farmer, but a man of powerful understanding, natural good taste, + and warm poetical feeling, perfectly competent to supply the wants of an + imperfect or irregular education. He was a passionate admirer of + field-sports, which we often pursued together. + </p> + <p> + As this friend happened to dine with me at Ashestiel one day, I took the + opportunity of reading to him the first canto of The Lady of the Lake, in + order to ascertain the effect the poem was likely to produce upon a person + who was but too favourable a representative of readers at large. It is of + course to be supposed that I determined rather to guide my opinion by what + my friend might appear to feel, than by what he might think fit to say. + His reception of my recitation, or prelection, was rather singular. He + placed his hand across his brow, and listened with great attention through + the whole account of the stag-hunt, till the dogs threw themselves into + the lake to follow their master, who embarks with Ellen Douglas. He then + started up with a sudden exclamation, struck his hand on the table, and + declared, in a voice of censure calculated for the occasion, that the dogs + must have been totally ruined by being permitted to take the water after + such a severe chase. I own I was much encouraged by the species of revery + which had possessed so zealous a follower of the sports of the ancient + Nimrod, who had been completely surprised out of all doubts of the reality + of the tale. Another of his remarks gave me less pleasure. He detected the + identity of the King with the wandering knight, Fitz-James, when he winds + his bugle to summon his attendants. He was probably thinking of the + lively, but somewhat licentious, old ballad, in which the denouement of a + royal intrigue takes place as follows: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "He took a bugle frae his side, + He blew both loud and shrill, + And four and twenty belted knights + Came skipping over the hill; + Then he took out a little knife, + Let a' his duddies fa', + And he was the brawest gentleman + That was amang them a'. + And we'll go no more a roving," etc. +</pre> + <p> + This discovery, as Mr. Pepys says of the rent in his camlet cloak, was but + a trifle, yet it troubled me; and I was at a good deal of pains to efface + any marks by which I thought my secret could be traced before the + conclusion, when I relied on it with the same hope of producing effect, + with which the Irish post-boy is said to reserve a "trot for the avenue." + </p> + <p> + I took uncommon pains to verify the accuracy of the local circumstances of + this story. I recollect, in particular, that to ascertain whether I was + telling a probable tale, I went into Perthshire, to see whether King James + could actually have ridden from the banks of Loch Vennachar to Stirling + Castle within the time supposed in the poem, and had the pleasure to + satisfy myself that it was quite practicable. + </p> + <p> + After a considerable delay, The Lady of the Lake appeared in June, 1810; + and its success was certainly so extraordinary as to induce me for the + moment to conclude that I had at last fixed a nail in the proverbially + inconstant wheel of Fortune, whose stability in behalf of an individual + who had so boldly courted her favours for three successive times had not + as yet been shaken. I had attained, perhaps, that degree of reputation at + which prudence, or certainly timidity, would have made a halt, and + discontinued efforts by which I was far more likely to diminish my fame + than to increase it. But, as the celebrated John Wilkes is said to have + explained to his late Majesty, that he himself, amid his full tide of + popularity, was never a Wilkite, so I can, with honest truth, exculpate + myself from having been at any time a partisan of my own poetry, even when + it was in the highest fashion with the million. It must not be supposed + that I was either so ungrateful, or so superabundantly candid, as to + despise or scorn the value of those whose voice had elevated me so much + higher than my own opinion told me I deserved. I felt, on the contrary, + the more grateful to the public, as receiving that from partiality to me, + which I could not have claimed from merit; and I endeavoured to deserve + the partiality, by continuing such exertions as I was capable of for their + amusement. + </p> + <p> + It may be that I did not, in this continued course of scribbling, consult + either the interest of the public or my own. But the former had effectual + means of defending themselves, and could, by their coldness, sufficiently + check any approach to intrusion; and for myself, I had now for several + years dedicated my hours so much to literary labour that I should have + felt difficulty in employing myself otherwise; and so, like Dogberry, I + generously bestowed all my tediousness on the public, comforting myself + with the reflection that, if posterity should think me undeserving of the + favour with which I was regarded by my contemporaries, "they could not but + say I had the crown," and had enjoyed for a time that popularity which is + so much coveted. + </p> + <p> + I conceived, however, that I held the distinguished situation I had + obtained, however unworthily, rather like the champion of pugilism, <a + href="#linknote-3" name="linknoteref-3" id="linknoteref-3"><small>3</small></a> + on the condition of being always ready to show proofs of my skill, than in + the manner of the champion of chivalry, who performs his duties only on + rare and solemn occasions. I was in any case conscious that I could not + long hold a situation which the caprice, rather than the judgment, of the + public, had bestowed upon me, and preferred being deprived of my + precedence by some more worthy rival, to sinking into contempt for my + indolence, and losing my reputation by what Scottish lawyers call the + negative prescription. Accordingly, those who choose to look at the + Introduction to Rokeby, will be able to trace the steps by which I + declined as a poet to figure as a novelist; as the ballad says, Queen + Eleanor sunk at Charing Cross to rise again at Queenhithe. + </p> + <p> + It only remains for me to say that, during my short pre-eminence of + popularity, I faithfully observed the rules of moderation which I had + resolved to follow before I began my course as a man of letters. If a man + is determined to make a noise in the world, he is as sure to encounter + abuse and ridicule, as he who gallops furiously through a village must + reckon on being followed by the curs in full cry. Experienced persons know + that in stretching to flog the latter, the rider is very apt to catch a + bad fall; nor is an attempt to chastise a malignant critic attended with + less danger to the author. On this principle, I let parody, burlesque, and + squibs find their own level; and while the latter hissed most fiercely, I + was cautious never to catch them up, as schoolboys do, to throw them back + against the naughty boy who fired them off, wisely remembering that they + are in such cases apt to explode in the handling. Let me add, that my + reign <a href="#linknote-4" name="linknoteref-4" id="linknoteref-4"><small>4</small></a> + (since Byron has so called it) was marked by some instances of good-nature + as well as patience. I never refused a literary person of merit such + services in smoothing his way to the public as were in my power; and I had + the advantage, rather an uncommon one with our irritable race, to enjoy + general favour without incurring permanent ill-will, so far as is known to + me, among any of my contemporaries. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + W.S. + Abbotsford, April, 1830. +</pre> + <p> + Our limits do not permit us to add any extended selections from the many + critical notices of the poem. The verdict of Jeffrey, in the Edinburgh + Review, on its first appearance, has been generally endorsed:— + </p> + <p> + "Upon the whole, we are inclined to think more highly of The Lady of the + Lake than of either of its author's former publications [the Lay and + Marmion]. We are more sure, however, that it has fewer faults than that it + has greater beauties; and as its beauties bear a strong resemblance to + those with which the public has been already made familiar in these + celebrated works, we should not be surprised if its popularity were less + splendid and remarkable. For our own parts, however, we are of opinion + that it will be oftener read hereafter than either of them; and that, if + it had appeared first in the series, their reception would have been less + favourable than that which it has experienced. It is more polished in its + diction, and more regular in its versification; the story is constructed + with infinitely more skill and address; there is a greater proportion of + pleasing and tender passages, with much less antiquarian detail; and, upon + the whole, a larger variety of characters, more artfully and judiciously + contrasted. There is nothing so fine, perhaps, as the battle in Marmion, + or so picturesque as some of the scattered sketches in the Lay; but there + is a richness and a spirit in the whole piece which does not pervade + either of those poems,—a profusion of incident and a shifting + brilliancy of colouring that reminds us of the witchery of Ariosto, and a + constant elasticity and occasional energy which seem to belong more + peculiarly to the author now before us." + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0013" id="link2H_4_0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Canto First. + </h2> + <p> + Each canto is introduced by one or more Spenserian stanzas, <a + href="#linknote-5" name="linknoteref-5" id="linknoteref-5"><small>5</small></a> + forming a kind of prelude to it. Those prefixed to the first canto serve + as an introduction to the whole poem, which is "inspired by the spirit of + the old Scottish minstrelsy." + </p> + <p> + 2. Witch-elm. The broad-leaved or wych elm (Ulmus montana), indigenous to + Scotland. Forked branches of the tree were used in the olden time as + divining-rods, and riding switches from it were supposed to insure good + luck on a journey. In the closing stanzas of the poem (vi. 846) it is + called the "wizard elm." Tennyson (In Memoriam, 89) refers to + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Witch-elms that counterchange the floor + Of this flat lawn with dusk and bright." +</pre> + <p> + Saint Fillan was a Scotch abbot of the seventh century who became famous + as a saint. He had two springs, which appear to be confounded by some + editors of the poem. One was at the eastern end of Loch Earn, where the + pretty modern village of St. Fillans now stands, under the shadow of Dun + Fillan, or St. Fillan's Hills, six hundred feet high, on the top of which + the saint used to say his prayers, as the marks of his knees in the rock + still testify to the credulous. The other spring is at another village + called St. Fillans, nearly thirty miles to the westward, just outside the + limits of our map, on the road to Tyndrum. In this Holy Pool, as it is + called, insane folk were dipped with certain ceremonies, and then left + bound all night in the open air. If they were found loose the next + morning, they were supposed to have been cured. This treatment was + practised as late as 1790, according to Pennant, who adds that the + patients were generally found in the morning relieved of their troubles—by + death. Another writer, in 1843, says that the pool is still visited, not + by people of the vicinity, who have no faith in its virtue, but by those + from distant places. Scott alludes to this spring in Marmion, i. 29: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Thence to Saint Fillan's blessed well, + Whose springs can frenzied dreams dispel, + And the crazed brain restore." +</pre> + <p> + 3. And down the fitful breeze, etc. The original MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "And on the fitful breeze thy numbers flung, + Till envious ivy, with her verdant ring, + Mantled and muffled each melodious string,— + O Wizard Harp, still must thine accents sleep?" +</pre> + <p> + 10. Caledon. Caledonia, the Roman name of Scotland. + </p> + <p> + 14. Each according pause. That is, each pause in the singing. In Marmion, + ii. 11, according is used of music that fills the intervals of other + music: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Soon as they neared his turrets strong, + The maidens raised Saint Hilda's song, + And with the sea-wave and the wind + Their voices, sweetly shrill, combined, + And made harmonious close; + Then, answering from the sandy shore, + Half-drowned amid the breakers' roar, + According chorus rose." +</pre> + <p> + The MS. reads here: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "At each according pause thou spokest aloud + Thine ardent sympathy sublime and high." +</pre> + <p> + 28. The stag at eve had drunk his fill. The metre of the poem proper is + iambic, that is, with the accent on the even syllables, and octosyllabic, + or eight syllables to the line. + </p> + <p> + 29. Monan's rill. St. Monan was a Scotch martyr of the fourth century. We + can find no mention of any rill named for him. + </p> + <p> + 31. Glenartney. A valley to the north-east of Callander, with Benvoirlich + (which rises to the height of 3180 feet) on the north, and Uam-Var (see 53 + below) on the south, separating it from the valley of the Teith. It takes + its name from the Artney, the stream flowing through it. + </p> + <p> + 32. His beacon red. The figure is an appropriate one in describing this + region, where fires on the hill-tops were so often used as signals in the + olden time. Cf. the Lay, iii. 379: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "And soon a score of fires, I ween, + From height, and hill, and cliff, were seen, + Each with warlike tidings fraught; + Each from each the signal caught," etc. +</pre> + <p> + 34. Deep-mouthed. Cf. Shakespeare, 1 Hen. VI. ii. 4. 12: "Between two + dogs, which hath the deeper mouth;" and T. of S. ind. 1. 18: "the + deep-mouthed brach" (that is, hound). + </p> + <p> + The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "The bloodhound's notes of heavy bass + Resounded hoarsely up the pass." +</pre> + <p> + 35. Resounded... rocky. The poet often avails himself of "apt + alliteration's artful aid," as here, and in the next two lines; most + frequently in pairs of words. + </p> + <p> + 38. As Chief, etc. Note here, as often, the simile put BEFORE that which + it illustrates,—an effective rhetorical, though not the logical, + arrangement. + </p> + <p> + 45. Beamed frontlet. Antlered forehead. + </p> + <p> + 46. Adown. An instance of a purely poetical word, not admissible in prose. + </p> + <p> + 49. Chase. Here put for those engaged in the chase; as in 101 and 171, + below. One of its regular meanings is the OBJECT of the chase, or the + animal pursued. + </p> + <p> + 53. Uam-Var. "Ua-Var, as the name is pronounced, or more properly + Uaigh-mor, is a mountain to the north-east of the village of Callander, in + Menteith, deriving its name, which signifies the great den, or cavern, + from a sort of retreat among the rocks on the south side, said, by + tradition, to have been the abode of a giant. In latter times, it was the + refuge of robbers and banditti, who have been only extirpated within these + forty or fifty years. Strictly speaking, this stronghold is not a cave, as + the name would imply, but a sort of small enclosure, or recess, surrounded + with large rocks and open above head. It may have been originally designed + as a toil for deer, who might get in from the outside, but would find it + difficult to return. This opinion prevails among the old sportsmen and + deer-stalkers in the neighborhood" (Scott). + </p> + <p> + 54. Yelled. Note the emphatic force of the inversion, as in 59 below. Cf. + 38 above. + </p> + <p> + Opening. That is, barking on view or scent of the game; a hunting term. + Cf. Shakespeare, M. W. iv. 2. 209: "If I bark out thus upon no trail never + trust me when I open again." + </p> + <p> + The description of the echo which follows is very spirited. + </p> + <p> + 66. Cairn. Literally, a heap of stones; here put poetically for the rocky + point which the falcon takes as a look-out. + </p> + <p> + 69. Hurricane. A metaphor for the wild rush of the hunt. + </p> + <p> + 71. Linn. Literally, a deep pool; but often = cataract, as in Bracklinn, + ii. 270 below (cf. vi. 488), and sometimes = precipice. + </p> + <p> + 73. On the lone wood. Note the musical variation in the measure here; the + 1st, 3d, and 4th syllables being accented instead of the 2d and 4th. It is + occasionally introduced into iambic metre with admirable effect. Cf. 85 + and 97 below. + </p> + <p> + 76. The cavern, etc. See on 53 above. + </p> + <p> + 80. Perforce. A poetical word. See on 46 above. + </p> + <p> + 84. Shrewdly. Severely, keenly; a sense now obsolete. Shrewd originally + meant evil, mischievous. Cf. Shakespeare, A. Y. L. v. 4. 179, where it is + said that those + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "That have endur'd shrewd days and nights with us + Shall share the good of our returned fortune." +</pre> + <p> + In Chaucer (Tale of Melibocus) we find, "The prophete saith: Flee + shrewdnesse, and do goodnesse" (referring to Ps. xxxiv. 14). + </p> + <p> + 89. Menteith. The district in the southwestern part of Perthshire, watered + by the Teith. + </p> + <p> + 91. Mountain and meadow, etc. See on 35 above. Moss is used in the + North-of-England sense of a boggy or peaty district, like the famous Chat + Moss between Liverpool and Manchester. + </p> + <p> + 93. Lochard. Loch Ard is a beautiful lakelet, about five miles south of + Loch Katrine. On its eastern side is the scene of Helen Macgregor's + skirmish with the King's troops in Rob Roy; and near its head, on the + northern side, is a waterfall, which is the original of Flora MacIvor's + favorite retreat in Waverley. Aberfoyle is a village about a mile and a + half to the east of the lake. + </p> + <p> + 95. Loch Achray. A lake between Loch Katrine and Loch Vennachar, lying + just beyond the pass of the Trosachs. + </p> + <p> + 97. Benvenue. A mountain, 2386 feet in height, on the southern side of + Loch Katrine. + </p> + <p> + 98. With the hope. The MS. has "with the THOUGHT," and "flying HOOF" in + the next line. + </p> + <p> + 102. 'Twere. It would be. Cf. Shakespeare, Macb. ii. 2. 73: "To know my + deed, 't were best not know myself." + </p> + <p> + 103. Cambusmore. The estate of a family named Buchanan, whom Scott + frequently visited in his younger days. It is about two miles from + Callander, on the wooded banks of the Keltie, a tributary of the Teith. + </p> + <p> + 105. Benledi. A mountain, 2882 feet high, northwest from Callander. The + name is said to mean "Mountain of God." + </p> + <p> + 106. Bochastle's heath. A moor between the east end of Loch Vennachar and + Callander. See also on v. 298 below. + </p> + <p> + 107. The flooded Teith. The Teith is formed by streams from Loch Voil and + from Loch Katrine (by way of Loch Achray and Loch Vennachar), which unite + at Callander. It joins the Forth near Stirling. + </p> + <p> + 111. Vennachar. As the map shows, this "Lake of the Fair Valley" is the + most eastern of the three lakes around which the scenery of the poem lies. + It is about five miles long and a mile and a half wide. + </p> + <p> + 112. The Brigg of Turk. This brig, or bridge (cf. Burns's poem of The + Brigs of Ayr), is over a stream that comes down from Glenfinlas and flows + into the one connecting Lochs Achray and Vennachar. According to Graham, + it is "the scene of the death of a wild boar famous in Celtic tradition." + </p> + <p> + 114. Unbated. Cf. Shakespeare, M. of V. ii. 6. 11: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Where is the horse that doth untread again + His tedious measures with the unbated fire + That he did pace them first?" +</pre> + <p> + 115. Scourge and steel. Whip and spur. Steel is often used for the sword + (as in v. 239 below: "foeman worthy of their steel"), the figure being of + the same sort as here—"the material put for the thing made of it." + Cf. v. 479 below. + </p> + <p> + 117. Embossed. An old hunting term. George Turbervile, in his Noble Art of + Venerie or Hunting (A.D. 1576), says: "When the hart is foamy at the + mouth, we say, that he is emboss'd." Cf. Shakespeare, T. of S. ind. 1. 17: + "Brach Merriman, the poor cur, is emboss'd;" and A. and C. iv. 13. 3: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "the boar of Thessaly + Was never so emboss'd." +</pre> + <p> + 120. Saint Hubert's breed. Scott quotes Turbervile here: "The hounds which + we call Saint Hubert's hounds are commonly all blacke, yet neuertheless, + the race is so mingled at these days, that we find them of all colours. + These are the hounds which the abbots of St. Hubert haue always kept some + of their race or kind, in honour or remembrance of the saint, which was a + hunter with S. Eustace. Whereupon we may conceiue that (by the grace of + God) all good huntsmen shall follow them into paradise." + </p> + <p> + 127. Quarry. The animal hunted; another technical term. Shakespeare uses + it in the sense of a heap of slaughtered game; as in Cor. i. 1. 202: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Would the nobility lay aside their ruth, + And let me use my sword, I'd make a quarry + With thousands of these quarter'd slaves," etc. +</pre> + <p> + Cf. Longfellow, Hiawatha: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Seldom stoops the soaring vulture + O'er his quarry in the desert." +</pre> + <p> + 130. Stock. Tree-stump. Cf. Job, xiv. 8. + </p> + <p> + 133. Turn to bay. Like stand at bay, etc., a term used when the stag, + driven to extremity, turns round and faces his pursuers. Cf. Shakespeare, + 1. Hen. VI. iv. 2. 52, where it is used figuratively (as in vi. 525 + below): + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Turn on the bloody hounds with heads of steel, + And make the cowards stand aloof at bay;" +</pre> + <p> + and T. of S. v. 2. 56: "'T is thought your deer does hold you at a bay," + etc. + </p> + <p> + 137. For the death-wound, etc. Scott has the following note here: "When + the stag turned to bay, the ancient hunter had the perilous task of going + in upon, and killing or disabling, the desperate animal. At certain times + of the year this was held particularly dangerous, a wound received from a + stag's horn being then deemed poisonous, and more dangerous than one from + the tusks of a boar, as the old rhyme testifies: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 'If thou be hurt with hart, it bring thee to thy bier, + But barber's hand will boar's hurt heal, therefore thou + need'st not fear.' +</pre> + <p> + At all times, however, the task was dangerous, and to be adventured upon + wisely and warily, either by getting behind the stag while he was gazing + on the hounds, or by watching an opportunity to gallop roundly in upon + him, and kill him with the sword. See many directions to this purpose in + the Booke of Hunting, chap. 41. Wilson, the historian, has recorded a + providential escape which befell him in the hazardous sport, while a + youth, and follower of the Earl of Essex: + </p> + <p> + 'Sir Peter Lee, of Lime, in Cheshire, invited my lord one summer to hunt + the stagg. And having a great stagg in chase, and many gentlemen in the + pursuit, the stag took soyle. And divers, whereof I was one, alighted, and + stood with swords drawne, to have a cut at him, at his coming out of the + water. The staggs there being wonderfully fierce and dangerous, made us + youths more eager to be at him. But he escaped us all. And it was my + misfortune to be hindered of my coming nere him, the way being sliperie, + by a falle; which gave occasion to some, who did not know mee, to speak as + if I had falne for feare. Which being told mee, I left the stagg, and + followed the gentleman who [first] spake it. But I found him of that cold + temper, that it seems his words made an escape from him; as by his denial + and repentance it appeared. But this made mee more violent in the pursuit + of the stagg, to recover my reputation. And I happened to be the only + horseman in, when the dogs sett him up at bay; and approaching near him on + horsebacke, he broke through the dogs, and run at mee, and tore my horse's + side with his hornes, close by my thigh. Then I quitted my horse, and grew + more cunning (for the dogs had sette him up againe), stealing behind him + with my sword, and cut his hamstrings; and then got upon his back, and cut + his throate; which, as I was doing, the company came in, and blamed my + rashness for running such a hazard' (Peck's Desiderata Curiosa, ii. 464)." + </p> + <p> + 138. Whinyard. A short stout sword or knife; the same as the whinger of + the Lay of Last Minstrel, v. 7: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "And whingers, now in friendship bare + The social meal to part and share, + Had found a bloody sheath." +</pre> + <p> + 142. Turned him. In Elizabethan, and still more in earlier English, + personal pronouns were often used reflexively; and this, like many other + old constructions, is still used in poetry. + </p> + <p> + 145. Trosachs. "The rough or bristled territory" (Graham); the wild + district between Lochs Katrine and Vennachar. The name is now especially + applied to the pass between Lochs Katrine and Achray. + </p> + <p> + 147. Close couched. That is, as he lay close couched, or hidden. Such + ellipses are common in poetry. + </p> + <p> + 150. Amain. With main, or full force. We still say "with might and main." + </p> + <p> + 151. Chiding. Not a mere figurative use of chide as we now understand it + (cf. 287 below), but an example of the old sense of the word as applied to + any oft-repeated noise. Shakespeare uses it of the barking of dogs in M. + N. D. iv. 1. 120: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "never did I hear + Such gallant chiding;" +</pre> + <p> + of the wind, as in A. Y. L. ii. 1. 7: "And churlish chiding of the + winter's wind;" and of the sea, as in 1 Hen. IV. iii. 1. 45: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "the sea + That chides the banks of England;" +</pre> + <p> + and Hen. VIII. iii. 2. 197: "the chiding flood." + </p> + <p> + 163. The banks of Seine. James visited France in 1536, and sued for the + hand of Magdalen, daughter of Francis I. He married her the following + spring, but she died a few months later. He then married Mary of Guise, + whom he had doubtless seen while in France. + </p> + <p> + 166. Woe worth the chase. That is, woe be to it. This worth is from the A. + S. weorthan, to become. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 6. 32: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Wo worth the man, + That first did teach the cursed steele to bight + In his owne flesh, and make way to the living spright!" +</pre> + <p> + See also Ezek. xxx. 2. + </p> + <p> + 180. And on the hunter, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "And on the hunter hied his pace, + To meet some comrades of the chase;" +</pre> + <p> + and the 1st ed. retains "pace" and "chase." + </p> + <p> + 184. The western waves, etc. This description of the Trosachs was written + amid the scenery it delineates, in the summer of 1809. The Quarterly + Review (May, 1810) says of the poet: "He sees everything with a painter's + eye. Whatever he represents has a character of individuality, and is drawn + with an accuracy and minuteness of discrimination which we are not + accustomed to expect from mere verbal description. It is because Mr. Scott + usually delineates those objects with which he is perfectly familiar that + his touch is so easy, correct, and animated. The rocks, the ravines, and + the torrents which he exhibits are not the imperfect sketches of a hurried + traveller, but the finished studies of a resident artist." See also on 278 + below. + </p> + <p> + Ruskin (Modern Painters, iii. 278) refers to "the love of color" as a + leading element in Scott's love of beauty. He might have quoted the + present passage among the illustrations he adds. + </p> + <p> + 195. The native bulwarks, etc. The MS. has "The mimic castles of the + pass." + </p> + <p> + 196. The tower, etc. Cf. Gen. xi. 1-9. + </p> + <p> + 198. The rocky. The 1st ed. has "Their rocky," etc. + </p> + <p> + 204. Nor were, etc. The MS. reads: "Nor were these mighty bulwarks bare." + </p> + <p> + 208. Dewdrop sheen. Not "dewdrops sheen," or "dewdrops' sheen," as + sometimes printed. Sheen = shining, bright; as in v. 10 below. Cf. + Spenser, F. Q. ii. 1. 10: "So faire and sheene;" Id. iii. 4. 51: "in top + of heaven sheene," etc. See Wb. The MS. has here: "Bright glistening with + the dewdrop sheen." + </p> + <p> + 212. Boon. Bountiful. Cf. Milton, P. L. iv. 242: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Flowers worthy of Paradise, which not nice art + In beds and curious knots, but nature boon + Pour'd forth profuse on hill, and dale, and plain." +</pre> + <p> + See also P. L. ix. 793: "jocund and boon." + </p> + <p> + 217. Bower. In the old sense of chamber, lodging-place; as in iv. 413 and + vi. 218 below. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 1. 58: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Eftesoones long waxen torches weren light + Unto their bowres to guyden every guest." +</pre> + <p> + For clift (= cleft), the reading of the 1st ed. and unquestionably what + Scott wrote, every other edition that we have seen reads "cliff." + </p> + <p> + 219. Emblems of punishment and pride. See on iii. 19 below. + </p> + <p> + 222, 223. Note the imperfect rhyme in breath and beneath. Cf. 224-25, + 256-57, 435-36, 445-46 below. Such instances are comparatively rare in + Scott's poetry. Some rhymes that appear to be imperfect are to be + explained by peculiarities of Scottish pronunciation. See on 363 below. + </p> + <p> + 227. Shaltered. The MS. has "scathed;" also "rugged arms athwart the sky" + in 229, and "twinkling" for glistening in 231. The 1st ed. has "scattered" + for shattered; corrected in the Errata. + </p> + <p> + 231. Streamers. Of ivy or other vines. + </p> + <p> + 238. Affording, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Affording scarce such breadth of flood + As served to float the wild-duck's brood." +</pre> + <p> + 247. Emerging, etc. The MS. has "Emerging dry-shod from the wood." + </p> + <p> + 254. And now, to issue from the glen, etc. "Until the present road was + made through the romantic pass which I have presumptuously attempted to + describe in the preceding stanzas, there was no mode of issuing out of the + defile called the Trosachs, excepting by a sort of ladder, composed of the + branches and roots of trees" (Scott). + </p> + <p> + 263. Loch Katrine. In a note to The Fair Maid of Perth, Scott derives the + name from the Catterans, or Highland robbers, that once infested the + shores of the lake. Others make it "the Lake of the Battle," in memory of + some prehistoric conflict. + </p> + <p> + 267. Livelier. Because in motion; like living gold above. + </p> + <p> + 270. Benvenue. See on 97 above. + </p> + <p> + 271. Down to. Most editions misprint "down on." + </p> + <p> + 272. Confusedly. A trisyllable; as in ii. 161 below, and in the Lay, iii. + 337: "And helms and plumes, confusedly tossed." + </p> + <p> + 274. Wildering. Bewildering. Cf. Dryden, Aurungzebe, i. 1: "wilder'd in + the way," etc. See also 434 and v. 22 below. + </p> + <p> + 275. His ruined sides, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "His ruined sides and fragments hoar, + While on the north to middle air." +</pre> + <p> + 277. Ben-an. This mountain, 1800 feet high, is north of the Trosachs, + separating that pass from Glenfinlas. + </p> + <p> + 278. From the steep, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "From the high promontory gazed + The stranger, awe-struck and amazed." +</pre> + <p> + The Critical Review (Aug. 1820) remarks of this portion of the poem (184 + fol.): "Perhaps the art of landscape-painting in poetry has never been + displayed in higher perfection than in these stanzas, to which rigid + criticism might possibly object that the picture is somewhat too minute, + and that the contemplation of it detains the traveller somewhat too long + from the main purpose of his pilgrimage, but which it would be an act of + the greatest injustice to break into fragments and present by piecemeal. + Not so the magnificent scene which bursts upon the bewildered hunter as he + emerges at length from the dell, and commands at one view the beautiful + expanse of Loch Katrine." + </p> + <p> + 281. Churchman. In its old sense of one holding high office in the church. + Cf. Shakespeare, 2 Hen. VI. i. 3. 72, where Cardinal Beaufort is called + "the imperious churchman," etc. + </p> + <p> + 285. Cloister. Monastery; originally, the covered walk around the inner + court of the building. + </p> + <p> + 287. Chide. Here, figuratively, in the modern sense. See in 151 above. + </p> + <p> + 290. Should lave. The 1st ed. has "did lave," which is perhaps to be + preferred. + </p> + <p> + 294. While the deep peal's. For the measure, see on 73 above. + </p> + <p> + 300. To friendly feast, etc. The MS. has "To hospitable feast and hall." + </p> + <p> + 302. Beshrew. May evil befall (see on shrewdly, 84 above); a mild + imprecation, often used playfully and even tenderly. Cf. Shakespeare, 2 + Hen. IV. ii. 3. 45: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Beshrew your heart, + Fair daughter, you do draw my spirits from me + With new lamenting ancient oversights!" +</pre> + <p> + 305. Some mossy bank, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "And hollow trunk of some old tree + My chamber for the night must be." +</pre> + <p> + 313. Highland plunderers. "The clans who inhabited the romantic regions in + the neighborhood of Loch Katrine were, even until a late period, much + addicted to predatory excursions upon their Lowland neighbors" (Scott). + </p> + <p> + 317. Fall the worst. If the worst befall that can happen. Cf. Shakespeare, + M. of V. i. 2. 96: "an the worst fall that ever fell, I hope I shall make + shift to go without him." + </p> + <p> + 319. But scarce again, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "The bugle shrill again he wound, + And lo! forth starting at the sound;" +</pre> + <p> + and below: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "A little skiff shot to the bay. + The hunter left his airy stand, + And when the boat had touched the sand, + Concealed he stood amid the brake, + To view this Lady of the Lake." +</pre> + <p> + 336. Strain. The 1st ed. has a comma after strain, and a period after art + in 340. The ed. of 1821 points as in the text. + </p> + <p> + 342. Naiad. Water nymph. + </p> + <p> + 343. And ne'er did Grecian chisel, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "A finer form, a fairer face, + Had never marble Nymph or Grace, + That boasts the Grecian chisel's trace;" +</pre> + <p> + and in 359 below, "a stranger tongue." + </p> + <p> + 353. Measured mood. The formal manner required by court etiquette. + </p> + <p> + 360. Dear. This is the reading of the 1st ed. and almost every other that + we have seen. We are inclined, however, to believe that Scott wrote + "clear." The facsimiles of his handwriting show that his d's and cl's + might easily be confounded by a compositor. + </p> + <p> + 363. Snood. The fillet or ribbon with which the Scotch maidens bound their + hair. See on iii. 114 below. It is the rich materials of snood, plaid, and + brooch that betray her birth. + </p> + <p> + The rhyme of plaid with maid and betrayed is not imperfect, the Scottish + pronunciation of plaid being like our played. + </p> + <p> + 385. One only. For the inversion, cf. Shakespeare, J. C. i. 2. 157: "When + there is in it but one only man;" Goldsmith, D. V. 39: "One only master + grasps the whole domain," etc. + </p> + <p> + 393. Awhile she paused, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "A space she paused, no answer came,— + 'Alpine, was thine the blast?' the name + Less resolutely uttered fell, + The echoes could not catch the swell. + 'Nor foe nor friend,' the stranger said, + Advancing from the hazel shade. + The startled maid, with hasty oar, + Pushed her light shallop from the shore." +</pre> + <p> + and just below: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "So o'er the lake the swan would spring, + Then turn to prune its ruffled wing." +</pre> + <p> + 404. Prune. Pick out damaged feathers and arrange the plumage with the + bill. Cf. Shakespeare, Cymb. v. 4. 118: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "his royal bird + Prunes the immortal wing," etc. +</pre> + <p> + 408. Wont. Are wont, or accustomed; now used only in the participle. The + form here is the past tense of the obsolete won, or wone, to dwell. The + present is found in Milton, P. L. vii. 457: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "As from his lair the wild beast, where he wons + In forest wild, in thicket, brake, or den." +</pre> + <p> + Cf. Spenser, Virgil's Gnat: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Of Poets Prince, whether we woon beside + Faire Xanthus sprincled with Chimaeras blood, + Or in the woods of Astery abide;" +</pre> + <p> + and Colin Clouts Come Home Againe: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "I weened sure he was out God alone, + And only woond in fields and forests here." +</pre> + <p> + See also iv. 278 and 298 below. + </p> + <p> + 409. Middle age. As James died at the age of thirty (in 1542), this is not + strictly true, but the portrait in other respects is quite accurate. He + was fond of going about disguised, and some of his freaks of this kind are + pleasantly related in Scott's Tales of a Grandfather. See on vi. 740 + below. + </p> + <p> + 425. Slighting, etc. "Treating lightly his need of food and shelter." + </p> + <p> + 432. At length. The 1st ed. has "at last." + </p> + <p> + 433. That Highland halls were, etc. The MS. has "Her father's hall was," + etc. + </p> + <p> + 434. Wildered. See on 274 above. + </p> + <p> + 438. A couch. That is, the heather for it. Cf. 666 below. + </p> + <p> + 441. Mere. Lake; as in Windermere, etc. + </p> + <p> + 443. Rood. Cross, or crucifix. By the rood was a common oath; so by the + holy rood, as in Shakespeare, Rich. III. iii. 2. 77, iv. 4. 165. Cf. the + name of Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh. See ii. 221 below. + </p> + <p> + 451. Romantic. The MS. has "enchanting." + </p> + <p> + 457. Yesternight. We have lost this word, though we retain yesterday. Cf. + yester-morn in v. 104 below. As far = as far back as. + </p> + <p> + 460. Was on, etc. The MS. reads: "Is often on the future bent." If force + of evidence could authorize us to believe facts inconsistent with the + general laws of nature, enough might be produced in favor of the existence + of the second-sight. It is called in Gaelic Taishitaraugh, from Taish, an + unreal or shadowy appearance; and those possessed of the faculty are + called Taishatrin, which may be aptly translated visionaries. Martin, a + steady believer in the second-sight, gives the following account of it:— + </p> + <p> + 'The second-sight is a singular faculty of seeing an otherwise invisible + object without any previous means used by the person that uses if for that + end: the vision makes such a lively impression upon the seers, that they + neither see nor think of any thing else, except the vision, as long as it + continues; and then they appear pensive or jovial, according to the object + that was represented to them. + </p> + <p> + 'At the sight of a vision, the eyelids of the person are erected, and the + eyes continue staring until the object vanish. This is obvious to others + who are by when the persons happen to see a vision, and occurred more than + once to my own observation, and to others that were with me.... + </p> + <p> + 'If a woman is seen standing at a man's left hand, it is a presage that + she will be his wife, whether they be married to others, or unmarried at + the time of the apparition. + </p> + <p> + 'To see a spark of fire fall upon one's arm or breast is a forerunner of a + dead child to be seen in the arms of those persons; of which there are + several fresh instances.... + </p> + <p> + 'To see a seat empty at the time of one's sitting in it, is a presage of + that person's death soon after' (Martin's Description of the Western + Islands, 1716, 8vo, p. 300, et seq.). + </p> + <p> + "To these particulars innumerable examples might be added, all attested by + grave and credible authors. But, in despite of evidence which neither + Bacon, Boyle, nor Johnson were able to resist, the Taish, with all its + visionary properties, seems to be now universally abandoned to the use of + poetry. The exquisitely beautiful poem of Lochiel will at once occur to + the recollection of every reader" (Scott). + </p> + <p> + 462. Birchen. Shaded by birches. Cf. Milton's "cedarn alleys" in Comus, + 990. + </p> + <p> + 464. Lincoln green. A cloth made in Lincoln, much worn by hunters. + </p> + <p> + 467. Heron. The early eds. have "heron's." + </p> + <p> + 475. Errant-knight. Knight-errant. + </p> + <p> + 476. Sooth. True. We find soothest in Milton, Comus, 823. The noun sooth + (truth) is more common, and still survives in soothsayer (teller of hidden + truth). Cf. v. 64 below. + </p> + <p> + 478. Emprise. Enterprise. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 7. 39: "But give me leave + to follow my emprise," etc. + </p> + <p> + 485. His noble hand. The MS. has "This gentle hand;" and in the next line, + "the oars he drew." + </p> + <p> + 490. Frequent. Often; one of the many instances of the adjective used + adverbially in the poem. + </p> + <p> + 492. The rocky isle. It is still known as Ellen's Isle. "It is rather + high, and irregularly pyramidal. It is mostly composed of dark-gray rocks, + mottled with pale and gray lichens, peeping out here and there amid trees + that mantle them,—chiefly light, graceful birches, intermingled with + red-berried mountain ashes and a few dark-green, spiry pines. The landing + is beneath an aged oak; and, as did the Lady and the Knight, the traveller + now ascends 'a clambering unsuspected road,' by rude steps, to the small + irregular summit of the island. A more poetic, romantic retreat could + hardly be imagined: it is unique. It is completely hidden, not only by the + trees, but also by an undergrowth of beautiful and abundant ferns and the + loveliest of heather" (Hunnewell's Lands of Scott). + </p> + <p> + 500. Winded. Wound; used for the sake of the measure, as in v. 22 below. + We find the participle winded in Much Ado, i. 1. 243; but it is = blown. + The verb in that sense is derived from the noun wind (air in motion), and + has no connection with wind, to turn. Cf. Wb. + </p> + <p> + 504. Here for retreat, etc. Scott has the following note here: "The Celtic + chieftains, whose lives were continually exposed to peril, had usually, in + the most retired spot of their domains, some place of retreat for the hour + of necessity, which, as circumstances would admit, was a tower, a cavern, + or a rustic hut, in a strong and secluded situation. One of these last + gave refuge to the unfortunate Charles Edward, in his perilous wanderings + after the battle of Culloden. + </p> + <p> + "It was situated in the face of a very rough, high, and rocky mountain, + called Letternilichk, still a part of Benalder, full of great stones and + crevices, and some scattered wood interspersed. The habitation called the + Cage, in the face of that mountain, was within a small thick bush of wood. + There were first some rows of trees laid down, in order to level the floor + for a habitation; and as the place was steep, this raised the lower side + to an equal height with the other: and these trees, in the way of joists + or planks, were levelled with earth and gravel. There were betwixt the + trees, growing naturally on their own roots, some stakes fixed in the + earth, which, with the trees, were interwoven with ropes, made of heath + and birch twigs, up to the top of the Cage, it being of a round or rather + oval shape; and the whole thatched and covered over with fog. The whole + fabric hung, as it were, by a large tree, which reclined from the one end, + all along the roof, to the other, and which gave it the name of the Cage; + and by chance there happened to be two stones at a small distance from one + another, in the side next the precipice, resembling the pillars of a + chimney, where the fire was placed. The smoke had its vent out here, all + along the fall of the rock, which was so much of the same color, that one + could discover no difference in the clearest day' (Home's History of the + Rebellion, Lond. 1802, 4to, p. 381)." + </p> + <p> + 525. Idoean vine. Some have taken this to refer to the "red whortleberry," + the botanical name of which is Vaccinium vitis Idoea; but as that is not a + climber, it is more probably that the common vine is here meant. Idoean is + from Ida, a mountain near ancient Troy (there was another in Crete), + famous for its vines. + </p> + <p> + 526. Clematis. The Climatis vitalba, one of the popular English names of + which is virgin-bower. + </p> + <p> + 528. And every favored plant could bear. That is, which could endure. This + ellipsis of the relative was very common in Elizabethan English. Cf. + Shakespeare, M. for M. ii. 2. 23: "I have a brother is condemned to die;" + Rich. II. ii. 2. 128: "The hate of those love not the king," etc. See also + John, iii. 11, etc. + </p> + <p> + 532. On heaven and on thy lady call. This is said gayly, or sportively, as + keeping up the idea of a knight-errant. Cf. 475 above. + </p> + <p> + 542. Careless. See on 490 above. + </p> + <p> + 546. Target. Buckler; the targe of iii. 445, etc. See Scott's note on v. + 380 below. + </p> + <p> + 548. Store. Stored, laid up; an obsolete adjective. Cf. iii. 3 below, and + see also on vi. 124. + </p> + <p> + 551. And there the wild-cat's, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "There hung the wild-cat's brindled hide, + Above the elk's branched brow and skull, + And frontlet of the forest bull." +</pre> + <p> + 559. Garnish forth. Cf. furnish forth in 442 above. + </p> + <p> + 566. Brook. Bear, endure; now seldom used except with reference to what is + endured against one's will or inclination. It seems to be a favorite word + with Scott. + </p> + <p> + 573. Ferragus or Ascabart. "These two sons of Anak flourished in romantic + fable. The first is well known to the admirers of Ariosto by the name of + Ferrau. He was an antagonist of Orlando, and was at length slain by him in + single combat.... Ascapart, or Ascabart, makes a very material figure in + the History of Bevis of Hampton, by whom he was conquered. His effigies + may be seen guarding one side of the gate at Southampton, while the other + is occupied by Bevis himself" (Scott). + </p> + <p> + 580. To whom, though more than kindred knew. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "To whom, though more remote her claim, + Young Ellen gave a mother's name." +</pre> + <p> + She was the maternal aunt of Ellen, but was loved as a mother by her, or + more than (such) kindred (usually) knew (in way of affection). + </p> + <p> + 585. Though all unasked, etc. "The Highlanders, who carried hospitality to + a punctilious excess, are said to have considered it as churlish to ask a + stranger his name or lineage before he had taken refreshment. Feuds were + so frequent among them, that a contrary rule would in many cases have + produced the discovery of some circumstance which might have excluded the + guest from the benefit of the assistance he stood in need of" (Scott). + </p> + <p> + 591. Snowdoun. An old name of Stirling Castle. See vi. 789 below. + </p> + <p> + 592. Lord of a barren heritage. "By the misfortunes of the earlier + Jameses, and the internal feuds of the Scottish chiefs, the kingly power + had become little more than a name. Each chief was a petty king in his own + district, and gave just so much obedience to the king's authority as + suited his convenience" (Taylor). + </p> + <p> + 596. Wot. Knows; the present of the obsolete wit (the infinitive to wit is + still use in legal forms), not of weet, as generally stated. See Matzner, + Eng. Gram. i. 382. Cf. Shakespeare, Rich. III. ii. 3. 18: "No, no, good + friends, God wot." He also uses wots (as in Hen. V. iv. 1. 299) and a + participle wotting (in W. T. iii. 2. 77). + </p> + <p> + 602. Require. Request, ask; as in Elizanethan English. Cf. Shakespeare, + Hen. VIII. ii. 4. 144: "In humblest manner I require your highness," etc. + </p> + <p> + 603. The elder lady's mien. The MS. has "the mother's easy mien." + </p> + <p> + 606. Ellen, though more, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Ellen, though more her looks betrayed + The simple heart of mountain maid, + In speech and gesture, form and grace, + Showed she was come of gentle race; + 'T was strange, in birth so rude, to find + Such face, such manners, and such mind. + Each anxious hint the stranger gave, + The mother heard with silence grave." +</pre> + <p> + 616. Weird women we, etc. See on 35 above. Weird here = skilled in + witchcraft; like the "weird sisters" of Macbeth. Down = hill (the Gaelic + dun). + </p> + <p> + 622. A harp unseen. Scott has the following note here: "'"They [the + Highlanders] delight much in musicke, but chiefly in harps and clairschoes + of their own fashion. The strings of the clairschoes are made of brasse + wire, and the strings of the harps of sinews; which strings they strike + either with their nayles, growing long, or else with an instrument + appointed for that use. They take great pleasure to decke their harps and + clairschoes with silver and precious stones; the poore ones that cannot + attayne hereunto, decke them with christall. They sing verses prettily + compound, contayning (for the most part) prayses of valiant men. There is + not almost any other argument, whereof their rhymes intreat. They speak + the ancient French language, altered a little." <a href="#linknote-6" + name="linknoteref-6" id="linknoteref-6"><small>6</small></a> + </p> + <p> + "The harp and chairschoes are now only heard of in the Highlands in + ancient song. At what period these instruments ceased to be used, is not + on record; and tradition is silent on this head. But, as Irish harpers + occasionally visited the Highlands and Western Isles till lately, the harp + might have been extant so late as the middle of the present century. Thus + far we know, that from remote times down to the present, harpers were + received as welcome guests, particularly in the Highlands of Scotland; and + so late as the latter end of the sixteenth century, as appears by the + above quotations, the harp was in common use among the natives of the + Western Isles. How it happened that the noisy and inharmonious bagpipe + banished the soft and expressive harp, we cannot say; but certain it is, + that the bagpipe is now the only instrument that obtains universally in + the Highland districts' (Campbell's Journey through North Britain. London, + 1808, 4to, i. 175). + </p> + <p> + "Mr. Gunn, of Edinburgh, has lately published a curious Essay upon the + Harp and Harp Music of the Highlands of Scotland. That the instrument was + once in common use there, is most certain. Cleland numbers an acquaintance + with it among the few accomplishments which his satire allows to the + Highlanders:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 'In nothing they're accounted sharp, + Except in bagpipe or in harm.'" +</pre> + <p> + 624. Soldier, rest! etc. The metre of this song is trochaic; that is, the + accents fall regularly on the odd syllables. + </p> + <p> + 631. In slumber dewing. That is, bedewing. For the metaphor, cf. + Shakespeare, Rich. III. iv. 1. 84: "the golden dew of sleep;" and J. C. + ii. 1. 230: "the honey-heavy dew of slumber." + </p> + <p> + 635. Morn of toil, etc. The MS. has "noon of hunger, night of waking;" and + in the next line, "rouse" for reach. + </p> + <p> + 638. Pibroch. "A Highland air, suited to the particular passion which the + musician would either excite or assuage; generally applied to those airs + that are played on the bagpipe before the Highlanders when they go out to + battle" (Jamieson). Here it is put for the bagpipe itself. See also on ii. + 363 below. + </p> + <p> + 642. And the bittern sound his drum. Goldsmith (D. V. 44) calls the bird + "the hollow-sounding bittern;" and in his Animated Nature, he says that of + all the notes of waterfowl "there is none so dismally hollow as the + booming of the bittern." + </p> + <p> + 648. She paused, etc. The MS. has "She paused—but waked again the + lay." + </p> + <p> + 655. The MS. reads: "Slumber sweet our spells shall deal ye;" and in 657: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Let our slumbrous spells| avail ye + | beguile ye." +</pre> + <p> + 657. Reveille. The call to rouse troops or huntsmen in the morning. + </p> + <p> + 669. Forest sports. The MS. has "mountain chase." + </p> + <p> + 672. Not Ellens' spell. That is, not even Ellen's spell. On the passage, + cf. Rokeby, i. 2: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Sleep came at length, but with a train + Of feelings true and fancies vain, + Mingling, in wild disorder cast, + The expected future with the past." +</pre> + <p> + 693. Or is it all a vision now? Lockhart quotes here Thomson's Castle of + Indolence: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Ye guardian spirits, to whom man is dear, + From these foul demons shield the midnight gloom: + Angels of fancy and love, be near. + And o'er the blank of sleep diffuse a bloom: + Evoke the sacred shades of Greece and Rome, + And let them virtue with a look impart; + But chief, awhile, O! lend us from the tomb + Those long-lost friends for whom in love we smart, + and fill with pious awe and joy-mixt woe the heart. + + "Or are you sportive?—bid the morn of youth + Rise to new light, and beam afresh the days + Of innocence, simplicity, and truth; + To cares estranged, and manhood's thorny ways. + What transport, to retrace our boyish plays, + Our easy bliss, when each thing joy supplied; + The woods, the mountains, and the warbling maze + Of the wild books!" +</pre> + <p> + The Critical Review says of the following stanza (xxxiv): "Such a strange + and romantic dream as may be naturally expected to flow from the + extraordinary events of the day. It might, perhaps, be quoted as one of + Mr. Scott's most successful efforts in descriptive poetry. Some few lines + of it are indeed unrivalled for delicacy and melancholy tenderness." + </p> + <p> + 704. Grisly. Grim, horrible; an obsolete word, much used in old poetry. + Cf. Spenser, F. Q. i. 5. 30: "her darke griesly looke;" Shakespeare, 1 + Hen. VI. i. 4. 47: "My grisly countenance made others fly," etc. See also + iv. 322, etc. below. + </p> + <p> + 723. Played, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Played on/ the bosoms of the lake, + / Lock Katrine's still expanse; + The birch, the wild rose, and the broom + Wasted around their rich perfume... + The birch-trees wept in balmy dew; + The aspen slept on Benvenue; + Wild were the heart whose passions' power + Defied the influence of the hour." +</pre> + <p> + 724. Passion's. The reading of the 1st ed. and that of 1821; some recent + eds. have "passions'." + </p> + <p> + 738. Orisons. The 1st ed. has "orison" both here and in 740 (the ed. of + 1821 only in the latter); but the word is almost invariably plural, both + in poetry and prose—always in Shakespeare and Milton. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0014" id="link2H_4_0014"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Canto Second. + </h2> + <p> + 7. A minstrel gray. "That Highland chieftains, to a late period, retained + in their service the bard, as a family officer, admits of very easy proof. + The author of the Letters from the North of Scotland, an officer of + engineers, quartered at Inverness about 1720, who certainly cannot be + deemed a favorable witness, gives the following account of the office, and + of a bard, whom he heard exercise his talent of recitation:—'The + bard is killed in the genealogy of all the Highland families, sometimes + preceptor to the young laird, celebrates in Irish verse the original of + the tribe, the famous warlike actions of the successive heads, and sings + his own lyricks as an opiate to the chief, when indisposed for sleep; but + poets are not equally esteemed and honored in all countries. I happened to + be a witness of the dishonour done to the muse, at the house of one of the + chiefs, where two of these bards were set at a good distance, at the lower + end of a long table, with a parcel of Highlanders of no extraordinary + appearance, over a cup of ale. Poor inspiration! They were not asked to + drink a glass of wine at our table, though the whole company consisted + only of the great man, one of his near relations, and myself. After some + little time, the chief ordered one of them to sing me a Highland song. The + bard readily obeyed, and with a hoarse voice, and in a tune of few various + notes, began, as I was told, one of his own lyricks; and when he had + proceeded to the fourth of fifth stanza, I perceived, by the names of + several persons, glens, and mountains, which I had known or heard of + before, that it was an account of some clan battle. But in his going on, + the chief (who piques himself upon his school-learning) at some particular + passage, bid him cease, and cryed out, "There's nothing like that in + Virgil or Homer." I bowed, and told him I believed so. This you may + believe was very edifying and delightful'" (Scott). + </p> + <p> + 15. Than men, etc. "It is evident that the old bard, with his + second-sight, has a glimmering notion who the stranger is. He speaks below + {311} of 'courtly spy,' and James's speech had betrayed a knowledge of the + Douglas" (Taylor). + </p> + <p> + 20. Battled. The reading of the 1st ed. and that of 1821; "battle" in most + others. Cf. i. 626 above. + </p> + <p> + 22. Where beauty, etc. The MS. has "At tourneys where the brave resort." + The reference is to the tournaments, "Where," as Milton says (L'Allegro, + 119), + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "throngs of knights and barons bold. + In weeds of peace, high triumphs hold, + With store of ladies, whose bright eyes + Rain influence, and judge the prize + Of wit or arms, while both contend + To win her grace whom all commend." +</pre> + <p> + Cf. 87 below. + </p> + <p> + 26. Love's. The reading of the 1st ed. and that of 1821; most eds. have + "love." + </p> + <p> + 29. Plaided. The plaid was properly the dress of a Highlander, though it + was worn also in the Lowlands. + </p> + <p> + 51. The Harper on the islet beach. "This picture is touched with the hand + of the true poet" (Jeffrey). + </p> + <p> + 56. As from. As if from. Cf. 64 and 83 below. This ellipsis was common in + Elizabethan English. Cf. Shakespeare, Macb. ii. 2. 28: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "One cried 'God bless us!' and 'Amen' the other, + As they had seen me with these hangman's hands." +</pre> + <p> + 65. In the last sound. For the measure, see on i. 73 above. + </p> + <p> + 69. His fleet. That is, of ducks. Cf. i. 239 above. + </p> + <p> + 80. Would scorn. Who would scorn. See on i. 528 above. + </p> + <p> + 84. Turned him. See on i. 142 above, and cf. 106 below. + </p> + <p> + 86. After. Afterwards; as in Shakespeare, Temp. ii. 2. 10: "And after bite + me," etc. The word is not now used adverbially of time, though we may say + "he followed after," etc. The 1st ed. reads "that knight." + </p> + <p> + 94. Parts. Departs; as often in poetry and earlier English. Cf. Goldsmith, + D. V. 171: "Beside the bed where parting life was laid;" Gray, Elegy, 1: + "the knell of parting day," etc. On the other hand, depart was used in the + sense of part. In the Marriage Service "till death us do part" is a + corruption of "till death us depart." Wiclif's Bible, in Matt. xix. 6, has + "therfor a man departe not that thing that God hath ioyned." + </p> + <p> + 103. Another step, etc. The MS. has "The loveliest Lowland fair to spy;" + and the 1st ed. reads "The step of parting fair to spy." + </p> + <p> + 109. The Graeme. Scott has the following note here: "The ancient and + powerful family of Graham (which, for metrical reasons, is here smelled + after the Scottish pronunciation) held extensive possessions in the + counties of Dumbarton and Stirling. Few families can boast of more + historical renown, having claim to three of the most remarkable characters + in the Scottish annals. Sir John the Graeme, the faithful and undaunted + partaker of the labors and patriotic warfare of Wallace, fell in the + unfortunate field of Falkirk, in 1298. The celebrated Marquis of Montrose, + in whom De Retz saw realized his abstract idea of the heroes of antiquity, + was the second of these worthies. And, not withstanding the severity of + his temper, and the rigor with which he executed the oppressive mandates + of the princes whom he served, I do not hesitate to name as the third, + John Graeme, of Claverhouse, Viscount of Dundee, whose heroic death, in + the arms of victory, may be allowed to cancel the memory of his cruelty to + the non-conformists, during the reigns of Charles II. and James II." + </p> + <p> + 112. Bower. The word meant a chamber (see on i. 217 above), and was often + used of the ladies' apartments in a house. In hall and bower = among men + and women. The words are often thus associated. Cf. Spenser, Astrophel, + 28: "Merily masking both in bowre and hall," etc. + </p> + <p> + 115. Arose. The 1st ed. misprints "Across;" not noted in the Errata. + </p> + <p> + 126. And the proud march. See on i. 73 above. + </p> + <p> + 131. Saint Modan. A Scotch abbot of the 7th century. Scott says here: "I + am not prepared to show that Saint Modan was a performer on the harp. It + was, however, no unsaintly accomplishment; for Saint Dunstan certainly did + play upon that instrument, which retaining, as was natural, a portion of + the sanctity attached to its master's character, announced future events + by its spontaneous sound. 'But labouring once in these mechanic arts for a + devout matrone that had sett him on work, his violl, that hung by him on + the wall, of its own accord, without anie man's helpe, distinctly sounded + this anthime: Gaudent in coelis animae sanctorum qui Christi vestigia sunt + secuti; et quia pro eius amore sanguinem suum fuderunt, ideo cum Christo + gaudent aeternum. Whereat all the companie being much astonished, turned + their eyes from beholding him working, to looke on that strange + accident.... Not long after, manie of the court that hitherunto had born a + kind of fayned friendship towards him, began now greatly to envie at his + progresse and rising in goodness, using manie crooked, backbiting meanes + to diffame his vertues with the black markes of hypocrisie. And the better + to authorise their calumnie, they brought in this that happened in the + violl, affirming it to have been done by art magick. What more? this + wicked rumour encreased, dayly, till the king and others of the nobilitie + taking hould thereof, Dunstan grew odious in their sight. Therefore he + resolued to leaue the court, and goe to Elphegus, surnamed the Bauld, then + bishop of Winchester, who was his cozen. Which his enemies understanding, + they layd wayte for him in the way, and hauing throwne him off his horse, + beate him, and dragged him in the durt in the most miserable manner, + meaning to have slaine him, had not a companie of mastiue dogges, that + came unlookt uppon them, defended and redeemed him from their crueltie. + When with sorrow he was ashamed to see dogges more humane than they. And + giuing thankes to Almightie God, he sensibly againe perceaued that the + tunes of his violl had giuen him a warning of future accidents' (Flower of + the Lives of the most renowned Sainets of England, Scotland, and Ireland, + by the R. Father Hierome Porter. Doway, 1632 4to. tome i. p. 438). + </p> + <p> + "The same supernatural circumstance is alluded to by the anonymous author + of Grim, the Collier of Croydon: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + '——-[Dunstant's harp sounds on the wall.] + 'Forrest. Hark, hark, my lord, the holy abbot's harp + Sounds by itself so hanging on the wall! + 'Dunstan. Unhallow'd man, that scorn'st the sacred rede, + Hark, how the testimony of my truth + Sounds heavenly music with an angel's hand, + To testify Dunstan's integrity, + And prove thy active boast of no effect.'" +</pre> + <p> + 141. Bothwell's bannered hall. The picturesque ruins of Bothwell Castle + stand on the banks of the Clyde, about nine miles above Glasgow. Some + parts of the walls are 14 feet thick, and 60 feet in height. They are + covered with ivy, wild roses, and wall-flowers. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "The tufted grass lines Bothwell's ancient hall, + The fox peeps cautious from the creviced wall, + Where once proud Murray, Clydesdale's ancient lord, + A mimic sovereign, held the festal board." +</pre> + <p> + 142. Ere Douglases, to ruin driven. Scott says: "The downfall of the + Douglases of the house of Angus, during the reign of James V., is the + event alluded to in the text. The Earl of Angus, it will be remembered, + had married the queen dowager, and availed himself of the right which he + thus acquired, as well as of his extensive power, to retain the king in a + sort of tutelage, which approached very near to captivity. Several open + attempts were made to rescue James from this thraldom, with which he was + well known to be deeply disgusted; but the valor of the Douglases, and + their allies, gave them the victory in every conflict. At length, the + king, while residing at Falkland, contrived to escape by night out of his + own court and palace, and rode full speed to Stirling Castle, where the + governor, who was of the opposite faction, joyfully received him. Being + thus at liberty, James speedily summoned around him such peers as he knew + to be most inimical to the domination of Angus, and laid his complaint + before them, says Pitscottie, 'with great lamentations: showing to them + how he was holding in subjection, thir years bygone, by the Earl of Angus, + and his kin and friends, who oppressed the whole country, and spoiled it, + under the pretence of justice and his authority; and had slain many of his + lieges, kinsmen, and friends, because they would have had it mended at + their hands, and put him at liberty, as he ought to have been, at the + counsel of his whole lords, and not have been subjected and corrected with + no particular men, by the rest of his nobles: Therefore, said he, I + desire, my lords, that I may be satisfied of the said earl, his kin, and + friends; for I avow, that Scotland shall not hold us both, while [i.e. + till] I be revenged on him and his. + </p> + <p> + 'The lords hearing the king's complaint and lamentation, and also the + great rage, fury, and malice, that he bure toward the Earl of Angus, his + kin and friends, they concluded all and thought it best, that he should be + summoned to underly the law; if he fand not caution, nor yet compear + himself, that he should be put to the horn, with all his kin and friends, + so many as were contained in the letters. And further, the lords ordained, + by advice of his majesty, that his brother and friends should be summoned + to find caution to underly the law within a certain day, or else be put to + the horn. But the earl appeared not, nor none for him; and so he was put + to the horn, with all his kin and friends: so many as were contained in + the summons, that compeared not, were banished, and holden traitors to the + king.'" + </p> + <p> + 159. From Tweed to Spey. From the Tweed, the southern boundary of + Scotland, to the Spey, a river far to the north in Invernessshire; that + is, from one end of the land to the other. + </p> + <p> + 170. Reave. Tear away. The participle reft is still used, at least in + poetry. Cf. Shakespeare, V. and A. 766: "Or butcher-sire that reaves his + son of life" (that is, bereaves); Spenser, F. Q. i. 3. 36: "He to him + lept, in minde to reave his life;" Id. ii. 8. 15: "I will him reave of + arms," etc. + </p> + <p> + 178. It drinks, etc. The MS. has "No blither dewdrop cheers the rose." + </p> + <p> + 195, 196. To see... dance. This couplet is not in the MS. + </p> + <p> + 200. The Lady of the Bleeding Heart. The bleeding heart was the cognizance + of the Douglas family. Robert Bruce, on his death-bed, bequeathed his + heart to his friend, the good Lord James, to be borne in war against the + Saracens. "He joined Alphonso, King of Leon and Castile, then at war with + the Moorish chief Osurga, of Granada, and in a keen contest with the + Moslems he flung before him the casket containing the precious relic, + crying out, 'Onward as thou wert wont, thou noble heart, Douglas will + follow thee.' Douglas was slain, but his body was recovered, and also the + precious casket, and in the end Douglas was laid with his ancestors, and + the heart of Bruce deposited in the church of Melrose Abbey" (Burton's + Hist. of Scotland). + </p> + <p> + 201. Fair. The 1st ed. (and probably the MS., though not noted by + Lockhart) has "Gay." + </p> + <p> + 203. Yet is this, etc. The MS. and 1st ed. read: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "This mossy rock, my friend, to me + Is worth gay chair and canopy." +</pre> + <p> + 205. Footstep. The reading of the 1st and other early eds.; "footsteps" in + recent ones. + </p> + <p> + 206. Strathspey. A Highland dance, which takes its name from the strath, + or broad valley, of the Spey (159 above). + </p> + <p> + 213. Clan-Alpine's pride. "The Siol Alpine, or race of Alpine, includes + several clans who claimed descent from Kenneth McAlpine, an ancient king. + These are the Macgregors, the Grants, the Mackies, the Mackinnans, the + MacNabs, the MacQuarries, and the Macaulays. Their common emblem was the + pine, which is now confined to the Macgregors" (Taylor). + </p> + <p> + 214. Loch Lomond. This beautiful lake, "the pride of Scottish lakes," is + about 23 miles in length and 5 miles in its greatest breadth. At the + southern end are many islands, one of which, Inch-Cailliach (the Island of + Women, so called from a nunnery that was once upon it), was the + burial-place of Clan-Alpine. See iii. 191 below. + </p> + <p> + 216. A Lennox foray. That is, a raid in the lands of the Lennox family, + bordering on the southern end of Loch Lomond. On the island of + Inch-Murrin, the ruins of Lennox Castle, formerly a residence of the Earls + of Lennox, are still to be seen. There was another of their strongholds on + the shore of the lake near Balloch, where the modern Balloch Castle now + stands. + </p> + <p> + 217. Her glee. The 1st ed. misprints "his glee;" not noted in the Errata. + </p> + <p> + 220. Black Sir Roderick. Roderick Dhu, or the Black, as he was called. + </p> + <p> + 221. In Holy-Rood a knight he slew. That is, in Holyrood Palace. "This was + by no means an uncommon occurrence in the Court of Scotland; nay, the + presence of the sovereign himself scarcely restrained the ferocious and + inveterate feuds which were the perpetual source of bloodshed among the + Scottish nobility" (Scott). + </p> + <p> + 223. Courtiers give place, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Courtiers give place with heartless stride + Of the retiring homicide." +</pre> + <p> + 227. Who else, etc. The MS. has the following couplet before this line: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Who else dared own the kindred claim + That bound him to thy mother's name?" +</pre> + <p> + 229. The Douglas, etc. Scott says here: "The exiled state of this powerful + race is not exaggerated in this and subsequent passages. The hatred of + James against the race of Douglas was so inveterate, that numerous as + their allies were, and disregarded as the regal authority had usually been + in similar cases, their nearest friends, even in the most remote part of + Scotland, durst not entertain them, unless under the strictest and closest + disguise. James Douglas, son of the banished Earl of Angus, afterwards + well known by the title of Earl of Morton, lurked, during the exile of his + family, in the north of Scotland, under the assumed name of James Innes, + otherwise James the Grieve (i.e. reve or bailiff). 'And as he bore the + name,' says Godscroft, 'so did he also execute the office of a grieve or + overseer of the lands and rents, the corn and cattle of him with whom he + lived.' From the habits of frugality and observation which he acquired in + his humble situation, the historian traces that intimate acquaintance with + popular character which enabled him to rise so high in the state, and that + honorable economy by which he repaired and established the shattered + estates of Angus and Morton (History of the House of Douglas, Edinburgh, + 1743, vol. ii. p. 160)." + </p> + <p> + 235. Guerdon. Reward; now rarely used except in poetry. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. + i. 10. 59: "That glory does to them for guerdon graunt," etc. + </p> + <p> + 236. Dispensation. As Roderick and Ellen were cousins, they could not + marry without a dispensation from the Pope. + </p> + <p> + 251. Orphan. Referring to child, not to she, as its position indicates. + </p> + <p> + 254. Shrouds. Shields, protects. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. i. 1. 6: "And this + faire couple eke to shroud themselves were fain" (that is, from the rain). + So the noun = shelter, protection; as in Shakespeare, A. and C. iii. 13. + 71: "put yourself under his shroud," etc. See also on 757 below. + </p> + <p> + 260. Maronnan's cell. "The parish of Kilmaronock, at the eastern extremity + of Loch Lomond, derives its name from a cell, or chapel, dedicated to + Saint Maronock, or Marnock, or Maronnan, about whose sanctity very little + is now remembered" (Scott). Kill = cell; as in Colmekill (Macb. ii. 4. + 33), "the cell of Columba," now known as Icolmkill, or Iona. + </p> + <p> + 270. Bracklinn's thundering wave. This beautiful cascade is on the Keltie, + a mile from Callander. The height of the fall is about fifty feet. "A few + years ago a marriage party of Lowland peasants met with a tragic end here, + two of them having tumbled into the broken, angry waters, where they had + no more chance of life than if they had dropped into the crater of Hecla" + (Black). + </p> + <p> + 271. Save. Unless; here followed by the subjunctive. + </p> + <p> + 274. Claymore. The word means "a large sword" (Gaelic claidheamh, sword, + and more, great). + </p> + <p> + 294. Shadowy plaid and sable plume. Appropriate to Roderick Dhu. See on + 220 above. + </p> + <p> + 303. Woe the while. Woe be to the time, alas the time! Cf. Shakespeare, J. + C. i. 3. 82: "But, woe the while! our fathers' minds are dead," etc. See + also on i. 166 above. + </p> + <p> + 306. Tine-man. "Archibald, the third Earl of Douglas, was so unfortunate + in all his enterprises, that he acquired the epithet of 'tine-man,' + because he tined, or lost, his followers in every battle which he fought. + He was vanquished, as every reader must remember, in the bloody battle of + Homildon-hill, near Wooler, where he himself lost an eye, and was made + prisoner by Hotspur. He was no less unfortunate when allied with Percy, + being wounded and taken at the battle of Shrewsbury. He was so + unsuccessful in an attempt to beseige Roxburgh Castle, that it was called + the 'Foul Raid,' or disgraceful expedition. His ill fortune left him + indeed at the battle of Beauge, in France; but it was only to return with + double emphasis at the subsequent action of Vernoil, the last and most + unlucky of his encounters, in which he fell, with the flower of the + Scottish chivalry, then serving as auxiliaries in France, and about two + thousand common soldiers, A.D. 1424" (Scott). + </p> + <p> + 307. What time, etc. That is, at the time when Douglas allied himself with + Percy in the rebellion against Henry IV. of England. See Shakespeare, 1 + Hen. IV. + </p> + <p> + 309. Did, self unscabbarded, etc. Scott says here: "The ancient warriors, + whose hope and confidence rested chiefly in their blades, were accustomed + to deduce omens from them, especially from such as were supposed to have + been fabricated by enchanted skill, of which we have various instances in + the romances and legends of the time. The wonderful sword Skofnung, + wielded by the celebrated Hrolf Kraka, was of this description. It was + deposited in the tomb of the monarch at his death, and taken from thence + by Skeggo, a celebrated pirate, who bestowed it upon his son-in-law, + Kormak, with the following curious directions: '"The manner of using it + will appear strange to you. A small bag is attached to it, which take heed + not to violate. Let not the rays of the sun touch the upper part of the + handle, nor unsheathe it, unless thou art ready for battle. But when thou + comest to the place of fight, go aside from the rest, grasp and extend the + sword, and breathe upon it. Then a small worm will creep out of the + handle; lower the handle, that he may more easily return into it." Kormak, + after having received the sword, returned home to his mother. He showed + the sword, and attempted to draw it, as unnecessarily as ineffectually, + for he could not pluck it out of the sheath. His mother, Dalla, exclaimed, + "Do not despise the counsel given to thee, my son." Kormak, however, + repeating his efforts, pressed down the handle with his feet, and tore off + the bag, when Skofung emitted a hollow groan; but still he could not + unsheathe the sword. Kormak then went out with Bessus, whom he had + challenged to fight with him, and drew apart at the place of combat. He + sat down upon the ground, and ungirding the sword, which he bore above his + vestments, did not remember to shield the hilt from the rays of the sun. + In vain he endeavored to draw it, till he placed his foot against the + hilt; then the worm issued from it. But Kormak did not rightly handle the + weapon, in consequence whereof good fortune deserted it. As he unsheathed + Skofnung, it emitted a hollow murmur' (Bartholini de Causis Contemptae a + Danis adhuc Gentilibus Mortis, Libri Tres. Hafniae, 1689, 4to, p. 574). + </p> + <p> + "To the history of this sentient and prescient weapon, I beg leave to add, + from memory, the following legend, for which I cannot produce any better + authority. A young nobleman, of high hopes and fortune, chanced to lose + his way in the town which he inhabited, the capital, if I mistake not, of + a German province. He had accidentally involved himself among the narrow + and winding streets of a suburb, inhabited by the lowest order of the + people, and an approaching thunder-shower determined him to ask a short + refuge in the most decent habitation that was near him. He knocked at the + door, which was opened by a tall man, of a grisly and ferocious aspect, + and sordid dress. The stranger was readily ushered to a chamber, where + swords, scourges, and machines, which seemed to be implements of torture, + were suspended on the wall. One of these swords dropped from its scabbard, + as the nobleman, after a moment's hesitation, crossed the threshold. His + host immediately stared at him with such a marked expression, that the + young man could not help demanding his name and business, and the meaning + of his looking at him so fixedly. 'I am,' answered the man, 'the public + executioner of this city; and the incident you have observed is a sure + augury that I shall, in discharge of my duty, one day cut off your head + with the weapon which has just now spontaneously unsheathed itself.' The + nobleman lost no time in leaving his place of refuge; but, engaging in + some of the plots of the period, was shortly after decapitated by that + very man and instrument. + </p> + <p> + "Lord Lovat is said, by the author of the Letters from Scotland (vol. ii. + p. 214), to have affirmed that a number of swords that hung up in the hall + of the mansion-house, leaped of themselves out of the scabbard at the + instant he was born. The story passed current among his clan, but, like + that of the story I have just quoted, proved an unfortunate omen." + </p> + <p> + 311. If courtly spy hath, etc. The 1st ed. has "If courtly spy, and + harbored," etc. The ed. of 1821 reads "had harbored." + </p> + <p> + 319. Beltane. The first of May, when there was a Celtic festival in honor + of the sun. Beltane = Beal-tein, or the fire of Beal, a Gaelic name for + the sun. It was celebrated by kindling fires on the hill-tops at night, + and other ceremonies, followed by dances, and merry-making. Cf. 410 below. + See also The Lord of the Isles, i. 8: "The shepherd lights his + belane-fire;" and Glenfinlas: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "But o'er his hills, in festal day, + How blazed Lord Ronald's beltane-tree!" +</pre> + <p> + 323. But hark! etc. "The moving picture—the effect of the sounds—and + the wild character and strong peculiar nationality of the whole + procession, are given with inimitable spirit and power of expression" + (Jeffrey). + </p> + <p> + 327. The canna's hoary beard. The down of the canna, or cotton-grass. + </p> + <p> + 335. Glengyle. A valley at the northern end of Lock Katrine. + </p> + <p> + 337. Brianchoil. A promontory on the northern shore of the lake. + </p> + <p> + 342. Spears, pikes, and axes. The 1st ed. and that of 1821 have Spears, + but all the recent ones misprint "Spear." The "Globe" ed. has "Spear, + spikes," etc. + </p> + <p> + 343. Tartans. The checkered woollen cloth so much worn in Scotland. + Curiously enough, the name is not Gaelic but French. See Jamieson or Wb. + </p> + <p> + Brave. Fine, beautiful; the same word as the Scottish braw. Cf. + Shakespeare, Sonn. 12. 2: "And see the brave day sunk in hideous night;" + Ham. ii. 2. 312: "This brave o'erhanging firmament," etc. It is often used + of dress, as also is bravery (= finery); as in T. of S. iv. 3. 57: "With + scarfs and fans and double change of bravery." See also Spenser, Mother + Hubberds Tale, 858: "Which oft maintain'd his masters braverie" (that is, + dressed as well as his master). + </p> + <p> + 351. Chanters. The pipes of the bagpipes, to which long ribbons were + attached. + </p> + <p> + 357. The sounds. Misprinted "the sound" in the ed. of 1821, and all the + more recent eds. that we have seen. Cf. 363 below. + </p> + <p> + 363. Those thrilling sounds, etc. Scott says here: "The connoisseurs in + pipe-music affect to discover in a well-composed pibroch, the imitative + sounds of march, conflict, flight, pursuit, and all the 'current of a + heady fight.' To this opinion Dr. Beattie has given his suffrage, in that + following elegant passage:—'A pibroch is a species of tune, + peculiar, I think, to the Highlands and Western Isles of Scotland. It is + performed on a bagpipe, and differs totally from all other music. Its + rhythm is so irregular, and its notes, especially in the quick movement, + so mixed and huddled together, that a stranger finds it impossible to + reconcile his ear to it, so as to perceive its modulation. Some of these + pibrochs, being intended to represent a battle, begin with a grave motion, + resembling a march; then gradually quicken into the onset; run off with + noisy confusion, and turbulent rapidity, to imitate the conflict and + pursuit; then swell into a few flourishes of triumphant joy; and perhaps + close with the wild and slow wailings of a funeral procession' (Essay on + Laughter and Ludicrious Composition, chap. iii. note)." + </p> + <p> + 367. Hurrying. Referring to their, or rather to the them implied in that + word. + </p> + <p> + 392. The burden bore. That is, sustained the burden, or chorus, of the + song. Cf. Shakespeare, Temp. i. 2. 381: "And, sweet sprites, the burden + bear." + </p> + <p> + 399. Hail to the Chief, etc. The metre of the song is dactylic; the + accents being on the 1st, 4th, 7th, and 10th syllables. It is little used + in English. Tennyson's Charge of the Light Brigade and Longfellow's + Skeleton in Armor are familiar examples of it. + </p> + <p> + 405. Bourgeon. Bud. Cf. Fairfax, Tasso, vii. 76: When first on trees + bourgeon the blossoms soft;" and Tennyson, In Memoriam, 115: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Now burgeons every maze of quick + About the flowering squares," etc. +</pre> + <p> + 408. Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu. "Besides his ordinary name and surname, + which were chiefly used in the intercourse with the Lowlands, every + Highland chief had an epithet expressive of his patriarchal dignity as + head of the clan, and which was common to all his predecessors and + successors, as Pharaoh to the kings of Egypt, or Arsaces to those of + Parthia. This name was usually a patronymic, expressive of his descent + from the founder of the family. Thus the Duke of Argyll is called + MacCallum More, or the son of Colin the Great. Sometimes, however, it is + derived from armorial distinctions, or the memory of some great feat; thus + Lord Seaforth, as chief of the Mackenzies, or Clan-Kennet, bears the + epithet of Caber-fae, or Buck's Head, as representative of Colin + Fitzgerald, founder of the family, who saved the Scottish king, when + endangered by a stag. But besides this title, which belonged to his office + and dignity, the chieftain had usually another peculiar to himself, which + distinguished him from the chieftains of the same race. This was sometimes + derived from complexion, as dhu or roy; sometimes from size, as beg or + more; at other times, from some peculiar exploit, or from some peculiarity + of habit or appearance. The line of the text therefore signifies, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Black Roderick, the descendant of Alpine. +</pre> + <p> + "The song itself is intended as an imitation of the jorrams, or boat + songs, of the Highlanders, which were usually composed in honor of a + favorite chief. They are so adapted as to keep time with the sweep of the + oars, and it is easy to distinguish between those intended to be sung to + the oars of a galley, where the stroke is lengthened and doubled, as it + were, and those which were timed to the rowers of an ordinary boat" + (Scott). + </p> + <p> + 410. Beltane. See on 319 above. + </p> + <p> + 415. Roots him. See on i. 142 above. + </p> + <p> + 416. Breadalbane. The district north of Loch Lomond and around Loch Tay. + The seat of the Earl of Breadalbane is Taymouth Castle, near the northern + end of Loch Tay. + </p> + <p> + For Menteith, see on i. 89 above. + </p> + <p> + 419. Glen Fruin. A valley to the southwest of Loch Lomond. The ruins of + the castle of Benuchara, or Bannochar (see on 422 just below), still + overhang the entrance to the glen. + </p> + <p> + Glen Luss is another valley draining into the lake, a few miles from Glen + Fruin, and Ross-dhu is on the shore of the lake, midway between the two. + Here stands a tower, the only remnant of the ancient castle of the family + of Luss, which became merged in that of Colquhoun. + </p> + <p> + 422. The best of Loch Lomond, etc. Scott has the following note here: + </p> + <p> + "The Lennox, as the district is called which encircles the lower extremity + of Loch Lomond, was peculiarly exposed to the incursions of the + mountaineers, who inhabited the inaccessible fastnesses at the upper end + of the lake, and the neighboring district of Loch Katrine. These were + often marked by circumstances of great ferocity, of which the noted + conflict of Glen Fruin is a celebrated instance. This was a clan-battle, + in which the Macgregors, headed by Allaster Macgregor, chief of the clan, + encountered the sept of Colquhouns, commanded by Sir Humphry Colquhoun of + Luss. It is on all hands allowed that the action was desperately fought, + and that the Colquhouns were defeated with slaughter, leaving two hundred + of their name dead upon the field. But popular tradition has added other + horrors to the tale. It is said that Sir Humphry Colquhoun, who was on + horseback, escaped to the Castle of Benechra, or Bannochar, and was next + day dragged out and murdered by the victorious Macgregors in cold blood. + Buchanan of Auchmar, however, speaks of his slaughter as a subsequent + event, and as perpetrated by the Macfarlanes. Again, it is reported that + the Macgregors murdered a number of youths, whom report of the intended + battle had brought to be spectators, and whom the Colquhouns, anxious for + their safety, had shut up in a barn to be out of danger. One account of + the Macgregors denies this circumstance entirely; another ascribes it to + the savage and bloodthirsty disposition of a single individual, the + bastard brother of the Laird of Macgregor, who amused himself with this + second massacre of the innocents, in express disobedience to the chief, by + whom he was left their guardian during the pursuit of the Colquhouns. It + is added that Macgregor bitterly lamented this atrocious action, and + prophesied the ruin which it must bring upon their ancient clan. ... + </p> + <p> + "The consequences of the battle of Glen Fruin were very calamitous to the + family of Macgregor, who had already been considered as an unruly clan. + The widows of the slain Colquhouns, sixty, it is said, in number, appeared + in doleful procession before the king at Stirling, each riding upon a + white palfrey, and bearing in her hand the bloody shirt of her husband + displayed upon a pike. James VI. was so much moved by the complaints of + this 'choir of mourning dames,' that he let loose his vengeance against + the Macgregors without either bounds or moderation. The very name of the + clan was proscribed, and those by whom it had been borne were given up to + sword and fire, and absolutely hunted down by bloodhounds like wild + beasts. Argyll and the Campbells, on the one hand, Montrose, with the + Grahames and Buchanans, on the other, are said to have been the chief + instruments in suppressing this devoted clan. The Laird of Macgregor + surrendered to the former, on condition that he would take him out of + Scottish ground. But, to use Birrel's expression, he kept 'a Highlandman's + promise;' and, although he fulfilled his word to the letter, by carrying + him as far as Berwick, he afterwards brought him back to Edinburgh, where + he was executed with eighteen of his clan (Birrel's Diary, 2d Oct. 1903). + The clan Gregor being thus driven to utter despair, seem to have renounced + the laws from the benefit of which they were excluded, and their + depredations produced new acts of council, confirming the severity of + their proscription, which had only the effect of rendering them still more + united and desperate. It is a most extraordinary proof of the ardent and + invincible spirit of clanship, that notwithstanding the repeated + proscriptions providently ordained by the legislature, 'for the timeous + preventing the disorders and oppression that may fall out by the said name + and clan of Macgregors, and their followers,' they were, in 1715 and 1745, + a potent clan, and continue to subsist as a distinct and numerous race." + </p> + <p> + 426. Leven-glen. The valley of the Leven, which connects Loch Lomond with + the Clyde. + </p> + <p> + 431. The rosebud. That is, Ellen. "Note how this song connects Allan's + forebodings with Roderick's subsequent offer" (Taylor). + </p> + <p> + 444. And chorus wild, etc. The MS. has "The chorus to the chieftain's + fame." + </p> + <p> + 476. Weeped. The form is used for the rhyme. Cf. note on i. 500 above. + </p> + <p> + 477. Nor while, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Nor while on Ellen's faltering tongue + Her filial greetings eager hung, + Marked not that awe (affection's proof) + Still held yon gentle youth aloof; + No! not till Douglas named his name, + Although the youth was Malcolm Graeme. + Then with flushed cheek and downcast eye, + Their greeting was confused and shy." +</pre> + <p> + 495. Bothwell. See on 141 above. + </p> + <p> + 497. Percy's Norman pennon. Taken in the raid which led to the battle of + Otterburn, in Northumberland, in the year 1388, and which forms the theme + of the ballads of Chevy Chase. + </p> + <p> + 501. My pomp. My triumphal procession; the original meaning of pomp. + </p> + <p> + 504. Crescent. The badge of the Buccleuch family (Miss Yonge). + </p> + <p> + 506. Blantyre. A priory, the ruins of which are still to be seen on a + height above the Clyde, opposite Bothwell Castle. + </p> + <p> + 521. The dogs, etc. The MS. has "The dogs with whimpering notes repaid." + </p> + <p> + 525. Unhooded. The falcon was carried on the wrist, with its head covered, + or hooded, until the prey was seen, when it was unhooded for flight. Cf. + vi. 665 below. + </p> + <p> + 526. Trust. Believe me. + </p> + <p> + 527. Like fabled Goddess. The MS. has "Like fabled huntress;" referring of + course to Diana. + </p> + <p> + 534. Stature fair. The reading of the 1st ed. and that of 1821; "stature + tall" in most of the other eds. + </p> + <p> + 541. The ptarmigan. A white bird. + </p> + <p> + 543. Menteith. See on i. 89 above. + </p> + <p> + 548. Ben Lomond. This is much the highest (3192 feet) of the mountains on + the shores of Loch Lomond. The following lines on the ascent were + scratched upon the window-pane of the old inn at Tarbet a hundred years or + more ago: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Trust not at first a quick adventurous pace; + Six miles its top points gradual from its base; + Up the high rise with panting haste I past, + And gained the long laborious steep at last; + More prudent thou—when once you pass the deep, + With cautious steps and slow ascend the steep." +</pre> + <p> + 549. Not a sob. That is, without panting, or getting out of breath, like + the degenerate modern tourist. + </p> + <p> + 574. Glenfinlas. A wooded valley between Ben-an and Benledi, the entrance + to which is between Lochs Achray and Vennachar. It is the scene of Scott's + ballad, Glenfinlas, or Lord Ronald's Coronach. A mile from the entrance + are the falls of the Hero's Targe. See iv. 84 below. + </p> + <p> + 577. Still a royal ward. Still under age, with the king for guardian. + </p> + <p> + 583. Strath-Endrick. A valley to the southeast of Loch Lomond, drained by + Endrick Water. + </p> + <p> + 584. Peril aught. Incur any peril. Milton uses the verb intransitively in + Reason of Church Government, ii. 3: "it may peril to stain itself." + </p> + <p> + 587. Not in action. The 1st ed. has "nor in action." + </p> + <p> + 594. News. Now generally used as a singular; but in old writers both as + singular and as plural. Cf. Shakespeare, K. John, iii. 4. 164: "at that + news he dies;" and Id. v. 7. 65: "these dead news," etc. + </p> + <p> + 601. As. As if. See on 56 above. + </p> + <p> + 606. Glozing. That glosses over the truth, not plain and outspoken. + Sometimes it means to flatter, or deceive with smooth words; as in + Spenser, F. Q. iii. 8. 14: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "For he could well his glozing speeches frame + To such vaine uses that him best became;" +</pre> + <p> + Smith, Sermons (A. D. 1609): "Every smooth tale is not to be believed; and + every glosing tongue is not to be trusted;" Milton, P. L. iii. 93: "his + glozing lies;" Id. ix. 549: "So glozed the Tempter;" Comus, 161: + "well-placed words of glozing courtesy," etc. + </p> + <p> + 615. The King's vindictive pride, etc. Scott says here: "In 1529, James + made a convention at Edinburgh, for the purpose of considering the best + mode of quelling the Border robbers, who, during the license of his + minority, and the troubles which followed, had committed many + exorbitances. Accordingly he assembled a flying army of ten thousand men, + consisting of his principal nobility and their followers, who were + directed to bring their hawks and dogs with them, that the monarch might + refresh himself with sport during the intervals of military execution. + With this array he swept through Ettrick Forest, where he hanged over the + gate of his own castle Piers Cockburn of Henderland, who had prepared, + according to tradition, a feast for his reception. He caused Adam Scott of + Tushiclaw also to be executed, who was distinguished by the title of King + of the Border. But the most noted victim of justice during that expedition + was John Armstrong of Gilnockie, famous in Scottish song, who, confiding + in his own supposed innocence, met the King, with a retinue of thirty-six + persons, all of whom were hanged at Carlenrig, near the source of the + Teviot. The effect of this severity was such, that, as the vulgar + expressed it, 'the rush-bush kept the cow,' and 'thereafter was great + peace and rest a long time, wherethrough the King had great profit; for he + had ten thousand sheep going in the Ettrick Forest in keeping by Andrew + Bell, who made the king as good count of them as they had gone in the + bounds of Fife' (Pitscottie's History, p. 153)." + </p> + <p> + 623. Meggat's mead. The Meggat, or Megget, is a mountain stream flowing + into the Yarrow, a branch of the Etrrick, which is itself a branch of the + Tweed. The Teviot is also a branch of the Tweed. + </p> + <p> + 627. The dales, etc. The MS. has "The dales where clans were wont to + bide." + </p> + <p> + 634. By fate of Border chivalry. Scott says: "James was, in fact, equally + attentive to restrain rapine and feudal oppression in every part of his + dominions. 'The King past to the isles, and there held justice courts, and + punished both thief and traitor according to their demerit. And also he + caused great men to show their holdings, wherethrough he found many of the + said lands in non-entry; the which he confiscate and brought home to his + own use, and afterwards annexed them to the crown, as ye shall hear. Syne + brought many of the great men of the isles captive with him, such as + Mudyart, M'Connel, M'Loyd of the Lewes, M'Neil, M'Lane, M'Intosh, John + Mudyart, M'Kay, M'Kenzie, with many other that I cannot rehearse at this + time. Some of them he put in ward and some in court, and some he took + pledges for good rule in time coming. So he brought the isles, both north + and south, in good rule and peace; wherefore he had great profit, service, + and obedience of people a long time hereafter; and as long as he had the + heads of the country in subjection, they lived in great peace and rest, + and there was great riches and policy by the King's justice' (Pitscottie, + p. 152)." + </p> + <p> + 638. Your counsel. That is, give me your counsel. Streight = strait. + </p> + <p> + 659. The Bleeding Heart. See on 200 above. + </p> + <p> + 662. Quarry. See on i. 127 above. + </p> + <p> + 672. To wife. For wife. Cf. Shakespeare, Temp. ii. 1. 75: "such a paragon + to their queen;" Rich. II. iv. 1. 306: "I have a king here to my + flatterer," etc. See also Matt. iii. 9, Luke, iii. 8, etc. + </p> + <p> + 674. Enow. The old plural of enough; as in Shakespeare, Hen. V. iv. 1. + 240: "we have French quarrels enow," etc. + </p> + <p> + 678. The Links of Forth. The windings of the Forth between Stirling and + Alloa. + </p> + <p> + 679. Stirling's porch. The gate of Stirling Castle. + </p> + <p> + 683. Blench. Start, shrink. + </p> + <p> + 685. Heat. Misprinted "heart" in many eds. + </p> + <p> + 690. From pathless glen. The MS. has "from hill and glen." + </p> + <p> + 692. There are who have. For the ellipsis, cf. Shakespeare, Temp. ii. 1. + 262: "There be that can rule Naples," etc. See also iii. 10 below. + </p> + <p> + 694. That beetled o'er. Cf. Hamlet, i. 4. 71: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "the dreadful summit of the cliff That beetles o'er his +base into the sea." +</pre> + <p> + 696. Their dangerous dream. The MS. has "their desperate dream." + </p> + <p> + 702. Battled. Battlemented; as in vi. 7 below. + </p> + <p> + 703. It waved. That it waved; an ellipsis very common in Elizabethan and + earlier English. Cf. 789 below. + </p> + <p> + 708. Astound. Astounded. This contraction of the participle (here used for + the sake of the rhyme) was formerly not uncommon in verbs ending in d and + t. Thus in Shakespeare we find the participles bloat (Ham. iii. 4. 182), + enshield (M. for M. ii. 4. 80), taint (1 Hen. VI. v. 3. 183), etc. + </p> + <p> + 710. Crossing. Conflicting. + </p> + <p> + 716. Ere. The 1st ed. misprints "e'er." + </p> + <p> + 731. Level. Aim; formerly a technical term. Cf. 2 Hen. IV. iii. 2. 286: + "The foeman may with as great aim level at the edge of a penknife," etc. + </p> + <p> + 747. Nighted. Benighted. It is to be regarded as a contraction of that + word; like lated for belated in Macbeth, iii. 3. 6, etc. Nighted (= dark, + black) in Hamlet, i. 2. 68 ("thy nighted colour") is an adjective formed + from the noun night. + </p> + <p> + 757. Checkered shroud. Tartain plaid. The original meaning of shroud (see + Wb.) was garment. + </p> + <p> + 763. Parting. Departing. See on 94 above. + </p> + <p> + 768. So deep, etc. According to Lockhart, the MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "The deep-toned anguish of despair + Flushed, in fierce jealousy, to air;" +</pre> + <p> + but we suspect that "Flushed" should be "Flashed." + </p> + <p> + 774. So lately. At the "Beltane game" (319 above). + </p> + <p> + 781. Thus as they strove, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Thus, as they strove, each better hand + Grasped for the dagger or the brand." +</pre> + <p> + 786. I hold, etc. Scott has the following note on the last page of the 1st + ed.: "The author has to apologize for the inadvertent appropriation of a + whole line from the tragedy of Douglas: 'I hold the first who strikes my + foe.'" + </p> + <p> + 789. His daughter's hand, etc. For the ellipsis of that, see on 703 above. + Deemed is often misprinted "doomed." + </p> + <p> + 791. Sullen and slowly, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Sullen and slow the rivals bold + Loosed at his hest their desperate hold, + But either still on other glared," etc. +</pre> + <p> + 795. Brands. A pet word with Scott. Note how often it has been used + already in the poem. + </p> + <p> + 798. As faltered. See on 601 above. + </p> + <p> + 801. Pity 't were, etc. Scott says here: "Hardihood was in every respect + so essential to the character of a Highlander, that the reproach of + effeminacy was the most bitter which could be thrown upon him. Yet it was + sometimes hazarded on what we might presume to think slight grounds. It is + reported of old Sir Ewen Cameron of Lochiel, when upwards of seventy, that + he was surprised by night on a hunting or military expedition. He wrapped + him in his plaid, and lay contentedly down upon the snow, with which the + ground happened to be covered. Among his attendants, who were preparing to + take their rest in the same manner, he observed that one of his grandsons, + for his better accommodation, had rolled a large snow-ball, and placed it + below his head. The wrath of the ancient chief was awakened by a symptom + of what he conceived to be degenerate luxury. 'Out upon thee,' said he, + kicking the frozen bolster from the head which it supported, 'art thou so + effeminate as to need a pillow?' The officer of engineers, whose curious + Letters from the Highlands have been more than once quoted, tells a + similar story of Macdonald of Keppoch, and subjoins the following remarks: + 'This and many other stories are romantick; but there is one thing, that + at first thought might seem very romantick, of which I have been credibly + assured, that when the Highlanders are constrained to lie among the hills, + in cold dry weather, they sometimes soak the plaid in some river or burn + (i.e. brook), and then holding up a corner of it a little above their + heads, they turn themselves round and round, till they are enveloped by + the whole mantle. They then lay themselves down on the heath, upon the + leeward side of some hill, where the wet and the warmth of their bodies + make a steam, like that of a boiling kettle. The wet, they say, keeps them + warm by thickening the stuff, and keeping the wind from penetrating. I + must confess I should have been apt to question this fact, had I not + frequently seen them wet from morning to night, and, even at the beginning + of the rain, not so much as stir a few yards to shelter, but continue in + it without necessity, till they were, as we say, wet through and through. + And that is soon effected by the looseness and spunginess of the plaiding; + but the bonnet is frequently taken off, and wrung like a dishclout, and + then put on again. They have been accustomed from their infancy to be + often wet, and to take the water like spaniels, and this is become a + second nature, and can scarcely be called a hardship to them, insomuch + that I used to say, they seemed to be of the duck kind, and to love water + as well. Though I never saw this preparation for sleep in windy weather, + yet, setting out early in a morning from one of the huts, I have seen the + marks of their lodging, where the ground has been free from rime or snow, + which remained all round the spot where they had lain' (Letters from + Scotland, Lond. 1754, 8vo, ii. p. 108)." + </p> + <p> + 809. His henchman. Scott quotes again the Letters from Scotland (ii. 159): + "This officer is a sort of secretary, and is to be ready, upon all + occasions, to venture his life in defence of his master; and at + drinking-bouts he stands behind his seat, at his haunch, from whence his + title is derived, and watches the conversation, to see if any one offends + his patron. An English officer being in company with a certain chieftain, + and several other Highland gentlemen, near Killichumen, had an argument + with the great man; and both being well warmed with usky [whisky], at last + the dispute grew very hot. A youth who was henchman, not understanding one + word of English, imagined his chief was insulted, and thereupon drew his + pistol from his side, and snapped it at the officer's head; but the pistol + missed fire, otherwise it is more than probable he might have suffered + death from the hand of that little vermin. But it is very disagreeable to + an Englishman over a bottle with the Highlanders, to see every one of them + have his gilly, that is, his servant, standing behind him all the while, + let what will be the subject of conversation." + </p> + <p> + 829. On the morn. Modifying should circle, not the nearer verb had sworn. + </p> + <p> + 831. The Fiery Cross. See on iii. 18 below. + </p> + <p> + 846. Point. Point out, appoint. Cf. Shakespeare, Sonn. 14. 6: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Nor can I fortune to brief minutes tell, + Pointing to each his thunder, rain, and wind." +</pre> + <p> + The word in this and similar passages is generally printed "'point" by + modern editors, but it is not a contraction of appoint. + </p> + <p> + 860. Then plunged, etc. The MS. has "He spoke, and plunged into the tide." + </p> + <p> + 862. Steered him. See on i. 142 above. + </p> + <p> + 865, 866. Darkening... gave. In the 1st ed. these lines are joined to what + precedes, as they evidently should be; in all the more recent eds. they + are joined to what follows. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0015" id="link2H_4_0015"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Canto Third. + </h2> + <p> + 3. Store. See on i. 548 above. + </p> + <p> + 5. That be. in old English, besides the present tense am, etc., there was + also this form be, from the Anglo-Saxon beon. The 2d person singular was + beest. The 1st and 3d person plural be is often found in Shakespeare and + the Bible. + </p> + <p> + 10. Yet live there still, etc. See on ii. 692 above. + </p> + <p> + 15. What time. Cf. ii. 307 above. + </p> + <p> + 17. The gathering sound. The sound, or signal, for the gathering. The + phrase illustrates the difference between the participle and the verbal + noun (or whatever it may be called) in -ing. Cf. "a laboring man" and "a + laboring day" (Julius Caesar, i. 1. 4); and see our ed. of J. C. p. 126. + </p> + <p> + 18. The Fiery Cross. Scott says here: "When a chieftain designed to summon + his clan, upon any sudden or important emergency, he slew a goat, and + making a cross of any light wood, seared its extremities in the fire, and + extinguished them in the blood of the animal. This was called the Fiery + Cross, also Crean Tarigh, or the Cross of Shame, because disobedience to + what the symbol implied, inferred infamy. It was delivered to a swift and + trusty messenger, who ran full speed with it to the next hamlet, where he + presented it to the principal person, with a single word, implying the + place of rendezvous. He who received the symbol was bound to send it + forward, with equal despatch, to the next village; and thus it passed with + incredible celerity through all the district which owed allegiance to the + chief, and also among his allies and neighbours, if the danger was common + to them. At sight of the Fiery Cross, every man, from sixteen years old to + sixty, capable of bearing arms, was obliged instantly to repair, in his + best arms and accoutrements, to the place of rendezvous. He who failed to + appear suffered the extremities of fire and sword, which were + emblematically denounced to the disobedient by the bloody and burnt marks + upon this warlike signal. During the civil war of 1745-6, the Fiery Cross + often made its circuit; and upon one occasion it passed through the whole + district of Breadalbane, a tract of thirty-two miles, in three hours. The + late Alexander Stewart, Esq., of Invernahyle, described to me his having + sent round the Fiery Cross through the district of Appine, during the same + commotion. The coast was threatened by a descent from two English + trigates, and the flower of the young men were with the army of Prince + Charles Edward, then in England; yet the summons was so effectual that + even old age and childhood obeyed it; and a force was collected in a few + hours, so numerous and so enthusiastic, that all attempt at the intended + diversion upon the country of the absent warriors was in prudence + abandoned, as desperate." + </p> + <p> + 19. The Summer dawn's reflected hue, etc. Mr. Ruskin says (Modern + Painters, iii. 278): "And thus Nature becomes dear to Scott in a threefold + way: dear to him, first, as containing those remains or memories of the + past, which he cannot find in cities, and giving hope of Praetorian mound + or knight's grave in every green slope and shade of its desolate places; + dear, secondly, in its moorland liberty, which has for him just as high a + charm as the fenced garden had for the mediaeval;... and dear to him, + finally, in that perfect beauty, denied alike in cities and in men, for + which every modern heart had begun at last to thirst, and Scott's, in its + freshness and power, of all men's most earnestly. + </p> + <p> + "And in this love of beauty, observe that the love of colour is a leading + element, his healthy mind being incapable of losing, under any modern + false teaching, its joy in brilliancy of hue. ... In general, if he does + not mean to say much about things, the one character which he will give is + colour, using it with the most perfect mastery and faithfulness." + </p> + <p> + After giving many illustrations of Scott's use of colour in his poetry, + Ruskin quotes the present passage, which he says is "still more + interesting, because it has no form in it at all except in one word + (chalice), but wholly composes its imagery either of colour, or of that + delicate half-believed life which we have seen to be so important an + element in modern landscape." + </p> + <p> + "Two more considerations," he adds, "are, however, suggested by the above + passage. The first, that the love of natural history, excited by the + continual attention now given to all wild landscape, heightens + reciprocally the interest of that landscape, and becomes an important + element in Scott's description, leading him to finish, down to the + minutest speckling of breast, and slightest shade of attributed emotion, + the portraiture of birds and animals; in strange opposition to Homer's + slightly named 'sea-crows, who have care of the works of the sea,' and + Dante's singing-birds, of undefined species. Compare carefully the 2d and + 3d stanzas of Rokeby. + </p> + <p> + "The second point I have to note is Scott's habit of drawing a slight + moral from every scene,... and that this slight moral is almost always + melancholy. Here he has stopped short without entirely expressing it: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "The mountain-shadows.. + ..................... lie + Like future joys to Fancy's eye.' +</pre> + <p> + His completed thought would be, that these future joys, like the + mountain-shadows, were never to be attained. It occurs fully uttered in + many other places. He seems to have been constantly rebuking his own + worldly pride and vanity, but never purposefully: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 'The foam-globes on her eddies ride, + Thick as the schemes of human pride + That down life's current drive amain, + As frail, as frothy, and as vain.'" +</pre> + <p> + Ruskin adds, among other illustrations, the reference to "foxglove and + nightshade" in i. 218, 219 above. + </p> + <p> + 28. Like future joys, etc. This passage, quoted by Ruskin above, also + illustrates what is comparatively rare in figurative language—taking + the immaterial to exemplify the material. The latter is constantly used to + symbolize or elucidate the former; but one would have to search long in + our modern poetry to find a dozen instances where, as here, the relation + is reversed. Cf. 639 below. We have another example in the second passage + quoted by Ruskin. Cf. also Tennyson's + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "thousand wreaths of dangling water-smoke, + That like a broken purpose waste in air;" +</pre> + <p> + and Shelly's + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Our boat is asleep on Serchio's stream; + Its sails are folded like thoughts in a dream." +</pre> + <p> + 30. Reared. The 1st ed. has "oped." + </p> + <p> + 32. After this line the MS. has the couplet, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Invisible in fleecy cloud, + The lark sent down her matins loud," +</pre> + <p> + which reappears in altered form below. + </p> + <p> + 33. Gray mist. The MS. has "light mist." + </p> + <p> + 38. Good-morrow gave, etc. Cf. Byron, Childe Harold: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "and the bills + Of summer-birds sing welcome as ye pass." +</pre> + <p> + 39. Cushat dove. Ring-dove. + </p> + <p> + 46. His impatient blade. Note the "transferred epithet." It is not the + blade that is impatient. + </p> + <p> + 47. Beneath a rock, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Hard by, his vassals' early care + The mystic ritual prepare." +</pre> + <p> + 50. Antiquity. The men of old; "the abstract for the concrete." + </p> + <p> + 59. With her broad shadow, etc. Cf. Longfellow, Maidenhood: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Seest thou shadows sailing by, + As the dove, with startled eye, + Sees the falcon's shadow fly?" +</pre> + <p> + 62. Rowan. The mountain-ash. + </p> + <p> + 71. That monk, of savage form and face. Scott says here: "The state of + religion in the middle ages afforded considerable facilities for those + whose mode of life excluded them from regular worship, to secure, + nevertheless, the ghostly assistance of confessors, perfectly willing to + adapt the nature of their doctrine to the necessities and peculiar + circumstances of their flock. Robin Hood, it is well known, had his + celebrated domestic chaplain Friar Tuck. And that same curtal friar was + probably matched in manners and appearance by the ghostly fathers of the + Tynedale robbers, who are thus described in an excommunication fulminated + against their patrons by Richard Fox, Bishop of Durham, tempore Henrici + VIII.: 'We have further understood, that there are many chaplains in the + said territories of Tynedale and Redesdale, who are public and open + maintainers of concubinage, irregular, suspended, excommunicated, and + interdicted persons, and withal so utterly ignorant of letters, that it + has been found by those who objected this to them, that there were some + who, having celebrated mass for ten years, were still unable to read the + sacramental service. We have also understood there are persons among them + who, although not ordained, do take upon them the offices of priesthood, + and, in contempt of God, celebrate the divine and sacred rites, and + administer the sacraments, not only in sacred and dedicated places, but in + those which are prophane and interdicted, and most wretchedly ruinous, + they themselves being attired in ragged, torn, and most filthy vestments, + altogether unfit to be used in divine, or even in temporal offices. The + which said chaplains do administer sacraments and sacramental rites to the + aforesaid manifest and infamous thieves, robbers, depredators, receivers + of stolen goods, and plunderers, and that without restitution, or + intention to restore, as evinced by the act; and do also openly admit them + to the rites of ecclesiastical sepulchre, without exacting security for + restitution, although they are prohibited from doing so by the sacred + canons, as well as by the institutes of the saints and fathers. All which + infers the heavy peril of their own souls, and is a pernicious example to + the other believers in Christ, as well as no slight, but an aggravated + injury, to the numbers despoiled and plundered of their goods, gear, + herds, and chattels.'" + </p> + <p> + 74. Benharrow. A mountain near the head of Loch Lomond. + </p> + <p> + 77. Brook. See on i. 566 above. + </p> + <p> + 81. The hallowed creed. The Christian creed, as distinguished from heathen + lore. The MS. has "While the blest creed," etc. + </p> + <p> + 85. Bound. That is, of his haunts. + </p> + <p> + 87. Glen or strath. A glen is the deep and narrow valley of a small + stream, a strath the broader one of a river. + </p> + <p> + 89. He prayed, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "He prayed, with many a cross between, + And terror took devotion's mien." +</pre> + <p> + 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." + </p> + <p> + 102. Bucklered. Served as a buckler to, shielded. + </p> + <p> + 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:' + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + '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.'" +</pre> + <p> + 120. Or... or. For either... or, as often in poetry. + </p> + <p> + 131. Till, frantic, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Till, driven to frenzy, he believed + The legend of his birth received." +</pre> + <p> + 136. The cloister. Here personified as feminine. + </p> + <p> + 138. Sable-lettered. "Black-letter;" the technical term for the "old + English" form of letter, used in the earliest English manuscripts and + books. + </p> + <p> + 142. Cabala. Mysteries. For the original meaning of the word, see Wb. + </p> + <p> + 144. Curious. Inquisitive, prying into hidden things. + </p> + <p> + 148. Hid him. See on i. 142 above. + </p> + <p> + 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." + </p> + <p> + 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." + </p> + <p> + 166. Alpine's. Some eds. misprint "Alpine;" also "horsemen" in 172 below. + </p> + <p> + 168. The fatal Ben-Shie's boding scream. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "The fatal Ben-Shie's dismal scream, + And seen her wrinkled form, the sign + Of woe and death to Alpine's line." +</pre> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + "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.] + </p> + <p> + 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." + </p> + <p> + 171. Shingly. Gravelly, pebbly. + </p> + <p> + 173. Thunderbolt. The 1st ed. has "thunder too." + </p> + <p> + 188. Framed. The reading of the 1st ed.; commonly misprinted "formed," + which occurs in 195. + </p> + <p> + 190. Limbs. The 1st ed. has "limb." + </p> + <p> + 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.] + </p> + <p> + 203. Dwelling low. That is, burial-place. + </p> + <p> + 207. Each clansman's execration, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Our warriors, on his worthless bust, + Shall speak disgrace and woe;" +</pre> + <p> + and below: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Their clattering targets hardly strook; + And first they muttered low." +</pre> + <p> + 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: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "When such music sweet + Their hearts and ears did greet + As never was by mortal finger strook;" +</pre> + <p> + where, as here, it used for the sake of the rhyme. + </p> + <p> + 214. Then, like the billow, etc. The repetition of the same rhyme here + gives well the cumulative effect of the rising billow. + </p> + <p> + 217. Burst, with load roar. See on i. 73 above; and cf. 227 below. + </p> + <p> + 228. Holiest name. The MS. has "holy name." + </p> + <p> + 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). + </p> + <p> + 253. Coir-Uriskin. See on 622 below. + </p> + <p> + 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). + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 281. The murmur, etc. The MS. has "The slowly muttered deep Amen." + </p> + <p> + 286. The muster-place, etc. The MS. reads "Murlagan is the spot decreed." + </p> + <p> + Lanrick Mead is a meadow at the northwestern end of Loch Vennachar. + </p> + <p> + 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)." + </p> + <p> + Cf. Marmion, v. 5: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "The hunted red-deer's undressed hide + Their hairy buskins well supplied." +</pre> + <p> + 304. Steepy. For the word (see also iv. 374 below) and the line, cf. + Shakespeare, T. of A. i. 1. 75: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Bowing his head against the steepy mount + To climb his happiness." +</pre> + <p> + 309. Questing. Seeking its game. Bacon (Adv. of Learning, v. 5) speaks of + "the questing of memory." + </p> + <p> + 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." + </p> + <p> + 314. Herald of battle, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "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." +</pre> + <p> + 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). + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 333. His scythe. The reading of the 1st and other early eds.; "the scythe" + in more recent ones. + </p> + <p> + 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). + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 347. Seems for the scene, etc. The MS. has "Seems all too lively and too + loud." + </p> + <p> + 349. Duncraggan's huts. A homestead between Lochs Achray and Vennachar, + near the Brigg of Turk. + </p> + <p> + 355. Shot him. See on i. 142 above. Scott is much given to this + construction. + </p> + <p> + 357. The funeral yell, etc. The MS. has "'T is woman's scream, 't is + childhood's wail." + </p> + <p> + 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: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "From depth of doole wherein my soule dooth dwell, + ........... + O gracious God, to thee I crie and yell." +</pre> + <p> + 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." + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Coronach on Sir Lauchlan, Chief of Maclean. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + '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; <a href="#linknote-7" name="linknoteref-7" + id="linknoteref-7">7</a> + Wide, wide around were spread its lofty branches— + But the topmost bough is lowly laid! + Thou hast forsaken us before Sawaine. <a href="#linknote-8" + name="linknoteref-8" id="linknoteref-8">8</a> +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + '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!' +</pre> + <p> + "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." + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "(He) is gone on | the mountain, + {Like) a summer- | dried fountain." +</pre> + <p> + Ten lines out of twenty-four are distinctly amphibrachic, as + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "To Duncan | no morrow." +</pre> + <p> + 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." + </p> + <p> + 384. In flushing. In full bloom. Cf. Hamlet, iii. 3. 81: "broad blown, as + flush as May." + </p> + <p> + 386. Correi. A hallow in the side of a hill, where game usually lies. + </p> + <p> + 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." + </p> + <p> + 388. Red. Bloody, not afraid of the hand-to-hand fight. + </p> + <p> + 394. Stumah. "Faithful; the name of a dog" (Scott). + </p> + <p> + 410. Angus, the heir, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "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." +</pre> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + "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." + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 458. Until, where, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "And where a steep and wooded knoll + Graced the dark strath with emerald green." +</pre> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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." + </p> + <p> + 483. Bridal. Bridal party; used as a collective noun. + </p> + <p> + 485. Coif-clad. Wearing the coif, or curch. See on 114 above; as also for + snooded. + </p> + <p> + 488. Unwitting. Unknowing. Cf. 367 above. For the verb wit, see on i. 596 + above. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 508. Muster-place. The 1st ed. has "mustering place;" and in 519 "brooks" + for brook. + </p> + <p> + 510. And must he, etc. The MS. reads: "And must he then exchange the + hand." + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 530. The sickening pang, etc. Cf. The Lord of the Isles, vi. 1: "The + heartsick faintness of the hope delayed." See Prov. xiii. 12. + </p> + <p> + 531. And memory, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "And memory brought the torturing train + Of all his morning visions vain; + But mingled with impatience came + The manly love of martial fame." +</pre> + <p> + 541. Brae. The brow or side of a hill. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 546. Bracken. Fern; "the Pteris aquilina" (Taylor). + </p> + <p> + 553. Fancy now. The MS. has "image now." + </p> + <p> + 561. A time will come, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "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." +</pre> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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.'" + </p> + <p> + 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). + </p> + <p> + 577. Coil. Turmoil. Cf. Shakespeare, Temp. i. 2. 207: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Who was so firm, so constant, that this coil + Would not infect his reason?" +</pre> + <p> + C. of E. iii. 1. 48: "What a coil is there, Dromio?" etc. + </p> + <p> + 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). + </p> + <p> + 582. Strath-Gartney. The north side of the basin of Loch Katrine. + </p> + <p> + 583. Each man might claim. That is, WHO could claim. See on i. 528 above. + </p> + <p> + 600. No law but Roderick Dhu's command. Scott has the following note here: + </p> + <p> + "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: + </p> + <p> + '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. + </p> + <p> + '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)." + </p> + <p> + 604. Menteith. See on i. 89 above. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 611. Wot ye. Know ye. See on i. 596 above. + </p> + <p> + 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." + </p> + <p> + 639. With such a glimpse, etc. See on 28 above. + </p> + <p> + 641. Still. Stillness; the adjective used substantively, for the sake of + the rhyme. + </p> + <p> + 656. Satyrs. "The Urisk, or Highland satyr" (Scott). + </p> + <p> + 664. Beal-nam-bo. See on 255 above; and for the measure of the first half + of the line, on i. 73 above. + </p> + <p> + 667. 'Cross. Scott (1st ed.) prints "cross," as in 750 below. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + "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 £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." + </p> + <p> + 693. To drown, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "To drown his grief in war's wild roar, + Nor think of love and Ellen more." +</pre> + <p> + 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). + </p> + <p> + 722. We now must share. The MS. has "my sire must share;" and in 725 "The + murky grotto's noxious air." + </p> + <p> + 733. Bow us. See on i. 142, and cf. 749 below. + </p> + <p> + 754. Lanrick height. Overlooking Lanrick Mead. See on 286 above. + </p> + <p> + 755. Where mustered, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Where broad extending far below, + Mustered Clan-Alpine's martial show." +</pre> + <p> + On the first of these lines, cf. i. 88 above. + </p> + <p> + 773. Yell. See on 357 above. + </p> + <p> + 774. Bochastle's plain. See on i. 106 above. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0016" id="link2H_4_0016"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Canto Fourth. + </h2> + <p> + 2. And hope, etc. The MS. has "And rapture dearest when obscured by + fears." + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 9. What time. Cf. ii. 307 and iii. 15 above. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 36. Boune. Prepared, ready; a Scottish word. Cf. 157 and vi. 396 below. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + Bout. Turn (of fortune). + </p> + <p> + 47. Repair. That is, to repair. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "'Tis well advised—a prudent plan, + Worthy the father of his clan." +</pre> + <p> + 59. Evening-tide. See on iii. 478 above. + </p> + <p> + 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." + </p> + <p> + 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 + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + '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)." +</pre> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 82. Boss. Knob; in keeping with Targe. + </p> + <p> + 83. Verge. Pronounced varge, as the rhyme shows. In v. 219 below it has + its ordinary sound; but cf. v. 812. + </p> + <p> + 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). + </p> + <p> + 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: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 'The rauen he yaue his yiftes + Sat on the fourched tre.' <a href="#linknote-9" name="linknoteref-9" + id="linknoteref-9">9</a> +</pre> + <p> + "The raven might also challenge his rights by the Book of St. Albans; for + thus says Dame Juliana Berners: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 'slitteth anon + The bely to the side, from the corbyn bone; + That is corbyns fee, at the death he will be.' +</pre> + <p> + Jonson, in The Sad Shepherd, gives a more poetical account of the same + ceremony: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + '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.'" +</pre> + <p> + 115. Rouse. Rise, stand erect. Cf. Macbeth, v. 5. 12: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "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." +</pre> + <p> + 119. Mine. Many eds. have "my." + </p> + <p> + 128. Fateful. The reading of the 1st ed. and that of 1821; "fatal" in some + recent eds. + </p> + <p> + 132. Which spills, etc. The MS. has "Which foremost spills a foeman's + life." + </p> + <p> + "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). + </p> + <p> + 140. A spy. That is, Fitz-James. For has sought, the 1st ed. has "hath + sought." + </p> + <p> + 144. Red Murdoch, etc. The MS. has "The clansman vainly deemed his guide," + etc. + </p> + <p> + 147. Those shall bring him down. For the ellipsis of who, see on i. 528 + above. The MS. has "stab him down." + </p> + <p> + 153. Pale. In the heraldic sense of "a broad perpendicular stripe in an + escutcheon." See Wb. + </p> + <p> + 155. I love to hear, etc Cf. v. 238 below. + </p> + <p> + 156. When move they on? etc. The MS reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "'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 | +</pre> + <p> + 160. Earn. That is, the district about Loch Earn and the river of the same + name flowing from the lake. + </p> + <p> + 164. Shaggy glen. As already stated, Trosachs means bristling. + </p> + <p> + 174. Stance. Station; a Scottish word. + </p> + <p> + 177. Trusty targe. The MS. has "Highland targe." + </p> + <p> + 197. Shifting like flashes, etc. That is, like the Northern Lights. Cf. + the Lay, ii. 86: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "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." +</pre> + <p> + The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "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." +</pre> + <p> + 207. No, Allan, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "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." +</pre> + <p> + 212. Fixed and high. Often misprinted "fixed on high." + </p> + <p> + 215. Stroke. The MS. has "shock," and in the next line "adamantine" for + invulnerable. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 235. Friends'. Many recent eds. misprint "friend's." + </p> + <p> + 250. Sooth. True. See on i. 476 above. + </p> + <p> + 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." + </p> + <p> + 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). + </p> + <p> + 262. Mavis and merle. Thrush and blackbird. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 274. Glaive. Broadsword. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. iv. 7. 38: "laying both his + hands upon his glave," etc. See also v. 253 below. + </p> + <p> + 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." + </p> + <p> + 278. Wont. Were accustomed. See on i. 408 above. + </p> + <p> + 282. 'Twas but, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "'Twas but a midnight chance; + For blindfold was the battle plied, + And fortune held the lance." +</pre> + <p> + 283. Darkling. In the dark; a poetical word. Cf. Milton, P. L. iii. 39: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "as the wakeful bird + Sings darkling;" +</pre> + <p> + Shakespeare, Lear, i. 4. 237: "So out went the candle, and we were left + darkling," etc. See also 711 below. + </p> + <p> + 285. Vair. The fur of the squirrel. See Wb. + </p> + <p> + 286. Sheen. See on i. 208 above. + </p> + <p> + 291. Richard. Here accented on the final syllable. Such license is not + unusual in ballad poetry. + </p> + <p> + 298. Woned. Dwelt. See on i. 408 above. Scott has the following note here: + </p> + <p> + "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. + </p> + <p> + '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. + </p> + <p> + '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.'" + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + "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. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + '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."' +</pre> + <p> + "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: + </p> + <p> + '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. + </p> + <p> + 'In the year before the great rebellion, two young men from Newcastle were + sporting on the high moors above Eldson, and after pursuing their game + several hours, sat down to dine in a green glen near one of the mountain + streams. After their repast, the younger lad ran to the brook for water, + and after stooping to drink, was surprised, on lifting his head again, by + the appearance of a brown dwarf, who stood on a crag covered with + brackens, across the burn. This extraordinary personage did not appear to + be above half the stature of a common man, but was uncommonly stout and + broad-built, having the appearance of vast strength. His dress was + entirely brown, the color of the brackens, and his head covered with + frizzled red hair. His countenance was expressive of the most savage + ferocity, and his eyes glared like a bull. It seems he addressed the young + man first, threatening him with his vengeance for having trespassed on his + demesnes, and asking him if he knew in whose presence he stood? The youth + replied that he now supposed him to be the lord of the moors; that he + offended through ignorance; and offered to bring him the game he had + killed. The dwarf was a little mollified by this submission, but remarked + that nothing could be more offensive to him than such an offer, as he + considered the wild animals as his subjects, and never failed to avenge + their destruction. He condescended further to inform him that he was, like + himself, mortal, though of years far exceeding the lot of common humanity, + and (what I should not have had an idea of) that he hoped for salvation. + He never, he added, fed on anything that had life, but lived in the summer + on whortleberries, and in winter on nuts and apples, of which he had great + store in the woods. Finally, he invited his new acquaintance to accompany + him home and partake his hospitality, an offer which the youth was on the + point of accepting, and was just going to spring across the brook (which + if he had done, says Elizabeth, the dwarf would certainly have torn him in + pieces), when his foot was arrested by the voice of his companion, who + thought he had tarried long, and on looking round again, "the wee brown + man was fled." The story adds that he was imprudent enough to slight the + admonition, and to sport over the moors on his way homewards, but soon + after his return he fell into a lingering disorder, and died within the + year'" (Scott). + </p> + <p> + 302. Our moonlight circle's. The MS. has "Our fairy ringlet's." + </p> + <p> + 306. The fairies' fatal green. "As the Daoine Shi', or Men of Peace, wore + green habits, they were supposed to take offence when any mortals ventured + to assume their favorite color. Indeed, from some reason, which has been, + perhaps originally a general superstition, green is held in Scotland to be + unlucky to particular tribes and counties. The Caithness men, who hold + this belief, allege as a reason that their bands wore that color when they + were cut off at the battle of Flodden; and for the same reason they avoid + crossing the Ord on a Monday, being the day of the week on which their + ill-omened array set forth. Green is also disliked by those of the name of + Ogilvy; but more especially it is held fatal to the whole clan of Grahame. + It is remembered of an aged gentleman of that name that when his horse + fell in a fox-chase, he accounted for it at once by observing that the + whipcord attached to his lash was of this unlucky color" (Scott). + </p> + <p> + 308. Wert christened man. Scott says: "The Elves were supposed greatly to + envy the privileges acquired by Christian initiation, and they gave to + those mortals who had fallen into their power a certain precedence, + founded upon this advantageous distinction. Tamlane, in the old ballad, + describes his own rank in the fairy procession: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 'For I ride on a milk-white steed, + And aye nearest the town; + Because I was a christen'd knight, + They give me that renown.'" +</pre> + <p> + 312. The curse of the sleepless eye. Cf. Macbeth, i. 3. 19: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Sleep shall neither night nor day + Hang upon his pent-house lid," etc. +</pre> + <p> + 313. Part. Depart. See on ii. 94 above. + </p> + <p> + 322. Grisly. See on i. 704 above. + </p> + <p> + 330. Kindly. Kindred, natural. See Wb., and cf. Shakespeare, Much Ado, iv. + 1. 75: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "that fatherly and kindly power + That you have in her," etc. +</pre> + <p> + 345. All is glistening show. "No fact respecting Fairy-land seems to be + better ascertained than the fantastic and illusory nature of their + apparent pleasure and splendour. It has been already noticed in the former + quotations from Dr. Grahame's entertaining volume, and may be confirmed by + the following Highland tradition:—'A woman, whose new-born child had + been conveyed by them into their secret abodes, was also carried thither + herself, to remain, however, only until she should suckle her infant. She + one day, during this period, observed the Shi'ichs busily employed in + mixing various ingredients in a boiling caldron, and as soon as the + composition was prepared, she remarked that they all carefully anointed + their eyes with it, laying the remainder aside for future use. In a moment + when they were all absent, she also attempted to anoint her eyes with the + precious drug, but had time to apply it to one eye only, when the Daoine + Shi' returned. But with that eye she was henceforth enabled to see + everything as it really passed in their secret abodes; she saw every + object, not as she hitherto had done, in deceptive splendour and elegance, + but in its genuine colours and form. The gaudy ornaments of the apartment + were reduced to the walls of a gloomy cavern. Soon after, having + discharged her office, she was dismissed to her own home. Still, however, + she retained the faculty of seeing, with her medicated eye, everything + that was done, anywhere in her presence, by the deceptive art of the + order. One day, amidst a throng of people, she chanced to observe the + Shi'ich, or man of peace, in whose possession she had left her child, + though to every other eye invisible. Prompted by maternal affection, she + inadvertently accosted him, and began to inquire after the welfare of her + child. The man of peace, astonished at being thus recognized by one of + mortal race, demanded how she had been enabled to discover him. Awed by + the terrible frown of his countenance, she acknowledged what she had done. + He spat in her eye, and extinguished it for ever.' + </p> + <p> + "It is very remarkable that this story, translated by Dr. Grahame from + popular Gaelic tradition, is to be found in the Otia Imperialia of Gervase + of Tilbury. [FN #10] A work of great interest might be compiled upon the + original of popular fiction, and the transmission of similar tales from + age to age, and from country to country. The mythology of one period would + then appear to pass into the romance of the next century, and that into + the nursery tale of the subsequent ages. Such an investigation, while it + went greatly to diminish our ideas of the richness of human invention, + would also show that these fictions, however wild and childish, possess + such charms for the populace as enable them to penetrate into countries + unconnected by manners and language, and having no apparent intercourse to + afford the means of transmission. It would carry me far beyond my bounds + to produce instances of fable among nations who never borrowed from each + other any thing intrinsically worth learning. Indeed the wide diffusion of + popular factions may be compared to the facility with which straws and + feathers are dispersed abroad by the wind, while valuable metals cannot be + transported without trouble and labour. There lives, I believe, only one + gentleman whose unlimited acquaintance with this subject might enable him + to do it justice,—I mean my friend Mr. Francis Douce, of the British + Museum, whose usual kindness will, I hope, pardon my mentioning his name + while on a subject so closely connected with his extensive and curious + researches" (Scott). + </p> + <p> + 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). + </p> + <p> + 357. But wist I, etc. But if I knew, etc. Wist is the past tense of wit + (Matzner). See on i. 596 above. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 374. Steepy. Cf. iii. 304 above. + </p> + <p> + 376. Lincoln green. See on i. 464 above. + </p> + <p> + 386. Morning-tide. Cf. iii. 478 above. + </p> + <p> + 387. Bourne. Bound, limit. Cf. the quotation from Milton in note on iii. + 344 above. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 393. Kern. See on 73 above. + </p> + <p> + 395. Conjure. In prose we should have to write "conjure him." + </p> + <p> + 403. Yet life I hold, etc. Cf. Julius Caesar, i. 2. 84: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "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." +</pre> + <p> + 411. Near Bochastle. The MS. has "By Cambusmore." See on i. 103 and 106 + above. + </p> + <p> + 413. Bower. Lodging, dwelling. See on i. 217 above. + </p> + <p> + 415. Art. Affectation. + </p> + <p> + 417. Before. That is, at his visit to the Isle. Cf. ii. 96 fol. above. + </p> + <p> + 418. Was idly soothed, etc. The MS. has "Was idly fond thy praise to + hear." + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 433. If yet he is. If he is still living. + </p> + <p> + 437. Train. Lure; as in Macbeth, iv. 3. 118: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Devilish Macbeth + By many of these trains hath sought to win me + Into his power." +</pre> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 446. As death, etc. As if death, etc. See on ii. 56 above, and cf. 459 + below. + </p> + <p> + 464. This ring. The MS. has "This ring of gold the monarch gave." + </p> + <p> + 471. Lordship. Landed estates. + </p> + <p> + 473. Reck of. Care for; poetical. + </p> + <p> + 474. Ellen, thy hand. The MS. has "Permit this hand;" and below: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "'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. +</pre> + <p> + 492. He stammered, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "He stammered forth confused reply: + 'Saxon, | I shouted but to scare + 'Sir Knight, | + Yon raven from his dainty fare.'" +</pre> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 523. In better time. That is, in better times or days; not in the musical + sense. + </p> + <p> + 524. Chime. Accord, sing; a poetical use of the word. Cf. vi. 592 below. + </p> + <p> + 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). + </p> + <p> + 548. 'T is Blanche, etc. The MS. has: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "'A Saxon born, a crazy maid— + T is Blanche of Devan,' Murdoch said." +</pre> + <p> + 552. Bridegroom. Here accented on the second syllable. In 682 below it has + the ordinary accent. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 559. Pitched a bar. That is, in athletic contests. Cf. v. 648 below. + </p> + <p> + 562. See the gay pennons, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "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." +</pre> + <p> + 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." + </p> + <p> + 575. The Lincoln green. "The Lowland garb" (520). Cf. also 376 above. + </p> + <p> + 578. For O my sweet William, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "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." +</pre> + <p> + 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). + </p> + <p> + 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: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Aud a hart of ten, + Madam, I trow to be;" +</pre> + <p> + and Massinger, Emperor of the East, iv. 2: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "He'll make you royal sport; he is a deer + Of ten, at least." +</pre> + <p> + 595. Sturdily. As Taylor notes, the "triple rhymes" in this song are "of a + very loose kind." + </p> + <p> + 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." + </p> + <p> + 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." + </p> + <p> + 614. Forth at full speed, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Forth at full speed the Clansman went, + But in his race his bow he bent, + Halted—and back an arrow sent." +</pre> + <p> + 617. Thrilled. Quivered. + </p> + <p> + 627. Thine ambushed kin, etc. The MS. transposes this line and the next, + and goes on thus: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Resistless as the lightning's flame, + The thrust betwixt his shoulder came." +</pre> + <p> + Just below it reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "The o'er him hung, with falcon eye, + And grimly smiled to see him die." +</pre> + <p> + 642. Daggled. Wet, soaked. Cf. the Lay, i. 316: "Was daggled by the + dashing spray." + </p> + <p> + 649. Helpless. The MS. has "guiltless." + </p> + <p> + 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." + </p> + <p> + 659. My brain, etc. The MS. has "But now, my champion, it shall wave." + </p> + <p> + 672. Wreak. Avenge. Cf. Shakespeare, R. and J. iii. 5. 102: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "To wreak the love I bore my cousin + Upon his body that hath slaughter'd him;" +</pre> + <p> + Spenser, F. Q. ii. 3. 13: "to wreak so foule despight;" etc. + </p> + <p> + 679. God, in my need, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "God, in my need, to me be true, + As I wreak this on Roderick Dhu." +</pre> + <p> + 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: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "And from the common'st creature pluck a glove, + And wear it as a favour," etc. +</pre> + <p> + See also the Lay, iv. 334: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "With favor in his crest, or glove, + Memorial of his layde-love." +</pre> + <p> + 691. At bay. See on i. 133 above; and for the dangerous foe, cf. the note + on i. 137. + </p> + <p> + 698. Couched him. Lay down. See on i. 142 above. + </p> + <p> + 700. Rash adventures. See on 437 above. + </p> + <p> + 701. Must prove. The 1st ed. has "will prove." + </p> + <p> + 705. Bands at Doune. Cf. 150 above. + </p> + <p> + 711. Darkling. See on 283 above. + </p> + <p> + 722. Not the summer solstice. Not even the heat of the summer. + </p> + <p> + 724. Wold. See on 267 above. + </p> + <p> + 731. Beside its embers, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "By the decaying flame was laid + A warrior in his Highland plaid." +</pre> + <p> + For the rhyme here, see on i. 363 above. Cf. 764 below. + </p> + <p> + 741. I dare, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "I dare! to him and all the swarm + He brings to aid his murderous arm." +</pre> + <p> + 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: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Holding Corioli in the name of Rome, + Even like a fawning greyhound in the leash, + To let him slip at will;" +</pre> + <p> + and for the noun, Hen. V. iii. 1. 31: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips, + Straining upon the start." +</pre> + <p> + 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)." + </p> + <p> + 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). + </p> + <p> + 772. A mighty augury. That of the Taghairm. + </p> + <p> + 777. Not for clan. The 1st ed. has "nor for clan." + </p> + <p> + 785. Stock and stone. Cf. i. 130 above. + </p> + <p> + 787. Coilantogle's ford. On the Teith just below its exit from Loch + Vennachar. + </p> + <p> + 791. The bittern's cry. See on i. 642 above. + </p> + <p> + 797. And slept, etc. The MS. has "streak" and "lake" for beam and stream. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0017" id="link2H_4_0017"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Canto Fifth. + </h2> + <p> + 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). + </p> + <p> + 5. And lights, etc. The MS. has "And lights the fearful way along its + side." + </p> + <p> + 10. Sheen. See on i. 208. + </p> + <p> + 14. The dappled sky. Cf. Milton, L'Allegro, 44: "Till the dappled dawn + doth rise;" and Shakespeare, Much Ado, v. 3. 25: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "and look, the gentle day, + Before the wheels of Phoebus, round about + Dapples the drowsy east with spots of gray." +</pre> + <p> + 15. By. The word is used for the rhyme, but perhaps gives the idea of a + hurry—muttered off the prayers. + </p> + <p> + 16. Steal. The word here is expressive of haste. + </p> + <p> + 18. Gael. "The Scottish Highlander calls himself, Gael, or Gaul, and terms + the Lowlanders Sassenach, or Saxons" (Scott). + </p> + <p> + 22. Wildering. Bewildering. See on i. 274 above. For winded, see on i. + 500. + </p> + <p> + 32. Bursting through. That is, as it burst through—"a piece of loose + writing" (Taylor). + </p> + <p> + 36. At length, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "At length they paced the mountain's side, + And saw beneath the waters wide." +</pre> + <p> + 44. The rugged mountain's scanty cloak, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "The rugged mountain's stunted screen + Was dwarfish | shrubs | with cliffs between." + | copse | +</pre> + <p> + 46. Shingles. Gravel or pebbles. See on iii. 171 above. + </p> + <p> + Taylor says: "Note how the details of this description are used in stanza + ix.—shingles, bracken, broom." + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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." + </p> + <p> + 65. To claim its aid. The MS. has "to draw my blade." + </p> + <p> + 78. Enough. Suffice it that. + </p> + <p> + 81. A knight's free footsteps, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "My errant footsteps | far and wide." + A Knight's bold wanderings | +</pre> + <p> + 86. I urge thee not. The MS. has "I ask it not," and in 95 "hall" for + Doune. + </p> + <p> + 106. Outlawed. The 1st ed. has "exiled." + </p> + <p> + 108. In the Regent's court, etc. Cf. ii. 221 above. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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." + </p> + <p> + 150. Shingles. Cf. 46 above. + </p> + <p> + 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." + </p> + <p> + 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: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "She to his closet went, where all his wealth + Lay hid; thereof she countlesse summes did reare;" +</pre> + <p> + and Id. iii. 10. 53: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "like as a Beare, + That creeping close among the hives to reare + An hony-combe," etc. +</pre> + <p> + Wb. does not give this sense, which we believe is found only in Spenser. + </p> + <p> + 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): + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + '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?' +</pre> + <p> + "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.'" + </p> + <p> + 177. Good faith. In good faith, bona fide; as often in old writers. + </p> + <p> + 192. Bower. See on i. 217 above. + </p> + <p> + 195. This rebel Chieftain, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "This dark Sir Roderick | and his band;" + This savage Chieftain | +</pre> + <p> + and below: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "From copse to copse the signal flew. + Instant, through copse and crags, arose;" +</pre> + <p> + and in 205 "shoots" for sends. + </p> + <p> + 208. And every tuft, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "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;" +</pre> + <p> + and below (214): + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "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." +</pre> + <p> + 219. Verge. See on iv. 83 above. + </p> + <p> + 230. Manned himself. Cf. Addison's "manned his soul," quoted by Wb. + </p> + <p> + 238. The stern joy, etc. Cf. iv. 155 above. + </p> + <p> + 239. Foeman. The reading of the 1st ed. and that of 1821; "foeman" in many + recent eds. + </p> + <p> + 246. Their mother Earth, etc. Alluding to the old myths of the earth-born + Giants and of Cadmus. + </p> + <p> + 252. Glinted. Flashed; a Scottish word. Jamieson defines glint "to glance, + gleam, or pass suddenly like a flash of lightning." + </p> + <p> + 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." + </p> + <p> + 267. One valiant hand. The MS. has "one brave man's hand." + </p> + <p> + 268. Lay. Were staked. + </p> + <p> + 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." + </p> + <p> + 277. Flood. Flow; used for the sake of the rhyme, like drew just below. + Wont = wonted. + </p> + <p> + 286. And still, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "And still, from copse and heather bush, + Fancy saw spear and broadsword ruch." +</pre> + <p> + 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." + </p> + <p> + 301. Mouldering. The MS. has "martial." + </p> + <p> + 309. This murderous Chief, etc. Cf. 106 above. + </p> + <p> + 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." + </p> + <p> + 329. By prophet bred, etc. See iii. 91 fol. above; and for the expression + cf. iv. 124. + </p> + <p> + 347. Dark lightning, etc. The MS. has "In lightning flashed the Chief's + dark eye," which might serve as a comment on Dark lightning. + </p> + <p> + 349. Kern. See on iv. 73 above. + </p> + <p> + 351. He yields not, etc. The MS. has "He stoops not, he, to James nor + Fate." + </p> + <p> + 356. Carpet knight. Cf. Shakespeare, T. N. iii. 4. 257: "He is knight, + dubbed with unhatched rapier and on carpet consideration." + </p> + <p> + 364. Ruth. Pity; obsolete, though we still have ruthless. Cf. Spenser, F. + Q. i. 1. 50: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "to stirre up gentle ruth + Both for her noble blood, and for her tender youth;" +</pre> + <p> + Milton, Lycidas, 163: "Look homeward, Angel, now, and melt with ruth," + etc. + </p> + <p> + 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: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + '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."'" +</pre> + <p> + 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." + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 387. While less expert, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Not Roderick thus, though stronger far, + More tall, and more inured to war." +</pre> + <p> + 401, 402. And backward, etc. This couplet is not in the MS.; and the same + is true of 405, 406. + </p> + <p> + 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): + </p> + <p> + '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.'" + </p> + <p> + 435. Unwounded, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Panting and breathless on the sands, + But all unwounded, now he stands;" +</pre> + <p> + and just below: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Redeemed, unhoped, from deadly strife: + Next on his foe his look he | cast, + | threw, + Whose every breath appeared his last." +</pre> + <p> + 447. Unbonneted. Past tense, not participle. + </p> + <p> + 449. Then faint afar. The MS. has "Faint and afar." + </p> + <p> + 452. Lincoln green. See on i. 464 above. + </p> + <p> + 462. We destined, etc. Cf. iv. 411 above. + </p> + <p> + 465. Weed. Dress. See on iv. 506 above. + </p> + <p> + 466. Boune. Ready. See on iv. 36 above. + </p> + <p> + 479. Steel. Spur. Cf. i. 115 above. + </p> + <p> + 485. Carhonie's hill. About a mile from the lower end of Loch Vennachar. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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." + </p> + <p> + 494. Sees the hoofs strike fire. The MS. has "Saw their hoofs of fire." + </p> + <p> + 496. They mark, etc. The to of the infinitive is omitted in glance, as if + mark had been see. + </p> + <p> + 498. Sweltering. The 1st ed. has "swelling." + </p> + <p> + 506. Flinty. The MS. has "steepy;" and in 514 "gains" for scales. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 534. Cambus-kenneth's abbey gray. See on iv. 231 above. + </p> + <p> + 547. By. Gone by, past. + </p> + <p> + 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: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 'Discordia tristis + Heu quotis procerum sanguine tinxit humum! + Hoc uno infelix, et felix cetera; nusquam + Laetior aut caeli frons geniusve soli.' +</pre> + <p> + "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: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 'Some harled him to the Hurly-hacket;' +</pre> + <p> + 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). + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 564. The burghers hold their sports to-day. Scott has the following note + here: + </p> + <p> + "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. + </p> + <p> + "Of James's attachment to archery, Pitscottie, the faithful though rude + recorder of the manners of that period, has given us evidence: + </p> + <p> + '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. + </p> + <p> + '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.'" + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 575. The Castle gates. The main entrance to the Castle, not the postern + gate of 532 above. + </p> + <p> + 580. Fair Scotland's King, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "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." +</pre> + <p> + 601. There nobles, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "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." +</pre> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 612. Their mazes wheel. The MS. adds: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "With awkward stride there city groom + Would part of fabled knight assume." +</pre> + <p> + 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." + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 626. Stake. Prize. + </p> + <p> + 627. Fondly he watched, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "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." +</pre> + <p> + 630. To archer wight. That is, to any ordinary archer. Scott has the + following note here: + </p> + <p> + "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. <a + href="#linknote-11" name="linknoteref-11" id="linknoteref-11"><small>11</small></a> + </p> + <p> + '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. <a href="#linknote-12" name="linknoteref-12" + id="linknoteref-12"><small>12</small></a> 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)." + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 'There happed to be there beside + Tryed a wrestling; + And therefore there was y-setten + A ram and als a ring." +</pre> + <p> + Again, the Litil Geste of Robin Hood: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + '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.'" +</pre> + <p> + 648. To hurl the massive bar. Cf. iv. 559 above. + </p> + <p> + 658. Scottish strength. The MS. has "mortal strength." + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 662. Well filled. The MS. has "weighed down;" and in 664, "Scattered the + gold among the crowd." + </p> + <p> + 674. Ere Douglas, etc. The MS. has "Ere James of Douglas' stalwart hand;" + and in 677, "worn" for wrecked. + </p> + <p> + 681. Murmurs. Some eds. have "murmur." + </p> + <p> + 685. The banished man. The MS. has "his stately form." + </p> + <p> + 724. Needs but a buffet. Only a single blow is needed. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 735. Atone. See on iv. 421 above. + </p> + <p> + 744. But shall a Monarch's presence, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "But in my court injurious blow, And bearded thus, and +thus out-dared? What, ho!" etc. +</pre> + <p> + 747. Ward. Guarding, confinement under guard. Cf. Gen. xl. 3. + </p> + <p> + 752. Misarray. Disorder, confusion. Neither Wb. nor Worc. gives the word. + </p> + <p> + 754. Pricked. Spurred, rode. See on 486 above. + </p> + <p> + 755. Repelled, etc. The MS. has "Their threats repelled by insult loud." + </p> + <p> + 768. Hyndford. A village on the Clyde, a few miles above Lanark. + </p> + <p> + 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: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Blood hath been shed ere now, i' the olden time, + Ere human statute purg'd the gentle weal;" +</pre> + <p> + that is, purged it and made it gentle. + </p> + <p> + 794. Ward. Ward off, avert. + </p> + <p> + 796. The crowd's wild fury, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "The crowd's wild fury ebbed amain + In tears, as tempests sink in rain." +</pre> + <p> + The 1st ed. reads as in the text, but that of 1821 has "sunk amain." + </p> + <p> + The figure here is a favorite one with Shakespeare. Cf. R. of L. 1788: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "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;" +</pre> + <p> + 3 Hen. VI. i. 4. 146: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "For raging wind blows up incessant showers, + And, when the rage allays, the rain begins;" +</pre> + <p> + Id. ii. 5. 85: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "see, see, what showers arise, + Blown with the windy tempest of my heart;" +</pre> + <p> + 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." + </p> + <p> + 808. The rough soldier. Sir John of Hyndford (768 above). + </p> + <p> + 811. He led. The 1st ed. has "they led," and "their" for his in 813. + </p> + <p> + 812. Verge. Note the rhyme with charge, and see on iv. 83 above. + </p> + <p> + 819. This common fool. Cf. Shakespeare's "fool multitude" (M. of V. ii. 9. + 26). Just below Lockhart quotes Coriolanus, i. 1. 180: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "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." +</pre> + <p> + 821. Douglas. The reading of the 1st ed., as in 825 below; not "Douglas'," + as in some recent eds. + </p> + <p> + 830. Vain as the leaf, etc. The MS. has "Vain as the sick man's idle + dream." + </p> + <p> + 838. Cognizance. "The sable pale of Mar." See on iv. 153 above. + </p> + <p> + 853. With scanty train, etc. The MS. has "On distant chase you will not + ride." + </p> + <p> + 856. Lost it. Forgot it. + </p> + <p> + 858. For spoiling of. For fear of ruining. Cf. Shakespeare, Sonn. 52. 4: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "The which he will not every hour survey, + For blunting the fine point of seldom pleasure; +</pre> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 887. Earl William. The Douglas who was stabbed by James II. See on 551 + above. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0018" id="link2H_4_0018"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Canto Sixth. + </h2> + <p> + "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. + </p> + <p> + "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). + </p> + <p> + 6. Scaring, etc. The 1st ed. reads: "And scaring prowling robbers to their + den." + </p> + <p> + 7. Battled. Battlemented; as in ii. 702 above. + </p> + <p> + 9. The kind nurse of men. Cf. 2 Hen. IV. iii. 1. 5: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "O sleep, O gentle sleep, + Nature's soft nurse," etc. +</pre> + <p> + 23. Through narrow loop, etc. The MS. has "Through blackened arch," etc.; + and below: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "The lights in strange alliance shone + Beneath the arch of blackened stone." +</pre> + <p> + 25. Struggling with. Some recent eds. misprint "struggling through." + </p> + <p> + 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." + </p> + <p> + 53. The Fleming, etc. The soil of Flanders is very fertile and productive, + in marked contrast to the greater part of Scotland. + </p> + <p> + 60. Halberd. A combination of spear and battle-axe. See Wb. + </p> + <p> + 63. Holytide. Holiday. For tide = time, see on iii. 478 above. + </p> + <p> + 73. Neighboring to. That is, lying in adjacent rooms. + </p> + <p> + 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." + </p> + <p> + 78. Trent. the English river of that name. Cf. 231 below. + </p> + <p> + 84. That day. Modifying cut shore, not grieved. + </p> + <p> + 87. A merry catch, I troll. Cf. Shakespeare, Temp, iii. 2. 126: "will you + troll the catch," etc. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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." + </p> + <p> + 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: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "thy isles shall lack + Grapes, before Herrick leaves Canarie sack." +</pre> + <p> + 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: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "I do not like the dullness of your eye, + It hath a heavy east, 't is upsee Dutch;" +</pre> + <p> + 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." + </p> + <p> + 98. Kerchief. See on iii. 495 above. + </p> + <p> + 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." + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 112. The drum. The 1st ed. has "your drum." + </p> + <p> + 116. Plaid. For the rhyme, see on i. 363 above. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 127. Reward thy toil. The MS. goes on thus: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "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." +</pre> + <p> + 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 £30 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)." + </p> + <p> + 136. Purvey. Provide. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. v. 12. 10: "He all things did + purvay which for them needfull weare." + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> +147. Bertram, etc. The MS. has "Bertram | his | + | such | violence withstood." +</pre> + <p> + 152. The tartan screen. That is, the tartan which she had drawn over her + head as a veil. + </p> + <p> + 155. The savage soldiery, etc. The MS. has "While the rude soldiery, + amazed;" and in 164 below, "Should Ellen Douglas suffer wrong." + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 170. Needwood. A royal forest in Staffordshire. + </p> + <p> + 171. Poor Rose, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "'My Rose,'—he wiped his iron eye and brow,— + 'Poor Rose,—if Rose be living now.'" +</pre> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 183. Tullibardine. The name of an old seat of the Murray family, about + twenty miles from Stirling. + </p> + <p> + 199. Errant damosel. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 1. 19: "Th' adventure of the + Errant damozell." + </p> + <p> + 209. Given by the Monarch, etc. The MS. has "The Monarch gave to James + Fitz-James." + </p> + <p> + 218. Bower. Chamber. See on i. 217 above. + </p> + <p> + 222. Permit I marshal you the way. Permit that I conduct you thither. + </p> + <p> + 233. The vacant purse, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "The silken purse shall serve for me, + And in my barret-cap shall flee""— +</pre> + <p> + a forced rhyme which the poet did well to get rid of. + </p> + <p> + 234. Barret-cap. Cloth cap. Cf. the Lay, iii. 216: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Old England's sign, St. George's cross, + His barret-cap did grace." +</pre> + <p> + He puts the purse in his cap as a favor. See on iv. 686 above. + </p> + <p> + 242. Master's. He means the Douglas, but John of Brent takes it to refer + to Roderick. See 305 below. + </p> + <p> + 261. Wot. Know, understand. See on i. 596 above. + </p> + <p> + 276. Rugged vaults. The MS. has "low broad vaults;" and in 279, + "stretching" for crushing. + </p> + <p> + 291. Oaken floor. The MS. and 1st ed. have "flinty floor;" and below: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "'thou mayst remain;' + And then, retiring, bolt and chain, + And rusty bar, he drew again. + Roused at the sound," etc. +</pre> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 306. Prore. Prow (Latin prora); used only in poetry. + </p> + <p> + 309. Astrand. On strand (cf. ashore), stranded. + </p> + <p> + 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." + </p> + <p> + 334. Has never harp, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Shall never harp of minstrel tell + Of combat fought so fierce and well." +</pre> + <p> + 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: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 'Tout est verlore, + La Tintelore, + Tout est verlore bi Got.'" +</pre> + <p> + 362. With what, etc. This line is not in the MS. + </p> + <p> + 369. Battle of Beal' au Duine. Scott has the following note here: + </p> + <p> + "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. + </p> + <p> + 'In this roughly-wooded island <a href="#linknote-13" name="linknoteref-13" + id="linknoteref-13"><small>13</small></a> 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. + </p> + <p> + '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. <a + href="#linknote-14" name="linknoteref-14" id="linknoteref-14"><small>14</small></a> + 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." + </p> + <p> + 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). + </p> + <p> + 377. Erne. Eagle. See Wb. + </p> + <p> + 392. I see, etc. Cf. iv. 152 above. + </p> + <p> + 396. Boune. See on iv. 36 above. Most eds. misprint "bound." + </p> + <p> + 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: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "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." +</pre> + <p> + 405. Battalia. Battalion, army. The word is not a plural of battalion, as + some have seemed to think. See Wb. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 419. Pride. Some eds. misprint "power." + </p> + <p> + 429. As. As if. See on ii. 56 above. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 438. The rear. The 1st ed. has "their rear." + </p> + <p> + 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). + </p> + <p> + 449-450. And closely shouldering, etc. This couplet is not in the MS. + </p> + <p> + 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). + </p> + <p> + 459. The tide. The 1st ed. has "their tide." + </p> + <p> + 473. Now, gallants! etc. Cf. Macaulay, Battle of Ivry: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Now by the lips of those ye love, + Fair gentlemen of France, + Charge for the golden lilies,— + Upon them with the lance!" +</pre> + <p> + 483. And refluent, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "And refluent down the darksome pass + The battle's tide was poured; + There toiled the spearman's struggling spear, + There raged the mountain sword." +</pre> + <p> + 488. Linn. Here the word is = cataract. See on i. 71 and ii. 270 above. + </p> + <p> + 497. Minstrel, away! The MS. has "Away! away!" + </p> + <p> + 509. Surge. Note the imperfect rhyme. See on i. 223 above. + </p> + <p> + 511. That sullen. The reading of the 1st ed. and that of 1821; "the + sullen" in many eds. + </p> + <p> + 514. That parts not, etc. Lockhart quotes Byron, Giaour: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "the loveliness in death + That parts not quite with parting breath." +</pre> + <p> + 515. Seeming, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "And seemed, to minstrel ear, to toll + The parting dirge of many a soul." +</pre> + <p> + For part = depart, see on ii. 94 above. + </p> + <p> + 523. While by the lake, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "While by the darkened lake below + File out the spearmen of the foe." +</pre> + <p> + 525. At weary bay. See on i. 133 above. + </p> + <p> + 527. Tattered sail. The 1st ed. has "shattered sail;" not noted in the + Errata. + </p> + <p> + 532. Saxons. Some eds. misprint "Saxon." + </p> + <p> + 538. Wont. See on i. 408 above. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 540. To him will swim. For the ellipsis, see on i. 528 above. + </p> + <p> + 556. Her billows, etc. The 1st ed. has "Her billow reared his snowy + crest," and "its" for they in the next line. + </p> + <p> + 564. It tinged, etc. The MS. has "It tinged the boats and lake with + flame." + </p> + <p> + Lines 561-568 are interpolated in the MS. on a slip of paper. + </p> + <p> + 565. Duncraggan's widowed dame. Cf. iii. 428 fol. above. + </p> + <p> + 567. A naked dirk. The 1st ed. has "Her husband's dirk." + </p> + <p> + 592. Chime. Music. Cf. iv. 524 above. + </p> + <p> + 595. Varied his look, etc. The MS. has "Glowed in his look, as swelled the + song;" and in 600, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "his | glazing | eye." + | fiery | +</pre> + <p> + 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." + </p> + <p> + 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." + </p> + <p> + 608. And art thou, etc. The MS. has "'And art thou gone,' the Minstrel + said." + </p> + <p> + 609. Foeman's. Misprinted "foeman's" in some eds. + </p> + <p> + 610. Breadalbane. See on ii. 416 above. + </p> + <p> + 614. The shelter, etc. The MS. has "The mightiest of a mighty line." + </p> + <p> + 631. Even she. That is, Ellen. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 643. The banquet, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "The banquet gay, the chamber's pride, + Scarce drew one curious glance aside;" +</pre> + <p> + and in 653, "earnest on his game." + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 670. Forest. The 1st ed. and that of 1821 have "forests," but we suspect + that Scott wrote forest. + </p> + <p> + 672. Is meet for me. The MS. has "was meant for me." For the ellipsis, cf. + 540 above. + </p> + <p> + 674. From yon dull steeple's," etc. The MS. has "From darkened steeple's" + etc. See on v. 558 above. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + 680. A hall, etc. The MS. has "a hall should harbor me." + </p> + <p> + 683. Fleet deer. See on 605 above. + </p> + <p> + 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." + </p> + <p> + 712. Stayed. Supported; not to be printed "staid," as in some editions. + </p> + <p> + 716. Within, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Within 't was brilliant all, and bright + The vision glowed on Ellen's sight." +</pre> + <p> + 726. Presence. Presence-chamber. Cf. Rich. II. i. 3. 289: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Suppose the singing birds musicians, + The grass whereon thou tread'st the presence strew'd" +</pre> + <p> + (that is, strewn with rushes); Hen. VIII. iii. 1. 17: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "the two great cardinals + Wait in the presence," etc. +</pre> + <p> + 727. For him, etc. The MS. reads: "For him who owned this royal state." + </p> + <p> + 737. Sheen. Bright. See on i. 208 above. + </p> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + "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. <a + href="#linknote-15" name="linknoteref-15" id="linknoteref-15"><small>15</small></a> + </p> + <p> + "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.' + </p> + <p> + "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): + </p> + <p> + '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.' + </p> + <p> + "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." + </p> + <p> + 743. Glided from her stay. The MS. has "shrinking, quits her stay." + </p> + <p> + 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." + </p> + <p> + 780. Pry. Look pryingly or curiously. In prose on would not be used with + pry. + </p> + <p> + 784. To speed. To a fortunate issue; unless speed be the verb, and = pass. + </p> + <p> + 786. In life's more low but happier way. The MS. has "In lowly life's more + happy way." + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> +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.' +</pre> + <p> + "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. + </p> + <p> + "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." + </p> + <p> + 798. My spell-bound steps. The MS. has + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Thy sovereign back | to Benvenue." + Thy sovereign's steps | +</pre> + <p> + 800. Glaive. Sword. See on iv. 274 above. + </p> + <p> + 803. Pledge of my faith, etc. The MS. has "Pledge of Fitz-James's faith, + the ring." + </p> + <p> + 808. A lightening. Some eds. have "A lightning." + </p> + <p> + 809. And more, etc. The MS. reads: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "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." +</pre> + <p> + 813. Grace. Pardon. + </p> + <p> + 825. Stained. Reddened. + </p> + <p> + 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." + </p> + <p> + 837. Warder. Guard, jailer. + </p> + <p> + 841. Lockhart quotes here the following extract from a letter of Byron's + to Scott, dated July 6, 1812: + </p> + <p> + "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." + </p> + <p> + 842. Harp of the North, farewell! Cf. the introduction to the poem. + </p> + <p> + 846. Wizard elm. See on i. 2 above. + </p> + <p> + 850. Housing. Returning to the hive. + </p> + <p> + 858. The grief devoured. For the figure, cf. Ps. xlii. 3, lxxx. 5, and + Isa. xxx. 20. + </p> + <p> + 859. O'erlive. Several eds. misprint "o'erlived." + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0019" id="link2H_4_0019"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Addendum. + </h2> + <p> + 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. + </p> + <p> + Jan. 25, 1884. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_FOOT" id="link2H_FOOT"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + FOOTNOTES: + </h2> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1" id="linknote-1"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1 (<a href="#linknoteref-1">return</a>)<br /> [ 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.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2" id="linknote-2"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2 (<a href="#linknoteref-2">return</a>)<br /> [ 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,— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 'Tybalt, my cousin! O my brother's child!'"] +</pre> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3" id="linknote-3"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3 (<a href="#linknoteref-3">return</a>)<br /> [ Lockhart quotes Byron, Don + Juan, xi. 55: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "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.] +</pre> + <p> + <a name="linknote-4" id="linknote-4"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 4 (<a href="#linknoteref-4">return</a>)<br /> [ "Sir Walter reigned before + me," etc. (Don Juan, xi. 57).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-5" id="linknote-5"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 5 (<a href="#linknoteref-5">return</a>)<br /> [ 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.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-6" id="linknote-6"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 6 (<a href="#linknoteref-6">return</a>)<br /> [ Vide Certayne Matters + concerning the Realme of Scotland, etc., as they were Anno Domini 1597. + London, 1603.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-7" id="linknote-7"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 7 (<a href="#linknoteref-7">return</a>)<br /> [ See on ii. 319 above.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-8" id="linknote-8"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 8 (<a href="#linknoteref-8">return</a>)<br /> [ Hallowe'en.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-9" id="linknote-9"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 9 (<a href="#linknoteref-9">return</a>)<br /> [ To the raven that sat on + the forked tree he gave his gifts.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-10" id="linknote-10"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 10 (<a href="#linknoteref-10">return</a>)<br /> [ "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).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-11" id="linknote-11"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 11 (<a href="#linknoteref-11">return</a>)<br /> [ See Scottish Historical + and Romantic Ballads, Glasgow, 1808, vol. ii. p. 117.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-12" id="linknote-12"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 12 (<a href="#linknoteref-12">return</a>)<br /> [ A champion of popular + romance; see Ellis's Romances, vol. iii.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-13" id="linknote-13"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 13 (<a href="#linknoteref-13">return</a>)<br /> [ "That at the eastern + extremity of Loch Katrine, so often mentioned in the text."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-14" id="linknote-14"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 14 (<a href="#linknoteref-14">return</a>)<br /> [ "Beallach an duine."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-15" id="linknote-15"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 15 (<a href="#linknoteref-15">return</a>)<br /> [ "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).] + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Lady of the Lake, by Sir Walter Scott + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LADY OF THE LAKE *** + +***** This file should be named 3011-h.htm or 3011-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/1/3011/ + +Produced by J.C. Byers, and David Widger + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Lady of the Lake + +Author: Sir Walter Scott + +Commentator: William J. Rolfe + +Editor: William J. Rolfe + +Posting Date: February 9, 2009 [EBook #3011] +Release Date: January, 2002 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LADY OF THE LAKE *** + + + + +Produced by J.C. Byers + + + + + +THE LADY OF THE LAKE + +By Sir Walter Scott, Bart. + + + +Edited with Notes By William J. Rolfe, + +Formerly Head Master of the High School, Cambridge, Mass. + + +Boston + +1883 + + + + +Preface + + + +When I first saw Mr. Osgood's beautiful illustrated edition of The Lady +of the Lake, I asked him to let me use some of the cuts in a cheaper +annotated edition for school and household use; and the present volume +is the result. + +The text of the poem has given me unexpected trouble. When I edited +some of Gray's poems several years ago, I found that they had not been +correctly printed for more than half a century; but in the case of Scott +I supposed that the text of Black's so-called "Author's Edition" could +be depended upon as accurate. Almost at the start, however, I detected +sundry obvious misprints in one of the many forms in which this edition +is issued, and an examination of others showed that they were as bad in +their way. The "Shilling" issue was no worse than the costly illustrated +one of 1853, which had its own assortment of slips of the type. No two +editions that I could obtain agreed exactly in their readings. I tried +in vain to find a copy of the editio princeps (1810) in Cambridge and +Boston, but succeeded in getting one through a London bookseller. This +I compared, line by line, with the Edinburgh edition of 1821 (from the +Harvard Library), with Lockhart's first edition, the "Globe" edition, +and about a dozen others English and American. I found many misprints +and corruptions in all except the edition of 1821, and a few even in +that. For instance in i. 217 Scott wrote "Found in each cliff a narrow +bower," and it is so printed in the first edition; but in every other +that I have seen "cliff" appears in place of clift,, to the manifest +injury of the passage. In ii. 685, every edition that I have seen since +that of 1821 has "I meant not all my heart might say," which is worse +than nonsense, the correct reading being "my heat." In vi. 396, the +Scottish "boune" (though it occurs twice in other parts of the poem) +has been changed to "bound" in all editions since 1821; and, eight lines +below, the old word "barded" has become "barbed." Scores of similar +corruptions are recorded in my Notes, and need not be cited here. + +I have restored the reading of the first edition, except in cases where +I have no doubt that the later reading is the poet's own correction or +alteration. There are obvious misprints in the first edition which Scott +himself overlooked (see on ii. 115, 217,, Vi. 527, etc.), and it is +sometimes difficult to decide whether a later reading--a change of a +plural to a singular, or like trivial variation--is a misprint or the +author's correction of an earlier misprint. I have done the best I +could, with the means at my command, to settle these questions, and am +at least certain that the text as I give it is nearer right than in +any edition since 1821 As all the variae lectiones are recorded in the +Notes, the reader who does not approve of the one I adopt can substitute +that which he prefers. + +I have retained all Scott's Notes (a few of them have been somewhat +abridged) and all those added by Lockhart. [1] My own I have made as +concise as possible. There are, of course, many of them which many of +my readers will not need, but I think there are none that may not be of +service, or at least of interest, to some of them; and I hope that no +one will turn to them for help without finding it. + +Scott is much given to the use of Elizabethan words and constructions, +and I have quoted many "parallelisms" from Shakespeare and his +contemporaries. I believe I have referred to my edition of Shakespeare +in only a single instance (on iii. 17), but teachers and others who have +that edition will find many additional illustrations in the Notes on the +passages cited. + +While correcting the errors of former editors, I may have overlooked +some of my own. I am already indebted to the careful proofreaders of the +University Press for the detection of occasional slips in quotations or +references; and I shall be very grateful to my readers for a memorandum +of any others that they may discover. + +Cambridge, June 23, 1883.. + + + + +ARGUMENT. + + +The scene of the following Poem is laid chiefly in the vicinity of Loch +Katrine, in the Western Highlands of Perthshire. The time of Action +includes Six Days, and the transactions of each Day occupy a Canto. + + + + + +THE LADY OF THE LAKE. + + + + +CANTO FIRST. + +The Chase. + + + + Harp of the North! that mouldering long hast hung + On the witch-elm that shades Saint Fillan's spring + And down the fitful breeze thy numbers flung, + Till envious ivy did around thee cling, + Muffling with verdant ringlet every string,-- + O Minstrel Harp, still must thine accents sleep? + Mid rustling leaves and fountains murmuring, + Still must thy sweeter sounds their silence keep, + Nor bid a warrior smile, nor teach a maid to weep? + + Not thus, in ancient days of Caledon, [10] + Was thy voice mute amid the festal crowd, + When lay of hopeless love, or glory won, + Aroused the fearful or subdued the proud. + At each according pause was heard aloud + Thine ardent symphony sublime and high! + Fair dames and crested chiefs attention bowed; + For still the burden of thy minstrelsy + Was Knighthood's dauntless deed, and Beauty's matchless eye. + + O, wake once more! how rude soe'er the hand + That ventures o'er thy magic maze to stray; + O, wake once more! though scarce my skill command + Some feeble echoing of thine earlier lay: + Though harsh and faint, and soon to die away, + And all unworthy of thy nobler strain, + Yet if one heart throb higher at its sway, + The wizard note has not been touched in vain. + Then silent be no more! Enchantress, wake again! + + + I. + + The stag at eve had drunk his fill, + Where danced the moon on Monan's rill, + And deep his midnight lair had made + In lone Glenartney's hazel shade; + But when the sun his beacon red + Had kindled on Benvoirlich's head, + The deep-mouthed bloodhound's heavy bay + Resounded up the rocky way, + And faint, from farther distance borne, + Were heard the clanging hoof and horn. + + + II. + + As Chief, who hears his warder call, + 'To arms! the foemen storm the wall,' + The antlered monarch of the waste + Sprung from his heathery couch in haste. + But ere his fleet career he took, + The dew-drops from his flanks he shook; + Like crested leader proud and high + Tossed his beamed frontlet to the sky; + A moment gazed adown the dale, + A moment snuffed the tainted gale, + A moment listened to the cry, + That thickened as the chase drew nigh; + Then, as the headmost foes appeared, + With one brave bound the copse he cleared, + And, stretching forward free and far, + Sought the wild heaths of Uam-Var. + + + III. + + Yelled on the view the opening pack; + Rock, glen, and cavern paid them back; + To many a mingled sound at once + The awakened mountain gave response. + A hundred dogs bayed deep and strong, + Clattered a hundred steeds along, + Their peal the merry horns rung out, + A hundred voices joined the shout; + With hark and whoop and wild halloo, + No rest Benvoirlich's echoes knew. + Far from the tumult fled the roe, + Close in her covert cowered the doe, + The falcon, from her cairn on high, + Cast on the rout a wondering eye, + Till far beyond her piercing ken + The hurricane had swept the glen. + Faint, and more faint, its failing din + Returned from cavern, cliff, and linn, + And silence settled, wide and still, + On the lone wood and mighty hill. + + + IV. + + Less loud the sounds of sylvan war + Disturbed the heights of Uam-Var, + And roused the cavern where, 't is told, + A giant made his den of old; + For ere that steep ascent was won, + High in his pathway hung the sun, + And many a gallant, stayed perforce, + Was fain to breathe his faltering horse, + And of the trackers of the deer + Scarce half the lessening pack was near; + So shrewdly on the mountain-side + Had the bold burst their mettle tried. + + + V. + + The noble stag was pausing now + Upon the mountain's southern brow, + Where broad extended, far beneath, + The varied realms of fair Menteith. + With anxious eye he wandered o'er + Mountain and meadow, moss and moor, + And pondered refuge from his toil, + By far Lochard or Aberfoyle. + But nearer was the copsewood gray + That waved and wept on Loch Achray, + And mingled with the pine-trees blue + On the bold cliffs of Benvenue. + Fresh vigor with the hope returned, + With flying foot the heath he spurned, + Held westward with unwearied race, + And left behind the panting chase. + + + VI. + + 'T were long to tell what steeds gave o'er, + As swept the hunt through Cambusmore; + What reins were tightened in despair, + When rose Benledi's ridge in air; + Who flagged upon Bochastle's heath, + Who shunned to stem the flooded Teith,-- + For twice that day, from shore to shore, + The gallant stag swam stoutly o'er. + Few were the stragglers, following far, + That reached the lake of Vennachar; + And when the Brigg of Turk was won, + The headmost horseman rode alone. + + + VII. + + Alone, but with unbated zeal, + That horseman plied the scourge and steel; + For jaded now, and spent with toil, + Embossed with foam, and dark with soil, + While every gasp with sobs he drew, + The laboring stag strained full in view. + Two dogs of black Saint Hubert's breed, + Unmatched for courage, breath, and speed, + Fast on his flying traces came, + And all but won that desperate game; + For, scarce a spear's length from his haunch, + Vindictive toiled the bloodhounds stanch; + Nor nearer might the dogs attain, + Nor farther might the quarry strain + Thus up the margin of the lake, + Between the precipice and brake, + O'er stock and rock their race they take. + + + VIII. + + The Hunter marked that mountain high, + The lone lake's western boundary, + And deemed the stag must turn to bay, + Where that huge rampart barred the way; + Already glorying in the prize, + Measured his antlers with his eyes; + For the death-wound and death-halloo + Mustered his breath, his whinyard drew:-- + But thundering as he came prepared, + With ready arm and weapon bared, + The wily quarry shunned the shock, + And turned him from the opposing rock; + Then, dashing down a darksome glen, + Soon lost to hound and Hunter's ken, + In the deep Trosachs' wildest nook + His solitary refuge took. + There, while close couched the thicket shed + Cold dews and wild flowers on his head, + He heard the baffled dogs in vain + Rave through the hollow pass amain, + Chiding the rocks that yelled again. + + + IX. + + Close on the hounds the Hunter came, + To cheer them on the vanished game; + But, stumbling in the rugged dell, + The gallant horse exhausted fell. + The impatient rider strove in vain + To rouse him with the spur and rein, + For the good steed, his labors o'er, + Stretched his stiff limbs, to rise no more; + Then, touched with pity and remorse, + He sorrowed o'er the expiring horse. + 'I little thought, when first thy rein + I slacked upon the banks of Seine, + That Highland eagle e'er should feed + On thy fleet limbs, my matchless steed! + Woe worth the chase, woe worth the day, + That costs thy life, my gallant gray!' + + + X. + + Then through the dell his horn resounds, + From vain pursuit to call the hounds. + Back limped, with slow and crippled pace, + The sulky leaders of the chase; + Close to their master's side they pressed, + With drooping tail and humbled crest; + But still the dingle's hollow throat + Prolonged the swelling bugle-note. + The owlets started from their dream, + The eagles answered with their scream, + Round and around the sounds were cast, + Till echo seemed an answering blast; + And on the Hunter tried his way, + To join some comrades of the day, + Yet often paused, so strange the road, + So wondrous were the scenes it showed. + + + XI. + + The western waves of ebbing day + Rolled o'er the glen their level way; + Each purple peak, each flinty spire, + Was bathed in floods of living fire. + But not a setting beam could glow + Within the dark ravines below, + Where twined the path in shadow hid, + Round many a rocky pyramid, + Shooting abruptly from the dell + Its thunder-splintered pinnacle; + Round many an insulated mass, + The native bulwarks of the pass, + Huge as the tower which builders vain + Presumptuous piled on Shinar's plain. + The rocky summits, split and rent, + Formed turret, dome, or battlement. + Or seemed fantastically set + With cupola or minaret, + Wild crests as pagod ever decked, + Or mosque of Eastern architect. + Nor were these earth-born castles bare, + Nor lacked they many a banner fair; + For, from their shivered brows displayed, + Far o'er the unfathomable glade, + All twinkling with the dewdrop sheen, + The briar-rose fell in streamers green, + kind creeping shrubs of thousand dyes + Waved in the west-wind's summer sighs. + + + XII. + + Boon nature scattered, free and wild, + Each plant or flower, the mountain's child. + Here eglantine embalmed the air, + Hawthorn and hazel mingled there; + The primrose pale and violet flower + Found in each cliff a narrow bower; + Foxglove and nightshade, side by side, + Emblems of punishment and pride, + Grouped their dark hues with every stain + The weather-beaten crags retain. + With boughs that quaked at every breath, + Gray birch and aspen wept beneath; + Aloft, the ash and warrior oak + Cast anchor in the rifted rock; + And, higher yet, the pine-tree hung + His shattered trunk, and frequent flung, + Where seemed the cliffs to meet on high, + His boughs athwart the narrowed sky. + Highest of all, where white peaks glanced, + Where glistening streamers waved and danced, + The wanderer's eye could barely view + The summer heaven's delicious blue; + So wondrous wild, the whole might seem + The scenery of a fairy dream. + + + XIII. + + Onward, amid the copse 'gan peep + A narrow inlet, still and deep, + Affording scarce such breadth of brim + As served the wild duck's brood to swim. + Lost for a space, through thickets veering, + But broader when again appearing, + Tall rocks and tufted knolls their face + Could on the dark-blue mirror trace; + And farther as the Hunter strayed, + Still broader sweep its channels made. + The shaggy mounds no longer stood, + Emerging from entangled wood, + But, wave-encircled, seemed to float, + Like castle girdled with its moat; + Yet broader floods extending still + Divide them from their parent hill, + Till each, retiring, claims to be + An islet in an inland sea. + + + XIV. + + And now, to issue from the glen, + No pathway meets the wanderer's ken, + Unless he climb with footing nice + A far-projecting precipice. + The broom's tough roots his ladder made, + The hazel saplings lent their aid; + And thus an airy point he won, + Where, gleaming with the setting sun, + One burnished sheet of living gold, + Loch Katrine lay beneath him rolled, + In all her length far winding lay, + With promontory, creek, and bay, + And islands that, empurpled bright, + Floated amid the livelier light, + And mountains that like giants stand + To sentinel enchanted land. + High on the south, huge Benvenue + Down to the lake in masses threw + Crags, knolls, and mounds, confusedly hurled, + The fragments of an earlier world; + A wildering forest feathered o'er + His ruined sides and summit hoar, + While on the north, through middle air, + Ben-an heaved high his forehead bare. + + + XV. + + From the steep promontory gazed + The stranger, raptured and amazed, + And, 'What a scene were here,' he cried, + 'For princely pomp or churchman's pride! + On this bold brow, a lordly tower; + In that soft vale, a lady's bower; + On yonder meadow far away, + The turrets of a cloister gray; + How blithely might the bugle-horn + Chide on the lake the lingering morn! + How sweet at eve the lover's lute + Chime when the groves were still and mute! + And when the midnight moon should lave + Her forehead in the silver wave, + How solemn on the ear would come + The holy matins' distant hum, + While the deep peal's commanding tone + Should wake, in yonder islet lone, + A sainted hermit from his cell, + To drop a bead with every knell! + And bugle, lute, and bell, and all, + Should each bewildered stranger call + To friendly feast and lighted hall. + + + XVI. + + 'Blithe were it then to wander here! + But now--beshrew yon nimble deer-- + Like that same hermit's, thin and spare, + The copse must give my evening fare; + Some mossy bank my couch must be, + Some rustling oak my canopy. + Yet pass we that; the war and chase + Give little choice of resting-place;-- + A summer night in greenwood spent + Were but to-morrow's merriment: + But hosts may in these wilds abound, + Such as are better missed than found; + To meet with Highland plunderers here + Were worse than loss of steed or deer.-- + I am alone;--my bugle-strain + May call some straggler of the train; + Or, fall the worst that may betide, + Ere now this falchion has been tried.' + + + XVII. + + But scarce again his horn he wound, + When lo! forth starting at the sound, + From underneath an aged oak + That slanted from the islet rock, + A damsel guider of its way, + A little skiff shot to the bay, + That round the promontory steep + Led its deep line in graceful sweep, + Eddying, in almost viewless wave, + The weeping willow twig to rave, + And kiss, with whispering sound and slow, + The beach of pebbles bright as snow. + The boat had touched this silver strand + Just as the Hunter left his stand, + And stood concealed amid the brake, + To view this Lady of the Lake. + The maiden paused, as if again + She thought to catch the distant strain. + With head upraised, and look intent, + And eye and ear attentive bent, + And locks flung back, and lips apart, + Like monument of Grecian art, + In listening mood, she seemed to stand, + The guardian Naiad of the strand. + + + XVIII. + + And ne'er did Grecian chisel trace + A Nymph, a Naiad, or a Grace, + Of finer form or lovelier face! + What though the sun, with ardent frown, + Had slightly tinged her cheek with brown,-- + The sportive toil, which, short and light + Had dyed her glowing hue so bright, + Served too in hastier swell to show + Short glimpses of a breast of snow: + What though no rule of courtly grace + To measured mood had trained her pace,-- + A foot more light, a step more true, + Ne'er from the heath-flower dashed the dew; + E'en the slight harebell raised its head, + Elastic from her airy tread: + What though upon her speech there hung + The accents of the mountain tongue,--- + Those silver sounds, so soft, so dear, + The listener held his breath to hear! + + + XIX. + + A chieftain's daughter seemed the maid; + Her satin snood, her silken plaid, + Her golden brooch, such birth betrayed. + And seldom was a snood amid + Such wild luxuriant ringlets hid, + Whose glossy black to shame might bring + The plumage of the raven's wing; + And seldom o'er a breast so fair + Mantled a plaid with modest care, + And never brooch the folds combined + Above a heart more good and kind. + Her kindness and her worth to spy, + You need but gaze on Ellen's eye; + Not Katrine in her mirror blue + Gives back the shaggy banks more true, + Than every free-born glance confessed + The guileless movements of her breast; + Whether joy danced in her dark eye, + Or woe or pity claimed a sigh, + Or filial love was glowing there, + Or meek devotion poured a prayer, + Or tale of injury called forth + The indignant spirit of the North. + One only passion unrevealed + With maiden pride the maid concealed, + Yet not less purely felt the flame;-- + O, need I tell that passion's name? + + + XX. + + Impatient of the silent horn, + Now on the gale her voice was borne:-- + 'Father!' she cried; the rocks around + Loved to prolong the gentle sound. + Awhile she paused, no answer came;-- + 'Malcolm, was thine the blast?' the name + Less resolutely uttered fell, + The echoes could not catch the swell. + 'A stranger I,' the Huntsman said, + Advancing from the hazel shade. + The maid, alarmed, with hasty oar + Pushed her light shallop from the shore, + And when a space was gained between, + Closer she drew her bosom's screen;-- + So forth the startled swan would swing, + So turn to prune his ruffled wing. + Then safe, though fluttered and amazed, + She paused, and on the stranger gazed. + Not his the form, nor his the eye, + That youthful maidens wont to fly. + + + XXI. + + On his bold visage middle age + Had slightly pressed its signet sage, + Yet had not quenched the open truth + And fiery vehemence of youth; + Forward and frolic glee was there, + The will to do, the soul to dare, + The sparkling glance, soon blown to fire, + Of hasty love or headlong ire. + His limbs were cast in manly could + For hardy sports or contest bold; + And though in peaceful garb arrayed, + And weaponless except his blade, + His stately mien as well implied + A high-born heart, a martial pride, + As if a baron's crest he wore, + And sheathed in armor bode the shore. + Slighting the petty need he showed, + He told of his benighted road; + His ready speech flowed fair and free, + In phrase of gentlest courtesy, + Yet seemed that tone and gesture bland + Less used to sue than to command. + + + XXII. + + Awhile the maid the stranger eyed, + And, reassured, at length replied, + That Highland halls were open still + To wildered wanderers of the hill. + 'Nor think you unexpected come + To yon lone isle, our desert home; + Before the heath had lost the dew, + This morn, a couch was pulled for you; + On yonder mountain's purple head + Have ptarmigan and heath-cock bled, + And our broad nets have swept the mere, + To furnish forth your evening cheer.'-- + 'Now, by the rood, my lovely maid, + Your courtesy has erred,' he said; + 'No right have I to claim, misplaced, + The welcome of expected guest. + A wanderer, here by fortune toss, + My way, my friends, my courser lost, + I ne'er before, believe me, fair, + Have ever drawn your mountain air, + Till on this lake's romantic strand + I found a fey in fairy land!'-- + + + XXIII. + + 'I well believe,' the maid replied, + As her light skiff approached the side,-- + 'I well believe, that ne'er before + Your foot has trod Loch Katrine's shore + But yet, as far as yesternight, + Old Allan-bane foretold your plight,-- + A gray-haired sire, whose eye intent + Was on the visioned future bent. + He saw your steed, a dappled gray, + Lie dead beneath the birchen way; + Painted exact your form and mien, + Your hunting-suit of Lincoln green, + That tasselled horn so gayly gilt, + That falchion's crooked blade and hilt, + That cap with heron plumage trim, + And yon two hounds so dark and grim. + He bade that all should ready be + To grace a guest of fair degree; + But light I held his prophecy, + And deemed it was my father's horn + Whose echoes o'er the lake were borne.' + + + XXIV. + + The stranger smiled:--'Since to your home + A destined errant-knight I come, + Announced by prophet sooth and old, + Doomed, doubtless, for achievement bold, + I 'll lightly front each high emprise + For one kind glance of those bright eyes. + Permit me first the task to guide + Your fairy frigate o'er the tide.' + The maid, with smile suppressed and sly, + The toil unwonted saw him try; + For seldom, sure, if e'er before, + His noble hand had grasped an oar: + Yet with main strength his strokes he drew, + And o'er the lake the shallop flew; + With heads erect and whimpering cry, + The hounds behind their passage ply. + Nor frequent does the bright oar break + The darkening mirror of the lake, + Until the rocky isle they reach, + And moor their shallop on the beach. + + + XXV. + + The stranger viewed the shore around; + 'T was all so close with copsewood bound, + Nor track nor pathway might declare + That human foot frequented there, + Until the mountain maiden showed + A clambering unsuspected road, + That winded through the tangled screen, + And opened on a narrow green, + Where weeping birch and willow round + With their long fibres swept the ground. + Here, for retreat in dangerous hour, + Some chief had framed a rustic bower. + + + XXVI. + + It was a lodge of ample size, + But strange of structure and device; + Of such materials as around + The workman's hand had readiest found. + Lopped of their boughs, their hoar trunks bared, + And by the hatchet rudely squared, + To give the walls their destined height, + The sturdy oak and ash unite; + While moss and clay and leaves combined + To fence each crevice from the wind. + The lighter pine-trees overhead + Their slender length for rafters spread, + And withered heath and rushes dry + Supplied a russet canopy. + Due westward, fronting to the green, + A rural portico was seen, + Aloft on native pillars borne, + Of mountain fir with bark unshorn + Where Ellen's hand had taught to twine + The ivy and Idaean vine, + The clematis, the favored flower + Which boasts the name of virgin-bower, + And every hardy plant could bear + Loch Katrine's keen and searching air. + An instant in this porch she stayed, + And gayly to the stranger said: + 'On heaven and on thy lady call, + And enter the enchanted hall!' + + + XXVII. + + 'My hope, my heaven, my trust must be, + My gentle guide, in following thee!'-- + He crossed the threshold,--and a clang + Of angry steel that instant rang. + To his bold brow his spirit rushed, + But soon for vain alarm he blushed + When on the floor he saw displayed, + Cause of the din, a naked blade + Dropped from the sheath, that careless flung + Upon a stag's huge antlers swung; + For all around, the walls to grace, + Hung trophies of the fight or chase: + A target there, a bugle here, + A battle-axe, a hunting-spear, + And broadswords, bows, and arrows store, + With the tusked trophies of the boar. + Here grins the wolf as when he died, + And there the wild-cat's brindled hide + The frontlet of the elk adorns, + Or mantles o'er the bison's horns; + Pennons and flags defaced and stained, + That blackening streaks of blood retained, + And deer-skins, dappled, dun, and white, + With otter's fur and seal's unite, + In rude and uncouth tapestry all, + To garnish forth the sylvan hall. + + + XXVIII. + + The wondering stranger round him gazed, + And next the fallen weapon raised:-- + Few were the arms whose sinewy strength + Sufficed to stretch it forth at length. + And as the brand he poised and swayed, + 'I never knew but one,' he said, + 'Whose stalwart arm might brook to wield + A blade like this in battle-field.' + She sighed, then smiled and took the word: + 'You see the guardian champion's sword; + As light it trembles in his hand + As in my grasp a hazel wand: + My sire's tall form might grace the part + Of Ferragus or Ascabart, + But in the absent giant's hold + Are women now, and menials old.' + + + XXIX. + + The mistress of the mansion came, + Mature of age, a graceful dame, + Whose easy step and stately port + Had well become a princely court, + To whom, though more than kindred knew, + Young Ellen gave a mother's due. + Meet welcome to her guest she made, + And every courteous rite was paid + That hospitality could claim, + Though all unasked his birth and name. + Such then the reverence to a guest, + That fellest foe might join the feast, + And from his deadliest foeman's door + Unquestioned turn the banquet o'er + At length his rank the stranger names, + 'The Knight of Snowdoun, James Fitz-James; + Lord of a barren heritage, + Which his brave sires, from age to age, + By their good swords had held with toil; + His sire had fallen in such turmoil, + And he, God wot, was forced to stand + Oft for his right with blade in hand. + This morning with Lord Moray's train + He chased a stalwart stag in vain, + Outstripped his comrades, missed the deer, + Lost his good steed, and wandered here.' + + + XXX. + + Fain would the Knight in turn require + The name and state of Ellen's sire. + Well showed the elder lady's mien + That courts and cities she had seen; + Ellen, though more her looks displayed + The simple grace of sylvan maid, + In speech and gesture, form and face, + Showed she was come of gentle race. + 'T were strange in ruder rank to find + Such looks, such manners, and such mind. + Each hint the Knight of Snowdoun gave, + Dame Margaret heard with silence grave; + Or Ellen, innocently gay, + Turned all inquiry light away:-- + 'Weird women we! by dale and down + We dwell, afar from tower and town. + We stem the flood, we ride the blast, + On wandering knights our spells we cast; + While viewless minstrels touch the string, + 'Tis thus our charmed rhymes we sing.' + She sung, and still a harp unseen + Filled up the symphony between. + + + XXXI. + + Song. + + Soldier, rest! thy warfare o'er, + Sleep the sleep that knows not breaking; + Dream of battled fields no more, + Days of danger, nights of waking. + In our isle's enchanted hall, + Hands unseen thy couch are strewing, + Fairy strains of music fall, + Every sense in slumber dewing. + Soldier, rest! thy warfare o'er, + Dream of fighting fields no more; + Sleep the sleep that knows not breaking, + Morn of toil, nor night of waking. + + 'No rude sound shall reach thine ear, + Armor's clang or war-steed champing + Trump nor pibroch summon here + Mustering clan or squadron tramping. + Yet the lark's shrill fife may come + At the daybreak from the fallow, + And the bittern sound his drum + Booming from the sedgy shallow. + Ruder sounds shall none be near, + Guards nor warders challenge here, + Here's no war-steed's neigh and champing, + Shouting clans or squadrons stamping.' + + + XXXII. + + She paused,--then, blushing, led the lay, + To grace the stranger of the day. + Her mellow notes awhile prolong + The cadence of the flowing song, + Till to her lips in measured frame + The minstrel verse spontaneous came. + + Song Continued. + + 'Huntsman, rest! thy chase is done; + While our slumbrous spells assail ye, + Dream not, with the rising sun, + Bugles here shall sound reveille. + Sleep! the deer is in his den; + Sleep! thy hounds are by thee lying; + Sleep! nor dream in yonder glen + How thy gallant steed lay dying. + Huntsman, rest! thy chase is done; + Think not of the rising sun, + For at dawning to assail ye + Here no bugles sound reveille.' + + + XXXIII. + + The hall was cleared,--the stranger's bed, + Was there of mountain heather spread, + Where oft a hundred guests had lain, + And dreamed their forest sports again. + But vainly did the heath-flower shed + Its moorland fragrance round his head; + Not Ellen's spell had lulled to rest + The fever of his troubled breast. + In broken dreams the image rose + Of varied perils, pains, and woes: + His steed now flounders in the brake, + Now sinks his barge upon the lake; + Now leader of a broken host, + His standard falls, his honor's lost. + Then,--from my couch may heavenly might + Chase that worst phantom of the night!-- + Again returned the scenes of youth, + Of confident, undoubting truth; + Again his soul he interchanged + With friends whose hearts were long estranged. + They come, in dim procession led, + The cold, the faithless, and the dead; + As warm each hand, each brow as gay, + As if they parted yesterday. + And doubt distracts him at the view,-- + O were his senses false or true? + Dreamed he of death or broken vow, + Or is it all a vision now? + + + XXXIV. + + At length, with Ellen in a grove + He seemed to walk and speak of love; + She listened with a blush and sigh, + His suit was warm, his hopes were high. + He sought her yielded hand to clasp, + And a cold gauntlet met his grasp: + The phantom's sex was changed and gone, + Upon its head a helmet shone; + Slowly enlarged to giant size, + With darkened cheek and threatening eyes, + The grisly visage, stern and hoar, + To Ellen still a likeness bore.-- + He woke, and, panting with affright, + Recalled the vision of the night. + The hearth's decaying brands were red + And deep and dusky lustre shed, + Half showing, half concealing, all + The uncouth trophies of the hall. + Mid those the stranger fixed his eye + Where that huge falchion hung on high, + And thoughts on thoughts, a countless throng, + Rushed, chasing countless thoughts along, + Until, the giddy whirl to cure, + He rose and sought the moonshine pure. + + + XXXV. + + The wild rose, eglantine, and broom + Wasted around their rich perfume; + The birch-trees wept in fragrant balm; + The aspens slept beneath the calm; + The silver light, with quivering glance, + Played on the water's still expanse,-- + Wild were the heart whose passion's sway + Could rage beneath the sober ray! + He felt its calm, that warrior guest, + While thus he communed with his breast:-- + 'Why is it, at each turn I trace + Some memory of that exiled race? + Can I not mountain maiden spy, + But she must bear the Douglas eye? + Can I not view a Highland brand, + But it must match the Douglas hand? + Can I not frame a fevered dream, + But still the Douglas is the theme? + I'll dream no more,--by manly mind + Not even in sleep is will resigned. + My midnight orisons said o'er, + I'll turn to rest, and dream no more.' + His midnight orisons he told, + A prayer with every bead of gold, + Consigned to heaven his cares and woes, + And sunk in undisturbed repose, + Until the heath-cock shrilly crew, + And morning dawned on Benvenue. + + + + +CANTO SECOND. + +The Island. + + + I. + + At morn the black-cock trims his jetty wing, + 'T is morning prompts the linnet's blithest lay, + All Nature's children feel the matin spring + Of life reviving, with reviving day; + And while yon little bark glides down the bay, + Wafting the stranger on his way again, + Morn's genial influence roused a minstrel gray, + And sweetly o'er the lake was heard thy strain, + Mixed with the sounding harp, O white-haired Allan-bane! + + + II. + + Song. + + 'Not faster yonder rowers' might + Flings from their oars the spray, + Not faster yonder rippling bright, + That tracks the shallop's course in light, + Melts in the lake away, + Than men from memory erase + The benefits of former days; + Then, stranger, go! good speed the while, + Nor think again of the lonely isle. + + 'High place to thee in royal court, + High place in battled line, + Good hawk and hound for sylvan sport! + Where beauty sees the brave resort, + The honored meed be thine! + True be thy sword, thy friend sincere, + Thy lady constant, kind, and dear, + And lost in love's and friendship's smile + Be memory of the lonely isle! + + + III. + + Song Continued. + + 'But if beneath yon southern sky + A plaided stranger roam, + Whose drooping crest and stifled sigh, + And sunken cheek and heavy eye, + Pine for his Highland home; + Then, warrior, then be thine to show + The care that soothes a wanderer's woe; + Remember then thy hap erewhile, + A stranger in the lonely isle. + + 'Or if on life's uncertain main + Mishap shall mar thy sail; + If faithful, wise, and brave in vain, + Woe, want, and exile thou sustain + Beneath the fickle gale; + Waste not a sigh on fortune changed, + On thankless courts, or friends estranged, + But come where kindred worth shall smile, + To greet thee in the lonely isle.' + + + IV. + + As died the sounds upon the tide, + The shallop reached the mainland side, + And ere his onward way he took, + The stranger cast a lingering look, + Where easily his eye might reach + The Harper on the islet beach, + Reclined against a blighted tree, + As wasted, gray, and worn as he. + To minstrel meditation given, + His reverend brow was raised to heaven, + As from the rising sun to claim + A sparkle of inspiring flame. + His hand, reclined upon the wire, + Seemed watching the awakening fire; + So still he sat as those who wait + Till judgment speak the doom of fate; + So still, as if no breeze might dare + To lift one lock of hoary hair; + So still, as life itself were fled + In the last sound his harp had sped. + + + V. + + Upon a rock with lichens wild, + Beside him Ellen sat and smiled.-- + Smiled she to see the stately drake + Lead forth his fleet upon the lake, + While her vexed spaniel from the beach + Bayed at the prize beyond his reach? + Yet tell me, then, the maid who knows, + Why deepened on her cheek the rose?-- + Forgive, forgive, Fidelity! + Perchance the maiden smiled to see + Yon parting lingerer wave adieu, + And stop and turn to wave anew; + And, lovely ladies, ere your ire + Condemn the heroine of my lyre, + Show me the fair would scorn to spy + And prize such conquest of her eve! + + + VI. + + While yet he loitered on the spot, + It seemed as Ellen marked him not; + But when he turned him to the glade, + One courteous parting sign she made; + And after, oft the knight would say, + That not when prize of festal day + Was dealt him by the brightest fair + Who e'er wore jewel in her hair, + So highly did his bosom swell + As at that simple mute farewell. + Now with a trusty mountain-guide, + And his dark stag-hounds by his side, + He parts,--the maid, unconscious still, + Watched him wind slowly round the hill; + But when his stately form was hid, + The guardian in her bosom chid,-- + 'Thy Malcolm! vain and selfish maid!' + 'T was thus upbraiding conscience said,-- + 'Not so had Malcolm idly hung + On the smooth phrase of Southern tongue; + Not so had Malcolm strained his eye + Another step than thine to spy.'-- + 'Wake, Allan-bane,' aloud she cried + To the old minstrel by her side,-- + 'Arouse thee from thy moody dream! + I 'll give thy harp heroic theme, + And warm thee with a noble name; + Pour forth the glory of the Graeme!' + Scarce from her lip the word had rushed, + When deep the conscious maiden blushed; + For of his clan, in hall and bower, + Young Malcolm Graeme was held the flower. + + + VII. + + The minstrel waked his harp,--three times + Arose the well-known martial chimes, + And thrice their high heroic pride + In melancholy murmurs died. + 'Vainly thou bidst, O noble maid,' + Clasping his withered hands, he said, + 'Vainly thou bidst me wake the strain, + Though all unwont to bid in vain. + Alas! than mine a mightier hand + Has tuned my harp, my strings has spanned! + I touch the chords of joy, but low + And mournful answer notes of woe; + And the proud march which victors tread + Sinks in the wailing for the dead. + O, well for me, if mine alone + That dirge's deep prophetic tone! + If, as my tuneful fathers said, + This harp, which erst Saint Modan swayed, + Can thus its master's fate foretell, + Then welcome be the minstrel's knell.' + + + VIII. + + 'But ah! dear lady, thus it sighed, + The eve thy sainted mother died; + And such the sounds which, while I strove + To wake a lay of war or love, + Came marring all the festal mirth, + Appalling me who gave them birth, + And, disobedient to my call, + Wailed loud through Bothwell's bannered hall. + Ere Douglases, to ruin driven, + Were exiled from their native heaven.-- + O! if yet worse mishap and woe + My master's house must undergo, + Or aught but weal to Ellen fair + Brood in these accents of despair, + No future bard, sad Harp! shall fling + Triumph or rapture from thy string; + One short, one final strain shall flow, + Fraught with unutterable woe, + Then shivered shall thy fragments lie, + Thy master cast him down and die!' + + + IX. + + Soothing she answered him: 'Assuage, + Mine honored friend, the fears of age; + All melodies to thee are known + That harp has rung or pipe has blown, + In Lowland vale or Highland glen, + From Tweed to Spey--what marvel, then, + At times unbidden notes should rise, + Confusedly bound in memory's ties, + Entangling, as they rush along, + The war-march with the funeral song?-- + Small ground is now for boding fear; + Obscure, but safe, we rest us here. + My sire, in native virtue great, + Resigning lordship, lands, and state, + Not then to fortune more resigned + Than yonder oak might give the wind; + The graceful foliage storms may reeve, + 'Fine noble stem they cannot grieve. + For me'--she stooped, and, looking round, + Plucked a blue harebell from the ground,-- + 'For me, whose memory scarce conveys + An image of more splendid days, + This little flower that loves the lea + May well my simple emblem be; + It drinks heaven's dew as blithe as rose + That in the King's own garden grows; + And when I place it in my hair, + Allan, a bard is bound to swear + He ne'er saw coronet so fair.' + Then playfully the chaplet wild + She wreathed in her dark locks, and smiled. + + + X. + + Her smile, her speech, with winning sway + Wiled the old Harper's mood away. + With such a look as hermits throw, + When angels stoop to soothe their woe + He gazed, till fond regret and pride + Thrilled to a tear, then thus replied: + 'Loveliest and best! thou little know'st + The rank, the honors, thou hast lost! + O. might I live to see thee grace, + In Scotland's court, thy birthright place, + To see my favorite's step advance + The lightest in the courtly dance, + The cause of every gallant's sigh, + And leading star of every eye, + And theme of every minstrel's art, + The Lady of the Bleeding Heart!' + + + XI. + + 'Fair dreams are these,' the maiden cried,-- + Light was her accent, yet she sighed,-- + 'Yet is this mossy rock to me + Worth splendid chair and canopy; + Nor would my footstep spring more gay + In courtly dance than blithe strathspey, + Nor half so pleased mine ear incline + To royal minstrel's lay as thine. + And then for suitors proud and high, + To bend before my conquering eye,-- + Thou, flattering bard! thyself wilt say, + That grim Sir Roderick owns its sway. + The Saxon scourge, Clan-Alpine's pride, + The terror of Loch Lomond's side, + Would, at my suit, thou know'st, delay + A Lennox foray--for a day.'-- + + + XII.. + + The ancient bard her glee repressed: + 'Ill hast thou chosen theme for jest! + For who, through all this western wild, + Named Black Sir Roderick e'er, and smiled? + In Holy-Rood a knight he slew; + I saw, when back the dirk he drew, + Courtiers give place before the stride + Of the undaunted homicide; + And since, though outlawed, hath his hand + Full sternly kept his mountain land. + + Who else dared give--ah! woe the day, + That I such hated truth should say!-- + The Douglas, like a stricken deer, + Disowned by every noble peer, + Even the rude refuge we have here? + Alas, this wild marauding + Chief Alone might hazard our relief, + And now thy maiden charms expand, + Looks for his guerdon in thy hand; + Full soon may dispensation sought, + To back his suit, from Rome be brought. + Then, though an exile on the hill, + Thy father, as the Douglas, still + Be held in reverence and fear; + And though to Roderick thou'rt so dear + That thou mightst guide with silken thread. + Slave of thy will, this chieftain dread, + Yet, O loved maid, thy mirth refrain! + Thy hand is on a lion's mane.'-- + + + XIII. + + Minstrel,' the maid replied, and high + Her father's soul glanced from her eye, + 'My debts to Roderick's house I know: + All that a mother could bestow + To Lady Margaret's care I owe, + Since first an orphan in the wild + She sorrowed o'er her sister's child; + To her brave chieftain son, from ire + Of Scotland's king who shrouds my sire, + A deeper, holier debt is owed; + And, could I pay it with my blood, Allan! + Sir Roderick should command + My blood, my life,--but not my hand. + Rather will Ellen Douglas dwell + A votaress in Maronnan's cell; + Rather through realms beyond the sea, + Seeking the world's cold charity + Where ne'er was spoke a Scottish word, + And ne'er the name of Douglas heard + An outcast pilgrim will she rove, + Than wed the man she cannot love. + + + XIV. + + 'Thou shak'st, good friend, thy tresses gray,-- + That pleading look, what can it say + But what I own?--I grant him brave, + But wild as Bracklinn's thundering wave; + And generous,--save vindictive mood + Or jealous transport chafe his blood: + I grant him true to friendly band, + As his claymore is to his hand; + But O! that very blade of steel + More mercy for a foe would feel: + I grant him liberal, to fling + Among his clan the wealth they bring, + When back by lake and glen they wind, + And in the Lowland leave behind, + Where once some pleasant hamlet stood, + A mass of ashes slaked with blood. + The hand that for my father fought + I honor, as his daughter ought; + But can I clasp it reeking red + From peasants slaughtered in their shed? + No! wildly while his virtues gleam, + They make his passions darker seem, + And flash along his spirit high, + Like lightning o'er the midnight sky. + While yet a child,--and children know, + Instinctive taught, the friend and foe,-- + I shuddered at his brow of gloom, + His shadowy plaid and sable plume; + A maiden grown, I ill could bear + His haughty mien and lordly air: + But, if thou join'st a suitor's claim, + In serious mood, to Roderick's name. + I thrill with anguish! or, if e'er + A Douglas knew the word, with fear. + To change such odious theme were best,-- + What think'st thou of our stranger guest? '-- + + + XV. + + 'What think I of him?--woe the while + That brought such wanderer to our isle! + Thy father's battle-brand, of yore + For Tine-man forged by fairy lore, + What time he leagued, no longer foes + His Border spears with Hotspur's bows, + Did, self-unscabbarded, foreshow + The footstep of a secret foe. + If courtly spy hath harbored here, + What may we for the Douglas fear? + What for this island, deemed of old + Clan-Alpine's last and surest hold? + If neither spy nor foe, I pray + What yet may jealous Roderick say?-- + Nay, wave not thy disdainful head! + Bethink thee of the discord dread + That kindled when at Beltane game + Thou least the dance with Malcolm Graeme; + Still, though thy sire the peace renewed + Smoulders in Roderick's breast the feud: + Beware!--But hark! what sounds are these? + My dull ears catch no faltering breeze + No weeping birch nor aspens wake, + Nor breath is dimpling in the lake; + Still is the canna's hoary beard, + Yet, by my minstrel faith, I heard-- + And hark again! some pipe of war + Sends the hold pibroch from afar.' + + + XVI. + + Far up the lengthened lake were spied + Four darkening specks upon the tide, + That, slow enlarging on the view, + Four manned and massed barges grew, + And, bearing downwards from Glengyle, + Steered full upon the lonely isle; + The point of Brianchoil they passed, + And, to the windward as they cast, + Against the sun they gave to shine + The bold Sir Roderick's bannered Pine. + Nearer and nearer as they bear, + Spears, pikes, and axes flash in air. + Now might you see the tartars brave, + And plaids and plumage dance and wave: + Now see the bonnets sink and rise, + As his tough oar the rower plies; + See, flashing at each sturdy stroke, + The wave ascending into smoke; + See the proud pipers on the bow, + And mark the gaudy streamers flow + From their loud chanters down, and sweep + The furrowed bosom of the deep, + As, rushing through the lake amain, + They plied the ancient Highland strain. + + + XVII. + + Ever, as on they bore, more loud + And louder rung the pibroch proud. + At first the sounds, by distance tame, + Mellowed along the waters came, + And, lingering long by cape and bay, + Wailed every harsher note away, + Then bursting bolder on the ear, + The clan's shrill Gathering they could hear, + Those thrilling sounds that call the might + Of old Clan-Alpine to the fight. + Thick beat the rapid notes, as when + The mustering hundreds shake the glen, + And hurrying at the signal dread, + 'Fine battered earth returns their tread. + Then prelude light, of livelier tone, + Expressed their merry marching on, + Ere peal of closing battle rose, + With mingled outcry, shrieks, and blows; + And mimic din of stroke and ward, + As broadsword upon target jarred; + And groaning pause, ere yet again, + Condensed, the battle yelled amain: + The rapid charge, the rallying shout, + Retreat borne headlong into rout, + And bursts of triumph, to declare + Clan-Alpine's congest--all were there. + Nor ended thus the strain, but slow + Sunk in a moan prolonged and low, + And changed the conquering clarion swell + For wild lament o'er those that fell. + + + XVIII. + + The war-pipes ceased, but lake and hill + Were busy with their echoes still; + And, when they slept, a vocal strain + Bade their hoarse chorus wake again, + While loud a hundred clansmen raise + Their voices in their Chieftain's praise. + Each boatman, bending to his oar, + With measured sweep the burden bore, + In such wild cadence as the breeze + Makes through December's leafless trees. + The chorus first could Allan know, + 'Roderick Vich Alpine, ho! fro!' + And near, and nearer as they rowed, + Distinct the martial ditty flowed. + + + XIX. + + Boat Song + + Hail to the Chief who in triumph advances! + Honored and blessed be the ever-green Pine! + Long may the tree, in his banner that glances, + Flourish, the shelter and grace of our line! + Heaven send it happy dew, + Earth lend it sap anew, + Gayly to bourgeon and broadly to grow, + While every Highland glen + Sends our shout back again, + 'Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho! ieroe!' + + Ours is no sapling, chance-sown by the fountain, + + Blooming at Beltane, in winter to fade; + When the whirlwind has stripped every leaf on the mountain, + The more shall Clan-Alpine exult in her shade. + Moored in the rifted rock, + Proof to the tempest's shock, + Firmer he roots him the ruder it blow; + Menteith and Breadalbane, then, + Echo his praise again, + 'Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho! ieroe!' + + + XX. + + Proudly our pibroch has thrilled in Glen Fruin, + And Bannochar's groans to our slogan replied; + Glen Luss and Ross-dhu, they are smoking in ruin, + And the best of Loch Lomond lie dead on her side. + Widow and Saxon maid + Long shall lament our raid, + Think of Clan-Alpine with fear and with woe; + Lennox and Leven-glen + Shake when they hear again, + 'Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho! ieroe!' + + Row, vassals, row, for the pride of the Highlands! + Stretch to your oars for the ever-green Pine! + O that the rosebud that graces yon islands + Were wreathed in a garland around him to twine! + O that some seedling gem, + Worthy such noble stem, + Honored and blessed in their shadow might grow! + Loud should Clan-Alpine then + Ring from her deepmost glen, + Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho! ieroe!' + + + XXI. + + With all her joyful female band + Had Lady Margaret sought the strand. + Loose on the breeze their tresses flew, + And high their snowy arms they threw, + As echoing back with shrill acclaim, + And chorus wild, the Chieftain's name; + While, prompt to please, with mother's art + The darling passion of his heart, + The Dame called Ellen to the strand, + To greet her kinsman ere he land: + 'Come, loiterer, come! a Douglas thou, + And shun to wreathe a victor's brow?' + Reluctantly and slow, the maid + The unwelcome summoning obeyed, + And when a distant bugle rung, + In the mid-path aside she sprung:-- + 'List, Allan-bane! From mainland cast + I hear my father's signal blast. + Be ours,' she cried, 'the skiff to guide, + And waft him from the mountain-side.' + Then, like a sunbeam, swift and bright, + She darted to her shallop light, + And, eagerly while Roderick scanned, + For her dear form, his mother's band, + The islet far behind her lay, + And she had landed in the bay. + + + XXII. + + Some feelings are to mortals given + With less of earth in them than heaven; + And if there be a human tear + From passion's dross refined and clear, + A tear so limpid and so meek + It would not stain an angel's cheek, + 'Tis that which pious fathers shed + Upon a duteous daughter's head! + And as the Douglas to his breast + His darling Ellen closely pressed, + Such holy drops her tresses steeped, + Though 't was an hero's eye that weeped. + Nor while on Ellen's faltering tongue + Her filial welcomes crowded hung, + Marked she that fear--affection's proof-- + Still held a graceful youth aloof; + No! not till Douglas named his name, + Although the youth was Malcolm Graeme. + + + XXIII. + + Allan, with wistful look the while, + Marked Roderick landing on the isle; + His master piteously he eyed, + Then gazed upon the Chieftain's pride, + Then dashed with hasty hand away + From his dimmed eye the gathering spray; + And Douglas, as his hand he laid + On Malcolm's shoulder, kindly said: + 'Canst thou, young friend, no meaning spy + In my poor follower's glistening eye? + I 'll tell thee:--he recalls the day + When in my praise he led the lay + O'er the arched gate of Bothwell proud, + While many a minstrel answered loud, + When Percy's Norman pennon, won + In bloody field, before me shone, + And twice ten knights, the least a name + As mighty as yon Chief may claim, + Gracing my pomp, behind me came. + Yet trust me, Malcolm, not so proud + Was I of all that marshalled crowd, + Though the waned crescent owned my might, + And in my train trooped lord and knight, + Though Blantyre hymned her holiest lays, + And Bothwell's bards flung back my praise, + As when this old man's silent tear, + And this poor maid's affection dear, + A welcome give more kind and true + Than aught my better fortunes knew. + Forgive, my friend, a father's boast,-- + O, it out-beggars all I lost!' + + + XXIV. + + Delightful praise!--like summer rose, + That brighter in the dew-drop glows, + The bashful maiden's cheek appeared, + For Douglas spoke, and Malcolm heard. + The flush of shame-faced joy to hide, + The hounds, the hawk, her cares divide; + The loved caresses of the maid + The dogs with crouch and whimper paid; + And, at her whistle, on her hand + The falcon took his favorite stand, + Closed his dark wing, relaxed his eye, + Nor, though unhooded, sought to fly. + And, trust, while in such guise she stood, + Like fabled Goddess of the wood, + That if a father's partial thought + O'erweighed her worth and beauty aught, + Well might the lover's judgment fail + To balance with a juster scale; + For with each secret glance he stole, + The fond enthusiast sent his soul. + + + XXV. + + Of stature fair, and slender frame, + But firmly knit, was Malcolm Graeme. + The belted plaid and tartan hose + Did ne'er more graceful limbs disclose; + His flaxen hair, of sunny hue, + Curled closely round his bonnet blue. + Trained to the chase, his eagle eye + The ptarmigan in snow could spy; + Each pass, by mountain, lake, and heath, + He knew, through Lennox and Menteith; + Vain was the bound of dark-brown doe + When Malcolm bent his sounding bow, + And scarce that doe, though winged with fear, + Outstripped in speed the mountaineer: + Right up Ben Lomond could he press, + And not a sob his toil confess. + His form accorded with a mind + Lively and ardent, frank and kind; + A blither heart, till Ellen came + Did never love nor sorrow tame; + It danced as lightsome in his breast + As played the feather on his crest. + Yet friends, who nearest knew the youth + His scorn of wrong, his zeal for truth + And bards, who saw his features bold + When kindled by the tales of old + Said, were that youth to manhood grown, + Not long should Roderick Dhu's renown + Be foremost voiced by mountain fame, + But quail to that of Malcolm Graeme. + + + XXVI. + + Now back they wend their watery way, + And, 'O my sire!' did Ellen say, + 'Why urge thy chase so far astray? + And why so late returned? And why '-- + The rest was in her speaking eye. + 'My child, the chase I follow far, + 'Tis mimicry of noble war; + And with that gallant pastime reft + Were all of Douglas I have left. + I met young Malcolm as I strayed + Far eastward, in Glenfinlas' shade + Nor strayed I safe, for all around + Hunters and horsemen scoured the ground. + This youth, though still a royal ward, + Risked life and land to be my guard, + And through the passes of the wood + Guided my steps, not unpursued; + And Roderick shall his welcome make, + Despite old spleen, for Douglas' sake. + Then must he seek Strath-Endrick glen + Nor peril aught for me again.' + + + XXVII. + + Sir Roderick, who to meet them came, + Reddened at sight of Malcolm Graeme, + Yet, not in action, word, or eye, + Failed aught in hospitality. + In talk and sport they whiled away + The morning of that summer day; + But at high noon a courier light + Held secret parley with the knight, + Whose moody aspect soon declared + That evil were the news he heard. + Deep thought seemed toiling in his head; + Yet was the evening banquet made + Ere he assembled round the flame + His mother, Douglas, and the Graeme, + And Ellen too; then cast around + His eyes, then fixed them on the ground, + As studying phrase that might avail + Best to convey unpleasant tale. + Long with his dagger's hilt he played, + Then raised his haughty brow, and said:-- + + + XXVIII. + + 'Short be my speech;--nor time affords, + Nor my plain temper, glozing words. + Kinsman and father,--if such name + Douglas vouchsafe to Roderick's claim; + Mine honored mother;--Ellen,--why, + My cousin, turn away thine eye?-- + And Graeme, in whom I hope to know + Full soon a noble friend or foe, + When age shall give thee thy command, + And leading in thy native land,-- + List all!--The King's vindictive pride + Boasts to have tamed the Border-side, + Where chiefs, with hound and trawl; who came + To share their monarch's sylvan game, + Themselves in bloody toils were snared, + And when the banquet they prepared, + And wide their loyal portals flung, + O'er their own gateway struggling hung. + Loud cries their blood from Meggat's mead, + From Yarrow braes and banks of Tweed, + Where the lone streams of Ettrick glide, + And from the silver Teviot's side; + The dales, where martial clans did ride, + Are now one sheep-walk, waste and wide. + This tyrant of the Scottish throne, + So faithless and so ruthless known, + Now hither comes; his end the same, + The same pretext of sylvan game. + What grace for Highland Chiefs, judge ye + By fate of Border chivalry. + Yet more; amid Glenfinlas' green, + Douglas, thy stately form was seen. + This by espial sure I know: + Your counsel in the streight I show.' + + + XXIX. + + Ellen and Margaret fearfully + Sought comfort in each other's eye, + Then turned their ghastly look, each one, + This to her sire, that to her son. + The hasty color went and came + In the bold cheek of Malcohm Graeme, + But from his glance it well appeared + 'T was but for Ellen that he feared; + While, sorrowful, but undismayed, + The Douglas thus his counsel said: + 'Brave Roderick, though the tempest roar, + It may but thunder and pass o'er; + Nor will I here remain an hour, + To draw the lightning on thy bower; + For well thou know'st, at this gray head + The royal bolt were fiercest sped. + For thee, who, at thy King's command, + Canst aid him with a gallant band, + Submission, homage, humbled pride, + Shall turn the Monarch's wrath aside. + Poor remnants of the Bleeding Heart, + Ellen and I will seek apart + The refuge of some forest cell, + There, like the hunted quarry, dwell, + Till on the mountain and the moor + The stern pursuit be passed and o'er,'-- + + + XXX. + + 'No, by mine honor,' Roderick said, + 'So help me Heaven, and my good blade! + No, never! Blasted be yon Pine, + My father's ancient crest and mine, + If from its shade in danger part + The lineage of the Bleeding Heart! + Hear my blunt speech: grant me this maid + To wife, thy counsel to mine aid; + To Douglas, leagued with Roderick Dhu, + Will friends and allies flock enow; + Like cause of doubt, distrust, and grief, + Will bind to us each Western Chief + When the loud pipes my bridal tell, + The Links of Forth shall hear the knell, + The guards shall start in Stirling's porch; + And when I light the nuptial torch, + A thousand villages in flames + Shall scare the slumbers of King James!-- + Nay, Ellen, blench not thus away, + And, mother, cease these signs, I pray; + I meant not all my heat might say.-- + Small need of inroad or of fight, + When the sage Douglas may unite + Each mountain clan in friendly band, + To guard the passes of their land, + Till the foiled King from pathless glen + Shall bootless turn him home again.' + + + XXXI. + + There are who have, at midnight hour, + In slumber scaled a dizzy tower, + And, on the verge that beetled o'er + The ocean tide's incessant roar, + Dreamed calmly out their dangerous dream, + Till wakened by the morning beam; + When, dazzled by the eastern glow, + Such startler cast his glance below, + And saw unmeasured depth around, + And heard unintermitted sound, + And thought the battled fence so frail, + It waved like cobweb in the gale; + Amid his senses' giddy wheel, + Did he not desperate impulse feel, + Headlong to plunge himself below, + And meet the worst his fears foreshow?-- + Thus Ellen, dizzy and astound, + As sudden ruin yawned around, + By crossing terrors wildly tossed, + Still for the Douglas fearing most, + Could scarce the desperate thought withstand, + To buy his safety with her hand. + + + XXXII. + + Such purpose dread could Malcolm spy + In Ellen's quivering lip and eye, + And eager rose to speak,--but ere + His tongue could hurry forth his fear, + Had Douglas marked the hectic strife, + Where death seemed combating with life; + For to her cheek, in feverish flood, + One instant rushed the throbbing blood, + Then ebbing back, with sudden sway, + Left its domain as wan as clay. + 'Roderick, enough! enough!' he cried, + 'My daughter cannot be thy bride; + Not that the blush to wooer dear, + Nor paleness that of maiden fear. + It may not be,--forgive her, + Chief, Nor hazard aught for our relief. + Against his sovereign, Douglas ne'er + Will level a rebellious spear. + 'T was I that taught his youthful hand + To rein a steed and wield a brand; + I see him yet, the princely boy! + Not Ellen more my pride and joy; + I love him still, despite my wrongs + By hasty wrath and slanderous tongues. + O. seek the grace you well may find, + Without a cause to mine combined!' + + + XXXIII. + + Twice through the hall the Chieftain strode; + The waving of his tartars broad, + And darkened brow, where wounded pride + With ire and disappointment vied + Seemed, by the torch's gloomy light, + Like the ill Demon of the night, + Stooping his pinions' shadowy sway + Upon the righted pilgrim's way: + But, unrequited Love! thy dart + Plunged deepest its envenomed smart, + And Roderick, with thine anguish stung, + At length the hand of Douglas wrung, + While eyes that mocked at tears before + With bitter drops were running o'er. + The death-pangs of long-cherished hope + Scarce in that ample breast had scope + But, struggling with his spirit proud, + Convulsive heaved its checkered shroud, + While every sob--so mute were all + Was heard distinctly through the ball. + The son's despair, the mother's look, + III might the gentle Ellen brook; + She rose, and to her side there came, + To aid her parting steps, the Graeme. + + + XXXIV. + + Then Roderick from the Douglas broke-- + As flashes flame through sable smoke, + Kindling its wreaths, long, dark, and low, + To one broad blaze of ruddy glow, + So the deep anguish of despair + Burst, in fierce jealousy, to air. + With stalwart grasp his hand he laid + On Malcolm's breast and belted plaid: + 'Back, beardless boy!' he sternly said, + 'Back, minion! holdst thou thus at naught + The lesson I so lately taught? + This roof, the Douglas, and that maid, + Thank thou for punishment delayed.' + Eager as greyhound on his game, + Fiercely with Roderick grappled Graeme. + 'Perish my name, if aught afford + Its Chieftain safety save his sword!' + Thus as they strove their desperate hand + Griped to the dagger or the brand, + And death had been--but Douglas rose, + And thrust between the struggling foes + His giant strength:--' Chieftains, forego! + I hold the first who strikes my foe.-- + Madmen, forbear your frantic jar! + What! is the Douglas fallen so far, + His daughter's hand is deemed the spoil + Of such dishonorable broil?' + Sullen and slowly they unclasp, + As struck with shame, their desperate grasp, + And each upon his rival glared, + With foot advanced and blade half bared. + + + XXXV. + + Ere yet the brands aloft were flung, + Margaret on Roderick's mantle hung, + And Malcolm heard his Ellen's scream, + As faltered through terrific dream. + Then Roderick plunged in sheath his sword, + And veiled his wrath in scornful word:' + Rest safe till morning; pity 't were + Such cheek should feel the midnight air! + Then mayst thou to James Stuart tell, + Roderick will keep the lake and fell, + Nor lackey with his freeborn clan + The pageant pomp of earthly man. + More would he of Clan-Alpine know, + Thou canst our strength and passes show.-- + Malise, what ho!'--his henchman came: + 'Give our safe-conduct to the Graeme.' + Young Malcolm answered, calm and bold:' + Fear nothing for thy favorite hold; + The spot an angel deigned to grace + Is blessed, though robbers haunt the place. + Thy churlish courtesy for those + Reserve, who fear to be thy foes. + As safe to me the mountain way + At midnight as in blaze of day, + Though with his boldest at his back + Even Roderick Dhu beset the track.-- + Brave Douglas,--lovely Ellen,--nay, + Naught here of parting will I say. + Earth does not hold a lonesome glen + So secret but we meet again.-- + Chieftain! we too shall find an hour,'-- + He said, and left the sylvan bower. + + + XXXVI. + + Old Allan followed to the strand-- + Such was the Douglas's command-- + And anxious told, how, on the morn, + The stern Sir Roderick deep had sworn, + The Fiery Cross should circle o'er + Dale, glen, and valley, down and moor + Much were the peril to the Graeme + From those who to the signal came; + Far up the lake 't were safest land, + Himself would row him to the strand. + He gave his counsel to the wind, + While Malcolm did, unheeding, bind, + Round dirk and pouch and broadsword rolled, + His ample plaid in tightened fold, + And stripped his limbs to such array + As best might suit the watery way,-- + + + XXXVII. + + Then spoke abrupt: 'Farewell to thee, + Pattern of old fidelity!' + The Minstrel's hand he kindly pressed,-- + 'O, could I point a place of rest! + My sovereign holds in ward my land, + My uncle leads my vassal band; + To tame his foes, his friends to aid, + Poor Malcolm has but heart and blade. + Yet, if there be one faithful Graeme + Who loves the chieftain of his name, + Not long shall honored Douglas dwell + Like hunted stag in mountain cell; + Nor, ere yon pride-swollen robber dare,-- + I may not give the rest to air! + Tell Roderick Dhu I owed him naught, + Not tile poor service of a boat, + To waft me to yon mountain-side.' + Then plunged he in the flashing tide. + Bold o'er the flood his head he bore, + And stoutly steered him from the shore; + And Allan strained his anxious eye, + Far mid the lake his form to spy, + Darkening across each puny wave, + To which the moon her silver gave. + Fast as the cormorant could skim. + The swimmer plied each active limb; + Then landing in the moonlight dell, + Loud shouted of his weal to tell. + The Minstrel heard the far halloo, + And joyful from the shore withdrew. + + + + +CANTO THIRD. + +The Gathering. + + + I. + + Time rolls his ceaseless course. The race of yore, + Who danced our infancy upon their knee, + And told our marvelling boyhood legends store + Of their strange ventures happed by land or sea, + How are they blotted from the things that be! + How few, all weak and withered of their force, + Wait on the verge of dark eternity, + Like stranded wrecks, the tide returning hoarse, + To sweep them from out sight! Time rolls his ceaseless course. + + Yet live there still who can remember well, + How, when a mountain chief his bugle blew, + Both field and forest, dingle, cliff; and dell, + And solitary heath, the signal knew; + And fast the faithful clan around him drew. + What time the warning note was keenly wound, + What time aloft their kindred banner flew, + While clamorous war-pipes yelled the gathering sound, + And while the Fiery Cross glanced like a meteor, round. + + + II. + + The Summer dawn's reflected hue + To purple changed Loch Katrine blue; + Mildly and soft the western breeze + Just kissed the lake, just stirred the trees, + And the pleased lake, like maiden coy, + Trembled but dimpled not for joy + The mountain-shadows on her breast + Were neither broken nor at rest; + In bright uncertainty they lie, + Like future joys to Fancy's eye. + The water-lily to the light + Her chalice reared of silver bright; + The doe awoke, and to the lawn, + Begemmed with dew-drops, led her fawn; + The gray mist left the mountain-side, + The torrent showed its glistening pride; + Invisible in flecked sky The lark sent clown her revelry: + The blackbird and the speckled thrush + Good-morrow gave from brake and bush; + In answer cooed the cushat dove + Her notes of peace and rest and love. + + + III. + + No thought of peace, no thought of rest, + Assuaged the storm in Roderick's breast. + With sheathed broadsword in his hand, + Abrupt he paced the islet strand, + And eyed the rising sun, and laid + His hand on his impatient blade. + Beneath a rock, his vassals' care + Was prompt the ritual to prepare, + With deep and deathful meaning fraught; + For such Antiquity had taught + Was preface meet, ere yet abroad + The Cross of Fire should take its road. + The shrinking band stood oft aghast + At the impatient glance he cast;-- + Such glance the mountain eagle threw, + As, from the cliffs of Benvenue, + She spread her dark sails on the wind, + And, high in middle heaven reclined, + With her broad shadow on the lake, + Silenced the warblers of the brake. + + + IV. + + A heap of withered boughs was piled, + Of juniper and rowan wild, + Mingled with shivers from the oak, + Rent by the lightning's recent stroke. + Brian the Hermit by it stood, + Barefooted, in his frock and hood. + His grizzled beard and matted hair + Obscured a visage of despair; + His naked arms and legs, seamed o'er, + The scars of frantic penance bore. + That monk, of savage form and face + The impending danger of his race + Had drawn from deepest solitude + Far in Benharrow's bosom rude. + Not his the mien of Christian priest, + But Druid's, from the grave released + Whose hardened heart and eye might brook + On human sacrifice to look; + And much, 't was said, of heathen lore + Mixed in the charms he muttered o'er. + The hallowed creed gave only worse + And deadlier emphasis of curse. + No peasant sought that Hermit's prayer + His cave the pilgrim shunned with care, + The eager huntsman knew his bound + And in mid chase called off his hound;' + Or if, in lonely glen or strath, + The desert-dweller met his path + He prayed, and signed the cross between, + While terror took devotion's mien. + + + V. + + Of Brian's birth strange tales were told. + His mother watched a midnight fold, + Built deep within a dreary glen, + Where scattered lay the bones of men + In some forgotten battle slain, + And bleached by drifting wind and rain. + It might have tamed a warrior's heart + To view such mockery of his art! + The knot-grass fettered there the hand + Which once could burst an iron band; + Beneath the broad and ample bone, + That bucklered heart to fear unknown, + A feeble and a timorous guest, + The fieldfare framed her lowly nest; + There the slow blindworm left his slime + On the fleet limbs that mocked at time; + And there, too, lay the leader's skull + Still wreathed with chaplet, flushed and full, + For heath-bell with her purple bloom + Supplied the bonnet and the plume. + All night, in this sad glen the maid + Sat shrouded in her mantle's shade: + She said no shepherd sought her side, + No hunter's hand her snood untied. + Yet ne'er again to braid her hair + The virgin snood did Alive wear; + Gone was her maiden glee and sport, + Her maiden girdle all too short, + Nor sought she, from that fatal night, + Or holy church or blessed rite + But locked her secret in her breast, + And died in travail, unconfessed. + + + VI. + + Alone, among his young compeers, + Was Brian from his infant years; + A moody and heart-broken boy, + Estranged from sympathy and joy + Bearing each taunt which careless tongue + On his mysterious lineage flung. + Whole nights he spent by moonlight pale + To wood and stream his teal, to wail, + Till, frantic, he as truth received + What of his birth the crowd believed, + And sought, in mist and meteor fire, + To meet and know his Phantom Sire! + In vain, to soothe his wayward fate, + The cloister oped her pitying gate; + In vain the learning of the age + Unclasped the sable-lettered page; + Even in its treasures he could find + Food for the fever of his mind. + Eager he read whatever tells + Of magic, cabala, and spells, + And every dark pursuit allied + To curious and presumptuous pride; + Till with fired brain and nerves o'erstrung, + And heart with mystic horrors wrung, + Desperate he sought Benharrow's den, + And hid him from the haunts of men. + + + VII. + + The desert gave him visions wild, + Such as might suit the spectre's child. + Where with black cliffs the torrents toil, + He watched the wheeling eddies boil, + Jill from their foam his dazzled eyes + Beheld the River Demon rise: + The mountain mist took form and limb + Of noontide hag or goblin grim; + The midnight wind came wild and dread, + Swelled with the voices of the dead; + Far on the future battle-heath + His eye beheld the ranks of death: + Thus the lone Seer, from mankind hurled, + Shaped forth a disembodied world. + One lingering sympathy of mind + Still bound him to the mortal kind; + The only parent he could claim + Of ancient Alpine's lineage came. + Late had he heard, in prophet's dream, + The fatal Ben-Shie's boding scream; + Sounds, too, had come in midnight blast + Of charging steeds, careering fast + Along Benharrow's shingly side, + Where mortal horseman ne'er might ride; + The thunderbolt had split the pine,-- + All augured ill to Alpine's line. + He girt his loins, and came to show + The signals of impending woe, + And now stood prompt to bless or ban, + As bade the Chieftain of his clan. + + + VIII. + + 'T was all prepared;--and from the rock + A goat, the patriarch of the flock, + Before the kindling pile was laid, + And pierced by Roderick's ready blade. + Patient the sickening victim eyed + The life-blood ebb in crimson tide + Down his clogged beard and shaggy limb, + Till darkness glazed his eyeballs dim. + The grisly priest, with murmuring prayer, + A slender crosslet framed with care, + A cubit's length in measure due; + The shaft and limbs were rods of yew, + Whose parents in Inch-Cailliach wave + Their shadows o'er Clan-Alpine's grave, + And, answering Lomond's breezes deep, + Soothe many a chieftain's endless sleep. + The Cross thus formed he held on high, + With wasted hand and haggard eye, + And strange and mingled feelings woke, + While his anathema he spoke:-- + + + IX. + + 'Woe to the clansman who shall view + This symbol of sepulchral yew, + Forgetful that its branches grew + Where weep the heavens their holiest dew + On Alpine's dwelling low! + Deserter of his Chieftain's trust, + He ne'er shall mingle with their dust, + But, from his sires and kindred thrust, + Each clansman's execration just + Shall doom him wrath and woe.' + He paused;--the word the vassals took, + With forward step and fiery look, + On high their naked brands they shook, + Their clattering targets wildly strook; + And first in murmur low, + Then like the billow in his course, + That far to seaward finds his source, + And flings to shore his mustered force, + Burst with loud roar their answer hoarse, + 'Woe to the traitor, woe!' + Ben-an's gray scalp the accents knew, + The joyous wolf from covert drew, + The exulting eagle screamed afar,-- + They knew the voice of Alpine's war. + + + X. + + The shout was hushed on lake and fell, + The Monk resumed his muttered spell: + Dismal and low its accents came, + The while he scathed the Cross with flame; + And the few words that reached the air, + Although the holiest name was there, + Had more of blasphemy than prayer. + But when he shook above the crowd + Its kindled points, he spoke aloud:-- + 'Woe to the wretch who fails to rear + At this dread sign the ready spear! + For, as the flames this symbol sear, + His home, the refuge of his fear, + A kindred fate shall know; + Far o'er its roof the volumed flame + Clan-Alpine's vengeance shall proclaim, + While maids and matrons on his name + Shall call down wretchedness and shame, + And infamy and woe.' + Then rose the cry of females, shrill + As goshawk's whistle on the hill, + Denouncing misery and ill, + Mingled with childhood's babbling trill + Of curses stammered slow; + Answering with imprecation dread, + 'Sunk be his home in embers red! + And cursed be the meanest shed + That o'er shall hide the houseless head + We doom to want and woe!' + A sharp and shrieking echo gave, + Coir-Uriskin, thy goblin cave! + And the gray pass where birches wave + On Beala-nam-bo. + + + XI. + + Then deeper paused the priest anew, + And hard his laboring breath he drew, + While, with set teeth and clenched hand, + And eyes that glowed like fiery brand, + He meditated curse more dread, + And deadlier, on the clansman's head + Who, summoned to his chieftain's aid, + The signal saw and disobeyed. + The crosslet's points of sparkling wood + He quenched among the bubbling blood. + And, as again the sign he reared, + Hollow and hoarse his voice was heard: + 'When flits this Cross from man to man, + Vich-Alpine's summons to his clan, + Burst be the ear that fails to heed! + Palsied the foot that shuns to speed! + May ravens tear the careless eyes, + Wolves make the coward heart their prize! + As sinks that blood-stream in the earth, + So may his heart's-blood drench his hearth! + As dies in hissing gore the spark, + Quench thou his light, Destruction dark! + And be the grace to him denied, + Bought by this sign to all beside! + He ceased; no echo gave again + The murmur of the deep Amen. + + + XII. + + Then Roderick with impatient look + From Brian's hand the symbol took: + 'Speed, Malise, speed' he said, and gave + The crosslet to his henchman brave. + 'The muster-place be Lanrick mead-- + Instant the time---speed, Malise, speed!' + Like heath-bird, when the hawks pursue, + A barge across Loch Katrine flew: + High stood the henchman on the prow; + So rapidly the barge-mall row, + The bubbles, where they launched the boat, + Were all unbroken and afloat, + Dancing in foam and ripple still, + When it had neared the mainland hill; + And from the silver beach's side + Still was the prow three fathom wide, + When lightly bounded to the land + The messenger of blood and brand. + + + XIII. + + Speed, Malise, speed! the dun deer's hide + On fleeter foot was never tied. + Speed, Malise, speed! such cause of haste + Thine active sinews never braced. + Bend 'gainst the steepy hill thy breast, + Burst down like torrent from its crest; + With short and springing footstep pass + The trembling bog and false morass; + Across the brook like roebuck bound, + And thread the brake like questing hound; + The crag is high, the scaur is deep, + Yet shrink not from the desperate leap: + Parched are thy burning lips and brow, + Yet by the fountain pause not now; + Herald of battle, fate, and fear, + Stretch onward in thy fleet career! + The wounded hind thou track'st not now, + Pursuest not maid through greenwood bough, + Nor priest thou now thy flying pace + With rivals in the mountain race; + But danger, death, and warrior deed + Are in thy course--speed, Malise, speed! + + + XIV. + + Fast as the fatal symbol flies, + In arms the huts and hamlets rise; + From winding glen, from upland brown, + They poured each hardy tenant down. + Nor slacked the messenger his pace; + He showed the sign, he named the place, + And, pressing forward like the wind, + Left clamor and surprise behind. + The fisherman forsook the strand, + The swarthy smith took dirk and brand; + With changed cheer, the mower blithe + Left in the half-cut swath his scythe; + The herds without a keeper strayed, + The plough was in mid-furrow staved, + The falconer tossed his hawk away, + The hunter left the stag at hay; + Prompt at the signal of alarms, + Each son of Alpine rushed to arms; + So swept the tumult and affray + Along the margin of Achray. + Alas, thou lovely lake! that e'er + Thy banks should echo sounds of fear! + The rocks, the bosky thickets, sleep + So stilly on thy bosom deep, + The lark's blithe carol from the cloud + Seems for the scene too gayly loud. + + + XV. + + Speed, Malise, speed! The lake is past, + Duncraggan's huts appear at last, + And peep, like moss-grown rocks, half seen + Half hidden in the copse so green; + There mayst thou rest, thy labor done, + Their lord shall speed the signal on.-- + As stoops the hawk upon his prey, + The henchman shot him down the way. + What woful accents load the gale? + The funeral yell, the female wail! + A gallant hunter's sport is o'er, + A valiant warrior fights no more. + Who, in the battle or the chase, + At Roderick's side shall fill his place!-- + Within the hall, where torch's ray + Supplies the excluded beams of day, + Lies Duncan on his lowly bier, + And o'er him streams his widow's tear. + His stripling son stands mournful by, + His youngest weeps, but knows not why; + The village maids and matrons round + The dismal coronach resound. + + + XVI. + + Coronach. + + He is gone on the mountain, + He is lost to the forest, + Like a summer-dried fountain, + When our need was the sorest. + The font, reappearing, + From the rain-drops shall borrow, + But to us comes no cheering, + To Duncan no morrow! + + The hand of the reaper + Takes the ears that are hoary, + But the voice of the weeper + Wails manhood in glory. + The autumn winds rushing + Waft the leaves that are searest, + But our flower was in flushing, + When blighting was nearest. + + Fleet foot on the correi, + Sage counsel in cumber, + Red hand in the foray, + How sound is thy slumber! + Like the dew on the mountain, + Like the foam on the river, + Like the bubble on the fountain, + Thou art gone, and forever! + + + XVII. + + See Stumah, who, the bier beside + His master's corpse with wonder eyed, + Poor Stumah! whom his least halloo + Could send like lightning o'er the dew, + Bristles his crest, and points his ears, + As if some stranger step he hears. + 'T is not a mourner's muffled tread, + Who comes to sorrow o'er the dead, + But headlong haste or deadly fear + Urge the precipitate career. + All stand aghast:--unheeding all, + The henchman bursts into the hall; + Before the dead man's bier he stood, + Held forth the Cross besmeared with blood; + 'The muster-place is Lanrick mead; + Speed forth the signal! clansmen, speed!' + + + XVIII, + + Angus, the heir of Duncan's line, + Sprung forth and seized the fatal sign. + In haste the stripling to his side + His father's dirk and broadsword tied; + But when he saw his mother's eye + Watch him in speechless agony, + Back to her opened arms he flew + Pressed on her lips a fond adieu,-- + 'Alas' she sobbed,--'and yet be gone, + And speed thee forth, like Duncan's son!' + One look he cast upon the bier, + Dashed from his eye the gathering tear, + Breathed deep to clear his laboring breast, + And tossed aloft his bonnet crest, + Then, like the high-bred colt when, freed, + First he essays his fire and speed, + He vanished, and o'er moor and moss + Sped forward with the Fiery Cross. + Suspended was the widow's tear + While yet his footsteps she could hear; + And when she marked the henchman's eye + Wet with unwonted sympathy, + 'Kinsman,' she said, 'his race is run + That should have sped thine errand on. + The oak teas fallen?--the sapling bough Is all + Duncraggan's shelter now + Yet trust I well, his duty done, + The orphan's God will guard my son.-- + And you, in many a danger true + At Duncan's hest your blades that drew, + To arms, and guard that orphan's head! + Let babes and women wail the dead.' + Then weapon-clang and martial call + Resounded through the funeral hall, + While from the walls the attendant band + Snatched sword and targe with hurried hand; + And short and flitting energy + Glanced from the mourner's sunken eye, + As if the sounds to warrior dear + Might rouse her Duncan from his bier. + But faded soon that borrowed force; + Grief claimed his right, and tears their course. + + + XIX. + + Benledi saw the Cross of Fire, + It glanced like lightning up Strath-Ire. + O'er dale and hill the summons flew, + Nor rest nor pause young Angus knew; + The tear that gathered in his eye + He deft the mountain-breeze to dry; + Until, where Teith's young waters roll + Betwixt him and a wooded knoll + That graced the sable strath with green, + The chapel of Saint Bride was seen. + Swoln was the stream, remote the bridge, + But Angus paused not on the edge; + Though the clerk waves danced dizzily, + Though reeled his sympathetic eye, + He dashed amid the torrent's roar: + His right hand high the crosslet bore, + His left the pole-axe grasped, to guide + And stay his footing in the tide. + He stumbled twice,--the foam splashed high, + With hoarser swell the stream raced by; + And had he fallen,--forever there, + Farewell Duncraggan's orphan heir! + But still, as if in parting life, + Firmer he grasped the Cross of strife, + Until the opposing bank he gained, + And up the chapel pathway strained. + A blithesome rout that morning-tide + Had sought the chapel of Saint Bride. + Her troth Tombea's Mary gave + To Norman, heir of Armandave, + And, issuing from the Gothic arch, + The bridal now resumed their march. + In rude but glad procession came + Bonneted sire and coif-clad dame; + And plaided youth, with jest and jeer + Which snooded maiden would not hear: + And children, that, unwitting why, + Lent the gay shout their shrilly cry; + And minstrels, that in measures vied + Before the young and bonny bride, + Whose downcast eye and cheek disclose + The tear and blush of morning rose. + With virgin step and bashful hand + She held the kerchief's snowy band. + The gallant bridegroom by her side + Beheld his prize with victor's pride. + And the glad mother in her ear + Was closely whispering word of cheer. + + + XXI. + + Who meets them at the churchyard gate? + The messenger of fear and fate! + Haste in his hurried accent lies, + And grief is swimming in his eyes. + All dripping from the recent flood, + Panting and travel-soiled he stood, + The fatal sign of fire and sword + Held forth, and spoke the appointed word: + 'The muster-place is Lanrick mead; + Speed forth the signal! Norman, speed!' + And must he change so soon the hand + Just linked to his by holy band, + For the fell Cross of blood and brand? + And must the day so blithe that rose, + And promised rapture in the close, + Before its setting hour, divide + The bridegroom from the plighted bride? + O fatal doom'--it must! it must! + Clan-Alpine's cause, her Chieftain's trust, + Her summons dread, brook no delay; + Stretch to the race,--away! away! + + + XXII. + + Yet slow he laid his plaid aside, + And lingering eyed his lovely bride, + Until he saw the starting tear + Speak woe he might not stop to cheer: + Then, trusting not a second look, + In haste he sped hind up the brook, + Nor backward glanced till on the heath + Where Lubnaig's lake supplies the Teith,-- + What in the racer's bosom stirred? + The sickening pang of hope deferred, + And memory with a torturing train + Of all his morning visions vain. + Mingled with love's impatience, came + The manly thirst for martial fame; + The stormy joy of mountaineers + Ere yet they rush upon the spears; + And zeal for Clan and Chieftain burning, + And hope, from well-fought field returning, + With war's red honors on his crest, + To clasp his Mary to his breast. + Stung by such thoughts, o'er bank and brae, + Like fire from flint he glanced away, + While high resolve and feeling strong + Burst into voluntary song. + + + XXIII. + + Song. + + The heath this night must be my bed, + The bracken curtain for my head, + My lullaby the warder's tread, + Far, far, from love and thee, Mary; + To-morrow eve, more stilly laid, + My couch may be my bloody plaid, + My vesper song thy wail, sweet maid! + It will not waken me, Mary! + + I may not, dare not, fancy now + The grief that clouds thy lovely brow, + I dare not think upon thy vow, + And all it promised me, Mary. + No fond regret must Norman know; + When bursts Clan-Alpine on the foe, + His heart must be like bended bow, + His foot like arrow free, Mary. + + A time will come with feeling fraught, + For, if I fall in battle fought, + Thy hapless lover's dying thought + Shall be a thought on thee, Mary. + And if returned from conquered foes, + How blithely will the evening close, + How sweet the linnet sing repose, + To my young bride and me, Mary! + + + XXIV. + + Not faster o'er thy heathery braes + Balquidder, speeds the midnight blaze, + Rushing in conflagration strong + Thy deep ravines and dells along, + Wrapping thy cliffs in purple glow, + And reddening the dark lakes below; + Nor faster speeds it, nor so far, + As o'er thy heaths the voice of war. + The signal roused to martial coil + The sullen margin of Loch Voil, + Waked still Loch Doine, and to the source + Alarmed, Balvaig, thy swampy course; + Thence southward turned its rapid road + Adown Strath-Gartney's valley broad + Till rose in arms each man might claim + A portion in Clan-Alpine's name, + From the gray sire, whose trembling hand + Could hardly buckle on his brand, + To the raw boy, whose shaft and bow + Were yet scarce terror to the crow. + Each valley, each sequestered glen, + Mustered its little horde of men + That met as torrents from the height + In Highland dales their streams unite + Still gathering, as they pour along, + A voice more loud, a tide more strong, + Till at the rendezvous they stood + By hundreds prompt for blows and blood, + Each trained to arms since life began, + Owning no tie but to his clan, + No oath but by his chieftain's hand, + No law but Roderick Dhu's command. + + + XXV. + + That summer morn had Roderick Dhu + Surveyed the skirts of Benvenue, + And sent his scouts o'er hill and heath, + To view the frontiers of Menteith. + All backward came with news of truce; + Still lay each martial Graeme and Bruce, + In Rednock courts no horsemen wait, + No banner waved on Cardross gate, + On Duchray's towers no beacon shone, + Nor scared the herons from Loch Con; + All seemed at peace.--Now wot ye wily + The Chieftain with such anxious eye, + Ere to the muster he repair, + This western frontier scanned with care?-- + In Benvenue's most darksome cleft, + A fair though cruel pledge was left; + For Douglas, to his promise true, + That morning from the isle withdrew, + And in a deep sequestered dell + Had sought a low and lonely cell. + By many a bard in Celtic tongue + Has Coir-nan-Uriskin been sung + A softer name the Saxons gave, + And called the grot the Goblin Cave. + + + XXVI. + + It was a wild and strange retreat, + As e'er was trod by outlaw's feet. + The dell, upon the mountain's crest, + Yawned like a gash on warrior's breast; + Its trench had stayed full many a rock, + Hurled by primeval earthquake shock + From Benvenue's gray summit wild, + And here, in random ruin piled, + They frowned incumbent o'er the spot + And formed the rugged sylvan "rot. + The oak and birch with mingled shade + At noontide there a twilight made, + Unless when short and sudden shone + Some straggling beam on cliff or stone, + With such a glimpse as prophet's eye + Gains on thy depth, Futurity. + No murmur waked the solemn still, + Save tinkling of a fountain rill; + But when the wind chafed with the lake, + A sullen sound would upward break, + With dashing hollow voice, that spoke + The incessant war of wave and rock. + Suspended cliffs with hideous sway + Seemed nodding o'er the cavern gray. + From such a den the wolf had sprung, + In such the wild-cat leaves her young; + Yet Douglas and his daughter fair + Sought for a space their safety there. + Gray Superstition's whisper dread + Debarred the spot to vulgar tread; + For there, she said, did fays resort, + And satyrs hold their sylvan court, + By moonlight tread their mystic maze, + And blast the rash beholder's gaze. + + + XXVII. + + Now eve, with western shadows long, + Floated on Katrine bright and strong, + When Roderick with a chosen few + Repassed the heights of Benvenue. + Above the Goblin Cave they go, + Through the wild pass of Beal-nam-bo; + The prompt retainers speed before, + To launch the shallop from the shore, + For 'cross Loch Katrine lies his way + To view the passes of Achray, + And place his clansmen in array. + Yet lags the Chief in musing mind, + Unwonted sight, his men behind. + A single page, to bear his sword, + Alone attended on his lord; + The rest their way through thickets break, + And soon await him by the lake. + It was a fair and gallant sight + To view them from the neighboring height, + By the low-levelled sunbeam's light! + For strength and stature, from the clan + Each warrior was a chosen man, + As even afar might well be seen, + By their proud step and martial mien. + Their feathers dance, their tartars float, + Their targets gleam, as by the boat + A wild and warlike group they stand, + That well became such mountain-strand. + + + XXVI + + Their Chief with step reluctant still + Was lingering on the craggy hill, + Hard by where turned apart the road + To Douglas's obscure abode. + It was but with that dawning morn + That Roderick Dhu had proudly sworn + To drown his love in war's wild roar, + Nor think of Ellen Douglas more; + But he who stems a stream with sand, + And fetters flame with flaxen band, + Has yet a harder task to prove,-- + By firm resolve to conquer love! + Eve finds the Chief, like restless ghost, + Still hovering near his treasure lost; + For though his haughty heart deny + A parting meeting to his eye + Still fondly strains his anxious ear + The accents of her voice to hear, + And inly did he curse the breeze + That waked to sound the rustling trees. + But hark! what mingles in the strain? + It is the harp of Allan-bane, + That wakes its measure slow and high, + Attuned to sacred minstrelsy. + What melting voice attends the strings? + 'Tis Ellen, or an angel, sings. + + + XXIX. + + Hymn to the Virgin. + + Ave. Maria! maiden mild! + Listen to a maiden's prayer! + Thou canst hear though from the wild, + Thou canst save amid despair. + Safe may we sleep beneath thy care, + Though banished, outcast, and reviled-- + Maiden! hear a maiden's prayer; + Mother, hear a suppliant child! + Ave Maria! + + Ave Maria! undefiled! + The flinty couch we now must share + Shall seem with down of eider piled, + If thy protection hover there. + The murky cavern's heavy air + Shall breathe of balm if thou hast smiled; + Then, Maiden! hear a maiden's prayer, + Mother, list a suppliant child! + Ave Maria! + + Ave. Maria! stainless styled! + Foul demons of the earth and air, + From this their wonted haunt exiled, + Shall flee before thy presence fair. + We bow us to our lot of care, + Beneath thy guidance reconciled: + Hear for a maid a maiden's prayer, + And for a father hear a child! + Ave Maria! + + + XXX. + + Died on the harp the closing hymn,-- + Unmoved in attitude and limb, + As listening still, Clan-Alpine's lord + Stood leaning on his heavy sword, + Until the page with humble sign + Twice pointed to the sun's decline. + Then while his plaid he round him cast, + 'It is the last time--'tis the last,' + He muttered thrice,--'the last time e'er + That angel-voice shall Roderick hear'' + It was a goading thought,--his stride + Hied hastier down the mountain-side; + Sullen he flung him in the boat + An instant 'cross the lake it shot. + They landed in that silvery bay, + And eastward held their hasty way + Till, with the latest beams of light, + The band arrived on Lanrick height' + Where mustered in the vale below + Clan-Alpine's men in martial show. + + + XXXI. + + A various scene the clansmen made: + Some sat, some stood, some slowly strayed: + But most, with mantles folded round, + Were couched to rest upon the ground, + Scarce to be known by curious eye + From the deep heather where they lie, + So well was matched the tartan screen + With heath-bell dark and brackens green; + Unless where, here and there, a blade + Or lance's point a glimmer made, + Like glow-worm twinkling through the shade. + But when, advancing through the gloom, + They saw the Chieftain's eagle plume, + Their shout of welcome, shrill and wide, + Shook the steep mountain's steady side. + Thrice it arose, and lake and fell + Three times returned the martial yell; + It died upon Bochastle's plain, + And Silence claimed her evening reign. + + + + +CANTO FOURTH. + +The Prophecy. + + + + I. + + The rose is fairest when 't is budding new, + And hope is brightest when it dawns from fears; + The rose is sweetest washed with morning dew + And love is loveliest when embalmed in tears. + O wilding rose, whom fancy thus endears, + I bid your blossoms in my bonnet wave, + Emblem of hope and love through future years!' + Thus spoke young Norman, heir of Armandave, + What time the sun arose on Vennachar's broad wave. + + + II. + + Such fond conceit, half said, half sung, + Love prompted to the bridegroom's tongue. + All while he stripped the wild-rose spray, + His axe and bow beside him lay, + For on a pass 'twixt lake and wood + A wakeful sentinel he stood. + Hark!--on the rock a footstep rung, + And instant to his arms he sprung. + 'Stand, or thou diest!--What, Malise?--soon + Art thou returned from Braes of Doune. + By thy keen step and glance I know, + Thou bring'st us tidings of the foe.'-- + For while the Fiery Cross tried on, + On distant scout had Malise gone.-- + 'Where sleeps the Chief?' the henchman said. + 'Apart, in yonder misty glade; + To his lone couch I'll be your guide.'-- + Then called a slumberer by his side, + And stirred him with his slackened bow,-- + 'Up, up, Glentarkin! rouse thee, ho! + We seek the Chieftain; on the track + Keep eagle watch till I come back.' + + + III. + + Together up the pass they sped: + 'What of the foeman?' Norman said.-- + 'Varying reports from near and far; + This certain,--that a band of war + Has for two days been ready boune, + At prompt command to march from Doune; + King James the while, with princely powers, + Holds revelry in Stirling towers. + Soon will this dark and gathering cloud + Speak on our glens in thunder loud. + Inured to bide such bitter bout, + The warrior's plaid may bear it out; + But, Norman, how wilt thou provide + A shelter for thy bonny bride?''-- + 'What! know ye not that Roderick's care + To the lone isle hath caused repair + Each maid and matron of the clan, + And every child and aged man + Unfit for arms; and given his charge, + Nor skiff nor shallop, boat nor barge, + Upon these lakes shall float at large, + But all beside the islet moor, + That such dear pledge may rest secure?'-- + + + IV. + + ''T is well advised,--the Chieftain's plan + Bespeaks the father of his clan. + But wherefore sleeps Sir Roderick Dhu + Apart from all his followers true?' + 'It is because last evening-tide + Brian an augury hath tried, + Of that dread kind which must not be + Unless in dread extremity, + The Taghairm called; by which, afar, + Our sires foresaw the events of war. + Duncraggan's milk-white bull they slew,'-- + + Malise. + + 'Ah! well the gallant brute I knew! + The choicest of the prey we had + When swept our merrymen Gallangad. + His hide was snow, his horns were dark, + His red eye glowed like fiery spark; + So fierce, so tameless, and so fleet, + Sore did he cumber our retreat, + And kept our stoutest kerns in awe, + Even at the pass of Beal 'maha. + But steep and flinty was the road, + And sharp the hurrying pikeman's goad, + And when we came to Dennan's Row + A child might scathless stroke his brow.' + + + V. + + Norman. + + 'That bull was slain; his reeking hide + They stretched the cataract beside, + Whose waters their wild tumult toss + Adown the black and craggy boss + Of that huge cliff whose ample verge + Tradition calls the Hero's Targe. + Couched on a shelf beneath its brink, + Close where the thundering torrents sink, + Rocking beneath their headlong sway, + And drizzled by the ceaseless spray, + Midst groan of rock and roar of stream, + The wizard waits prophetic dream. + Nor distant rests the Chief;--but hush! + See, gliding slow through mist and bush, + The hermit gains yon rock, and stands + To gaze upon our slumbering bands. + Seems he not, Malise, dike a ghost, + That hovers o'er a slaughtered host? + Or raven on the blasted oak, + That, watching while the deer is broke, + His morsel claims with sullen croak?' + + Malise. + + 'Peace! peace! to other than to me + Thy words were evil augury; + But still I hold Sir Roderick's blade + Clan-Alpine's omen and her aid, + Not aught that, gleaned from heaven or hell, + Yon fiend-begotten Monk can tell. + The Chieftain joins him, see--and now + Together they descend the brow.' + + + VI. + + And, as they came, with Alpine's Lord + The Hermit Monk held solemn word:--. + 'Roderick! it is a fearful strife, + For man endowed with mortal life + Whose shroud of sentient clay can still + Feel feverish pang and fainting chill, + Whose eye can stare in stony trance + Whose hair can rouse like warrior's lance, + 'Tis hard for such to view, unfurled, + The curtain of the future world. + Yet, witness every quaking limb, + My sunken pulse, mine eyeballs dim, + My soul with harrowing anguish torn, + This for my Chieftain have I borne!-- + The shapes that sought my fearful couch + A human tongue may ne'er avouch; + No mortal man--save he, who, bred + Between the living and the dead, + Is gifted beyond nature's law + Had e'er survived to say he saw. + At length the fateful answer came + In characters of living flame! + Not spoke in word, nor blazed in scroll, + But borne and branded on my soul:-- + WHICH SPILLS THE FOREMOST FOEMAN'S LIFE, + THAT PARTY CONQUERS IN THE STRIFE.' + + + VII. + + 'Thanks, Brian, for thy zeal and care! + Good is thine augury, and fair. + Clan-Alpine ne'er in battle stood + But first our broadswords tasted blood. + A surer victim still I know, + Self-offered to the auspicious blow: + A spy has sought my land this morn,-- + No eve shall witness his return! + My followers guard each pass's mouth, + To east, to westward, and to south; + Red Murdoch, bribed to be his guide, + Has charge to lead his steps aside, + Till in deep path or dingle brown + He light on those shall bring him clown. + But see, who comes his news to show! + Malise! what tidings of the foe?' + + + VIII. + + 'At Doune, o'er many a spear and glaive + Two Barons proud their banners wave. + I saw the Moray's silver star, + And marked the sable pale of Mar.' + 'By Alpine's soul, high tidings those! + I love to hear of worthy foes. + When move they on?' 'To-morrow's noon + Will see them here for battle boune.' + 'Then shall it see a meeting stern! + But, for the place,--say, couldst thou learn + Nought of the friendly clans of Earn? + Strengthened by them, we well might bide + The battle on Benledi's side. + Thou couldst not?--well! Clan-Alpine's men + Shall man the Trosachs' shaggy glen; + Within Loch Katrine's gorge we'll fight, + All in our maids' and matrons' sight, + Each for his hearth and household fire, + Father for child, and son for sire Lover + for maid beloved!--But why + Is it the breeze affects mine eye? + Or dost thou come, ill-omened tear! + A messenger of doubt or fear? + No! sooner may the Saxon lance + Unfix Benledi from his stance, + Than doubt or terror can pierce through + The unyielding heart of Roderick Dhu! + 'tis stubborn as his trusty targe. + Each to his post!--all know their charge.' + The pibroch sounds, the bands advance, + The broadswords gleam, the banners dance' + Obedient to the Chieftain's glance.-- + I turn me from the martial roar + And seek Coir-Uriskin once more. + + + IX. + + Where is the Douglas?--he is gone; + And Ellen sits on the gray stone + Fast by the cave, and makes her moan, + While vainly Allan's words of cheer + Are poured on her unheeding ear. + 'He will return--dear lady, trust!-- + With joy return;--he will--he must. + Well was it time to seek afar + Some refuge from impending war, + When e'en Clan-Alpine's rugged swarm + Are cowed by the approaching storm. + I saw their boats with many a light, + Floating the livelong yesternight, + Shifting like flashes darted forth + By the red streamers of the north; + I marked at morn how close they ride, + Thick moored by the lone islet's side, + Like wild ducks couching in the fen + When stoops the hawk upon the glen. + Since this rude race dare not abide + The peril on the mainland side, + Shall not thy noble father's care + Some safe retreat for thee prepare?' + + + X. + + Ellen. + + 'No, Allan, no' Pretext so kind + My wakeful terrors could not blind. + When in such tender tone, yet grave, + Douglas a parting blessing gave, + The tear that glistened in his eye + Drowned not his purpose fixed and high. + My soul, though feminine and weak, + Can image his; e'en as the lake, + Itself disturbed by slightest stroke. + Reflects the invulnerable rock. + He hears report of battle rife, + He deems himself the cause of strife. + I saw him redden when the theme + Turned, Allan, on thine idle dream + Of Malcolm Graeme in fetters bound, + Which I, thou saidst, about him wound. + Think'st thou he bowed thine omen aught? + O no' 't was apprehensive thought + For the kind youth,--for Roderick too-- + Let me be just--that friend so true; + In danger both, and in our cause! + Minstrel, the Douglas dare not pause. + Why else that solemn warning given, + 'If not on earth, we meet in heaven!' + Why else, to Cambus-kenneth's fane, + If eve return him not again, + Am I to hie and make me known? + Alas! he goes to Scotland's throne, + Buys his friends' safety with his own; + He goes to do--what I had done, + Had Douglas' daughter been his son!' + + + XI. + + 'Nay, lovely Ellen!--dearest, nay! + If aught should his return delay, + He only named yon holy fane + As fitting place to meet again. + Be sure he's safe; and for the Graeme,-- + Heaven's blessing on his gallant name!-- + My visioned sight may yet prove true, + Nor bode of ill to him or you. + When did my gifted dream beguile? + Think of the stranger at the isle, + And think upon the harpings slow + That presaged this approaching woe! + Sooth was my prophecy of fear; + Believe it when it augurs cheer. + Would we had left this dismal spot! + Ill luck still haunts a fairy spot! + Of such a wondrous tale I know-- + Dear lady, change that look of woe, + My harp was wont thy grief to cheer.' + + Ellen. + + 'Well, be it as thou wilt; + I hear, But cannot stop the bursting tear.' + The Minstrel tried his simple art, + Rut distant far was Ellen's heart. + + + XII. + + Ballad. + + Alice Brand. + + Merry it is in the good greenwood, + When the mavis and merle are singing, + When the deer sweeps by, and the hounds are in cry, + And the hunter's horn is ringing. + + 'O Alice Brand, my native land + Is lost for love of you; + And we must hold by wood and word, + As outlaws wont to do. + + 'O Alice, 't was all for thy locks so bright, + And 't was all for thine eyes so blue, + That on the night of our luckless flight + Thy brother bold I slew. + + 'Now must I teach to hew the beech + The hand that held the glaive, + For leaves to spread our lowly bed, + And stakes to fence our cave. + + 'And for vest of pall, thy fingers small, + That wont on harp to stray, + A cloak must shear from the slaughtered deer, + To keep the cold away.' + + 'O Richard! if my brother died, + 'T was but a fatal chance; + For darkling was the battle tried, + And fortune sped the lance. + + 'If pall and vair no more I wear, + Nor thou the crimson sheen + As warm, we'll say, is the russet gray, + As gay the forest-green. + + 'And, Richard, if our lot be hard, + And lost thy native land, + Still Alice has her own Richard, + And he his Alice Brand.' + + + XIII. + + Ballad Continued. + + 'tis merry, 'tis merry, in good greenwood; + So blithe Lady Alice is singing; + On the beech's pride, and oak's brown side, + Lord Richard's axe is ringing. + + Up spoke the moody Elfin King, + Who woned within the hill,-- + Like wind in the porch of a ruined church, + His voice was ghostly shrill. + + 'Why sounds yon stroke on beech and oak, + Our moonlight circle's screen? + Or who comes here to chase the deer, + Beloved of our Elfin Queen? + Or who may dare on wold to wear + The fairies' fatal green? + + 'Up, Urgan, up! to yon mortal hie, + For thou wert christened man; + For cross or sign thou wilt not fly, + For muttered word or ban. + + 'Lay on him the curse of the withered heart, + The curse of the sleepless eye; + Till he wish and pray that his life would part, + Nor yet find leave to die.' + + + XIV. + + Ballad Continued. + + 'Tis merry, 'tis merry, in good greenwood, + Though the birds have stilled their singing; + The evening blaze cloth Alice raise, + And Richard is fagots bringing. + + Up Urgan starts, that hideous dwarf, + Before Lord Richard stands, + And, as he crossed and blessed himself, + 'I fear not sign,' quoth the grisly elf, + 'That is made with bloody hands.' + + But out then spoke she, Alice Brand, + That woman void of fear,-- + 'And if there 's blood upon his hand, + 'Tis but the blood of deer.' + + 'Now loud thou liest, thou bold of mood! + It cleaves unto his hand, + The stain of thine own kindly blood, + The blood of Ethert Brand.' + + Then forward stepped she, Alice Brand, + And made the holy sign,-- + 'And if there's blood on Richard's hand, + A spotless hand is mine. + + 'And I conjure thee, demon elf, + By Him whom demons fear, + To show us whence thou art thyself, + And what thine errand here?' + + + XV. + + Ballad Continued. + + "Tis merry, 'tis merry, in Fairy-land, + When fairy birds are singing, + When the court cloth ride by their monarch's side, + With bit and bridle ringing: + + 'And gayly shines the Fairy-land-- + But all is glistening show, + Like the idle gleam that December's beam + Can dart on ice and snow. + + 'And fading, like that varied gleam, + Is our inconstant shape, + Who now like knight and lady seem, + And now like dwarf and ape. + + 'It was between the night and day, + When the Fairy King has power, + That I sunk down in a sinful fray, + And 'twixt life and death was snatched away + To the joyless Elfin bower. + + 'But wist I of a woman bold, + Who thrice my brow durst sign, + I might regain my mortal mould, + As fair a form as thine.' + + She crossed him once--she crossed him twice-- + That lady was so brave; + The fouler grew his goblin hue, + The darker grew the cave. + + She crossed him thrice, that lady bold; + He rose beneath her hand + The fairest knight on Scottish mould, + Her brother, Ethert Brand! + + Merry it is in good greenwood, + When the mavis and merle are singing, + But merrier were they in Dunfermline gray, + When all the bells were ringing. + + + XVI. + + Just as the minstrel sounds were stayed, + A stranger climbed the steepy glade; + His martial step, his stately mien, + His hunting-suit of Lincoln green, + His eagle glance, remembrance claims-- + 'Tis Snowdoun's Knight, 'tis James Fitz-James. + Ellen beheld as in a dream, + Then, starting, scarce suppressed a scream: + 'O stranger! in such hour of fear + What evil hap has brought thee here?' + 'An evil hap how can it be + That bids me look again on thee? + By promise bound, my former guide + Met me betimes this morning-tide, + And marshalled over bank and bourne + The happy path of my return.' + 'The happy path!--what! said he naught + Of war, of battle to be fought, + Of guarded pass?' 'No, by my faith! + Nor saw I aught could augur scathe.' + 'O haste thee, Allan, to the kern: + Yonder his tartars I discern; + Learn thou his purpose, and conjure + That he will guide the stranger sure!-- + What prompted thee, unhappy man? + The meanest serf in Roderick's clan + Had not been bribed, by love or fear, + Unknown to him to guide thee here.' + + + XVII. + + 'Sweet Ellen, dear my life must be, + Since it is worthy care from thee; + Yet life I hold but idle breath + When love or honor's weighed with death. + Then let me profit by my chance, + And speak my purpose bold at once. + I come to bear thee from a wild + Where ne'er before such blossom smiled, + By this soft hand to lead thee far + From frantic scenes of feud and war. + Near Bochastle my horses wait; + They bear us soon to Stirling gate. + I'll place thee in a lovely bower, + I'll guard thee like a tender flower--' + 'O hush, Sir Knight! 't were female art, + To say I do not read thy heart; + Too much, before, my selfish ear + Was idly soothed my praise to hear. + That fatal bait hath lured thee back, + In deathful hour, o'er dangerous track; + And how, O how, can I atone + The wreck my vanity brought on!-- + One way remains--I'll tell him all-- + Yes! struggling bosom, forth it shall! + Thou, whose light folly bears the blame, + Buy thine own pardon with thy shame! + But first--my father is a man + Outlawed and exiled, under ban; + The price of blood is on his head, + With me 't were infamy to wed. + Still wouldst thou speak?--then hear the truth! + Fitz-James, there is a noble youth-- + If yet he is!--exposed for me + And mine to dread extremity-- + Thou hast the secret of my bears; + Forgive, be generous, and depart!' + + + XVIII. + + Fitz-James knew every wily train + A lady's fickle heart to gain, + But here he knew and felt them vain. + There shot no glance from Ellen's eye, + To give her steadfast speech the lie; + In maiden confidence she stood, + Though mantled in her cheek the blood + And told her love with such a sigh + Of deep and hopeless agony, + As death had sealed her Malcolm's doom + And she sat sorrowing on his tomb. + Hope vanished from Fitz-James's eye, + But not with hope fled sympathy. + He proffered to attend her side, + As brother would a sister guide. + 'O little know'st thou Roderick's heart! + Safer for both we go apart. + O haste thee, and from Allan learn + If thou mayst trust yon wily kern.' + With hand upon his forehead laid, + The conflict of his mind to shade, + A parting step or two he made; + Then, as some thought had crossed his brain + He paused, and turned, and came again. + + + XIX. + + 'Hear, lady, yet a parting word!-- + It chanced in fight that my poor sword + Preserved the life of Scotland's lord. + This ring the grateful Monarch gave, + And bade, when I had boon to crave, + To bring it back, and boldly claim + The recompense that I would name. + Ellen, I am no courtly lord, + But one who lives by lance and sword, + Whose castle is his helm and shield, + His lordship the embattled field. + What from a prince can I demand, + Who neither reck of state nor land? + Ellen, thy hand--the ring is thine; + Each guard and usher knows the sign. + Seek thou the King without delay; + This signet shall secure thy way: + And claim thy suit, whate'er it be, + As ransom of his pledge to me.' + He placed the golden circlet on, + Paused--kissed her hand--and then was gone. + The aged Minstrel stood aghast, + So hastily Fitz-James shot past. + He joined his guide, and wending down + The ridges of the mountain brown, + Across the stream they took their way + That joins Loch Katrine to Achray. + + + XX + + All in the Trosachs' glen was still, + Noontide was sleeping on the hill: + Sudden his guide whooped loud and high-- + 'Murdoch! was that a signal cry?'-- + He stammered forth, 'I shout to scare + Yon raven from his dainty fare.' + He looked--he knew the raven's prey, + His own brave steed: 'Ah! gallant gray! + For thee--for me, perchance--'t were well + We ne'er had seen the Trosachs' dell.-- + Murdoch, move first---but silently; + Whistle or whoop, and thou shalt die!' + Jealous and sullen on they fared, + Each silent, each upon his guard. + + + XXI. + + Now wound the path its dizzy ledge + Around a precipice's edge, + When lo! a wasted female form, + Blighted by wrath of sun and storm, + In tattered weeds and wild array, + Stood on a cliff beside the way, + And glancing round her restless eye, + Upon the wood, the rock, the sky, + Seemed naught to mark, yet all to spy. + Her brow was wreathed with gaudy broom; + With gesture wild she waved a plume + Of feathers, which the eagles fling + To crag and cliff from dusky wing; + Such spoils her desperate step had sought, + Where scarce was footing for the goat. + The tartan plaid she first descried, + And shrieked till all the rocks replied; + As loud she laughed when near they drew, + For then the Lowland garb she knew; + And then her hands she wildly wrung, + And then she wept, and then she sung-- + She sung!--the voice, in better time, + Perchance to harp or lute might chime; + And now, though strained and roughened, still + Rung wildly sweet to dale and hill. + + + XXII. + + Song. + + They bid me sleep, they bid me pray, + They say my brain is warped and wrung-- + I cannot sleep on Highland brae, + I cannot pray in Highland tongue. + But were I now where Allan glides, + Or heard my native Devan's tides, + So sweetly would I rest, and pray + That Heaven would close my wintry day! + + 'Twas thus my hair they bade me braid, + They made me to the church repair; + It was my bridal morn they said, + And my true love would meet me there. + But woe betide the cruel guile + That drowned in blood the morning smile! + And woe betide the fairy dream! + I only waked to sob and scream. + + + XXIII. + + 'Who is this maid? what means her lay? + She hovers o'er the hollow way, + And flutters wide her mantle gray, + As the lone heron spreads his wing, + By twilight, o'er a haunted spring.' + ''Tis Blanche of Devan,' Murdoch said, + 'A crazed and captive Lowland maid, + Ta'en on the morn she was a bride, + When Roderick forayed Devan-side. + The gay bridegroom resistance made, + And felt our Chief's unconquered blade. + I marvel she is now at large, + But oft she 'scapes from Maudlin's charge.-- + Hence, brain-sick fool!'--He raised his bow:-- + 'Now, if thou strik'st her but one blow, + I'll pitch thee from the cliff as far + As ever peasant pitched a bar!' + 'Thanks, champion, thanks' the Maniac cried, + And pressed her to Fitz-James's side. + 'See the gray pennons I prepare, + To seek my true love through the air! + I will not lend that savage groom, + To break his fall, one downy plume! + No!--deep amid disjointed stones, + The wolves shall batten on his bones, + And then shall his detested plaid, + By bush and brier in mid-air stayed, + Wave forth a banner fail and free, + Meet signal for their revelry.' + + + XXIV + + 'Hush thee, poor maiden, and be still!' + 'O! thou look'st kindly, and I will. + Mine eye has dried and wasted been, + But still it loves the Lincoln green; + And, though mine ear is all unstrung, + Still, still it loves the Lowland tongue. + + 'For O my sweet William was forester true, + He stole poor Blanche's heart away! + His coat it was all of the greenwood hue, + And so blithely he trilled the Lowland lay! + + 'It was not that I meant to tell... + But thou art wise and guessest well.' + Then, in a low and broken tone, + And hurried note, the song went on. + Still on the Clansman fearfully + She fixed her apprehensive eye, + Then turned it on the Knight, and then + Her look glanced wildly o'er the glen. + + + XXV. + + 'The toils are pitched, and the stakes are set,-- + Ever sing merrily, merrily; + The bows they bend, and the knives they whet, + Hunters live so cheerily. + + It was a stag, a stag of ten, + Bearing its branches sturdily; + He came stately down the glen,-- + Ever sing hardily, hardily. + + 'It was there he met with a wounded doe, + She was bleeding deathfully; + She warned him of the toils below, + O. so faithfully, faithfully! + + 'He had an eye, and he could heed,-- + Ever sing warily, warily; + He had a foot, and he could speed,-- + Hunters watch so narrowly.' + + + XXVI. + + Fitz-James's mind was passion-tossed, + When Ellen's hints and fears were lost; + But Murdoch's shout suspicion wrought, + And Blanche's song conviction brought. + Not like a stag that spies the snare, + But lion of the hunt aware, + He waved at once his blade on high, + 'Disclose thy treachery, or die!' + Forth at hell speed the Clansman flew, + But in his race his bow he drew. + The shaft just grazed Fitz-James's crest, + And thrilled in Blanche's faded breast.-- + Murdoch of Alpine! prove thy speed, + For ne'er had Alpine's son such need; + With heart of fire, and foot of wind, + The fierce avenger is behind! + Fate judges of the rapid strife-- + The forfeit death--the prize is life; + Thy kindred ambush lies before, + Close couched upon the heathery moor; + Them couldst thou reach!--it may not be + Thine ambushed kin thou ne'er shalt see, + The fiery Saxon gains on thee!-- + Resistless speeds the deadly thrust, + As lightning strikes the pine to dust; + With foot and hand Fitz-James must strain + Ere he can win his blade again. + Bent o'er the fallen with falcon eye, + He grimly smiled to see him die, + Then slower wended back his way, + Where the poor maiden bleeding lay. + + + XXVII. + + She sat beneath the birchen tree, + Her elbow resting on her knee; + She had withdrawn the fatal shaft, + And gazed on it, and feebly laughed; + Her wreath of broom and feathers gray, + Daggled with blood, beside her lay. + The Knight to stanch the life-stream tried,-- + 'Stranger, it is in vain!' she cried. + 'This hour of death has given me more + Of reason's power than years before; + For, as these ebbing veins decay, + My frenzied visions fade away. + A helpless injured wretch I die, + And something tells me in thine eye + That thou wert mine avenger born. + Seest thou this tress?--O. still I 've worn + This little tress of yellow hair, + Through danger, frenzy, and despair! + It once was bright and clear as thine, + But blood and tears have dimmed its shine. + I will not tell thee when 't was shred, + Nor from what guiltless victim's head,-- + My brain would turn!--but it shall wave + Like plumage on thy helmet brave, + Till sun and wind shall bleach the stain, + And thou wilt bring it me again. + I waver still.--O God! more bright + Let reason beam her parting light!-- + O. by thy knighthood's honored sign, + And for thy life preserved by mine, + When thou shalt see a darksome man, + Who boasts him Chief of Alpine's Clan, + With tartars broad and shadowy plume, + And hand of blood, and brow of gloom + Be thy heart bold, thy weapon strong, + And wreak poor Blanche of Devan's wrong!-- + They watch for thee by pass and fell... + Avoid the path... O God!... farewell.' + + + XXVIII. + + A kindly heart had brave Fitz-James; + Fast poured his eyes at pity's claims; + And now, with mingled grief and ire, + He saw the murdered maid expire. + 'God, in my need, be my relief, + As I wreak this on yonder Chief!' + A lock from Blanche's tresses fair + He blended with her bridegroom's hair; + The mingled braid in blood he dyed, + And placed it on his bonnet-side: + 'By Him whose word is truth, I swear, + No other favour will I wear, + Till this sad token I imbrue + In the best blood of Roderick Dhu!-- + But hark! what means yon faint halloo? + The chase is up,--but they shall know, + The stag at bay 's a dangerous foe.' + Barred from the known but guarded way, + Through copse and cliffs Fitz-James must stray, + And oft must change his desperate track, + By stream and precipice turned back. + Heartless, fatigued, and faint, at length, + From lack of food and loss of strength + He couched him in a thicket hoar + And thought his toils and perils o'er:-- + 'Of all my rash adventures past, + This frantic feat must prove the last! + Who e'er so mad but might have guessed + That all this Highland hornet's nest + Would muster up in swarms so soon + As e'er they heard of bands at Doune?-- + Like bloodhounds now they search me out,-- + Hark, to the whistle and the shout!-- + If farther through the wilds I go, + I only fall upon the foe: + I'll couch me here till evening gray, + Then darkling try my dangerous way.' + + + XXIX. + + The shades of eve come slowly down, + The woods are wrapt in deeper brown, + The owl awakens from her dell, + The fox is heard upon the fell; + Enough remains of glimmering light + To guide the wanderer's steps aright, + Yet not enough from far to show + His figure to the watchful foe. + With cautious step and ear awake, + He climbs the crag and threads the brake; + And not the summer solstice there + Tempered the midnight mountain air, + But every breeze that swept the wold + Benumbed his drenched limbs with cold. + In dread, in danger, and alone, + Famished and chilled, through ways unknown, + Tangled and steep, he journeyed on; + Till, as a rock's huge point he turned, + A watch-fire close before him burned. + + + XXX. + + Beside its embers red and clear + Basked in his plaid a mountaineer; + And up he sprung with sword in hand,-- + 'Thy name and purpose! Saxon, stand!' + 'A stranger.' 'What dost thou require?' + 'Rest and a guide, and food and fire + My life's beset, my path is lost, + The gale has chilled my limbs with frost.' + 'Art thou a friend to Roderick?' 'No.' + 'Thou dar'st not call thyself a foe?' + 'I dare! to him and all the band + He brings to aid his murderous hand.' + 'Bold words!--but, though the beast of game + The privilege of chase may claim, + Though space and law the stag we lend + Ere hound we slip or bow we bend + Who ever recked, where, how, or when, + The prowling fox was trapped or slain? + Thus treacherous scouts,--yet sure they lie + Who say thou cam'st a secret spy!'-- + 'They do, by heaven!--come Roderick Dhu + And of his clan the boldest two + And let me but till morning rest, + I write the falsehood on their crest.' + If by the blaze I mark aright + Thou bear'st the belt and spur of Knight.' + 'Then by these tokens mayst thou know + Each proud oppressor's mortal foe.' + 'Enough, enough; sit down and share + A soldier's couch, a soldier's fare.' + + + XXXI.. + + He gave him of his Highland cheer, + The hardened flesh of mountain deer; + Dry fuel on the fire he laid, + And bade the Saxon share his plaid. + He tended him like welcome guest, + Then thus his further speech addressed:-- + 'Stranger, I am to Roderick Dhu + A clansman born, a kinsman true; + Each word against his honour spoke + Demands of me avenging stroke; + Yet more,--upon thy fate, 'tis said, + A mighty augury is laid. + It rests with me to wind my horn,-- + Thou art with numbers overborne; + It rests with me, here, brand to brand, + Worn as thou art, to bid thee stand: + But, not for clan, nor kindred's cause, + Will I depart from honour's laws; + To assail a wearied man were shame, + And stranger is a holy name; + Guidance and rest, and food and fire, + In vain he never must require. + Then rest thee here till dawn of day; + Myself will guide thee on the way, + O'er stock and stone, through watch and ward, + Till past Clan-Alpine's outmost guard, + As far as Coilantogle's ford; + From thence thy warrant is thy sword.' + 'I take thy courtesy, by heaven, + As freely as 'tis nobly given!' + Well, rest thee; for the bittern's cry + Sings us the lake's wild lullaby.' + With that he shook the gathered heath, + And spread his plaid upon the wreath; + And the brave foemen, side by side, + Lay peaceful down like brothers tried, + And slept until the dawning beam + Purpled the mountain and the stream. + + + + +CANTO FIFTH. + +The Combat. + + + + I. + + Fair as the earliest beam of eastern light, + When first, by the bewildered pilgrim spied, + It smiles upon the dreary brow of night + And silvers o'er the torrent's foaming tide + And lights the fearful path on mountain-side,-- + Fair as that beam, although the fairest far, + Giving to horror grace, to danger pride, + Shine martial Faith, and Courtesy's bright star + Through all the wreckful storms that cloud the brow of War. + + + II. + + That early beam, so fair and sheen, + Was twinkling through the hazel screen + When, rousing at its glimmer red, + The warriors left their lowly bed, + Looked out upon the dappled sky, + Muttered their soldier matins try, + And then awaked their fire, to steal, + As short and rude, their soldier meal. + That o'er, the Gael around him threw + His graceful plaid of varied hue, + And, true to promise, led the way, + By thicket green and mountain gray. + A wildering path!--they winded now + Along the precipice's brow, + Commanding the rich scenes beneath, + The windings of the Forth and Teith, + And all the vales between that lie. + Till Stirling's turrets melt in sky; + Then, sunk in copse, their farthest glance + Gained not the length of horseman's lance. + 'Twas oft so steep, the foot was as fain + Assistance from the hand to gain; + So tangled oft that, bursting through, + Each hawthorn shed her showers of dew,-- + That diamond dew, so pure and clear, + It rivals all but Beauty's tear! + + + III. + + At length they came where, stern and steep, + The hill sinks down upon the deep. + Here Vennachar in silver flows, + There, ridge on ridge, Benledi rose; + Ever the hollow path twined on, + Beneath steep hank and threatening stone; + A hundred men might hold the post + With hardihood against a host. + The rugged mountain's scanty cloak + Was dwarfish shrubs of birch and oak + With shingles bare, and cliffs between + And patches bright of bracken green, + And heather black, that waved so high, + It held the copse in rivalry. + But where the lake slept deep and still + Dank osiers fringed the swamp and hill; + And oft both path and hill were torn + Where wintry torrent down had borne + And heaped upon the cumbered land + Its wreck of gravel, rocks, and sand. + So toilsome was the road to trace + The guide, abating of his pace, + Led slowly through the pass's jaws + And asked Fitz-James by what strange cause + He sought these wilds, traversed by few + Without a pass from Roderick Dhu. + + + IV. + + 'Brave Gael, my pass, in danger tried + Hangs in my belt and by my side + Yet, sooth to tell,' the Saxon said, + 'I dreamt not now to claim its aid. + When here, but three days since, + I came Bewildered in pursuit of game, + All seemed as peaceful and as still + As the mist slumbering on yon hill; + Thy dangerous Chief was then afar, + Nor soon expected back from war. + Thus said, at least, my mountain-guide, + Though deep perchance the villain lied.' + 'Yet why a second venture try?' + 'A warrior thou, and ask me why!-- + Moves our free course by such fixed cause + As gives the poor mechanic laws? + Enough, I sought to drive away + The lazy hours of peaceful day; + Slight cause will then suffice to guide + A Knight's free footsteps far and wide,-- + A falcon flown, a greyhound strayed, + The merry glance of mountain maid; + Or, if a path be dangerous known, + The danger's self is lure alone.' + + + V. + + 'Thy secret keep, I urge thee not;-- + Yet, ere again ye sought this spot, + Say, heard ye naught of Lowland war, + Against Clan-Alpine, raised by Mar?' + 'No, by my word;--of bands prepared + To guard King James's sports I heard; + Nor doubt I aught, but, when they hear + This muster of the mountaineer, + Their pennons will abroad be flung, + Which else in Doune had peaceful hung.' + 'Free be they flung! for we were loath + Their silken folds should feast the moth. + Free be they flung!--as free shall wave + Clan-Alpine's pine in banner brave. + But, stranger, peaceful since you came, + Bewildered in the mountain-game, + Whence the bold boast by which you show + Vich-Alpine's vowed and mortal foe?' + 'Warrior, but yester-morn I knew + Naught of thy Chieftain, Roderick Dhu, + Save as an outlawed desperate man, + The chief of a rebellious clan, + Who, in the Regent's court and sight, + With ruffian dagger stabbed a knight; + Yet this alone might from his part + Sever each true and loyal heart.' + + + VI. + + Wrathful at such arraignment foul, + Dark lowered the clansman's sable scowl. + A space he paused, then sternly said, + 'And heardst thou why he drew his blade? + Heardst thou that shameful word and blow + Brought Roderick's vengeance on his foe? + What recked the Chieftain if he stood + On Highland heath or Holy-Rood? + He rights such wrong where it is given, + If it were in the court of heaven.' + 'Still was it outrage;--yet, 'tis true, + Not then claimed sovereignty his due; + While Albany with feeble hand + Held borrowed truncheon of command, + The young King, mewed in Stirling tower, + Was stranger to respect and power. + But then, thy Chieftain's robber life!-- + Winning mean prey by causeless strife, + Wrenching from ruined Lowland swain + His herds and harvest reared in vain,-- + Methinks a soul like thine should scorn + The spoils from such foul foray borne.' + + + VII. + + The Gael beheld him grim the while, + And answered with disdainful smile: + 'Saxon, from yonder mountain high, + I marked thee send delighted eye + Far to the south and east, where lay, + Extended in succession gay, + Deep waving fields and pastures green, + With gentle slopes and groves between:-- + These fertile plains, that softened vale, + Were once the birthright of the Gael; + The stranger came with iron hand, + And from our fathers reft the land. + Where dwell we now? See, rudely swell + Crag over crag, and fell o'er fell. + Ask we this savage hill we tread + For fattened steer or household bread, + Ask we for flocks these shingles dry, + And well the mountain might reply,-- + "To you, as to your sires of yore, + Belong the target and claymore! + I give you shelter in my breast, + Your own good blades must win the rest." + Pent in this fortress of the North, + Think'st thou we will not sally forth, + To spoil the spoiler as we may, + And from the robber rend the prey? + Ay, by my soul!--While on yon plain + The Saxon rears one shock of grain, + While of ten thousand herds there strays + But one along yon river's maze,-- + The Gael, of plain and river heir, + Shall with strong hand redeem his share. + Where live the mountain Chiefs who hold + That plundering Lowland field and fold + Is aught but retribution true? + Seek other cause 'gainst Roderick Dhu.' + + + VIII. + + Answered Fitz-James: 'And, if I sought, + Think'st thou no other could be brought? + What deem ye of my path waylaid? + My life given o'er to ambuscade?' + 'As of a meed to rashness due: + Hadst thou sent warning fair and true,-- + I seek my hound or falcon strayed, + I seek, good faith, a Highland maid,-- + Free hadst thou been to come and go; + But secret path marks secret foe. + Nor yet for this, even as a spy, + Hadst thou, unheard, been doomed to die, + Save to fulfil an augury.' + 'Well, let it pass; nor will I now + Fresh cause of enmity avow + To chafe thy mood and cloud thy brow. + Enough, I am by promise tied + To match me with this man of pride: + Twice have I sought Clan-Alpine's glen + In peace; but when I come again, + I come with banner, brand, and bow, + As leader seeks his mortal foe. + For love-lore swain in lady's bower + Ne'er panted for the appointed hour + As I, until before me stand + This rebel Chieftain and his band!' + + + IX. + + 'Have then thy wish!'--He whistled shrill + And he was answered from the hill; + Wild as the scream of the curlew, + From crag to crag the signal flew. + Instant, through copse and heath, arose + Bonnets and spears and bended bows + On right, on left, above, below, + Sprung up at once the lurking foe; + From shingles gray their lances start, + The bracken bush sends forth the dart, + The rushes and the willow-wand + Are bristling into axe and brand, + And every tuft of broom gives life + 'To plaided warrior armed for strife. + That whistle garrisoned the glen + At once with full five hundred men, + As if the yawning hill to heaven + A subterranean host had given. + Watching their leader's beck and will, + All silent there they stood and still. + Like the loose crags whose threatening mass + Lay tottering o'er the hollow pass, + As if an infant's touch could urge + Their headlong passage down the verge, + With step and weapon forward flung, + Upon the mountain-side they hung. + The Mountaineer cast glance of pride + Along Benledi's living side, + Then fixed his eye and sable brow + Full on Fitz-James: 'How say'st thou now? + These are Clan-Alpine's warriors true; + And, Saxon,--I am Roderick Dhu!' + + + X. + + Fitz-James was brave:--though to his heart + The life-blood thrilled with sudden start, + He manned himself with dauntless air, + Returned the Chief his haughty stare, + His back against a rock he bore, + And firmly placed his foot before:-- + 'Come one, come all! this rock shall fly + From its firm base as soon as I.' + Sir Roderick marked,--and in his eyes + Respect was mingled with surprise, + And the stern joy which warriors feel + In foeman worthy of their steel. + Short space he stood--then waved his hand: + Down sunk the disappearing band; + Each warrior vanished where he stood, + In broom or bracken, heath or wood; + Sunk brand and spear and bended bow, + In osiers pale and copses low; + It seemed as if their mother Earth + Had swallowed up her warlike birth. + The wind's last breath had tossed in air + Pennon and plaid and plumage fair,-- + The next but swept a lone hill-side + Where heath and fern were waving wide: + The sun's last glance was glinted back + From spear and glaive, from targe and jack,-- + The next, all unreflected, shone + On bracken green and cold gray stone. + + + XI. + + Fitz-James looked round,--yet scarce believed + The witness that his sight received; + Such apparition well might seem + Delusion of a dreadful dream. + Sir Roderick in suspense he eyed, + And to his look the Chief replied: + 'Fear naught--nay, that I need not say + But--doubt not aught from mine array. + Thou art my guest;--I pledged my word + As far as Coilantogle ford: + Nor would I call a clansman's brand + For aid against one valiant hand, + Though on our strife lay every vale + Rent by the Saxon from the Gael. + So move we on;--I only meant + To show the reed on which you leant, + Deeming this path you might pursue + Without a pass from Roderick Dhu.' + They moved;--I said Fitz-James was brave + As ever knight that belted glaive, + Yet dare not say that now his blood + Kept on its wont and tempered flood, + As, following Roderick's stride, he drew + That seeming lonesome pathway through, + Which yet by fearful proof was rife + With lances, that, to take his life, + Waited but signal from a guide, + So late dishonored and defied. + Ever, by stealth, his eye sought round + The vanished guardians of the ground, + And stir'd from copse and heather deep + Fancy saw spear and broadsword peep, + And in the plover's shrilly strain + The signal whistle heard again. + Nor breathed he free till far behind + The pass was left; for then they wind + Along a wide and level green, + Where neither tree nor tuft was seen, + Nor rush nor bush of broom was near, + To hide a bonnet or a spear. + + + XII. + + The Chief in silence strode before, + And reached that torrent's sounding shore, + Which, daughter of three mighty lakes, + From Vennachar in silver breaks, + Sweeps through the plain, and ceaseless mines + On Bochastle the mouldering lines, + Where Rome, the Empress of the world, + Of yore her eagle wings unfurled. + And here his course the Chieftain stayed, + Threw down his target and his plaid, + And to the Lowland warrior said: + 'Bold Saxon! to his promise just, + Vich-Alpine has discharged his trust. + This murderous Chief, this ruthless man, + This head of a rebellious clan, + Hath led thee safe, through watch and ward, + Far past Clan-Alpine's outmost guard. + Now, man to man, and steel to steel, + A Chieftain's vengeance thou shalt feel. + See, here all vantageless I stand, + Armed like thyself with single brand; + For this is Coilantogle ford, + And thou must keep thee with thy sword.' + + + XIII. + + The Saxon paused: 'I ne'er delayed, + When foeman bade me draw my blade; + Nay more, brave Chief, I vowed thy death; + Yet sure thy fair and generous faith, + And my deep debt for life preserved, + A better meed have well deserved: + Can naught but blood our feud atone? + Are there no means?'--' No, stranger, none! + And hear,--to fire thy flagging zeal,-- + The Saxon cause rests on thy steel; + For thus spoke Fate by prophet bred + Between the living and the dead:" + Who spills the foremost foeman's life, + His party conquers in the strife."' + 'Then, by my word,' the Saxon said, + "The riddle is already read. + Seek yonder brake beneath the cliff,-- + There lies Red Murdoch, stark and stiff. + Thus Fate hath solved her prophecy; + Then yield to Fate, and not to me. + To James at Stirling let us go, + When, if thou wilt be still his foe, + Or if the King shall not agree + To grant thee grace and favor free, + I plight mine honor, oath, and word + That, to thy native strengths restored, + With each advantage shalt thou stand + That aids thee now to guard thy land.' + + + XIV. + + Dark lightning flashed from Roderick's eye: + 'Soars thy presumption, then, so high, + Because a wretched kern ye slew, + Homage to name to Roderick Dhu? + He yields not, he, to man nor Fate! + Thou add'st but fuel to my hate;-- + My clansman's blood demands revenge. + Not yet prepared?--By heaven, I change + My thought, and hold thy valor light + As that of some vain carpet knight, + Who ill deserved my courteous care, + And whose best boast is but to wear + A braid of his fair lady's hair.' 'I thank thee, + Roderick, for the word! + It nerves my heart, it steels my sword; + For I have sworn this braid to stain + In the best blood that warms thy vein. + Now, truce, farewell! and, rush, begone!-- + Yet think not that by thee alone, + Proud Chief! can courtesy be shown; + Though not from copse, or heath, or cairn, + Start at my whistle clansmen stern, + Of this small horn one feeble blast + Would fearful odds against thee cast. + But fear not--doubt not--which thou wilt-- + We try this quarrel hilt to hilt.' + Then each at once his falchion drew, + Each on the ground his scabbard threw + Each looked to sun and stream and plain + As what they ne'er might see again; + Then foot and point and eye opposed, + In dubious strife they darkly closed. + + + XV. + + Ill fared it then with Roderick Dhu, + That on the field his targe he threw, + Whose brazen studs and tough bull-hide + Had death so often dashed aside; + For, trained abroad his arms to wield + Fitz-James's blade was sword and shield. + He practised every pass and ward, + To thrust, to strike, to feint, to guard; + While less expert, though stronger far, + The Gael maintained unequal war. + Three times in closing strife they stood + And thrice the Saxon blade drank blood; + No stinted draught, no scanty tide, + The gushing flood the tartars dyed. + Fierce Roderick felt the fatal drain, + And showered his blows like wintry rain; + And, as firm rock or castle-roof + Against the winter shower is proof, + The foe, invulnerable still, + Foiled his wild rage by steady skill; + Till, at advantage ta'en, his brand + Forced Roderick's weapon from his hand, + And backward borne upon the lea, + Brought the proud Chieftain to his knee. + + + XVI. + + Now yield thee, or by Him who made + The world, thy heart's blood dyes my blade!; + 'Thy threats, thy mercy, I defy! + Let recreant yield, who fears to die.' + Like adder darting from his coil, + Like wolf that dashes through the toil, + Like mountain-cat who guards her young, + Full at Fitz-James's throat he sprung; + Received, but recked not of a wound, + And locked his arms his foeman round. + Now, gallant Saxon, hold thine own! + No maiden's hand is round thee thrown! + That desperate grasp thy frame might feel + Through bars of brass and triple steel! + They tug, they strain! down, down they go, + The Gael above, Fitz-James below. + The Chieftain's gripe his throat compressed, + His knee was planted on his breast; + His clotted locks he backward threw, + Across his brow his hand he drew, + From blood and mist to clear his sight, + Then gleamed aloft his dagger bright! + But hate and fury ill supplied + The stream of life's exhausted tide, + And all too late the advantage came, + To turn the odds of deadly game; + For, while the dagger gleamed on high, + Reeled soul and sense, reeled brain and eye. + Down came the blow! but in the heath + The erring blade found bloodless sheath. + The struggling foe may now unclasp + The fainting Chief's relaxing grasp; + Unwounded from the dreadful close, + But breathless all, Fitz-James arose. + + + XVII. + + He faltered thanks to Heaven for life, + Redeemed, unhoped, from desperate strife; + Next on his foe his look he cast, + Whose every gasp appeared his last + In Roderick's gore he dipped the braid,-- + 'Poor Blanche! thy wrongs are dearly paid; + Yet with thy foe must die, or live, + The praise that faith and valor give.' + With that he blew a bugle note, + Undid the collar from his throat, + Unbonneted, and by the wave + Sat down his brow and hands to rave. + Then faint afar are heard the feet + Of rushing steeds in gallop fleet; + The sounds increase, and now are seen + Four mounted squires in Lincoln green; + Two who bear lance, and two who lead + By loosened rein a saddled steed; + Each onward held his headlong course, + And by Fitz-James reined up his horse,-- + With wonder viewed the bloody spot,-- + 'Exclaim not, gallants' question not.-- + You, Herbert and Luffness, alight + And bind the wounds of yonder knight; + Let the gray palfrey bear his weight, + We destined for a fairer freight, + And bring him on to Stirling straight; + I will before at better speed, + To seek fresh horse and fitting weed. + The sun rides high;--I must be boune + To see the archer-game at noon; + But lightly Bayard clears the lea.-- + De Vaux and Herries, follow me. + + + XVIII. + + 'Stand, Bayard, stand!'--the steed obeyed, + With arching neck and bended head, + And glancing eye and quivering ear, + As if he loved his lord to hear. + No foot Fitz-James in stirrup stayed, + No grasp upon the saddle laid, + But wreathed his left hand in the mane, + And lightly bounded from the plain, + Turned on the horse his armed heel, + And stirred his courage with the steel. + Bounded the fiery steed in air, + The rider sat erect and fair, + Then like a bolt from steel crossbow + Forth launched, along the plain they go. + They dashed that rapid torrent through, + And up Carhonie's hill they flew; + Still at the gallop pricked the Knight, + His merrymen followed as they might. + Along thy banks, swift Teith! they ride, + And in the race they mock thy tide; + Torry and Lendrick now are past, + And Deanstown lies behind them cast; + They rise, the bannered towers of Doune, + They sink in distant woodland soon; + Blair-Drummond sees the hoofs strike fire, + They sweep like breeze through Ochtertyre; + They mark just glance and disappear + The lofty brow of ancient Kier; + They bathe their coursers' sweltering sides + Dark Forth! amid thy sluggish tides, + And on the opposing shore take ground + With plash, with scramble, and with bound. + Right-hand they leave thy cliffs, Craig-Forth! + And soon the bulwark of the North, + Gray Stirling, with her towers and town, + Upon their fleet career looked clown. + + + XIX. + + As up the flinty path they strained, + Sudden his steed the leader reined; + A signal to his squire he flung, + Who instant to his stirrup sprung:-- + 'Seest thou, De Vaux, yon woodsman gray, + Who townward holds the rocky way, + Of stature tall and poor array? + Mark'st thou the firm, yet active stride, + With which he scales the mountain-side? + Know'st thou from whence he comes, or whom?' + 'No, by my word;--a burly groom + He seems, who in the field or chase + A baron's train would nobly grace--' + 'Out, out, De Vaux! can fear supply, + And jealousy, no sharper eye? + Afar, ere to the hill he drew, + That stately form and step I knew; + Like form in Scotland is not seen, + Treads not such step on Scottish green. + 'Tis James of Douglas, by Saint Serle! + The uncle of the banished Earl. + Away, away, to court, to show + The near approach of dreaded foe: + The King must stand upon his guard; + Douglas and he must meet prepared.' + Then right-hand wheeled their steeds, and straight + They won the Castle's postern gate. + + + XX. + + The Douglas, who had bent his way + From Cambus-kenneth's abbey gray, + Now, as he climbed the rocky shelf, + Held sad communion with himself:-- + 'Yes! all is true my fears could frame; + A prisoner lies the noble Graeme, + And fiery Roderick soon will feel + The vengeance of the royal steel. + I, only I, can ward their fate,-- + God grant the ransom come not late! + The Abbess hath her promise given, + My child shall be the bride of Heaven;-- + Be pardoned one repining tear! + For He who gave her knows how dear, + How excellent!--but that is by, + And now my business is--to die.-- + Ye towers! within whose circuit dread + A Douglas by his sovereign bled; + And thou, O sad and fatal mound! + That oft hast heard the death-axe sound. + As on the noblest of the land + Fell the stern headsmen's bloody hand,-- + The dungeon, block, and nameless tomb + Prepare--for Douglas seeks his doom! + But hark! what blithe and jolly peal + Makes the Franciscan steeple reel? + And see! upon the crowded street, + In motley groups what masquers meet! + Banner and pageant, pipe and drum, + And merry morrice-dancers come. + I guess, by all this quaint array, + The burghers hold their sports to-day. + James will be there; he loves such show, + Where the good yeoman bends his bow, + And the tough wrestler foils his foe, + As well as where, in proud career, + The high-born filter shivers spear. + I'll follow to the Castle-park, + And play my prize;--King James shall mark + If age has tamed these sinews stark, + Whose force so oft in happier days + His boyish wonder loved to praise.' + + + XXI. + + The Castle gates were open flung, + The quivering drawbridge rocked and rung, + And echoed loud the flinty street + Beneath the coursers' clattering feet, + As slowly down the steep descent + Fair Scotland's King and nobles went, + While all along the crowded way + Was jubilee and loud huzza. + And ever James was bending low + To his white jennet's saddle-bow, + Doffing his cap to city dame, + Who smiled and blushed for pride and shame. + And well the simperer might be vain,-- + He chose the fairest of the train. + Gravely he greets each city sire, + Commends each pageant's quaint attire, + Gives to the dancers thanks aloud, + And smiles and nods upon the crowd, + Who rend the heavens with their acclaims,-- + 'Long live the Commons' King, King James!' + Behind the King thronged peer and knight, + And noble dame and damsel bright, + Whose fiery steeds ill brooked the stay + Of the steep street and crowded way. + But in the train you might discern + Dark lowering brow and visage stern; + There nobles mourned their pride restrained, + And the mean burgher's joys disdained; + And chiefs, who, hostage for their clan, + Were each from home a banished man, + There thought upon their own gray tower, + Their waving woods, their feudal power, + And deemed themselves a shameful part + Of pageant which they cursed in heart. + + + XXII. + + Now, in the Castle-park, drew out + Their checkered bands the joyous rout. + There morricers, with bell at heel + And blade in hand, their mazes wheel; + But chief, beside the butts, there stand + Bold Robin Hood and all his band,-- + Friar Tuck with quarterstaff and cowl, + Old Scathelocke with his surly scowl, + Maid Marian, fair as ivory bone, + Scarlet, and Mutch, and Little John; + Their bugles challenge all that will, + In archery to prove their skill. + The Douglas bent a bow of might,-- + His first shaft centred in the white, + And when in turn he shot again, + His second split the first in twain. + From the King's hand must Douglas take + A silver dart, the archers' stake; + Fondly he watched, with watery eye, + Some answering glance of sympathy,-- + No kind emotion made reply! + Indifferent as to archer wight, + The monarch gave the arrow bright. + + + XXIII. + + Now, clear the ring! for, hand to hand, + The manly wrestlers take their stand. + Two o'er the rest superior rose, + And proud demanded mightier foes,-- + Nor called in vain, for Douglas came.-- + For life is Hugh of Larbert lame; + Scarce better John of Alloa's fare, + Whom senseless home his comrades bare. + Prize of the wrestling match, the King + To Douglas gave a golden ring, + While coldly glanced his eye of blue, + As frozen drop of wintry dew. + Douglas would speak, but in his breast + His struggling soul his words suppressed; + Indignant then he turned him where + Their arms the brawny yeomen bare, + To hurl the massive bar in air. + When each his utmost strength had shown, + The Douglas rent an earth-fast stone + From its deep bed, then heaved it high, + And sent the fragment through the sky + A rood beyond the farthest mark; + And still in Stirling's royal park, + The gray-haired sires, who know the past, + To strangers point the Douglas cast, + And moralize on the decay + Of Scottish strength in modern day. + + + XXIV. + + The vale with loud applauses rang, + The Ladies' Rock sent back the clang. + The King, with look unmoved, bestowed + A purse well filled with pieces broad. + Indignant smiled the Douglas proud, + And threw the gold among the crowd, + Who now with anxious wonder scan, + And sharper glance, the dark gray man; + Till whispers rose among the throng, + That heart so free, and hand so strong, + Must to the Douglas blood belong. + The old men marked and shook the head, + To see his hair with silver spread, + And winked aside, and told each son + Of feats upon the English done, + Ere Douglas of the stalwart hand + Was exiled from his native land. + The women praised his stately form, + Though wrecked by many a winter's storm; + The youth with awe and wonder saw + His strength surpassing Nature's law. + Thus judged, as is their wont, the crowd + Till murmurs rose to clamours loud. + But not a glance from that proud ring + Of peers who circled round the King + With Douglas held communion kind, + Or called the banished man to mind; + No, not from those who at the chase + Once held his side the honoured place, + Begirt his board, and in the field + Found safety underneath his shield; + For he whom royal eyes disown, + When was his form to courtiers known! + + + XXV. + + The Monarch saw the gambols flag + And bade let loose a gallant stag, + Whose pride, the holiday to crown, + Two favorite greyhounds should pull down, + That venison free and Bourdeaux wine + Might serve the archery to dine. + But Lufra,--whom from Douglas' side + Nor bribe nor threat could e'er divide, + The fleetest hound in all the North,-- + Brave Lufra saw, and darted forth. + She left the royal hounds midway, + And dashing on the antlered prey, + Sunk her sharp muzzle in his flank, + And deep the flowing life-blood drank. + The King's stout huntsman saw the sport + By strange intruder broken short, + Came up, and with his leash unbound + In anger struck the noble hound. + The Douglas had endured, that morn, + The King's cold look, the nobles' scorn, + And last, and worst to spirit proud, + Had borne the pity of the crowd; + But Lufra had been fondly bred, + To share his board, to watch his bed, + And oft would Ellen Lufra's neck + In maiden glee with garlands deck; + They were such playmates that with name + Of Lufra Ellen's image came. + His stifled wrath is brimming high, + In darkened brow and flashing eye; + As waves before the bark divide, + The crowd gave way before his stride; + Needs but a buffet and no more, + The groom lies senseless in his gore. + Such blow no other hand could deal, + Though gauntleted in glove of steel. + + + XXVI. + + Then clamored loud the royal train, + And brandished swords and staves amain, + But stern the Baron's warning: + 'Back! Back, on your lives, ye menial pack! + Beware the Douglas.--Yes! behold, + King James! The Douglas, doomed of old, + And vainly sought for near and far, + A victim to atone the war, + A willing victim, now attends, + Nor craves thy grace but for his friends.--' + 'Thus is my clemency repaid? + Presumptuous Lord!' the Monarch said: + 'Of thy misproud ambitious clan, + Thou, James of Bothwell, wert the man, + The only man, in whom a foe + My woman-mercy would not know; + But shall a Monarch's presence brook + Injurious blow and haughty look?-- + What ho! the Captain of our Guard! + Give the offender fitting ward.-- + Break off the sports!'--for tumult rose, + And yeomen 'gan to bend their bows, + 'Break off the sports!' he said and frowned, + 'And bid our horsemen clear the ground.' + + + XXVII. + + Then uproar wild and misarray + Marred the fair form of festal day. + The horsemen pricked among the crowd, + Repelled by threats and insult loud; + To earth are borne the old and weak, + The timorous fly, the women shriek; + With flint, with shaft, with staff, with bar, + The hardier urge tumultuous war. + At once round Douglas darkly sweep + The royal spears in circle deep, + And slowly scale the pathway steep, + While on the rear in thunder pour + The rabble with disordered roar + With grief the noble Douglas saw + The Commons rise against the law, + And to the leading soldier said: + 'Sir John of Hyndford, 'twas my blade + That knighthood on thy shoulder laid; + For that good deed permit me then + A word with these misguided men.-- + + + XXVIII, + + 'Hear, gentle friends, ere yet for me + Ye break the bands of fealty. + My life, my honour, and my cause, + I tender free to Scotland's laws. + Are these so weak as must require + 'Fine aid of your misguided ire? + Or if I suffer causeless wrong, + Is then my selfish rage so strong, + My sense of public weal so low, + That, for mean vengeance on a foe, + Those cords of love I should unbind + Which knit my country and my kind? + O no! Believe, in yonder tower + It will not soothe my captive hour, + To know those spears our foes should dread + For me in kindred gore are red: + 'To know, in fruitless brawl begun, + For me that mother wails her son, + For me that widow's mate expires, + For me that orphans weep their sires, + That patriots mourn insulted laws, + And curse the Douglas for the cause. + O let your patience ward such ill, + And keep your right to love me still!' + + + XXIX. + + The crowd's wild fury sunk again + In tears, as tempests melt in rain. + With lifted hands and eyes, they prayed + For blessings on his generous head + Who for his country felt alone, + And prized her blood beyond his own. + Old men upon the verge of life + Blessed him who stayed the civil strife; + And mothers held their babes on high, + The self-devoted Chief to spy, + Triumphant over wrongs and ire, + To whom the prattlers owed a sire. + Even the rough soldier's heart was moved; + As if behind some bier beloved, + With trailing arms and drooping head, + The Douglas up the hill he led, + And at the Castle's battled verge, + With sighs resigned his honoured charge. + + + XXX. + + The offended Monarch rode apart, + With bitter thought and swelling heart, + And would not now vouchsafe again + Through Stirling streets to lead his train. + 'O Lennox, who would wish to rule + This changeling crowd, this common fool? + Hear'st thou,' he said, 'the loud acclaim + With which they shout the Douglas name? + With like acclaim the vulgar throat + Strained for King James their morning note; + With like acclaim they hailed the day + When first I broke the Douglas sway; + And like acclaim would Douglas greet + If he could hurl me from my seat. + Who o'er the herd would wish to reign, + Fantastic, fickle, fierce, and vain? + Vain as the leaf upon the stream, + And fickle as a changeful dream; + Fantastic as a woman's mood, + And fierce as Frenzy's fevered blood. + Thou many-headed monster-thing, + O who would wish to be thy king?-- + + + XXXI.. + + 'But soft! what messenger of speed + Spurs hitherward his panting steed? + I guess his cognizance afar-- + What from our cousin, John of Mar?' + 'He prays, my liege, your sports keep bound + Within the safe and guarded ground; + For some foul purpose yet unknown,-- + Most sure for evil to the throne,-- + The outlawed Chieftain, Roderick Dhu, + Has summoned his rebellious crew; + 'Tis said, in James of Bothwell's aid + These loose banditti stand arrayed. + The Earl of Mar this morn from Doune + To break their muster marched, and soon + Your Grace will hear of battle fought; + But earnestly the Earl besought, + Till for such danger he provide, + With scanty train you will not ride.' + + + XXXII. + + 'Thou warn'st me I have done amiss,-- + I should have earlier looked to this; + I lost it in this bustling day.-- + Retrace with speed thy former way; + Spare not for spoiling of thy steed, + The best of mine shall be thy meed. + Say to our faithful Lord of Mar, + We do forbid the intended war; + Roderick this morn in single fight + Was made our prisoner by a knight, + And Douglas hath himself and cause + Submitted to our kingdom's laws. + The tidings of their leaders lost + Will soon dissolve the mountain host, + Nor would we that the vulgar feel, + For their Chief's crimes, avenging steel. + Bear Mar our message, Braco, fly!' + He turned his steed,--'My liege, I hie, + Yet ere I cross this lily lawn + I fear the broadswords will be drawn.' + The turf the flying courser spurned, + And to his towers the King returned. + + + XXXIII. + + Ill with King James's mood that day + Suited gay feast and minstrel lay; + Soon were dismissed the courtly throng, + And soon cut short the festal song. + Nor less upon the saddened town + The evening sunk in sorrow down. + The burghers spoke of civil jar, + Of rumoured feuds and mountain war, + Of Moray, Mar, and Roderick Dhu, + All up in arms;--the Douglas too, + They mourned him pent within the hold, + 'Where stout Earl William was of old.'-- + And there his word the speaker stayed, + And finger on his lip he laid, + Or pointed to his dagger blade. + But jaded horsemen from the west + At evening to the Castle pressed, + And busy talkers said they bore + Tidings of fight on Katrine's shore; + At noon the deadly fray begun, + And lasted till the set of sun. + Thus giddy rumor shook the town, + Till closed the Night her pennons brown. + + + + +CANTO SIXTH. + +The Guard-room. + + + + I. + + The sun, awakening, through the smoky air + Of the dark city casts a sullen glance, + Rousing each caitiff to his task of care, + Of sinful man the sad inheritance; + Summoning revellers from the lagging dance, + Scaring the prowling robber to his den; + Gilding on battled tower the warder's lance, + And warning student pale to leave his pen, + And yield his drowsy eyes to the kind nurse of men. + + What various scenes, and O, what scenes of woe, + Are witnessed by that red and struggling beam! + The fevered patient, from his pallet low, + Through crowded hospital beholds it stream; + The ruined maiden trembles at its gleam, + The debtor wakes to thought of gyve and jail, + 'The love-lore wretch starts from tormenting dream: + The wakeful mother, by the glimmering pale, + Trims her sick infant's couch, and soothes his feeble wail. + + + II. + + At dawn the towers of Stirling rang + With soldier-step and weapon-clang, + While drums with rolling note foretell + Relief to weary sentinel. + Through narrow loop and casement barred, + The sunbeams sought the Court of Guard, + And, struggling with the smoky air, + Deadened the torches' yellow glare. + In comfortless alliance shone + The lights through arch of blackened stone, + And showed wild shapes in garb of war, + Faces deformed with beard and scar, + All haggard from the midnight watch, + And fevered with the stern debauch; + For the oak table's massive board, + Flooded with wine, with fragments stored, + And beakers drained, and cups o'erthrown, + Showed in what sport the night had flown. + Some, weary, snored on floor and bench; + Some labored still their thirst to quench; + Some, chilled with watching, spread their hands + O'er the huge chimney's dying brands, + While round them, or beside them flung, + At every step their harness rung. + + + III. + + These drew not for their fields the sword, + Like tenants of a feudal lord, + Nor owned the patriarchal claim + Of Chieftain in their leader's name; + Adventurers they, from far who roved, + To live by battle which they loved. + There the Italian's clouded face, + The swarthy Spaniard's there you trace; + The mountain-loving Switzer there + More freely breathed in mountain-air; + The Fleming there despised the soil + That paid so ill the labourer's toil; + Their rolls showed French and German name; + And merry England's exiles came, + To share, with ill-concealed disdain, + Of Scotland's pay the scanty gain. + All brave in arms, well trained to wield + The heavy halberd, brand, and shield; + In camps licentious, wild, and bold; + In pillage fierce and uncontrolled; + And now, by holytide and feast, + From rules of discipline released. + + + IV. + + 'They held debate of bloody fray, + Fought 'twixt Loch Katrine and Achray. + Fierce was their speech, and mid their words + 'Their hands oft grappled to their swords; + Nor sunk their tone to spare the ear + Of wounded comrades groaning near, + Whose mangled limbs and bodies gored + Bore token of the mountain sword, + Though, neighbouring to the Court of Guard, + Their prayers and feverish wails were heard,-- + Sad burden to the ruffian joke, + And savage oath by fury spoke!-- + At length up started John of Brent, + A yeoman from the banks of Trent; + A stranger to respect or fear, + In peace a chaser of the deer, + In host a hardy mutineer, + But still the boldest of the crew + When deed of danger was to do. + He grieved that day their games cut short, + And marred the dicer's brawling sport, + And shouted loud, 'Renew the bowl! + And, while a merry catch I troll, + Let each the buxom chorus bear, + Like brethren of the brand and spear.' + + + V. + + Soldier's Song. + + Our vicar still preaches that Peter and Poule + Laid a swinging long curse on the bonny brown bowl, + That there 's wrath and despair in the jolly black-jack, + And the seven deadly sins in a flagon of sack; + Yet whoop, Barnaby! off with thy liquor, + Drink upsees out, and a fig for the vicar! + + Our vicar he calls it damnation to sip + The ripe ruddy dew of a woman's dear lip, + Says that Beelzebub lurks in her kerchief so sly, + And Apollyon shoots darts from her merry black eye; + Yet whoop, Jack! kiss Gillian the quicker, + Till she bloom like a rose, and a fig for the vicar! + + Our vicar thus preaches,--and why should he not? + For the dues of his cure are the placket and pot; + And 'tis right of his office poor laymen to lurch + Who infringe the domains of our good Mother Church. + Yet whoop, bully-boys! off with your liquor, + Sweet Marjorie 's the word and a fig for the vicar! + + + VI. + + The warder's challenge, heard without, + Stayed in mid-roar the merry shout. + A soldier to the portal went,-- + 'Here is old Bertram, sirs, of Ghent; + And--beat for jubilee the drum!-- + A maid and minstrel with him come.' + Bertram, a Fleming, gray and scarred, + Was entering now the Court of Guard, + A harper with him, and, in plaid + All muffled close, a mountain maid, + Who backward shrunk to 'scape the view + Of the loose scene and boisterous crew. + 'What news?' they roared:--' I only know, + From noon till eve we fought with foe, + As wild and as untamable + As the rude mountains where they dwell; + On both sides store of blood is lost, + Nor much success can either boast.'-- + 'But whence thy captives, friend? such spoil + As theirs must needs reward thy toil. + Old dost thou wax, and wars grow sharp; + Thou now hast glee-maiden and harp! + Get thee an ape, and trudge the land, + The leader of a juggler band.' + + + VII. + + 'No, comrade;--no such fortune mine. + After the fight these sought our line, + That aged harper and the girl, + And, having audience of the Earl, + Mar bade I should purvey them steed, + And bring them hitherward with speed. + Forbear your mirth and rude alarm, + For none shall do them shame or harm.-- + 'Hear ye his boast?' cried John of Brent, + Ever to strife and jangling bent; + 'Shall he strike doe beside our lodge, + And yet the jealous niggard grudge + To pay the forester his fee? + I'll have my share howe'er it be, + Despite of Moray, Mar, or thee.' + Bertram his forward step withstood; + And, burning in his vengeful mood, + Old Allan, though unfit for strife, + Laid hand upon his dagger-knife; + But Ellen boldly stepped between, + And dropped at once the tartan screen:-- + So, from his morning cloud, appears + The sun of May through summer tears. + The savage soldiery, amazed, + As on descended angel gazed; + Even hardy Brent, abashed and tamed, + Stood half admiring, half ashamed. + + + VIII. + + Boldly she spoke: 'Soldiers, attend! + My father was the soldier's friend, + Cheered him in camps, in marches led, + And with him in the battle bled. + Not from the valiant or the strong + Should exile's daughter suffer wrong.' + Answered De Brent, most forward still + In every feat or good or ill: + 'I shame me of the part I played; + And thou an outlaw's child, poor maid! + An outlaw I by forest laws, + And merry Needwood knows the cause. + Poor Rose,--if Rose be living now,'-- + He wiped his iron eye and brow,-- + 'Must bear such age, I think, as thou.-- + Hear ye, my mates! I go to call + The Captain of our watch to hall: + There lies my halberd on the floor; + And he that steps my halberd o'er, + To do the maid injurious part, + My shaft shall quiver in his heart! + Beware loose speech, or jesting rough; + Ye all know John de Brent. Enough.' + + + IX. + + Their Captain came, a gallant young,-- + Of Tullibardine's house he sprung,-- + Nor wore he yet the spurs of knight; + Gay was his mien, his humor light + And, though by courtesy controlled, + Forward his speech, his bearing bold. + The high-born maiden ill could brook + The scanning of his curious look + And dauntless eye:--and yet, in sooth + Young Lewis was a generous youth; + But Ellen's lovely face and mien + Ill suited to the garb and scene, + Might lightly bear construction strange, + And give loose fancy scope to range. + 'Welcome to Stirling towers, fair maid! + Come ye to seek a champion's aid, + On palfrey white, with harper hoar, + Like errant damosel of yore? + Does thy high quest a knight require, + Or may the venture suit a squire?' + Her dark eye flashed;--she paused and sighed:-- + 'O what have I to do with pride!-- + Through scenes of sorrow, shame, and strife, + A suppliant for a father's life, + I crave an audience of the King. + Behold, to back my suit, a ring, + The royal pledge of grateful claims, + Given by the Monarch to Fitz-James.' + + + X. + + The signet-ring young Lewis took + With deep respect and altered look, + And said: 'This ring our duties own; + And pardon, if to worth unknown, + In semblance mean obscurely veiled, + Lady, in aught my folly failed. + Soon as the day flings wide his gates, + The King shall know what suitor waits. + Please you meanwhile in fitting bower + Repose you till his waking hour. + Female attendance shall obey + Your hest, for service or array. + Permit I marshal you the way.' + But, ere she followed, with the grace + And open bounty of her race, + She bade her slender purse be shared + Among the soldiers of the guard. + The rest with thanks their guerdon took, + But Brent, with shy and awkward look, + On the reluctant maiden's hold + Forced bluntly back the proffered gold:-- + 'Forgive a haughty English heart, + And O, forget its ruder part! + + The vacant purse shall be my share, + Which in my barrel-cap I'll bear, + Perchance, in jeopardy of war, + Where gayer crests may keep afar.' + With thanks--'twas all she could--the maid + His rugged courtesy repaid. + + + XI. + + When Ellen forth with Lewis went, + Allan made suit to John of Brent:-- + 'My lady safe, O let your grace + Give me to see my master's face! + His minstrel I,--to share his doom + Bound from the cradle to the tomb. + Tenth in descent, since first my sires + Waked for his noble house their Iyres, + Nor one of all the race was known + But prized its weal above their own. + With the Chief's birth begins our care; + Our harp must soothe the infant heir, + Teach the youth tales of fight, and grace + His earliest feat of field or chase; + In peace, in war, our rank we keep, + We cheer his board, we soothe his sleep, + Nor leave him till we pour our verse-- + A doleful tribute!--o'er his hearse. + Then let me share his captive lot; + It is my right,--deny it not!' + 'Little we reck,' said John of Brent, + 'We Southern men, of long descent; + Nor wot we how a name--a word-- + Makes clansmen vassals to a lord: + Yet kind my noble landlord's part,-- + God bless the house of Beaudesert! + And, but I loved to drive the deer + More than to guide the labouring steer, + I had not dwelt an outcast here. + Come, good old Minstrel, follow me; + Thy Lord and Chieftain shalt thou see.' + + + XII. + + Then, from a rusted iron hook, + A bunch of ponderous keys he took, + Lighted a torch, and Allan led + Through grated arch and passage dread. + Portals they passed, where, deep within, + Spoke prisoner's moan and fetters' din; + Through rugged vaults, where, loosely stored, + Lay wheel, and axe, and headsmen's sword, + And many a hideous engine grim, + For wrenching joint and crushing limb, + By artists formed who deemed it shame + And sin to give their work a name. + They halted at a Iow-browed porch, + And Brent to Allan gave the torch, + While bolt and chain he backward rolled, + And made the bar unhasp its hold. + They entered:--'twas a prison-room + Of stern security and gloom, + Yet not a dungeon; for the day + Through lofty gratings found its way, + And rude and antique garniture + Decked the sad walls and oaken floor, + Such as the rugged days of old + Deemed fit for captive noble's hold. + 'Here,' said De Brent, 'thou mayst remain + Till the Leech visit him again. + Strict is his charge, the warders tell, + To tend the noble prisoner well.' + Retiring then the bolt he drew, + And the lock's murmurs growled anew. + Roused at the sound, from lowly bed + A captive feebly raised his head. + The wondering Minstrel looked, and knew-- + Not his dear lord, but Roderick Dhu! + For, come from where Clan-Alpine fought, + They, erring, deemed the Chief he sought. + + + XIII. + + As the tall ship, whose lofty prore + Shall never stem the billows more, + Deserted by her gallant band, + Amid the breakers lies astrand,-- + So on his couch lay Roderick Dhu! + And oft his fevered limbs he threw + In toss abrupt, as when her sides + Lie rocking in the advancing tides, + That shake her frame with ceaseless beat, + Yet cannot heave her from her seat;-- + O, how unlike her course at sea! + Or his free step on hill and lea!-- + Soon as the Minstrel he could scan,-- + 'What of thy lady?--of my clan?-- + My mother?--Douglas?--tell me all! + Have they been ruined in my fall? + Ah, yes! or wherefore art thou here? + Yet speak,--speak boldly,--do not fear.'-- + For Allan, who his mood well knew, + Was choked with grief and terror too.-- + 'Who fought?--who fled?--Old man, be brief;-- + Some might,--for they had lost their Chief. + Who basely live?--who bravely died?' + 'O, calm thee, Chief!' the Minstrel cried, + 'Ellen is safe!' 'For that thank Heaven!' + 'And hopes are for the Douglas given;-- + The Lady Margaret, too, is well; + And, for thy clan,--on field or fell, + Has never harp of minstrel told + Of combat fought so true and bold. + Thy stately Pine is yet unbent, + Though many a goodly bough is rent.' + + + XIV. + + The Chieftain reared his form on high, + And fever's fire was in his eye; + But ghastly, pale, and livid streaks + Checkered his swarthy brow and cheeks. + 'Hark, Minstrel! I have heard thee play, + With measure bold on festal day, + In yon lone isle,--again where ne'er + Shall harper play or warrior hear!-- + That stirring air that peals on high, + O'er Dermid's race our victory.-- + Strike it!--and then,--for well thou canst,-- + Free from thy minstrel-spirit glanced, + Fling me the picture of the fight, + When met my clan the Saxon might. + I'll listen, till my fancy hears + The clang of swords' the crash of spears! + These grates, these walls, shall vanish then + For the fair field of fighting men, + And my free spirit burst away, + As if it soared from battle fray.' + The trembling Bard with awe obeyed,-- + Slow on the harp his hand he laid; + But soon remembrance of the sight + He witnessed from the mountain's height, + With what old Bertram told at night, + Awakened the full power of song, + And bore him in career along;-- + As shallop launched on river's tide, + 'That slow and fearful leaves the side, + But, when it feels the middle stream, + Drives downward swift as lightning's beam. + + + XV. + + Battle of Beal' An Duine. + + 'The Minstrel came once more to view + The eastern ridge of Benvenue, + For ere he parted he would say + Farewell to lovely loch Achray + Where shall he find, in foreign land, + So lone a lake, so sweet a strand!-- + There is no breeze upon the fern, + No ripple on the lake, + Upon her eyry nods the erne, + The deer has sought the brake; + The small birds will not sing aloud, + The springing trout lies still, + So darkly glooms yon thunder-cloud, + That swathes, as with a purple shroud, + Benledi's distant hill. + Is it the thunder's solemn sound + That mutters deep and dread, + Or echoes from the groaning ground + The warrior's measured tread? + Is it the lightning's quivering glance + That on the thicket streams, + Or do they flash on spear and lance + The sun's retiring beams?-- + I see the dagger-crest of Mar, + I see the Moray's silver star, + Wave o'er the cloud of Saxon war, + That up the lake comes winding far! + + To hero boune for battle-strife, + Or bard of martial lay, + 'Twere worth ten years of peaceful life, + One glance at their array! + + + XVI. + + 'Their light-armed archers far and near + Surveyed the tangled ground, + Their centre ranks, with pike and spear, + A twilight forest frowned, + Their barded horsemen in the rear + The stern battalia crowned. + No cymbal clashed, no clarion rang, + Still were the pipe and drum; + Save heavy tread, and armor's clang, + The sullen march was dumb. + There breathed no wind their crests to shake, + Or wave their flags abroad; + Scarce the frail aspen seemed to quake + That shadowed o'er their road. + Their vaward scouts no tidings bring, + Can rouse no lurking foe, + Nor spy a trace of living thing, + Save when they stirred the roe; + The host moves like a deep-sea wave, + Where rise no rocks its pride to brave + High-swelling, dark, and slow. + The lake is passed, and now they gain + A narrow and a broken plain, + Before the Trosachs' rugged jaws; + And here the horse and spearmen pause + While, to explore the dangerous glen + Dive through the pass the archer-men. + + + XVII. + + 'At once there rose so wild a yell + Within that dark and narrow dell, + As all the fiends from heaven that fell + Had pealed the banner-cry of hell! + Forth from the pass in tumult driven, + Like chaff before the wind of heaven, + The archery appear: + For life! for life! their flight they ply-- + And shriek, and shout, and battle-cry, + And plaids and bonnets waving high, + And broadswords flashing to the sky, + Are maddening in the rear. + Onward they drive in dreadful race, + Pursuers and pursued; + Before that tide of flight and chase, + How shall it keep its rooted place, + The spearmen's twilight wood?--" + "Down, down," cried Mar, "your lances down' + Bear back both friend and foe! "-- + Like reeds before the tempest's frown, + That serried grove of lances brown + At once lay levelled low; + And closely shouldering side to side, + The bristling ranks the onset bide.--" + "We'll quell the savage mountaineer, + As their Tinchel cows the game! + They come as fleet as forest deer, + We'll drive them back as tame." + + + XVIII. + + 'Bearing before them in their course + The relics of the archer force, + Like wave with crest of sparkling foam, + Right onward did Clan-Alpine come. + Above the tide, each broadsword bright + Was brandishing like beam of light, + Each targe was dark below; + And with the ocean's mighty swing, + When heaving to the tempest's wing, + They hurled them on the foe. + I heard the lance's shivering crash, + As when the whirlwind rends the ash; + I heard the broadsword's deadly clang, + As if a hundred anvils rang! + But Moray wheeled his rearward rank + Of horsemen on Clan-Alpine's flank,-- + "My banner-man, advance! + I see," he cried, "their column shake. + Now, gallants! for your ladies' sake, + Upon them with the lance!"-- + The horsemen dashed among the rout, + As deer break through the broom; + + Their steeds are stout, their swords are out, + They soon make lightsome room. + Clan-Alpine's best are backward borne-- + Where, where was Roderick then! + One blast upon his bugle-horn + Were worth a thousand men. + And refluent through the pass of fear + The battle's tide was poured; + Vanished the Saxon's struggling spear, + Vanished the mountain-sword. + As Bracklinn's chasm, so black and steep, + Receives her roaring linn + As the dark caverns of the deep + Suck the wild whirlpool in, + So did the deep and darksome pass + Devour the battle's mingled mass; + None linger now upon the plain + Save those who ne'er shall fight again. + + + XIX. + + 'Now westward rolls the battle's din, + That deep and doubling pass within.-- + Minstrel, away! the work of fate + Is bearing on; its issue wait, + Where the rude Trosachs' dread defile + Opens on Katrine's lake and isle. + Gray Benvenue I soon repassed, + Loch Katrine lay beneath me cast. + The sun is set;--the clouds are met, + The lowering scowl of heaven + An inky hue of livid blue + To the deep lake has given; + Strange gusts of wind from mountain glen + Swept o'er the lake, then sunk again. + I heeded not the eddying surge, + Mine eye but saw the Trosachs' gorge, + Mine ear but heard that sullen sound, + Which like an earthquake shook the ground, + And spoke the stern and desperate strife + That parts not but with parting life, + Seeming, to minstrel ear, to toll + The dirge of many a passing soul. + Nearer it comes--the dim-wood glen + The martial flood disgorged again, + But not in mingled tide; + The plaided warriors of the North + High on the mountain thunder forth + And overhang its side, + While by the lake below appears + The darkening cloud of Saxon spears. + At weary bay each shattered band, + Eying their foemen, sternly stand; + Their banners stream like tattered sail, + That flings its fragments to the gale, + And broken arms and disarray + Marked the fell havoc of the day. + + + XX. + + 'Viewing the mountain's ridge askance, + The Saxons stood in sullen trance, + Till Moray pointed with his lance, + And cried: "Behold yon isle!-- + See! none are left to guard its strand + But women weak, that wring the hand: + 'Tis there of yore the robber band + Their booty wont to pile;-- + My purse, with bonnet-pieces store, + To him will swim a bow-shot o'er, + And loose a shallop from the shore. + Lightly we'll tame the war-wolf then, + Lords of his mate, and brood, and den." + Forth from the ranks a spearman sprung, + On earth his casque and corselet rung, + He plunged him in the wave:-- + All saw the deed,--the purpose knew, + And to their clamors Benvenue + A mingled echo gave; + The Saxons shout, their mate to cheer, + The helpless females scream for fear + And yells for rage the mountaineer. + 'T was then, as by the outcry riven, + Poured down at once the lowering heaven: + A whirlwind swept Loch Katrine's breast, + Her billows reared their snowy crest. + Well for the swimmer swelled they high, + To mar the Highland marksman's eye; + For round him showered, mid rain and hail, + The vengeful arrows of the Gael. + In vain.--He nears the isle--and lo! + His hand is on a shallop's bow. + Just then a flash of lightning came, + It tinged the waves and strand with flame; + I marked Duncraggan's widowed dame, + Behind an oak I saw her stand, + A naked dirk gleamed in her hand:-- + It darkened,--but amid the moan + Of waves I heard a dying groan;-- + Another flash!--the spearman floats + A weltering corse beside the boats, + And the stern matron o'er him stood, + Her hand and dagger streaming blood. + + + XXI. + + "'Revenge! revenge!" the Saxons cried, + The Gaels' exulting shout replied. + Despite the elemental rage, + Again they hurried to engage; + But, ere they closed in desperate fight, + Bloody with spurring came a knight, + Sprung from his horse, and from a crag + Waved 'twixt the hosts a milk-white flag. + Clarion and trumpet by his side + Rung forth a truce-note high and wide, + While, in the Monarch's name, afar + A herald's voice forbade the war, + For Bothwell's lord and Roderick bold + Were both, he said, in captive hold.'-- + But here the lay made sudden stand, + The harp escaped the Minstrel's hand! + Oft had he stolen a glance, to spy + How Roderick brooked his minstrelsy: + At first, the Chieftain, to the chime, + With lifted hand kept feeble time; + That motion ceased,--yet feeling strong + Varied his look as changed the song; + At length, no more his deafened ear + The minstrel melody can hear; + His face grows sharp,--his hands are clenched' + As if some pang his heart-strings wrenched; + Set are his teeth, his fading eye + Is sternly fixed on vacancy; + Thus, motionless and moanless, drew + His parting breath stout Roderick Dhu!-- + Old Allan-bane looked on aghast, + While grim and still his spirit passed; + But when he saw that life was fled, + He poured his wailing o'er the dead. + + + XXII. + + Lament. + + 'And art thou cold and lowly laid, + Thy foeman's dread, thy people's aid, + Breadalbane's boast, Clan-Alpine's shade! + For thee shall none a requiem say?-- + For thee, who loved the minstrel's lay, + For thee, of Bothwell's house the stay, + The shelter of her exiled line, + E'en in this prison-house of thine, + I'll wail for Alpine's honored Pine! + + 'What groans shall yonder valleys fill! + What shrieks of grief shall rend yon hill! + What tears of burning rage shall thrill, + When mourns thy tribe thy battles done, + Thy fall before the race was won, + Thy sword ungirt ere set of sun! + There breathes not clansman of thy line, + But would have given his life for thine. + O, woe for Alpine's honoured Pine! + + 'Sad was thy lot on mortal stage!-- + The captive thrush may brook the cage, + The prisoned eagle dies for rage. + Brave spirit, do Dot scorn my strain! + And, when its notes awake again, + Even she, so long beloved in vain, + Shall with my harp her voice combine, + And mix her woe and tears with mine, + To wail Clan-Alpine's honoured Pine.' + + + XXIII. + + Ellen the while, with bursting heart, + Remained in lordly bower apart, + Where played, with many-coloured gleams, + Through storied pane the rising beams. + In vain on gilded roof they fall, + And lightened up a tapestried wall, + And for her use a menial train + A rich collation spread in vain. + The banquet proud, the chamber gay, + Scarce drew one curious glance astray; + Or if she looked, 't was but to say, + With better omen dawned the day + In that lone isle, where waved on high + The dun-deer's hide for canopy; + Where oft her noble father shared + The simple meal her care prepared, + While Lufra, crouching by her side, + Her station claimed with jealous pride, + And Douglas, bent on woodland game, + Spoke of the chase to Malcolm Graeme, + Whose answer, oft at random made, + The wandering of his thoughts betrayed. + Those who such simple joys have known + Are taught to prize them when they 're gone. + But sudden, see, she lifts her head; + The window seeks with cautious tread. + What distant music has the power + To win her in this woful hour? + 'T was from a turret that o'erhung + Her latticed bower, the strain was sung. + + + XXIV. + + Lay of the Imprisoned Huntsman. + + 'My hawk is tired of perch and hood, + My idle greyhound loathes his food, + My horse is weary of his stall, + And I am sick of captive thrall. + I wish I were as I have been, + Hunting the hart in forest green, + With bended bow and bloodhound free, + For that's the life is meet for me. + + I hate to learn the ebb of time + From yon dull steeple's drowsy chime, + Or mark it as the sunbeams crawl, + Inch after inch, along the wall. + The lark was wont my matins ring, + The sable rook my vespers sing; + These towers, although a king's they be, + Have not a hall of joy for me. + + No more at dawning morn I rise, + And sun myself in Ellen's eyes, + Drive the fleet deer the forest through, + And homeward wend with evening dew; + A blithesome welcome blithely meet, + And lay my trophies at her feet, + While fled the eve on wing of glee,-- + That life is lost to love and me!' + + + XXV. + + The heart-sick lay was hardly said, + The listener had not turned her head, + It trickled still, the starting tear, + When light a footstep struck her ear, + And Snowdoun's graceful Knight was near. + She turned the hastier, lest again + The prisoner should renew his strain. + 'O welcome, brave Fitz-James!' she said; + 'How may an almost orphan maid + Pay the deep debt--' 'O say not so! + To me no gratitude you owe. + Not mine, alas! the boon to give, + And bid thy noble father live; + I can but be thy guide, sweet maid, + With Scotland's King thy suit to aid. + No tyrant he, though ire and pride + May lay his better mood aside. + Come, Ellen, come! 'tis more than time, + He holds his court at morning prime.' + With heating heart, and bosom wrung, + As to a brother's arm she clung. + Gently he dried the falling tear, + And gently whispered hope and cheer; + Her faltering steps half led, half stayed, + Through gallery fair and high arcade, + Till at his touch its wings of pride + A portal arch unfolded wide. + + + XXVI. + + Within 't was brilliant all and light, + A thronging scene of figures bright; + It glowed on Ellen's dazzled sight, + As when the setting sun has given + Ten thousand hues to summer even, + And from their tissue fancy frames + Aerial knights and fairy dames. + Still by Fitz-James her footing staid; + A few faint steps she forward made, + Then slow her drooping head she raised, + And fearful round the presence gazed; + For him she sought who owned this state, + The dreaded Prince whose will was fate!-- + She gazed on many a princely port + Might well have ruled a royal court; + On many a splendid garb she gazed,-- + Then turned bewildered and amazed, + For all stood bare; and in the room + Fitz-James alone wore cap and plume. + To him each lady's look was lent, + On him each courtier's eye was bent; + Midst furs and silks and jewels sheen, + He stood, in simple Lincoln green, + The centre of the glittering ring,-- + And Snowdoun's Knight is Scotland's King! + + + XXVII. + + As wreath of snow on mountain-breast + Slides from the rock that gave it rest, + Poor Ellen glided from her stay, + And at the Monarch's feet she lay; + No word her choking voice commands,-- + She showed the ring,--she clasped her hands. + O, not a moment could he brook, + The generous Prince, that suppliant look! + Gently he raised her,--and, the while, + Checked with a glance the circle's smile; + Graceful, but grave, her brow he kissed, + And bade her terrors be dismissed:-- + 'Yes, fair; the wandering poor + Fitz-James The fealty of Scotland claims. + To him thy woes, thy wishes, bring; + He will redeem his signet ring. + Ask naught for Douglas;--yester even, + His Prince and he have much forgiven; + Wrong hath he had from slanderous tongue, + I, from his rebel kinsmen, wrong. + We would not, to the vulgar crowd, + Yield what they craved with clamor loud; + Calmly we heard and judged his cause, + Our council aided and our laws. + I stanched thy father's death-feud stern + With stout De Vaux and gray Glencairn; + And Bothwell's Lord henceforth we own + The friend and bulwark of our throne.-- + But, lovely infidel, how now? + What clouds thy misbelieving brow? + Lord James of Douglas, lend thine aid; + Thou must confirm this doubting maid.' + + + XXVIII. + + Then forth the noble Douglas sprung, + And on his neck his daughter hung. + The Monarch drank, that happy hour, + The sweetest, holiest draught of Power,-- + When it can say with godlike voice, + Arise, sad Virtue, and rejoice! + Yet would not James the general eye + On nature's raptures long should pry; + He stepped between--' Nay, Douglas, nay, + Steal not my proselyte away! + The riddle 'tis my right to read, + That brought this happy chance to speed. + Yes, Ellen, when disguised I stray + In life's more low but happier way, + 'Tis under name which veils my power + Nor falsely veils,--for Stirling's tower + Of yore the name of Snowdoun claims, + And Normans call me James Fitz-James. + Thus watch I o'er insulted laws, + Thus learn to right the injured cause.' + Then, in a tone apart and low,-- + 'Ah, little traitress! none must know + What idle dream, what lighter thought + What vanity full dearly bought, + Joined to thine eye's dark witchcraft, drew + My spell-bound steps to Benvenue + In dangerous hour, and all but gave + Thy Monarch's life to mountain glaive!' + Aloud he spoke: 'Thou still dost hold + That little talisman of gold, + Pledge of my faith, Fitz-James's ring,-- + What seeks fair Ellen of the King?' + + + XXIX. + + Full well the conscious maiden guessed + He probed the weakness of her breast; + But with that consciousness there came + A lightening of her fears for Graeme, + And more she deemed the Monarch's ire + Kindled 'gainst him who for her sire + Rebellious broadsword boldly drew; + And, to her generous feeling true, + She craved the grace of Roderick Dhu. + 'Forbear thy suit;--the King of kings + Alone can stay life's parting wings. + I know his heart, I know his hand, + Have shared his cheer, and proved his brand; + My fairest earldom would I give + To bid Clan-Alpine's Chieftain live!-- + Hast thou no other boon to crave? + No other captive friend to save?' + Blushing, she turned her from the King, + And to the Douglas gave the ring, + As if she wished her sire to speak + The suit that stained her glowing cheek. + 'Nay, then, my pledge has lost its force, + And stubborn justice holds her course. + Malcolm, come forth!'--and, at the word, + Down kneeled the Graeme to Scotland's Lord. + 'For thee, rash youth, no suppliant sues, + From thee may Vengeance claim her dues, + Who, nurtured underneath our smile, + Hast paid our care by treacherous wile, + And sought amid thy faithful clan + A refuge for an outlawed man, + Dishonoring thus thy loyal name.-- + Fetters and warder for the Graeme!' + His chain of gold the King unstrung, + The links o'er Malcolm's neck he flung, + Then gently drew the glittering band, + And laid the clasp on Ellen's hand. + + Harp of the North, farewell! The hills grow dark, + On purple peaks a deeper shade descending; + In twilight copse the glow-worm lights her spark, + The deer, half seen, are to the covert wending. + Resume thy wizard elm! the fountain lending, + And the wild breeze, thy wilder minstrelsy; + Thy numbers sweet with nature's vespers blending, + With distant echo from the fold and lea, + And herd-boy's evening pipe, and hum of housing bee. + + Yet, once again, farewell, thou Minstrel Harp! + Yet, once again, forgive my feeble sway, + And little reck I of the censure sharp + May idly cavil at an idle lay. + Much have I owed thy strains on life's long way, + Through secret woes the world has never known, + When on the weary night dawned wearier day, + And bitterer was the grief devoured alone.-- + That I o'erlive such woes, Enchantress! is thine own. + + Hark! as my lingering footsteps slow retire, + Some Spirit of the Air has waked thy string! + 'Tis now a seraph bold, with touch of fire, + 'Tis now the brush of Fairy's frolic wing. + Receding now, the dying numbers ring + Fainter and fainter down the rugged dell; + And now the mountain breezes scarcely bring + A wandering witch-note of the distant spell-- + And now, 'tis silent all!--Enchantress, fare thee well! + + + + +ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE NOTES. + + + +Cf. (confer), compare. F.Q., Spenser's Faerie Queene. Fol., following. +Id. (idem), the same. Lockhart, J. G. Lockhart's edition of Scott's +poems (various issues). P.L., Milton's Paradise Lost. Taylor, R. W. +Taylor's edition of The Lady of the Lake (London, 1875). Wb., Webster's +Dictionary (revised quarto edition of 1879). Worc., Worcester's +Dictionary (quarto edition). The abbreviations of the names of +Shakespeare's plays will be readily understood. The line-numbers are +those of the "Globe" edition. + +The references to Scott's Lay of the Last Minstrel are to canto and +line; those to Marmion and other poems to canto and stanza. + + + + +NOTES. + + + + +Introduction. + + +The Lady of the Lake was first published in 1810, when Scott was +thirty-nine, and it was dedicated to "the most noble John James, Marquis +of Abercorn." Eight thousand copies were sold between June 2d and +September 22d, 1810, and repeated editions were subsequently called for. +In 1830, the following "Introduction" was prefixed to the poem by the +author:-- + +After the success of Marmion, I felt inclined to exclaim with Ulysses in +the Odyssey: + + [Greek Letters] Odys. X. 5. + + "One venturous game my hand has won to-day-- + Another, gallants, yet remains to play." + +The ancient manners, the habits and customs of the aboriginal race by +whom the Highlands of Scotland were inhabited, had always appeared to +me peculiarly adapted to poetry. The change in their manners, too, had +taken place almost within my own time, or at least I had learned many +particulars concerning the ancient state of the Highlands from the old +men of the last generation. I had always thought the old Scottish +Gael highly adapted for poetical composition. The feuds and political +dissensions which, half a century earlier, would have rendered the +richer and wealthier part of the kingdom indisposed to countenance a +poem, the scene of which was laid in the Highlands, were now sunk in the +generous compassion which the English, more than any other nation, feel +for the misfortunes of an honourable foe. The Poems of Ossian had +by their popularity sufficiently shown that, if writings on Highland +subjects were qualified to interest the reader, mere national prejudices +were, in the present day, very unlikely to interfere with their success. + +I had also read a great deal, seen much, and heard more, of that +romantic country where I was in the habit of spending some time +every autumn; and the scenery of Lock Katrine was connected with the +recollection of many a dear friend and merry expedition of former days. +This poem, the action of which lay among scenes so beautiful and so +deeply imprinted on my recollections, was a labour of love, and it was +no less so to recall the manners and incidents introduced. The frequent +custom of James IV., and particularly of James V., to walk through their +kingdom in disguise, afforded me the hint of an incident which never +fails to be interesting if managed with the slightest address or +dexterity. + +I may now confess, however, that the employment, though attended with +great pleasure, was not without its doubts and anxieties. A lady, to +whom I was nearly related, and with whom I lived, during her whole life, +on the most brotherly terms of affection, was residing with me at the +time when the work was in progress, and used to ask me, what I could +possibly do to rise so early in the morning (that happening to be the +most convenient to me for composition). At last I told her the subject +of my meditations; and I can never forget the anxiety and affection +expressed in her reply. "Do not be so rash," she said, "my dearest +cousin. [2] You are already popular,--more so, perhaps, than you +yourself will believe, or than even I, or other partial friends, can +fairly allow to your merit. You stand high,--do not rashly attempt +to climb higher, and incur the risk of a fall; for, depend upon it, +a favourite will not be permitted even to stumble with impunity." I +replied to this affectionate expostulation in the words of Montrose,-- + + "'He either fears his fate too much, + Or his deserts are small, + Who dares not put it to the touch + To gain or lose it all.' + +"If I fail," I said, for the dialogue is strong in my recollection, "it +is a sign that I ought never to have succeeded, and I will write prose +for life: you shall see no change in my temper, nor will I eat a single +meal the worse. But if I succeed, + + 'Up with the bonnie blue bonnet, + The dirk, and the feather, and a'!'" + +Afterwards I showed my affectionate and anxious critic the first canto +of the poem, which reconciled her to my imprudence. Nevertheless, +although I answered thus confidently, with the obstinacy often said to +be proper to those who bear my surname, I acknowledge that my confidence +was considerably shaken by the warning of her excellent taste and +unbiased friendship. Nor was I much comforted by her retraction of +the unfavourable judgment, when I recollected how likely a natural +partiality was to effect that change of opinion. In such cases, +affection rises like a light on the canvas, improves any favourable +tints which it formerly exhibited, and throws its defects into the +shade. + +I remember that about the same time a friend started in to "heeze up my +hope," like the "sportsman with his cutty gun," in the old song. He was +bred a farmer, but a man of powerful understanding, natural good taste, +and warm poetical feeling, perfectly competent to supply the wants of +an imperfect or irregular education. He was a passionate admirer of +field-sports, which we often pursued together. + +As this friend happened to dine with me at Ashestiel one day, I took the +opportunity of reading to him the first canto of The Lady of the Lake, +in order to ascertain the effect the poem was likely to produce upon a +person who was but too favourable a representative of readers at large. +It is of course to be supposed that I determined rather to guide my +opinion by what my friend might appear to feel, than by what he might +think fit to say. His reception of my recitation, or prelection, was +rather singular. He placed his hand across his brow, and listened with +great attention through the whole account of the stag-hunt, till the +dogs threw themselves into the lake to follow their master, who embarks +with Ellen Douglas. He then started up with a sudden exclamation, struck +his hand on the table, and declared, in a voice of censure calculated +for the occasion, that the dogs must have been totally ruined by being +permitted to take the water after such a severe chase. I own I was much +encouraged by the species of revery which had possessed so zealous a +follower of the sports of the ancient Nimrod, who had been completely +surprised out of all doubts of the reality of the tale. Another of his +remarks gave me less pleasure. He detected the identity of the King with +the wandering knight, Fitz-James, when he winds his bugle to summon +his attendants. He was probably thinking of the lively, but somewhat +licentious, old ballad, in which the denouement of a royal intrigue +takes place as follows: + + "He took a bugle frae his side, + He blew both loud and shrill, + And four and twenty belted knights + Came skipping over the hill; + Then he took out a little knife, + Let a' his duddies fa', + And he was the brawest gentleman + That was amang them a'. + And we'll go no more a roving," etc. + +This discovery, as Mr. Pepys says of the rent in his camlet cloak, was +but a trifle, yet it troubled me; and I was at a good deal of pains to +efface any marks by which I thought my secret could be traced before the +conclusion, when I relied on it with the same hope of producing effect, +with which the Irish post-boy is said to reserve a "trot for the +avenue." + +I took uncommon pains to verify the accuracy of the local circumstances +of this story. I recollect, in particular, that to ascertain whether I +was telling a probable tale, I went into Perthshire, to see whether King +James could actually have ridden from the banks of Loch Vennachar +to Stirling Castle within the time supposed in the poem, and had the +pleasure to satisfy myself that it was quite practicable. + +After a considerable delay, The Lady of the Lake appeared in June, 1810; +and its success was certainly so extraordinary as to induce me for the +moment to conclude that I had at last fixed a nail in the proverbially +inconstant wheel of Fortune, whose stability in behalf of an individual +who had so boldly courted her favours for three successive times had not +as yet been shaken. I had attained, perhaps, that degree of reputation +at which prudence, or certainly timidity, would have made a halt, and +discontinued efforts by which I was far more likely to diminish my fame +than to increase it. But, as the celebrated John Wilkes is said to have +explained to his late Majesty, that he himself, amid his full tide of +popularity, was never a Wilkite, so I can, with honest truth, exculpate +myself from having been at any time a partisan of my own poetry, even +when it was in the highest fashion with the million. It must not be +supposed that I was either so ungrateful, or so superabundantly candid, +as to despise or scorn the value of those whose voice had elevated me +so much higher than my own opinion told me I deserved. I felt, on +the contrary, the more grateful to the public, as receiving that from +partiality to me, which I could not have claimed from merit; and I +endeavoured to deserve the partiality, by continuing such exertions as I +was capable of for their amusement. + +It may be that I did not, in this continued course of scribbling, +consult either the interest of the public or my own. But the former had +effectual means of defending themselves, and could, by their coldness, +sufficiently check any approach to intrusion; and for myself, I had now +for several years dedicated my hours so much to literary labour that I +should have felt difficulty in employing myself otherwise; and so, +like Dogberry, I generously bestowed all my tediousness on the public, +comforting myself with the reflection that, if posterity should think +me undeserving of the favour with which I was regarded by my +contemporaries, "they could not but say I had the crown," and had +enjoyed for a time that popularity which is so much coveted. + +I conceived, however, that I held the distinguished situation I +had obtained, however unworthily, rather like the champion of +pugilism, [3] on the condition of being always ready to show proofs of +my skill, than in the manner of the champion of chivalry, who performs +his duties only on rare and solemn occasions. I was in any case +conscious that I could not long hold a situation which the caprice, +rather than the judgment, of the public, had bestowed upon me, and +preferred being deprived of my precedence by some more worthy rival, to +sinking into contempt for my indolence, and losing my reputation by what +Scottish lawyers call the negative prescription. Accordingly, those who +choose to look at the Introduction to Rokeby, will be able to trace +the steps by which I declined as a poet to figure as a novelist; as +the ballad says, Queen Eleanor sunk at Charing Cross to rise again at +Queenhithe. + +It only remains for me to say that, during my short pre-eminence of +popularity, I faithfully observed the rules of moderation which I had +resolved to follow before I began my course as a man of letters. If +a man is determined to make a noise in the world, he is as sure to +encounter abuse and ridicule, as he who gallops furiously through +a village must reckon on being followed by the curs in full cry. +Experienced persons know that in stretching to flog the latter, the +rider is very apt to catch a bad fall; nor is an attempt to chastise +a malignant critic attended with less danger to the author. On this +principle, I let parody, burlesque, and squibs find their own level; +and while the latter hissed most fiercely, I was cautious never to catch +them up, as schoolboys do, to throw them back against the naughty boy +who fired them off, wisely remembering that they are in such cases apt +to explode in the handling. Let me add, that my reign [4] (since Byron +has so called it) was marked by some instances of good-nature as well +as patience. I never refused a literary person of merit such services +in smoothing his way to the public as were in my power; and I had the +advantage, rather an uncommon one with our irritable race, to enjoy +general favour without incurring permanent ill-will, so far as is known +to me, among any of my contemporaries. + + W.S. + Abbotsford, April, 1830. + +Our limits do not permit us to add any extended selections from the many +critical notices of the poem. The verdict of Jeffrey, in the Edinburgh +Review, on its first appearance, has been generally endorsed:-- + +"Upon the whole, we are inclined to think more highly of The Lady of +the Lake than of either of its author's former publications [the Lay and +Marmion]. We are more sure, however, that it has fewer faults than that +it has greater beauties; and as its beauties bear a strong resemblance +to those with which the public has been already made familiar in these +celebrated works, we should not be surprised if its popularity were less +splendid and remarkable. For our own parts, however, we are of opinion +that it will be oftener read hereafter than either of them; and that, +if it had appeared first in the series, their reception would have been +less favourable than that which it has experienced. It is more polished +in its diction, and more regular in its versification; the story is +constructed with infinitely more skill and address; there is a greater +proportion of pleasing and tender passages, with much less antiquarian +detail; and, upon the whole, a larger variety of characters, more +artfully and judiciously contrasted. There is nothing so fine, perhaps, +as the battle in Marmion, or so picturesque as some of the scattered +sketches in the Lay; but there is a richness and a spirit in the whole +piece which does not pervade either of those poems,--a profusion of +incident and a shifting brilliancy of colouring that reminds us of the +witchery of Ariosto, and a constant elasticity and occasional energy +which seem to belong more peculiarly to the author now before us." + + + + +Canto First. + + +Each canto is introduced by one or more Spenserian stanzas, [5] +forming a kind of prelude to it. Those prefixed to the first canto serve +as an introduction to the whole poem, which is "inspired by the spirit +of the old Scottish minstrelsy." + + +2. Witch-elm. The broad-leaved or wych elm (Ulmus montana), indigenous +to Scotland. Forked branches of the tree were used in the olden time as +divining-rods, and riding switches from it were supposed to insure good +luck on a journey. In the closing stanzas of the poem (vi. 846) it is +called the "wizard elm." Tennyson (In Memoriam, 89) refers to + + "Witch-elms that counterchange the floor + Of this flat lawn with dusk and bright." + +Saint Fillan was a Scotch abbot of the seventh century who became famous +as a saint. He had two springs, which appear to be confounded by some +editors of the poem. One was at the eastern end of Loch Earn, where the +pretty modern village of St. Fillans now stands, under the shadow of +Dun Fillan, or St. Fillan's Hills, six hundred feet high, on the top of +which the saint used to say his prayers, as the marks of his knees in +the rock still testify to the credulous. The other spring is at another +village called St. Fillans, nearly thirty miles to the westward, just +outside the limits of our map, on the road to Tyndrum. In this Holy +Pool, as it is called, insane folk were dipped with certain ceremonies, +and then left bound all night in the open air. If they were found loose +the next morning, they were supposed to have been cured. This treatment +was practised as late as 1790, according to Pennant, who adds that +the patients were generally found in the morning relieved of their +troubles--by death. Another writer, in 1843, says that the pool is still +visited, not by people of the vicinity, who have no faith in its virtue, +but by those from distant places. Scott alludes to this spring in +Marmion, i. 29: + + "Thence to Saint Fillan's blessed well, + Whose springs can frenzied dreams dispel, + And the crazed brain restore." + + +3. And down the fitful breeze, etc. The original MS. reads: + + "And on the fitful breeze thy numbers flung, + Till envious ivy, with her verdant ring, + Mantled and muffled each melodious string,-- + O Wizard Harp, still must thine accents sleep?" + + +10. Caledon. Caledonia, the Roman name of Scotland. + + +14. Each according pause. That is, each pause in the singing. In +Marmion, ii. 11, according is used of music that fills the intervals of +other music: + + "Soon as they neared his turrets strong, + The maidens raised Saint Hilda's song, + And with the sea-wave and the wind + Their voices, sweetly shrill, combined, + And made harmonious close; + Then, answering from the sandy shore, + Half-drowned amid the breakers' roar, + According chorus rose." + +The MS. reads here: + + "At each according pause thou spokest aloud + Thine ardent sympathy sublime and high." + + +28. The stag at eve had drunk his fill. The metre of the poem proper +is iambic, that is, with the accent on the even syllables, and +octosyllabic, or eight syllables to the line. + + +29. Monan's rill. St. Monan was a Scotch martyr of the fourth century. +We can find no mention of any rill named for him. + + +31. Glenartney. A valley to the north-east of Callander, with +Benvoirlich (which rises to the height of 3180 feet) on the north, and +Uam-Var (see 53 below) on the south, separating it from the valley of +the Teith. It takes its name from the Artney, the stream flowing through +it. + + +32. His beacon red. The figure is an appropriate one in describing this +region, where fires on the hill-tops were so often used as signals in +the olden time. Cf. the Lay, iii. 379: + + "And soon a score of fires, I ween, + From height, and hill, and cliff, were seen, + Each with warlike tidings fraught; + Each from each the signal caught," etc. + + +34. Deep-mouthed. Cf. Shakespeare, 1 Hen. VI. ii. 4. 12: "Between +two dogs, which hath the deeper mouth;" and T. of S. ind. 1. 18: "the +deep-mouthed brach" (that is, hound). + +The MS. reads: + + "The bloodhound's notes of heavy bass + Resounded hoarsely up the pass." + + +35. Resounded... rocky. The poet often avails himself of "apt +alliteration's artful aid," as here, and in the next two lines; most +frequently in pairs of words. + + +38. As Chief, etc. Note here, as often, the simile put BEFORE that +which it illustrates,--an effective rhetorical, though not the logical, +arrangement. + + +45. Beamed frontlet. Antlered forehead. + + +46. Adown. An instance of a purely poetical word, not admissible in +prose. + + +49. Chase. Here put for those engaged in the chase; as in 101 and 171, +below. One of its regular meanings is the OBJECT of the chase, or the +animal pursued. + + +53. Uam-Var. "Ua-Var, as the name is pronounced, or more properly +Uaigh-mor, is a mountain to the north-east of the village of Callander, +in Menteith, deriving its name, which signifies the great den, or +cavern, from a sort of retreat among the rocks on the south side, said, +by tradition, to have been the abode of a giant. In latter times, it was +the refuge of robbers and banditti, who have been only extirpated within +these forty or fifty years. Strictly speaking, this stronghold is not a +cave, as the name would imply, but a sort of small enclosure, or recess, +surrounded with large rocks and open above head. It may have been +originally designed as a toil for deer, who might get in from the +outside, but would find it difficult to return. This opinion prevails +among the old sportsmen and deer-stalkers in the neighborhood" (Scott). + + +54. Yelled. Note the emphatic force of the inversion, as in 59 below. +Cf. 38 above. + +Opening. That is, barking on view or scent of the game; a hunting term. +Cf. Shakespeare, M. W. iv. 2. 209: "If I bark out thus upon no trail +never trust me when I open again." + +The description of the echo which follows is very spirited. + + +66. Cairn. Literally, a heap of stones; here put poetically for the +rocky point which the falcon takes as a look-out. + + +69. Hurricane. A metaphor for the wild rush of the hunt. + + +71. Linn. Literally, a deep pool; but often = cataract, as in Bracklinn, +ii. 270 below (cf. vi. 488), and sometimes = precipice. + + +73. On the lone wood. Note the musical variation in the measure here; +the 1st, 3d, and 4th syllables being accented instead of the 2d and 4th. +It is occasionally introduced into iambic metre with admirable effect. +Cf. 85 and 97 below. + + +76. The cavern, etc. See on 53 above. + + +80. Perforce. A poetical word. See on 46 above. + + +84. Shrewdly. Severely, keenly; a sense now obsolete. Shrewd originally +meant evil, mischievous. Cf. Shakespeare, A. Y. L. v. 4. 179, where it +is said that those + + "That have endur'd shrewd days and nights with us + Shall share the good of our returned fortune." + +In Chaucer (Tale of Melibocus) we find, "The prophete saith: Flee +shrewdnesse, and do goodnesse" (referring to Ps. xxxiv. 14). + + +89. Menteith. The district in the southwestern part of Perthshire, +watered by the Teith. + + +91. Mountain and meadow, etc. See on 35 above. Moss is used in the +North-of-England sense of a boggy or peaty district, like the famous +Chat Moss between Liverpool and Manchester. + + +93. Lochard. Loch Ard is a beautiful lakelet, about five miles south +of Loch Katrine. On its eastern side is the scene of Helen Macgregor's +skirmish with the King's troops in Rob Roy; and near its head, on the +northern side, is a waterfall, which is the original of Flora MacIvor's +favorite retreat in Waverley. Aberfoyle is a village about a mile and a +half to the east of the lake. + + +95. Loch Achray. A lake between Loch Katrine and Loch Vennachar, lying +just beyond the pass of the Trosachs. + + +97. Benvenue. A mountain, 2386 feet in height, on the southern side of +Loch Katrine. + + +98. With the hope. The MS. has "with the THOUGHT," and "flying HOOF" in +the next line. + + +102. 'Twere. It would be. Cf. Shakespeare, Macb. ii. 2. 73: "To know my +deed, 't were best not know myself." + + +103. Cambusmore. The estate of a family named Buchanan, whom Scott +frequently visited in his younger days. It is about two miles from +Callander, on the wooded banks of the Keltie, a tributary of the Teith. + + +105. Benledi. A mountain, 2882 feet high, northwest from Callander. The +name is said to mean "Mountain of God." + + +106. Bochastle's heath. A moor between the east end of Loch Vennachar +and Callander. See also on v. 298 below. + + +107. The flooded Teith. The Teith is formed by streams from Loch Voil +and from Loch Katrine (by way of Loch Achray and Loch Vennachar), which +unite at Callander. It joins the Forth near Stirling. + + +111. Vennachar. As the map shows, this "Lake of the Fair Valley" is the +most eastern of the three lakes around which the scenery of the poem +lies. It is about five miles long and a mile and a half wide. + + +112. The Brigg of Turk. This brig, or bridge (cf. Burns's poem of The +Brigs of Ayr), is over a stream that comes down from Glenfinlas and +flows into the one connecting Lochs Achray and Vennachar. According to +Graham, it is "the scene of the death of a wild boar famous in Celtic +tradition." + + +114. Unbated. Cf. Shakespeare, M. of V. ii. 6. 11: + + "Where is the horse that doth untread again + His tedious measures with the unbated fire + That he did pace them first?" + + +115. Scourge and steel. Whip and spur. Steel is often used for the sword +(as in v. 239 below: "foeman worthy of their steel"), the figure being +of the same sort as here--"the material put for the thing made of it." +Cf. v. 479 below. + + +117. Embossed. An old hunting term. George Turbervile, in his Noble Art +of Venerie or Hunting (A.D. 1576), says: "When the hart is foamy at the +mouth, we say, that he is emboss'd." Cf. Shakespeare, T. of S. ind. 1. +17: "Brach Merriman, the poor cur, is emboss'd;" and A. and C. iv. 13. +3: + + "the boar of Thessaly + Was never so emboss'd." + + +120. Saint Hubert's breed. Scott quotes Turbervile here: "The hounds +which we call Saint Hubert's hounds are commonly all blacke, yet +neuertheless, the race is so mingled at these days, that we find them +of all colours. These are the hounds which the abbots of St. Hubert haue +always kept some of their race or kind, in honour or remembrance of the +saint, which was a hunter with S. Eustace. Whereupon we may conceiue +that (by the grace of God) all good huntsmen shall follow them into +paradise." + + +127. Quarry. The animal hunted; another technical term. Shakespeare uses +it in the sense of a heap of slaughtered game; as in Cor. i. 1. 202: + + "Would the nobility lay aside their ruth, + And let me use my sword, I'd make a quarry + With thousands of these quarter'd slaves," etc. + + +Cf. Longfellow, Hiawatha: + + "Seldom stoops the soaring vulture + O'er his quarry in the desert." + + +130. Stock. Tree-stump. Cf. Job, xiv. 8. + + +133. Turn to bay. Like stand at bay, etc., a term used when the +stag, driven to extremity, turns round and faces his pursuers. Cf. +Shakespeare, 1. Hen. VI. iv. 2. 52, where it is used figuratively (as in +vi. 525 below): + + "Turn on the bloody hounds with heads of steel, + And make the cowards stand aloof at bay;" + +and T. of S. v. 2. 56: "'T is thought your deer does hold you at a bay," +etc. + + +137. For the death-wound, etc. Scott has the following note here: "When +the stag turned to bay, the ancient hunter had the perilous task of +going in upon, and killing or disabling, the desperate animal. At +certain times of the year this was held particularly dangerous, a +wound received from a stag's horn being then deemed poisonous, and more +dangerous than one from the tusks of a boar, as the old rhyme testifies: + + 'If thou be hurt with hart, it bring thee to thy bier, + But barber's hand will boar's hurt heal, therefore thou + need'st not fear.' + +At all times, however, the task was dangerous, and to be adventured upon +wisely and warily, either by getting behind the stag while he was gazing +on the hounds, or by watching an opportunity to gallop roundly in upon +him, and kill him with the sword. See many directions to this purpose +in the Booke of Hunting, chap. 41. Wilson, the historian, has recorded +a providential escape which befell him in the hazardous sport, while a +youth, and follower of the Earl of Essex: + +'Sir Peter Lee, of Lime, in Cheshire, invited my lord one summer to hunt +the stagg. And having a great stagg in chase, and many gentlemen in the +pursuit, the stag took soyle. And divers, whereof I was one, alighted, +and stood with swords drawne, to have a cut at him, at his coming out of +the water. The staggs there being wonderfully fierce and dangerous, made +us youths more eager to be at him. But he escaped us all. And it was my +misfortune to be hindered of my coming nere him, the way being sliperie, +by a falle; which gave occasion to some, who did not know mee, to speak +as if I had falne for feare. Which being told mee, I left the stagg, +and followed the gentleman who [first] spake it. But I found him of that +cold temper, that it seems his words made an escape from him; as by his +denial and repentance it appeared. But this made mee more violent in the +pursuit of the stagg, to recover my reputation. And I happened to be the +only horseman in, when the dogs sett him up at bay; and approaching near +him on horsebacke, he broke through the dogs, and run at mee, and tore +my horse's side with his hornes, close by my thigh. Then I quitted my +horse, and grew more cunning (for the dogs had sette him up againe), +stealing behind him with my sword, and cut his hamstrings; and then got +upon his back, and cut his throate; which, as I was doing, the company +came in, and blamed my rashness for running such a hazard' (Peck's +Desiderata Curiosa, ii. 464)." + + +138. Whinyard. A short stout sword or knife; the same as the whinger of +the Lay of Last Minstrel, v. 7: + + "And whingers, now in friendship bare + The social meal to part and share, + Had found a bloody sheath." + + +142. Turned him. In Elizabethan, and still more in earlier English, +personal pronouns were often used reflexively; and this, like many other +old constructions, is still used in poetry. + + +145. Trosachs. "The rough or bristled territory" (Graham); the wild +district between Lochs Katrine and Vennachar. The name is now especially +applied to the pass between Lochs Katrine and Achray. + + +147. Close couched. That is, as he lay close couched, or hidden. Such +ellipses are common in poetry. + + +150. Amain. With main, or full force. We still say "with might and +main." + + +151. Chiding. Not a mere figurative use of chide as we now understand it +(cf. 287 below), but an example of the old sense of the word as applied +to any oft-repeated noise. Shakespeare uses it of the barking of dogs in +M. N. D. iv. 1. 120: + + "never did I hear + Such gallant chiding;" + +of the wind, as in A. Y. L. ii. 1. 7: "And churlish chiding of the +winter's wind;" and of the sea, as in 1 Hen. IV. iii. 1. 45: + + "the sea + That chides the banks of England;" + +and Hen. VIII. iii. 2. 197: "the chiding flood." + + +163. The banks of Seine. James visited France in 1536, and sued for the +hand of Magdalen, daughter of Francis I. He married her the following +spring, but she died a few months later. He then married Mary of Guise, +whom he had doubtless seen while in France. + + +166. Woe worth the chase. That is, woe be to it. This worth is from the +A. S. weorthan, to become. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 6. 32: + + "Wo worth the man, + That first did teach the cursed steele to bight + In his owne flesh, and make way to the living spright!" + +See also Ezek. xxx. 2. + + +180. And on the hunter, etc. The MS. reads: + + "And on the hunter hied his pace, + To meet some comrades of the chase;" + +and the 1st ed. retains "pace" and "chase." + + +184. The western waves, etc. This description of the Trosachs was +written amid the scenery it delineates, in the summer of 1809. The +Quarterly Review (May, 1810) says of the poet: "He sees everything +with a painter's eye. Whatever he represents has a character of +individuality, and is drawn with an accuracy and minuteness of +discrimination which we are not accustomed to expect from mere verbal +description. It is because Mr. Scott usually delineates those objects +with which he is perfectly familiar that his touch is so easy, correct, +and animated. The rocks, the ravines, and the torrents which he exhibits +are not the imperfect sketches of a hurried traveller, but the finished +studies of a resident artist." See also on 278 below. + +Ruskin (Modern Painters, iii. 278) refers to "the love of color" as +a leading element in Scott's love of beauty. He might have quoted the +present passage among the illustrations he adds. + + +195. The native bulwarks, etc. The MS. has "The mimic castles of the +pass." + + +196. The tower, etc. Cf. Gen. xi. 1-9. + + +198. The rocky. The 1st ed. has "Their rocky," etc. + + +204. Nor were, etc. The MS. reads: "Nor were these mighty bulwarks +bare." + + +208. Dewdrop sheen. Not "dewdrops sheen," or "dewdrops' sheen," as +sometimes printed. Sheen = shining, bright; as in v. 10 below. Cf. +Spenser, F. Q. ii. 1. 10: "So faire and sheene;" Id. iii. 4. 51: "in +top of heaven sheene," etc. See Wb. The MS. has here: "Bright glistening +with the dewdrop sheen." + + +212. Boon. Bountiful. Cf. Milton, P. L. iv. 242: + + "Flowers worthy of Paradise, which not nice art + In beds and curious knots, but nature boon + Pour'd forth profuse on hill, and dale, and plain." + +See also P. L. ix. 793: "jocund and boon." + + +217. Bower. In the old sense of chamber, lodging-place; as in iv. 413 +and vi. 218 below. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 1. 58: + + "Eftesoones long waxen torches weren light + Unto their bowres to guyden every guest." + +For clift (= cleft), the reading of the 1st ed. and unquestionably what +Scott wrote, every other edition that we have seen reads "cliff." + + +219. Emblems of punishment and pride. See on iii. 19 below. + + +222, 223. Note the imperfect rhyme in breath and beneath. Cf. 224-25, +256-57, 435-36, 445-46 below. Such instances are comparatively rare +in Scott's poetry. Some rhymes that appear to be imperfect are to be +explained by peculiarities of Scottish pronunciation. See on 363 below. + + +227. Shaltered. The MS. has "scathed;" also "rugged arms athwart the +sky" in 229, and "twinkling" for glistening in 231. The 1st ed. has +"scattered" for shattered; corrected in the Errata. + + +231. Streamers. Of ivy or other vines. + + +238. Affording, etc. The MS. reads: + + "Affording scarce such breadth of flood + As served to float the wild-duck's brood." + + +247. Emerging, etc. The MS. has "Emerging dry-shod from the wood." + + +254. And now, to issue from the glen, etc. "Until the present road was +made through the romantic pass which I have presumptuously attempted to +describe in the preceding stanzas, there was no mode of issuing out of +the defile called the Trosachs, excepting by a sort of ladder, composed +of the branches and roots of trees" (Scott). + + +263. Loch Katrine. In a note to The Fair Maid of Perth, Scott derives +the name from the Catterans, or Highland robbers, that once infested the +shores of the lake. Others make it "the Lake of the Battle," in memory +of some prehistoric conflict. + + +267. Livelier. Because in motion; like living gold above. + + +270. Benvenue. See on 97 above. + + +271. Down to. Most editions misprint "down on." + + +272. Confusedly. A trisyllable; as in ii. 161 below, and in the Lay, +iii. 337: "And helms and plumes, confusedly tossed." + + +274. Wildering. Bewildering. Cf. Dryden, Aurungzebe, i. 1: "wilder'd in +the way," etc. See also 434 and v. 22 below. + + +275. His ruined sides, etc. The MS. reads: + + "His ruined sides and fragments hoar, + While on the north to middle air." + + +277. Ben-an. This mountain, 1800 feet high, is north of the Trosachs, +separating that pass from Glenfinlas. + + +278. From the steep, etc. The MS. reads: + + "From the high promontory gazed + The stranger, awe-struck and amazed." + +The Critical Review (Aug. 1820) remarks of this portion of the poem (184 +fol.): "Perhaps the art of landscape-painting in poetry has never been +displayed in higher perfection than in these stanzas, to which rigid +criticism might possibly object that the picture is somewhat too minute, +and that the contemplation of it detains the traveller somewhat too long +from the main purpose of his pilgrimage, but which it would be an act of +the greatest injustice to break into fragments and present by piecemeal. +Not so the magnificent scene which bursts upon the bewildered hunter +as he emerges at length from the dell, and commands at one view the +beautiful expanse of Loch Katrine." + + +281. Churchman. In its old sense of one holding high office in the +church. Cf. Shakespeare, 2 Hen. VI. i. 3. 72, where Cardinal Beaufort is +called "the imperious churchman," etc. + + +285. Cloister. Monastery; originally, the covered walk around the inner +court of the building. + + +287. Chide. Here, figuratively, in the modern sense. See in 151 above. + + +290. Should lave. The 1st ed. has "did lave," which is perhaps to be +preferred. + + +294. While the deep peal's. For the measure, see on 73 above. + + +300. To friendly feast, etc. The MS. has "To hospitable feast and hall." + + +302. Beshrew. May evil befall (see on shrewdly, 84 above); a mild +imprecation, often used playfully and even tenderly. Cf. Shakespeare, 2 +Hen. IV. ii. 3. 45: + + "Beshrew your heart, + Fair daughter, you do draw my spirits from me + With new lamenting ancient oversights!" + + +305. Some mossy bank, etc. The MS. reads: + + "And hollow trunk of some old tree + My chamber for the night must be." + + +313. Highland plunderers. "The clans who inhabited the romantic regions +in the neighborhood of Loch Katrine were, even until a late period, much +addicted to predatory excursions upon their Lowland neighbors" (Scott). + + +317. Fall the worst. If the worst befall that can happen. Cf. +Shakespeare, M. of V. i. 2. 96: "an the worst fall that ever fell, I +hope I shall make shift to go without him." + + +319. But scarce again, etc. The MS. reads: + + "The bugle shrill again he wound, + And lo! forth starting at the sound;" + +and below: + + "A little skiff shot to the bay. + The hunter left his airy stand, + And when the boat had touched the sand, + Concealed he stood amid the brake, + To view this Lady of the Lake." + + +336. Strain. The 1st ed. has a comma after strain, and a period after +art in 340. The ed. of 1821 points as in the text. + + +342. Naiad. Water nymph. + + +343. And ne'er did Grecian chisel, etc. The MS. reads: + + "A finer form, a fairer face, + Had never marble Nymph or Grace, + That boasts the Grecian chisel's trace;" + +and in 359 below, "a stranger tongue." + + +353. Measured mood. The formal manner required by court etiquette. + + +360. Dear. This is the reading of the 1st ed. and almost every other +that we have seen. We are inclined, however, to believe that Scott wrote +"clear." The facsimiles of his handwriting show that his d's and cl's +might easily be confounded by a compositor. + + +363. Snood. The fillet or ribbon with which the Scotch maidens bound +their hair. See on iii. 114 below. It is the rich materials of snood, +plaid, and brooch that betray her birth. + + +The rhyme of plaid with maid and betrayed is not imperfect, the Scottish +pronunciation of plaid being like our played. + + +385. One only. For the inversion, cf. Shakespeare, J. C. i. 2. 157: +"When there is in it but one only man;" Goldsmith, D. V. 39: "One only +master grasps the whole domain," etc. + + +393. Awhile she paused, etc. The MS. reads: + + "A space she paused, no answer came,-- + 'Alpine, was thine the blast?' the name + Less resolutely uttered fell, + The echoes could not catch the swell. + 'Nor foe nor friend,' the stranger said, + Advancing from the hazel shade. + The startled maid, with hasty oar, + Pushed her light shallop from the shore." + +and just below: + + "So o'er the lake the swan would spring, + Then turn to prune its ruffled wing." + + +404. Prune. Pick out damaged feathers and arrange the plumage with the +bill. Cf. Shakespeare, Cymb. v. 4. 118: + + "his royal bird + Prunes the immortal wing," etc. + + +408. Wont. Are wont, or accustomed; now used only in the participle. The +form here is the past tense of the obsolete won, or wone, to dwell. The +present is found in Milton, P. L. vii. 457: + + "As from his lair the wild beast, where he wons + In forest wild, in thicket, brake, or den." + +Cf. Spenser, Virgil's Gnat: + + "Of Poets Prince, whether we woon beside + Faire Xanthus sprincled with Chimaeras blood, + Or in the woods of Astery abide;" + +and Colin Clouts Come Home Againe: + + "I weened sure he was out God alone, + And only woond in fields and forests here." + +See also iv. 278 and 298 below. + + +409. Middle age. As James died at the age of thirty (in 1542), this is +not strictly true, but the portrait in other respects is quite accurate. +He was fond of going about disguised, and some of his freaks of this +kind are pleasantly related in Scott's Tales of a Grandfather. See on +vi. 740 below. + + +425. Slighting, etc. "Treating lightly his need of food and shelter." + + +432. At length. The 1st ed. has "at last." + + +433. That Highland halls were, etc. The MS. has "Her father's hall was," +etc. + + +434. Wildered. See on 274 above. + + +438. A couch. That is, the heather for it. Cf. 666 below. + + +441. Mere. Lake; as in Windermere, etc. + + +443. Rood. Cross, or crucifix. By the rood was a common oath; so by the +holy rood, as in Shakespeare, Rich. III. iii. 2. 77, iv. 4. 165. Cf. the +name of Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh. See ii. 221 below. + + +451. Romantic. The MS. has "enchanting." + + +457. Yesternight. We have lost this word, though we retain yesterday. +Cf. yester-morn in v. 104 below. As far = as far back as. + + +460. Was on, etc. The MS. reads: "Is often on the future bent." If +force of evidence could authorize us to believe facts inconsistent with +the general laws of nature, enough might be produced in favor of the +existence of the second-sight. It is called in Gaelic Taishitaraugh, +from Taish, an unreal or shadowy appearance; and those possessed of +the faculty are called Taishatrin, which may be aptly translated +visionaries. Martin, a steady believer in the second-sight, gives the +following account of it:-- + +'The second-sight is a singular faculty of seeing an otherwise invisible +object without any previous means used by the person that uses if for +that end: the vision makes such a lively impression upon the seers, that +they neither see nor think of any thing else, except the vision, as long +as it continues; and then they appear pensive or jovial, according to +the object that was represented to them. + +'At the sight of a vision, the eyelids of the person are erected, and +the eyes continue staring until the object vanish. This is obvious to +others who are by when the persons happen to see a vision, and occurred +more than once to my own observation, and to others that were with +me.... + +'If a woman is seen standing at a man's left hand, it is a presage that +she will be his wife, whether they be married to others, or unmarried at +the time of the apparition. + +'To see a spark of fire fall upon one's arm or breast is a forerunner of +a dead child to be seen in the arms of those persons; of which there are +several fresh instances.... + +'To see a seat empty at the time of one's sitting in it, is a presage +of that person's death soon after' (Martin's Description of the Western +Islands, 1716, 8vo, p. 300, et seq.). + +"To these particulars innumerable examples might be added, all attested +by grave and credible authors. But, in despite of evidence which neither +Bacon, Boyle, nor Johnson were able to resist, the Taish, with all its +visionary properties, seems to be now universally abandoned to the use +of poetry. The exquisitely beautiful poem of Lochiel will at once occur +to the recollection of every reader" (Scott). + + +462. Birchen. Shaded by birches. Cf. Milton's "cedarn alleys" in Comus, +990. + + +464. Lincoln green. A cloth made in Lincoln, much worn by hunters. + + +467. Heron. The early eds. have "heron's." + + +475. Errant-knight. Knight-errant. + + +476. Sooth. True. We find soothest in Milton, Comus, 823. The noun sooth +(truth) is more common, and still survives in soothsayer (teller of +hidden truth). Cf. v. 64 below. + + +478. Emprise. Enterprise. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 7. 39: "But give me +leave to follow my emprise," etc. + + +485. His noble hand. The MS. has "This gentle hand;" and in the next +line, "the oars he drew." + + +490. Frequent. Often; one of the many instances of the adjective used +adverbially in the poem. + + +492. The rocky isle. It is still known as Ellen's Isle. "It is rather +high, and irregularly pyramidal. It is mostly composed of dark-gray +rocks, mottled with pale and gray lichens, peeping out here and +there amid trees that mantle them,--chiefly light, graceful birches, +intermingled with red-berried mountain ashes and a few dark-green, spiry +pines. The landing is beneath an aged oak; and, as did the Lady and the +Knight, the traveller now ascends 'a clambering unsuspected road,' by +rude steps, to the small irregular summit of the island. A more +poetic, romantic retreat could hardly be imagined: it is unique. It is +completely hidden, not only by the trees, but also by an undergrowth of +beautiful and abundant ferns and the loveliest of heather" (Hunnewell's +Lands of Scott). + + +500. Winded. Wound; used for the sake of the measure, as in v. 22 below. +We find the participle winded in Much Ado, i. 1. 243; but it is = blown. +The verb in that sense is derived from the noun wind (air in motion), +and has no connection with wind, to turn. Cf. Wb. + + +504. Here for retreat, etc. Scott has the following note here: "The +Celtic chieftains, whose lives were continually exposed to peril, +had usually, in the most retired spot of their domains, some place of +retreat for the hour of necessity, which, as circumstances would +admit, was a tower, a cavern, or a rustic hut, in a strong and secluded +situation. One of these last gave refuge to the unfortunate Charles +Edward, in his perilous wanderings after the battle of Culloden. + +"It was situated in the face of a very rough, high, and rocky mountain, +called Letternilichk, still a part of Benalder, full of great stones and +crevices, and some scattered wood interspersed. The habitation called +the Cage, in the face of that mountain, was within a small thick bush of +wood. There were first some rows of trees laid down, in order to level +the floor for a habitation; and as the place was steep, this raised the +lower side to an equal height with the other: and these trees, in the +way of joists or planks, were levelled with earth and gravel. There were +betwixt the trees, growing naturally on their own roots, some stakes +fixed in the earth, which, with the trees, were interwoven with ropes, +made of heath and birch twigs, up to the top of the Cage, it being of a +round or rather oval shape; and the whole thatched and covered over with +fog. The whole fabric hung, as it were, by a large tree, which reclined +from the one end, all along the roof, to the other, and which gave it +the name of the Cage; and by chance there happened to be two stones at +a small distance from one another, in the side next the precipice, +resembling the pillars of a chimney, where the fire was placed. The +smoke had its vent out here, all along the fall of the rock, which was +so much of the same color, that one could discover no difference in +the clearest day' (Home's History of the Rebellion, Lond. 1802, 4to, p. +381)." + + +525. Idoean vine. Some have taken this to refer to the "red +whortleberry," the botanical name of which is Vaccinium vitis Idoea; but +as that is not a climber, it is more probably that the common vine is +here meant. Idoean is from Ida, a mountain near ancient Troy (there was +another in Crete), famous for its vines. + + +526. Clematis. The Climatis vitalba, one of the popular English names of +which is virgin-bower. + + +528. And every favored plant could bear. That is, which could endure. +This ellipsis of the relative was very common in Elizabethan English. +Cf. Shakespeare, M. for M. ii. 2. 23: "I have a brother is condemned to +die;" Rich. II. ii. 2. 128: "The hate of those love not the king," etc. +See also John, iii. 11, etc. + + +532. On heaven and on thy lady call. This is said gayly, or sportively, +as keeping up the idea of a knight-errant. Cf. 475 above. + + +542. Careless. See on 490 above. + + +546. Target. Buckler; the targe of iii. 445, etc. See Scott's note on v. +380 below. + + +548. Store. Stored, laid up; an obsolete adjective. Cf. iii. 3 below, +and see also on vi. 124. + + +551. And there the wild-cat's, etc. The MS. reads: + + "There hung the wild-cat's brindled hide, + Above the elk's branched brow and skull, + And frontlet of the forest bull." + + +559. Garnish forth. Cf. furnish forth in 442 above. + + +566. Brook. Bear, endure; now seldom used except with reference to what +is endured against one's will or inclination. It seems to be a favorite +word with Scott. + + +573. Ferragus or Ascabart. "These two sons of Anak flourished in +romantic fable. The first is well known to the admirers of Ariosto by +the name of Ferrau. He was an antagonist of Orlando, and was at length +slain by him in single combat.... Ascapart, or Ascabart, makes a very +material figure in the History of Bevis of Hampton, by whom he was +conquered. His effigies may be seen guarding one side of the gate at +Southampton, while the other is occupied by Bevis himself" (Scott). + + +580. To whom, though more than kindred knew. The MS. reads: + + "To whom, though more remote her claim, + Young Ellen gave a mother's name." + +She was the maternal aunt of Ellen, but was loved as a mother by her, or +more than (such) kindred (usually) knew (in way of affection). + + +585. Though all unasked, etc. "The Highlanders, who carried hospitality +to a punctilious excess, are said to have considered it as churlish +to ask a stranger his name or lineage before he had taken refreshment. +Feuds were so frequent among them, that a contrary rule would in many +cases have produced the discovery of some circumstance which might have +excluded the guest from the benefit of the assistance he stood in need +of" (Scott). + + +591. Snowdoun. An old name of Stirling Castle. See vi. 789 below. + + +592. Lord of a barren heritage. "By the misfortunes of the earlier +Jameses, and the internal feuds of the Scottish chiefs, the kingly power +had become little more than a name. Each chief was a petty king in his +own district, and gave just so much obedience to the king's authority as +suited his convenience" (Taylor). + + +596. Wot. Knows; the present of the obsolete wit (the infinitive to +wit is still use in legal forms), not of weet, as generally stated. See +Matzner, Eng. Gram. i. 382. Cf. Shakespeare, Rich. III. ii. 3. 18: "No, +no, good friends, God wot." He also uses wots (as in Hen. V. iv. 1. 299) +and a participle wotting (in W. T. iii. 2. 77). + + +602. Require. Request, ask; as in Elizanethan English. Cf. Shakespeare, +Hen. VIII. ii. 4. 144: "In humblest manner I require your highness," +etc. + + +603. The elder lady's mien. The MS. has "the mother's easy mien." + + +606. Ellen, though more, etc. The MS. reads: + + "Ellen, though more her looks betrayed + The simple heart of mountain maid, + In speech and gesture, form and grace, + Showed she was come of gentle race; + 'T was strange, in birth so rude, to find + Such face, such manners, and such mind. + Each anxious hint the stranger gave, + The mother heard with silence grave." + + +616. Weird women we, etc. See on 35 above. Weird here = skilled in +witchcraft; like the "weird sisters" of Macbeth. Down = hill (the Gaelic +dun). + + +622. A harp unseen. Scott has the following note here: "'"They +[the Highlanders] delight much in musicke, but chiefly in harps and +clairschoes of their own fashion. The strings of the clairschoes are +made of brasse wire, and the strings of the harps of sinews; which +strings they strike either with their nayles, growing long, or else with +an instrument appointed for that use. They take great pleasure to decke +their harps and clairschoes with silver and precious stones; the poore +ones that cannot attayne hereunto, decke them with christall. They sing +verses prettily compound, contayning (for the most part) prayses of +valiant men. There is not almost any other argument, whereof their +rhymes intreat. They speak the ancient French language, altered a +little." [6] + +"The harp and chairschoes are now only heard of in the Highlands in +ancient song. At what period these instruments ceased to be used, is not +on record; and tradition is silent on this head. But, as Irish harpers +occasionally visited the Highlands and Western Isles till lately, +the harp might have been extant so late as the middle of the present +century. Thus far we know, that from remote times down to the present, +harpers were received as welcome guests, particularly in the Highlands +of Scotland; and so late as the latter end of the sixteenth century, as +appears by the above quotations, the harp was in common use among +the natives of the Western Isles. How it happened that the noisy and +inharmonious bagpipe banished the soft and expressive harp, we cannot +say; but certain it is, that the bagpipe is now the only instrument +that obtains universally in the Highland districts' (Campbell's Journey +through North Britain. London, 1808, 4to, i. 175). + +"Mr. Gunn, of Edinburgh, has lately published a curious Essay upon the +Harp and Harp Music of the Highlands of Scotland. That the instrument +was once in common use there, is most certain. Cleland numbers an +acquaintance with it among the few accomplishments which his satire +allows to the Highlanders:-- + + 'In nothing they're accounted sharp, + Except in bagpipe or in harm.'" + + +624. Soldier, rest! etc. The metre of this song is trochaic; that is, +the accents fall regularly on the odd syllables. + + +631. In slumber dewing. That is, bedewing. For the metaphor, cf. +Shakespeare, Rich. III. iv. 1. 84: "the golden dew of sleep;" and J. C. +ii. 1. 230: "the honey-heavy dew of slumber." + + +635. Morn of toil, etc. The MS. has "noon of hunger, night of waking;" +and in the next line, "rouse" for reach. + + +638. Pibroch. "A Highland air, suited to the particular passion which +the musician would either excite or assuage; generally applied to those +airs that are played on the bagpipe before the Highlanders when they go +out to battle" (Jamieson). Here it is put for the bagpipe itself. See +also on ii. 363 below. + + +642. And the bittern sound his drum. Goldsmith (D. V. 44) calls the bird +"the hollow-sounding bittern;" and in his Animated Nature, he says that +of all the notes of waterfowl "there is none so dismally hollow as the +booming of the bittern." + + +648. She paused, etc. The MS. has "She paused--but waked again the lay." + + +655. The MS. reads: "Slumber sweet our spells shall deal ye;" and in +657: + + "Let our slumbrous spells| avail ye + | beguile ye." + + +657. Reveille. The call to rouse troops or huntsmen in the morning. + + +669. Forest sports. The MS. has "mountain chase." + + +672. Not Ellens' spell. That is, not even Ellen's spell. On the passage, +cf. Rokeby, i. 2: + + "Sleep came at length, but with a train + Of feelings true and fancies vain, + Mingling, in wild disorder cast, + The expected future with the past." + + +693. Or is it all a vision now? Lockhart quotes here Thomson's Castle of +Indolence: + + "Ye guardian spirits, to whom man is dear, + From these foul demons shield the midnight gloom: + Angels of fancy and love, be near. + And o'er the blank of sleep diffuse a bloom: + Evoke the sacred shades of Greece and Rome, + And let them virtue with a look impart; + But chief, awhile, O! lend us from the tomb + Those long-lost friends for whom in love we smart, + and fill with pious awe and joy-mixt woe the heart. + + "Or are you sportive?--bid the morn of youth + Rise to new light, and beam afresh the days + Of innocence, simplicity, and truth; + To cares estranged, and manhood's thorny ways. + What transport, to retrace our boyish plays, + Our easy bliss, when each thing joy supplied; + The woods, the mountains, and the warbling maze + Of the wild books!" + +The Critical Review says of the following stanza (xxxiv): "Such a +strange and romantic dream as may be naturally expected to flow from the +extraordinary events of the day. It might, perhaps, be quoted as one +of Mr. Scott's most successful efforts in descriptive poetry. Some +few lines of it are indeed unrivalled for delicacy and melancholy +tenderness." + + +704. Grisly. Grim, horrible; an obsolete word, much used in old poetry. +Cf. Spenser, F. Q. i. 5. 30: "her darke griesly looke;" Shakespeare, +1 Hen. VI. i. 4. 47: "My grisly countenance made others fly," etc. See +also iv. 322, etc. below. + + +723. Played, etc. The MS. reads: + + "Played on/ the bosoms of the lake, + / Lock Katrine's still expanse; + The birch, the wild rose, and the broom + Wasted around their rich perfume... + The birch-trees wept in balmy dew; + The aspen slept on Benvenue; + Wild were the heart whose passions' power + Defied the influence of the hour." + + +724. Passion's. The reading of the 1st ed. and that of 1821; some recent +eds. have "passions'." + + +738. Orisons. The 1st ed. has "orison" both here and in 740 (the ed. of +1821 only in the latter); but the word is almost invariably plural, both +in poetry and prose--always in Shakespeare and Milton. + + + + +Canto Second. + + +7. A minstrel gray. "That Highland chieftains, to a late period, +retained in their service the bard, as a family officer, admits of very +easy proof. The author of the Letters from the North of Scotland, an +officer of engineers, quartered at Inverness about 1720, who certainly +cannot be deemed a favorable witness, gives the following account of +the office, and of a bard, whom he heard exercise his talent of +recitation:--'The bard is killed in the genealogy of all the Highland +families, sometimes preceptor to the young laird, celebrates in Irish +verse the original of the tribe, the famous warlike actions of the +successive heads, and sings his own lyricks as an opiate to the chief, +when indisposed for sleep; but poets are not equally esteemed and +honored in all countries. I happened to be a witness of the dishonour +done to the muse, at the house of one of the chiefs, where two of these +bards were set at a good distance, at the lower end of a long table, +with a parcel of Highlanders of no extraordinary appearance, over a cup +of ale. Poor inspiration! They were not asked to drink a glass of wine +at our table, though the whole company consisted only of the great man, +one of his near relations, and myself. After some little time, the chief +ordered one of them to sing me a Highland song. The bard readily obeyed, +and with a hoarse voice, and in a tune of few various notes, began, as +I was told, one of his own lyricks; and when he had proceeded to the +fourth of fifth stanza, I perceived, by the names of several persons, +glens, and mountains, which I had known or heard of before, that it +was an account of some clan battle. But in his going on, the chief (who +piques himself upon his school-learning) at some particular passage, +bid him cease, and cryed out, "There's nothing like that in Virgil or +Homer." I bowed, and told him I believed so. This you may believe was +very edifying and delightful'" (Scott). + + +15. Than men, etc. "It is evident that the old bard, with his +second-sight, has a glimmering notion who the stranger is. He speaks +below {311} of 'courtly spy,' and James's speech had betrayed a +knowledge of the Douglas" (Taylor). + + +20. Battled. The reading of the 1st ed. and that of 1821; "battle" in +most others. Cf. i. 626 above. + + +22. Where beauty, etc. The MS. has "At tourneys where the brave resort." +The reference is to the tournaments, "Where," as Milton says (L'Allegro, +119), + + "throngs of knights and barons bold. + In weeds of peace, high triumphs hold, + With store of ladies, whose bright eyes + Rain influence, and judge the prize + Of wit or arms, while both contend + To win her grace whom all commend." + +Cf. 87 below. + + +26. Love's. The reading of the 1st ed. and that of 1821; most eds. have +"love." + + +29. Plaided. The plaid was properly the dress of a Highlander, though it +was worn also in the Lowlands. + + +51. The Harper on the islet beach. "This picture is touched with the +hand of the true poet" (Jeffrey). + + +56. As from. As if from. Cf. 64 and 83 below. This ellipsis was common +in Elizabethan English. Cf. Shakespeare, Macb. ii. 2. 28: + + "One cried 'God bless us!' and 'Amen' the other, + As they had seen me with these hangman's hands." + + +65. In the last sound. For the measure, see on i. 73 above. + + +69. His fleet. That is, of ducks. Cf. i. 239 above. + + +80. Would scorn. Who would scorn. See on i. 528 above. + + +84. Turned him. See on i. 142 above, and cf. 106 below. + + +86. After. Afterwards; as in Shakespeare, Temp. ii. 2. 10: "And after +bite me," etc. The word is not now used adverbially of time, though we +may say "he followed after," etc. The 1st ed. reads "that knight." + + +94. Parts. Departs; as often in poetry and earlier English. Cf. +Goldsmith, D. V. 171: "Beside the bed where parting life was laid;" +Gray, Elegy, 1: "the knell of parting day," etc. On the other hand, +depart was used in the sense of part. In the Marriage Service "till +death us do part" is a corruption of "till death us depart." Wiclif's +Bible, in Matt. xix. 6, has "therfor a man departe not that thing that +God hath ioyned." + + +103. Another step, etc. The MS. has "The loveliest Lowland fair to spy;" +and the 1st ed. reads "The step of parting fair to spy." + + +109. The Graeme. Scott has the following note here: "The ancient and +powerful family of Graham (which, for metrical reasons, is here smelled +after the Scottish pronunciation) held extensive possessions in the +counties of Dumbarton and Stirling. Few families can boast of more +historical renown, having claim to three of the most remarkable +characters in the Scottish annals. Sir John the Graeme, the faithful and +undaunted partaker of the labors and patriotic warfare of Wallace, fell +in the unfortunate field of Falkirk, in 1298. The celebrated Marquis of +Montrose, in whom De Retz saw realized his abstract idea of the heroes +of antiquity, was the second of these worthies. And, not withstanding +the severity of his temper, and the rigor with which he executed the +oppressive mandates of the princes whom he served, I do not hesitate +to name as the third, John Graeme, of Claverhouse, Viscount of Dundee, +whose heroic death, in the arms of victory, may be allowed to cancel +the memory of his cruelty to the non-conformists, during the reigns of +Charles II. and James II." + + +112. Bower. The word meant a chamber (see on i. 217 above), and was +often used of the ladies' apartments in a house. In hall and bower = +among men and women. The words are often thus associated. Cf. Spenser, +Astrophel, 28: "Merily masking both in bowre and hall," etc. + + +115. Arose. The 1st ed. misprints "Across;" not noted in the Errata. + + +126. And the proud march. See on i. 73 above. + + +131. Saint Modan. A Scotch abbot of the 7th century. Scott says here: "I +am not prepared to show that Saint Modan was a performer on the harp. It +was, however, no unsaintly accomplishment; for Saint Dunstan certainly +did play upon that instrument, which retaining, as was natural, a +portion of the sanctity attached to its master's character, announced +future events by its spontaneous sound. 'But labouring once in these +mechanic arts for a devout matrone that had sett him on work, his violl, +that hung by him on the wall, of its own accord, without anie man's +helpe, distinctly sounded this anthime: Gaudent in coelis animae +sanctorum qui Christi vestigia sunt secuti; et quia pro eius amore +sanguinem suum fuderunt, ideo cum Christo gaudent aeternum. Whereat all +the companie being much astonished, turned their eyes from beholding him +working, to looke on that strange accident.... Not long after, manie of +the court that hitherunto had born a kind of fayned friendship towards +him, began now greatly to envie at his progresse and rising in goodness, +using manie crooked, backbiting meanes to diffame his vertues with the +black markes of hypocrisie. And the better to authorise their calumnie, +they brought in this that happened in the violl, affirming it to have +been done by art magick. What more? this wicked rumour encreased, dayly, +till the king and others of the nobilitie taking hould thereof, Dunstan +grew odious in their sight. Therefore he resolued to leaue the court, +and goe to Elphegus, surnamed the Bauld, then bishop of Winchester, who +was his cozen. Which his enemies understanding, they layd wayte for him +in the way, and hauing throwne him off his horse, beate him, and dragged +him in the durt in the most miserable manner, meaning to have slaine +him, had not a companie of mastiue dogges, that came unlookt uppon them, +defended and redeemed him from their crueltie. When with sorrow he +was ashamed to see dogges more humane than they. And giuing thankes to +Almightie God, he sensibly againe perceaued that the tunes of his violl +had giuen him a warning of future accidents' (Flower of the Lives of +the most renowned Sainets of England, Scotland, and Ireland, by the R. +Father Hierome Porter. Doway, 1632 4to. tome i. p. 438). + +"The same supernatural circumstance is alluded to by the anonymous +author of Grim, the Collier of Croydon: + + '-----[Dunstant's harp sounds on the wall.] + 'Forrest. Hark, hark, my lord, the holy abbot's harp + Sounds by itself so hanging on the wall! + 'Dunstan. Unhallow'd man, that scorn'st the sacred rede, + Hark, how the testimony of my truth + Sounds heavenly music with an angel's hand, + To testify Dunstan's integrity, + And prove thy active boast of no effect.'" + + +141. Bothwell's bannered hall. The picturesque ruins of Bothwell Castle +stand on the banks of the Clyde, about nine miles above Glasgow. Some +parts of the walls are 14 feet thick, and 60 feet in height. They are +covered with ivy, wild roses, and wall-flowers. + + "The tufted grass lines Bothwell's ancient hall, + The fox peeps cautious from the creviced wall, + Where once proud Murray, Clydesdale's ancient lord, + A mimic sovereign, held the festal board." + + +142. Ere Douglases, to ruin driven. Scott says: "The downfall of the +Douglases of the house of Angus, during the reign of James V., is the +event alluded to in the text. The Earl of Angus, it will be remembered, +had married the queen dowager, and availed himself of the right which he +thus acquired, as well as of his extensive power, to retain the king +in a sort of tutelage, which approached very near to captivity. Several +open attempts were made to rescue James from this thraldom, with +which he was well known to be deeply disgusted; but the valor of the +Douglases, and their allies, gave them the victory in every conflict. +At length, the king, while residing at Falkland, contrived to escape by +night out of his own court and palace, and rode full speed to Stirling +Castle, where the governor, who was of the opposite faction, joyfully +received him. Being thus at liberty, James speedily summoned around him +such peers as he knew to be most inimical to the domination of Angus, +and laid his complaint before them, says Pitscottie, 'with great +lamentations: showing to them how he was holding in subjection, thir +years bygone, by the Earl of Angus, and his kin and friends, who +oppressed the whole country, and spoiled it, under the pretence of +justice and his authority; and had slain many of his lieges, kinsmen, +and friends, because they would have had it mended at their hands, and +put him at liberty, as he ought to have been, at the counsel of +his whole lords, and not have been subjected and corrected with no +particular men, by the rest of his nobles: Therefore, said he, I +desire, my lords, that I may be satisfied of the said earl, his kin, and +friends; for I avow, that Scotland shall not hold us both, while [i.e. +till] I be revenged on him and his. + +'The lords hearing the king's complaint and lamentation, and also the +great rage, fury, and malice, that he bure toward the Earl of Angus, his +kin and friends, they concluded all and thought it best, that he should +be summoned to underly the law; if he fand not caution, nor yet compear +himself, that he should be put to the horn, with all his kin and +friends, so many as were contained in the letters. And further, the +lords ordained, by advice of his majesty, that his brother and friends +should be summoned to find caution to underly the law within a certain +day, or else be put to the horn. But the earl appeared not, nor none +for him; and so he was put to the horn, with all his kin and friends: +so many as were contained in the summons, that compeared not, were +banished, and holden traitors to the king.'" + + +159. From Tweed to Spey. From the Tweed, the southern boundary of +Scotland, to the Spey, a river far to the north in Invernessshire; that +is, from one end of the land to the other. + + +170. Reave. Tear away. The participle reft is still used, at least in +poetry. Cf. Shakespeare, V. and A. 766: "Or butcher-sire that reaves his +son of life" (that is, bereaves); Spenser, F. Q. i. 3. 36: "He to him +lept, in minde to reave his life;" Id. ii. 8. 15: "I will him reave of +arms," etc. + + +178. It drinks, etc. The MS. has "No blither dewdrop cheers the rose." + + +195, 196. To see... dance. This couplet is not in the MS. + + +200. The Lady of the Bleeding Heart. The bleeding heart was the +cognizance of the Douglas family. Robert Bruce, on his death-bed, +bequeathed his heart to his friend, the good Lord James, to be borne in +war against the Saracens. "He joined Alphonso, King of Leon and Castile, +then at war with the Moorish chief Osurga, of Granada, and in a keen +contest with the Moslems he flung before him the casket containing the +precious relic, crying out, 'Onward as thou wert wont, thou noble +heart, Douglas will follow thee.' Douglas was slain, but his body was +recovered, and also the precious casket, and in the end Douglas was laid +with his ancestors, and the heart of Bruce deposited in the church of +Melrose Abbey" (Burton's Hist. of Scotland). + + +201. Fair. The 1st ed. (and probably the MS., though not noted by +Lockhart) has "Gay." + + +203. Yet is this, etc. The MS. and 1st ed. read: + + "This mossy rock, my friend, to me + Is worth gay chair and canopy." + + +205. Footstep. The reading of the 1st and other early eds.; "footsteps" +in recent ones. + + +206. Strathspey. A Highland dance, which takes its name from the strath, +or broad valley, of the Spey (159 above). + + +213. Clan-Alpine's pride. "The Siol Alpine, or race of Alpine, includes +several clans who claimed descent from Kenneth McAlpine, an ancient +king. These are the Macgregors, the Grants, the Mackies, the Mackinnans, +the MacNabs, the MacQuarries, and the Macaulays. Their common emblem was +the pine, which is now confined to the Macgregors" (Taylor). + + +214. Loch Lomond. This beautiful lake, "the pride of Scottish lakes," +is about 23 miles in length and 5 miles in its greatest breadth. At the +southern end are many islands, one of which, Inch-Cailliach (the Island +of Women, so called from a nunnery that was once upon it), was the +burial-place of Clan-Alpine. See iii. 191 below. + + +216. A Lennox foray. That is, a raid in the lands of the Lennox +family, bordering on the southern end of Loch Lomond. On the island of +Inch-Murrin, the ruins of Lennox Castle, formerly a residence of the +Earls of Lennox, are still to be seen. There was another of their +strongholds on the shore of the lake near Balloch, where the modern +Balloch Castle now stands. + + +217. Her glee. The 1st ed. misprints "his glee;" not noted in the +Errata. + + +220. Black Sir Roderick. Roderick Dhu, or the Black, as he was called. + + +221. In Holy-Rood a knight he slew. That is, in Holyrood Palace. "This +was by no means an uncommon occurrence in the Court of Scotland; nay, +the presence of the sovereign himself scarcely restrained the ferocious +and inveterate feuds which were the perpetual source of bloodshed among +the Scottish nobility" (Scott). + + +223. Courtiers give place, etc. The MS. reads: + + "Courtiers give place with heartless stride + Of the retiring homicide." + + +227. Who else, etc. The MS. has the following couplet before this line: + + "Who else dared own the kindred claim + That bound him to thy mother's name?" + + +229. The Douglas, etc. Scott says here: "The exiled state of this +powerful race is not exaggerated in this and subsequent passages. The +hatred of James against the race of Douglas was so inveterate, that +numerous as their allies were, and disregarded as the regal authority +had usually been in similar cases, their nearest friends, even in the +most remote part of Scotland, durst not entertain them, unless under the +strictest and closest disguise. James Douglas, son of the banished Earl +of Angus, afterwards well known by the title of Earl of Morton, lurked, +during the exile of his family, in the north of Scotland, under the +assumed name of James Innes, otherwise James the Grieve (i.e. reve or +bailiff). 'And as he bore the name,' says Godscroft, 'so did he also +execute the office of a grieve or overseer of the lands and rents, the +corn and cattle of him with whom he lived.' From the habits of frugality +and observation which he acquired in his humble situation, the historian +traces that intimate acquaintance with popular character which enabled +him to rise so high in the state, and that honorable economy by which +he repaired and established the shattered estates of Angus and Morton +(History of the House of Douglas, Edinburgh, 1743, vol. ii. p. 160)." + + +235. Guerdon. Reward; now rarely used except in poetry. Cf. Spenser, F. +Q. i. 10. 59: "That glory does to them for guerdon graunt," etc. + + +236. Dispensation. As Roderick and Ellen were cousins, they could not +marry without a dispensation from the Pope. + + +251. Orphan. Referring to child, not to she, as its position indicates. + + +254. Shrouds. Shields, protects. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. i. 1. 6: "And this +faire couple eke to shroud themselves were fain" (that is, from the +rain). So the noun = shelter, protection; as in Shakespeare, A. and +C. iii. 13. 71: "put yourself under his shroud," etc. See also on 757 +below. + + +260. Maronnan's cell. "The parish of Kilmaronock, at the eastern +extremity of Loch Lomond, derives its name from a cell, or chapel, +dedicated to Saint Maronock, or Marnock, or Maronnan, about whose +sanctity very little is now remembered" (Scott). Kill = cell; as +in Colmekill (Macb. ii. 4. 33), "the cell of Columba," now known as +Icolmkill, or Iona. + + +270. Bracklinn's thundering wave. This beautiful cascade is on the +Keltie, a mile from Callander. The height of the fall is about fifty +feet. "A few years ago a marriage party of Lowland peasants met with +a tragic end here, two of them having tumbled into the broken, angry +waters, where they had no more chance of life than if they had dropped +into the crater of Hecla" (Black). + + +271. Save. Unless; here followed by the subjunctive. + + +274. Claymore. The word means "a large sword" (Gaelic claidheamh, sword, +and more, great). + + +294. Shadowy plaid and sable plume. Appropriate to Roderick Dhu. See on +220 above. + + +303. Woe the while. Woe be to the time, alas the time! Cf. Shakespeare, +J. C. i. 3. 82: "But, woe the while! our fathers' minds are dead," etc. +See also on i. 166 above. + + +306. Tine-man. "Archibald, the third Earl of Douglas, was so unfortunate +in all his enterprises, that he acquired the epithet of 'tine-man,' +because he tined, or lost, his followers in every battle which he +fought. He was vanquished, as every reader must remember, in the bloody +battle of Homildon-hill, near Wooler, where he himself lost an eye, and +was made prisoner by Hotspur. He was no less unfortunate when allied +with Percy, being wounded and taken at the battle of Shrewsbury. He was +so unsuccessful in an attempt to beseige Roxburgh Castle, that it was +called the 'Foul Raid,' or disgraceful expedition. His ill fortune left +him indeed at the battle of Beauge, in France; but it was only to return +with double emphasis at the subsequent action of Vernoil, the last and +most unlucky of his encounters, in which he fell, with the flower of the +Scottish chivalry, then serving as auxiliaries in France, and about two +thousand common soldiers, A.D. 1424" (Scott). + + +307. What time, etc. That is, at the time when Douglas allied +himself with Percy in the rebellion against Henry IV. of England. See +Shakespeare, 1 Hen. IV. + + +309. Did, self unscabbarded, etc. Scott says here: "The ancient +warriors, whose hope and confidence rested chiefly in their blades, +were accustomed to deduce omens from them, especially from such as were +supposed to have been fabricated by enchanted skill, of which we have +various instances in the romances and legends of the time. The wonderful +sword Skofnung, wielded by the celebrated Hrolf Kraka, was of this +description. It was deposited in the tomb of the monarch at his death, +and taken from thence by Skeggo, a celebrated pirate, who bestowed it +upon his son-in-law, Kormak, with the following curious directions: +'"The manner of using it will appear strange to you. A small bag is +attached to it, which take heed not to violate. Let not the rays of the +sun touch the upper part of the handle, nor unsheathe it, unless thou +art ready for battle. But when thou comest to the place of fight, go +aside from the rest, grasp and extend the sword, and breathe upon it. +Then a small worm will creep out of the handle; lower the handle, that +he may more easily return into it." Kormak, after having received the +sword, returned home to his mother. He showed the sword, and attempted +to draw it, as unnecessarily as ineffectually, for he could not pluck +it out of the sheath. His mother, Dalla, exclaimed, "Do not despise the +counsel given to thee, my son." Kormak, however, repeating his efforts, +pressed down the handle with his feet, and tore off the bag, when +Skofung emitted a hollow groan; but still he could not unsheathe the +sword. Kormak then went out with Bessus, whom he had challenged to fight +with him, and drew apart at the place of combat. He sat down upon the +ground, and ungirding the sword, which he bore above his vestments, did +not remember to shield the hilt from the rays of the sun. In vain he +endeavored to draw it, till he placed his foot against the hilt; then +the worm issued from it. But Kormak did not rightly handle the weapon, +in consequence whereof good fortune deserted it. As he unsheathed +Skofnung, it emitted a hollow murmur' (Bartholini de Causis Contemptae a +Danis adhuc Gentilibus Mortis, Libri Tres. Hafniae, 1689, 4to, p. 574). + +"To the history of this sentient and prescient weapon, I beg leave to +add, from memory, the following legend, for which I cannot produce any +better authority. A young nobleman, of high hopes and fortune, chanced +to lose his way in the town which he inhabited, the capital, if I +mistake not, of a German province. He had accidentally involved himself +among the narrow and winding streets of a suburb, inhabited by the +lowest order of the people, and an approaching thunder-shower determined +him to ask a short refuge in the most decent habitation that was near +him. He knocked at the door, which was opened by a tall man, of a grisly +and ferocious aspect, and sordid dress. The stranger was readily ushered +to a chamber, where swords, scourges, and machines, which seemed to be +implements of torture, were suspended on the wall. One of these swords +dropped from its scabbard, as the nobleman, after a moment's hesitation, +crossed the threshold. His host immediately stared at him with such a +marked expression, that the young man could not help demanding his name +and business, and the meaning of his looking at him so fixedly. 'I am,' +answered the man, 'the public executioner of this city; and the incident +you have observed is a sure augury that I shall, in discharge of my +duty, one day cut off your head with the weapon which has just now +spontaneously unsheathed itself.' The nobleman lost no time in leaving +his place of refuge; but, engaging in some of the plots of the period, +was shortly after decapitated by that very man and instrument. + +"Lord Lovat is said, by the author of the Letters from Scotland (vol. +ii. p. 214), to have affirmed that a number of swords that hung up in +the hall of the mansion-house, leaped of themselves out of the scabbard +at the instant he was born. The story passed current among his clan, +but, like that of the story I have just quoted, proved an unfortunate +omen." + + +311. If courtly spy hath, etc. The 1st ed. has "If courtly spy, and +harbored," etc. The ed. of 1821 reads "had harbored." + + +319. Beltane. The first of May, when there was a Celtic festival in +honor of the sun. Beltane = Beal-tein, or the fire of Beal, a Gaelic +name for the sun. It was celebrated by kindling fires on the hill-tops +at night, and other ceremonies, followed by dances, and merry-making. +Cf. 410 below. See also The Lord of the Isles, i. 8: "The shepherd +lights his belane-fire;" and Glenfinlas: + + "But o'er his hills, in festal day, + How blazed Lord Ronald's beltane-tree!" + + +323. But hark! etc. "The moving picture--the effect of the sounds--and +the wild character and strong peculiar nationality of the whole +procession, are given with inimitable spirit and power of expression" +(Jeffrey). + + +327. The canna's hoary beard. The down of the canna, or cotton-grass. + + +335. Glengyle. A valley at the northern end of Lock Katrine. + + +337. Brianchoil. A promontory on the northern shore of the lake. + + +342. Spears, pikes, and axes. The 1st ed. and that of 1821 have Spears, +but all the recent ones misprint "Spear." The "Globe" ed. has "Spear, +spikes," etc. + + +343. Tartans. The checkered woollen cloth so much worn in Scotland. +Curiously enough, the name is not Gaelic but French. See Jamieson or Wb. + +Brave. Fine, beautiful; the same word as the Scottish braw. Cf. +Shakespeare, Sonn. 12. 2: "And see the brave day sunk in hideous night;" +Ham. ii. 2. 312: "This brave o'erhanging firmament," etc. It is often +used of dress, as also is bravery (= finery); as in T. of S. iv. 3. 57: +"With scarfs and fans and double change of bravery." See also Spenser, +Mother Hubberds Tale, 858: "Which oft maintain'd his masters braverie" +(that is, dressed as well as his master). + + +351. Chanters. The pipes of the bagpipes, to which long ribbons were +attached. + + +357. The sounds. Misprinted "the sound" in the ed. of 1821, and all the +more recent eds. that we have seen. Cf. 363 below. + + +363. Those thrilling sounds, etc. Scott says here: "The connoisseurs in +pipe-music affect to discover in a well-composed pibroch, the imitative +sounds of march, conflict, flight, pursuit, and all the 'current of a +heady fight.' To this opinion Dr. Beattie has given his suffrage, +in that following elegant passage:--'A pibroch is a species of tune, +peculiar, I think, to the Highlands and Western Isles of Scotland. It +is performed on a bagpipe, and differs totally from all other music. Its +rhythm is so irregular, and its notes, especially in the quick movement, +so mixed and huddled together, that a stranger finds it impossible to +reconcile his ear to it, so as to perceive its modulation. Some of +these pibrochs, being intended to represent a battle, begin with a grave +motion, resembling a march; then gradually quicken into the onset; +run off with noisy confusion, and turbulent rapidity, to imitate the +conflict and pursuit; then swell into a few flourishes of triumphant +joy; and perhaps close with the wild and slow wailings of a funeral +procession' (Essay on Laughter and Ludicrious Composition, chap. iii. +note)." + + +367. Hurrying. Referring to their, or rather to the them implied in that +word. + + +392. The burden bore. That is, sustained the burden, or chorus, of the +song. Cf. Shakespeare, Temp. i. 2. 381: "And, sweet sprites, the burden +bear." + + +399. Hail to the Chief, etc. The metre of the song is dactylic; the +accents being on the 1st, 4th, 7th, and 10th syllables. It is little +used in English. Tennyson's Charge of the Light Brigade and Longfellow's +Skeleton in Armor are familiar examples of it. + + +405. Bourgeon. Bud. Cf. Fairfax, Tasso, vii. 76: When first on trees +bourgeon the blossoms soft;" and Tennyson, In Memoriam, 115: + + "Now burgeons every maze of quick + About the flowering squares," etc. + + +408. Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu. "Besides his ordinary name and surname, +which were chiefly used in the intercourse with the Lowlands, every +Highland chief had an epithet expressive of his patriarchal dignity +as head of the clan, and which was common to all his predecessors and +successors, as Pharaoh to the kings of Egypt, or Arsaces to those of +Parthia. This name was usually a patronymic, expressive of his descent +from the founder of the family. Thus the Duke of Argyll is called +MacCallum More, or the son of Colin the Great. Sometimes, however, it +is derived from armorial distinctions, or the memory of some great feat; +thus Lord Seaforth, as chief of the Mackenzies, or Clan-Kennet, bears +the epithet of Caber-fae, or Buck's Head, as representative of Colin +Fitzgerald, founder of the family, who saved the Scottish king, when +endangered by a stag. But besides this title, which belonged to his +office and dignity, the chieftain had usually another peculiar to +himself, which distinguished him from the chieftains of the same race. +This was sometimes derived from complexion, as dhu or roy; sometimes +from size, as beg or more; at other times, from some peculiar exploit, +or from some peculiarity of habit or appearance. The line of the text +therefore signifies, + + Black Roderick, the descendant of Alpine. + +"The song itself is intended as an imitation of the jorrams, or boat +songs, of the Highlanders, which were usually composed in honor of a +favorite chief. They are so adapted as to keep time with the sweep of +the oars, and it is easy to distinguish between those intended to +be sung to the oars of a galley, where the stroke is lengthened and +doubled, as it were, and those which were timed to the rowers of an +ordinary boat" (Scott). + + +410. Beltane. See on 319 above. + + +415. Roots him. See on i. 142 above. + + +416. Breadalbane. The district north of Loch Lomond and around Loch +Tay. The seat of the Earl of Breadalbane is Taymouth Castle, near the +northern end of Loch Tay. + +For Menteith, see on i. 89 above. + + +419. Glen Fruin. A valley to the southwest of Loch Lomond. The ruins +of the castle of Benuchara, or Bannochar (see on 422 just below), still +overhang the entrance to the glen. + +Glen Luss is another valley draining into the lake, a few miles from +Glen Fruin, and Ross-dhu is on the shore of the lake, midway between the +two. Here stands a tower, the only remnant of the ancient castle of the +family of Luss, which became merged in that of Colquhoun. + + +422. The best of Loch Lomond, etc. Scott has the following note here: + + +"The Lennox, as the district is called which encircles the lower +extremity of Loch Lomond, was peculiarly exposed to the incursions of +the mountaineers, who inhabited the inaccessible fastnesses at the upper +end of the lake, and the neighboring district of Loch Katrine. These +were often marked by circumstances of great ferocity, of which the noted +conflict of Glen Fruin is a celebrated instance. This was a clan-battle, +in which the Macgregors, headed by Allaster Macgregor, chief of the +clan, encountered the sept of Colquhouns, commanded by Sir Humphry +Colquhoun of Luss. It is on all hands allowed that the action was +desperately fought, and that the Colquhouns were defeated with +slaughter, leaving two hundred of their name dead upon the field. But +popular tradition has added other horrors to the tale. It is said that +Sir Humphry Colquhoun, who was on horseback, escaped to the Castle of +Benechra, or Bannochar, and was next day dragged out and murdered by +the victorious Macgregors in cold blood. Buchanan of Auchmar, however, +speaks of his slaughter as a subsequent event, and as perpetrated by the +Macfarlanes. Again, it is reported that the Macgregors murdered a +number of youths, whom report of the intended battle had brought to be +spectators, and whom the Colquhouns, anxious for their safety, had shut +up in a barn to be out of danger. One account of the Macgregors denies +this circumstance entirely; another ascribes it to the savage and +bloodthirsty disposition of a single individual, the bastard brother of +the Laird of Macgregor, who amused himself with this second massacre of +the innocents, in express disobedience to the chief, by whom he was left +their guardian during the pursuit of the Colquhouns. It is added that +Macgregor bitterly lamented this atrocious action, and prophesied the +ruin which it must bring upon their ancient clan. ... + +"The consequences of the battle of Glen Fruin were very calamitous to +the family of Macgregor, who had already been considered as an unruly +clan. The widows of the slain Colquhouns, sixty, it is said, in number, +appeared in doleful procession before the king at Stirling, each riding +upon a white palfrey, and bearing in her hand the bloody shirt of +her husband displayed upon a pike. James VI. was so much moved by the +complaints of this 'choir of mourning dames,' that he let loose his +vengeance against the Macgregors without either bounds or moderation. +The very name of the clan was proscribed, and those by whom it had been +borne were given up to sword and fire, and absolutely hunted down by +bloodhounds like wild beasts. Argyll and the Campbells, on the one hand, +Montrose, with the Grahames and Buchanans, on the other, are said to +have been the chief instruments in suppressing this devoted clan. The +Laird of Macgregor surrendered to the former, on condition that he would +take him out of Scottish ground. But, to use Birrel's expression, he +kept 'a Highlandman's promise;' and, although he fulfilled his word to +the letter, by carrying him as far as Berwick, he afterwards brought +him back to Edinburgh, where he was executed with eighteen of his clan +(Birrel's Diary, 2d Oct. 1903). The clan Gregor being thus driven to +utter despair, seem to have renounced the laws from the benefit of which +they were excluded, and their depredations produced new acts of council, +confirming the severity of their proscription, which had only the +effect of rendering them still more united and desperate. It is a most +extraordinary proof of the ardent and invincible spirit of clanship, +that notwithstanding the repeated proscriptions providently ordained +by the legislature, 'for the timeous preventing the disorders and +oppression that may fall out by the said name and clan of Macgregors, +and their followers,' they were, in 1715 and 1745, a potent clan, and +continue to subsist as a distinct and numerous race." + + +426. Leven-glen. The valley of the Leven, which connects Loch Lomond +with the Clyde. + + +431. The rosebud. That is, Ellen. "Note how this song connects Allan's +forebodings with Roderick's subsequent offer" (Taylor). + + +444. And chorus wild, etc. The MS. has "The chorus to the chieftain's +fame." + + +476. Weeped. The form is used for the rhyme. Cf. note on i. 500 above. + + +477. Nor while, etc. The MS. reads: + + "Nor while on Ellen's faltering tongue + Her filial greetings eager hung, + Marked not that awe (affection's proof) + Still held yon gentle youth aloof; + No! not till Douglas named his name, + Although the youth was Malcolm Graeme. + Then with flushed cheek and downcast eye, + Their greeting was confused and shy." + + +495. Bothwell. See on 141 above. + + +497. Percy's Norman pennon. Taken in the raid which led to the battle +of Otterburn, in Northumberland, in the year 1388, and which forms the +theme of the ballads of Chevy Chase. + + +501. My pomp. My triumphal procession; the original meaning of pomp. + + +504. Crescent. The badge of the Buccleuch family (Miss Yonge). + + +506. Blantyre. A priory, the ruins of which are still to be seen on a +height above the Clyde, opposite Bothwell Castle. + + +521. The dogs, etc. The MS. has "The dogs with whimpering notes repaid." + + +525. Unhooded. The falcon was carried on the wrist, with its head +covered, or hooded, until the prey was seen, when it was unhooded for +flight. Cf. vi. 665 below. + + +526. Trust. Believe me. + + +527. Like fabled Goddess. The MS. has "Like fabled huntress;" referring +of course to Diana. + + +534. Stature fair. The reading of the 1st ed. and that of 1821; "stature +tall" in most of the other eds. + + +541. The ptarmigan. A white bird. + + +543. Menteith. See on i. 89 above. + + +548. Ben Lomond. This is much the highest (3192 feet) of the mountains +on the shores of Loch Lomond. The following lines on the ascent were +scratched upon the window-pane of the old inn at Tarbet a hundred years +or more ago: + + "Trust not at first a quick adventurous pace; + Six miles its top points gradual from its base; + Up the high rise with panting haste I past, + And gained the long laborious steep at last; + More prudent thou--when once you pass the deep, + With cautious steps and slow ascend the steep." + + +549. Not a sob. That is, without panting, or getting out of breath, like +the degenerate modern tourist. + + +574. Glenfinlas. A wooded valley between Ben-an and Benledi, the +entrance to which is between Lochs Achray and Vennachar. It is the scene +of Scott's ballad, Glenfinlas, or Lord Ronald's Coronach. A mile from +the entrance are the falls of the Hero's Targe. See iv. 84 below. + + +577. Still a royal ward. Still under age, with the king for guardian. + + +583. Strath-Endrick. A valley to the southeast of Loch Lomond, drained +by Endrick Water. + + +584. Peril aught. Incur any peril. Milton uses the verb intransitively +in Reason of Church Government, ii. 3: "it may peril to stain itself." + + +587. Not in action. The 1st ed. has "nor in action." + + +594. News. Now generally used as a singular; but in old writers both as +singular and as plural. Cf. Shakespeare, K. John, iii. 4. 164: "at that +news he dies;" and Id. v. 7. 65: "these dead news," etc. + + +601. As. As if. See on 56 above. + + +606. Glozing. That glosses over the truth, not plain and outspoken. +Sometimes it means to flatter, or deceive with smooth words; as in +Spenser, F. Q. iii. 8. 14: + + "For he could well his glozing speeches frame + To such vaine uses that him best became;" + +Smith, Sermons (A. D. 1609): "Every smooth tale is not to be believed; +and every glosing tongue is not to be trusted;" Milton, P. L. iii. 93: +"his glozing lies;" Id. ix. 549: "So glozed the Tempter;" Comus, 161: +"well-placed words of glozing courtesy," etc. + + +615. The King's vindictive pride, etc. Scott says here: "In 1529, James +made a convention at Edinburgh, for the purpose of considering the best +mode of quelling the Border robbers, who, during the license of +his minority, and the troubles which followed, had committed many +exorbitances. Accordingly he assembled a flying army of ten thousand +men, consisting of his principal nobility and their followers, who were +directed to bring their hawks and dogs with them, that the monarch might +refresh himself with sport during the intervals of military execution. +With this array he swept through Ettrick Forest, where he hanged +over the gate of his own castle Piers Cockburn of Henderland, who had +prepared, according to tradition, a feast for his reception. He caused +Adam Scott of Tushiclaw also to be executed, who was distinguished by +the title of King of the Border. But the most noted victim of justice +during that expedition was John Armstrong of Gilnockie, famous in +Scottish song, who, confiding in his own supposed innocence, met the +King, with a retinue of thirty-six persons, all of whom were hanged at +Carlenrig, near the source of the Teviot. The effect of this severity +was such, that, as the vulgar expressed it, 'the rush-bush kept the +cow,' and 'thereafter was great peace and rest a long time, wherethrough +the King had great profit; for he had ten thousand sheep going in the +Ettrick Forest in keeping by Andrew Bell, who made the king as good +count of them as they had gone in the bounds of Fife' (Pitscottie's +History, p. 153)." + + +623. Meggat's mead. The Meggat, or Megget, is a mountain stream flowing +into the Yarrow, a branch of the Etrrick, which is itself a branch of +the Tweed. The Teviot is also a branch of the Tweed. + + +627. The dales, etc. The MS. has "The dales where clans were wont to +bide." + + +634. By fate of Border chivalry. Scott says: "James was, in fact, +equally attentive to restrain rapine and feudal oppression in every part +of his dominions. 'The King past to the isles, and there held justice +courts, and punished both thief and traitor according to their demerit. +And also he caused great men to show their holdings, wherethrough he +found many of the said lands in non-entry; the which he confiscate and +brought home to his own use, and afterwards annexed them to the crown, +as ye shall hear. Syne brought many of the great men of the isles +captive with him, such as Mudyart, M'Connel, M'Loyd of the Lewes, +M'Neil, M'Lane, M'Intosh, John Mudyart, M'Kay, M'Kenzie, with many other +that I cannot rehearse at this time. Some of them he put in ward and +some in court, and some he took pledges for good rule in time coming. +So he brought the isles, both north and south, in good rule and peace; +wherefore he had great profit, service, and obedience of people a +long time hereafter; and as long as he had the heads of the country +in subjection, they lived in great peace and rest, and there was great +riches and policy by the King's justice' (Pitscottie, p. 152)." + + +638. Your counsel. That is, give me your counsel. Streight = strait. + + +659. The Bleeding Heart. See on 200 above. + + +662. Quarry. See on i. 127 above. + + +672. To wife. For wife. Cf. Shakespeare, Temp. ii. 1. 75: "such a +paragon to their queen;" Rich. II. iv. 1. 306: "I have a king here to my +flatterer," etc. See also Matt. iii. 9, Luke, iii. 8, etc. + + +674. Enow. The old plural of enough; as in Shakespeare, Hen. V. iv. 1. +240: "we have French quarrels enow," etc. + + +678. The Links of Forth. The windings of the Forth between Stirling and +Alloa. + + +679. Stirling's porch. The gate of Stirling Castle. + + +683. Blench. Start, shrink. + + +685. Heat. Misprinted "heart" in many eds. + + +690. From pathless glen. The MS. has "from hill and glen." + + +692. There are who have. For the ellipsis, cf. Shakespeare, Temp. ii. 1. +262: "There be that can rule Naples," etc. See also iii. 10 below. + + +694. That beetled o'er. Cf. Hamlet, i. 4. 71: + + + "the dreadful summit of the cliff That beetles o'er his +base into the sea." + + +696. Their dangerous dream. The MS. has "their desperate dream." + + +702. Battled. Battlemented; as in vi. 7 below. + + +703. It waved. That it waved; an ellipsis very common in Elizabethan and +earlier English. Cf. 789 below. + + +708. Astound. Astounded. This contraction of the participle (here used +for the sake of the rhyme) was formerly not uncommon in verbs ending in +d and t. Thus in Shakespeare we find the participles bloat (Ham. iii. 4. +182), enshield (M. for M. ii. 4. 80), taint (1 Hen. VI. v. 3. 183), etc. + + +710. Crossing. Conflicting. + + +716. Ere. The 1st ed. misprints "e'er." + + +731. Level. Aim; formerly a technical term. Cf. 2 Hen. IV. iii. 2. 286: +"The foeman may with as great aim level at the edge of a penknife," etc. + + +747. Nighted. Benighted. It is to be regarded as a contraction of that +word; like lated for belated in Macbeth, iii. 3. 6, etc. Nighted (= +dark, black) in Hamlet, i. 2. 68 ("thy nighted colour") is an adjective +formed from the noun night. + + +757. Checkered shroud. Tartain plaid. The original meaning of shroud +(see Wb.) was garment. + + +763. Parting. Departing. See on 94 above. + + +768. So deep, etc. According to Lockhart, the MS. reads: + + "The deep-toned anguish of despair + Flushed, in fierce jealousy, to air;" + +but we suspect that "Flushed" should be "Flashed." + + +774. So lately. At the "Beltane game" (319 above). + + +781. Thus as they strove, etc. The MS. reads: + + "Thus, as they strove, each better hand + Grasped for the dagger or the brand." + + +786. I hold, etc. Scott has the following note on the last page of the +1st ed.: "The author has to apologize for the inadvertent appropriation +of a whole line from the tragedy of Douglas: 'I hold the first who +strikes my foe.'" + + +789. His daughter's hand, etc. For the ellipsis of that, see on 703 +above. Deemed is often misprinted "doomed." + + +791. Sullen and slowly, etc. The MS. reads: + + "Sullen and slow the rivals bold + Loosed at his hest their desperate hold, + But either still on other glared," etc. + + +795. Brands. A pet word with Scott. Note how often it has been used +already in the poem. + + +798. As faltered. See on 601 above. + + +801. Pity 't were, etc. Scott says here: "Hardihood was in every respect +so essential to the character of a Highlander, that the reproach of +effeminacy was the most bitter which could be thrown upon him. Yet it +was sometimes hazarded on what we might presume to think slight grounds. +It is reported of old Sir Ewen Cameron of Lochiel, when upwards of +seventy, that he was surprised by night on a hunting or military +expedition. He wrapped him in his plaid, and lay contentedly down +upon the snow, with which the ground happened to be covered. Among his +attendants, who were preparing to take their rest in the same manner, +he observed that one of his grandsons, for his better accommodation, had +rolled a large snow-ball, and placed it below his head. The wrath of +the ancient chief was awakened by a symptom of what he conceived to be +degenerate luxury. 'Out upon thee,' said he, kicking the frozen bolster +from the head which it supported, 'art thou so effeminate as to need +a pillow?' The officer of engineers, whose curious Letters from the +Highlands have been more than once quoted, tells a similar story of +Macdonald of Keppoch, and subjoins the following remarks: 'This and +many other stories are romantick; but there is one thing, that at +first thought might seem very romantick, of which I have been credibly +assured, that when the Highlanders are constrained to lie among the +hills, in cold dry weather, they sometimes soak the plaid in some river +or burn (i.e. brook), and then holding up a corner of it a little +above their heads, they turn themselves round and round, till they are +enveloped by the whole mantle. They then lay themselves down on the +heath, upon the leeward side of some hill, where the wet and the warmth +of their bodies make a steam, like that of a boiling kettle. The wet, +they say, keeps them warm by thickening the stuff, and keeping the wind +from penetrating. I must confess I should have been apt to question this +fact, had I not frequently seen them wet from morning to night, and, +even at the beginning of the rain, not so much as stir a few yards to +shelter, but continue in it without necessity, till they were, as we +say, wet through and through. And that is soon effected by the looseness +and spunginess of the plaiding; but the bonnet is frequently taken +off, and wrung like a dishclout, and then put on again. They have been +accustomed from their infancy to be often wet, and to take the water +like spaniels, and this is become a second nature, and can scarcely be +called a hardship to them, insomuch that I used to say, they seemed to +be of the duck kind, and to love water as well. Though I never saw this +preparation for sleep in windy weather, yet, setting out early in a +morning from one of the huts, I have seen the marks of their lodging, +where the ground has been free from rime or snow, which remained all +round the spot where they had lain' (Letters from Scotland, Lond. 1754, +8vo, ii. p. 108)." + + +809. His henchman. Scott quotes again the Letters from Scotland (ii. +159): "This officer is a sort of secretary, and is to be ready, upon +all occasions, to venture his life in defence of his master; and at +drinking-bouts he stands behind his seat, at his haunch, from whence +his title is derived, and watches the conversation, to see if any one +offends his patron. An English officer being in company with a certain +chieftain, and several other Highland gentlemen, near Killichumen, had +an argument with the great man; and both being well warmed with usky +[whisky], at last the dispute grew very hot. A youth who was henchman, +not understanding one word of English, imagined his chief was insulted, +and thereupon drew his pistol from his side, and snapped it at the +officer's head; but the pistol missed fire, otherwise it is more than +probable he might have suffered death from the hand of that little +vermin. But it is very disagreeable to an Englishman over a bottle with +the Highlanders, to see every one of them have his gilly, that is, his +servant, standing behind him all the while, let what will be the subject +of conversation." + + +829. On the morn. Modifying should circle, not the nearer verb had +sworn. + + +831. The Fiery Cross. See on iii. 18 below. + + +846. Point. Point out, appoint. Cf. Shakespeare, Sonn. 14. 6: + + "Nor can I fortune to brief minutes tell, + Pointing to each his thunder, rain, and wind." + +The word in this and similar passages is generally printed "'point" by +modern editors, but it is not a contraction of appoint. + + +860. Then plunged, etc. The MS. has "He spoke, and plunged into the +tide." + + +862. Steered him. See on i. 142 above. + + +865, 866. Darkening... gave. In the 1st ed. these lines are joined to +what precedes, as they evidently should be; in all the more recent eds. +they are joined to what follows. + + + + +Canto Third. + + +3. Store. See on i. 548 above. + + +5. That be. in old English, besides the present tense am, etc., there +was also this form be, from the Anglo-Saxon beon. The 2d person singular +was beest. The 1st and 3d person plural be is often found in Shakespeare +and the Bible. + + +10. Yet live there still, etc. See on ii. 692 above. + + +15. What time. Cf. ii. 307 above. + + +17. The gathering sound. The sound, or signal, for the gathering. The +phrase illustrates the difference between the participle and the verbal +noun (or whatever it may be called) in -ing. Cf. "a laboring man" and "a +laboring day" (Julius Caesar, i. 1. 4); and see our ed. of J. C. p. 126. + + +18. The Fiery Cross. Scott says here: "When a chieftain designed to +summon his clan, upon any sudden or important emergency, he slew a goat, +and making a cross of any light wood, seared its extremities in the +fire, and extinguished them in the blood of the animal. This was called +the Fiery Cross, also Crean Tarigh, or the Cross of Shame, because +disobedience to what the symbol implied, inferred infamy. It was +delivered to a swift and trusty messenger, who ran full speed with it to +the next hamlet, where he presented it to the principal person, with +a single word, implying the place of rendezvous. He who received the +symbol was bound to send it forward, with equal despatch, to the next +village; and thus it passed with incredible celerity through all the +district which owed allegiance to the chief, and also among his allies +and neighbours, if the danger was common to them. At sight of the Fiery +Cross, every man, from sixteen years old to sixty, capable of +bearing arms, was obliged instantly to repair, in his best arms and +accoutrements, to the place of rendezvous. He who failed to appear +suffered the extremities of fire and sword, which were emblematically +denounced to the disobedient by the bloody and burnt marks upon this +warlike signal. During the civil war of 1745-6, the Fiery Cross often +made its circuit; and upon one occasion it passed through the whole +district of Breadalbane, a tract of thirty-two miles, in three hours. +The late Alexander Stewart, Esq., of Invernahyle, described to me his +having sent round the Fiery Cross through the district of Appine, during +the same commotion. The coast was threatened by a descent from two +English trigates, and the flower of the young men were with the army of +Prince Charles Edward, then in England; yet the summons was so effectual +that even old age and childhood obeyed it; and a force was collected in +a few hours, so numerous and so enthusiastic, that all attempt at +the intended diversion upon the country of the absent warriors was in +prudence abandoned, as desperate." + + +19. The Summer dawn's reflected hue, etc. Mr. Ruskin says (Modern +Painters, iii. 278): "And thus Nature becomes dear to Scott in a +threefold way: dear to him, first, as containing those remains or +memories of the past, which he cannot find in cities, and giving hope of +Praetorian mound or knight's grave in every green slope and shade of its +desolate places; dear, secondly, in its moorland liberty, which has for +him just as high a charm as the fenced garden had for the mediaeval;... +and dear to him, finally, in that perfect beauty, denied alike in cities +and in men, for which every modern heart had begun at last to thirst, +and Scott's, in its freshness and power, of all men's most earnestly. + +"And in this love of beauty, observe that the love of colour is a +leading element, his healthy mind being incapable of losing, under any +modern false teaching, its joy in brilliancy of hue. ... In general, if +he does not mean to say much about things, the one character which +he will give is colour, using it with the most perfect mastery and +faithfulness." + +After giving many illustrations of Scott's use of colour in his +poetry, Ruskin quotes the present passage, which he says is "still more +interesting, because it has no form in it at all except in one word +(chalice), but wholly composes its imagery either of colour, or of that +delicate half-believed life which we have seen to be so important an +element in modern landscape." + +"Two more considerations," he adds, "are, however, suggested by the +above passage. The first, that the love of natural history, excited +by the continual attention now given to all wild landscape, heightens +reciprocally the interest of that landscape, and becomes an important +element in Scott's description, leading him to finish, down to the +minutest speckling of breast, and slightest shade of attributed emotion, +the portraiture of birds and animals; in strange opposition to Homer's +slightly named 'sea-crows, who have care of the works of the sea,' and +Dante's singing-birds, of undefined species. Compare carefully the 2d +and 3d stanzas of Rokeby. + +"The second point I have to note is Scott's habit of drawing a slight +moral from every scene,... and that this slight moral is almost always +melancholy. Here he has stopped short without entirely expressing it: + + "The mountain-shadows.. + ..................... lie + Like future joys to Fancy's eye.' + +His completed thought would be, that these future joys, like the +mountain-shadows, were never to be attained. It occurs fully uttered +in many other places. He seems to have been constantly rebuking his own +worldly pride and vanity, but never purposefully: + + 'The foam-globes on her eddies ride, + Thick as the schemes of human pride + That down life's current drive amain, + As frail, as frothy, and as vain.'" + +Ruskin adds, among other illustrations, the reference to "foxglove and +nightshade" in i. 218, 219 above. + + +28. Like future joys, etc. This passage, quoted by Ruskin above, also +illustrates what is comparatively rare in figurative language--taking +the immaterial to exemplify the material. The latter is constantly used +to symbolize or elucidate the former; but one would have to search +long in our modern poetry to find a dozen instances where, as here, +the relation is reversed. Cf. 639 below. We have another example in the +second passage quoted by Ruskin. Cf. also Tennyson's + + "thousand wreaths of dangling water-smoke, + That like a broken purpose waste in air;" + +and Shelly's + + "Our boat is asleep on Serchio's stream; + Its sails are folded like thoughts in a dream." + + +30. Reared. The 1st ed. has "oped." + + +32. After this line the MS. has the couplet, + + "Invisible in fleecy cloud, + The lark sent down her matins loud," + +which reappears in altered form below. + + +33. Gray mist. The MS. has "light mist." + + +38. Good-morrow gave, etc. Cf. Byron, Childe Harold: + + "and the bills + Of summer-birds sing welcome as ye pass." + + +39. Cushat dove. Ring-dove. + + +46. His impatient blade. Note the "transferred epithet." It is not the +blade that is impatient. + + +47. Beneath a rock, etc. The MS. reads: + + "Hard by, his vassals' early care + The mystic ritual prepare." + + +50. Antiquity. The men of old; "the abstract for the concrete." + + +59. With her broad shadow, etc. Cf. Longfellow, Maidenhood: + + "Seest thou shadows sailing by, + As the dove, with startled eye, + Sees the falcon's shadow fly?" + + +62. Rowan. The mountain-ash. + + +71. That monk, of savage form and face. Scott says here: "The state of +religion in the middle ages afforded considerable facilities for those +whose mode of life excluded them from regular worship, to secure, +nevertheless, the ghostly assistance of confessors, perfectly willing +to adapt the nature of their doctrine to the necessities and peculiar +circumstances of their flock. Robin Hood, it is well known, had his +celebrated domestic chaplain Friar Tuck. And that same curtal friar was +probably matched in manners and appearance by the ghostly fathers of +the Tynedale robbers, who are thus described in an excommunication +fulminated against their patrons by Richard Fox, Bishop of Durham, +tempore Henrici VIII.: 'We have further understood, that there are many +chaplains in the said territories of Tynedale and Redesdale, who are +public and open maintainers of concubinage, irregular, suspended, +excommunicated, and interdicted persons, and withal so utterly ignorant +of letters, that it has been found by those who objected this to them, +that there were some who, having celebrated mass for ten years, were +still unable to read the sacramental service. We have also understood +there are persons among them who, although not ordained, do take upon +them the offices of priesthood, and, in contempt of God, celebrate the +divine and sacred rites, and administer the sacraments, not only +in sacred and dedicated places, but in those which are prophane and +interdicted, and most wretchedly ruinous, they themselves being attired +in ragged, torn, and most filthy vestments, altogether unfit to be used +in divine, or even in temporal offices. The which said chaplains do +administer sacraments and sacramental rites to the aforesaid manifest +and infamous thieves, robbers, depredators, receivers of stolen goods, +and plunderers, and that without restitution, or intention to restore, +as evinced by the act; and do also openly admit them to the rites of +ecclesiastical sepulchre, without exacting security for restitution, +although they are prohibited from doing so by the sacred canons, as well +as by the institutes of the saints and fathers. All which infers the +heavy peril of their own souls, and is a pernicious example to the other +believers in Christ, as well as no slight, but an aggravated injury, +to the numbers despoiled and plundered of their goods, gear, herds, and +chattels.'" + + +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; [7] + Wide, wide around were spread its lofty branches-- + But the topmost bough is lowly laid! + Thou hast forsaken us before Sawaine. [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 L500 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.' [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. + +'In the year before the great rebellion, two young men from Newcastle +were sporting on the high moors above Eldson, and after pursuing their +game several hours, sat down to dine in a green glen near one of the +mountain streams. After their repast, the younger lad ran to the brook +for water, and after stooping to drink, was surprised, on lifting his +head again, by the appearance of a brown dwarf, who stood on a crag +covered with brackens, across the burn. This extraordinary personage +did not appear to be above half the stature of a common man, but +was uncommonly stout and broad-built, having the appearance of vast +strength. His dress was entirely brown, the color of the brackens, and +his head covered with frizzled red hair. His countenance was expressive +of the most savage ferocity, and his eyes glared like a bull. It seems +he addressed the young man first, threatening him with his vengeance for +having trespassed on his demesnes, and asking him if he knew in whose +presence he stood? The youth replied that he now supposed him to be the +lord of the moors; that he offended through ignorance; and offered to +bring him the game he had killed. The dwarf was a little mollified by +this submission, but remarked that nothing could be more offensive +to him than such an offer, as he considered the wild animals as his +subjects, and never failed to avenge their destruction. He condescended +further to inform him that he was, like himself, mortal, though of years +far exceeding the lot of common humanity, and (what I should not have +had an idea of) that he hoped for salvation. He never, he added, fed on +anything that had life, but lived in the summer on whortleberries, and +in winter on nuts and apples, of which he had great store in the woods. +Finally, he invited his new acquaintance to accompany him home and +partake his hospitality, an offer which the youth was on the point of +accepting, and was just going to spring across the brook (which if he +had done, says Elizabeth, the dwarf would certainly have torn him in +pieces), when his foot was arrested by the voice of his companion, who +thought he had tarried long, and on looking round again, "the wee brown +man was fled." The story adds that he was imprudent enough to slight the +admonition, and to sport over the moors on his way homewards, but soon +after his return he fell into a lingering disorder, and died within the +year'" (Scott). + + +302. Our moonlight circle's. The MS. has "Our fairy ringlet's." + + +306. The fairies' fatal green. "As the Daoine Shi', or Men of Peace, +wore green habits, they were supposed to take offence when any mortals +ventured to assume their favorite color. Indeed, from some reason, which +has been, perhaps originally a general superstition, green is held in +Scotland to be unlucky to particular tribes and counties. The Caithness +men, who hold this belief, allege as a reason that their bands wore that +color when they were cut off at the battle of Flodden; and for the same +reason they avoid crossing the Ord on a Monday, being the day of the +week on which their ill-omened array set forth. Green is also disliked +by those of the name of Ogilvy; but more especially it is held fatal to +the whole clan of Grahame. It is remembered of an aged gentleman of that +name that when his horse fell in a fox-chase, he accounted for it at +once by observing that the whipcord attached to his lash was of this +unlucky color" (Scott). + + +308. Wert christened man. Scott says: "The Elves were supposed greatly +to envy the privileges acquired by Christian initiation, and they gave +to those mortals who had fallen into their power a certain precedence, +founded upon this advantageous distinction. Tamlane, in the old ballad, +describes his own rank in the fairy procession: + + 'For I ride on a milk-white steed, + And aye nearest the town; + Because I was a christen'd knight, + They give me that renown.'" + + +312. The curse of the sleepless eye. Cf. Macbeth, i. 3. 19: + + "Sleep shall neither night nor day + Hang upon his pent-house lid," etc. + + +313. Part. Depart. See on ii. 94 above. + + +322. Grisly. See on i. 704 above. + + +330. Kindly. Kindred, natural. See Wb., and cf. Shakespeare, Much Ado, +iv. 1. 75: + + "that fatherly and kindly power + That you have in her," etc. + + +345. All is glistening show. "No fact respecting Fairy-land seems to +be better ascertained than the fantastic and illusory nature of their +apparent pleasure and splendour. It has been already noticed in the +former quotations from Dr. Grahame's entertaining volume, and may be +confirmed by the following Highland tradition:--'A woman, whose new-born +child had been conveyed by them into their secret abodes, was also +carried thither herself, to remain, however, only until she should +suckle her infant. She one day, during this period, observed the +Shi'ichs busily employed in mixing various ingredients in a boiling +caldron, and as soon as the composition was prepared, she remarked that +they all carefully anointed their eyes with it, laying the remainder +aside for future use. In a moment when they were all absent, she also +attempted to anoint her eyes with the precious drug, but had time to +apply it to one eye only, when the Daoine Shi' returned. But with that +eye she was henceforth enabled to see everything as it really passed in +their secret abodes; she saw every object, not as she hitherto had done, +in deceptive splendour and elegance, but in its genuine colours and +form. The gaudy ornaments of the apartment were reduced to the walls +of a gloomy cavern. Soon after, having discharged her office, she was +dismissed to her own home. Still, however, she retained the faculty of +seeing, with her medicated eye, everything that was done, anywhere +in her presence, by the deceptive art of the order. One day, amidst a +throng of people, she chanced to observe the Shi'ich, or man of peace, +in whose possession she had left her child, though to every other eye +invisible. Prompted by maternal affection, she inadvertently accosted +him, and began to inquire after the welfare of her child. The man +of peace, astonished at being thus recognized by one of mortal race, +demanded how she had been enabled to discover him. Awed by the terrible +frown of his countenance, she acknowledged what she had done. He spat in +her eye, and extinguished it for ever.' + +"It is very remarkable that this story, translated by Dr. Grahame from +popular Gaelic tradition, is to be found in the Otia Imperialia of +Gervase of Tilbury. [FN #10] A work of great interest might be compiled +upon the original of popular fiction, and the transmission of similar +tales from age to age, and from country to country. The mythology of one +period would then appear to pass into the romance of the next century, +and that into the nursery tale of the subsequent ages. Such an +investigation, while it went greatly to diminish our ideas of the +richness of human invention, would also show that these fictions, +however wild and childish, possess such charms for the populace as +enable them to penetrate into countries unconnected by manners and +language, and having no apparent intercourse to afford the means +of transmission. It would carry me far beyond my bounds to produce +instances of fable among nations who never borrowed from each other any +thing intrinsically worth learning. Indeed the wide diffusion of popular +factions may be compared to the facility with which straws and feathers +are dispersed abroad by the wind, while valuable metals cannot be +transported without trouble and labour. There lives, I believe, only one +gentleman whose unlimited acquaintance with this subject might enable +him to do it justice,--I mean my friend Mr. Francis Douce, of the +British Museum, whose usual kindness will, I hope, pardon my mentioning +his name while on a subject so closely connected with his extensive and +curious researches" (Scott). + + +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).] + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Lady of the Lake, by Sir Walter Scott + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LADY OF THE LAKE *** + +***** This file should be named 3011.txt or 3011.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/1/3011/ + +Produced by J.C. Byers + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Rolfe, A.M. + Formerly Head Master of the High School, Cambridge, Mass. + + + Boston + + 1883 + + + + + Preface + + + +When I first saw Mr. Osgood's beautiful illustrated edition of +The Lady of the Lake, I asked him to let me use some of the cuts +in a cheaper annotated edition for school and household use; and +the present volume is the result. + +The text of the poem has given me unexpected trouble. When I +edited some of Gray's poems several years ago, I found that they +had not been correctly printed for more than half a century; but +in the case of Scott I supposed that the text of Black's +so-called "Author's Edition" could be depended upon as accurate. +Almost at the start, however, I detected sundry obvious misprints +in one of the many forms in which this edition is issued, and an +examination of others showed that they were as bad in their way. +The "Shilling" issue was no worse than the costly illustrated +one of 1853, which had its own assortment of slips of the type. +No two editions that I could obtain agreed exactly in their +readings. I tried in vain to find a copy of the editio princeps +(1810) in Cambridge and Boston, but succeeded in getting one +through a London bookseller. This I compared, line by line, with +the Edinburgh edition of 1821 (from the Harvard Library), with +Lockhart's first edition, the "Globe" edition, and about a +dozen others English and American. I found many misprints and +corruptions in all except the edition of 1821, and a few even in +that. For instance in i. 217 Scott wrote "Found in each cliff a +narrow bower," and it is so printed in the first edition; but in +every other that I have seen "cliff" appears in place of +clift,, to the manifest injury of the passage. In ii. 685, every +edition that I have seen since that of 1821 has "I meant not all +my heart might say," which is worse than nonsense, the correct +reading being "my heat." In vi. 396, the Scottish "boune" +(though it occurs twice in other parts of the poem) has been +changed to "bound" in all editions since 1821; and, eight +lines below, the old word "barded" has become "barbed." Scores +of similar corruptions are recorded in my Notes, and need not be +cited here. + +I have restored the reading of the first edition, except in cases +where I have no doubt that the later reading is the poet's own +correction or alteration. There are obvious misprints in the +first edition which Scott himself overlooked (see on ii. 115, +217,, Vi. 527, etc.), and it is sometimes difficult to decide +whether a later reading--a change of a plural to a singular, or +like trivial variation--is a misprint or the author's correction +of an earlier misprint. I have done the best I could, with the +means at my command, to settle these questions, and am at least +certain that the text as I give it is nearer right than in any +edition since 1821 As all the variae lectiones are recorded in +the Notes, the reader who does not approve of the one I adopt can +substitute that which he prefers. + +I have retained all Scott's Notes (a few of them have been +somewhat abridged) and all those added by Lockhart.[FN#l] My own +I have made as concise as possible. There are, of course, many of +them which many of my readers will not need, but I think there +are none that may not be of service, or at least of interest, to +some of them; and I hope that no one will turn to them for help +without finding it. + +Scott is much given to the use of Elizabethan words and +constructions, and I have quoted many "parallelisms" from +Shakespeare and his contemporaries. I believe I have referred to +my edition of Shakespeare in only a single instance (on iii. 17), +but teachers and others who have that edition will find many +additional illustrations in the Notes on the passages cited. + +While correcting the errors of former editors, I may have +overlooked some of my own. I am already indebted to the careful +proofreaders of the University Press for the detection of +occasional slips in quotations or references; and I shall be very +grateful to my readers for a memorandum of any others that they +may discover. + +Cambridge, June 23, 1883.. + + + + Argument. + + + +The scene of the following Poem is laid chiefly in the vicinity +of Loch Katrine, in the Western Highlands of Perthshire. The time +of Action includes Six Days, and the transactions of each Day +occupy a Canto. + + + + + THE LADY OF THE LAKE. + + + + + CANTO FIRST. + + The Chase. + + + +Harp of the North! that mouldering long hast hung + On the witch-elm that shades Saint Fillan's spring +And down the fitful breeze thy numbers flung, + Till envious ivy did around thee cling, +Muffling with verdant ringlet every string,-- + O Minstrel Harp, still must thine accents sleep? +Mid rustling leaves and fountains murmuring, + Still must thy sweeter sounds their silence keep, +Nor bid a warrior smile, nor teach a maid to weep? + +Not thus, in ancient days of Caledon, + Was thy voice mute amid the festal crowd, +When lay of hopeless love, or glory won, + Aroused the fearful or subdued the proud. +At each according pause was heard aloud + Thine ardent symphony sublime and high! +Fair dames and crested chiefs attention bowed; + For still the burden of thy minstrelsy +Was Knighthood's dauntless deed, and Beauty's matchless eye. + +O, wake once more! how rude soe'er the hand + That ventures o'er thy magic maze to stray; +O, wake once more! though scarce my skill command + Some feeble echoing of thine earlier lay: +Though harsh and faint, and soon to die away, + And all unworthy of thy nobler strain, +Yet if one heart throb higher at its sway, + The wizard note has not been touched in vain. +Then silent be no more! Enchantress, wake again! + + +I. + +The stag at eve had drunk his fill, +Where danced the moon on Monan's rill, +And deep his midnight lair had made +In lone Glenartney's hazel shade; +But when the sun his beacon red +Had kindled on Benvoirlich's head, +The deep-mouthed bloodhound's heavy bay +Resounded up the rocky way, +And faint, from farther distance borne, +Were heard the clanging hoof and horn. + + +II. + +As Chief, who hears his warder call, +'To arms! the foemen storm the wall,' +The antlered monarch of the waste +Sprung from his heathery couch in haste. +But ere his fleet career he took, +The dew-drops from his flanks he shook; +Like crested leader proud and high +Tossed his beamed frontlet to the sky; +A moment gazed adown the dale, +A moment snuffed the tainted gale, +A moment listened to the cry, +That thickened as the chase drew nigh; +Then, as the headmost foes appeared, +With one brave bound the copse he cleared, +And, stretching forward free and far, +Sought the wild heaths of Uam-Var. + + +III. + +Yelled on the view the opening pack; +Rock, glen, and cavern paid them back; +To many a mingled sound at once +The awakened mountain gave response. +A hundred dogs bayed deep and strong, +Clattered a hundred steeds along, +Their peal the merry horns rung out, +A hundred voices joined the shout; +With hark and whoop and wild halloo, +No rest Benvoirlich's echoes knew. +Far from the tumult fled the roe, +Close in her covert cowered the doe, +The falcon, from her cairn on high, +Cast on the rout a wondering eye, +Till far beyond her piercing ken +The hurricane had swept the glen. +Faint, and more faint, its failing din +Returned from cavern, cliff, and linn, +And silence settled, wide and still, +On the lone wood and mighty hill. + + +IV. + +Less loud the sounds of sylvan war +Disturbed the heights of Uam-Var, +And roused the cavern where, 't is told, +A giant made his den of old; +For ere that steep ascent was won, +High in his pathway hung the sun, +And many a gallant, stayed perforce, +Was fain to breathe his faltering horse, +And of the trackers of the deer +Scarce half the lessening pack was near; +So shrewdly on the mountain-side +Had the bold burst their mettle tried. + + +V. + +The noble stag was pausing now +Upon the mountain's southern brow, +Where broad extended, far beneath, +The varied realms of fair Menteith. +With anxious eye he wandered o'er +Mountain and meadow, moss and moor, +And pondered refuge from his toil, +By far Lochard or Aberfoyle. +But nearer was the copsewood gray +That waved and wept on Loch Achray, +And mingled with the pine-trees blue +On the bold cliffs of Benvenue. +Fresh vigor with the hope returned, +With flying foot the heath he spurned, +Held westward with unwearied race, +And left behind the panting chase. + + +VI. + +'T were long to tell what steeds gave o'er, +As swept the hunt through Cambusmore; +What reins were tightened in despair, +When rose Benledi's ridge in air; +Who flagged upon Bochastle's heath, +Who shunned to stem the flooded Teith,-- +For twice that day, from shore to shore, +The gallant stag swam stoutly o'er. +Few were the stragglers, following far, +That reached the lake of Vennachar; +And when the Brigg of Turk was won, +The headmost horseman rode alone. + + +VII. + +Alone, but with unbated zeal, +That horseman plied the scourge and steel; +For jaded now, and spent with toil, +Embossed with foam, and dark with soil, +While every gasp with sobs he drew, +The laboring stag strained full in view. +Two dogs of black Saint Hubert's breed, +Unmatched for courage, breath, and speed, +Fast on his flying traces came, +And all but won that desperate game; +For, scarce a spear's length from his haunch, +Vindictive toiled the bloodhounds stanch; +Nor nearer might the dogs attain, +Nor farther might the quarry strain +Thus up the margin of the lake, +Between the precipice and brake, +O'er stock and rock their race they take. + + +VIII. + +The Hunter marked that mountain high, +The lone lake's western boundary, +And deemed the stag must turn to bay, +Where that huge rampart barred the way; +Already glorying in the prize, +Measured his antlers with his eyes; +For the death-wound and death-halloo +Mustered his breath, his whinyard drew:-- +But thundering as he came prepared, +With ready arm and weapon bared, +The wily quarry shunned the shock, +And turned him from the opposing rock; +Then, dashing down a darksome glen, +Soon lost to hound and Hunter's ken, +In the deep Trosachs' wildest nook +His solitary refuge took. +There, while close couched the thicket shed +Cold dews and wild flowers on his head, +He heard the baffled dogs in vain +Rave through the hollow pass amain, +Chiding the rocks that yelled again. + + +IX. + +Close on the hounds the Hunter came, +To cheer them on the vanished game; +But, stumbling in the rugged dell, +The gallant horse exhausted fell. +The impatient rider strove in vain + To rouse him with the spur and rein, +For the good steed, his labors o'er, +Stretched his stiff limbs, to rise no more; +Then, touched with pity and remorse, +He sorrowed o'er the expiring horse. +'I little thought, when first thy rein +I slacked upon the banks of Seine, +That Highland eagle e'er should feed +On thy fleet limbs, my matchless steed! +Woe worth the chase, woe worth the day, +That costs thy life, my gallant gray!' + + +X. + +Then through the dell his horn resounds, +From vain pursuit to call the hounds. +Back limped, with slow and crippled pace, +The sulky leaders of the chase; +Close to their master's side they pressed, +With drooping tail and humbled crest; +But still the dingle's hollow throat +Prolonged the swelling bugle-note. +The owlets started from their dream, +The eagles answered with their scream, +Round and around the sounds were cast, +Till echo seemed an answering blast; +And on the Hunter tried his way, +To join some comrades of the day, +Yet often paused, so strange the road, +So wondrous were the scenes it showed. + + +XI. + +The western waves of ebbing day +Rolled o'er the glen their level way; +Each purple peak, each flinty spire, +Was bathed in floods of living fire. +But not a setting beam could glow +Within the dark ravines below, +Where twined the path in shadow hid, +Round many a rocky pyramid, +Shooting abruptly from the dell +Its thunder-splintered pinnacle; +Round many an insulated mass, +The native bulwarks of the pass, +Huge as the tower which builders vain +Presumptuous piled on Shinar's plain. +The rocky summits, split and rent, +Formed turret, dome, or battlement. +Or seemed fantastically set +With cupola or minaret, +Wild crests as pagod ever decked, +Or mosque of Eastern architect. +Nor were these earth-born castles bare, +Nor lacked they many a banner fair; +For, from their shivered brows displayed, +Far o'er the unfathomable glade, +All twinkling with the dewdrop sheen, +The briar-rose fell in streamers green, +kind creeping shrubs of thousand dyes +Waved in the west-wind's summer sighs. + + +XII. + +Boon nature scattered, free and wild, +Each plant or flower, the mountain's child. +Here eglantine embalmed the air, +Hawthorn and hazel mingled there; +The primrose pale and violet flower +Found in each cliff a narrow bower; +Foxglove and nightshade, side by side, +Emblems of punishment and pride, +Grouped their dark hues with every stain +The weather-beaten crags retain. +With boughs that quaked at every breath, +Gray birch and aspen wept beneath; +Aloft, the ash and warrior oak +Cast anchor in the rifted rock; +And, higher yet, the pine-tree hung +His shattered trunk, and frequent flung, +Where seemed the cliffs to meet on high, +His boughs athwart the narrowed sky. +Highest of all, where white peaks glanced, +Where glistening streamers waved and danced, +The wanderer's eye could barely view +The summer heaven's delicious blue; +So wondrous wild, the whole might seem +The scenery of a fairy dream. + + +XIII. + +Onward, amid the copse 'gan peep +A narrow inlet, still and deep, +Affording scarce such breadth of brim +As served the wild duck's brood to swim. +Lost for a space, through thickets veering, +But broader when again appearing, +Tall rocks and tufted knolls their face +Could on the dark-blue mirror trace; +And farther as the Hunter strayed, +Still broader sweep its channels made. +The shaggy mounds no longer stood, +Emerging from entangled wood, +But, wave-encircled, seemed to float, +Like castle girdled with its moat; +Yet broader floods extending still +Divide them from their parent hill, +Till each, retiring, claims to be +An islet in an inland sea. + + +XIV. + +And now, to issue from the glen, +No pathway meets the wanderer's ken, +Unless he climb with footing nice +A far-projecting precipice. +The broom's tough roots his ladder made, +The hazel saplings lent their aid; +And thus an airy point he won, +Where, gleaming with the setting sun, +One burnished sheet of living gold, +Loch Katrine lay beneath him rolled, +In all her length far winding lay, +With promontory, creek, and bay, +And islands that, empurpled bright, +Floated amid the livelier light, +And mountains that like giants stand +To sentinel enchanted land. +High on the south, huge Benvenue +Down to the lake in masses threw +Crags, knolls, and mounds, confusedly hurled, +The fragments of an earlier world; +A wildering forest feathered o'er +His ruined sides and summit hoar, +While on the north, through middle air, +Ben-an heaved high his forehead bare. + + +XV. + +From the steep promontory gazed +The stranger, raptured and amazed, +And, 'What a scene were here,' he cried, +'For princely pomp or churchman's pride! +On this bold brow, a lordly tower; +In that soft vale, a lady's bower; +On yonder meadow far away, +The turrets of a cloister gray; +How blithely might the bugle-horn +Chide on the lake the lingering morn! +How sweet at eve the lover's lute +Chime when the groves were still and mute! +And when the midnight moon should lave +Her forehead in the silver wave, +How solemn on the ear would come +The holy matins' distant hum, +While the deep peal's commanding tone +Should wake, in yonder islet lone, +A sainted hermit from his cell, +To drop a bead with every knell! +And bugle, lute, and bell, and all, +Should each bewildered stranger call +To friendly feast and lighted hall. + + +XVI. + +'Blithe were it then to wander here! +But now--beshrew yon nimble deer-- +Like that same hermit's, thin and spare, +The copse must give my evening fare; +Some mossy bank my couch must be, +Some rustling oak my canopy. +Yet pass we that; the war and chase +Give little choice of resting-place;-- +A summer night in greenwood spent +Were but to-morrow's merriment: +But hosts may in these wilds abound, +Such as are better missed than found; +To meet with Highland plunderers here +Were worse than loss of steed or deer.-- +I am alone;--my bugle-strain +May call some straggler of the train; +Or, fall the worst that may betide, +Ere now this falchion has been tried.' + + +XVII. + +But scarce again his horn he wound, +When lo! forth starting at the sound, +From underneath an aged oak +That slanted from the islet rock, +A damsel guider of its way, +A little skiff shot to the bay, +That round the promontory steep +Led its deep line in graceful sweep, +Eddying, in almost viewless wave, +The weeping willow twig to rave, +And kiss, with whispering sound and slow, +The beach of pebbles bright as snow. + The boat had touched this silver strand +Just as the Hunter left his stand, +And stood concealed amid the brake, +To view this Lady of the Lake. + The maiden paused, as if again +She thought to catch the distant strain. +With head upraised, and look intent, +And eye and ear attentive bent, +And locks flung back, and lips apart, +Like monument of Grecian art, +In listening mood, she seemed to stand, +The guardian Naiad of the strand. + + +XVIII. + +And ne'er did Grecian chisel trace +A Nymph, a Naiad, or a Grace, +Of finer form or lovelier face! +What though the sun, with ardent frown, +Had slightly tinged her cheek with brown,-- +The sportive toil, which, short and light +Had dyed her glowing hue so bright, +Served too in hastier swell to show +Short glimpses of a breast of snow: +What though no rule of courtly grace +To measured mood had trained her pace,-- +A foot more light, a step more true, +Ne'er from the heath-flower dashed the dew; +E'en the slight harebell raised its head, +Elastic from her airy tread: +What though upon her speech there hung + The accents of the mountain tongue,--- +Those silver sounds, so soft, so dear, +The listener held his breath to hear! + + +XIX. + +A chieftain's daughter seemed the maid; +Her satin snood, her silken plaid, +Her golden brooch, such birth betrayed. +And seldom was a snood amid +Such wild luxuriant ringlets hid, +Whose glossy black to shame might bring +The plumage of the raven's wing; +And seldom o'er a breast so fair +Mantled a plaid with modest care, +And never brooch the folds combined +Above a heart more good and kind. +Her kindness and her worth to spy, +You need but gaze on Ellen's eye; + Not Katrine in her mirror blue +Gives back the shaggy banks more true, +Than every free-born glance confessed +The guileless movements of her breast; +Whether joy danced in her dark eye, +Or woe or pity claimed a sigh, +Or filial love was glowing there, +Or meek devotion poured a prayer, +Or tale of injury called forth +The indignant spirit of the North. +One only passion unrevealed +With maiden pride the maid concealed, +Yet not less purely felt the flame;-- +O, need I tell that passion's name? + + +XX. + +Impatient of the silent horn, +Now on the gale her voice was borne:-- +'Father!' she cried; the rocks around +Loved to prolong the gentle sound. +Awhile she paused, no answer came;-- +'Malcolm, was thine the blast?' the name +Less resolutely uttered fell, +The echoes could not catch the swell. +'A stranger I,' the Huntsman said, +Advancing from the hazel shade. +The maid, alarmed, with hasty oar +Pushed her light shallop from the shore, +And when a space was gained between, +Closer she drew her bosom's screen;-- +So forth the startled swan would swing, +So turn to prune his ruffled wing. +Then safe, though fluttered and amazed, +She paused, and on the stranger gazed. +Not his the form, nor his the eye, +That youthful maidens wont to fly. + + +XXI. + +On his bold visage middle age +Had slightly pressed its signet sage, +Yet had not quenched the open truth +And fiery vehemence of youth; +Forward and frolic glee was there, +The will to do, the soul to dare, +The sparkling glance, soon blown to fire, +Of hasty love or headlong ire. +His limbs were cast in manly could +For hardy sports or contest bold; +And though in peaceful garb arrayed, +And weaponless except his blade, +His stately mien as well implied +A high-born heart, a martial pride, +As if a baron's crest he wore, +And sheathed in armor bode the shore. +Slighting the petty need he showed, +He told of his benighted road; +His ready speech flowed fair and free, +In phrase of gentlest courtesy, +Yet seemed that tone and gesture bland +Less used to sue than to command. + + +XXII. + +Awhile the maid the stranger eyed, +And, reassured, at length replied, +That Highland halls were open still +To wildered wanderers of the hill. +'Nor think you unexpected come +To yon lone isle, our desert home; +Before the heath had lost the dew, +This morn, a couch was pulled for you; +On yonder mountain's purple head +Have ptarmigan and heath-cock bled, +And our broad nets have swept the mere, +To furnish forth your evening cheer.'-- +'Now, by the rood, my lovely maid, +Your courtesy has erred,' he said; +'No right have I to claim, misplaced, +The welcome of expected guest. +A wanderer, here by fortune toss, +My way, my friends, my courser lost, +I ne'er before, believe me, fair, +Have ever drawn your mountain air, +Till on this lake's romantic strand +I found a fey in fairy land!'-- + + +XXIII. + +'I well believe,' the maid replied, +As her light skiff approached the side,-- +'I well believe, that ne'er before +Your foot has trod Loch Katrine's shore +But yet, as far as yesternight, +Old Allan-bane foretold your plight,-- +A gray -haired sire, whose eye intent +Was on the visioned future bent. +He saw your steed, a dappled gray, +Lie dead beneath the birchen way; +Painted exact your form and mien, +Your hunting-suit of Lincoln green, +That tasselled horn so gayly gilt, +That falchion's crooked blade and hilt, +That cap with heron plumage trim, +And yon two hounds so dark and grim. +He bade that all should ready be +To grace a guest of fair degree; +But light I held his prophecy, +And deemed it was my father's horn +Whose echoes o'er the lake were borne.' + + +XXIV. + +The stranger smiled: -- 'Since to your home +A destined errant-knight I come, +Announced by prophet sooth and old, +Doomed, doubtless, for achievement bold, +I 'll lightly front each high emprise +For one kind glance of those bright eyes. +Permit me first the task to guide +Your fairy frigate o'er the tide.' +The maid, with smile suppressed and sly, +The toil unwonted saw him try; +For seldom, sure, if e'er before, +His noble hand had grasped an oar: +Yet with main strength his strokes he drew, +And o'er the lake the shallop flew; +With heads erect and whimpering cry, +The hounds behind their passage ply. +Nor frequent does the bright oar break +The darkening mirror of the lake, +Until the rocky isle they reach, +And moor their shallop on the beach. + + +XXV. + +The stranger viewed the shore around; +'T was all so close with copsewood bound, +Nor track nor pathway might declare +That human foot frequented there, +Until the mountain maiden showed +A clambering unsuspected road, +That winded through the tangled screen, +And opened on a narrow green, +Where weeping birch and willow round +With their long fibres swept the ground. +Here, for retreat in dangerous hour, +Some chief had framed a rustic bower. + + +XXVI. + +It was a lodge of ample size, +But strange of structure and device; +Of such materials as around +The workman's hand had readiest found. +Lopped of their boughs, their hoar trunks bared, +And by the hatchet rudely squared, +To give the walls their destined height, +The sturdy oak and ash unite; +While moss and clay and leaves combined +To fence each crevice from the wind. +The lighter pine-trees overhead +Their slender length for rafters spread, +And withered heath and rushes dry +Supplied a russet canopy. +Due westward, fronting to the green, +A rural portico was seen, +Aloft on native pillars borne, +Of mountain fir with bark unshorn +Where Ellen's hand had taught to twine +The ivy and Idaean vine, +The clematis, the favored flower +Which boasts the name of virgin-bower, +And every hardy plant could bear +Loch Katrine's keen and searching air. +An instant in this porch she stayed, +And gayly to the stranger said: +'On heaven and on thy lady call, +And enter the enchanted hall!' + + +XXVII. + +'My hope, my heaven, my trust must be, +My gentle guide, in following thee!'-- + He crossed the threshold,--and a clang +Of angry steel that instant rang. +To his bold brow his spirit rushed, +But soon for vain alarm he blushed +When on the floor he saw displayed, +Cause of the din, a naked blade +Dropped from the sheath, that careless flung +Upon a stag's huge antlers swung; +For all around, the walls to grace, +Hung trophies of the fight or chase: +A target there, a bugle here, +A battle-axe, a hunting-spear, +And broadswords, bows, and arrows store, +With the tusked trophies of the boar. +Here grins the wolf as when he died, +And there the wild-cat's brindled hide +The frontlet of the elk adorns, +Or mantles o'er the bison's horns; +Pennons and flags defaced and stained, +That blackening streaks of blood retained, +And deer-skins, dappled, dun, and white, +With otter's fur and seal's unite, +In rude and uncouth tapestry all, +To garnish forth the sylvan hall. + + +XXVIII. + +The wondering stranger round him gazed, +And next the fallen weapon raised:-- +Few were the arms whose sinewy strength +Sufficed to stretch it forth at length. +And as the brand he poised and swayed, +'I never knew but one,' he said, +'Whose stalwart arm might brook to wield +A blade like this in battle-field.' +She sighed, then smiled and took the word: +'You see the guardian champion's sword; +As light it trembles in his hand +As in my grasp a hazel wand: +My sire's tall form might grace the part +Of Ferragus or Ascabart, +But in the absent giant's hold +Are women now, and menials old.' + + +XXIX. + +The mistress of the mansion came, +Mature of age, a graceful dame, +Whose easy step and stately port +Had well become a princely court, +To whom, though more than kindred knew, +Young Ellen gave a mother's due. +Meet welcome to her guest she made, +And every courteous rite was paid +That hospitality could claim, +Though all unasked his birth and name. +Such then the reverence to a guest, +That fellest foe might join the feast, +And from his deadliest foeman's door +Unquestioned turn the banquet o'er +At length his rank the stranger names, +'The Knight of Snowdoun, James Fitz-James; +Lord of a barren heritage, +Which his brave sires, from age to age, +By their good swords had held with toil; +His sire had fallen in such turmoil, +And he, God wot, was forced to stand +Oft for his right with blade in hand. +This morning with Lord Moray's train +He chased a stalwart stag in vain, +Outstripped his comrades, missed the deer, +Lost his good steed, and wandered here.' + + +XXX. + +Fain would the Knight in turn require +The name and state of Ellen's sire. +Well showed the elder lady's mien +That courts and cities she had seen; +Ellen, though more her looks displayed +The simple grace of sylvan maid, +In speech and gesture, form and face, +Showed she was come of gentle race. +'T were strange in ruder rank to find +Such looks, such manners, and such mind. +Each hint the Knight of Snowdoun gave, +Dame Margaret heard with silence grave; +Or Ellen, innocently gay, +Turned all inquiry light away:-- +'Weird women we! by dale and down +We dwell, afar from tower and town. +We stem the flood, we ride the blast, +On wandering knights our spells we cast; +While viewless minstrels touch the string, +'Tis thus our charmed rhymes we sing.' +She sung, and still a harp unseen +Filled up the symphony between. + + +XXXI. + +Song. + +Soldier, rest! thy warfare o'er, + Sleep the sleep that knows not breaking; +Dream of battled fields no more, + Days of danger, nights of waking. +In our isle's enchanted hall, + Hands unseen thy couch are strewing, +Fairy strains of music fall, + Every sense in slumber dewing. +Soldier, rest! thy warfare o'er, +Dream of fighting fields no more; +Sleep the sleep that knows not breaking, +Morn of toil, nor night of waking. + +'No rude sound shall reach thine ear, + Armor's clang or war-steed champing +Trump nor pibroch summon here + Mustering clan or squadron tramping. +Yet the lark's shrill fife may come + At the daybreak from the fallow, +And the bittern sound his drum + Booming from the sedgy shallow. +Ruder sounds shall none be near, +Guards nor warders challenge here, +Here's no war-steed's neigh and champing, +Shouting clans or squadrons stamping.' + + +XXXII. + +She paused,--then, blushing, led the lay, +To grace the stranger of the day. +Her mellow notes awhile prolong +The cadence of the flowing song, +Till to her lips in measured frame +The minstrel verse spontaneous came. + +Song Continued. + +'Huntsman, rest! thy chase is done; + While our slumbrous spells assail ye, +Dream not, with the rising sun, + Bugles here shall sound reveille. +Sleep! the deer is in his den; + Sleep! thy hounds are by thee lying; +Sleep! nor dream in yonder glen +How thy gallant steed lay dying. +Huntsman, rest! thy chase is done; +Think not of the rising sun, +For at dawning to assail ye +Here no bugles sound reveille.' + + +XXXIII. + +The hall was cleared,--- the stranger's bed, +Was there of mountain heather spread, +Where oft a hundred guests had lain, +And dreamed their forest sports again. +But vainly did the heath-flower shed +Its moorland fragrance round his head; +Not Ellen's spell had lulled to rest +The fever of his troubled breast. +In broken dreams the image rose +Of varied perils, pains, and woes: + His steed now flounders in the brake, +Now sinks his barge upon the lake; +Now leader of a broken host, +His standard falls, his honor's lost. +Then,--from my couch may heavenly might +Chase that worst phantom of the night!-- +Again returned the scenes of youth, +Of confident, undoubting truth; +Again his soul he interchanged +With friends whose hearts were long estranged. +They come, in dim procession led, +The cold, the faithless, and the dead; +As warm each hand, each brow as gay, +As if they parted yesterday. +And doubt distracts him at the view,-- +O were his senses false or true? +Dreamed he of death or broken vow, +Or is it all a vision now? + + +XXXIV. + +At length, with Ellen in a grove +He seemed to walk and speak of love; +She listened with a blush and sigh, +His suit was warm, his hopes were high. +He sought her yielded hand to clasp, +And a cold gauntlet met his grasp: +The phantom's sex was changed and gone, +Upon its head a helmet shone; +Slowly enlarged to giant size, +With darkened cheek and threatening eyes, +The grisly visage, stern and hoar, +To Ellen still a likeness bore.-- +He woke, and, panting with affright, +Recalled the vision of the night. +The hearth's decaying brands were red +And deep and dusky lustre shed, +Half showing, half concealing, all +The uncouth trophies of the hall. +Mid those the stranger fixed his eye +Where that huge falchion hung on high, +And thoughts on thoughts, a countless throng, +Rushed, chasing countless thoughts along, +Until, the giddy whirl to cure, +He rose and sought the moonshine pure. + + +XXXV. + +The wild rose, eglantine, and broom +Wasted around their rich perfume; +The birch-trees wept in fragrant balm; +The aspens slept beneath the calm; +The silver light, with quivering glance, +Played on the water's still expanse,-- +Wild were the heart whose passion's sway +Could rage beneath the sober ray! +He felt its calm, that warrior guest, +While thus he communed with his breast:-- +'Why is it, at each turn I trace +Some memory of that exiled race? +Can I not mountain maiden spy, +But she must bear the Douglas eye? +Can I not view a Highland brand, +But it must match the Douglas hand? +Can I not frame a fevered dream, +But still the Douglas is the theme? +I'll dream no more,-- by manly mind +Not even in sleep is will resigned. +My midnight orisons said o'er, +I'll turn to rest, and dream no more.' +His midnight orisons he told, +A prayer with every bead of gold, +Consigned to heaven his cares and woes, +And sunk in undisturbed repose, +Until the heath-cock shrilly crew, +And morning dawned on Benvenue. + + + + + CANTO SECOND. + + The Island. + + +I. + +At morn the black-cock trims his jetty wing, + 'T is morning prompts the linnet's blithest lay, +All Nature's children feel the matin spring + Of life reviving, with reviving day; +And while yon little bark glides down the bay, + Wafting the stranger on his way again, +Morn's genial influence roused a minstrel gray, + And sweetly o'er the lake was heard thy strain, +Mixed with the sounding harp, O white-haired Allan-bane! + + +II. + +Song. + +'Not faster yonder rowers' might + Flings from their oars the spray, +Not faster yonder rippling bright, +That tracks the shallop's course in light, + Melts in the lake away, +Than men from memory erase +The benefits of former days; +Then, stranger, go! good speed the while, +Nor think again of the lonely isle. + +'High place to thee in royal court, + High place in battled line, +Good hawk and hound for sylvan sport! +Where beauty sees the brave resort, + The honored meed be thine! +True be thy sword, thy friend sincere, +Thy lady constant, kind, and dear, +And lost in love's and friendship's smile +Be memory of the lonely isle! + + +III. + +Song Continued. + +'But if beneath yon southern sky + A plaided stranger roam, +Whose drooping crest and stifled sigh, +And sunken cheek and heavy eye, + Pine for his Highland home; +Then, warrior, then be thine to show +The care that soothes a wanderer's woe; +Remember then thy hap erewhile, +A stranger in the lonely isle. + +'Or if on life's uncertain main + Mishap shall mar thy sail; +If faithful, wise, and brave in vain, +Woe, want, and exile thou sustain + Beneath the fickle gale; +Waste not a sigh on fortune changed, +On thankless courts, or friends estranged, +But come where kindred worth shall smile, +To greet thee in the lonely isle.' + + +IV. + +As died the sounds upon the tide, +The shallop reached the mainland side, +And ere his onward way he took, +The stranger cast a lingering look, +Where easily his eye might reach +The Harper on the islet beach, +Reclined against a blighted tree, +As wasted, gray, and worn as he. +To minstrel meditation given, +His reverend brow was raised to heaven, +As from the rising sun to claim +A sparkle of inspiring flame. +His hand, reclined upon the wire, +Seemed watching the awakening fire; +So still he sat as those who wait +Till judgment speak the doom of fate; +So still, as if no breeze might dare +To lift one lock of hoary hair; +So still, as life itself were fled +In the last sound his harp had sped. + + +V. + +Upon a rock with lichens wild, +Beside him Ellen sat and smiled.-- +Smiled she to see the stately drake +Lead forth his fleet upon the lake, +While her vexed spaniel from the beach +Bayed at the prize beyond his reach? +Yet tell me, then, the maid who knows, +Why deepened on her cheek the rose?-- +Forgive, forgive, Fidelity! +Perchance the maiden smiled to see +Yon parting lingerer wave adieu, +And stop and turn to wave anew; +And, lovely ladies, ere your ire +Condemn the heroine of my lyre, +Show me the fair would scorn to spy +And prize such conquest of her eve! + + +VI. + +While yet he loitered on the spot, +It seemed as Ellen marked him not; +But when he turned him to the glade, +One courteous parting sign she made; +And after, oft the knight would say, +That not when prize of festal day +Was dealt him by the brightest fair +Who e'er wore jewel in her hair, +So highly did his bosom swell +As at that simple mute farewell. +Now with a trusty mountain-guide, +And his dark stag-hounds by his side, +He parts,--the maid, unconscious still, +Watched him wind slowly round the hill; +But when his stately form was hid, +The guardian in her bosom chid,-- +'Thy Malcolm! vain and selfish maid!' +'T was thus upbraiding conscience said,-- +'Not so had Malcolm idly hung +On the smooth phrase of Southern tongue; +Not so had Malcolm strained his eye +Another step than thine to spy.'-- +'Wake, Allan-bane,' aloud she cried +To the old minstrel by her side,-- +'Arouse thee from thy moody dream! +I 'll give thy harp heroic theme, +And warm thee with a noble name; +Pour forth the glory of the Graeme!' +Scarce from her lip the word had rushed, +When deep the conscious maiden blushed; +For of his clan, in hall and bower, +Young Malcolm Graeme was held the flower. + + +VII. + +The minstrel waked his harp,--three times +Arose the well-known martial chimes, +And thrice their high heroic pride +In melancholy murmurs died. + 'Vainly thou bidst, O noble maid,' +Clasping his withered hands, he said, +'Vainly thou bidst me wake the strain, + Though all unwont to bid in vain. +Alas! than mine a mightier hand +Has tuned my harp, my strings has spanned! +I touch the chords of joy, but low +And mournful answer notes of woe; +And the proud march which victors tread +Sinks in the wailing for the dead. +O, well for me, if mine alone +That dirge's deep prophetic tone! +If, as my tuneful fathers said, +This harp, which erst Saint Modan swayed, +Can thus its master's fate foretell, +Then welcome be the minstrel's knell.' + + +VIII. + +'But ah! dear lady, thus it sighed, +The eve thy sainted mother died; +And such the sounds which, while I strove +To wake a lay of war or love, +Came marring all the festal mirth, +Appalling me who gave them birth, +And, disobedient to my call, +Wailed loud through Bothwell's bannered hall. +Ere Douglases, to ruin driven, +Were exiled from their native heaven.-- +O! if yet worse mishap and woe +My master's house must undergo, +Or aught but weal to Ellen fair +Brood in these accents of despair, +No future bard, sad Harp! shall fling +Triumph or rapture from thy string; +One short, one final strain shall flow, +Fraught with unutterable woe, +Then shivered shall thy fragments lie, +Thy master cast him down and die!' + + +IX. + +Soothing she answered him: 'Assuage, +Mine honored friend, the fears of age; +All melodies to thee are known +That harp has rung or pipe has blown, +In Lowland vale or Highland glen, +From Tweed to Spey--what marvel, then, +At times unbidden notes should rise, +Confusedly bound in memory's ties, +Entangling, as they rush along, +The war-march with the funeral song?-- +Small ground is now for boding fear; +Obscure, but safe, we rest us here. +My sire, in native virtue great, +Resigning lordship, lands, and state, +Not then to fortune more resigned +Than yonder oak might give the wind; +The graceful foliage storms may reeve, +'Fine noble stem they cannot grieve. +For me'--she stooped, and, looking round, +Plucked a blue harebell from the ground,-- +'For me, whose memory scarce conveys +An image of more splendid days, +This little flower that loves the lea +May well my simple emblem be; +It drinks heaven's dew as blithe as rose +That in the King's own garden grows; +And when I place it in my hair, +Allan, a bard is bound to swear +He ne'er saw coronet so fair.' +Then playfully the chaplet wild +She wreathed in her dark locks, and smiled. + + +X. + +Her smile, her speech, with winning sway +Wiled the old Harper's mood away. +With such a look as hermits throw, +When angels stoop to soothe their woe +He gazed, till fond regret and pride +Thrilled to a tear, then thus replied: +'Loveliest and best! thou little know'st +The rank, the honors, thou hast lost! +O. might I live to see thee grace, +In Scotland's court, thy birthright place, +To see my favorite's step advance +The lightest in the courtly dance, +The cause of every gallant's sigh, +And leading star of every eye, +And theme of every minstrel's art, +The Lady of the Bleeding Heart!' + + +XI. + +'Fair dreams are these,' the maiden cried,-- +Light was her accent, yet she sighed,-- +'Yet is this mossy rock to me +Worth splendid chair and canopy; +Nor would my footstep spring more gay +In courtly dance than blithe strathspey, +Nor half so pleased mine ear incline +To royal minstrel's lay as thine. +And then for suitors proud and high, +To bend before my conquering eye,-- +Thou, flattering bard! thyself wilt say, +That grim Sir Roderick owns its sway. +The Saxon scourge, Clan- Alpine's pride, +The terror of Loch Lomond's side, +Would, at my suit, thou know'st, delay +A Lennox foray--for a day.'-- + + +XII.. + +The ancient bard her glee repressed: +'Ill hast thou chosen theme for jest! +For who, through all this western wild, +Named Black Sir Roderick e'er, and smiled? +In Holy-Rood a knight he slew; +I saw, when back the dirk he drew, +Courtiers give place before the stride +Of the undaunted homicide; +And since, though outlawed, hath his hand +Full sternly kept his mountain land. + +Who else dared give--ah! woe the day, +That I such hated truth should say!-- +The Douglas, like a stricken deer, +Disowned by every noble peer, +Even the rude refuge we have here? +Alas, this wild marauding +Chief Alone might hazard our relief, +And now thy maiden charms expand, +Looks for his guerdon in thy hand; +Full soon may dispensation sought, +To back his suit, from Rome be brought. +Then, though an exile on the hill, +Thy father, as the Douglas, still +Be held in reverence and fear; +And though to Roderick thou'rt so dear +That thou mightst guide with silken thread. +Slave of thy will, this chieftain dread, +Yet, O loved maid, thy mirth refrain! +Thy hand is on a lion's mane.'-- + + +XIII. + +Minstrel,' the maid replied, and high +Her father's soul glanced from her eye, +'My debts to Roderick's house I know: +All that a mother could bestow +To Lady Margaret's care I owe, +Since first an orphan in the wild +She sorrowed o'er her sister's child; +To her brave chieftain son, from ire +Of Scotland's king who shrouds my sire, +A deeper, holier debt is owed; +And, could I pay it with my blood, Allan! +Sir Roderick should command +My blood, my life,--but not my hand. +Rather will Ellen Douglas dwell +A votaress in Maronnan's cell; +Rather through realms beyond the sea, +Seeking the world's cold charity +Where ne'er was spoke a Scottish word, +And ne'er the name of Douglas heard +An outcast pilgrim will she rove, +Than wed the man she cannot love. + + +XIV. + +'Thou shak'st, good friend, thy tresses gray,-- +That pleading look, what can it say +But what I own?--I grant him brave, +But wild as Bracklinn's thundering wave; +And generous, ---save vindictive mood +Or jealous transport chafe his blood: +I grant him true to friendly band, +As his claymore is to his hand; +But O! that very blade of steel +More mercy for a foe would feel: +I grant him liberal, to fling +Among his clan the wealth they bring, +When back by lake and glen they wind, +And in the Lowland leave behind, +Where once some pleasant hamlet stood, +A mass of ashes slaked with blood. +The hand that for my father fought +I honor, as his daughter ought; +But can I clasp it reeking red +From peasants slaughtered in their shed? +No! wildly while his virtues gleam, +They make his passions darker seem, +And flash along his spirit high, +Like lightning o'er the midnight sky. +While yet a child,--and children know, +Instinctive taught, the friend and foe,-- +I shuddered at his brow of gloom, +His shadowy plaid and sable plume; +A maiden grown, I ill could bear +His haughty mien and lordly air: +But, if thou join'st a suitor's claim, +In serious mood, to Roderick's name. +I thrill with anguish! or, if e'er +A Douglas knew the word, with fear. +To change such odious theme were best,-- +What think'st thou of our stranger guest? '-- + + +XV. + +'What think I of him?--woe the while +That brought such wanderer to our isle! +Thy father's battle-brand, of yore +For Tine-man forged by fairy lore, +What time he leagued, no longer foes +His Border spears with Hotspur's bows, +Did, self-unscabbarded, foreshow +The footstep of a secret foe. +If courtly spy hath harbored here, +What may we for the Douglas fear? +What for this island, deemed of old +Clan-Alpine's last and surest hold? +If neither spy nor foe, I pray +What yet may jealous Roderick say?-- +Nay, wave not thy disdainful head! +Bethink thee of the discord dread +That kindled when at Beltane game +Thou least the dance with Malcolm Graeme; +Still, though thy sire the peace renewed +Smoulders in Roderick's breast the feud: +Beware!--But hark! what sounds are these? +My dull ears catch no faltering breeze +No weeping birch nor aspens wake, +Nor breath is dimpling in the lake; +Still is the canna's hoary beard, +Yet, by my minstrel faith, I heard-- +And hark again! some pipe of war +Sends the hold pibroch from afar.' + + +XVI. + +Far up the lengthened lake were spied +Four darkening specks upon the tide, +That, slow enlarging on the view, +Four manned and massed barges grew, +And, bearing downwards from Glengyle, +Steered full upon the lonely isle; +The point of Brianchoil they passed, +And, to the windward as they cast, +Against the sun they gave to shine +The bold Sir Roderick's bannered Pine. +Nearer and nearer as they bear, +Spears, pikes, and axes flash in air. +Now might you see the tartars brave, +And plaids and plumage dance and wave: +Now see the bonnets sink and rise, +As his tough oar the rower plies; +See, flashing at each sturdy stroke, +The wave ascending into smoke; +See the proud pipers on the bow, +And mark the gaudy streamers flow +From their loud chanters down, and sweep +The furrowed bosom of the deep, +As, rushing through the lake amain, +They plied the ancient Highland strain. + + +XVII. + +Ever, as on they bore, more loud +And louder rung the pibroch proud. +At first the sounds, by distance tame, +Mellowed along the waters came, +And, lingering long by cape and bay, +Wailed every harsher note away, +Then bursting bolder on the ear, +The clan's shrill Gathering they could hear, +Those thrilling sounds that call the might +Of old Clan-Alpine to the fight. +Thick beat the rapid notes, as when +The mustering hundreds shake the glen, +And hurrying at the signal dread, +'Fine battered earth returns their tread. +Then prelude light, of livelier tone, +Expressed their merry marching on, +Ere peal of closing battle rose, +With mingled outcry, shrieks, and blows; +And mimic din of stroke and ward, +As broadsword upon target jarred; +And groaning pause, ere yet again, +Condensed, the battle yelled amain: +The rapid charge, the rallying shout, +Retreat borne headlong into rout, +And bursts of triumph, to declare +Clan-Alpine's congest--all were there. +Nor ended thus the strain, but slow +Sunk in a moan prolonged and low, +And changed the conquering clarion swell +For wild lament o'er those that fell. + + + XVIII. + +The war-pipes ceased, but lake and hill +Were busy with their echoes still; +And, when they slept, a vocal strain +Bade their hoarse chorus wake again, +While loud a hundred clansmen raise +Their voices in their Chieftain's praise. +Each boatman, bending to his oar, +With measured sweep the burden bore, +In such wild cadence as the breeze +Makes through December's leafless trees. +The chorus first could Allan know, +'Roderick Vich Alpine, ho! fro!' +And near, and nearer as they rowed, +Distinct the martial ditty flowed. + + +XIX. + +Boat Song + +Hail to the Chief who in triumph advances! + Honored and blessed be the ever-green Pine! +Long may the tree, in his banner that glances, + Flourish, the shelter and grace of our line! + Heaven send it happy dew, + Earth lend it sap anew, + Gayly to bourgeon and broadly to grow, + While every Highland glen + Sends our shout back again, + 'Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho! ieroe!' + +Ours is no sapling, chance-sown by the fountain, + + Blooming at Beltane, in winter to fade; +When the whirlwind has stripped every leaf on the mountain, + The more shall Clan-Alpine exult in her shade. + Moored in the rifted rock, + Proof to the tempest's shock, + Firmer he roots him the ruder it blow; + Menteith and Breadalbane, then, + Echo his praise again, + 'Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho! ieroe!' + + +XX. + +Proudly our pibroch has thrilled in Glen Fruin, + And Bannochar's groans to our slogan replied; +Glen Luss and Ross-dhu, they are smoking in ruin, + And the best of Loch Lomond lie dead on her side. + Widow and Saxon maid + Long shall lament our raid, + Think of Clan-Alpine with fear and with woe; + Lennox and Leven-glen + Shake when they hear again, +'Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho! ieroe!' + +Row, vassals, row, for the pride of the Highlands! + Stretch to your oars for the ever-green Pine! +O that the rosebud that graces yon islands + Were wreathed in a garland around him to twine! + O that some seedling gem, + Worthy such noble stem, + Honored and blessed in their shadow might grow! + Loud should Clan-Alpine then + Ring from her deepmost glen, + Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho! ieroe!' + + +XXI. + +With all her joyful female band +Had Lady Margaret sought the strand. +Loose on the breeze their tresses flew, +And high their snowy arms they threw, +As echoing back with shrill acclaim, +And chorus wild, the Chieftain's name; +While, prompt to please, with mother's art +The darling passion of his heart, +The Dame called Ellen to the strand, +To greet her kinsman ere he land: + 'Come, loiterer, come! a Douglas thou, +And shun to wreathe a victor's brow?' +Reluctantly and slow, the maid +The unwelcome summoning obeyed, +And when a distant bugle rung, +In the mid-path aside she sprung:-- +'List, Allan-bane! From mainland cast +I hear my father's signal blast. +Be ours,' she cried, 'the skiff to guide, +And waft him from the mountain-side.' +Then, like a sunbeam, swift and bright, +She darted to her shallop light, +And, eagerly while Roderick scanned, +For her dear form, his mother's band, +The islet far behind her lay, +And she had landed in the bay. + + +XXII. + +Some feelings are to mortals given +With less of earth in them than heaven; +And if there be a human tear +From passion's dross refined and clear, +A tear so limpid and so meek +It would not stain an angel's cheek, +'Tis that which pious fathers shed +Upon a duteous daughter's head! +And as the Douglas to his breast +His darling Ellen closely pressed, +Such holy drops her tresses steeped, +Though 't was an hero's eye that weeped. +Nor while on Ellen's faltering tongue +Her filial welcomes crowded hung, + Marked she that fear--affection's proof-- +Still held a graceful youth aloof; +No! not till Douglas named his name, +Although the youth was Malcolm Graeme. + + +XXIII. + +Allan, with wistful look the while, +Marked Roderick landing on the isle; +His master piteously he eyed, +Then gazed upon the Chieftain's pride, +Then dashed with hasty hand away +From his dimmed eye the gathering spray; +And Douglas, as his hand he laid +On Malcolm's shoulder, kindly said: +'Canst thou, young friend, no meaning spy +In my poor follower's glistening eye? +I 'll tell thee:--he recalls the day +When in my praise he led the lay +O'er the arched gate of Bothwell proud, +While many a minstrel answered loud, +When Percy's Norman pennon, won +In bloody field, before me shone, +And twice ten knights, the least a name +As mighty as yon Chief may claim, +Gracing my pomp, behind me came. +Yet trust me, Malcolm, not so proud +Was I of all that marshalled crowd, +Though the waned crescent owned my might, +And in my train trooped lord and knight, +Though Blantyre hymned her holiest lays, +And Bothwell's bards flung back my praise, +As when this old man's silent tear, +And this poor maid's affection dear, +A welcome give more kind and true +Than aught my better fortunes knew. +Forgive, my friend, a father's boast,-- +O, it out-beggars all I lost!' + + +XXIV. + +Delightful praise!--like summer rose, +That brighter in the dew-drop glows, +The bashful maiden's cheek appeared, +For Douglas spoke, and Malcolm heard. +The flush of shame-faced joy to hide, +The hounds, the hawk, her cares divide; +The loved caresses of the maid +The dogs with crouch and whimper paid; +And, at her whistle, on her hand +The falcon took his favorite stand, +Closed his dark wing, relaxed his eye, +Nor, though unhooded, sought to fly. +And, trust, while in such guise she stood, +Like fabled Goddess of the wood, +That if a father's partial thought +O'erweighed her worth and beauty aught, +Well might the lover's judgment fail +To balance with a juster scale; +For with each secret glance he stole, +The fond enthusiast sent his soul. + + +XXV. + +Of stature fair, and slender frame, +But firmly knit, was Malcolm Graeme. +The belted plaid and tartan hose +Did ne'er more graceful limbs disclose; +His flaxen hair, of sunny hue, +Curled closely round his bonnet blue. +Trained to the chase, his eagle eye +The ptarmigan in snow could spy; +Each pass, by mountain, lake, and heath, +He knew, through Lennox and Menteith; +Vain was the bound of dark-brown doe +When Malcolm bent his sounding bow, +And scarce that doe, though winged with fear, +Outstripped in speed the mountaineer: +Right up Ben Lomond could he press, +And not a sob his toil confess. +His form accorded with a mind +Lively and ardent, frank and kind; +A blither heart, till Ellen came +Did never love nor sorrow tame; +It danced as lightsome in his breast +As played the feather on his crest. +Yet friends, who nearest knew the youth +His scorn of wrong, his zeal for truth +And bards, who saw his features bold +When kindled by the tales of old +Said, were that youth to manhood grown, +Not long should Roderick Dhu's renown +Be foremost voiced by mountain fame, +But quail to that of Malcolm Graeme. + + +XXVI. + +Now back they wend their watery way, +And, 'O my sire!' did Ellen say, +'Why urge thy chase so far astray? +And why so late returned? And why '-- +The rest was in her speaking eye. +'My child, the chase I follow far, +'Tis mimicry of noble war; +And with that gallant pastime reft +Were all of Douglas I have left. +I met young Malcolm as I strayed +Far eastward, in Glenfinlas' shade +Nor strayed I safe, for all around +Hunters and horsemen scoured the ground. +This youth, though still a royal ward, +Risked life and land to be my guard, +And through the passes of the wood +Guided my steps, not unpursued; +And Roderick shall his welcome make, +Despite old spleen, for Douglas' sake. +Then must he seek Strath-Endrick glen +Nor peril aught for me again.' + + +XXVII. + +Sir Roderick, who to meet them came, +Reddened at sight of Malcolm Graeme, +Yet, not in action, word, or eye, +Failed aught in hospitality. +In talk and sport they whiled away +The morning of that summer day; +But at high noon a courier light +Held secret parley with the knight, +Whose moody aspect soon declared +That evil were the news he heard. +Deep thought seemed toiling in his head; +Yet was the evening banquet made +Ere he assembled round the flame +His mother, Douglas, and the Graeme, +And Ellen too; then cast around +His eyes, then fixed them on the ground, +As studying phrase that might avail +Best to convey unpleasant tale. +Long with his dagger's hilt he played, +Then raised his haughty brow, and said:-- + + +XXVIII. + +'Short be my speech; -- nor time affords, +Nor my plain temper, glozing words. +Kinsman and father,--if such name +Douglas vouchsafe to Roderick's claim; +Mine honored mother;--Ellen,--why, +My cousin, turn away thine eye?-- +And Graeme, in whom I hope to know +Full soon a noble friend or foe, +When age shall give thee thy command, +And leading in thy native land,-- +List all!--The King's vindictive pride +Boasts to have tamed the Border-side, +Where chiefs, with hound and trawl; who came +To share their monarch's sylvan game, +Themselves in bloody toils were snared, +And when the banquet they prepared, +And wide their loyal portals flung, +O'er their own gateway struggling hung. +Loud cries their blood from Meggat's mead, +From Yarrow braes and banks of Tweed, +Where the lone streams of Ettrick glide, +And from the silver Teviot's side; +The dales, where martial clans did ride, +Are now one sheep-walk, waste and wide. +This tyrant of the Scottish throne, +So faithless and so ruthless known, +Now hither comes; his end the same, +The same pretext of sylvan game. +What grace for Highland Chiefs, judge ye +By fate of Border chivalry. +Yet more; amid Glenfinlas' green, +Douglas, thy stately form was seen. +This by espial sure I know: +Your counsel in the streight I show.' + + +XXIX. + +Ellen and Margaret fearfully +Sought comfort in each other's eye, +Then turned their ghastly look, each one, +This to her sire, that to her son. +The hasty color went and came +In the bold cheek of Malcohm Graeme, +But from his glance it well appeared +'T was but for Ellen that he feared; +While, sorrowful, but undismayed, +The Douglas thus his counsel said: +'Brave Roderick, though the tempest roar, +It may but thunder and pass o'er; +Nor will I here remain an hour, +To draw the lightning on thy bower; +For well thou know'st, at this gray head +The royal bolt were fiercest sped. +For thee, who, at thy King's command, +Canst aid him with a gallant band, +Submission, homage, humbled pride, +Shall turn the Monarch's wrath aside. +Poor remnants of the Bleeding Heart, +Ellen and I will seek apart +The refuge of some forest cell, +There, like the hunted quarry, dwell, +Till on the mountain and the moor +The stern pursuit be passed and o'er,'-- + + +XXX. + +'No, by mine honor,' Roderick said, +'So help me Heaven, and my good blade! +No, never! Blasted be yon Pine, +My father's ancient crest and mine, +If from its shade in danger part +The lineage of the Bleeding Heart! +Hear my blunt speech: grant me this maid +To wife, thy counsel to mine aid; +To Douglas, leagued with Roderick Dhu, +Will friends and allies flock enow; +Like cause of doubt, distrust, and grief, +Will bind to us each Western Chief +When the loud pipes my bridal tell, +The Links of Forth shall hear the knell, +The guards shall start in Stirling's porch; +And when I light the nuptial torch, +A thousand villages in flames +Shall scare the slumbers of King James!-- +Nay, Ellen, blench not thus away, +And, mother, cease these signs, I pray; +I meant not all my heat might say.-- +Small need of inroad or of fight, +When the sage Douglas may unite +Each mountain clan in friendly band, +To guard the passes of their land, +Till the foiled King from pathless glen +Shall bootless turn him home again.' + + +XXXI. + +There are who have, at midnight hour, +In slumber scaled a dizzy tower, +And, on the verge that beetled o'er +The ocean tide's incessant roar, +Dreamed calmly out their dangerous dream, +Till wakened by the morning beam; +When, dazzled by the eastern glow, +Such startler cast his glance below, +And saw unmeasured depth around, +And heard unintermitted sound, +And thought the battled fence so frail, +It waved like cobweb in the gale; +Amid his senses' giddy wheel, +Did he not desperate impulse feel, +Headlong to plunge himself below, +And meet the worst his fears foreshow?-- +Thus Ellen, dizzy and astound, +As sudden ruin yawned around, +By crossing terrors wildly tossed, +Still for the Douglas fearing most, +Could scarce the desperate thought withstand, +To buy his safety with her hand. + + +XXXII. + +Such purpose dread could Malcolm spy +In Ellen's quivering lip and eye, +And eager rose to speak,--but ere +His tongue could hurry forth his fear, +Had Douglas marked the hectic strife, +Where death seemed combating with life; +For to her cheek, in feverish flood, +One instant rushed the throbbing blood, +Then ebbing back, with sudden sway, +Left its domain as wan as clay. +'Roderick, enough! enough!' he cried, +'My daughter cannot be thy bride; +Not that the blush to wooer dear, +Nor paleness that of maiden fear. +It may not be,--forgive her, +Chief, Nor hazard aught for our relief. +Against his sovereign, Douglas ne'er +Will level a rebellious spear. +'T was I that taught his youthful hand +To rein a steed and wield a brand; +I see him yet, the princely boy! +Not Ellen more my pride and joy; +I love him still, despite my wrongs +By hasty wrath and slanderous tongues. +O. seek the grace you well may find, +Without a cause to mine combined!' + + +XXXIII. + +Twice through the hall the Chieftain strode; +The waving of his tartars broad, +And darkened brow, where wounded pride +With ire and disappointment vied +Seemed, by the torch's gloomy light, +Like the ill Demon of the night, +Stooping his pinions' shadowy sway +Upon the righted pilgrim's way: +But, unrequited Love! thy dart +Plunged deepest its envenomed smart, +And Roderick, with thine anguish stung, +At length the hand of Douglas wrung, +While eyes that mocked at tears before +With bitter drops were running o'er. +The death-pangs of long-cherished hope +Scarce in that ample breast had scope +But, struggling with his spirit proud, +Convulsive heaved its checkered shroud, +While every sob--so mute were all +Was heard distinctly through the ball. +The son's despair, the mother's look, +III might the gentle Ellen brook; +She rose, and to her side there came, +To aid her parting steps, the Graeme. + + +XXXIV. + +Then Roderick from the Douglas broke-- +As flashes flame through sable smoke, +Kindling its wreaths, long, dark, and low, +To one broad blaze of ruddy glow, +So the deep anguish of despair +Burst, in fierce jealousy, to air. +With stalwart grasp his hand he laid +On Malcolm's breast and belted plaid: +'Back, beardless boy!' he sternly said, +'Back, minion! holdst thou thus at naught +The lesson I so lately taught? +This roof, the Douglas. and that maid, +Thank thou for punishment delayed.' +Eager as greyhound on his game, +Fiercely with Roderick grappled Graeme. +'Perish my name, if aught afford +Its Chieftain safety save his sword!' +Thus as they strove their desperate hand +Griped to the dagger or the brand, +And death had been--but Douglas rose, +And thrust between the struggling foes +His giant strength:--' Chieftains, forego! +I hold the first who strikes my foe.-- +Madmen, forbear your frantic jar! +What! is the Douglas fallen so far, +His daughter's hand is deemed the spoil +Of such dishonorable broil?' +Sullen and slowly they unclasp, +As struck with shame, their desperate grasp, +And each upon his rival glared, +With foot advanced and blade half bared. + + +XXXV. + +Ere yet the brands aloft were flung, +Margaret on Roderick's mantle hung, +And Malcolm heard his Ellen's scream, +As faltered through terrific dream. +Then Roderick plunged in sheath his sword, +And veiled his wrath in scornful word:' +Rest safe till morning; pity 't were +Such cheek should feel the midnight air! +Then mayst thou to James Stuart tell, +Roderick will keep the lake and fell, +Nor lackey with his freeborn clan +The pageant pomp of earthly man. +More would he of Clan-Alpine know, +Thou canst our strength and passes show.-- +Malise, what ho!'--his henchman came: +'Give our safe-conduct to the Graeme.' +Young Malcolm answered, calm and bold:' +Fear nothing for thy favorite hold; +The spot an angel deigned to grace +Is blessed, though robbers haunt the place. +Thy churlish courtesy for those +Reserve, who fear to be thy foes. +As safe to me the mountain way +At midnight as in blaze of day, +Though with his boldest at his back +Even Roderick Dhu beset the track.-- +Brave Douglas,--lovely Ellen,--nay, +Naught here of parting will I say. +Earth does not hold a lonesome glen +So secret but we meet again.-- +Chieftain! we too shall find an hour,'-- +He said, and left the sylvan bower. + + +XXXVI. + +Old Allan followed to the strand -- +Such was the Douglas's command-- +And anxious told, how, on the morn, +The stern Sir Roderick deep had sworn, +The Fiery Cross should circle o'er +Dale, glen, and valley, down and moor +Much were the peril to the Graeme +From those who to the signal came; +Far up the lake 't were safest land, +Himself would row him to the strand. +He gave his counsel to the wind, +While Malcolm did, unheeding, bind, +Round dirk and pouch and broadsword rolled, +His ample plaid in tightened fold, +And stripped his limbs to such array +As best might suit the watery way,-- + + +XXXVII. + +Then spoke abrupt: 'Farewell to thee, +Pattern of old fidelity!' + The Minstrel's hand he kindly pressed,-- +'O, could I point a place of rest! +My sovereign holds in ward my land, +My uncle leads my vassal band; +To tame his foes, his friends to aid, +Poor Malcolm has but heart and blade. +Yet, if there be one faithful Graeme +Who loves the chieftain of his name, +Not long shall honored Douglas dwell +Like hunted stag in mountain cell; +Nor, ere yon pride-swollen robber dare,-- +I may not give the rest to air! +Tell Roderick Dhu I owed him naught, +Not tile poor service of a boat, +To waft me to yon mountain-side.' +Then plunged he in the flashing tide. +Bold o'er the flood his head he bore, +And stoutly steered him from the shore; +And Allan strained his anxious eye, +Far mid the lake his form to spy, +Darkening across each puny wave, +To which the moon her silver gave. +Fast as the cormorant could skim. +The swimmer plied each active limb; +Then landing in the moonlight dell, +Loud shouted of his weal to tell. +The Minstrel heard the far halloo, +And joyful from the shore withdrew. + + + + + CANTO THIRD. + + The Gathering. + + + +I. + +Time rolls his ceaseless course. The race of yore, + Who danced our infancy upon their knee, +And told our marvelling boyhood legends store + Of their strange ventures happed by land or sea, +How are they blotted from the things that be! + How few, all weak and withered of their force, +Wait on the verge of dark eternity, + Like stranded wrecks, the tide returning hoarse, +To sweep them from out sight! Time rolls his ceaseless course. + +Yet live there still who can remember well, + How, when a mountain chief his bugle blew, +Both field and forest, dingle, cliff; and dell, + And solitary heath, the signal knew; +And fast the faithful clan around him drew. + What time the warning note was keenly wound, +What time aloft their kindred banner flew, + While clamorous war-pipes yelled the gathering sound, +And while the Fiery Cross glanced like a meteor, round. + + +II. + +The Summer dawn's reflected hue +To purple changed Loch Katrine blue; +Mildly and soft the western breeze +Just kissed the lake, just stirred the trees, +And the pleased lake, like maiden coy, +Trembled but dimpled not for joy +The mountain-shadows on her breast +Were neither broken nor at rest; +In bright uncertainty they lie, +Like future joys to Fancy's eye. +The water-lily to the light +Her chalice reared of silver bright; +The doe awoke, and to the lawn, +Begemmed with dew-drops, led her fawn; +The gray mist left the mountain-side, +The torrent showed its glistening pride; +Invisible in flecked sky The lark sent clown her revelry: +The blackbird and the speckled thrush +Good-morrow gave from brake and bush; +In answer cooed the cushat dove +Her notes of peace and rest and love. + + +III. + +No thought of peace, no thought of rest, +Assuaged the storm in Roderick's breast. +With sheathed broadsword in his hand, +Abrupt he paced the islet strand, +And eyed the rising sun, and laid +His hand on his impatient blade. +Beneath a rock, his vassals' care +Was prompt the ritual to prepare, +With deep and deathful meaning fraught; +For such Antiquity had taught +Was preface meet, ere yet abroad +The Cross of Fire should take its road. +The shrinking band stood oft aghast +At the impatient glance he cast;-- +Such glance the mountain eagle threw, +As, from the cliffs of Benvenue, +She spread her dark sails on the wind, +And, high in middle heaven reclined, +With her broad shadow on the lake, +Silenced the warblers of the brake. + + +IV. + +A heap of withered boughs was piled, +Of juniper and rowan wild, +Mingled with shivers from the oak, +Rent by the lightning's recent stroke. +Brian the Hermit by it stood, +Barefooted, in his frock and hood. +His grizzled beard and matted hair +Obscured a visage of despair; +His naked arms and legs, seamed o'er, +The scars of frantic penance bore. +That monk, of savage form and face +The impending danger of his race +Had drawn from deepest solitude +Far in Benharrow's bosom rude. +Not his the mien of Christian priest, +But Druid's, from the grave released +Whose hardened heart and eye might brook +On human sacrifice to look; +And much, 't was said, of heathen lore +Mixed in the charms he muttered o'er. +The hallowed creed gave only worse +And deadlier emphasis of curse. +No peasant sought that Hermit's prayer +His cave the pilgrim shunned with care, +The eager huntsman knew his bound +And in mid chase called off his hound;' +Or if, in lonely glen or strath, +The desert-dweller met his path +He prayed, and signed the cross between, +While terror took devotion's mien. + + +V. + +Of Brian's birth strange tales were told. +His mother watched a midnight fold, +Built deep within a dreary glen, +Where scattered lay the bones of men +In some forgotten battle slain, +And bleached by drifting wind and rain. +It might have tamed a warrior's heart +To view such mockery of his art! +The knot-grass fettered there the hand +Which once could burst an iron band; +Beneath the broad and ample bone, +That bucklered heart to fear unknown, +A feeble and a timorous guest, +The fieldfare framed her lowly nest; +There the slow blindworm left his slime +On the fleet limbs that mocked at time; +And there, too, lay the leader's skull +Still wreathed with chaplet, flushed and full, +For heath-bell with her purple bloom +Supplied the bonnet and the plume. +All night, in this sad glen the maid +Sat shrouded in her mantle's shade: +She said no shepherd sought her side, +No hunter's hand her snood untied. +Yet ne'er again to braid her hair +The virgin snood did Alive wear; +Gone was her maiden glee and sport, +Her maiden girdle all too short, +Nor sought she, from that fatal night, +Or holy church or blessed rite +But locked her secret in her breast, +And died in travail, unconfessed. + + +VI. + +Alone, among his young compeers, +Was Brian from his infant years; +A moody and heart-broken boy, +Estranged from sympathy and joy +Bearing each taunt which careless tongue +On his mysterious lineage flung. +Whole nights he spent by moonlight pale +To wood and stream his teal, to wail, +Till, frantic, he as truth received +What of his birth the crowd believed, +And sought, in mist and meteor fire, +To meet and know his Phantom Sire! +In vain, to soothe his wayward fate, +The cloister oped her pitying gate; +In vain the learning of the age +Unclasped the sable-lettered page; +Even in its treasures he could find +Food for the fever of his mind. +Eager he read whatever tells +Of magic, cabala, and spells, +And every dark pursuit allied +To curious and presumptuous pride; +Till with fired brain and nerves o'erstrung, +And heart with mystic horrors wrung, +Desperate he sought Benharrow's den, +And hid him from the haunts of men. + + +VII. + +The desert gave him visions wild, +Such as might suit the spectre's child. +Where with black cliffs the torrents toil, +He watched the wheeling eddies boil, +Jill from their foam his dazzled eyes +Beheld the River Demon rise: +The mountain mist took form and limb +Of noontide hag or goblin grim; +The midnight wind came wild and dread, +Swelled with the voices of the dead; +Far on the future battle-heath +His eye beheld the ranks of death: +Thus the lone Seer, from mankind hurled, +Shaped forth a disembodied world. +One lingering sympathy of mind +Still bound him to the mortal kind; +The only parent he could claim +Of ancient Alpine's lineage came. +Late had he heard, in prophet's dream, +The fatal Ben-Shie's boding scream; +Sounds, too, had come in midnight blast +Of charging steeds, careering fast +Along Benharrow's shingly side, +Where mortal horseman ne'er might ride; +The thunderbolt had split the pine,-- +All augured ill to Alpine's line. +He girt his loins, and came to show +The signals of impending woe, +And now stood prompt to bless or ban, +As bade the Chieftain of his clan. + + +VIII. + +'T was all prepared;--and from the rock +A goat, the patriarch of the flock, +Before the kindling pile was laid, +And pierced by Roderick's ready blade. +Patient the sickening victim eyed +The life-blood ebb in crimson tide +Down his clogged beard and shaggy limb, +Till darkness glazed his eyeballs dim. +The grisly priest, with murmuring prayer, +A slender crosslet framed with care, +A cubit's length in measure due; +The shaft and limbs were rods of yew, +Whose parents in Inch-Cailliach wave +Their shadows o'er Clan-Alpine's grave, +And, answering Lomond's breezes deep, +Soothe many a chieftain's endless sleep. +The Cross thus formed he held on high, +With wasted hand and haggard eye, +And strange and mingled feelings woke, +While his anathema he spoke:-- + + +IX. + +'Woe to the clansman who shall view +This symbol of sepulchral yew, +Forgetful that its branches grew +Where weep the heavens their holiest dew + On Alpine's dwelling low! +Deserter of his Chieftain's trust, +He ne'er shall mingle with their dust, +But, from his sires and kindred thrust, +Each clansman's execration just + Shall doom him wrath and woe.' +He paused; -- the word the vassals took, +With forward step and fiery look, +On high their naked brands they shook, +Their clattering targets wildly strook; + And first in murmur low, +Then like the billow in his course, +That far to seaward finds his source, +And flings to shore his mustered force, +Burst with loud roar their answer hoarse, +'Woe to the traitor, woe!' +Ben-an's gray scalp the accents knew, +The joyous wolf from covert drew, +The exulting eagle screamed afar,-- +They knew the voice of Alpine's war. + + +X. + +The shout was hushed on lake and fell, +The Monk resumed his muttered spell: +Dismal and low its accents came, +The while he scathed the Cross with flame; +And the few words that reached the air, +Although the holiest name was there, +Had more of blasphemy than prayer. +But when he shook above the crowd +Its kindled points, he spoke aloud:-- +'Woe to the wretch who fails to rear +At this dread sign the ready spear! +For, as the flames this symbol sear, +His home, the refuge of his fear, + A kindred fate shall know; +Far o'er its roof the volumed flame +Clan-Alpine's vengeance shall proclaim, +While maids and matrons on his name +Shall call down wretchedness and shame, + And infamy and woe.' +Then rose the cry of females, shrill +As goshawk's whistle on the hill, +Denouncing misery and ill, +Mingled with childhood's babbling trill + Of curses stammered slow; +Answering with imprecation dread, +'Sunk be his home in embers red! +And cursed be the meanest shed +That o'er shall hide the houseless head + We doom to want and woe!' +A sharp and shrieking echo gave, +Coir-Uriskin, thy goblin cave! +And the gray pass where birches wave + On Beala-nam-bo. + + +XI. + +Then deeper paused the priest anew, +And hard his laboring breath he drew, +While, with set teeth and clenched hand, +And eyes that glowed like fiery brand, +He meditated curse more dread, +And deadlier, on the clansman's head +Who, summoned to his chieftain's aid, +The signal saw and disobeyed. +The crosslet's points of sparkling wood +He quenched among the bubbling blood. +And, as again the sign he reared, +Hollow and hoarse his voice was heard: +'When flits this Cross from man to man, +Vich-Alpine's summons to his clan, +Burst be the ear that fails to heed! +Palsied the foot that shuns to speed! +May ravens tear the careless eyes, +Wolves make the coward heart their prize! +As sinks that blood-stream in the earth, +So may his heart's-blood drench his hearth! +As dies in hissing gore the spark, +Quench thou his light, Destruction dark! +And be the grace to him denied, +Bought by this sign to all beside! +He ceased; no echo gave again +The murmur of the deep Amen. + + +XII. + +Then Roderick with impatient look +From Brian's hand the symbol took: +'Speed, Malise, speed' he said, and gave +The crosslet to his henchman brave. +'The muster-place be Lanrick mead-- +Instant the time---speed, Malise, speed!' +Like heath-bird, when the hawks pursue, +A barge across Loch Katrine flew: +High stood the henchman on the prow; +So rapidly the barge-mall row, +The bubbles, where they launched the boat, +Were all unbroken and afloat, +Dancing in foam and ripple still, +When it had neared the mainland hill; +And from the silver beach's side +Still was the prow three fathom wide, +When lightly bounded to the land +The messenger of blood and brand. + + +XIII. + +Speed, Malise, speed! the dun deer's hide +On fleeter foot was never tied. +Speed, Malise, speed! such cause of haste +Thine active sinews never braced. +Bend 'gainst the steepy hill thy breast, +Burst down like torrent from its crest; +With short and springing footstep pass +The trembling bog and false morass; +Across the brook like roebuck bound, +And thread the brake like questing hound; +The crag is high, the scaur is deep, +Yet shrink not from the desperate leap: +Parched are thy burning lips and brow, +Yet by the fountain pause not now; +Herald of battle, fate, and fear, +Stretch onward in thy fleet career! +The wounded hind thou track'st not now, +Pursuest not maid through greenwood bough, +Nor priest thou now thy flying pace +With rivals in the mountain race; +But danger, death, and warrior deed +Are in thy course--speed, Malise, speed! + + +XIV. + +Fast as the fatal symbol flies, +In arms the huts and hamlets rise; +From winding glen, from upland brown, +They poured each hardy tenant down. + Nor slacked the messenger his pace; +He showed the sign, he named the place, +And, pressing forward like the wind, +Left clamor and surprise behind. +The fisherman forsook the strand, +The swarthy smith took dirk and brand; +With changed cheer, the mower blithe +Left in the half-cut swath his scythe; +The herds without a keeper strayed, +The plough was in mid-furrow staved, +The falconer tossed his hawk away, +The hunter left the stag at hay; +Prompt at the signal of alarms, +Each son of Alpine rushed to arms; +So swept the tumult and affray +Along the margin of Achray. +Alas, thou lovely lake! that e'er +Thy banks should echo sounds of fear! +The rocks, the bosky thickets, sleep +So stilly on thy bosom deep, +The lark's blithe carol from the cloud +Seems for the scene too gayly loud. + + +XV. + +Speed, Malise, speed! The lake is past, +Duncraggan's huts appear at last, +And peep, like moss-grown rocks, half seen +Half hidden in the copse so green; +There mayst thou rest, thy labor done, +Their lord shall speed the signal on.-- +As stoops the hawk upon his prey, +The henchman shot him down the way. +What woful accents load the gale? +The funeral yell, the female wail! +A gallant hunter's sport is o'er, +A valiant warrior fights no more. +Who, in the battle or the chase, +At Roderick's side shall fill his place!-- +Within the hall, where torch's ray +Supplies the excluded beams of day, +Lies Duncan on his lowly bier, +And o'er him streams his widow's tear. +His stripling son stands mournful by, +His youngest weeps, but knows not why; +The village maids and matrons round +The dismal coronach resound. + + +XVI. + +Coronach. + +He is gone on the mountain, + He is lost to the forest, +Like a summer-dried fountain, + When our need was the sorest. +The font, reappearing, + From the rain-drops shall borrow, +But to us comes no cheering, + To Duncan no morrow! + +The hand of the reaper + Takes the ears that are hoary, +But the voice of the weeper + Wails manhood in glory. +The autumn winds rushing + Waft the leaves that are searest, +But our flower was in flushing, + When blighting was nearest. + +Fleet foot on the correi, + Sage counsel in cumber, +Red hand in the foray, + How sound is thy slumber! +Like the dew on the mountain, + Like the foam on the river, +Like the bubble on the fountain, + Thou art gone, and forever! + + +XVII. + +See Stumah, who, the bier beside +His master's corpse with wonder eyed, +Poor Stumah! whom his least halloo +Could send like lightning o'er the dew, +Bristles his crest, and points his ears, +As if some stranger step he hears. +'T is not a mourner's muffled tread, +Who comes to sorrow o'er the dead, +But headlong haste or deadly fear +Urge the precipitate career. +All stand aghast:--unheeding all, +The henchman bursts into the hall; +Before the dead man's bier he stood, +Held forth the Cross besmeared with blood; +'The muster-place is Lanrick mead; +Speed forth the signal! clansmen, speed!' + + +XVIII, + +Angus, the heir of Duncan's line, +Sprung forth and seized the fatal sign. +In haste the stripling to his side + His father's dirk and broadsword tied; +But when he saw his mother's eye +Watch him in speechless agony, +Back to her opened arms he flew +Pressed on her lips a fond adieu,-- +'Alas' she sobbed,--'and yet be gone, +And speed thee forth, like Duncan's son!' +One look he cast upon the bier, +Dashed from his eye the gathering tear, +Breathed deep to clear his laboring breast, +And tossed aloft his bonnet crest, +Then, like the high-bred colt when, freed, +First he essays his fire and speed, +He vanished, and o'er moor and moss +Sped forward with the Fiery Cross. +Suspended was the widow's tear +While yet his footsteps she could hear; +And when she marked the henchman's eye +Wet with unwonted sympathy, +'Kinsman,' she said, 'his race is run +That should have sped thine errand on. +The oak teas fallen?--the sapling bough Is all +Duncraggan's shelter now +Yet trust I well, his duty done, +The orphan's God will guard my son.-- +And you, in many a danger true +At Duncan's hest your blades that drew, +To arms, and guard that orphan's head! +Let babes and women wail the dead.' +Then weapon-clang and martial call +Resounded through the funeral hall, +While from the walls the attendant band +Snatched sword and targe with hurried hand; +And short and flitting energy +Glanced from the mourner's sunken eye, +As if the sounds to warrior dear +Might rouse her Duncan from his bier. +But faded soon that borrowed force; +Grief claimed his right, and tears their course. + + +XIX. + +Benledi saw the Cross of Fire, +It glanced like lightning up Strath-Ire. +O'er dale and hill the summons flew, +Nor rest nor pause young Angus knew; +The tear that gathered in his eye +He deft the mountain-breeze to dry; +Until, where Teith's young waters roll +Betwixt him and a wooded knoll +That graced the sable strath with green, +The chapel of Saint Bride was seen. +Swoln was the stream, remote the bridge, +But Angus paused not on the edge; +Though the clerk waves danced dizzily, +Though reeled his sympathetic eye, +He dashed amid the torrent's roar: +His right hand high the crosslet bore, +His left the pole-axe grasped, to guide +And stay his footing in the tide. +He stumbled twice,--the foam splashed high, +With hoarser swell the stream raced by; +And had he fallen,--forever there, +Farewell Duncraggan's orphan heir! +But still, as if in parting life, +Firmer he grasped the Cross of strife, +Until the opposing bank he gained, +And up the chapel pathway strained. +A blithesome rout that morning-tide +Had sought the chapel of Saint Bride. +Her troth Tombea's Mary gave +To Norman, heir of Armandave, +And, issuing from the Gothic arch, +The bridal now resumed their march. +In rude but glad procession came +Bonneted sire and coif-clad dame; +And plaided youth, with jest and jeer +Which snooded maiden would not hear: +And children, that, unwitting why, +Lent the gay shout their shrilly cry; +And minstrels, that in measures vied +Before the young and bonny bride, +Whose downcast eye and cheek disclose +The tear and blush of morning rose. +With virgin step and bashful hand +She held the kerchief's snowy band. +The gallant bridegroom by her side +Beheld his prize with victor's pride. +And the glad mother in her ear +Was closely whispering word of cheer. + + +XXI. + +Who meets them at the churchyard gate? +The messenger of fear and fate! +Haste in his hurried accent lies, +And grief is swimming in his eyes. +All dripping from the recent flood, +Panting and travel-soiled he stood, +The fatal sign of fire and sword +Held forth, and spoke the appointed word: +'The muster-place is Lanrick mead; +Speed forth the signal! Norman, speed!' +And must he change so soon the hand +Just linked to his by holy band, +For the fell Cross of blood and brand? +And must the day so blithe that rose, +And promised rapture in the close, +Before its setting hour, divide +The bridegroom from the plighted bride? +O fatal doom'--it must! it must! +Clan-Alpine's cause, her Chieftain's trust, +Her summons dread, brook no delay; +Stretch to the race,--away! away! + + +XXII. + +Yet slow he laid his plaid aside, +And lingering eyed his lovely bride, +Until he saw the starting tear +Speak woe he might not stop to cheer: +Then, trusting not a second look, +In haste he sped hind up the brook, +Nor backward glanced till on the heath +Where Lubnaig's lake supplies the Teith,-- +What in the racer's bosom stirred? +The sickening pang of hope deferred, +And memory with a torturing train +Of all his morning visions vain. +Mingled with love's impatience, came +The manly thirst for martial fame; +The stormy joy of mountaineers +Ere yet they rush upon the spears; +And zeal for Clan and Chieftain burning, +And hope, from well-fought field returning, +With war's red honors on his crest, +To clasp his Mary to his breast. +Stung by such thoughts, o'er bank and brae, +Like fire from flint he glanced away, +While high resolve and feeling strong +Burst into voluntary song. + + +XXIII. + +Song. + +The heath this night must be my bed, +The bracken curtain for my head, +My lullaby the warder's tread, + Far, far, from love and thee, Mary; +To-morrow eve, more stilly laid, +My couch may be my bloody plaid, +My vesper song thy wail, sweet maid! + It will not waken me, Mary! + +I may not, dare not, fancy now +The grief that clouds thy lovely brow, +I dare not think upon thy vow, + And all it promised me, Mary. +No fond regret must Norman know; +When bursts Clan-Alpine on the foe, +His heart must be like bended bow, + His foot like arrow free, Mary. + +A time will come with feeling fraught, +For, if I fall in battle fought, +Thy hapless lover's dying thought + Shall be a thought on thee, Mary. +And if returned from conquered foes, +How blithely will the evening close, +How sweet the linnet sing repose, + To my young bride and me, Mary! + + +XXIV. + +Not faster o'er thy heathery braes +Balquidder, speeds the midnight blaze, +Rushing in conflagration strong +Thy deep ravines and dells along, +Wrapping thy cliffs in purple glow, +And reddening the dark lakes below; +Nor faster speeds it, nor so far, +As o'er thy heaths the voice of war. +The signal roused to martial coil +The sullen margin of Loch Voil, +Waked still Loch Doine, and to the source +Alarmed, Balvaig, thy swampy course; +Thence southward turned its rapid road +Adown Strath-Gartney's valley broad +Till rose in arms each man might claim +A portion in Clan-Alpine's name, +From the gray sire, whose trembling hand +Could hardly buckle on his brand, +To the raw boy, whose shaft and bow +Were yet scarce terror to the crow. +Each valley, each sequestered glen, +Mustered its little horde of men +That met as torrents from the height +In Highland dales their streams unite +Still gathering, as they pour along, +A voice more loud, a tide more strong, +Till at the rendezvous they stood +By hundreds prompt for blows and blood, +Each trained to arms since life began, +Owning no tie but to his clan, +No oath but by his chieftain's hand, +No law but Roderick Dhu's command. + + +XXV. + +That summer morn had Roderick Dhu +Surveyed the skirts of Benvenue, +And sent his scouts o'er hill and heath, +To view the frontiers of Menteith. +All backward came with news of truce; +Still lay each martial Graeme and Bruce, +In Rednock courts no horsemen wait, +No banner waved on Cardross gate, +On Duchray's towers no beacon shone, +Nor scared the herons from Loch Con; +All seemed at peace.--Now wot ye wily +The Chieftain with such anxious eye, +Ere to the muster he repair, +This western frontier scanned with care?-- +In Benvenue's most darksome cleft, +A fair though cruel pledge was left; +For Douglas, to his promise true, +That morning from the isle withdrew, +And in a deep sequestered dell +Had sought a low and lonely cell. +By many a bard in Celtic tongue +Has Coir-nan-Uriskin been sung +A softer name the Saxons gave, +And called the grot the Goblin Cave. + + +XXVI. + +It was a wild and strange retreat, +As e'er was trod by outlaw's feet. +The dell, upon the mountain's crest, +Yawned like a gash on warrior's breast; +Its trench had stayed full many a rock, +Hurled by primeval earthquake shock +From Benvenue's gray summit wild, +And here, in random ruin piled, +They frowned incumbent o'er the spot +And formed the rugged sylvan "rot. +The oak and birch with mingled shade +At noontide there a twilight made, +Unless when short and sudden shone +Some straggling beam on cliff or stone, +With such a glimpse as prophet's eye +Gains on thy depth, Futurity. +No murmur waked the solemn still, +Save tinkling of a fountain rill; +But when the wind chafed with the lake, +A sullen sound would upward break, +With dashing hollow voice, that spoke +The incessant war of wave and rock. +Suspended cliffs with hideous sway +Seemed nodding o'er the cavern gray. +From such a den the wolf had sprung, +In such the wild-cat leaves her young; +Yet Douglas and his daughter fair +Sought for a space their safety there. +Gray Superstition's whisper dread +Debarred the spot to vulgar tread; +For there, she said, did fays resort, +And satyrs hold their sylvan court, +By moonlight tread their mystic maze, +And blast the rash beholder's gaze. + + +XXVII. + +Now eve, with western shadows long, +Floated on Katrine bright and strong, +When Roderick with a chosen few +Repassed the heights of Benvenue. +Above the Goblin Cave they go, +Through the wild pass of Beal-nam-bo; +The prompt retainers speed before, +To launch the shallop from the shore, +For 'cross Loch Katrine lies his way +To view the passes of Achray, +And place his clansmen in array. +Yet lags the Chief in musing mind, +Unwonted sight, his men behind. +A single page, to bear his sword, +Alone attended on his lord; +The rest their way through thickets break, +And soon await him by the lake. +It was a fair and gallant sight +To view them from the neighboring height, +By the low-levelled sunbeam's light! +For strength and stature, from the clan +Each warrior was a chosen man, +As even afar might well be seen, +By their proud step and martial mien. +heir feathers dance, their tartars float, +Their targets gleam, as by the boat +A wild and warlike group they stand, +That well became such mountain-strand. + + +XXVI + +Their Chief with step reluctant still +Was lingering on the craggy hill, +Hard by where turned apart the road +To Douglas's obscure abode. +It was but with that dawning morn +That Roderick Dhu had proudly sworn +To drown his love in war's wild roar, +Nor think of Ellen Douglas more; +But he who stems a stream with sand, +And fetters flame with flaxen band, +Has yet a harder task to prove,-- +By firm resolve to conquer love! +Eve finds the Chief, like restless ghost, +Still hovering near his treasure lost; +For though his haughty heart deny +A parting meeting to his eye +Still fondly strains his anxious ear +The accents of her voice to hear, +And inly did he curse the breeze +That waked to sound the rustling trees. +But hark! what mingles in the strain? +It is the harp of Allan-bane, +That wakes its measure slow and high, +Attuned to sacred minstrelsy. +What melting voice attends the strings? +'Tis Ellen, or an angel, sings. + + +XXIX. + +Hymn to the Virgin. + +Ave. Maria! maiden mild! + Listen to a maiden's prayer! +Thou canst hear though from the wild, + Thou canst save amid despair. +Safe may we sleep beneath thy care, + Though banished, outcast, and reviled-- +Maiden! hear a maiden's prayer; + Mother, hear a suppliant child! + Ave Maria! + +Ave Maria! undefiled! + The flinty couch we now must share +Shall seem with down of eider piled, + If thy protection hover there. +The murky cavern's heavy air + Shall breathe of balm if thou hast smiled; +Then, Maiden! hear a maiden's prayer, + Mother, list a suppliant child! + Ave Maria! + +Ave. Maria! stainless styled! + Foul demons of the earth and air, +From this their wonted haunt exiled, + Shall flee before thy presence fair. +We bow us to our lot of care, + Beneath thy guidance reconciled: +Hear for a maid a maiden's prayer, + And for a father hear a child! + Ave Maria! + + +XXX. + +Died on the harp the closing hymn,-- +Unmoved in attitude and limb, +As listening still, Clan-Alpine's lord +Stood leaning on his heavy sword, +Until the page with humble sign +Twice pointed to the sun's decline. +Then while his plaid he round him cast, +'It is the last time--'tis the last,' +He muttered thrice,--'the last time e'er +That angel-voice shall Roderick hear'' +It was a goading thought,--his stride +Hied hastier down the mountain-side; +Sullen he flung him in the boat +An instant 'cross the lake it shot. +They landed in that silvery bay, +And eastward held their hasty way +Till, with the latest beams of light, +The band arrived on Lanrick height' +Where mustered in the vale below +Clan-Alpine's men in martial show. + + +XXXI. + +A various scene the clansmen made: +Some sat, some stood, some slowly strayer): +But most, with mantles folded round, +Were couched to rest upon the ground, +Scarce to be known by curious eye +From the deep heather where they lie, +So well was matched the tartan screen +With heath-bell dark and brackens green; +Unless where, here and there, a blade +Or lance's point a glimmer made, +Like glow-worm twinkling through the shade. +But when, advancing through the gloom, +They saw the Chieftain's eagle plume, +Their shout of welcome, shrill and wide, +Shook the steep mountain's steady side. +Thrice it arose, and lake and fell +Three times returned the martial yell; +It died upon Bochastle's plain, +And Silence claimed her evening reign. + + + + + CANTO FOURTH. + + The Prophecy. + + + +I. + +The rose is fairest when 't is budding new, + And hope is brightest when it dawns from fears; +The rose is sweetest washed with morning dew + And love is loveliest when embalmed in tears. +O wilding rose, whom fancy thus endears, + I bid your blossoms in my bonnet wave, +Emblem of hope and love through future years!' + Thus spoke young Norman, heir of Armandave, +What time the sun arose on Vennachar's broad wave. + + +II. + +Such fond conceit, half said, half sung, +Love prompted to the bridegroom's tongue. +All while he stripped the wild-rose spray, +His axe and bow beside him lay, +For on a pass 'twixt lake and wood +A wakeful sentinel he stood. +Hark!--on the rock a footstep rung, +And instant to his arms he sprung. +'Stand, or thou diest!--What, Malise?--soon +Art thou returned from Braes of Doune. +By thy keen step and glance I know, +Thou bring'st us tidings of the foe.'-- +For while the Fiery Cross tried on, +On distant scout had Malise gone.-- +'Where sleeps the Chief?' the henchman said. +'Apart, in yonder misty glade; +To his lone couch I'll be your guide.'-- +Then called a slumberer by his side, +And stirred him with his slackened bow,-- +'Up, up, Glentarkin! rouse thee, ho! +We seek the Chieftain; on the track +Keep eagle watch till I come back.' + + +III. + +Together up the pass they sped: +'What of the foeman?' Norman said.-- +'Varying reports from near and far; +This certain,--that a band of war +Has for two days been ready boune, +At prompt command to march from Doune; +King James the while, with princely powers, +Holds revelry in Stirling towers. +Soon will this dark and gathering cloud +Speak on our glens in thunder loud. +Inured to bide such bitter bout, +The warrior's plaid may bear it out; +But, Norman, how wilt thou provide +A shelter for thy bonny bride?''-- +'What! know ye not that Roderick's care +To the lone isle hath caused repair +Each maid and matron of the clan, +And every child and aged man +Unfit for arms; and given his charge, +Nor skiff nor shallop, boat nor barge, +Upon these lakes shall float at large, +But all beside the islet moor, +That such dear pledge may rest secure?'-- + + +IV. + +' 'T is well advised,--the Chieftain's plan +Bespeaks the father of his clan. +But wherefore sleeps Sir Roderick Dhu +Apart from all his followers true?' +'It is because last evening-tide +Brian an augury hath tried, +Of that dread kind which must not be +Unless in dread extremity, +The Taghairm called; by which, afar, +Our sires foresaw the events of war. +Duncraggan's milk-white bull they slew,'-- + +Malise. + +'Ah! well the gallant brute I knew! +The choicest of the prey we had +When swept our merrymen Gallangad. +His hide was snow, his horns were dark, +His red eye glowed like fiery spark; +So fierce, so tameless, and so fleet, +Sore did he cumber our retreat, +And kept our stoutest kerns in awe, +Even at the pass of Beal 'maha. +But steep and flinty was the road, +And sharp the hurrying pikeman's goad, +And when we came to Dennan's Row +A child might scathless stroke his brow.' + + +V. + +Norman. + +'That bull was slain; his reeking hide +They stretched the cataract beside, +Whose waters their wild tumult toss +Adown the black and craggy boss +Of that huge cliff whose ample verge +Tradition calls the Hero's Targe. +Couched on a shelf beneath its brink, +Close where the thundering torrents sink, +Rocking beneath their headlong sway, +And drizzled by the ceaseless spray, +Midst groan of rock and roar of stream, +The wizard waits prophetic dream. +Nor distant rests the Chief;--but hush! +See, gliding slow through mist and bush, +The hermit gains yon rock, and stands +To gaze upon our slumbering bands. +Seems he not, Malise, dike a ghost, +That hovers o'er a slaughtered host? +Or raven on the blasted oak, +That, watching while the deer is broke, +His morsel claims with sullen croak?' + +Malise. + +'Peace! peace! to other than to me +Thy words were evil augury; +But still I hold Sir Roderick's blade +Clan-Alpine's omen and her aid, +Not aught that, gleaned from heaven or hell, +Yon fiend-begotten Monk can tell. +The Chieftain joins him, see--and now +Together they descend the brow.' + + +VI. + +And, as they came, with Alpine's Lord +The Hermit Monk held solemn word:--. +'Roderick! it is a fearful strife, +For man endowed with mortal life +Whose shroud of sentient clay can still +Feel feverish pang and fainting chill, +Whose eye can stare in stony trance +Whose hair can rouse like warrior's lance, +'Tis hard for such to view, unfurled, +The curtain of the future world. +Yet, witness every quaking limb, +My sunken pulse, mine eyeballs dim, +My soul with harrowing anguish torn, +This for my Chieftain have I borne!-- +The shapes that sought my fearful couch +A human tongue may ne'er avouch; +No mortal man--save he, who, bred +Between the living and the dead, +Is gifted beyond nature's law +Had e'er survived to say he saw. +At length the fateful answer came +In characters of living flame! +Not spoke in word, nor blazed in scroll, +But borne and branded on my soul:-- +WHICH SPILLS THE FOREMOST FOEMAN'S LIFE, +THAT PARTY CONQUERS IN THE STRIFE.' + + +VII. + +'Thanks, Brian, for thy zeal and care! +Good is thine augury, and fair. +Clan-Alpine ne'er in battle stood +But first our broadswords tasted blood. +A surer victim still I know, +Self-offered to the auspicious blow: +A spy has sought my land this morn,-- +No eve shall witness his return! +My followers guard each pass's mouth, +To east, to westward, and to south; +Red Murdoch, bribed to be his guide, +Has charge to lead his steps aside, +Till in deep path or dingle brown +He light on those shall bring him clown. +But see, who comes his news to show! +Malise! what tidings of the foe?' + + +VIII. + +'At Doune, o'er many a spear and glaive +Two Barons proud their banners wave. +I saw the Moray's silver star, +And marked the sable pale of Mar.' +'By Alpine's soul, high tidings those! +I love to hear of worthy foes. +When move they on?' 'To-morrow's noon +Will see them here for battle boune.' +'Then shall it see a meeting stern! +But, for the place,--say, couldst thou learn +Nought of the friendly clans of Earn? +Strengthened by them, we well might bide +The battle on Benledi's side. +Thou couldst not?--well! Clan-Alpine's men +Shall man the Trosachs' shaggy glen; +Within Loch Katrine's gorge we'll fight, +All in our maids' and matrons' sight, +Each for his hearth and household fire, +Father for child, and son for sire Lover +for maid beloved!--But why +Is it the breeze affects mine eye? +Or dost thou come, ill-omened tear! +A messenger of doubt or fear? +No! sooner may the Saxon lance +Unfix Benledi from his stance, +Than doubt or terror can pierce through +The unyielding heart of Roderick Dhu! +'tis stubborn as his trusty targe. +Each to his post!--all know their charge.' +The pibroch sounds, the bands advance, +The broadswords gleam, the banners dance' +Obedient to the Chieftain's glance.-- +I turn me from the martial roar +And seek Coir-Uriskin once more. + + +IX. + +Where is the Douglas?--he is gone; +And Ellen sits on the gray stone +Fast by the cave, and makes her moan, +While vainly Allan's words of cheer +Are poured on her unheeding ear. +'He will return--dear lady, trust!-- +With joy return;--he will--he must. +Well was it time to seek afar +Some refuge from impending war, +When e'en Clan-Alpine's rugged swarm +Are cowed by the approaching storm. +I saw their boats with many a light, +Floating the livelong yesternight, +Shifting like flashes darted forth +By the red streamers of the north; +I marked at morn how close they ride, +Thick moored by the lone islet's side, +Like wild ducks couching in the fen +When stoops the hawk upon the glen. +Since this rude race dare not abide +The peril on the mainland side, +Shall not thy noble father's care +Some safe retreat for thee prepare?' + + +X. + +Ellen. + +'No, Allan, no ' Pretext so kind +My wakeful terrors could not blind. +When in such tender tone, yet grave, +Douglas a parting blessing gave, +The tear that glistened in his eye +Drowned not his purpose fixed and high. +My soul, though feminine and weak, +Can image his; e'en as the lake, +Itself disturbed by slightest stroke. +Reflects the invulnerable rock. +He hears report of battle rife, +He deems himself the cause of strife. +I saw him redden when the theme +Turned, Allan, on thine idle dream +Of Malcolm Graeme in fetters bound, +Which I, thou saidst, about him wound. +Think'st thou he bowed thine omen aught? +O no' 't was apprehensive thought +For the kind youth,-- for Roderick too-- +Let me be just--that friend so true; +In danger both, and in our cause! +Minstrel, the Douglas dare not pause. +Why else that solemn warning given, +'If not on earth, we meet in heaven!' +Why else, to Cambus-kenneth's fane, +If eve return him not again, +Am I to hie and make me known? +Alas! he goes to Scotland's throne, +Buys his friends' safety with his own; +He goes to do--what I had done, +Had Douglas' daughter been his son!' + + +XI. + +'Nay, lovely Ellen!--dearest, nay! +If aught should his return delay, +He only named yon holy fane +As fitting place to meet again. +Be sure he's safe; and for the Graeme,-- +Heaven's blessing on his gallant name!-- +My visioned sight may yet prove true, +Nor bode of ill to him or you. +When did my gifted dream beguile? +Think of the stranger at the isle, +And think upon the harpings slow +That presaged this approaching woe! +Sooth was my prophecy of fear; +Believe it when it augurs cheer. +Would we had left this dismal spot! +Ill luck still haunts a fairy spot! +Of such a wondrous tale I know-- +Dear lady, change that look of woe, +My harp was wont thy grief to cheer.' + +Ellen. + +'Well, be it as thou wilt; +I hear, But cannot stop the bursting tear.' +The Minstrel tried his simple art, +Rut distant far was Ellen's heart. + + +XII. + +Ballad. + +Alice Brand. + +Merry it is in the good greenwood, + When the mavis and merle are singing, +When the deer sweeps by, and the hounds are in cry, + And the hunter's horn is ringing. + +'O Alice Brand, my native land + Is lost for love of you; +And we must hold by wood and word, + As outlaws wont to do. + +'O Alice, 't was all for thy locks so bright, + And 't was all for thine eyes so blue, +That on the night of our luckless flight + Thy brother bold I slew. + +'Now must I teach to hew the beech + The hand that held the glaive, +For leaves to spread our lowly bed, + And stakes to fence our cave. + +'And for vest of pall, thy fingers small, + That wont on harp to stray, +A cloak must shear from the slaughtered deer, + To keep the cold away.' + +'O Richard! if my brother died, + 'T was but a fatal chance; +For darkling was the battle tried, + And fortune sped the lance. + +'If pall and vair no more I wear, + Nor thou the crimson sheen +As warm, we'll say, is the russet gray, + As gay the forest-green. + +'And, Richard, if our lot be hard, + And lost thy native land, +Still Alice has her own Richard, + And he his Alice Brand.' + + +XIII. + +Ballad Continued. + +'tis merry, 'tis merry, in good greenwood; + So blithe Lady Alice is singing; +On the beech's pride, and oak's brown side, + Lord Richard's axe is ringing. + +Up spoke the moody Elfin King, + Who woned within the hill,-- +Like wind in the porch of a ruined church, + His voice was ghostly shrill. + +'Why sounds yon stroke on beech and oak, + Our moonlight circle's screen? +Or who comes here to chase the deer, + Beloved of our Elfin Queen? +Or who may dare on wold to wear + The fairies' fatal green? + +'Up, Urgan, up! to yon mortal hie, + For thou wert christened man; +For cross or sign thou wilt not fly, + For muttered word or ban. + +'Lay on him the curse of the withered heart, + The curse of the sleepless eye; +Till he wish and pray that his life would part, + Nor yet find leave to die.' + + +XIV. + +Ballad Continued. + +'Tis merry, 'tis merry, in good greenwood, + Though the birds have stilled their singing; +The evening blaze cloth Alice raise, + And Richard is fagots bringing. + +Up Urgan starts, that hideous dwarf, + Before Lord Richard stands, +And, as he crossed and blessed himself, + 'I fear not sign,' quoth the grisly elf, + 'That is made with bloody hands.' + +But out then spoke she, Alice Brand, + That woman void of fear,-- +'And if there 's blood upon his hand, + 'Tis but the blood of deer.' + +'Now loud thou liest, thou bold of mood! + It cleaves unto his hand, +The stain of thine own kindly blood, + The blood of Ethert Brand.' + +Then forward stepped she, Alice Brand, + And made the holy sign,-- +'And if there's blood on Richard's hand, + A spotless hand is mine. + +'And I conjure thee, demon elf, + By Him whom demons fear, +To show us whence thou art thyself, + And what thine errand here?' + + +XV. + +Ballad Continued. + +"Tis merry, 'tis merry, in Fairy-land, + When fairy birds are singing, +When the court cloth ride by their monarch's side, + With bit and bridle ringing: + +'And gayly shines the Fairy-land-- + But all is glistening show, +Like the idle gleam that December's beam + Can dart on ice and snow. + +'And fading, like that varied gleam, + Is our inconstant shape, +Who now like knight and lady seem, + And now like dwarf and ape. + +'It was between the night and day, + When the Fairy King has power, +That I sunk down in a sinful fray, +And 'twixt life and death was snatched away + To the joyless Elfin bower. + +'But wist I of a woman bold, + Who thrice my brow durst sign, +I might regain my mortal mould, + As fair a form as thine.' + +She crossed him once--she crossed him twice-- + That lady was so brave; +The fouler grew his goblin hue, + The darker grew the cave. + +She crossed him thrice, that lady bold; + He rose beneath her hand +The fairest knight on Scottish mould, + Her brother, Ethert Brand! + +Merry it is in good greenwood, + When the mavis and merle are singing, +But merrier were they in Dunfermline gray, + When all the bells were ringing. + + +XVI. + +Just as the minstrel sounds were stayed, +A stranger climbed the steepy glade; +His martial step, his stately mien, +His hunting-suit of Lincoln green, +His eagle glance, remembrance claims-- +'Tis Snowdoun's Knight, 'tis James Fitz-James. +Ellen beheld as in a dream, +Then, starting, scarce suppressed a scream: +'O stranger! in such hour of fear +What evil hap has brought thee here?' +'An evil hap how can it be +That bids me look again on thee? +By promise bound, my former guide +Met me betimes this morning-tide, +And marshalled over bank and bourne +The happy path of my return.' +'The happy path!--what! said he naught +Of war, of battle to be fought, +Of guarded pass?' 'No, by my faith! +Nor saw I aught could augur scathe.' +'O haste thee, Allan, to the kern: +Yonder his tartars I discern; +Learn thou his purpose, and conjure +That he will guide the stranger sure!-- +What prompted thee, unhappy man? +The meanest serf in Roderick's clan +Had not been bribed, by love or fear, +Unknown to him to guide thee here.' + + +XVII. + +'Sweet Ellen, dear my life must be, +Since it is worthy care from thee; +et life I hold but idle breath +When love or honor's weighed with death. +Then let me profit by my chance, +And speak my purpose bold at once. +I come to bear thee from a wild +Where ne'er before such blossom smiled, +By this soft hand to lead thee far +From frantic scenes of feud and war. +Near Bochastle my horses wait; +They bear us soon to Stirling gate. +I'll place thee in a lovely bower, +I'll guard thee like a tender flower--' +'O hush, Sir Knight! 't were female art, +To say I do not read thy heart; +Too much, before, my selfish ear +Was idly soothed my praise to hear. +That fatal bait hath lured thee back, +In deathful hour, o'er dangerous track; +And how, O how, can I atone +The wreck my vanity brought on!-- +One way remains--I'll tell him all-- +Yes! struggling bosom, forth it shall! +Thou, whose light folly bears the blame, +Buy thine own pardon with thy shame! +But first--my father is a man +Outlawed and exiled, under ban; +The price of blood is on his head, +With me 't were infamy to wed. +Still wouldst thou speak?--then hear the truth! +Fitz- James, there is a noble youth-- +If yet he is!--exposed for me +And mine to dread extremity-- +Thou hast the secret of my bears; +Forgive, be generous, and depart!' + + +XVIII. + +Fitz-James knew every wily train +A lady's fickle heart to gain, +But here he knew and felt them vain. +There shot no glance from Ellen's eye, +To give her steadfast speech the lie; +In maiden confidence she stood, +Though mantled in her cheek the blood +And told her love with such a sigh +Of deep and hopeless agony, +As death had sealed her Malcolm's doom +And she sat sorrowing on his tomb. +Hope vanished from Fitz-James's eye, +But not with hope fled sympathy. +He proffered to attend her side, +As brother would a sister guide. +'O little know'st thou Roderick's heart! +Safer for both we go apart. +O haste thee, and from Allan learn +If thou mayst trust yon wily kern.' +With hand upon his forehead laid, +The conflict of his mind to shade, +A parting step or two he made; +Then, as some thought had crossed his brain +He paused, and turned, and came again. + + +XIX. + +'Hear, lady, yet a parting word!-- +It chanced in fight that my poor sword +Preserved the life of Scotland's lord. +This ring the grateful Monarch gave, +And bade, when I had boon to crave, +To bring it back, and boldly claim +The recompense that I would name. +Ellen, I am no courtly lord, +But one who lives by lance and sword, +Whose castle is his helm and shield, +His lordship the embattled field. +What from a prince can I demand, +Who neither reck of state nor land? +Ellen, thy hand--the ring is thine; +Each guard and usher knows the sign. +Seek thou the King without delay; +This signet shall secure thy way: +And claim thy suit, whate'er it be, +As ransom of his pledge to me.' +He placed the golden circlet on, +Paused--kissed her hand--and then was gone. +The aged Minstrel stood aghast, +So hastily Fitz-James shot past. +He joined his guide, and wending down +The ridges of the mountain brown, +Across the stream they took their way +That joins Loch Katrine to Achray. + + +XX + +All in the Trosachs' glen was still, +Noontide was sleeping on the hill: +Sudden his guide whooped loud and high-- +'Murdoch! was that a signal cry?'-- +He stammered forth, 'I shout to scare +Yon raven from his dainty fare.' +He looked--he knew the raven's prey, +His own brave steed: 'Ah! gallant gray! +For thee--for me, perchance--'t were well +We ne'er had seen the Trosachs' dell.-- +Murdoch, move first---but silently; +Whistle or whoop, and thou shalt die!' +Jealous and sullen on they fared, +Each silent, each upon his guard. + + +XXI. + +Now wound the path its dizzy ledge +Around a precipice's edge, +When lo! a wasted female form, +Blighted by wrath of sun and storm, +In tattered weeds and wild array, +Stood on a cliff beside the way, +And glancing round her restless eye, +Upon the wood, the rock, the sky, +Seemed naught to mark, yet all to spy. +Her brow was wreathed with gaudy broom; +With gesture wild she waved a plume +Of feathers, which the eagles fling +To crag and cliff from dusky wing; +Such spoils her desperate step had sought, +Where scarce was footing for the goat. +The tartan plaid she first descried, +And shrieked till all the rocks replied; +As loud she laughed when near they drew, +For then the Lowland garb she knew; +And then her hands she wildly wrung, +And then she wept, and then she sung-- +She sung!--the voice, in better time, +Perchance to harp or lute might chime; +And now, though strained and roughened, still +Rung wildly sweet to dale and hill. + + +XXII. + +Song. + +They bid me sleep, they bid me pray, + They say my brain is warped and wrung-- +I cannot sleep on Highland brae, + I cannot pray in Highland tongue. +But were I now where Allan glides, +Or heard my native Devan's tides, +So sweetly would I rest, and pray +That Heaven would close my wintry day! + +'Twas thus my hair they bade me braid, + They made me to the church repair; +It was my bridal morn they said, + And my true love would meet me there. +But woe betide the cruel guile +That drowned in blood the morning smile! +And woe betide the fairy dream! +I only waked to sob and scream. + + +XXIII. + +'Who is this maid? what means her lay? +She hovers o'er the hollow way, +And flutters wide her mantle gray, +As the lone heron spreads his wing, +By twilight, o'er a haunted spring.' +''Tis Blanche of Devan,' Murdoch said, +'A crazed and captive Lowland maid, +Ta'en on the morn she was a bride, +When Roderick forayed Devan-side. +The gay bridegroom resistance made, +And felt our Chief's unconquered blade. +I marvel she is now at large, +But oft she 'scapes from Maudlin's charge.-- +Hence, brain-sick fool!'--He raised his bow:-- +'Now, if thou strik'st her but one blow, +I'll pitch thee from the cliff as far +As ever peasant pitched a bar!' +'Thanks, champion, thanks' the Maniac cried, +And pressed her to Fitz-James's side. +'See the gray pennons I prepare, +To seek my true love through the air! +I will not lend that savage groom, +To break his fall, one downy plume! +No!--deep amid disjointed stones, +The wolves shall batten on his bones, +And then shall his detested plaid, +By bush and brier in mid-air stayed, +Wave forth a banner fail and free, +Meet signal for their revelry.' + + +XXIV + +'Hush thee, poor maiden, and be still!' +'O! thou look'st kindly, and I will. +Mine eye has dried and wasted been, +But still it loves the Lincoln green; +And, though mine ear is all unstrung, +Still, still it loves the Lowland tongue. + +'For O my sweet William was forester true, + He stole poor Blanche's heart away! +His coat it was all of the greenwood hue, + And so blithely he trilled the Lowland lay! + +'It was not that I meant to tell . . . +But thou art wise and guessest well.' +Then, in a low and broken tone, +And hurried note, the song went on. +Still on the Clansman fearfully +She fixed her apprehensive eye, +Then turned it on the Knight, and then +Her look glanced wildly o'er the glen. + + +XXV. + +'The toils are pitched, and the stakes are set,-- + Ever sing merrily, merrily; +The bows they bend, and the knives they whet, + Hunters live so cheerily. + +It was a stag, a stag of ten, + Bearing its branches sturdily; +He came stately down the glen,-- + Ever sing hardily, hardily. + +'It was there he met with a wounded doe, + She was bleeding deathfully; +She warned him of the toils below, + O. so faithfully, faithfully! + +'He had an eye, and he could heed,-- + Ever sing warily, warily; +He had a foot, and he could speed,-- + Hunters watch so narrowly.' + + +XXVI. + +Fitz-James's mind was passion-tossed, +When Ellen's hints and fears were lost; +But Murdoch's shout suspicion wrought, +And Blanche's song conviction brought. +Not like a stag that spies the snare, +But lion of the hunt aware, +He waved at once his blade on high, +'Disclose thy treachery, or die!' +Forth at hell speed the Clansman flew, +But in his race his bow he drew. +The shaft just grazed Fitz-James's crest, +And thrilled in Blanche's faded breast.-- +Murdoch of Alpine! prove thy speed, +For ne'er had Alpine's son such need; +With heart of fire, and foot of wind, +The fierce avenger is behind! +Fate judges of the rapid strife-- +The forfeit death--the prize is life; +Thy kindred ambush lies before, +Close couched upon the heathery moor; +Them couldst thou reach!--it may not be +Thine ambushed kin thou ne'er shalt see, +The fiery Saxon gains on thee!-- +Resistless speeds the deadly thrust, +As lightning strikes the pine to dust; +With foot and hand Fitz-James must strain +Ere he can win his blade again. +Bent o'er the fallen with falcon eye, +He grimly smiled to see him die, +Then slower wended back his way, +Where the poor maiden bleeding lay. + + +XXVII. + +She sat beneath the birchen tree, +Her elbow resting on her knee; +She had withdrawn the fatal shaft, +And gazed on it, and feebly laughed; +Her wreath of broom and feathers gray, +Daggled with blood, beside her lay. +The Knight to stanch the life-stream tried,-- +'Stranger, it is in vain!' she cried. +'This hour of death has given me more +Of reason's power than years before; +For, as these ebbing veins decay, +My frenzied visions fade away. +A helpless injured wretch I die, +And something tells me in thine eye +That thou wert mine avenger born. +Seest thou this tress?--O. still I 've worn +This little tress of yellow hair, +Through danger, frenzy, and despair! +It once was bright and clear as thine, +But blood and tears have dimmed its shine. +I will not tell thee when 't was shred, +Nor from what guiltless victim's head,-- +My brain would turn!--but it shall wave +Like plumage on thy helmet brave, +Till sun and wind shall bleach the stain, +And thou wilt bring it me again. +I waver still. --O God! more bright +Let reason beam her parting light!-- +O. by thy knighthood's honored sign, +And for thy life preserved by mine, +When thou shalt see a darksome man, +Who boasts him Chief of Alpine's Clan, +With tartars broad and shadowy plume, +And hand of blood, and brow of gloom +Be thy heart bold, thy weapon strong, +And wreak poor Blanche of Devan's wrong!-- +They watch for thee by pass and fell . . . +Avoid the path . . . O God! . . . farewell.' + + +XXVIII. + +A kindly heart had brave Fitz-James; +Fast poured his eyes at pity's claims; +And now, with mingled grief and ire, +He saw the murdered maid expire. +'God, in my need, be my relief, +As I wreak this on yonder Chief!' +A lock from Blanche's tresses fair +He blended with her bridegroom's hair; +The mingled braid in blood he dyed, +And placed it on his bonnet-side: +'By Him whose word is truth, I swear, +No other favour will I wear, +Till this sad token I imbrue +In the best blood of Roderick Dhu!-- +But hark! what means yon faint halloo? +The chase is up,--but they shall know, +The stag at bay 's a dangerous foe.' +Barred from the known but guarded way, +Through copse and cliffs Fitz-James must stray, +And oft must change his desperate track, +By stream and precipice turned back. +Heartless, fatigued, and faint, at length, +From lack of food and loss of strength +He couched him in a thicket hoar +And thought his toils and perils o'er:-- +'Of all my rash adventures past, +This frantic feat must prove the last! +Who e'er so mad but might have guessed +That all this Highland hornet's nest +Would muster up in swarms so soon +As e'er they heard of bands at Doune?-- +Like bloodhounds now they search me out,-- +Hark, to the whistle and the shout!-- +If farther through the wilds I go, +I only fall upon the foe: +I'll couch me here till evening gray, +Then darkling try my dangerous way.' + + +XXIX. + +The shades of eve come slowly down, +The woods are wrapt in deeper brown, +The owl awakens from her dell, +The fox is heard upon the fell; +Enough remains of glimmering light +To guide the wanderer's steps aright, +Yet not enough from far to show +His figure to the watchful foe. +With cautious step and ear awake, +He climbs the crag and threads the brake; +And not the summer solstice there +Tempered the midnight mountain air, +But every breeze that swept the wold +Benumbed his drenched limbs with cold. +In dread, in danger, and alone, +Famished and chilled, through ways unknown, +Tangled and steep, he journeyed on; +Till, as a rock's huge point he turned, +A watch-fire close before him burned. + + +XXX. + +Beside its embers red and clear +Basked in his plaid a mountaineer; +And up he sprung with sword in hand,-- +'Thy name and purpose! Saxon, stand!' +'A stranger.' 'What cost thou require?' +'Rest and a guide, and food and fire +My life's beset, my path is lost, +The gale has chilled my limbs with frost.' +'Art thou a friend to Roderick?' 'No.' +'Thou dar'st not call thyself a foe?' +'I dare! to him and all the band +He brings to aid his murderous hand.' +'Bold words!--but, though the beast of game +The privilege of chase may claim, +Though space and law the stag we lend +Ere hound we slip or bow we bend +Who ever recked, where, how, or when, +The prowling fox was trapped or slain? +Thus treacherous scouts,--yet sure they lie +Who say thou cam'st a secret spy!'-- +'They do, by heaven!--come Roderick Dhu +And of his clan the boldest two +And let me but till morning rest, +I write the falsehood on their crest.' +If by the blaze I mark aright +Thou bear'st the belt and spur of Knight.' +'Then by these tokens mayst thou know +Each proud oppressor's mortal foe.' +'Enough, enough; sit down and share +A soldier's couch, a soldier's fare.' + + +XXXI.. + +He gave him of his Highland cheer, +The hardened flesh of mountain deer; +Dry fuel on the fire he laid, +And bade the Saxon share his plaid. +He tended him like welcome guest, +Then thus his further speech addressed:-- +'Stranger, I am to Roderick Dhu +A clansman born, a kinsman true; +Each word against his honour spoke +Demands of me avenging stroke; +Yet more,--upon thy fate, 'tis said, +A mighty augury is laid. +It rests with me to wind my horn,-- +Thou art with numbers overborne; +It rests with me, here, brand to brand, +Worn as thou art, to bid thee stand: +But, not for clan, nor kindred's cause, +Will I depart from honour's laws; +To assail a wearied man were shame, +And stranger is a holy name; +Guidance and rest, and food and fire, +In vain he never must require. +Then rest thee here till dawn of day; +Myself will guide thee on the way, +O'er stock and stone, through watch and ward, +Till past Clan- Alpine's outmost guard, +As far as Coilantogle's ford; +From thence thy warrant is thy sword.' +'I take thy courtesy, by heaven, +As freely as 'tis nobly given!' +Well, rest thee; for the bittern's cry +Sings us the lake's wild lullaby.' +With that he shook the gathered heath, +And spread his plaid upon the wreath; +And the brave foemen, side by side, +Lay peaceful down like brothers tried, +And slept until the dawning beam +Purpled the mountain and the stream. + + + + + CANTO FIFTH. + + The Combat. + + + +I. + +Fair as the earliest beam of eastern light, + When first, by the bewildered pilgrim spied, +It smiles upon the dreary brow of night + And silvers o'er the torrent's foaming tide +And lights the fearful path on mountain-side,-- + Fair as that beam, although the fairest far, +Giving to horror grace, to danger pride, + Shine martial Faith, and Courtesy's bright star +Through all the wreckful storms that cloud the brow of War. + + +II. + +That early beam, so fair and sheen, +Was twinkling through the hazel screen +When, rousing at its glimmer red, +The warriors left their lowly bed, +Looked out upon the dappled sky, +Muttered their soldier matins try, +And then awaked their fire, to steal, +As short and rude, their soldier meal. +That o'er, the Gael around him threw +His graceful plaid of varied hue, +And, true to promise, led the way, +By thicket green and mountain gray. +A wildering path!--they winded now +Along the precipice's brow, +Commanding the rich scenes beneath, +The windings of the Forth and Teith, +And all the vales between that lie. +Till Stirling's turrets melt in sky; +Then, sunk in copse, their farthest glance +Gained not the length of horseman's lance. +'Twas oft so steep, the foot was as fain +Assistance from the hand to gain; +So tangled oft that, bursting through, +Each hawthorn shed her showers of dew,-- +That diamond dew, so pure and clear, +It rivals all but Beauty's tear! + + +III. + +At length they came where, stern and steep, +The hill sinks down upon the deep. +Here Vennachar in silver flows, +There, ridge on ridge, Benledi rose; +Ever the hollow path twined on, +Beneath steep hank and threatening stone; +A hundred men might hold the post +With hardihood against a host. +The rugged mountain's scanty cloak +Was dwarfish shrubs of birch and oak +With shingles bare, and cliffs between +And patches bright of bracken green, +And heather black, that waved so high, +It held the copse in rivalry. +But where the lake slept deep and still +Dank osiers fringed the swamp and hill; +And oft both path and hill were torn +Where wintry torrent down had borne +And heaped upon the cumbered land +Its wreck of gravel, rocks, and sand. +So toilsome was the road to trace +The guide, abating of his pace, +Led slowly through the pass's jaws +And asked Fitz-James by what strange cause +He sought these wilds, traversed by few +Without a pass from Roderick Dhu. + + +IV. + +'Brave Gael, my pass, in danger tried +Hangs in my belt and by my side +Yet, sooth to tell,' the Saxon said, +'I dreamt not now to claim its aid. +When here, but three days since, +I came Bewildered in pursuit of game, +All seemed as peaceful and as still +As the mist slumbering on yon hill; +Thy dangerous Chief was then afar, +Nor soon expected back from war. +Thus said, at least, my mountain-guide, +Though deep perchance the villain lied.' +'Yet why a second venture try?' +'A warrior thou, and ask me why!-- +Moves our free course by such fixed cause +As gives the poor mechanic laws? +Enough, I sought to drive away +The lazy hours of peaceful day; +Slight cause will then suffice to guide +A Knight's free footsteps far and wide,-- +A falcon flown, a greyhound strayed, +The merry glance of mountain maid; +Or, if a path be dangerous known, +The danger's self is lure alone.' + + +V. + +'Thy secret keep, I urge thee not;-- +Yet, ere again ye sought this spot, +Say, heard ye naught of Lowland war, +Against Clan-Alpine, raised by Mar?' +'No, by my word;--of bands prepared +To guard King James's sports I heard; +Nor doubt I aught, but, when they hear +This muster of the mountaineer, +Their pennons will abroad be flung, +Which else in Doune had peaceful hung.' +'Free be they flung! for we were loath +Their silken folds should feast the moth. +Free be they flung!--as free shall wave +Clan-Alpine's pine in banner brave. +But, stranger, peaceful since you came, +Bewildered in the mountain-game, +Whence the bold boast by which you show +Vich-Alpine's vowed and mortal foe?' +'Warrior, but yester-morn I knew +Naught of thy Chieftain, Roderick Dhu, +Save as an outlawed desperate man, +The chief of a rebellious clan, +Who, in the Regent's court and sight, +With ruffian dagger stabbed a knight; +Yet this alone might from his part +Sever each true and loyal heart.' + + +VI. + +Wrathful at such arraignment foul, +Dark lowered the clansman's sable scowl. +A space he paused, then sternly said, +'And heardst thou why he drew his blade? +Heardst thou that shameful word and blow +Brought Roderick's vengeance on his foe? +What recked the Chieftain if he stood +On Highland heath or Holy-Rood? +He rights such wrong where it is given, +If it were in the court of heaven.' +'Still was it outrage;--yet, 'tis true, +Not then claimed sovereignty his due; +While Albany with feeble hand +Held borrowed truncheon of command, +The young King, mewed in Stirling tower, +Was stranger to respect and power. +But then, thy Chieftain's robber life!-- +Winning mean prey by causeless strife, +Wrenching from ruined Lowland swain +His herds and harvest reared in vain,-- +Methinks a soul like thine should scorn +The spoils from such foul foray borne.' + + +VII. + +The Gael beheld him grim the while, +And answered with disdainful smile: +'Saxon, from yonder mountain high, +I marked thee send delighted eye +Far to the south and east, where lay, +Extended in succession gay, +Deep waving fields and pastures green, +With gentle slopes and groves between:-- +These fertile plains, that softened vale, +Were once the birthright of the Gael; +The stranger came with iron hand, +And from our fathers reft the land. +Where dwell we now? See, rudely swell +Crag over crag, and fell o'er fell. +Ask we this savage hill we tread +For fattened steer or household bread, +Ask we for flocks these shingles dry, +And well the mountain might reply,-- +"To you, as to your sires of yore, +Belong the target and claymore! +I give you shelter in my breast, +Your own good blades must win the rest." +Pent in this fortress of the North, +Think'st thou we will not sally forth, +To spoil the spoiler as we may, +And from the robber rend the prey? +Ay, by my soul!--While on yon plain +The Saxon rears one shock of grain, +While of ten thousand herds there strays +But one along yon river's maze,-- +The Gael, of plain and river heir, +Shall with strong hand redeem his share. +Where live the mountain Chiefs who hold +That plundering Lowland field and fold +Is aught but retribution true? +Seek other cause 'gainst Roderick Dhu.' + + +VIII. + +Answered Fitz-James: 'And, if I sought, +Think'st thou no other could be brought? +What deem ye of my path waylaid? +My life given o'er to ambuscade?' +'As of a meed to rashness due: +Hadst thou sent warning fair and true,-- +I seek my hound or falcon strayed, +I seek, good faith, a Highland maid,-- +Free hadst thou been to come and go; +But secret path marks secret foe. +Nor yet for this, even as a spy, +Hadst thou, unheard, been doomed to die, +Save to fulfil an augury.' +'Well, let it pass; nor will I now +Fresh cause of enmity avow +To chafe thy mood and cloud thy brow. +Enough, I am by promise tied +To match me with this man of pride: +Twice have I sought Clan-Alpine's glen +In peace; but when I come again, +I come with banner, brand, and bow, +As leader seeks his mortal foe. +For love-lore swain in lady's bower +Ne'er panted for the appointed hour +As I, until before me stand +This rebel Chieftain and his band!' + + +IX. + +'Have then thy wish!'--He whistled shrill +And he was answered from the hill; +Wild as the scream of the curlew, +From crag to crag the signal flew. +Instant, through copse and heath, arose +Bonnets and spears and bended bows +On right, on left, above, below, +Sprung up at once the lurking foe; +From shingles gray their lances start, +The bracken bush sends forth the dart, +The rushes and the willow-wand +Are bristling into axe and brand, +And every tuft of broom gives life +'To plaided warrior armed for strife. +That whistle garrisoned the glen +At once with full five hundred men, +As if the yawning hill to heaven +A subterranean host had given. +Watching their leader's beck and will, +All silent there they stood and still. +Like the loose crags whose threatening mass +Lay tottering o'er the hollow pass, +As if an infant's touch could urge +Their headlong passage down the verge, +With step and weapon forward flung, +Upon the mountain-side they hung. +The Mountaineer cast glance of pride +Along Benledi's living side, +Then fixed his eye and sable brow +Full on Fitz-James: 'How say'st thou now? +These are Clan-Alpine's warriors true; +And, Saxon,--I am Roderick Dhu!' + + +X. + +Fitz-James was brave:--though to his heart +The life-blood thrilled with sudden start, +He manned himself with dauntless air, +Returned the Chief his haughty stare, +His back against a rock he bore, +And firmly placed his foot before:-- +'Come one, come all! this rock shall fly +From its firm base as soon as I.' +Sir Roderick marked,--and in his eyes +Respect was mingled with surprise, +And the stern joy which warriors feel +In foeman worthy of their steel. +Short space he stood--then waved his hand: +Down sunk the disappearing band; +Each warrior vanished where he stood, +In broom or bracken, heath or wood; +Sunk brand and spear and bended bow, +In osiers pale and copses low; +It seemed as if their mother Earth +Had swallowed up her warlike birth. +The wind's last breath had tossed in air +Pennon and plaid and plumage fair,-- +The next but swept a lone hill-side +Where heath and fern were waving wide: +The sun's last glance was glinted back +From spear and glaive, from targe and jack,-- +The next, all unreflected, shone +On bracken green and cold gray stone. + + +XI. + +Fitz-James looked round,--yet scarce believed +The witness that his sight received; +Such apparition well might seem +Delusion of a dreadful dream. +Sir Roderick in suspense he eyed, +And to his look the Chief replied: +'Fear naught--nay, that I need not say +But--doubt not aught from mine array. +Thou art my guest;--I pledged my word +As far as Coilantogle ford: +Nor would I call a clansman's brand +For aid against one valiant hand, +Though on our strife lay every vale +Rent by the Saxon from the Gael. +So move we on;--I only meant +To show the reed on which you leant, +Deeming this path you might pursue +Without a pass from Roderick Dhu.' +They moved;--I said Fitz-James was brave +As ever knight that belted glaive, +Yet dare not say that now his blood +Kept on its wont and tempered flood, +As, following Roderick's stride, he drew +That seeming lonesome pathway through, +Which yet by fearful proof was rife +With lances, that, to take his life, +Waited but signal from a guide, +So late dishonored and defied. +Ever, by stealth, his eye sought round +The vanished guardians of the ground, +And stir'd from copse and heather deep +Fancy saw spear and broadsword peep, +And in the plover's shrilly strain +The signal whistle heard again. +Nor breathed he free till far behind +The pass was left; for then they wind +Along a wide and level green, +Where neither tree nor tuft was seen, +Nor rush nor bush of broom was near, +To hide a bonnet or a spear. + + +XII. + +The Chief in silence strode before, +And reached that torrent's sounding shore, +Which, daughter of three mighty lakes, +From Vennachar in silver breaks, +Sweeps through the plain, and ceaseless mines +On Bochastle the mouldering lines, +Where Rome, the Empress of the world, +Of yore her eagle wings unfurled. +And here his course the Chieftain stayed, +Threw down his target and his plaid, +And to the Lowland warrior said: +'Bold Saxon! to his promise just, +Vich-Alpine has discharged his trust. +This murderous Chief, this ruthless man, +This head of a rebellious clan, +Hath led thee safe, through watch and ward, +Far past Clan-Alpine's outmost guard. +Now, man to man, and steel to steel, +A Chieftain's vengeance thou shalt feel. +See, here all vantageless I stand, +Armed like thyself with single brand; +For this is Coilantogle ford, +And thou must keep thee with thy sword.' + + +XIII. + +The Saxon paused: 'I ne'er delayed, +When foeman bade me draw my blade; +Nay more, brave Chief, I vowed thy death; +Yet sure thy fair and generous faith, +And my deep debt for life preserved, +A better meed have well deserved: +Can naught but blood our feud atone? +Are there no means?'--' No, stranger, none! +And hear,--to fire thy flagging zeal,-- +The Saxon cause rests on thy steel; +For thus spoke Fate by prophet bred +Between the living and the dead:" +Who spills the foremost foeman's life, +His party conquers in the strife."' +'Then, by my word,' the Saxon said, +"The riddle is already read. +Seek yonder brake beneath the cliff,-- +There lies Red Murdoch, stark and stiff. +Thus Fate hath solved her prophecy; +Then yield to Fate, and not to me. +To James at Stirling let us go, +When, if thou wilt be still his foe, +Or if the King shall not agree +To grant thee grace and favor free, +I plight mine honor, oath, and word +That, to thy native strengths restored, +With each advantage shalt thou stand +That aids thee now to guard thy land.' + + +XIV. + +Dark lightning flashed from Roderick's eye: +'Soars thy presumption, then, so high, +Because a wretched kern ye slew, +Homage to name to Roderick Dhu? +He yields not, he, to man nor Fate! +Thou add'st but fuel to my hate;-- +My clansman's blood demands revenge. +Not yet prepared?--By heaven, I change +My thought, and hold thy valor light +As that of some vain carpet knight, +Who ill deserved my courteous care, +And whose best boast is but to wear +A braid of his fair lady's hair.' 'I thank thee, +Roderick, for the word! +It nerves my heart, it steels my sword; +For I have sworn this braid to stain +In the best blood that warms thy vein. +Now, truce, farewell! and, rush, begone!-- +Yet think not that by thee alone, +Proud Chief! can courtesy be shown; +Though not from copse, or heath, or cairn, +Start at my whistle clansmen stern, +Of this small horn one feeble blast +Would fearful odds against thee cast. +But fear not -- doubt not--which thou wilt-- +We try this quarrel hilt to hilt.' +Then each at once his falchion drew, +Each on the ground his scabbard threw +Each looked to sun and stream and plain +As what they ne'er might see again; +Then foot and point and eye opposed, +In dubious strife they darkly closed. + + +XV. + +Ill fared it then with Roderick Dhu, +That on the field his targe he threw, +Whose brazen studs and tough bull-hide +Had death so often dashed aside; +For, trained abroad his arms to wield +Fitz-James's blade was sword and shield. +He practised every pass and ward, +To thrust, to strike, to feint, to guard; +While less expert, though stronger far, +The Gael maintained unequal war. +Three times in closing strife they stood +And thrice the Saxon blade drank blood; +No stinted draught, no scanty tide, +The gushing flood the tartars dyed. +Fierce Roderick felt the fatal drain, +And showered his blows like wintry rain; +And, as firm rock or castle-roof +Against the winter shower is proof, +The foe, invulnerable still, +Foiled his wild rage by steady skill; +Till, at advantage ta'en, his brand +Forced Roderick's weapon from his hand, +And backward borne upon the lea, +Brought the proud Chieftain to his knee. + + +XVI. + +Now yield thee, or by Him who made +The world, thy heart's blood dyes my blade!; +'Thy threats, thy mercy, I defy! +Let recreant yield, who fears to die.' +Like adder darting from his coil, +Like wolf that dashes through the toil, +Like mountain-cat who guards her young, +Full at Fitz-James's throat he sprung; +Received, but recked not of a wound, +And locked his arms his foeman round. +Now, gallant Saxon, hold thine own! +No maiden's hand is round thee thrown! +That desperate grasp thy frame might feel +Through bars of brass and triple steel! +They tug, they strain! down, down they go, +The Gael above, Fitz-James below. +The Chieftain's gripe his throat compressed, +His knee was planted on his breast; +His clotted locks he backward threw, +Across his brow his hand he drew, +From blood and mist to clear his sight, +Then gleamed aloft his dagger bright! +But hate and fury ill supplied +The stream of life's exhausted tide, +And all too late the advantage came, +To turn the odds of deadly game; +For, while the dagger gleamed on high, +Reeled soul and sense, reeled brain and eye. +Down came the blow! but in the heath +The erring blade found bloodless sheath. +The struggling foe may now unclasp +The fainting Chief's relaxing grasp; +Unwounded from the dreadful close, +But breathless all, Fitz-James arose. + + +XVII. + +He faltered thanks to Heaven for life, +Redeemed, unhoped, from desperate strife; +Next on his foe his look he cast, +Whose every gasp appeared his last +In Roderick's gore he dipped the braid,-- +'Poor Blanche! thy wrongs are dearly paid; +Yet with thy foe must die, or live, +The praise that faith and valor give.' +With that he blew a bugle note, +Undid the collar from his throat, +Unbonneted, and by the wave +Sat down his brow and hands to rave. +Then faint afar are heard the feet +Of rushing steeds in gallop fleet; +The sounds increase, and now are seen +Four mounted squires in Lincoln green; +Two who bear lance, and two who lead +By loosened rein a saddled steed; +Each onward held his headlong course, +And by Fitz-James reined up his horse,-- +With wonder viewed the bloody spot,-- +'Exclaim not, gallants ' question not.-- +You, Herbert and Luffness, alight +And bind the wounds of yonder knight; +Let the gray palfrey bear his weight, +We destined for a fairer freight, +And bring him on to Stirling straight; +I will before at better speed, +To seek fresh horse and fitting weed. +The sun rides high;--I must be boune +To see the archer-game at noon; +But lightly Bayard clears the lea.-- +De Vaux and Herries. follow me. + + +XVIII. + +'Stand, Bayard, stand!'--the steed obeyed, +With arching neck and bended head, +And glancing eye and quivering ear, +As if he loved his lord to hear. +No foot Fitz-James in stirrup stayed, +No grasp upon the saddle laid, +But wreathed his left hand in the mane, +And lightly bounded from the plain, +Turned on the horse his armed heel, +And stirred his courage with the steel. +Bounded the fiery steed in air, +The rider sat erect and fair, +Then like a bolt from steel crossbow +Forth launched, along the plain they go. +They dashed that rapid torrent through, +And up Carhonie's hill they flew; +Still at the gallop pricked the Knight, +His merrymen followed as they might. +Along thy banks, swift Teith! they ride, +And in the race they mock thy tide; +Torry and Lendrick now are past, +And Deanstown lies behind them cast; +They rise, the bannered towers of Doune, +They sink in distant woodland soon; +Blair-Drummond sees the hoofs strike fire, +They sweep like breeze through Ochtertyre; +They mark just glance and disappear +The lofty brow of ancient Kier; +They bathe their coursers' sweltering sides +Dark Forth! amid thy sluggish tides, +And on the opposing shore take ground +With plash, with scramble, and with bound. +Right-hand they leave thy cliffs, Craig-Forth! +And soon the bulwark of the North, +Gray Stirling, with her towers and town, +Upon their fleet career looked clown. + + +XIX. + +As up the flinty path they strained, +Sudden his steed the leader reined; +A signal to his squire he flung, +Who instant to his stirrup sprung:-- +'Seest thou, De Vaux, yon woodsman gray, +Who townward holds the rocky way, +Of stature tall and poor array? +Mark'st thou the firm, yet active stride, +With which he scales the mountain-side? +Know'st thou from whence he comes, or whom?' +'No, by my word;--a burly groom +He seems, who in the field or chase +A baron's train would nobly grace--' +'Out, out, De Vaux! can fear supply, +And jealousy, no sharper eye? +Afar, ere to the hill he drew, +That stately form and step I knew; +Like form in Scotland is not seen, +Treads not such step on Scottish green. +'Tis James of Douglas, by Saint Serle! +The uncle of the banished Earl. +Away, away, to court, to show +The near approach of dreaded foe: +The King must stand upon his guard; +Douglas and he must meet prepared.' +Then right-hand wheeled their steeds, and straight +They won the Castle's postern gate. + + +XX. + +The Douglas, who had bent his way +From Cambus-kenneth's abbey gray, +Now, as he climbed the rocky shelf, +Held sad communion with himself:-- +'Yes! all is true my fears could frame; +A prisoner lies the noble Graeme, +And fiery Roderick soon will feel +The vengeance of the royal steel. +I, only I, can ward their fate,-- +God grant the ransom come not late! +The Abbess hath her promise given, +My child shall be the bride of Heaven;-- +Be pardoned one repining tear! +For He who gave her knows how dear, +How excellent!--but that is by, +And now my business is--to die.-- +Ye towers! within whose circuit dread +A Douglas by his sovereign bled; +And thou, O sad and fatal mound! +That oft hast heard the death-axe sound. +As on the noblest of the land +Fell the stern headsmen's bloody hand,-- +The dungeon, block, and nameless tomb +Prepare--for Douglas seeks his doom! +But hark! what blithe and jolly peal +Makes the Franciscan steeple reel? +And see! upon the crowded street, +In motley groups what masquers meet! +Banner and pageant, pipe and drum, +And merry morrice-dancers come. +I guess, by all this quaint array, +The burghers hold their sports to-day. +James will be there; he loves such show, +Where the good yeoman bends his bow, +And the tough wrestler foils his foe, +As well as where, in proud career, +The high-born filter shivers spear. +I'll follow to the Castle-park, +And play my prize;--King James shall mark +If age has tamed these sinews stark, +Whose force so oft in happier days +His boyish wonder loved to praise.' + + +XXI. + +The Castle gates were open flung, +The quivering drawbridge rocked and rung, +And echoed loud the flinty street +Beneath the coursers' clattering feet, +As slowly down the steep descent +Fair Scotland's King and nobles went, +While all along the crowded way +Was jubilee and loud huzza. +And ever James was bending low +To his white jennet's saddle-bow, +Doffing his cap to city dame, +Who smiled and blushed for pride and shame. +And well the simperer might be vain,-- +He chose the fairest of the train. +Gravely he greets each city sire, +Commends each pageant's quaint attire, +Gives to the dancers thanks aloud, +And smiles and nods upon the crowd, +Who rend the heavens with their acclaims,-- +'Long live the Commons' King, King James!' +Behind the King thronged peer and knight, +And noble dame and damsel bright, +Whose fiery steeds ill brooked the stay +Of the steep street and crowded way. +But in the train you might discern +Dark lowering brow and visage stern; +There nobles mourned their pride restrained, +And the mean burgher's joys disdained; +And chiefs, who, hostage for the* clan, +Were each from home a banished man, +There thought upon their own gray tower, +Their waving woods, their feudal power, +And deemed themselves a shameful part +Of pageant which they cursed in heart. + + +XXII. + +Now, in the Castle-park, drew out +Their checkered bands the joyous rout. +There morricers, with bell at heel +And blade in hand, their mazes wheel; +But chief, beside the butts, there stand +Bold Robin Hood and all his band,-- +Friar Tuck with quarterstaff and cowl, +Old Scathelocke with his surly scowl, +Maid Marian, fair as ivory bone, +Scarlet, and Mutch, and Little John; +Their bugles challenge all that will, +In archery to prove their skill. +The Douglas bent a bow of might,-- +His first shaft centred in the white, +And when in turn he shot again, +His second split the first in twain. +From the King's hand must Douglas take +A silver dart, the archers' stake; +Fondly he watched, with watery eye, +Some answering glance of sympathy,-- +No kind emotion made reply! +Indifferent as to archer wight, +The monarch gave the arrow bright. + + +XXIII. + +Now, clear the ring! for, hand to hand, +The manly wrestlers take their stand. +Two o'er the rest superior rose, +And proud demanded mightier foes,-- +Nor called in vain, for Douglas came.-- +For life is Hugh of Larbert lame; +Scarce better John of Alloa's fare, +Whom senseless home his comrades bare. +Prize of the wrestling match, the King +To Douglas gave a golden ring, +While coldly glanced his eye of blue, +As frozen drop of wintry dew. +Douglas would speak, but in his breast +His struggling soul his words suppressed; +Indignant then he turned him where +Their arms the brawny yeomen bare, +To hurl the massive bar in air. +When each his utmost strength had shown, +The Douglas rent an earth-fast stone +From its deep bed, then heaved it high, +And sent the fragment through the sky +A rood beyond the farthest mark; +And still in Stirling's royal park, +The gray-haired sires, who know the past, +To strangers point the Douglas cast, +And moralize on the decay +Of Scottish strength in modern day. + + +XXIV. + +The vale with loud applauses rang, +The Ladies' Rock sent back the clang. +The King, with look unmoved, bestowed +A purse well filled with pieces broad. +Indignant smiled the Douglas proud, +And threw the gold among the crowd, +Who now with anxious wonder scan, +And sharper glance, the dark gray man; +Till whispers rose among the throng, +That heart so free, and hand so strong, +Must to the Douglas blood belong. +The old men marked and shook the head, +To see his hair with silver spread, +And winked aside, and told each son +Of feats upon the English done, +Ere Douglas of the stalwart hand +Was exiled from his native land. +The women praised his stately form, +Though wrecked by many a winter's storm; +The youth with awe and wonder saw +His strength surpassing Nature's law. +Thus judged, as is their wont, the crowd +Till murmurs rose to clamours loud. +But not a glance from that proud ring +Of peers who circled round the King +With Douglas held communion kind, +Or called the banished man to mind; +No, not from those who at the chase +Once held his side the honoured place, +Begirt his board, and in the field +Found safety underneath his shield; +For he whom royal eyes disown, +When was his form to courtiers known! + + +XXV. + +The Monarch saw the gambols flag +And bade let loose a gallant stag, +Whose pride, the holiday to crown, +Two favorite greyhounds should pull down, +That venison free and Bourdeaux wine +Might serve the archery to dine. +But Lufra,--whom from Douglas' side +Nor bribe nor threat could e'er divide, +The fleetest hound in all the North,-- +Brave Lufra saw, and darted forth. +She left the royal hounds midway, +And dashing on the antlered prey, +Sunk her sharp muzzle in his flank, +And deep the flowing life-blood drank. +The King's stout huntsman saw the sport +By strange intruder broken short, +Came up, and with his leash unbound +In anger struck the noble hound. +The Douglas had endured, that morn, +The King's cold look, the nobles' scorn, +And last, and worst to spirit proud, +Had borne the pity of the crowd; +But Lufra had been fondly bred, +To share his board, to watch his bed, +And oft would Ellen Lufra's neck +In maiden glee with garlands deck; +They were such playmates that with name +Of Lufra Ellen's image came. +His stifled wrath is brimming high, +In darkened brow and flashing eye; +As waves before the bark divide, +The crowd gave way before his stride; +Needs but a buffet and no more, +The groom lies senseless in his gore. +Such blow no other hand could deal, +Though gauntleted in glove of steel. + + +XXVI. + +Then clamored loud the royal train, +And brandished swords and staves amain, +But stern the Baron's warning: +'Back! Back, on your lives, ye menial pack! +Beware the Douglas.--Yes! behold, +King James! The Douglas, doomed of old, +And vainly sought for near and far, +A victim to atone the war, +A willing victim, now attends, +Nor craves thy grace but for his friends.--' +'Thus is my clemency repaid? +Presumptuous Lord!' the Monarch said: +'Of thy misproud ambitious clan, +Thou, James of Bothwell, wert the man, +The only man, in whom a foe +My woman-mercy would not know; +But shall a Monarch's presence brook +Injurious blow and haughty look?-- +What ho! the Captain of our Guard! +Give the offender fitting ward.-- +Break off the sports!'--for tumult rose, +And yeomen 'gan to bend their bows, +'Break off the sports!' he said and frowned, +'And bid our horsemen clear the ground.' + + +XXVII. + +Then uproar wild and misarray +Marred the fair form of festal day. +The horsemen pricked among the crowd, +Repelled by threats and insult loud; +To earth are borne the old and weak, +The timorous fly, the women shriek; +With flint, with shaft, with staff, with bar, +The hardier urge tumultuous war. +At once round Douglas darkly sweep +The royal spears in circle deep, +And slowly scale the pathway steep, +While on the rear in thunder pour +The rabble with disordered roar +With grief the noble Douglas saw +The Commons rise against the law, +And to the leading soldier said: +'Sir John of Hyndford, 'twas my blade +That knighthood on thy shoulder laid; +For that good deed permit me then +A word with these misguided men.-- + + +XXVIII, + +'Hear, gentle friends, ere yet for me +Ye break the bands of fealty. +My life, my honour, and my cause, +I tender free to Scotland's laws. +Are these so weak as must require +'Fine aid of your misguided ire? +Or if I suffer causeless wrong, +Is then my selfish rage so strong, +My sense of public weal so low, +That, for mean vengeance on a foe, +Those cords of love I should unbind +Which knit my country and my kind? +O no! Believe, in yonder tower +It will not soothe my captive hour, +To know those spears our foes should dread +For me in kindred gore are red: +'To know, in fruitless brawl begun, +For me that mother wails her son, +For me that widow's mate expires, +For me that orphans weep their sires, +That patriots mourn insulted laws, +And curse the Douglas for the cause. +O let your patience ward such ill, +And keep your right to love me still I' + + +XXIX. + +The crowd's wild fury sunk again +In tears, as tempests melt in rain. +With lifted hands and eyes, they prayed +For blessings on his generous head +Who for his country felt alone, +And prized her blood beyond his own. +Old men upon the verge of life +Blessed him who stayed the civil strife; +And mothers held their babes on high, +The self-devoted Chief to spy, +Triumphant over wrongs and ire, +To whom the prattlers owed a sire. +Even the rough soldier's heart was moved; +As if behind some bier beloved, +With trailing arms and drooping head, +The Douglas up the hill he led, +And at the Castle's battled verge, +With sighs resigned his honoured charge. + + +XXX. + +The offended Monarch rode apart, +With bitter thought and swelling heart, +And would not now vouchsafe again +Through Stirling streets to lead his train. +'O Lennox, who would wish to rule +This changeling crowd, this common fool? +Hear'st thou,' he said, 'the loud acclaim +With which they shout the Douglas name? +With like acclaim the vulgar throat +Strained for King James their morning note; +With like acclaim they hailed the day +When first I broke the Douglas sway; +And like acclaim would Douglas greet +If he could hurl me from my seat. +Who o'er the herd would wish to reign, +Fantastic, fickle, fierce, and vain? +Vain as the leaf upon the stream, +And fickle as a changeful dream; +Fantastic as a woman's mood, +And fierce as Frenzy's fevered blood. +Thou many-headed monster-thing, +O who would wish to be thy king?-- + + +XXXI.. + +'But soft! what messenger of speed +Spurs hitherward his panting steed? +I guess his cognizance afar-- +What from our cousin, John of Mar?' +'He prays, my liege, your sports keep bound +Within the safe and guarded ground; +For some foul purpose yet unknown,-- +Most sure for evil to the throne,-- +The outlawed Chieftain, Roderick Dhu, +Has summoned his rebellious crew; +'Tis said, in James of Bothwell's aid +These loose banditti stand arrayed. +The Earl of Mar this morn from Doune +To break their muster marched, and soon +Your Grace will hear of battle fought; +But earnestly the Earl besought, +Till for such danger he provide, +With scanty train you will not ride.' + + +XXXII. + +'Thou warn'st me I have done amiss,-- +I should have earlier looked to this; +I lost it in this bustling day.-- +Retrace with speed thy former way; +Spare not for spoiling of thy steed, +The best of mine shall be thy meed. +Say to our faithful Lord of Mar, +We do forbid the intended war; +Roderick this morn in single fight +Was made our prisoner by a knight, +And Douglas hath himself and cause +Submitted to our kingdom's laws. +The tidings of their leaders lost +Will soon dissolve the mountain host, +Nor would we that the vulgar feel, +For their Chief's crimes, avenging steel. +Bear Mar our message, Braco, fly!' +He turned his steed,--'My liege, I hie, +Yet ere I cross this lily lawn +I fear the broadswords will be drawn.' +The turf the flying courser spurned, +And to his towers the King returned. + + +XXXIII. + +Ill with King James's mood that day +Suited gay feast and minstrel lay; +Soon were dismissed the courtly throng, +And soon cut short the festal song. +Nor less upon the saddened town +The evening sunk in sorrow down. +The burghers spoke of civil jar, +Of rumoured feuds and mountain war, +Of Moray, Mar, and Roderick Dhu, +All up in arms;--the Douglas too, +They mourned him pent within the hold, +'Where stout Earl William was of old.'-- +And there his word the speaker stayed, +And finger on his lip he laid, +Or pointed to his dagger blade. +But jaded horsemen from the west +At evening to the Castle pressed, +And busy talkers said they bore +Tidings of fight on Katrine's shore; +At noon the deadly fray begun, +And lasted till the set of sun. +Thus giddy rumor shook the town, +Till closed the Night her pennons brown. + + + + + + CANTO SIXTH. + + The Guard-room. + + + +I. + +The sun, awakening, through the smoky air + Of the dark city casts a sullen glance, +Rousing each caitiff to his task of care, + Of sinful man the sad inheritance; +Summoning revellers from the lagging dance, + Scaring the prowling robber to his den; +Gilding on battled tower the warder's lance, + And warning student pale to leave his pen, +And yield his drowsy eyes to the kind nurse of men. + +What various scenes, and O, what scenes of woe, + Are witnessed by that red and struggling beam! +The fevered patient, from his pallet low, + Through crowded hospital beholds it stream; +The ruined maiden trembles at its gleam, + The debtor wakes to thought of gyve and jail, +'The love-lore wretch starts from tormenting dream: + The wakeful mother, by the glimmering pale, +Trims her sick infant's couch, and soothes his feeble wail. + + +II. + +At dawn the towers of Stirling rang +With soldier-step and weapon-clang, +While drums with rolling note foretell +Relief to weary sentinel. +Through narrow loop and casement barred, +The sunbeams sought the Court of Guard, +And, struggling with the smoky air, +Deadened the torches' yellow glare. +In comfortless alliance shone +The lights through arch of blackened stone, +And showed wild shapes in garb of war, +Faces deformed with beard and scar, +All haggard from the midnight watch, +And fevered with the stern debauch; +For the oak table's massive board, +Flooded with wine, with fragments stored, +And beakers drained, and cups o'erthrown, +Showed in what sport the night had flown. +Some, weary, snored on floor and bench; +Some labored still their thirst to quench; +Some, chilled with watching, spread their hands +O'er the huge chimney's dying brands, +While round them, or beside them flung, +At every step their harness rung. + + +III. + +These drew not for their fields the sword, +Like tenants of a feudal lord, +Nor owned the patriarchal claim +Of Chieftain in their leader's name; +Adventurers they, from far who roved, +To live by battle which they loved. +There the Italian's clouded face, +The swarthy Spaniard's there you trace; +The mountain-loving Switzer there +More freely breathed in mountain-air; +The Fleming there despised the soil +That paid so ill the labourer's toil; +Their rolls showed French and German name; +And merry England's exiles came, +To share, with ill-concealed disdain, +Of Scotland's pay the scanty gain. +All brave in arms, well trained to wield +The heavy halberd, brand, and shield; +In camps licentious, wild, and bold; +In pillage fierce and uncontrolled; +And now, by holytide and feast, +From rules of discipline released. + + +IV. + +'They held debate of bloody fray, +Fought 'twixt Loch Katrine and Achray. +Fierce was their speech, and mid their words +'Their hands oft grappled to their swords; +Nor sunk their tone to spare the ear +Of wounded comrades groaning near, +Whose mangled limbs and bodies gored +Bore token of the mountain sword, +Though, neighbouring to the Court of Guard, +Their prayers and feverish wails were heard,-- +Sad burden to the ruffian joke, +And savage oath by fury spoke!-- +At length up started John of Brent, +A yeoman from the banks of Trent; +A stranger to respect or fear, +In peace a chaser of the deer, +In host a hardy mutineer, +But still the boldest of the crew +When deed of danger was to do. +He grieved that day their games cut short, +And marred the dicer's brawling sport, +And shouted loud, 'Renew the bowl! +And, while a merry catch I troll, +Let each the buxom chorus bear, +Like brethren of the brand and spear.' + + +V. + +Soldier's Song. + +Our vicar still preaches that Peter and Poule +Laid a swinging long curse on the bonny brown bowl, +That there 's wrath and despair in the jolly black-jack, +And the seven deadly sins in a flagon of sack; +Yet whoop, Barnaby! off with thy liquor, +Drink upsees out, and a fig for the vicar! + +Our vicar he calls it damnation to sip +The ripe ruddy dew of a woman's dear lip, +Says that Beelzebub lurks in her kerchief so sly, +And Apollyon shoots darts from her merry black eye; +Yet whoop, Jack! kiss Gillian the quicker, +Till she bloom like a rose, and a fig for the vicar! + +Our vicar thus preaches,--and why should he not? +For the dues of his cure are the placket and pot; +And 'tis right of his office poor laymen to lurch +Who infringe the domains of our good Mother Church. +Yet whoop, bully-boys! off with your liquor, +Sweet Marjorie 's the word and a fig for the vicar! + + +VI. + +The warder's challenge, heard without, +Stayed in mid-roar the merry shout. +A soldier to the portal went,-- +'Here is old Bertram, sirs, of Ghent; +And--beat for jubilee the drum!-- +A maid and minstrel with him come.' +Bertram, a Fleming, gray and scarred, +Was entering now the Court of Guard, +A harper with him, and, in plaid +All muffled close, a mountain maid, +Who backward shrunk to 'scape the view +Of the loose scene and boisterous crew. +'What news?' they roared:--' I only know, +From noon till eve we fought with foe, +As wild and as untamable +As the rude mountains where they dwell; +On both sides store of blood is lost, +Nor much success can either boast.'-- +'But whence thy captives, friend? such spoil +As theirs must needs reward thy toil. +Old cost thou wax, and wars grow sharp; +Thou now hast glee-maiden and harp! +Get thee an ape, and trudge the land, +The leader of a juggler band.' + + +VII. + +'No, comrade;--no such fortune mine. +After the fight these sought our line, +That aged harper and the girl, +And, having audience of the Earl, +Mar bade I should purvey them steed, +And bring them hitherward with speed. +Forbear your mirth and rude alarm, +For none shall do them shame or harm.-- +'Hear ye his boast?' cried John of Brent, +Ever to strife and jangling bent; +'Shall he strike doe beside our lodge, +And yet the jealous niggard grudge +To pay the forester his fee? +I'll have my share howe'er it be, +Despite of Moray, Mar, or thee.' +Bertram his forward step withstood; +And, burning in his vengeful mood, +Old Allan, though unfit for strife, +Laid hand upon his dagger-knife; +But Ellen boldly stepped between, +And dropped at once the tartan screen:-- +So, from his morning cloud, appears +The sun of May through summer tears. +The savage soldiery, amazed, +As on descended angel gazed; +Even hardy Brent, abashed and tamed, +Stood half admiring, half ashamed. + + +VIII. + +Boldly she spoke: 'Soldiers, attend! +My father was the soldier's friend, +Cheered him in camps, in marches led, +And with him in the battle bled. +Not from the valiant or the strong +Should exile's daughter suffer wrong.' +Answered De Brent, most forward still +In every feat or good or ill: +'I shame me of the part I played; +And thou an outlaw's child, poor maid! +An outlaw I by forest laws, +And merry Needwood knows the cause. +Poor Rose,--if Rose be living now,'-- +He wiped his iron eye and brow,-- +'Must bear such age, I think, as thou.-- +Hear ye, my mates! I go to call +The Captain of our watch to hall: +There lies my halberd on the floor; +And he that steps my halberd o'er, +To do the maid injurious part, +My shaft shall quiver in his heart! +Beware loose speech, or jesting rough; +Ye all know John de Brent. Enough.' + + +IX. + +Their Captain came, a gallant young,-- +Of Tullibardine's house he sprung,-- +Nor wore he yet the spurs of knight; +Gay was his mien, his humor light +And, though by courtesy controlled, +Forward his speech, his bearing bold. +The high-born maiden ill could brook +The scanning of his curious look +And dauntless eye:--and yet, in sooth +Young Lewis was a generous youth; +But Ellen's lovely face and mien +Ill suited to the garb and scene, +Might lightly bear construction strange, +And give loose fancy scope to range. +'Welcome to Stirling towers, fair maid! +Come ye to seek a champion's aid, +On palfrey white, with harper hoar, +Like errant damosel of yore? +Does thy high quest a knight require, +Or may the venture suit a squire?' +Her dark eye flashed;--she paused and sighed:-- +'O what have I to do with pride!-- +Through scenes of sorrow, shame, and strife, +A suppliant for a father's life, +I crave an audience of the King. +Behold, to back my suit, a ring, +The royal pledge of grateful claims, +Given by the Monarch to Fitz-James.' + + +X. + +The signet-ring young Lewis took +With deep respect and altered look, +And said: 'This ring our duties own; +And pardon, if to worth unknown, +In semblance mean obscurely veiled, +Lady, in aught my folly failed. +Soon as the day flings wide his gates, +The King shall know what suitor waits. +Please you meanwhile in fitting bower +Repose you till his waking hour. +Female attendance shall obey +Your hest, for service or array. +Permit I marshal you the way.' +But, ere she followed, with the grace +And open bounty of her race, +She bade her slender purse be shared +Among the soldiers of the guard. +The rest with thanks their guerdon took, +But Brent, with shy and awkward look, +On the reluctant maiden's hold +Forced bluntly back the proffered gold:-- +'Forgive a haughty English heart, +And O, forget its ruder part! + +The vacant purse shall be my share, +Which in my barrel-cap I'll bear, +Perchance, in jeopardy of war, +Where gayer crests may keep afar.' +With thanks--'twas all she could--the maid +His rugged courtesy repaid. + + +XI. + +When Ellen forth with Lewis went, +Allan made suit to John of Brent:-- +'My lady safe, O let your grace +Give me to see my master's face! +His minstrel I,--to share his doom +Bound from the cradle to the tomb. +Tenth in descent, since first my sires +Waked for his noble house their Iyres, +Nor one of all the race was known +But prized its weal above their own. +With the Chief's birth begins our care; +Our harp must soothe the infant heir, +Teach the youth tales of fight, and grace +His earliest feat of field or chase; +In peace, in war, our rank we keep, +We cheer his board, we soothe his sleep, +Nor leave him till we pour our verse-- +A doleful tribute!--o'er his hearse. +Then let me share his captive lot; +It is my right,--deny it not!' +'Little we reck,' said John of Brent, +'We Southern men, of long descent; +Nor wot we how a name--a word-- +Makes clansmen vassals to a lord: +Yet kind my noble landlord's part,-- +God bless the house of Beaudesert! +And, but I loved to drive the deer +More than to guide the labouring steer, +I had not dwelt an outcast here. +Come, good old Minstrel, follow me; +Thy Lord and Chieftain shalt thou see.' + + +XII. + +Then, from a rusted iron hook, +A bunch of ponderous keys he took, +Lighted a torch, and Allan led +Through grated arch and passage dread. +Portals they passed, where, deep within, +Spoke prisoner's moan and fetters' din; +Through rugged vaults, where, loosely stored, +Lay wheel, and axe, and headsmen's sword, +And many a hideous engine grim, +For wrenching joint and crushing limb, +By artists formed who deemed it shame +And sin to give their work a name. +They halted at a Iow-browed porch, +And Brent to Allan gave the torch, +While bolt and chain he backward rolled, +And made the bar unhasp its hold. +They entered:--'twas a prison-room +Of stern security and gloom, +Yet not a dungeon; for the day +Through lofty gratings found its way, +And rude and antique garniture +Decked the sad walls and oaken floor, +Such as the rugged days of old +Deemed fit for captive noble's hold. +'Here,' said De Brent, 'thou mayst remain +Till the Leech visit him again. +Strict is his charge, the,warders tell, +To tend the noble prisoner well.' +Retiring then the bolt he drew, +And the lock's murmurs growled anew. +Roused at the sound, from lowly bed +A captive feebly raised his head. +The wondering Minstrel looked, and knew-- +Not his dear lord, but Roderick Dhu! +For, come from where Clan-Alpine fought, +They, erring, deemed the Chief he sought. + + +XIII. + +As the tall ship, whose lofty prore +Shall never stem the billows more, +Deserted by her gallant band, +Amid the breakers lies astrand,-- +So on his couch lay Roderick Dhu! +And oft his fevered limbs he threw +In toss abrupt, as when her sides +Lie rocking in the advancing tides, +That shake her frame with ceaseless beat, +Yet cannot heave her from her seat;-- +O, how unlike her course at sea! +Or his free step on hill and lea!-- +Soon as the Minstrel he could scan,-- +'What of thy lady?--of my clan?-- +My mother?--Douglas?--tell me all! +Have they been ruined in my fall? +Ah, yes! or wherefore art thou here? +Yet speak,--speak boldly,--do not fear.'-- +For Allan, who his mood well knew, +Was choked with grief and terror too.-- +'Who fought?--who fled?--Old man, be brief;-- +Some might,--for they had lost their Chief. +Who basely live?--who bravely died?' +'O, calm thee, Chief!' the Minstrel cried, +'Ellen is safe!' 'For that thank Heaven!' +'And hopes are for the Douglas given;-- +The Lady Margaret, too, is well; +And, for thy clan,--on field or fell, +Has never harp of minstrel told +Of combat fought so true and bold. +Thy stately Pine is yet unbent, +Though many a goodly bough is rent.' + + +XIV. + +The Chieftain reared his form on high, +And fever's fire was in his eye; +But ghastly, pale, and livid streaks +Checkered his swarthy brow and cheeks. +'Hark, Minstrel! I have heard thee play, +With measure bold on festal day, +In yon lone isle,--again where ne'er +Shall harper play or warrior hear!-- +That stirring air that peals on high, +O'er Dermid's race our victory.-- +Strike it!--and then,--for well thou canst,-- +Free from thy minstrel-spirit glanced, +Fling me the picture of the fight, +When met my clan the Saxon might. +I'll listen, till my fancy hears +The clang of swords' the crash of spears! +These grates, these walls, shall vanish then +For the fair field of fighting men, +And my free spirit burst away, +As if it soared from battle fray.' +The trembling Bard with awe obeyed,-- +Slow on the harp his hand he laid; +But soon remembrance of the sight +He witnessed from the mountain's height, +With what old Bertram told at night, +Awakened the full power of song, +And bore him in career along;-- +As shallop launched on river's tide, +'That slow and fearful leaves the side, +But, when it feels the middle stream, +Drives downward swift as lightning's beam. + + +XV. + +Battle of Beal' An Duine. + +'The Minstrel came once more to view +The eastern ridge of Benvenue, +For ere he parted he would say +Farewell to lovely loch Achray +Where shall he find, in foreign land, +So lone a lake, so sweet a strand!-- +There is no breeze upon the fern, + No ripple on the lake, +Upon her eyry nods the erne, + The deer has sought the brake; +The small birds will not sing aloud, + The springing trout lies still, +So darkly glooms yon thunder-cloud, +That swathes, as with a purple shroud, + Benledi's distant hill. +Is it the thunder's solemn sound + That mutters deep and dread, +Or echoes from the groaning ground + The warrior's measured tread? +Is it the lightning's quivering glance + That on the thicket streams, +Or do they flash on spear and lance + The sun's retiring beams?-- +I see the dagger-crest of Mar, +I see the Moray's silver star, +Wave o'er the cloud of Saxon war, +That up the lake comes winding far! + + To hero boune for battle-strife, + Or bard of martial lay, + 'Twere worth ten years of peaceful life, + One glance at their array! + + +XVI. + +'Their light-armed archers far and near + Surveyed the tangled ground, +Their centre ranks, with pike and spear, + A twilight forest frowned, +Their barded horsemen in the rear + The stern battalia crowned. +No cymbal clashed, no clarion rang, + Still were the pipe and drum; +Save heavy tread, and armor's clang, + The sullen march was dumb. +There breathed no wind their crests to shake, + Or wave their flags abroad; +Scarce the frail aspen seemed to quake + That shadowed o'er their road. +Their vaward scouts no tidings bring, + Can rouse no lurking foe, +Nor spy a trace of living thing, + Save when they stirred the roe; +The host moves like a deep-sea wave, +Where rise no rocks its pride to brave + High-swelling, dark, and slow. +The lake is passed, and now they gain +A narrow and a broken plain, +Before the Trosachs' rugged jaws; +And here the horse and spearmen pause +While, to explore the dangerous glen +Dive through the pass the archer-men. + + +XVII. + +'At once there rose so wild a yell +Within that dark and narrow dell, +As all the fiends from heaven that fell +Had pealed the banner-cry of hell! + Forth from the pass in tumult driven, + Like chaff before the wind of heaven, + The archery appear: + For life! for life! their flight they ply-- + And shriek, and shout, and battle-cry, + And plaids and bonnets waving high, + And broadswords flashing to the sky, + Are maddening in the rear. + Onward they drive in dreadful race, + Pursuers and pursued; + Before that tide of flight and chase, + How shall it keep its rooted place, + The spearmen's twilight wood?-- " + "Down, down," cried Mar, "your lances down' + Bear back both friend and foe! "-- + Like reeds before the tempest's frown, + That serried grove of lances brown + At once lay levelled low; + And closely shouldering side to side, + The bristling ranks the onset bide.-- " + "We'll quell the savage mountaineer, + As their Tinchel cows the game! + They come as fleet as forest deer, + We'll drive them back as tame." + + +XVIII. + +'Bearing before them in their course +The relics of the archer force, +Like wave with crest of sparkling foam, +Right onward did Clan-Alpine come. + Above the tide, each broadsword bright + Was brandishing like beam of light, + Each targe was dark below; + And with the ocean's mighty swing, + When heaving to the tempest's wing, + They hurled them on the foe. +I heard the lance's shivering crash, +As when the whirlwind rends the ash; +I heard the broadsword's deadly clang, +As if a hundred anvils rang! +But Moray wheeled his rearward rank +Of horsemen on Clan-Alpine's flank,-- + "My banner-man, advance! + I see," he cried, "their column shake. + Now, gallants! for your ladies' sake, + Upon them with the lance!"-- +The horsemen dashed among the rout, + As deer break through the broom; + +Their steeds are stout, their swords are out, + They soon make lightsome room. +Clan-Alpine's best are backward borne-- + Where, where was Roderick then! +One blast upon his bugle-horn + Were worth a thousand men. +And refluent through the pass of fear + The battle's tide was poured; +Vanished the Saxon's struggling spear, + Vanished the mountain-sword. +As Bracklinn's chasm, so black and steep, + Receives her roaring linn +As the dark caverns of the deep + Suck the wild whirlpool in, +So did the deep and darksome pass +Devour the battle's mingled mass; +None linger now upon the plain +Save those who ne'er shall fight again. + + +XIX. + +'Now westward rolls the battle's din, +That deep and doubling pass within.-- +Minstrel, away! the work of fate +Is bearing on; its issue wait, +Where the rude Trosachs' dread defile +Opens on Katrine's lake and isle. +Gray Benvenue I soon repassed, +Loch Katrine lay beneath me cast. + The sun is set;--the clouds are met, + The lowering scowl of heaven + An inky hue of livid blue + To the deep lake has given; +Strange gusts of wind from mountain glen +Swept o'er the lake, then sunk again. +I heeded not the eddying surge, +Mine eye but saw the Trosachs' gorge, +Mine ear but heard that sullen sound, +Which like an earthquake shook the ground, +And spoke the stern and desperate strife +That parts not but with parting life, +Seeming, to minstrel ear, to toll +The dirge of many a passing soul. + Nearer it comes--the dim-wood glen + The martial flood disgorged again, + But not in mingled tide; + The plaided warriors of the North + High on the mountain thunder forth + And overhang its side, + While by the lake below appears + The darkening cloud of Saxon spears. + At weary bay each shattered band, + Eying their foemen, sternly stand; + Their banners stream like tattered sail, + That flings its fragments to the gale, + And broken arms and disarray + Marked the fell havoc of the day. + + +XX. + +'Viewing the mountain's ridge askance, +The Saxons stood in sullen trance, +Till Moray pointed with his lance, + And cried: "Behold yon isle!-- +See! none are left to guard its strand +But women weak, that wring the hand: +'Tis there of yore the robber band + Their booty wont to pile;-- +My purse, with bonnet-pieces store, +To him will swim a bow-shot o'er, +And loose a shallop from the shore. +Lightly we'll tame the war-wolf then, +Lords of his mate, and brood, and den." +Forth from the ranks a spearman sprung, +On earth his casque and corselet rung, + He plunged him in the wave:-- +All saw the deed,--the purpose knew, +And to their clamors Benvenue + A mingled echo gave; +The Saxons shout, their mate to cheer, +The helpless females scream for fear +And yells for rage the mountaineer. +'T was then, as by the outcry riven, +Poured down at once the lowering heaven: +A whirlwind swept Loch Katrine's breast, +Her billows reared their snowy crest. +Well for the swimmer swelled they high, +To mar the Highland marksman's eye; +For round him showered, mid rain and hail, +The vengeful arrows of the Gael. +In vain.--He nears the isle--and lo! +His hand is on a shallop's bow. +Just then a flash of lightning came, +It tinged the waves and strand with flame; +I marked Duncraggan's widowed dame, +Behind an oak I saw her stand, +A naked dirk gleamed in her hand:-- +It darkened,--but amid the moan +Of waves I heard a dying groan;-- +Another flash!--the spearman floats +A weltering corse beside the boats, +And the stern matron o'er him stood, +Her hand and dagger streaming blood. + + +XXI. + +"'Revenge! revenge!" the Saxons cried, +The Gaels' exulting shout replied. +Despite the elemental rage, +Again they hurried to engage; +But, ere they closed in desperate fight, +Bloody with spurring came a knight, +Sprung from his horse, and from a crag +Waved 'twixt the hosts a milk-white flag. +Clarion and trumpet by his side +Rung forth a truce-note high and wide, +While, in the Monarch's name, afar +A herald's voice forbade the war, +For Bothwell's lord and Roderick bold +Were both, he said, in captive hold.'-- +But here the lay made sudden stand, +The harp escaped the Minstrel's hand! +Oft had he stolen a glance, to spy +How Roderick brooked his minstrelsy: +At first, the Chieftain, to the chime, +With lifted hand kept feeble time; +That motion ceased,--yet feeling strong +Varied his look as changed the song; +At length, no more his deafened ear +The minstrel melody can hear; +His face grows sharp,--his hands are clenched' +As if some pang his heart-strings wrenched; +Set are his teeth, his fading eye +Is sternly fixed on vacancy; +Thus, motionless and moanless, drew +His parting breath stout Roderick Dhu!-- +Old Allan-bane looked on aghast, +While grim and still his spirit passed; +But when he saw that life was fled, +He poured his wailing o'er the dead. + + +XXII. + +Lament. + +'And art thou cold and lowly laid, +Thy foeman's dread, thy people's aid, +Breadalbane's boast, Clan-Alpine's shade! +For thee shall none a requiem say?-- +For thee, who loved the minstrel's lay, +For thee, of Bothwell's house the stay, +The shelter of her exiled line, +E'en in this prison-house of thine, +I'll wail for Alpine's honored Pine! + +'What groans shall yonder valleys fill! +What shrieks of grief shall rend yon hill! +What tears of burning rage shall thrill, +When mourns thy tribe thy battles done, +Thy fall before the race was won, +Thy sword ungirt ere set of sun! +There breathes not clansman of thy line, +But would have given his life for thine. +O, woe for Alpine's honoured Pine! + +'Sad was thy lot on mortal stage!-- +The captive thrush may brook the cage, +The prisoned eagle dies for rage. +Brave spirit, do Dot scorn my strain! +And, when its notes awake again, +Even she, so long beloved in vain, +Shall with my harp her voice combine, +And mix her woe and tears with mine, +To wail Clan-Alpine's honoured Pine.' + + +XXIII. + +Ellen the while, with bursting heart, +Remained in lordly bower apart, +Where played, with many-coloured gleams, +Through storied pane the rising beams. +In vain on gilded roof they fall, +And lightened up a tapestried wall, +And for her use a menial train +A rich collation spread in vain. +The banquet proud, the chamber gay, +Scarce drew one curious glance astray; +Or if she looked, 't was but to say, +With better omen dawned the day +In that lone isle, where waved on high +The dun-deer's hide for canopy; +Where oft her noble father shared +The simple meal her care prepared, +While Lufra, crouching by her side, +Her station claimed with jealous pride, +And Douglas, bent on woodland game, +Spoke of the chase to Malcolm Graeme, +Whose answer, oft at random made, +The wandering of his thoughts betrayed. +Those who such simple joys have known +Are taught to prize them when they 're gone. +But sudden, see, she lifts her head; +The window seeks with cautious tread. +What distant music has the power +To win her in this woful hour? +'T was from a turret that o'erhung +Her latticed bower, the strain was sung. + + +XXIV. + +Lay of the Imprisoned Huntsman. + +'My hawk is tired of perch and hood, +My idle greyhound loathes his food, +My horse is weary of his stall, +And I am sick of captive thrall. +I wish I were as I have been, +Hunting the hart in forest green, +With bended bow and bloodhound free, +For that's the life is meet for me. + +I hate to learn the ebb of time +From yon dull steeple's drowsy chime, +Or mark it as the sunbeams crawl, +Inch after inch, along the wall. +The lark was wont my matins ring, +The sable rook my vespers sing; +These towers, although a king's they be, +Have not a hall of joy for me. + +No more at dawning morn I rise, +And sun myself in Ellen's eyes, +Drive the fleet deer the forest through, +And homeward wend with evening dew; +A blithesome welcome blithely meet, +And lay my trophies at her feet, +While fled the eve on wing of glee,-- +That life is lost to love and me!' + + +XXV. + +The heart-sick lay was hardly said, +The listener had not turned her head, +It trickled still, the starting tear, +When light a footstep struck her ear, +And Snowdoun's graceful Knight was near. +She turned the hastier, lest again +The prisoner should renew his strain. +'O welcome, brave Fitz-James!' she said; +'How may an almost orphan maid +Pay the deep debt--' 'O say not so! +To me no gratitude you owe. +Not mine, alas! the boon to give, +And bid thy noble father live; +I can but be thy guide, sweet maid, +With Scotland's King thy suit to aid. +No tyrant he, though ire and pride +May lay his better mood aside. +Come, Ellen, come! 'tis more than time, +He holds his court at morning prime.' +With heating heart, and bosom wrung, +As to a brother's arm she clung. +Gently he dried the falling tear, +And gently whispered hope and cheer; +Her faltering steps half led, half stayed, +Through gallery fair and high arcade, +Till at his touch its wings of pride +A portal arch unfolded wide. + + +XXVI. + +Within 't was brilliant all and light, +A thronging scene of figures bright; +It glowed on Ellen's dazzled sight, +As when the setting sun has given +Ten thousand hues to summer even, +And from their tissue fancy frames +Aerial knights and fairy dames. +Still by Fitz-James her footing staid; +A few faint steps she forward made, +Then slow her drooping head she raised, +And fearful round the presence gazed; +For him she sought who owned this state, +The dreaded Prince whose will was fate!-- +She gazed on many a princely port +Might well have ruled a royal court; +On many a splendid garb she gazed,-- +Then turned bewildered and amazed, +For all stood bare; and in the room +Fitz-James alone wore cap and plume. +To him each lady's look was lent, +On him each courtier's eye was bent; +Midst furs and silks and jewels sheen, +He stood, in simple Lincoln green, +The centre of the glittering ring,-- +And Snowdoun's Knight is Scotland's King! + + +XXVII. + +As wreath of snow on mountain-breast +Slides from the rock that gave it rest, +Poor Ellen glided from her stay, +And at the Monarch's feet she lay; +No word her choking voice commands,-- +She showed the ring,--she clasped her hands. +O, not a moment could he brook, +The generous Prince, that suppliant look! +Gently he raised her,--and, the while, +Checked with a glance the circle's smile; +Graceful, but grave, her brow he kissed, +And bade her terrors be dismissed:-- +'Yes, fair; the wandering poor +Fitz-James The fealty of Scotland claims. +To him thy woes, thy wishes, bring; +He will redeem his signet ring. +Ask naught for Douglas;--yester even, +His Prince and he have much forgiven; +Wrong hath he had from slanderous tongue, +I, from his rebel kinsmen, wrong. +We would not, to the vulgar crowd, +Yield what they craved with clamor loud; +Calmly we heard and judged his cause, +Our council aided and our laws. +I stanched thy father's death-feud stern +With stout De Vaux and gray Glencairn; +And Bothwell's Lord henceforth we own +The friend and bulwark of our throne.-- +But, lovely infidel, how now? +What clouds thy misbelieving brow? +Lord James of Douglas, lend thine aid; +Thou must confirm this doubting maid.' + + +XXVIII. + +Then forth the noble Douglas sprung, +And on his neck his daughter hung. +The Monarch drank, that happy hour, +The sweetest, holiest draught of Power,-- +When it can say with godlike voice, +Arise, sad Virtue, and rejoice! +Yet would not James the general eye +On nature's raptures long should pry; +He stepped between--' Nay, Douglas, nay, +Steal not my proselyte away! +The riddle 'tis my right to read, +That brought this happy chance to speed. +Yes, Ellen, when disguised I stray +In life's more low but happier way, +'Tis under name which veils my power +Nor falsely veils,--for Stirling's tower +Of yore the name of Snowdoun claims, +And Normans call me James Fitz-James. +Thus watch I o'er insulted laws, +Thus learn to right the injured cause.' +Then, in a tone apart and low,-- +'Ah, little traitress! none must know +What idle dream, what lighter thought +What vanity full dearly bought, +Joined to thine eye's dark witchcraft, drew +My spell-bound steps to Benvenue +In dangerous hour, and all but gave +Thy Monarch's life to mountain glaive!' +Aloud he spoke: 'Thou still cost hold +That little talisman of gold, +Pledge of my faith, Fitz-James's ring,-- +What seeks fair Ellen of the King?' + + +XXIX. + +Full well the conscious maiden guessed +He probed the weakness of her breast; +But with that consciousness there came +A lightening of her fears for Graeme, +And more she deemed the Monarch's ire +Kindled 'gainst him who for her sire +Rebellious broadsword boldly drew; +And, to her generous feeling true, +She craved the grace of Roderick Dhu. +'Forbear thy suit;--the King of kings +Alone can stay life's parting wings. +I know his heart, I know his hand, +Have shared his cheer, and proved his brand; +My fairest earldom would I give +To bid Clan- Alpine's Chieftain live!-- +Hast thou no other boon to crave? +No other captive friend to save?' +Blushing, she turned her from the King, +And to the Douglas gave the ring, +As if she wished her sire to speak +The suit that stained her glowing cheek. +'Nay, then, my pledge has lost its force, +And stubborn justice holds her course. +Malcolm, come forth!'--and, at the word, +Down kneeled the Graeme to Scotland's Lord. +'For thee, rash youth, no suppliant sues, +From thee may Vengeance claim her dues, +Who, nurtured underneath our smile, +Hast paid our care by treacherous wile, +And sought amid thy faithful clan +A refuge for an outlawed man, +Dishonoring thus thy loyal name.-- +Fetters and warder for the Graeme!' +His chain of gold the King unstrung, +The links o'er Malcolm's neck he flung, +Then gently drew the glittering band, +And laid the clasp on Ellen's hand. + +Harp of the North, farewell! The hills grow dark, + On purple peaks a deeper shade descending; +In twilight copse the glow-worm lights her spark, + The deer, half seen, are to the covert wending. +Resume thy wizard elm! the fountain lending, + And the wild breeze, thy wilder minstrelsy; +Thy numbers sweet with nature's vespers blending, + With distant echo from the fold and lea, +And herd-boy's evening pipe, and hum of housing bee. + +Yet, once again, farewell, thou Minstrel Harp! + Yet, once again, forgive my feeble sway, +And little reck I of the censure sharp + May idly cavil at an idle lay. +Much have I owed thy strains on life's long way, + Through secret woes the world has never known, +When on the weary night dawned wearier day, + And bitterer was the grief devoured alone.-- +That I o'erlive such woes, Enchantress! is thine own. + +Hark! as my lingering footsteps slow retire, + Some Spirit of the Air has waked thy string! +'Tis now a seraph bold, with touch of fire, + 'Tis now the brush of Fairy's frolic wing. +Receding now, the dying numbers ring + Fainter and fainter down the rugged dell; +And now the mountain breezes scarcely bring + A wandering witch-note of the distant spell-- +And now, 'tis silent all!--Enchantress, fare thee well! + + + + + +Abbreviations Used In The Notes. + + + +Cf. (confer), compare. +F.Q., Spenser's Faerie Queene. +Fol., following. +Id. (idem), the same. +Lockhart, J. G. Lockhart's edition of Scott's poems (various +issues). +P.L., Milton's Paradise Lost. +Taylor, R. W. Taylor's edition of The Lady of the Lake (London, +1875). +Wb., Webster's Dictionary (revised quarto edition of 1879). +Worc., Worcester's Dictionary (quarto edition). +The abbreviations of the names of Shakespeare's plays will be +readily understood. The line-numbers are those of the "Globe" +edition. + +The references to Scott's Lay of the Last Minstrel are to canto +and line; those to Marmion and other poems to canto and stanza. + + + + + NOTES. + + + +Introduction. + + + + +The Lady of the Lake was first published in 1810, when Scott was +thirty-nine, and it was dedicated to "the most noble John James, +Marquis of Abercorn." Eight thousand copies were sold between +June 2d and September 22d, 1810, and repeated editions were +subsequently called for. In 1830, the following "Introduction" +was prefixed to the poem by the author:-- + +After the success of Marmion, I felt inclined to exclaim with +Ulysses in the Odyssey: + + <Greek Letters> Odys. X. 5. + + "One venturous game my hand has won to-day-- + Another, gallants, yet remains to play." + +The ancient manners, the habits and customs of the aboriginal +race by whom the Highlands of Scotland were inhabited, had always +appeared to me peculiarly adapted to poetry. The change in their +manners, too, had taken place almost within my own time, or at +least I had learned many particulars concerning the ancient state +of the Highlands from the old men of the last generation. I had +always thought the old Scottish Gael highly adapted for poetical +composition. The feuds and political dissensions which, half a +century earlier, would have rendered the richer and wealthier +part of the kingdom indisposed to countenance a poem, the scene +of which was laid in the Highlands, were now sunk in the generous +compassion which the English, more than any other nation, feel +for the misfortunes of an honourable foe. The Poems of Ossian +had by their popularity sufficiently shown that, if writings on +Highland subjects were qualified to interest the reader, mere +national prejudices were, in the present day, very unlikely to +interfere with their success. + +I had also read a great deal, seen much, and heard more, of that +romantic country where I was in the habit of spending some time +every autumn; and the scenery of Lock Katrine was connected with +the recollection of many a dear friend and merry expedition of +former days. This poem, the action of which lay among scenes so +beautiful and so deeply imprinted on my recollections, was a +labour of love, and it was no less so to recall the manners and +incidents introduced. The frequent custom of James IV., and +particularly of James V., to walk through their kingdom in +disguise, afforded me the hint of an incident which never fails +to be interesting if managed with the slightest address or +dexterity. + +I may now confess, however, that the employment, though attended +with great pleasure, was not without its doubts and anxieties. A +lady, to whom I was nearly related, and with whom I lived, during +her whole life, on the most brotherly terms of affection, was +residing with me at the time when the work was in progress, and +used to ask me, what I could possibly do to rise so early in the +morning (that happening to be the most convenient to me for +composition). At last I told her the subject of my meditations; +and I can never forget the anxiety and affection expressed in her +reply. "Do not be so rash," she said, "my dearest cousin.[FN#2] +You are already popular,--more so, perhaps, than you yourself +will believe, or than even I, or other partial friends, can +fairly allow to your merit. You stand high,--do not rashly +attempt to climb higher, and incur the risk of a fall; for, +depend upon it, a favourite will not be permitted even to stumble +with impunity." I replied to this affectionate expostulation in +the words of Montrose,-- + + "'He either fears his fate too much, + Or his deserts are small, + Who dares not put it to the touch + To gain or lose it all.' + +"If I fail," I said, for the dialogue is strong in my +recollection, "it is a sign that I ought never to have succeeded, +and I will write prose for life: you shall see no change in my +temper, nor will I eat a single meal the worse. But if I +succeed, + + 'Up with the bonnie blue bonnet, + The dirk, and the feather, and a'!'" + +Afterwards I showed my affectionate and anxious critic the first +canto of the poem, which reconciled her to my imprudence. +Nevertheless, although I answered thus confidently, with the +obstinacy often said to be proper to those who bear my surname, I +acknowledge that my confidence was considerably shaken by the +warning of her excellent taste and unbiased friendship. Nor was +I much comforted by her retraction of the unfavourable judgment, +when I recollected how likely a natural partiality was to effect +that change of opinion. In such cases, affection rises like a +light on the canvas, improves any favourable tints which it +formerly exhibited, and throws its defects into the shade. + +I remember that about the same time a friend started in to "heeze +up my hope," like the "sportsman with his cutty gun," in the old +song. He was bred a farmer, but a man of powerful understanding, +natural good taste, and warm poetical feeling, perfectly +competent to supply the wants of an imperfect or irregular +education. He was a passionate admirer of field-sports, which we +often pursued together. + +As this friend happened to dine with me at Ashestiel one day, I +took the opportunity of reading to him the first canto of The +Lady of the Lake, in order to ascertain the effect the poem was +likely to produce upon a person who was but too favourable a +representative of readers at large. It is of course to be +supposed that I determined rather to guide my opinion by what my +friend might appear to feel, than by what he might think fit to +say. His reception of my recitation, or prelection, was rather +singular. He placed his hand across his brow, and listened with +great attention through the whole account of the stag-hunt, till +the dogs threw themselves into the lake to follow their master, +who embarks with Ellen Douglas. He then started up with a sudden +exclamation, struck his hand on the table, and declared, in a +voice of censure calculated for the occasion, that the dogs must +have been totally ruined by being permitted to take the water +after such a severe chase. I own I was much encouraged by the +species of revery which had possessed so zealous a follower of +the sports of the ancient Nimrod, who had been completely +surprised out of all doubts of the reality of the tale. Another +of his remarks gave me less pleasure. He detected the identity +of the King with the wandering knight, Fitz-James, when he winds +his bugle to summon his attendants. He was probably thinking of +the lively, but somewhat licentious, old ballad, in which the +denouement of a royal intrigue takes place as follows: + + "He took a bugle frae his side, + He blew both loud and shrill, + And four and twenty belted knights + Came skipping over the hill; + Then he took out a little knife, + Let a' his duddies fa', + And he was the brawest gentleman + That was amang them a'. + And we'll go no more a roving," etc. + +This discovery, as Mr. Pepys says of the rent in his camlet +cloak, was but a trifle, yet it troubled me; and I was at a good +deal of pains to efface any marks by which I thought my secret +could be traced before the conclusion, when I relied on it with +the same hope of producing effect, with which the Irish post-boy +is said to reserve a "trot for the avenue." + +I took uncommon pains to verify the accuracy of the local +circumstances of this story. I recollect, in particular, that to +ascertain whether I was telling a probable tale, I went into +Perthshire, to see whether King James could actually have ridden +from the banks of Loch Vennachar to Stirling Castle within the +time supposed in the poem, and had the pleasure to satisfy myself +that it was quite practicable. + +After a considerable delay, The Lady of the Lake appeared in +June, 1810; and its success was certainly so extraordinary as to +induce me for the moment to conclude that I had at last fixed a +nail in the proverbially inconstant wheel of Fortune, whose +stability in behalf of an individual who had so boldly courted +her favours for three successive times had not as yet been +shaken. I had attained, perhaps, that degree of reputation at +which prudence, or certainly timidity, would have made a halt, +and discontinued efforts by which I was far more likely to +diminish my fame than to increase it. But, as the celebrated +John Wilkes is said to have explained to his late Majesty, that +he himself, amid his full tide of popularity, was never a +Wilkite, so I can, with honest truth, exculpate myself from +having been at any time a partisan of my own poetry, even when it +was in the highest fashion with the million. It must not be +supposed that I was either so ungrateful, or so superabundantly +candid, as to despise or scorn the value of those whose voice had +elevated me so much higher than my own opinion told me I +deserved. I felt, on the contrary, the more grateful to the +public, as receiving that from partiality to me, which I could +not have claimed from merit; and I endeavoured to deserve the +partiality, by continuing such exertions as I was capable of for +their amusement. + +It may be that I did not, in this continued course of scribbling, +consult either the interest of the public or my own. But the +former had effectual means of defending themselves, and could, by +their coldness, sufficiently check any approach to intrusion; and +for myself, I had now for several years dedicated my hours so +much to literary labour that I should have felt difficulty in +employing myself otherwise; and so, like Dogberry, I generously +bestowed all my tediousness on the public, comforting myself with +the reflection that, if posterity should think me undeserving of +the favour with which I was regarded by my contemporaries, "they +could not but say I had the crown," and had enjoyed for a time +that popularity which is so much coveted. + +I conceived, however, that I held the distinguished situation I +had obtained, however unworthily, rather like the champion of +pugilism,[FN#3] on the condition of being always ready to show +proofs of my skill, than in the manner of the champion of +chivalry, who performs his duties only on rare and solemn +occasions. I was in any case conscious that I could not long +hold a situation which the caprice, rather than the judgment, of +the public, had bestowed upon me, and preferred being deprived of +my precedence by some more worthy rival, to sinking into contempt +for my indolence, and losing my reputation by what Scottish +lawyers call the negative prescription. Accordingly, those who +choose to look at the Introduction to Rokeby, will be able to +trace the steps by which I declined as a poet to figure as a +novelist; as the ballad says, Queen Eleanor sunk at Charing Cross +to rise again at Queenhithe. + +It only remains for me to say that, during my short pre-eminence +of popularity, I faithfully observed the rules of moderation +which I had resolved to follow before I began my course as a man +of letters. If a man is determined to make a noise in the world, +he is as sure to encounter abuse and ridicule, as he who gallops +furiously through a village must reckon on being followed by the +curs in full cry. Experienced persons know that in stretching to +flog the latter, the rider is very apt to catch a bad fall; nor +is an attempt to chastise a malignant critic attended with less +danger to the author. On this principle, I let parody, burlesque, +and squibs find their own level; and while the latter hissed most +fiercely, I was cautious never to catch them up, as schoolboys +do, to throw them back against the naughty boy who fired them +off, wisely remembering that they are in such cases apt to +explode in the handling. Let me add, that my reign[FN#4] (since +Byron has so called it) was marked by some instances of good- +nature as well as patience. I never refused a literary person of +merit such services in smoothing his way to the public as were in +my power; and I had the advantage, rather an uncommon one with +our irritable race, to enjoy general favour without incurring +permanent ill-will, so far as is known to me, among any of my +contemporaries. + + W.S. + Abbotsford, April, 1830. + +Our limits do not permit us to add any extended selections from +the many critical notices of the poem. The verdict of Jeffrey, +in the Edinburgh Review, on its first appearance, has been +generally endorsed:-- + +"Upon the whole, we are inclined to think more highly of The Lady +of the Lake than of either of its author's former publications +[the Lay and Marmion]. We are more sure, however, that it has +fewer faults than that it has greater beauties; and as its +beauties bear a strong resemblance to those with which the public +has been already made familiar in these celebrated works, we +should not be surprised if its popularity were less splendid and +remarkable. For our own parts, however, we are of opinion that +it will be oftener read hereafter than either of them; and that, +if it had appeared first in the series, their reception would +have been less favourable than that which it has experienced. It +is more polished in its diction, and more regular in its +versification; the story is constructed with infinitely more +skill and address; there is a greater proportion of pleasing and +tender passages, with much less antiquarian detail; and, upon the +whole, a larger variety of characters, more artfully and +judiciously contrasted. There is nothing so fine, perhaps, as +the battle in Marmion, or so picturesque as some of the scattered +sketches in the Lay; but there is a richness and a spirit in the +whole piece which does not pervade either of those poems, --a +profusion of incident and a shifting brilliancy of colouring that +reminds us of the witchery of Ariosto, and a constant elasticity +and occasional energy which seem to belong more peculiarly to the +author now before us." + + + + + +Canto First. + + + + +Each canto is introduced by one or more Spenserian stanzas,[FN#5] +forming a kind of prelude to it. Those prefixed to the first +canto serve as an introduction to the whole poem, which is +"inspired by the spirit of the old Scottish minstrelsy." + + +2. Witch-elm. The broad-leaved or wych elm (Ulmus montana), +indigenous to Scotland. Forked branches of the tree were used in +the olden time as divining-rods, and riding switches from it were +supposed to insure good luck on a journey. In the closing +stanzas of the poem (vi. 846) it is called the "wizard elm." +Tennyson (In Memoriam, 89) refers to + + "Witch-elms that counterchange the floor + Of this flat lawn with dusk and bright." + +Saint Fillan was a Scotch abbot of the seventh century who became +famous as a saint. He had two springs, which appear to be +confounded by some editors of the poem. One was at the eastern +end of Loch Earn, where the pretty modern village of St. Fillans +now stands, under the shadow of Dun Fillan, or St. Fillan's +Hills, six hundred feet high, on the top of which the saint used +to say his prayers, as the marks of his knees in the rock still +testify to the credulous. The other spring is at another village +called St. Fillans, nearly thirty miles to the westward, just +outside the limits of our map, on the road to Tyndrum. In this +Holy Pool, as it is called, insane folk were dipped with certain +ceremonies, and then left bound all night in the open air. If +they were found loose the next morning, they were supposed to +have been cured. This treatment was practised as late as 1790, +according to Pennant, who adds that the patients were generally +found in the morning relieved of their troubles--by death. +Another writer, in 1843, says that the pool is still visited, not +by people of the vicinity, who have no faith in its virtue, but +by those from distant places. Scott alludes to this spring in +Marmion, i. 29: + + "Thence to Saint Fillan's blessed well, + Whose springs can frenzied dreams dispel, + And the crazed brain restore." + + +3. And down the fitful breeze, etc. The original MS. reads: + + "And on the fitful breeze thy numbers flung, + Till envious ivy, with her verdant ring, + Mantled and muffled each melodious string,-- + O Wizard Harp, still must thine accents sleep?" + + +10. Caledon. Caledonia, the Roman name of Scotland. + + +14. Each according pause. That is, each pause in the singing. +In Marmion, ii. 11, according is used of music that fills the +intervals of other music: + + "Soon as they neared his turrets strong, + The maidens raised Saint Hilda's song, + And with the sea-wave and the wind + Their voices, sweetly shrill, combined, + And made harmonious close; + Then, answering from the sandy shore, + Half-drowned amid the breakers' roar, + According chorus rose." + +The MS. reads here: + + "At each according pause thou spokest aloud + Thine ardent sympathy sublime and high." + + +28. The stag at eve had drunk his fill. The metre of the poem +proper is iambic, that is, with the accent on the even syllables, +and octosyllabic, or eight syllables to the line. + + +29. Monan's rill. St. Monan was a Scotch martyr of the fourth +century. We can find no mention of any rill named for him. + + +31. Glenartney. A valley to the north-east of Callander, with +Benvoirlich (which rises to the height of 3180 feet) on the +north, and Uam-Var (see 53 below) on the south, separating it +from the valley of the Teith. It takes its name from the Artney, +the stream flowing through it. + + +32. His beacon red. The figure is an appropriate one in +describing this region, where fires on the hill-tops were so +often used as signals in the olden time. Cf. the Lay, iii. 379: + + "And soon a score of fires, I ween, + From height, and hill, and cliff, were seen, + Each with warlike tidings fraught; + Each from each the signal caught," etc. + + +34. Deep-mouthed. Cf. Shakespeare, 1 Hen. VI. ii. 4. 12: +"Between two dogs, which hath the deeper mouth;" and T. of S. +ind. 1. 18: "the deep-mouthed brach" (that is, hound). + +The MS. reads: + + "The bloodhound's notes of heavy bass + Resounded hoarsely up the pass." + + +35. Resounded ... rocky. The poet often avails himself of "apt +alliteration's artful aid," as here, and in the next two lines; +most frequently in pairs of words. + + +38. As Chief, etc. Note here, as often, the simile put BEFORE +that which it illustrates,--an effective rhetorical, though not +the logical, arrangement. + + +45. Beamed frontlet. Antlered forehead. + + +46. Adown. An instance of a purely poetical word, not +admissible in prose. + + +49. Chase. Here put for those engaged in the chase; as in 101 +and 171, below. One of its regular meanings is the OBJECT of the +chase, or the animal pursued. + + +53. Uam-Var. "Ua-Var, as the name is pronounced, or more +properly Uaigh-mor, is a mountain to the north-east of the +village of Callander, in Menteith, deriving its name, which +signifies the great den, or cavern, from a sort of retreat among +the rocks on the south side, said, by tradition, to have been the +abode of a giant. In latter times, it was the refuge of robbers +and banditti, who have been only extirpated within these forty or +fifty years. Strictly speaking, this stronghold is not a cave, as +the name would imply, but a sort of small enclosure, or recess, +surrounded with large rocks and open above head. It may have +been originally designed as a toil for deer, who might get in +from the outside, but would find it difficult to return. This +opinion prevails among the old sportsmen and deer-stalkers in the +neighborhood" (Scott). + + +54. Yelled. Note the emphatic force of the inversion, as in 59 +below. Cf. 38 above. + +Opening. That is, barking on view or scent of the game; a +hunting term. Cf. Shakespeare, M. W. iv. 2. 209: "If I bark out +thus upon no trail never trust me when I open again." + +The description of the echo which follows is very spirited. + + +66. Cairn. Literally, a heap of stones; here put poetically for +the rocky point which the falcon takes as a look-out. + + +69. Hurricane. A metaphor for the wild rush of the hunt. + + +71. Linn. Literally, a deep pool; but often = cataract, as in +Bracklinn, ii. 270 below (cf. vi. 488), and sometimes = +precipice. + + +73. On the lone wood. Note the musical variation in the measure +here; the 1st, 3d, and 4th syllables being accented instead of +the 2d and 4th. It is occasionally introduced into iambic metre +with admirable effect. Cf. 85 and 97 below. + + +76. The cavern, etc. See on 53 above. + + +80. Perforce. A poetical word. See on 46 above. + + +84. Shrewdly. Severely, keenly; a sense now obsolete. Shrewd +originally meant evil, mischievous. Cf. Shakespeare, A. Y. L. v. +4. 179, where it is said that those + + "That have endur'd shrewd days and nights with us + Shall share the good of our returned fortune." + +In Chaucer (Tale of Melibocus) we find, "The prophete saith: Flee +shrewdnesse, and do goodnesse" (referring to Ps. xxxiv. 14). + + +89. Menteith. The district in the southwestern part of +Perthshire, watered by the Teith. + + +91. Mountain and meadow, etc. See on 35 above. Moss is used in +the North-of-England sense of a boggy or peaty district, like the +famous Chat Moss between Liverpool and Manchester. + + +93. Lochard. Loch Ard is a beautiful lakelet, about five miles +south of Loch Katrine. On its eastern side is the scene of Helen +Macgregor's skirmish with the King's troops in Rob Roy; and near +its head, on the northern side, is a waterfall, which is the +original of Flora MacIvor's favorite retreat in Waverley. +Aberfoyle is a village about a mile and a half to the east of the +lake. + + +95. Loch Achray. A lake between Loch Katrine and Loch +Vennachar, lying just beyond the pass of the Trosachs. + + +97. Benvenue. A mountain, 2386 feet in height, on the southern +side of Loch Katrine. + + +98. With the hope. The MS. has "with the THOUGHT," and "flying +HOOF" in the next line. + + +102. 'Twere. It would be. Cf. Shakespeare, Macb. ii. 2. 73: +"To know my deed, 't were best not know myself." + + +103. Cambusmore. The estate of a family named Buchanan, whom +Scott frequently visited in his younger days. It is about two +miles from Callander, on the wooded banks of the Keltie, a +tributary of the Teith. + + +105. Benledi. A mountain, 2882 feet high, northwest from +Callander. The name is said to mean "Mountain of God." + + +106. Bochastle's heath. A moor between the east end of Loch +Vennachar and Callander. See also on v. 298 below. + + +107. The flooded Teith. The Teith is formed by streams from +Loch Voil and from Loch Katrine (by way of Loch Achray and Loch +Vennachar), which unite at Callander. It joins the Forth near +Stirling. + + +111. Vennachar. As the map shows, this "Lake of the Fair +Valley" is the most eastern of the three lakes around which the +scenery of the poem lies. It is about five miles long and a mile +and a half wide. + + +112. The Brigg of Turk. This brig, or bridge (cf. Burns's poem +of The Brigs of Ayr), is over a stream that comes down from +Glenfinlas and flows into the one connecting Lochs Achray and +Vennachar. According to Graham, it is "the scene of the death of +a wild boar famous in Celtic tradition." + + +114. Unbated. Cf. Shakespeare, M. of V. ii. 6. 11: + + "Where is the horse that doth untread again + His tedious measures with the unbated fire + That he did pace them first?" + + +115. Scourge and steel. Whip and spur. Steel is often used for +the sword (as in v. 239 below: "foeman worthy of their steel"), +the figure being of the same sort as here--"the material put for +the thing made of it." Cf. v. 479 below. + + +117. Embossed. An old hunting term. George Turbervile, in his +Noble Art of Venerie or Hunting (A.D. 1576), says: "When the hart +is foamy at the mouth, we say, that he is emboss'd." Cf. +Shakespeare, T. of S. ind. 1. 17: "Brach Merriman, the poor cur, +is emboss'd;" and A. and C. iv. 13. 3: + + "the boar of Thessaly + Was never so emboss'd." + + +120. Saint Hubert's breed. Scott quotes Turbervile here: "The +hounds which we call Saint Hubert's hounds are commonly all +blacke, yet neuertheless, the race is so mingled at these days, +that we find them of all colours. These are the hounds which the +abbots of St. Hubert haue always kept some of their race or kind, +in honour or remembrance of the saint, which was a hunter with S. +Eustace. Whereupon we may conceiue that (by the grace of God) +all good huntsmen shall follow them into paradise." + + +127. Quarry. The animal hunted; another technical term. +Shakespeare uses it in the sense of a heap of slaughtered game; +as in Cor. i. 1. 202: + + "Would the nobility lay aside their ruth, + And let me use my sword, I'd make a quarry + With thousands of these quarter'd slaves," etc. + + +Cf. Longfellow, Hiawatha: + + "Seldom stoops the soaring vulture + O'er his quarry in the desert." + + +130. Stock. Tree-stump. Cf. Job, xiv. 8. + + +133. Turn to bay. Like stand at bay, etc., a term used when the +stag, driven to extremity, turns round and faces his pursuers. +Cf. Shakespeare, 1. Hen. VI. iv. 2. 52, where it is used +figuratively (as in vi. 525 below): + + "Turn on the bloody hounds with heads of steel, + And make the cowards stand aloof at bay;" + +and T. of S. v. 2. 56: " 'T is thought your deer does hold you at +a bay," etc. + + +137. For the death-wound, etc. Scott has the following note +here: "When the stag turned to bay, the ancient hunter had the +perilous task of going in upon, and killing or disabling, the +desperate animal. At certain times of the year this was held +particularly dangerous, a wound received from a stag's horn being +then deemed poisonous, and more dangerous than one from the tusks +of a boar, as the old rhyme testifies: + + 'If thou be hurt with hart, it bring thee to thy bier, + But barber's hand will boar's hurt heal, therefore thou + need'st not fear.' + +At all times, however, the task was dangerous, and to be +adventured upon wisely and warily, either by getting behind the +stag while he was gazing on the hounds, or by watching an +opportunity to gallop roundly in upon him, and kill him with the +sword. See many directions to this purpose in the Booke of +Hunting, chap. 41. Wilson, the historian, has recorded a +providential escape which befell him in the hazardous sport, +while a youth, and follower of the Earl of Essex: + +'Sir Peter Lee, of Lime, in Cheshire, invited my lord one summer +to hunt the stagg. And having a great stagg in chase, and many +gentlemen in the pursuit, the stag took soyle. And divers, +whereof I was one, alighted, and stood with swords drawne, to +have a cut at him, at his coming out of the water. The staggs +there being wonderfully fierce and dangerous, made us youths more +eager to be at him. But he escaped us all. And it was my +misfortune to be hindered of my coming nere him, the way being +sliperie, by a falle; which gave occasion to some, who did not +know mee, to speak as if I had falne for feare. Which being told +mee, I left the stagg, and followed the gentleman who [first] +spake it. But I found him of that cold temper, that it seems his +words made an escape from him; as by his denial and repentance it +appeared. But this made mee more violent in the pursuit of the +stagg, to recover my reputation. And I happened to be the only +horseman in, when the dogs sett him up at bay; and approaching +near him on horsebacke, he broke through the dogs, and run at +mee, and tore my horse's side with his hornes, close by my thigh. +Then I quitted my horse, and grew more cunning (for the dogs had +sette him up againe), stealing behind him with my sword, and cut +his hamstrings; and then got upon his back, and cut his throate; +which, as I was doing, the company came in, and blamed my +rashness for running such a hazard' (Peck's Desiderata Curiosa, +ii. 464)." + + +138. Whinyard. A short stout sword or knife; the same as the +whinger of the Lay of Last Minstrel, v. 7: + + "And whingers, now in friendship bare + The social meal to part and share, + Had found a bloody sheath." + + +142. Turned him. In Elizabethan, and still more in earlier +English, personal pronouns were often used reflexively; and this, +like many other old constructions, is still used in poetry. + + +145. Trosachs. "The rough or bristled territory" (Graham); the +wild district between Lochs Katrine and Vennachar. The name is +now especially applied to the pass between Lochs Katrine and +Achray. + + +147. Close couched. That is, as he lay close couched, or +hidden. Such ellipses are common in poetry. + + +150. Amain. With main, or full force. We still say "with might +and main." + + +151. Chiding. Not a mere figurative use of chide as we now +understand it (cf. 287 below), but an example of the old sense of +the word as applied to any oft-repeated noise. Shakespeare uses +it of the barking of dogs in M. N. D. iv. 1. 120: + + "never did I hear + Such gallant chiding;" + +of the wind, as in A. Y. L. ii. 1. 7: "And churlish chiding of +the winter's wind;" and of the sea, as in 1 Hen. IV. iii. 1. 45: + + "the sea + That chides the banks of England;" + +and Hen. VIII. iii. 2. 197: "the chiding flood." + + +163. The banks of Seine. James visited France in 1536, and sued +for the hand of Magdalen, daughter of Francis I. He married her +the following spring, but she died a few months later. He then +married Mary of Guise, whom he had doubtless seen while in +France. + + +166. Woe worth the chase. That is, woe be to it. This worth is +from the A. S. weorthan, to become. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 6. +32: + + "Wo worth the man, + That first did teach the cursed steele to bight + In his owne flesh, and make way to the living spright!" + +See also Ezek. xxx. 2. + + +180. And on the hunter, etc. The MS. reads: + + "And on the hunter hied his pace, + To meet some comrades of the chase;" + +and the 1st ed. retains "pace" and "chase." + + +184. The western waves, etc. This description of the Trosachs +was written amid the scenery it delineates, in the summer of +1809. The Quarterly Review (May, 1810) says of the poet: "He sees +everything with a painter's eye. Whatever he represents has a +character of individuality, and is drawn with an accuracy and +minuteness of discrimination which we are not accustomed to +expect from mere verbal description. It is because Mr. Scott +usually delineates those objects with which he is perfectly +familiar that his touch is so easy, correct, and animated. The +rocks, the ravines, and the torrents which he exhibits are not +the imperfect sketches of a hurried traveller, but the finished +studies of a resident artist." See also on 278 below. + +Ruskin (Modern Painters, iii. 278) refers to "the love of color" +as a leading element in Scott's love of beauty. He might have +quoted the present passage among the illustrations he adds. + + +195. The native bulwarks, etc. The MS. has "The mimic castles +of the pass." + + +196. The tower, etc. Cf. Gen. xi. 1-9. + + +198. The rocky. The 1st ed. has "Their rocky," etc. + + +204. Nor were, etc. The MS. reads: "Nor were these mighty +bulwarks bare." + + +208. Dewdrop sheen. Not "dewdrops sheen," or "dewdrops' sheen," +as sometimes printed. Sheen = shining, bright; as in v. 10 +below. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 1. 10: "So faire and sheene;" Id. +iii. 4. 51: "in top of heaven sheene," etc. See Wb. The MS. has +here: "Bright glistening with the dewdrop sheen." + + +212. Boon. Bountiful. Cf. Milton, P. L. iv. 242: + + "Flowers worthy of Paradise, which not nice art + In beds and curious knots, but nature boon + Pour'd forth profuse on hill, and dale, and plain." + +See also P. L. ix. 793: "jocund and boon." + + +217. Bower. In the old sense of chamber, lodging-place; as in +iv. 413 and vi. 218 below. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 1. 58: + + "Eftesoones long waxen torches weren light + Unto their bowres to guyden every guest." + +For clift (= cleft), the reading of the 1st ed. and +unquestionably what Scott wrote, every other edition that we have +seen reads "cliff." + + +219. Emblems of punishment and pride. See on iii. 19 below. + + +222, 223. Note the imperfect rhyme in breath and beneath. Cf. +224-25, 256-57, 435-36, 445-46 below. Such instances are +comparatively rare in Scott's poetry. Some rhymes that appear to +be imperfect are to be explained by peculiarities of Scottish +pronunciation. See on 363 below. + + +227. Shaltered. The MS. has "scathed;" also "rugged arms +athwart the sky" in 229, and "twinkling" for glistening in 231. +The 1st ed. has "scattered" for shattered; corrected in the +Errata. + + +231. Streamers. Of ivy or other vines. + + +238. Affording, etc. The MS. reads: + + "Affording scarce such breadth of flood + As served to float the wild-duck's brood." + + +247. Emerging, etc. The MS. has "Emerging dry-shod from the +wood." + + +254. And now, to issue from the glen, etc. "Until the present +road was made through the romantic pass which I have +presumptuously attempted to describe in the preceding stanzas, +there was no mode of issuing out of the defile called the +Trosachs, excepting by a sort of ladder, composed of the branches +and roots of trees" (Scott). + + +263. Loch Katrine. In a note to The Fair Maid of Perth, Scott +derives the name from the Catterans, or Highland robbers, that +once infested the shores of the lake. Others make it "the Lake +of the Battle," in memory of some prehistoric conflict. + + +267. Livelier. Because in motion; like living gold above. + + +270. Benvenue. See on 97 above. + + +271. Down to. Most editions misprint "down on." + + +272. Confusedly. A trisyllable; as in ii. 161 below, and in the +Lay, iii. 337: "And helms and plumes, confusedly tossed." + + +274. Wildering. Bewildering. Cf. Dryden, Aurungzebe, i. 1: +"wilder'd in the way," etc. See also 434 and v. 22 below. + + +275. His ruined sides, etc. The MS. reads: + + "His ruined sides and fragments hoar, + While on the north to middle air." + + +277. Ben-an. This mountain, 1800 feet high, is north of the +Trosachs, separating that pass from Glenfinlas. + + +278. From the steep, etc. The MS. reads: + + "From the high promontory gazed + The stranger, awe-struck and amazed." + +The Critical Review (Aug. 1820) remarks of this portion of the +poem (184 fol.): "Perhaps the art of landscape-painting in poetry +has never been displayed in higher perfection than in these +stanzas, to which rigid criticism might possibly object that the +picture is somewhat too minute, and that the contemplation of it +detains the traveller somewhat too long from the main purpose of +his pilgrimage, but which it would be an act of the greatest +injustice to break into fragments and present by piecemeal. Not +so the magnificent scene which bursts upon the bewildered hunter +as he emerges at length from the dell, and commands at one view +the beautiful expanse of Loch Katrine." + + +281. Churchman. In its old sense of one holding high office in +the church. Cf. Shakespeare, 2 Hen. VI. i. 3. 72, where Cardinal +Beaufort is called "the imperious churchman," etc. + + +285. Cloister. Monastery; originally, the covered walk around +the inner court of the building. + + +287. Chide. Here, figuratively, in the modern sense. See in +151 above. + + +290. Should lave. The 1st ed. has "did lave," which is perhaps +to be preferred. + + +294. While the deep peal's. For the measure, see on 73 above. + + +300. To friendly feast, etc. The MS. has "To hospitable feast +and hall." + + +302. Beshrew. May evil befall (see on shrewdly, 84 above); a +mild imprecation, often used playfully and even tenderly. Cf. +Shakespeare, 2 Hen. IV. ii. 3. 45: + + "Beshrew your heart, + Fair daughter, you do draw my spirits from me + With new lamenting ancient oversights!" + + +305. Some mossy bank, etc. The MS. reads: + + "And hollow trunk of some old tree + My chamber for the night must be." + + +313. Highland plunderers. "The clans who inhabited the romantic +regions in the neighborhood of Loch Katrine were, even until a +late period, much addicted to predatory excursions upon their +Lowland neighbors" (Scott). + + +317. Fall the worst. If the worst befall that can happen. Cf. +Shakespeare, M. of V. i. 2. 96: "an the worst fall that ever +fell, I hope I shall make shift to go without him." + + +319. But scarce again, etc. The MS. reads: + + "The bugle shrill again he wound, + And lo! forth starting at the sound;" + +and below: + + "A little skiff shot to the bay. + The hunter left his airy stand, + And when the boat had touched the sand, + Concealed he stood amid the brake, + To view this Lady of the Lake." + + +336. Strain. The 1st ed. has a comma after strain, and a period +after art in 340. The ed. of 1821 points as in the text. + + +342. Naiad. Water nymph. + + +343. And ne'er did Grecian chisel, etc. The MS. reads: + + "A finer form, a fairer face, + Had never marble Nymph or Grace, + That boasts the Grecian chisel's trace;" + +and in 359 below, "a stranger tongue." + + +353. Measured mood. The formal manner required by court +etiquette. + + +360. Dear. This is the reading of the 1st ed. and almost every +other that we have seen. We are inclined, however, to believe +that Scott wrote "clear." The facsimiles of his handwriting show +that his d's and cl's might easily be confounded by a compositor. + + +363. Snood. The fillet or ribbon with which the Scotch maidens +bound their hair. See on iii. 114 below. It is the rich +materials of snood, plaid, and brooch that betray her birth. + + +The rhyme of plaid with maid and betrayed is not imperfect, the +Scottish pronunciation of plaid being like our played. + + +385. One only. For the inversion, cf. Shakespeare, J. C. i. 2. +157: "When there is in it but one only man;" Goldsmith, D. V. 39: +"One only master grasps the whole domain," etc. + + +393. Awhile she paused, etc. The MS. reads: + + "A space she paused, no answer came,-- + 'Alpine, was thine the blast?' the name + Less resolutely uttered fell, + The echoes could not catch the swell. + 'Nor foe nor friend,' the stranger said, + Advancing from the hazel shade. + The startled maid, with hasty oar, + Pushed her light shallop from the shore." + +and just below: + + "So o'er the lake the swan would spring, + Then turn to prune its ruffled wing." + + +404. Prune. Pick out damaged feathers and arrange the plumage +with the bill. Cf. Shakespeare, Cymb. v. 4. 118: + + "his royal bird + Prunes the immortal wing," etc. + + +408. Wont. Are wont, or accustomed; now used only in the +participle. The form here is the past tense of the obsolete won, +or wone, to dwell. The present is found in Milton, P. L. vii. +457: + + "As from his lair the wild beast, where he wons + In forest wild, in thicket, brake, or den." + +Cf. Spenser, Virgil's Gnat: + + "Of Poets Prince, whether we woon beside + Faire Xanthus sprincled with Chimaeras blood, + Or in the woods of Astery abide;" + +and Colin Clouts Come Home Againe: + + "I weened sure he was out God alone, + And only woond in fields and forests here." + +See also iv. 278 and 298 below. + + +409. Middle age. As James died at the age of thirty (in 1542), +this is not strictly true, but the portrait in other respects is +quite accurate. He was fond of going about disguised, and some +of his freaks of this kind are pleasantly related in Scott's +Tales of a Grandfather. See on vi. 740 below. + + +425. Slighting, etc. "Treating lightly his need of food and +shelter." + + +432. At length. The 1st ed. has "at last." + + +433. That Highland halls were, etc. The MS. has "Her father's +hall was," etc. + + +434. Wildered. See on 274 above. + + +438. A couch. That is, the heather for it. Cf. 666 below. + + +441. Mere. Lake; as in Windermere, etc. + + +443. Rood. Cross, or crucifix. By the rood was a common oath; +so by the holy rood, as in Shakespeare, Rich. III. iii. 2. 77, +iv. 4. 165. Cf. the name of Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh. See +ii. 221 below. + + +451. Romantic. The MS. has "enchanting." + + +457. Yesternight. We have lost this word, though we retain +yesterday. Cf. yester-morn in v. 104 below. As far = as far +back as. + + +460. Was on, etc. The MS. reads: "Is often on the future bent." +"If force of evidence could authorize us to believe facts +inconsistent with the general laws of nature, enough might be +produced in favor of the existence of the second-sight. It is +called in Gaelic Taishitaraugh, from Taish, an unreal or shadowy +appearance; and those possessed of the faculty are called +Taishatrin, which may be aptly translated visionaries. Martin, a +steady believer in the second-sight, gives the following account +of it:-- + +'The second-sight is a singular faculty of seeing an otherwise +invisible object without any previous means used by the person +that uses if for that end: the vision makes such a lively +impression upon the seers, that they neither see nor think of any +thing else, except the vision, as long as it continues; and then +they appear pensive or jovial, according to the object that was +represented to them. + +'At the sight of a vision, the eyelids of the person are erected, +and the eyes continue staring until the object vanish. This is +obvious to others who are by when the persons happen to see a +vision, and occurred more than once to my own observation, and to +others that were with me. ... + +'If a woman is seen standing at a man's left hand, it is a +presage that she will be his wife, whether they be married to +others, or unmarried at the time of the apparition. + +'To see a spark of fire fall upon one's arm or breast is a +forerunner of a dead child to be seen in the arms of those +persons; of which there are several fresh instances. ... + +'To see a seat empty at the time of one's sitting in it, is a +presage of that person's death soon after' (Martin's Description +of the Western Islands, 1716, 8vo, p. 300, et seq.). + +"To these particulars innumerable examples might be added, all +attested by grave and credible authors. But, in despite of +evidence which neither Bacon, Boyle, nor Johnson were able to +resist, the Taish, with all its visionary properties, seems to be +now universally abandoned to the use of poetry. The exquisitely +beautiful poem of Lochiel will at once occur to the recollection +of every reader" (Scott). + + +462. Birchen. Shaded by birches. Cf. Milton's "cedarn alleys" +in Comus, 990. + + +464. Lincoln green. A cloth made in Lincoln, much worn by +hunters. + + +467. Heron. The early eds. have "heron's." + + +475. Errant-knight. Knight-errant. + + +476. Sooth. True. We find soothest in Milton, Comus, 823. The +noun sooth (truth) is more common, and still survives in +soothsayer (teller of hidden truth). Cf. v. 64 below. + + +478. Emprise. Enterprise. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 7. 39: "But +give me leave to follow my emprise," etc. + + +485. His noble hand. The MS. has "This gentle hand;" and in the +next line, "the oars he drew." + + +490. Frequent. Often; one of the many instances of the +adjective used adverbially in the poem. + + +492. The rocky isle. It is still known as Ellen's Isle. "It is +rather high, and irregularly pyramidal. It is mostly composed of +dark-gray rocks, mottled with pale and gray lichens, peeping out +here and there amid trees that mantle them,--chiefly light, +graceful birches, intermingled with red-berried mountain ashes +and a few dark-green, spiry pines. The landing is beneath an +aged oak; and, as did the Lady and the Knight, the traveller now +ascends 'a clambering unsuspected road,' by rude steps, to the +small irregular summit of the island. A more poetic, romantic +retreat could hardly be imagined: it is unique. It is completely +hidden, not only by the trees, but also by an undergrowth of +beautiful and abundant ferns and the loveliest of heather" +(Hunnewell's Lands of Scott). + + +500. Winded. Wound; used for the sake of the measure, as in v. +22 below. We find the participle winded in Much Ado, i. 1. 243; +but it is = blown. The verb in that sense is derived from the +noun wind (air in motion), and has no connection with wind, to +turn. Cf. Wb. + + +504. Here for retreat, etc. Scott has the following note here: +"The Celtic chieftains, whose lives were continually exposed to +peril, had usually, in the most retired spot of their domains, +some place of retreat for the hour of necessity, which, as +circumstances would admit, was a tower, a cavern, or a rustic +hut, in a strong and secluded situation. One of these last gave +refuge to the unfortunate Charles Edward, in his perilous +wanderings after the battle of Culloden. + +'It was situated in the face of a very rough, high, and rocky +mountain, called Letternilichk, still a part of Benalder, full of +great stones and crevices, and some scattered wood interspersed. +The habitation called the Cage, in the face of that mountain, was +within a small thick bush of wood. There were first some rows of +trees laid down, in order to level the floor for a habitation; +and as the place was steep, this raised the lower side to an +equal height with the other: and these trees, in the way of +joists or planks, were levelled with earth and gravel. There +were betwixt the trees, growing naturally on their own roots, +some stakes fixed in the earth, which, with the trees, were +interwoven with ropes, made of heath and birch twigs, up to the +top of the Cage, it being of a round or rather oval shape; and +the whole thatched and covered over with fog. The whole fabric +hung, as it were, by a large tree, which reclined from the one +end, all along the roof, to the other, and which gave it the name +of the Cage; and by chance there happened to be two stones at a +small distance from one another, in the side next the precipice, +resembling the pillars of a chimney, where the fire was placed. +The smoke had its vent out here, all along the fall of the rock, +which was so much of the same color, that one could discover no +difference in the clearest day' (Home's History of the Rebellion, +Lond. 1802, 4to, p. 381)." + + +525. Idoean vine. Some have taken this to refer to the "red +whortleberry," the botanical name of which is Vaccinium vitis +Idoea; but as that is not a climber, it is more probably that the +common vine is here meant. Idoean is from Ida, a mountain near +ancient Troy (there was another in Crete), famous for its vines. + + +526. Clematis. The Climatis vitalba, one of the popular English +names of which is virgin-bower. + + +528. And every favored plant could bear. That is, which could +endure. This ellipsis of the relative was very common in +Elizabethan English. Cf. Shakespeare, M. for M. ii. 2. 23: "I +have a brother is condemned to die;" Rich. II. ii. 2. 128: "The +hate of those love not the king," etc. See also John, iii. 11, +etc. + + +532. On heaven and on thy lady call. This is said gayly, or +sportively, as keeping up the idea of a knight-errant. Cf. 475 +above. + + +542. Careless. See on 490 above. + + +546. Target. Buckler; the targe of iii. 445, etc. See Scott's +note on v. 380 below. + + +548. Store. Stored, laid up; an obsolete adjective. Cf. iii. 3 +below, and see also on vi. 124. + + +551. And there the wild-cat's, etc. The MS. reads: + + "There hung the wild-cat's brindled hide, + Above the elk's branched brow and skull, + And frontlet of the forest bull." + + +559. Garnish forth. Cf. furnish forth in 442 above. + + +566. Brook. Bear, endure; now seldom used except with reference +to what is endured against one's will or inclination. It seems +to be a favorite word with Scott. + + +573. Ferragus or Ascabart. "These two sons of Anak flourished +in romantic fable. The first is well known to the admirers of +Ariosto by the name of Ferrau. He was an antagonist of Orlando, +and was at length slain by him in single combat. ... Ascapart, or +Ascabart, makes a very material figure in the History of Bevis of +Hampton, by whom he was conquered. His effigies may be seen +guarding one side of the gate at Southampton, while the other is +occupied by Bevis himself" (Scott). + + +580. To whom, though more than kindred knew. The MS. reads: + + "To whom, though more remote her claim, + Young Ellen gave a mother's name." + +She was the maternal aunt of Ellen, but was loved as a mother by +her, or more than (such) kindred (usually) knew (in way of +affection). + + +585. Though all unasked, etc. "The Highlanders, who carried +hospitality to a punctilious excess, are said to have considered +it as churlish to ask a stranger his name or lineage before he +had taken refreshment. Feuds were so frequent among them, that a +contrary rule would in many cases have produced the discovery of +some circumstance which might have excluded the guest from the +benefit of the assistance he stood in need of" (Scott). + + +591. Snowdoun. An old name of Stirling Castle. See vi. 789 +below. + + +592. Lord of a barren heritage. "By the misfortunes of the +earlier Jameses, and the internal feuds of the Scottish chiefs, +the kingly power had become little more than a name. Each chief +was a petty king in his own district, and gave just so much +obedience to the king's authority as suited his convenience" +(Taylor). + + +596. Wot. Knows; the present of the obsolete wit (the +infinitive to wit is still use in legal forms), not of weet, as +generally stated. See Matzner, Eng. Gram. i. 382. Cf. +Shakespeare, Rich. III. ii. 3. 18: "No, no, good friends, God +wot." He also uses wots (as in Hen. V. iv. 1. 299) and a +participle wotting (in W. T. iii. 2. 77). + + +602. Require. Request, ask; as in Elizanethan English. Cf. +Shakespeare, Hen. VIII. ii. 4. 144: "In humblest manner I require +your highness," etc. + + +603. The elder lady's mien. The MS. has "the mother's easy +mien." + + +606. Ellen, though more, etc. The MS. reads: + + "Ellen, though more her looks betrayed + The simple heart of mountain maid, + In speech and gesture, form and grace, + Showed she was come of gentle race; + 'T was strange, in birth so rude, to find + Such face, such manners, and such mind. + Each anxious hint the stranger gave, + The mother heard with silence grave." + + +616. Weird women we, etc. See on 35 above. Weird here = +skilled in witchcraft; like the "weird sisters" of Macbeth. Down += hill (the Gaelic dun). + + +622. A harp unseen. Scott has the following note here: "'"They +[the Highlanders] delight much in musicke, but chiefly in harps +and clairschoes of their own fashion. The strings of the +clairschoes are made of brasse wire, and the strings of the harps +of sinews; which strings they strike either with their nayles, +growing long, or else with an instrument appointed for that use. +They take great pleasure to decke their harps and clairschoes +with silver and precious stones; the poore ones that cannot +attayne hereunto, decke them with christall. They sing verses +prettily compound, contayning (for the most part) prayses of +valiant men. There is not almost any other argument, whereof +their rhymes intreat. They speak the ancient French language, +altered a little."[FN#6] + +'The harp and chairschoes are now only heard of in the Highlands +in ancient song. At what period these instruments ceased to be +used, is not on record; and tradition is silent on this head. +But, as Irish harpers occasionally visited the Highlands and +Western Isles till lately, the harp might have been extant so +late as the middle of the present century. Thus far we know, +that from remote times down to the present, harpers were received +as welcome guests, particularly in the Highlands of Scotland; and +so late as the latter end of the sixteenth century, as appears by +the above quotations, the harp was in common use among the +natives of the Western Isles. How it happened that the noisy and +inharmonious bagpipe banished the soft and expressive harp, we +cannot say; but certain it is, that the bagpipe is now the only +instrument that obtains universally in the Highland districts' +(Campbell's Journey through North Britain. London, 1808, 4to, i. +175). + +"Mr. Gunn, of Edinburgh, has lately published a curious Essay +upon the Harp and Harp Music of the Highlands of Scotland. That +the instrument was once in common use there, is most certain. +Cleland numbers an acquaintance with it among the few +accomplishments which his satire allows to the Highlanders:-- + + 'In nothing they're accounted sharp, + Except in bagpipe or in harm.'" + + +624. Soldier, rest! etc. The metre of this song is trochaic; +that is, the accents fall regularly on the odd syllables. + + +631. In slumber dewing. That is, bedewing. For the metaphor, +cf. Shakespeare, Rich. III. iv. 1. 84: "the golden dew of sleep;" +and J. C. ii. 1. 230: "the honey-heavy dew of slumber." + + +635. Morn of toil, etc. The MS. has "noon of hunger, night of +waking;" and in the next line, "rouse" for reach. + + +638. Pibroch. "A Highland air, suited to the particular passion +which the musician would either excite or assuage; generally +applied to those airs that are played on the bagpipe before the +Highlanders when they go out to battle" (Jamieson). Here it is +put for the bagpipe itself. See also on ii. 363 below. + + +642. And the bittern sound his drum. Goldsmith (D. V. 44) calls +the bird "the hollow-sounding bittern;" and in his Animated +Nature, he says that of all the notes of waterfowl "there is none +so dismally hollow as the booming of the bittern." + + +648. She paused, etc. The MS. has "She paused--but waked again +the lay." + + +655. The MS. reads: "Slumber sweet our spells shall deal ye;" +and in 657: + + "Let our slumbrous spells| avail ye + | beguile ye." + + +657. Reveille. The call to rouse troops or huntsmen in the +morning. + + +669. Forest sports. The MS. has "mountain chase." + + +672. Not Ellens' spell. That is, not even Ellen's spell. On +the passage, cf. Rokeby, i. 2: + + "Sleep came at length, but with a train + Of feelings true and fancies vain, + Mingling, in wild disorder cast, + The expected future with the past." + + +693. Or is it all a vision now? Lockhart quotes here Thomson's +Castle of Indolence: + + "Ye guardian spirits, to whom man is dear, + From these foul demons shield the midnight gloom: + Angels of fancy and love, be near. + And o'er the blank of sleep diffuse a bloom: + Evoke the sacred shades of Greece and Rome, + And let them virtue with a look impart; + But chief, awhile, O! lend us from the tomb + Those long-lost friends for whom in love we smart, + and fill with pious awe and joy-mixt woe the heart. + + "Or are you sportive?--bid the morn of youth + Rise to new light, and beam afresh the days + Of innocence, simplicity, and truth; + To cares estranged, and manhood's thorny ways. + What transport, to retrace our boyish plays, + Our easy bliss, when each thing joy supplied; + The woods, the mountains, and the warbling maze + Of the wild books!" + +The Critical Review says of the following stanza (xxxiv): "Such a +strange and romantic dream as may be naturally expected to flow +from the extraordinary events of the day. It might, perhaps, be +quoted as one of Mr. Scott's most successful efforts in +descriptive poetry. Some few lines of it are indeed unrivalled +for delicacy and melancholy tenderness." + + +704. Grisly. Grim, horrible; an obsolete word, much used in old +poetry. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. i. 5. 30: "her darke griesly looke;" +Shakespeare, 1 Hen. VI. i. 4. 47: "My grisly countenance made +others fly," etc. See also iv. 322, etc. below. + + +723. Played, etc. The MS. reads: + + "Played on/ the bosoms of the lake, + / Lock Katrine's still expanse; + The birch, the wild rose, and the broom + Wasted around their rich perfume ... + The birch-trees wept in balmy dew; + The aspen slept on Benvenue; + Wild were the heart whose passions' power + Defied the influence of the hour." + + +724. Passion's. The reading of the 1st ed. and that of 1821; +some recent eds. have "passions'." + + +738. Orisons. The 1st ed. has "orison" both here and in 740 +(the ed. of 1821 only in the latter); but the word is almost +invariably plural, both in poetry and prose--always in +Shakespeare and Milton. + + + + + +Canto Second. + + + + +7. A minstrel gray. "That Highland chieftains, to a late +period, retained in their service the bard, as a family officer, +admits of very easy proof. The author of the Letters from the +North of Scotland, an officer of engineers, quartered at +Inverness about 1720, who certainly cannot be deemed a favorable +witness, gives the following account of the office, and of a +bard, whom he heard exercise his talent of recitation:--'The bard +is killed in the genealogy of all the Highland families, +sometimes preceptor to the young laird, celebrates in Irish verse +the original of the tribe, the famous warlike actions of the +successive heads, and sings his own lyricks as an opiate to the +chief, when indisposed for sleep; but poets are not equally +esteemed and honored in all countries. I happened to be a witness +of the dishonour done to the muse, at the house of one of the +chiefs, where two of these bards were set at a good distance, at +the lower end of a long table, with a parcel of Highlanders of no +extraordinary appearance, over a cup of ale. Poor inspiration! +They were not asked to drink a glass of wine at our table, though +the whole company consisted only of the great man, one of his +near relations, and myself. After some little time, the chief +ordered one of them to sing me a Highland song. The bard readily +obeyed, and with a hoarse voice, and in a tune of few various +notes, began, as I was told, one of his own lyricks; and when he +had proceeded to the fourth of fifth stanza, I perceived, by the +names of several persons, glens, and mountains, which I had known +or heard of before, that it was an account of some clan battle. +But in his going on, the chief (who piques himself upon his +school-learning) at some particular passage, bid him cease, and +cryed out, "There's nothing like that in Virgil or Homer." I +bowed, and told him I believed so. This you may believe was very +edifying and delightful'" (Scott). + + +15. Than men, etc. "It is evident that the old bard, with his +second-sight, has a glimmering notion who the stranger is. He +speaks below [311] of 'courtly spy,' and James's speech had +betrayed a knowledge of the Douglas" (Taylor). + + +20. Battled. The reading of the 1st ed. and that of 1821; +"battle" in most others. Cf. i. 626 above. + + +22. Where beauty, etc. The MS. has "At tourneys where the brave +resort." The reference is to the tournaments, "Where," as Milton +says (L'Allegro, 119), + + "throngs of knights and barons bold. + In weeds of peace, high triumphs hold, + With store of ladies, whose bright eyes + Rain influence, and judge the prize + Of wit or arms, while both contend + To win her grace whom all commend." + +Cf. 87 below. + + +26. Love's. The reading of the 1st ed. and that of 1821; most +eds. have "love." + + +29. Plaided. The plaid was properly the dress of a Highlander, +though it was worn also in the Lowlands. + + +51. The Harper on the islet beach. "This picture is touched +with the hand of the true poet" (Jeffrey). + + +56. As from. As if from. Cf. 64 and 83 below. This ellipsis +was common in Elizabethan English. Cf. Shakespeare, Macb. ii. 2. +28: + + "One cried 'God bless us!' and 'Amen' the other, + As they had seen me with these hangman's hands." + + +65. In the last sound. For the measure, see on i. 73 above. + + +69. His fleet. That is, of ducks. Cf. i. 239 above. + + +80. Would scorn. Who would scorn. See on i. 528 above. + + +84. Turned him. See on i. 142 above, and cf. 106 below. + + +86. After. Afterwards; as in Shakespeare, Temp. ii. 2. 10: "And +after bite me," etc. The word is not now used adverbially of +time, though we may say "he followed after," etc. The 1st ed. +reads "that knight." + + +94. Parts. Departs; as often in poetry and earlier English. Cf. +Goldsmith, D. V. 171: "Beside the bed where parting life was +laid;" Gray, Elegy, 1: "the knell of parting day," etc. On the +other hand, depart was used in the sense of part. In the +Marriage Service "till death us do part" is a corruption of "till +death us depart." Wiclif's Bible, in Matt. xix. 6, has "therfor +a man departe not that thing that God hath ioyned." + + +103. Another step, etc. The MS. has "The loveliest Lowland fair +to spy;" and the 1st ed. reads "The step of parting fair to spy." + + +109. The Graeme. Scott has the following note here: "The +ancient and powerful family of Graham (which, for metrical +reasons, is here smelled after the Scottish pronunciation) held +extensive possessions in the counties of Dumbarton and Stirling. +Few families can boast of more historical renown, having claim to +three of the most remarkable characters in the Scottish annals. +Sir John the Graeme, the faithful and undaunted partaker of the +labors and patriotic warfare of Wallace, fell in the unfortunate +field of Falkirk, in 1298. The celebrated Marquis of Montrose, +in whom De Retz saw realized his abstract idea of the heroes of +antiquity, was the second of these worthies. And, not +withstanding the severity of his temper, and the rigor with which +he executed the oppressive mandates of the princes whom he +served, I do not hesitate to name as the third, John Graeme, of +Claverhouse, Viscount of Dundee, whose heroic death, in the arms +of victory, may be allowed to cancel the memory of his cruelty to +the non-conformists, during the reigns of Charles II. and James +II." + + +112. Bower. The word meant a chamber (see on i. 217 above), and +was often used of the ladies' apartments in a house. In hall and +bower = among men and women. The words are often thus +associated. Cf. Spenser, Astrophel, 28: "Merily masking both in +bowre and hall," etc. + + +115. Arose. The 1st ed. misprints "Across;" not noted in the +Errata. + + +126. And the proud march. See on i. 73 above. + + +131. Saint Modan. A Scotch abbot of the 7th century. Scott +says here: "I am not prepared to show that Saint Modan was a +performer on the harp. It was, however, no unsaintly +accomplishment; for Saint Dunstan certainly did play upon that +instrument, which retaining, as was natural, a portion of the +sanctity attached to its master's character, announced future +events by its spontaneous sound. 'But labouring once in these +mechanic arts for a devout matrone that had sett him on work, his +violl, that hung by him on the wall, of its own accord, without +anie man's helpe, distinctly sounded this anthime: Gaudent in +coelis animae sanctorum qui Christi vestigia sunt secuti; et quia +pro eius amore sanguinem suum fuderunt, ideo cum Christo gaudent +aeternum. Whereat all the companie being much astonished, turned +their eyes from beholding him working, to looke on that strange +accident. ... Not long after, manie of the court that hitherunto +had born a kind of fayned friendship towards him, began now +greatly to envie at his progresse and rising in goodness, using +manie crooked, backbiting meanes to diffame his vertues with the +black markes of hypocrisie. And the better to authorise their +calumnie, they brought in this that happened in the violl, +affirming it to have been done by art magick. What more? this +wicked rumour encreased, dayly, till the king and others of the +nobilitie taking hould thereof, Dunstan grew odious in their +sight. Therefore he resolued to leaue the court, and goe to +Elphegus, surnamed the Bauld, then bishop of Winchester, who was +his cozen. Which his enemies understanding, they layd wayte for +him in the way, and hauing throwne him off his horse, beate him, +and dragged him in the durt in the most miserable manner, meaning +to have slaine him, had not a companie of mastiue dogges, that +came unlookt uppon them, defended and redeemed him from their +crueltie. When with sorrow he was ashamed to see dogges more +humane than they. And giuing thankes to Almightie God, he +sensibly againe perceaued that the tunes of his violl had giuen +him a warning of future accidents' (Flower of the Lives of the +most renowned Sainets of England, Scotland, and Ireland, by the +R. Father Hierome Porter. Doway, 1632 4to. tome i. p. 438). + +"The same supernatural circumstance is alluded to by the +anonymous author of Grim, the Collier of Croydon: + + '-----[Dunstant's harp sounds on the wall.] + 'Forrest. Hark, hark, my lord, the holy abbot's harp + Sounds by itself so hanging on the wall! + 'Dunstan. Unhallow'd man, that scorn'st the sacred rede, + Hark, how the testimony of my truth + Sounds heavenly music with an angel's hand, + To testify Dunstan's integrity, + And prove thy active boast of no effect.'" + + +141. Bothwell's bannered hall. The picturesque ruins of +Bothwell Castle stand on the banks of the Clyde, about nine miles +above Glasgow. Some parts of the walls are 14 feet thick, and 60 +feet in height. They are covered with ivy, wild roses, and wall- +flowers. + + "The tufted grass lines Bothwell's ancient hall, + The fox peeps cautious from the creviced wall, + Where once proud Murray, Clydesdale's ancient lord, + A mimic sovereign, held the festal board." + + +142. Ere Douglases, to ruin driven. Scott says: "The downfall +of the Douglases of the house of Angus, during the reign of James +V., is the event alluded to in the text. The Earl of Angus, it +will be remembered, had married the queen dowager, and availed +himself of the right which he thus acquired, as well as of his +extensive power, to retain the king in a sort of tutelage, which +approached very near to captivity. Several open attempts were +made to rescue James from this thraldom, with which he was well +known to be deeply disgusted; but the valor of the Douglases, and +their allies, gave them the victory in every conflict. At +length, the king, while residing at Falkland, contrived to escape +by night out of his own court and palace, and rode full speed to +Stirling Castle, where the governor, who was of the opposite +faction, joyfully received him. Being thus at liberty, James +speedily summoned around him such peers as he knew to be most +inimical to the domination of Angus, and laid his complaint +before them, says Pitscottie, 'with great lamentations: showing +to them how he was holding in subjection, thir years bygone, by +the Earl of Angus, and his kin and friends, who oppressed the +whole country, and spoiled it, under the pretence of justice and +his authority; and had slain many of his lieges, kinsmen, and +friends, because they would have had it mended at their hands, +and put him at liberty, as he ought to have been, at the counsel +of his whole lords, and not have been subjected and corrected +with no particular men, by the rest of his nobles: Therefore, +said he, I desire, my lords, that I may be satisfied of the said +earl, his kin, and friends; for I avow, that Scotland shall not +hold us both, while [i.e. till] I be revenged on him and his. + +'The lords hearing the king's complaint and lamentation, and also +the great rage, fury, and malice, that he bure toward the Earl of +Angus, his kin and friends, they concluded all and thought it +best, that he should be summoned to underly the law; if he fand +not caution, nor yet compear himself, that he should be put to +the horn, with all his kin and friends, so many as were contained +in the letters. And further, the lords ordained, by advice of +his majesty, that his brother and friends should be summoned to +find caution to underly the law within a certain day, or else be +put to the horn. But the earl appeared not, nor none for him; and +so he was put to the horn, with all his kin and friends: so many +as were contained in the summons, that compeared not, were +banished, and holden traitors to the king.'" + + +159. From Tweed to Spey. From the Tweed, the southern boundary +of Scotland, to the Spey, a river far to the north in Inverness- +shire; that is, from one end of the land to the other. + + +170. Reave. Tear away. The participle reft is still used, at +least in poetry. Cf. Shakespeare, V. and A. 766: "Or butcher- +sire that reaves his son of life" (that is, bereaves); Spenser, +F. Q. i. 3. 36: "He to him lept, in minde to reave his life;" Id. +ii. 8. 15: "I will him reave of arms," etc. + + +178. It drinks, etc. The MS. has "No blither dewdrop cheers the +rose." + + +195, 196. To see ... dance. This couplet is not in the MS. + + +200. The Lady of the Bleeding Heart. The bleeding heart was the +cognizance of the Douglas family. Robert Bruce, on his death- +bed, bequeathed his heart to his friend, the good Lord James, to +be borne in war against the Saracens. "He joined Alphonso, King +of Leon and Castile, then at war with the Moorish chief Osurga, +of Granada, and in a keen contest with the Moslems he flung +before him the casket containing the precious relic, crying out, +'Onward as thou wert wont, thou noble heart, Douglas will follow +thee.' Douglas was slain, but his body was recovered, and also +the precious casket, and in the end Douglas was laid with his +ancestors, and the heart of Bruce deposited in the church of +Melrose Abbey" (Burton's Hist. of Scotland). + + +201. Fair. The 1st ed. (and probably the MS., though not noted +by Lockhart) has "Gay." + + +203. Yet is this, etc. The MS. and 1st ed. read: + + "This mossy rock, my friend, to me + Is worth gay chair and canopy." + + +205. Footstep. The reading of the 1st and other early eds.; +"footsteps" in recent ones. + + +206. Strathspey. A Highland dance, which takes its name from +the strath, or broad valley, of the Spey (159 above). + + +213. Clan-Alpine's pride. "The Siol Alpine, or race of Alpine, +includes several clans who claimed descent from Kenneth McAlpine, +an ancient king. These are the Macgregors, the Grants, the +Mackies, the Mackinnans, the MacNabs, the MacQuarries, and the +Macaulays. Their common emblem was the pine, which is now +confined to the Macgregors" (Taylor). + + +214. Loch Lomond. This beautiful lake, "the pride of Scottish +lakes," is about 23 miles in length and 5 miles in its greatest +breadth. At the southern end are many islands, one of which, +Inch-Cailliach (the Island of Women, so called from a nunnery +that was once upon it), was the burial-place of Clan-Alpine. See +iii. 191 below. + + +216. A Lennox foray. That is, a raid in the lands of the Lennox +family, bordering on the southern end of Loch Lomond. On the +island of Inch-Murrin, the ruins of Lennox Castle, formerly a +residence of the Earls of Lennox, are still to be seen. There +was another of their strongholds on the shore of the lake near +Balloch, where the modern Balloch Castle now stands. + + +217. Her glee. The 1st ed. misprints "his glee;" not noted in +the Errata. + + +220. Black Sir Roderick. Roderick Dhu, or the Black, as he was +called. + + +221. In Holy-Rood a knight he slew. That is, in Holyrood +Palace. "This was by no means an uncommon occurrence in the Court +of Scotland; nay, the presence of the sovereign himself scarcely +restrained the ferocious and inveterate feuds which were the +perpetual source of bloodshed among the Scottish nobility" +(Scott). + + +223. Courtiers give place, etc. The MS. reads: + + "Courtiers give place with heartless stride + Of the retiring homicide." + + +227. Who else, etc. The MS. has the following couplet before +this line: + + "Who else dared own the kindred claim + That bound him to thy mother's name?" + + +229. The Douglas, etc. Scott says here: "The exiled state of +this powerful race is not exaggerated in this and subsequent +passages. The hatred of James against the race of Douglas was so +inveterate, that numerous as their allies were, and disregarded +as the regal authority had usually been in similar cases, their +nearest friends, even in the most remote part of Scotland, durst +not entertain them, unless under the strictest and closest +disguise. James Douglas, son of the banished Earl of Angus, +afterwards well known by the title of Earl of Morton, lurked, +during the exile of his family, in the north of Scotland, under +the assumed name of James Innes, otherwise James the Grieve (i.e. +reve or bailiff). 'And as he bore the name,' says Godscroft, 'so +did he also execute the office of a grieve or overseer of the +lands and rents, the corn and cattle of him with whom he lived.' +From the habits of frugality and observation which he acquired in +his humble situation, the historian traces that intimate +acquaintance with popular character which enabled him to rise so +high in the state, and that honorable economy by which he +repaired and established the shattered estates of Angus and +Morton (History of the House of Douglas, Edinburgh, 1743, vol. +ii. p. 160)." + + +235. Guerdon. Reward; now rarely used except in poetry. Cf. +Spenser, F. Q. i. 10. 59: "That glory does to them for guerdon +graunt," etc. + + +236. Dispensation. As Roderick and Ellen were cousins, they +could not marry without a dispensation from the Pope. + + +251. Orphan. Referring to child, not to she, as its position +indicates. + + +254. Shrouds. Shields, protects. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. i. 1. 6: +"And this faire couple eke to shroud themselves were fain" (that +is, from the rain). So the noun = shelter, protection; as in +Shakespeare, A. and C. iii. 13. 71: "put yourself under his +shroud," etc. See also on 757 below. + + +260. Maronnan's cell. "The parish of Kilmaronock, at the +eastern extremity of Loch Lomond, derives its name from a cell, +or chapel, dedicated to Saint Maronock, or Marnock, or Maronnan, +about whose sanctity very little is now remembered" (Scott). +Kill = cell; as in Colmekill (Macb. ii. 4. 33), "the cell of +Columba," now known as Icolmkill, or Iona. + + +270. Bracklinn's thundering wave. This beautiful cascade is on +the Keltie, a mile from Callander. The height of the fall is +about fifty feet. "A few years ago a marriage party of Lowland +peasants met with a tragic end here, two of them having tumbled +into the broken, angry waters, where they had no more chance of +life than if they had dropped into the crater of Hecla" (Black). + + +271. Save. Unless; here followed by the subjunctive. + + +274. Claymore. The word means "a large sword" (Gaelic +claidheamh, sword, and more, great). + + +294. Shadowy plaid and sable plume. Appropriate to Roderick +Dhu. See on 220 above. + + +303. Woe the while. Woe be to the time, alas the time! Cf. +Shakespeare, J. C. i. 3. 82: "But, woe the while! our fathers' +minds are dead," etc. See also on i. 166 above. + + +306. Tine-man. "Archibald, the third Earl of Douglas, was so +unfortunate in all his enterprises, that he acquired the epithet +of 'tine-man,' because he tined, or lost, his followers in every +battle which he fought. He was vanquished, as every reader must +remember, in the bloody battle of Homildon-hill, near Wooler, +where he himself lost an eye, and was made prisoner by Hotspur. +He was no less unfortunate when allied with Percy, being wounded +and taken at the battle of Shrewsbury. He was so unsuccessful in +an attempt to beseige Roxburgh Castle, that it was called the +'Foul Raid,' or disgraceful expedition. His ill fortune left him +indeed at the battle of Beauge, in France; but it was only to +return with double emphasis at the subsequent action of Vernoil, +the last and most unlucky of his encounters, in which he fell, +with the flower of the Scottish chivalry, then serving as +auxiliaries in France, and about two thousand common soldiers, +A.D. 1424" (Scott). + + +307. What time, etc. That is, at the time when Douglas allied +himself with Percy in the rebellion against Henry IV. of England. +See Shakespeare, 1 Hen. IV. + + +309. Did, self unscabbarded, etc. Scott says here: "The ancient +warriors, whose hope and confidence rested chiefly in their +blades, were accustomed to deduce omens from them, especially +from such as were supposed to have been fabricated by enchanted +skill, of which we have various instances in the romances and +legends of the time. The wonderful sword Skofnung, wielded by the +celebrated Hrolf Kraka, was of this description. It was +deposited in the tomb of the monarch at his death, and taken from +thence by Skeggo, a celebrated pirate, who bestowed it upon his +son-in-law, Kormak, with the following curious directions: '"The +manner of using it will appear strange to you. A small bag is +attached to it, which take heed not to violate. Let not the rays +of the sun touch the upper part of the handle, nor unsheathe it, +unless thou art ready for battle. But when thou comest to the +place of fight, go aside from the rest, grasp and extend the +sword, and breathe upon it. Then a small worm will creep out of +the handle; lower the handle, that he may more easily return into +it." Kormak, after having received the sword, returned home to +his mother. He showed the sword, and attempted to draw it, as +unnecessarily as ineffectually, for he could not pluck it out of +the sheath. His mother, Dalla, exclaimed, "Do not despise the +counsel given to thee, my son." Kormak, however, repeating his +efforts, pressed down the handle with his feet, and tore off the +bag, when Skofung emitted a hollow groan; but still he could not +unsheathe the sword. Kormak then went out with Bessus, whom he +had challenged to fight with him, and drew apart at the place of +combat. He sat down upon the ground, and ungirding the sword, +which he bore above his vestments, did not remember to shield the +hilt from the rays of the sun. In vain he endeavored to draw it, +till he placed his foot against the hilt; then the worm issued +from it. But Kormak did not rightly handle the weapon, in +consequence whereof good fortune deserted it. As he unsheathed +Skofnung, it emitted a hollow murmur' (Bartholini de Causis +Contemptae a Danis adhuc Gentilibus Mortis, Libri Tres. Hafniae, +1689, 4to, p. 574). + +"To the history of this sentient and prescient weapon, I beg +leave to add, from memory, the following legend, for which I +cannot produce any better authority. A young nobleman, of high +hopes and fortune, chanced to lose his way in the town which he +inhabited, the capital, if I mistake not, of a German province. +He had accidentally involved himself among the narrow and winding +streets of a suburb, inhabited by the lowest order of the people, +and an approaching thunder-shower determined him to ask a short +refuge in the most decent habitation that was near him. He +knocked at the door, which was opened by a tall man, of a grisly +and ferocious aspect, and sordid dress. The stranger was readily +ushered to a chamber, where swords, scourges, and machines, which +seemed to be implements of torture, were suspended on the wall. +One of these swords dropped from its scabbard, as the nobleman, +after a moment's hesitation, crossed the threshold. His host +immediately stared at him with such a marked expression, that the +young man could not help demanding his name and business, and the +meaning of his looking at him so fixedly. 'I am,' answered the +man, 'the public executioner of this city; and the incident you +have observed is a sure augury that I shall, in discharge of my +duty, one day cut off your head with the weapon which has just +now spontaneously unsheathed itself.' The nobleman lost no time +in leaving his place of refuge; but, engaging in some of the +plots of the period, was shortly after decapitated by that very +man and instrument. + +"Lord Lovat is said, by the author of the Letters from Scotland +(vol. ii. p. 214), to have affirmed that a number of swords that +hung up in the hall of the mansion-house, leaped of themselves +out of the scabbard at the instant he was born. The story passed +current among his clan, but, like that of the story I have just +quoted, proved an unfortunate omen." + + +311. If courtly spy hath, etc. The 1st ed. has "If courtly spy, +and harbored," etc. The ed. of 1821 reads "had harbored." + + +319. Beltane. The first of May, when there was a Celtic +festival in honor of the sun. Beltane = Beal-tein, or the fire +of Beal, a Gaelic name for the sun. It was celebrated by +kindling fires on the hill-tops at night, and other ceremonies, +followed by dances, and merry-making. Cf. 410 below. See also +The Lord of the Isles, i. 8: "The shepherd lights his belane- +fire;" and Glenfinlas: + + "But o'er his hills, in festal day, + How blazed Lord Ronald's beltane-tree!" + + +323. But hark! etc. "The moving picture--the effect of the +sounds --and the wild character and strong peculiar nationality +of the whole procession, are given with inimitable spirit and +power of expression" (Jeffrey). + + +327. The canna's hoary beard. The down of the canna, or cotton- +grass. + + +335. Glengyle. A valley at the northern end of Lock Katrine. + + +337. Brianchoil. A promontory on the northern shore of the +lake. + + +342. Spears, pikes, and axes. The 1st ed. and that of 1821 have +Spears, but all the recent ones misprint "Spear." The "Globe" +ed. has "Spear, spikes," etc. + + +343. Tartans. The checkered woollen cloth so much worn in +Scotland. Curiously enough, the name is not Gaelic but French. +See Jamieson or Wb. + +Brave. Fine, beautiful; the same word as the Scottish braw. Cf. +Shakespeare, Sonn. 12. 2: "And see the brave day sunk in hideous +night;" Ham. ii. 2. 312: "This brave o'erhanging firmament," etc. +It is often used of dress, as also is bravery (= finery); as in +T. of S. iv. 3. 57: "With scarfs and fans and double change of +bravery." See also Spenser, Mother Hubberds Tale, 858: "Which +oft maintain'd his masters braverie" (that is, dressed as well as +his master). + + +351. Chanters. The pipes of the bagpipes, to which long ribbons +were attached. + + +357. The sounds. Misprinted "the sound" in the ed. of 1821, and +all the more recent eds. that we have seen. Cf. 363 below. + + +363. Those thrilling sounds, etc. Scott says here: "The +connoisseurs in pipe-music affect to discover in a well-composed +pibroch, the imitative sounds of march, conflict, flight, +pursuit, and all the 'current of a heady fight.' To this opinion +Dr. Beattie has given his suffrage, in that following elegant +passage:--'A pibroch is a species of tune, peculiar, I think, to +the Highlands and Western Isles of Scotland. It is performed on +a bagpipe, and differs totally from all other music. Its rhythm +is so irregular, and its notes, especially in the quick movement, +so mixed and huddled together, that a stranger finds it +impossible to reconcile his ear to it, so as to perceive its +modulation. Some of these pibrochs, being intended to represent +a battle, begin with a grave motion, resembling a march; then +gradually quicken into the onset; run off with noisy confusion, +and turbulent rapidity, to imitate the conflict and pursuit; then +swell into a few flourishes of triumphant joy; and perhaps close +with the wild and slow wailings of a funeral procession' (Essay +on Laughter and Ludicrious Composition, chap. iii. note)." + + +367. Hurrying. Referring to their, or rather to the them +implied in that word. + + +392. The burden bore. That is, sustained the burden, or chorus, +of the song. Cf. Shakespeare, Temp. i. 2. 381: "And, sweet +sprites, the burden bear." + + +399. Hail to the Chief, etc. The metre of the song is dactylic; +the accents being on the 1st, 4th, 7th, and 10th syllables. It +is little used in English. Tennyson's Charge of the Light +Brigade and Longfellow's Skeleton in Armor are familiar examples +of it. + + +405. Bourgeon. Bud. Cf. Fairfax, Tasso, vii. 76: When first on +trees bourgeon the blossoms soft;" and Tennyson, In Memoriam, +115: + + "Now burgeons every maze of quick + About the flowering squares," etc. + + +408. Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu. "Besides his ordinary name and +surname, which were chiefly used in the intercourse with the +Lowlands, every Highland chief had an epithet expressive of his +patriarchal dignity as head of the clan, and which was common to +all his predecessors and successors, as Pharaoh to the kings of +Egypt, or Arsaces to those of Parthia. This name was usually a +patronymic, expressive of his descent from the founder of the +family. Thus the Duke of Argyll is called MacCallum More, or the +son of Colin the Great. Sometimes, however, it is derived from +armorial distinctions, or the memory of some great feat; thus +Lord Seaforth, as chief of the Mackenzies, or Clan-Kennet, bears +the epithet of Caber-fae, or Buck's Head, as representative of +Colin Fitzgerald, founder of the family, who saved the Scottish +king, when endangered by a stag. But besides this title, which +belonged to his office and dignity, the chieftain had usually +another peculiar to himself, which distinguished him from the +chieftains of the same race. This was sometimes derived from +complexion, as dhu or roy; sometimes from size, as beg or more; +at other times, from some peculiar exploit, or from some +peculiarity of habit or appearance. The line of the text +therefore signifies, + + Black Roderick, the descendant of Alpine. + +"The song itself is intended as an imitation of the jorrams, or +boat songs, of the Highlanders, which were usually composed in +honor of a favorite chief. They are so adapted as to keep time +with the sweep of the oars, and it is easy to distinguish between +those intended to be sung to the oars of a galley, where the +stroke is lengthened and doubled, as it were, and those which +were timed to the rowers of an ordinary boat" (Scott). + + +410. Beltane. See on 319 above. + + +415. Roots him. See on i. 142 above. + + +416. Breadalbane. The district north of Loch Lomond and around +Loch Tay. The seat of the Earl of Breadalbane is Taymouth +Castle, near the northern end of Loch Tay. + +For Menteith, see on i. 89 above. + + +419. Glen Fruin. A valley to the southwest of Loch Lomond. The +ruins of the castle of Benuchara, or Bannochar (see on 422 just +below), still overhang the entrance to the glen. + +Glen Luss is another valley draining into the lake, a few miles +from Glen Fruin, and Ross-dhu is on the shore of the lake, midway +between the two. Here stands a tower, the only remnant of the +ancient castle of the family of Luss, which became merged in that +of Colquhoun. + + +422. The best of Loch Lomond, etc. Scott has the following note +here: + + +"The Lennox, as the district is called which encircles the lower +extremity of Loch Lomond, was peculiarly exposed to the +incursions of the mountaineers, who inhabited the inaccessible +fastnesses at the upper end of the lake, and the neighboring +district of Loch Katrine. These were often marked by +circumstances of great ferocity, of which the noted conflict of +Glen Fruin is a celebrated instance. This was a clan-battle, in +which the Macgregors, headed by Allaster Macgregor, chief of the +clan, encountered the sept of Colquhouns, commanded by Sir +Humphry Colquhoun of Luss. It is on all hands allowed that the +action was desperately fought, and that the Colquhouns were +defeated with slaughter, leaving two hundred of their name dead +upon the field. But popular tradition has added other horrors to +the tale. It is said that Sir Humphry Colquhoun, who was on +horseback, escaped to the Castle of Benechra, or Bannochar, and +was next day dragged out and murdered by the victorious +Macgregors in cold blood. Buchanan of Auchmar, however, speaks +of his slaughter as a subsequent event, and as perpetrated by the +Macfarlanes. Again, it is reported that the Macgregors murdered +a number of youths, whom report of the intended battle had +brought to be spectators, and whom the Colquhouns, anxious for +their safety, had shut up in a barn to be out of danger. One +account of the Macgregors denies this circumstance entirely; +another ascribes it to the savage and bloodthirsty disposition of +a single individual, the bastard brother of the Laird of +Macgregor, who amused himself with this second massacre of the +innocents, in express disobedience to the chief, by whom he was +left their guardian during the pursuit of the Colquhouns. It is +added that Macgregor bitterly lamented this atrocious action, and +prophesied the ruin which it must bring upon their ancient clan. +... + +"The consequences of the battle of Glen Fruin were very +calamitous to the family of Macgregor, who had already been +considered as an unruly clan. The widows of the slain +Colquhouns, sixty, it is said, in number, appeared in doleful +procession before the king at Stirling, each riding upon a white +palfrey, and bearing in her hand the bloody shirt of her husband +displayed upon a pike. James VI. was so much moved by the +complaints of this 'choir of mourning dames,' that he let loose +his vengeance against the Macgregors without either bounds or +moderation. The very name of the clan was proscribed, and those +by whom it had been borne were given up to sword and fire, and +absolutely hunted down by bloodhounds like wild beasts. Argyll +and the Campbells, on the one hand, Montrose, with the Grahames +and Buchanans, on the other, are said to have been the chief +instruments in suppressing this devoted clan. The Laird of +Macgregor surrendered to the former, on condition that he would +take him out of Scottish ground. But, to use Birrel's +expression, he kept 'a Highlandman's promise;' and, although he +fulfilled his word to the letter, by carrying him as far as +Berwick, he afterwards brought him back to Edinburgh, where he +was executed with eighteen of his clan (Birrel's Diary, 2d Oct. +1903). The clan Gregor being thus driven to utter despair, seem +to have renounced the laws from the benefit of which they were +excluded, and their depredations produced new acts of council, +confirming the severity of their proscription, which had only the +effect of rendering them still more united and desperate. It is +a most extraordinary proof of the ardent and invincible spirit of +clanship, that notwithstanding the repeated proscriptions +providently ordained by the legislature, 'for the timeous +preventing the disorders and oppression that may fall out by the +said name and clan of Macgregors, and their followers,' they +were, in 1715 and 1745, a potent clan, and continue to subsist as +a distinct and numerous race." + + +426. Leven-glen. The valley of the Leven, which connects Loch +Lomond with the Clyde. + + +431. The rosebud. That is, Ellen. "Note how this song connects +Allan's forebodings with Roderick's subsequent offer" (Taylor). + + +444. And chorus wild, etc. The MS. has "The chorus to the +chieftain's fame." + + +476. Weeped. The form is used for the rhyme. Cf. note on i. +500 above. + + +477. Nor while, etc. The MS. reads: + + "Nor while on Ellen's faltering tongue + Her filial greetings eager hung, + Marked not that awe (affection's proof) + Still held yon gentle youth aloof; + No! not till Douglas named his name, + Although the youth was Malcolm Graeme. + Then with flushed cheek and downcast eye, + Their greeting was confused and shy." + + +495. Bothwell. See on 141 above. + + +497. Percy's Norman pennon. Taken in the raid which led to the +battle of Otterburn, in Northumberland, in the year 1388, and +which forms the theme of the ballads of Chevy Chase. + + +501. My pomp. My triumphal procession; the original meaning of +pomp. + + +504. Crescent. The badge of the Buccleuch family (Miss Yonge). + + +506. Blantyre. A priory, the ruins of which are still to be +seen on a height above the Clyde, opposite Bothwell Castle. + + +521. The dogs, etc. The MS. has "The dogs with whimpering notes +repaid." + + +525. Unhooded. The falcon was carried on the wrist, with its +head covered, or hooded, until the prey was seen, when it was +unhooded for flight. Cf. vi. 665 below. + + +526. Trust. Believe me. + + +527. Like fabled Goddess. The MS. has "Like fabled huntress;" +referring of course to Diana. + + +534. Stature fair. The reading of the 1st ed. and that of 1821; +"stature tall" in most of the other eds. + + +541. The ptarmigan. A white bird. + + +543. Menteith. See on i. 89 above. + + +548. Ben Lomond. This is much the highest (3192 feet) of the +mountains on the shores of Loch Lomond. The following lines on +the ascent were scratched upon the window-pane of the old inn at +Tarbet a hundred years or more ago: + + "Trust not at first a quick adventurous pace; + Six miles its top points gradual from its base; + Up the high rise with panting haste I past, + And gained the long laborious steep at last; + More prudent thou--when once you pass the deep, + With cautious steps and slow ascend the steep." + + +549. Not a sob. That is, without panting, or getting out of +breath, like the degenerate modern tourist. + + +574. Glenfinlas. A wooded valley between Ben-an and Benledi, +the entrance to which is between Lochs Achray and Vennachar. It +is the scene of Scott's ballad, Glenfinlas, or Lord Ronald's +Coronach. A mile from the entrance are the falls of the Hero's +Targe. See iv. 84 below. + + +577. Still a royal ward. Still under age, with the king for +guardian. + + +583. Strath-Endrick. A valley to the southeast of Loch Lomond, +drained by Endrick Water. + + +584. Peril aught. Incur any peril. Milton uses the verb +intransitively in Reason of Church Government, ii. 3: "it may +peril to stain itself." + + +587. Not in action. The 1st ed. has "nor in action." + + +594. News. Now generally used as a singular; but in old writers +both as singular and as plural. Cf. Shakespeare, K. John, iii. +4. 164: "at that news he dies;" and Id. v. 7. 65: "these dead +news," etc. + + +601. As. As if. See on 56 above. + + +606. Glozing. That glosses over the truth, not plain and +outspoken. Sometimes it means to flatter, or deceive with smooth +words; as in Spenser, F. Q. iii. 8. 14: + + "For he could well his glozing speeches frame + To such vaine uses that him best became;" + +Smith, Sermons (A. D. 1609): "Every smooth tale is not to be +believed; and every glosing tongue is not to be trusted;" Milton, +P. L. iii. 93: "his glozing lies;" Id. ix. 549: "So glozed the +Tempter;" Comus, 161: "well-placed words of glozing courtesy," +etc. + + +615. The King's vindictive pride, etc. Scott says here: "In +1529, James made a convention at Edinburgh, for the purpose of +considering the best mode of quelling the Border robbers, who, +during the license of his minority, and the troubles which +followed, had committed many exorbitances. Accordingly he +assembled a flying army of ten thousand men, consisting of his +principal nobility and their followers, who were directed to +bring their hawks and dogs with them, that the monarch might +refresh himself with sport during the intervals of military +execution. With this array he swept through Ettrick Forest, +where he hanged over the gate of his own castle Piers Cockburn of +Henderland, who had prepared, according to tradition, a feast for +his reception. He caused Adam Scott of Tushiclaw also to be +executed, who was distinguished by the title of King of the +Border. But the most noted victim of justice during that +expedition was John Armstrong of Gilnockie, famous in Scottish +song, who, confiding in his own supposed innocence, met the King, +with a retinue of thirty-six persons, all of whom were hanged at +Carlenrig, near the source of the Teviot. The effect of this +severity was such, that, as the vulgar expressed it, 'the rush- +bush kept the cow,' and 'thereafter was great peace and rest a +long time, wherethrough the King had great profit; for he had ten +thousand sheep going in the Ettrick Forest in keeping by Andrew +Bell, who made the king as good count of them as they had gone in +the bounds of Fife' (Pitscottie's History, p. 153)." + + +623. Meggat's mead. The Meggat, or Megget, is a mountain stream +flowing into the Yarrow, a branch of the Etrrick, which is itself +a branch of the Tweed. The Teviot is also a branch of the Tweed. + + +627. The dales, etc. The MS. has "The dales where clans were +wont to bide." + + +634. By fate of Border chivalry. Scott says: "James was, in +fact, equally attentive to restrain rapine and feudal oppression +in every part of his dominions. 'The King past to the isles, and +there held justice courts, and punished both thief and traitor +according to their demerit. And also he caused great men to show +their holdings, wherethrough he found many of the said lands in +non-entry; the which he confiscate and brought home to his own +use, and afterwards annexed them to the crown, as ye shall hear. +Syne brought many of the great men of the isles captive with him, +such as Mudyart, M'Connel, M'Loyd of the Lewes, M'Neil, M'Lane, +M'Intosh, John Mudyart, M'Kay, M'Kenzie, with many other that I +cannot rehearse at this time. Some of them he put in ward and +some in court, and some he took pledges for good rule in time +coming. So he brought the isles, both north and south, in good +rule and peace; wherefore he had great profit, service, and +obedience of people a long time hereafter; and as long as he had +the heads of the country in subjection, they lived in great peace +and rest, and there was great riches and policy by the King's +justice' (Pitscottie, p. 152)." + + +638. Your counsel. That is, give me your counsel. Streight = +strait. + + +659. The Bleeding Heart. See on 200 above. + + +662. Quarry. See on i. 127 above. + + +672. To wife. For wife. Cf. Shakespeare, Temp. ii. 1. 75: +"such a paragon to their queen;" Rich. II. iv. 1. 306: "I have a +king here to my flatterer," etc. See also Matt. iii. 9, Luke, +iii. 8, etc. + + +674. Enow. The old plural of enough; as in Shakespeare, Hen. V. +iv. 1. 240: "we have French quarrels enow," etc. + + +678. The Links of Forth. The windings of the Forth between +Stirling and Alloa. + + +679. Stirling's porch. The gate of Stirling Castle. + + +683. Blench. Start, shrink. + + +685. Heat. Misprinted "heart" in many eds. + + +690. From pathless glen. The MS. has "from hill and glen." + + +692. There are who have. For the ellipsis, cf. Shakespeare, +Temp. ii. 1. 262: "There be that can rule Naples," etc. See also +iii. 10 below. + + +694. That beetled o'er. Cf. Hamlet, i. 4. 71: + + + "the dreadful summit of the cliff That beetles o'er his +base into the sea." + + +696. Their dangerous dream. The MS. has "their desperate +dream." + + +702. Battled. Battlemented; as in vi. 7 below. + + +703. It waved. That it waved; an ellipsis very common in +Elizabethan and earlier English. Cf. 789 below. + + +708. Astound. Astounded. This contraction of the participle +(here used for the sake of the rhyme) was formerly not uncommon +in verbs ending in d and t. Thus in Shakespeare we find the +participles bloat (Ham. iii. 4. 182), enshield (M. for M. ii. 4. +80), taint (1 Hen. VI. v. 3. 183), etc. + + +710. Crossing. Conflicting. + + +716. Ere. The 1st ed. misprints "e'er." + + +731. Level. Aim; formerly a technical term. Cf. 2 Hen. IV. +iii. 2. 286: "The foeman may with as great aim level at the edge +of a penknife," etc. + + +747. Nighted. Benighted. It is to be regarded as a contraction +of that word; like lated for belated in Macbeth, iii. 3. 6, etc. +Nighted (= dark, black) in Hamlet, i. 2. 68 ("thy nighted +colour") is an adjective formed from the noun night. + + +757. Checkered shroud. Tartain plaid. The original meaning of +shroud (see Wb.) was garment. + + +763. Parting. Departing. See on 94 above. + + +768. So deep, etc. According to Lockhart, the MS. reads: + + "The deep-toned anguish of despair + Flushed, in fierce jealousy, to air;" + +but we suspect that "Flushed" should be "Flashed." + + +774. So lately. At the "Beltane game" (319 above). + + +781. Thus as they strove, etc. The MS. reads: + + "Thus, as they strove, each better hand + Grasped for the dagger or the brand." + + +786. I hold, etc. Scott has the following note on the last page +of the 1st ed.: "The author has to apologize for the inadvertent +appropriation of a whole line from the tragedy of Douglas: 'I +hold the first who strikes my foe.'" + + +789. His daughter's hand, etc. For the ellipsis of that, see on +703 above. Deemed is often misprinted "doomed." + + +791. Sullen and slowly, etc. The MS. reads: + + "Sullen and slow the rivals bold + Loosed at his hest their desperate hold, + But either still on other glared," etc. + + +795. Brands. A pet word with Scott. Note how often it has been +used already in the poem. + + +798. As faltered. See on 601 above. + + +801. Pity 't were, etc. Scott says here: "Hardihood was in +every respect so essential to the character of a Highlander, that +the reproach of effeminacy was the most bitter which could be +thrown upon him. Yet it was sometimes hazarded on what we might +presume to think slight grounds. It is reported of old Sir Ewen +Cameron of Lochiel, when upwards of seventy, that he was +surprised by night on a hunting or military expedition. He +wrapped him in his plaid, and lay contentedly down upon the snow, +with which the ground happened to be covered. Among his +attendants, who were preparing to take their rest in the same +manner, he observed that one of his grandsons, for his better +accommodation, had rolled a large snow-ball, and placed it below +his head. The wrath of the ancient chief was awakened by a +symptom of what he conceived to be degenerate luxury. 'Out upon +thee,' said he, kicking the frozen bolster from the head which it +supported, 'art thou so effeminate as to need a pillow?' The +officer of engineers, whose curious Letters from the Highlands +have been more than once quoted, tells a similar story of +Macdonald of Keppoch, and subjoins the following remarks: 'This +and many other stories are romantick; but there is one thing, +that at first thought might seem very romantick, of which I have +been credibly assured, that when the Highlanders are constrained +to lie among the hills, in cold dry weather, they sometimes soak +the plaid in some river or burn (i.e. brook), and then holding up +a corner of it a little above their heads, they turn themselves +round and round, till they are enveloped by the whole mantle. +They then lay themselves down on the heath, upon the leeward side +of some hill, where the wet and the warmth of their bodies make a +steam, like that of a boiling kettle. The wet, they say, keeps +them warm by thickening the stuff, and keeping the wind from +penetrating. I must confess I should have been apt to question +this fact, had I not frequently seen them wet from morning to +night, and, even at the beginning of the rain, not so much as +stir a few yards to shelter, but continue in it without +necessity, till they were, as we say, wet through and through. +And that is soon effected by the looseness and spunginess of the +plaiding; but the bonnet is frequently taken off, and wrung like +a dishclout, and then put on again. They have been accustomed +from their infancy to be often wet, and to take the water like +spaniels, and this is become a second nature, and can scarcely be +called a hardship to them, insomuch that I used to say, they +seemed to be of the duck kind, and to love water as well. Though +I never saw this preparation for sleep in windy weather, yet, +setting out early in a morning from one of the huts, I have seen +the marks of their lodging, where the ground has been free from +rime or snow, which remained all round the spot where they had +lain' (Letters from Scotland, Lond. 1754, 8vo, ii. p. 108)." + + +809. His henchman. Scott quotes again the Letters from Scotland +(ii. 159): "This officer is a sort of secretary, and is to be +ready, upon all occasions, to venture his life in defence of his +master; and at drinking-bouts he stands behind his seat, at his +haunch, from whence his title is derived, and watches the +conversation, to see if any one offends his patron. An English +officer being in company with a certain chieftain, and several +other Highland gentlemen, near Killichumen, had an argument with +the great man; and both being well warmed with usky [whisky], at +last the dispute grew very hot. A youth who was henchman, not +understanding one word of English, imagined his chief was +insulted, and thereupon drew his pistol from his side, and +snapped it at the officer's head; but the pistol missed fire, +otherwise it is more than probable he might have suffered death +from the hand of that little vermin. But it is very disagreeable +to an Englishman over a bottle with the Highlanders, to see every +one of them have his gilly, that is, his servant, standing behind +him all the while, let what will be the subject of conversation." + + +829. On the morn. Modifying should circle, not the nearer verb +had sworn. + + +831. The Fiery Cross. See on iii. 18 below. + + +846. Point. Point out, appoint. Cf. Shakespeare, Sonn. 14. 6: + + "Nor can I fortune to brief minutes tell, + Pointing to each his thunder, rain, and wind." + +The word in this and similar passages is generally printed +"'point" by modern editors, but it is not a contraction of +appoint. + + +860. Then plunged, etc. The MS. has "He spoke, and plunged into +the tide." + + +862. Steered him. See on i. 142 above. + + +865, 866. Darkening ... gave. In the 1st ed. these lines are +joined to what precedes, as they evidently should be; in all the +more recent eds. they are joined to what follows. + + + + + +Canto Third. + + + + +3. Store. See on i. 548 above. + + +5. That be. in old English, besides the present tense am, etc., +there was also this form be, from the Anglo-Saxon beon. The 2d +person singular was beest. The 1st and 3d person plural be is +often found in Shakespeare and the Bible. + + +10. Yet live there still, etc. See on ii. 692 above. + + +15. What time. Cf. ii. 307 above. + + +17. The gathering sound. The sound, or signal, for the +gathering. The phrase illustrates the difference between the +participle and the verbal noun (or whatever it may be called) in +-ing. Cf. "a laboring man" and "a laboring day" (Julius Caesar, +i. 1. 4); and see our ed. of J. C. p. 126. + + +18. The Fiery Cross. Scott says here: "When a chieftain +designed to summon his clan, upon any sudden or important +emergency, he slew a goat, and making a cross of any light wood, +seared its extremities in the fire, and extinguished them in the +blood of the animal. This was called the Fiery Cross, also Crean +Tarigh, or the Cross of Shame, because disobedience to what the +symbol implied, inferred infamy. It was delivered to a swift and +trusty messenger, who ran full speed with it to the next hamlet, +where he presented it to the principal person, with a single +word, implying the place of rendezvous. He who received the +symbol was bound to send it forward, with equal despatch, to the +next village; and thus it passed with incredible celerity through +all the district which owed allegiance to the chief, and also +among his allies and neighbours, if the danger was common to +them. At sight of the Fiery Cross, every man, from sixteen years +old to sixty, capable of bearing arms, was obliged instantly to +repair, in his best arms and accoutrements, to the place of +rendezvous. He who failed to appear suffered the extremities of +fire and sword, which were emblematically denounced to the +disobedient by the bloody and burnt marks upon this warlike +signal. During the civil war of 1745-6, the Fiery Cross often +made its circuit; and upon one occasion it passed through the +whole district of Breadalbane, a tract of thirty-two miles, in +three hours. The late Alexander Stewart, Esq., of Invernahyle, +described to me his having sent round the Fiery Cross through the +district of Appine, during the same commotion. The coast was +threatened by a descent from two English trigates, and the flower +of the young men were with the army of Prince Charles Edward, +then in England; yet the summons was so effectual that even old +age and childhood obeyed it; and a force was collected in a few +hours, so numerous and so enthusiastic, that all attempt at the +intended diversion upon the country of the absent warriors was in +prudence abandoned, as desperate." + + +19. The Summer dawn's reflected hue, etc. Mr. Ruskin says +(Modern Painters, iii. 278): "And thus Nature becomes dear to +Scott in a threefold way: dear to him, first, as containing those +remains or memories of the past, which he cannot find in cities, +and giving hope of Praetorian mound or knight's grave in every +green slope and shade of its desolate places; dear, secondly, in +its moorland liberty, which has for him just as high a charm as +the fenced garden had for the mediaeval; ... and dear to him, +finally, in that perfect beauty, denied alike in cities and in +men, for which every modern heart had begun at last to thirst, +and Scott's, in its freshness and power, of all men's most +earnestly. + +"And in this love of beauty, observe that the love of colour is a +leading element, his healthy mind being incapable of losing, +under any modern false teaching, its joy in brilliancy of hue. +... In general, if he does not mean to say much about things, the +one character which he will give is colour, using it with the +most perfect mastery and faithfulness." + +After giving many illustrations of Scott's use of colour in his +poetry, Ruskin quotes the present passage, which he says is +"still more interesting, because it has no form in it at all +except in one word (chalice), but wholly composes its imagery +either of colour, or of that delicate half-believed life which we +have seen to be so important an element in modern landscape." + +"Two more considerations," he adds, "are, however, suggested by +the above passage. The first, that the love of natural history, +excited by the continual attention now given to all wild +landscape, heightens reciprocally the interest of that landscape, +and becomes an important element in Scott's description, leading +him to finish, down to the minutest speckling of breast, and +slightest shade of attributed emotion, the portraiture of birds +and animals; in strange opposition to Homer's slightly named +'sea-crows, who have care of the works of the sea,' and Dante's +singing-birds, of undefined species. Compare carefully the 2d +and 3d stanzas of Rokeby. + +"The second point I have to note is Scott's habit of drawing a +slight moral from every scene, ... and that this slight moral is +almost always melancholy. Here he has stopped short without +entirely expressing it: + + "The mountain-shadows .. + ..................... lie + Like future joys to Fancy's eye.' + +His completed thought would be, that these future joys, like the +mountain-shadows, were never to be attained. It occurs fully +uttered in many other places. He seems to have been constantly +rebuking his own worldly pride and vanity, but never +purposefully: + + 'The foam-globes on her eddies ride, + Thick as the schemes of human pride + That down life's current drive amain, + As frail, as frothy, and as vain.'" + +Ruskin adds, among other illustrations, the reference to +"foxglove and nightshade" in i. 218, 219 above. + + +28. Like future joys, etc. This passage, quoted by Ruskin +above, also illustrates what is comparatively rare in figurative +language-- taking the immaterial to exemplify the material. The +latter is constantly used to symbolize or elucidate the former; +but one would have to search long in our modern poetry to find a +dozen instances where, as here, the relation is reversed. Cf. +639 below. We have another example in the second passage quoted +by Ruskin. Cf. also Tennyson's + + "thousand wreaths of dangling water-smoke, + That like a broken purpose waste in air;" + +and Shelly's + + "Our boat is asleep on Serchio's stream; + Its sails are folded like thoughts in a dream." + + +30. Reared. The 1st ed. has "oped." + + +32. After this line the MS. has the couplet, + + "Invisible in fleecy cloud, + The lark sent down her matins loud," + +which reappears in altered form below. + + +33. Gray mist. The MS. has "light mist." + + +38. Good-morrow gave, etc. Cf. Byron, Childe Harold: + + "and the bills + Of summer-birds sing welcome as ye pass." + + +39. Cushat dove. Ring-dove. + + +46. His impatient blade. Note the "transferred epithet." It is +not the blade that is impatient. + + +47. Beneath a rock, etc. The MS. reads: + + "Hard by, his vassals' early care + The mystic ritual prepare." + + +50. Antiquity. The men of old; "the abstract for the concrete." + + +59. With her broad shadow, etc. Cf. Longfellow, Maidenhood: + + "Seest thou shadows sailing by, + As the dove, with startled eye, + Sees the falcon's shadow fly?" + + +62. Rowan. The mountain-ash. + + +71. That monk, of savage form and face. Scott says here: "The +state of religion in the middle ages afforded considerable +facilities for those whose mode of life excluded them from +regular worship, to secure, nevertheless, the ghostly assistance +of confessors, perfectly willing to adapt the nature of their +doctrine to the necessities and peculiar circumstances of their +flock. Robin Hood, it is well known, had his celebrated domestic +chaplain Friar Tuck. And that same curtal friar was probably +matched in manners and appearance by the ghostly fathers of the +Tynedale robbers, who are thus described in an excommunication +fulminated against their patrons by Richard Fox, Bishop of +Durham, tempore Henrici VIII.: 'We have further understood, that +there are many chaplains in the said territories of Tynedale and +Redesdale, who are public and open maintainers of concubinage, +irregular, suspended, excommunicated, and interdicted persons, +and withal so utterly ignorant of letters, that it has been found +by those who objected this to them, that there were some who, +having celebrated mass for ten years, were still unable to read +the sacramental service. We have also understood there are +persons among them who, although not ordained, do take upon them +the offices of priesthood, and, in contempt of God, celebrate the +divine and sacred rites, and administer the sacraments, not only +in sacred and dedicated places, but in those which are prophane +and interdicted, and most wretchedly ruinous, they themselves +being attired in ragged, torn, and most filthy vestments, +altogether unfit to be used in divine, or even in temporal +offices. The which said chaplains do administer sacraments and +sacramental rites to the aforesaid manifest and infamous thieves, +robbers, depredators, receivers of stolen goods, and plunderers, +and that without restitution, or intention to restore, as evinced +by the act; and do also openly admit them to the rites of +ecclesiastical sepulchre, without exacting security for +restitution, although they are prohibited from doing so by the +sacred canons, as well as by the institutes of the saints and +fathers. All which infers the heavy peril of their own souls, +and is a pernicious example to the other believers in Christ, as +well as no slight, but an aggravated injury, to the numbers +despoiled and plundered of their goods, gear, herds, and +chattels.'" + + +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 +œ500 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. + +'In the year before the great rebellion, two young men from +Newcastle were sporting on the high moors above Eldson, and after +pursuing their game several hours, sat down to dine in a green +glen near one of the mountain streams. After their repast, the +younger lad ran to the brook for water, and after stooping to +drink, was surprised, on lifting his head again, by the +appearance of a brown dwarf, who stood on a crag covered with +brackens, across the burn. This extraordinary personage did not +appear to be above half the stature of a common man, but was +uncommonly stout and broad-built, having the appearance of vast +strength. His dress was entirely brown, the color of the +brackens, and his head covered with frizzled red hair. His +countenance was expressive of the most savage ferocity, and his +eyes glared like a bull. It seems he addressed the young man +first, threatening him with his vengeance for having trespassed +on his demesnes, and asking him if he knew in whose presence he +stood? The youth replied that he now supposed him to be the lord +of the moors; that he offended through ignorance; and offered to +bring him the game he had killed. The dwarf was a little +mollified by this submission, but remarked that nothing could be +more offensive to him than such an offer, as he considered the +wild animals as his subjects, and never failed to avenge their +destruction. He condescended further to inform him that he was, +like himself, mortal, though of years far exceeding the lot of +common humanity, and (what I should not have had an idea of) that +he hoped for salvation. He never, he added, fed on anything that +had life, but lived in the summer on whortleberries, and in +winter on nuts and apples, of which he had great store in the +woods. Finally, he invited his new acquaintance to accompany him +home and partake his hospitality, an offer which the youth was on +the point of accepting, and was just going to spring across the +brook (which if he had done, says Elizabeth, the dwarf would +certainly have torn him in pieces), when his foot was arrested by +the voice of his companion, who thought he had tarried long, and +on looking round again, "the wee brown man was fled." The story +adds that he was imprudent enough to slight the admonition, and +to sport over the moors on his way homewards, but soon after his +return he fell into a lingering disorder, and died within the +year'" (Scott). + + +302. Our moonlight circle's. The MS. has "Our fairy ringlet's." + + +306. The fairies' fatal green. "As the Daoine Shi', or Men of +Peace, wore green habits, they were supposed to take offence when +any mortals ventured to assume their favorite color. Indeed, +from some reason, which has been, perhaps originally a general +superstition, green is held in Scotland to be unlucky to +particular tribes and counties. The Caithness men, who hold this +belief, allege as a reason that their bands wore that color when +they were cut off at the battle of Flodden; and for the same +reason they avoid crossing the Ord on a Monday, being the day of +the week on which their ill-omened array set forth. Green is +also disliked by those of the name of Ogilvy; but more especially +it is held fatal to the whole clan of Grahame. It is remembered +of an aged gentleman of that name that when his horse fell in a +fox-chase, he accounted for it at once by observing that the +whipcord attached to his lash was of this unlucky color" (Scott). + + +308. Wert christened man. Scott says: "The Elves were supposed +greatly to envy the privileges acquired by Christian initiation, +and they gave to those mortals who had fallen into their power a +certain precedence, founded upon this advantageous distinction. +Tamlane, in the old ballad, describes his own rank in the fairy +procession: + + 'For I ride on a milk-white steed, + And aye nearest the town; + Because I was a christen'd knight, + They give me that renown.'" + + +312. The curse of the sleepless eye. Cf. Macbeth, i. 3. 19: + + "Sleep shall neither night nor day + Hang upon his pent-house lid," etc. + + +313. Part. Depart. See on ii. 94 above. + + +322. Grisly. See on i. 704 above. + + +330. Kindly. Kindred, natural. See Wb., and cf. Shakespeare, +Much Ado, iv. 1. 75: + + "that fatherly and kindly power + That you have in her," etc. + + +345. All is glistening show. "No fact respecting Fairy-land +seems to be better ascertained than the fantastic and illusory +nature of their apparent pleasure and splendour. It has been +already noticed in the former quotations from Dr. Grahame's +entertaining volume, and may be confirmed by the following +Highland tradition:--'A woman, whose new-born child had been +conveyed by them into their secret abodes, was also carried +thither herself, to remain, however, only until she should suckle +her infant. She one day, during this period, observed the +Shi'ichs busily employed in mixing various ingredients in a +boiling caldron, and as soon as the composition was prepared, she +remarked that they all carefully anointed their eyes with it, +laying the remainder aside for future use. In a moment when they +were all absent, she also attempted to anoint her eyes with the +precious drug, but had time to apply it to one eye only, when the +Daoine Shi' returned. But with that eye she was henceforth +enabled to see everything as it really passed in their secret +abodes; she saw every object, not as she hitherto had done, in +deceptive splendour and elegance, but in its genuine colours and +form. The gaudy ornaments of the apartment were reduced to the +walls of a gloomy cavern. Soon after, having discharged her +office, she was dismissed to her own home. Still, however, she +retained the faculty of seeing, with her medicated eye, +everything that was done, anywhere in her presence, by the +deceptive art of the order. One day, amidst a throng of people, +she chanced to observe the Shi'ich, or man of peace, in whose +possession she had left her child, though to every other eye +invisible. Prompted by maternal affection, she inadvertently +accosted him, and began to inquire after the welfare of her +child. The man of peace, astonished at being thus recognized by +one of mortal race, demanded how she had been enabled to discover +him. Awed by the terrible frown of his countenance, she +acknowledged what she had done. He spat in her eye, and +extinguished it for ever.' + +"It is very remarkable that this story, translated by Dr. Grahame +from popular Gaelic tradition, is to be found in the Otia +Imperialia of Gervase of Tilbury. [FN #10] A work of great +interest might be compiled upon the original of popular fiction, +and the transmission of similar tales from age to age, and from +country to country. The mythology of one period would then appear +to pass into the romance of the next century, and that into the +nursery tale of the subsequent ages. Such an investigation, +while it went greatly to diminish our ideas of the richness of +human invention, would also show that these fictions, however +wild and childish, possess such charms for the populace as enable +them to penetrate into countries unconnected by manners and +language, and having no apparent intercourse to afford the means +of transmission. It would carry me far beyond my bounds to +produce instances of fable among nations who never borrowed from +each other any thing intrinsically worth learning. Indeed the +wide diffusion of popular factions may be compared to the +facility with which straws and feathers are dispersed abroad by +the wind, while valuable metals cannot be transported without +trouble and labour. There lives, I believe, only one gentleman +whose unlimited acquaintance with this subject might enable him +to do it justice,--I mean my friend Mr. Francis Douce, of the +British Museum, whose usual kindness will, I hope, pardon my +mentioning his name while on a subject so closely connected with +his extensive and curious researches" (Scott). + + +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 English- +men's hands, contrary her son the King, and any six in Scotland +that he would wale, either gentlemen or yeomen, that the English- +men 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. [FN#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. +[FN#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 œ30 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 [FN#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. [FN#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. [FN#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: + + + + +[FN#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. + +[FN#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!'" + +[FN#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. + +[FN#4] "Sir Walter reigned before me," etc. (Don Juan, xi. 57). + +[FN#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. + +[FN#6] Vide Certayne Matters concerning the Realme of Scotland, +etc., as they were Anno Domini 1597. London, 1603. + +[FN#7] See on ii. 319 above. + +[FN#8] Hallowe'en. + +[FN#9] To the raven that sat on the forked tree he gave his +gifts. + +[FN#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). + +[FN#11] See Scottish Historical and Romantic Ballads, Glasgow, +1808, vol. ii. p. 117. + + +[FN#12] A champion of popular romance; see Ellis's Romances, +vol. iii. + +[FN#13] "That at the eastern extremity of Loch Katrine, so often +mentioned in the text." + + +[FN#14] "Beallach an duine." + + +[FN#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). + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Lady of the Lake +by Sir Walter Scott + diff --git a/old/llake10.zip b/old/llake10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..03583a9 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/llake10.zip |