Chapter XXIX (4)

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.