Chapter 3: Canto Third

3. Store. See on i. 548 above.

5. That be. in old English, besides the present tense am, etc., therewas also this form be, from the Anglo-Saxon beon. The 2d person singularwas beest. The 1st and 3d person plural be is often found in Shakespeareand 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. Thephrase illustrates the difference between the participle and the verbalnoun (or whatever it may be called) in -ing. Cf. "a laboring man" and "alaboring 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 tosummon his clan, upon any sudden or important emergency, he slew a goat,and making a cross of any light wood, seared its extremities in thefire, and extinguished them in the blood of the animal. This was calledthe Fiery Cross, also Crean Tarigh, or the Cross of Shame, becausedisobedience to what the symbol implied, inferred infamy. It wasdelivered to a swift and trusty messenger, who ran full speed with it tothe next hamlet, where he presented it to the principal person, witha single word, implying the place of rendezvous. He who received thesymbol was bound to send it forward, with equal despatch, to the nextvillage; and thus it passed with incredible celerity through all thedistrict which owed allegiance to the chief, and also among his alliesand neighbours, if the danger was common to them. At sight of the FieryCross, every man, from sixteen years old to sixty, capable ofbearing arms, was obliged instantly to repair, in his best arms andaccoutrements, to the place of rendezvous. He who failed to appearsuffered the extremities of fire and sword, which were emblematicallydenounced to the disobedient by the bloody and burnt marks upon thiswarlike signal. During the civil war of 1745-6, the Fiery Cross oftenmade its circuit; and upon one occasion it passed through the wholedistrict of Breadalbane, a tract of thirty-two miles, in three hours.The late Alexander Stewart, Esq., of Invernahyle, described to me hishaving sent round the Fiery Cross through the district of Appine, duringthe same commotion. The coast was threatened by a descent from twoEnglish trigates, and the flower of the young men were with the army ofPrince Charles Edward, then in England; yet the summons was so effectualthat even old age and childhood obeyed it; and a force was collected ina few hours, so numerous and so enthusiastic, that all attempt atthe intended diversion upon the country of the absent warriors was inprudence abandoned, as desperate."

19. The Summer dawn's reflected hue, etc. Mr. Ruskin says (ModernPainters, iii. 278): "And thus Nature becomes dear to Scott in athreefold way: dear to him, first, as containing those remains ormemories of the past, which he cannot find in cities, and giving hope ofPraetorian mound or knight's grave in every green slope and shade of itsdesolate places; dear, secondly, in its moorland liberty, which has forhim 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 citiesand 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 aleading element, his healthy mind being incapable of losing, under anymodern false teaching, its joy in brilliancy of hue. ... In general, ifhe does not mean to say much about things, the one character whichhe will give is colour, using it with the most perfect mastery andfaithfulness."

After giving many illustrations of Scott's use of colour in hispoetry, Ruskin quotes the present passage, which he says is "still moreinteresting, because it has no form in it at all except in one word(chalice), but wholly composes its imagery either of colour, or of thatdelicate half-believed life which we have seen to be so important anelement in modern landscape."

"Two more considerations," he adds, "are, however, suggested by theabove passage. The first, that the love of natural history, excitedby the continual attention now given to all wild landscape, heightensreciprocally the interest of that landscape, and becomes an importantelement in Scott's description, leading him to finish, down to theminutest speckling of breast, and slightest shade of attributed emotion,the portraiture of birds and animals; in strange opposition to Homer'sslightly named 'sea-crows, who have care of the works of the sea,' andDante's singing-birds, of undefined species. Compare carefully the 2dand 3d stanzas of Rokeby.

"The second point I have to note is Scott's habit of drawing a slightmoral from every scene,... and that this slight moral is almost alwaysmelancholy. 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 themountain-shadows, were never to be attained. It occurs fully utteredin many other places. He seems to have been constantly rebuking his ownworldly 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 andnightshade" in i. 218, 219 above.

28. Like future joys, etc. This passage, quoted by Ruskin above, alsoillustrates what is comparatively rare in figurative language—takingthe immaterial to exemplify the material. The latter is constantly usedto symbolize or elucidate the former; but one would have to searchlong in our modern poetry to find a dozen instances where, as here,the relation is reversed. Cf. 639 below. We have another example in thesecond 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 theblade 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 ofreligion in the middle ages afforded considerable facilities for thosewhose mode of life excluded them from regular worship, to secure,nevertheless, the ghostly assistance of confessors, perfectly willingto adapt the nature of their doctrine to the necessities and peculiarcircumstances of their flock. Robin Hood, it is well known, had hiscelebrated domestic chaplain Friar Tuck. And that same curtal friar wasprobably matched in manners and appearance by the ghostly fathers ofthe Tynedale robbers, who are thus described in an excommunicationfulminated against their patrons by Richard Fox, Bishop of Durham,tempore Henrici VIII.: 'We have further understood, that there are manychaplains in the said territories of Tynedale and Redesdale, who arepublic and open maintainers of concubinage, irregular, suspended,excommunicated, and interdicted persons, and withal so utterly ignorantof letters, that it has been found by those who objected this to them,that there were some who, having celebrated mass for ten years, werestill unable to read the sacramental service. We have also understoodthere are persons among them who, although not ordained, do take uponthem the offices of priesthood, and, in contempt of God, celebrate thedivine and sacred rites, and administer the sacraments, not onlyin sacred and dedicated places, but in those which are prophane andinterdicted, and most wretchedly ruinous, they themselves being attiredin ragged, torn, and most filthy vestments, altogether unfit to be usedin divine, or even in temporal offices. The which said chaplains doadminister sacraments and sacramental rites to the aforesaid manifestand 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 ofecclesiastical sepulchre, without exacting security for restitution,although they are prohibited from doing so by the sacred canons, as wellas by the institutes of the saints and fathers. All which infers theheavy peril of their own souls, and is a pernicious example to the otherbelievers in Christ, as well as no slight, but an aggravated injury,to the numbers despoiled and plundered of their goods, gear, herds, andchattels.'"

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 fromheathen 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 smallstream, 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 isnot of his invention, and goes on to show that it is taken with slightvariation from "the geographical collections made by the Laird ofMacfarlane."

102. Bucklered. Served as a buckler to, shielded.

114. Snood. Cf. i. 363 above. Scott has the following note here: "Thesnood, or riband, with which as Scottish lass braided her hair, had anemblematical signification, and applied to her maiden character. It wasexchanged for the curch, toy, or coif, when she passed, by marriage,into the matron state. But if the damsel was so unfortunate as to losepretensions to the name of maiden, without gaining a right to that ofmatron, she was neither permitted to use the snood, nor advanced to thegraver dignity of the curch. In old Scottish songs there occur many slyallusions 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 "oldEnglish" form of letter, used in the earliest English manuscripts andbooks.

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 legendconcerning the birth of the Founder of the Church of Kilmallie, theauthor has endeavored to trace the effects which such a belief waslikely 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, orthat mixture of both which forms a more frequent character than eitherof them, as existing separately. In truth, mad persons are frequentlymore anxious to impress upon others a faith in their visions, than theyare themselves confirmed in their reality; as, on the other hand, itis difficult for the most cool-headed impostor long to personate anenthusiast, without in some degree believing what he is so eager to havebelieved. It was a natural attribute of such a character as the supposedhermit, that he should credit the numerous superstitions with which theminds of ordinary Highlanders are almost always imbued. A few of theseare 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 theLowlands, an evil and malicious spirit, delighting to forebode and towitness calamity. He frequents most Highland lakes and rivers; and oneof his most memorable exploits was performed upon the banks of LochVennachar, in the very district which forms the scene of our action:it consisted in the destruction of a funeral procession, with all itsattendants. The 'noontide hag,' called in Gaelic Glas-lich, a tall,emaciated, gigantic female figure, is supposed in particular to hauntthe district of Knoidart. A goblin dressed in antique armor, and havingone 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 indisposition, are believed to frequent different mountains and glens ofthe Highlands, where any unusual appearance, produced by mist, or thestrange lights that are sometimes thrown upon particular objects, neverfails to present an apparition to the imagination of the solitary andmelancholy mountaineer."

161. Mankind. Accented on the first syllable; as it is almost invariablyin Shakespeare, except in Timon of Athens, where the modern accentprevails. Milton uses either accent, as suits the measure. We find bothin P. L. viii. 358: "Above mankind, or aught than mankind higher."

166. Alpine's. Some eds. misprint "Alpine;" also "horsemen" in 172below.

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 Highlandswere supposed to have a tutelar, or rather a domestic, spirit, attachedto them, who took an interest in their prosperity, and intimated, by itswailings, any approaching disaster. That of Grant of Grant was calledMay Moullach, and appeared in the form of a girl, who had her armcovered with hair. Grant of Rothiemurcus had an attendant calledBodach-an-dun, or the Ghost of the Hill; and many other examples mightbe mentioned. The Ben-Shie implies the female fairy whose lamentationswere often supposed to precede the death of a chieftain of particularfamilies. When she is visible, it is in the form of an old woman, witha blue mantle and streaming hair. A superstition of the same kind is, Ibelieve, universally received by the inferior ranks of the native Irish.

"The death of the head of a Highland family is also sometimes supposedto be announced by a chain of lights of different colours, calledDr'eug, or death of the Druid. The direction which it takes marks theplace of the funeral." [See the Essay on Fairy Superstitions in Scott'sBorder Minstrelsy.]

169. Sounds, too, had come, etc. Scott says: "A presage of the kindalluded to in the text, is still believed to announce death to theancient Highland family of M'Lean of Lochbuy. The spirit of an ancestorslain in battle is heard to gallop along a stony bank, and then to ridethrice around the family residence, ringing his fairy bridle, and thusintimating the approaching calamity. How easily the eye as well as theear may be deceived upon such occasions, is evident from the storiesof armies in the air, and other spectral phenomena with which historyabounds. Such an apparition is said to have been witnessed upon the sideof Southfell mountain, between Penrith and Keswick, upon the 23d June,1744, by two persons, William Lancaster of Blakehills, and DanielStricket his servant, whose attestation to the fact, with a full accountof the apparition, dated the 21st of July, 1745, is printed in Clarke'sSurvey of the Lakes. The apparition consisted of several troops of horsemoving in regular order, with a steady rapid motion, making a curvedsweep around the fell, and seeming to the spectators to disappear overthe ridge of the mountain. Many persons witnessed this phenomenon, andobserved the last, or last but one, of the supposed troop, occasionallyleave his rank, and pass, at a gallop, to the front, when he resumed thesteady pace. The curious appearance, making the necessary allowancefor imagination, may be perhaps sufficiently accounted for by opticaldeception."

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, orof Old Women, is a most beautiful island at the lower extremity of LochLomond. The church belonging to the former nunnery was long used as theplace of worship for the parish of Buchanan, but scarce any vestiges ofit now remain. The burial-ground continues to be used, and contains thefamily places of sepulture of several neighboring clans. The monumentsof the lairds of Macgregor, and of other families claiming a descentfrom the old Scottish King Alpine, are most remarkable. The Highlandersare as zealous of their rights of sepulture as may be expected from apeople whose whole laws and government, if clanship can be called so,turned upon the single principle of family descent. 'May his ashesbe scattered on the water,' was one of the deepest and most solemnimprecations which they used against an enemy." [See a detaileddescription of the funeral ceremonies of a Highland chieftain in theFair 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. ofShakespeare, we find struck, stroke, and strook (or strooke) for thepast 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 heregives 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 thisstanza is very impressive; the mingling of the children's curses is theclimax of horror. Note the meaning of the triple curse. The cross is ofancestral yew—the defaulter is cut off from communion with his clan; itis sealed in the fire—the fire shall destroy his dwelling; it is dippedin 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 ofBenvenue from the Goblin's Cave; "a magnificent glade, overhung withbirch-trees, by which the cattle, taken in forays, were conveyed withinthe protection of the Trosachs" (Black).

279. This sign. That is, the cross. To all, which we should not expectwith bought, was apparently suggested by the antithetical to him in thepreceding line; but if all the editions did not read bought, we mightsuspect 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 spotdecreed."

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 theHighlanders is made of half-dried leather, with holes to admit and letout the water; for walking the moors dry-shod is a matter altogetherout of the question. The ancient buskin was still ruder, being made ofundressed deer's hide, with the hair outwards,—a circumstance whichprocured the Highlanders the well-known epithet of Red-shanks.The process is very accurately described by one Elder (himself aHighlander), in the project for a union between England and Scotland,addressed to Henry VIII.: 'We go a-hunting, and after that we have slainred-deer, we flay off the skin by and by, and setting of our barefooton the inside thereof, for want of cunning shoemakers, by your grace'spardon, we play the cobblers, compassing and measuring so much thereofas shall reach up to our ankles, pricking the upper part thereof withholes, that the water may repass where it enters, and stretching it upwith a strong thong of the same above our said ankles. So, and pleaseyour noble grace, we make our shoes. Therefore, we using such mannerof shoes, the rough hairy side outwards, in your grace's dominions ofEngland, 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) speaksof "the questing of memory."

310. Scaur. Cliff, precipice; the same word as scar. Cf. Tennyson'sBugle Song: "O sweet and far, from cliff and scar;" and in the Idyls ofthe 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 thestarting of the Fiery Cross bears more marks of labor than most of Mr.Scott's poetry, and borders, perhaps, on straining and exaggeration; yetit 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 andPanther, iii. 437: "Till frowning skies began to change their cheer,"etc.

333. His scythe. The reading of the 1st and other early eds.; "thescythe" in more recent ones.

342. Alas, thou lovely lake! etc. "Observe Scott's habit of looking atnature, neither as dead, nor merely material, nor as altered by hisown feelings; but as having an animation and pathos of its own, whollyirrespective of human passion—an animation which Scott loves andsympathizes with, as he would with a fellow creature, forgetting himselfaltogether, and subduing his own humanity before what seems to him thepower of the landscape.... Instead of making Nature anywise subordinateto himself, he makes himself subordinate to HER—follows her leadsimply—does not venture to bring his own cares and thoughts into herpure 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 andhealthier" (Ruskin).

344. Bosky. Bushy, woody. Cf. Milton, Comus, 313: "And every bosky bournfrom side to side;" Shakespeare, Temp. iv. i. 81: "My bosky acres and myunshrubb'd down," etc.

347. Seems for the scene, etc. The MS. has "Seems all too lively and tooloud."

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 thisconstruction.

357. The funeral yell, etc. The MS. has "'T is woman's scream, 't ischildhood's wail."

Yell may at first seem too strong a word here, but it is in keeping withthe people and the times described. Besides Scott was familiar with oldEnglish poetry, in which it was often used where a modern writer wouldchoose another word. Cf. Surrey, Virgil's AEneid: "With wailing greatand 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;" correctedin the Errata to read as in the text. Most eds. print "torches' ray."

369. Coronach. Scott has the following note here: "The Coronach of theHighlanders, like the Ululatus of the Romans, and the Ululoo of theIrish, was a wild expression of lamentation, poured forth by themourners over the body of a departed friend. When the words of it werearticulate, they expressed the praises of the deceased, and the loss theclan would sustain by his death. The following is a lamentation of thiskind, literally translated from the Gaelic, to some of the ideas ofwhich the text stands indebted. The tune is so popular that it has sincebecome 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 bythe use of the bagpipe; and that also is, like many other Highlandpeculiarities, falling into disuse, unless in remote districts."

370. He is gone, etc. As Taylor remarks, the metre of this dirge seemsto be amphibrachic; that is, made up of feet, or metrical divisions,of three syllables, the second of which is accented. Some of the linesappear to be anapestic (made up of trisyllabic feet, with the lastsyllable 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 asuperfluous unaccented syllable at the beginning of the line. Tayloradds: "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: "Thusfade 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 thyhest," etc.

452. Benledi saw the Cross of Fire, etc. Scott says here: "Inspectionof the provincial map of Perthshire, or any large map of Scotland, willtrace the progress of the signal through the small district of lakes andmountains, which, in exercise of my imaginary chieftain, and which, atthe period of my romance, was really occupied by a clan who claimed adescent from Alpine,—a clan the most unfortunate and most persecuted,but neither the least distinguished, least powerful, nor least brave ofthe tribes of the Gael.

"The first stage of the Fiery Cross is to Duncraggan, a place nearthe Brigg of Turk, where a short stream divides Loch Achray from LochVennachar. From thence, it passes towards Callander, and then, turningto the left up the pass of Leny, is consigned to Norman at the Chapel ofSaint Bride, which stood on a small and romantic knoll in the middle ofthe valley, called Strath-Ire. Tombea and Arnandave, or Adrmandave,are names of places in the vicinity. The alarm is then supposed to passalong the Lake of Lubnaig, and through the various glens in the districtof Balquidder, including the neighboring tracts of Glenfinlas andStrath-Gartney."

453. Strath-Ire. This valley connects Lochs Voil and Lubnaig. TheChapel of Saint Bride is about half a mile from the southern end of LochLubnaig, on the banks of the River Leny, a branch of the Teith (hence"Teith's young waters"). The churchyard, with a few remains of thechapel, 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 insympathy with the movement of the waters—a poetic expression of whatevery one has felt when looking into a "dizzily dancing" stream.

478. That morning-tide. That morning time. Tide in this sense is nowused only in a few poetic compounds like eventide, springtide, etc. Seeiv. 59 below. For its former use, cf. Spenser, F. Q. i. 2. 29: "and resttheir weary limbs a tide;" Id. iii. 6. 21: "that mine may be your paineanother tide," etc. See also Scott's Lay, vi. 50: "Me lists not at thistide declare."

483. Bridal. Bridal party; used as a collective noun.

485. Coif-clad. Wearing the coif, or curch. See on 114 above; as alsofor 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 acovering for the head. Some eds. print "'kerchief," as if the word werea 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 thehand."

528. Lugnaig's lake. loch Lubnaig is about four miles long and a milebroad, hemmed in by steep, and rugged mountains. The view of Benledifrom the lake is peculiarly grand and impressive.

530. The sickening pang, etc. Cf. The Lord of the Isles, vi. 1: "Theheartsick 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 thepoem, 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, theburial-place of Rob Roy and the scene of many of his exploits. The Braesextend along the north side of the lake and of the Balvaig which flowsinto it.

Scott says here: "It may be necessary to inform the Southern reader thatthe heath on the Scottish moorlands is often set fire to, that the sheepmay have the advantage of the young herbage produced, in room of thetough old heather plants. This custom (execrated by sportsmen) producesoccasionally the most beautiful nocturnal appearances, similar almost tothe discharge of a volcano. This simile is not new to poetry. The chargeof a warrior, in the fine ballad of Hardyknute, is said to be 'like fireto heather set.'"

575. Nor faster speeds it, etc. "The eager fidelity with which thisfatal signal is hurried on and obeyed, is represented with great spiritand 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 apart of it. The epithets sullen and still are peculiarly appropriate tothis valley. "Few places in Scotland have such an air of solitude andremoteness 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. 528above.

600. No law but Roderick Dhu's command. Scott has the following notehere:

"The deep and implicit respect paid by the Highland clansmen to theirchief, rendered this both a common and a solemn oath. In other respects,they were like most savage nations, capricious in their ideas concerningthe obligatory power of oaths. One solemn mode of swearing was bykissing the dirk, imprecating upon themselves death by that, or asimilar weapon, if they broke their vow. But for oaths in the usualform, they are said to have had little respect. As for the reverencedue to the chief, it may be guessed from the following odd example of aHighland point of honour:

'The clan whereto the above-mentioned tribe belongs, is the only oneI have heard of which is without a chief; that is, being divided intofamilies, under several chieftains, without any particular patriarchof the whole name. And this is a great reproach, as may appear from anaffair that fell out at my table, in the Highlands, between one of thatname and a Cameron. The provocation given by the latter was, "Name yourchief." The return of it at once was, "You are a fool." They went outnext morning, but having early notice of it, I sent a small party ofsoldiers after them, which, in all probability, prevented some barbarousmischief that might have ensued; for the chiefless Highlander, whois himself a petty chieftain, was going to the place appointed with asmall-sword and pistol, whereas the Cameron (an old man) took with himonly his broadsword, according to the agreement.

'When all was over, and I had, at least seemingly, reconciled them, Iwas told the words, of which I seemed to think but slightly, were,to one of the clan, the greatest of all provocations' (Letters fromScotland, vol. ii. p. 221)."

604. Menteith. See on i. 89 above.

607. Rednock. The ruins of Rednock Castle are about two miles to thenorth of Loch Menteith, on the road to Callander. Cardross Castle (inwhich Robert Bruce died) was on the banks of the Clyde, a few milesbelow Dumbarton. Duchray Castle is a mile south of Lochard. Loch Con, orChon, is a lakelet, about three miles northwest from Lochard (into whichit 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 isa very steep and most romantic hollow in the mountain of Benvenue,overhanging the southeastern extremity of Loch Katrine. It is surroundedwith stupendous rocks, and overshadowed with birch-trees, mingled withoaks, the spontaneous production of the mountain, even where its cliffsappear denuded of soil. A dale in so wild a situation, and amid apeople whose genius bordered on the romantic, did not remain withoutappropriate deities. The name literally implies the Corri, or Den, ofthe Wild or Shaggy Men. Perhaps this, as conjectured by Mr. AlexanderCampbell (Journey from Edinburgh, 1802, p. 109), may have originallyonly implied its being the haunt of a ferocious banditti. But traditionhas ascribed to the Urisk, who gives name to the cavern, a figurebetween a goat and a man; in short, however much the classical readermay be startled, precisely that of the Grecian Satyr. The Urisk seemsnot to have inherited, with the form, the petulance of the silvan deityof the classics; his occupation, on the contrary, resembled those ofMilton's Lubbar Fiend, or of the Scottish Brownie, though he differedfrom both in name and appearance. 'The Urisks,' says Dr. Graham, 'were asort of lubberly supernaturals, who, like the Brownies, could be gainedover by kind attention to perform the drudgery of the farm, and itwas believed that many families in the Highlands had one of the orderattached to it. They were supposed to be dispersed over the Highlands,each in his own wild recess, but the solemn stated meetings of the orderwere regularly held in this Cave of Benvenue. This current superstition,no doubt, alludes to some circumstance in the ancient history of thiscountry' (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 andnarrow cavity, among huge fragments of rocks rudely piled together. Butsuch a scene is liable to convulsions of nature which a Lowlander cannotestimate, and which may have choked up what was originally a cavern. Atleast the name and tradition warrant the author of a fictitious tale toassert its having been such at the remote period in which this scene islaid."

639. With such a glimpse, etc. See on 28 above.

641. Still. Stillness; the adjective used substantively, for the sake ofthe rhyme.

656. Satyrs. "The Urisk, or Highland satyr" (Scott).

664. Beal-nam-bo. See on 255 above; and for the measure of the firsthalf 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 asabsolute in his patriarchal authority as any prince, had a correspondingnumber of officers attached to his person. He had his body-guards,called Luichttach, picked from his clan for strength, activity, andentire devotion to his person. These, according to their deserts, weresure to share abundantly in the rude profusion of his hospitality. It isrecorded, for example, by tradition, that Allan MacLean, chief of thatclan, happened upon a time to hear one of these favorite retainersobserve to his comrade, that their chief grew old. 'Whence do you inferthat?' replied the other. 'When was it,' rejoined the first, 'that asolider of Allan's was obliged, as I am now, not only to eat the fleshfrom the bone, but even to tear off the inner skin, or filament?' Thehint was quite sufficient, and MacLean next morning, to relieve hisfollowers from such dire necessity, undertook an inroad on the mainland,the ravage of which altogether effaced the memory of his formerexpeditions for the like purpose.

"Our officer of Engineers, so often quoted, has given us a distinct listof the domestic officers who, independent of Luichttach, or gardes decorps, belonged to the establishment of a Highland chief. These are,1. The Henchman. 2. The Bard. See preceding notes. 3. Bladier, orspokesman. 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, whocarries the bagpipe (Letters from Scotland, vol. ii. p. 158). Althoughthis appeared, naturally enough, very ridiculous to an English officer,who considered the master of such a retinue as no more than an Englishgentleman of £500 a year, yet in the circumstances of the chief, whosestrength and importance consisted in the number and attachment of hisfollowers, it was of the last consequence, in point of policy, to havein his gift subordinate offices, which called immediately round hisperson those who were most devoted to him, and, being of value in theirestimation, 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 therhymes 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 arethe 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.