Chapter 4: Canto Fourth · The Lady of the Lake · E-reader mode

2. And hope, etc. The MS. has "And rapture dearest when obscured byfears."

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 fromthe forrest wildings he did bring," etc. Whom is used on account of thepersonification.

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 Castleof that name, the ruins of which still form a majestic pile on the steepbanks of the Teith. It figures in Waverley as the place where the herowas confined by the Highlanders.

Boune. Prepared, ready; a Scottish word. Cf. 157 and vi. 396 below.

42. Bide. Endure; not to be printed 'bide, as if a contraction ofabide. Cf. Shakespeare, Lear, iii. 4. 29: "That bide the pelting of thispitiless storm," etc.

Bout. Turn (of fortune).

Repair. That is, to repair.

55. 'T is well advised. Well thought of, well planned. Cf. advisedcareful, well considered; as in M. of V. i. 1. 142: "with more advisedwatch," etc.

The MS. reads:

"'Tis well advised—a prudent plan, Worthy the father of his clan."

Evening-tide. See on iii. 478 above.

63. The Taghairm. Scott says here: "The Highlanders, like all rudepeople, had various superstitious modes of inquiring into futurity. Oneof the most noted was the Taghairm, mentioned in the text. A person waswrapped up in the skin of a newly-slain bullock, and deposited besidea waterfall, or at the bottom of a precipice, or in some other strange,wild, and unusual situation, where the scenery around him suggestednothing but objects of horror. In this situation, he revolved in hismind the question proposed; and whatever was impressed upon him byhis exalted imagination, passed for the inspiration of the disembodiedspirits, who haunt these desolate recesses. In some of the Hebridesthey attributed the same oracular power to a large black stone bythe sea-shore, which they approached with certain solemnities, andconsidered the first fancy which came into their own minds, after theydid 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 probablybelongs to some part of the district referred to in Scott's noteinserted here: "I know not if it be worth observing that this passageis taken almost literally from the mouth of an old Highland kern, orKetteran, as they were called. He used to narrate the merry doingsof the good old time when he was follower of Rob Roy MacGregor. Thisleader, on one occasion, thought proper to make a descent upon the lowerpart of the Loch Lomond district, and summoned all the heritors andfarmers to meet at the Kirk of Drymen, to pay him black-mail; i.e.,tribute for forbearance and protection. As this invitation was supportedby a band of thirty or forty stout fellows, only one gentleman, anancestor, if I mistake not, of the present Mr. Grahame of Gartmore,ventured to decline compliance. Rob Roy instantly swept his land of allhe could drive away, and among the spoil was a bull of the old Scottishwild breed, whose ferocity occasioned great plague to the Ketterans.'But ere we had reached the Row of Dennan,' said the old man, 'a childmight have scratched his ears.' The circumstance is a minute one, but itpaints 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-armedbeing known as gallowglasses. The names are often associated; as inMacbeth, i. 2. 13: "kerns and gallowglasses;" 2 Hen. VI. iv. 9. 26:"gallowglasses and stout kerns;" Drayton, Heroical Epist.: "the Kerneand 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 establishedroads for making raids into the Lowlands.

77. Dennan's Row. The modern Rowardennan, on Loch Lomond at the footof Ben Lomond, and a favorite starting=point for the ascent of thatmountain.

Boss. Knob; in keeping with Targe.

83. Verge. Pronounced varge, as the rhyme shows. In v. 219 below it hasits ordinary sound; but cf. v. 812.

84. The Hero's Targe. "There is a rock so named in the Forest ofGlenfinlas, by which a tumultuary cataract takes its course. This wildplace is said in former times to have afforded refuge to an outlaw, whowas supplied with provisions by a woman, who lowered them down fromthe brink of the precipice above. His water he procured for himself, byletting down a flagon tied to a string into the black pool beneath thefall" (Scott).

98. Broke. Quartered. Cf. the quotation from Jonson below. Scott sayshere: "Everything belonging to the chase was matter of solemnity amongour ancestors; but nothing was more so than the mode of cutting up,or, as it was technically called, breaking, the slaughtered stag. Theforester had his allotted portion; the hounds had a certain allowance;and, to make the division as general as possible, the very birds hadtheir share also. 'There is a little gristle,' says Tubervile, 'whichis upon the spoone of the brisket, which we call the raven's bone; and Ihave seen in some places a raven so wont and accustomed to it, thatshe would never fail to croak and cry for it all the time you were inbreaking up of the deer, and would not depart till she had it.' In thevery ancient metrical romance of Sir Tristrem, that peerless knight,who is said to have been the very deviser of all rules of chase, did notomit 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 sameceremony:

'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.'"

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."

Mine. Many eds. have "my."

128. Fateful. The reading of the 1st ed. and that of 1821; "fatal" insome recent eds.

132. Which spills, etc. The MS. has "Which foremost spills a foeman'slife."

"Though this be in the text described as a response of the Taghairm, orOracle of the Hide, it was of itself an augury frequently attended to.The fate of the battle was often anticipated, in the imagination of thecombatants, by observing which party first shed blood. It is said thatthe Highlanders under Montrose were so deeply imbued with this notion,that on the morning of the battle of Tippermoor, they murdered adefenceless herdsman, whom they found in the fields, merely to secure anadvantage of so much consequence to their party" (Scott).

140. A spy. That is, Fitz-James. For has sought, the 1st ed. has "hathsought."

144. Red Murdoch, etc. The MS. has "The clansman vainly deemed hisguide," etc.

147. Those shall bring him down. For the ellipsis of who, see on i. 528above. The MS. has "stab him down."

153. Pale. In the heraldic sense of "a broad perpendicular stripe in anescutcheon." See Wb.

I love to hear, etc Cf. v. 238 below.

When move they on? etc. The MS reads:

160. Earn. That is, the district about Loch Earn and the river of thesame name flowing from the lake.

Shaggy glen. As already stated, Trosachs means bristling.

Stance. Station; a Scottish word.

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."

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."

Fixed and high. Often misprinted "fixed on high."

215. Stroke. The MS. has "shock," and in the next line "adamantine" forinvulnerable.

223. Trowed. Trusted, believed. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. v. 2. 34: "So much ismore then [than] just to trow." See also Luke, xvii. 9.

231. Cambus-kenneth's fane. Cambus-kenneth Abbey, about a mile fromStirling, on the other side of the Forth. The massive tower is now theonly part remaining entire.

Friends'. Many recent eds. misprint "friend's."

Sooth. True. See on i. 476 above.

261. Merry it is, etc. Scott says: "This little fairy tale is foundedupon a very curious Danish ballad which occurs in the Kaempe Viser, acollection of heroic songs first published in 1591, and reprintedin 1695, inscribed by Anders Sofrensen, the collector and editor, toSophia, Queen of Denmark."

The measure is the common ballad-metre, the basis of which is a lineof eight syllables followed by one of six, the even syllables accented,with the alternate lines rhyming, so as to form a four-line stanza. Itis varied by extra unaccented syllables, and by rhymes within the longerlines (both of which modifications we have in 263 and 271), and by"double rhymes" (like singing and ringing).

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 hishands upon his glave," etc. See also v. 253 below.

Pall. A rich fabric used for making palls, or mantles. Cf. F. Q. i.
16: "He gave her gold and purple pall to weare."

Wont. Were accustomed. See on i. 408 above.

'Twas but, etc. The MS. reads:

"'Twas but a midnight chance; For blindfold was the battle plied, And fortune held the lance."

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 leftdarkling," etc. See also 711 below.

Vair. The fur of the squirrel. See Wb.

Sheen. See on i. 208 above.

291. Richard. Here accented on the final syllable. Such license is notunusual in ballad poetry.

298. Woned. Dwelt. See on i. 408 above. Scott has the following notehere:

"In a long dissertation upon the Fairy Superstitions, published in theMinstrelsy of the Scottish Border, the most valuable part of which wassupplied by my learned and indefatigable friend, Dr. John Leyden,most of the circumstances are collected which can throw light upon thepopular belief which even yet prevails respecting them in Scotland.Dr. Grahame, author of an entertaining work upon the Scenery of thePerthshire Highlands, already frequently quoted, has recorded with greataccuracy the peculiar tenets held by the Highlanders on this topic, inthe vicinity of Loch Katrine. The learned author is inclined to deducethe whole mythology from the Druidical system—an opinion to which thereare many objections.

'The Daoine Shi', or Men of Peace, of the Highlanders, though notabsolutely malevolent, are believed to be a peevish, repining race ofbeings, who, possessing themselves but a scanty portion of happiness,are supposed to envy mankind their more complete and substantialenjoyments. They are supposed to enjoy, in their subterraneous recesses,a sort of shadowy happiness,—a tinsel grandeur; which, however, theywould willingly exchange for the more solid joys of mortality.

'They are believed to inhabit certain round grassy eminences, where theycelebrate their nocturnal festivities by the light of the moon. About amile beyond the source of the Forth, above Loch Con, there is a placedcalled Coirshi'an, or the Cove of the Men of Peace, which is stillsupposed to be a favorite place of their residence. In the neighborhoodare to be seen many round conical eminences, particularly one near thehead of the lake, by the skirts of which many are still afraid to passafter 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 intotheir subterraneous abodes. Many, it is said, of mortal race have beenentertained in their secret recesses. There they have been receivedinto the most splendid apartments, and regaled with the most sumptuousbanquets and delicious wines. Their females surpass the daughters of menin beauty. The seemingly happy inhabitants pass their time in festivity,and in dancing to notes of the softest music. But unhappy is the mortalwho joins in their joys or ventures to partake of their dainties. Bythis indulgence he forfeits for ever the society of men, and is bounddown irrevocably to the condition of Shi'ich, or Man of Peace.'"

301. Why sounds, etc. "It has been already observed that fairies, if notpositively malevolent, are capricious, and easily offended. They are,like other proprietors of forests, peculiarly jealous of their rights ofvert and venison.... This jealousy was also an attribute of the northernDuergar, or dwarfs; to many of whose distinctions the fairies seem sohave succeeded, if, indeed, they are not the same class of beings. Inthe huge metrical record of German chivalry entitled the Helden-Buch,Sir Hildebrand, and the other heroes of whom it treats, are engaged inone of their most desperate adventures, from a rash violation of therose-garden of an Elfin or Dwarf King.

"There are yet traces of a belief in this worst and most malicious orderof fairies among the Border wilds. Dr. Leyden has introduced such adwarf into his ballad entitled The Cout of Keeldar, and has not forgothis 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 withthe following Northumberland legend, with which I was lately favored bymy learned and kind friend, Mr. Surtees of Mainsforth, who has bestowedindefatigable labor upon the antiquities of the English Border counties.The subject is in itself so curious, that the length of the note will, Ihope, be pardoned:

'I have only one record to offer of the appearance of our NorthumbrianDuergar. 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 supposedto be occasionally insane, but by herself to be at those times endowedwith a faculty of seeing visions and spectral appearances which shun thecommon ken.

'In the year before the great rebellion, two young men from Newcastlewere sporting on the high moors above Eldson, and after pursuing theirgame several hours, sat down to dine in a green glen near one of themountain streams. After their repast, the younger lad ran to the brookfor water, and after stooping to drink, was surprised, on lifting hishead again, by the appearance of a brown dwarf, who stood on a cragcovered with brackens, across the burn. This extraordinary personagedid not appear to be above half the stature of a common man, butwas uncommonly stout and broad-built, having the appearance of vaststrength. His dress was entirely brown, the color of the brackens, andhis head covered with frizzled red hair. His countenance was expressiveof the most savage ferocity, and his eyes glared like a bull. It seemshe addressed the young man first, threatening him with his vengeance forhaving trespassed on his demesnes, and asking him if he knew in whosepresence he stood? The youth replied that he now supposed him to be thelord of the moors; that he offended through ignorance; and offered tobring him the game he had killed. The dwarf was a little mollified bythis submission, but remarked that nothing could be more offensiveto him than such an offer, as he considered the wild animals as hissubjects, and never failed to avenge their destruction. He condescendedfurther to inform him that he was, like himself, mortal, though of yearsfar exceeding the lot of common humanity, and (what I should not havehad an idea of) that he hoped for salvation. He never, he added, fed onanything that had life, but lived in the summer on whortleberries, andin winter on nuts and apples, of which he had great store in the woods.Finally, he invited his new acquaintance to accompany him home andpartake his hospitality, an offer which the youth was on the point ofaccepting, and was just going to spring across the brook (which if hehad done, says Elizabeth, the dwarf would certainly have torn him inpieces), when his foot was arrested by the voice of his companion, whothought he had tarried long, and on looking round again, "the wee brownman was fled." The story adds that he was imprudent enough to slight theadmonition, and to sport over the moors on his way homewards, but soonafter his return he fell into a lingering disorder, and died within theyear'" (Scott).

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 mortalsventured to assume their favorite color. Indeed, from some reason, whichhas been, perhaps originally a general superstition, green is held inScotland to be unlucky to particular tribes and counties. The Caithnessmen, who hold this belief, allege as a reason that their bands wore thatcolor when they were cut off at the battle of Flodden; and for the samereason they avoid crossing the Ord on a Monday, being the day of theweek on which their ill-omened array set forth. Green is also dislikedby those of the name of Ogilvy; but more especially it is held fatal tothe whole clan of Grahame. It is remembered of an aged gentleman of thatname that when his horse fell in a fox-chase, he accounted for it atonce by observing that the whipcord attached to his lash was of thisunlucky color" (Scott).

308. Wert christened man. Scott says: "The Elves were supposed greatlyto envy the privileges acquired by Christian initiation, and they gaveto 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.'"

The curse of the sleepless eye. Cf. Macbeth, i. 3. 19:

"Sleep shall neither night nor day Hang upon his pent-house lid," etc.

Part. Depart. See on ii. 94 above.

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 tobe better ascertained than the fantastic and illusory nature of theirapparent pleasure and splendour. It has been already noticed in theformer quotations from Dr. Grahame's entertaining volume, and may beconfirmed by the following Highland tradition:—'A woman, whose new-bornchild had been conveyed by them into their secret abodes, was alsocarried thither herself, to remain, however, only until she shouldsuckle her infant. She one day, during this period, observed theShi'ichs busily employed in mixing various ingredients in a boilingcaldron, and as soon as the composition was prepared, she remarked thatthey all carefully anointed their eyes with it, laying the remainderaside for future use. In a moment when they were all absent, she alsoattempted to anoint her eyes with the precious drug, but had time toapply it to one eye only, when the Daoine Shi' returned. But with thateye she was henceforth enabled to see everything as it really passed intheir secret abodes; she saw every object, not as she hitherto had done,in deceptive splendour and elegance, but in its genuine colours andform. The gaudy ornaments of the apartment were reduced to the wallsof a gloomy cavern. Soon after, having discharged her office, she wasdismissed to her own home. Still, however, she retained the faculty ofseeing, with her medicated eye, everything that was done, anywherein her presence, by the deceptive art of the order. One day, amidst athrong 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 eyeinvisible. Prompted by maternal affection, she inadvertently accostedhim, and began to inquire after the welfare of her child. The manof peace, astonished at being thus recognized by one of mortal race,demanded how she had been enabled to discover him. Awed by the terriblefrown of his countenance, she acknowledged what she had done. He spat inher eye, and extinguished it for ever.'

"It is very remarkable that this story, translated by Dr. Grahame frompopular Gaelic tradition, is to be found in the Otia Imperialia ofGervase of Tilbury. [FN #10] A work of great interest might be compiledupon the original of popular fiction, and the transmission of similartales from age to age, and from country to country. The mythology of oneperiod would then appear to pass into the romance of the next century,and that into the nursery tale of the subsequent ages. Such aninvestigation, while it went greatly to diminish our ideas of therichness of human invention, would also show that these fictions,however wild and childish, possess such charms for the populace asenable them to penetrate into countries unconnected by manners andlanguage, and having no apparent intercourse to afford the meansof transmission. It would carry me far beyond my bounds to produceinstances of fable among nations who never borrowed from each other anything intrinsically worth learning. Indeed the wide diffusion of popularfactions may be compared to the facility with which straws and feathersare dispersed abroad by the wind, while valuable metals cannot betransported without trouble and labour. There lives, I believe, only onegentleman whose unlimited acquaintance with this subject might enablehim to do it justice,—I mean my friend Mr. Francis Douce, of theBritish Museum, whose usual kindness will, I hope, pardon my mentioninghis name while on a subject so closely connected with his extensive andcurious researches" (Scott).

355. Snatched away, etc. "The subjects of Fairy-land were recruited fromthe regions of humanity by a sort of crimping system, which extendedto adults as well as to infants. Many of those who were in this worldsupposed to have discharged the debt of nature, had only become denizensof 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 sovereignburied here.

Steepy. Cf. iii. 304 above.

Lincoln green. See on i. 464 above.

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.

Kern. See on 73 above.

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

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 106above.

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

Art. Affectation.

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 tohear."

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

If yet he is. If he is still living.

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 togallantry, and many of his travels in disguise were on adventures ofthis 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. 459below.

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

Lordship. Landed estates.

Reck of. Care for; poetical.

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.

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 (whichwas at first a friendly wish for "the parting guest"), wayfarer,thoroughfare, etc.

506. In tattered weeds, etc. The MS. has "Wrapped in a tattered mantlegray." 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 ofpeace," etc. See also v. 465 below.

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

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

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

'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 ithas the ordinary accent.

555. 'Scapes. The word may be so printed here, but not in Elizabethanpoetry. 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.

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

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 withthe fresh dews of night."

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

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; thewounded doe is herself" (Taylor).

594. A stag of ten. "Having ten branches on his antlers" (Scott). Naressays that antlers is an error here, the word meaning "the short browhorns, 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 "ofa very loose kind."

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

To this Taylor well replied: "This criticism seems unjust. The crueltyof Roderick's raids in the Lowlands has already been hinted at, andthe sight of the Lowland dress might well stir associations in the poorgirl's mind which would lead her to look to the knight for help andprotection and also to warn him of his danger. It is plain, fromMurdoch's surprise, that her being out of her captors' sight is lookedon as dangerous, from which we may infer that she is not entirelycrazed. Her song is not the only hint that Fitz-James follows. Hissuspicions had already twice been excited, so that the episode seemsnatural enough. As giving a distinct personal ground for the combat incanto 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;' butthe sight of this sad fruit of his raids wins us back to the cause oflaw and order."

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."

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 thedashing spray."

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 shreadedoff are called sarmenta."

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

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.

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 customof 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.