The Lady of the Lake
462. Birchen. Shaded by birches. Cf. Milton's "cedarn alleys" in Comus,
990.
464. Lincoln green. A cloth made in Lincoln, much worn by hunters.
467. Heron. The early eds. have "heron's."
475. Errant-knight. Knight-errant.
476. Sooth. True. We find soothest in Milton, Comus, 823. The noun sooth
(truth) is more common, and still survives in soothsayer (teller of
hidden truth). Cf. v. 64 below.
478. Emprise. Enterprise. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 7. 39: "But give me
leave to follow my emprise," etc.
485. His noble hand. The MS. has "This gentle hand;" and in the next
line, "the oars he drew."
490. Frequent. Often; one of the many instances of the adjective used
adverbially in the poem.
492. The rocky isle. It is still known as Ellen's Isle. "It is rather
high, and irregularly pyramidal. It is mostly composed of dark-gray
rocks, mottled with pale and gray lichens, peeping out here and
there amid trees that mantle them,--chiefly light, graceful birches,
intermingled with red-berried mountain ashes and a few dark-green, spiry
pines. The landing is beneath an aged oak; and, as did the Lady and the
Knight, the traveller now ascends 'a clambering unsuspected road,' by
rude steps, to the small irregular summit of the island. A more
poetic, romantic retreat could hardly be imagined: it is unique. It is
completely hidden, not only by the trees, but also by an undergrowth of
beautiful and abundant ferns and the loveliest of heather" (Hunnewell's
Lands of Scott).
500. Winded. Wound; used for the sake of the measure, as in v. 22 below.
We find the participle winded in Much Ado, i. 1. 243; but it is = blown.
The verb in that sense is derived from the noun wind (air in motion),
and has no connection with wind, to turn. Cf. Wb.
504. Here for retreat, etc. Scott has the following note here: "The
Celtic chieftains, whose lives were continually exposed to peril,
had usually, in the most retired spot of their domains, some place of
retreat for the hour of necessity, which, as circumstances would
admit, was a tower, a cavern, or a rustic hut, in a strong and secluded
situation. One of these last gave refuge to the unfortunate Charles
Edward, in his perilous wanderings after the battle of Culloden.
"It was situated in the face of a very rough, high, and rocky mountain,
called Letternilichk, still a part of Benalder, full of great stones and
crevices, and some scattered wood interspersed. The habitation called
the Cage, in the face of that mountain, was within a small thick bush of
wood. There were first some rows of trees laid down, in order to level
the floor for a habitation; and as the place was steep, this raised the
lower side to an equal height with the other: and these trees, in the
way of joists or planks, were levelled with earth and gravel. There were
betwixt the trees, growing naturally on their own roots, some stakes
fixed in the earth, which, with the trees, were interwoven with ropes,
made of heath and birch twigs, up to the top of the Cage, it being of a
round or rather oval shape; and the whole thatched and covered over with
fog. The whole fabric hung, as it were, by a large tree, which reclined
from the one end, all along the roof, to the other, and which gave it
the name of the Cage; and by chance there happened to be two stones at
a small distance from one another, in the side next the precipice,
resembling the pillars of a chimney, where the fire was placed. The
smoke had its vent out here, all along the fall of the rock, which was
so much of the same color, that one could discover no difference in
the clearest day' (Home's History of the Rebellion, Lond. 1802, 4to, p.
381)."
525. Idoean vine. Some have taken this to refer to the "red
whortleberry," the botanical name of which is Vaccinium vitis Idoea; but
as that is not a climber, it is more probably that the common vine is
here meant. Idoean is from Ida, a mountain near ancient Troy (there was
another in Crete), famous for its vines.
526. Clematis. The Climatis vitalba, one of the popular English names of
which is virgin-bower.
528. And every favored plant could bear. That is, which could endure.
This ellipsis of the relative was very common in Elizabethan English.
Cf. Shakespeare, M. for M. ii. 2. 23: "I have a brother is condemned to
die;" Rich. II. ii. 2. 128: "The hate of those love not the king," etc.
See also John, iii. 11, etc.
532. On heaven and on thy lady call. This is said gayly, or sportively,
as keeping up the idea of a knight-errant. Cf. 475 above.
542. Careless. See on 490 above.
546. Target. Buckler; the targe of iii. 445, etc. See Scott's note on v.
380 below.
548. Store. Stored, laid up; an obsolete adjective. Cf. iii. 3 below,
and see also on vi. 124.
551. And there the wild-cat's, etc. The MS. reads:
"There hung the wild-cat's brindled hide,
Above the elk's branched brow and skull,
And frontlet of the forest bull."
559. Garnish forth. Cf. furnish forth in 442 above.
566. Brook. Bear, endure; now seldom used except with reference to what
is endured against one's will or inclination. It seems to be a favorite
word with Scott.
573. Ferragus or Ascabart. "These two sons of Anak flourished in
romantic fable. The first is well known to the admirers of Ariosto by
the name of Ferrau. He was an antagonist of Orlando, and was at length
slain by him in single combat.... Ascapart, or Ascabart, makes a very
material figure in the History of Bevis of Hampton, by whom he was
conquered. His effigies may be seen guarding one side of the gate at
Southampton, while the other is occupied by Bevis himself" (Scott).
580. To whom, though more than kindred knew. The MS. reads:
"To whom, though more remote her claim,
Young Ellen gave a mother's name."
She was the maternal aunt of Ellen, but was loved as a mother by her, or
more than (such) kindred (usually) knew (in way of affection).
585. Though all unasked, etc. "The Highlanders, who carried hospitality
to a punctilious excess, are said to have considered it as churlish
to ask a stranger his name or lineage before he had taken refreshment.
Feuds were so frequent among them, that a contrary rule would in many
cases have produced the discovery of some circumstance which might have
excluded the guest from the benefit of the assistance he stood in need
of" (Scott).
591. Snowdoun. An old name of Stirling Castle. See vi. 789 below.
592. Lord of a barren heritage. "By the misfortunes of the earlier
Jameses, and the internal feuds of the Scottish chiefs, the kingly power
had become little more than a name. Each chief was a petty king in his
own district, and gave just so much obedience to the king's authority as
suited his convenience" (Taylor).
596. Wot. Knows; the present of the obsolete wit (the infinitive to
wit is still use in legal forms), not of weet, as generally stated. See
Matzner, Eng. Gram. i. 382. Cf. Shakespeare, Rich. III. ii. 3. 18: "No,
no, good friends, God wot." He also uses wots (as in Hen. V. iv. 1. 299)
and a participle wotting (in W. T. iii. 2. 77).
602. Require. Request, ask; as in Elizanethan English. Cf. Shakespeare,
Hen. VIII. ii. 4. 144: "In humblest manner I require your highness,"
etc.
603. The elder lady's mien. The MS. has "the mother's easy mien."
606. Ellen, though more, etc. The MS. reads:
"Ellen, though more her looks betrayed
The simple heart of mountain maid,
In speech and gesture, form and grace,
Showed she was come of gentle race;
'T was strange, in birth so rude, to find
Such face, such manners, and such mind.
Each anxious hint the stranger gave,
The mother heard with silence grave."
616. Weird women we, etc. See on 35 above. Weird here = skilled in
witchcraft; like the "weird sisters" of Macbeth. Down = hill (the Gaelic
dun).
622. A harp unseen. Scott has the following note here: "'"They
[the Highlanders] delight much in musicke, but chiefly in harps and
clairschoes of their own fashion. The strings of the clairschoes are
made of brasse wire, and the strings of the harps of sinews; which
strings they strike either with their nayles, growing long, or else with
an instrument appointed for that use. They take great pleasure to decke
their harps and clairschoes with silver and precious stones; the poore
ones that cannot attayne hereunto, decke them with christall. They sing
verses prettily compound, contayning (for the most part) prayses of
valiant men. There is not almost any other argument, whereof their
rhymes intreat. They speak the ancient French language, altered a
little." [6]
"The harp and chairschoes are now only heard of in the Highlands in
ancient song. At what period these instruments ceased to be used, is not
on record; and tradition is silent on this head. But, as Irish harpers
occasionally visited the Highlands and Western Isles till lately,
the harp might have been extant so late as the middle of the present
century. Thus far we know, that from remote times down to the present,
harpers were received as welcome guests, particularly in the Highlands
of Scotland; and so late as the latter end of the sixteenth century, as
appears by the above quotations, the harp was in common use among
the natives of the Western Isles. How it happened that the noisy and
inharmonious bagpipe banished the soft and expressive harp, we cannot
say; but certain it is, that the bagpipe is now the only instrument
that obtains universally in the Highland districts' (Campbell's Journey
through North Britain. London, 1808, 4to, i. 175).
"Mr. Gunn, of Edinburgh, has lately published a curious Essay upon the
Harp and Harp Music of the Highlands of Scotland. That the instrument
was once in common use there, is most certain. Cleland numbers an
acquaintance with it among the few accomplishments which his satire
allows to the Highlanders:--
'In nothing they're accounted sharp,
Except in bagpipe or in harm.'"
624. Soldier, rest! etc. The metre of this song is trochaic; that is,
the accents fall regularly on the odd syllables.
631. In slumber dewing. That is, bedewing. For the metaphor, cf.
Shakespeare, Rich. III. iv. 1. 84: "the golden dew of sleep;" and J. C.
ii. 1. 230: "the honey-heavy dew of slumber."
635. Morn of toil, etc. The MS. has "noon of hunger, night of waking;"
and in the next line, "rouse" for reach.
638. Pibroch. "A Highland air, suited to the particular passion which
the musician would either excite or assuage; generally applied to those
airs that are played on the bagpipe before the Highlanders when they go
out to battle" (Jamieson). Here it is put for the bagpipe itself. See
also on ii. 363 below.
642. And the bittern sound his drum. Goldsmith (D. V. 44) calls the bird
"the hollow-sounding bittern;" and in his Animated Nature, he says that
of all the notes of waterfowl "there is none so dismally hollow as the
booming of the bittern."
648. She paused, etc. The MS. has "She paused--but waked again the lay."
655. The MS. reads: "Slumber sweet our spells shall deal ye;" and in
657:
"Let our slumbrous spells| avail ye
| beguile ye."
657. Reveille. The call to rouse troops or huntsmen in the morning.
669. Forest sports. The MS. has "mountain chase."
672. Not Ellens' spell. That is, not even Ellen's spell. On the passage,
cf. Rokeby, i. 2:
"Sleep came at length, but with a train
Of feelings true and fancies vain,
Mingling, in wild disorder cast,
The expected future with the past."
693. Or is it all a vision now? Lockhart quotes here Thomson's Castle of
Indolence:
"Ye guardian spirits, to whom man is dear,