The Lady of the Lake
Castle, where the governor, who was of the opposite faction, joyfully
received him. Being thus at liberty, James speedily summoned around him
such peers as he knew to be most inimical to the domination of Angus,
and laid his complaint before them, says Pitscottie, 'with great
lamentations: showing to them how he was holding in subjection, thir
years bygone, by the Earl of Angus, and his kin and friends, who
oppressed the whole country, and spoiled it, under the pretence of
justice and his authority; and had slain many of his lieges, kinsmen,
and friends, because they would have had it mended at their hands, and
put him at liberty, as he ought to have been, at the counsel of
his whole lords, and not have been subjected and corrected with no
particular men, by the rest of his nobles: Therefore, said he, I
desire, my lords, that I may be satisfied of the said earl, his kin, and
friends; for I avow, that Scotland shall not hold us both, while [i.e.
till] I be revenged on him and his.
'The lords hearing the king's complaint and lamentation, and also the
great rage, fury, and malice, that he bure toward the Earl of Angus, his
kin and friends, they concluded all and thought it best, that he should
be summoned to underly the law; if he fand not caution, nor yet compear
himself, that he should be put to the horn, with all his kin and
friends, so many as were contained in the letters. And further, the
lords ordained, by advice of his majesty, that his brother and friends
should be summoned to find caution to underly the law within a certain
day, or else be put to the horn. But the earl appeared not, nor none
for him; and so he was put to the horn, with all his kin and friends:
so many as were contained in the summons, that compeared not, were
banished, and holden traitors to the king.'"
159. From Tweed to Spey. From the Tweed, the southern boundary of
Scotland, to the Spey, a river far to the north in Invernessshire; that
is, from one end of the land to the other.
170. Reave. Tear away. The participle reft is still used, at least in
poetry. Cf. Shakespeare, V. and A. 766: "Or butcher-sire that reaves his
son of life" (that is, bereaves); Spenser, F. Q. i. 3. 36: "He to him
lept, in minde to reave his life;" Id. ii. 8. 15: "I will him reave of
arms," etc.
178. It drinks, etc. The MS. has "No blither dewdrop cheers the rose."
195, 196. To see... dance. This couplet is not in the MS.
200. The Lady of the Bleeding Heart. The bleeding heart was the
cognizance of the Douglas family. Robert Bruce, on his death-bed,
bequeathed his heart to his friend, the good Lord James, to be borne in
war against the Saracens. "He joined Alphonso, King of Leon and Castile,
then at war with the Moorish chief Osurga, of Granada, and in a keen
contest with the Moslems he flung before him the casket containing the
precious relic, crying out, 'Onward as thou wert wont, thou noble
heart, Douglas will follow thee.' Douglas was slain, but his body was
recovered, and also the precious casket, and in the end Douglas was laid
with his ancestors, and the heart of Bruce deposited in the church of
Melrose Abbey" (Burton's Hist. of Scotland).
201. Fair. The 1st ed. (and probably the MS., though not noted by
Lockhart) has "Gay."
203. Yet is this, etc. The MS. and 1st ed. read:
"This mossy rock, my friend, to me
Is worth gay chair and canopy."
205. Footstep. The reading of the 1st and other early eds.; "footsteps"
in recent ones.
206. Strathspey. A Highland dance, which takes its name from the strath,
or broad valley, of the Spey (159 above).
213. Clan-Alpine's pride. "The Siol Alpine, or race of Alpine, includes
several clans who claimed descent from Kenneth McAlpine, an ancient
king. These are the Macgregors, the Grants, the Mackies, the Mackinnans,
the MacNabs, the MacQuarries, and the Macaulays. Their common emblem was
the pine, which is now confined to the Macgregors" (Taylor).
214. Loch Lomond. This beautiful lake, "the pride of Scottish lakes,"
is about 23 miles in length and 5 miles in its greatest breadth. At the
southern end are many islands, one of which, Inch-Cailliach (the Island
of Women, so called from a nunnery that was once upon it), was the
burial-place of Clan-Alpine. See iii. 191 below.
216. A Lennox foray. That is, a raid in the lands of the Lennox
family, bordering on the southern end of Loch Lomond. On the island of
Inch-Murrin, the ruins of Lennox Castle, formerly a residence of the
Earls of Lennox, are still to be seen. There was another of their
strongholds on the shore of the lake near Balloch, where the modern
Balloch Castle now stands.
217. Her glee. The 1st ed. misprints "his glee;" not noted in the
Errata.
220. Black Sir Roderick. Roderick Dhu, or the Black, as he was called.
221. In Holy-Rood a knight he slew. That is, in Holyrood Palace. "This
was by no means an uncommon occurrence in the Court of Scotland; nay,
the presence of the sovereign himself scarcely restrained the ferocious
and inveterate feuds which were the perpetual source of bloodshed among
the Scottish nobility" (Scott).
223. Courtiers give place, etc. The MS. reads:
"Courtiers give place with heartless stride
Of the retiring homicide."
227. Who else, etc. The MS. has the following couplet before this line:
"Who else dared own the kindred claim
That bound him to thy mother's name?"
229. The Douglas, etc. Scott says here: "The exiled state of this
powerful race is not exaggerated in this and subsequent passages. The
hatred of James against the race of Douglas was so inveterate, that
numerous as their allies were, and disregarded as the regal authority
had usually been in similar cases, their nearest friends, even in the
most remote part of Scotland, durst not entertain them, unless under the
strictest and closest disguise. James Douglas, son of the banished Earl
of Angus, afterwards well known by the title of Earl of Morton, lurked,
during the exile of his family, in the north of Scotland, under the
assumed name of James Innes, otherwise James the Grieve (i.e. reve or
bailiff). 'And as he bore the name,' says Godscroft, 'so did he also
execute the office of a grieve or overseer of the lands and rents, the
corn and cattle of him with whom he lived.' From the habits of frugality
and observation which he acquired in his humble situation, the historian
traces that intimate acquaintance with popular character which enabled
him to rise so high in the state, and that honorable economy by which
he repaired and established the shattered estates of Angus and Morton
(History of the House of Douglas, Edinburgh, 1743, vol. ii. p. 160)."
235. Guerdon. Reward; now rarely used except in poetry. Cf. Spenser, F.
Q. i. 10. 59: "That glory does to them for guerdon graunt," etc.
236. Dispensation. As Roderick and Ellen were cousins, they could not
marry without a dispensation from the Pope.
251. Orphan. Referring to child, not to she, as its position indicates.
254. Shrouds. Shields, protects. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. i. 1. 6: "And this
faire couple eke to shroud themselves were fain" (that is, from the
rain). So the noun = shelter, protection; as in Shakespeare, A. and
C. iii. 13. 71: "put yourself under his shroud," etc. See also on 757
below.
260. Maronnan's cell. "The parish of Kilmaronock, at the eastern
extremity of Loch Lomond, derives its name from a cell, or chapel,
dedicated to Saint Maronock, or Marnock, or Maronnan, about whose
sanctity very little is now remembered" (Scott). Kill = cell; as
in Colmekill (Macb. ii. 4. 33), "the cell of Columba," now known as
Icolmkill, or Iona.
270. Bracklinn's thundering wave. This beautiful cascade is on the
Keltie, a mile from Callander. The height of the fall is about fifty
feet. "A few years ago a marriage party of Lowland peasants met with
a tragic end here, two of them having tumbled into the broken, angry
waters, where they had no more chance of life than if they had dropped
into the crater of Hecla" (Black).
271. Save. Unless; here followed by the subjunctive.
274. Claymore. The word means "a large sword" (Gaelic claidheamh, sword,
and more, great).
294. Shadowy plaid and sable plume. Appropriate to Roderick Dhu. See on
220 above.
303. Woe the while. Woe be to the time, alas the time! Cf. Shakespeare,
J. C. i. 3. 82: "But, woe the while! our fathers' minds are dead," etc.
See also on i. 166 above.
306. Tine-man. "Archibald, the third Earl of Douglas, was so unfortunate
in all his enterprises, that he acquired the epithet of 'tine-man,'
because he tined, or lost, his followers in every battle which he
fought. He was vanquished, as every reader must remember, in the bloody
battle of Homildon-hill, near Wooler, where he himself lost an eye, and
was made prisoner by Hotspur. He was no less unfortunate when allied
with Percy, being wounded and taken at the battle of Shrewsbury. He was
so unsuccessful in an attempt to beseige Roxburgh Castle, that it was
called the 'Foul Raid,' or disgraceful expedition. His ill fortune left
him indeed at the battle of Beauge, in France; but it was only to return
with double emphasis at the subsequent action of Vernoil, the last and
most unlucky of his encounters, in which he fell, with the flower of the
Scottish chivalry, then serving as auxiliaries in France, and about two
thousand common soldiers, A.D. 1424" (Scott).
307. What time, etc. That is, at the time when Douglas allied
himself with Percy in the rebellion against Henry IV. of England. See
Shakespeare, 1 Hen. IV.
309. Did, self unscabbarded, etc. Scott says here: "The ancient
warriors, whose hope and confidence rested chiefly in their blades,
were accustomed to deduce omens from them, especially from such as were
supposed to have been fabricated by enchanted skill, of which we have
various instances in the romances and legends of the time. The wonderful
sword Skofnung, wielded by the celebrated Hrolf Kraka, was of this
description. It was deposited in the tomb of the monarch at his death,
and taken from thence by Skeggo, a celebrated pirate, who bestowed it
upon his son-in-law, Kormak, with the following curious directions:
'"The manner of using it will appear strange to you. A small bag is
attached to it, which take heed not to violate. Let not the rays of the
sun touch the upper part of the handle, nor unsheathe it, unless thou
art ready for battle. But when thou comest to the place of fight, go
aside from the rest, grasp and extend the sword, and breathe upon it.
Then a small worm will creep out of the handle; lower the handle, that
he may more easily return into it." Kormak, after having received the
sword, returned home to his mother. He showed the sword, and attempted
to draw it, as unnecessarily as ineffectually, for he could not pluck
it out of the sheath. His mother, Dalla, exclaimed, "Do not despise the
counsel given to thee, my son." Kormak, however, repeating his efforts,
pressed down the handle with his feet, and tore off the bag, when
Skofung emitted a hollow groan; but still he could not unsheathe the
sword. Kormak then went out with Bessus, whom he had challenged to fight
with him, and drew apart at the place of combat. He sat down upon the
ground, and ungirding the sword, which he bore above his vestments, did
not remember to shield the hilt from the rays of the sun. In vain he
endeavored to draw it, till he placed his foot against the hilt; then
the worm issued from it. But Kormak did not rightly handle the weapon,
in consequence whereof good fortune deserted it. As he unsheathed
Skofnung, it emitted a hollow murmur' (Bartholini de Causis Contemptae a
Danis adhuc Gentilibus Mortis, Libri Tres. Hafniae, 1689, 4to, p. 574).