The Lady of the Lake
"'Tis well advised--a prudent plan,
Worthy the father of his clan."
59. Evening-tide. See on iii. 478 above.
63. The Taghairm. Scott says here: "The Highlanders, like all rude
people, had various superstitious modes of inquiring into futurity. One
of the most noted was the Taghairm, mentioned in the text. A person was
wrapped up in the skin of a newly-slain bullock, and deposited beside
a waterfall, or at the bottom of a precipice, or in some other strange,
wild, and unusual situation, where the scenery around him suggested
nothing but objects of horror. In this situation, he revolved in his
mind the question proposed; and whatever was impressed upon him by
his exalted imagination, passed for the inspiration of the disembodied
spirits, who haunt these desolate recesses. In some of the Hebrides
they attributed the same oracular power to a large black stone by
the sea-shore, which they approached with certain solemnities, and
considered the first fancy which came into their own minds, after they
did 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 probably
belongs to some part of the district referred to in Scott's note
inserted here: "I know not if it be worth observing that this passage
is taken almost literally from the mouth of an old Highland kern, or
Ketteran, as they were called. He used to narrate the merry doings
of the good old time when he was follower of Rob Roy MacGregor. This
leader, on one occasion, thought proper to make a descent upon the lower
part of the Loch Lomond district, and summoned all the heritors and
farmers to meet at the Kirk of Drymen, to pay him black-mail; i.e.,
tribute for forbearance and protection. As this invitation was supported
by a band of thirty or forty stout fellows, only one gentleman, an
ancestor, if I mistake not, of the present Mr. Grahame of Gartmore,
ventured to decline compliance. Rob Roy instantly swept his land of all
he could drive away, and among the spoil was a bull of the old Scottish
wild breed, whose ferocity occasioned great plague to the Ketterans.
'But ere we had reached the Row of Dennan,' said the old man, 'a child
might have scratched his ears.' The circumstance is a minute one, but it
paints 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-armed
being known as gallowglasses. The names are often associated; as in
Macbeth, i. 2. 13: "kerns and gallowglasses;" 2 Hen. VI. iv. 9. 26:
"gallowglasses and stout kerns;" Drayton, Heroical Epist.: "the Kerne
and 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 established
roads for making raids into the Lowlands.
77. Dennan's Row. The modern Rowardennan, on Loch Lomond at the foot
of Ben Lomond, and a favorite starting=point for the ascent of that
mountain.
82. Boss. Knob; in keeping with Targe.
83. Verge. Pronounced varge, as the rhyme shows. In v. 219 below it has
its ordinary sound; but cf. v. 812.
84. The Hero's Targe. "There is a rock so named in the Forest of
Glenfinlas, by which a tumultuary cataract takes its course. This wild
place is said in former times to have afforded refuge to an outlaw, who
was supplied with provisions by a woman, who lowered them down from
the brink of the precipice above. His water he procured for himself, by
letting down a flagon tied to a string into the black pool beneath the
fall" (Scott).
98. Broke. Quartered. Cf. the quotation from Jonson below. Scott says
here: "Everything belonging to the chase was matter of solemnity among
our ancestors; but nothing was more so than the mode of cutting up,
or, as it was technically called, breaking, the slaughtered stag. The
forester had his allotted portion; the hounds had a certain allowance;
and, to make the division as general as possible, the very birds had
their share also. 'There is a little gristle,' says Tubervile, 'which
is upon the spoone of the brisket, which we call the raven's bone; and I
have seen in some places a raven so wont and accustomed to it, that
she would never fail to croak and cry for it all the time you were in
breaking up of the deer, and would not depart till she had it.' In the
very ancient metrical romance of Sir Tristrem, that peerless knight,
who is said to have been the very deviser of all rules of chase, did not
omit the ceremony:
'The rauen he yaue his yiftes
Sat on the fourched tre.' [9]
"The raven might also challenge his rights by the Book of St. Albans;
for thus says Dame Juliana Berners:
'slitteth anon
The bely to the side, from the corbyn bone;
That is corbyns fee, at the death he will be.'
Jonson, in The Sad Shepherd, gives a more poetical account of the same
ceremony:
'Marian. He that undoes him,
Doth cleave the brisket bone, upon the spoon
Of which a little gristle grows--you call it
Robin Hood. The raven's bone.
Marian. Now o'er head sat a raven
On a sere bough, a grown, great bird, and hoarse,
Who, all the while the deer was breaking up,
So croaked and cried for 't, as all the huntsmen,
Especially old Scathlock, thought it ominous.'"
115. Rouse. Rise, stand erect. Cf. Macbeth, v. 5. 12:
"The time has been, my senses would have cool'd
To hear a night-shriek, and my fell of hair
Would at a dismal treatise rouse and stir
As life were in 't."
119. Mine. Many eds. have "my."
128. Fateful. The reading of the 1st ed. and that of 1821; "fatal" in
some recent eds.
132. Which spills, etc. The MS. has "Which foremost spills a foeman's
life."
"Though this be in the text described as a response of the Taghairm, or
Oracle of the Hide, it was of itself an augury frequently attended to.
The fate of the battle was often anticipated, in the imagination of the
combatants, by observing which party first shed blood. It is said that
the Highlanders under Montrose were so deeply imbued with this notion,
that on the morning of the battle of Tippermoor, they murdered a
defenceless herdsman, whom they found in the fields, merely to secure an
advantage of so much consequence to their party" (Scott).
140. A spy. That is, Fitz-James. For has sought, the 1st ed. has "hath
sought."
144. Red Murdoch, etc. The MS. has "The clansman vainly deemed his
guide," etc.
147. Those shall bring him down. For the ellipsis of who, see on i. 528
above. The MS. has "stab him down."
153. Pale. In the heraldic sense of "a broad perpendicular stripe in an
escutcheon." See Wb.
155. I love to hear, etc Cf. v. 238 below.
156. When move they on? etc. The MS reads:
"'When move they on?' |'This sun | at noon
|'To-day |
'T is said will see them march from Doune.'
'To-morrow then |makes| meeting stern.'"
|sees |
160. Earn. That is, the district about Loch Earn and the river of the
same name flowing from the lake.
164. Shaggy glen. As already stated, Trosachs means bristling.
174. Stance. Station; a Scottish word.
177. Trusty targe. The MS. has "Highland targe."
197. Shifting like flashes, etc. That is, like the Northern Lights. Cf.
the Lay, ii. 86:
"And red and bright the streamers light
Were dancing in the glowing north.
.......
He knew by the streamers that shot so bright
That spirits were riding the northern light."
The MS. reads:
"Thick as the flashes darted forth
By morrice-dancers of the north;
And saw at morn their |barges ride,
|little fleet,
Close moored by the lone islet's side.
Since this rude race dare not abide
Upon their native mountain side,
'T is fit that Douglas should provide
For his dear child some safe abode,
And soon he comes to point the road."
207. No, Allan, etc. The MS. reads:
"No, Allan, no! His words so kind
Were but pretexts my fears to blind.
When in such solemn tone and grave
Douglas a parting blessing gave."
212. Fixed and high. Often misprinted "fixed on high."
215. Stroke. The MS. has "shock," and in the next line "adamantine" for
invulnerable.
223. Trowed. Trusted, believed. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. v. 2. 34: "So much is
more then [than] just to trow." See also Luke, xvii. 9.
231. Cambus-kenneth's fane. Cambus-kenneth Abbey, about a mile from
Stirling, on the other side of the Forth. The massive tower is now the
only part remaining entire.
235. Friends'. Many recent eds. misprint "friend's."
250. Sooth. True. See on i. 476 above.
261. Merry it is, etc. Scott says: "This little fairy tale is founded
upon a very curious Danish ballad which occurs in the Kaempe Viser, a
collection of heroic songs first published in 1591, and reprinted
in 1695, inscribed by Anders Sofrensen, the collector and editor, to
Sophia, Queen of Denmark."
The measure is the common ballad-metre, the basis of which is a line
of eight syllables followed by one of six, the even syllables accented,
with the alternate lines rhyming, so as to form a four-line stanza. It
is varied by extra unaccented syllables, and by rhymes within the longer
lines (both of which modifications we have in 263 and 271), and by
"double rhymes" (like singing and ringing).
262. Mavis and merle. Thrush and blackbird.
267. Wold. Open country, as opposed to wood. Cf. Tennyson, In Memoriam,
11: "Calm and deep peace on this high wold," etc. See also 724 below.
274. Glaive. Broadsword. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. iv. 7. 38: "laying both his
hands upon his glave," etc. See also v. 253 below.
277. Pall. A rich fabric used for making palls, or mantles. Cf. F. Q. i.
7. 16: "He gave her gold and purple pall to weare."
278. Wont. Were accustomed. See on i. 408 above.
282. 'Twas but, etc. The MS. reads:
"'Twas but a midnight chance;
For blindfold was the battle plied,
And fortune held the lance."
283. Darkling. In the dark; a poetical word. Cf. Milton, P. L. iii. 39:
"as the wakeful bird
Sings darkling;"
Shakespeare, Lear, i. 4. 237: "So out went the candle, and we were left
darkling," etc. See also 711 below.
285. Vair. The fur of the squirrel. See Wb.
286. Sheen. See on i. 208 above.
291. Richard. Here accented on the final syllable. Such license is not
unusual in ballad poetry.
298. Woned. Dwelt. See on i. 408 above. Scott has the following note
here:
"In a long dissertation upon the Fairy Superstitions, published in the
Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, the most valuable part of which was
supplied by my learned and indefatigable friend, Dr. John Leyden,
most of the circumstances are collected which can throw light upon the
popular belief which even yet prevails respecting them in Scotland.
Dr. Grahame, author of an entertaining work upon the Scenery of the
Perthshire Highlands, already frequently quoted, has recorded with great
accuracy the peculiar tenets held by the Highlanders on this topic, in
the vicinity of Loch Katrine. The learned author is inclined to deduce
the whole mythology from the Druidical system--an opinion to which there
are many objections.
'The Daoine Shi', or Men of Peace, of the Highlanders, though not
absolutely malevolent, are believed to be a peevish, repining race of