The Lady of the Lake
instances of fable among nations who never borrowed from each other any
thing intrinsically worth learning. Indeed the wide diffusion of popular
factions may be compared to the facility with which straws and feathers
are dispersed abroad by the wind, while valuable metals cannot be
transported without trouble and labour. There lives, I believe, only one
gentleman whose unlimited acquaintance with this subject might enable
him to do it justice,--I mean my friend Mr. Francis Douce, of the
British Museum, whose usual kindness will, I hope, pardon my mentioning
his name while on a subject so closely connected with his extensive and
curious researches" (Scott).
355. Snatched away, etc. "The subjects of Fairy-land were recruited from
the regions of humanity by a sort of crimping system, which extended
to adults as well as to infants. Many of those who were in this world
supposed to have discharged the debt of nature, had only become denizens
of 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 sovereign
buried here.
374. Steepy. Cf. iii. 304 above.
376. Lincoln green. See on i. 464 above.
386. 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.
393. Kern. See on 73 above.
395. Conjure. In prose we should have to write "conjure him."
403. 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 106
above.
413. Bower. Lodging, dwelling. See on i. 217 above.
415. Art. Affectation.
417. 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 to
hear."
421. Atone. Atone for. Shakespeare uses the verb transitively several
times, but in the sense of reconcile; as in Rich. II. i. 1. 202: "Since
we cannot atone you," etc. Cf. v. 735 below.
433. If yet he is. If he is still living.
437. 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 to
gallantry, and many of his travels in disguise were on adventures of
this 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. 459
below.
464. This ring. The MS. has "This ring of gold the monarch gave."
471. Lordship. Landed estates.
473. Reck of. Care for; poetical.
474. 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.
492. 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 (which
was at first a friendly wish for "the parting guest"), wayfarer,
thoroughfare, etc.
506. In tattered weeds, etc. The MS. has "Wrapped in a tattered mantle
gray." 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 of
peace," etc. See also v. 465 below.
523. In better time. That is, in better times or days; not in the
musical sense.
524. Chime. Accord, sing; a poetical use of the word. Cf. vi. 592 below.
531. Allan. "The Allan and Devan are two beautiful streams--the latter
celebrated in the poetry of Burns--which descend from the hills of
Perthshire into the great carse, or plain, of Stirling" (Lockhart).
548. '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 it
has the ordinary accent.
555. 'Scapes. The word may be so printed here, but not in Elizabethan
poetry. 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.
559. Pitched a bar. That is, in athletic contests. Cf. v. 648 below.
562. 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 with
the fresh dews of night."
575. The Lincoln green. "The Lowland garb" (520). Cf. also 376 above.
578. 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; the
wounded doe is herself" (Taylor).
594. A stag of ten. "Having ten branches on his antlers" (Scott). Nares
says that antlers is an error here, the word meaning "the short brow
horns, 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 "of
a very loose kind."
609. Blanche's song. Jeffrey says: "No machinery can be conceived more
clumsy for effecting the deliverance of a distressed hero than the
introduction of a mad woman, who, without knowing or caring about the
wanderer, warns him by a song to take care of the ambush that was set
for him. The maniacs or poetry have indeed had a prescriptive right to
be musical, since the days of Ophelia downwards; but it is rather a rash
extension of this privilege to make them sing good sense, and to make
sensible people be guided by them."
To this Taylor well replied: "This criticism seems unjust. The cruelty
of Roderick's raids in the Lowlands has already been hinted at, and
the sight of the Lowland dress might well stir associations in the poor
girl's mind which would lead her to look to the knight for help and
protection and also to warn him of his danger. It is plain, from
Murdoch's surprise, that her being out of her captors' sight is looked
on as dangerous, from which we may infer that she is not entirely
crazed. Her song is not the only hint that Fitz-James follows. His
suspicions had already twice been excited, so that the episode seems
natural enough. As giving a distinct personal ground for the combat in
canto 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;' but
the sight of this sad fruit of his raids wins us back to the cause of
law and order."
614. 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."
617. 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 the
dashing spray."
649. 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 shreaded
off are called sarmenta."
659. My brain, etc. The MS. has "But now, my champion, it shall wave."
672. 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.
679. 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 custom
of 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.
See also the Lay, iv. 334:
"With favor in his crest, or glove,
Memorial of his layde-love."
691. At bay. See on i. 133 above; and for the dangerous foe, cf. the
note on i. 137.
698. Couched him. Lay down. See on i. 142 above.
700. Rash adventures. See on 437 above.
701. Must prove. The 1st ed. has "will prove."
705. Bands at Doune. Cf. 150 above.
711. Darkling. See on 283 above.
722. Not the summer solstice. Not even the heat of the summer.
724. Wold. See on 267 above.
731. Beside its embers, etc. The MS. reads:
"By the decaying flame was laid
A warrior in his Highland plaid."
For the rhyme here, see on i. 363 above. Cf. 764 below.
741. I dare, etc. The MS. reads:
"I dare! to him and all the swarm
He brings to aid his murderous arm."
746. Slip. A hunter's term for letting loose the greyhounds from the
slips, or nooses, by which they were held until sent after the game.
Tubervile (Art of Venerie) says: "We let slip a greyhound, and we cast
off a hound." Cf. Shakespeare, Cor. i. 6. 39:
"Holding Corioli in the name of Rome,
Even like a fawning greyhound in the leash,
To let him slip at will;"
and for the noun, Hen. V. iii. 1. 31:
"I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,
Straining upon the start."
747. Who ever recked, etc. Scott says: "St. John actually used this
illustration when engaged in confuting the plea of law proposed for the
unfortunate Earl of Strafford: 'It was true, we gave laws to hares
and deer, because they are beasts of chase; but it was never accounted
either cruelty or foul play to knock foxes or wolves on the head as they
can be found, because they are beasts of prey. In a word, the law and
humanity were alike: the one being more fallacious, and the other
more barbarous, than in any age had been vented in such an authority'