w^ 
 
 ■^
 
 T II i: 
 
 LADY OF THE LAKE, 
 
 A POEM. 
 
 BY 
 
 Sir ^fALTER S( OTT, IUkt 
 
 A NEW KUITIOJf. 
 
 EDINBURGH; 
 
 PRINTED FOR ROBERT CADELL EDINBURGH; 
 AND SIMPKIN AND MARSHALL LONDON. 
 
 1830.
 
 URL 
 
 THE 
 
 LADY OF THE LAKE.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 After the success of " Marmion," I felt in- 
 clined to exclaim with Ulysses in the " Odys- 
 sey"- 
 
 oIto; fABv Sn asSXas aaaraj iKTirikiffrai. 
 NSv 2yT£ ffxaTov aXXov, 
 
 Odys. X' !• 5. 
 
 " One venturous game my hand has won to-day— 
 Another, gallants, yet remains to play." 
 
 The ancient manners, the habits and cus- 
 toms of the aboriginal race by whom the 
 Highlands of Scotland were inhabited, had 
 always appeared to me peculiarly adapted to 
 poetry. The change in their manners, too,
 
 IV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 had taken place almost within my own time, 
 or at least I had learned many particulars 
 concerning the ancient state of the Highlands 
 from the old men of the last generation. I 
 had always thought the old Scottish Gael 
 highly adapted for poetical composition. The 
 feuds, and political dissensions, which, half a 
 century earlier, would have rendered the 
 richer and wealthier part of the kingdom in- 
 disposed to countenance a poem, the scene of 
 which was laid in the Highlands, were now 
 sunk in the generous compassion which the 
 English, more than any other nation, feel for 
 the misfortunes of an honourable foe. Tlje 
 Poems of Ossian had, by their popularity, 
 sufficiently shown, that if writings on High- 
 land subjects were qualified to interest the 
 reader, mere national prejudices were, in the 
 present day] very unlikely to interfere with 
 their success. 
 
 I had also read a great deal, and heard 
 more, concerning that romantic country,
 
 INTRODUCTION. V 
 
 where I was in the habit of spending some 
 time every autumn ; and the scenery of Loch 
 Katrine was connected with the recollection 
 of many a dear friend and merry expedition 
 of former days. This poem, the action of 
 which lay among scenes so beautiful, and so 
 deeply imprinted on my recollections, was a 
 labour of love, and it was no less so to recall 
 the manners and incidents introduced. The 
 frequent custom of James IV., and particu- 
 larly of James V., to walk through their king- 
 dom in disguise, afforded me the hint of an 
 incident, which never fails to be interesting 
 if managed with the slightest address or dex- 
 terity. 
 
 I may now confess, however, that the em- 
 ployment, though attended with great plea- 
 sure, was not without its doubts and anxieties. 
 A lady, to whom I was nearly related, and 
 with whom I lived, during her whole life, on 
 the most brotherly terms of affection, was re- 
 siding %vith me at the time when the work
 
 Yl INTRODUCTIOX. 
 
 was in progress, and used to ask me, what I 
 could possibly do to rise so early in the morn- 
 ing, (that happening to be the most conveni- 
 ent time to me for composition.) At last I 
 told her the subject of my meditations ; and 
 I can never forget the anxiety and affection 
 expressed in her reply. " Do not be so rash," 
 she said, " my dearest cousin. You are al- 
 ready popular — more so, perhaps, than you 
 yourself will believe, or than even I, or other 
 partial friends, can fairly allow to your me- 
 rit. You stand high — do not rashly attempt 
 to climb higher, and incur the risk of a fall ; 
 for, depend upon it, a favourite will not be 
 permitted even to stumble with impunity." 
 I replied to this affectionate expostulation in 
 tlie words of Montrose — 
 
 " He either fears his fiite too much, 
 
 Or his deserts are small. 
 Who dares not put it to the touch 
 
 To gain or lose it all." 
 
 If I fail," I said, for the dialogue is strong
 
 INTRODUCTION. Vll 
 
 in my recollection, " it is a sign that I ought 
 never to have succeeded, and I will write 
 prose for life : you shall see no change in my 
 temper, nor will I eat a single meal the worse. 
 But if I succeed, 
 
 " Up with the bonnie blue bonnet, 
 The dirk, and the feather, and a' !" 
 
 Afterwards I showed my affectionate and 
 anxious critic the first canto of the poem, 
 which reconciled her to my imprudence. Ne- 
 vertheless, although I answered thus confi- 
 dently, with the obstinacy often said to be 
 proper to those who bear my surname, I ac- 
 knowledge that my confidence was consider- 
 ably shaken by the warning of her excellent 
 taste and unbiassed friendship. Nor was I 
 much comforted by her retractation of the un- 
 favourable judgment, when I recollected how 
 likely a natural partiality was to effect that 
 change of opinion. In such cases, affection 
 rises like a light on the canvass, improves any
 
 Vlll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 favourable tints which it formerly exhibited, 
 and throws its defects into the shade. 
 
 I remember that about the same time a 
 friend started in to " heeze up my hope," like 
 the minstrel in the old song. He was bred a 
 farmer, but a man of powerful understand- 
 ing, natural good taste, and warm poetical 
 feeling, perfectly competent to supply the 
 wants of an imperfect or irregular education. 
 He was a passionate admirer of field sports, 
 which we often pursued together. 
 
 As this friend happened to dine with me at 
 Ashiesteel one day, I took the opportunity of 
 reading to him the first canto of " The Lady 
 of the Lake," in order to ascertain the effect 
 the poem was likely to produce upon a person 
 who was but too favourable a representative 
 of readers at large. It is, of course, to be sup- 
 posed, that I determined rather to guide my 
 ©pinion by what my friend might appear t-o 
 feel, than by what he might think fit to say. 
 His reception of my recitation, or prelection,
 
 INTRODUCTION. b; 
 
 was rather singular. He placed his hand 
 across his brow, and listened with great atten- 
 tion through the whole account of the stag- 
 hunt, till the dogs threw themselves into the 
 lake to follow their master, who embarks 
 with Ellen Douglas. He then started up with 
 a sudden exclamation, struck his hand on the 
 table, and declared, in a voice of censure cal- 
 culated for the occasion, that the dogs must 
 have been totally ruined by being permitted 
 to take the water after such a severe chase. 
 I own I was much encouraged by the species 
 of reverie which had possessed so zealous a 
 follower of the sports of the ancient Nimrod, 
 who had been completely surprised out of all 
 doubts of the reality of the tale. Another of 
 his remarks gave me less pleasure. He de- 
 tected the identity of the King with the wan- 
 dering knight, Fitz-James, when he winds 
 his bugle to summon his attendants. He was 
 probably thinking of the lively, but somewhat 
 licentious, old ballad, in which the denoue-
 
 X INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ment of a royal intrigue takes place as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 " He took a bugle frae his side. 
 
 He blew both loud and shriU, 
 And four-and-twenty belted knights 
 
 Came skipping ower the hill ; 
 Then he took out a little knife, 
 
 Let a' his duddies fa', 
 And he was the brawest gentleman 
 
 That was amang them a'. 
 
 And we'll go no more a-roving," &c. 
 
 This discovery, as Mr Pepys says of the rent 
 in his camlet cloak, was but a trifle, yet it 
 troubled me ; and I was at a good deal of pains 
 to efface any marks by which I thought my 
 secret could be traced before the conclusion, 
 when I relied on it with the same hope of pro- 
 ducing effect, with which the Irish post-boy 
 is said to reserve a " trot for the avenue." 
 
 I took uncommon pains to verify the accu- 
 racy of the local circumstances of this story. 
 I recollect, in particular, that to ascertain 
 whether I was telling a probable tale, I went 
 into Perthshire, to see whether King James
 
 INTRODUCTION. XI 
 
 could actually have ridden from the banks of 
 Loch Vennachar to Stirling Castle within the 
 time supposed in the Poem, and had the plea- 
 sure to satisfy myself that it was quite prac- 
 ticable. 
 
 After a considerable delay, " The Lady of 
 the Lake" appeared in June 1810 ; and its 
 success was certainly so extraordinary as to 
 induce me for the moment to conclude that I 
 had at last fixed a nail in the proverbially in- 
 constant wheel of Fortune, whose stability in 
 behalf of an individual who had so boldly 
 courted her favours for three successive times 
 had not as yet been shaken. I had attained, 
 perhaps, that degree of public reputation at 
 which prudence, or certainly timidity, would 
 have made a halt, and discontinued efforts by 
 which I was far more likely to diminish my 
 fame than to increase it. But, as the cele- 
 brated John Wilkes is said to have explain- 
 ed to his late Majesty, that he himself, amid 
 his full tide of popularity, was never a Wiikite,
 
 Xll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 SO I can, with honest truth, exculpate myself 
 from having been at any time a partisan of 
 my own poetry, even when it was in the high- 
 est fashion with the million. It must not be 
 supposed, that I was either so ungrateful, or 
 so superabundantly candid, as to despise or 
 scorn the value of those whose voice had ele- 
 vated me so much higher than my own opinion 
 told me I deserved. I felt, on the contrary', 
 the more grateful to the public, as receiving 
 that from partiality to me, which I could not 
 have claimed from merit ; and I endeavoured 
 to deserve the partiality, by continuing such 
 exertions as I was capable of for their amuse- 
 ment. 
 
 It may be that I did not, in this continued 
 course of scribbling, consult either the inte- 
 rest of the public, or my own. But the for- 
 mer had eflfectual means of defending them- 
 selves, and could, by their coldness, sufficient- 
 ly check any approach to intrusion ; and for 
 myself, I had now for several years dedicated
 
 INTRODUCTION. XIU 
 
 my hours so much to literary labour, that I 
 should have felt difficulty in employing my- 
 self otherwise ; and so, like Dogberry, I ge- 
 nerously bestowed all my tediousness on the 
 public, comforting myself with the reflection, 
 that if posterity should think me undeserving 
 of the favour with which I was regarded by 
 my contemporaries, " they could not say but 
 what I had the crown," and had enjoyed for 
 a time that popularity which is so much 
 coveted. 
 
 I conceived, however, that I held the dis- 
 tinguished situation I had obtained, however 
 unworthily, rather like the champion of pugi- 
 lism, on the condition of being always ready 
 to show proofs of my skill, than in the man- 
 ner of the champion of chivalry, who performs 
 his duties only on rare and solemn occasions. 
 I was in any case conscious that I could not 
 long hold a situation which the caprice, rather 
 than the judgment, of the public had bestow- 
 ed upon me, and preferred being deprived of
 
 XIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 my precedence by some more worthy rival, 
 to sinking into contempt for my indolence, 
 and losing my reputation by what Scottish 
 lawyers call the negative prescription. Ac- 
 cordingly, those who choose to look at the In- 
 troduction to Rokeby in the present edition, 
 will be able to trace the steps by which I de- 
 clined as a poet to figure as a novelist ; as the 
 ballad says. Queen Eleanor sunk at Charing 
 Cross to rise again at Queenhithe. 
 
 It only remains for me to say, that, during 
 my short pre-eminence of popularity, I faith- 
 fully observed the rules of moderation which 
 I had resolved to follow before I began my 
 course as a man of letters. If a man is de- 
 termined to make a noise in the world, he is 
 as sure to encounter abuse and ridicule, as he 
 who gallops furiously through a village must 
 reckon on being followed by the curs in full 
 cry. Experienced persons know, that in 
 stretching to flog the latter, the rider is very 
 apt to catch a bad fall ; nor is an attempt to
 
 INTRODUCTION. XV 
 
 chastise a malignant critic attended with less 
 danger to the author. On this principle, I 
 let parody, burlesque, and squibs, find their 
 own level ; and while the latter hissed most 
 fiercely, I was cautious never to catch them 
 up, as schoolboys do, to throw them back 
 against the naughty boy who fired them off*, 
 wisely remembering, that they are, in such 
 cases, apt to explode in the handling. Let 
 me add, that my reign (since Byron has so 
 called it) was marked by some instances of 
 good-nature as well as patience. I never re- 
 fused a literary person of merit such services 
 in smoothing his way to the public as were 
 in my power : and I had the advantage, rather 
 an uncommon one with our irritable race, to 
 enjoy general favour, without incurring per- 
 manent ill-will, so far as is known to me, 
 among any of my contemporaries. 
 
 Abbotsford, 
 ApHly 1830.
 
 THE 
 
 LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 A POEM. 
 
 IN SIX CANTOS.
 
 THK MOST >'OBLE 
 
 JOHN JAMES, 
 MARQUIS OF ABERCORN, 
 
 ^c. i-c. i-c. 
 
 THIS 
 
 POEM IS INSCRIBED 
 
 BT 
 
 THE AUTHOR.
 
 THE 
 
 LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 CAJsTO FIRST. 
 
 C^e (CI)a5c*
 
 ARGUMENT. 
 
 The Scene of the following Poem is laid chiefly in the vicinity 
 of Loch-Katrine, in the Western Highlands of Perthshire. 
 The time of Action includes Six JJays, and the transactions 
 of each day occiipj/ a Canto.
 
 THE 
 
 LADY OF THE LAKE 
 
 CANTO FIRST. 
 
 C^e €]bast» 
 
 Harp of the North ! that mouldering long hast hung 
 
 On the witch-elm that shades Saint Fillan's spring, 
 And down the fitful breeze thy numbers flung, 
 
 Till envious ivy did around thee cling, 
 Muffling with verdant ringlet every string, — 
 
 O minstrel Harp, still must thine accents sleep ? 
 Mid rustling leaves and fountains murmuring, 
 
 Still must thy sweeter sounds their silence keep, 
 Nor bid a warrior smile, nor teach a maid to weep ?
 
 10 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto I. 
 
 Not tliii!!!, in ancient days of Caledon, 
 
 AYas thy voice mute amid the festal cro>yd, 
 When lay of hopeless love, or glory won, 
 
 Aroused the fearful, or subdued the proud. 
 At each according pause, was heard aloud 
 
 Thine ardent symphony sublime and high ! 
 Fair dames and crested chiefs attention bow'd ; 
 
 For still the burden of thy minstrelsy 
 "\^'as Knighthood's dauntless deed, and Beauty's 
 matchless eye. 
 
 () wake once more ! how rude soe'er the hand 
 
 That ventures o'er thy magic maze to stray ; 
 O wake once more I though scarce my skill command 
 
 Some feeble echoing of thine earlier lay : 
 Though harsh and faint, and soon to die away, 
 
 And all unworthy of thy nobler strain, 
 Yet if one heart throb higher at its sway. 
 
 The wizard note has not been touch'd in vain. 
 Then silent be no more ! Enchantress, wake again !
 
 Canto T. THE CHASE. 
 
 11 
 
 I. 
 
 The Stag at eve had drunk his fill, 
 
 Where danced the moon on Monan's rill, 
 
 And deep his midnight lair had made 
 
 In lone Glenartaiey's hazel shade ; 
 
 But, when the sun his beacon red 
 
 Had kindled on Benvoirlich's head, 
 
 The deep-mouth'd blood-hound's heavy bay 
 
 Resounded up the rocky way. 
 
 And faint, from farther distance borne, 
 
 Were heard the clanging hoof and horn. 
 
 II. 
 
 As Chief, who hears his warder call, 
 " To arms I the foemen storm the wall,"
 
 \2 TPIE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto L 
 
 The antler'd monarch of the waste 
 
 Sprung from his heathery couch in haste. 
 
 But, ere his fleet career he took, 
 
 The dewdrops from his flanks he shook ; 
 
 Like crested leader proud and high, 
 
 Toss'd his beam'd frontlet to the sky ; 
 
 A moment gazed adown the dale, 
 
 A moment snuff^'d the tainted gale, 
 
 A moment listen'd to the cry, 
 
 That thicken'd as the chase drew nigh ; 
 
 Then, as the headmost foes appeard, 
 
 With one brave bound the copse he clear'd, 
 
 And, stretching forward free and far, 
 
 Souglit the wild heaths of Uam-Var. 
 
 III. 
 
 Yoll'd on the view the opening pack ; 
 Rock, glen, and cavern, paid them back ; 
 To many a mingled sound at once 
 The awaken'd mountain gave response.
 
 Canto I. THE CHASE. 13- 
 
 An hundred dogs bay'd deep and strong, 
 Clatter'd an hundred steeds along, 
 Their peal the merry horns rung out, 
 An hundred voices join'd the shout ; 
 With hark and whoop and wild halloo, 
 No rest Benvoirlich's echoes knew. 
 Far from the tumult fled the roe, 
 Close in her covert cower'd the doe, 
 The falcon, from her cairn on high, 
 Cast on the rout a wondering eye, 
 Till far beyond her piercing ken 
 The hurricane had swept the glen. 
 Faint, and more faint, its failing din 
 Return'd from cavern, cliif, and linn, 
 And silence settled, wide and still, 
 On the lone wood and mighty hill. 
 
 IV. 
 
 Less loud the sounds of silvan war 
 Disturb'd the heights of Uam-Var,
 
 14 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canio I. 
 
 And roused the cavern, where, 'tis told, 
 A giant made his den of old ; 
 For ere that steep ascent was won, 
 High in his path-way hung the sun. 
 And many a gallant, stay'd perforce, 
 "VA'as fain to breathe his faltering horse, 
 And of the trackers of the deer 
 Scarce half the lessening pack was near ; 
 So shrewdly on the mountain side, 
 Had the bold burst their mettle tried. 
 
 V. 
 
 The noble Stag was pausing now, 
 Upon tlie mountain's southern brow, 
 Where broad extended, far beneatli, 
 The varied realms of fair Menteith. 
 With anxious eye he wander'd o'er 
 Mountain and meadow, moss and moor, 
 And ponder'd refuge from his toil, 
 By far Lochard or Aberfoyle.
 
 Canto I. THE CHASE. 15 
 
 But nearer was the copsewood grey, 
 That waved and wept on Loch-Achray, 
 And mingled with the pine-trees blue 
 On the bold cliffs of Benvenue. 
 Fresh vigour with the hope return'd, 
 With flying foot the heath he spurn'd, 
 Held westward with unwearied race, 
 And left behind the panting chase. 
 
 VI. 
 
 'Twere long to tell what steeds gave o'er, 
 As swept the hunt through Cambus-morc : 
 What reins were tighten'd in despair, 
 When rose Benledi's ridge in air ; 
 Who iiagg'd upon Bochastle's heath, 
 Who shunn'd to stem the flooded Teith, — 
 For twice that day, from shore to shore, 
 The gallant Stag swam stoutly o'er. 
 Few were tlie stragglers, following far, 
 Tiiat reach'd the lake of Vennachar ;
 
 16 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Ca7ito L 
 
 And wlien the Brig-g of Turk was won, 
 The headmost Horseman rode alone. 
 
 VII. 
 
 Alone, but with unbated zeal. 
 
 That horseman plied the scourge and steel ; 
 
 For jaded now, and spent with toil, 
 
 Emboss'd with foam, and dark with soil, 
 
 While every gasp with sobs he drew, 
 
 The labouring Stag strain'd full in view. 
 
 Two dogs of black Saint Hubert's breed, 
 
 Unmatch'd for courage, breath, and speed, 
 
 Fast on his flying traces came, 
 
 And all but won that desperate game : 
 
 For, scarce a spear's length from his haunch, 
 
 Vindictive toil'd the blood-hounds staunch ; 
 
 Nor nearer might the dogs attain, 
 
 Nor farther might the quarry strain. 
 
 Thus up the margin of the lake. 
 
 Between the precipice and brake. 
 
 O'er stock and rock their race they take.
 
 Canto I. THE CHASE. IT 
 
 VIII. 
 The Hunter mark'd that mountain high, 
 The lone lake's western boundary, 
 And deem'd the Stag must turn to bay, 
 Where that huge rampart barr'd the way ; 
 Already glorying in the prize, 
 Measured his antlers with his eyes ; 
 For the death-wound, and death-halloo, 
 JMuster'd his breath, his whinyard drew ;— 
 But thundering as he came prepared, 
 With ready arm and weapon bared. 
 The wily quarry shunn'd the shock. 
 And turn'd him from the opposing rock ; 
 Then, dashing down a darksome glen. 
 Soon lost to hound and hunter's ken, 
 In the deep Trosach's wildest nook 
 His solitary refuge took. 
 There while, close couch'd, the thicket shed 
 Cold dews and wild flowers on his head, 
 
 B
 
 J 8 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canlo I. 
 
 He heard the baffled dogs in vain 
 Rave through the hollow pass amain, 
 Chiding the rocks that yell'd again. 
 
 IX. 
 
 Close on the hounds the Hunter came, 
 To cheer them on the vanish'd game ; 
 But, stumbling in the rugged dell, 
 The gallant horse exhausted fell. 
 The impatient rider strove in vain 
 To rouse him with the spur and rein, 
 For the good steed, his labours o'er, 
 Stretch'd his stiff limbs, to rise no more; 
 Then, touch'd with pity and remorse, 
 He sorrow'd o'er the expiring horse. 
 " I little thought, when first thy rein 
 I slack'd upon the banks of Seine, 
 That Highland eagle e'er should feed 
 On thy fleet limbs, my matchless steed I 
 Woe worth the chase, woe worth the day, 
 That costs thy life, my gallant greyl"
 
 Canto I. THE CHASE. 19 
 
 X. 
 
 Then through the dell his horn resounds, 
 From vain pursuit to call the hounds. 
 J3ack limp'd, with slow and crippled pace, 
 The sulky leaders of the chase ; 
 Close to their master's side they press'd, 
 With drooping- tail and humbled crest ; 
 But still the dingle's hollow throat 
 Prolong'd the swelling bugle-note. 
 The owlets started from their dream, 
 The eagles answer'd with their scream, 
 Round and around the sounds were cast, 
 Till echo seem'd an answering blast ; 
 And on the Hunter hied his way, 
 To join some comrades of the day ; 
 Yet often paused, so strange the road, 
 So wondrous were the scenes it show'd.
 
 20 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Caulo I. 
 
 XI. 
 The western waves of ebbing day 
 Roll'd o'er the glen their level way ; 
 Each purple peak, each flinty spire, 
 Was bath'd in floods of living fire, 
 But not a setting beam could glow 
 Within the dark ravines below, 
 Where twined the path in shadow hid, 
 Round many a rocky pyramid. 
 Shooting abruptly from tlie dell 
 Its thunder-splinter'd pinnacle ,• 
 Round many an insulated mass, 
 The native bulwarks of the pass, 
 Huge as the tower which builders vain 
 Presumptuous piled on Shinar's plain. 
 The rocky summits, split and rent, 
 Form'd turret, dome, or battlement, 
 Or seem'd fantastically ^ot 
 With cupola or minaret,
 
 Canto I. THE CHASE. 2 1 
 
 Wild crests as pagod ever deck'd, 
 
 Or mosque of Eastern architect. 
 
 Nor were these earth-born castles bare. 
 
 Nor lack'd tliey many a banner fair ; 
 
 For, from their shiver'd brows display'd, 
 
 Far o'er the unfathomable glade, 
 
 All twinkling with the dewdrops sheen, 
 
 The briar-rose fell in streamers green, 
 
 And creeping shrubs, of thousand dyes. 
 
 Waved in the west-wind's summer sighs. 
 
 XII. 
 Boon nature scatter'd, free and wild, 
 Each plant or flower, the mountain's child. 
 Here eglantine embalm'd the air. 
 Hawthorn and hazel mingled there ; 
 The primrose pale and violet flower, 
 Found in each cliff a narrow bower : 
 Fox-glove and night-shade, side by side, 
 Emblems of punishment and pride,
 
 22 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto I. 
 
 Group'd their dark hues with every stain 
 The weather-beaten crags retain. 
 With boughs that quaked at every breath, 
 Grey birch and aspen wept beneath ; 
 Aloft, the ash and warrior oak 
 Cast anchor in the rifted rock ; 
 And, higher yet, the pine-tree hung 
 His shatter'd trunk, and frequent flung. 
 Where seem'd the clift's to meet on high, 
 His boughs athwart the narrow'd sky. 
 Highest of all, where white peaks ghmced. 
 Where glist'ning streamers waved and danced, 
 The wanderer's eye could barely view 
 The summer heaven's delicious blue ; 
 So wondrous wild, the whole might seem 
 The scenery of a fairy dream. 
 
 xni. 
 
 Onward, amid the copse 'gan peep 
 A narrow inlet, still and deep,
 
 Canto I. THE CHASE. 
 
 Affording scarce such breadth of brim, 
 As served the wild-duck's brood to swiin. 
 Lost for a space, through thickets veeringj 
 But broader when again appearing, 
 Tall rocks and tufted knolls their face 
 Could on the dark-blue mirror trace ; 
 And farther as the hunter stray'd. 
 Still broader sweep its channels made. 
 The shaggy mounds no longer stood, 
 Emerging from entangled wood. 
 But, wave-encircled, seem'd to float, 
 Like castle girdled with its moat ; 
 Yet broader floods extending still 
 Divide them from their parent hill, 
 Till each, retiring, claims to be 
 An islet in an inland sea. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 And now, to issue from the glen, 
 
 No pathway meets the wanderer's ken.
 
 24. THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto I. 
 
 Unless he climb, with footing nice, 
 
 A far projecting precipice. 
 
 The broom's tough roots his ladder made, 
 
 The hazel saplings lent tlieir aid ; 
 
 And thus an airy point he won, 
 
 Where, gleaming with the setting sun, 
 
 One burnish'd sheet of living gold, 
 
 Loch-Katrine lay beneath him roU'd, 
 
 In all her length far winding lay, 
 
 With promontory, creek, and bay, 
 
 And islands that, empurpled briglit. 
 
 Floated amid the livelier light. 
 
 And mountains, that like giants stand. 
 
 To sentinel enchanted land. 
 
 High on the south, huge Benvenue 
 
 Down on the lake in masses threw 
 
 Crags, knolls, and mounds, confusedly hurl'd, 
 
 The fragments of an earlier world ; 
 
 A wildering forest feather'd o'er 
 
 His ruin'd sides and summit hoar,
 
 Canto I. THE CHASE. 25 
 
 AVhile on the north, through middle air, 
 Ben-an heaved high his forehead hare. 
 
 From the steep promontory gazed 
 
 The Stranger, raptured and amazed. 
 
 And, " What a scene were liere," he cried, 
 
 " For princely pomp, or churchman's pride I 
 
 On this bold brow, a lordly tower ; 
 
 In that soft vale, a lady's bower ; 
 
 On yonder meadow, far away. 
 
 The turrets of a cloister grey. 
 
 How blithely might the bugle-horn 
 
 Chide, on the lake, the lingering mom ! 
 
 How sweet, at eve, the lover's lute 
 
 Chime, when the groves were still and mute ! 
 
 And, when the midnight moon should lave 
 
 Her forehead in the silver wave, 
 
 How solemn on the ear would come 
 
 The holv matin's distant hum,
 
 26 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto I- 
 
 While the deep peal's commanding tone 
 Should wake in yonder islet lone, 
 A sainted hermit from his cell, 
 To drop a bead with every knell — 
 And bugle, lute, and bell, and all, 
 Should each bewilder'd stranger call 
 To friendly feast, and lighted hall. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 " Blithe were it then to wander here I 
 But now, — beshrew yon nimble deer, — 
 Like that same hermit's, thin and spare, 
 The copse must give my evening fare ; 
 Some mossy bank my couch must be, 
 Some rustling oak my canopy. 
 Yet pass we that ; the war and chase 
 Give little choice of resting-place ; — 
 A summer night, in greenwood spent, 
 Were but to-morrow's merriment : 
 But hosts may in these wilds abound, 
 Such as are better miss'd than found ;
 
 Canto I. THE CHASE. 27 
 
 To meet with Highland plunderers here 
 Were worse than loss of steed or deer. — 
 I am alone ; — my bugle-strain 
 May call some straggler of the train ; 
 Or, fall the worst that may betide, 
 Ere now this falchion has been tried." 
 
 XVII. 
 But scarce again his horn he wound, 
 When lo ! forth starting at the sound, 
 From underneath an aged oak. 
 That slanted from the islet rock, 
 A Damsel guider of its way, 
 A little skiff shot to the bay, 
 That round the promontory steep 
 Led its deep line in graceful sweep, 
 Eddying, in almost viewless wave, 
 The weeping willow twig to lave. 
 And kiss, with whispering sound and slow. 
 The beach of pebbles bright as sno\v.
 
 2S THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto J. 
 
 Tlie boat had toiicli'd this silver strand, 
 Just as the Hunter left his stand, 
 And stood conceal'd amid the brake, 
 To view this Lady of the Lake. 
 The maiden paused, as if again 
 She thought to catch the distant strain. 
 With head up-raised, and look intent, 
 And eye and ear attentive bent, 
 And locks flung back, and lips apart, 
 Like monument of Grecian art, 
 In listening mood, she seemed to stand, 
 Tlie guardian Naiad of tlie strand. 
 
 xvin. 
 
 And ne'er did Grecian chisel trace 
 
 A Nymph, a Naiad, or a Grace, 
 
 Of finer form, or lovelier face ! 
 
 What though the sun, with ardent frown, 
 
 Had slightly tinged lier cheek with brown, — 
 
 llie sportive toil, which, short and light, 
 
 Had dyed her glowing hue so bright,
 
 Canto L THE CHASE. 29 
 
 Served too in hastier swell to show 
 
 Short glimpses of a breast of snow : 
 
 What though no rule of courtly grace 
 
 To measured mood had train'd her pace, — 
 
 A foot more liglit, a step more true, 
 
 Ne'er from the heath-flower dash'd the dew ; 
 
 E'en the slight hairbel raised its head, 
 
 Elastic from her airy tread : 
 
 Vvliat though upon her speech there hung 
 
 The accents of the mountain tongue, — 
 
 Those silver sounds, so soft, so dear, 
 
 The list'ner held his breath to hear ! 
 
 XIX. 
 
 A Chieftain's daughter seem'd the maid ; 
 
 Her satin snood, her silken plaid. 
 
 Her golden brooch, such birth betray'd. 
 
 And seldom was a snood amid 
 
 Such v/ild luxuriant ringlets hid, 
 
 AVliose glossy black to shame might bring 
 
 Tlie plumage of the raven's wing ;
 
 30 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto I. 
 
 And seldom o'er a breast so fair, 
 
 Mantled a plaid with modest care, *' 
 
 And never brooch the folds combined 
 
 Above a heart more good and kind. 
 
 Her kindness and her worth to spy. 
 
 You need but gaze on Ellen's eye ; 
 
 Not Katrine, in her mirror blue. 
 
 Gives back the shaggy banks more true. 
 
 Than every free-born glance confess'd 
 
 The guileless movements of her breast ; 
 
 Whether joy danced in her dark eye. 
 
 Or woe or pity claim'd a sigh, 
 
 Or filial love was glowing there. 
 
 Or meek devotion pour'd a prayer. 
 
 Or tale of injury call'd forth 
 
 The indignant spirit of the North. 
 
 One only passion unreveal'd, 
 
 With maiden pride the maid conceul'd. 
 
 Yet not less pui-ely felt the flame ; — 
 
 O need I tell that passion's name !
 
 Canto I. THE CHASE. 31 
 
 XX. 
 
 Impatient of the silent horn, 
 Now on the gale her voice was borne : — 
 " Father !" she cried ; the rocks around 
 Loved to prolong the gentle sound. 
 A while she paused, no answer came, — 
 ^ " Malcolm, was thine the blast ?" the name 
 Less resolutely utter'd fell, 
 The echoes could not catch the swell. 
 " A stranger I," the Huntsman said, 
 Advancing from the hazel shade. 
 The maid, alarm 'd, with hasty oar 
 Push'd her light shallop from the shore, 
 And when a space was gain'd between, 
 Closer she drew her bosom's screen ; 
 (So forth the startled swan would swing, 
 So turn to prune his ruffled wing.) 
 Then safe, though flutter'd and amazed, 
 She paused, and on the stranger gazed.
 
 S2 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Ccinlo I. 
 
 Not his tlie form, nor his the eye, 
 That youthful maidens wont to lly. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 On his bold visage middle age 
 
 Had slightly press'd its signet sage, 
 
 Yet had not quench'd the open truth, 
 
 And fiery vehemence of youth ; 
 
 Forward and frolic glee was there, 
 
 The will to do, the soul to dare, 
 
 The sparkling glance, soon blown to fire, 
 
 Of hasty love, or headlong ire. 
 
 His limbs were cast in manly mould, 
 
 For hardy sports or contest bold ; 
 
 And though in peaceful garb arravM, 
 
 And weaponless, except his blade. 
 
 His stately mien as well implied 
 
 A high-born heart, a martial pride, 
 
 As if a Baron's crest he wore, 
 
 And sheathed in armour trod the shore.
 
 Canto I. THE CHASE. 33 
 
 Slighting the petty need he show'd, 
 
 He told of his benighted road ; 
 
 His ready speech flow'd fair and free, 
 
 In phrase of gentlest courtesy ; 
 
 Yet seem'd that tone, and gesture bland, 
 
 Less used to sue than to command. 
 
 xxn. 
 
 A while the maid the stranger eyed, 
 And, reassured, at length replied, 
 That Highland halls were open still 
 To wilder d wanderers of the hill. 
 " Nor think you unexpected come 
 To yon lone isle, our desert home ; 
 Before the heath had lost the dew, 
 This morn, a couch was pull'd for you ; 
 On yonder mountain's purple head 
 Have ptarmigan and heath-cock bled, 
 And our broad nets have ^wept the mere, 
 To furnish forth your evening cheer."—- 
 c
 
 34 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto I. 
 
 « Now, by the rood, my lovely maid, 
 Your courtesy has err'd," he said ; 
 « No right have I to claim, misplaced, 
 The welcome of expected guest. 
 A wanderer, here by fortune tost, 
 My way, my friends, my courser lost, 
 I ne'er before, believe me, fair. 
 Have ever drawn your mountain air, 
 Till on this lake's romantic strand, 
 I found a fay in fairy land I" — 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 " I well believe," the maid replied, 
 
 As her light skiff approach'd the side, — 
 
 " I well believe, that ne'er before 
 
 Your foot has trod Loch- Katrine's shore ; 
 
 But yet, as far as yesternight. 
 
 Old Allan-bane foretold your plight, — 
 
 A grey-hair'd sire, whose eye intent 
 
 Was on the vision d future bent.
 
 Canto L THE CHASE. 35 
 
 He saw your steed, a dappled grey, 
 Lie dead beneath the birchen way ; 
 Painted exact your form and mien, 
 Your hunting suit of Lincoln green, 
 That tassell'd horn so gaily gilt, 
 That falchion's crooked blade and hilt, 
 That cap with heron plumage trim. 
 And yon two hounds so dark and grim. 
 He bade that all should ready be. 
 To grace a guest of fair degree ; 
 But light I held his prophecy, 
 And deem'd it was my father's horn, 
 Whose echoes o'er the lake were borne." — 
 
 XXIV. 
 The stranger smiled ; — " Since to your home 
 A destined errant-knight I come, 
 Announced by prophet sooth and old, 
 Doom'd, doubtless, for achievement bold, 
 I'll lightly front each high emprise, 
 For one kind glance of those bright eyes.
 
 36 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto L 
 
 Permit me, tiist, the task to guide 
 
 Your fairy frigate o'er the tide." 
 
 The maid, with smile suppress'd and sly, 
 
 The toil unwonted saw him try ; 
 
 For seldom, sure, if e'er hefore, 
 
 His noble hand had grasp'd an oar : 
 
 Yet with main strength his strokes he drew, 
 
 And o'er the lake the shallop flew ; 
 
 With heads erect, and whimpering cry. 
 
 The hounds behind their passage ply. 
 
 Nor frequent does the bright oar break 
 
 The dark'ning mirror of the lake. 
 
 Until the rocky isle they reach, 
 
 And moor their shallop on the beach. 
 
 XXV. 
 
 The Stranger view'd the shore around ; 
 'Twas all so close with copsewood bound, 
 Nor track nor pathway might declare 
 That human foot frequented there.
 
 Canto I. THE CHASE. 37 
 
 Until the mountain-maiden show'd 
 A clambering unsuspected road, 
 That winded through the tangled screen, 
 And open'd on a narrow green, 
 Where weeping birch and willow round 
 With their long fibres swept the ground. 
 Here, for retreat in dangerous hour, 
 Some chief had framed a rustic bower. 
 
 xxva. 
 
 It was a lodge of ample size, 
 
 But strange of structure and device ; 
 
 Of such materials, as around 
 
 The workman's hand had readiest found. 
 
 Lopp'd of their boughs, their hoar trunks bared, 
 
 And by the hatcliet rudely squared. 
 
 To give the walls their destined height, 
 
 The sturdy oak and ash unite ; 
 
 While moss and clay and leaves combined 
 
 To fence each crevice from the wind.
 
 38 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto L 
 
 The lighter pine-trees, over-head, 
 Their slender length for rafters spread, 
 And wither'd heath and rushes dry- 
 Supplied a russet canopy. 
 Due westward, fronting to the green, 
 A rural portico was seen, 
 Aloft on native pillars borne. 
 Of mountain fir with bark unshorn. 
 Where Ellen's hand liad taught to twine 
 The ivy and Idaean vine. 
 The clematis, the favour'd flower 
 Which boasts the name of virgin-bower, 
 And every hardy plant could bear 
 Loch- Katrine's keen and searching air. 
 An instant in this porch she staid. 
 And gaily to the Stranger said, 
 " On heaven and on thy lady call, 
 And enter the enchanted hall I" —
 
 Canto I. THE CHASE. 39 
 
 XXVII. 
 " My hope, my heaven, my trust must be, 
 My gentle guide, in following thee." — 
 He cross'd the threshold — and a clang 
 Of angry steel that instant rang. 
 To his bold brow his spirit rush'd. 
 But soon for vain alarm he blush'd. 
 When on the floor he saw display'd, 
 Cause of the din, a naked blade 
 Dropp'd from the sheath, that careless flung 
 Upon a stag's huge antlers swung ; 
 For all around, the walls to grace, 
 Hung trophies of the fight or chase : 
 A target there, a bugle here, 
 A battle-axe, a hunting spear. 
 And broadswords, bows, and arrows store. 
 With the tusk'd trophies of the boar. 
 Here grins the wolf as when he died, 
 And there the wild-cat's brindled hide
 
 40 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto I. 
 
 The frontlet of the elk adorns, 
 Or mantles o'er the bison's horns ; 
 Pennons and flags defaced and stain'd, 
 That blackening streaks of blood retain'd. 
 And deer-skins, dappled, dun, and white, 
 With otter's fur and seal's unite, 
 In rude and uncouth tapestry all. 
 To garnish forth the silvan hall. 
 
 XXVIIl. 
 
 The wondering Stranger round him gazed. 
 
 And next the fallen weapon raised : — 
 
 Few were the arms whose sinewy strength 
 
 Sufficed to stretch it forth at length. 
 
 And as the brand he poised and sway'd, 
 
 " I never knew but one," he said, 
 
 " Whose stalwart arm might brook to wield 
 
 A blade like this in battle-field:' 
 
 She sigh'd, then smiled and took the word ; 
 
 " You see the guardian champion's sword :
 
 Canto I. THE CHASE. 41 
 
 As light it trembles in his band, 
 
 As in my grasp a hazel wand ; 
 
 My sire's tall form might grace the part 
 
 Of Ferragus, or Ascabart ; 
 
 But in the absent giant's hold 
 
 Are women now, and menials old." 
 
 XXIX. 
 
 The mistress of the mansion came, 
 
 Mature of age, a graceful dame ; 
 
 Whose easy step and stately port 
 
 Had well become a princely court, 
 
 To whom, though more than kindred knew, 
 
 Young Ellen gave a mother's due. 
 
 Meet welcome to her guest she made, 
 
 And every courteous rite was paid. 
 
 That hospitality could claim, 
 
 Though all unask'd his birth and name. 
 
 Such then the reverence to a guest, 
 
 That fellest foe might join the feast,
 
 42 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Caiito I. 
 
 And from his deadliest foeman's door 
 
 Unquestion'd turn, the hanquet o'er. 
 
 At length his rank the Stranger names, 
 
 " The Knight of Snowdoun, James Fitz-James ; 
 
 Lord of a barren heritage, 
 
 Which his brave sires, from age to age, 
 
 By their good swords had held with toil ; 
 
 His sire had fall'n in such turmoil. 
 
 And he, God wot, was forced to stand 
 
 Oft for his right with blade in hand. 
 
 This morning with Lord Moray's train 
 
 He chased a stalwart stag in vain, 
 
 Outstripp'd his comrades, miss'd the doer, 
 
 Lost his good steed, and wander'd here." 
 
 XXX. 
 
 Fain would the Kniglit in turn require 
 The name and state of Ellen's sire. 
 Well show'd the elder lady's mien, 
 That courts and cities she had seen ;
 
 Canto 1. THE CHASE. 43 
 
 Ellen, though more her looks display *d 
 The simple grace of silvan maid, 
 In speech and gesture, form and face, 
 Show'd she was come of gentle race ; 
 'Twere strange in ruder rank to find 
 Such looks, such manners, and such mind. 
 Each hint the Knight of Snowdoun gave, 
 Dame Margaret heard with silence grave ; 
 Or Ellen, innocently gay, 
 Turn'd all enquiry light away : — 
 " Weird women we I by dale and down 
 We dwell, afar from tower and town. 
 We stem the flood, we ride the blast, 
 On wandering knights our spells we cast ; 
 While viewless minstrels touch the string, 
 'Tis thus our charmed rhymes we sing." 
 She sung, and still a harp unseen 
 Fili'd up the symphony between.
 
 44 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto T. 
 
 XXXI. 
 
 '• Soldier, rest ! thy M*arf'are o'er, 
 
 Sleep the sleep that knows not breaking; 
 Dream of battled fields no more, 
 
 Days of danger, nights of waking. 
 In our isle's enchanted hall, 
 
 Hands unseen thy couch are strewing, 
 Fairy strains of music fall, 
 
 Every sense in slumber dewing. 
 Soldier, rest ! thy warfare o'er, 
 Dream of fighting fields no more ; 
 Sleep the sleep that knows not breaking. 
 Morn of toil, nor night of waking. 
 
 " No rude sound shall reach thine ear. 
 Armour's clang, or war-steed champing. 
 
 Trump nor pibroch summon here 
 
 Mustering clan, or squadron tramping.
 
 Canto I. THE CHASE. 45 
 
 Yet the lark's shrill fife may come 
 
 At the daybreak from the fallow, 
 And the bittern sound his drum, 
 
 Booming from the sedgy shallow. 
 Ruder sounds shall none be near, 
 Guards nor warders challenge here, 
 Here's no war-steed's neigh and champing. 
 Shouting clans or squadrons stamping." — 
 
 XXXII. 
 
 Slie paused — then, blushing, led the lay, 
 To grace the stranger of the day. 
 Her mellow notes awhile prolong 
 The cadence of the flowing song, 
 Till to her lips in measured frame 
 The minstrel verse spontaneous came. 
 
 " Huntsman, rest ! thy chase is done, 
 While our slumbrous spells assail ye. 
 
 Dream not, with the rising sun. 
 Bugles here shall sound reveille.
 
 46 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Caiiio I. 
 
 Sleep ! the deer is in his den ; 
 
 Sleep ! the hounds are by thee lying ; 
 Sleep ! nor dream in yonder glen, 
 
 How thy gallant steed lay dying. 
 Huntsman, rest ; thy chase is done, 
 Think not of the rising sun, 
 For at dawning to assail ye, 
 Here no bugles sound reveille." 
 
 XXXIII. 
 The hall was clear'd — the stranger's bed 
 Was there of mountain heather spread. 
 Where oft an hundred guests had lain, 
 And dream'd their forest sports again. 
 But vainly did the heath-flower shed 
 Its moorland fragrance round his head ; 
 Not Ellen's spell had lull'd to rest 
 The fever of his troubled breast. 
 In broken dreams the image rose 
 Of varied perils, pains, and woes ;
 
 Canto I. THE CHASE. 47 
 
 His steed now flounders in the brake, 
 
 Now sinks his barge upon the lake ; 
 
 Now leader of a broken host, 
 
 His standard falls, his honour's lost. 
 
 Then, — from my couch may heavenly might 
 
 Chase that worst phantom of the night ! — 
 
 Again return'd the scenes of youth, 
 
 Of confident undoubting truth ; 
 
 Again his soul he interchanged 
 
 With friends whose hearts were long estranged. 
 
 They come, in dim procession led. 
 
 The cold, the faithless, and the dead ; 
 
 As warm each hand, each brow as gay, 
 
 As if they parted yesterday. 
 
 And doubt distracts him at the view, 
 
 O were his senses false or true ! 
 
 Dream'd he of death, or broken vow. 
 
 Or is it all a vision now I
 
 48 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto T. 
 
 XXXIV. 
 
 At length, with Ellen in a grove 
 
 He seem'd to walk, and speak of love ; 
 
 She lisjten'd with a blush and sigh, 
 
 His suit was warm, his hopes were high. 
 
 He soilght her yielded hand to clasp, 
 
 And a cold gauntlet met his grasp : 
 
 The phantom's sex was changed and gone, 
 
 Upon its head a helmet shone ; 
 
 Slowly enlarged to giant size, 
 
 With darkened cheek and threatening eyes, 
 
 The grisly visage, stern and hoar, 
 
 To Ellen still a likeness bore. — 
 
 He woke, and, panting with affright, 
 
 Recall' d the vision of the night. 
 
 The hearth's decaying brands were red, 
 
 And deep and dusky lustre shed. 
 
 Half showing, half concealing, all 
 
 The uncouth trophies of the hall.
 
 Canto I. 
 
 THE CHASE. 49 
 
 Mid those the Stranger fix'd his eye,' 
 Where that huge falchion hung on high, 
 And thoughts on thoughts, a countless throng, 
 Rush'd, chasing countless thoughts along. 
 Until, the giddy whirl to cure. 
 He rose, and sought the moonshine pure. 
 
 XXXV. 
 
 The wild-rose, eglantine, and broom, 
 Wasted around their rich perfume : 
 Tlie birch-trees wept in fragrant balra, 
 The aspens slept beneath the calm ; 
 The silver light, with quivering glance, 
 Play'd on the water's still expanse,— 
 Wild were the heart whose passions' sway 
 Could rage beneath the sober ray I 
 He felt its calm, that warrior guest. 
 While thus he communed with his breast : — 
 « Why is it, at each turn I trace 
 Some memory of that exiled race ? 
 
 D
 
 50 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto I. 
 
 Can I not mountain-maiden spy, 
 But she must bear the Douglas eye? 
 Can I not view a Highland brand, 
 But it must match the Douglas hand ? 
 Can I not frame a fever'd dream, 
 But still the Douglas is the theme ? — 
 I'll dream no more — by manly mind 
 Not even in sleep is will resign'd. 
 My midnight orisons said o'er, 
 I'll turn to rest, and dream no more." 
 His midnight orisons he told, 
 A prayer with every bead of gold, 
 Consign'd to heaven his cares and woes, 
 .And sunk in undisturb'd repose ; 
 Until the heath-cock shrilly crew, 
 And morning dawn'd on Ben venue. 
 
 END OF CANTO FlIlbT.
 
 THE 
 
 LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 CANTO SECOND. 
 
 Ci)e I'slantJ*
 
 THE 
 
 LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 CANTO SECOND. 
 
 Cj^e Blantr* 
 
 I. 
 
 At morn the black-cock trims his jetty wing, 
 
 'Tis morning prompts the linnet's blithest lay, 
 All Nature's children feel the matin spring 
 
 Of life reviving, with reviving day ; 
 And while yon little bark glides down the bay, 
 
 Wafting the stranger on his way again, 
 ]Morn's genial influence roused a minstrel grey. 
 
 And sweetly o'er the lake was heard thy strain, 
 Mix'd with the sounding harp, O white hair'd Allan- 
 bane I
 
 34 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canio If. 
 
 II. 
 
 ** Not faster yonder rowers' might 
 
 Idlings from their oars the spray, 
 Not faster yonder rippling bright, 
 That tracts the shallop's course in light, 
 
 IMelts in the lake away, 
 Than men from memory erase 
 The benefits of former days ; 
 Then, Stranger, go ! good speed the while, 
 Nor think again of the lonely isle. 
 
 " High place to thee in royal court. 
 
 High place in battle line. 
 Good hawk and hound for silvan sport, 
 AVhere Beauty sees the bi*ave resort, 
 
 The honour'd meed be thine ! 
 True be thy sword, thy friend sincere, 
 Thy lady constant, kind, and dear,
 
 Canto 11. THE ISLAND. 55 
 
 And lost in love and friendship's smile 
 Be memory of the lonely isle. 
 
 III. 
 
 ^ong fontinuetr, 
 « But if beneath yon southern sky 
 
 A plaided stranger roam, 
 Whose drooping crest and stifled sigh, 
 And sunken cheek and heavy eye, 
 
 Pine for his Highland home ; 
 Then, warrior, then be thine to show 
 The care that soothes a wanderer's woe : 
 Remember then thy hap ere while, 
 A stranger in the lonely isle. 
 
 " Or if on life's uncertain main 
 
 Mishap shall mar thy sail ; 
 If, faithful, wise, and brave in vain, 
 Woe, want, and exile thou sustain 
 
 Beneath the fickle gale ;
 
 56 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. CarUo II. 
 
 Waste not a sigh on fortune changed, 
 On thankless courts, or friends estranged, 
 But come where kindred worth shall smile, 
 To greet thee in the lonely isle." 
 
 IV. 
 As died the sounds upon the tide. 
 The shallop reach'd the mainland side, 
 And ere his onward way he took. 
 The stranger cast a lingering look, 
 Where easily his eye might reach 
 The Harper on the islet beech, 
 Reclined against a blighted tree, 
 As wasted, grey, and worn as he. 
 To minstrel meditation given, 
 His reverend brow was raised to heaven, 
 As from the rising sun to claim 
 A sparkle of inspiring flame. 
 His hand, reclined upon the wire, 
 Seem'd watching the awakening fire ;
 
 Ckmio 11. THE ISLAND. 57 
 
 So still he sate, as those who wait 
 
 Till judgment speak the doom of fate ; 
 
 So stiU, as if no breeze might dare 
 
 To lift one lock of hoary hair ; 
 
 So still, as life itself were fled, 
 
 In the last sound his harp had sped. 
 
 V. 
 
 Upon a rock with lichens wild, 
 Beside him Ellen sate and smiled. — 
 Smiled she to see the stately drake 
 Lead forth his fleet upon the lake, 
 While her vex'd spaniel, from the beach, 
 Bay'd at the prize beyond his reach ? 
 Yet tell me, then, the maid who knows, 
 Why deepen'd on her cheek the rose ? — 
 Forgive, forgive, Fidelity ! 
 Perchance the maiden smiled to see 
 Yon parting lingerer wave adieu. 
 And stop and turn to wave anew ;
 
 68 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto IL 
 
 And, lovely ladies, ere your ire 
 Condemn the heroine of my lyre, 
 Show me the fair would scorn to spy, 
 And prize such conquest of her eye ! 
 
 VI. 
 
 While yet he loiter'd on the spot, 
 It seem'd as Ellen mark'd him not ; 
 But when he turn'd him to the glade, 
 One courteous parting sign she made ; 
 And after, oft the knight would say, 
 That not when prize of festal day 
 Was dealt him by the brightest fair. 
 Who e'er wore jewel in her hair. 
 So highly did his bosom swell. 
 As at that simple mute farewell. 
 Now with a trusty mountain-guide. 
 And his dark staghounds by his side, 
 He parts — the maid, unconscious still, 
 Watch'd him wind slowly round the hill ;
 
 Canto 11. THE ISLAND. 59 
 
 But nlien his stately form was hid, 
 
 The guardian in her bosom cliid — 
 
 " Thy Malcolm I vain and selfish maid !" 
 
 'Twas thus upbraiding conscience said, — 
 
 " Not so had Malcolm idly hung 
 
 On the smooth phrase of southern tongue ; 
 
 Not so had Malcolm strain'd his eye, 
 
 Another step than thine to spy. — 
 
 Wake, Allan-bane," aloud she cried, 
 
 To the old Minstrel by her side, — 
 
 " Arouse thee from thy moody dream ! 
 
 I'll give thy harp heroic theme, 
 
 And warm thee with a noble name ; 
 
 Pour forth the glory of the Graeme !" — 
 
 Scarce from her lip the word had rush'd. 
 
 When deep the conscious maiden blush'd ; 
 
 For of his clan, in hall and bower, 
 
 Young Malcolm Graeme was held the flower.
 
 60 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto IJ, 
 
 VII. 
 
 The Minstrel waked his harp — three times 
 
 Arose the well-known martial chimes, 
 
 And thrice their high heroic pride 
 
 In melancholy murmurs died. 
 
 " Vainly thou bid'st, O noble maid," 
 
 Clasping his wither'd hands, he said, 
 
 •' Vainly thou bid'st me wake the strain, 
 
 Though all unwont to bid in vain. 
 
 Alas ! than mine a mightier hand 
 
 Has tuned my harp, my strings has spann'd ! 
 
 I touch the chords of joy, but low 
 
 And mournful answer notes of woe ; 
 
 And the proud march, which victors tread, 
 
 Sinks in the wailing for the dead. 
 
 O well for me, if mine alone 
 
 That dirge's deep prophetic tone ! 
 
 If, as my tuneful fathers said. 
 
 This harp, which erst Saint Modan sway'd,
 
 Cayito II. THE ISLAND. 6J 
 
 Can thus its master's fate foretell, 
 Then welcome be the minstrel's knell ! 
 
 VIII. 
 
 " But ah ! dear lady, thus it sigh'd 
 
 The eve thy sainted mother died ; 
 
 And such the sounds >yhich, while I strove 
 
 To wake a lay of war or love. 
 
 Came marring all the festal mirth, 
 
 Appalling me who gave them birth, 
 
 And, disobedient to my call, 
 
 Wail'd loud through Bothwell's banner'd hall 
 
 Ere Douglasses, to rain driven. 
 
 Were exiled from their native heaven. — 
 
 Oh ! if yet worse mishap and woe 
 
 My master's house must undergo, 
 
 Or aught but weal to Ellen fair, 
 
 Brood in these accents of despair, 
 
 No future bard, sad Harp I shall fling 
 
 Triumph or rapture from thy string ;
 
 62 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto J I. 
 
 One short, one final strain shall flow, 
 Fraught with unutterable woe, 
 Then shiver'd shall thy fragments lie, 
 Thy master cast him down and die !" 
 
 IX. 
 
 Soothing she answer'd him, " Assuage, 
 
 INIine honour'd friend, the fears of age ; 
 
 All melodies to thee are known, 
 
 That harp has rung, or pipe has blown. 
 
 In Lowland vale or Highland glen, 
 
 From Tweed to Spey — what marvel, then, 
 
 At times, unbidden notes should rise, 
 
 Confusedly bound in memory's ties, 
 
 Entangling, as they rush along. 
 
 The war-march with the funeral song ? — 
 
 Small ground is now for boding fear ; 
 
 Obscure, but safe, we rest us here. 
 
 My sire, in native virtue great. 
 
 Resigning lordship, lands, and state,
 
 Canto II. THE ISLAND. 63 
 
 Not then to fortune more resign'd, 
 
 Than yonder oak might give the wind ; 
 
 The graceful foliage storms may reave, 
 
 The noble stem they cannot grieve. 
 
 For me," — she stoop'd, and, looking round, 
 
 Phick'd a blue hairbel from the ground, — 
 
 " For me, Avhose memory scarce conveys 
 
 An image of more splendid days, 
 
 This little flower, that loves the lea, 
 
 May well my simple emblem be ; 
 
 It drinks heaven's dew as blithe as rose 
 
 That in the King's own garden grows ; 
 
 And when I place it in my hair, 
 
 Allan, a bard is bound to swear 
 
 He ne'er saw coronet so fair," 
 
 Then playfully the chaplet wild 
 
 She wreathed in her dark locks, and smiled. 
 
 X. 
 
 Her smile, her speech, with winning sway, 
 Wiled the old harper's mood away.
 
 64 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto 11. 
 
 With such a look as hermits throw, 
 "When angels stoop to soothe their woe, 
 He gazed, till fond regret and pride 
 Thrill'd to a tear, then thus replied : 
 *' Loveliest and best ! thou little know'st 
 The rank, the honours, thou hast lost ! 
 O might I live to see thee grace, 
 In Scotland's court, thy birth-right place,' 
 To see my favourite's step advance, 
 The lightest in the courtly dance, 
 The cause of every gallant's sigh. 
 And leading star of every eye, 
 And theme of every minstrel's art. 
 The Lady of the Bleeding Heart !"* — 
 
 XL 
 " Fair dreams are these," the maiden cried, 
 (Light was her accent, yet she sigh'd.) 
 " Yet is this mossy rock to me 
 \yorth splendid chair and canopy ; 
 
 • The well-known cognizance of the Douglas family.
 
 Canto 11. THE ISLAND. 65 
 
 Nor would my footsteps spring- more gay 
 In courtly dance than blithe strathspey, 
 Nor half so pleased mine ear incline 
 To royal minstrel's lay as thine. 
 And then for suitors proud and high. 
 To bend before my conquering eye, 
 Thou, flattering bard ! thyself wilt say, 
 That grim Sir Roderick owns its sway. 
 The Saxon scourge, Clan- Alpine's pride, 
 The terror of Loch-Lomond's side. 
 Would, at my suit, thou know'st, delay 
 A Lennox foray — for a day." — 
 
 XIL 
 
 The ancient bard his glee repress'd : 
 " 111 hast thou chosen theme for jest ! 
 For who, through all this western wild. 
 Named Black Sir Roderick e'er, and smiled I 
 In Holy-Rood a knight he slew ; 
 I saw, when back the dirk he drew. 
 Courtiers gave place before the stride 
 Of the undaunted homicide ; 
 E
 
 QQ THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto II. 
 
 And since, though outlaw'd, liath his hand 
 
 Full sternly kept his mountain land. 
 
 Wlio else dared give — ah ! woe the day, 
 
 That I such hated truth should say — 
 
 The Douglas, like a stricken deer, 
 
 Disown'd by every noble peer. 
 
 Even the rude refuge we have here ? 
 
 Alas, this wild marauding Chief 
 
 Alone m.ight hazard our relief, 
 
 And now thy maiden charms expand, 
 
 Looks for his guerdon in thy hand ; 
 
 Full soon may dispensation sought, 
 
 To back his suit, from Rome be brought. 
 
 Tlien, though an exile on the hill. 
 
 Thy father, as the Douglas, still 
 
 Be held in reverence and fear; 
 
 And though to Roderick thou'rt so dear. 
 
 That thou mightst guide with silken thread, 
 
 Slave of thy will, this chieftain dread ; 
 
 Yet, O loved maid, thy mirth refrain ! 
 
 Thy hand is on a lion's mane." —
 
 Canlo II, THE ISLAND. 67 
 
 XIII. 
 
 '• JMinstrel," the maid replied, and high 
 Her father's soul glanced from her eye, 
 " jMy debts to Roderick's house I know : 
 All that a mother could bestow, 
 To Lady Margaret's care I owe, 
 Since first an orjDhan in the wild 
 She sorrow'd o'er her sister's child ; 
 To her brave chieftain son, from ire 
 Of Scotland's king who shrouds my sire, 
 A deeper, holier debt is owed ; 
 And, could I pay it with my blood, 
 Allan ! Sir Roderick should command 
 My blood, my life, — but not my hand. 
 Rather will Ellen Douglas dwell 
 A votaress in Maronnan's cell ; 
 Rather through realms beyond the sea, 
 Seeking the world's cold charity. 
 Where ne'er was spoke a Scottish word, 
 And ne'er the name of Douglas heard,
 
 68 THE I.ADY OF THE LAKE. Ccniio TI. 
 
 All outcast pilgrim will she rove, 
 Tiian wed the man she cannot love. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 " Thou shakest, good friend, thy tresses grey 
 
 That pleading look, what can it say 
 
 But what I own ? — I grant hire hrave, 
 
 But wild as Bracklinn's thundering wave ; 
 
 And generous — save vindictive mood, 
 
 Or jealous transport, chafe his blood: 
 
 I grant him true to friendly hand, 
 
 As his claymore is to his hand ; 
 
 But O ! that very blade of steel 
 
 More mercy for a foe would feel : 
 
 I grant him liberal, to fling 
 
 Among his clan the wealth they bring, 
 
 When back by lake and glen they wind. 
 
 And in the Lowland leave behind. 
 
 Where once some pleasant hamlet stood, 
 
 A mass of ashes slaked with blood.
 
 Canto I L THE ISLAND. 69 
 
 The hand that for my father fought, 
 
 I honour, as his daughter ought ; 
 
 But can I clasp it reeking red, 
 
 From peasants slaughter d in their shed ? 
 
 No ! wildly while his virtues gleam, 
 
 They make his passions darker seem, 
 
 And flash along his spirit high, 
 
 Like lightning o'er the midnight sky. 
 
 While yet a child, — and children know, 
 
 Instinctive taught, the friend and foe, — 
 
 I shudder'd at his brow of gloom, 
 
 His shadowy plaid, and sable plume ; 
 
 A maiden grown, I ill could bear 
 
 His haughty mien and lordly air : 
 
 But, if thou join'st a suitor's claim, 
 
 In serious mood, to Roderick's name, 
 
 I thrill with anguish ! or, if e'er 
 
 A Douglas knew the word, with fear. 
 
 To change such odious theme were best, — 
 
 What think'st thou of our stranger guest ?" —
 
 TO THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto 11. 
 
 XV. 
 
 " What think I of him ? — woe the while 
 
 That brought such wanderer to our isle ! 
 
 Thy father's battle-brand, of yore 
 
 For Tine-man forged by fairy lore, 
 
 What time he leagued, no longer foes, 
 
 His Border spears with Hotspur's bows, 
 
 Did, self-unscabbarded, foreshow 
 
 The footstep of a secret foe. 
 
 If courtly spy hath harbour'd here, 
 
 What may we for the Douglas fear? 
 
 What for this island, deem'd of old 
 
 Clan-Alpine's last and surest hold ? 
 
 If neither spy nor foe, I pray 
 
 What yet may jealous Roderick say ? 
 
 — Nay, wave not thy disdainful head 
 
 Bethink thee of the discord dread. 
 
 That kindled when at Beltane game 
 
 Thou ledst the dance with jMalcolm Graeme;
 
 Ca77to II. THE ISLAND. 
 
 Still, though thy sire the peace rene'.v'd, 
 Smoulders in Roderick's breast the feud ; 
 Be^yare I — But hark, what sounds are these ? 
 IVIy dull ears catch no faltering breeze, 
 No weeping birch, nor aspens wake, 
 Nor breath is dimpling in the lake. 
 Still is the canna's* hoary beard, 
 Yet, by my minstrel faith, I heard — 
 And hark again ! some pipe of war 
 Sends the bold pibroch from afar." 
 
 XVI. 
 
 Far up the lengthen'd lake were spied 
 Four darkening specks upon the tide, 
 That, slow enlarging on the view, 
 Four mann'd and masted barges grew, 
 And, bearing downwards from Glengyle, 
 Steer d full upon the lonely isle ; 
 
 • Cotton-grass.
 
 72 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto II. 
 
 The point of Brianclioil they pass'd, 
 
 And, to the windward as they cast, 
 
 Against the sun they gave to shine 
 
 The bold Sir Roderick's banner'd Pine. 
 
 Nearer and nearer as they bear, 
 
 Spear, pikes, and axes flash in air. 
 
 Now might you see the tartans brave, 
 
 And plaids and plumage dance and wave : 
 
 Now see the bonnets sink and rise. 
 
 As his tough oar the rower plies ; 
 
 See, flashing at each sturdy stroke, 
 
 The wave ascending into smoke ; 
 
 See the proud pipers on the bow, 
 
 And mark the gaudy streamers flow 
 
 From their loud chanters* down, and sweep 
 
 The furrow'd bosom of the deep. 
 
 As, rushing through the lake amain, 
 
 They plied the ancient Highland strain. 
 
 • The pipe part of the bagpipe.
 
 Canto II. THE ISLAND. 
 
 XVII. 
 Ever, as on they bore, more loud 
 And louder rung the pibroch proud. 
 At first the sound, by distance tame, 
 ■Mellow'd along the waters came. 
 And, lingering long by cape and bay, 
 Wail'd every harsher note away 
 Tlien bursting bolder on the ear. 
 The clan's shrill Gathering they could hear 
 Those thrilling sounds, that call the might 
 Of old Clan- Alpine to the fight. 
 Thick beat the rapid notes, as when 
 The mustering hundreds shake the glen, 
 And hurrying at the signal dread, 
 The batter'd earth returns their tread. 
 Then prelude light, of livelier tone, 
 Express'd their merry marching on, 
 Ere peal of closing battle rose, 
 Vi'ith. mingled outcry, shrieks, and blows ;
 
 74 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto IT. 
 
 And mimic din of stroke and ward, 
 As broadsword upon target jarr d ; 
 And groaning pause, ere yet again. 
 Condensed, the battle yell'd amain ; 
 The rapid charge, the rallying shout, 
 Retreat borne headlong into rout. 
 And bursts of triumph, to declare 
 Clan- Alpine's conquest — all were there. 
 Nor ended thus the strain ; but slow. 
 Sunk in a moan prolong'd and low, 
 And changed the conquering clarion swell, 
 For wild lament o'er those that fell. 
 
 XVIIL 
 
 The war-pipes ceased ; but lake and hill 
 Were busy with their echoes still ; 
 And, when they slept, a vocal strain 
 Bade their hoarse chorus wake again, 
 While loud a hundred clansmen raise 
 Their voices in tlieir Chieftain's praise. 
 
 #
 
 Canto 11. • THE ISLAND. T5 
 
 Each boatman, bending to liis oar, 
 With measured sweep the burden lore, 
 In such wild cadence, as the breeze 
 Makes through December's leafless trees. 
 The chorus first could Allan know, 
 " Roderich Vich Alpine, ho ! iro !" 
 And near, and nearer as they rowVl, 
 Distinct the martial ditty flowVl. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 Boat ^(in%. 
 Hail to the Chief who in triumph advances ! 
 
 Honour'd and bless'd be the ever-green Pine ! 
 Long may the Tree, in his banner that glances. 
 Flourish, the shelter and grace of our line ! 
 Heaven send it happy dew, 
 Earth lend it sap anew, 
 Gayly to bourgeon, and broadly to grow. 
 While every Highland glen 
 Sends our shout back agen, 
 " Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho I ieroe I'
 
 76 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto 11. 
 
 Ours is no sapling, cliance-sown by the fountain. 
 
 Blooming at Beltane, in winter to fade ; 
 ^\'lien the whirlwind has stripp'd every leaf on tlie 
 mountain, 
 The more shall Clan-Alpine exult in her shade. 
 Moor'd in the rifted rock. 
 Proof to the tempest's shock, 
 Firmer he roots him tlie ruder it blow ; 
 Menteith and Breadalbane, then, 
 Echo his praise agen, 
 " Roderigli Vich Alpine dim, ho I ieroe I" 
 
 XX. 
 
 Proudly our pibroch has thrill'd in Glen Fruin, 
 
 And Bannochar's groans to our slogan replied ; 
 Glen Luss and Ross-dhu, they are smoking in ruin, 
 And the best of Loch-Lomond lie dead on her side. 
 Widow and Saxon maid 
 Long shall lament our raid,
 
 Canto II. THE ISLAND. 77 
 
 Think of Clan- Alpine with fear and with wo ; 
 
 Lennox and Leven-glen 
 
 Shake when they hear agen, 
 " Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho ! ieroe !" 
 
 Row, vassals, row, for the pride of the Highlands ! 
 
 Stretch to your oars, for the ever-green Pine ! 
 O I that the rose-bud that graces yon islands, 
 Were wreathed in a garland around him to twine I 
 
 O that some seedling gem, 
 
 Worthy such noble stem, 
 Honour'd and bless'd in their shadow might grow ! 
 
 Loud should Clan- Alpine then 
 
 Ring from her deepmost glen, 
 " Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho I ieroe !" 
 
 XXL 
 
 With all her joyful female band, 
 Had Lady Margaret sought the strand. 
 Loose on the breeze their tresses flew, 
 And high their snowy arms they threw,
 
 T8 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto II. 
 
 As echoing back with shrill acclaim, 
 
 And chorus wild, the Chieftain's name ; 
 
 While, prompt to please, with mother's art, 
 
 The darling passion of his heart, 
 
 The Dame called Ellen to the strand. 
 
 To greet her kinsman ere he land : 
 
 " Come, loiterer, come ! a Douglas thou, 
 
 And shun to wreathe a victor's brow ?" — 
 
 Reluctantly and slow, the maid 
 
 The unwelcome summoning obey'd, 
 
 And, when a distant bugle rung. 
 
 In the mid-path aside she sprung : — 
 
 " List, Allan-bane ! From mainland cast, 
 
 I hear my father's signal blast. 
 
 Be ours," she cried, " the skiff to guide. 
 
 And waft him from the mountain-side." — 
 
 Then, like a sunbeam, swift and bright, 
 
 She darted to her shallop light. 
 
 And, eagerly while Roderick scann'd. 
 
 For her dear form, his mother's band,
 
 Canto 11. THE ISLAND. 79 
 
 The islet far beliind her lay, 
 And she had landed in the bay. 
 
 XXII. 
 
 Some feelings are to mortals given, 
 With less of earth in them than heaven ; 
 And if there be a human tear 
 From passion's dross refined and clear, 
 A tear so limpid and so meek, 
 It would not stain an angel's cheek, 
 'Tis that which pious fathers shed 
 Upon a duteous daughter's head ! 
 And as the Douglas to his breast 
 His darling Ellen closely press'd, 
 Such holy drops her tresses steep'd, 
 Though 'twas an hero's eye that weep'd. 
 Nor while on Ellen's faltering tongue 
 Her filial welcomes crowded hung, 
 IVIark'd she, that fear (affection's proof) 
 Still held a graceful youth aloof;
 
 80 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto II. 
 
 No ! not till Douglas named his name, 
 Although the youth was Malcolm Grieme. 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 Allan, with wistful look the while, 
 
 Mark'd Roderick landing on the isle ; 
 
 His master piteously he eyed, 
 
 Then gazed upon the Chieftain's pride, 
 
 Then dash'd, with hasty hand, away 
 
 From his dimm'd eye the gathering spray ; 
 
 And Douglas, as his hand he laid 
 
 On Malcolm's shoulder, kindly said, 
 
 " Canst thou, young friend, no meaning spy 
 
 In my poor follower's glistening eye ? 
 
 I'll tell thee : — he recalls the day, 
 
 When in my praise he led the lay 
 
 O'er the arch'd gate of Bothwell proud. 
 
 While many a minstrel answer'd loud, 
 
 When Percy's Norman pennon, won 
 
 In bloody field, before me shone,
 
 Canto IL THE ISLAND, 81 
 
 And twice ten knights, the least a name 
 As mighty as yon Chief may claim, 
 Gracing my pomp, behind me came. 
 Yet trust me, Malcolm, not so proud 
 Was I of all that marshall'd crowd, 
 Though the waned crescent own'd my might, 
 And in my train troop'd lord and knight. 
 Though Blantyre hymn'd her holiest lays, 
 And Bothwell's bards flung back my praise. 
 As when this old man's silent tear, 
 And this poor maid's affection dear, 
 A welcome give more kind and true," 
 Than aught my better fortunes knew. 
 Forgive, my friend, a father's boast ; 
 O ! it out-beggars all I lost !" 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 Delightful praise ! — ^like summer rose, 
 That brighter in the dew-drop glows. 
 The bashful maiden's cheek appear d, 
 For Douglas spoke, and Malcolm heard, 
 p
 
 82 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto IT. 
 
 The flush of shame-faced joy to hide, 
 The hounds, the hawk, her cares divide ; 
 The loved caresses of the maid 
 The dogs with crouch and wliimper paid ; 
 And, at her whistle, on her hand 
 The falcon took his favourite stand, 
 Closed his dark wing-, relax'd his eye. 
 Nor, though unhooded, sought to fly. 
 And, trust, while in such guise she stood. 
 Like fabled Goddess of the Wood, 
 That if a father's partial thought 
 O'erweigh'd her worth, and beauty aught, 
 Well might the lover's judgment fail 
 To balance with a juster scale ; 
 For with each secret glance he stole. 
 The fond enthusiast sent his soul. 
 
 XXV. 
 
 Of stature tall, and slender frame, 
 But firmly knit, was Malcolm Graeme.
 
 Canto IT. THE ISLAND. 83 
 
 The belted plaid and tartan hose 
 
 Did ne'er more graceful limbs disclose ; 
 
 His flaxen hair, of sunny hue, 
 
 Curl'd closely round his bonnet blue. 
 
 Train'd to the chase, his eagle eye 
 
 The ptarmigan in snow could spy : 
 
 Each pass, by mountain, lake, and heath, 
 
 He knew, through Lennox and Menteith ; 
 
 Vain was the bound of dark-brown doe, 
 
 When Malcolm bent his sounding bow, 
 
 And scarce that doe, though wing'd with fear, 
 
 Outstripp'd in speed the mountaineer : 
 
 Riglit up Ben-Lomond could he press, 
 
 And not a sob his toil confess. 
 
 His form accorded with a mind 
 
 Lively and ardent, frank and kind ; 
 
 A blither heart, till Ellen came, 
 
 Did never love nor sorrow tame ; 
 
 It danced as lightsome in his breast. 
 
 As play'd the feather on his crest.
 
 84 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canlo 11. 
 
 Yet friends, who nearest knew the youth, 
 His scorn of wrong, his zeal for truth, 
 And bards, -who saw his features bold, 
 When kindled by the tales of old. 
 Said, were that youth to manhood grown, 
 Not long should Roderick Dhu's renown 
 Be foremost voiced by mountain fame, 
 But quail to that of Malcolm Grseme. 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 Now back they wend their watery way, 
 And, " O my sire I" did Ellen say, 
 " Why urge thy chase so far astray ? 
 And why so late return'd ? And why" — 
 The rest was in her speaking eye. 
 " j\Iy child, the chase I follow far, 
 'Tis mimicry of noble war ; 
 And with that gallant pastime reft 
 Were all of Douglas I have left. 
 I met young Malcolm as I stray'd 
 Far eastward, in Glenfinlas' shade,
 
 Canto II. THE ISLAND. 85 
 
 Nor stray'd 1 safe ; for, all around, 
 Hunters and horsemen scour'd tlie ground. 
 This youth, though still a royal ward, 
 Risk'd life and land to be my guard, 
 And through the passes of the wood 
 Guided my steps, not unpursued ; 
 And Roderick shall his welcome make, 
 Despite old spleen, for Douglas' sake. 
 Then must he seek Strath-En drick glen, 
 Nor peril aught for me agen." 
 
 XXVII. 
 
 Sir Roderick, who to meet them came, 
 Redden'd at sight of Malcolm Graeme, 
 Yet, not in action, word, or eye, 
 Fail'd aught in hospitality. 
 In talk and sport they whiled away 
 The morning of that summer day ; 
 But at high noon a courier light 
 Held secret parley with the knight,
 
 86 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto IT. 
 
 Whose inoody aspect soon declared, 
 That evil were the neus he heard. 
 Deep thought seem'd toiling in his liead ; 
 Yet was the evening banquet made, 
 Ere he assembled round the flame, 
 His mother, Douglas, and the Graeme, 
 And Ellen, too ; then cast around 
 His eyes, then fixed them on the ground, 
 As studying phrase that might avail 
 Best to convey unpleasant tale. 
 Long with his dagger's hilt he play'd. 
 Then raised his haughty brow, and said : 
 
 XXVHI. 
 
 *' SJiort be my speech ; — nor time affords. 
 Nor my plain temper, glozing words. 
 Kinsman and father, — if such name 
 Douglas vouchsafe to Roderick's claim ; 
 Mine honourd mother ; — Ellen — why. 
 My cousin, turn away thine eye ? —
 
 Canto IL THE ISLAND. 87 
 
 And Graeme ; in whom I hope to know 
 
 Full soon a noble friend or foe, 
 
 When age shall g-ive thee thy command, 
 
 And leading in thy native land, — 
 
 List all I — The King s vindictive pride 
 
 Boasts to have tamed the Border-side, 
 
 Where chiefs, with hound and hawk who came 
 
 To share their monarch's silvan game, 
 
 Themselves in bloody toils were snared ; 
 
 And when the banquet they prepared, 
 
 And wide their loyal portals flung. 
 
 O'er their own gateway struggling hung. 
 
 Loud cries their blood from Meggat's mead. 
 
 From Yarrow braes, and banks of Tweed, 
 
 Wliere the lone streams of Ettrick glide, 
 
 And from the silver Teviot's side ; 
 
 The dales, where martial clans did ride, 
 
 Are now one sheep-walk, waste and wide. 
 
 This tyrant of the Scottish throne. 
 
 So faithless, and so ruthless known,
 
 88 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto 11. 
 
 xsow hither comes ; his end the same, 
 
 The same pretext of silvan game. 
 
 "What grace for Highland Chiefs, judge ye 
 
 By fate of Border chivalry. 
 
 Yet more ; amid Gienfinlas green, 
 
 Douglas, thy stately form was seen. 
 
 This by espial sure I know ; 
 
 Your counsel in the streight I show." 
 
 XXIX. 
 
 Ellen and Margaret fearfully 
 Sought comfort in each other's eye, 
 Then turn'd their ghastly look, each one, 
 Tliis to her sire, that to her son. 
 The hasty colour went and came 
 In the bold cheek of jVIalcolm Graeme ; 
 But from his glance it well appear'd, 
 'Twas but for Ellen that he feard ; 
 AYhile, sorrowful, but undismay'd, 
 The Douglas thus his counsel said :
 
 Canto II. THE ISLAND. S9 
 
 " Brave Roderick, though the tempest roar, 
 It may but thunder and pass o'er ; 
 Nor will I here remain an hour, 
 To draw the lightning on thy bower ; 
 For well thou know'st, at this grey head 
 The royal bolt were fiercest sped. 
 For thee, who, at thy King's command, 
 Canst aid him with a gallant band. 
 Submission, homage, humbled pride. 
 Shall turn the Monarch's wrath aside. 
 Poor remnants of the Bleeding Heart, 
 Ellen and I will seek, apart, 
 The refuge of some forest cell, 
 There, like the hunted quarry, dwell, 
 Till on the mountain and the moor. 
 The stern pursuit be pass'd and o'er." — 
 
 XXX. 
 
 " No, by mine honour," Roderick said, 
 
 " So help me Heaven, and my good blade I
 
 90 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto IL 
 
 No, never I Blasted be yon Pine, 
 
 My father's ancient crest and mine, 
 
 If from its shade in danger part 
 
 The lineage of the Bleeding Heart ! 
 
 Hear my blunt speech : grant me this maid 
 
 To wife, thy counsel to mine aid ; 
 
 To Douglas, leagued with Roderick Dhu, 
 
 Will friends and allies flock enow ; 
 
 Like cause of doubt, distrust, and grief, 
 
 Will bind to us each Western Chief. 
 
 When the loud pipes my bridal tell. 
 
 The Links of Forth shall hear the knell. 
 
 The guards shall start in Stirling's porch ; 
 
 And, -when I light the nuptial torch, 
 
 A thousand villages in flames. 
 
 Shall scare the slumbers of King James ! 
 
 — Nay, Ellen, blench not thus away, 
 
 And, mother, cease these signs, I pray ; 
 
 I meant not all my heart might say. — 
 
 Small need of inroad, or of fight. 
 
 When the sage Douglas may unite
 
 Canto 11. THE ISLAND. 91 
 
 Each mountain clan in friendly band, 
 To guard the passes of their land, 
 Till the foil'd king, from pathless glen. 
 Shall bootless turn him home agen." 
 
 XXXI. 
 
 There are who have, at midnight hour, 
 
 In slumber scaled a dizzy tower, 
 
 And, on the verge that beetled o'er 
 
 The ocean-tide's incessant roar, 
 
 Dream'd calmly out their dangerous dream, 
 
 Till waken'd by the morning beam ; 
 
 When, dazzled by the eastern glow, 
 
 Such startler cast his glance below, 
 
 And saw unmeasured depth around, 
 
 And heard unintermitted sound. 
 
 And thought the battled fence so frail, 
 
 It waved like cobweb in the gale ; — 
 
 Amid his senses' giddy wheel. 
 
 Did he not desperate impulse feel,
 
 92 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto II. 
 
 Headlong to plunge liimself below, 
 
 And meet the worst his fears foreshow ? — 
 
 Thus, Ellen, dizzy and astound, 
 
 As sudden ruin yawn'd around. 
 
 By crossing terrors wildly toss'd, 
 
 Still for the Douglas fearing most. 
 
 Could scarce the desperate thought withstand. 
 
 To buy his safety with her hand. 
 
 XXXII. 
 
 Such purpose dread could Malcolm spy 
 In Ellen's quivering lip and eye. 
 And eager rose to speak — hut ere 
 His tongue could hurry forth his fear, 
 Had Douglas mark'd the hectic strife. 
 Where death seem'd combating with life ; 
 For to her cheek, in feverish flood. 
 One instant rush'd the throbbing blood, 
 Then ebbing back, v.'ith sudden sway, 
 Left its domain as wan as clay.
 
 Canto II. THE ISLAND. 93 
 
 " Roderick, enough ! enough !" he cried, 
 " My daughter cannot he thy bride ; 
 Not that the blush to wooer dear, 
 Nor paleness that of maiden fear. 
 It may not be — ^forgive her, Chief, 
 Nor hazard aught for our relief. 
 Against his sovereign, Douglas ne'er 
 Will level a rebellious spear. 
 'Twas I that taught his youthful hand 
 To rein a steed and wield a brand ; 
 I see him yet, the princely boy I 
 Not Ellen more my pride and joy ; 
 I love him still, despite my wrongs. 
 By hasty wrath, and slanderous tongues. 
 O seek the grace you well may find. 
 Without a cause to mine combined." 
 
 XXXIII. 
 
 Twice through the hall the Chieftain strode ; 
 The waving of his tartans broad.
 
 94 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Cai.lo If, 
 
 And clarken'd brow, where wounded i)ride 
 With ire and disappointment vied, 
 Seem'd, by the torch's gloomy light, 
 Like the ill Demon of the night, 
 Stooping his pinions' shadowy sway 
 Upon the nighted pilgrim's way : 
 But, unrequited Love ! thy dart 
 Plunged deepest its envenom'd smart, 
 And Roderick, with thine anguish stung. 
 At length the hand of Douglas wrung, 
 While eyes, that mock'd at tears before. 
 With bitter drops were running o'er. 
 The death-pangs of long-cherish'd hope 
 Scarce in that ample breast had scope. 
 But, struggling with his spirit proud. 
 Convulsive heaved its chequer'd shroud, 
 While every sob— so mute were all — 
 Was heard distinctly through the hall. 
 The son's despair, the mother's look, 
 111 might the gentle Ellen brook ;
 
 Canto IT. THE ISLAND. 95 
 
 She rose, and to her side there came, 
 To aid her parting steps, the Graeme. 
 
 XXXIV. 
 
 Then Roderick from the Douglas broke — 
 
 As flashes flame through sable smoke. 
 
 Kindling its wreaths, long, dark, and low. 
 
 To one broad blaze of ruddy glow. 
 
 So the deep anguish of despair 
 
 Burst, in fierce jealousy, to air. 
 
 With stalwart grasp his hand he laid 
 
 On Malcolm's breast and belted plaid : 
 
 " Back, beardless boy !" he sternly said, 
 
 " Back, minion ! hold'st thou thus at naught 
 
 The lesson I so lately taught ? 
 
 Tliis roof, the Douglas, and that maid, 
 
 Thank thou for punishment delay 'd." 
 
 Eager as gi*eyhound on his game. 
 
 Fiercely with Roderick grappled Gra3me. 
 
 " Perish my name, if aught aiford 
 
 Its Chieftain safety save his sword !"
 
 96 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto IF. 
 
 Thus as tliey strove, tlieir desperate hand 
 
 Griped to the dagger or the brand, 
 
 And death had been — but Douglas rose, 
 
 And thrust betNveen the struggling foes 
 
 His giant strength : — " Chieftains, fore^ro I 
 
 I hold the first who strikes, my foe. — 
 
 Madmen, forbear your frantic jar ! 
 
 What ! is the Douglas fall'n so far, 
 
 His daughter's hand is doom'd the spoil 
 
 Of such dishonourable broil !" 
 
 Sullen and slowly, they unclasp, 
 
 As struck with shame, their desperate gra«:p, 
 
 And each upon his rival glared, 
 
 With foot advanced, and blade half bared. 
 
 XXXV. 
 
 Ere yet the brands aloft were flung, 
 Margaret on Roderick's mantle hung, 
 And Malcolm heard his Ellen's scream, 
 As falter'd through terrific dream.
 
 Canio 11. THE ISLAND. 97 
 
 Then Roderick plunged in sheath his s\rord, 
 And veil'd his wrath in scornful word. 
 " Rest safe till morning ; pity 'twere 
 Such cheek should feel the midnight air ! 
 Then mayest thou to James Stewart tell, 
 Roderick will keep the lake and fell, 
 Nor lackey, with his freeborn clan, 
 The pageant pomp of earthly man. 
 More would he of Clan- Alpine know. 
 Thou canst our strength and passes sliow. — 
 Malise, what ho !" — his henchman came ; 
 " Give our safe-conduct to the Grseme." 
 Young Malcolm answer'd, calm and bold, 
 " Fear nothing for thy favourite hold ; 
 The spot, an angel deign'd to grace, 
 Is bless'd, though robbers haunt the place. 
 Thy churlish courtesy for those 
 Reserve, who fear to be thy foes. 
 As safe to me the mountain way 
 At midnight as in blaze of day, 
 o
 
 98 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canio 11. 
 
 Though with his boldest at his back, 
 Even Roderick Dhu beset the track. — 
 Brave Douglas, — lovely Ellen,— nay, 
 Nought here of parting will I say. 
 Earth does not hold a lonesome glen, 
 So secret, but we meet agen. — 
 Chieftain ! we too shall find an hour." — 
 He said, and left the silvan bower. 
 
 XXXVI. 
 
 Old Allan follow'd to the strand, 
 (Such was the Douglas's command,) 
 And anxious told, how, on the morn, 
 The stern Sir Roderick deep had sworn, 
 The Fiery Cross should circle o'er 
 Dale, glen, and valley, down, and moor. 
 Much were the peril to the Graeme, 
 From those who to the signal came ; 
 Far up the lake 'twere safest land, 
 Himself would row him to the strand.
 
 Canto 11. THE ISLAND. 99 
 
 He gave his counsel to the wind, 
 While Malcolm did, unheeding, bind, 
 Round dirk and pouch and broadsword roU'd, 
 His ample plaid in tighten'd fold, 
 And stripp'd his limbs to such array. 
 As best might suit the watery way, — 
 
 XXXVII. 
 
 Then spoke abrupt: " Farewell to thee. 
 Pattern of old fidelity !" — 
 The Minstrel's hand he kindly press'd, — 
 " O ! could I point a place of rest ! 
 My sovereign holds in ward my land, 
 My uncle leads my vassal band ; 
 To tame his foes, his friends to aid. 
 Poor Malcolm has but heart and blade. 
 Yet, if there be one faithful Graeme, 
 Who loves the Chieftain of his name, 
 Not long shall honour'd Douglas dwell, 
 Like hunted stag in mountain cell ;
 
 100 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto I L 
 
 Nor, ere yon pride-svroH'n robber dare,— 
 I may "ot give the rest to air ! 
 Tell Roderick Dhu, I owed him nought, 
 Not the poor service of a boat, 
 To waft me to yon mountain-side." 
 Then plunged he in the flashing tide. 
 Bold o'er the flood his head he bore, 
 And stoutly steer'd him from the shore ; 
 And Allan strain'd his anxious eye, 
 Far 'raid the lake his form to spy. 
 Darkening across each puny wave, 
 To which the moon her silver gave, 
 Fast as the cormorant could skim, 
 The swimmer plied each active limb ; 
 Then landing in the moonlight dell, 
 Loud shouted of his weal to tell. 
 The Minstrel heard the far halloo, 
 And joyful from the shore withdrew. 
 
 END OF CANTO SECOND.
 
 THE 
 
 LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 CANTO THIRD. 
 
 €i)t <Gat|)cring«
 
 THE 
 
 LADY OF THE LAKE 
 
 CANTO THIRD. 
 
 r 
 I. 
 
 Time rolls his ceaseless course. The race of yore 
 
 Who danced our infancy upon their knee, 
 And told our marvelling boyhood legends store, 
 
 Of their strange ventures happ'd by land or sea, 
 How are they blotted from the things that be ! 
 
 How few, all weak and wither'd of their force, 
 Wait on the verge of dark eternity, 
 
 Like stranded wrecks, the tide returning hoarse. 
 To sweep them from our sight I Time rolls his cease- 
 less course.
 
 104 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto III. 
 
 Yet live there still who can remember well, 
 
 How, when a mountain chief his bugle blew, 
 Both field and forest, dingle, cliff, and dell, 
 
 And solitary heath, the signal knew ; 
 And fast the faithful clan around him drew. 
 
 What time the warning note was keenly wound, 
 >yhat time aloft their kindred banner flew, 
 
 While clamorous war-pipes yell'd the gathering 
 sound. 
 And while the Fiery Cross glanced, like a meteor, 
 round. 
 
 II. 
 The summer dawn's reflected hue 
 To purple changed Loch- Katrine blue ; 
 Mildly and soft the western breeze 
 Just kiss'd the lake, just stirr'd the trees. 
 And the pleased lake, like maiden coy. 
 Trembled but dimpled not for joy ; 
 The mountain-shadows on her breast 
 Were neither broken nor at rest ;
 
 Canto III. THE GATHERING. 105 
 
 In bright uncertainty they lie, 
 
 Like future joys to Fancy's eye. 
 
 The water-lily to the light 
 
 Her chalice rear'd of silver bright ; 
 
 The doe awoke, and to the lawn, 
 
 Begemm'd with dewdrops, led her fawn ; 
 
 The grey mist left the mountain side, 
 
 The torrent show'd its glistening pride ; 
 
 Invisible in flecked sky, 
 
 The lark sent down her revelry ; 
 
 The blackbird and the speckled thrush 
 
 Good-morrow gave from brake and bush ; 
 
 In answer coo'd tlie cushat dove 
 
 Her notes of peace, and rest, and love. 
 
 III. 
 
 No thought of peace, no thought of rest, 
 Assuaged the storm in Roderick's breast. 
 With sheathed broadsword in his hand, 
 Abrupt he paced the islet strand,
 
 106 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto III. 
 
 And eyed the rising sun, and laid 
 His hand on his impatient blade. 
 Beneath a rock, his vassals' care 
 Was prompt the ritual to prepare. 
 With deep and deathful meaning fraught ; 
 For such Antiquity had taught 
 Was preface meet, ere yet abroad 
 The Cross of Fire should take its road. 
 The shrinking band stood oft aghast 
 At the impatient glance he cast ; — 
 Such glance the mountain eagle threw. 
 As, from the cliffs of Benvenue, 
 She spread her dark sails on the wind. 
 And, high in middle heaven reclined, 
 With her broad shadow on the lake, 
 Silenced the warblers of the brake. 
 
 IV. 
 
 A heap of wither'd boughs was piled, 
 Of juniper and rowan wild,
 
 Canto III. THE GATHERING. 10' 
 
 Mingled with shivers from tlie oak, 
 Rent by the lightning's recent stroke* 
 Brian, the Hermit, by it stood, 
 Barefooted, in his frock and hood. 
 His grisled beard and matted hair 
 Obscured a visage of despair ; 
 His naked arms and legs, seam'd o'er, 
 The scars of frantic penance bore. 
 That monk, of savage form and face. 
 The impending danger of his race 
 Had drawn from deepest solitude. 
 Far in Benharrow's bosom rude. 
 Not his the mien of Christian priest, 
 But Druid's, from the grave released. 
 Whose harden'd heart and eye might brook 
 On human sacrifice to look ; 
 And much, 'twas said, of heathen lore 
 Mix'd in the charms he mutter*d o'er. 
 The hallow'd creed gave only worse 
 And deadlier emphasis of curse ;
 
 108 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. CaTitc 111. 
 
 No peasant sought that Hermit's prayer, 
 His cave the pilgrim shimn'd with care, 
 The eager huntsman knew his bound, 
 And in mid cluise call'd off his hound ; 
 Or if, in lonely glen or strath, 
 The desert-dweller met his path. 
 He pray'd, and sign'd the cross between, 
 While terror took devotion's mien. 
 
 V. 
 
 Of Brian's birth strange tales were told. 
 His mother watch'd a midnight fold. 
 Built deep within a dreary glen, 
 Where scatter'd lay the bones of men, 
 In some forgotten battle slain. 
 And bleach'd by drifting wind and rain. 
 It might have tamed a warrior's heart, 
 To view such mockery of his art ! 
 The knot-grass fetter'd there the hand, 
 Which once could burst an iron band ;
 
 Canto III. THE GATHERING, 109 
 
 Beneath the broad and ample bone, 
 That buckler'd heart to fear unknown, 
 A feeble and a timorous guest, 
 The field-fare framed her lowly nest ; 
 There the slow blind-worm left his slime 
 On the fleet limbs that mock'd at time ; 
 And there, too, lay the leader's skull, 
 Still wreath'd with chaplet, flush'd and full, 
 For heath-bell, with her purple bloom. 
 Supplied the bonnet and the plume. 
 All night, in this sad glen, the maid 
 Sate, shrouded in her mantle's shade ; 
 — She said, no shepherd sought her side, 
 No hunter's hand her snood untied. 
 Yet ne'er again to braid her hair 
 The virgin snood did Alice wear ; 
 Gone was her maiden glee and sport, 
 Her maiden girdle all too short, 
 Nor sought she, from that fatal night, 
 Or holy church or blessed rite.
 
 110 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto I J I. 
 
 But lock'd her secret in her breast, 
 And died in travail, unconfess'd. 
 
 VI. 
 
 Alone, among his young compeers, 
 Was Brian from his infant years ; 
 A moody and heart-broken boy, 
 Estranged from sympathy and joy, 
 Bearing each taunt which careless tongue 
 On his mysterious lineage flung. 
 Whole nights he spent by moonlight pale, 
 To wood and stream his hap to wail, 
 Till, frantic, he as truth received 
 What of his birth the crowd believed, 
 And sought, in mist and meteor lire, 
 To meet and know his Phantom Sire ! 
 In vain, to soothe his wayward fate. 
 The cloister oped her pitying gate ; 
 In vain, the learning of the age 
 Unclasp'd the sable-letter'd page ;
 
 Canto III. THE GATHERING. 11] 
 
 Even in its treasures he could find 
 
 Food for the fever of his mind. 
 
 Eager he read whatever tells 
 
 Of magic, cabala, and spells, 
 
 And every dark pursuit allied 
 
 To curious and presumptuous pride ; 
 
 Till with fired brain and nerves o'erstrung, 
 
 And heart with mystic horrors wrung. 
 
 Desperate he sought Benharrow's den. 
 
 And hid him from the haunts of men. 
 
 VII. 
 
 The desert gave him visions wild. 
 Such as might suit the Spectre's child. 
 Where with black cliffs the torrents toil. 
 He watch'd the wheeling eddies boil. 
 Till, from their foam, his dazzled eyes 
 Beheld the river Demon rise ; 
 The mountain mist took form and limb. 
 Of noontide hag, or goblin grim ;
 
 112 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto III. 
 
 The midnight wind caine wild and dread, 
 Swell'd with the voices of the dead ; 
 Far on the future battle-heath 
 His eye beheld the ranks of deatli : 
 Thus the lone Seer, from mankind hurl'd, 
 Shaped forth a disembodied world. 
 One lingering sympathy of mind 
 Still bound him to the mortal kind ; 
 The only parent he could claim 
 Of ancient Alpine's lineage came. 
 Late had he heard, in prophet's dream, 
 The fatal Ben-Shie's boding scream ; 
 Sounds, too, had come in midnight blast, 
 Of charging steeds, careering fast 
 Along Benharrow's shingly side, 
 Where mortal horseman ne'er might ride ; 
 The thunderbolt had split the pine, — 
 All augur'd ill to Alpine's line. 
 He girt his loins, and came to show 
 The signals of impending woe,
 
 Canto III. THE GATHERING. 113 
 
 And now stood prompt to bless or ban. 
 As bade the Chieftain of his clan. 
 
 VIII. 
 'Tvvas all prepared ; — and from the rock, 
 A goat, the patriarch of the flock, 
 Before the kindling pile was laid, 
 And pierced by Roderick's ready blade. 
 Patient the sickening victim eyed 
 The life-blood ebb in crimson tide, 
 Down his clogg'd beard and shaggy limb. 
 Till darkness glazed his eyeballs dim. 
 The grisly priest, with murmuring prayer, 
 A slender crosslet form'd with care, 
 A cubit's length in measure due ; 
 The shaft and limbs were rods of yew, 
 Whose parents in Inch-Cailliach wave 
 Their shadows o'er Clan-Alpine's grave. 
 And, answering Lomond's breezes deep. 
 Soothe many a chieftain s endless sleep. 
 H
 
 114 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto III. 
 
 The Cross, thus form'd, he lield on high, 
 With wasted hand, and haggard eye, 
 And strange and mingled feelings woke. 
 While his anathema he spoke. 
 
 IX. 
 
 " Woe to the clansman, who shall view 
 This symbol of sepulchral yew, 
 Forgetful that its branches grew 
 Where weep the heavens their holiest dew 
 
 On Alpine's dwelling low ! 
 Deserter of his Chieftain's trust, 
 He ne'er shall mingle with their dust, 
 But, from his sires and kindred thrust, 
 Each clansman's execration just 
 
 Shall doom him wrath and woe." 
 He paused ; — the word the vassals took, 
 With forward step and fiery look, 
 On high tlieir naked brands they shook, 
 Theii* clattering targets wildly strook ; 
 
 And first in murmur low.
 
 Canto III. THE GATHERING. 115 
 
 Then, like the billow in his course, 
 That far to seaward finds his source. 
 And flings to shore his muster'd force, 
 Burst, with loud roar, their answer hoarse, 
 
 " Woe to the traitor, woe !" 
 Ben-an's grey scalp the accents knew, 
 The joyous wolf from covert drew, 
 The exulting eagle scream'd afar, — 
 They knew the voice of Alpine's war. 
 
 X. 
 
 The shout was hush'd on lake and fell, 
 The monk resumed his mutter'd spell. 
 Dismal and low its accents came. 
 The while he scathed the Cross with flame ; 
 And the few words that reach'd the air, 
 Although the holiest name was there, 
 Had more of blasphemy than prayer. 
 But when he shook above the crowd 
 Its kindled points, he spoke aloud : —
 
 116 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto J If. 
 
 " Woe to the wretch, who fails to rear 
 At this dread sign the ready spear ! 
 For, as the flames this symbol sear, 
 His home, the refuge of his fear, 
 
 A kindred fate shall know ; 
 Far oer its roof the volumed flame 
 Clan- Alpine's vengeance shall proclaim, 
 While maids and matrons on his name 
 Shall call down wretchedness and shame, 
 
 And infamy and woe." 
 Then rose the cry of females, shrill 
 As goss-hawk's whistle on the hill, 
 Denouncing misery and ill, 
 Mingled with childhood's babbling trill 
 
 Of curses stammer'd slow ; 
 Answering, with imprecation dread, 
 " Sunk be his home in embers red ! 
 And cursed be the meanest shed 
 That e'er shall hide the houseless head, 
 
 We doom to want and woe ! "
 
 Canto II L THE GATHERING. 1 17 
 
 A sharp and shrieking echo gave, 
 Coir-Uriskin, thy goblin cave ! 
 \nd the grey pass where birches wave, 
 On Beala-nam-bo. 
 
 XL 
 
 Then deeper paused the priest anew, 
 And hard his labouring breath he drew, 
 While, with set teeth and clenched hand, 
 And eyes that glow'd like fiery brand. 
 He meditated curse more dread. 
 And deadlier, on the clansman's head, 
 Who, summon'd to his Chieftain's aid. 
 The signal saw and disobey'd. 
 The crosslet's points of sparkling wood, 
 He quench'd among the bubbling blood, 
 And, as again the sign he rear'd. 
 Hollow and hoarse his voice was heard : 
 " When flits this Cross from man to man, • 
 Vich- Alpine's summons to his clan.
 
 118 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto III. 
 
 Burst be the ear that fails to heed ! 
 Palsied the foot that shuns to speed ! 
 IVIay ravens tear the careless eyes, 
 Wolves make the coward heart their prize ! 
 As sinks that blood-stream in the earth, 
 So may his heart's-blood drench his hearth ! 
 As dies in hissing- gore the spark, 
 Quench thou his light, Destruction dark I 
 And be the grace to him denied. 
 Bought by this sign to all beside !" 
 He ceased ; no echo gave agen 
 The murmur of the deep Amen. 
 
 XII. 
 Then Roderick, with impatient look. 
 From Brian's hand the symbol took : 
 " Speed, Malise, speed !" he said, and gave 
 The crosslet to his henchman brave. 
 " The muster-place be Lanrick mead — 
 Instant the time — speed, Malise, speed I"
 
 Canto III. THE GATHERING. 119 
 
 Like heath-bird, when the hawks pursue, 
 A barge across Loch- Katrine flew ; 
 High stood the henchman on the prow, 
 So rapidly the barge-men row, 
 The bubbles, where they launch'd the boat. 
 Were all unbroken and afloat, 
 Dancing in foam and ripple still. 
 When it had near'd the mainland hill; 
 And from the silver beach's side 
 Still was the prow three fathom wide, 
 When lightly bounded to the land 
 The messenger of blood and brand. 
 
 XIIL 
 Speed, Malise, speed ! the dun deer's hide 
 On fleeter foot was never tied. 
 Speed, Malise, speed ! such cause of haste 
 Thine active sinews never braced. 
 Bend 'gainst the steepy hill thy breast, 
 Burst down like torrent from its crest ;
 
 120 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto III. 
 
 With sliort and springing footstep pass 
 The trembling bog and false morass ; 
 Across the brook like roe-buck bound, 
 And thread the brake like questing hound ; 
 The crag is high, the scaur is deep. 
 Yet shrink not from the desperate leap : 
 Parch'd are thy burning lips and brow, 
 Yet by the fountain pause not now ; 
 Herald of battle, fate, and fear, 
 Stretch onward in thy fleet career ! 
 The wounded hind thou track'st not now, 
 Pursuest not maid through greenwood bough. 
 Nor pliest thou now thy flymg pace, 
 With rivals in the mountain race;' 
 But danger, death, and warrior deed. 
 Are in thy course — Speed, Malise, speed ! 
 
 XIV. 
 
 Fast as the fatal symbol flies. 
 
 In arms the huts and hamlets rise :
 
 Canto III. THE GATHERING. 121 
 
 From winding glen, from upland bro^vn, 
 They pour'd each hardy tenant down. 
 Nor slack'd the messenger his pace ; 
 He show'd the sign, he named the place, 
 And, pressing forward like the wind, 
 Left clamour and surprise behind. 
 The fisherman forsook the strand. 
 The swarthy smith took dirk and brand ; 
 With changed cheer, the mower blithe 
 Left in the half-cut swathe the scythe ; 
 The herds without a keeper stray 'd, 
 The plough was in mid-furrow staid, 
 The falc'ner toss'd his hawk away, 
 The hunter left the stag at bay ; 
 Prompt at the signal of alarms, 
 Each son of Alpine rush'd to arms; 
 So swept the tumult and affray 
 Along the margin of Achray. 
 Alas, thou lovely lake ! that e'er 
 Thy banks should echo sounds of fear !
 
 122 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto III. 
 
 Tlie rocks, the bosky thickets, sleep 
 So stilly on thy bosom deep, 
 The lark's blithe carol, from the cloud. 
 Seems for the scene too gaily loud. 
 
 XV. 
 Speed, Malise, speed ! the lake is past, 
 Duncraggan's huts appear at last, 
 And peep, like moss-grown rocks, half seen, 
 Half hidden in the copse so green ; 
 There mayst thou rest, thy labour done, 
 Their Lord shall speed the signal on. — 
 As stoops the hawk upon his prey. 
 The henchman shot him down the way. 
 — What woeful accents load tlie gale ? 
 The funeral yell, the female wail ! 
 A gallant hunter's sport is o'er, 
 A valiant warrior fights no more. 
 Who, in the battle or the chase. 
 At Roderick's side shall fill his place I —
 
 Canto III. THE GATHERING. 123 
 
 Within the hall, where torches' r;iy 
 Supplies the excluded beams of day, 
 Lies Duncan on his lowly bier, 
 And o'er him streams his widow's tear. 
 His stripling son stands mournful by, 
 His youngest weeps, but knows not why ; 
 The village maids and matrons round 
 The dismal coronach* resound. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 He is gone on the mountain, 
 
 He is lost to the forest. 
 Like a summer-dried fountain. 
 
 When our need was the sorest. 
 The font, re-appearing. 
 
 From the rain-drops shall borrow, 
 But to us comes no cheering. 
 
 To Duncan no morrow I 
 
 * Funeral Song. See Note.
 
 124 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto III. 
 
 The hand of the reaper 
 
 Takes the ears that are hoary, 
 But the voice of the weeper 
 
 Wails manhood in glory 
 The autumn winds rushing 
 
 Waft the leaves that are searest, 
 But our flower was in flushing, 
 
 When blighting was nearest. 
 
 Fleet foot on the correi,* 
 
 Sage counsel in cumber, 
 Red hand in the foray. 
 
 How sound is thy slumber ! 
 Like the dew on the mountain, 
 
 Like the foam on the river, 
 Like the bubble on the fountain, 
 
 Thou art gone, and for ever I 
 
 * Or corri. The hollow side of the hiU, where game usually 
 lies.
 
 Canto III. THE GATHERING. 125 
 
 XVII. 
 
 See Stumah,* who, the bier beside 
 His master's corpse with wonder eyed, 
 Poor Stumah ! whom his least halloo 
 Could send like lightning o'er the dew. 
 Bristles his crest, and points his ears, 
 As if some stranger step he hears. 
 'Tis not a mourner's muffled tread. 
 Who comes to sorrow o'er the dead. 
 But headlong haste, or deadly fear, 
 Urge the precipitate career. 
 All stand aghast : — unheeding all, 
 The henchman bursts into the hall ; 
 Before the dead man's bier he stood ; 
 Held forth the Cross besmear'd with blood ; 
 " The muster-place is Lanrick mead ; 
 Speed forth the signal ! clansmen, speed !" 
 
 * FaitlifuL The name of a dog.
 
 126 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto III. 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 Angus, the heir of Duncan's line, 
 
 Sprung forth and seized the fatal sign. 
 
 In haste the stripling to his side 
 
 His father's dirk and broadsword tied ; 
 
 But when he saw his mother's eye 
 
 Watch him in speechless agony 
 
 Back to her open'd arms he flew, 
 
 Press'd on her lips a fond adieu — 
 
 " Alas !" she sobb'd, — " and yet be gone. 
 
 And speed thee forth, like Duncan's son !"' 
 
 One look he cast upon the bier, 
 
 Dash'd from his eye the gather/mg tear, 
 
 Breathed deep to clear his labouring breast, 
 
 And toss'd aloft his bonnet crest, 
 
 Then, like the high-bred colt, when, freed, 
 
 First he essays his fire and speed, 
 
 He vanish'd, and o'er moor and moss 
 
 Sped forward with the Fiery Cross.
 
 Canto III, THE GATHERING. 127 
 
 Suspended was the widow's tear, 
 
 While yet his footsteps she could hear : 
 
 And when she mark'd the henchnaan's eye 
 
 Wet with unwonted sympathy, 
 
 " Kinsman," she said, " his race is run, 
 
 That should have sped thine errand on ; 
 
 The oali has fall'n, — the sapling bough 
 
 Is all Duncrag-gau's shelter now. 
 
 Yet trust I well, his duty done, 
 
 Tlie orphan's God will guard my son. — 
 
 And you, in many a danger true, 
 
 At Duncan's hest your blades that drew, 
 
 To arms, and guard that orphan's head ! 
 
 Let babes and women wail the dead." 
 
 Then weapon-clang, and martial call, 
 
 Resounded through the funeral hall, 
 
 While from the walls the attendant band 
 
 Snatch'd sword and targe, with hurried hand ; 
 
 And short and flitting energy 
 
 Glanced from the mourner's sunken eve,
 
 128 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto III. 
 
 As if the sounds to warrior dear 
 JVIig-ht rouse her Duncan from his bier. 
 But faded soon that borrow'd force ; 
 Grief claim'd his right, and tears their course. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 Benledi saw the Cross of Fire, 
 It glanced like lightning up Strath-Ire. 
 O'er dale and hill the summons flew, 
 Nor rest nor pause young Angus knew ; 
 The tear that gather'd in his eye 
 He left the mountain-breeze to dry ; 
 Until, where Teith's young waters roll, 
 Betwixt him and a wooded knoll. 
 That graced the sable strath >vith green, 
 The chapel of Saint Bride was seen. 
 Swoln was the stream, remote the bridge, 
 But Angus paused not on the edge ; 
 Though the dark waves danced dizzily, 
 Though reel'd his sympathetic eye,
 
 Canto ITT. THE GATHERING. 129 
 
 He (lash'd amid the torrent's roar ; 
 His right hand high the crosslet bore, 
 His left the pole-axe grasp'd, to guide 
 And stay his footing in the tide. 
 He stumbled twice — the foam splash'd high, 
 With hoarser swell the stream raced by ; 
 And had he fall'n, — for ever there, 
 Farewell Duncraggan's orphan heir ! 
 But still, as if in parting life, 
 Firmer he grasp'd the Cross of strife, 
 Until the opposing bank he gain'd. 
 And up the chapel pathway strain'd. 
 
 XX. 
 
 A blithesome rout, that morning tide. 
 Had sought the chapel of Saint Bride. 
 Her troth Tonibea's Mary gave 
 To Norman, heir of Armandave, 
 And, issuing from the Gothic arch, 
 The bridal now resumed their march.
 
 130 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. CanCo III. 
 
 In rude, but glad procession, came 
 Bonneted sire and coif-clad dame ; 
 And plaided youth, with jest and jeer, 
 Which snooded maiden would not hear ; 
 And children, that, unwitting why, 
 Lent the gay shout their shrilly cry ; 
 And minstrels, that in measures vied 
 Before the young and bonny bride. 
 Whose downcast eye and cheek disclose 
 Tlie tear and blush of morning rose. 
 With virgin step, and bashful hand. 
 She held the kerchief's snowy band ; 
 The gallant bridegroom, by her side. 
 Beheld his prize with victor's pride. 
 And the glad mother in her ear 
 Was closely whispering word of cheer. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 the cl 
 The messenger of fear and fate ! 
 
 Who meets them at the churchyard gate ?^
 
 C<t7ito III. THE GATHERING. 131 
 
 Haste in his hurried accent lies, 
 
 And grief is swimming in his eyes. 
 
 All dripping from the recent flood, 
 
 Panting and travel-soil'd he stood. 
 
 The fatal sign of fire and sword 
 
 Held forth, and spoke the appointed word ; 
 
 " The muster-place is Lanrick mead ; 
 
 Speed forth the signal ! Norman, speed !" 
 
 And must he change so soon the hand, 
 
 Just link'd to his by holy band, 
 
 For the fell Cross of blood and brand ? 
 
 And must the day, so blithe that rose, 
 
 And promised rapture in the close. 
 
 Before its setting hour, divide 
 
 The bridegroom from the plighted bride ? 
 
 O fatal doom ! — it must ! it must ! 
 
 Clan- Alpine's cause, her Chieftain's trust. 
 
 Her summons dread, brook no delay ; 
 
 Stretch to the race — away ! away !
 
 13,2 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canio III. 
 
 XXII. 
 Yet slow he laid his plaid aside, 
 And, lingering, eyed his lovely bride, 
 Until he saw the starting tear 
 Speak woe — he might not stop to cheer ; 
 Then, trusting not a second look, 
 In haste he sped him up the brook. 
 Nor backward glanced, till oji the heath 
 Where Lubnaig's lake supplies the Teith. 
 — M'hat in the racer's bosom stirr'd ? 
 The sickening pang of hope deferr'd. 
 And memory, with a torturing train 
 Of all his morning visions vain. 
 Mingled with love's impatience, came 
 The manly thirst for martial fame ; 
 The stormy joy of mountaineers, 
 Ere yet they rush upon the spears ; 
 And zeal for Clan and Chieftain burning, 
 And hope, from well-fought field returning,
 
 Canto III. THE GATHERING. 133 
 
 With war's red honours on his crest, 
 
 To clasp his Mary to his breast. 
 
 Stung by such thoughts, o'er bank and brae. 
 
 Like fire from flint he glanced away, 
 
 While high resolve, and feeling strong, 
 
 Burst into voluntary song. 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 The heath this night must be my bed. 
 The bracken* curtain for my head, 
 My lullaby the warder's tread, 
 
 Far, far, from love and thee, Mary ; 
 To-morrow eve, more stilly laid. 
 My couch may be my bloody plaid, 
 My vesper song, thy wail, sweet maid I 
 
 It will not waken me, ^lary I 
 
 • Bracken. Fcnu
 
 134 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto III. 
 
 I may not, dare not, fancy now 
 
 The grief that clouds thy lovely brow, 
 
 I dare not think upon thy vow. 
 
 And all it promised me, Mary. 
 No fond regret must Norman know ; 
 When bursts Clan-Alpine on the foe, 
 His heart must be like bended bow, 
 
 His foot like arrow free, Mary. 
 
 A time will come with feeling fraught. 
 For, if I fall in battle fought. 
 Thy hapless lover's dying thought 
 
 Shall be a thought on thee, Mary 
 And if return'd from conquer'd foes, 
 How blithely will the evening close, 
 How sweet the linnet sing repose, 
 
 To my young bride and me, Mary ! 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 Not faster o'er thy heathery braes, 
 Balquidder, speeds the midnight blaze,
 
 Canto III. THE GATHERING. 135 
 
 Rushing, in conflagration strong, 
 Thy deep ravines and dells along, 
 Wrapping thy clifl*s in purple glow, 
 And reddening the dark lakes below ; 
 Nor faster speeds it, nor so far, 
 As o'er thy heaths the voice of war. 
 The signal roused to martial coil. 
 The sullen margin of Loch-Voil, 
 Waked still Loch-Doine, and to the source 
 Alarm'd, Balvaig, thy swampy course ; 
 Thence southward turn'd its rapid road 
 Adown Strath- Gartney's valley broad, 
 Till rose in arms each man might claim 
 A portion in Clan- Alpine's name, 
 From the grey sire, whose trembling hand 
 Could hardly buckle on his brand, 
 To^the raw boy, whose shaft and bow 
 Were yet scarce terror to the crow. 
 Each valley, each sequester'd glen, 
 Muster'd its little horde of men,
 
 13G THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto III. 
 
 That met as torrents from the height 
 
 In Highhind dales their streams unite, 
 
 Still gathering, as they pour along, 
 
 A voice more loud, a tide more strong, 
 
 Till at the rendezvous they stood 
 
 By hundreds prompt for blows and blood ; 
 
 Each train'd to arras since life began. 
 
 Owning no tie but to his clan, 
 
 No oath, but by his Chieftain's hand, 
 
 No law, but Roderick Dhu's command. 
 
 XXV. 
 
 That summer morn had Roderick Dhu 
 Survey'd the skirts of Benvenue, 
 And sent his scouts o'er hill and heath. 
 To view the frontiers of jNIenteith. 
 All backward came with news of truce ; 
 Still lay each martial Grteme and Bruce, 
 In Rednock courts no horsemen wait. 
 No banner waved on Cardross gate,
 
 Canto III. THE GATHERING. 137 
 
 On Duchray's towers no beacon shone, 
 
 Nor scared the herons from Loch-Con ; 
 
 All seem'd at peace. — Now, wot ye why 
 
 The Chieftain, with such anxious eye. 
 
 Ere to the muster he repair. 
 
 This western frontier scann'd with care ? — 
 
 In Benvenue's most darksome cleft, 
 
 A fair, though cruel, pledge was left ; 
 
 For Douglas, to his promise true. 
 
 That morning from the isle withdrew, 
 
 And in a deep sequester d dell 
 
 Had sought a low and lonely cell. 
 
 By many a bard, in Celtic tongue. 
 
 Has Coir-nan-Uriskin been sung ; 
 
 A softer name the Saxons gave. 
 
 And call'd the grot the Goblin-cave. 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 It vi^as a wild and strange retreat, 
 As e'er was trod by outlaw's feet.
 
 138 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto III. 
 
 The dell, upon the mountain's crest, 
 Yawn'd like a gash on warrior's breast ; 
 Its trench had staid full many a rock, 
 Hurl'd by primeval earthquake shock 
 From Benvenue's grey summit wild, 
 And here, in random ruin piled, 
 They frown'd incumbent o'er the spot, 
 And form'd the rugged silvan grot. 
 The oak and birch, with mingled shade, 
 At noontide there a twilight made, 
 Unless when short and sudden shone 
 Some straggling beam on cliff or stone. 
 With such a glimpse as prophet's eye 
 Gains on thy depth. Futurity. 
 No murmur waked the solemn still. 
 Save tinkling of a fountain rill ; 
 But when the wind chafed with the lake, 
 A sullen sound would upward break. 
 With dashing hollow voice, that spoke 
 The incessant war of wave and rock.
 
 Canto III. THE GATHERING. 139 
 
 Suspended cliffs, with hideous sway, 
 Seem'd nodding o'er the cavern grey. 
 From such a den the wolf had sprung, 
 In such the wild-cat leaves her young ; 
 Yet Douglas and his daughter fair 
 Sought for a space their safety there. 
 Grey Superstition's whisper dread 
 Debarr'd the spot to vulgar tread ; 
 For there, she said, did fays resort, 
 And satyrs* hold their silvan court, 
 By moonlight tread their mystic maze, 
 And blast the rash beholder's gaze. 
 
 XXVII. 
 Now eve, with western shadows long. 
 Floated on Katrine bright and strong, 
 When Roderick, with a chosen few, 
 Repass'd the heights of Benvenue. 
 Above the Goblin-cave they go, 
 Through the wild pass of Beal-nam-bo ; 
 
 * The Vrisk, or Highland satjT. See Note.
 
 140 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto III. 
 
 The prompt retainers speed before, 
 
 To launch the shallop from the shore, 
 
 For cross Loch-Katrine lies his way 
 
 To view the passes of Achray, 
 
 And place his clansmen in array. 
 
 Yet lags the Chief in musing mind, 
 
 Unwonted sight, his men behind. 
 
 A single page, to bear his sword, 
 
 Alone attended on his lord ; 
 
 The rest their way through thickets break, 
 
 And soon await him by the lake. 
 
 It was a fair and gallant sight. 
 
 To view them from the neighbouring height. 
 
 By the low-levell'd sunbeam's light ! 
 
 For strength and stature, from the clan 
 
 Each warrior was a chosen man. 
 
 As even afar might well be seen, 
 
 By their proud step and martial mien. 
 
 Their feathers dance, their tartans float, 
 
 Their targets gleam, as by the boat
 
 Canto III. THE GATHERING. 141 
 
 A wild and warlike group they stand, 
 That well became such mountain-strand. 
 
 XXVIII. 
 
 Their Chief, with step reluctant, still 
 Was lingering on the craggy hill, 
 Hard by where turn'd apart the road 
 To Douglas's obscure abode. 
 It was but with that dawning morn, 
 That Roderick Dhu had proudly sworn 
 To drown his love in war's wild roar, 
 Nor think of Ellen Douglas more ; 
 But he who stems a stream with sand, 
 And fetters flame with flaxen band, 
 Has yet a harder task to prove — 
 By firm resolve to conquer love ! 
 Eve finds the Chief, like restless ghost, 
 Still hovering near his treasure lost ; 
 For though his haughty heart deny 
 A parting meeting to his eye.
 
 142 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto III. 
 
 Still fondly strains his anxious ear, 
 
 The accents of her voice to hear, 
 
 And inly did he curse the breeze 
 
 That waked to sound the rustling trees. 
 
 But hark ! what mingles in the strain ? 
 
 It is the harp of Allan-bane, 
 
 That wakes its measure slow and high, 
 
 Attuned to secret minstrelsy. 
 
 What melting voice attends the strings ? 
 
 'Tis EUen, or an angel, sings. 
 
 XXIX. 
 
 ?iipmn to i\)t Vix%in^ 
 Ave Maria ! maiden mild ! 
 
 Listen to a maiden's prayer ! 
 Tliou canst hear though from the wild, 
 
 Thou canst save amid despair. 
 Safe may we sleep beneath thy care, 
 
 Though banish'd, outcast, and reviled — 
 Maiden ! hear a maiden's prayer ; 
 
 Mother, hear a suppliant child I 
 
 Ave Maria !
 
 Canto III. THE GATHERING. 143 
 
 Ave Maria ! undefiled I 
 
 The flinty couch we now must share 
 Shall seem with down of eider piled. 
 
 If thy protection hover there. 
 The murky cavern's heavy air 
 
 Shall breathe of balm if thou hast smiled ; 
 Then, Maiden ! hear a maiden's prayer, 
 
 Mother, list a suppliant child ! 
 
 Ave Maria ! 
 
 Ave Maria ! Stainless styled ! 
 
 Foul demons of the earth and air, 
 From this their wonted haunt exiled, 
 
 Shall flee before thy presence fair. 
 We bow us to our lot of care, 
 
 Beneath thy guidance reconciled ; 
 Hear for a maid a maiden's prayer, 
 
 And for a father hear a child ! 
 
 Ave Maria /
 
 144 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto III. 
 
 XXX. 
 
 Died on the harp the closing hymn — 
 Unmoved in attitude and limb, 
 As list'ning still, Clan-Alpine's lord 
 Stood leaning on his heavy sword, 
 Until the page, with humble sign, 
 Twice pointed to the sun's decline. 
 Then while his plaid he round him cast, 
 " It is the last time — 'tis the last," 
 He mutter'd thrice, — " the last time e'er 
 That angel-voice shall Roderick hear !" 
 It was a goading thought — his stride 
 Hied hastier down the mountain-side ; 
 Sullen he flung him in the boat, 
 And instant 'cross the lake it shot. 
 They landed in that silvery bay, 
 And eastward held their hasty way, 
 Till, with the latest beams of light, 
 The band arrived on Lanrick height.
 
 Ca7ito III. THE GATHERING. 145 
 
 Where muster'd, in the vale below, 
 Clan- Alpine's men in martial show. 
 
 XXXI. 
 
 A various scene the clansmen made, 
 Some sate, some stood, some slowly stray'd ; 
 But most, with mantles folded round. 
 Were couch'd to rest upon the ground, 
 Scarce to be known by curious eye. 
 From the deep heather where they lie, 
 So well was match'd the tartan screen 
 With heath-bell dark and brackens green ; 
 Unless where, here and there, a blade. 
 Or lance's point, a glimmer made, 
 Like glow-worm twinkling through the shade. 
 But when, advancing through the gloom, 
 They saw the Chieftain's eagle plume, 
 Their shout of welcome, shrill and wide, 
 Shook the steep mountain's steady side. 
 K
 
 146 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto III. 
 
 Thrice it arose, and lake and fell 
 Three times return'd the martial yell ; 
 It died upon Bochastle's plain, 
 And Silence claim'd her evening reign. 
 
 END OF CANTO THIRD.
 
 THE 
 
 LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 CANTO FOURTH. 
 
 C|)e ^piopljcfg*
 
 THE 
 
 LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 CANTO FOURTH. 
 
 I. 
 
 ** The rose is fairest when 'tis budding new, 
 
 And hope is brightest when it dawns from fears ; 
 The rose is sweetest wash'd with morning dew, 
 
 And love is loveliest when embalm'd in tears. 
 O wilding rose, whom fancy thus endears, 
 
 I bid your blossoms in my bonnet wave, 
 Emblem of hope and love through future years 1" 
 
 Thus spoke young Norman, heir of Arraand«ve, 
 What time the sun arose on Vennachar's broad wave.
 
 150 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto IV, 
 
 II. 
 
 Sucli fond conceit, half said, half sung, 
 
 Love prompted to the bridegroom's tongue. 
 
 Ail while he stripp'd the wild-rose spray, 
 
 His axe and bow beside him lay. 
 
 For on a pass 'twixt lake and wood, 
 
 A wakeful sentinel he stood. 
 
 Hark ! — on the rock a footstep rung. 
 
 And instant to his arms he sprung. 
 
 " Stand, or thou diest ! — What, Malise ? — soon 
 
 Art thou return'd from Braes of Doune. 
 
 By thy keen step and glance I know, 
 
 Thou bring'st us tidings of the foe." — 
 
 (For while the Fiery Cross hied on. 
 
 On distant scout had IMalise gone.) 
 
 " Wher« sleeps the Chief?" the henchman said. 
 
 " Apart, in yonder misty glade ; 
 
 To his lone couch I'll be your guide." — 
 
 Then call'd a slumberer by his side,
 
 Canto IV. THE PROPHECY. 151 
 
 And stirr'd him with his slacken'd bo\r 
 
 " Up, up, Gleritarkin ! rouse thee, ho ! 
 ^ye seek the Chieftain ; on the track, 
 Keep eagle watch till J come back." 
 
 III. 
 
 Tog-ether up the pass they sped : 
 
 " What of the foemen ?" Norman sald.- 
 
 " Varying reports from near and far ; 
 
 This certain, — that a band of war 
 
 Has for two days been ready boune. 
 
 At prompt command, to march from Doune ; 
 
 King James, the while, with princely powers, 
 
 Holds revelry in Stirling towers. 
 
 Soon will this dark and gathering cloud 
 
 Speak on our glens in thunder loud. 
 
 Inured to bide such bitter bout, 
 
 The warrior's plaid may bear it out ; 
 
 But, Norman, how wilt thou provide 
 
 A shelter for thy bonny bride?" —
 
 152 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Ca?ito IV. 
 
 " What ! know ye not that Roderick's care 
 To the lone isle hath caused repair 
 Each maid and matron of the clan, 
 And every child and aged man 
 Unfit for arms ; and given his charge, 
 Nor skiff nor shallop, boat nor barge, 
 Upon these lakes shall float at large, 
 But all beside the islet moor. 
 That such dear pledge may rest secure ?" — 
 
 IV. 
 
 " 'Tis well advised — the Chieftain's plan 
 
 Bespeaks the father of his clan. 
 
 But wherefore sleeps Sir Roderick Dhu 
 
 Apart from all his followers true ?" — 
 
 " It is, because last evening-tide 
 
 Brian an augury hath tried. 
 
 Of that dread kind which must not be 
 
 Unless in dread extremity. 
 
 The Taghairm call'd ; by which, afar, 
 
 Our sires foresaw the events of war.
 
 Canto IV. THE PROPHECY. 163 
 
 Duncraggan's milk-white bull they slew." — 
 
 MALISE. 
 
 " Ah ! well the gallant brute I knew ! 
 
 The choicest of the prey we had, 
 
 When swept our merry-men Gallangad. 
 
 His hide was snow, his horns were dark, 
 
 His red eye glow'd like fiery spark ; 
 
 So fierce, so tameless, and so fleet, 
 
 Sore did he cumber our retreat, 
 
 And kept our stoutest kernes in awe, 
 
 Even at the pass of Beal 'maha. 
 
 But steep and flinty was the road, 
 
 And sharp the hurrying pikeman's goad, 
 
 And when we came to Dennan's Row, 
 
 A child might scatheless stroke his brow." — 
 
 V. 
 
 NORMAN. 
 
 " That bull was slain : his reeking hide 
 They stretch'd the cataract beside,
 
 15i THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto IF. 
 
 Whose waters their wild tumult toss 
 Ado>yn the black and craggy boss 
 Of that huge cliiF, whose ample verge 
 Tradition calls the Hero's Targe. 
 Couch'd on a shelve beneath its brink, 
 Close where the thundering torrents sink, 
 Rocking beneath their headlong sway, 
 And drizzled by the ceaseless spray, 
 Midst groan of rock, and roar of stream. 
 The wizard waits prophetic dream. 
 Nor distant rests the Chief ; — but hush ! 
 See, gliding slow through mist and bush, 
 The Hermit gains yon rock, and stands 
 To gaze upon our slumbering bands. 
 Seems he not, Malise, like a ghost. 
 That hovers o'er a slanghter'd host ? 
 Or raven on the blasted oak. 
 That, watching while the deer is broke,* 
 His morsel claims with sullen croak ?" 
 
 * Quartered. See Note.
 
 Canto IV. THE PROPHECY. 155 
 
 — " Peace ! peace ! to other than to me, 
 
 Thy AYords were evil augury; 
 
 But still I hold Sir Roderick's blade 
 
 Clan-Alpine's omen and her aid, 
 
 Not aught that, glean'd from heaven or hell, 
 
 Yon fiend-begotten monk can tell. 
 
 The Chieftain joins him, see — and now, 
 
 Together they descend the brow." 
 
 VI. 
 
 And, as they came, with Alpine's Lord 
 The Hermit Monk held solemn word : 
 " Roderick ! it is a fearful strife. 
 For man endow'd with mortal life. 
 Whose shroud of sentient clay can still 
 Feel feverish pang and fainting chill, 
 Whose eye can stare in stony trance, 
 Whose hair can ronse like warrior's lance,— 
 'Tis hard for such to view, unfurl'd, 
 The curtain of the future world.
 
 156 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto IV. 
 
 Yet, witness every quaking* limb, 
 
 My sunken pulse, mine eye-balls dim. 
 
 My soul with harrowing ang-uish torn, 
 
 This for my Chieftain have I borne ! — 
 
 The shapes that sought my fearful couch, 
 
 An human tongue may ne'er avouch ; 
 
 No mortal man, — save he, who, bred 
 
 Between the living and the dead. 
 
 Is gifted beyond nature's law, — 
 
 Had e'er survived to say he saw. 
 
 At length the fateful answer came. 
 
 In characters of living flame ! 
 
 Not spoke in word, nor blazed in scroll, 
 
 But borne and branded on my soul ; — 
 
 Which spills the foremost foeman's lifb, 
 
 That party conquers in the strife." — 
 
 VII. 
 
 " Thanks, Brian, for thy zeal and care I 
 Good is thine augury, and fair.
 
 Canto IV. THE PROPHECY. 157 
 
 Clan-Alpine ne'er in battle stood, 
 
 But first our broadswords tasted blood. 
 
 A surer victim still I know, 
 
 Self-ofFer'd to the auspicious blow : 
 
 A spy has sought my land this morn, — 
 
 No eve shall witness his return ! 
 
 My followers guard each pass's mouth, 
 
 To east, to westward, and to south ; 
 
 Red Murdoch, bribed to be his guide, 
 
 Has charge to lead his steps aside, 
 
 Till, in deep path or dingle brown. 
 
 He light on those shall bring him down. 
 
 — But see, who comes his news to show I 
 
 Malise ! what tidings of the foe ?" — 
 
 VHI. 
 
 " At Doune, o'er many a spear and glaive, 
 Two Barons proud their banners wave. 
 I saw the Moray's silver star. 
 And mark'd the sable pale of Mar." —
 
 158. THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto IV. 
 
 " By A]pint'"s soul, liig-li tidings those ! 
 
 I love to hear of wortliy foes. 
 
 When move they on ?" — " To-morrow's noon 
 
 Will see them here for battle boune." — 
 
 " Then shall it see a meeting stern I — 
 
 But, for the place — say, couldst thou learn 
 
 Nought of the friendly clans of Earn ? 
 
 Strengthen'd by them, we well might bide 
 
 The battle on Benledi's side. 
 
 Thou couldst not ? — well ! Clan Alpine's men 
 
 Shall man the Trosach's shaggy glen ; 
 
 Within Loch-Katrine's gorge we'll fight, 
 
 All in our maids' and matrons' sight, 
 
 Each for his hearth and household fire, 
 
 Father for child, and son for sire, — 
 
 Lover for maid beloved ! — but why — 
 
 Is it the breeze affects mine eye ? 
 
 Or dost thou come, ill-omen'd tear I 
 
 A messenger of doubt or fear ? 
 
 No ! sooner may the Saxon lance 
 
 Unfix Benledi from his stance,
 
 Canto IV. THE PROPHECY. 159 
 
 Than doubt or terror can pierce through 
 The unyielding heart of Roderick Dhu ! 
 'Tis stubborn as his trusty targe. — 
 Each to his post ! — all know their charge." 
 Tlie pibroch sounds, the bands advance, 
 The broadswords gleam, the banners dance, 
 Obedient to the Chieftain's glance. 
 — I turn me from the martial roar. 
 And seek Coir-Uriskin once more. 
 
 IX. 
 
 Where is the Douglas ? — he is gone ; 
 And Ellen sits on the grey stone 
 Fast by the cave, and makes her moan ; 
 While vainly Allan's words of cheer 
 Are pour'd on her unheeding ear. — 
 " He will return — Dear lady, trust ! — 
 With joy return ; — he will — he must. 
 Well was it time to seek, afar. 
 Some refuge from impending war,
 
 160 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto I V. 
 
 When e'en Clan- Alpine's rugged swarm 
 Are cow'd by the approaching storm. 
 I saw their boats with many a light, 
 Floating the live-long yesternight, 
 Shifting like flashes darted forth 
 By the red streamers of the north ; 
 I mark'd at morn how close they ride. 
 Thick moor'd by the lone islet's side, 
 Like wild-ducks couching in the fen. 
 When stoops the hawk upon the glen. 
 Since this rude race dare not abide 
 The peril on the mainland side. 
 Shall not thy noble father's care 
 Some safe retreat for thee prepare ?' — 
 
 X. 
 
 ELLEN. 
 
 « No, Allan, no ! Pretext so kind 
 My wakeful terrors could not blind.
 
 Canto IV. THE PROPHECY. 161 
 
 When in such tender tone, yet grave, 
 Douglas a parting- blessing gave. 
 The tear that glisten'd in his eye 
 Drown'd not his purpose fix'd on high. 
 ]My soul, though feminine and weak, 
 Can image his ; e'en as the lake, 
 Itself disturb'd by slightest stroke. 
 Reflects the invulnerable rock. 
 He hears report of battle rife. 
 He deems himself the cause of strife. 
 I saw him redden, when the theme 
 Turn'd, Allan, on thine idle dream, 
 Of Malcolm Grteme in fetters bound. 
 Which I, thou saidst, about him wound. 
 Think'st thou he trow'd thine omen aught ? 
 Oh no ! 'twas apprehensive thought 
 For the kind youth, — for Roderick too — 
 (Let me be just) that friend so true ; 
 In danger both, and in our cause ! 
 Minstrel, the Douglas dare not pause. 
 L
 
 162 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto IV. 
 
 Why else that solemn warning given, 
 < If not on earth, we meet in heaven !' 
 Why else, to Cambus-kenneth's fane, 
 If eve return him not again. 
 Am I to hie, and make me known ? 
 Alas ! he goes to Scotland's throne, 
 Buys his friends' safety with his own ; — 
 He goes to do — what I had done, 
 Had Doiiglas' daughter been his son !' — 
 
 XI. 
 " Nay, lovely Ellen ! — dearest, nay ! 
 If aught should his return delay, 
 He only named yon holy fane 
 As fitting place to meet again. 
 Be sure he's safe ; and for the Graeme, — 
 Heaven's blessing on his gallant name ! — 
 INIy vision'd sight may yet prove true. 
 Nor bode of ill to him or you.
 
 Canto IV. THE PROPHECY. 163 
 
 "When did my gifted dream beguile ? 
 Think of the stranger at the isle, 
 And think upon the harpings slow, 
 That presaged this approaching woe I 
 Sooth was my prophecy of fear ; 
 Believe it when it augurs cheer. 
 "Would we had left this dismal spot ! 
 Ill luck still haunts a fairy grot. 
 Of such a wondrous tale I know — 
 Dear lady, change that look of woe, 
 My harp was wont thy grief to cheer." — 
 
 ELLEN. 
 
 " Well, be it as thou wilt ; I hear. 
 But cannot stop the bursting tear." 
 The Minstrel tried his simple art. 
 But distant far was Ellen's heart.
 
 \6i THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto IV. 
 
 XII. 
 
 Ballati. 
 
 ALICE BRAND. 
 
 ■Merry it is in the good greenwood, 
 
 When the mavis* and merle f are singing. 
 
 When the deer sweeps by, and the hounds arc in try, 
 And the hunter's horn is ringing. 
 
 " O Alice Brand, my native land 
 
 Is lost for love of you ; 
 And we must hold by wood and wolJ, 
 
 As outla\^'s wont to do. 
 
 " O Alice, 'twas all for thy locks so bright, 
 And 'twas all for thine eyes so blue, 
 
 That on the night of our luckless flight. 
 Thy brother bold I slew. 
 
 Thrash. t Ijlat'l^bird.
 
 Canto IV. THE PROPHECY. 165 
 
 " Now must I teach to bew the beech, 
 
 The liand that held tlie glaive, 
 For leaves to spread our lowly bed. 
 
 And stakes to fence our cave. 
 
 « And for vest of pall, thy lingers small, 
 
 Tliat wont on harp to stray, 
 A cloak must shear from the slaughter'd deer, 
 
 To keep the cold away." — 
 
 " O Richard ! if my brother died, 
 
 'Twas but a fatal chance ; 
 For darkling was the battle tried. 
 
 And fortune sped the lance. 
 
 " If pall and vair no more 1 wear, 
 
 Nor thou the crimson sheen. 
 As warm, we'll say, is the russet grey, 
 
 As gay the forest- green.
 
 166 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto JV. 
 
 " And, Richard, if our lot be hard, 
 
 And lost thy native land. 
 Still Alice has her own Richard, 
 
 And he his Alice Brand." 
 
 XIII. 
 23aIIatf conttnuetf* 
 'Tis merry, 'tis merry, in good greenwood. 
 
 So blithe Lady Alice is singing ; 
 On the beech's pride, and oak's brown side, 
 Lord Richard's axe is ringing. 
 
 Up spoke the moody Elfin King, 
 
 \yho wonn'd within the hill, — 
 Like wind in the porch of a ruin'd church, 
 
 His voice was ghostly shrill. 
 
 " Why sounds yon stroke on beech and oak, 
 Our moonlight circle's screen ?
 
 Canto IV. THE PROPHECY. 167 
 
 Or who comes here to chase the deer. 
 
 Beloved of our Elfin Queen ? 
 Or who may dare on wold to wear 
 
 The fairie's fatal green ? 
 
 " Up, Urgan, up ! to yon mortal hie, 
 
 For thou wert christen'd man ; 
 For cross or sign thou wilt not fly, 
 
 For mutter'd word or ban. 
 
 " Lay on him the curse of the wither'd heart, 
 
 The curse of the sleepless eye ; 
 Till he wish and pray that his life would part, 
 
 Nor yet find leave to die." 
 
 XIV. 
 SSallatf fontinueir* 
 Tis merry, 'tis merry, in good greenwood, 
 
 Though the birds have still'd their singing ; 
 The evening blaze doth Alice raise. 
 And Richard is fagots bringing.
 
 168 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto IV, 
 
 tfp Urgan starts, that hideous dwarf, 
 
 Before Lord Richard stands, 
 And, as he cross'd and bless'd himself, 
 '' I fear not sig-n," quoth the grisly elf, 
 
 " That is made with bloody hands." 
 
 But out tlien spoke she, Alice Brand, 
 
 That woman void of fear, — 
 " And if tliere's blood upon his hand, 
 
 'Tis but the blood of deer." — 
 
 " Now loud thou liest, thou bold of mood ! 
 
 It cleaves unto his hand, 
 The stain of thine own kindly blood. 
 
 The blood of Ethert Brand." 
 
 Then forward stepp'd she, Alice Brand, 
 
 And made the holy sign, — 
 " And if there's blood on Richard's hand, 
 
 A spotless hand is mine.
 
 (ktntoir. THE PROPHECY. 169 
 
 " And I conjure thee, Demon elf, 
 
 By Him whom Demons fear. 
 To show us whence thou art thyself, 
 
 And what thine errand here ?" — 
 
 XY. 
 
 SSallati foiitmuctf» 
 " 'Tis merry, 'tis merry, in Fairy land. 
 
 When fairy birds are singing, 
 When the court doth ride by their monarch's side, 
 
 With bit and bridle ringing : 
 
 " And gaily shines the Fairy land — ■ 
 
 But all is glistening show, 
 Like the idle gleam that December's beam 
 
 Can dart on ice and snow. 
 
 " And fading, like that varied gleam, 
 
 Is our inconstant shape, 
 Who now like knight and lady seem, 
 
 And now like dwarf and ape.
 
 170 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto IV. 
 
 " It was between the night and day, 
 
 When the Fairy King has power, 
 That I sunk do\vn in a sinful fray, 
 And, 'twixt life and death, was snatch'd away 
 
 To the joyless Elfin bower. 
 
 "■ But wist I of a woman bold. 
 
 Who thrice my brow durst sign, 
 I might regain my mortal mold, 
 
 As fair a form as thine." 
 
 She cross'd him once — she cross'd him twice — 
 
 Til at lady was so brave ; 
 The fouler grew his goblin hue, 
 
 The darker grew the cave. 
 
 She cross'd him thrice, that lady bold ; 
 
 He rose beneath her hand 
 The fairest knight on Scottish mold, 
 
 Her brother, Ethert Brand !
 
 Canto IV. THE PROPHECY. 171 
 
 Merry it is in good greenwood, 
 
 When the mavis and merle are singing, 
 
 But merrier were they in Dunfermline grey, 
 When all the bells were ringing. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 Just as the minstrel sounds were staid, 
 
 A stranger climb'd the steepy glade : 
 
 His martial step, his stately mien, 
 
 His hunting suit of Lincoln green. 
 
 His eagle glance, remembrance claims — 
 
 'Tis Snowdoun's Knight, 'tis James Fitz-James. 
 
 Ellen beheld as in a dream, 
 
 Then, starting, scarce suppress'd a scream : 
 
 " O stranger ! in such hour of fear, 
 
 What evil hap has brought thee here ?" — 
 
 " An evil hap how can it be. 
 
 That bids me look again on thee ? 
 
 By promise bound, my former guide 
 
 Met me betimes this morning tide,
 
 172 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto IV, 
 
 And marshall'd, over bank and bourne, 
 
 The happy path of my return.'* — 
 
 " The happy path ! — what ! said he nought 
 
 Of war, of battle to be fought. 
 
 Of guarded pass ?" — " No, by my faith I 
 
 Nor saw I aught could augur scatlie." — 
 
 " Oh haste thee, Allan, to the kern, 
 
 — Yonder his tartans I discern ; 
 
 Learn thou his purpose, and conjure 
 
 That he will guide the stranger sure I — 
 
 What prompted thee, unhappy man ? 
 
 The meanest serf in Roderick's clan 
 
 Had not been bribed by love or fear, 
 
 Unknown to him to guide thee here," — 
 
 XVII. 
 
 " Sweet Ellen, dear my life must be, 
 
 Since it is worthy care from thee ; 
 
 Yet life I hold but idle breath. 
 
 When love or honour's weigh'd with death.
 
 Canto ]V. THE PROPHECY. 173 
 
 Then let me profit by my chance, 
 And speak my purpose bold at once. 
 I come to bear thee from a wild, 
 Where ne'er before such blossom smiled ; 
 By this soft hand to lead thee far 
 From frantic scenes of feud and war. 
 Near Bochastle my horses wait ; 
 They bear us soon to Stirling gate. 
 I'll place thee in a lovely bower, 
 
 I'll guard thee like a tender flower" 
 
 " O ! hush, Sir Knight ! 'twere female art. 
 
 To say I do not read thy heart ; 
 
 Too much, before, my selfish ear 
 
 Was idly soothed my praise to hear. 
 
 That fatal bait hath lured thee back. 
 
 In deathful hour, o'er dangerous track; 
 
 And how, O how, can I atone 
 
 The wreck my vanity brought on ! — 
 
 One way remains — I'll tell him all — 
 
 Yes I struggling bosom, forth it shall I
 
 174 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto IV. 
 
 Thou, whose light folly bears the blame, 
 
 Buy thine own pardon with thy shame ! 
 
 But first — my father is a man 
 
 Outlaw'd and exiled, under ban ; 
 
 The price of blood is on his head, 
 
 With me 'twere infamy to wed. — 
 
 Still wouldst thou speak? — then hear the truth ! 
 
 Fitz-James, there is a noble youth,— 
 
 If yet he is ! — exposed for me 
 
 And mine to dread extremity — 
 
 Thou hast the secret of my heart ; 
 
 Forgive, be generous, and depart!" 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 Fitz-James knew every wily train 
 A lady's fickle heart to gain. 
 But here he knew and felt them vain. 
 There shot no glance from Ellen's eye, 
 To give her steadfast speech the lie ; 
 In maiden confidence she stood. 
 Though mantled in her cheek the blood,
 
 Canto IV. THE PROPHECY. 175 
 
 And told her love with such a sigh 
 
 Of deep and hopeless agony, 
 
 As death had seaVd her Malcolm's doom, 
 
 And she sat sorrowing on his tomb. 
 
 Hope vanish'd from Fitz-James's eye, 
 
 But not with hope fled sympathy. 
 
 He proffer'd to attend her ^ide, 
 
 As brother would a sister guide. — 
 
 " O ! little know'st thou Roderick's heart ! 
 
 Safer for botli we go apart. 
 
 O haste thee, and from Allan learn, 
 
 If thou mayst trust yon wily kern." 
 
 With hand upon his forehead laid. 
 
 The conflict of his mind to shade, 
 
 A parting step or two he made ; 
 
 Then, as some thought had cross'd his brain. 
 
 He paused, and turn'd, and came again.
 
 176 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto IV. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 " Hear, lady, yet, a parting- word ! — 
 It chanced in fight that my poor sword 
 Preserved the life of Scotland's lord. 
 This ring the grateful Monarch gave, 
 And bade, when I had boon to crave, 
 To bring it back, and boldly claim 
 The recompense that I would name. 
 Ellen, I am no courtly lord, 
 But one who lives by lance and sword, 
 Whose castle is his helm and shield, 
 His lordship the embattled field. 
 What from a prince can I demand. 
 Who neither reck of state nor land ? 
 Ellen, thy hand — the ring is thine ; 
 Each guard and usher knows the sign. > 
 Seek thou the king without delay ; 
 This signet shall secure thy way;
 
 Canto IF. THE PROPHECY. 177 
 
 And claim thy suit, whate'er it be, 
 
 As ransom of his pledge to me." 
 
 He placed the golden circlet on, 
 
 Paused — kiss'd her hand — and then was gone. 
 
 The aged Minstrel stood aghast, 
 
 So hastily Fitz-James shot past. 
 
 He join'd his guide, and wending down 
 
 The ridges of the mountain brown, 
 
 Across the stream they took their way. 
 
 That joins Loch- Katrine to Achray. 
 
 XX. 
 
 All in the Trosach's glen was still, 
 Noontide was sleeping on the hill : 
 Sudden his guide whoop'd loud and high — 
 " Murdoch ! was that a signal cry ?" — 
 He stammer'd forth, — " I shout to scare 
 Yon raven from his dainty fare." 
 He look'd — he knew the raven's prey. 
 His own brave steed : — " Ah ! gallant grey I 
 
 M
 
 178 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto IV 
 
 For thee — for me, perchance — 'twere well 
 We ne'er had seen the Trosach's dell. — 
 Murdoch, move first — but silently ; 
 Whistle or whoop, and thou shalt die I" 
 Jealous and sullen on they fared, 
 Each silent, each upon his guard. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 Now wound the path its dizzy ledge 
 Around a precipice's edg-e, 
 When lo I a wasted Female form, 
 Blighted by wrath of sun and storm, 
 In tatter'd weeds and wild array, 
 Stood on a cliff beside the way. 
 And glancing round her restless eye. 
 Upon the wood, the rock, the sky, 
 Seem'd nought to mark, yet all to spy. 
 Her brow was wreath'd with gaudy broom ; 
 ^Vith gesture wild she waved a plume
 
 Canto IF. THE PROPHECY. 179 
 
 Of feathers, which the eagles fling" 
 To crag and cliiF from dusky wing ; 
 Sucli spoils her desperate step had sought. 
 Where scarce was footing for the goat. 
 The tartan plaid she first descried, 
 And shriek'd till all the rocks replied ; 
 As loud she laughed when near thev drew, 
 For then the Lowland garb she knew ; 
 And then her hands she wildly wrung, 
 And then she wept, and tlien she sung — 
 She sung ! — the voice, in better time, 
 Perchance to harp or lute might chime ; 
 And now, though strain'd and roughen'd, still 
 Rung wildly sweet to dale and hill. ' 
 
 XXII. 
 
 They bid me sleep, they bid me pray, 
 
 They say my brain is warp'd and wrung — 
 
 I cannot sleep on Highland brae, 
 I cannot pray in Highland tongue.
 
 180 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto IV. 
 
 But were I now where Allan glides, 
 Or heard my native Devan's tides, 
 So sweetly would I rest, and pray 
 That Heaven would close my wintry day ! 
 
 Twas thus my hair they bade me braid, 
 They made me to the church repair ; 
 
 It was my bridal morn they said, 
 
 And my true love would meet me there. 
 
 But woe betide the cruel guile, 
 
 That drown'd in blood the morning smile ! 
 
 And woe betide the fairy dream ! 
 
 I only waked to sob and scream. 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 " Who is this maid ? what means her lay ? 
 She hovers o'er the hollow way. 
 And flutters wide her mantle grey, 
 As the lone heron spreads his wing. 
 By twilight, o'er a haunted spring." —
 
 Canto IV. THE PROPHECY. 181 
 
 " 'Tis Blanche of Devan," Murdoch said, 
 
 " A crazed and captive. Lowland maid, 
 
 Ta'en on the morn she was a bride. 
 
 When Roderick foray'd Devan-side. 
 
 The gay bridegroom resistance made, 
 
 And felt our Chief's unconquer'd blade. 
 
 I marvel she is now at large. 
 
 But oft she 'scapes from Maudlin's charge. — 
 
 Hence, brain-sick fool !" — He raised his bow : — 
 
 " Now, if thou strikest her but one blow, 
 
 I'll pitch thee from the cliflF as far 
 
 As ever peasant pitch'd a bai* !" — 
 
 " Thanks, champion, thanks !" the Maniac cried, 
 
 And press'd her to Fitz-James's side. 
 
 " See the grey pennons I prepare. 
 
 To seek my true-love through the air ! 
 
 I will not lend that savage groom. 
 
 To break his fall, one downy plume ! 
 
 No ! — deep amid disjointed stones. 
 
 The wolves shall batten on his bones.
 
 182 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto IJ' 
 
 And then shall his detested plaid, 
 By bush and brier in mid air staid» 
 Wave forth a banner fair and free, 
 Meet signal for their revelry." — 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 " Hush thee, poor maiden, and be still !" — 
 " O ! thou look'st kindly, and I will. — 
 Mine eye has dried and wasted been. 
 But still it loves the Lincoln green ; 
 And, though mine ear is all unstrung, 
 Still, still it loves the Lowland tongue. 
 
 " P'or O my sweet William was forester true. 
 He stole poor Blanche's heart away ! 
 
 His coat it was all of the greenwood hue. 
 And so blithely he trill'd the Lowland lay ! 
 
 " It was not that I meant to tell . . . 
 But thou are wise, and guessest well."
 
 Canto IV. THE PROPHECY. IS3 
 
 Tiien, in a low and broken tone 
 And Iiurried note, the song went on. 
 Still on the Clansman, fearfully, 
 She fix'd her apprehensive eye ; 
 Then turn'd it on the Knight, and then 
 Her look glanced wildly o'er the glen. 
 
 XXV. 
 
 " The toils are pitch'd, and the stakes are set, 
 
 Ever sing merrily, merrily ; 
 The bows they bend, and the knives they whet, 
 
 Hunters live so cheerily. 
 
 " It was a stag, a stag of ten,* 
 
 Bearing his branches sturdily ; 
 He came stately down the glen. 
 
 Ever sing hardily, hardily. 
 
 ■ Ilavir.^f ten branches on his antlers.
 
 184 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto IV, 
 
 " It was there he met with a wounded doe, 
 
 She was bleeding deathfully ; 
 She warn'd him of the toils below, 
 
 O, so faithfully, faithfully ! 
 
 " He had an eye, and he could heed. 
 
 Ever sing warily, warily ; 
 He had a foot, and he could speed — 
 
 Hnnters watch so narrowly." 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 Fitz-Jaraes's mind was passion-toss'd, 
 When Ellen's hints and fears were lotit ; 
 But Murdoch's shout suspicion wrought, 
 And Blanche's song conviction brought. — 
 Not like a stag that spies the snare. 
 But lion of the hunt aware. 
 He waved at once his blade on high, 
 " Disclose thy treachery, or die !"
 
 Canto IV. THE PROPHECY. 185 
 
 Forth at full speed the Clansman flew, 
 
 But m his race his how he drew. 
 
 The shaft just grazed Fitz-James's crest, 
 
 And thrill'd in Blanche's faded breast. — 
 
 Murdoch of Alpine ! prove thy speed. 
 
 For ne'er had Alpine's son such need ! 
 
 With heart of fire, and foot of wind. 
 
 The fierce avenger is behind ! 
 
 Fate judges of the rapid strife — 
 
 The forfeit death — the prize is life ! 
 
 Thy kindred ambush lies before. 
 
 Close couch'd upon the heathery moor ; 
 
 Them couldst thou reach ! — it may not be— 
 
 Thine ambush'd kin thou ne'er shalt see. 
 
 The fiery Saxon gains on thee ! 
 
 — Resistless speeds the deadly thrust. 
 
 As lightning strikes the pine to dust ; 
 
 With foot and hand Fitz- James must strain. 
 
 Ere he can win his blade again.
 
 186 ITiE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto IV. 
 
 Bent o'er the fall'n, with falcon eye, 
 He grimly smiled to see him die ; 
 Then slower wended back his way, 
 Where the poor maiden bleeding- lay. 
 
 XXVII. 
 
 She sate beneath the birchen-tree, 
 
 Her elbow resting on her knee ; 
 
 She had withdrawn the fatal shaft, 
 
 And gazed on it, and feebly laugh'd ; 
 
 Her wreath of broom and feathers grey, 
 
 Daggled with blood, beside her lay. 
 
 Tlie Knight to stanch the life-stream tried, — 
 
 " Stranger, it is in vain I" she cried. 
 
 " This hour of death has given me more 
 
 Of reason's power than years before ; 
 
 For, as these ebbing veins decay, 
 
 My frenzied visions fade away. 
 
 A helpless injured wretch I die, 
 
 And something tells me in thine eye,
 
 Canto IV. THE PROPMECY. 187 
 
 That tliou wert mine avenger born. — 
 Seest thou this tress ? — O ! still I've worn 
 This little tress of yellow hair, 
 Through danger, frenzy, and despair ! 
 It once was bright and clear as thine. 
 But blood and tears have dimm'd its shine. 
 I will not tell thee when 'twas shred, 
 Nor from what guiltless victim's head — 
 jSIy brain would turn I — but it shall wave 
 Like plumage on thy helmet brave, 
 Till sun and wind shall bleach the stain. 
 And thou wilt bring it me again. — 
 I waver still. — O God ! more bright 
 Let reason beam her parting light ! — 
 O ! by thy knighthood's honour'd sign, 
 And for thy life preserved by mine. 
 When thou shalt see a darksome man. 
 Who boasts him Chief of Alpine's clan, 
 With tartans broad and shadowy plume, 
 And hand of blood, and brow of gloom,
 
 188 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto IV. 
 
 Be thy heart bold, thy weapon strong, 
 And wreak poor Blanche of Devan's wrong ! — 
 They watch for thee by pass and fell . , . 
 Avoid the path . . . O God ! . . . farewell." 
 
 XXVIII. 
 
 A kindly heart had brave Fitz- James ; 
 
 Fast pour'd his eyes at pity's claims, 
 
 And now, with mingled grief and ire. 
 
 He saw the murder'd maid expire. 
 
 *• God, in my need, be my relief, 
 
 As I wreak this on yonder Chief !" 
 
 A lock from Blanche's tresses fair 
 
 He blended with her bridegroom's hair ; 
 
 The mingled braid in blood he dyed, 
 
 And placed it on his bonnet-side : 
 
 " By Him whose word is truth ! I swear, 
 
 No other favour will I wear, 
 
 Till this sad token I embrue 
 
 In the best blood of Roderick Dhu ! 
 
 — But hark I what means yon faint halloo ?
 
 Canto IV. THE PROPHECY. 189 
 
 The chase is up, — but they shall know, 
 
 The stag at bay's a dangerous foe." 
 
 Barr'd from the known but guarded way, 
 
 Through copse and clifrs Fitz-James must stray, 
 
 And oft must change his desperate track, 
 
 By stream and precipice turn'd back. 
 
 Heartless, fatigued, and faint, at length. 
 
 From lack of food and loss of strength, 
 
 He coucli'd him in a thicket hoar. 
 
 And thought his toils and perils o'er ; — 
 
 " Of all my rash adventures past, 
 
 This frantic feat must prove the last ! 
 
 Who e'er so mad but might have guess'd, 
 
 That all this Highland hornet's nest 
 
 Would muster up in swarms so soon 
 
 As e'er they heard of bands at Doune ? — 
 
 Like blood-hounds now they search me out, — 
 
 Hark, to the whistle and the shout !— 
 
 If farther through the wilds I go, 
 
 I only fall upon the foe ;
 
 190 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Cavto IK 
 
 I'll coucli me here till evening grey. 
 Then darkling try my dangerous way." 
 
 XXIX. 
 
 The shades of eve come slowly down, 
 
 The woods are wrapt in deeper brown, 
 
 The owl awakens from her dell, 
 
 The fox is heard upon the fell ; 
 
 Enough remains of glimmering light 
 
 To guide the wanderer's steps aright, 
 
 Yet not enough from far to show 
 
 His figure to the watchful foe. 
 
 With cautious step, and ear awake. 
 
 He climbs the crag and threads the brake ; 
 
 And not the summer solstice, there, 
 
 Temper'd the midnight mountain air, 
 
 But every breeze, that swept the wold, 
 
 Benumb'd his drenched lisnbs with cold. 
 
 In dread, in danger, and alone, 
 
 Famish'd and chill'd, through ways unknown. 
 
 Tangled and steep, he journey'd on ;
 
 Canto IV. THE PROPHECY. 191 
 
 Till, as a rock's huge point he turn'd, 
 A watch-fire close before him burn'd. 
 
 XXX. 
 
 Beside its embers red and -clear, 
 
 Bask'd, in his plaid, a mountaineer ; 
 
 And up he sprung with sword in hand, — 
 
 " Thy name and purpose ! Saxon, stand I" — 
 
 " A stranger." — " What dost thou require ?'" — 
 
 " Rest and a guide, and food and fire. 
 
 IMy life's beset, my path is lost. 
 
 The gale has chill'd my limbs with frost." — 
 
 " Art thou a friend to Roderick ?" — " No." — 
 
 " Thou darest not call thyself a foe ?"' — 
 
 " I dare ! to him and all the band 
 
 He brings to aid his murderous hand. " — 
 
 " Bold words I — but, though the beast of game 
 
 The privilege of chase may claim, 
 
 Though space and law the stag we lend. 
 
 Ere hound we slip, or bow we bend,
 
 192 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto IV. 
 
 Who ever reck'd, where, how, or when, 
 
 The prowling fox was trapp'd or slain ? 
 
 Thus treacherous scouts, — yet sure they lie, 
 
 Who say thou earnest a secret spy !" — 
 
 " They do, by heaven !— Come Roderick Dhu, 
 
 And of his clan the boldest two, 
 
 And let me but till morning rest, 
 
 I write the falsehood on their crest." — 
 
 " If by the blaze I mark aright. 
 
 Thou bear'st the belt and spur of Knight." — 
 
 " Then by these tokens mayst thou know 
 
 Each proud oppressor's mortal foe." — 
 
 *' Enough, enough ; sit down and share 
 
 A soldier's couch, a soldier's fare.'* 
 
 XXXI. 
 
 He gave him of his Highland cheer, 
 The harden'd flesh of mountain deer ; 
 Dry fuel on the fire he laid. 
 And bade the Saxon share his plaid.
 
 Canto ir. THE PROPHECY. 193 
 
 He tended him like welcome guest, 
 Then thus his further speech address'd. 
 " Stranger, I am to Roderick Dhu 
 A clansman born, a kinsman true ; 
 Each word against his honour spoke, 
 Demands of me avenging stroke ; 
 Yet more,— -upon thy fate, 'tis said, 
 A mighty augury is laid. 
 It rests with me to wind my horn, — 
 Thou art with numbers overborne ; 
 It rests with me, here, brand to brand. 
 Worn as thou art, to bid thee stand : 
 But, not for clan, nor kindred's cause. 
 Will I depart from honour's lav/s ; 
 To assail a wearied man were shame, 
 And stranger is a holy name ; 
 Guidance and rest, and food and fire, 
 In vain he never must require. 
 Then rest thee here till dawn of day ; 
 Myself will guide thee on the way, 
 
 N
 
 191 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto IV. 
 
 O'er stock and stone, through watch and ward, 
 
 Till past Clan- Alpine's outmost guard, 
 
 As far as Coilantogle's ford ; 
 
 From thence thy warrant is thy sword." — 
 
 " I take thy courtesy, by Heaven, 
 
 As freely as 'tis nobly given !" — 
 
 " Well, rest thee ; for the bittern's cry 
 
 Sings us the lake's wild lullaby," 
 
 With that he shook the gather'd heath, 
 
 And spread his plaid upon the wreath ; 
 
 And the brave foemen, side by side, 
 
 Lay peaceful down like brothers tried, 
 
 And slept until the dawning beam 
 
 Purpled the mountain and the stream. 
 
 END OF CANTO FOURTH.
 
 THE 
 
 LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 CANTO FIFTH. 
 
 fH^t Comiat
 
 THE 
 
 LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 CANTO FIFTH. 
 
 €ift Comijat 
 
 I. 
 
 Fair as the earliest beam of eastern light, 
 
 When first, by the bewilder'd pilgrim spied, 
 It smiles upon the dreary brow of night, 
 
 And silvers o'er the torrent's foaming tide. 
 And lights the fearful path on mountain side ; — 
 
 Fair as that beam, although the fairest far, 
 Giving to horror grace, to danger pride. 
 
 Shine martial Faith, and Courtesy's bright star, 
 Through all the wreckful storms that cloud the brow 
 of War.
 
 198 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Cunio V. 
 
 II. 
 
 That early beam, so fair and sheen, 
 Was twinkling through the hazel screen, 
 When, rousing at its glimmer red, 
 The warriors left their lowly bed, 
 Look'd out upon the dappled sky, 
 IMutter'd their soldier matins by. 
 And then awaked their fire, to steal, 
 As short and rude, their soldier meal. 
 That o'er, the Gael* around him threw 
 His graceful plaid of varied hue. 
 And, true to promise, led the way, 
 By thicket green and mountain grey. 
 A wildering path I — they winded now 
 Along the precipice's brow. 
 Commanding the rich scenes beneath, 
 The windings of the Forth and Teith, 
 And all the vales between that lie. 
 Till Stirling's turrets melt in sky ; 
 
 • The Scottish Highlander calls himself Gad, or Gaid, and 
 terms the Lowlanders, Sassenach, or Saxons.
 
 CayUo V. THE COMBAT. 
 
 Then, sunk in copse, their farthest glance 
 Gain'd not the length of horseman's lance. 
 Twas oft so steep, the foot was fain 
 Assistance from the hand to gain ; 
 So tangled oft, that, bursting thi'ough, 
 Each hawthorn shed her showers of dew, — 
 That diamond dew, so pure and clear, 
 It rivals all but Beauty's tear ! 
 
 III. 
 
 At length they came where, stem and steep, 
 The hill sinks down upon the deep. 
 Here Vennachar in silver flows. 
 There, ridge on ridge, Benledi rose ; 
 Ever the hollow path twined on, 
 Beneath steep bank and threatening stone ; 
 An hundred men might hold the post 
 With hardihood against a host. 
 The rugged mountain's scanty cloak 
 Was dwai'fish shrubs of birch and oak, 
 
 199
 
 200 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto 
 
 With shingles bare, and cliffs between, 
 
 And patches bright of bracken green, 
 
 And heather black, that waved so high, 
 
 It held the copse in rivalry. 
 
 But where the lake slept deep and still. 
 
 Dank osiers fringed the swamp and hill ; 
 
 And oft both path and hill were torn. 
 
 Where wintry torrents down had borne, 
 
 And heap'd upon the cumber d land 
 
 Its wreck of gravel, rocks, and sand. 
 
 So toilsome was the road to trace, 
 
 The guide, abating of his pace. 
 
 Led slowly through the pass's jaws. 
 
 And ask'd Fitz-James, by what strange cause 
 
 He sought these wilds ? traversed by few, 
 
 Without a pass from Roderick Dhu. 
 
 IV. 
 
 " Brave Gael, my pass, in danger tried, 
 Hangs in my belt, and by my side ;
 
 Cajilo V. THE COMBAT. 201 
 
 Yet, sooth to tell," the Saxon said, 
 " I dreamt not now to claim its aid. 
 When here, but three days since, I came, 
 Bewilder'd in pursuit of game, 
 All seem'd as peaceful and as still, 
 As the mist slumbering on yon hill ; 
 Thy dangerous Chief was then afar, 
 Nor soon expected back from war. 
 Thus said, at least, my mountain-guide, 
 Though deep, perchance, the villain lied." — 
 " Yet why a second venture try?" — 
 " A warrior thou, and ask me why ! — 
 Moves our free course by such fix'd cause, 
 As gives the poor mechanic laws ? 
 Enough, I sought to drive away 
 The la^y hours of peaceful day ; 
 Slight cause will then suffice to guide 
 A Knight's free footsteps far and wide, — 
 A falcon flown, a greyhound stray 'd. 
 The merry glance of mountain maid ;
 
 202 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto V, 
 
 Or, if a path be dangerous known, 
 The danger's self is lure alone." — 
 
 V. 
 
 " Thy secret keep, I urge thee not ; — 
 Yet, ere again ye sought this spot. 
 Say, heard ye nought of Lowland war, 
 Against Clan- Alpine, raised by Mar?" — 
 — " No, by my word ; — of bands prepared 
 To guard King James's sport I lieai'd ; 
 Nor doubt I aught, but, wnen they hear 
 This muster of the mountaineer, 
 Their pennons will abroad be flung, 
 Which else in Doune had peaceful hung."— . 
 " Free be they flung ! for we were loth 
 Their silken folds should feast the moth. 
 Free be they flung ! — as free shall wave 
 Clan- Alpine's pine in banner brave. 
 But, Stranger, peaceful since you came, 
 Bewilder'd in the mountain game,
 
 Canto V. THE COMBAT. 203 
 
 Whence the bold boast by which you show 
 Vich- Alpine's vow'd and mortal foe ?" — 
 " Warrior, but yester-morn, I knew 
 Nought of thy Chieftain, Roderick Dhu, 
 Save as an outlaw'd desperate man, 
 The chief of a rebellious clan. 
 Who, in the Regent's court and sight, 
 With ruffian dagger stabb'd a knight : 
 Yet this alone might from his part 
 Sever each true and loyal heart." 
 
 VI. 
 
 Wrothful at such arraignment foul, 
 Dark lower'd the clansman's sable scowl. 
 A space he paused, then sternly said, — 
 " And heard'st thou why he drew his blade ? 
 Heard'st thou that shameful word and blow 
 Brought Roderick's vengeance on his foe ? 
 What reck'd the Chieftain if he stood 
 On Highland heath, or Holy-Rood ?
 
 204 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto V, 
 
 He rights such wrong where it is given, 
 If it were in the court of heaven." — 
 " Still was it outrage ; — yet, 'tis true. 
 Not then claim'd sovereignty his due ; 
 While Albany, with feeble hand, 
 Held borrow'd truncheon of command, 
 The young King, mew'd in Stirling tower, 
 Was stranger to respect and power. 
 But then, thy Chieftain's robber life ! — 
 Winning mean prey by causeless strife, 
 Wrenching from ruin'd Lowland swain 
 His herds and harvest rear'd in vain, — 
 Methinks a soul, like thine, should scorn 
 The spoils from such foul foray borne." 
 
 vn. 
 
 The Gael beheld him grim the while, 
 And answer'd with disdainful smile, — 
 " Saxon, from yonder mountain high, 
 I mark'd thee send delighted eye,
 
 Canto V. THE COMBAT. 205 
 
 Far to the south and east, where lay, 
 Extended in succession gay, 
 Deep waving fields and pastures green, 
 With gentle slopes and groves between : — 
 These fertile plains, that soften'd vale, 
 Were once the birthright of the Gael ; 
 The stranger came Avith iron hand. 
 And from our fathers reft the land- 
 Where dwell we now ! See, rudely swell 
 Crag over crag, and fell o'er fell. 
 Ask we this savage hill we tread, 
 For fattened steer or household bread ; 
 Ask we for flocks these shingles dry, 
 And well the mountain might reply, — 
 * To you, as to your sires of yore. 
 Belong the target and claymore ! 
 I give you shelter in my breast, 
 Your own good blades must win the rest.* 
 Pent in this fortress of the North, 
 Think'st thou we will not sally forth,
 
 206 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto V. 
 
 To spoil the spoiler as we may, 
 
 And from the robber rend the prey ? 
 
 Ay, by my soul ! — While on yon plain 
 
 The Saxon rears one shock of grain ; 
 
 While, of ten thousand herds, there strays 
 
 But one along yon river's maze, — 
 
 The Gael, of plain and river heir. 
 
 Shall, with strong hand, redeem his share. 
 
 Where live the mountain Chiefs who hold, 
 
 That plundering Lowland field and fold 
 
 Is aught but retribution true ? 
 
 Seek other cause 'gainst Roderick Dhu." — 
 
 VIII. 
 
 Answered Fitz-James, — " And, if I sought, 
 
 Think'st thou no other could be brought ? 
 
 What deem ye of my path waylaid ? 
 
 My life given o'er to ambuscade ?" — 
 
 " As of a meed to rashness due : 
 
 Hadst thou sent warning fair and true,^
 
 Canto V. THE COMBAT. 207 
 
 I seek my hound, or falcon stray 'd, 
 I seek, good faith, a Highland maid, — 
 Free hadst thou been to come and go ; 
 But secret path marks secret foe. 
 Nor yet, for this, even as a spy, 
 Hadst thou, unheard, been doom'd to die. 
 Save to fulfil an augury." — 
 " Well, let it pass ; nor will I now- 
 Fresh cause of enmity avow, 
 To chafe thy mood and cloud thy brow. 
 Enough, I am by promise tied 
 To match me with this man of pride : 
 Twice have I sought Clan- Alpine's glen 
 In peace ; but when I come agen, 
 I come with banner, brand, and bow, 
 As leader seeks his mortal foe. 
 For love-lorn swain, in lady's bower, 
 Ne'er panted for the appointed hour. 
 As I, until before me stand 
 This rebel Chieftain and his band !" —
 
 208 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Cayito V. 
 
 IX. 
 
 " Have, then, tliy wish !" — he whistled shrill, 
 
 And he was answer'd from the hill ; 
 
 Wild as the scream of the curlew, 
 
 From crag to crag the signal flew. 
 
 Instant, through copse and heath, arose 
 
 Bonnets and spears and bended bows ; 
 
 On right, on left, above, below, 
 
 Sprung up at once the lurking foe ; 
 
 From shingles grey their lances start, 
 
 The bracken bush sends forth the dart, 
 
 The rushes and the willow-wand 
 
 Are bristling into axe and brand, 
 
 And every tuft of broom gives life 
 
 To plaided warrior arm'd for strife. 
 
 That whistle garrison'd the glen 
 
 At once with full five hundred men. 
 
 As if the yawning hill to heaven 
 
 A subterranean host had given.
 
 Canto V. THE COMBAT. 209 
 
 Watching their leader's beck and will, 
 All silent there they stood, and still. 
 Like the loose crags whose threatening mass 
 'Lay tottering o'er the hollow pass, 
 As if an infant's touch could urge 
 Their headlong passage down the verge, 
 With step and weapon forward flung, 
 Upon the mountain-side they hung. 
 The Mountaineer cast glance of pride 
 Along Benledi's living side. 
 Then fix'd his eye and sable brow 
 Full on Fitz- James — " How say'st thou now ? 
 These are Clan-Alpine's warriors true ; 
 And, Saxon, — /am Roderick Dhu !" 
 
 X. 
 
 Fitz- James was brave : — Though to his heart 
 The life-blood thrill'd with sudden start, 
 He mann'd himself with dauntless air, 
 Return'd the Chief his haughty stare, 
 o
 
 210 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto V. 
 
 His back against a rock he bore, 
 
 And firmly placed his foot before : — 
 
 " Come one, come all ! this rock shall fly 
 
 From its firm base as soon as I." 
 
 Sir Roderick mark'd — and in his eyes 
 
 Respect was mingled with surprise, 
 
 And the stern joy which warriors feel 
 
 In foemen worthy of their steel. 
 
 Short space he stood — then waved his hand : 
 
 Down sunk the disappearing band ; 
 
 Each warrior vanish'd where he stood, 
 
 In broom or bracken, heath or wood ; 
 
 Sunk brand and spear and bended bow, 
 
 In osiers pale and copses low ; 
 
 It seem'd as if their mother Earth 
 
 Had swallow'd up her warlike birth. 
 
 The wind's last breath had toss'd in air. 
 
 Pennon, and plaid, and plumage fair, — 
 
 The next but swept a lone hill-side. 
 
 Where heath and fern were waving wide :
 
 Canto V. THE COMBAT. 211 
 
 The sun's last glance was glinted back, 
 
 From spear and glaive, from targe and jack, — 
 
 The next, all unreflected, shone 
 
 On bracken green, and cold grey stone. 
 
 XL 
 
 Fitz-James look'd round — yet scarce believed 
 
 The witness that his sigrit received ; 
 
 Such apparition well might seem 
 
 Delusion of a dreadful dream. 
 
 Sir Roderick in suspense he eyed, 
 
 And to his look the Chief replied, 
 
 " Fear nought — nay, that I need not say — 
 
 But — doubt not aught from mine array. 
 
 Thou art my guest ; — I pledged my word 
 
 As far as Coilantogle ford : 
 
 Nor would I call a clansman's brand 
 
 For aid against one valiant hand. 
 
 Though on our strife lay every vale 
 
 Rent by the Saxon from the Gael.
 
 212 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto V. 
 
 So move we on ; — I only meant 
 To show the reed on which you leant. 
 Deeming this path you might pursue 
 Without a pass from Roderick Dhu." 
 They moved : — I said Fitz- James was brave, 
 As ever knight that belted glaive ; 
 Yet dare not say, that now his blood 
 Kept on its wont and lemper'd flood, 
 As, following Roderick's stride, he drew 
 That seeming lonesome pathway through, 
 Which yet, by fearful proof, was rife 
 With lances, that, to take his life. 
 Waited but signal from a guide. 
 So late dishonour'd and defied. 
 Ever, by stealth, his eye sought round 
 The vanish'd guardians of the ground. 
 And still, from copse and heather deep. 
 Fancy saw spear and broadsword peep, 
 And in the plover's shrilly strain. 
 The signal whistle heard again.
 
 Canto V. THE COMBAT. 213 
 
 Nor breathed he free till far behind 
 The pass was left ; for then they wind 
 Along a wide and level green, 
 Where neither tree nor tuft was seen, 
 Nor rush nor busli of broom was near, 
 To hide a bonnet or a spear. 
 
 XII. 
 
 The Chief in silence strode before, 
 
 And reach'd that torrent's sounding shore, 
 
 Which, daughter of three mighty lakes, 
 
 From Vennachar in silver breaks, 
 
 Sweeps through the plain, and ceaseless mines 
 
 On Bochastle the mouldering lines. 
 
 Where Rome, the Empress of the world, 
 
 Of yore her eagle wings unfurl'd. 
 
 And here his course the Chieftain staid, 
 
 Threw down his target and his plaid, 
 
 And to the Lowland warrior said : — 
 
 " Bold Saxon ! to his promise just, 
 
 Vich-Alpine has discharged his trust.
 
 214 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto V. 
 
 This murderous Chief, this ruthless man, 
 
 This head of a rebellious clan, 
 
 Hath led thee safe, through watch and ward, 
 
 Far past Clan-Alpine's outmost guard. 
 
 Now, man to man, and steel to steel, 
 
 A Chieftain's vengeance thou shalt feel. 
 
 See, here, all vantageless I stand, 
 
 Arm'd like thyself, with single brand ; 
 
 For this is Coilantogle ford, 
 
 And thou must keep thee with thy sword." — 
 
 XIII. 
 
 The Saxon paused : — " I ne'er delay'd. 
 
 When foeman bade me draw my blade ; 
 
 Nay more, brave Chief, I vow'd thy death : 
 
 Yet sure thy fair and generous faith. 
 
 And my deep debt for life preserved, 
 
 A better meed have well deserved : 
 
 Can nought but blood our feud atone ? 
 
 Are there no means ?" — " No, Stranger, none !
 
 Ca7ito V. THE COMBAT. 215 
 
 And hear, — to fire thy flagging zeal, — 
 The Saxon cause rests on thy steel ; 
 For thus spoke Fate, by prophet bred 
 Between tlie living and the dead ; 
 * Who spills the foremost foeraan's life, 
 His party conquers in the strife.' " — 
 " Then, by my word," the Saxon said, 
 " The riddle is already read. 
 Seek yonder brake beneath the cliff, — 
 There lies Red Murdoch, stark and stiff. 
 Thus Fate has solved her prophecy, 
 Then yield to Fate, and not to me. 
 To James, at Stirling, let us go. 
 When, if thou wilt be still his foe, 
 Or if the King shall not agree 
 To grant tliee grace and favour free, 
 I plight mine honour, oath, and word, 
 That, to thy native strengths restored, 
 With each advantage shalt thou stand. 
 That aids thee now to guard thy land."
 
 216 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto V. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 Dark lightning flasli'd from Roderick's eye — 
 " Soars thy presumption, then, so high, 
 Because a wretched kern ye slew, 
 Homage to name to Roderick Dhu ? 
 He yields not, he, to man nor Fate ! 
 Thou add'st but fuel to my hate : — 
 INIy clansman's blood demands revenge. 
 Not yet prepared ? — By heaven, I change 
 My thouglit, and hold thy valour light 
 As that of some vain carpet knight. 
 Who ill deserved my courteous care, 
 And whose best boast is but to wear 
 A braid of his fair lady's hair." — 
 — " I thank thee, Roderick, for the word ! 
 It nerves my heart, it steels my sword ; 
 For I have sworn this braid to stain 
 In the best blood that warms thy vein.
 
 Canto V. THE COMBAT. 217 
 
 Now, truce, farewell I and, ruth, begone !^ 
 Yet think not that by thee alone, 
 Proud Chief I can courtesy be shown ; 
 Though not from copse, or heath, or cairn, 
 Start at my whistle clansmen stern. 
 Of this small horn one feeble blast 
 Would fearful odds against thee cast. 
 But fear not — doubt not — which thou Avilt — 
 We try this quarrel hilt to hilt." 
 Then each at once his falchion drew,* 
 Each on the grqund his scabbard threw, 
 Each look'd to sun, and stream, and plain, 
 As what they ne'er might see again ; 
 Then, foot, and point, and eye opposed, 
 In dubious strife they darkly closed, 
 
 XV. 
 
 Ill fared it then with Roderick Dhu, 
 That on the field his targe he threw,
 
 218 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto V. 
 
 AMiose brazen studs and tough bull-hide 
 Had death so often dash'd aside ; 
 For, train'd abroad his arms to wield, 
 Fitz-James's blade was sword and shield. 
 He practised every pass and ward. 
 To thrust, to strike, to feint, to guard ; 
 While less expert, though stronger far. 
 The Gael maintain'd unequal war. 
 Three times in closing strife they stood, 
 And thrice the Saxon blade drank blood ; 
 No stinted draught, no scanty tide, 
 The gushing flood the tartans dyed. 
 Fierce Roderick felt the fatal drain. 
 And shower'd his blows like wintry rain ; 
 And, as firm rock, or castle-roof. 
 Against the winter shower is proof, 
 The foe, invulnerable still, 
 Foil'd his wild rage by steady skill ; 
 Till, at advantage ta'en, his brand 
 Forced Roderick's weapon from his hand.
 
 CaJito V. THE COMBAT. 219 
 
 And backward borne upon the lea, 
 Brought the proud Chieftain to his knee. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 " Now, yield thee, or, by Him who made 
 The world, thy heart's blood dyes my blade !" — 
 " Thy threats, thy mercy, I defy ! 
 Let recreant yield, who fears to die." 
 — Like adder darting from his coil. 
 Like wolf that dashes through the toil. 
 Like mountain-cat who guards her young, 
 Full at Fitz- James's throat he sprung ; 
 Received, but reck'd not of a wound. 
 And lock'd his arms his foeman round. — 
 Now, gallant Saxon, hold thine own ! 
 No maiden's hand is round thee thro\vn ! 
 That desperate grasp thy frame might feel, 
 Through bars of brass and triple steel ! — 
 They tug, they strain ! down, down, they go, 
 The Gael above, Fitz-James below.
 
 220 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, Canto V, 
 
 The Chieftain's gripe his throat compress'd, 
 His knee was planted in his breast ; 
 His clotted locks he backward threw, 
 Across his brow his hand he drew, 
 From blood and mist to clear his sight, 
 Then gleam'd aloft his dagger bright ! — 
 — But hate and fury ill supplied 
 The stream of life's exhausted tide. 
 And all too late the advantage came, 
 To turn the odds of deadly game ; 
 For, while the dagger gleam'd on high, 
 Reel'd soul and sense, reel'd brain and eye. 
 Down came the blow ! but in the heath 
 The erring blade found bloodless sheath. 
 The struggling foe may now unclasp 
 The fainting Chief's relaxing grasp ; 
 Unwounded from the dreadful close, 
 But breathless all, Fitz-James arose.
 
 Canto V. THE COMBAT. 221 
 
 XVII. 
 He falter'd thanks to Heaven for life, 
 Redeem'd, unhoped, from desperate strife ; 
 Next on his foe his look he cast, 
 Whose every gasp appear'd his last; 
 In Roderick's gore he dipp'd the hraid, — 
 « Poor Blanche ! thy wrongs are dearly paid : 
 Yet with thy foe must die, or live. 
 The praise that Faith and Valour give." — 
 With that he blew a bugle-note, 
 Undid the collar from his throat, 
 Unbonneted, and by the wave 
 Sate down his brow and hands to lave. 
 Then faint afar are heard the feet 
 Of rushing steeds in gallop fleet ; 
 The sounds increase, and now are seen 
 Four mounted squires in Lincoln green ; 
 Two who })ear lance, and two who lead. 
 By loosen'd rein, a saddled steed ; 
 Each onward held his headlong course, 
 And by Fitz-James rein'd up his horse, —
 
 222 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Ca7ito V. 
 
 With wonder view'd the bloody spot — 
 — " Exclaim not, gallants ! question not. — 
 You, Herbert and LuiFness, alight, 
 And bind the wounds of yonder knight ; 
 Let the grey palfrey bear his weight, 
 We destined for a fairer freight. 
 And bring him on to Stirling straight ; 
 I will before at better speed, 
 To seek fresh horse and fitting weed. 
 The sun rides high ; — I must be boune, 
 To see the archer-game at noon ; 
 But lightly Bayard clears the lea. — 
 De Vaux and Herries, follow me. 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 " Stand, Bayard, stand !" — the steed obey'd, 
 With arching neck and bended head. 
 And glancing eye and quivering ear 
 As if he loved his lord to hear. 
 No foot Fitz-James in stirrup staid, 
 No grasp upon the saddle laid,
 
 Canlo V. THE COMBAT. 223 
 
 But wreathed his left hand in the mane, 
 And lightly bounded from the plain, 
 Turn'd on the horse his armed heel, 
 And stirr'd his courage Avith the steel. 
 Bounded the fiery steed in air, 
 The rider sate erect and fair. 
 Then like a bolt from steel crossbow 
 Forth launch'd, along the plain they go. 
 They dash'd that rapid torrent through, 
 And up Carhonie's hill they flew ; 
 Still at the gallop prick'd the Knight, 
 His merrymen followed as they might. 
 Along thy banks, swift Teith I they ride, 
 And in the race they mock thy tide ; 
 Torry and Lendrick now are past, 
 And Deanstown lies behind them cast ; 
 They rise, the banner'd towers of Doune, 
 They sink in distant woodland soon ; 
 Blair-Drummond sees the hoofs strike fire. 
 They sweep like breeze through Ochtertyre ;
 
 224 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto V, 
 
 They mark just glance and disappear 
 The lofty brow of ancient Kier ; 
 They bathe their coursers' sweltering sides, 
 Dark Forth ! amid thy sluggish tides, 
 And on the opposing shore take ground, 
 With plash, with scramble, and with bound. 
 Right-hand they leave thy clift's, Craig-Forth I 
 And soon the bulwark of the North, 
 Grey Stirling, with her towers and town, 
 Upon their fleet career look'd down. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 As up the flinty path they strain'd, 
 
 Sudden his steed the leader rein'd ; 
 
 A signal to his squire he flung, 
 
 Who instant to his stirrup sprung : — 
 
 " Seest thou, De Vaux, yon woodsman grey. 
 
 Who town-ward holds the rocky way, 
 
 Of stature tall and poor array ? 
 
 IMark'st thou the firm, yet active stride. 
 
 With which he scales the mountain-side ?
 
 Canlo V. THE COMBAT. 225 
 
 Know'st thou from whence he comes, or whom ? " — 
 " No, by my word ; — a burly groom 
 He seems, who in the field or chase 
 A Baron's train would nobly grace." — 
 " Out, out, De Vaux ! can fear supply, 
 And jealousy, no sharper eye? 
 Afar, ere to the hill he drew, 
 That stately form and step I knew ; 
 Like form in Scotland is not seen, 
 Treads not such step on Scottish green. 
 'Tis James of Douglas, by Saint Serle ! 
 The uncle of the banish'd Earl. 
 Away, away, to court, to show 
 The near approach of dreaded foe : 
 The King must stand upon his guard ; 
 Douglas and he must meet prepared." 
 Then right-hand wheel'd their steeds, and straight 
 They won the castle's postern gate. 
 P
 
 226 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto V. 
 
 XX. 
 
 The Douglas, who had bent his way 
 
 From Cambus-Kenneth's abbey grey, 
 
 Now, as he climb'd the rocky shelf. 
 
 Held sad communion with himself: — 
 
 " Yes ! all is true my fears could frame : 
 
 A prisoner lies the noble Graeme, 
 
 And fiery Roderick soon will feel 
 
 The vengeance of the royal steel. 
 
 I, only I, can ward their fate, — 
 
 God grant the ransom come not late ! 
 
 The Abbess hath her promise given, 
 
 IMy child shall be the bride of Heaven ; — 
 
 — Be pardon'd one repining tear ! 
 
 For He, who gave her, knows how dear. 
 
 How excellent ! but that is by. 
 
 And now my business is — to die. 
 
 — Ye towers ! within whose circuit dread 
 
 A Douglas by his sovereign bled ;
 
 Carito V. THE COMBAT. 227 
 
 And thou, O sad and fatal mound !* 
 That oft hast heard the death-axe sound, 
 As on the noblest of the land 
 Fell the stern headsman's bloody hand, — 
 The dungeon, block, and nameless tomb 
 Prepare — for Douglas seeks his doom ! 
 — But hark ! what blithe and jolly peal 
 Makes the Franciscan steeple reel ? 
 And see ! upon the crowded street, 
 In motley groups what masquers meet ! 
 Banrter and pageant, pipe and drum, 
 And merry morrice-dancers come. 
 I guess, by all this quaint array. 
 The burghers hold their sports to-day. 
 James will be there ; he loves such show. 
 Where the good yeoman bends his bow, 
 And the tough wrestler foils his foe. 
 As well as where, in proud career. 
 The high-born tilter shivers spear. 
 
 * An eminence on the north-east of the Castle, where state 
 criminals were execut*id. See Note.
 
 228 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto V, 
 
 ril follow to the Castle-park, 
 
 And play my prize ; — King James shall mark, 
 
 If age has tamed these sinews stark. 
 
 Whose force so oft, in happier days, 
 
 His boyish wonder loved to praise." 
 
 XXI. 
 
 The Castle gates were open flung, 
 
 The quivering drawbridge rock'd and rung, 
 
 And echo'd loud the flinty street 
 
 Beneath the coursers' clattering feet, 
 
 As slowly down the steep descent 
 
 Fair Scotland's King and nobles went. 
 
 While all along the crowded way 
 
 Was jubilee and loud huzza. 
 
 And ever James was bending low. 
 
 To his white jennet's saddle-bow, 
 
 DoflBng his cap to city dame. 
 
 Who smiled and blush'd for pride and shame. 
 
 And well the simperer might be vain,— 
 
 He chose the fairest ot the train.
 
 Canto V. THE COMBAT. 229 
 
 Gravely he greets each city sire, 
 Commends each pageant's quaint attire, 
 Gives to the dancers thanks aloud. 
 And smiles and nods upon the crowd. 
 Who rend the heavens with their acclaims, 
 " Long live the Commons' King, King James !" 
 Behind the King throng'd peer and knight, 
 And noble dame and damsel bright. 
 Whose fiery steeds ill brook'd the stay 
 Of the steep street and crowded way. 
 — But in the train you might discern 
 Dark lowering brow and visage stern ; 
 There nobles moum'd their pride restrain'd, 
 And the mean burgher's joys disdain'd ; 
 And chiefs, who, hostage for their clan, 
 Were each from home a banish'd man. 
 There thought upon their own grey tower, 
 Their waving woods, their feudal power. 
 And deem'd themselves a shameful part 
 Of pagnant which they cursed in heart.
 
 230 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto V. 
 
 XXII. 
 Now, in the Castle-park, drew out 
 Their chequer'd bands the joyous rout. 
 There morricers, with bell at heel. 
 And blade in hand, their mazes wheel ; 
 But chief, beside the butts, there stand 
 Bold Robin Hood and all his band, — 
 Friar Tuck with quarter-staff and cowl, 
 Old Scathelocke with his surly scowl, 
 Maid Marion, fair as ivory bone, 
 Scarlet, and Mutch, and Little John ; 
 Their bugles challenge all that will. 
 In archery to prove their skill. 
 The Douglas bent a bow of might, — 
 His first shaft centred in the white. 
 And when in turn he shot again. 
 His second split the first in twain. 
 From the King's hand must Douglas take 
 A silver dart, the archer's stake ;
 
 Canto V. THE COMBAT. 231 
 
 Fondly he watch'd, with watery eye, 
 Some answering glance of sympathy, — 
 No kind emotion made reply ! 
 Indifferent as to archer wiglit, 
 The monarch gave the arrow bright. 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 Now, clear the Ring ! for, hand to hand, 
 The manly wrestlers take their stand. 
 Two o'er the rest superior rose, 
 And proud demanded mightier foes. 
 Nor call'd in vain ; for Douglas came. 
 — For life is Hugh of Larbert lame ; 
 Scarce better John of Alloa's fare, 
 Whom senseless home his comrades bear. 
 Prize of the wrestling match, the King 
 To Douglas gave a golden ring, 
 "WTiile coldly glanced his eye of blue, 
 As frozen drop of wintry dew.
 
 232 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto V. 
 
 Douglas would speak, but in his breast 
 
 His struggling soul his words suppress'd ; 
 
 Indignant then he turn'd him where 
 
 Their arnis the brawny yeomen bare, 
 
 To hurl the massive bar in air. 
 
 When each his utmost strength had shown, 
 
 The Douglas rent an earth-fast stone 
 
 From its deep bed, then heaved it high, 
 
 And sent the fragment through the sky, 
 
 A rood beyond the farthest mark ; — 
 
 And still in Stirling's royal park, 
 
 The grey-hair'd sires, who know the past, 
 
 To strangers point the Douglas-cast, 
 
 And moralize on the decay 
 
 Of Scottish strength in modern day. 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 The vale with loud applauses rang, 
 The Ladies' Rock sent back the clang.
 
 Canto V. THE COMBAT. 233 
 
 The King, with look unmoved, bestow'd 
 A purse well fill'd with pieces broad. 
 Indignant smiled the Douglas proud, 
 And threw the gold among the crowd, 
 Who now, with anxious wonder, scan, 
 And sharper glance, the dark grey man ; 
 Till whispers rose among the throng. 
 That heart so free, and hand so strong, 
 Must to the Douglas blood belong : 
 The old men mark'd and shook the head, 
 To see his hair with silver spread, 
 And wink'd aside, and told each son, 
 Of feats upon the English done. 
 Ere Douglas of the stalwart hand 
 Was exiled from his native land. 
 The women praised his stately form. 
 Though wreck'd by many a winter's storm ; 
 The youth with awe and wonder saw 
 His strength surpassing Nature's law.
 
 234 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto V. 
 
 Thus judged, as is their wont, the crowd, 
 Till murmur rose to clamours loud. 
 But not a glance from that proud ring 
 Of peers who circled round the King, 
 With Douglas held communion kind, 
 Or call'd the banish'd man to mind ; 
 No, not from those who, at the chase, 
 Once held his side the honour'd place, 
 Begirt his board, and, in the field. 
 Found safety underneath his shield ; 
 For he, whom royal eyes disown, 
 "When was his form to courtiers known ! 
 
 XXV. 
 
 The Monarch saw the gambols flag, 
 
 And bade let loose a gallant stag, 
 
 Whose pride, the holiday to crown. 
 
 Two favourite greyhounds should pull down, 
 
 That venison free, and Bourdeaux wine. 
 
 Might serve the archery to dine.
 
 Canto V. THE COMBAT. 235 
 
 But Lufra, — whom from Douglas' side 
 Nor bribe nor threat could e'er divide, 
 The fleetest hound in all the North, — 
 Brave Lufra saw, and darted forth. 
 She left the royal hounds mid-way. 
 And, dashing on the antler'd prey, 
 Sunk her sharp muzzle in his flank, 
 And deep the flowing life-blood drank. 
 The King's stout huntsman saw the sport 
 By strange intruder broken short. 
 Came up, and, with his leash unbound, 
 In anger struck the noble hound. 
 — The Douglas had endured, that mom, 
 The King's cold look, the nobles' scorn. 
 And last, and worst to spirit proud. 
 Had borne the pity of the crowd ; 
 But Lufra had been fondly bred. 
 To share his board, to watch his bed, 
 And oft would Ellen, Lufra's neck. 
 In maiden glee, with garlands deck ;
 
 236 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto V. 
 
 They were such playmates, that with name 
 
 Of Lufra, Ellen's image came. 
 
 His stifled wrath is brimming high, 
 
 In darken'd brow and flashing eye ; 
 
 As waves before the bark divide, 
 
 The crowd gave way before his stride ; 
 
 Needs but a buff'et and no more, 
 
 The groom lies senseless in his gore. 
 
 Such blow no other hand could deal. 
 
 Though gauntletted in glove of steel. 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 Then clamour'd loud the royal train, 
 And brandish'd swords and staves amain. 
 But stern the Baron's warning — " Back I 
 Back, on your lives, ye menial pack ! 
 Beware the Douglas. — Yes ! behold, 
 King James ! The Douglas, doom'd of old, 
 And vainly sought for near and far, 
 A victim to atone the war,
 
 Canto V. THE COMBAT. 237 
 
 A willing victim, now attends, 
 
 Nor craves thy grace but for his friends." — 
 
 " Thus is my clemency repaid ? 
 
 Presumptuous Lord !" the Monarch said ; 
 
 " Of thy mis-proud ambitious clan, 
 
 Thou, James of Bothwell, wert the man. 
 
 The only man, in whom a foe 
 
 My woman-mercy would not know : 
 
 But shall a Monarch's presence brook 
 
 Injurious blow, and haughty look ? — 
 
 What ho ! the Captain of our Guard ! 
 
 Give the oifender fitting ward. — 
 
 Break o^ the sports !" — for tumult rose, 
 
 And yeomen 'gan to bend their bows, — 
 
 " Break off the sports !" he said, and frown'd, 
 
 " And bid our horsemen clear the ground." 
 
 XXVII. 
 
 Then uproar wild and misarray 
 Marr'd the fair form of festal day.
 
 238 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto V. 
 
 The horsemen prick'd among the crowd, 
 Repell'd by threats and insult loud ; 
 To earth are borne the old and weak, 
 The timorous fly, the women shriek ; 
 With flint, with shaft, with staffs, with bar, 
 The hardier urge tumultuous war. 
 At once round Douglas darkly sweep 
 The royal spears in circle deep. 
 And slowly scale the pathway steep ; 
 While on the rear in thunder pour 
 The rabble with disorder'd roar. 
 With grief the noble Douglas saw 
 The Commons rise against the law, 
 And to the leading soldier said, — 
 " Sir John of Hyndford ! 'twas my blade, 
 That knighthood on thy shoulder laid ; 
 For that good deed, permit me then 
 A word with these misguided men. —
 
 Canto V. 
 
 THE COMBAT. 239 
 
 XXVIII. 
 
 " Hear, gentle friends I ere yet for me, 
 
 Ye break the bands of fealty. 
 
 My life, my honour, and my cause, 
 
 I tender free to Scotland's laws. 
 
 Are these so weak as must require 
 
 The aid of your misguided ire ? 
 
 Or, if I suffer causeless wrong, 
 
 Is then my selfish rage so strong. 
 
 My sense of public weal so low. 
 
 That, for mean vengeance on a foe, 
 
 Those cords of love I should unbind, 
 
 Which knit my country and my kind ? 
 
 Oh no ! Believe, in yonder tower 
 
 It will not soothe my captive hour. 
 
 To know those spears our foes should dread, 
 
 For me in kindred gore are red ; 
 
 To know, in fruitless brawl begun. 
 
 For me, that mother wails her son ;
 
 240 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto V. 
 
 For me, that widow's mate expires ; 
 For me, that orphans weep their sires ; 
 That patriots mourn insulted laws, 
 And curse the Douglas for the cause. 
 O let your patience ward such ill, 
 And keep your right to love me still !" 
 
 XXIX. 
 
 The crowd's wild fury sunk again 
 In tears, as tempests melt in rain. 
 With lifted hands and eyes, they pray'd 
 For blessings on his generous head, 
 Who for his country felt alone, 
 And prized her blood beyond his own. 
 Old men, upon the verge of life, 
 Bless'd him who stay'd the civil strife ; 
 And mothers held their babes on high, 
 The self-devoted Chief to spy. 
 Triumphant over wrongs and ire, 
 To whom the prattlers owed a sire :
 
 Canto V. 
 
 THE COMBAT. 24.1 
 
 Even the rough soldier's heart was moved ; 
 As if behind some bier beloved, 
 With trailing arms and drooping head, 
 The Douglas up the hill he led, 
 And at the Castle's battled verge. 
 With sighs resign'd his honour'd charge. 
 
 XXX. 
 
 The offended Monarch rode apart. 
 With bitter thought and swelling heart, 
 And would not now vouchsafe again 
 Through Stirling streets to lead his train. 
 " O Lennox, who would wish to rule 
 This changeling crowd, this common fool ? 
 Hearst thou," he said, " the loud acclaim, 
 With which they shout the Douglas name ? 
 With like acclaim, the vulgar throat 
 Strain'd for King James their morning note; 
 With like acclaim they hail'd the day, 
 When first I broke the Douglas' sway ;
 
 242 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto V. 
 
 And like acclaim would Douglas greet, 
 If be could hurl me from my seat. 
 Wlio o'er the herd would wish to reign, 
 Fantastic, fickle, fierce, and vain ! 
 Vain as the leaf upon the stream. 
 And fickle as a changeful dream ; 
 Fantastic as a woman's mood, 
 And fierce as Frenzy's fever'd blood. 
 Thou many-headed monster-thing, 
 
 who would wish to be thy king !— 
 
 XXXI. 
 
 " But soft ! what messenger of speed 
 Spurs hitherward his panting steed ? 
 
 1 guess his cognizance afar — 
 
 What from our cousin, John of INIar ?" — 
 " He prays, my liege, your sports keep bound 
 Within the safe and guarded ground : 
 For some foul purpose yet unknown, — 
 Most sure for evil to the throne, —
 
 Canto V. THE COMBAT. 243 
 
 The outlaw'd Chieftain, Roderick Dhu, 
 
 Has summon'd his rehellious crew ; 
 
 'Tis said, in James of Bothwell's aid 
 
 These loose banditti stand array 'd. 
 
 The Earl of Mar, this morn, from Doune, 
 
 To break their muster march'd, and soon 
 
 Your grace will hear of battle fought ; 
 
 But earnestly the Earl besought. 
 
 Till for such danger he provide. 
 
 With scanty train you will not ride." — 
 
 XXXII. 
 
 " Thou wam'st me I have done amiss, — 
 I should have earlier look'd to this : 
 I lost it in this bustling day. 
 — Retrace with speed thy former way ; 
 Spare not for spoiling of thy steed, 
 The best of mine shall be thy meed. 
 Say to our faithful Lord of Mar, 
 We do forbid the intended war :
 
 244 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto V. 
 
 Roderick, this morn, in single fight, 
 Was made our prisoner by a knight ; 
 And Douglas hath himself and cause 
 Submitted to our kingdom's laws. 
 The tidings of their leaders lost 
 Will soon dissolve the mountain host. 
 Nor would we that the vulgar feel, 
 For their Chief's crimes, avenging steel. 
 Bear Mar our message, Braco ; fly !" — 
 He turn'd his steed, — " My liege, I hie, — 
 Yet, ere I cross this lily lawn, 
 I fear the broadswords will be drawn." 
 The turf the flying courser spurn'd, 
 And to his towers the King return'd. 
 
 XXXIII. 
 
 Ill with King James's mood that day. 
 Suited gay feast and minstrel lay ; 
 Soon were dismiss'd the courtly throng, 
 And soon cut short the festal song.
 
 Ca7ito V, THE COMBAT. 245 
 
 Nor less upon the sadden'd town 
 The evening sunk in sorrow down. 
 The burghers spoke of civil jar, 
 Of rumour'd feuds and mountain war, 
 Of Moray, Mar, and Roderick Dhu, 
 All up in arms : — the Douglas too, 
 They mourn'd him pent within the hold, 
 " Where stout Earl William was of old."* 
 And there his word the speaker staid, 
 And finger on his lip he laid. 
 Or pointed to his dagger blade. 
 But jaded horsemen, from the west, 
 At evening to the Castle press'd ; 
 And busy talkers said they bore 
 Tidings of fight on Katrine's shore ; 
 At noon the deadly fray begun. 
 And lasted till the set of sun. 
 
 » Stabbed by James II. in Stirling Castle.
 
 246 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Cayito V. 
 
 Thus giddy rumour shook the town, 
 Till closed the Night her pennons brown. 
 
 END OF CANTO FIFTH.
 
 THE 
 
 LADY OF THE LAKE, 
 
 CANTO SIXTH. 
 
 C^e (!Uuartr=Koom.
 
 THE 
 
 LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 CANTO SIXTH, 
 
 dtjbe (Jlxuartr^Boom* 
 
 I. 
 
 The sun, awakening, through the smoky air 
 
 Of the dark city casts a sullen glance, 
 Rousing each caitiff to his task of care, 
 
 Of sinful man the sad inheritance ; 
 Summoning revellers from the lagging dance, 
 
 Scaring the prowling robber to his den ; 
 Gilding on battled tower the warder's lance, 
 
 And warning student pale to leave his pen, 
 And yield his drowsy eyes to the kind nurse of men.
 
 259 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. CaJito VI. 
 
 What various scenes, and, O ! what scenes of woe, 
 
 Are witness'd by that red and struggling beam ! 
 The fever'd patient, from his pallet low 
 
 Tlirough crowded hospital beholds it stream ; 
 The ruin'd maiden trembles at its gleam. 
 
 The debtor wakes to thought of gyve and jail, 
 The love-lorn wretch starts from tormenting dream ; 
 
 The wakeful mother, by the glimmering pale, 
 Trims her sick infant's couch, and soothes his feeble 
 wail. 
 
 II. 
 
 At dawn the towers of Stirling rang 
 With soldier-step and weapon-clang, 
 While drums, with rolling note, foretell 
 Relief to weary sentinel. 
 Through narrow loop and casement barr'd. 
 The sunbeams sought the Court of Guard, 
 And, struggling with the smoky air, 
 Deaden'd the torches' yellow glare.
 
 Canto VI. THE GUARD-ROOM. 251 
 
 In comfortless alliance shone 
 The lights through arch of blacken'd stone, 
 And show'd wild shapes in garb of war, 
 Faces deform'd with beard and scar, 
 All haggard from the midnight watch, 
 And fever'd with the stern debauch ; 
 For the oak table's massive board, 
 Flooded with wine, with fragments stored. 
 And beakers drain'd, and cups o'erthrown. 
 Show'd in what sport the night had flown. 
 Some, weary, snored on floor and bench ; 
 Some labour'd still their thirst to quench ; 
 Some, chill'd with watching, spread their hands 
 O'er the huge chimney's dying brands. 
 While round them, or beside them flung, 
 At every step their harness rung. 
 
 III. 
 
 These drew not for their fields the sword, 
 Like tenants of a feudal lord,
 
 25.2 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto VL 
 
 Nor own'd the patriarchal claim 
 
 Of Chieftain in their leader's name ; 
 
 Adventurers they, from far who roved, 
 
 To live by battle which they loved. 
 
 There the Italian's clouded face. 
 
 The swarthy Spaniard's there you trace; 
 
 The mountain-loving Switzer there 
 
 IVIore freely breathed in mountain-air ; 
 
 The Fleming" there despised the soil, 
 
 That paid so ill the labourer's toil ; 
 
 Their rolls show'd French and German name ; 
 
 And merry England's exiles came. 
 
 To share, with iU-conceal'd disdain, 
 
 Of Scotland's pay the scanty gain. 
 
 All brave in arms, well train'd to wield 
 
 The heavy halberd, brand, and shield ; 
 
 In camps licentious, wild, and bold ; 
 
 In pillage fierce and uncontroll'd ; 
 
 And now, by holy tide and feast, 
 
 From rules of discipline released.
 
 Canto VL THE GUARD-ROOIM. ' 253 
 
 IV. 
 
 They held debate of bloody fray, 
 
 Fought 'twixt Loch-Katrine and Achray. 
 
 Fierce was their speech, and, 'mid their words, 
 
 Their hands oft grappled to their swords ; 
 
 Nor sunk their tone to spare the ear 
 
 Of wounded comrades groaning near, 
 
 Whose mangled limbs, and bodies gored, 
 
 Bore token of the mountain sword. 
 
 Though, neighbouring to the Court of Guard, 
 
 Their prayers and feverish wails were heard ; 
 
 Sad burden to the ruffian joke, 
 
 And savage oath by fury spoke !— 
 
 At length up-started John of Brent, 
 
 A yeoman from the banks of Trent ; 
 
 A stranger to respect or fear. 
 
 In peace a chaser of the deer, 
 
 In host a hardy mutineer, 
 
 But still the boldest of the crew. 
 
 When deed of danger was to do.
 
 254 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto VL 
 
 He grieved, that day, their games cnt short, 
 And marr'd the dicer's brawling sport. 
 And shouted loud, " Renew the bowl ! 
 And, while a merry catch I troll, 
 Let each the buxom chorus bear, 
 Like brethren of the brand and spear." 
 
 V. 
 
 ^oltfier'5 ^m%. 
 Our vicar still preaches that Peter and Poule 
 Laid a swinging long curse on the bonny brown bowl. 
 That there's wrath and despair in the jolly black-jack. 
 And the seven deadly sins in a flagon of sack ; 
 Yet whoop, Barnaby ! off with thy liquor, 
 Drink upsees* out, and a fig for the vicar ! 
 
 Our vicar he calls it damnation to sip 
 The ripe ruddy dew of a woman's dear lip, 
 Says, that Beelzebub lurks in her kerchief so sly. 
 And Apollyon shoots darts from her merry black eye; 
 
 * Bacchanalian interjection, borrowed from the Dutch.
 
 Canto VI. THE GUARD-ROOM. 255 
 
 Yet whoop, Jack ! kiss Gillian the quicker, 
 
 Till she bloom like a rose, and a fig for the vicar ! 
 
 Our vicar thus preaches — and why should he not ? 
 For the dues of his cure are the placket and pot ; 
 And 'tis right of his office poor laymen to lurch, 
 Who infringe the domains of our good Mother Church. 
 Yet whoop, bully-boys I oif with your liquor. 
 Sweet Marjorie's the word, and a fig for the vicar ! 
 
 VI. 
 
 The warder's challenge, heard without, 
 Staid in mid-roar the merry shout. 
 A soldier to the portal went, — 
 " Here is old Bertram, sirs, of Ghent ; 
 And, — beat for jubilee the drum ! 
 A maid and minstrel with him come." 
 Bertram, a Fleming, grey and scarr'd, 
 Was entering now the Court of Guard,
 
 256 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canio VJ. 
 
 A harper with him, and in plaid 
 
 All muffled close, a mountain maid. 
 
 Who backward shrunk to 'scapo the view 
 
 Of the loose scene and boisterous crew. 
 
 " What news ?" they roar'd : — " I only know, 
 
 From noon till eve we fought with foe, 
 
 As wild and as untameable 
 
 As the rude mountains where they dwell, 
 
 On both sides store of blood is lost, 
 
 Nor much success can either boast." — 
 
 " But whence thy captives, friend ? such spoil 
 
 As theirs must needs reward thy toil. 
 
 Old dost thou wax, and wars grow sharp ; 
 
 Thou now hast glee-maiden and harp I 
 
 Get thee an ape, and trudge the land, 
 
 The leader of a juggler band." — 
 
 VII. 
 
 " No, comrade ; — no such fortune mine. 
 After the fight these sought om- line,
 
 Canto VI. THE GUARD-ROOM. 257 
 
 That aged harper and the girl, 
 
 And, having audience of the Earl, 
 
 Mar bade I should purvey them steed, 
 
 And bring them hitherward with speed. 
 
 Forbear your mirth and rude alarm, 
 
 For none shall do them shame or harm.'" — 
 
 " Hear ye his boast ?" cried John of Brent, 
 
 Ever to strife and jangling bent ; 
 
 " Shall he strike doe beside our lodge, 
 
 And yet the jealous niggard grudge 
 
 To pay the forester his fee ? 
 
 ril have my share howe'er it be, 
 
 Despite of Moray, Mar, or thee." 
 
 Bertram his forward step withstood ; 
 
 And, burning in his vengeful mood. 
 
 Old Allan, though unfit for strife. 
 
 Laid hand upon his dagger-knife ; 
 
 But Ellen boldly stepp'd between, 
 
 And dropp'd at once the tartan screen .— 
 
 So, from his morning cloud, appears 
 
 The sun of May, through summer tears. 
 
 R
 
 258 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. CaiUo VI. 
 
 The savage soldiery, amazed, 
 As on descended angel gazed; 
 Even hardy Brent, abash'd and tamed, 
 Stood half admiring, half ashamed. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 Boldly she spoke, — " Soldiers, attend I 
 
 My father Avas the soldier's friend ; 
 
 Cheer'd him in camps, in marches led. 
 
 And with him in the battle bled. 
 
 Not from the valiant, or the strong. 
 
 Should exile's daughter suffer wrong." — 
 
 Answer'd De Brent, most forward still 
 
 In every feat or good or ill, — 
 
 " I shame me of the part I play'd : 
 
 And thou an outlaw's child, poor maid ! 
 
 An outlaw I by forest laws, 
 
 And merry Needwood knows the cause. 
 
 Poor Rose, — if Rose be living now," — 
 
 He wiped his iron eye and brow, 
 
 " Must bear such as:e, I think, as thou
 
 Canto VI. THE GUARD-ROOM. 2^9 
 
 Hear ye, my mates ; — I go to call 
 The Captain of our watch to hall : 
 Vhere lies my halberd on the floor ; 
 And he that steps my halberd o'er, 
 To do the maid injurious part, 
 My shaft shall quiver in his heart ! — 
 Beware loose speech, or jesting rough : 
 Ye all know John de Brent. Enough." 
 
 IX. 
 
 Their Captain came, a gallant young, — 
 (Of TuUibardine's house he sprung,) 
 Nor wore he yet the spurs of knight ; 
 Gay was his mien, his humour light. 
 And, though by courtesy controll'd. 
 Forward his speech, liis bearing bold. 
 The high-born maiden ill could brook 
 The scanning of his curious look 
 And dauntless eye ; — and yet, in sooth. 
 Young Lewfs was a generous youth ;
 
 260 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto VI. 
 
 But Ellen's lovely face and mien, 
 
 111 suited to the garb and scene, 
 
 Might lightly bear construction strange, 
 
 And give loose fancy scope to range. 
 
 " Welcome to Stirling towers, fair maid ! 
 
 Come ye to seek a champion's aid, 
 
 On palfrey white, with harper hoar, 
 
 Like errant damosel of yore ? 
 
 Does thy high quest a knight require, 
 
 Or may the venture suit a squire ?" — 
 
 Her dark eye flash'd ;— she paused and sigh'd, — 
 
 " O what have I to do with pride ! — 
 
 — Through scenes of sorrow, shame, and strife, 
 
 A suppliant for a father's life, 
 
 I crave an audience of the King. 
 
 Behold, to back my suit, a ring. 
 
 The royal pledge of grateful claims, 
 
 Given by the Monarcli to Fitz-James."
 
 Canto VI. THE GUARD-ROOM. 261 
 
 X. 
 
 The signet-ring young Lewis took, 
 With deep respect and alter'd look ; 
 And said, — " This ring our duties own ; 
 And pardon, if to worth unknown, 
 In semblance mean obscurely veil'd. 
 Lady, in aught my folly fail'd. 
 Soon as the day flings wide his gates, 
 The King shall know what suitor waits. 
 Please you, meanwhile, in fitting bower 
 Repose you till his waking hour ; 
 Female attendance shall obey 
 Your best, for service or array. 
 Permit I marshal you the way." 
 But, ere she follow'd, with the grace 
 And open bounty of her race, 
 She bade her slender purse be shared 
 Among the soldiers of the guard.
 
 262 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto VI. 
 
 The rest with thanks their guerdon took ; 
 
 But Brent, with shy and awkward look, 
 
 On the reluctant maiden's hold 
 
 Forced bluntly back the profFer'd gold ; — 
 
 " Forgive a haughty English heart, 
 
 And O forget its ruder part ! 
 
 The vacant purse shall be my share, 
 
 Which in my barret-cap I'll bear, 
 
 Perchance, in jeopardy of war, 
 
 Where gayer crests may keep afar." 
 
 With thanks, — 'twas all she could, — the maid 
 
 His rugged courtesy repaid. 
 
 XL 
 
 When Ellen forth with Lewis went, 
 Allan made suit to John of Brent : — 
 " My lady safe, O let your grace 
 Give me to see my master's face ! 
 His minstrel I, — to share his doom 
 Bound from the cradle to the tomb.
 
 Canto VI. THE GUARD-ROOM. 263 
 
 Tenth in descent, since first my sires 
 Waked for his noble house their lyres, 
 Nor one of all the race was known 
 But prized its weal above their own. 
 With the Chief's birth begins our care ; 
 Our harp must soothe the infant heir, 
 Teach the youth tales of fight, and grace 
 His earliest feat of field or chase ; 
 In peace, in war, our rank we keep. 
 We cheer his board, we soothe his sleep, 
 Nor leave him till we pour our verse, — 
 A doleful tribute ! — o'er his hearse. 
 Then let me share his captive lot ; 
 It is my right — deny it not ! " — 
 " Little we reck," said John of Brent, 
 " We Southern men, of long descent ; 
 Nor wot we how a name — a word — 
 Makes clansmen vassals to a lord : 
 Yet kind my noble landlord's part, — 
 God bless the house of Beaudesert I
 
 264. THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto VI. 
 
 And, but I loved to drive the deer, 
 More than to guide the labouring steer, 
 I had not dwelt an outcast here. 
 Come, good old Minstrel, follow me ; 
 Thy Lord and Chieftain slialt thou see." 
 
 XII. 
 Then, from a rusted iron hook, 
 A bunch of ponderous keys he took, 
 Lighted a torch, and Allan led 
 Through grated arch and passage dread. 
 Portals they pass'd, where, deep within, 
 Spoke prisoner's moan, and fetters' din ; 
 Through rugged vaults, where, loosely stored, 
 Lay wheel, and axe, and headsman's sword, 
 And many an hideous engine grim. 
 For wrenching joint, and crushing limb. 
 By artist form'd, who deem'd it shame 
 And sin to give their work a name. 
 They halted at a low-brow'd porch, 
 And Brent to AUan gave the torch,
 
 Canto VL THE GUARD-ROOM. 265 
 
 While bolt and chain he backward roli'd, 
 
 And made the bar unhasp its hold. 
 
 They enter'd : — 'twas a prison-room 
 
 Of stern security and gloom, 
 
 Yet not a dungeon ; for the day 
 
 Through lofty gratings found its way, 
 
 And rude and antique garniture 
 
 Deck'd the sad walls and oaken floor ; 
 
 Such as the rugged days of old 
 
 Deem'd fit for captive noble's hold. 
 
 " Here," said De Brent, " thou raayst remain 
 
 Till the Leech visit him again. 
 
 Strict is his charge, the warders tell, 
 
 To tend the noble prisoner well." 
 
 Retiring then the bolt he drew, 
 
 And the lock's murmurs growl'd anew. 
 
 Roused at the sound, from lowly bed 
 
 A Captive feebly raised his head ; 
 
 The wondering Minstrel look'd, and knew — 
 
 Not his dear lord, but Roderick Dliu !
 
 2ii6 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto VI. 
 
 For, come from where Clan- Alpine fought, 
 They, erring, deem'd the Chief he sought. 
 
 XIII. 
 As the tall ship, whose lofty prore 
 Shall never stem the billows more, 
 Deserted by her gallant band, 
 Amid the breakers lies astrand, — 
 So, on his couch, lay Roderick Dhu ! 
 And oft his fever d limbs he threw 
 In toss abrupt, as when her sides 
 Lie rocking in the advancing tides. 
 That shake her frame with ceaseless beat, 
 Yet cannot heave her from her seat ; — 
 O ! how unlike her course at sea !; 
 Or his free step on hill and lee ! — 
 Soon as the Minstrel he could scan, 
 — " What of thy lady ? — of my clan ? — 
 My mother ? — Douglas ? — tell me all ! 
 Have they been ruin'd in my fall ?
 
 Canto VI. THE GUARD-ROOM. 267 
 
 Ah, yes ! or wherefore art thou here ! 
 
 Yet speak, — speak boldly, — do not fear." — 
 
 (For Allan, who his mood well knew, 
 
 Was choked with grief and terror too.) — 
 
 " Who fought — who fled ? — Old man, be brief; — 
 
 Some might — for they had lost their Chief. 
 
 Who basely live ? — who bravely died ?" — 
 
 " O, calm thee. Chief !" the Minstrel cried, 
 
 " Ellen is safe ;" — " For that, thank Heaven !" — 
 
 " And hopes are for the Douglas given ; — 
 
 The Lady Margaret too is well, 
 
 And, for thy clan, — on field or fell, 
 
 Has never harp of minstrel told. 
 
 Of combat fought so true and bold. 
 
 Thy stately Pine is yet unbent, 
 
 Though many a goodly bough is rent." 
 
 XIV. 
 
 The Chieftain rear'd his form on high, 
 And fever's fire was in his eye ;
 
 2G8 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto VI. 
 
 But ghastly, pale, and livid streaks 
 
 Chequer'd his swarthy brow and cheeks. 
 
 — " Hark, Minstrel ! I have heard thee play, 
 
 With measure bold, on festal day, 
 
 In yon lone isle, . . . again where ne'er 
 
 Shall harper play, or warrior hear ! . . . 
 
 That stirring air that peals on high, 
 
 O'er Dermid's race our victory. — 
 
 Strike it ! — and then, (for well thou canst,) 
 
 Free from thy minstrel-spirit glanced. 
 
 Fling me the picture of the fight, 
 
 When met my clan the Saxon might. 
 
 I'll listen, till my fancy hears 
 
 The clang of swords, the crash of spears I 
 
 These grates, these walls, shall vanish then, 
 
 For the fair field of fighting men. 
 
 And my free spirit burst away, 
 
 As if it soar'd from battle-fray." 
 
 The trembling Bard with awe obey'd, — 
 
 Slow on the harp his hand he laid ;
 
 Canto VL THE GUARD-ROOM. 269 
 
 But soon remembrance of the sight 
 
 He witness'd from the mountain's height, 
 
 With what old Bertram told at night, 
 
 Awaken'd the full power of song, 
 
 And bore him in career along ; — 
 
 As shallop launch'd on river's tide, 
 
 That slow and fearful leaves the side. 
 
 But, when it feels the middle stream, 
 
 Drives downward swift as lightning's beam. 
 
 XV. 
 
 ISattle o£ BeaV an ?3uine» 
 " The Minstrel came once more to view 
 The eastern ridge of Benvenue, 
 For, ere he parted, he would say- 
 Farewell to lovely Loch-Achray — 
 Where shall he find, in foreign land, 
 So lone a lake, so sweet a strand I — 
 There is no breeze upon the fern, 
 No ripple on the lake,
 
 270 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto VI. 
 
 Upon her eyry nods the erne, 
 
 The deer has sought the brake ; 
 The small birds will not sing aloud, 
 
 The springing trout lies still, 
 So darkly glooms yon thunder-cloud, 
 That swathes, as with a purple shroud, 
 
 Benledi's distant hill. 
 Is; it the thunder's solemn sound 
 That mutters deep and dread, 
 Or echoes from the groaning ground 
 
 The warrior's measured tread ? 
 Is it the lightning's quivering glance 
 
 That on the thicket streams. 
 Or do they flash on spear and lance 
 The sun's retiring beams ? 
 — I see the dagger-crest of Mar, 
 I see the Moray's silver star. 
 Wave o'er the cloud of Saxon war, 
 That up the lake comes winding far 1
 
 Canto VI. THE GUARD-ROOM. 271 
 
 To hero boune for battle-strife, 
 
 Or bard of martial lay, 
 'Twere worth ten years of peaceful life, 
 
 One glance at their array ! 
 
 XVL 
 
 ** Their light-arm'd archers far and near 
 
 Survey'd the tangled ground, 
 Their centre ranks, with pike and spear, 
 
 A twilight forest frown'd. 
 Their barbed horsemen, in the rear, 
 
 The stern battalia crown'd. 
 No cymbal clash'd, no clarion rang. 
 
 Still were the pipe and drum ; 
 Save heavy tread, and armour's clang, 
 
 The sullen march was dumb. 
 There breathed no wind their crests to shake, 
 
 Or wave their flags abroad ; 
 Scarce the frail aspen seem'd to quake. 
 
 That shadow'd o'er their road.
 
 272 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto VI. 
 
 Their vaward scouts no tidings bring, 
 
 Can rouse no lurking foe, 
 Nor spy a trace of living thing, 
 
 Save when they stirr'd the roe ; 
 The host moves, like a deep-sea wave, 
 "WTiere rise no rocks its pride to brave. 
 
 High-swelling, dark, and slow. 
 The lake is pass'd, and now they gain 
 A narrow and a broken plain, 
 Before the Trosach's rugged jaws ; 
 And here the horse and spearmen pause, 
 While, to explore the dangerous glen, 
 Dive through the pass the archer-men. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 " At once there rose so wild a yell 
 Within that dark and narrow dell, 
 As all the fiends, from heaven that fell, 
 Had peal'd the banner-cry of hell !
 
 Canto VI. THE GUARD-ROOM. 2T3 
 
 Forth from the pass in tumult driven, 
 Like chaff before the wind of heaven, 
 
 The archery appear : 
 For life ! for life ! their plight they ply— 
 And shriek, and shout, and battle-cry, 
 And plaids and bonnets waving high, 
 And broadswords flashing to the sky, 
 
 Are maddening in the rear. 
 Onward they drive, in dreadful race, 
 
 Pursuers and pursued ; 
 Before that tide of flight and chase, 
 How shall it keep its rooted place. 
 
 The spearmen's twilight wood ? 
 — ' Down, down,' cried Mar, ' your lances down ! 
 
 Bear back both friend and foe I' 
 Like reeds before the tempest's frown. 
 That serried grove of lances brown 
 
 At once lay levell'd low ; 
 And closely shouldering side to side, 
 The bristling ranks the onset bide. — 
 s
 
 274 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto VI. 
 
 — ' We'll quell the savage mountaineer, 
 As their Tinchel * cows the game I 
 
 They come as fleet as forest deer, 
 We'll drive them back as tame.' — 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 " Bearing before them, in their course, 
 The relics of the archer force, 
 Like wave with crest of sparkling foam. 
 Right onward did Clan- Alpine come. 
 Above the tide, each broadsword bright 
 Was brandishing like beam of light, 
 
 Each targe was dark below ; 
 And with the ocean's mighty swing, 
 When heaving to the tempest's wing, 
 They hurl'd them on the foe. 
 
 * A cii'cle of sportsmen, who, by surrounding a great space., 
 and gradually narrowing, brought immense quantities of deei- 
 togetlier, which usually made desperate efforts to break through 
 the Tinchel.
 
 Canto VI. THE GUARD-ROOM. 27. 
 
 I heard the lance's shivering crash, 
 As when the whirlwind rends the ash ; 
 I heard the broadsword's deadly clang, 
 As if an hundred anvils rang ! 
 But Moray wheel'd his rearward rank 
 Of horsemen on Clan- Alpine's flank, — 
 
 — * My banner-man, advance ! 
 I see,' he cried, ' their column shake. — 
 Now, gallants ! for your ladies' sake, 
 Upon them with the lance !' — 
 The horsemen dash'd among the rout, 
 
 As deer break through the broom ; 
 Their steeds are stout, their swords are out. 
 
 They soon make lightsome room. 
 Clan-Alpine's best are backward borne — 
 
 Where, where, was Roderick then ! 
 One blast upon his bugle-horn 
 
 V/ere worth a thousand men. 
 And refluent through the pass of fear 
 
 The battle's tide was pour'd ;
 
 276 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canio VI. 
 
 Vanish'd the Saxon's struggling spear, 
 
 Vanish'd the mountain sword. 
 As Bracklinn's chasm, so hlack and steep, 
 
 Receives her roaring linn, 
 As the dark caverns of the deep 
 
 Suck the wild whirlpool in, 
 So did the deep and darksome pass 
 Devour the battle's mingled mass ; 
 None linger now upon the plain. 
 Save those who ne'er shall fight again. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 *' Now westward rolls the battle's din, 
 That deep and doubling pass within. 
 — Minstrel, away ! the work of fate 
 Is bearing on : its issue wait. 
 Where the rude Trosach's dread defile 
 Opens on Katrine's lake and isle. — 
 Grey Benvenue I soon repass'd, 
 Loch-Katrine lay beneath me cast.
 
 Canto VI. THE GUARD-ROOM. 277 
 
 The sun is set ; — the clouds are met, 
 
 Tlie lowering scowl of heaven 
 An inky hue of livid blue 
 To the deep lake has given ; 
 Strange gusts of wind from mountain glen 
 Swept o'er the lake, then sunk agen. 
 I heeded not the eddying surge, 
 Mine eye but saw the Trosach's gorge, 
 Mine ear but heard the sullen sound, 
 Which like an earthquake shook the ground, 
 And spoke the stern and desperate strife 
 That parts not but w ith parting life, 
 Seeming, to minstrel-ear, to toll 
 The dirge of many a passing soul. 
 Nearer it comes — the dim-wood glen 
 The martial flood disgorged agen, 
 But not in mingled tide ; 
 The plaided warriors of the North 
 Hisfh on the mountain thunder forth. 
 And overhang its side ;
 
 278 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canio VI. 
 
 While by the lake below appears 
 The (lark'ning cloud of Saxon spears. 
 At weary bay each shatter'd band, 
 Eyeing their foemen, sternly stand ; 
 Their banners stream like tatter'd sail, 
 That flings its fragments to the gale, 
 And broken arms and disarray 
 Mark'd the fell havoc of the day. 
 
 XX. 
 
 '* Viewing the mountain's ridge askance, 
 The Saxon stood in sullen trance, 
 Till Moray pointed with his lance. 
 
 And cried — ' Behold yon isle ! — 
 See ! none are left to guard its strand, 
 But women weak, that wring the hand : 
 "Tis there of yore the robber band 
 
 Their booty wont to pile ; — 
 My purse, with bonnet-pieces store. 
 To him will swim a bow-shot o'er, 
 And loose a shallop from the shore.
 
 Canto VI. THE GUARD-ROOM. 279 
 
 Lightly we'll tame the war-wolf then, 
 Lords of his mate, and brood, and den.' 
 Forth from the ranks a spearman sprung-, 
 On earth his casque and corslet rung. 
 
 He plunged him in the wave : — 
 All saw the deed — the purpose knew, 
 And to their clamours Benvenue 
 
 A mingled echo gave ; 
 The Saxons shout, their mate to cheer. 
 The helpless females scream for fear. 
 And yells for rage the mountaineer. 
 'Twas then, as by the outcry riven, 
 Pour'd down at once the lowering heaven ; 
 A whirlwind swept Loch- Katrine's breast, 
 Her billows rear'd their snowy crest. 
 Well for the swimmer swell'd they high, 
 To mar the Highland marksman's eye ; 
 For round him shower'd, 'mid rain and hail, 
 The vengeful arrows of the Gael. — 
 In vain. — He nears the isle — and lo ! 
 His hand is on a shallop's bow.
 
 2S0 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto VL 
 
 — Just then a flash of lightning came, 
 
 It tinged the waves and strand with flame ; — 
 
 I mark'd Duncraggan's widow'd dame, 
 
 Behind an oak I saw her stand, 
 
 A naked dirk gleam'd in her hand : — 
 
 It darken'd, — but amid the moan 
 
 Of waves I heard a dying groan ; — 
 
 Another flash I — the spearman floats 
 
 A weltering corse beside the boats, 
 
 And the stern Matron o'er liini stood. 
 
 Her hand and dagger streaming blood. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 " ' Revenge ! revenge !' the Saxons cried, 
 The Gaels' exulting shout replied. 
 Despite the elemental rage. 
 Again they hurried to engage ; 
 But, ere they closed in desperate fight. 
 Bloody with spurring came a kinght, 
 Sprung from his horse, and, from a crag, 
 'Waved 'twixt the hosts a milk-white flag.
 
 C<into VI. THE GUARD-ROOM. 281 
 
 Clarion and trumpet by his side 
 
 Rung- forth a truce-note high and wide, 
 
 While, in the Monarch's name, afar 
 
 An herald's voice forbade the war, 
 
 For Bothwell's lord, and Roderick bold, 
 
 Were both, he said, in captive hold." 
 
 — But here the lay made sudden stand, 
 
 The harp escaped the Minstrel's hand ! — 
 
 Oft had he stolen a glance, to spy 
 
 How Roderick brook'd his minstrelsy : 
 
 At first, the Chieftain, to the chime. 
 
 With lifted hand, kept feeble time ; 
 
 That motion ceased, — yet feeling strong 
 
 Varied his look as changed the song ; 
 
 At length, no more his deafen'd ear 
 
 The minstrel melody can hear ; 
 
 His face grows sharp, — his hands are clench'd. 
 
 As if some pang his heart-strings wrench'd ; 
 
 Set are his teeth, his fading eye 
 
 Is sternly fix'd on vacancy ;
 
 282 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto VI. 
 
 Thus, motionless, and raoanless, drew 
 
 His parting breath, stout Roderick Dhu I — 
 
 Old Allan-bane look'd on aghast, 
 
 While grim and still his spirit pass'd ; 
 
 But when he saw that life was fled, 
 
 He pour'd his wailing o'er tlie dead. 
 
 xxn. 
 
 Eamcnh 
 " And art thou cold and lowly laid, 
 Thy foeman's dread, thy people's aid, 
 Breadalbane's boast, Clan-Alpine's shade ! 
 For thee shall none a requiem say ? 
 — For thee, — who loved the minstrel's lay, 
 For thee, of Bothwell's house the stay, 
 The shelter of her exiled line, 
 Eon in this prison-house of thine, 
 I'll wail for Alpine's honour'd Pine ! 
 
 *' What groans shall yonder valleys fill ! 
 What slirieks of grief shall rend yon hill !
 
 Canto VI. THE GUARD-ROOM. 283 
 
 What tears of burning rage shall thrill, 
 When mourns thy tribe thy battles done, 
 Thy fall before the race was won, 
 Thy sword ungirt ere set of sun ! 
 There breathes not clansman of thy line, 
 But would have given his life for thine. — 
 O woe for Alpine's lionour'd Pine ! 
 
 " Sad was thy lot on mortal stage ! — 
 TJie captive thrush may brook the cage. 
 The prison'd eagle dies for rage. 
 Brave spirit, do not scorn my strain ! 
 And, when its notes awake again. 
 Even she, so long beloved in vain. 
 Shall with my harp her voice combine. 
 And mix her woe and tears with mine, 
 To wail Clan-Alpine's honour d Pine." 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 Ellen, the while, with bursting heart, 
 Remain'd in lordly bower apart,
 
 284 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto VI. 
 
 Where play'd, with many-colour'd gleams, 
 Through storied pane the rising beams. 
 In vain on gilded roof they fall, 
 And lighten'd up a tapestried wall, 
 And for her use a menial train 
 A rich collation spread in vain. 
 The banquet proud, the chamber gay, 
 Scarce drew one curious glance astray ; 
 Or, if she look'd, 'twas but to say, 
 With better omen dawn'd the day 
 In that lone isle, where waved on high 
 The dun-deer's hide for canopy ; 
 Where oft her noble father shared 
 The simple meal her care prepared, 
 While Lufra, crouching by her side. 
 Her station claim'd with jealous pride, 
 And Douglas, bent on woodland game, 
 Spoke of the chase to Malcolm Graeme, 
 Whose answer, oft at random made, 
 The wandering of his thoughts betray'd. —
 
 Canto ri. THE GUARD-ROOM. 285 
 
 Those who such simple joys have known 
 
 Are taught to prize them when they're gone. 
 
 But sudden, see, she lifts her head ! 
 
 The window seeks with cautious tread. 
 
 What distant music has the power 
 
 To win her in this woful hour ! 
 
 'Twas from a turret that o'erhung 
 
 Her latticed bower, the strain was sung. 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 " My hawk is tired of perch and hood. 
 My idle greyhound loathes his food. 
 My horse is weary of his stall, 
 And I am sick of captive thrall. 
 I wish I were as I have been, 
 Hunting the hart in forest green, 
 With bended bow and bloodhound free, 
 For that's the life is meet for me.
 
 286 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto VI. 
 
 " I hate to learn the ebb of time, 
 From yon dull steeple's drowsy chime, 
 Or mark it as the sunbeams crawl, 
 Inch after inch, along the wall. 
 The lark was wont my matins ring, 
 The sable rook my vespers sing ; 
 These towers, although a king's they be, 
 Have not a hall of joy for me. 
 
 " No more at dawning morn I rise, 
 And sun myself in Ellen's eyes, 
 Drive the fleet deer the forest through. 
 And homeward wend with evening dew ; 
 A blithesome welcome blithely meet, 
 And lay my trophies at her feet, 
 While fled the eve on wing of glee, — 
 That life is lost to love and me I" 
 
 XXV. 
 
 The heai't-sick lay was hardly said. 
 The list'ner had not turn'd her head,
 
 C<inio VI. THE GUARD- ROOM. 287 
 
 It trickled still, the starting tear, 
 
 When light a footstep struck her ear, 
 
 And Snovvdoun's graceful Kniglit was near. 
 
 She turn d the hastier, lest again 
 
 The prisoner should renew his strain. 
 
 " O welcome, brave Fitz- James !" she said ; 
 
 " How may an almost orphan maid 
 
 Pay the deep debt" " O say not so ! 
 
 To me no gratitude you owe. 
 
 Not mine, alas ! the boon to give, 
 
 And bid thy noble father live ; 
 
 I can but be thy guide, sweet maid, 
 
 With Scotland's King thy suit to aid. 
 
 No tyrant he, though ire and pride 
 
 May lay his better mood aside. 
 
 Come, Ellen, come ! — 'tis more than time. 
 
 He holds his court at morning prime." 
 
 With beating heart, and bosom wrung, 
 
 As to a brother's arm she clung. 
 
 Gently he dried the falling tear, 
 
 And gently whisper'd hope and cheer ;
 
 288 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Ccmlo VL 
 
 Her faltering steps half led, half staid. 
 Through gallery fair and high arcade, 
 Till, at his touch, its ^^nngs of pride 
 A portal arch unfolded wide. 
 
 XXVI. 
 Within 'twas brilliant all and light, 
 A thronging scene of figures bright ; 
 It glow'd on Ellen's dazzled sight, 
 As when the setting sun has given 
 Ten thousand hues to summer even. 
 And, from their tissue, fancy frames 
 Aerial knights and fairy dames. 
 Still by Fitz-James her footing staid ; 
 A few faint steps she forward made. 
 Then slow her drooping head she raised. 
 And fearful round the presence gazed ; 
 For him she sought, who own'd this state, 
 The dreaded prince whose will was fate ! — 
 She gazed on many a princely port. 
 Might well have ruled a royal court ;
 
 Canto VI. THE GUARD-ROOM. 289 
 
 On many a splendid garb she gazed, — 
 
 Then tum'd bewilder'd and amazed, 
 
 For all stood bare ; and, in the room, 
 
 Fitz-James alone wore cap and plume. 
 
 To him each lady's look was lent ; 
 
 On him each courtier's eye was bent ; 
 
 Midst furs and silks and jewels sheen. 
 
 He stood, in simple Lincoln green. 
 
 The centre of the glittering ring, — 
 
 And Snowdoun's Knight is Scotland's King ! 
 
 XXVJI. 
 As wreath of snow, on mountain-breast. 
 Slides from the rock that gave it rest. 
 Poor Ellen glided from her stay. 
 And at the Monarch's feet she lay ; 
 No word her choking voice commands, — 
 She show'd the ring — she clasp'd her hands. 
 O ! not a moment could he brook. 
 The generous prince, that suppliant look ! 
 
 T
 
 290 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto VI. 
 
 Gently he raised her, — and, the while, 
 
 Check'd with a glance the circle's smile ; 
 
 Graceful, but grave, her brow he kiss'd. 
 
 And bade her terrors be dismiss'd : — 
 
 " Yes, Fair ; the wandering poor Fitz-James 
 
 The fealty of Scotland claims. 
 
 To him thy woes, thy wishes, bring ; 
 
 He will redeem his signet ring. 
 
 Ask nought for Douglas ; — yester even, 
 
 His prince and he have much forgiven : 
 
 Wrong hath he had from slanderous tongue, 
 
 I, from his rebel kinsmen, wrong. 
 
 We would not to the vulgar crowd 
 
 Yield what they craved with clamour loud ; 
 
 Calmly we heard and judged his cause, 
 
 Our council aided, and our laws. 
 
 I stanch'd thy father's death-feud stem, 
 
 With stout De Vaux and grey Glencaim ; 
 
 And Bothwell's Lord henceforth we own 
 
 The friend and bulwark of our Throne. —
 
 Cajito VI. THE GUARD-ROOM. 291 
 
 But, lovely infide], how now? 
 What clouds thy misbelieving brow ? 
 Lord James of Douglas, lend thine aid ; 
 Thou must confirm this doubting maid." 
 
 XXVIII. 
 
 Then forth the noble Douglas sprung, 
 
 And on his neck his daughter hung. 
 
 Tiie Monarch drank, that happy hour, 
 
 The sweetest, holiest draught of Power, — 
 
 When it can say, with godlike voice, 
 
 Arise, sad Virtue, and rejoice ! 
 
 Yet would not James the general eye 
 
 On Nature's raptures long should pry ; 
 
 He stepp'd between — " Nay, Douglas, nay, 
 
 Steal not my proselyte away I 
 
 The riddle 'tis my right to read, 
 
 That brought this happy chance to spe^d. — 
 
 Yes, Ellen, when disguised I stray 
 
 In life's more low but happier way,
 
 292 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto VI. 
 
 'Tis under name which veils my power, 
 
 Nor falsely veils — ^for Stirling's tower 
 
 Of yore the name of Snowdoun claims, 
 
 And Normans call me James Fitz-James. 
 
 Thus watch I o'er insulted laws, 
 
 Thus learn to right the injured cause." — 
 
 Then, in a tone apart and low, 
 
 — " Ah, little trait'ress ! none must know 
 
 What idle dream, what lighter thought, 
 
 What vanity full dearly bought, 
 
 Join'd to thine eye's dark witchcraft, drew 
 
 My spell-bound steps to Benvenue, 
 
 In dangerous hour, and all but gave 
 
 Thy Monarch's life to mountain glaive !" — 
 
 Aloud he spoke — " Thou still dost hold 
 
 That little talisman of gold, 
 
 Pledge of my faith, Fitz- James's ring — 
 
 What seeks fair Ellen of the King?"
 
 Canto VL THE GUARD-ROOM. 293 
 
 XXIX. 
 
 Full well the conscious maiden guess'd, 
 
 He probed the weakness of her breast ; 
 
 But, with that consciousness, there came 
 
 A lightning of her fears for Graeme, 
 
 And more she deem'd the Monarch's ire 
 
 Kindled 'gainst him, who, for her sire. 
 
 Rebellious broadsword boldly drew ; 
 
 And, to her generous feeling true, 
 
 She craved the grace of Roderick Dhu. — 
 
 " Forbear thy suit : — the King of Kings **• 
 
 Alone can stay life's parting wings, 
 
 I know his heart, I know his hand, 
 
 Have shared his cheer, and proved his brand :— 
 
 My fairest earldom would I give 
 
 To bid Clan- Alpine's Chieftain live ! — 
 
 Hast thou no other boon to crave ? 
 
 No other captive friend to save ?" 
 
 Blushing, she turn'd her from the King, 
 
 And to the Douglas gave the ring.
 
 294 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Canto VI. 
 
 As if she wish'd ber sire to speak 
 The suit that stain'd her glowing cheek. — 
 " Nay, then, my pledge has lost its force, 
 And stubborn justice holds her course. — 
 Malcolm, come forth !" — And, at the word, 
 Down kneel'd the Graeme to Scotland's Lord, 
 " For thee, rash youth, no suppliant sues. 
 From thee may Vengeance claim her dues, 
 "Who, nurtured underneath our smile, 
 Hast paid our care by treacherous wile. 
 And sought, amid thy faithful clan, 
 A refuge for an outlaw'd man, 
 Dishonouring thus thy loyal name. — 
 
 Fetters and warder for the Grseme !" 
 
 His chain of gold the King unstrung, 
 The links o'er Malcolm's neck he flung. 
 Then gently drew the glittering band. 
 And laid the clasp on Ellen's hand.
 
 Canto VI. THE GUARD-ROOM. 295 
 
 Harp of the North, farewell ! The hills grow dark, 
 
 On purple peaks a deeper shade descending ; 
 In twilight copse the glowworm lights her spark, 
 
 The deer, half-seen, are to the covert wending. 
 Resume thy wizard elm ! the fountain lending, 
 
 And the wild breeze, thy wilder minstrelsy ; 
 Thy numbers sweet with Nature's vespers blending. 
 
 With distant echo from the fold and lea, 
 And herd-boy's evening pipe, and hum of housing bee. 
 
 Yet, once again, farewell, thou Minstrel Harp I 
 Yet, once again, forgive my feeble sway. 
 
 And little reck I of the censure sharp 
 May idly cavil at an idle lay.
 
 296 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. Cattto VI. 
 
 Much have I owed thy strains on life's long way, 
 Through secret woes the world has never known, 
 
 Wlien on the weary night dawn'd wearier day, 
 And bitterer was the grief devour'd alone. 
 
 That I o'erlive such woes, Enchantress ! is thine own. 
 
 Hark ! as my lingering footsteps slow retire, 
 
 Some Spirit of the Air has waked thy string ! 
 'Tis now a seraph bold, with touch of fire, 
 
 'Tis now the brush of Fairy's frolic wing. 
 Receding now, the dying numbers ring 
 
 Fainter and fainter down the rugged dell. 
 And now the mountain breezes scarcely bring 
 
 A wandering witch-note of the distant spell — 
 And now, 'tis silent all ! — Enchantress, fare thee well ! 
 
 END OF CANTO SIXTH.
 
 NOTES.
 
 NOTES TO CANTO I. 
 
 Note I. 
 
 The heights of Uaiyi-var, 
 
 And roused that cavern, where, 'tis told, 
 A giant made his den of old. — P. 14. 
 Ua-var, as the name is pronounced, or more properly Uaigh- 
 mor, is a mountain to the north-east of the village of Callendex 
 in Menteith, deriving its name, which signifies the great den, 
 or cavern, from a sort of retreat among the rocks on the south 
 side, said, by tradition, to have been the abode of a giant. In 
 latter times, it was the refuge of robbers and banditti, who 
 have been only extirpated within these forty or fifty years. 
 Strictly speaking, this stronghold is not a cave, as the name 
 would imply, but a sort of small enclosure, or recess, surround- 
 ed with large rocks, and open above head. It may have been 
 originally designed as a toil for deer, who might get in from 
 the outside, but would find it difficult to return. This opinion
 
 300 NOTES TO 
 
 prevails among the old sportsmen and deer-stalkers in the 
 neighbourhood. 
 
 Note II. 
 
 Tii'o dogs of black St Hubert's breed, 
 
 Unmatclid for courage, strength, and speed. — P. 16. " 
 " The hounds which we call Saint Hubert's hounds, are 
 commonly all blacke, yet neuertheless, their race is so mingled 
 at these days, that we find them of all colours. These are the 
 hounds which the abbots of St Hubert haue always kept some 
 of their race or kind, in honour or remembrance of the saint, 
 which was a hunter with S. Eustace. Whereupon Ave may 
 concieue that (by the grace of God) all good himtsmen shall 
 follow them into paradise. To returne vnto my foiiner pvir- 
 pose, this kind of dogges hath beene dispersed through the 
 counties of Henault, Lorayne, Flaimders, and Burgoyne. 
 They are mighty of body, neuertheless their legges are low and 
 short, likewise they are not swift, although they be very good 
 of sent, himting chaces which are farre straggled, fearing nei- 
 ther water nor cold, and doe more couet the chaces that smeU, 
 as foxes, bore, and such like, than other, because they find 
 themselves neither of swiftness nor courage to hunt and kill the 
 chaces that are lighter and swifter. The bloodhounds of this 
 colour prooue good, especiaUy those that are cole blacke, but 1 
 made no great accoimt to breede on them, or to keepe the kind, 
 and yet I found a book which a himter did dedicate to a prince 
 of Loraj-ne, which seemed to loue hunting much, wherein was
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, 301 
 
 . a blason which the same hunter gaue to his bloodhound, called 
 SouyUard, which was white : 
 
 My name came first from holy Hubert's race, 
 SouyUard my sire, a hound of singular grace. 
 
 Whereupon we may presume that some of the kind prooue 
 white sometimes, but they are not of the kind of the Grefl&ers 
 or Bouxes, which we haue at these dayes." — The noble Art of 
 Venerie or Hunting, translated and collected for the Use of all 
 Noblemen and Gentlemen. Lond. 1611. 4. p. 15. 
 
 Note III. 
 For the death wound, and death halloo, 
 Muster' d his breath, his whinyard drew. — P. 17. 
 When the stag turned to bay, the ancient hunter had the 
 perilous task of going in upon, and killing or disabling the 
 desperate animal. At certain times of the year this was held 
 particularly dangerous, a wound received from a stag's home 
 being then deemed poisonous, and more dangerous than one 
 from the tusks of a boar, as the old rhjTne testifies ; 
 
 If thou be hurt with hart, it brings thee to thy bier ; 
 But barber's hand will boar's hurt heal, therefore thou needst 
 not fear. 
 
 At all times, however, the task was dangerous, and to be ad- 
 ventured upon wisely and warily, either by getting behind the 
 stag while he was gazing on the hounds, or by watching an
 
 302 KOTES TO 
 
 opportunity to gallop roundly in upon him, and kill him with 
 the sword. See many directions to this purpose in the Booke 
 of Hunting, chap. 41. Wilson the historian has recorded a 
 providential escape which befell him in this hazardous sport, 
 whUe a youth and follower of the Earl of Essex. 
 
 " Sir Peter Lee, of Lime, in Cheshire, invited my lord one 
 siunmer, to himt the stagg. And having a great stagg in chase, 
 and many gentlemen in the pursuit, the stagg took soyle. And 
 divers, whereof I was one, alighted, and stood with swords 
 drawne, to have a cut at him, at his coming out of the water. 
 The staggs there being wonderfully fierce and dangerous, made 
 us youths more eager to be at him. But he escaped us alL 
 And it was my misfortune to be hindered of my coming nere 
 him, the way being sliperie, by a falle ; which gave occasion to 
 some, who did not know mee, to speak as if I had falne for 
 feaie. Which being told me, I left the stagg, and followed the 
 gentleman who [first] spake it. But I fomid him of that cold 
 temper, that it seems his words made an escape from him ; as 
 by his denial and repentance it appeared. But this made mee 
 more violent in the piu*suit of the stagg, to recover my reputa- 
 tion. And I happened to be the only horseman in, when the 
 dogs sett him up at bay ; and approaching near him on horse- 
 backe, he broke through the dogs, and run at mee, and tore 
 my horse's side with his homes, dose by my thigh. Then I 
 quitted my horse, and grew more cimnmg, (for the dogs had 
 sette him up againe,) stealing behind him with my sword, and 
 cut his ham-strings ; and then got upon his back, and cut his 
 throate j which, as I was doing, the company came in, and bla-
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 303 
 
 med my rashness for running such a hazard." — Peck's Desu 
 derata Curiosa, II. 464. 
 
 Note IV. 
 
 And now to issue from the glen 
 
 1^0 pathway meets the wanderer's ken, 
 
 Unless he climb, with footing nice, 
 
 A far projecting precipice. — P. 24. 
 Cntil the present road was made tli rough the romantic pass 
 ■which I have presumptuously attempted to describe in the pre- 
 ceding stanzas, there was no mode of issuing out of the defile, 
 caUed the Trosachs, excepting by a sort of ladder, composed 
 of the branches and roots of trees. 
 
 Note V. 
 To meet with Highland plunderers here, 
 Were worse than loss of steed or deer. — P. 27. 
 The clans who inhabited the romantic regions in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Loch Katrine, were, even imtil a late period, 
 much addicted to predatory excursions upon their Lowland 
 neighbours. 
 
 " In former times, those parts of this district, which are 
 situated beyond the Grampian range, were rendered almost 
 inaccessible by strong barriers of rocks, and mountains, and 
 lakes. It was a border coimtry, and though on the very verge 
 of the low coxmtry, it was almost totally sequestered from the 
 world, and, as it were, insulated with respect to society. 
 " 'Tis well known, that in the Highlands, it was, in former
 
 304 NOTES TO 
 
 times, accounted not only lawful, but honourable, among hos- 
 tile tribes, to commit depredations on one another ; and these 
 habits of the age were perhaps strengthened m this district, by 
 the circumstances which have been mentioned. It bordered 
 on a country, the inhabitants of which, while they were richer, 
 were less warUke than they, and widely dififerenced by lan- 
 guage and manners." — Graha:m's Sketches of Scenery in Perth- 
 shire. Edin. 1806, p. 97. 
 
 The reader will therefore be pleased to remember, that the 
 scene of this poem is laid in a time, 
 
 "When tooming faulds, or sweeping of a glen, 
 Had stUl been held the deed of gallant men. 
 
 Note VI. 
 A grey-haired sire, xvhose eye, intent. 
 Was on the vision' d future bent. — P. 34. 
 If force of evidence could authorize us to believe facts incon- 
 sistent with the general laws of nature, enough might be pro- 
 duced in favour of the existence of the Second- Sight. It is 
 called in Gaelic Taishitaravgh, from Taish, an tmreal or sha- 
 dowy appearance ; and those jwssessed of the faculty are called 
 Taishatrin, which may be aptly translated visionaries. Mar- 
 tin, a steady believer in the second-sight, gives the following 
 accoimt of it : 
 
 " The second-sight is a singular faculty, of seeing an other- 
 wise invisible object, without any previous means used by the 
 person tliat used it for that end : the vision makes such a live-
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 305 
 
 ly impression upon the seers, that they neither see, nor think 
 of any thing else, except the vision, as long as it continues ; 
 and then they appear pensive or jovial, according to the object 
 which was represented to them. 
 
 " At the sight of a vision, the eyelids of the person are 
 erected, and the eyes continue staring imtil the object vanish. 
 This is obvious to others who are by, when the persons hap- 
 pen to see a vision, and occurred more than once to my own 
 observ^ation, and to others that were with me. 
 
 " There is one in Skie, of whom his acquaintance obsei*ved, 
 that when he sees a vision, the inner part of his eyelids turns 
 so far upwards, that after the object disappears, he must draw 
 them down with his fingers, and sometimes employ others to 
 draw them down, which he finds to be the much easier way. 
 
 " This faculty of the second-sight docs not lineally descend 
 in a family as some imagine, for I know several parents who 
 aie endowed with it, but their children not, and vice versa ; 
 neither is it acquired by any previous compact. And, after a 
 strict enquirj^, I could never learn that this facility was com- 
 municable any way whatsoever. 
 
 " The seer knows neither the object, time, nor place of a 
 vision, before it appears; and the same object is often seen by 
 different persons, living at a considerable distance from one 
 another. The true way of judging as to the time and circum- 
 stance of an object, is by obser\'ation ; for several persons of 
 judgment, without this faculty, are more capable to judge of 
 the design of a vision, than a novice that is a seer. If an ob- 
 u
 
 306 NOTES TO 
 
 ject appear in the day or night, it will come to pass sooner or 
 later accoi-dingly. 
 
 " If an object is seen early in the morning, (which is not 
 frequent, ) it will he accomplished in a few hours afterwards. If 
 at noon, it will commonly he accomplished that very day. If 
 in the evening, perhaps that night ; if after candles be lighted, 
 it will be accomplished that night : the later always in accom- 
 plishment, by weeks, months, and sometimes years, according 
 to the time of night the vision is seen. 
 
 *' When a shroud is perceived about one, it is a sure prog- 
 nostic of death ; the time is judged according to the height of 
 it about the person ; for if it is seen above the middle, death is 
 not to be expected for the space of a year, and perhaps some 
 months longer ; and as it is frequently seen to ascend higher 
 towai'ds the head, death is concluded to be at hand within a few 
 days, if not hours, as daily experience confirms. Examples of 
 this kind were shown me, when the persons of whom the ob- 
 sen^ations were then made, enjoyed perfect health. 
 
 " One instance was lately foretold by a seer, that was a no- 
 vice, concerning the death of one of my acquaintance ; this 
 was communicated to a few only, and with gi-eat confidence : 
 I being one of the number, did not in the least regard it, until 
 the death of the person, about the time foretold, did confirm 
 me of the certainty of the prediction. The novice mentioned 
 above, is now a skilful seer, as appears fi-om many late in- 
 stances ; he lives in the paiish of St Mary's, the most northern 
 in Skie.
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 307 
 
 *' If a woman is seen standing at a man's left hand, it is a 
 presage that she will be his Avife, whether they he married to 
 others, or unmarried at the time of the apparition. 
 
 " If two or three women are seen at once near a man's left 
 hand, she that is next him will undoubtedly be his wife first, 
 and so on, whether aU. three, or the man, be single or manned 
 at the time of the vision or not ; of which there are several late 
 instances among those of my acquaintance. It is an ordmary 
 thing for them to see a man that is to come to the house shortly 
 after : and if he is not of the seer's acquaintance, yet he gives 
 such a lively description of his stature, complexion, habit, &c. 
 that upon his arrival he answers the character given him in all 
 respects. 
 
 " If the person so appearing be one of the seer's acquaint- 
 ance, he wUl tell his name, as well as other particulars ; and 
 he can teU by his coxmtenance whether he comes in a good or 
 bad humour. 
 
 " I have been seen thus myself by seers of both sexes, at 
 some hundred miles' distance : some that saw me in this man- 
 ner had never seen me personally, and it happened according to 
 their vision, without any previous design of mine to go to those 
 places, my coming there being purely accidental. 
 
 " It is ordinary with them to see houses, gardens, and trees 
 in places void of all three ; and this in progress of time uses 
 to be accomplished : as at INIogshot, in the Isle of Skie, where 
 there were but a few sorry cow-houses, thatched with straw, 
 yet in a verj^ few years after, the vision, which appeared often, 
 was accomplished, by the building of several good houses on
 
 308 NOTES TO 
 
 tlie very spot represented by the seers, and by the planting of 
 orchards there. 
 
 " To see a spark of fire fall upon one's arm or breast, is a 
 forerunner of a dead child to be seen in the arms of those per- 
 sons ; of which there are several fresh instances. 
 
 " To see a seat empty at the time of one's sitting in it, is a 
 presage of that person's death soon after. 
 
 " When a novice, or one that has lately obtained the second 
 sight, sees a vision in the night time without doors, and he be 
 near a fire, he presently falls into a swoon. 
 
 " Some find themselves as it were in a crowd of people, ha- 
 ving a corpse which they carry along with them ; and after 
 such visions the seers come in sweating, and describe the people 
 that appeared : if there be any of their acquaintance among 
 'em, they give an account of their names, as also of the beard's, 
 but they know nothing concerning the corpse. 
 
 " All those who have the second-sight do not always see 
 these visions at once, though they be together at the time. 
 But if one who has this faculty, designedly touch his fellow- 
 seer at the instant of a vision's appearing, then the second sees 
 it as well as the first ; and this is sometimes discerned by those 
 that ai'e near them on such occasions." — Martin's Description 
 of the Western Islands, 1716, 8vo, p. 300, et seq. 
 
 To these particulars innumerable examples might be added, 
 all attested by grave and credible authors. But, in despite of 
 evidence, which neither Bacon, Boyle, nor Johnson, were able 
 to resist, the Taisch, with all its visionary properties, seems to 
 be now miiversally abandoned to the use of poetrj-. The ex-
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 309 
 
 quisitely beautiful poem of Lochiel will at once occur to the 
 recollection of every reader. 
 
 Note VII. 
 Here, for retreat in dangerous hour, 
 Some chief had framed a rustic bower. — P. 37. 
 
 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 cir- 
 cumstances Avould admit, was a tower, a cavern, or a rustic hut, 
 in a strong and secluded situation. One of these last gave re- 
 fuge to the xinfortunate Charles Edward, in his perilous wan- 
 derings 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 habita- 
 tion ; 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 in- 
 terwoven with ropes, made of heath and birch twigs, up to the 
 top of the Cage, it being of a round or rather oval shape j and 
 the whole thatched and covered over with fog. The whole fa- 
 bric 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
 
 310 NOTES TO 
 
 name of the Cage ; and by chance there happened to be t^o 
 stones at a small distance from one another, in the side next the 
 precipice, resembling the pillai's of a chimney, where the fire 
 was placed. The smoke had its vent out here, all along the 
 faU of the rock, which was so much of the Scime colour, that 
 one could discover no difference in the clearest day."— Home's 
 History of the Rebellion, Lond. 1802, 4to. p. 381. 
 
 Note VIII. 
 
 My sire's tall form might grace the part 
 
 Of Ferragus or Ascabart. — P. 41. 
 These two sons of Anak floiu*ished in romantic fable. The 
 first is weU kno^vn 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. There is a romance in the 
 Auchinleck MS., in which Ferragus is thus described: 
 
 " On a day come tiding 
 Unto Charls the King, 
 
 Al of a doughti knight 
 Was comen to Navers, 
 Stout he was and fers, 
 
 Vernagu he hight. 
 Of Babiloim the soudan 
 Thider him sende gan. 
 
 With King Charls to fight. 
 So hard he was to-fond* 
 That no dint of brond 
 
 No greued him, aplight. 
 
 * Found, proved.
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 311 
 
 He hadde tweiiti men strengths 
 And forti fet of lengthe, 
 
 Thilke paiiiim hede,* 
 And four feet in the face, 
 Y-metenf in the jdace. 
 
 And fifteen in hrede.^ 
 His nose was a fot and more ; 
 His brow, as bristles wore;§ 
 
 He that it seighe it sede. 
 He loked h)theliche, 
 And was swart || as any piche, 
 
 Of him men might adrede." 
 Romance of Charlemagne, 1. 461. 484. Auchinleck MS. fol. )iQo. 
 
 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 guai'ding one side of a gate at South- 
 ampton, while the other is occupied by Sir Bevis himself. The 
 dimensions of Ascabart were little inferior to those of Fen-agus, 
 if the following description be correct : 
 
 " They metten with a geaunt, 
 With a lotheliche semblaunt. 
 He was wonderliche strong, 
 Rome*" thretti fote long. 
 His herd was hot gi'et and rowe ;f f 
 A space of a fot betweene \s\\ browe : 
 His clob was, to yeue§§ a strok, 
 A lite bodi of an oak. || |( 
 
 * Had. t Measured. t Breadth. § Were. Black. 
 
 •* FuUy. tt Rough. 44: His. §§ Give. Ill The stem of a little oak-tree.
 
 312 NOTES TO 
 
 " Beues hadde of him wonder gret. 
 And askede him what a het,* 
 And yaf f men of his contre 
 Were ase mechej: ase was he. 
 * Me name,' a sede,§ ' is Ascopard, 
 Garci me sent hidei-ward, 
 For to bring this quene ayen. 
 And the Beues her of-slen. || 
 Icham Garci is^ champioun, 
 And was i-driue out of me** toun 
 Al for that ich was so lite.f f 
 Eueri man me wolde smite, 
 Ich was so lite and so merugh^l: 
 Eueri man me clepede dwerugh.§§ 
 And now icham in this londe, 
 I wax mor|| \\ ich understonde, 
 And stranger than other tene ;f ^ 
 And that schel on us be sene." 
 Sir Beiis of Hampton, L 2512. Auchinleck MS. fol. 189. 
 
 Note IX. 
 
 Though all unask'd his birth and name. — P. 41. 
 
 The Highlanders, who carried hospitality to a pimctilious 
 
 excess, are said to have considered it as churlish, to ask a 
 
 stranger his name or lineage, before he had taken refreshment. 
 
 * He hight, was called. ^If. % Great. § He said. Slay. 
 % HU. ** My. tt Little, t^ Lean. §§ Dwarf. U Greater, taller. 
 ^•f Ten.
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 313 
 
 Feuds were so frequent among them, that a contrary rule 
 would in many cases have produced the discovery of some cir- 
 tnimstance, which might have excluded the guest from the bfr- 
 netit of the assistance he stood in need of. 
 
 Xote X. 
 And still a harp, unseen, 
 FiWd up the symphony between. — P. 43. 
 " They" (meaning the Higlolanders) " delight much in mu- 
 sicke, but chiefly in harps and clairschoes of their own fashion. 
 The strings of the dairschoes are made of brass wire, and the 
 sti'ings of the harps of sinews ; which strings they strike eithe 
 with their nayles, growing long, or else -with an instrument 
 appointed for that use. They take great pleasure to decke 
 their hai-ps and clairschoes with silver and precious stones ; 
 the poore ones that cannot attayne hereunto, decke them with 
 christaU. They sing verses prettUy compoxmd, contajTiing 
 (for the most part) prayses of valiant men. There is not almost 
 any other argument, whereof their rhjines intreat. They speak 
 the ancient French language, altered a little."* — " The harp 
 and clairschoes are now only heard of in the Highlands in an- 
 cient song. At what period these instruments C€iased to be 
 used, is not on record ; and tradition is silent on this head. 
 
 * Vide " CCTtayne Matters concerning the Realme of Scotland, &c. as 
 they were Anno Domini 1597. Lend. 1603." 4to.
 
 314 NOTES, &C. 
 
 But, as Irish harpers occasionally visited the Highlands and 
 Western Isles tUl lately, the harp might have been extant so late 
 as the middle of the present centur}\ Thus fai' 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 centuiy, as appears 
 by the above quotation, 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 expres- 
 sive harp, we cannot say ; but certain it is, that the bagpipe is 
 now the only instrument that obtains imiversally in the High- 
 land districts." — Campbell's Journey through North Britain. 
 Lond. 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 Highland- 
 
 In nothing they're accomited sharp, 
 Except in bagpipe or in harp.
 
 NOTES TO CANTO II. 
 
 Note I. 
 
 Morn's genial influence roused a minstrel grey. — P. 53. 
 
 That Highland chieftains, to a late period, retained in their 
 ser\'ioe the bard, as a family officer, admits of verj' easy proof. 
 The author of the Letters from Scotland, an officer of engi- 
 neers, quartered at Inverness about 1720, who certainly can- 
 not be deemed a favourable witness, gives the following account 
 of the office, and of a bai'd, whom he heard exercise his talent 
 of recitation : 
 
 " The bard is skilled in the genealogy of all the Highland 
 families, sometimes preceptor to the young laird, celebrates in 
 Irish verse the original of the tribe, the famous waiiilce actions 
 of the successive heads, and sings his own lyricks as an opiate 
 to the chief, when indisposed for sleep; but poets are not 
 equally esteemed and honoured in all covmtries. I happened 
 to be a witness of the dishonour done to the muse, at the house
 
 316 KOTES TO 
 
 of one of the chiefs, where two of these bai'ds were set at a 
 good distance, at the lower end of a long table, with a pai'cel 
 of Highlanders of no extraordinary appearance, over a cup of 
 ale. Poor inspiration ! 
 
 " They were not asked to drink a glass of wine at our table, 
 though the whole company consisted only of the great man, 
 one of his near relations, and myself. 
 
 " After some little time, the chief ordered one of them to 
 sing me a Highland song. The bard readily obeyed, and with 
 a hoarse voice, and in a time of few various notes, began, as I 
 was told, one of his own Iji'icks ; and Avhen he had proceeded 
 to the fourth or fifth stanza, I perceived, by the names of seve- 
 ral persons, glens, and moimtains, which I had knomi or heard 
 of before, that it was an account of some clan battle. But in 
 his going on, the chief (who piques himself upon his school- 
 learning) at some paiticular passage, bid him cease, and cryed 
 out, ' There's nothing like that in Virgil or Homer.' I bowed, 
 and told him I believed so. This you may believe "n^as ver\' 
 edifying and delightful" — Letters from Scotland, II. 167. 
 
 Note II. 
 
 The Grceme P. 69. 
 
 The ancient and powerful family of Graham, (which, for me- 
 trical reasons, is here spelt after the Scottish pronunciation,) 
 held extensive possessions in the counties of Dumbarton and 
 Stirling. Few families can boast of more historical renown, 
 having claim to three of the most remarkable characters in the 
 Scottish annals. Sii* John the Graeme, the faittiful and un-
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 317 
 
 daunted partaker of the labours and patriotic warfai'e of Wal- 
 lace, fell in the unfortunate field of Falkirk, in 1298. The ce- 
 lebrated iNlarquis of Montrose, in whom De Retz saw realized 
 his abstract idea of the heroes of antiquity, was the second of 
 these worthies. And, notwithstanding the severity of his tem- 
 per, and the rigour with which he executed the oppressive man- 
 dates of the princes whom he served, I do not hesitate to name 
 as a third, John Graeme, of Claverhouse, Viscount of Dun- 
 dee, whose heroic death, in the arms of victory, may be allow- 
 ed to cancel the memory of his cruelty to the non-conformists, 
 during the reigns of Chax'les II. and James II. 
 
 Note III. 
 This harp, which erst Sai7it Modan sicay'd. — P. 60. 
 I am not prepared to show that Saint ]Modan was a perform- 
 er on the harp. It was, however, no unsaintly accomplishment ; 
 for Saint Dunstan certainly did play upon that instrument, 
 which, retaining, as was natural, a portion of the sanctity at- 
 tached to its master's character, announced future events by its 
 spontaneous soimd. " But labouring once in these mechanic 
 arts for a devout matrons that had sett him on work, his violl, 
 that hung by him on the wall, of its own accord, without anie 
 man's helpe, distinctly sounded this anthime : Gaudent in ccelis 
 aiiimcB sanctorum qui Christi vestigia sunt secuti ; et quia pro 
 eius amore sanguineni suum fuderunty idea cum Christ o gau- 
 dent (Eteryium. Whereat all the companie being much jtsto- 
 nished, turned their eyes from beholding him working, to 
 looke on that strange accident." " Not long after, manie
 
 318 NOTES TO 
 
 of the court that hithenmto had bom a kind of fajmed freind- 
 ship towards him, began now greatly to envie at his progresse 
 and rising in goodness, using manie crooked, backbiting meanes 
 to diffame his vertues •with, the black maskes of hj-pocrisie. 
 And the better to authorize their calumnie, they brought in this 
 that happened in the violl, afltaning it to have been done by art 
 magick- ^Vhat more ? this wicked rumour encreased dayly, 
 tiU the king and others of the nobilitie taking hould thereof, 
 Dunstan grew odious in their sight. Therefore he resolued to 
 leaue the court, and goe to Elphegus, sumamed the Bauld, then 
 bishop of Winchester, who was his cozen. Which his enemies 
 understanding, they layd wayt for him in the way, and hauing 
 throwne him off his horse, beate him, and dragged him in the 
 durt in the most miserable manner, meaning to have slame him, 
 had not a companie of mastiue dogges, that came unlookt uppon 
 them, defended and redeemed him from their crueltie. When 
 with sorrow he was ashamed to see dogges more humane than 
 they. And giuing thankes to Almightie God, he sensibly againe 
 perceiued that the tunes of his violl had giuen him a warning 
 of future accidents." — Flower of the Lives of the most renowned 
 Saincts of England, Scotland, and Ireland, by the R. Father 
 HiEROME Porter. Doway. 1632. 4to. Tome I. p. 458. 
 
 The same supematiu-al circumstance is aUuded to by the 
 anonjTnous author of " Grim, the CoUier of Croydon." 
 
 " [Dunstari's harp sotinds on the ivall."] 
 
 *' Forest. Hark, hark, my lords, the holy abbot's harp 
 Sounds by itself so hanging on the wall !
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 319 
 
 « Dunstan. Unhallow'd man, that scom'st the saci-ed rede, 
 Hark, how the testimony of my truth 
 Soimds heavenly music with an angel's hand, 
 To testify Dunstan's integrity, 
 And prove thy active boast of no effect" 
 
 Note IV. 
 
 JEre Douglasses, to ruin driven, 
 Were exiled from their native heaven.— V. 6L 
 The downfall of the Douglasses of the house of Angus, du- 
 ring the reign of James V. is the event alluded to in the text. 
 The Earl of Angus, it will he remembered, had married the 
 queen dowager, and availed himself of the right which he thus 
 acquired, as well as of his extensive power, to retain the king 
 in a sort of tutelage, which approached very near to captivity. 
 Several open attempts were made to rescue James from this 
 thraldom, with which he was well kno^vn to he deeply disgastr- 
 ed ; but the valoiir of the Douglasses, and their allies, gave 
 them the victory in every conflict. At length, the king, wlule 
 residing at Falkland, contrived to escape by night out of his 
 own court and palace, and rode full speed to Stirling 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 kne^v 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 holden in subjection, thir years bygone, by the Earl of 
 Angus, and his kin and friends, who oppressed the whole coun-
 
 320 NOTES TO 
 
 • 
 
 trj', and spoiled it, under the pretence of justice and his autho- 
 rity ; 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 shfdl not hold 
 lis both, while (i. e. till) I be revenged on him and his. 
 
 *' Tlie lords hearing the king's complaint and lamentation, 
 and also the great rage, fury, and malice, that he bore toward 
 the Eai'l of Angus, his kin and friends, they concluded all, and 
 thought it best that he should be summoned to underly the 
 law ; if he found no 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 farther, the lords or- 
 dained, 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 appear- 
 ed not, nor none for him ; and so he was put to the hora, with 
 all his kin and friends : so many as were contained in the sum- 
 mons, that compeared not, were banished, and holden traitors 
 to the king." — Lindsay of Fitscottie's History of Scotland. 
 Edinburgh, fol. p. 142. 
 
 Note V. 
 In Holyrood a knight he sleii\ — P. 65. 
 This was by no means an uncommon occurrence in the Coiu^
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 321 
 
 of Scotland ; nay the presence of the sovereign himself scarcely 
 restrained the ferocious and inveterate feuds which were the 
 perpetual soui'ce of bloodshed among the Scottish nobility. 
 The following instance of the miu-der of Sir William Stuart of 
 Ochiltree, called The Bloody, by the celebrated Francis, Earl 
 of Bothwell, may be produced among many ; but, as the of- 
 fence given in the royal court will hardly bear a vernacular 
 translation, I shall leave the story in Johnstone's Latin, refer- 
 ring for farther particulars to the naked simplicity of BirreU's 
 Diarj', SOth July, 1588. 
 
 " Mors improbi hominis non tarn ipsa immerita, quam pes- 
 simo exemplo in publicum, f cede perpetrata. Gvlielmus Stiiar- 
 tus Alkiltrius, Aranifrater, naturd ac mot-ibxis, cvjus sa-pius 
 memini, vulgo propter sitem sanguinis sanguinarius dictus, a 
 JBothvelio, in Sanct(e Crucis Regid, exardescente ird, mendacii 
 probro lacessitus, obscccnum osculum liberius retorguebat; Both- 
 velius hanc contumeliam tacitus tulit, sed ingentum irarum 
 molem animo concepit. Utrinque postridie Edinbxirgi conven- 
 tum, totidem numero comitibus armatis, prcesidii causa, et 
 acriter pugnatum est; ctrteris amicis et clientibus metu tor- 
 pentibus, aut vi absterritis, ipse Stuartusfortissime dimicat ; tan- 
 dem excusso gladio a Bothvelio, Scythica feritate trarisfoditur, 
 sine cvjusquam misei'icordia ; habuit itaque quern debuit exi- 
 tnm. Ziignus erat Stuartus qui pateretur ; Bothvelius quifa- 
 ceret. Vulgus sanguinem sanguine prcedicabit, et horum cru- 
 ore innocnorum, manibus egregie parentatum." — Johnstoni 
 Historia Berum Britannicarum, ab anno 1572 ad annum 
 1628. AmstelodamJ, 1655, fol. p. 135.
 
 322 NOTES TO 
 
 Note VI. 
 The Douglas, like a stricken deer. 
 Disowned by every noble peer. — P. 66. 
 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 
 parts of Scotland, durst not entertain them, unless under the 
 strictest and closest disguise. James Douglas, son of the ba- 
 nished Earl of Angus, afterwards well known by the title ol 
 Earl of Morton, lurked, during the exile of his family, in the 
 north of Scotland, under the cissumed 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 
 com and cattle of hitn 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 honourable economy by which he repaired and 
 established the shattered estates of Angus and Morton His- 
 tory of the House of Dmiglas, Edinburgh, 1743, vol. II. p. 
 J60.
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 323 
 
 Note VII. 
 Maronnan's cell. — F. 67. 
 The parish of Kilmarnock, at the eastern extremity of Loch- 
 Lomond, derives its name fi*om a cell or chapel, dedicated to 
 Saiiit Maronoch, or Marnoch, or INIaJ'onnan, about whose sanc- 
 tity very little is now remembered. There is a fountain devo- 
 ted to him in the same parish ; but its virtues, like the merits 
 of its patron, have fallen into oblivion. 
 
 Note VIII. 
 Bracklimi's thundering reave. — P. (^. 
 This is a beautiful cascade made by a mountain stream call- 
 ed the Keltie, at a place called the Bridge of Bracklinn, about a 
 mile fi'om the village of Callender, in Menteith. Above a chasm, 
 ■where the brook precipitates itself from a height of at least fifty 
 feet, there is thrown, for the convenience of the neighbourhood, 
 a rustic foot-bridge, of about three feet in breadth, and without 
 ledges, which is scarcely to be crossed by a stranger without 
 awe and aj)prehension. 
 
 Note IX. 
 For Tine-man forged byfaii-y lore. — P. 70. 
 Archibald, the third Earl of Douglas, was so unfortunate in 
 all his entei-prises, that he acquired the epithet of Tine-man, 
 because he lined, or lost, his follower in every battle which he 
 fought. He was vanquished, as every reader must remember, 
 in the bloodv battle of Homildon-hill, near Wooler, where he
 
 324 NOTES TO 
 
 himself lost an eye, and was made prisoner by Hotspur. He 
 was no less unfortunate when allied with Percy, being wound- 
 ed and taken at the battle of Shrewsbury. He was so unsuc- 
 cessful in an attempt to besiege Roxburgh Castle, that it was 
 called the Foul Raid, or disgraceful expedition. His ill for- 
 tune left him indeed at the battle of Beauge, in France ; but it 
 "was only to return with double emphasis at the subsequent 
 action of Vemoil, the last and most milucky of his encountei"s, 
 in which he fell, with the flower of the Scottish chivalry', then 
 serving as auxiliaries in France, and about two thousand com- 
 mon soldiers, A. D. l-tSi. 
 
 Note X. 
 Did, self-unscabbarded, foreshow 
 The footstep of a secret foe. — P. 70. 
 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 fa- 
 bricated by enchanted skill, of which we have various instan- 
 ces in the romances and legends of the time. The wonderful 
 sword Skofnukg, 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, Kor- 
 mak, with the following curious directions : " * The manner of 
 using it will appear strange to you. A smaU bag is attached 
 to it, which take heed not to violate. Let not the rays of the 
 sun touch the upper pai't of the handle, nor misheathe it, unless
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 325 
 
 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 wonn wiU creep out of the 
 handle : lower the handle, that he may more easily return 
 into it.' Konnak, after having received the sword, returned 
 home to his mother. He showed the sword, and attempted to 
 draw it, as imnecessarUy 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.' Kor- 
 mak, however, repeating his efforts, pressed down the handle 
 with his feet, and tore off the bag, when Skofnung emitted a 
 hollow groan ; but stiU 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, wliich he 
 bore above his vestments, did not remember to shield the hilt 
 from the rays of the sun. In vain he endeavoured 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 misheath- 
 ed Skofnung, it emitted a hollow murmur." — Bartholini de 
 Causis ContemptcB a Danis adhuc Gentilibus Mortis, Libri 
 Tres. HafnicB, 1689. 4to. p. 574. 
 
 To the history of this sentient and prescient weapon, I beg 
 leave to add, from memory', the following legend, for which I 
 cannot produce any better authority. A young nobleman, of 
 high hopes and fortune, chanced to lose his way in the town 
 which he inhabited, the capital, if I mistake not, of a German
 
 326 NOTES TO 
 
 province. He had accidentally involved himself among the 
 narrow and winding streets of a suburb, inhabited by the low- 
 est order of the people, and an approaching thunder-shower 
 determined him to ask a short refuge in the most decent habi- 
 tation that was near him. He knocked at the door, which was 
 opened by a tall man, of a grisly and ferocious aspect, and sor- 
 did dress. The stranger was readily ushered to a chamber, 
 where swords, scom-ges, and machines, which seemed to be 
 implements of torture, were suspended on the wall. One of 
 these swords dropped from its scabbard, as the nobleman, after 
 a moment's hesitation, crossed the threshold. His host imme- 
 diately stai'ed at him with such a marked expression, that the 
 young man could not help demanding his name and business, 
 and the meaning of his looking at him so tixedly. " I am," 
 answered the man, " the public executioner of this city ; and 
 the incident you have obsened is a sure augury that I shall, 
 in discharge of my duty, one day cut off your head with the 
 weapon which has just now spontaneously imsheathed itself." 
 The nobleman lost no time in leaving his place of refuge ; but, 
 engaging in some of the plots of the period, was shortly after 
 decapitated by that very man and instrument. 
 
 Lord Lovat is said, by the author of the Letters fi'om Scot- 
 land, to have affirmed, that a number of swords that hung up 
 in the hall of the mansion-house, leaped of themselves out of 
 the scabbard at the instant he was born. The story passed 
 current among his clan, but, like that of the story I have just 
 quoted, proved an unfortunate omen. — Letters from Scotland 
 vol. I L p. 214.
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 327 
 
 Note XI. 
 • The pibroch proud. — P. 73. 
 
 The connoisseurs in pipe-music affect to discover in a well- 
 composed pibroch, the imitative sounds of march, conflict, flight, 
 pui'suit, and all the " current of a heady fight." To this opi- 
 nion Dr Beattie has given his suffrage, in the following elegant 
 passage : — " A pibroch is a species of tune, peculiar, I think, 
 to the Highlands and Western Isles of Scotland. It is perform- 
 ed on a bagpipe, and differs totally from all other music. Its 
 rhythm is so irregular, and its notes, especially in the quick 
 movement, so mixed and huddled together, that a stranger 
 finds it impossible to reconcile his ear to it, so as to perceive its 
 modulation. Some of these pibrochs, being intended to repre- 
 sent a battle, begin with a grave motion, resembling a march ; 
 then gi'adually quicken into the onset ; run off with noisy con- 
 fusion, and turbulent rapidity, to imitate the conflict and pur- 
 suit ; then swell into a few flourishes of triumphant joy ; and 
 perhaps close with the wild and slow wailings of a funeral pro- 
 cession." — Essay on Laughter and Ludicrous Composition, 
 Chap. III. Note. 
 
 Note XII. 
 
 Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho! ieroe f — P. 75. 
 
 Besides his ordinary name and surname, which were chiefly 
 
 used in the intercovu^e with the Lowlands, everj' Highland 
 
 chief had an epithet expressive of his patriarchal dignity as 
 
 head of the clan, and which was common to all his predecessors
 
 328 NOTES TO 
 
 and successors, as Pharaoh to the kings of Egypt, or Arsaces 
 to those of Parthia. This name was usually a patronymic, ex- 
 pressive of his descent from the founder of the family. Thus 
 the Duke of Argyle is called Mac Galium More, or the son of 
 Colin the Great. Sometimes, however, it is derived from 
 armorial distinctions, or the memory of some great feat ; thus 
 Lord Seaforth, as chief of the Mackenzies, or Clan-Kennet, 
 hears the epithet of Caber-fae, or Buck's Head, as representa- 
 tive of Colin Fitzgerald, founder of the family, who saved the 
 Scottish king, when endangered by a stag. But besides this 
 title, which belonged to his office and dignity, the chieftain had 
 usually another peculiar to himself, which distinguished him 
 from the chieftains of the same race. This was sometimes de- 
 rived from complexion, as dhu or rot/ ; sometimes from size, 
 as beg or 77iore ; at other times, from some particular exploit, 
 or from some peculiarity of habit or appearance. The line of 
 the text therefore signifies, 
 
 Black Roderick, the descendant of Alpine. 
 
 The song itself is intended as an imitation of the jorrams, or 
 boat songs, of the Highlanders, which were usually composed 
 in honour of a favourite chief. They are so adapted as to keep 
 time with the sweep of the oars, and it is easy to distinguish 
 between those intended to be sung to the oars of a galley, 
 where the stroke is lengthened and doubled, as it were, and 
 those which were timed to the rowers of an ordinary boat.
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 329 
 
 Note XIII. 
 The best of Locli-Lomond lie dead on her side. — P. 76. 
 The Lennox, as the district is called, which encircles the 
 lower extremity of Loch- Lomond, was peculiarly exposed to 
 the incursions of the mountaineers, who inhabited the inacces- 
 sible fastnesses at the upper end of the lake, and the neigh- 
 bouring district of Loch Katrine. These were often marked 
 by circumstances of great ferocity, of which the noted conflict 
 of Glen-fruin is a celebrated instance. This was a clan-battle, 
 in which the Macgregors, headed by AUaster Macgregor, chief 
 of the clan, encountered the sept of Colquhouns, commanded 
 by Sir Humphry Colquhoun of Luss. It is on all hands allow- 
 ed that the action was desperately fought, and that the Col- 
 quhouns were defeated with slaughter, leaving two hundred of 
 theii- name dead upon the field. But popular tradition has 
 added other horrors to the tale. It is said, that Sir Humphry 
 Colquhoun, who was on horseback, escaped to the castle of 
 Benechra, or Banochar, and was next day dragged out and 
 murdered by the victorious Macgregors in cold blood. Buchan- 
 an of Auchmar, however, speaks of his slaughter as a subse- 
 quent event, and as perpetrated by the Macfarlanes. Again it 
 is reported, that the Macgregors murdered a number of youths, 
 whom report of the intended battle had brought to be spect*- 
 tors, and whom the Colquhouns, anxious for their safety, had 
 shut up in a bam to be out of danger. One account of the 
 Macgregors denies this circumstance entirely : another ascribes 
 it to the savage and bloodthirsty disposition of a single indi-
 
 330 NOTES TO 
 
 vidual, the bastard brother of the Laird of Macgregor, who 
 amused himself with this second massacre of the innocents, in 
 express disobedience to the chief, by whom he was left their 
 guardian during the pursuit of the Colquhouns. It is added, 
 that Macgi-egor bitterly lamented this atrocious action, and pro- 
 phesied the ruin which it must bring upon tht^ir ancient clan. 
 The following account of the conflict, which is indeed drawn 
 lip by a friend of the clan Gregor, is altogether silent on the 
 murder of the youths. " In the spring of the yeai- 1602, there 
 Ixappened great dissensions and troubles between the laird of 
 Luss, chief of the Colquhoims, and Alexander, laird of Mac- 
 gregor. The original of these quarrels proceeded fi'om injiu'ies 
 and provocations mutually given and received, not long before. 
 Macgregor, however, wantmg to have them ended in friendly 
 conferences, marched at tlie head of two hundred of his clan, 
 to Leven, which borders on Luss, his country-, with a view of 
 settling matters by the mediation of friends : but Luss had no 
 such intentions, and projected his measures with a different 
 view ; for he privately drew together a body of 300 horse and 
 500 foot, composed partly of his own clan and their followers, 
 and partly of the Buchanans, his neighbours, and resolved to 
 cut off Macgregor and his party to a man, in case the issue of 
 the conference did not answer his inclination. But matters fell 
 otherwise than he expected ; and though Macgregor had pre- 
 vious information of his insidious design, yet, dissembling his 
 resentment, he kept the appointment, and parted good fi'iends 
 hi appearance.
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 331 
 
 ** No sooner was he gone, than Luss, thinking to surprise 
 him and his party in full security, and without any di'ead or 
 apprehension of his ti'eachery, followed with all speed, and 
 came up with him at a place called Glenfroon. Macgregor, 
 upon the alarm, diA'ided his men into two parties, the greatest 
 part whereof he commanded himself, and the other he com- 
 mitted to the care of his brother John, who, by his orders, led 
 tliem about another way, and attacked the Colquhouns in flank. 
 Here, it was fought with great braveiy on both sides for a con- 
 siderable time ; and, notwithstanding the vast disproportion of 
 numbers, Macgi'egor, in the end, obtained an absolute victory. 
 So great was the rout, that 200 of the Colquhouns Avere left 
 dead upon the spot, most of the leading men were killed, and 
 a multitude of prisoners taken. But what seemed most sur- 
 prising and incredible in this defeat, was, that none of the 
 Macgregors were missing, except John, the laird's brothw, 
 and one common fellow, though indeed many of them were 
 wounded." — Professor Ross's History of the Family of Suther- 
 land, 1631. 
 
 The consequences of the battle of Glen-fruin were verj' cala- 
 mitous to the family of Macgi-egor, who had already been con- 
 sidered as an unruly clan. The widows of the slain Colqu- 
 houns, sixty, it is said, in number, appeared in doleful proces- 
 sion before the king at Stirling, each riding upon a white paJ- 
 fiey, and bearing in her hand the bloody shirt of her husband 
 displayed upon a pike. James VI. was so much moved by the 
 complaints of this " choir of mourning dames," that be let 
 loose his vengeance against the Macgregors, without either
 
 332 NOTES TO 
 
 bounds or moderation. The very name of the clan was pro- 
 scribed, and those by whom it had been borne were given up 
 to sword and fire, and absolutely htinted down by bloodhounds 
 like w^ild beasts. Argyle and the Campbells, on the one hand, 
 Montrose, with the Grahames and Buchanans, on the other, 
 are said to have been the chief instruments in suppressing this 
 devoted clan. The Laird of Macgregor surrendered to the for- 
 mer, on condition, that he would take him out of Scottish 
 ground. But, to use Birrel's expression, he kept " a High- 
 landman's promise ;" and, although he fulfilled his word to the 
 letter, by carrying him as fai" as Berwick, he after^^-ards brought 
 him back to Edinburgh, -where he was executed ^^•ith eighteen 
 of his clan. — Birrel's Diary, 2d Oct. 1603. The clan Gre- 
 gor being thus driven to utter despair, seem to have renounced 
 the laws from the benefit of which they were excluded, and their 
 depredations produced new acts of council, confirming the seve- 
 rity of their proscription, which had only the effect of rendering 
 them still more united and desperate. It is a most extraordinary 
 proof of the ardent and invincible sphit of clanship, that, not- 
 withstanding the repeated proscriptions providently ordained 
 by the legislature, " for the timeous preventing the disorders 
 and oppression that may fall out by the said name and clan of 
 Macgregors, and their followers," they were, in 1715 and 1745, 
 a potent clan, and continue to subsist as a distinct and nume- 
 rous race.
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 333 
 
 Note XIV. 
 • The kings vindictive pride 
 
 Boasts to have tamed the Border-side. — P. 87. 
 In 1529, James V. made a convention at Edinburgh, for the 
 purpose of considering the best mode of quelling the Border 
 robbers, who, during the license of his minority, and the trou- 
 bles whicli followed, had committed many exorbitances. Ac- 
 coi'dingly he assembled a flying army often thousand men, con- 
 sisting of his principal nobility and their followers, who were 
 directed to bring their hawks and dogs with them, that the 
 monarch might refresh himself with sport during the intervals 
 of military execution. With this array he swept through Ettrick 
 forest, where he hanged over the gate of his o^vn castle. Piers 
 Cockbum of Henderland, who had prepared, according to tra^ 
 dition, a feast for his reception. He caused Adam Scott of 
 Tushielaw also to be executed, who was distinguished by the 
 title of King of the Border. But the most noted victim of jus- 
 tice, during that expedition, was John Armstrong of Gilnockie, 
 famous in Scottish song, who, confiding in his own supposed 
 innocence, met the king, with a retinue of thirty-six persons, 
 aU of whom were hanged at Carlenrig, near the source of the 
 Teviot. The eiFect of this severity was such, that, as the vulgar 
 expressed it, " the rush-bush kept the cow," and, " thereafter 
 was great peace and rest a long time, wherethrough the king 
 had great profit ; for he had ten thousand sheep going in the 
 Ettrick forest in keeping by Andrew Bell, who made the king
 
 334 NOTES TO 
 
 as good count of them as they had goue in the bounds of Fife." 
 — Pitscottie's History/, p. 153. 
 
 Note XV. 
 ]Vhat grace for Highland chiefs, judge ye 
 By fate of Border chivalry. — P. SS. 
 James was, in fact, equally attentive to restraia rapine and 
 feudal oppression in every part of his dominions. " The king 
 I)ast to the Isles, and there held justice courts, and punished 
 both thief and traitor according to their demerit. And also he 
 caused great men to show their holduigs, wherethrough he 
 found many of the said lands in non-entry ; the which he con- 
 fiscate and brought home to his o^vn use, and afterward annex- 
 ed them to the croAvn, as ye shall hear. Syne brought many of 
 the great men of the isles captive with him, such as Mudyart, 
 M'Connel, M'Loydof the Lewes, M'Neil, M'Lane, M'Intosh, 
 John Mudyart, M'Kay, M'Kenzie, with many other that I 
 cannot rehearse at this time. Some of them he put in Avard and 
 some in court, and some he took pledges for good rule in time 
 coming. So he brought the isles both north and south, in good 
 rule and peace ; whrrefore he had gi'eat profit, service, and obe- 
 dience of people a long time thereafter ; and as long as he had 
 the heads of the country in subjection, they lived in great peace 
 and rest, and there was great riches aiid policy by the king's 
 
 justice." PiTSCOTTIE, p. l.'jS.
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 335 
 
 Note XVI. 
 Rest safe till morning ; pity 'twere 
 Such cheek should feel the midnight air ! — P. 97. 
 Hardihood was in every respect so essential to the character 
 of a Highlander, that the reproach of eflfeminacy was the most 
 bitter which could be thrown upon him. Yet it was sometimes 
 hazarded on what we might presume to think slight grounds. 
 It is reported of old Sh' Ewen Cameron of Lochiel, when up- 
 wards of seventy, that he was surprised by night onahimtiug 
 or military expedition. He wrapped him in his plaid, and lay 
 contentedly down upon the snow, with which the ground hap- 
 pened to be covered. Among his attendants, who were pre- 
 paring to take their rest in the same manner, he observed that 
 one of his grandsons, for his better accommodation, had rolled 
 a large snow-baU, and placed it helow his head. The wrath of 
 the ancient chief was awakened by a symptom of what he con- 
 ceived to be degenerate luxury. " Out upon thee," said he, 
 kicking the frozen bolster from the head which it supported, 
 " art thou so effeminate as to need a pillow ?" The officer of 
 engineers, whose ciu'ious letters from the Highlands have been 
 more than once quoted, tells a similar story of Macdonald of 
 Keppoch, and subjoins the following remarks : 
 
 " This and many other stories are romantick ; but there is 
 one thing, that at first thought might seem very romantick, of 
 wliich I have been credibly assured, that when the Highlanders 
 are constrained to lie among the hills, in cold diy windy wea- 
 ther, they sometimes soak the plaid in some river or bum, (i. e.
 
 336 NOTES TO 
 
 brook,) and then, holding up a corner of it a little above their 
 heads, they turn themselves roimd and round, till they are en- 
 veloped by the whole mantle. They then lay themselves down 
 on the heath, upon the leeward side of some hill, where the wet 
 and the warmth of their bodies make a steam,- like that of a 
 boiling kettle. The Avet, they say, keeps them warm by thicken- 
 ing the stuflf, and keeping the wind from penetrating. 
 
 " I must confess I should have been apt to question this fact, 
 had I not frequently seen them wet from morning tonight, and, 
 even at the beginning of the rain, not so much as stir a few 
 j'ards to shelter, but contiime in it without necessity, tiU they 
 were, as we say, wet through and through. And tliat is soon 
 effected by the looseness and spunginess of the plaiding ; but 
 the bonnet is frequently taken off, and wrung like a dishclout, 
 and then put on again. 
 
 " They have been accustomed from their infancy to be often 
 wet, and to take the water like spaniels, and this is become a 
 second nature, and can scarcely be called a hardship to them, 
 insomuch that I used to say, they seemed to be of the duck- 
 kind, and to love water as well. Though I never saw this 
 preparation for sleep in windy weather, yet, setting out early in 
 a morning from one of the huts, I have seen the marks of their 
 lodging, where the ground has been free from rime or snow, 
 which remained all roimd the spot where they had lain." — 
 Letters from Scotland, Lond. 1754. 8vo. II. p. 108.
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 33T 
 
 Note XVII. 
 His henchman came. — P. 97. 
 
 " This officer is a sort of secretary, and is to be ready, upon 
 all occasions, to venture his life in defence of his master ; and 
 at drinking-bouts he stands behind his seat, at his haunch, from 
 whence his title is derived, and watches the conversation, to see 
 if any one offends his patron. 
 
 " An English officer being in company with a certain chief- 
 tain, and several other Highland gentlemen, near Killichumen, 
 had an argument with the great man ,• and both being well 
 warmed ^vith usky, at last the dispute grew very hot. 
 
 " A youth who was henchman, not imderstanding one word 
 of English, imagined his chief was insulted, and thereupon 
 drew his pistol from his side, and snapped it at the officer's 
 head ; but the pistol missed fire, otherwise it is more than pro- 
 bable he might have suffered death from the hand of that little 
 vermin. 
 
 " But it is veiy disagreeable to an Englishman over a bottle, 
 with the Highlanders, to see every one of them have his gilly, 
 that is, his sei-vant, standing behind him all the while, let what 
 win be the subject of conversation." — Letters from Scotland, 
 II 159.
 
 NOTES TO CANTO III. 
 
 Note I. 
 
 And while the Fiery Cross glanced, like a meteor, round. — 
 
 P. 1(W. 
 
 When a chieftain designed to siunmon his clan, upon any- 
 sudden or important emergency, he slew a goat, and making 
 a cross of any light wood, seared its extremities in the tire, and 
 extinguished them in the blood of the animaL This was called 
 the Fiery Cross, also Crean Tarigh, or the Cross of Shamey 
 because disobedience to what the sjTnbol implied, inferred infa- 
 my. It was delivered to a swift and trusty messenger, who ran 
 full speed with it to the next hamlet, where he presented it to 
 the principal person, with a single word, implying the place of 
 rendezvous. He who received the symbol was bound to send it 
 forward, with equal dispatch, to the next vUlage ; and thus it 
 passed with incredible celerity through all the district which 
 owed allegiance to the chief, and also among his allies and
 
 340 NOTES TO 
 
 neighbours, if the danger was common to them. At sight of the 
 Fiery Cross, ever)' man, from sixteen years old to sixty, capa- 
 ble of bearing arms, was obliged instantly to repair, in his best 
 arms and accoutrements, to the place of rendezvous. He who 
 failed to appear suffered the extremities of fire and sword, 
 which were emblematically denounced to the disobedient by 
 the bloody and burnt marks upon this warlike signal. During 
 the civil war of 1745-6, the Fiery Cross often made its circuit ; 
 and upon one occasion it passed through the whole district of 
 Breadalbane, a tract of thirty-two miles, in three hours. The 
 late Alexander Stewait, Esq. of Invernahyle, described to me 
 his having sent round the Fiery Cross through the district of 
 Appine, during the same commotion. The coast was threaten- 
 ed by a descent from two English frigates, and the flower of the 
 young men were with the army of Prince Charles Edwai'd, 
 then in England ; yet the summons was so effectual, that even 
 old age and childhood obeyed it ; and a force was collected in 
 a few hours, so numerous and so enthusicistic, that aU attempt 
 at the intended diversion upon the country of the absent war- 
 riors, was in prudence abandoned, as desperate. 
 
 This practice, like some others, is common to the Highland- 
 ers with the ancient Scandinavians, as will appear by the fol- 
 lowing extract from Olaus Magnus : 
 
 *' When the enemy is upon the sea-coast, or within the limits 
 of northern kingdomes, then presently, by the command of the 
 principal governours, with the counsel and consent of the old 
 soldiers, who are notably skilled in such like business, a staff 
 of three hands length, in the common sight of them all, is car-
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 811 
 
 ried, by the speedy running of some active young man, unto 
 that village oi* city, with this command, — that on the 3. 4. or 
 8. day, one, two, or three, or else every man in particular, from 
 15 years old, shall come with his arms, and expenses for ten or 
 twenty days, upon pain that his or their houses shall be burnt, 
 (which is intimated by the burning of the staff,) or else the mas- 
 ter to be hanged, (which is signified by the cord tied to it,) to 
 appear speedily on such a bank, or field, or valley, to hear the 
 cause he is called, and to hear orders from the said provincial 
 governoxu's what he shall do. Wherefore that messenger, 
 swifter than any post or waggon, having done his commission, 
 comes slowly back again, bringing a token with him that he 
 hath done all legally ; and every moment one or another runs 
 to every village, and tells those places what they must do." 
 
 " The messengers, therefore, of the footmen, that 
 
 are to give warning to the people to meet for the battail, run 
 fiercely and swiftly ; for no snow, no rain, nor heat can stop 
 them, nor night hold them ; but they will soon run the race 
 they undertake. The first messenger tells it to the next village, 
 and that to the next ; and so the hubbub runs all over till they 
 all know it in that stift or territory, where, when, and where- 
 fore they must meet." — Olaus Magnus' History of the Goths, 
 englished by J. S. Lond. 1658. book iv. chap. 3, 4. 
 
 Note II. 
 Tnat Monk, of savage form and face. — P. 107. 
 The state of religion in the middle ages afforded consider- 
 able facilities for those whose mode of life excluded them from
 
 342 NOTES TO 
 
 regular worship, to secure, nevertheless, the ghostly assistance 
 of confessors, perfectly willing to adapt the nature of their doc- 
 trine to the necessities and peculiar circumstances of their 
 flock. Robin Hood, it is well known, had his celebrated do- 
 mestic chaplain. Friar Tuck. And that same curtal friar was 
 probably matched in manners and appearance by the ghostly 
 fathers of the Tynedale robbers, who are thus described in an 
 excommunication fulminated against their patrons by Richard 
 Fox, Bishop of Durham, tempore Henrici VIII. " We have 
 further understood, that there are many chaplains in the said 
 territories of Tynedale and Redesdale, who are public and open 
 maintainers of concubinage, irregular, suspended, excommuni- 
 cated, and interdicted persons, and withal so utterly ignorant 
 of letters, that it has been found by those who objected this to 
 them, that there were some who, having celebrated mass for 
 ten years, were still unable to read the sacramental service. 
 We have also understood there are persons among them who, 
 although not ordained, do take upon them the offices of priest- 
 hood ; and, in contempt of God, celebrate the divine and sacred 
 rites, and administer the sacraments, not only in sacred and 
 dedicated places, but in those which are prophane and inter- 
 dicted, and most wretchedly ruinous; they themselves being 
 attired in ragged, torn, and most filthy vestments, altogether 
 unfit to be used in divine, or even in temporal offices. The 
 which said chaplains do administer sacraments and sacramental 
 rites to the aforesaid manifest and infamous thieves, robbers, 
 depredators, receivers of stolen goods, and plunderers, and that 
 without restitution, or intention to restore, as evinced by the
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 343 
 
 fact ; and do also openly admit them to the rites of ecclesias- 
 tical sepulchre, without exacting security for restitution, al- 
 though they are prohibited from doing so by the sacred canans, 
 as well as by the institutes of the saints and fathers. All which 
 infers the heavy peril of their own soids, and is a pernicious 
 example to the other believers in Christ, as well as no slight, 
 but an aggravated injury, to the numbers despoiled and plun- 
 dered of their goods, gear, herds, and chattels."* 
 
 To this lively and picturesque description of the confessors 
 and churchmen of predatory tribes, there may be added some 
 curious particulars respecting the priests attached to the seve- 
 i-al septs of native Irish, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. 
 These friars had indeed to plead, that the incursions, which 
 they not only pardoned, but even encouraged, were made upon 
 those hostile to them, as well in religion as from national an- 
 tipathy ; but by protestant writers they are uniformly alleged 
 to be the chief instruments of Irish insurrection, the very well- 
 spring of all rebellion towards the English government. Litli- 
 gow, the Scottish traveller, declares the Irish wood-kerne, or 
 predatory tribes, to be but the hounds of their hunting priests, 
 who directed their incursions by their pleasure, partly for sus- 
 
 * The Monition against the Robbers of Tynedale and Redesdale, with 
 which I was favoured by my friend, Mr Surtees of Mainsforth, may be 
 found in the original Latin, in the Appendix to the Introduction to the 
 Border Minstrelsy, No. VII,, fourth edition.
 
 344 NOTES TO 
 
 tenance, partly to gratify animosity, partly to foment general 
 division, and always for the better security and easier domina- 
 tion of the friars. * Derrick, the liveliness and minuteness of 
 whose descriptions may fre«[uently apologize for his doggerel 
 verses, after describing an Irish feast, and the encouragement 
 given, by the songs of the bards, to its termination in an incur- 
 sion upon the parts of the country more immediately under the 
 dominion of the English, records the no less powerful argu- 
 ments used by the friar to excite their animosity : 
 
 And more t' augment the flame, 
 
 and rancour of their harte, 
 The frier, of his counseUs vile, 
 
 to rebelles doth imparte. 
 Affirming that it is 
 
 an almose deede to God, 
 To make the English subjectes taste 
 
 the Irish rebells' rodde. 
 To spoile, to kill, to burne, 
 
 this frier's counsell is ; 
 And for the doing of the same, 
 
 he warrantes heavenlie blisse. 
 He tells a holie tale ; 
 
 the white he toumes to blacke ; 
 And through the pardons in his male, 
 
 he workes a knavishe knacke. 
 
 * LithgoWs Travels, first edit. p. 451.
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 3i5 
 
 The wreckful invasion of a part of the English pale is then 
 described with some spirit ; the burning of houses, driving off 
 cattle, and aU pertaining to such predatory inroads, ai-e illustra- 
 ted by a rude cut. The defeat of the Irish, by a party of Eng- 
 lish soldiers from the next garrison, is then commemorated, 
 and in like manner adorned with an engraving, in which the 
 friar is exliibited mourning over the slain chieftain ; or as the 
 I'ubric expresses it, 
 
 The friar then, that treacherous knave, with ough ongh-hone 
 
 lament, 
 To see his cousin Devill's-son to have so foul eveut. 
 
 The matter is handled at great length in the text, of which 
 the following verses are more than suflScient sample : — 
 
 The frier seyng this, 
 
 lamentes that lucklesse parte, 
 And curseth to the pitte of hell 
 
 the death man's sturdie harte : 
 Yet for to quight them with 
 
 the frier taketh paine, 
 For all the synnes that ere he did 
 
 remission to obtaine. 
 And therefore serves his booke, 
 
 the candell and tlie bell ; 
 But thinke you that suche apishe toies 
 
 bring damned souls from hell ? 
 It 'longs not to my parte 
 
 Infernall things to knovve j
 
 346 NOTES TO 
 
 But I beleve till later dale, 
 
 thei rise not from beloAve. 
 Yet hope that friers give 
 
 to this rebellious rout, 
 If that their souls should chaunce in hell, 
 
 to bringe them quicklie out, 
 Doeth make them lead suche lives, 
 
 as neither God nor man, 
 Without revenge for their desartes, 
 
 permitte or suffer can. 
 Thus friers are the cause, 
 
 the fountain, and the spring, 
 Of hm'leburles in this lande, 
 
 of eche unhappie thing. 
 Thei cause them to rebeU 
 
 against their soveraigne queue, 
 And through rebellion often tjTnes, 
 
 their lives doe vanishe clene. 
 So as by friers meanes, 
 
 in whom all follie swimme, 
 The Irishe karne doe often lose 
 
 the life, vrith hedde and limine. * 
 
 As the Irish tribes, and those of the Scottish Highlands, are 
 much more intimately allied, by language, manners, dress, and 
 customs, than the antiquaries of either country have been will- 
 
 * This curious Picture of Ireland was inserted by the author in the re- 
 publication of Somers' Tracts, vol. I., in which the plates have been also 
 inserted, from the only impressions known to exist, belonging to the copy 
 in the Advocates' Library. See Somers' Tracts, vol. I. pp. 591, 594.
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 347 
 
 ing to admit, I flatter myself I have here produced a strong 
 warrant for the character sketched in the text. The following 
 picture, though of a different kind, serves to establish the ex- 
 istence of ascetic religionists, to a comparatively late period, 
 in the Highlands and "Western Isles. There is a great deal of 
 simplicity in the description, for which, as for much similar 
 information, I am obliged to Dr John Martin, who visited the 
 Hebrides at the suggestion of Sir Robert Sibbald, a Scottish 
 antiquarian of eminence, and early in the eighteenth century 
 published a description of them, which procured him admission 
 into the Royal Society. He died in London about 1719. His 
 work in a strange mixture of learning, observation, and gross 
 credulity. 
 
 " I remember," says this author, " I have seen an old lay- 
 capuchin here, (in the island of Benbecula,) called in their lan- 
 guage Brahir-bocht, that is. Poor Brother ; which is literally 
 true ; for he answers this character, having nothing but what 
 is given him : he holds himself fully satisfied with food and ray- 
 men t, and lives in as great simplicity as any of his order ; his 
 diet is very mean, and he drinks only fair water ; his habit is 
 no less mortifying than that of his brethren elsewhere : he 
 wears a short coat, which comes no farther than his middle, 
 with narrow sleeves like a waistcoat : he wears a plad above 
 it, girt about the middle, which reaches to his knee : the plad 
 is fastened on his breast with a wooden pin, his neck bare, and 
 his feet often so too ; he wears a hat for ornament, and the 
 string about it is a bit of a fisher's line, made of horse-hair. 
 This plad he wears instead of a gown worn by those of his
 
 348 NOTES TO 
 
 order iu other countries. I told him he wanted the flaxen gir- 
 dle that men of his order usually wear : he answered me, that 
 he wore a leathern one, which was the same thing. Upon the 
 matter, if he is spoke to when at meat, he answers again; which 
 is contrary to the custom of his order. Tliis poor man frequent- 
 ly diverts himself with angling of trouts ; he lies upon straw, 
 aud has no bell (as others have) to call him to his devotions, but 
 only his conscience, as he told me." — Martin's Description of 
 tlie Western Highlands, p. 82. 
 
 Note III. 
 ■ Of Brian's birth strange tales were told. — P. 108. 
 
 The legend which follows is not of the author's invention. 
 It is possible he may differ from modern critics, in supposing 
 that the records of human superstition, if peculieir to, and cha- 
 racteristic of, the country in which the scene is laid,- ai-e a legi- 
 timate subject of poetiy. He gives, however, a ready assent 
 to the narrower proposition which condemns all attempts of an 
 irregular and disordered fancy to excite terror, by accumula- 
 ting a train of fantastic and incoherent horrors, whether bor- 
 rowed from all countries, and patched upon a narrative belong- 
 ing to one which knew them not, or derived from the author's 
 o%vn imagination. 
 
 In the present case, therefore, I appeal to the record which 
 I have transcribed, with the variation of a very few words, from 
 the geographical collections made by the Laird of ZVIacfarlane. 
 I know not whether it be necessai-y to remark, that the mis- 
 cellaneous concourse of youths and maidens on the night and
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 349 
 
 on the spot where the miracle is said to have taken place, 
 might, even in a credulous age, have somewhat diminished the 
 wonder which accompanied the conception of Gilli-Doir-Mag- 
 revollich. 
 
 " There is hot two myles from Inverloghie, the church of 
 Kilinalee, in Loghyeld. In ancient tymes there was ane church 
 huilded upon ane hill, which was above this church, which doeth 
 now stand in this toune ; and ancient men doeth say, that there 
 was a battell foughten on ane litle hill not the tenth part of a 
 myle from this church, be certaine men which they did not 
 know what they were. And long tjTne thereafter, certaine 
 herds of that toune, and of the next toune, called Unnatt, both 
 wenches and youthes, did on a t\Tne conveen with others on 
 that hill ; and the day being somewhat cold, did gather the 
 bones of the dead men that were slayne long tyme before in 
 that place, and did make a fire to warm them. At last they 
 did ail remove from the fire, except one maid or wench, which 
 was verie cold, and she did remaine there for a space. She be- 
 ing quyetlie her alone, without anie other companie, took up 
 her cloaths above her knees, or thereby, to warm her ; a wind 
 did come and caste the ashes upon her, and she was conceived 
 of ane man-chyld. SeveraU tymes thereafter she was verie sick, 
 and at last she was knowne to be with chyld. And then her 
 parents did ask at her the matter heiroiF, which the wench 
 could not weel answer which way to satisfie them. At last she 
 resolved them with ane answer. As fortune fell upon her con- 
 cerning this marvellous miracle, the chyld being borne, his 
 name was called Gili-doir MaghrevoUich, that is to say, the
 
 350 NOTES TO 
 
 Black Child. Son to the Bones. So called, his grandfather sent 
 him to schooll, and so he was a good schoUar, and godlie. He 
 did build this church which doeth now stand in Lochyeld, call- 
 ed Kilmalie." — Macfarlane, ut svpra, II. 188. 
 
 Note IV. 
 Yet ne^er again to braid her hair 
 The virgin snood did Alice wear. — P. 109. 
 The snood, or riband, with which a Scottish lass braided 
 her hair, had an emblematical signification, and applied to her 
 maiden character. It was exchanged for the curch, toy, or 
 coif, when she passed, by marriage, into the matron state. 
 But if the damsel was so unfortunate as to lose pretensions to 
 the name of maiden, without gaining a right to that of matron, 
 she was neither permitted to use the snood, nor advanced to 
 the graver dignity of the curch. In old Scottish songs there 
 occur many sly allusions to such misfortune ; as in the old 
 words to the popular tune of '* Ower the muir amang the 
 heather." 
 
 Down amang the broom, the broom, 
 Down amang the broom, my dearie. 
 
 The lassie lost her silken snood, 
 
 That gard her greet till she was wearie.
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 351 
 
 Note V. 
 The desert gave him visions wild, 
 Such as might suit the Spectre's child. — P. IIL 
 In adopting the legend concerning the birth of the Founder 
 of the Church of Kilmallie, the author has endeavoured to 
 trace the effects which such a belief was likely to produce, in 
 a barbai'ous age, on the person to whom it related. It seems 
 likely that he must have become a fanatic or an impostor, or 
 that mixture of both which forms a more frequent character 
 than either of them, as existing separately. In truth, mad per- 
 sons are frequently more anxious to impress upon others a 
 faith in their visions, than they are themselves confirmed in 
 their reality ; as, on the other hand, it is difficult for the most 
 cool-headed impostor long to personate an enthusiast, with- 
 otit in some degree believing what he is so eager to have be- 
 lieved. It was a natural attribute of such a cliaracter as the 
 supposed hermit, that he should credit the numerous supersti- 
 tions with which the minds of ordinary Highlanders are al- 
 most always embued. A few of these are slightly alluded to 
 in this stanza. The River Demon, or River-horse, for it is 
 that form which he commonly assumes, is the Kelpy of the 
 Lowlands, an evil and malicious spirit, delighting to forebode 
 and to witness calamity. He fi'equents most Highland lakes 
 and rivers ; and one of his most memorable exploits was per- 
 formed upon the banks of Loch Vennachai-, in the very district 
 which fonns the scene of our action : it consisted in the de- 
 struction of a funeral procession, with all its attendants. The
 
 352 NOTES TO 
 
 ••' noontide hfig," called iu Gaelic Glas-lich, a tall, emaciated, 
 gigantic female figure, is supposed in particular to liaunt the 
 district of Knoidart. A goblin dressed in antique armour, and 
 having one hand covered with blood, called, from that circum- 
 stance, Lhani-dears, or Red-hand, is a tenant of the forests of 
 Glenmore and Rothemurcus. Other spirits of the desert, all 
 frightful in shape and malignant in disposition, are believed to 
 frequent different mountains and glens of the Highlands, where 
 any unusual appearance, produced by mist, or the strange lights 
 that are sometimes thrown upon particular objects, never fails 
 to present an apparition to the imagination of the solitary and 
 melancholy mountaineer. 
 
 Note VI. 
 The fatal Ben-Shie's boding scream. — P. 112. 
 Most great families in the Highlands were supposed to have 
 a tutelar, or rather a domestic spirit, attached to them, who 
 took an interest in their prosperity, and intimated, by its wait- 
 ings, any approaching disaster. Tliat of Grant of Grant was 
 called May MouUach, and appeared in the form of a girl, who 
 had her arm covered with hair. Grant of Rothemurcus had 
 an attendant called Bodach-an-dun, or the Ghost of the Hill, 
 and many other examples might be mentioned. The Ban- 
 Schie* implies a female Fairj-, whose lamentations were often 
 
 * fn the first edition, this was erroneously explained as eqviivalent to 
 Ben ScUichian, or the head of the Fairies.
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 353 
 
 supposed to precede the death of a chieftain of particular fa- 
 milies. When she is visible, it is in the form of an old woman, 
 with a blue mantle and streaming hair. A superstition of the 
 same kind is, I believe, universally received by the inferior 
 ranks of the native Irish. 
 
 The death of the head of a Higliland family is also some- 
 times supposed to be announced by a chain of lights of different 
 colours, called Dr'eugt or death of the Druid. The direction 
 which it takes, marks the place of the funeral. 
 
 Note VII. 
 
 Sounds, too, had come in midnight blast, 
 
 Of charging steeds, careering fast 
 
 Along Benkarrow's shingly side, 
 
 Where mortal horseman ne'er might ride. — P. 112. 
 A presage of the kind alluded to in the text, is still believeo 
 to announce death to the ancient Highland family of M'Lean 
 of Lochbuy. The spirit of an ancestor slain in battle is heard 
 to gallop along a stony bank, and then to ride thrice around 
 the family residence, ringing his fairy bridle, and thus intima- 
 ting the approaching calamity. How easily the eye as well as 
 the ear may be deceived upon such occasions, is evident from 
 the stories of armies in the air, and other spectral phenomena 
 with which history abounds. Such an apparition is said to 
 have been witnessed upon the side of Southfell mountain, 
 between Penrith and Keswick, upon the 23d June, 1744, by 
 two persons, William Lancaster of Blakehills, and Daniel 
 Stricket his servant, whose attestation to the fact, with a full 
 z
 
 354 NOTES TO 
 
 account of the apparition, dated the 21st July, 1745, is print- 
 ed in Clarke's Sim-ey of the Lakes. The apparition consisted 
 of several troops of horse moving in regular order, with a stea- 
 dy rapid motion, making a curved sweep around the fell, and 
 seeming to the spectators to disappear over the ridge of the 
 mountain. Many persons witnessed this phenomenon, and 
 observed the last, or last but one, of the supposed troop, occa- 
 sionally leave his rank, and pass, at a gallop, to the front, when 
 he resumed the same steady pace. This curious appeai'ance, 
 making the necessarj' allowance for imagination, may be per- 
 haps sufficiently accounted for by optical deception.— 'Survey of 
 the Lakes, p. 23. 
 
 Supernatural intimations of approaching fate are not, I be- 
 lieve, confined to Highland families. Howel mentions having 
 seen, at a lapidarj-'s, in 1632, a monumental stone, prepared for 
 four persons of the name of Oxenham, before the death of each 
 of whom, the inscription stated a white bird to have appeared 
 and fluttered around the bed, while the patient was in the last 
 agony. Familiar Letters, edit. 1726, 247. Glanville men- 
 tions one family, the members of which received this solemn 
 sign by music, the soiuid of which floated from the family resi- 
 dence, and seemed to die in a neighbouring wood ; another, 
 that of Captain Wood of Bamjrton, to whom the signal was 
 given by knocking. But the most remarkable instance of the 
 kind occurs in the MS. Memoirs of Lady Fanshaw, so exem- 
 plary for her conjugal affection. Her husband, Sir Richard- 
 and she, chanced, during their abode in Ireland, to visit a friend, 
 the head of a sept, who resided in his ancient baronial castle,
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 355 
 
 surrounded with a moat. At noidiught, she was awakened by 
 a ghastly and supernatural scream, and, looking out of bed, be- 
 held, by the moonlight, a female face and part of the form, 
 hovering at the window. The distance from the ground, aa 
 well as the circumstance of the moat, excluded the possibility 
 that what she beheld was of this world. The face was that of 
 a young and rather handsome woman, but pale, and the hair, 
 which was reddish, was loose and dishevelled. The dress, which 
 Lady Fanshaw's terror did not prevent her remarking accu- 
 rately, was that of the ancient Irish. This apparition con- 
 tinued to exhibit itself for some time, and then vanished with 
 two shrieks, similar to that which had first excited Lady Fan- 
 shaw's attention. In the morning, with infinite terror, she 
 communicated to her host what she had witnessed, and found 
 him prepared not only to credit but to accotmt for the appari- 
 tion. " A near relation of my family," said he, " expired last 
 night in this castle. We disguised our certain expectation of 
 the event from you, lest it should throw a cloud over the cheer- 
 ful reception which was due you. Now, before such an event 
 happens in this family and castle, the female spectre whom 
 you have seen always is visible. She is believed to be the spi- 
 rit of a woman of inferior rank, whom one of my ancestors de- 
 graded himself by marrying, and whom afterwards, to expiate 
 the dishonour done his family, he catised to be drowned in the 
 castle moat."
 
 356 KOTES TO 
 
 Note VIII. 
 jr/wse parents iyi Inch-Cailliach wave 
 Their shadows o'er Clan-Alpines grave. — P. 113. 
 Inch-Cailliach, the Isle of Nuns, or of Old Women, is a 
 most beautiful island at the lower extremity of Loch-Lomond. 
 The church belonging to the former nunnery was long used a;s 
 the place. of worship for the pariah of Buchanan, but scarce 
 any vestiges of it now remain. The burial ground continues 
 to be used, and contains the family places of sepulture of se- 
 veral neighbouring clans. The monuments of the laii'ds of 
 IVIaegregor, and of other families, claiming a descent from the 
 old Scottish King Alpine, are most remarkable. The High- 
 landers are as zealous of their rights of sepulture, as may be 
 expected from a people, whose whole laws and government, if 
 clanship can be called so, turned upon the single principle of 
 family descent. " May his ashes be scattered on the water," 
 ■was one of the deepest and most solemn imprecations which 
 they used against an enemy. 
 
 Note IX. 
 ■ The dun deers hide 
 
 On Jieeter foot was never tied. — P. 119. 
 The present brogue of the Highlanders is made of half-dried 
 leather, with holes to admit and let out the water ; for walk- 
 ing the moors diy-shod is a matter altogether out of question. 
 The ancient buskin was stUl ruder, being made of undressed 
 deers hide, with the hair outwards; a circumstance which pro-
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 357 
 
 cured the Highlanders the well-known epithet of Redshanks. 
 The process is very accurately described by one Elder (him- 
 self a Highlander) in the project for a union between England 
 and Scotland, addressed to Henry VIII. " We goa-hunting, 
 and after that we have slain red-deer, we flay off the skin by 
 and by, and setting of our bare-foot on the inside thereof, for 
 want of cunning shoemakers, by your grace's pardon, we play 
 the cobblers, compassing and measuring so much thereof as shall 
 reach up to oxir ankles, pricking the upper part thereof with 
 holes, that the water may repass where it enters, and stretching 
 it up with a strong thong of the same above our said ankles. So, 
 and please your noble grace, we make our shoes. Therefore, 
 we using such manner of shoes, the rough hairy side outwards, 
 in your grace's dominions of England, Ave be called Rough- 
 footed Scots." — Pinkerton's History, voL II. p. 397. 
 
 Note X. 
 The dismal coronach. — P. 123. 
 The Coronach of the Highlanders, like the Uhdatus of the 
 Romans, and the Ululoo of the Irish, was a wild expression of 
 lamentation, poured forth by the mourners over the body of a 
 departed friend. When the words of it were articulate, they 
 expressed the praises of the deceased, and the loss the clan would 
 sustain by his death. The following is a lamentation of this 
 kind, literally translated from the Gaelic, to some of the ideas 
 of which the text stands indebted. The tune is so popular, 
 that it has since become the war-march, or Gathering of the 
 clan.
 
 358 NOTES TO 
 
 Coronach on Sir Laudila)i, Chief of Maclean. 
 
 Which of all the Senachies 
 
 Can trace thy line jfi'om the root, up to Paradise, 
 
 But Macvuii-ih, the son of Fergus ? 
 
 No sooner had thine ancient stately tree 
 
 Taken firm root in Albion, 
 
 Than one of thy forefathers fell at Harlaw.— 
 
 Twas then we lost a chief of deathless name. 
 
 Tis no base weed — no planted tree. 
 
 Nor a seedling of last Autumn ; 
 
 Nor a saplin planted at Beltain ;* 
 
 Wide, wide around were spread its lofty branches— 
 
 But the topmost bough is lowly laid ! 
 
 Thou hast forsaken us before Sawaine.f 
 
 Thy dwelling is the winter house ; — 
 Loud, sad, sad, and mighty is thy death song ! 
 Oh ! coxirteous champion of INIontrose ! 
 Oh ! stately warrior of the Celtic Isles ! 
 Thou shalt buckle thy harness on no more ! 
 
 The coronach has for some years past been superseded at 
 funerals by the use of the bagpipe ; and that also is, like many 
 other Highland peculiarities, falling into disuse, unless in re- 
 mote districts. 
 
 • Bel's fire, or Whitsunday. t Halloween.
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 359 
 
 Note XI. 
 
 jBenledi saw the Cross of Fire, 
 
 It glanced like lightning up Strath-Ire. — P. 128. 
 Inspection of the provincial map of Perthshire, or any large 
 map of Scotland, will trace the progress of the signal through 
 the small district of lakes and mountains, which, in exercise 
 of my poetical privilege, I have subjected to the authority of 
 my imaginary chieftain, and which, at the period of my ro- 
 mance, was really occupied by a clan who claimed a descent 
 from Alpine ; a clan the most unfortunate, and most persecu- 
 ted, but neither the least distinguished, least powerful, nor least 
 br^ve, of the tribes of the Gael. 
 
 Sliocli non rioghridh duchaisach 
 Bha-shios an Dun-Staiobhinish 
 Aig an roubh crun na Halba othus 
 'Stag a cheil duchas fast ris. 
 
 The first stage of the Fiery Cross is to Duncraggan, a place 
 near the Brigg of Turk, where a short stream divides Loch- 
 Achray from Loch-Vennachar. From thence, it passes to- 
 wards Callander, and then, tui-ning to the left up the pass of 
 Lennie, is consigned to Norman at the chapel of Saint Bride, 
 which stood on a small and romantic knoll in the middle of the 
 valley, called Strath-Ire. Tombea and Arnandave, or Ard- 
 mandave, are names of places in the vicinity. The alarm is 
 then supposed to pass along the lake of Lubnaig, and through
 
 360 KOTES TO 
 
 the various glens in the district of Balquidder, including tha 
 neighbouring tracts of Glenfinlas and Sti'athgartney. 
 
 Note XII. 
 Not faster o'er thy heathery braes 
 Balquidder, speeds the midnight blaze. — V. 134. 
 It may he necessary to inform the southern reader, that the 
 heath on the Scottish mooi'laiids is often set fire to, that the 
 sheep may have the advantage of the young herbage produced, 
 in room of the tough old heather plants. Tliis custom (exe- 
 crated by sportsmen) produces occasionally the most beautiful 
 nocturnal appearances, similar almost to the discharge of a vol- 
 cano. The simile is not new to poetrj-. The charge of a war- 
 rior, in the fine baUad of Hardyknute, is said to be " like a fire 
 to heather set." 
 
 Note XII I. 
 By his Chieftain's hand.—V. 136. 
 
 The deep and implicit respect paid by the Highland clans- 
 men to their chief, rendered this both a common and a solemn 
 oath. In other respects, they were like most savage nations, 
 capricious in their ideas concerning the obligatory power of 
 oaths. One solemn mode of swearing was by kissing the dirk, 
 imprecating upon themselves death by that, or a similar wea- 
 pon, if they broke their vow. But for oaths in the usual form, 
 they are said to have had little respect. As for the reverence 
 due to the chief, it may be guessed from the following odd ex- 
 ample of a Highland point of honom* :
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 361 
 
 " The clan whereto the abovementioned tribe belongs, is the 
 only one I have heard of, which is without a chief ; that is, 
 being divided into families, under several chieftains, without 
 any particular patriarch of the whole name. And this is a 
 great reproach, as may appear from an affair that fell out at my 
 table, in the Highlands, between one of that name and a Ca- 
 meron. The provocation given by the latter was — Name yovir 
 chief. — The return of it, at once, was, — You are a fool. They 
 went out next morning, but having early notice of it, I sent a 
 small party of soldiers after them, which, in all probability, pre- 
 vented some bai'barous mischief that might have ensued : for 
 the chiefless Highlander, who is himself a petty chieftain, was 
 going to the place appointed with a small sword and pistol, 
 whereas the Cameron (an old man) took with him only his 
 broadsword, according to the agi'eement. 
 
 " When all was over, and I had, at least seemingly, recon- 
 ciled them, I was told the words, of which I seemed to think 
 but slightly, were, to one of the clan, the greatest of all provo- 
 cations." — Letters from the North of Scotland, vol. II. p. 221. 
 
 Note XIV. 
 
 ■ Coir-nan- Uriskin. — P. 137. 
 
 This is a very steep and most romantic hollow in the moun- 
 tain of Benvenue, overhanging the south-eastern extremity of 
 Loch-Katrine. It is surrounded with stupendous rocks, and 
 overshadowed with birch-trees, mingled with oaks, the sponta- 
 neous production of the mountain, even where its cliiFs appear 
 denuded of soil. A dale in so wild a situation, and amid a
 
 362 NOTES TO 
 
 people whose genius bordered on the romantic, did not remain 
 without appropriate deities. The name literally implies the 
 Con-i, or Den, of the Wild or Shaggj- men. Perhaps this, as 
 conjectured by IMr Alexander Campbell,* may have originally 
 only implied its being the haunt of a ferocious banditti. But 
 tradition has ascribed to the Urisk, who gives name to the ca- 
 vern, a figure between a goat and a man ; in short, however 
 much the classical reader may be startled, precisely that of the 
 Grecian Satyr. The Urisk seems not to have inherited, with 
 the form, the petulance of the silvan deity of the classics : his 
 occupation, on the contrary, resembled those of Milton's Lub- 
 bar Fiend, or of the Scottish Brownie, though he differed from 
 both in name and appearance. " The Urisks,'' says Dr Gi'aham, 
 " were a sort of lubberly supernaturals, who, like the Brownies, 
 could be gained over by kind attention, to perform the drudgery 
 of the farm, and it was believed that many of the families in the 
 Highlands had one of the order attached to it. They were sup- 
 posed to be dispersed over the Highlands, each in his own wild 
 recess, but the solemn stated meetings of the order were regu- 
 larly held in this cave of Benvenue. This current superstition, 
 no doubt, alludes to some circumstance in the ancient history of 
 this country." — Scenery on the Southerti Conjines of Perthshire, 
 p. 19. 1806. 
 
 It must be owned that the Coir, or den, does not, in its pre- 
 sent state, meet our ideas of a subterraneous grotto, or cave, be- 
 
 * Journey from Edinburgh, 1802, p. 109.
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 363 
 
 ing only a small and narrow cavity, among huge fragments cf 
 rocks rudely piled together. But such a scene is liable to con- 
 vulsions of nature, which a Lowlander cannot estimate, and 
 which may have choked up what was originally a cavern. At 
 least the name and tradition warrant the author of a fictitious 
 tale, to assert its having been such at the remote period in which 
 this scene is laid. 
 
 Note XV. 
 The ivild pass of Beal-nam-bo. — P. 139. 
 
 Bealach-nam-bo, or the pass of cattle, is a most magnificent 
 glade, overhung with aged birch-trees, a little higher up the 
 mountain than the Coir-nan- Uriskin, treated of in the last note. 
 The whole composes the most sublime piece of scenery that 
 imagination can conceive. 
 
 Note XVI. 
 
 A single page, to bear his sivord, 
 
 Alone attended on his lord. — P. 140. 
 A Highland chief, being as absolute in his patriarchal autho- 
 rity as any prince, had a con-esponding number of officers at- 
 tached to his person. He had his body-guards, called Luicht- 
 tach, picked from his clan for strength, activity, and entire de- 
 votion to his person. These, according to their deserts, were 
 sure to share abundantly in the rude profusion of his hospitality. 
 It is recorded, for example, by tradition, that Allan MacLean, 
 chief of that clan, happened upon a time to heai" one of these
 
 364 NOTES TO 
 
 favourite retainers observe to his comrade, that their chief grew 
 old — " Whence do you infer that ?" replied the other. " When 
 was it," rejoined the first, " that a soldier of Allan's was obliged, 
 as I am now, not only to eat the flesh from the bone, but even 
 to tear off the inner skin, or filament ?" The hint was quite 
 sufficient, and MacLean next morning, to relieve his followei's 
 from such dire necessity, undertcKtk an inroad on the mainland, 
 the ravage of which altogether effaced the memoiy of his former 
 expeditions for the like purpose. 
 
 Our officer of Engineers, so often quoted, has given us a 
 distinct list of the domestic officers who, independent of Lnickt- 
 tach, or gardes de corps, belonged to the establishment of a 
 Highland Chief. These are, 1. The Henchman. See these 
 notes, p. 337. 2. The Bard. See p. 315. 3. Bladier, or 
 spokesman. 4. Gillie-more, or Sword-bearer, alluded to in 
 the text. 5. Gillie-casjlue, who carried the chief, if on foot, 
 over the fords. 6. Gillie-comstraine, who leads the chief's 
 horse. 7. Gillie- Trushanarinsh, the baggage man. 8. The 
 piper. 9. The piper's gillie, or attendant, who carries the bag- 
 pipe.* Although this appeared, naturally enough, very ridicu- 
 lous to an English officer, who considered the master of such a 
 retinue as no more than an English gentleman of 3001. a- year, 
 yet in the circumstances of the chief, whose strength and im- 
 portance consisted in the number and attachment of his foUow- 
 
 * Letters from Scotland, vol. II. p. 15.
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 365 
 
 ers, it was of the last consequence, in point of policy, to have 
 in his gift subordinate offices, which called immediately round 
 his person those who were most devoted to him, and, being of 
 value in their estimation, were also the means of rewarding 
 them.
 
 NOTES TO CANTO IV. 
 
 Note I. 
 The Taghairm calVd ; by ivhich, afar, 
 Oxir sires foresaio the events ofivar. — P. 152- 
 The Highlanders, like all rude people, had various supersti- 
 tious modes of enquiring into futurity. One of the most noted 
 was the Taghairm, mentioned in the text. A person was wrap- 
 ped 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 imusual 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 
 the desolate recesses. In some of these Hebrides, they attribu- 
 ted 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.
 
 368 NOTES TO 
 
 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. Martin has recorded the following curious 
 modes of Highland augury, in which the Taghairm, and its 
 effects upon the person who was subjected to it, may serve to 
 illustrate the text. 
 
 " It was-an ordinarj^ thing among the over-curious to consult 
 an invisible oracle, concerning the fate of families and battles, 
 &c. This was performed three different ways : the first was 
 by a company of men, one of whom, being detached by lot, was 
 afterwards carried to a river, which Avas the boundai'y between 
 two villages ; four of the company laid hold on him, and, ha- 
 N-ing shut his eyes, they took him by the legs and arms, and 
 then, tossing him to and again, struck his hips with force against 
 the bank. One of them cried out. What is it you have got 
 here ? another answers, A log of birch- wood. The other cries 
 again. Let his invisible friends appear from all quarters, and 
 let them relieve him by giving an answer to our present de- 
 mands : and in a few minutes after, a number of little creatures 
 came from the sea, who answered the question, and disappear- 
 ed suddenly. The man was then set at liberty', and they all 
 returned home, to take their measures according to the pre- 
 diction of their false prophets ; but the poor deluded fools were 
 abused, for their answer was still ambiguous. This was alwaj'S 
 practised in the night, and may literally be called the works of 
 darkness. 
 
 " I had an account from the most intelligent and judicious 
 men in the isle of Skie, that about sixty-two years ago, the
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 369 
 
 oracle was thus consxilted only once, and that was in the pa- 
 rish of Kilmartin, on the east side, by a wicked and miscliie- 
 vous race of people, who are now extinguished, both root and 
 branch. 
 
 ** The second way of consulting the oracle was by a party of 
 men, who first retired to solitary places, remote from any house, 
 and there they singled out one of their number, and wrapt him 
 in a big cow's hide, which they folded about him ; his whole 
 body was covered with it, except his head, and so left in this 
 posture a.11 night, until his invisible friends relieved him, by 
 giving a proper answer to the question in hand ; which he re- 
 ceived, as he fancied, from several persons that he found about ' 
 him aU that time. His consorts returned to him at the break 
 of day, and then he commimicated his news to them ; which 
 often proved fatal to those concerned in such unwan'antable 
 enquiries. 
 
 " There was a third way of consulting, which was a confinn- 
 ation of the second above-mentioned. The same company who 
 put the man into the hide, took a live cat, and put him on a 
 spit : one of the number was employed to turn the spit, and 
 one of his consorts enquired of him, What are you doing ? lie 
 answered, I roast this cat, until his friends answer the ques- 
 ti(m ; which must be the same that was proposed by the man 
 shut up in the hide. And afterwards, a very big cat * comes. 
 
 « The reader may have met with the story of the " King of the Cats," 
 in Lord Lyttleton's Letters. It is well known in the Highlands as a nursery 
 taie. 
 
 2 A
 
 370 NOTES TO 
 
 attended by a number of lesser cats, desiring to relieve the cat 
 turned upon the spit, and then answers the question. If this 
 answer proved the same that was given to the man in the hide, 
 then it was taken as a confirmation of the other, which, in this 
 case, was believed infallible. 
 
 " 3Ir Alexander Cooper, present minister of North-Vist, told 
 me that one Jolin Erach, in the Isle of Lewis, assured him, it 
 was his fate to have been led by his curiosity with some who 
 consulted this oracle, and that he was a night within the hide, 
 as above mentioned ; during which time he felt and heai'd such 
 terrible things, that he could not express them ; the impression 
 it made on him was such as could never go off, and he said for 
 a thousand worlds he would never again be concerned in the 
 like performance, for this had disordered him to a high degree. 
 He confessed it ingenuouslv, and with an air of great remorse, 
 and seemed to be very penitent under a just sense of so great a 
 crime : he declared this about five years since, and is still living 
 in the Lewis for any thing I know." — Description of the West" 
 em Isles, p. 110. See also Pennant's Scottish Tour, vol. II. 
 p. 361. 
 
 Note II. 
 The choicest of the prey we had. 
 When swept our merrij-men Gallan-gad. — P. 153. 
 I know not if it be worth obser\'ing, that this passage is taken 
 almost literally from the mouth of an old Higliland Kern, or 
 Ketteran, as they were called. He used to narrate the meiTy 
 doings of the good old time when he was follower of Rob Roy
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 371 
 
 MacGregor. This leader, on one occasion, thought proper to 
 make a descent upon the lower part of the Loch-Lomond dis- 
 trict, and summoned all the heritors and farmers to meet at the 
 Kirk of Drymen, to pay him black-mail, i. e. tribute for forbear- 
 ance 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, ven- 
 tured 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 wUd 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 
 times when the poor beeve was compelled 
 
 To hoof it o'er as many weary miles, 
 
 With goading pikemeu hollowing at his heels. 
 
 As e'er the bravest antler of the woods. 
 
 Ethwald, 
 
 Note IIL 
 ■ that huge cliff, whose ample verge 
 Tradition calls the Hero's Targe. — P. 154. 
 There is a rock so named in the forest of Glenfinlas, by whicli 
 
 * This anecdote was, in former editions, inaccurately ascribed to Gre* 
 gor Macgregor of Glengyle, called GhluneDhu, or Black-knee, a relation 
 of Rob Hoy, but, as I have been assured, not addicted to his predatory 
 excesses.
 
 372 NOTES TO 
 
 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. 
 
 Note IV. 
 
 Or raven on the blasted oak, 
 That, watching while the deer is broke, 
 His viorsel claims with sulleyi croak. — P. 154. 
 Every thing 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 Turberville, " 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 peer- 
 less knight, who is said to have been the very deviser of all rules 
 of chase, did not omit the ceremony : 
 
 " The raven he yaf his yiftes 
 Sat on the fourched tree." 
 
 Sir Tristrem, 2d edition, p. S4.
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 373 
 
 The raven might also challenge his rights by the Book of St 
 Albans ; for thus says Dame Juliana Bemers : 
 
 Slitteth anon 
 
 The bely to the side from the corbyn bone ; 
 That is corbin's fee, at the death he will be. 
 
 Jonson, in " The Sad Shepherd," gives a more poetical ac- 
 coimt of the same ceremonv. 
 
 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 time the deer was breaking up, 
 So croaked and cried for it, as all the huntsmen. 
 Especially old Scathlocke, thought it ominous. 
 
 Note V. 
 Which spills the foremost Jbeman's life. 
 That party conquers in the strife. — P. 156. 
 Though this be in the text described as a response of the Tag- 
 hairm, or Oracle of the Hide, it was of itself an augury fre- 
 quently attended to. The fate of the battle was often antici- 
 pated 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 defence
 
 374 NOTES TO 
 
 less herdsman, wliom they foimd in the fields, merely to secure 
 an advantage of so much consequence to then* pai'ty. 
 
 Note VI. 
 Alice Brand.— V. 164. 
 This little fairy tale is founded upon a verj' cvu-ious Danish 
 ballad, which occurs in the Kiempe Viser, a collection of 
 heroic songs, fir^ published in 1591, and reprinted in 1695, 
 inscribed by Anders Sofrensen, the collector and editor, to 
 Sophia Queen of Denmark. I have been favoui'ed with a lite- 
 ral translation of the original, by my learned friend ]Mr Robert 
 Jamieson, whose deep knowledge of Scandinavian antiquities 
 will, I hope, one day be displayed in illustration of the history 
 of Scottish Ballad and Song, for which no man possesses more 
 ample materials. The story AviU remind the readers of the 
 Border Minstrelsy of the tale of Young Tamlane. But this is 
 only a solitary and not very marked instance of coincidence, 
 whereas seA'eral of the other ballads in the same collection find 
 exact counterpai-ts in the Kiempe Viser. Which may have 
 been the originals, Avill be a question for future antiquarians. 
 IVIr Jamieson, to secure the power of, literal translation, has 
 adopted the old Scottish idiom, which approaches so near to 
 that of the Danish, as almost to give word, for word, as well 
 as line for line, and indeed in many verses the orthogi'aphy 
 alone is altered. As Wester Haf, mentioned in the first stanza 
 of the ballad, uieans the West Sea, in opposition to the Baltic, 
 or East Sea, Mr Jamieson inclines to be of opinion, that the 
 scene of the disenchantment is laid in one of the Orkney, or
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 375 
 
 Heliride Islands. To each verse in the original is added a bur- 
 den, having a kind of meaning of its own, but not applicable, 
 at least not uniformly applicable, to the sense of the stanza to 
 which it is subjomed : this is very common both m Danish and 
 Scottish song. 
 
 THE ELFIN GRAY. 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE DANISH K^MPE VISER, 
 p. 143, AND FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1591. 
 
 Der ligger en void i Vester Hafy 
 Der agter en bonde at bygge : 
 Hand f over did baade hog og hund, 
 Og agter dar om vinteren at ligge. 
 (De vilde diur og diurene udi skofven.) 
 
 . 1. 
 
 There liggs a wold in Wester Haf, 
 
 There a husbande means to bigg, 
 And thither he carries baith hawk and hound. 
 
 There meaning the winter to ligg. 
 ( The wild deer and daes Vt/i' shaw out. ) 
 
 2. 
 
 He taks wi' him baith hound and cock, 
 
 The langer he means to stay. 
 The wild deer in the sliaws that ai'e 
 
 IVIay sairly rue the day. 
 ( The wild deer, ^;c. )
 
 376 NOTES TO 
 
 8. 
 He's hew'd'the beech, and he's fell'd the aik, 
 
 Sae has he the poplar gray ; 
 And grim in mood was the grewsome elf, 
 
 That be sae bald he may. 
 
 4. 
 He hew'd hum kipples, he hew'd him bawks, 
 
 Wi' Aickle moil and haste ; 
 Syne speer'd the Elf in the knock that bade, 
 
 *' Wha's hacking here sae fast ?" 
 
 5. 
 SjTie up and spak the weiest Elf, 
 
 Crean'd as an immert sma : 
 " It's here is come a Christian man ; — 
 
 I'U fley him or he ga." 
 
 6. 
 It's up sjTie started the firsten Elf, 
 
 And glowr'd about sae grim : 
 " It's we'll awa to the husbande's house, 
 
 And hald a court on him. 
 
 7. 
 *' Here hews he down baith skugg and shaw. 
 
 And works us skaith and scorn : 
 His huswife he sail gie to me ; 
 
 They's rue the day they Avere bom !"
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 377 
 
 The Elfen a' i' the knock that wei-e, 
 
 Gaed dancing in a sti-ing ; 
 They nighed near the husband's house ; 
 
 Sae lang their tails did hing. 
 
 9. 
 ITie hound he yowls i' the yard, 
 
 The herd toots in his horn ; 
 The earn scraichs, and the cock craws, 
 
 As the husbande had gi'en him his corn.* 
 
 10. 
 Tlie Elfen were five score and seven, 
 
 Sae laidly and sae grim ; 
 And they the husbandes guests maun be, 
 
 To eat and drink wi' him. 
 
 11. 
 
 The husbande out o' Villenshaw 
 At his winnock the Elves can see ; 
 
 " Help me, now, Jesu, Mary's son ; 
 Thir Elves they mint at me !" 
 
 This singular quatrain stands thus in the original, 
 " Hunden hand gior i gaarden ; 
 
 Hiorden tude i sit horn ; 
 ffirnen skriger, og hanen galer, 
 
 Som bonden hafde gifvet sit kom."
 
 378 NOTES TO 
 
 J 2. 
 
 In every nook a cross he coost, 
 
 In his chaliner maist ava ; 
 The Elfen a' were fiey'd thereat, 
 
 And flew to the wild- wood shaw. 
 
 13. 
 And some flew east, and some flew west, 
 
 And some to the norwart flew ; 
 And some they flew to the deep dale do^vn, 
 
 There stUl they are, I trow.* 
 
 U. 
 It was then the weiest Elf, 
 
 In at the door braids he ; 
 Agast was the hushande, for that Elf 
 
 For cross nor sign wad flee. 
 
 15. 
 
 The huswife she was a canny wife. 
 She set the Elf at the hoard ; 
 
 She set before him baith ale and meat, 
 "Wi' mony a well- waled word. 
 
 In the DanUh : 
 
 " Somme floye oster, og somme floye vester, 
 
 Nogle floye nor paa ; 
 Nogle floye ned i dybene dale, 
 Je<r troer de ere der endnu."
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 3T9 
 
 16. 
 " Hear thou, Gudeman o' Villenshaw, 
 
 What now I say to thee ; 
 Wha hade thee Vigg within our hounds, 
 
 Without the leave o' me ? 
 
 17. 
 *' But, an thou in our bounds will bigg, 
 
 And bide, as well as may be. 
 Then thou thy dearest huswife maun 
 
 To me for a lemman gie. " 
 
 18. 
 Up spak the luckless husbande then, 
 
 As God the grace him gae : 
 " Eline she is to me sae dear, 
 
 Her thou may nae-gate hae." 
 
 19. 
 
 Till the Elf he answer'd as he couth : 
 
 " Lat but my huswife be, 
 And tak whate'er o' gude or gear 
 
 Is mine, awa wi' thee." 
 
 20. 
 « Then I'll thy Eline tak, and thee 
 
 Aneath my feet to tread ; 
 And hide thy goud and white monie 
 
 Aneath my d walling ste:id."
 
 380 NOTES TO 
 
 21. 
 The husbande and his househald a' 
 
 In sary rede they join : 
 " Far better that she be now forfairn, 
 
 Nor that we a' should tyne." 
 
 22. 
 
 Up, will of rede, the husbande stood 
 Wi' heart fu' sad and sair ; 
 
 And he has gien his huswife Eline 
 Wi' the young Elfe to feire. 
 
 23. 
 Then blyth grew he, and sprang about : 
 
 He took her in his arm : 
 The rud it left her comely cheek ; 
 
 Her heart was clem'd wi' harm. 
 
 24.^ 
 A waefu' woman than she was ane, 
 
 And the moody tears loot fa' : 
 " God rew on me, imseely wife, 
 
 How hard a weird I fa' ! 
 
 25. 
 *' My fay I plight to the fairest wight 
 
 That man on mold mat see ; 
 Maun I now mell wi' a laidly El, 
 
 His light lemman to be ?"
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 381 
 
 26. 
 He minted ance — he minted twice, 
 
 Wae wax'd her heart that syth : 
 Syne the laidliest fiend he grew that e'er 
 
 To mortal ee did kyth. 
 
 27. 
 When he the thirden time can mint 
 
 To Mary's son she pray'd. 
 And the laidly Elf was clean awa. 
 
 And a fair knight in his stead. 
 
 26. 
 This fell imder a linden green, 
 
 That again his shape he found ; 
 O' wae and care was the word nae mair, 
 
 A' were sae glad that stound. 
 
 29. 
 " O dearest Eline, hear thou this. 
 
 And thou my wife sal he, 
 And a' the goud in merry England 
 
 Sae freely I'll gie thee ! 
 
 30. 
 " Whan I was a little wee haim. 
 
 My mither died me fra j 
 My stepmither sent me awa fra her ; 
 
 I tum'd till an Elfin Gray.
 
 382 NOTES TO 
 
 31. 
 " To thy husband I a gift will gie, 
 
 Wi' mickle state and gear, 
 As mends for Eline his huswife; — 
 
 Thou's be my heartis deai'." 
 
 32. 
 
 " Thou nobil knyght, we thank now God 
 That has freed us frae skaith ; 
 
 Sae wed thou thee a maiden free, 
 And joy attend ye baith ! 
 
 S3. 
 " Syue I to thee na maik can be, 
 
 My dochter may be thine ; 
 And thy gud will right to fulfill, 
 
 Lat this be our propine." 
 
 31. 
 " I thank thee, Eline, thou wise woman j 
 
 My praise tljy worth sail hae ; 
 And thy love gin I fail to win, 
 
 Thou here at hame sail stay." 
 
 35. 
 
 The husbande biggit now on his oe, 
 And nae ane wrought him T\Tang ; 
 
 His dochter wore crown in Engeland, 
 And happy lived and lang.
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 383 
 
 SG. 
 N<tw Eline the liusbande's huswife has 
 
 Cour'd a' her grief and harms j 
 She's mither to a noble queen 
 
 That sleeps in a kingis arms.
 
 384 
 
 NOTES TO 
 
 GLOSSARY. 
 
 St. 1. JFold, a wood ; woody 
 fastness. 
 
 Husbande, from the Dan. hos^ 
 with, and bonde, a villain, 
 or bondsman, who was a 
 cultivator of the ground, 
 and could not quit the estate 
 to which he was attached, 
 without the permission of 
 his lord. This is the sense 
 of the word, in the old Scot- 
 tish records. In the Scottish 
 ** Burghe Laws," transla- 
 ted from the Reg. Majest. 
 (Auchinleck MS. in the 
 Adv. Lib.) it is used indis- 
 criminately with the Dan. 
 and Swed. bonde. 
 
 Bigg, build. 
 
 Liggi lie. 
 
 Dues, does. 
 
 2. Shaw. wood. 
 
 Sairly, sorely. 
 
 3. Aik, oak. 
 Grewsome, terrible. 
 Bald, bold. 
 
 4. Kipples, (couples,) beams 
 joined at the top, for sup- 
 porting a roof, in building. 
 
 Bawks, balks ; cross beams. 
 
 Moil, laborious industry. 
 
 Speer'd, asked. 
 
 Knock, hillock. 
 
 6. Weiest, smallest. 
 
 Crean'd, shrunk, diminished ; 
 from the Gaelic, crian, very 
 small. 
 
 Immert, emmet ; ant. 
 
 Christian, used in the Danish 
 ballads, &c. in contradis- 
 tinction to demoniac, as it is 
 inEngland,in contradistinc- 
 tion tobrute; in which sense, 
 a person of the lower class in 
 England, would call a Jew 
 or a Turk, a Christian.
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 385 
 
 l^ley, frighten. 
 
 6. Gloivr'd, stai'ed. 
 Hold, hold. 
 
 7. Skugg, shade. 
 Skaith, harm. 
 
 8. Nighed, approached. 
 
 9. Yoids, howls. 
 
 Toots.— In the Dan. tude is 
 applied hoth to the howling 
 of a dog, and the sound of a 
 horn. 
 
 Scraichs, screams. 
 
 10. Laidly, loathly; disgust- 
 ingly vgly. 
 
 Grim, tierce. 
 
 11. Winnock, window. 
 Mint, aim at. 
 
 12. Coast, cast. 
 Chalmer, chamber. 
 Maist, most. 
 Ava, of all. 
 
 13- Korivart, northward. 
 Trow, believe. 
 
 14. Braids, strides quickly 
 forward. 
 
 Wad, would. 
 
 15. Canny, adroit. 
 Many, many. 
 
 IVeel-waled, well-chosen. 
 17. An, if. 
 Bide, abide. 
 Lemman, mistress. 
 IS. JSJ'ae-gate, nowise. 
 
 19. Cowf A, could, knew how to. 
 Lai he, let alone. 
 
 Gude, goods ; property. 
 
 20. Aneath, beneath. 
 Dwalling stead,^WQ\iing.Yt\ac?. 
 
 21. Sary, sorrowful. 
 Rede, counsel ; consultation. 
 Forfairn, forlorn ; lost ; gone. 
 Tyne, (verb neut. ) be lost ; 
 
 perish. 
 
 22. Will of rede, bewildei'ed 
 in thought; in the Danish 
 original " vildraadige " 
 
 Lat. " inops consilii " Gr. 
 a-ro^uv. This expression is 
 left among the desiderata 
 in the Glossary to Ritson's 
 Romances, and has never 
 been explained. It is ob- 
 solete in the Danish as well 
 as in English. 
 Fare, go. 
 
 23. Rud, red of the cheek. 
 
 Sb
 
 386 
 
 NOTES TO 
 
 Clem'd, in the Danish, klemt ; 
 (which, in the north of 
 England, is still in use, as 
 the word starved is with us ; ) 
 brought to a dying state. 
 It is used by our old come- 
 dians. 
 
 Harm, grief; as in the ori- 
 ginal, and in the old Teuto- 
 nic, English, and Scottish 
 poetry. 
 
 24. Waefu, wofiil. 
 
 Moody, strongly and wilfully 
 passionate. 
 
 Beiv, take ruth ; pity. 
 
 Unseely, unhappy ; unblest. 
 
 Weird, fate. 
 
 Fa, (Isl. Dan. and Swed. ) 
 take ; get ; acquire ; pro- 
 ciu*e ; have for my lot. — 
 This Gothic verb answers, 
 in its direct and secondary' 
 significations, exactly to the 
 Latin capio ; and Allan 
 Ramsay was right in his 
 definition of it. It is quite 
 a different word from fa\ 
 an abbreviation of 'fall, or 
 
 befall ; and is the principal 
 root in faxgen, to fang, 
 take, or lay hold of. 
 
 25. Fay, faith. 
 Mold, mould ; earth. 
 Mat, mote ; might. 
 Maun, must. 
 
 Mell, mix. 
 
 El, an elf. This terra, in the 
 Welsh, signifies ivhat has 
 in itself the power of ttw- 
 tion ; a moving principle ; 
 an intelligence ; a spirit ; 
 an angel. In the Hebrew, 
 it bears the same import. 
 
 26. Minted, attempted ; 
 meant ; showed a mind, or 
 intention to. The original 
 is : 
 
 " Hand mindte hende f brst — 
 
 og anden gang ; — 
 Hun giordis i hiortet sa vee • 
 Endblefhand den lediste deifvel 
 
 Mand kunde med oyen see. 
 Der hand vil de minde den 
 
 tredie gang," &c. 
 Syth, tide ; time. 
 Xyth^ appear.
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 387 
 
 28. Slouyid, hour ; time ; mo- 
 ment. 
 
 29. Merry, (old Teut, mere,) 
 famous ; renowned ; answer- 
 ing, in its etjTnological 
 meaning, exactly to the 
 Latin mactus. Hence mer- 
 ry-men, as the address of a 
 chief to his followers ; mean- 
 ing, not men of mirth, but 
 of renoAvn. The term is 
 found in its original sense 
 in the Gael, viard, and the 
 Welsh maior, great j and 
 
 in the oldest Teut. Roman- 
 ces, mar, mer, and mere, 
 have sometimes the same 
 signification. 
 
 31. Mends, amends; recom- 
 pence. 
 
 33. Maik, match ; peer ; equal. 
 
 Pr opine, pledge ; gift. 
 
 35. oe, an island of the second 
 magnitude ; an island of the 
 first magnitude being called 
 a land, and one of the third 
 magnitude a holm 
 
 36. Cour'd, recover'd.
 
 388 NOTES TO 
 
 THE 
 
 GHAIST'S WARNLNG. 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE DANISH K.EMPE VISER,p. 721. 
 
 By the permission of Mr Jamieson, this ballad is added from 
 the same curious Collection. It contains some passages of 
 great p>athos. 
 
 Scend Dyring hand rider sig op under oe, 
 
 ( Varejeg selver ung) 
 Derfceste hand sig saa ven en moe. 
 
 (Mig li/ster udi lunden at ride,) &c. 
 
 Child Dyriug has ridden him up under oe,* 
 
 (And gin I were young !) 
 There wedded he him sae fair f a may. 
 
 (/' the greenwood it lists me to ride. ) 
 
 * " Under oe." — The original expression has been preserved 
 here and elsewhere, because no other could be found to supply 
 its place. There is just as much meaning in it in the transla- 
 tion as in the original ; but it is a standai'd Danish ballad 
 phrase ; and as such, it is hoped, will be allowed to pass. 
 
 f " Fair." — The Dan. and Swed, ven, vcen, or venni, and 
 the Ga'dl. ban, in the oblique cases bhan (van,) is the origin of 
 the Scottish bonnij, which has so much puzzled all the etymo- 
 lojiists.
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 Thegither they lived for seven lang year, 
 
 (Jnd 0, &c.) 
 And they seven bairns hae gotten in fere. 
 
 {^r tlie greenwood, &c ) 
 
 Sac Death's come there intill that stead, 
 And that winsome lily flower is dead. 
 
 That swain he has ridden him up imder oe. 
 And syne he has married anither may. 
 
 He's married a may, and he's fessen her hame ^ 
 But she was a grim and a laidly dame. 
 
 When into the castell court drave she, 
 
 The seven haims stood wi' the tear in their ee. 
 
 The bairns they stood wi' dule and dout : 
 
 Nor ale nor mead to the bairnies she gave, 
 " But hunger and hate frae me ye's liave." 
 
 She took frae them the bowster blae, 
 And said, " Ye sallligg i' the bare strae !" 
 
 She took frae them the groif wax light ; 
 Says, « Now ye saU ligg i' the mirk a' night !" 
 
 3S9
 
 390 NOTES TO 
 
 'Twas long i' the night, and the baimies gi'at : 
 Their mither she under the mools heard that ; 
 
 That heard the wife under the eard that lay ; 
 " Forsooth maun I to my baimies gae !" 
 
 That wife can stand up at our Lord's knee, 
 And " Blay I gang and my bairnies see ?" 
 
 She prigged sae sair, and she prigged sae lang, 
 That he at the last gae her leave to gang. 
 
 " And thou sail come back when the cock does craw. 
 For thou nae langer sail bide awa." 
 
 \Vi' her banes sae stark, a bowt she gae ; 
 She's riven baith wa' and marble gray.* 
 
 When near to the dwaUing she can gang. 
 The dogs they wow'd till the lift it rang. 
 
 Whan she came tiU the casteU yett. 
 Her eldest dochter stood thereat. 
 
 The original of this and the following stanza is very fine. 
 '' Hun skod op sine modige been, 
 Der revenede muur og graa mannorsteen." 
 " Der bun gik igennem den by. 
 De hunde de tiide saa hojt i sky"
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 391 
 
 " Why stand ye here, dear dochter mine ? 
 How are sma hrithers and sisters thine ?" 
 
 " For sooth ye're a woman baith fair and fine ; 
 But ye are nae dear mither of mine." 
 
 " Och ! how should I be fine or fair ? 
 
 My cheek it is pale, and the gi'ouud's my lair." 
 
 " My mither was white, wi' lire sae red ; 
 But thou art wan, and liker ane dead." 
 
 " Orh ! how should I be white and red, 
 Sae lang as I've been cauld and dead ?" 
 
 When she cam till the chalmer in, 
 Down the bairns' cheeks the tears did rin. 
 
 She buskit the tane, and she brush'd it thei-*» ; 
 She kem'd and plaited the tither's hair. 
 
 The tliirden she doodl'd upon her knee, 
 And the fomthen * * * * » 
 
 She's ta'en the tiften upon her lap, 
 And sweetly * * » * » 
 
 Till her eldest dochter syne said she, 
 
 " Ye bid Child Dvriug come here to me.'
 
 392 NOTES TO 
 
 Whan he cam till the chalmer in, 
 Wi' angry mood she said to him : 
 
 " I left you routh o' ale and bread ; 
 IMy baiiTiies quail for hunger and need. 
 
 " I left ahind me braw bowsters blae ; 
 ^ly bairnies are liggin i' the bare sti'ae. 
 
 " I left ye sae mony a gi'oflf wax light ; 
 My bairnies ligg i' the mirk a' night. 
 
 " Gin aft I come back to visit thee, 
 "VVae, dowy, and weary thy luck shall be. 
 
 Up spak little Kirstin in bed that lay : 
 *' To my bairnies I'll do the best I may." 
 
 Aye when they heard the dog nir and bell, 
 Sae gae they the baii*nies bread and sle. 
 
 Aye whan the dog did wow, in haste 
 
 They cross'd and sain'd themsells frae the ghaisU 
 
 Aye when the little dog yowl'd wi' fear, 
 
 (And gin I were yoimg !) 
 They shook at the thought that the dead was near. 
 (/' the greenwood if lists me to ride.) 
 or, 
 (Fair words sae mony a heart they cheer.)
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 393 
 
 GLOSSARY. 
 
 St. I. May, maid. 
 Lists, pleases. 
 
 2. Stead, place. 
 
 3. Bairns, children. 
 In fere, together. 
 Winsome, engaging ; giving 
 
 joy, (old Teut. ) 
 
 4. Syne, then. 
 
 5. Fessen, fetched ; brought. 
 
 6. Drave, drove. 
 
 7. Bute, sorrow. 
 Dout, fear. 
 
 5. Bowster, bolster; cushion; 
 
 bed. 
 Blae, blue. 
 Strae, straw. 
 
 10. Groff, great ; large in girt, 
 Mark, mirk ; dark. 
 ] I. Lang V the night, late. 
 Grat, wept. 
 Mools, mould ; earth. 
 12. Eard, earth. 
 Gae, go. 
 
 14. Prigged, entreated eai'- 
 nestly and perseveringly. 
 
 Gang, go. 
 
 15. Craw, crow. 
 
 16. Banes, bones. 
 Stark, strong. 
 
 Bou't, bolt : elastic spring, like 
 that of a bolt or arrotu fi'om 
 a bow. 
 
 jRiveny split asunder. 
 
 Wa\ waU. 
 
 17. Wow'd, howled. 
 Lift, sky, finnament ; air. 
 
 18. Yett, gate. 
 
 19. Sma, small. 
 
 22. Lire, complexion. 
 
 23. Cald, cold. 
 
 24. Till, to. 
 Bin, run. 
 
 25. Buskit, dressed. 
 Kem'd, combed. 
 Tither, the other. 
 28. Bonth, plenty.
 
 394 
 
 NOTES TO 
 
 Quail, are quelled ; die. 
 Xeed, want. 
 29. Ahind, behind. 
 Braiv, brave ; fine. 
 31. Doivy, son'ov/ful. 
 S3. Nirr, snarl. 
 Bell, bark. 
 
 St. Sained, blessed; literally, 
 signed with the sign of the 
 cross. Before the introduc- 
 tion of Christianity, Runes 
 were used in saining, as a 
 spell against the power of 
 enchantment and evil genii. 
 
 Gaist, ghost. 
 
 Note VII. 
 Up spoke the vioody Elfin Kins, 
 
 Who wonn'd within the hill. — P. 166. 
 In a long dissertation upon the Fairy Superstition, 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 collect- 
 ed which can throw light upon the popular belief which even 
 yet prevails respecting them in Scotland. Dr Grahame, au- 
 thor of an entertaining ^york upon the Scenery of the Perth- 
 sliire Highlands, already frequently quoted, has recorded, with 
 gi'eat 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
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, 395 
 
 Dniidical system, — an opinion to which there are many ob- 
 jections. 
 
 " The Daoine Shi\ or Men of Peace of the Highlanders, 
 though not absolutely malevolent, are believed to be a peevish, 
 repiiiing race of beings, who, possessing themselves but a scan- 
 ty portion of happiness, are supposed to envy mankind their 
 more complete and substantial enjoj-ments. They are supposed 
 to enjoy, in their subterraneous recesses, a sort of shadowy 
 happiness, — a tinsel grandeur; which, however, they would 
 willingly exchange for the more solid joys of mortality. 
 
 " They are bi'lieved to inhabit certain round grassy emi- 
 nences, where they celebrate their nocturnal festivities by the 
 light of the moon. About a mile beyond the source of the 
 Forth, above Lochcon, there is a place called CoirshVan, or 
 the Cove of the Men of Peace, which is still supposed to be a 
 favourite place of their residence. In the neighbourhood, ai"e 
 to be seen many round conical eminences ; particularly one, 
 near the head of the lake, by the skirts of which many are still 
 afraid to pass after sunset. It is believed, that if, on Hallow- 
 eve, any person, alone, goes round one of these hills nine times, 
 towards the left hand (sinistrorsuyn) a door shall open, by which 
 he will be admitted into their subterraneous abodes. Many, it 
 is said, of mortal race, have been enteiiained in their secret re- 
 cesses. There they have been received into the most splendid 
 apartments, and regaled with the most sumptuous banquets, 
 and delicious vrines. Their females surpass the daughters of 
 men in beauty. The seemingly happy inhabitants pass their 
 time in festivity, and in dancing to notes of the softest music
 
 396 NOTES TO 
 
 But unhappy is the mortal who joins in their joys, or ventures 
 to partake of their dainties. By this ind>algence, he forfeits for 
 ever the society of men, and is bound dovm irrevocably to the 
 condition of Shi'ich, or man of peace. 
 
 " A Avoman, as is reported in the Highland tradition, was 
 conveyed, in days of yore, into the secret I'ecesses of the men 
 of peace. There she was recognised by one who had formerly 
 been an ordinary mortal, but who had, by some fatality, be- 
 come associated with the Shi'ichs. This acquaintance, still 
 retaining some portion of human benevolence, warned her of 
 her danger, and counselled her, as she valued her liberty, to 
 abstain from eating and drinking with them, for a certain space 
 of time. She complied with the counsel of her friend ; and 
 when the period assigned was elapsed, she found herself again 
 upon earth, restored to the society of mortals. It is added, 
 that when she examined the viands which liad been presented 
 to her, and which had appeared so tempting to the eye, they 
 were found, now that the enchantment was removed, to consist 
 only of the refuse of the earth." — P. 107—111. 
 
 Note VI 1 1. 
 Why sounds yon stroke an beach and oak, 
 
 Our moonlight circle's screen ? 
 Or who comes here to chase the deer, 
 Beloved of our Elfin Queen ?— P. 166. 
 It has been already observed, that fairies, if not positively 
 malevolent, are capricious, and easily oflfended. They are, like 
 other proprietors of forests, peculiarly jealous of their rights
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 39T 
 
 of vert and venison, as appears from the cause of offence taken, 
 in the original Danish hallad. This jetdousy was also an attri- 
 bute of the northern Duergar, or dwarfs ; to many of whose 
 distinctions the fairies seem to have succeeded, if, indeed, they 
 are not the same class of beings. In the huge metrical record 
 of German chivalry, entitled the Helden-Buch, Sir Hilde- 
 brand, and the other heroes of whom it treats, are engaged in 
 one of their most desperate adventures, from a rash violation 
 of the rose-garden of an Elfin, or Dwarf King. 
 
 There are yet traces of a belief in this worst and most mali- 
 cious order of Fairies, among the Border wilds. Dr Leyden 
 has introduced such a dwarf into his ballad entitled the Cout 
 of Keeldar, and has not forgot his 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 frizzle red 
 
 As the piu^le heather-bell. 
 
 An urchin, clad in prickles red. 
 
 Clung cow'ring to his arm ; 
 Tlie hounds they howl'd, and backward fled, 
 
 As stinick by fairy chann.
 
 398 KOTES TO 
 
 " Why rises high the stag- hound's cry, 
 Where stag-hound ne'er should be ? 
 
 Why wakes that horn the silent mom, 
 Without the leave of me ?" — 
 
 " Brown dwarf, that o'er the muirland strays. 
 
 Thy name to Keeldar tell !" — 
 " The Brown Man of the IMuirs, who stays 
 
 Beneath the heather-bell. 
 
 " 'Tis 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 with the following Northumbrian legend, with which I 
 was lately favoured by my learned and kind friend, Mr Surtees 
 of Mainsforth, who has bestowed indefatigable labour upon the 
 antiquities of the English Border counties. The subject is in 
 itself so curious, that the length of the note will, I hope, be 
 pardoned. 
 
 " I have only one record to offer of the appearance of om* 
 Northumbrian Duerear. Mvnarratrix is Elizabeth Cockburn,
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 399 
 
 an old wife of Offerton, in this county, whose credit, in a case 
 of this kind, will not, I hope, be much impeached, when I add, 
 that she is, by her dull neighbours, supposed to be occasionally 
 insane, but, by herself, to be at those times endowed with a 
 faculty of seeing visions, and spectral appearances, which shun 
 the common ken. 
 
 " In the year before the great rebellion, two young men from 
 Newcastle were sporting on the high moors above Elsdon, and 
 after pui-suing their game several hours, sat down to dine, in a 
 green glen, near one of the mountain streams. After their 
 repast, the younger lad ran to the brook for water, and after 
 stooping to drink, was surprised, on lifting his head again, by 
 the appearance of a brown dwarf, who stood on a crag covered 
 with brackens, across the burn. This extraordinary personage 
 did not appear to be above half the stature of a common man, 
 but was uncommonly stout and broad-built, having the appear- 
 ance of vast strength. His dress was entirely brown, the colour 
 of the brackens, and his head covered with frizzled red hair. His 
 countenance was expressive of the most savage ferocity, and his 
 eyes glared like a bull. It seems he addressed the young man 
 first, threatening him with his vengeance, for having trespassed 
 on his demesnes, and asking him, if he knew in whose presence 
 he stood ? The youth replied, that he now supposed him to be 
 the lord of the moors ; that he offended through ignorance; and 
 offered to bring him the game he had killed. The dwarf was a 
 little mollified by this submission, but remarked, that nothing 
 could be more offensive to him than such an offer, as he consi- 
 dered the wild animals as his subjects, and never failed to avenge
 
 400 NOTES TO 
 
 their destruction. He condescended further to inform him, that 
 he was, like himself, mortal, though of years far exceeding the 
 lot of common himianity ; and (what I should not have had an 
 idea of) that he hoped for salvation. He never, he added, fed 
 on any thing that had life, hut lived, in the summer, on whortle- 
 herries, and in -winter, on nuts and apples, of which he had great 
 store in the woods. Finally, he invited his new acquaintance 
 to accompany him home, and partake his hospitality ; an offer 
 which the youth was on the point of accepting, and was just 
 going to spring across the hrook, (which if he had done, says 
 Elizabeth, the dwarf would certainly have torn him in pieces,) 
 when his foot was arrested by the voice of his companion, who 
 thought he had tarried long : and on looking round again, 
 ' the wee brown man was fled.' The story adds, that he 
 was imprudent enough to slight the admonition, and to sport 
 over the mooi^ on his way homewards : but soon after his 
 return, he fell into a lingering disorder, and died within the 
 year. " 
 
 Note IX. 
 
 Or who niatf dare on wold to wear 
 
 The fairie's fatal green ? — P. 167. 
 
 As the Daoine ShV, or Men of Peace, wore green habits, 
 
 they were supposed to take offence when any mortals ventured 
 
 to assume their favourite colour. Indeed, from some reason, 
 
 which has been, perhaps, originally a general superstition, 
 
 green is held in Scotland to be unlucky to particular tribes and 
 
 counties. The Caithness men, who hold this belief, allege, as
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 401 
 
 a reason, that their bands wore that colour when they were cut 
 oft at the battle of Flodden ; and for the same reason they avoid 
 crossing the Ord on a Monday, being the day of the Aveek on 
 which their ill-omened array set forth. Green is also disliked 
 by those of the name of Ogilvy ; but more especially is it held 
 fatal to the whole clan of Grahame. It is remembered of an 
 aged gentleman of that name, that when his horse fell in a fox- 
 chase, he accounted for it at once, by observing, that the whip- 
 cord attached to his lash was of this unlucky colour. 
 
 Note X. 
 For thou ivert christened 7nan. — P. 167. 
 The Elves Avere supposed greatly to envy the priA'ilegcs ac- 
 quired by Christian initiation, and they gave to those mortals 
 v.^ho had fallen into their power, a certain precedence, founded 
 upon this advantageous distinction. Tjimlane, 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." 
 
 I presume, that, in the Danish ballad, the obstinacy of the 
 " Weiest Elf," aa ho would not flee for cross or sign, is to be 
 derived from the circumstance of his having been " christen'd 
 man."
 
 402 NOTES TO 
 
 How eager the elves were to obtain for their offspring the 
 prerogatives of Christianity, will be proved by the following 
 story : " In the district called Haga, in Iceland, dwelt a noble- 
 man called Sigward Forster, who had an intrigue with one of 
 the subterranean females. The elf became pregnant, and ex- 
 acted from her lover a firm promise that he would prociu"e the 
 baptism of the infant. At the appointed time, the mother 
 came to the churchyard, on the wall of which she placed a 
 golden cup, and a stole for the priest, agreeable to the custom 
 of making an offering at baptism. She then stood a little 
 apart. When the priest left the chiu-ch, he enquired the mean- 
 ing of what he saw, and demanded of Sigward, if he avowed 
 himself the father of the child. But Sigward, ashamed of the 
 connexion, denied the paternity. He was then interrogated if 
 he desired that the child should be baptized ; but this also he 
 answered in the negative, lest, by such request, he should ad- 
 mit himself to be the father. On which the child was left un- 
 touched and unbaptized. Whereupon the mother, in extreme 
 wrath, snatched up the infant and the cup, and retired, leaving 
 the priestly cope, of which fragments are still in preservation. 
 But this female denounced and imposed upon Sigward, and his 
 posterity, to the ninth generation, a singular disease, with which 
 many of his descendemts are afflicted at this day." Thus wrote 
 Einar Dudmond, pastor of the parish of Garpsdale, in Ice- 
 land, a man profoundly versed in learning, from whose manu- 
 script it was extracted by the learned Torfseus. — Histuria 
 HrolR Krakii, Hafnice, 1715, prefatio.
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 403 
 
 Note XI. 
 And gaily shines the Fairy-land— 
 But all is glistening show — P. 169. 
 No fact respecting Fairj'^-land seems to be better ascertain- 
 ed than the fantastic and illusory nature of their apparent 
 pleasure and splendour. It has been already noticed in the 
 former quotations from Dr Graharae's entertaining volume, and 
 may be confirmed by the following Highland tradition. " A 
 woman, whose new-born child had been conveyed by them in- 
 to their secret abodes, was also carried thither herself, to re- 
 main, however, only until she should suckle her infant. She, 
 one day, during this period, observed the Shi'ichs busily em- 
 ployed in mixing various ingi'edients in a boiling cauldron; 
 and, as soon as the composition was prepared, she remarked 
 that they all carefuUy anointed their eyes with it, laying the 
 remainder aside for future use. In a moment when they 
 were all absent, she also attempted to anoint her eyes with 
 the precious drug, but had time to apply it to one eye only, 
 when the JDaoine ShV retmned. But with that eye she was 
 henceforth enabled to see everj' thing as it really passed in 
 their secret abodes : — she saw every object, not as she hither- 
 to had done, in deceptive splendour and elegance, but in its 
 genuine colom-s and form. The gaudy oraaments of the apai't- 
 ment were reduced to the walls of a gloomy cavern. Soon 
 after, having discharged her office, she was dismissed to her 
 own home. Still, however, she retained the faculty of seeing, 
 with her medicated eye, every thing that A\as done, any whei'e
 
 404 NOTES TO 
 
 in her presence, by the deceptive art of the order. One day, 
 amidst a throng of people, she chanced to obsen'e the ShVich, 
 or man of peace, in whose possession she had left her child ; 
 though to every other eye invisible. Prompted by maternal 
 affection, she inadvertently accosted him, and began to enquire 
 after the welfare of her child. The man of peace, astonished 
 at being thus recognised by one of mortal race, demanded how 
 she had been enabled to discover him. Awed by the terrible 
 frown of his countenance, she acknowledged what she had 
 done. He spat in her eye, and extinguished it for ever." — 
 Grauat.ie's Sketches, ^. 116 — 118. It is very remarkable, that 
 this story, translated by Dr Grahame from popular Gaelic 
 tradition, is to be found in the Otia Imperialia of Ger\'ase of 
 TUbury. A work of great interest might be compiled upon 
 the origin of popular fiction, and the transmission of similar 
 tales from age to age, and from coimtry to country. The my- 
 tholog)- of one period would then appear to pass into the ro- 
 mance of the next centurj', and that into the nurserj'-tale of 
 the subsequent ages. Such an investigation, while it went 
 greatly to diminish our ideas of the richness of human inven- 
 tion, would also show, that these fictions, however wild and 
 childish, possess such charms for the populace, as enable them 
 to penetrate into countries unconnected by manners and lan- 
 guage, and having no apparent intercourse, to afford the means 
 of transmission. It would cany me far beyond my bounds, 
 to produce instances of this commimity of fable, among na- 
 tions who never borrowed from each other any thing intrinsi- 
 cally worth learning. Indeed the wide diffusion of popular
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 405 
 
 fictions 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 Avill, I hope, pardon my mentioning his name, 
 while on a subject so closely cormected with his extensive and 
 curious reseai'ches. 
 
 Note XII. 
 
 I sunk down in a sinful fray. 
 
 And, Hwixt life and death, was snatch'd aioay 
 To the joyless Elfin bower. — V. 170. 
 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." In the beauti- 
 ful Fairj' Romance of Orfee and Heurodiis ( Orpheus and Eu- 
 rydice) in the Auchmleck MS. is the following striking enu- 
 meration of persons thus abstracted from middle earth. Mr 
 Ritson unfortunately published this romance from a copy in 
 which the following, and many other highly poetical passages, 
 do not occur ; 
 
 " Then be gan biholde aboute al, 
 
 And seighe ful liggeand within the wal,
 
 406 NOTES TO 
 
 Of folk that wer thidder y-brought. 
 And thought dede and ne're nought. 
 Some stode withouten hedde ; 
 And sum none armes nade ; 
 And sum thurch the bodi hedde wounde ; 
 And sum lay wode y-bounde j 
 And sum armed on hors sete ; 
 And sum ^strangled as thai et« ; 
 And sum were in water adreynt ; 
 And sum with fire al for-schreynt ; 
 Wives ther lay on childe hedde ; 
 Sum dede, and sum awedde ; 
 And wonder fele ther lay besides, 
 Right as thai slepe her undertides ; 
 Eche was thus in the warld y-nome, 
 With fau'i thider y-come." 
 
 Note XIII. 
 Tkovgh space and law the stag tee lend, 
 
 Who ever reck'd, where, how, or when. 
 The prowling Jbx loas trapped or slam? — P. 192. 
 St John actually used this illustration when engaged in con- 
 futing the plea of law proposed for the imfortunat€ Earl of 
 Strafford : " It was true, we give laws to hares and deer, be- 
 cause they are beasts of chase ; but it was never accounted 
 eirhftr 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
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 407 
 
 been vented in such an authority."— Clarendon's History of 
 the Rebellion. Oxford, 1702. fol. voL p. 183. 
 
 Note XIV. 
 . his Highland cheer, 
 
 The hardened flesh of mountain deer. — P. 192. 
 The Scottish Highlanders, in former times, had a concise 
 mode of cooking their venison, or rather of dispensing with 
 cooking it, which appears greatly to have sui-prised the French, 
 whom chance made acquainted with it. The Vidame of Char- 
 ters, when a hostage in England, during the reign of Edward 
 VI., was permitted to travel into Scotland, and penetrated as 
 far as to the remote Highlands {au fin fond des Sauvages.) 
 After a great hunting party, at which a most wonderful quan- 
 tity of game was destroyed, he saw these Scottish savages de- 
 vour a part of their venison raw, without any further prepara- 
 tion than compressing it between two batons of wood, so as to 
 force out the blood, and render it extremely hard. This they 
 reckoned a great delicacy ; and when the Vidame partook of 
 it, his compliance with their taste rendered him extremely po- 
 pular. This curious trait of manners was communicated by 
 Mons. de Montmorency, a great friend of the Vidame, to Bran- 
 tome, by whom it is recorded in Vies des Hommes Illustres, 
 Discours, LXXXIX. art. 14. The process by which the raw 
 venison was rendered eatable is described very minutely in 
 the romance of Perceforest, where Estonne, a Scottish knight- 
 errant, having slain a deer, says to his companion Claudius ; 
 « Sire, or mangerez vous et moy aussi. Voire si nous auione
 
 408 NOTES TO 
 
 de feu, dit Claudius. Pax Tame de mon pei'e, dist Estonne, 
 ie vous atourneray et cuiray a la inaniere de nostre pays comme 
 pour cheualier errant. Lors tira son espee, et sen vint a la 
 branche dung arbre, et y fait \r\g grant trou, et puis fend la 
 branche bien deux piedz, et boute la cuisse du cerf entredeux, 
 et puis prent le licol de son cheval, et en lye la branche, et de- 
 straint si fort, que le sang et les humeiu's de la chair saillent 
 hors, et demeure la chair doulce et seiche. Lors prent la chair, 
 et oste ius le cuir, et la chaire demeui'e aussi blanche comme 
 si ce feust dimg chappon. Dont dist a Claudius, Sire, ie la 
 vous ay cuiste a la guise de mon pays, vous en pouez manger 
 hardyement, car ie mangeray premier. Lors met sa main a sa 
 selle en vng lieu quil y auoit, et tire hors sel et poudre de 
 poiure et gingembre, mesle ensemble, et le iecte dessus, et le 
 frote sus bien fort, puis le couppe a moytie, et en donne a 
 Claudius I'mie des pieces, et puis mort en I'autre aussi sauou- 
 reusement quil est aduis que il en feist la pouldre voUer. 
 Quant Claudius veit quil le mangeoit de tel goust, il en print 
 gi'ant faim, et commence a manger tresvoulentiers, et dist a Es- 
 tonne : Par I'ame de moy, ie ne mangeay oncquesmais de chair 
 atournee de telle guise : mais doresenauant ie ne me retoume- 
 roye pas hors de mon chemin par auoir la cuite. Sire, dist Es- 
 tonne, quant is suig en desers d'Escosse, dont ie suis seigneur, 
 ie cheuaucheray huit iours ou quinze que ie n'entreray en chas- 
 tel ne en maison, et si ne ven-ay feu ne personne viuant fors 
 que bestes sauuages, et de celles mangeray atoumees en ceste 
 maniere, et mieulx me plaira que la viande de I'empereur. 
 Ainsi sen vont mangeant et cheuauchant iusques adonc quilz
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 409 
 
 aiTiuerent sur une moult belle Fontaine qui estoit en vne valee. 
 Quant Estonne la vit 11 dist a Claudius, aUons boire a ceste fon- 
 taine. Orbeuuons, dist Estonne, du boire que le grant dieua 
 pourueu a toutes gens, et qui me plaist mieiilx que les ceruoises 
 d'Angleterre." — La Treselegante Hystoire du tresnoble Rot/ 
 Perceforest. Paris, 1531, fol. tome I. fol. Iv. vers. 
 
 After all, it may be doubted whether la cliaire nostree, for so 
 the French called the venison thus summarily prepared, was 
 any thing more than a mere rude kind of deer-ham.
 
 NOTES TO CANTO V. 
 
 Note I. 
 
 Kot then claim'' d sovereignty his due; 
 
 While Albany, u'ithfeeble hand, 
 
 Held borrowed truncheon of cormnand.'—V. 204. 
 There is scarcely a more disorderly period in Scottish his- 
 tory, than that which succeeded the battle of Floddcn, and oc- 
 cupied the minority of James Y. Feuds of ancient standnig 
 broke out like old wounds, and everj' quarrel among the inde- 
 pendent nobility, which occurred daily, and almost hoiu'ly, gave 
 rise to fresh bloodshed. " There arose," says Pitscottie, " great 
 trouble and deadly feuds in many parts of Scotland, both in 
 the north and west parts. The Master of Forbes, in the north, 
 slew the Laird of Meldrum, vmder trj-st :" (i. e. at an agreed and 
 secure meeting : ) " Likewise, the Laird of Drummelzier slew
 
 412 NOTES TO 
 
 the Lord Fleming at the hawking ; and, likewise, there was 
 slaughter among many other great lords," p. 121. Nor was 
 the matter much mended under the government of the Earl of 
 Angus : for though he caused the king to ride through all Scot- 
 land, " under the pretence and colour of justice, to punish thief 
 and traitor, none were found greater than were iu their own 
 company. And none at that time durst strive with a Dou- 
 glas, nor yet a Douglas's man ; for if they would, they got the 
 worse. Therefore, none durst plainzie of no extortion, theft, 
 reifF, nor slaughter, done to them by the Douglasses, or their 
 men ; in that cause they were not heard, so long as the Dou- 
 glas had the court in guiding." — Ibid. p. 133. 
 
 Note II. 
 The Gael, of plain and river heir, 
 Shall, iL'ith strong hand, redeem his share. — P. 206. 
 The ancient Higlilanders verified in their practice tlie lines 
 of Gray: — 
 
 " An iron race the mountain cliffs maintain, 
 
 Foes to the gentler genius of the plain ; 
 
 For where unwearied sinews must be foimd, 
 
 With side-long plough to quell the flinty ground ; 
 
 To turn the ton-ent's swift descending flood ; 
 
 To tame the savage rushing from the ^vood ■ 
 
 Vv'hat wonder if, to patient valom' train'd. 
 
 They guard with spirit what by strength they gain'd ; 
 
 And while their rocky ramparts round they see 
 
 The rouffh abode of want and libertv,
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 413 
 
 (As lawless force from confidence will grow,) 
 
 Insult the plenty of the vales below ?" 
 
 Fragment on the Alliance of Education and Government. 
 
 So far, indeed, was a Creagh, or foray, from being held dis- 
 gi'aceful, that a young chief was always expected to show his 
 talents for command so soon as he assumed it, by leading his 
 clan on a successful enterprise of this nature, either against a 
 neighbouring sept, for which constant feuds usually furnished 
 an apology-, or against the Sassenach, Saxons, or Lowlanders, 
 for which no apology- was necessary. The Gael, great tradition- 
 al historians, never forgot that the Lowlands had, at some re- 
 mote period, been the property of their Celtic forefathers, which 
 furnished an ample vindication of all the ravages that they 
 could make on the unfortxmate districts which lay within their 
 reach. Sir James Grant of Grant is in possession of a letter 
 of apologj^ from Cameron of Lochiel, whose men had commit- 
 ted some depredation upon a farm called 3Ioines occupied by 
 one of the Grants. Lochiel assures Grant, that, however the 
 mistake had happened, his instructions were precise, that the 
 party should foray the province of Moray, (a Lowland district, ) 
 where, as he coolly obserses, " all men take their prey." 
 
 Note IIL 
 / only meant 
 
 To show the reed on which you leant. 
 Deeming this path you viight pursue 
 Williout a pass from Roderick Dhu. — P. 212. 
 This incident, like some other passages in the poem, iUus
 
 4Mi NOTES TO 
 
 trative of the character of the ancient Gael, is not imaginary, 
 but borrowed from fact. The Highlanders, with the incon- 
 sistency of most nations in the same state, were alternately 
 capable of great exertions of generosity, and of cruel rtvenge 
 and perfidy. The following story I can only quote from tra- 
 dition, but with such an assurance fi'om those by whom it was 
 communicated, as permits me little doubt of its authenticity. 
 Early in the last centurj', John Gunn, a noted Cateran, or 
 Highland robber, infested Inverness-shire, and levied black- 
 mail up to the walls of the provincial capital. A gaiTison was 
 then maintained in the castle of that town, and their pay (coun- 
 try banks being unknown) was usually transmitted in specie, 
 imder the guai'd of a small escort. It chanced that the oflBcer 
 who commanded this little party was unexpectedly obliged to 
 halt, about thirty miles from Inverness, at a miserable inn. 
 About nightfall, a stranger, in the Highland dress, and of very 
 prepossessing appearance, entered the same house. Separate 
 accommodation being impossible, the Englishman offered the 
 newly-arrived guest a part of his supper, which was accepted 
 with reluctance. By the conversation he foimd his new ac- 
 quaintance knew well all the passes of the count^^', which in- 
 duced him eagerly to request his company on the ensuing 
 morning. He neither disguised his business and chaige, nor 
 his apprehensions of that celebrated freebooter, John Gunn. 
 The Highlander hesitated a moment, and then frankly con- 
 sented to be his guide. Forth they s'et in the morning ; and 
 in travelling through a solitary and drearj- glen, the discourse 
 again tui'ned on John Gunn. " Would you like to see him ?"
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 415 
 
 said the guide ; and, without waiting an answer to this alann- 
 ing question, he whistled, and the English officer, with his 
 small party, were surrounded by a body of Highlanders, whose 
 numbers put resistance out of question, and who were all weU 
 armed. " Stranger," resumed the guide, " I am that very 
 John Gimn by whom you feared to be intercepted, and not 
 without cause : for I came to the inn last night with the ex- 
 press purpose of learning your I'oute, that I and my followers 
 might ease you of your charge by the road. But I am incapa^ 
 ble of betraying the trust you reposed in me, and having con- 
 yiiiced you that you were in my power, I can only dismiss you 
 unplundered and uninjured." He then gave the officer direc- 
 tions for his journey, and disappeared with his party, as sud- 
 denly as they had presented themselves. 
 
 Note IV. 
 On Bochastle the mouldering lines, 
 Where Rome, the Empress of the world. 
 Of yore her eagle tvings unfurVd. — P. 213. 
 The toiTent which discharges itself from Loch Vennachar, 
 the lowest and eastmost of the three lakes which form the 
 scenery adjoining to the Ti-osachs, sweeps through a flat and 
 extensive moor, called Bochastle. Upon a small eminence, 
 called the Dun of Bochastle, and indeed on the plain itself, 
 are some intrenchments which have been thought Roman. 
 There is adjacent to Callender, a sweet viUa, the residence of 
 Captain Fairfoul, entitled the Roman Camp.
 
 416 NOTES TO 
 
 Note V. 
 See, here, all vantageless I stand, 
 ArrrCd like thyself, with single brand. — P. 214. 
 The duellists of former times did not always stand upon 
 those punctilios respecting equality of arms, which are now 
 judged essential to fair combat It is true, that in formal com- 
 bats in the lists, the parties were, by the judges of the field, 
 put as nearly as possible in the same circumstances. But in 
 private duel it was often otherwise. In that desperate com- 
 bat which was fought between Quelus, a mmion of Henry III. 
 of France, and Antraguet, with two seconds on each side, from 
 which only two persons escaped alive, Quelus complained tliat 
 his antagonist had over him the advantage of a poniard which 
 he used in parrying, while his left hand, wliioh he was forced 
 to employ for the same purpose, was cruelly mangled. "\Mien 
 he charged Antraguet with this odds, " Thou , hast done 
 wrong," answered he, " to forget thy dagger at home. "We 
 are here to tight, and not to settle punctilios of arms." In a 
 similar duel, however, a younger brother of the house of Au- 
 banye, in Angoulesme, behaved more generously on the like 
 occasion, and at once threw away his dagger when his enemy 
 challenged it as an imdue advantage. But at this time hardly 
 any thing can be conceived more hoiTidly bioital and savage, 
 than the mode in which private quarrels were conducted in 
 France. Those who were most jealous of the point of honour, 
 and acquired the title of Riiffinh, did not sciaiple to take ever>' 
 advantage of strength, numbers, surprise, and amis, to accom-
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 417 
 
 plish their revenge. The Sieur de Brantome, to whose dis- 
 course on duels I am obliged for these particulars, gives the 
 following account of the death and principles of his friend, the 
 Baron de Vitaux : 
 
 " J'ay oui center a un Tireur d'armes, qui apprit a MiUaud 
 a en tirer, lequel s'appelloit Seigneur le Jacques Ferron, de la 
 ville d'Ast, qui avoit este a moy, il fut despuis tue a Saincte- 
 Basille en Gascogne, lors que Monsieur du Mayne I'assiegea, 
 lui servant d'Ingenieur ; et de malheur, je I'avois addresse 
 audit Baron quelques trois mois auparavant, pour I'exercer a 
 tirer, bien qu'il en s^eust prou ; mais 11 n'en fit compte : et le 
 laissant, Millaud s'en servit, et le rendit fort adroit. Ce Seig- 
 neur Jacques done me raconta, qu'il s'estoit monte sur un 
 noyer, assez loing, pour en voir le combat, et qu'il ne vist ja- 
 mais homme y aller plus bravement, ny plus resolument, ny 
 de grace plus asseuree ny determinee. II commen9a de mar- 
 cher de cinquante pas vers son ennemy, relevant souvent ses 
 moustaches en haut d'une main ; et estant a vingt pas de son 
 ennemy, (non plustost) il mit la main a I'espee qu'il tenoit en 
 la main, non qu'il I'eust tiree encore ; mais en marchant, il fit 
 voller le fourreau en I'air, en le secouant, ce qui est le beau 
 de cela, et qui monstroit bien une grace de combat bien as- 
 seuree et froide, et nullement temeraire, comme il y en a qui 
 tirent leurs espees de cinq cents pas de I'ennemy, voire de 
 mille, comme j'en ay veu aucuns. Ainsi mounit ce brave Bju 
 ron, le paragon de France, qu'on nommoit tel, a bien venger 
 ses querelles, par grandes et determinees resolutions. II n'es- 
 toit pas seulement estime en France, mais en Italie, Espaigne, 
 2d
 
 418 NOTES TO 
 
 Allemaigne, en Boulogne et Angleterre ; et desiroient fort les 
 Estrangers, venant en France, le voir ; car je I'ay veu, tant sa 
 renonimee volloit. II estoit fort petit de corps, mais fort 
 grand de courage. Ses ennemis disoient qu'il ne tuoit pas 
 bien ses gens, que par advantages et supercheries. Certes, je 
 tiens de grands capitaines, et mesme d'ltaliens, qui ont estez 
 d'autres fois les premiers vengeurs du monde, in ogni modo, 
 disoientrils, qui ont tenu c^'tte maxim e, qu'une supercherie ne 
 se devoit payer que par semblable monnoye, et n'y aUoit point 
 la de deshonneur." — Oeuvres de Brantome, Paris, 1787-8. 
 Tome VIII. p. 90-92. It may be necessary to inform the 
 reader, that this paragon of France was the most foul assassin 
 of liis time, and had committed many desperate murders, chief- 
 ly by the assistance of his hired banditti ; from which it may 
 be conceived how little the point of honour of the period deser- 
 ved its name. I have chosen to give my heroes, who are in- 
 deed of an earlier period, a stronger tincture of the spirit of 
 chivalry. 
 
 Note VI. 
 
 HI fared it then u'ith Roderick Dhu, 
 That on thejield his targe he threw.— F. 217. 
 A round target of light wood, covered with strong leather, 
 and studded with brass or iron, was a necessary part of a 
 Highlander's equipment. In charging regular troops they re- 
 ceived the thrust of the bayonet in this buckler, twisted it aside, 
 and used the broadsword against the encumbered soldier. In 
 the civil war of 1745, most of the front rank of the clans were
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 419 
 
 thus armed ; and Captain Grose informs us, that, in 1747, the 
 privates of the 42d regiment, then in Flanders, were for the 
 most part permitted to carry targets. — Military Antiquities, 
 vol. I. p. 164. A person thus armed had a considerable ad- 
 vantage in private fray. Among verses between Swift and 
 Sheridan, lately published by Dr Barrett, there is an account 
 of such an encounter, in which the circumstances, and conse- 
 quently the relative superiority of the combatants, are precisely 
 the reverse of those in the text : 
 
 " A Highlander once fought a Frenchman at Margate, 
 
 The weapons, a rapier, a backsword, and target ; 
 
 Brisk Monsieur advemced as fast as he could, 
 
 But all his fine pushes were caught in the wood. 
 
 And Sawny, with backsword, did slash him and nick him, 
 
 While t'other, enraged that he could not once prick him, 
 
 Cried, " Sirrah, you rascal, you son of a whore. 
 
 Me will fight you, be gar ! if you'll come from your door." 
 
 Note VII. 
 For, trained abroad his arms to wield, 
 Fitx- James's blade was sword and shield.— V. 218. 
 The use of defensive armour, and particularly of the buck- 
 ler or target, was general in Queen Elizabeth's time, although 
 that of the single rapier seems to have been cccasionally prac- 
 tised much earlier. * Rowland Yorke, however, who betrayed 
 
 ♦ See Douce's Illustrations of Shakspeare, vol. II. p. Gl.
 
 420 NOTES TO 
 
 the fort of Zvitphen to the Spaniards, for which good service 
 he was afterwai'ds poisoned by them, is said to have been the 
 lirst who brought the rapier-tight into general use. Fuller, 
 speaking of the swash-bucklei's, or bullies, of Queen Elizabeth's 
 time, says, " West Smithfield was fonnerly called Ruffians' 
 Hall, where such men usually met, casuaDy or otherwise, to 
 try masteries with sword and buckler. More were frightened 
 than hurt, more hurt than killed therewith, it being accounted 
 unmanly to strike beneath the knee. But since that desperate 
 traitor Rowland Yorke first introduced thrusting with rapiers, 
 sword and buckler are disused." In " The Two Angry Wo- 
 men of Abingdon," a comedy, printed in 1599, we have a 
 pathetic complaint: — " Sword and buckler fight begins to 
 grow out of use. I am son-y for it : I shall never see good 
 manhood again- If it be once gone, this poking fight of rapier 
 and dagger will come up ; then a taU man and a good sword 
 and buckler man, will be spitted like a cat or rabbit." But 
 the rapier had upon the Continent long superseded, in private 
 duel, the use of sword and shield. The masters of the noble 
 science of defence were chiefly Italians. They made great mys- 
 tery of their art and mode of instruction, never suffered any 
 person to be present but the scholar who was to be taught, and 
 even examined closets, beds, and other places of possible con- 
 cealment. Their lessons often gave the most treacherous ad- 
 vantages; for the challenger, having the right to choose his 
 weapons, frequently selected some strange, imusual, and in- 
 convenient kind of arms, the use of which he practised under 
 these instructors, and thus killed at his ease his antagonist, to
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 421 
 
 whom it was presented for the first time on the field of battle. 
 See Brantome's Discourse on Duels, and the work on the 
 same subject, " si gentement ecrit" by the venerable Dr Paris 
 de Puteo. The Highlanders continued to use broadsword and 
 target, until disarmed after the affair of 1745-6. 
 
 Note VIII. 
 Like mountain-cat who guards her youvg, 
 Full at Fitz-James's throat he spruvg. — P. 219. 
 
 I have not ventiu-ed to render this duel so savagely desperate 
 as that of the celebrated Sir Ewan of Lochiel, chief of the clan 
 Cameron, called, from his sable complexion, Ewan Dhu. He 
 was, the last man in Scotland who maintained the royal cause 
 during the great Civil War, and his constant incursions render- 
 ed him a \ery unpleasant neighbour to the republican garrison 
 at Inverlochy, now Fort William. The governor of the fort 
 detached a party of three himdred men to Lay wriste Lochiel's 
 possessions, and cut down his trees ; but, in a sudden and des- 
 perate attack made upon them by the chieftain with verj^ infe- 
 rior numbers, they were almost aU cut to pieces. The skirmish 
 is detailed in a curious memoir of Sir Ewan's life, printed in 
 the Appendix of Pennant's Scottish Tour. 
 
 " In this engagement, Lochiel himself had several wonderful 
 escapes. In the retreat of the English, one of the strongest 
 and bravest of the officers retired behind a bush, when he 
 observed Lochiel pursuing, and seeing him unaccompanied 
 with any, he leapt out, and thought him his prey. They met 
 one another with equal fury. The combat was long and doubt-
 
 422 NOTES TO 
 
 ful : the English gentleman had hy far the advantage in strength 
 and size ; but Lochiel, exceeding him in nimbleness and agili- 
 ty, in the end tript the sword out of his hand : they closed, and 
 •wrestled, tUl both fell to the ground, in each other's arms. 
 The English officer got above Lochiel, and pressed him hard, 
 but stretching forth his neck, by attempting to disengage him- 
 self, Lochiel, who by this time had his hands at liberty, with 
 his left hand seized him by the coUar, and jumping at his ex- 
 tended throat, he bit it with his teeth quite through, and kept 
 such a hold of his grasp, that he brought away his mouthful : 
 this he said, was the sweetest bit he ever had in his lifetime.''' — 
 Vol. I. p. 375. 
 
 Note IX. 
 Ye towers ! within whose circuit dread 
 A Douglas hy his sovereign hied ; 
 And thou, sad and fatal mound ! 
 That oft hast heard the death-axe sound.— V. 227. 
 Stirling was often poUuted with noble blood. It is thus 
 apostrophized by J. Johnston : 
 
 Discordia tristis 
 
 Heu quoties procerum sanguine tinxit humum ! 
 Hoc uno infelix, et felix cetera ; nusquam 
 Lsetior aut cceli frons geniusve solL 
 
 The fate of William, eighth Earl of Douglas whom James 
 II. stabbed in Stirling Castle with his own hand, and while 
 under his royal safe-conduct, is familiar to all who read Scot-
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 423 
 
 tish history. Murdack Duke of Albany, Duncan Earl of 
 Ijennox, his father-in-law, and his two sons, Walter and Alex- 
 ander Stuart, were executed at Stirling, in 1 125. They were 
 beheaded upon an eminence without the castle walls, but 
 making part of the same hill, from whence they could behold 
 their strong castle of Dovine, and their extensive possessions. 
 This " heading hill," as it was sometimes termed, bears com- 
 monly the less terrible name of Hurly-hacket, from its having 
 been the scene of a courtly amusement alluded to by Sir Da^ 
 vid Lindsay, who says of the pastimes in which the young king 
 was engaged, 
 
 " Some harled him to the Hurly-hacket ;*' 
 
 which consisted in sliding, in some sort of chair it may be sup- 
 posed, from top to bottom of a smooth bank. The boys of 
 Edinburgh, about twenty years ago, used to play at the hurly- 
 hacket on the Calton-hUl, using for their seat a horse's skull. 
 
 Note X. 
 The burghers hold their sports to-day. — P. 227. 
 Every burgh of Scotland, of the least note, but more espe- 
 cially the considerable towns, had their solemn play, or festi- 
 val, when feats of archery were exhibited, and prizes distribu- 
 ted to those who excelled in wrestling, hurling the bar, and 
 the other gymnastic exercises of the period. Stirling,. a usual 
 place of royal residence, was not likely to be deficient in pomp 
 upon such occasions, especially since James V. was very par-
 
 424 NOTES TO 
 
 tial to them. His ready participation in these popular amuse- 
 ments was one cause of his acquiring the title of King of the 
 Commons, or Rex Pleheiorum, as Lesley has latinized it. The 
 usual prize to the hest shooter was a silver arrow. Such a one 
 is presetted at Selkirk and at Peebles. At Dumfries, a silver 
 gun was substituted, and the contention transferred to fire- 
 arms. The ceremony, as there performed, is the subject of an 
 excellent Scottish poem, by Mr John Mayne, entitled the Siller 
 Gun, ISC^, which surpasses the efforts of Ferguson, and comes 
 near those of Bums. 
 
 Of James's attachment to archen,', Pitscottie, the faithful, 
 though rude recorder of the manners of that period, has given 
 us evidence : 
 
 " In this year there came an embassador out of England, 
 named Lord William Howard, with a bishop with him, with 
 many other gentlemen, to the number of threescore horse, 
 which were aU able men and waled (picked) men for aU kind 
 of games and pastimes, shooting, louping, running, wrestling, 
 and casting of the stone, but they were well 'sayed (essayed 
 or tried) ere they past out of Scotland, and that by their own 
 provocation ; but ever they tint : tiU at last, the Queen of Scot- 
 land, the king's mother, favoured the English-men, because she 
 was the King of England's sister : and therefore she took an 
 enterprise of archery upon the English-men's hands, contrary 
 her son the king, and any six in Scotland that he would wale, 
 either gentlemen or yeomen, that the English-men should shoot 
 against them, either at pricks, revers, or buts, as the Scots 
 pleased.
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 425 
 
 " The king, hearing this of his mother, was content, and gart 
 her pawn a hundred crowns, and a tun of wine, upon the Eng- 
 lish-men's hands ; and he incontinent laid down as much for 
 the Scottish-men. The field and ground was chosen in St An- 
 drews, and three landed men and three yeomen chosen to 
 shoot against the English-men, to wit, David Wemyss of tliat 
 ilk, David Amot of that ilk, and i\Ir John Wedderbum, vicar 
 of Dimdee ; the yeomen, John Thomson, in Leith, Steven 
 Taburner, with a piper, called Alexander Bailie ; they shot 
 very near, and warred (worsted) the English-men of the enter- 
 prise, and wan the hundred crowns and the tun of wine, which 
 made the king very merry that his men wan the victory."— 
 P. U7. 
 
 Note XI. 
 Robin Hood.^V. 230. 
 
 The exhibition of this renowned outlaw and his band was a 
 favourite frolic at such festivals as we are describing. This 
 sporting, in which kings did not disdain to be actors, was pro- 
 hibited in Scotland upon the Refoimation, by a statute of the 
 6th Parliament of Queen Marj', c. 61, A. D. 1555, which or- 
 dered, under hea^'y penalties, that, " na manner of person be 
 chosen Robert Hude, nor little John, Abbot of Unreason, Queen 
 of May, nor otherwise." But in 1561, " the rascal multitude," 
 says John Knox, " were stirred up to make a Robin Hude, 
 whilk enoiTiiity was of many years left and damned by statute 
 and act of Parliament; yet would they not be forbidden." 
 Accordingly, they raised a verj- serious tumult, and at length
 
 426 NOTES TO 
 
 made prisoners the magistrates who endeavoured to 'suppress 
 it, and would not release them till they extorted a formal pro- 
 mise that no one should be punished for his share of the dis- 
 tui-bance. It would seem, from the complaints of the General 
 Assembly of the Kirk, that these profane festivities were con- 
 tinued down to 1592.* Bold Robin was, to say the least, 
 equally successful in maintaining his gi'oimd against the re-' 
 formed clergy of England : for the simple and evangelical La- 
 timer complains of coming to a country church, where the 
 people refused to hear him, because it was Robin Hood's day ; 
 and his mitre and rochet were fain to give way to the village 
 pastime. Much curious information on this subject may be 
 found in the Preliminary Dissertation to the late Mr Ritson's 
 edition of the songs respecting this memorable outlaw. The 
 game of Robin Hood was usually acted in May ; and he was 
 associated with the morrice-dancers, on whom so much illus- 
 tration has been bestowed by the commentators on Shakspeare. 
 A very lively picture of these festivities, containing a great deal 
 of curious information on the subject of the private life and 
 amusements of our ancestors, was th^o^vn, by the late ingeni- 
 ous ]Mr Strutt, into his romance entitled Queeu-hoo HaU, 
 published after his death, in 1808. 
 
 • Book of the Universal Kirk, p. 414.
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 427 
 
 Note XII. 
 Indifferent as to archer wight, 
 The monarch gave the arroiv bright. — P. 23L 
 
 The Douglas of the poem is an imaginary person, a supposed 
 uncle of the Earl of Angus. But the kuig's behaviour during 
 an unexpected inters'iew with the Laird of KUspindie, one of the 
 banished Douglasses, under circumstances similar to those in the 
 text, is imitated from a real story told by Hume of Godscroft. 
 I would have availed myself more fully of the simple and affect- 
 ing circumstances of the old historj'-, had they not been already 
 woven into a pathetic ballad by my friend Mr Finlay.* 
 
 " His (the king's) implacability (towards the family of Dou- 
 glas) did also appear in his carriage towards Archibald of Kil- 
 spindie, whom he, when he was a child, loved singularly well 
 for his ability of body, and was wont to call him his Gray- 
 Steill.f Archibald, being banished into England, could not well 
 comport with the humour of that nation, which he thought to be 
 too proud, and that they had too high a conceit of themselves, 
 joined with a contempt and despising of all others. Wherefore, 
 being wearied of that life, and remembering the king's favour 
 of old towards him, he determined to try the king's mercifulness 
 and clemency. So he comes into Scotland, and taking occasion 
 
 • See Scottish Historical and Romantic Ballads. Glasgow, 1808, vol. 
 II. p. 117. 
 ^ t A champion of popular romance. See Ell'n's Romances, vol. II.
 
 428 NOTES TO 
 
 of the king's hunting in the park at Stirling, he casts himself 
 to be in his way, as he was coming home to the castle. So soon 
 as the king saw him afar oflf, ere he came near, he guessed it was 
 he, and said to one of his courtiers, yonder is my Gray-Steill, 
 Archibald of Kilspindie, if he be alive. The other answered, 
 that it could not be he. and that he durst not come into the king's 
 presence. The king approaching, he fell upon his knees and cra- 
 ved pardon, and promised from thenceforward to abstain from 
 meddling in public affairs, and to lead a quiet and private life. 
 The king went by, without giving him any answer, and trotted 
 a good round pace up the hill. Kilspindie followed, and, though 
 he wore on him a secret, or shirt of mail, for his particular 
 enemies, was as soon at the castle-gate as the king. There he 
 sat him down upon a stone without, and entreated some of the 
 king's servants for a cup of drink, being weary and thirsty ; 
 but they, fearing the king's displeasure, durst give him none. 
 When the king was set at his dinner, he asked what he had 
 done, what he had said, and whither he had gone? It was told 
 him that he had desired a cup of drink, and had gotten none. 
 The king reproved them xevy sharply for their discourtesy, and 
 told them, that if he had not taken an oath that no Douglas 
 should ever serve him, he would have received him into his 
 service, for he had seen him some time a man of great ability. 
 Then he sent him word to go to Leith, and expect his further 
 pleasure. Then some kinsman of David Falconer, the canonier, 
 that was slain at Tantallon, began to quarrel with Archibald 
 about the matter, wherewith the king showed himself not well 
 pleased when he heard of it. Then he commanded him to go
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 429 
 
 to France for a certain space, till he heard further from him. 
 And so he did, and died shortly after. This gave occasion to the 
 King of England ( Henry VIII. ) to blame his nephew, alleging 
 the old saying, That a king's face should give grace. For this 
 Archibald (whatsoever were Angus's or Sir George's fault) 
 had not been principal actor of any thing, nor no coimsellor 
 nor stirrer up, but oidy a follower of his friends, and that no- 
 ways cruelly disposed." — Hume of Godscroft, II. 107. 
 
 Note XIII. 
 Prize of the wrestling match, the Xing 
 To Douglas gave a golden ring. — P. 231. 
 The usual prize of a vrrestling was a ram and a ring, but the 
 animal would have embarrassed my story. Thus in the Cokes 
 Tale of Gamelj-n, ascribed to Chaucer : 
 
 " There happed to be there beside 
 
 Tryed a wrestling ; 
 And therefore there was y-setten 
 
 A ram and als a ring." 
 
 Again the Litil Geste of Robin Hood: 
 
 " By a bridge was a ^vl•estling, 
 
 And there tarj'ed was he. 
 And there was all the best yemen 
 
 Of aU the west countrey. 
 A full faj-re game there was set up, 
 
 A Avhite bidl up y-pight.
 
 430 NOTES, &c. 
 
 A great courser with saddle and br^'dle, 
 With gold burnished full bn-ght ; 
 
 A payre of gloves, a red golde ringe, 
 A pipe of Tvyne, good fay ; 
 
 What man bereth him best, I wis, 
 The prise shall bear away." 
 
 Ritson's Robi7i Hood, vol. I.
 
 NOTES TO CANTO VI. 
 
 Note I. 
 
 These drew not for their fields the sword, 
 
 Like tenants of a feudal lord, 
 
 ^^or oicn'd the patriarchal claim 
 
 Of Chieftain in their leader's name ; 
 
 Adventurers they P. 252. 
 
 The Scottish armies consisted chiefly of the nohility and ba- 
 rons, with their vassals, who held lands under them, for mili- 
 tary service by themselves and their tenants. The patriarchal 
 influence exercised by the heads of clans in the Highlands and 
 Borders was of a different nature, and sometimes at variance 
 with feudal principles. It flowed from the Patria Potestas, 
 exercised by the chieftain as representing the original father of 
 the whole name, and was often obeyed in contradiction to the 
 feudal superior. James V. seems first to have introduced, in
 
 432 NOTES TO 
 
 addition to the militia furnished fi-om these sources, the service 
 of a small number of mercenaries, who formed a body-guard, 
 called the Foot-Band. The satu-ical poet, Sir David Lindsay, 
 (or the person who wrote the prologue to his play of the 
 " Three Estaites,") has introduced Finlay of the Foot- Band, 
 who, after much swaggering upon the stage, is at length put to 
 flight by the Fool, who terrifies him by means of a sheep's skull 
 upon a pole. I have rather chosen to give them the harsh fea- 
 tures of the mercenarj' soldiers of the period, than of this Scot- 
 tish Thraso. These partook of the character of the Adven- 
 tui'ous Companions of Froissart, or the Condottieri of Italy. 
 
 One of the best and liveliest traits of such manners is the last 
 will of a leader, called Geffroy Tete Noir, who having been 
 slightly wounded in a skirmish, his intemperance brought on a 
 mortal disease. When he found himself dying, he summoned 
 to his bedside the adventurers whom he commanded, and thus 
 addressed them : — 
 
 " Fayre sirs, quod Geffray, I knowe well ye have alwayes 
 served and honoured me as men ought to serve their sove- 
 raynge and capitayne, and I shal be the gladder if ye wyll agre 
 to have to your capitaj-ne one that is discended of my bloode. 
 Beholde here Aleyne Rous, my cosyn, and Peter his brother, 
 who are men of armes and of my blode. I require you to make 
 Aleyne youre capitajTie, and to swere to h^on faj^the, obey- 
 saunce, love, and loyalte, here in my presence, and also to his 
 brother : howe be it, I wyll that Aleyne have the soverayTie 
 charge. Sir, quod they, we are weU content, for ye hauve 
 ryght weU chosen. There all the companyons made thej-m
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 433 
 
 servj'ant to Ale>T3e Roux and to Peter his brother. Whan all 
 that was done, then Geflfraye spjJce agajTie, and sayde : Nowe, 
 sirs, ye hauve obeyed to my pleasure, I canne you great thanke ; 
 wherfore, su-s, I w> 11 ye have parte of that ye have holpen to 
 conquere. I saye vmto you, that in yonder chest that ye se stande 
 yonder, therin is to the some of xxx thousande frankes, — I 
 wyU give them accordj-nge to my conscyence. WyU ye aU be 
 content to fulfyle my testament ; howe saye ye ? Sir, quod they, 
 we be rj'ght well contente to fulfyll your commaundement. 
 Thane tirste, quod he, I wyU and give to the chapeU of Saynt 
 George, here in this casteU, for the reparacions therof, a thou- 
 sande and five hundi*ede fi-ankes : and I gyve to my lover, who 
 hath truly served me, two thousand and f jTe huxidrede fi-ankes : 
 and also I gy\e to Aleyne Roux, youre newe capitayne, foure 
 thousande frankes: also to the vai'lettes of my chambre I 
 gyve fyve hundrede frankes. To nij-ne ofFycers I gy\e a thou- 
 sande and five hundrede frankes. The rest I gyve and bequeth 
 as I shall shewe you. Ye be upon a thjTtie companyons aU 
 of one sorte : ye ought to be bretherne, and all of one aly- 
 aunce, without debate, ryotte, or stryfe among you. All this 
 that I have shewed you ye shall fynde in yonder cheste. I 
 wy'U that ye departe aU the resydue equally and trueUy bitwene 
 you thjTtie. And if ye be nat thus contente, but that the 
 devyUe wyU set debate bytwene you, than beholde yonder is a 
 strong axe, breke up the coffer, and gette it who can. To 
 these words every man ansuered and said, Sir, and dere mais- 
 ter, we are and shall be all of one accorde. Sir, we have so 
 moche loved and doated you, that we wiU breke no coffer, nor 
 2e
 
 434 NOTES TO 
 
 breke no poynt of that ye have ordayned and conunaunded."— > 
 Lord Berners' Froissart. 
 
 Note II. 
 Thou now hast glee-maiden and harp ! , 
 Get thee an ape, and trudge the land. 
 The leader of a juggler band, — P. 256. 
 The jongleurs, or jugglers, as we learn from the elaborate 
 work of the late Mr Strutt, on the sports and pastimes of the 
 people of England, used to call in the aid of various assistants, 
 to render these performances as captivating as possible. The 
 glee-maiden was a necessary attendant. Her duty was tum- 
 bling and dancing ; and therefore the Anglo-Saxon version of 
 Saint Mark's Gospel states Herodias to have vaulted or timi- 
 bled before King Herod. In Scotland, these poor creatures 
 seem, even at a late period, to have been bondswomen to their 
 masters, as appears from a case reported by Fountainhall. 
 " Reid the mountebank pursues Scot of Harden and his lady, 
 for stealing away from him a little girl, called the tumbling- 
 lassie, that danced upon his stage : and he claimed damages, 
 and produced a contract, whereby he boxight her from her mo- 
 ther for 30^. Scots. But we have no slaves in Scotland, and 
 mothers cannot seU their bairns ; and physicians attested, the 
 employment of tumbling would kill her ; and her joints were 
 now grown stiff, and she declined to return ; though she was 
 at least a 'prentice, and so could not run away from her master : 
 yet some cited Moses's law, that if a servant shelter himself 
 with thee, against his master's cruelty, thou shalt surely not
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 435 
 
 deliver him up. The lords, renitente cancellario, assoilzied 
 Harden, on the 27th of January--, (1687.)" — Fountainhall's 
 Decisions, vol. I. p. 4S9.* 
 
 The facetious qualities of the ape soon rendered him an ac- 
 ceptable addition to the strolling band of the jongleur. Ben 
 Jonson, in his splenetic introduction to the comedy of " Bar- 
 tholomew Fair," is at pains to inform the audience " that he has 
 ne'er a sword-and-buckler man in his Fair, nor a juggler, with 
 a well-educated ape, to come over the chaine for the King of 
 England, and back again for the prince, and sit still on his 
 haunches for the Pope and the King of Spaine." 
 
 Note III. 
 That stirring air that peals on highy 
 O^er DermicTs race our victory.— 
 
 Strike it ! P. 268. 
 
 There are several instances, at least in tradition, of persons 
 so much attached to particular tunes, as to require to hear 
 them on their deathbed. Such an anecdote is mentioned by 
 
 * Though less to my purpose, I cannot help noticing a circumstance 
 respecting another of this Mr Reid's attendants, which occurred during 
 James II.'s zeal for catholic proselytism, and is told by Fountainhall, 
 with dry Scottish irony. '« January 17th, 1687.— Reid the mountebank 
 is received into the popish church, and one of his blackamores was per- 
 suaded to accept of baptism from the popish priests, and to turn Chris- 
 tian papist ; which was a great trophy : he was called James, after the 
 king and chancellor, and the Apostle James." — Ibid. p. 440.
 
 436 NOTES TO 
 
 the late INIr Riddel of Glenriddel, in his collection of Border 
 tunes, respecting an air called the " Dandling of the Baims," 
 for which a certain Gallovidian laird is said to have eA-inced 
 this strong mai'k of partiality. It is popularly told of a famous 
 freebooter, that he composed the tvuie knowTi by the name of 
 Macpherson's Rant while under sentence of death, and played 
 it at the gallows-tree. Some spirited words have been adapted 
 to it by Bui*ns. A similai' story is recounted of a "Welsh bard, 
 who composed and played on his deathbed the air called Dcv- 
 fyddy Garregg Wen. 
 
 But the most curious example is given by Brantome, of a 
 maid of honour at the court of France, entitled, Mademoiselle 
 de Limeuil. " Durant sa maladie, dont eUe trespassa, jamais 
 elle ne cessa, ains causa tousjours ; car eUe estoit fort grande 
 parleuse, brocardeuse, et tres-bien et fort a propos, et tres-belle 
 avec cela. Quand I'heure de sa fin fut venue, elle fit venir a 
 soy son valet, (ainsi que le fiUes de la cour en ont chacime un,) 
 qui s'appeUoit Julien, et scavoit tres-bien joiier du violon. * Ju- 
 lien,' luy dit eUe, ' prenez vostre violon, et sonnez moy tous- 
 jours jusques a ce que me voyez morte (car je m'y en vais) la 
 defaite des Suisses, et le mieux que voxis pourrez, et quand vous 
 serez siu" le mot, * Tout est perdu,' sonnez le par quatre ou 
 cing fois, le plus piteusement que vous pourrez,' ce qui fit I'au- 
 ti'e, et eUe-mesme luy aidoit de la voix, et quand ce vint ' tout 
 est perdu,' elle le reitera par deux fois ; et se toumant de I'au- 
 tre coste du chevet, eUe dit a ses compagnes : ' Tout est perdu 
 a ce coup, et a bon escient ;' et ainsi deceda. Voila une morte 
 joyeuse et plaisante. Je tiens ce conte de deux de ses compag-
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 437 
 
 nes, dignes de foi, qui virent joiier ce mystere." — Oeuvres de 
 Brant ome, III. 507. 
 
 The tune to which this fair lady chose to make her final exit 
 was composed on the defeat of the Swiss at jNIarignano. The 
 burden is quoted by Panurge, in Rabelais, and consists of these 
 ■words, imitating the jargon of the Swiss, which is a mixture of 
 French and German : 
 
 " Tout est velore 
 La Tintelore, 
 Tout est verlore, bi Got !" 
 
 Note IV. 
 Battle of Bear an Duine.—V. 269. 
 
 A skirmish actually took place at a pass thus called in the 
 Trosachs, and closed with the remarkable incident mentioned 
 in the text. It was greatly postei'ior in date to the reign of 
 James V. 
 
 " In this roughly-wooded island,* the country people se- 
 creted their wives and children, and their most valuable effects, 
 fi'om the rapacity of Cromwell's soldiers,during their inroad into 
 this countrj', in the time of the republic. These invaders, not 
 venturing to ascend by the ladders, along the side of the lake, 
 
 * That at the eastern extremity of Loch Katrine, so often mentioned 
 in the text.
 
 438 NOTES TO 
 
 took a more circuitous road, tlirough the heart of the Trosachs, 
 the most frequented path at that time, which penetrates the 
 wilderness about half way between Binean and the lake, by a 
 tract called Yea-chUleach, or the Old Wife's Bog. 
 
 " In one of the defiles of this by-road, the men of the coim- 
 try at that time hung upon the rear of the invading enemy, and 
 shot one of Cromwell's men, whose grave marks the scene of 
 action, and gives name to that pass. * In revenge of this insult 
 the soldiers resolved to plunder the island, to violate the wo- 
 men, and put the children to death. With this brutal inten- 
 tion, one of the party, more expert than the rest, swam to- 
 wards the island, to fetch the boat to his comrades, which had 
 carried the women to their asylum, and lay moored in one of 
 the creeks. His companions stood on the shore of the main- 
 land, in full view of all that was to pass, waiting anxiously for 
 his retiuii with the boat. But just as the swimmer had got to 
 the nearest point of the island, and was laying hold of a black 
 rock, to get on shore, a heroine, who stood on the very point 
 where he meant to land, hastily snatching a dagger from below 
 her apron, with one stroke severed his head from the body. 
 His party seeing this disaster, and relinquishing all future hope 
 of revenge or conquest, made the best of their way out of their 
 perilous situation. This amazon's great-grandson lives at 
 Bridge of Turk, who, besides others, attests the anecdote."— 
 
 * Beallach an duine.
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 439 
 
 ^etch of the Scenery near Callender. Stirling, 1806, p. 20. I 
 have only to add to this account, that the heroine's name was 
 Helen Stuart. 
 
 Note V. 
 And Snowdoun's Knight is Scotland's King. — P. 289. 
 
 This discovery will probably remind the reader of the beau- 
 tiful Arabian tale of II Bondocani. Yet the incident is not 
 borrowed from that elegant story, but from Scottish tradition. 
 James V., of whom we are treating, was a monarch whose 
 good and benevolent intentions often rendered his romantic 
 freaks venial, if not respectable, since, from his anxious atten- 
 tion to the interests of the lower and miost oppressed class of his 
 subjects, he was, as we have seen, popularly termed the King 
 of the Commons, For the purpose of seeing that justice was 
 r^ularly administered, and frequently fi'om the less justifiable 
 motive of gallantry, he used to traverse the vicinage of his 
 several palaces in various disguises. The two excellent comic 
 songs, entitled " The Gaberlunzie Man," and " We'll gae nae 
 mair a roving," are said to have been founded upon the success 
 of his amorous adventures wlien travelling in the disguise of a 
 b^gar. The latter is perhaps the best comic ballad inaijy 
 language. 
 
 Another adventure, which had neai'ly cost James his life, Ls 
 said to have taken place at the village of Cramond, near Edin- 
 burgh, where he had rendered his addresses acceptable to a 
 pretty girl of the lower rank. Four or five persons, whether 
 relations or lovers of his mistress is uncertain, beset the dis-
 
 440 NOTES TO 
 
 guised monarch, as he returned from his rendezvous. Natu- 
 rally gallant, and an admirahle master of his weapon, the kuig 
 took post on the high and narrow hridge over the Almond 
 river, and defended himself hravely with his sword. A pea- 
 sant, who was threshing in a neighbouring bam, came out upon 
 the noise, and, whether moved by compassion or by natural 
 gallantry, took the weaker side, and laid about with his flail 
 so effectually, as to disperse the assailants, well threshed, even 
 according to the letter. He then conducted the kmg into his 
 bam, where his guest requested a basin and a towel, to remove 
 the stains of the broil. This being procured with difficulty, 
 James employed himself in learning wliat was the summit of 
 his deliverer's earthly wishes, and found that they were boimd- 
 ed by the desii-e of possessing, in property, the farm of Brae- 
 head, upon which he laboured as a bondsman. The lands 
 chanced to belong to the crown ; and James directed him to 
 come to the palace of Holy- Rood, and enquire for the Guidman 
 (i. e. farmer) of Ballengiech, a name by which he was known 
 in his excursions, and which answered to the H Bondocani of 
 Haroun Alraschid. He presented himself accordingly, and 
 found, with due astonishment, that he had saved his monarch's 
 life, and that he was to be gratified with a cro-vvn-charter of the 
 lands of Braehead, under the service of presentuig an ewer, 
 basin, and towel, for the king to wash his hands, when he 
 shall happen to pass the Bridge of Cramond. This person was 
 ancestor of the Howisons of Braehead, in Mid- Lothian, a re- 
 spectable family, who continue to hold the lands (now passed 
 into the female line) under the same tenure.
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 441 
 
 Another of James's frolics is thus narrated by Mr Campbell, 
 from the Statistical Account. " Being once benighted when 
 out a-hunting, and separated from his attendants, he happened 
 to enter a cottage in the midst of a moor, at the foot of the 
 Ochil hills, near Alloa, where, iinknown, he was kindly re- 
 ceived. In order to regale their unexpected guest, the gude- 
 man (i. e. landlord, fanner) desired the gudeicife to fetch the 
 hen, that roosted nearest the cock, which is always the plump- 
 est, for the stranger's supper. The king, highly pleased with 
 his night's lodging and hospitable entertainment, told mine 
 host, at parting, that he should be glad to return his civility, 
 and requested that the first time he came to Stirling he would 
 call at the castle, and enquire for the Gudeman of Ballenguich. 
 Donaldson, the landlord, did not fail to caU on the Gudeman 
 of Ballenguich, when his astonishment at finding that the king 
 had been his guest afforded no small amusement to the merry 
 monarch and his courtiers ; and, to carry on the pleasantry, he 
 was thenceforth designated by James with the title of King of 
 the Moors, which name and designation have descended from 
 father to son ever since, and they have continued in possession 
 of the identical spot, the property of Mr Erskine of Mar, till 
 very lately, when this gentleman, with reluctance, turned out 
 the descendant and representative of the King of the Moors, 
 on account of his majesty's invincible indolence, and great 
 dislike to reform or innovation of any kind, although, from 
 the spirited example of his neighbour tenants on the same es- 
 tate, he is convinced similar exertion would promote his ad- 
 vantage.
 
 442 NOTES TO 
 
 The author requests permission yet farther to verify the sub- 
 ject of his poem, by an extract from the genealogical work of 
 Buchanan of Auchmar, upon Scottish surnames. 
 
 " This John Buchanan of Auchmar and Arnpryor was after- 
 wards termed King of Kippen,* upon the following accormt : 
 King James V., a very sociable, debonair prince, residing at 
 Stirling, in Buchanan of Ampryor's time, carriers were very 
 frequently passing along the common road, being near Arn- 
 pryor's house, with necessaries for the use of the king's family ; 
 and he, having some extraordinary occasion, ordered one of 
 these carriers to leave his load at his house, and he would pay 
 him for it ; which the carrier refused to do, telling him he was 
 the king's carrier, and his load for his majesty's use ; to which 
 Arnpryor seemed to have small regard, compelling the cairier, 
 in the end, to leave his load ; telling him, if King James was 
 King of Scotland, he was King of Kippen, so that it was rea^ 
 sonable he should share with his neighbour king in some of 
 these loads, so frequently carried that road. The carrier re- 
 presenting this usage, and telling the storj', as Arnpryor spoke 
 it, to some of the king's sen^ants, it came at length to his ma- 
 jesty's ears, who, shortly thereafter, with a few attendants, 
 came to visit his neighbour king, who was in the mean time at 
 dinnw. King James having sent a servant to demand access, 
 was denied the same by a tall fellow with a battle-axe, who 
 
 A small district of Perthshire.
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 443 
 
 stood porter at the gate, telling, there could be no access till 
 dinner was over. This answer not satisfying the king, he sent 
 to demand access a second time ; upon which he was desired 
 by the porter to desist, otherwise he would find cause to re- 
 pent his rudeness. His majesty tinding this method would not 
 do, desired the porter to tell his master that the Goodman of 
 Ballageigh desired to speak with the King of Kippen. The 
 porter telling Arnpryor so much, he, in all humble manner, 
 came and received the king, and having entertained him with 
 much sumptuousness and jollity, became so agreeable to King 
 James, that he allowed him to take so much of any provision 
 he foimd carrying that road as he had occasion for ; and seeing 
 he made the first visit, desired Arnpryor in a few days to re- 
 turn him a second to Stirling, which he perfonne<l, and conti- 
 nued in very much favour with the king, always thereafter be- 
 ing termed King of Kippen while he lived/'— Buchanan's 
 Essay upon the Family of Buchanan. Edim 1775, 8vo, p. 74. 
 The readers of Ariosto must give credit for the amiable fea- 
 tures with which he is represented, since he is generally con- 
 sidered as the protot}-pe of Zerbino, the most interesting hero 
 of the Orlando Furioso. 
 
 Note VI. 
 Stirling's tower 
 
 Of yore the name of Snoivdoun claims.— V. 292. 
 William of Worcester, who wrote about the middle of the
 
 444 NOTES TO 
 
 fifteenth century, calls Stirling Castle Snowdoun. Sir David 
 Lindsay bestows the same epithet upon it in his Complaint of 
 the Papingo : 
 
 Adieu, fair Snawdoun, with thy towers high, 
 Thy chaple-royal, park, and table round ; 
 May, June, and July, would I dwell in thee. 
 Were I a man, to hear the birdis soimd, 
 Whilk doth againe thy royal rock rebound. 
 
 Mr Chalmers, in his late excellent edition of Sir David 
 Lindsay's works, has refuted the chimerical derivation of Snaw- 
 doun from snedding, or cutting. It was probably derived from 
 the romantic legend which connected Stirling with King Ar- 
 thur, to which the mention of the Round Table gives counte- 
 nance. The ring within which justs were formerly practised, 
 in the castle park, is still called the Round Table. Snawdoun 
 is the official title of one of the Scottish heralds, whose epithets 
 seem in all countries to have been fantasticahy adopted from 
 ancient historj' or romance. 
 
 It appears from the preceding note, that the real name by 
 which James was actually distinguished in his private excur- 
 sions, was the Goodman of Badlenguich ; derived from a steep 
 pass leading up to the Castle of Stirling, so called. But the 
 epithet would not have suited poetrj', and would besides at
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 445 
 
 once, and prematurely, have announced the plot to many of 
 my countrymen, among whom the traditional stories above 
 mentioned are still current. 
 
 The Author has to apologise for the inadvertent appropria- 
 tion of a whole line from the tragedy of Douglas, 
 
 " I hold the first who strikes, my foe." 
 
 THE END. 
 
 EDINBURGH : 
 
 PRINTED BY ANDREW SHOKTREED, 
 
 THISTLE LANE.
 
 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY