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THE LADY OF THE LAKE 
 
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 From tile paiiitinif t>y Sir Thonias Lawrence (1820), now at Windsor Castle. 
 
SCOTT'S 
 
 LADY OF THE LAKE 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 EDWIN GINN 
 
 BOSTON, U.S.A. 
 
 GINN & ( OMPANY, PUBLISHERS 
 
 Cbe atl)en8eum press 
 
 1903 
 
THE LIBRARY OF 
 CONGRESS. 
 
 Two Copies Receiveo 
 
 JUN 2G 1903 
 
 Copyiignt bntry 
 CLASS a- XXc. No. 
 
 Go %€%- 
 
 COPY B. 
 
 Copyright, 1884, 1903, by 
 EDWIN GINN 
 
 'V> 
 
 Tf 
 
 
 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 
 
PREFACE 
 
 This edition of '' The Lady of the Lake," originally 
 prepared for young children, has now been revised to 
 bring it into conformity with the other numbers in the 
 Standard English Classics Series. Many of the simpler 
 notes have been omitted, and such changes have been 
 made in the introductory matter as to complete what- 
 ever apparatus is needed in studying so simple a book. 
 The general method has been retained. 
 
 In abridging and quoting from Scott and other writers, 
 we have used their own language without change as 
 far as possible, thinking it better to retain the original 
 vigorous expression, at the risk sometimes of its being 
 a little abrupt, than to restate the thought less forcibly 
 in a smoother connection of sentences. 
 
 We regret that no more space could be allowed for 
 the biography, but we trust enough has been given to 
 lead the pupil to read Lockhart's complete biography 
 of Scott. Great as he appears in his works, his real 
 grandeur is shown in his quiet, unassuming life, in his 
 unselfish devotion to the comforts of others, and in 
 his heroic struggle, when crippled with disease, against 
 adverse fortune. The text of Dr. Rolfe has been 
 employed by permission. 
 
 Boston, April, 1903. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 Life of Walter Scott : Page 
 
 I. Abridged from his Autobiography . . ix 
 
 II. Abridged mainly from Lockhart and Hutton xx 
 
 III. A Tribute from Lockhart .... xxx 
 
 The Lady of the Lake : 
 
 I. The Highlanders and Borderers — James V xxxiv 
 
 II. Scott's Introduction (1830) . . . . xlv 
 
 III. The Poem li 
 
 Table of Scott's Life and Works .... liii 
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE 
 
 Argument i 
 
 Map 2 
 
 Canto I. The Chase 3 
 
 11. The Island 37 
 
 III. The Gathering y^ 
 
 IV. The Prophecy 108 
 
 V. The Combat 142 
 
 VI. The Guard-Room 178 
 
 Index to Notes 213 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 LIFE OF WALTER SCOTT 
 
 \^A bridged from his Autobiography^ 
 
 Walter Scott, my father, was born in 1729, and educated 
 to the profession of a Writer to the Signet.-^ I was born, as I 
 believe, on the 15th August, 1771. I showed every sign of 
 health and strength until I was about eighteen months old. 
 One night, I have been often told, I showed great reluctance 
 to be caught and put to bed ; and after being chased about 
 the room was apprehended and consigned to my dormitory 
 with some difficulty. It was the last time I was to show such 
 personal agility. In the morning I was discovered to be 
 affected with the fever which often accompanies the cutting 
 of large teeth. It held me three days. On the fourth, when 
 they went to bathe me as usual, they discovered that I had 
 lost the power of my right leg. My grandfather, an excellent 
 anatomist as well as physician, the late worthy Alexander 
 Wood, and many others of the most respectable of the faculty, 
 were consulted. There appeared to be no dislocation or 
 sprain; blisters and other topical remedies were applied in 
 vain. The advice of my grandfather, Dr. Rutherford, that I 
 should be sent to reside in the country, to give the chance of 
 ^An Edinburgh solicitor. 
 
X THE LADY OF THE LAKE 
 
 natural exertion, excited by free air and liberty, was first 
 resorted to ; and before I have the recollection of the slightest 
 event I was, agreeably to this friendly counsel, an inmate in 
 the farmhouse of Sandy- Knowe. 
 
 It is here at Sandy-Knowe, in the residence of my paternal 
 grandfather, already mentioned, that I have the first conscious- 
 ness of existence. 
 
 My grandmother, in whose youth the old Border depreda- 
 tions were matter of recent tradition, used to tell me many a 
 tale of Watt of Harden, Wight Willie of Aikwood, Jamie Telfer 
 of the fair Dodhead, and other heroes, — merrymen all of the 
 persuasion and calling of Robin Hood and Little John. Two 
 or three old books which lay in the window seat were explored 
 for my amusement in the tedious winter days. Automathes and 
 Ramsay's Tea-table Aliscellany were my favorites, although at 
 a later period an odd volume of Josephus's Wars of the Jews 
 divided my partiality. 
 
 My kind and affectionate aunt. Miss Janet Scott, whose 
 memory will ever be dear to me, used to read these works to 
 me with admirable patience, until I could repeat long passages 
 by heart. The ballad of Hardyknute I was early master of, 
 to the great annoyance of almost our only visitor, the worthy 
 clergyman of the parish. Dr. Duncan, who had not patience 
 to have a sober chat interrupted by my shouting forth this 
 ditty. Methinks I now see his tall, thin, emaciated figure, 
 his legs cased in clasped gambadoes, and his face of a length 
 that would have rivaled the Knight of La Mancha's, and hear 
 him exclaiming, " One may as well speak in the mouth of a 
 cannon as where that child is." 
 
 I was in my fourth year when my father was advised that 
 the Bath waters might be of some advantage to my lame- 
 ness. My affectionate aunt, although such a journey promised 
 to a person of her retired habits anything but pleasure or 
 
INTRODUCTION xi 
 
 amusement, undertook as readily to accompany me to the wells 
 of Bladud as if she had expected all the delight that ever the 
 prospect of a watering place held out to its most impatient 
 visitants. My health was by this time a good deal confirmed 
 by the country air and the influence of that imperceptible and 
 unfatiguing exercise to which the good sense of my grand- 
 father had subjected me ; for, when the day was fine, I was 
 usually carried out and laid down beside the old shepherd, 
 among the crags or rocks round which he fed his sheep. The 
 impatience of a child soon inclined me to struggle with my 
 infirmity, and I began by degrees to stared, to walk, and to 
 run. Although the limb affected was much shrunk and con- 
 tracted, my general health, which was of more importance, 
 was much strengthened by being frequently in the open air; 
 and, in a word, I, who in a city had probably been condemned 
 to hopeless and helpless decrepitude, was now a healthy, high- 
 spirited, and, my lameness apart, a sturdy child. 
 
 During my residence at Bath I acquired the rudiments of 
 reading at a day school kept by an old dame near our lodg- 
 ings, and I had never a more regular teacher, although I 
 think I did not attend her a quarter of a year. An occasional 
 lesson from my aunt supplied the rest. Afterwards, when 
 grown a big boy, I had a few lessons from Mr. Stalker of 
 Edinburgh, and finally from the Rev. Mr. Cleeve. But I 
 never acquired a just pronunciation, nor could I read with 
 much propriety. 
 
 The most delightful recollections of Bath are dated after 
 the arrival of my uncle. Captain Robert Scott, v/ho introduced 
 me to all the little amusements which suited my age, and, 
 above all, to the theater. The play was As Yok Like It ; 
 and the witchery of the whole scene is alive in my mind at 
 this moment. I made, I believe, noise more than enough, 
 and remember being so much scandalized at the quarrel 
 
XU THE LADY OF THE LAKE 
 
 between Orlando and his brother, m the first scene, that I 
 screamed out, " A'n't they brothers?" A few weeks' resi- 
 dence at home convinced me, who had till then been an only 
 child in the house of my grandfather, that a quarrel between 
 brothers was a very natural event. 
 
 After being a year at Bath I returned first to Edinburgh, 
 and afterwards for a season to Sandy-Knowe ; and thus the 
 time whiled away till about my eighth year, when it was 
 thought sea bathing might be of service to my lameness. 
 
 For this purpose, still under my aunt's protection, I remained 
 some weeks at Prestonpans, — a circumstance not worth men- 
 tioning, excepting to record my juvenile intimacy with an old 
 military veteran, Dalgetty by name, who had pitched his tent 
 in that little village, after all his campaigns, subsisting upon 
 an ensign's half pay, though called by courtesy a Captain. 
 As this old gentleman, who had been in all the German wars, 
 found very few to listen to his tales of military feats, he 
 formed a sort of alliance with me, and I used invariably to 
 attend him for the pleasure of hearing those communications. 
 Sometimes our conversation turned on the American war, 
 which was then raging. It was about the time of Burgoyne's 
 unfortunate expedition, to which my Captain and I augured 
 different conclusions. Somebody had shown me a map of 
 North America, and, struck with the rugged appearance of 
 the country and the quantity of lakes, I expressed some 
 doubts on the subject of the General's arriving safely at the 
 end of his journey, which were very indignantly refuted by 
 the Captain. The news of the Saratoga disaster, while it gave 
 me a little triumph, rather shook my intimacy with the veteran. 
 
 Besides this veteran, I found another ally at Prestonpans in 
 the person of George Constable, an old friend of my father's. 
 He was the first person who told me about Falstaff and Hot- 
 spur, and other characters in Shakespeare. What idea I 
 
INTRODUCTION xiii 
 
 annexed to them I know not, but I must have annexed some, 
 for I remember quite well being interested in the subject. 
 Indeed, I rather suspect that children derive impulses of a 
 powerful and important kind in hearing things which they 
 cannot entirely comprehend ; and, therefore, that to write 
 dowfi to children's understanding is a mistake : set them on 
 the scent, and let them puzzle it out. 
 
 From Prestonpans I was transported back to my father's 
 house in George's Square, which continued to be my most 
 estabHshed place of residence until my marriage in 1797. I 
 felt the change, from being a single indulged brat to becom- 
 ing a member of a large family, very severely ; for, under the 
 gentle government of my kind grandmother, who was meek- 
 ness itself, and of my aunt, who, though of an higher temper, 
 was exceedingly attached to me, I had acquired a degree of 
 license which could not be permitted in a large family. I 
 had sense enough, however, to bend my temper to my new 
 circumstances ; but, such was the agony which I internally 
 experienced, that I have guarded against nothing more, in 
 the education of my own family, than against their acquiring 
 habits of self-willed caprice and domination. I found much 
 consolation, during this period of mortification, in the par- 
 tiality of my mother. She joined to a hght and happy tem- 
 per of mind a strong turn to study poetry and works of 
 imagination. 
 
 My lameness and my solitary habits had made me a toler- 
 able reader, and my hours of leisure were usually spent in read- 
 ing aloud to my mother Pope's translation of Homer, which, 
 excepting a few traditionary ballads, and the songs in Allan 
 Ramsay's Evergree?t, was the first poetry which I perused. 
 My mother had good natural taste and great feehng : she 
 used to make me pause upon those passages which expressed 
 generous and worthy sentiments, and, if she could not divert 
 
xiv THE LADY OF THE LAKE 
 
 me from those which were descriptive of battle and tumult, 
 she contrived at least to divide my attention between them. 
 My own enthusiasm, however, was chiefly awakened by the 
 wonderful and the terrible — the common taste of children, 
 but in which I have remained a child even unto this day. I 
 got by heart, not as a task, but almost without intending it, 
 the passages with which I was most pleased, and used to 
 recite them aloud, both when alone and to others — more 
 wilHngly, however, in my hours of solitude, for I had observed 
 some auditors smile, and I dreaded ridicule at that time of 
 life more than I have ever done since. 
 
 In 1778 I was sent to the second class of the Grammar 
 School, or High School of Edinburgh, then taught by Mr. 
 Luke Eraser, a good Latin scholar and a very worthy man. 
 Though I had received, with my brothers, in private, lessons 
 of Latin from Mr. James French, now a minister of the Kirk 
 of Scotland, I was nevertheless rather behind the class in 
 which I was placed both in years and in progress. This was 
 a real disadvantage, and one to which a boy of lively temper 
 and talents ought to be as little exposed as one who might be 
 less expected to make up his leeway, as it is called. The 
 situation has the unfortunate effect of reconciling a boy of 
 the former character (which in a posthumous work I may 
 claim for my own) to holding a subordinate station among his 
 class fellows — to which he would otherwise affix disgrace. 
 There is also, from the constitution of the High School, a cer- 
 tain danger not sufficiently attended to. The boys take pre- 
 cedence in their places^ as they are called, according to their 
 merit, and it requires a long while, in general, before even a 
 clever boy, if he falls behind the class, or is put into one for 
 which he is not quite ready, can force his way to the situation 
 which his abilities really entitle him to hold. But, in the 
 meanwhile, he is necessarily led to be the associate and 
 
INTRODUCTION XV 
 
 companion of those inferior spirits with whom he is placed ; 
 for the system of precedence, though it does not hmit the gen- 
 eral intercourse among the boys, has nevertheless the effect 
 of throwing them into clubs and coteries, according to the 
 vicinity of the seats they hold. A boy of good talents, there- 
 fore, placed even for a time among his inferiors, especially if 
 they be also his elders, learns to participate in their pursuits 
 and objects of ambition, which are usually very distinct from 
 the acquisition of learning; and it will be well if he does 
 not also imitate them in that indifference which is contented 
 with busthng over a lesson so as to avoid punishment, without 
 affecting superiority or aiming at reward. It was probably 
 owing to this circumstance, that, although at a more advanced 
 period of life I have enjoyed considerable facility in acquiring 
 languages, I did not make any great figure at the High School ; 
 or, at least, any exertions which I made were desultory and 
 Httle to be depended on. 
 
 Our class contained some very excellent scholars. As for 
 myself, I glanced like a meteor from one end of the class to 
 the other, and commonly disgusted my kind master as much 
 by negligence and frivolity as I occasionally pleased him by 
 flashes of intellect and talent. Among my companions my 
 good nature and a flow of ready imagination rendered me 
 very popular. Boys are uncommonly just in their feelings, 
 and at least equally generous. My lameness, and the efforts 
 which I made to su])ply that disadvantage, by making up in 
 address what I wanted in activity, engaged the latter principle 
 in my favor ; and in the winter play hours, when hard exercise 
 was impossible, my tales used to assemble an admiring audi- 
 ence round Lucky Brown's fireside, and happy was he that 
 could sit next to the inexhaustible narrator. I was also, 
 though often negligent of my own task, always ready to assist 
 my friends ; and hence I had a Httle party of stanch partisans 
 
XVI THE LADY OF THE LAKE 
 
 and adherents, stout of hand and heart, though somewhat dull 
 of head, — the very tools for raising a hero to eminence. So, 
 on the whole, I made a brighter figure in the yards than in 
 the class. 
 
 After having been three years under Mr. Eraser, our class was, 
 in the usual routine of the school, turned over to Dr. Adam, 
 the Rector. It was from this respectable man that I first 
 learned the value of the knowledge I had hitherto considered 
 only as a burdensome task. It was the fashion to remain two 
 years at his class, where we read Caesar and Livy and Sallust, 
 in prose; Virgil, Horace, and Terence, in verse. I had by 
 this time mastered, in some degree, the difficulties of the lan- 
 guage, and began to be sensible of its beauties. This was 
 really gathering grapes from thistles ; nor shall I soon forget 
 the swelling of my little pride when the Rector pronounced, 
 that though many of my school-fellows understood the Latin 
 better, Gualterus Scott was behind few in following and enjoy- 
 ing the author's meaning. Thus encouraged, I distinguished 
 myself by some attempts at poetical versions from Horace and 
 Virgil. Dr. Adam used to invite his scholars to such essays, 
 but never made them tasks. I gained some distinction upon 
 these occasions, and the Rector in future took much notice 
 of me ; and his judicious mixture of censure and praise went 
 far to counterbalance my habits of indolence and inattention. 
 I saw I was expected to do well, and I was piqued in honor 
 to vindicate my master's favorable opinion. I climbed, there- 
 fore, to the first form ; and, though I never made a first-rate 
 Latinist, my school-fellows, and what was of more consequence, 
 I myself, considered that I had a character for learning to 
 maintain. 
 
 From Dr. Adam's class I should, according to the usual rou- 
 tine, have proceeded immediately to college. But, fortunately, 
 I was not yet to lose, by a total dismission from constraint. 
 
INTRODUCTION xvii 
 
 the acquaintance with the Latin which I had acquired. My 
 health had become rather deUcate from rapid growth, and my 
 father was easily persuaded to allow me to spend half a year at 
 Kelso with my kind aunt, Miss Janet Scott, whose inmate I 
 again became. It was hardly worth mentioning that I had 
 frequently visited her during our short vacations. 
 
 In the meanwhile my acquaintance with EngHsh literature 
 was gradually extending itself. In the intervals of my school 
 hours I had always perused with avidity such books of history 
 or poetry or voyages and travels as chance presented to me, 
 — not forgetting the usual, or rather ten times the usual, 
 quantity of fairy tales, eastern stories, romances, etc. These 
 studies were totally unregulated and undirected. My tutor 
 thought it almost a sin to open a profane play or poem ; and 
 my mother, besides that she might be in some degree tram- 
 meled by the religious scruples which he suggested, had no 
 longer the opportunity to hear me read poetry as formerly. 
 I found, however, in her dressing room (where I slept at one 
 time) some odd volumes of Shakespeare ; nor can I easily for- 
 get the rapture with which I sate up in my shirt reading them 
 by the light of a fire in her apartment, until the bustle of the 
 family rising from supper warned me it was time to creep back 
 to my bed, where I was supposed to have been safely deposited 
 since nine o'clock. Chance, however, threw in my way a 
 poetical preceptor. This was no other than the excellent and 
 benevolent Dr. Blacklock, well known at that time as a literary 
 character. I know not how I attracted his attention, and that 
 of some of the young men who boarded in his family ; but so 
 it was that I became a frequent and favored guest. The kind 
 old man opened to me the stores of his library, and through his 
 recommendation I became intimate with Ossian and Spenser. 
 I was delighted with both, yet I think chiefly with the latter 
 poet. The tawdry repetitions of the Ossianic phraseology 
 
xvili THE LADY OF THE LAKE 
 
 disgusted me rather sooner than might have been expected from 
 my age. But Spenser I could have read forever. Too young 
 to trouble myself about the allegory, I considered all the 
 knights and ladies and dragons and giants in their outward 
 and exoteric sense, and God only knows how delighted I was 
 to find myself in such society. As I had always a wonderful 
 facility in retaining in my memory whatever verses pleased 
 me, the quantity of Spenser's stanzas which I could repeat 
 was really marvelous. But this memory of mine was a very 
 fickle ally, and has through my whole life acted merely upon 
 its own capricious motion, and might have enabled me to 
 adopt old Beattie of Meikledale's answer, when complimented 
 by a certain reverend divine on the strength of the same 
 faculty : " No, sir," answered the old Borderer, " I have no 
 command of my memory. It only retains what hits my fancy ; 
 and probably, sir, if you were to preach to me for two hours, 
 I would not be able when you finished to remember a word 
 you had been saying." My memory was precisely of the 
 same kind : it seldom failed to preserve most tenaciously a 
 favorite passage of poetry, a play-house ditty, or, above all, 
 a Border-raid ballad ; but names, dates, and the other techni- 
 calities of history escaped me in a most melancholy degree. 
 The philosophy of history, a much more important subject, 
 was also a sealed book at this period of my life ; but I gradu- 
 ally assembled much of what was striking and picturesque 
 in historical narrative ; and when, in riper years, I attended 
 more to the deduction of general principles, I was furnished 
 with a powerful host of examples in illustration of them. I 
 was, in short, like an ignorant gamester, who kept up a good 
 hand until he knew how to play it. 
 
 I left the High School, therefore, with a great quantity of 
 general information, ill arranged, indeed, and collected with- 
 out system ; yet deeply impressed upon my mind, readily 
 
INTRODUCTION xix 
 
 assorted by my power of connection and memory, and gilded, 
 if I may be permitted to say so, by a vivid and active imagi- 
 nation. If my studies were not under any direction at Edin- 
 burgh, in the country, it may be well imagined, they were less 
 so. A respectable subscription Hbrary, a circulating library of 
 ancient standing, and some private bookshelves were open to 
 my random perusal, and I waded into the stream Hke a blind 
 man into a ford, without the power of searching my way, unless 
 by groping for it. My appetite for books was as ample and 
 indiscriminating as it was indefatigable, and I since have had 
 too frequently reason to repent that few ever read so much, 
 and to so little purpose. 
 
 Among the valuable acquisitions I made about this time 
 was an acquaintance with Tasso's Jerusalem Delivered. But, 
 above all, I then first became acquainted with Bishop Percy's 
 Reliques of Ancient Poetry, I remember well the spot where 
 I read these volumes for the first time. It was beneath a huge 
 platanus tree, in the ruins of what had been intended for an 
 old-fashioned arbor in the garden I have mentioned. The 
 summer day sped onward so fast, that, notwithstanding the 
 sharp appetite of thirteen, I forgot the hour of dinner, was 
 sought for with anxiety, and was still found entranced in my 
 intellectual banquet. To read and to remember was in this 
 instance the same thing, and henceforth I overwhelmed my 
 school- fellows, and all who would hearken to me, with tragical 
 recitations from the ballads of Bishop Percy. The first time, 
 too, I could scrape a few shillings together, which were not 
 common occurrences with me, I bought unto myself a copy of 
 these beloved volumes ; nor do I believe I ever read a book 
 half so frequently or with half the enthusiasm. About this 
 period also I became acquainted with the works of Richardson, 
 and those of Mackenzie, with Fielding, Smollett, and some 
 others of our best novelists. 
 
XX THE LADY OF THE LAKE 
 
 To this period also I can trace distinctly the awaking of 
 that delightful feeling for the beauties of natural objects which 
 has never since deserted me. The neighborhood of Kelso, the 
 most beautiful, if not the most romantic village in Scotland, is 
 eminently calculated to awaken these ideas. 
 
 From this time the love of natural beauty, more especially 
 when combined with ancient ruins, or remains of our fathers' 
 piety or splendor, became with me an insatiable passion, which, 
 if circumstances had permitted, I would willingly have gratified 
 by traveling over half the globe. 
 
 If, however, it should ever fall to the lot of youth to peruse 
 these pages — let such a reader remember that it is with the 
 deepest regret that I recollect in my manhood the opportu- 
 nities of learning which I neglected in my youth ; that through 
 every part of my literary career I have felt pinched and ham- 
 pered by my own ignorance ; and that I would at this moment 
 give half the reputation I have had the good fortune to acquire, 
 if by doing so I could rest the remaining part upon a sound 
 foundation of learning and science. 
 
 II 
 
 \_Abridged mainly from Lockhart and Hutton\ 
 
 As Scott grew up, entered the classes of the college, and 
 began his legal studies, first as apprentice to his father, and 
 then in the law classes of the University, he became noticeable 
 to all his friends for his gigantic memory and the rich stores 
 of romantic material with which it was loaded. 
 
 His reading was almost all in the direction of military 
 exploit, or romance and mediaeval legend and the later Bor- 
 der songs of his own country. He learned Italian and read 
 Ariosto. Later he learned Spanish and devoured Cervantes, 
 
INTRODUCTION xxi 
 
 whose " novdas,'' ^ he said, " first inspired him with the ambi- 
 tion to excel in fiction " ; and all that he read and admired 
 he remembered. 
 
 It might be supposed that, with these romantic tastes, Scott 
 could scarcely have made much of a lawyer, though the infer- 
 ence would, I believe, be quite mistaken. His father, how- 
 ever, reproached him with being better fitted for a peddler than 
 a lawyer, — so persistently did he trudge over all the neigh- 
 boring counties in search of the beauties of nature and the 
 historic associations of battle, siege, or legend. 
 
 In spite of all this love of excitement Scott became a sound 
 lawyer, and might have been a great one had not his pride of 
 character, the impatience of his genius, and the stir of his 
 imagination rendered him indisposed to wait and slave in the 
 precise manner which the prepossessions of solicitors appoint. 
 
 He continued to practice at the bar — nominally at least — 
 for fourteen years, but the life of literature and the Hfe of the 
 bar hardly ever suit, and in Scott's case they suited the less, 
 that he felt himself likely to be a dictator in the one field, and 
 only a postulant in the other. Literature was a far greater 
 gainer by his choice than law could have been a loser. For 
 his capacity for the law he shared with thousands of able men, 
 his capacity for Hterature with few or none. 
 
 Love and Marriage 
 
 One Sunday, about two years before his call to the bar, 
 Scott offered his umbrella to a young lady of much beauty 
 who was coming out of the Greyfriars Church during a shower. 
 The umbrella was graciously accepted ; and it was not an 
 unprecedented consequence that Scott fell in love with the 
 borrower, who turned out to be Margaret, daughter of Sir John 
 1 Novelas. Novels or romances. 
 
xxil THE LADY OF THE LAKE 
 
 and Lady Jane Stuart Belches, of Ivernay. For near six years 
 after this, Scott indulged the hope of marrying this lady, and 
 it does not seem doubtful that the lady herself was in part 
 responsible for this impression. 
 
 For some reason this strong attachment was broken off. It 
 may have been on account of some disagreement between the 
 young people themselves, but most hkely from a difference in 
 the rank of the parties. It was his first and only deep pas- 
 sion, so far as ever can be known to us, and had a great 
 influence on his after Hfe, both in keeping him free from 
 some of the most dangerous temptations in life during his 
 youth, and in creating in him an interior world of dreams and 
 recollections, on which his imagination was continually fed. 
 
 The pride which was always so notable a feature in Scott 
 probably sustained him through the keen inward pain which 
 it is very certain from a great many of his own words that he 
 must have suffered in this uprooting of his most passionate 
 hopes. And it was in part probably the same pride which led 
 him to form within the year a new tie, his engagement to 
 Mademoiselle Charpentier, or Miss Carpenter, as she was 
 usually called, the daughter of a French royaHst of Lyons who 
 had died early in the revolution. 
 
 She made on the whole a very good wife, only one to be pro- 
 tected by him from every care, and not one to share Scott's 
 deeper anxieties or to participate in his dreams. 
 
 Border Minstrelsy and Maturer Poems 
 
 Ever since his earUest college days Scott had been collect- 
 ing, in those excursions of his into Liddesdale and elsewhere, 
 materials for a book on The Mifistrelsy of the Scottish Border ; 
 and the pubHcation of this work, in January, 1802, was his first 
 great hterary success. The whole edition of eight hundred 
 
INTRODUCTION xxiii 
 
 copies was sold within the year, while the skill and care which 
 Scott had devoted to the historical illustration of the ballads, 
 and the force and spirit of his own new ballads, written in 
 imitation of the old, gained him at once a very high literary 
 name. And the name was well deserved. 
 
 Scott's genius flowered late. It was not until he was already 
 thirty-one years of age that he wrote the first canto of his first 
 great romance in verse. The Lay of the Last Minstrel. Jeffrey 
 says of the three poems : ''The Lay, if I may venture to state 
 the creed now estabhshed, is, I should say, generally considered 
 as the most natural and original, Marmion as the most power- 
 ful and splendid, The Lady of the Lake as the most interesting, 
 romantic, picturesque, and graceful of his great poems." 
 
 It is in painting those moods and exploits, in relation to 
 which Scott shares most completely the feelings of ordinary 
 men, but experiences them with far greater strength and purity 
 than ordinary men, that he triumphs as a poet. 
 
 His romance is like his native scenery, — bold, bare, and 
 rugged, with a swift, deep stream of strong, pure feeling run- 
 ning through it. There is plenty of color in his pictures, as 
 there is on the Scotch hills when the heather is out. And so 
 too there is plenty of intensity in his romantic situations ; but 
 it is the intensity of simple, natural, unsophisticated, hardy, 
 and manly characters. 
 
 Partnership with the Ballantyne Brothers 
 
 Before proceeding further with Scott's Hfe, it may be well 
 to mention briefly his commercial relations with the Ballan- 
 tyne Brothers, which had such an important bearing on the 
 rest of his Hfe. 
 
 About the year 1805, before he had any idea of the gains 
 he might derive from his writings, and while his income from 
 
xxiv THE LADY OF THE LAKE 
 
 other sources was very limited, he formally, but secretly, 
 entered into the printing business as a partner with his old 
 schoolmate, James Ballantyne. 
 
 Although Ballantyne kept his accounts in a loose way, he 
 otherwise managed the business fairly well ; and it might have 
 proved a good investment had not Scott soon after, in order 
 to furnish work to the printing office, engaged in the publishing 
 and bookselling business with John Ballantyne. 
 
 Great risks attend this business, requiring good financial 
 ability, a large acquaintance with men, sound judgment, and 
 close application ; yet Scott selected a frivolous man of 
 pleasure, with neither character nor capacity, as a partner, 
 relying probably on his own judgment for managing the pub- 
 lishing house. For such a task he was wholly unfitted. 
 Because he was fond of antiquarian and historical researches, 
 he supposed the people were eager for such reading ; and 
 because some of his friends desired to write unsalable books, 
 he could not refuse to publish them. It is not sufficient for 
 a publisher to ascertain that the book offered is a good one, 
 but he must know whether it is so well adapted to the times 
 and the wants of the community as to command a reasonable 
 sale. 
 
 Besides the firm's making so many bad investments, John 
 Ballantyne was squandering its money in dissipation, so that 
 Scott was kept in constant fear of bankruptcy all through the 
 years 1813 and 18 14; and it was not until the publication of 
 Waverley, opening up the richest vein in his own genius and 
 popularity, that these alarms were ended. 
 
 So great was the success of this novel that the leading pub- 
 lishers were very eager to purchase a share in it and subse- 
 quent issues. Constable, of Edinburgh, secured the works, 
 but on condition that he should buy also a large part of the 
 worthless stock of John Ballantyne & Co. This sale enabled 
 
INTRODUCTION xxv 
 
 Scott to wind up that unfortunate enterprise fairly well, 
 although the printing house of James Ballantyne & Co. still 
 held some of their notes, and Constable, on whom he was 
 depending for money to extend his estate, build his castle, 
 and pay his other expenses, was seriously crippled by the 
 purchase of all this unsalable stock. 
 
 The Waverley Novels 
 
 In the summer of 1814 Scott took up again and completed 
 — almost at a single heat — a fragment of a Jacobite story 
 begun in 1805 and then laid aside. It was published anony- 
 mously, and its astonishing success turned back again the scales 
 of Scott's fortunes, already inclining ominously towards a 
 catastrophe. This story was Waverley. 
 
 Scott's method of composition was always the same ; and, 
 when writing an imaginative work, the rate of progress seems 
 to have been pretty even, depending much more on the 
 absence of disturbing engagements than on any mental- irregu- 
 larity. The morning was always his brightest time ; but morn- 
 ing or evening, in country or in town, well or ill, writing with 
 his own pen or dictating to an amanuensis in the intervals 
 of screaming fits due to the torture of cramp in the stomach, 
 Scott spun away at his imaginative web almost as evenly as a 
 silkworm spins at its golden cocoon. 
 
 In the fourteen most effective years of Scott's literary life, 
 during which he wrote twenty-three novels besides shorter 
 tales, the best stories appear to have been on the whole the 
 most rapidly written, probably because they took the strongest 
 hold of the author's imagination. 
 
 But though, to our larger experience, Scott's achievement, 
 in respect of mere fertiHty, is by no means the miracle which 
 it once seemed, I do not think one of his successors can 
 
xxvi THE LADY OF THE LAKE 
 
 compare with him for a moment in the ease and truth with which 
 he painted, not merely the hfe of his own time and country, — 
 seldom indeed that of precisely his own time, — but that of 
 days long past, and often, too, of scenes far distant. The most 
 powerful of all his stories, Old Mortality^ was the story of a 
 period more than a century and a quarter before he wrote ; 
 and others — which, though inferior to this in force, are never- 
 theless, when compared with the so-called historical romances 
 of any other Enghsh writer, what sunlight is to moonlight, if 
 you can say as much for the latter as to admit even that com- 
 parison — go back to the period of the Tudors, that is, two 
 centuries and a half. Quentin Durward runs back farther still, 
 far into the previous century, while Ivan/we and The Talisman 
 carry us back more than five hundred years. 
 
 The most striking feature of Scott's romances is that, for 
 the most part, they are pivoted on public rather than mere 
 private interests and passions. With but few exceptions — 
 (^The Antiquary, St. Rona7i^s Well, and Guy Ma?tnering are 
 the most important) — Scott's novels gives us an imaginative 
 view, not of mere individuals, but of individuals as they are 
 affected by the public strifes and social divisions of the age. 
 No man can read Scott without being more of a public man. 
 
 Scott in Adversity 
 
 With the year 1825 came a financial crisis, and Constable 
 began to tremble for his solvency. From the date of his 
 baronetcy (1820), Sir Walter had launched out into a con- 
 siderable increase of expenditure. He got plans on a rather 
 large scale in 182 1 for the extension of Abbotsford, which 
 were all carried out. To meet his expenses in this and other 
 ways he received Constable's bills for " four unnamed works 
 of fiction," of which he had not written a line. 
 
INTRODUCTION xxvii 
 
 Nor were the obligations he incurred on his own account, 
 and that of his family, the only ones by which he was burdened. 
 He was always incurring expenses, often heavy expenses, for 
 other people. Such obligations, however, would have been 
 nothing when compared with Sir Walter's means, had all his bills 
 on Constable been duly honored, and had not the printing firm 
 of Ballantyne and Co. been so deeply involved with Constable's 
 house that it necessarily became insolvent when he stopped. 
 Taken altogether, I believe that Sir Walter earned during his 
 own lifetime at least ^140,000 by his literary work alone, 
 probably more ; while even on his land and building combined 
 he did not apparently spend more than half that sum. 
 
 Thus even his loss of the price of several novels by Con- 
 stable's failure would not seriously have compromised Scott's 
 position, but for his share in the printing house, which fell 
 with Constable, and the obligations of which amounted to 
 
 ;^II7,000. 
 
 As Scott had always forestalled his income, — spending the 
 purchase-money of his poems and novels before they were 
 written, — such a failure as this, at the age of fifty-five, when 
 all the freshness of his youth was gone out of him, when he 
 saw his son's prospects blighted as well as his own, and knew 
 perfectly that James Ballantyne, unassisted by him, could 
 never hope to pay any fraction of the debt worth mentioning, 
 would have been paralyzing, had he not been a man of iron 
 nerve, and of a pride and courage hardly ever equaled. 
 Domestic' calamity, too, was not far off. For two years he 
 had been watching the failure of his wife's health with increas- 
 ing anxiety, and, as calamities seldom come single, her illness 
 took a most serious form at the very time when the blow fell, 
 and she died within four months of the failure. Nay, Scott 
 was himself unwell at the critical moment, and was taking 
 sedatives which discomposed his brain. 
 
xxviii THE LADY OF THE LAKE 
 
 And this was Scott's preparation for his failure, and the 
 bold resolve which followed it, — to work for his creditors as 
 he had worked for himself, and to pay off, if possible, the 
 whole ^117,000 by his own literary exertions. 
 
 His estate was conveyed to trustees for the benefit of his 
 creditors till such time as he should pay off Ballantyne and 
 Co.'s debt, which of course in his lifetime he never did. Yet 
 between January, 1826, and January, 1828, he earned for his 
 creditors very nearly ^£40,000. Woodstock sold for ^8228, 
 "a matchless sale," as Sir Walter remarked, "for less than 
 three mionths' work." Had Sir Walter's health lasted, he 
 would have redeemed his obligations on behalf of Ballantyne 
 and Co. within eight or nine years at most from the time 
 of his failure. But what is more remarkable still is that after 
 his health failed he struggled on with little more than half a 
 brain, but a whole will, to work while it was yet day, though 
 the evening was dropping fast. 
 
 Not only did he row much harder against the stream of 
 fortune than he had ever rowed with it, but, what required 
 still more resolution, he fought on against the growing con- 
 viction that his imagination would not kindle, as it used to 
 do, to its old heat. 
 
 He struggled on even to the end, and did not consent to 
 try the experiment of a voyage and visit to Italy till his imme- 
 diate work was done. But the rest came too late. So intense 
 and continuous had been his application to work that even 
 his very robust constitution was so completely exhausted that 
 it was no longer able to repair the ravages of disease. He 
 spent several months abroad, visiting Malta, Naples, Rome, 
 Venice, and other places of interest, without improvement. 
 He intended to visit Goethe, but the death of the great author 
 at this time changed his plans, increasing his desire for an 
 immediate return home. He sank rapidly, becoming quite 
 
INTRODUCTION xxix 
 
 unconscious during the latter part of the homeward journey, 
 until his eye caught the towers of Abbotsford, when he sprang 
 up with a cry of delight. Mr. Laidlaw, a dear friend, was 
 waiting for him, and he met him with a cry, "■ Ha ! WilHe 
 Laidlaw. O, man, how often I have thought of you ! " His 
 dogs came round his chair, and began to fawn on him and Hck 
 his hands, while Sir Walter smiled or sobbed over them. The 
 next morning he was wheeled about his garden, and on the 
 following morning was out in this way for a couple of hours ; 
 within a day or two he fancied that he could write again, 
 but on taking the pen into his hand his fingers could not 
 clasp it, and he sank back with tears rolhng down his cheek. 
 Later, when Laidlaw said in his hearing that Sir Walter had 
 had a Httle repose, he replied, " No, WilHe ; no repose for 
 Sir Walter but in the grave." As the tears rushed from his 
 eyes, his old pride revived. "Friends," he said, "don't let 
 me expose myself; get me to bed, — that is the only place." 
 A few days afterwards, awaking conscious and composed, he 
 desired to see his son-in-law. " Lockhart," he said, " I may 
 have but a minute to speak to you. My dear, be a good man, 
 — be virtuous, — be religious, — be a good man. Nothing 
 else will give you any comfort when you come to he here." 
 He paused, and Lockhart said, " Shall I send for Sophia and 
 Anne?" ''No," said he, "don't disturb them. Poor souls! 
 I know they were up all night. God bless you all ! " With 
 this he sank into a very tranquil sleep, and, indeed, he scarcely 
 afterwards gave any sign of consciousness. He died Sept. 21, 
 1832, sixty-one years and one month old. 
 
 Well might Lord Chief Baron Shepherd apply to Scott 
 Cicero's description of some contemporary of his own, who 
 " had borne adversity wisely, who had not been broken by 
 fortune, and who, amidst the buffets of fate, had maintained 
 his dignity." There was in Sir Walter, I think, at least as 
 
XXX THE LADY OF THE LAKE 
 
 much of the Stoic as the Christian. But Stoic or Christian, 
 he was a hero of the old indomitable type. Even the last 
 fragments of his imaginative power were all turned to account 
 by that unconquerable will, amidst the discouragement of 
 friends and the still more disheartening doubts of his own 
 mind. Like the headland stemming a rough sea, he was 
 gradually worn away, but never crushed. 
 
 Sir Walter certainly left his <' name unstained," unless the 
 serious mistakes natural to a sanguine temperament such as 
 his are to be counted as stains upon his name ; and if they 
 are, where among the sons of men would you find many 
 unstained names as noble as his with such a stain upon it ? He 
 was not only sensitively honorable in motive, but, when he 
 found what evil his sanguine temper had worked, he used his 
 gigantic powers to repair it, and, as a result of these almost 
 superhuman efforts, within fifteen years after Sir Walter's death, 
 the debt was at last, through the value of the copyrights he 
 had left behind him, finally extinguished, and the small estate 
 of Abbotsford left cleared. Sir Walter's effort to found a new 
 house was even less successful than the effort to endow it. 
 
 The only direct descendant of Sir Walter Scott is now Mary 
 Monica Hope-Scott, who was born on the 2d October, 1852, the 
 grandchild of Mrs. Lockhart, and the great-grandchild of the 
 founder of Abbotsford. 
 
 in 
 
 [A Tribute from Lockhart'] 
 
 " I am drawing near the close of my career ; I am fast 
 shuffling off the stage. I have been perhaps the most volu- 
 minous author of the day ; and it is a comfort to me to think 
 that I have tried to unsettle no man's faith, to corrupt no 
 man's principle." 
 
INTRODUCTION xxxi 
 
 In the social relations of life, where men are most effectually 
 tried, no spot can be detected in him. He was a patient, 
 dutiful, reverent son ; a generous, compassionate, tender hus- 
 band ; an honest, careful, and most affectionate father. Never 
 was a more virtuous or a happier fireside than his. The 
 influence of his mighty genius shadowed it imperceptibly; 
 his calm good sense, and his angelic sweetness of heart and 
 temper, regulated and softened a strict but paternal discipHne. 
 His children, as they grew up, understood by degrees the 
 high privilege of their birth ; but the profoundest sense of his 
 greatness never disturbed their confidence in his goodness. 
 
 Perhaps the most touching evidence of the lasting ten- 
 derness of his early domestic feelings was exhibited to his 
 executors, when they opened his repositories in search of his 
 testament, the evening after his burial. On lifting up his desk, 
 we found arranged in careful order a series of little objects, 
 which had obviously been so placed there that his eye might 
 rest on them every morning before he began his tasks. These 
 were the old-fashioned boxes that had garnished his mother's 
 toilet, when he, a sickly child, slept in her dressing-room ; 
 the silver taper-stand which the young advocate had bought 
 for her with his first five-guinea fee ; a row of small packets 
 inscribed with her hand, and containing the hair of those of 
 her offspring that had died before her ; his father's snuff-box 
 and etui-case ; and more things of the like sort, recalling the 
 " old familiar faces." The same feeling was apparent in all 
 the arrangement of his private apartment. Pictures of his 
 father and mother were the only ones in his dressing-room. 
 The clumsy antique cabinets that stood there, things of a very 
 different class from the beautiful and costly productions in 
 the public rooms below, had all belonged to the furniture of 
 George's Square. Even his father's rickety washing-stand, 
 with all its cramped appurtenances, though exceedingly unlike 
 
xxxii THE LADY OF THE LAKE 
 
 what a man of his very scrupulous habits would have selected 
 in these days, kept its ground. The whole place seemed fitted 
 up like a Httle chapel of the Lares. 
 
 Such a son and parent could hardly fail in any of the other 
 ^social relations. No man was a firmer or more indefatigable 
 friend. I knew not that he ever lost one ; and a few, with 
 whom, during the energetic middle stage of Hfe, from political 
 differences or other accidental circumstances, he lived less 
 familiarly, had all gathered round him, and renewed the full 
 warmth of early affection in his later days. There was enough 
 to dignify the connection in their eyes, but nothing to chill 
 it on either side. The imagination that so completely mas- 
 tered him, when he chose to give her the rein, was kept under 
 most determined control when any of the positive obligations 
 of active life came into question. A high and pure sense of 
 duty presided over whatever he had to do as a citizen and 
 a magistrate ; and, as a landlord, he considered his estate 
 as an extension of his hearth. 
 
 But his moral, political, and religious character has suffi- 
 ciently impressed itself upon the great body of his writings. 
 He is indeed one of the few great authors of modern Europe 
 who stand acquitted of having written a line that ought to 
 have embittered the bed of death. His works teach the 
 practical lessons of morality and Christianity in the most 
 captivating form — unobtrusively and unaffectedly. 
 
 The race that grew up under the influence of that intellect 
 can hardly be expected to appreciate fully their own obliga- 
 tions to it : and yet, if we consider what were the tendencies 
 of the minds and works that, but for his, must have been 
 unrivaled in the power and opportunity to mold young 
 ideas, we may picture to ourselves in some measure the mag- 
 nitude of the debt we owe to a perpetual succession, through 
 thirty years, of publications unapproached in charm, and all 
 
INTRODUCTION xxxiii 
 
 instilling a high and healthy code ; a bracing, invigorating 
 spirit; a contempt of mean passions, whether vindictive or 
 voluptuous ; humane charity, as distinct from moral laxity 
 as from unsympathizing austerity ; sagacity too deep for cyni- 
 cism, and tenderness never degenerating into sentimentaHty : 
 animated throughout in thought, opinion, feeling, and style, 
 by one and the same pure, energetic principle — a pith and 
 savor of manhood ; appealing to whatever is good and loyal 
 in our natures, and rebuking whatever is low and selfish. 
 
 I have no doubt that, the more details of his personal his- 
 tory are revealed and studied, the more powerfully will that 
 be found to inculcate the same great lessons with his works. 
 Where else shall we be taught better how prosperity may be 
 extended by beneficence, and adversity confronted by exer- 
 tion? Where can we see the "follies of the wise" more 
 strikingly rebuked, and a character more beautifully purified 
 and exalted in the passage through affliction to death? 
 
THE LADY OF THE LAKE 
 I 
 
 THE HIGHLANDERS AND BORDERERS OF 
 SCOTLAND — JAMES V 
 
 [It is hoped that this brief outline, abridged from Scott's Tales of 
 a Grandfather, may not only enable the reader to gain a better knowl- 
 edge of the poem, but also awaken an interest in this important epoch 
 of Henry VIII and Elizabeth of England, and James V and Mary 
 Queen of Scots, and her son, James VI, under whom both kingdoms 
 were united.] 
 
 The Highlanders and Borderers of Scotland 
 
 There were two great divisions of the country, namely, the 
 Highlands and the Borders, which were so much wilder and 
 more barbarous than the others, that they might be said to be 
 altogether without law ; and, although they were nominally sub- 
 jected to the King oi Scotland, yet when he desired to exe- 
 cute any justice in either of these great districts, he could not 
 do so otherwise than by marching there in person, at the head 
 of a strong body of forces, and seizing upon the offenders 
 and putting them to death with little or no form of trial. 
 Such a rough course of justice, perhaps, made these disorderly 
 countries quiet for a short time, but it rendered them still 
 more averse to the royal government in their hearts, and dis- 
 posed on the slightest occasion to break out, either into dis- 
 orders amongst themselves or into open rebellion. I must give 
 you some more particular account of these wild and uncivilized 
 districts of Scotland, and of the particular sort of people who 
 
INTRODUCTION XXXV 
 
 were their inhabitants, that you may know what I mean when 
 I speak of Highlanders and Borderers. 
 
 The Highlands of Scotland, so called from the rocky and 
 mountainous character of the country, consist of a very large 
 proportion of the northern parts of that kingdom. It was 
 into these pathless wildernesses that the Romans drove the 
 ancient inhabitants of Great Britain ; and it was from these 
 that they afterwards sallied to invade and distress that part 
 of Britain which the Romans had conquered, and in some 
 degree civilized. The inhabitants of the Highlands spoke, 
 and still speak, a language totally different from the Lowland 
 Scots. That last language does not greatly differ from English, 
 and the inhabitants of both countries easily understand each 
 other, though neither of them comprehend the Gaelic, which is 
 the language of the Highlanders. The dress of these moun- 
 taineers was also different from that of the Lowlanders. They 
 wore a plaid, or mantle of frieze, or of a striped stuff called tar- 
 tan, one end of which being wrapped round the waist, formed 
 a short petticoat, which descended to the knee, while the rest 
 was folded round them like a sort of cloak. They had buskins 
 made of rawhide ; and those who could get a bonnet had that 
 covering for their heads, though many never wore one during 
 their whole lives, but had only their own shaggy hair tied back 
 by a leathern strap. They went always armed, carrying bows 
 and arrows, large swords, which they wielded with both hands, 
 called claymores, poleaxes, and daggers for close fight. For 
 defense, they had a round wooden shield, or target, stuck full 
 of nails ; and their great men had shirts of mail, not unlike to 
 the flannel shirts now worn, only composed of links of iron 
 instead of threads of worsted ; but the common men were so 
 far from desiring armor that they sometimes threw their plaids 
 away, and fought in their shirts, which they wore very long 
 and large, after the Irish fashion. 
 
xxxvi THE LADY OF THE LAKE 
 
 This part of the Scottish nation was divided into clans, that 
 is, tribes. The persons composing each of these clans beHeved 
 themselves all to be descended, at some distant period, from 
 the same common ancestor, whose name they usually bore. 
 Thus, one tribe was called MacDonald, which signifies the 
 sons of Donald ; another, MacGregor, or the sons of Gregor ; 
 MacNeil, the sons of Neil, and so on. Every one of these 
 tribes had its own separate chief, or commander, whom they 
 supposed to be the immediate representative of the great 
 father of the tribe from whom they were all descended. 
 To this chief they paid the most unlimited obedience, and 
 willingly followed his commands in peace or war; not caring 
 although, in doing so, they transgressed the laws of the King, 
 or went into rebellion against the King himself. Each tribe 
 lived in a valley, or district of the mountains, separated from 
 the others ; and they often made war upon, and fought 
 desperately with, each other. But with Lowlanders they were 
 always at war. They differed from them in language, in dress, 
 and in manners ; and they believed that the richer grounds 
 of the low country had formerly belonged to their ancestors, 
 and therefore they made incursions upon it, and plundered 
 it without mercy. The Lowlanders, on the other hand, equal 
 in courage and superior in discipline, gave many severe 
 checks to the Highlanders ; and thus there was almost con- 
 stant war or discord between them, though natives of the 
 same country. 
 
 Some of the most powerful of the Highland chiefs set them- 
 selves up as independent sovereigns. Such were the famous 
 Lords of the Isles, called MacDonald, to whom the island 
 called the Hebrides, lying on the northwest of Scotland, might 
 be said to belong in property. These petty sovereigns made 
 alliances with the English in their own name. They took the 
 part of Robert the Bruce in the wars, and joined him with their 
 
INTRODUCTION xxxvil 
 
 forces. We shall find that, after his time, they gave great 
 disturbance to Scotland. The Lords of Lorn, MacDougals 
 by name, were also extremely powerful; and were able to 
 give battle to Bruce, and to defeat him, and place him in the 
 greatest jeopardy. He revenged himself afterwards by driving 
 John of Lorn out of the country, and by giving great part of 
 his possessions to his own nephew. Sir Colin Campbell, who 
 became the first of the great family of Argyll, which afterwards 
 enjoyed such power in the Highlands. 
 
 Upon the whole, you can easily understand that these High- 
 land clans, living among such high and inaccessible mountains, 
 and paying obedience to no one save their own chiefs, should 
 have been very instrumental in disturbing the tranquillity of 
 the kingdom of Scotland. They had many virtues, being a 
 kind, brave, and hospitable people, and reiiiarkable for their 
 fidelity to their chiefs ; but they were restless, revengeful, fond 
 of plunder, and delighting rather in war than in peace, in 
 disorder than in repose. 
 
 The Border counties were in a state little more favorable to 
 a quiet or peaceful government. In some respects the inhab- 
 itants of the counties of Scotland lying opposite to England 
 greatly resembled the Highlanders, and particularly in their 
 being, like them, divided into clans, and having chiefs whom 
 they obeyed in preference to the King, or the officers whom 
 he placed among them. How clanship came to prevail in the 
 Highlands and Borders, and not in the provinces which sepa- 
 rated them from each other, it is not easy to conjecture, but 
 the fact was so. The Borders are not, indeed, so mountainous 
 and inaccessible a country as the Highlands ; but they also are 
 full of hills, especially on the more western part of the frontier, 
 and were in early times covered with forests, and divided by 
 small rivers and morasses into dales and valleys, where the 
 different clans lived, making war sometimes on the English, 
 
xxxviii THE LADY OF THE LAKE 
 
 sometimes on each other, and sometimes on the more civiHzed 
 country which lay behind them. 
 
 But though the Borderers resembled the Highlanders in their 
 mode of government and habits of plundering, and, as it may 
 be truly added, in their disobedience to the general govern- 
 ment of Scotland, yet they differed in many particulars. The 
 Highlanders fought always on foot; the Borderers were all 
 horsemen. The Borderers spoke the same language with the 
 Lowlanders, wore the same sort of dress, and carried the same 
 arms. Being accustomed to fight against the English, they 
 were also much better disciplined than the Highlanders. But 
 in point of obedience to the Scottish government, they were 
 not much different from the clans of the north. 
 
 Military officers, called Wardens, were appointed along the 
 Borders, to keep these unruly people in order; but as these 
 wardens were generally themselves chiefs of clans, they did not 
 do much to mend the evil. Robert the Bruce committed great 
 part of the charge of the Borders to the good Lord James of 
 Douglas, who fulfilled his trust with great fidelity. But the 
 power which the family of Douglas thus acquired proved after- 
 wards, in the hands of his successors, very dangerous to the 
 crown of Scotland. 
 
 The Highlanders continued to lead this same marauding 
 kind of hfe, owning no allegiance to any power except that of 
 their chief, until about the year 1745, when Charles Edward, 
 the last of the Stuarts, made a most desperate attempt to 
 regain the throne of his grandfather, James H. 
 
 The Highland clans had remained loyal to the Stuarts dur- 
 ing all their misfortunes, and when this brave young prince, 
 trusting to their fidelity, landed almost alone upon their shores, 
 they flocked to his standard in great numbers. 
 
 They were successful in the earUer engagements, but finally, 
 in the battle of Culloden, were utterly defeated, the bravest of 
 
INTRODUCTION xxxix 
 
 the clans, together with their chiefs, being slain on the field. 
 The government followed up its victory with unrelenting cruelty, 
 slaughtering the fugitives, executing the prisoners, and laying 
 waste the country, being determined to crush out the last spark 
 of this power that had for so many centuries disturbed the 
 peace of both kingdoms. 
 
 Fine mihtary roads were built into those inaccessible glens 
 and wild mountains, enabling the government to execute the 
 laws throughout the realm. Severe laws, also, were passed, 
 forbidding the wearing of the plaid, the national costume, and 
 the bearing of arms. 
 
 These measures were entirely successful in breaking down 
 this patriarchal system ; and, although they seemed unneces- 
 sarily harsh at the time, in the end they proved wise and 
 beneficent. The Highlanders, no longer able to subsist on 
 plundering the Lowlanders, were obliged to turn their atten- 
 tion to some other means of gaining a living. Some emigrated 
 to America, others enlisted in foreign armies, but the great 
 majority settled down to an agricultural life. Mingling together 
 in peaceful pursuits, the difference between Highlander and 
 Lowlander soon disappeared, and they became one people, 
 prosperous and happy. 
 
 James V of Scotland — 1512-1542 
 
 James V (James Fitz -James of the poem) was the son of 
 James IV of Scotland, and Margaret, sister of Henry VHI 
 of England. His father having lost his life on the battlefield 
 of Flodden, the son became king when but a child of less 
 than two years of age. For a while, his mother managed the 
 affairs of the kingdom as regent; but, becoming unpopular, 
 she not only lost the regency, but also the control of her son, 
 who fell into the hands of the powerful family of the Douglases, 
 
xl THE LADY OF THE LAKE 
 
 who, although governing in the name of the young King, never- 
 theless kept him under such careful guard that the restraint 
 became very irksome to him, and he determined to escape 
 from their power. In two attempts by force he was unsuc- 
 cessful ; but finally, on pretense of going hunting, he escaped 
 from his captivity, and fled into the strong fortress of Stirling 
 Castle, whose governor was friendly to him. Here he assem- 
 bled around him the numerous nobility favorable to him, and 
 threatened to declare a traitor any of the name of Douglas 
 who should approach within twelve miles of his person, or who 
 should attempt to meddle with the administration of govern- 
 ment. He retained, ever after, this implacable resentment 
 against the Douglases, not permitting one of the name to settle 
 in Scotland while he lived. James was especially ungenerous 
 to one Archibald Douglas of Kilspindie, the one mentioned in 
 the poem who had been a favorite of the young King. He 
 was noted for great strength, manly appearance, and skill in 
 all kinds of exercises. When an old man, becoming tired of 
 his exile in England, he resolved to try the King's mercy, 
 thinking that, as he had not personally offended James, he 
 might find favor on account of their old intimacy. He there- 
 fore threw himself in the King's way one day as he returned 
 from hunting in the Park at Stirling. Although it was several 
 years since James had seen him, he knew him at a great dis- 
 tance by his firm and stately step. When they met he showed 
 no sign of recognizing his old servant. Douglas turned, hoping 
 still to obtain a glance of favorable recollection, and ran along 
 by the King's side ; and, although James trotted his horse hard, 
 and Douglas wore a heavy shirt of mail, yet he reached the 
 castle gate as soon as the King. James passed by him, with- 
 out the slightest sign of recognition, and entered the castle. 
 Douglas, exhausted, sat down at the gate and asked for a cup 
 of wine ; but no domestic dared to ofler it. The King, 
 
INTRODUCTION xli 
 
 however, blamed this discourtesy in his servants, saying that, 
 but for his oath, he would have received Archibald into his 
 service. Yet he sent his command for him to retire to France, 
 where the old man soon died of a broken heart. 
 
 Freed from the stern control of the Douglas family, James V 
 now began to exercise the government in person, and displayed 
 most of the qualities of a wise and good prince. He was hand- 
 some in his person, and resembled his father in the fondness 
 for military exercises and the spirit of chivalrous honor which 
 James IV loved to display. He also inherited his father's love 
 of justice, and his desire to estabhsh and enforce wise and 
 equal laws which should protect the weak against the oppres- 
 sion of the great. It was easy enough to make laws, but to 
 put them in vigorous exercise was of much greater difficulty ; 
 and, in his attempt to accomplish this laudable purpose, James 
 often incurred the ill-will of the more powerful nobles. He 
 was a well-educated and accompHshed man, and, like his 
 ancestor, James I, was a poet and musician. He had, how- 
 ever, his defects. He avoided his father's failing of profusion, 
 having no hoarded treasures to employ on pomp and show; 
 but he rather fell into the opposite fault, being of a temper 
 too parsimonious ; and though he loved state and display he 
 endeavored to gratify that taste as economically as possible, so 
 that he has been censured as rather close and covetous. He 
 was also, though the foibles seem inconsistent, fond of pleasure, 
 and disposed to too much indulgence. It must be added that, 
 when provoked, he was unrelenting even to cruelty ; for which 
 he had some apology, considering the ferocity of the subjects 
 over whom he reigned. But on the whole James V was an 
 amiable man and a good sovereign. 
 
 His first care was to bring the Borders of Scotland to some 
 degree of order. As before stated, these were inhabited by 
 tribes of men, forming each a different clan, as they were 
 
xlii THE LADY OF THE LAKE 
 
 called, and obeying no orders save those which were given by 
 their chiefe These chiefs were supposed to represent the first 
 founder of the name or family. The attachment of the clans- 
 men to the chief was very great ; indeed, they paid respect to 
 no one else. In this the Borderers agreed with the Highlanders, 
 as also in their love of plunder and neglect of the general laws 
 of the country. But the Border men wore no tartan dress, and 
 served almost always on horseback, whereas the Highlanders 
 acted always on foot. The Borderers spoke the Scottish lan- 
 guage, and not the Gaelic tongue used by the mountaineers. 
 
 The situation of these clans on the frontiers exposed them 
 to constant war ; so that they thought of nothing else but of 
 collecting bands of their followers together, and making incur- 
 sions, without much distinction, on the English, on the Low- 
 land (or inland) Scots, or upon each other. They paid little 
 respect either to times of truce or treaties of peace, but exer- 
 cised their depredations without regard to either, and often 
 occasioned wars betwixt England and Scotland which would 
 not otherwise have taken place. 
 
 James's first step was to secure the persons of the principal 
 chieftains by whom these disorders were privately encouraged, 
 and who might have opposed his purposes, and imprison them 
 in separate fortresses. 
 
 He then assembled an army, in which warlike purposes 
 were united with those of sylvan sport ; for he ordered all the 
 gentlemen in the wild districts which he intended to visit to 
 bring in their best dogs, as if his only purpose had been to 
 hunt the deer in those desolate regions. This was intended 
 to prevent the Borderers from taking the alarm, in which case 
 they would have retreated into their mountains and fastnesses, 
 from whence it would have been difficult to dislodge them. 
 
 These men had indeed no distinct idea of the offenses 
 which they had committed, and consequently no apprehension 
 
INTRODUCTION xliii 
 
 of the King's displeasure against them. The laws had been 
 so long silent in that remote and disorderly country, that the 
 outrages which were practiced by the strong against the weak 
 seemed to the perpetrators the natural course of society, and 
 to present nothing that was worthy of punishment. Thus the 
 King suddenly approached the castles of these great lords and 
 barons while they were preparing a great entertainment to 
 welcome him, and caused them to be seized and executed. 
 
 There is reason to censure the extent to which James car- 
 ried his severity, as being to a certain degree impolitic and 
 beyond doubt cruel and excessive. 
 
 In the hke manner James proceeded against the Highland 
 chiefs, and by executions, forfeitures, and other severe meas- 
 ures he brought the Northern mountaineers, as he had already 
 done those of the South, into comparative subjection. 
 
 Such were the effects of the terror struck by these general 
 executions that James was said to have made " the rush bush 
 keep the cow" ; that is to say, that, even in this lawless part 
 of the country, men dared no longer make free with property, 
 and cattle might remain on their pastures unwatched. James 
 was also enabled to draw profit from the lands which the 
 crown possessed near the Borders, and is said to have had ten 
 thousand sheep at one time grazing in Ettrick forest under 
 the keeping of one Andrew Bell, who gave the King as good 
 an account of the flock as if they had been grazing in the 
 bounds of Fife, then the most civilized part of Scotland. 
 
 James V had a custom of going about the country disguised 
 as a private person in order that he might hear complaints 
 which might not otherwise reach his ears, and, perhaps, that 
 he might enjoy amusement which he could not have partaken 
 of in his avowed royal character. 
 
 He was also very fond of hunting, and when he pursued that 
 amusement in the Highlands he used to wear the peculiar 
 
xliv THE LADY OF THE LAKE 
 
 dress of that country, having a long and wide Highland shirt, 
 and a jacket of tartan velvet, with plaid hose, and everything 
 else corresponding. 
 
 The reign of James V was not alone distinguished by his 
 personal adventures and pastimes, but is honorably remem- 
 bered on account of wise laws made for the government of his 
 people, and for restraining the crimes and violence which 
 were frequently practiced among them ; especially those of 
 assassination, burning of houses, and driving^ of cattle, the 
 usual and ready means by which powerful chiefs avenged 
 themselves on their feudal enemies. 
 
 Had not James become involved in a war with Henry VHI 
 of England, he might have been as fortunate a prince as his 
 many good qualities deserved ; but, the war going against 
 him, in despair and desolation he shut himself up in his 
 palace, refusing to Hsten to consolation. A burning fever, the 
 consequence of his grief and shame, seized on the unfortu- 
 nate monarch. When they brought him tidings that his wife 
 had given birth to a daughter, who afterwards became the 
 briUiant, but most unfortunate, Mary Queen of Scots, he only 
 repUed, "Is it so?" reflecting on the alliance which had 
 placed the Stuart family on the throne ; " then God's will be 
 done. It came with a lass, and it will go with a lass." With 
 these words, presaging the extinction of his house, he made a 
 signal of adieu to his courtiers, spoke Httle more, but turned 
 his face to the wall and, when scarcely thirty-one years old, in 
 the very prime of life, he died of the most melancholy of all 
 diseases, a broken heart. 
 
 1 Driving, here, means stealing. 
 
II 
 
 SCOTT'S INTRODUCTION 
 
 After the success of Marmion^ I felt inclined to exclaim 
 with Ulysses in the Odysseys: — 
 
 OSros yAv dr] dedXos ddaros iKTeT^Xecrrai. 
 
 'Nvv adre aKoirbv SXKov. Odys. xxii, 5. 
 
 One venturous game my hand has won to-day — 
 Another, gallants, yet remains to play. 
 
 The ancient manners, the habits and customs of the aborigi- 
 nal race by whom the Highlands of Scotland were inhabited, 
 had always appeared to me peculiarly adapted to poetry. 
 The change in their manners, too, had taken place almost 
 within my own time, or at least I had learned many particu- 
 lars 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 king- 
 dom indisposed 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 honorable foe. The poems of 
 Ossian had by their popularity sufficiently shown that if writ- 
 ings on Highland 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, seen much, and heard more, 
 of that romantic country where I was in the habit of spending 
 some time every autumn ; and the scenery of Loch Katrine 
 
 xlv 
 
xlvi THE LAQY OF THE LAKE 
 
 •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 labor of love, and it was no less so 
 to recall the manners and incidents introduced. The frequent 
 custom of James IV, and particularly of James V, to walk 
 through the kingdom in disguise, afforded me the hint of an 
 incident which never fails to be interesting if managed with 
 the slightest address or dexterity. 
 
 I may now confess, however, that the employment, 'though 
 attended with great pleasure, 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 residing with me at the time when the 
 work was in progress, and used to ask me what I could pos- 
 sibly do to rise so early in the morning (that happening to be 
 the most convenient 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 already popu- 
 lar, — more so, perhaps, than you yourself will beheve, or than 
 even I, or other partial friends, can fairly allow to your merit. • 
 You stand high, — do not rashly attempt to climb higher, and 
 incur the risk of a fall ; for, depend upon it, a favorite will not 
 be permitted even to stumble with impunity." I repHed to 
 this affectionate expostulation in the words of Montrose, — 
 
 " He either fears his fate 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 in my recollec- 
 tion, " it is a sign that I ought never to have succeeded, and I 
 
INTRODUCTION xlvii 
 
 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 impru- 
 dence. Nevertheless, though I answered thus confidently, 
 with the obstinacy often said to be proper to those who bear 
 my surname, I acknowledge that my confidence was consider- 
 ably shaken by the warning of her excellent taste and unbiased 
 friendship. Nor was I much comforted by her retraction of 
 the unfavorable 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 canvas, improves 
 any favorable 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," Hke the '' sportsman with -his cutty gun," 
 in the old song. He was bred a farmer, but a man of power- 
 ful understanding, natural good taste, and warm poetical feel- 
 ing, 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 Ashestiel 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 
 favorable a representative of readers at large. It is of course 
 to be supposed that I determined rather to guide my opinion 
 by what my friend might appear to feel, than by what he might 
 think fit to say. His reception of my recitation, or prelection, 
 was rather singular. He placed his hand across his brow, and 
 
xlviii THE LADY OF THE LAKE 
 
 listened with great attention, through the whole account of the 
 stag hunt, till the dogs threw themselves into the lake to fol- 
 low 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 calculated 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 detected the identity of the king with the 
 wandering knight, Fitz-James, when he winds his bugle to 
 summon his attendants. . . . 
 
 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 producing effect, with which the Irish post- 
 boy is said to reserve a " trot for the avenue." 
 
 I took uncommon pains to verify the accuracy 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 could actually have 
 ridden from the Banks to Loch Vennachar to Stirling Castle 
 within the time supposed in the poem, and had the pleasure 
 to satisfy myself that it was quite practicable. 
 
 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 inconstant wheel of Fortune, 
 whose stability in behalf of an individual who had so boldly 
 courted her favors for three successive times had not as yet 
 
INTRODUCTION xlix 
 
 been shaken. I had attained, perhaps, that degree of repu- 
 tation 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 
 celebrated John Wilkes is said to have explained to his late 
 Majesty, that he himself, amid his full tide of popularity, was 
 never a Wilkite, 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 highest 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 elevated 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 
 endeavored to deserve the partiaHty by continuing such 
 exertions as I was capable of for their amusement. 
 
 It may be that I did not, in this continued course of scrib- 
 bling, consult either the interest of the public or my own. But 
 the former had effectual means of defending themselves, and 
 could, by their coldness, sufficiently check any approach to 
 intrusion ; and for myself, I had now for several years dedi- 
 cated my hours so much to literary labor that I should have 
 felt difficulty in employing myself otherwise; and so, like 
 Dogberry, I generously bestowed all my tediousness on the 
 pubHc, comforting myself with the reflection that, if posterity 
 should think me undeserving of the favor with which I was 
 regarded by my contemporaries, " they could not but say I 
 had the crown," and had enjoyed for a time that popularity 
 which is so much coveted. 
 
 I conceived, however, that I held the distinguished situa- 
 tion I had obtained, however unworthily, rather like the cham- 
 pion of pugilism, on the condition of being always ready to 
 
1 THE LADY OF THE LAKE 
 
 show proofs of my skill, than in the manner of the cham- 
 pion 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 bestowed upon me, and 
 preferred being deprived of my precedence by some more 
 worthy rival, to sinking into contempt for my indolence, and 
 losing my reputation by what Scottish lawyers call the nega- 
 tive prescription. Accordingly, those who choose to look at 
 the Introduction to Rokeby will be able to trace the steps 
 by which I declined 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 preemi- 
 nence of popularity, I faithfully observed the rules of modera- 
 tion which I had resolved to follow before I began my course 
 as a man of letters. If a man is determined to make a noise 
 in the world, he is 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 chastise a malignant 
 critic attended with less danger to the author. On this prin- 
 ciple, 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 handhng. 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 refused 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 
 
INTRODUCTION li 
 
 irritable race — to enjoy general favor without incurring per- 
 manent ill-will, so far as is known to me, among any of my 
 contemporaries. 
 
 Abbotsford, April, 1830. 
 
 Ill 
 
 THE POEM 
 
 A glance at the table which concludes the Introduction 
 will indicate the general relation of The Lady of the Lake to 
 Scott's entire literary product. The further experiments in 
 metrical romance which he made during the next two or three 
 years appear to have convinced him that his vein of poetic 
 expression, of which he always thought modestly, was worked 
 out. With the beginning of the publication of the Waverley 
 novels in 18 14 he finds his true field, and from this time on 
 his attempts at poetry are few and comparatively unimportant. 
 Nothing need be said here of the famous prose romances 
 which, following each other with extraordinary rapidity, laid 
 the foundation for a more permanent fame than he could have 
 hoped for from his efforts in verse. 
 
 It should not be forgotten, however, that his verse, while it 
 is not of the very highest type, is excellent in its kind, and 
 still worth reading for its own sake as well as for the sake of 
 the great man who wrote it. The Lay of the Last Minstrel^ 
 Marmion, and The Lady of the Lake must still stand as the 
 best as well as the best-known examples in EngHsh of the 
 metrical romance, an epical form of verse midway between 
 the "grand" or heroic epic and the ballad. Scott's minute 
 and sympathetic acquaintance with the ancient Scottish bal- 
 lads made it possible for him to produce not only numerous 
 fine ballads of his own, but to incarnate the ballad spirit in 
 
lii THE LADY OF THE LAKE 
 
 the fuller form, which is more effective even than the ballad to 
 the reader of poetry as contrasted with the hstener to songs. 
 The poet himself considered the chief merit of The Lay of the 
 Last Minstrel to consist in its style, of Marmion in its descrip- 
 tions, and of The Lady of the Lake in its incidents. For a 
 more detailed comparison with the earlier poems we cannot 
 do better than quote the judgment of the most influential 
 critic among Scott's contemporaries, Jeffrey, of the Edin- 
 burgh Revieiv. " It is," he said, " more polished in diction and 
 more regular in its versification ; the story is constructed with 
 infinitely more skill and address ; there is a greater proportion 
 of pleasing and tender passages, with much less antiquarian 
 detail ; and, upon the whole, a larger variety of characters, 
 more artfully and judicially contrasted. There is nothing so 
 fine, perhaps, as the battle in Marmion, or so picturesque as 
 some of the scattered sketches in the Lay ; but there is a rich- 
 ness and a spirit in the whole piece which does not pervade 
 either of those poems, — a profusion of incident and a shifting 
 brilliancy of coloring that remind us of the witchery of Ariosto, 
 and a constant elasticity and occasional energy which seem to 
 belong more particularly to the author now before us." 
 
 Scott had, without possessing the loftiest quality of poetic 
 imagination, produced a poem so vigorous, so picturesque, 
 above all so expressive of the border spirit which had entered 
 into his own being, that he could hardly hope to equal it later. 
 It is good, on the whole, that he did not long persist in the 
 attempt. Scott's novels are greater than his metrical romances. 
 But it would be idle to ignore the fact that his exercises in 
 verse writing did much toward preparing him for his great prose 
 stories, or to depreciate the value which his three famous 
 narrative poems possess in themselves. 
 
TABLE OF SCOTT'S LIFE AND WORKS 
 
 177 1 Born August 15. 
 
 1778 Entered Edinburgh High School. 
 
 1785 Entered University of Edinburgh. 
 
 1792 Admitted to the Scottish Bar. 
 
 1797 Married. 
 
 1799 Appointed Sheriff of Selkirkshire. 
 
 1 802- 1 80 3 Border Minstrelsy. 
 
 1805 The Lay of the Last Minstrel. 
 
 1806 Appointed " Clerk of Session." 
 1808 Marmion. 
 
 18 10 The Lady of the Lake. 
 
 181 1 Bought Abbotsford. The Vision of Don Roderick. 
 
 18 1 2 Rokeby. Took possession of Abbotsford. 
 
 181 3 The Bride of Triermain. 
 
 18 1 4 Waverley. The Border Antiquities. 
 
 18 1 5 The Lord of the Isles. Guy Ma?mering. The Field of 
 
 Waterloo. 
 
 18 16 The Antiquary. The Black Dwarf Old Mortality. 
 
 1 8 1 7 Harold the Dauntless. 
 
 1 8 1 8 Rob Roy . The Heart of Midlothian. 
 
 1 8 1 9 The Bride of Lainmennoor. ^ The Legend of Montrose. 
 
 1820 Ivanhoe. The Mojiastery. The Abbot. 
 
 1 82 1 Kenilworth. 
 
 \Zii The Pirate. The Fortunes of Nigel. P ever il of the Peak. 
 
 1823 Quentin Durward. 
 
 1824 St. RonaJi^s Well. Redgauntlet. 
 
 1825 Ballantyne & Co. became bankrupt. The Betrothed. The 
 
 Talisman. Tales of the Crusaders. 
 
 1826 Provincial Antiquities of Scotland. Woodstock. 
 
 liii 
 
liv TABLE OF SCOTT'S LIFE AND WORKS 
 
 1827 Life of Napoleon Buonaparte. Chj'onicles of the Canon- 
 
 gate, First Series. (^The Highland Widow. The Two 
 Drovers. The Surgeon's Daughter^ 
 
 1828 Aliscellafieous Prose Works (six vols.'). Tales of a Grand- 
 
 father, First Series. Chronicles of the Canongate, Sec- 
 ond Series. {Saint Valentine'' s Day ; or, The Fair Maid 
 of Perth.) 
 
 1829 Tales of a Grandfather, ^QCondS^nts. AnneofGeierstein. 
 
 1830 Tales of a Grandfather, Third Series. The Doom of 
 
 Devoirgoil : a melodrama. 
 
 1 83 1 Tales of a Grandfather, Fourth Series. Count Robert of 
 
 Paris. Castle Dangerous. 
 
 1832 Died September 21. 
 
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 days, and the transactions of each 
 day occupy a canto. 
 
 This poem was first published in 1810. 
 
THE LADY OF THE LAKE 
 
 Canto First 
 the chase 
 
 Harp of the North ! that moldering 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, — 5 
 
 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 ? 
 
 1. Harp of the North ! An invocation to ancient Scottish minstrelsy. 
 The harp was formerly the national musical instrument. 
 
 2. Witch-elm. The broad-leaved elm. Twigs cut from it were used 
 as riding whips for good luck; also for divining rods. — Saint Fillan, 
 A Scotch saint of some reputation. There are in Perthshire several 
 wells and springs dedicated to St. Fillan, which are still places of pil- 
 grimage and offerings, even among the Protestants. They are held 
 powerful in cases of madness. — Scott. (See Martnion, T, 509.) 
 
 3. Numbers. Lines or verses of poetry. 
 
 6. Minstrel. The minstrels, as the wandering singers and musicians 
 of the Middle Ages were called, were always welcomed wherever they 
 went. They sang songs recounting the valiant deeds of their enter- 
 tainers and their ancestors. — Stevens and Morris. 
 
4 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto i 
 
 Not thus, in ancient days of Caledon, lo 
 
 Was thy voice mute amid the festal crowd, 
 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 ! ^5 
 
 Fair dames and crested chiefs attention bowed ; 
 
 For still the burden of thy minstrelsy 
 Was Knighthood's dauntless deed, and Beauty's match- 
 less eye. 
 
 O, wake once more ! how rude soe'er the hand 
 
 That ventures o'er thy magic maze to stray; 20 
 
 O, wake once more ! 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, 25 
 
 The wizard note has not been touched in vain. 
 Then silent be no more ! Enchantress, wake again ! 
 
 The stag at eve had drunk his fill, 
 Where danced the moon on Monan's rill. 
 
 10. Caledon. For Caledonia, the ancient name of Scotland. 
 
 14. According pause. In music, that which suitably fills the intervals. 
 
 15. Ardent symphony. Stirring music with which the minstrel filled 
 up the pauses of his lay. — Stevens and Morris. 
 
 29. Monan. A Scotch martyr of the fourth century. 
 
CANTO I THE CHASE 5 
 
 And deep his midnight lair had made 3° 
 
 In lone Glenartney's hazel shade ; 
 
 But when the sun his beacon red 
 
 Had kindled on Benvoirlich's head, 
 
 The deep-mouthed bloodhound's heavy bay 
 
 Resounded up the rocky way, 35 
 
 And faint, from farther distance borne, 
 
 Were heard the clanging hoof and horn. 
 
 II 
 
 As Chief, who hears his warder call, 
 
 " To arms ! the foemen storm the wall," 
 
 The antlered monarch of the waste 40 
 
 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 
 
 Tossed his beamed frontlet to the sky ; 45 
 
 A moment gazed adown the dale, 
 
 A moment snuffed the tainted gale, 
 
 A moment listened to the cry. 
 
 That thickened as the chase drew nigh ; 
 
 Then, as the headmost foes appeared, 50 
 
 With one brave bound the copse he cleared. 
 
 31. Glenartney. A valley through which a small stream called the 
 Artney flows. 
 
 33. Benvoirlich. A mountain north of Glenartney. Ben means 
 " mountain." (See map.) 
 
 45. Beamed frontlet. The forehead of a stag, with full-grown antlers 
 or horns, 
 
THE LADY OF THE LAKE 
 
 And, stretching forward free and far, 
 Sought the wild heaths of Uam-Var. 
 
 HI 
 
 Yelled on the view the opening pack ; 
 
 Rock, glen, and cavern paid them back; 55 
 
 To many a mingled sound at once 
 
 The awakened mountain gave response. 
 
 A hundred dogs bayed deep and strong. 
 
 Clattered a hundred steeds along. 
 
 Their peal the merry horns rung out, 60 
 
 A hundred voices joined 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 cowered the doe, 65 
 
 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. 
 
 53. Uam-Var. Ua-var, as the name is pronounced, or more properly 
 Uaighnior, is a mountain to the northeast of the village of Callander 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, surrounded 
 with large rocks, and open above head. — Scott. 
 
 54. Opening pack. A hunting term, alluding to the hounds barking 
 at sight of the game. 
 
 68. Ken. Sight. 
 
) I THE CHASE 7 
 
 Faint, and more faint, its failing din 70 
 
 Returned from cavern, cliff, and linn, 
 And silence settled, wide and still. 
 On the lone wood and mighty hill. 
 
 IV 
 
 Less loud the sounds of sylvan war 
 
 Disturbed the heights of Uam-Var, 75 
 
 And roused the cavern where, 't is told, 
 
 A giant made his den of old ; 
 
 For ere that steep ascent was won, 
 
 High in his pathway hung the sun. 
 
 And many a gallant, stayed perforce, 80 
 
 Was 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, 85 
 
 The noble stag was pausing now 
 
 Upon the mountain's southern brow. 
 
 Where broad extended, far beneath, 
 
 The varied realms of fair Menteith. 
 
 With anxious eye he wandered o'er 90 
 
 Mountain and meadow, moss and moor, 
 
 71. Linn. Cataract; pool. 
 
 84. Shrewdly. Severely. 
 
 89. Menteith. A district watered by the Teith. 
 
8 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto i 
 
 And pondered refuge from his toil 
 
 By far Lochard or Abcrfoylc. 
 
 But nearer was the copsewood gray 
 
 That waved and wept on Loch Achray. 95 
 
 And mingled with the pine-trees blue 
 
 On the bold cliffs of Benvenue. 
 
 Fresh vigor with the hope returned, 
 
 With flying foot the heath he spurned, 
 
 Held westward with unwearied race, 100 
 
 And left behind the panting chase. 
 
 VI 
 
 'T were long to tell what steeds gave o'er, 
 
 As swept the hunt through Cambusmore ; 
 
 What reins were tightened in despair. 
 
 When rose Benlcdi's ridge in air ; 105 
 
 Who flagged upon Bochastle's heath, 
 
 Who shunned to stem the flooded Teith, — 
 
 93. Lochard. A small lake near the village of Aberfoyle. 
 
 95. Loch Achray. "The Lake of the Level Field." A small lake 
 at the foot of Benvenue. — 97. Benvenue. "Center Mountain," being 
 midway between Ben Lomond and Ben Ledi. (See map.) 
 
 99. Heath. A low shrub, very abundant on the hills and mountains 
 of Scotland. Its foliage gives to the landscape a very soft olive tinge; 
 its blossoms, a purplish hue. 
 
 103. Cambusmore. An estate near Callander. 
 
 105. Beuledi. A mountain near Callander. The name signifies 
 " Mountain of God." 
 
 106. Bochastle's heath. A flat plain between the east end of Loch 
 Vennachar and Callander. — Taylor. 
 
 107. The flooded Teith. The Teith, receiving the waters of Lochs 
 Lubnaig, Voil, Vennachar, Achray, and Katrine, was liable to overflow 
 its banks in rainy seasons, 
 
D I THE CHASE 
 
 For twice that day, from shore to shore, 
 The gallant stag swam stoutly o'er. 
 Few were the stragglers, following far, 
 That reached the lake of Vennachar ; 
 And when the Brigg of Turk was won. 
 The headmost horseman rode alone. 
 
 vn 
 
 Alone, but with unbated zeal. 
 
 That horseman plied the scourge and steel ; 115 
 
 For, jaded now, and spent with toil, 
 
 Embossed with foam, and dark with soil. 
 
 While every gasp with sobs he drew. 
 
 The laboring stag strained full in view. 
 
 Two dogs of black Saint Hubert's breed, 120 
 
 Unmatched 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 toiled the bloodhounds stanch ; 125 
 
 111. Vennachar. " Lake of the Fair Valley," one of the three lakes 
 around which the scenery of the poem lies. 
 
 112. Brigg of Turk. An old stone bridge over the Turk, a small 
 stream in Glenfinlas valley. 
 
 1 17. Embossed. Hunted until the foam from the mouth covered the 
 stag like raised figures in ornamental work. 
 
 120. Saint Hubert. The hounds which are called St. Hubert's are 
 found of various colors, but are commonly all black. The abbots of 
 St. Hubert have always kept some of this race of hounds in remem- 
 brance of their patron saint, who was a hunter. 
 
lO THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto i 
 
 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. 130 
 
 VIII 
 
 The Hunter marked that mountain high. 
 
 The lone lake's western boundary. 
 
 And deemed the stag must turn to bay. 
 
 Where that huge rampart barred the way ; 
 
 Already glorying in the prize, 135 
 
 Measured his antlers with his eyes ; 
 
 For the death-wound and death-halloo 
 
 Mustered his breath, his whinyard drew : — 
 
 But thundering as he came prepared. 
 
 With ready arm and weapon bared, 140 
 
 The wily quarry shunned the shock. 
 
 And turned him from the opposing rock ; 
 
 Then, dashing down a darksome glen. 
 
 Soon lost to hound and Hunter's ken, 
 
 127. Quarry. The hunted animal. 
 
 129. Brake. Coarse ferns; bushes. 
 
 1 30. Stock. Log or stump. 
 
 137. For the death-wound, etc. 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 horn being 
 then deemed poisonous, and more dangerous than one from the tusks 
 of a boar. — Scott. — Death-halloo. The shout when the huntsman had 
 given the death stroke to the stag. 
 
 138. Whinyard. A sword or hanger. 
 
CANTO I THE CHASE II 
 
 In the deep Trosachs' wildest nook 145 
 
 His solitary refuge took. 
 
 There, while close couched the thicket shed 
 
 Cold dews and wild flowers on- his head, 
 
 He heard the baffled dogs in vain 
 
 Rave through the hollow pass amain, 150 
 
 Chiding the rocks that yelled again. 
 
 IX 
 
 Close on the hounds the Hunter came, 
 
 To cheer them on the vanished game ; 
 
 But, stumbling in the rugged dell. 
 
 The gallant horse exhausted fell. 155 
 
 The impatient rider strove in vain 
 
 To rouse him with the spur and rein. 
 
 For the good steed, his labors o'er. 
 
 Stretched his stiff limbs, to rise no more ; 
 
 145. Trosachs. The name " Trosachs," or "bristled territory," is gen- 
 erally applied to the whole country about Loch Katrine, but, strictly 
 speaking, belongs only to the region between Lochs Katrine and 
 Achray. A fine turnpike, shaded by overhanging trees and abrupt 
 mountain cliffs, winds through this beautiful wild valley. It is the more 
 enjoyable because it is so rare in Scotland to see anything like a native 
 forest. The trees are mostly set out when very small, and so thickly 
 and irregularly as to resemble a natural growth. They are cultivated 
 not so much for the timber as a shelter for game. The mountains of 
 Scotland for the most part are treeless. With the exception of a few 
 of the highest peaks which are barren, they are covered to the very tops 
 with heather and grass kept green by the frequent rains. Not only are 
 these beautiful mountains with the thousands of white sheep moving to 
 and fro over their sides pleasant to look upon, but they form a great 
 source of wealth to the people, as is well known by the quantity and 
 excellence of the Scotch woolens. 
 
12 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto i 
 
 Then, touched with pity and remorse, i6o 
 
 He sorrowed o'er the expiring horse. 
 
 " I Httle thought, when first thy rein 
 
 I slacked upon the banks of Seine, 
 
 That Highland eagle e'er should feed 
 
 On thy fleet limbs, my matchless steed ! 165 
 
 Woe worth the chase, woe worth the day, 
 
 That costs thy life, my gallant gray! " 
 
 X 
 
 Then through the dell his horn resounds. 
 
 From vain pursuit to call the hounds. 
 
 Back limped, with slow and crippled pace, 170 
 
 The sulky leaders of the chase ; 
 
 Close to their master's side they pressed. 
 
 With drooping tail and humbled crest ; 
 
 But still the dingle's hollow throat 
 
 Prolonged the swelling bugle-note. 175 
 
 The owlets started from their dream, 
 
 The eagles answered with their scream, 
 
 Round and around the sounds were cast, 
 
 Till echo seemed an answering blast; 
 
 And on the Hunter hied his way, 180 
 
 To join some comrades of the day. 
 
 Yet often paused, so strange the road. 
 
 So wondrous were the scenes it showed. 
 
 166. Woe worth the chase. Woe be to the chase. Worth used in 
 the sense of be, imperative. 
 
THE CHASE 
 
 13 
 
 XI 
 
 The western waves of ebbing day 
 
 Rolled o'er the glen their level way; 185 
 
 Each purple peak, each flinty spire, 
 
 Was bathed in floods of living fire. 
 
 But not a setting beam could glow 
 
 Within the dark ravines below. 
 
 Where twined the path in shadow hid, 190 
 
 Round many a rocky pyramid, 
 
 Shooting abruptly from the dell 
 
 Its thunder- splintered pinnacle; 
 
 Round many an insulated mass. 
 
 The native bulwarks of the pass, 195 
 
 Huge as the tower which builders vain 
 
 Presumptuous piled on Shinar's plain. 
 
 The rocky summits, split and rent. 
 
 Formed turret, dome, or battlement. 
 
 Or seemed fantastically set 200 
 
 With cupola or minaret. 
 
 Wild crests as pagod ever decked. 
 
 Or mosque of Eastern architect. 
 
 Nor were these earth-born castles bare. 
 
 Nor lacked they many a banner fair ; 205 
 
 For, from their shivered brows displayed, 
 
 Far o'er the unfathomable glade, 
 
 196. Tower. Tower of Babel. Genesis xi. 1-9. 
 199. Battlement. A wall round the top of a castle, with openings 
 to look through and annoy the enemy. 
 
 201. Minaret. A high, slender turret on a Mohammedan mosque 
 from which the people are called to prayers. 
 
 202. Pagod. Pagoda. 
 
14 THE LADY OF THE LAKE 
 
 All twinkling with the dewdrops sheen, 
 The brier-rose fell in streamers green, 
 And creeping shrubs of thousand dyes 
 Waved in the west-wind's summer sighs. 
 
 XII 
 
 Boon nature scattered, free and wild. 
 
 Each plant or flower, the mountain's child. 
 
 Here eglantine embalmed the air. 
 
 Hawthorn and hazel mingled there; 215 
 
 The primrose pale and violet flower 
 
 Found in each cleft a narrow bower ; 
 
 Foxglove and nightshade, side by side, 
 
 Emblems of punishment and pride. 
 
 Grouped their dark hues with every stain 220 
 
 The weather-beaten crags retain. 
 
 With boughs that quaked at every breath, 
 
 Gray birch and aspen wept beneath ; 
 
 Aloft, the ash and warrior oak 
 
 Cast anchor in the rifted rock; 225 
 
 And, higher yet, the pine-tree hung 
 
 His shattered trunk, and frequent flung, 
 
 Where seemed the cliffs to meet on high, 
 
 His boughs athwart the narrowed sky. 
 
 Highest of all, where white peaks glanced, 230 
 
 Where glistening streamers waved and danced, 
 
 The wanderer's eye could barely view 
 
 The summer heaven's delicious blue; 
 
 208. Sheen. Shining. 
 
CANTO I THE CHASE 1 5 
 
 So wondrous wild, the whole might seem 
 
 The scenery of a fairy dream. 235 
 
 XIII 
 
 Onward, amid the copse *gan peep 
 
 A narrow inlet, still and deep. 
 
 Affording scarce such breadth of brim 
 
 As served the wild duck's brood to swim. 
 
 Lost for a space, through thickets veering, 240 
 
 But broader when again appearing, 
 
 Tall rocks and tufted knolls their face 
 
 Could on the dark-blue mirror trace; 
 
 And farther as the Hunter strayed, 
 
 Still broader sweep its channels made. 245 
 
 The shaggy mounds no longer stood. 
 
 Emerging from entangled wood, 
 
 But, wave-encircled, seemed to float, 
 
 Like castle girdled with its moat ; 
 
 Yet broader floods extending still 250 
 
 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, 255 
 
 Unless he climb with footing nice 
 
 A far-projecting precipice. 
 
 256. Unless he climb, etc. Until the present road was made through 
 the romantic pass which I have presumptuously attempted to describe 
 
l6 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto i 
 
 The broom's tough roots his ladder made, 
 
 The hazel saplmgs lent their aid; 
 
 And thus an airy point he won, 260 
 
 Where, gleaming with the setting sun, 
 
 One burnished sheet of living gold. 
 
 Loch Katrine lay beneath him rolled. 
 
 In all her length far winding lay. 
 
 With promontory, creek, and bay, 265 
 
 And islands that, empurpled bright. 
 
 Floated amid the hvelier light. 
 
 And mountains that like giants stand 
 
 To sentinel enchanted land. 
 
 High on the south, huge Benvenue 270 
 
 Down to the lake in masses threw 
 
 Crags, knolls, and mounds, confusedly hurled, 
 
 The fragments of an earlier world; 
 
 A wildering forest feathered o'er 
 
 His ruined sides and summit hoar, 275 
 
 in the preceding stanzas, there was no mode of issuing out of the defile 
 called the Trosachs, excepting by a sort of ladder composed of the 
 branches and roots of trees. — Scott. 
 
 258. Broom. A large bushy shrub having tough, leafless stems and 
 flowers of a deep golden yellow. Brooms were so called because they 
 were originally made from it. — Stevens and Morris. 
 
 263. Loch Katrine. The scene of the poem is one of the most beau- 
 tiful of the Scottish lakes, situated in Perthshire. It is about eight 
 miles long and two miles wide, serpentine in shape, and surrounded by 
 high mountains and deep ravines. A small steamer plies on the lake. 
 Near its outlet is situated Ellen's Isle in the wild region of the Trosachs. 
 It is supposed to have derived its name from " Catterins or Ketterins, a 
 wild band of robbers, who prowled about its shores to the terror of all 
 wayfarers." 
 
 274. Wildering. Bewildering. 
 
D I THE CHASE 17 
 
 While on the north, through middle air, 
 Ben-an heaved high his forehead bare. 
 
 XV 
 
 From the steep promontory gazed 
 
 The stranger, raptured and amazed, 
 
 And, <*What a scene were here," he cried, 280 
 
 *' For princely pomp or churchman's pride ! 
 
 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 gray ; 285 
 
 How blithely might the bugle-horn 
 
 Chide on the lake the lingering morn ! 
 
 How sweet at eve the lover's lute 
 
 Chime when the groves were still and mute! 
 
 And when the midnight moon should lave 290 
 
 Her forehead in the silver wave. 
 
 How solemn on the ear would come 
 
 The holy matins' distant hum, 
 
 While the deep peal's commanding tone 
 
 Should wake, in yonder islet lone, 295 
 
 A sainted hermit from his cell. 
 
 To drop a bead with every knell ! 
 
 And bugle, lute, and bell, and all, 
 
 277. Ben-an. " Little Mountain," lying north of the Trosachs. 
 
 293. Matins. Early morning prayers in Catholic churches. 
 
 297. Bead. Formerly meant a prayer, and hence came to be applied 
 to the small perforated balls used in keeping an account of the number 
 of prayers recited. 
 
1 8 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto i 
 
 Should each bewildered stranger call 
 
 To friendly feast and lighted hall. 300 
 
 XVI 
 " Blithe were it then to wander here ! 
 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, 305 
 
 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: 310 
 
 But hosts may in these wilds abound. 
 Such as are better missed than found; 
 To meet with Highland plunderers here 
 Were worse than loss of steed or deer. — 
 I am alone; — my bugle strain 315 
 
 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, 320 
 
 302. Beshrew. '• May ill betide," a slight curse. 
 
 313. Highland plunderers. The class who inhabited the romantic 
 regions in the neighborhood of Loch Katrine were, even until a late 
 period, much addicted to predatory excursions upon their Lowland 
 neighbors. — Scott. 
 
 318. Falchion (fawKchun). A broadsword with slightly curved point. 
 
CANTO I THE CHASE 19 
 
 • 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 325 
 
 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 snow. 330 
 
 The boat had touched this silver strand 
 Just as the Hunter left his stand. 
 And stood concealed amid the brake. 
 To view this Lady of the Lake. 
 The maiden paused, as if again 335 
 
 She thought to catch the distant strain. 
 With head upraised, and look intent, 
 And eye and ear attentive bent. 
 And locks flung back, and lips apart, 
 Like monument of Grecian art, 340 
 
 In listening mood, she seemed to stand, 
 The guardian Naiad of the strand. 
 
 XVin 
 * And ne'er did Grecian chisel trace 
 A Nymph, a Naiad, or a Grace, 
 Of finer form or lovelier face ! 345 
 
 What though the sun, with ardent frown. 
 Had slightly tinged her cheek with brown, — 
 
 342. Naiad (na'yad). A water nymph or goddess presiding over 
 rivers and springs. 
 
20 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto i 
 
 The sportive toil, which, short and hght. 
 
 Had dyed her glowing hue so bright. 
 
 Served too in hastier swell to show 350 
 
 Short glimpses of a breast of snow : 
 
 What though no rule of courtly grace 
 
 To measured mood had trained her pace, — 
 
 A foot more light, a step more true, 
 
 Ne'er from the heath-flower dashed the dew ; 355 
 
 E'en the slight harebell raised its head, 
 
 Elastic from her airy tread : 
 
 What though upon her speech there hung 
 
 The accents of the mountain tongue, — 
 
 Those silver sounds, so soft, so dear, 360 
 
 The listener held his breath to hear ! 
 
 XIX 
 
 A chieftain's daughter seemed the maid ; 
 
 Her satin snood, her silken plaid. 
 
 Her golden brooch, such birth betrayed. 
 
 And seldom was a snood amid 365 
 
 Such wild luxuriant ringlets hid. 
 
 Whose glossy black to shame might bring 
 
 The plumage of the raven's wing ; 
 
 353. Measured mood. Studied behavior. 
 
 363. Snood. A headband worn by Scottish maidens. — Plaid. Pro- 
 nounced //ay^^ by the Scotch. It consisted of about a dozen yards of 
 woolen cloth, checked with threads of various bright colors. It was 
 wrapped around the middle of the body, fastened with a belt, and 
 extended down to the knee. It was much worn as an over-garment by 
 the Highlanders of both sexes, and each clan was distinguished by its 
 own peculiar plaid. Plaid is the garment ; tartan is the pattern. 
 
CANTO I THE CHASE 21 
 
 And seldom o'er a breast so fair . 
 
 Mantled a plaid with modest care, 370 
 
 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 375 
 
 Gives back the shaggy banks more true. 
 
 Than every freeborn glance confessed 
 
 The guileless movements of her breast ; 
 
 Whether joy danced in her dark eye, 
 
 Or woe or pity claimed a sigh, 380 
 
 Or filial love was glowing there, 
 
 Or meek devotion poured a prayer, 
 
 Or tale of injury called forth 
 
 The indignant spirit of the North. 
 
 One only passion unrevealed 385 
 
 With maiden pride the maid concealed, 
 
 Yet not less purely felt the flame ; — 
 
 O, need I tell that passion's name ? 
 
 XX 
 
 Impatient of the silent horn. 
 
 Now on the gale her voice was borne : — 390 
 
 " Father ! " she cried ; the rocks around 
 
 Loved to prolong the gentle sound. 
 
 Awhile she paused, no answer came ; — 
 
 " Malcolm, was thine the blast ? " the name 
 
 Less resolutely uttered fell, 395 
 
 The echoes could not catch the swell. 
 
22 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto i 
 
 ''A stranger I," the Huntsman said, 
 
 Advancing from the hazel shade. 
 
 The maid, alarmed, with hasty oar 
 
 Pushed her light shallop from the shore, 400 
 
 And when a space was gained 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 fluttered and amazed, 405 
 
 She paused, and on the stranger gazed. 
 
 Not his the form, nor his the eye, 
 
 That youthful maidens wont to fly. 
 
 XXI 
 
 On his bold visage middle age 
 
 Had slightly pressed its signet sage, 410 
 
 Yet had not quenched 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, 415 
 
 Of hasty love or headlong ire. 
 
 His limbs were cast in manly mold 
 
 For hardy sports or contest bold ; 
 
 And though in peaceful garb arrayed, 
 
 And weaponless except his blade, 420 
 
 His stately mien as well implied 
 
 A high-born heart, a martial pride, 
 
 404. Prune. To trim and arrange the feathers with the bill. 
 
 408. Wont. Are accustomed. 
 
 410. Signet sage. Seal of wisdom; impression of gravity. 
 
CANTO I THE CHASE 23 
 
 As if a baron's crest he wore, 
 
 And sheathed in armor trode the shore. 
 
 Slighting the petty need he showed, 425 
 
 He told of his benighted road ; 
 
 His ready speech flowed fair and free, 
 
 In phrase of gentlest courtesy, 
 
 Yet seemed that tone and gesture bland 
 
 Less used to sue than to command. 430 
 
 XXII 
 
 Awhile the maid the stranger eyed, 
 
 And, reassured, at length replied. 
 
 That Highland halls were open still 
 
 To wildered wanderers of the hill. 
 
 "Nor think you unexpected come 435 
 
 To yon lone isle, our desert home ; 
 
 Before the heath had lost the dew. 
 
 This morn, a couch was pulled for you ; 
 
 On yonder mountain's purple head 
 
 Have ptarmigan and heath-cock bled, 440 
 
 And our broad nets have swept the mere, 
 
 To furnish forth your evening cheer." — 
 
 " Now, by the rood, my lovely maid. 
 
 Your courtesy has erred," he said ; 
 
 " No right have I to claim, misplaced, 445 
 
 The welcome of expected guest. 
 
 425. Slighting the need. Treating lightly his lack of food and shelter. 
 
 426. Benighted. Overtaken by night. 
 
 440. Ptarmigan. White grouse. — Heath-cock. Black grouse. 
 443. By the rood. By the cross. 
 
24 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto i 
 
 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, 450 
 
 Till on this lake's romantic strand 
 
 I found a fay in fairy land ! " — 
 
 xxni , 
 
 " I well believe," the maid replied. 
 
 As her light skiff approached the side, — 
 
 " I well believe, that ne'er before 455 
 
 Your foot has trod Loch Katrine's shore ; 
 
 But yet, as far as yesternight 
 
 Old Allan-bane foretold your plight, — 
 
 A gray -haired sire, whose eye intent 
 
 Was on the visioned future bent. 460 
 
 He saw your steed, a dappled gray. 
 
 Lie dead beneath the birchen way; 
 
 Painted exact your form and mien. 
 
 Your hunting-suit of Lincoln green, 
 
 460. On the visioned future bent. If force of evidence could authorize 
 us to believe facts inconsistent with the general laws of nature, enough 
 might be produced in favor of the existence of the second-sight. " The 
 second-sight is a singular faculty of seeing an otherwise invisible object 
 without any previous means used by the person that used it for that end : 
 the vision makes such a lively impression upon the seers, that they 
 neither see nor think of anything else, except the vision, as long as it 
 continues ; and then they appear pensive or jovial, according to the 
 object that w-as represented to them." — Scott. 
 
 464. Lincoln green. The color of cloth formerly made in Lincoln and 
 worn by the Lowland huntsmen. 
 
-^To 1 THE CHASE 25 
 
 That tasseled horn so gayly gilt, 465 
 
 That falchion's crooked blade and hilt, 
 
 That cap with heron plumage trim. 
 
 And yon two hounds so dark apd grim. 
 
 He bade that all should ready be 
 
 To grace a guest of fair degree ; 470 
 
 But light I held his prophecy, 
 
 And deemed 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, 475 
 
 Announced by prophet sooth and old, 
 
 Doomed, doubtless, for achievement bold, 
 
 I '11 lightly front each high emprise 
 
 For one kind glance of those bright eyes. 
 
 Permit me first the task to guide 480 
 
 Your fairy frigate o'er the tide." 
 
 The maid, with smile suppressed and sly. 
 
 The toil unwonted saw him try; 
 
 For seldom, sure, if e'er before. 
 
 His noble hand had grasped an oar : 485 
 
 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. 
 
 475. Errant-knight. A knight wandering in search of adventure. 
 
 476. Sooth. True. 
 
 478. Emprise. A dangerous undertaking. 
 
26 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto i 
 
 Nor frequent does the bright oar break 490 
 
 The darkening mirror of the lake, 
 Until the rocky isle they reach, 
 And moor their shallop on the beach. 
 
 XXV 
 
 The stranger viewed the shore around ; 
 
 'Twas all so close with copsewood bound, 495 
 
 Nor track nor pathway might declare 
 
 That human foot frequented there, 
 
 Until the mountain maiden showed 
 
 A clambering unsuspected road, 
 
 That winded through the tangled screen, 500 
 
 And opened on a narrow green. 
 
 Where weeping birch and willow round 
 
 With their long fibers swept the ground. 
 
 Here, for retreat in dangerous hour, 
 
 Some chief had framed a rustic bower. 505 
 
 492. Rocky isle. Ellen's Isle, situated at the foot of the beautiful 
 Loch Katrine, is a small island containing two or three acres of land 
 rising abruptly from the water to a height of from twenty-five to fifty 
 feet. It is covered with a thick undergrowth of shrubbery, ferns, honey- 
 suckle, and heather, with a few native birches and pines. The landing 
 is in a slight recess hidden by trees. The ascent is up a steep bank, 
 the roots of the trees forming steps in the winding path well trodden by 
 the thousands of travelers yearly visiting this wild and romantic spot. 
 As the traveler lingers here he recalls the events of this poem more as 
 matters of history than the creation of the great poet. Beautiful as are 
 lake, isle, and " silver strand," one is glad to yield a grateful tribute to the 
 memory of him who has invested this spot with a charm that shall endure 
 so long as the love of knight and maiden shall interest mortals. 
 
 504. For retreat in dsmgerous hour. The Celtic chieftains, whose 
 lives were continually exposed to peril, had usually, in the most retired 
 
CANTO I THE CHASE 27 
 
 XXVI 
 
 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. 
 
 Lopped of their boughs, their hoar trunks bared, 510 
 
 And by the hatchet 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. 515 
 
 The lighter pine-trees overhead 
 
 Their slender length for rafters spread, 
 
 And withered heath and rushes dry 
 
 Supplied a russet canopy. 
 
 Due westward, fronting to the green, 520 
 
 A rural portico was seen, 
 
 Aloft on native pillars borne. 
 
 Of mountain fir with bark unshorn. 
 
 Where Ellen's hand had taught to twine 
 
 The ivy and Idaean vine, 525 
 
 The clematis, the favored flower 
 
 Which boasts the name of virgin bower, 
 
 spot of their domains, some place of retreat for the hour of necessity, 
 which, as circumstances would admit, was a tower, a cavern, or a rustic 
 hut, in a strong and secluded situation. One of these last gave refuge 
 to the unfortunate Charles Edward, in his perilous wanderings after 
 the battle of Culloden. — Scott. 
 
 507. Device. Design. 
 
 525. Idsean vine. Red whortleberry. Ida is a mountain in Crete. 
 
28 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto i 
 
 And every hardy plant could bear 
 
 Loch Katrine's keen and searching air. 
 
 An instant in this porch she stayed, 530 
 
 And gayly to the stranger said, 
 
 " On heaven and on thy lady call, 
 
 And enter the enchanted hall ! " 
 
 XXVII 
 
 " My hope, my heaven, my trust must be, 
 
 My gentle guide, in following thee ! " — 535 
 
 He crossed the threshold, — and a clang 
 
 Of angry steel that instant rang. 
 
 To his bold brow his spirit rushed, 
 
 But 60on for vain alarm he blushed. 
 
 When on the floor he saw displayed, 540 
 
 Cause of the din, a naked blade 
 
 Dropped 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 : 545 
 
 A target there, a bugle here, 
 
 A battle-ax, a hunting-spear. 
 
 And broadswords, bows, and arrows store, 
 
 With the tusked trophies of the boar. 
 
 Here grins the wolf as when he died, 550 
 
 And there the wild-cat's brindled hide 
 
 The frontlet of the elk adorns, 
 
 Or mantles o'er the bison's horns ; 
 
 528. (Which) could bear. Relative omitted. 
 
 546. Target. A small shield used for defense in battle. 
 
CANTO I THE CHASE 29 
 
 Pennons and flags defaced and stained, 
 
 That blackening streaks of blood retained, 555 
 
 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 sylvan hall. 
 
 XXVIII 
 
 The wondering stranger round him gazed, 560 
 
 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 swayed, 
 
 '* I never knew but one," he said, 565 
 
 " Whose stalwart arm might brook to wield 
 
 A blade like this in battlefield." 
 
 She sighed, then smiled and took the word : 
 
 " You see the guardian champion's sword ; 
 
 As light it trembles in his hand 570 
 
 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." 575 
 
 566. Brook. Endure. 
 
 573. Ferragus and Ascabart. Fabled giants. These two sons of 
 Anak flourished in romantic fable. The first is well known to lovers 
 of Ariosto. Ascabart makes a very material figure in the History of 
 Bevis of Hampton, by whom he was conquered. — ScoTT. 
 
 575. Menials. Servants. 
 
30 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto i 
 
 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, 580 
 
 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 unasked his birth and namie. 585 
 
 Such then the reverence to a guest, 
 
 That fellest foe might join the feast. 
 
 And from his deadliest foeman's door 
 
 Unquestioned turn, the banquet o'er. 
 
 At length his rank the stranger names, 590 
 
 "The Knight of Snowdoun, James Fitz-James ; 
 
 Lord of a barren heritage. 
 
 Which his brave sires, from age to age, 
 
 578. Port. Bearing, deportment. 
 
 580. More than kindred knew. Ellen's mother being dead, she loved 
 this Lady Margaret, her maternal aunt, as though she were her mother, 
 and treated her as such. — Stevens and Morris. 
 
 585. Unasked his birth and name. The Highlanders, who carried 
 hospitality to a punctilious excess, are said to have considered it as 
 churlish to ask a stranger his name or lineage, before he had taken 
 refreshment. Feuds were so frequent among them that a contrary rule 
 would in many cases have produced the discovery of some circumstance 
 which might have excluded the guest of the benefit of the assistance he 
 stood in need of. — Scott. 
 
 587. Fellest. Most cruel. 
 
 591. Snowdoun. Name of Stirling Castle. (See Canto VI, line 789.) 
 
595 
 
 TO I THE CHASE 
 
 By their good swords had held with toil ; 
 
 His sire had fallen 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. 
 
 Outstripped his comrades, missed the deer, 6co 
 
 Lost his good steed, and wandered here." 
 
 XXX 
 
 Fain would the Knight in turn require 
 
 The name and state of Ellen's sire. ■^- 
 
 Well showed the elder lady's mien 
 
 That courts and cities she had seen ; 605 
 
 Ellen, though more her looks displayed 
 
 The simple grace of sylvan maid, 
 
 In speech and gesture, form and face, 
 
 Showed she was come of gentle race. 
 
 'T was strange in ruder rank to find 610 
 
 Such looks, such manners, and such mind. 
 
 Each hint the Knight of Snowdoun gave. 
 
 Dame Margaret heard with silence grave ; 
 
 Or Ellen, innocently gay, 
 
 Turned all inquiry light away : — 615 
 
 " Weird women we ! 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 ; 
 
 596. Wot. Knows. 
 
 616. Weird. Skilled in witchcraft. 
 
32 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto i 
 
 While viewless minstrels touch the string, 620 
 
 'T is thus our charmed rhymes we sing." 
 She sung, and still a harp unseen 
 Filled up the symphony between. 
 
 XXXI 
 
 " Soldier, rest ! thy warfare o'er. 
 
 Sleep the sleep that knows not breaking ; 625 
 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, 630 
 
 Every sense in slumber dewing. 
 Soldier, rest ! thy warfare o'er. 
 Dream of fighting fiekls no more; 
 Sleep the sleep that knows not breaking, 
 Morn of toil, nor night of waking. 635 
 
 " No rude sound shall reach thine ear, 
 
 Armor's clang or war-steed champing, 
 Trump nor pibroch summon here 
 
 Mustering clan or squadron tramping. 
 Yet the lark's shrill fife may come 640 
 
 At the daybreak from the fallow, 
 And the bittern sound his drum. 
 
 Booming from the sedgy shallow. 
 
 638. Pibroch (pc'broch). A Highland air played upon the bagpipe. 
 
D I THE CHASE 33 
 
 Ruder sounds shall none be near, 
 Guards nor warders challenge here, 645 
 
 Here 's no war-steed's neigh and champing. 
 Shouting clans or squadrons stamping." 
 
 XXXII 
 
 She paused, — then, blushing, led the lay, 
 
 To grace the stranger of the day. 
 
 Her mellow notes awhile prolong 650 
 
 The cadence of the flowing song. 
 
 Till to her lips in measured frame 
 
 The minstrel verse spontaneous came. 
 
 ^onSf ContinuetJ 
 
 " Huntsman, rest 1 thy chase is done ; 
 
 While our slumbrous spells assail ye, 655 
 
 Dream not, with the rising sun, 
 
 Bugles here shall sound reveille. 
 Sleep ! the deer is in his den ; 
 
 Sleep ! thy hounds are by thee lying ; 
 Sleep ! nor dream in yonder glen 660 
 
 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^." 665 
 
 657. Reveill6 (re-varyi). The beat of drums or bugle call at day- 
 break for awakening the soldiers. 
 
34 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto i 
 
 xxxni 
 
 The hall was cleared, — the stranger's bed 
 
 Was there of mountain heather spread, 
 
 Where oft a hundred guests had lain, 
 
 And dreamed their forest sports again.- 
 
 But vainly did the heath-flower shed 670 
 
 Its moorland fragrance round his head; 
 
 Not Ellen's spell had lulled to rest 
 
 The fever of his troubled breast. 
 
 In broken dreams the image rose 
 
 Of varied perils, pains, and woes : 675 
 
 His steed now flounders in the brake, 
 
 Now sinks his barge upon the lake ; 
 
 Now leader of a broken host. 
 
 His standard falls, his honor 's lost. 
 
 Then, — from my couch may heavenly might 680 
 
 Chase that worst phantom of the night ! — 
 
 Again returned the scenes of youth. 
 
 Of confident, undoubting truth ; . 
 
 Again his soul he interchanged 
 
 With friends whose hearts were long estranged. 685 
 
 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, — 690 
 
 O were his senses false or true ? 
 
 679. His standard falls. A foreboding of the fatal disaster which 
 was to close the life of James V. 
 
CANTO I THE CHASE 35 
 
 Dreamed he of death or broken vow, 
 Or is it all a vision now ? 
 
 XXXIV 
 
 At length, with Ellen in a grove 
 
 He seemed to walk and speak of love ; 695 
 
 She listened with a blush and sigh. 
 
 His suit was warm, his hopes were high. 
 
 He sought her yielded hand to clasp. 
 
 And a cold gauntlet met his grasp: 
 
 The phantom's sex was changed and gone, 700 
 
 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. — 705 
 
 He woke, and, panting with affright, 
 Recalled the vision of the night. 
 
 The hearth's decaying brands were red. 
 
 And deep and dusky luster shed. 
 
 Half showing, half concealing, all 710 
 
 The uncouth trophies of the hall. 
 
 Mid those the stranger fixed his eye 
 
 Where that huge falchion hung on high. 
 
 And thoughts on thoughts, a countless throng. 
 
 Rushed, chasing countless thoughts along, 715 
 
 Until, the giddy whirl to cure, 
 
 He rose and sought the moonshine pure. 
 
 699. Gauntlet. A glove protected on the back with metal, and for- 
 merly used in battle. 70^. Grisly. Frightful. 
 
36 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto i 
 
 XXXV 
 
 The wild rose, eglantine, and broom 
 Wasted around their rich perfume ; 
 The birch-trees wept in fragrant balm ; 720 
 
 The aspens slept beneath the calm ; 
 The silver light, with quivering glance, 
 Played on the water's still expanse, — 
 Wild were the heart whose passion's sway- 
 Could rage beneath the sober ray ! 725 
 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 ? 
 Can I not mountain maiden spy, 730 
 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 fevered dream. 
 But still the Douglas is the theme ? 735 
 I '11 dream no more, — by manly mind 
 Not even in sleep is will resigned. 
 My midnight orisons said o'er, 
 I '11 turn to rest, and dream no more." 
 His midnight orisons he told, 740 
 A prayer with every bead of gold. 
 Consigned to heaven his cares and woes. 
 And sunk in undisturbed repose, 
 Until the heath-cock shrilly crew. 
 And morning dawned on Benvenue. 745 
 
 732. Brand. Sword. 73S. Orisons. Prayers. 
 
Canto Second 
 
 THE ISLAND 
 
 At morn the black-cock trims his jetty wing, 
 
 'T is morning prompts the hnnet's blithest lay, 
 All Nature's children feel the matin spring 
 
 Of life reviving, with reviving day ; 
 And while yon Uttle bark glides down the bay, 5 
 
 Wafting the stranger on his way again, 
 Morn's genial influence roused a minstrel gray. 
 
 And sweetly o'er the lake was heard thy strain. 
 Mixed with the sounding harp, O white-haired 
 Allan-bane ! 
 
 II 
 
 " Not faster yonder rowers' might 10 
 
 Flings from their oars the spray. 
 Not faster yonder rippling bright, 
 That tracks the shallop's course in light. 
 
 Melts in the lake away, 
 
 9. White-haired Allan-bane. To a late period Highland chieftains 
 retained in their service the bard, as a family ofificer. 
 
 37 
 
38 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto ii 
 
 Than men from memory erase ' 15 
 
 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 battled line, 20 
 
 Good hawk and hound for sylvan sport ! 
 Where beauty sees the brave resort, 
 
 The honored meed be thine ! 
 True be thy sword, thy friend sincere. 
 Thy lady constant, kind, and dear, 25 
 
 And lost in love's and friendship's smile 
 Be memory of the lonely isle ! 
 
 Ill 
 S»onff Conttntteti 
 
 " But if beneath yon southern sky 
 
 A plaided stranger roam, 
 Whose drooping crest and stifled sigh, 30 
 
 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 erewhile, 35 
 
 A stranger in the lonely isle. 
 
 *' Or if on life's uncertain main 
 Mishap shall mar thy sail ; 
 
 17. Speed. Success. 35. Hap. Lot or fortune. 
 
CANTO II THE ISLAND 39 
 
 If faithful, wise, and brave in vain, 
 
 Woe, want, and exile thou sustain 40 
 
 Beneath the fickle gale; 
 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." 45 
 
 IV 
 
 As died the sounds upon the tide. 
 
 The shallop reached the mainland side, 
 
 And ere his onward way he took, 
 
 The stranger cast a lingering look. 
 
 Where easily his eye might reach 50 
 
 The Harper on the islet beach. 
 
 Reclined against a blighted tree, 
 
 As wasted, gray, and worn as he. 
 
 To minstrel meditation given. 
 
 His reverend brow was raised to heaven, 5^ 
 
 As from the rising sun to claim 
 
 A sparkle of inspiring flame. 
 
 His hand, reclined upon the wire, 
 
 Seemed watching the awakening fire; 
 
 So still he sat as those who wait 60 
 
 Till judgment speak the doom of fate ; 
 
 So still, 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. 65 
 
40 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto ii 
 
 Upon a rock with lichens wild, 
 
 Beside him Ellen sat and smiled. — 
 
 Smiled she to see the stately drake 
 
 Lead forth his fleet upon the lake, 
 
 While her vexed spaniel from the beach 70 
 
 Bayed at the prize beyond his reach ? 
 
 Yet tell me, then, the maid who knows, 
 
 Why deepened on her cheek the rose ? — 
 
 Forgive, forgive. Fidelity! 
 
 Perchance the maiden smiled to see 75 
 
 Yon parting lingerer wave adieu. 
 
 And stop and turn to wave anew ; 
 
 And, lovely ladies, ere your ire 
 
 Condemn the heroine of my lyre. 
 
 Show me the fair would scorn to spy 80 
 
 And prize such conquest of her eye ! 
 
 VI 
 
 While yet he loitered on the spot. 
 
 It seemed as Ellen marked him not ; 
 
 But when he turned him to the glade. 
 
 One courteous parting sign she made; 85 
 
 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 90 
 
 As at that simple mute farewell. 
 
CANTO II THE ISLAND 41 
 
 Now with a trusty mountain guide, 
 
 And his dark stag-hounds by his side, 
 
 He parts, — the maid, unconscious still. 
 
 Watched him wind slowly round the hill ; 95 
 
 But when his stately form was hid, 
 
 The guardian in her bosom chid, — 
 
 " Thy Malcolm ! vain and selfish maid ! " 
 
 'T was thus upbraiding conscience said, — 
 
 " Not so had Malcolm idly hung 100 
 
 On the smooth phrase of Southern tongue ; 
 
 Not so had Malcolm strained his eye 
 
 Another step than thine to spy." — 
 
 "Wake, Allan-bane," aloud she cried 
 
 To the old minstrel by her side, — 105 
 
 " Arouse thee from thy moody dream ! 
 
 I '11 give thy harp heroic theme, 
 
 And warm thee with a noble name ; 
 
 Pour forth the glory of the Graeme ! " 
 
 109. Graeme. The ancient and powerful family of Graham (which, 
 for metrical 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. Sir John the 
 Graeme, the faithful and undaunted partaker of the labors and patriotic 
 warfare of Wallace, fell in the unfortunate field of Falkirk, in 1298. 
 The celebrated Marquis 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 temper, and the rigor with 
 which he executed the oppressive mandates of the princes whom he 
 served, I do not hesitate to natAe as a third, John Graeme of Claver- 
 house, Viscount of Dundee, whose heroic death in the arms of victory 
 may be allowed to cancel the memory of his cruelty to the Noncon- 
 formists during the reigns of Charles II and James II. — ScoTT. 
 
42 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto ii 
 
 Scarce from her lip the word had rushed, i lo 
 
 When deep the conscious maiden blushed ; 
 
 For of his clan, in hall and bower, 
 
 Young Malcolm Graeme was held the flower. 
 
 VII 
 
 The minstrel waked his harp, — three times 
 Arose the well-known martial chimes, 115 
 
 And thrice their high heroic pride 
 In melancholy murmurs died. 
 "Vainly thou bidst, O noble maid," 
 Clasping his withered hands, he said, 
 ''Vainly thou bidst me wake the strain, 120 
 
 Though all unwont to bid in vain. 
 Alas ! than mine a mightier hand 
 Has tuned my harp, my strings has spanned ! 
 I touch the chords of joy, but low 
 And mournful answer notes of woe ; 125 
 
 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, 130 
 
 ■ This harp, which erst Saint Modan swayed, 
 
 112. Clan. A number of families united under one chieftain, hav- 
 ing a common ancestor and bearing the same surname. — Bower. 
 Chamber or lady's parlor. *' In hall and bower." In assemblies of 
 men and women. 
 
 131. Saint Modan. I am not prepared to show that St. Modan 
 was a performer on the harp. It was, however, no unsaintly accom- 
 plishment ; for St. Dunstan certainly did play upon that instrument. 
 
CANTO II THE ISLAND 43 
 
 Can thus its master's fate foretell, 
 Then welcome be the minstrel's knell ! 
 
 VIII 
 
 <'But ah ! dear lady, thus it sighed, 
 
 The eve thy sainted mother died ; 135 
 
 And such the sounds which, 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, 140 
 
 Wailed loud through Bothwell's bannered hall, 
 
 Ere Douglases, to ruin driven, 
 
 Were exiled from their native heaven. — 
 
 which retaining, as was natural, a portion of the sanctity attached to its 
 master's character, announced future events by its spontaneous sound. 
 — Scott. 
 
 141. Bothwell's bannered hall. Bothwell Castle, now in ruins, situ- 
 ated near Glasgow on the Clyde. 
 
 142. Douglases. The Douglas family had been exceedingly power- 
 ful ever since the great wars with England, when James Douglas had 
 been the chief friend of Bruce, the champion of national independence. 
 The earls of Douglas and of Angus, with their many relatives, had 
 since grown so powerful and unscrupulous as to be the terror of kings 
 and people ; so that it was said that no justice could be obtained against 
 a Douglas or a Douglas's man. Archibald Douglas, Earl of Angus, had 
 married Margaret Tudor, the mother of James V, and the young king, 
 in his boyhood, had been held in such subjection that when at last he 
 made his escape from the numerous Douglases who guarded and watched 
 him, he hated the very name of the family, and banished every one of 
 them, including a brave old man, Douglas of Kilspindie, who had been a 
 great favorite with him in his childhood, and from whom the character 
 of the Douglas of the poem is taken. — Yonge. 
 
44 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto ii 
 
 O ! if yet worse mishap and woe 
 
 My master's house must undergo, 145 
 
 Or aught but weal to Ellen fair 
 
 Brood in these accents of despair,. 
 
 No future bard, sad Harp ! shall fling 
 
 Triumph or rapture from thy string ; 
 
 One short, one final strain shall flow, 150 
 
 Fraught with unutterable woe, 
 
 Then shivered shall thy fragments lie, 
 
 Thy master cast him down and die !" 
 
 IX 
 
 Soothing she answered him: ''Assuage, 
 
 Mine honored friend, the fears of age ; 155 
 
 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, 160 
 
 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. 165 
 
 My sire, in native virtue great. 
 
 Resigning lordship, lands, and state. 
 
 Not then to fortune more resigned 
 
 Than yonder oak might give the wind ; 
 
 1 59. Tweed and Spey. Throughout the whole country, the Tweed 
 being the southern boundary and the Spey in the far north. 
 
D II THE ISLAND 45 
 
 The graceful foliage storms may reave, 170 
 
 The noble stem they cannot grieve. 
 
 For me " — she stooped, and, looking round, 
 
 Plucked a .blue harebell from the ground, — • 
 
 " For me, whose memory scarce conveys 
 
 An image of more splendid days, 175 
 
 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, 180 
 
 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, 185 
 
 Wiled the old Harper's mood away. 
 
 With such a look as hermits throw. 
 
 When angels stoop to soothe their woe, 
 
 He gazed, till fond regret and pride 
 
 Thrilled to a tear, then thus replied : 190 
 
 " Loveliest and best ! thou little know'st 
 
 The rank, the honors, thou hast lost ! 
 
 O, might I live to see thee grace. 
 
 In Scotland's court, thy birthright place, 
 
 To see my favorite's step advance 195 
 
 The lightest in the courtly dance, 
 
 170. Reave. To tearirom or sweep away. 
 
46 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto ii 
 
 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 ! " . 200 
 
 XI 
 
 '* Fair dreams are these," the maiden cried, — 
 
 Light was her accent, yet she sighed, — 
 
 ** Yet is this mossy rock to me 
 
 Worth splendid chair and canopy ; 
 
 Nor would my footstep spring more gay 205 
 
 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, — 210 
 
 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 215 
 
 A Lennox foray — for a day." — 
 
 200. The Bleeding Heart. The shield of the Douglas family bore a 
 red heart crowned, in remembrance of the charge given on his deathbed 
 by Robert Bruce to James Douglas to bear his heart to Jerusalem. 
 
 206. Strathspey. A lively Scottish dance. 
 
 213. Alpine. An ancient king from whom several clans claimed descent. 
 
 214. Loch Lomond. One of the largest and most beautiful of Scottish 
 lakes, near Loch Katrine. 
 
 216. Lennox foray. The raid of a body of armed men, for the sake 
 of plunder, into the territory of the Lennox family, which lay around 
 the south end of Loch Lomond. 
 
THE ISLAND 
 
 47 
 
 XII 
 
 The ancient bard her glee repressed : 
 
 " 111 hast thou chosen theme for jest ! 
 
 For who, through all this western wild, 
 
 Named Black Sir Roderick e'er, and smiled ? 220 
 
 In Holy-Rood a knight he slew ; 
 
 I saw, when back the dirk he drew. 
 
 Courtiers give place before the stride 
 
 Of the undaunted homicide ; 
 
 And since, though outlawed, hath his hand 225 
 
 Full sternly kept his mountain land. 
 
 Who else dared give — ah ! woe the day. 
 
 That I such hated truth should say ! — 
 
 The Douglas, like a stricken deer. 
 
 Disowned by every noble peer, 230 
 
 Even the rude refuge we have here ? 
 
 220. Black Sir Roderick. See note, line 408. 
 
 221. Holy-Rood. A castle in Edinburgh, the residence of the royal 
 family of Scotland. It gets its name from its connection with the 
 Abbey of Holy-Rood, or Holy Cross. — In Holy-Rood a knight he slew. 
 This was by no means an uncommon occurrence in the Court of Scot- 
 land ; nay, the presence of the sovereign himself scarcely restrained the 
 ferocious and inveterate feuds which were the perpetual source of 
 bloodshed among the Scottish nobility. — Scott. 
 
 230. Disowned by every noble peer. The exiled state of this power- 
 ful 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 banished 
 Earl of Angus, afterwards well known by the title of Earl of Morton, 
 lurked, during the exile of his family, in the north of Scotland, under 
 
48 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto ii 
 
 Alas, this wild marauding Chief 
 
 Alone might hazard our relief, 
 
 And now thy maiden charms expand, 
 
 Looks for his guerdon in thy hand ; 235 
 
 Full soon may dispensation sought, 
 
 To back his suit, from Rome be brought. 
 
 Then, though an exile on the hill. 
 
 Thy father, as the Douglas, still 
 
 Be held in reverence and fear; 240 
 
 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." — 245 
 
 XIII 
 
 "Minstrel," the maid replied, and high 
 
 Her father's soul glanced from her eye, 
 
 " My debts to Roderick's house I know : 
 
 All that a mother could bestow 
 
 To Lady Margaret's care I owe, 250 
 
 the assumed name of James Innes, otherwise /^w^j the Grieve {i.e., Reeve 
 or Bailiff). "And as he bore the name," says Godscroft, "so did he 
 also execute the office of a grieve or overseer of the lands and rents, the 
 corn and cattle of him with whom he lived." From the habits of fru- 
 gality and observation which he acquired in his humble situation, the 
 historian traces that intimate acquaintance with popular character 
 which enabled him to rise so high in the state, and that honorable 
 economy by which he repaired and established the shattered estates of 
 Angus and Morton. — Scott. 
 
 235. Guerdon. Reward. 
 
 236. Dispensation. The granting of a license by the pope; in this 
 case permission for Roderick to marry his cousin Ellen. 
 
CANTO II THE ISLAND 
 
 49 
 
 Since first an orphan in the wild 
 
 She sorrowed 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 ; 255 
 
 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 ; 260 
 
 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. 
 
 An outcast pilgrim will she rove, 265 
 
 Than wed the man she cannot love. 
 
 XIV 
 
 " Thou shak'st, good friend, thy tresses gray, — 
 
 That pleading look, what can it say 
 
 But what I own .? — I grant him brave, 
 
 But wild as Bracklinn's thundering wave ; 270 
 
 And generous, — save vindictive mood 
 
 Or jealous transport chafe his blood : 
 
 254. Shrouds. Protects. 
 
 260. Votaress. A woman devoted to any particular service or wor- 
 ship. — Maronnan. The parish of Kilmaronock, at the eastern extremity 
 of Loch Lomond, derives its name from a cell or chapel, dedicated to 
 St. Maronnan. — Scott. 
 
 270. Bracklinn. This is a beautiful cascade made by a mountain 
 stream called the Keltie, at a place called the Bridge of Bracklinn, about 
 a mile from the village of Callander. — Scott. 
 
50 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto ii 
 
 I grant him true to friendly band, 
 
 As his claymore is to his hand ; 
 
 But O ! that very blade of steel 275 
 
 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, 280 
 
 Where once some pleasant hamlet stood, 
 
 A mass of ashes slaked with blood. 
 
 The hand that for my father fought 
 
 I honor, as his daughter ought ; 
 
 But can I clasp it reeking red 285 
 
 From peasants slaughtered 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. 290 
 
 While yet a child, — and children know. 
 
 Instinctive taught, the friend and foe, — 
 
 I shuddered at his brow of gloom. 
 
 His shadowy plaid and sable plume ; 
 
 A maiden grown, I ill could bear 295 
 
 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. 300 
 
 274. Claymore. A large sword formerly used by the Highlanders. 
 282. Slaked. Drenched. 
 
CANTO II THE ISLAND 5 1 
 
 To change such odious theme were best, — 
 
 What think' St thou of our stranger guest 
 
 ? " 
 
 XV 
 
 " What think I of him ? — woe the while 
 
 That brought such wanderer to our isle ! 
 
 Thy father's battle-brandy of yore 305 
 
 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. 310 
 
 If courtly spy hath harbored here. 
 
 What may we for the Douglas fear ? 
 
 What for this island, deemed of old 
 
 Clan-Alpine's last and surest hold ? 
 
 If neither spy nor foe, I pray 315 
 
 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 Malcolm Graeme ; 320 
 
 306. Tine-man. Archibald, the third Earl of Douglas, was so unfor- 
 tunate in all his enterprises, that he acquired the epithet of Tine-man, 
 because he tined, or lost, his followers in every battle which he fought. 
 — Scott. 
 
 308. His Border spears with Hotspur's bows. The reference is to the 
 alliance of Douglas with his Scottish spearmen, and the English under 
 Percy, or Hotspur, armed with the crossbow. 
 
 319. Beltane game. A May-day festival in honor of Beal, the Sun, 
 celebrated by kindling fires on the hilltops and other ceremonies. 
 
52 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto ii 
 
 Still, though thy sire the peace renewed, 
 
 Smolders in Roderick's breast the feud : 
 
 Beware ! — But hark ! what sounds are these ? 
 
 My dull ears catch no faltering breeze, 
 
 No weeping birch nor aspens wake, 325 
 
 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." • 330 
 
 XVI 
 
 Far up the lengthened lake were spied 
 
 Four darkening specks upon the tide. 
 
 That, slow enlarging on the view. 
 
 Four manned and masted barges grew, 
 
 And, bearing downwards from Glengyle, 335 
 
 Steered full upon the lonely isle ; 
 
 The point of Brianchoil they passed. 
 
 And, to the windward as they cast, 
 
 Against the sun they gave to shine 
 
 The bold Sir Roderick's bannered Pine. 340 
 
 Nearer and nearer as they bear, 
 
 Spears, pikes, and axes flash in air. 
 
 Now might you see the tartans brave. 
 
 And plaids and plumage dance and wave : 
 
 327. Canna. Cotton grass. 
 
 340. Bannered Pine. The pine was the badge of Clan-Alpine. 
 
 343. Tartans brave. Showy plaids. (Cf. Canto I, 363.) 
 
CANTO II THE ISLAND 5.3 
 
 Now see the bonnets sink and rise, 345 
 
 As his tough oar the rower pHes ; 
 
 See, flashing at each sturdy stroke. 
 
 The wave ascending into smoke ; 
 
 See the proud pipers on the bow, 
 
 And mark the gaudy streamers flow 350 
 
 From their loud chanters down, and sweep 
 
 The furrowed bosom of the deep. 
 
 As, rushing through the lake amain. 
 
 They plied the ancient Highland strain. 
 
 XVII 
 
 Ever, as on they bore, more loud 355 
 
 And louder rung the pibroch proud. 
 
 At first the sounds, by distance tame, 
 
 Mellowed along the waters came. 
 
 And, lingering long by cape and bay. 
 
 Wailed every harsher note away. 360 
 
 Then bursting bolder on the ear. 
 
 The clan's shrill Gathering they could hear, 
 
 Those thrilUng sounds that call the might 
 
 Of old Clan- Alpine to the fight. 
 
 Thick beat the rapid notes, as when 365 
 
 The mustering hundreds shake the glen, 
 
 345. Bonnets. The ordinary Scotch cap worn by men is called a 
 bonnet in Scotland. 
 
 351. Chanter. Tube of the bagpipe. 
 
 363. Thrilling sounds, etc. The connoisseurs in pipe music affect to 
 discover, in a well-composed pibroch, the imitative sounds of march, 
 conflict, flight, pursuit, and all the " current of a heady fight." — Scott. 
 
54 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto ii 
 
 And hurrying at the signal dread, 
 
 The battered earth returns their tread. 
 
 Then prelude light, of livelier tone, 
 
 Expressed their merry marching on, 370 
 
 Ere peal of closing battle rose. 
 
 With mingled outcry, shrieks, and blows; 
 
 And mimic din of stroke and ward, 
 
 As broadsword upon target jarred; 
 
 And groaning pause, ere yet again, 375 
 
 Condensed, the battle yelled 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. 380 
 
 Nor ended thus the strain, but slow 
 
 Sunk in a moan prolonged and low. 
 
 And changed the conquering clarion swell 
 
 For wild lament o'er those that fell. 
 
 xvni 
 
 The war-pipes ceased, but lake and hill 385 
 
 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 their Chieftain's praise. 390 
 
 Each boatman, bending to his oar, 
 
 With measured sweep the burden bore, 
 
 383. Clarion. A kind of trumpet whose note is clear and shrill. 
 392. Burden. Chorus. 
 
CANTO II THE ISLAND 55 
 
 In such wild cadence as the breeze 
 
 Makes through December's leafless trees. 
 
 The chorus first could Allan know, 395 
 
 " Roderick Vich Alpine, ho ! iro ! " 
 
 And near, and nearer as they rowed, 
 
 Distinct the martial ditty flowed. 
 
 XIX 
 
 Hail to the Chief who in triumph advances ! 
 
 Honored and blest be the ever-green Pine ! 400 
 
 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, 405 
 
 While every Highland glen 
 
 Sends our shout back again, 
 *' Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho ! ieroe ! " 
 
 405. Bourgeon (bur'jun). To bud or sprout. 
 
 408. Roderigh Vich Alpine. Besides his ordinary name and surname, 
 which were chiefly used in the intercourse with the Lowlands, every 
 Highland chief had an epithet expressive of his patriarchal dignity as 
 head of the clan, and which was common to all his predecessors and 
 successors, as Pharaoh to the kings of Egypt, or Arsaces to those of 
 Parthia. This name was usually a patronymic, expressive of his descent 
 from the founder of the family. Besides this title, which belonged to 
 his office and dignity, the chieftain had usually another peculiar to him- 
 self, which distinguished him from the chieftains of the same race. This 
 was sometimes derived from complexion, as dhu or 7'oy ; sometimes from 
 size, as beg or more ; at other times, from some peculiar exploit, or from 
 some peculiarity of habit or appearance. The line of the text therefore 
 signifies Black Roderick, the descendant of Alpine. — Scott. 
 
56 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto ii 
 
 Ours is no sapling, chance-sown by the fountain, 
 
 Blooming at Beltane, in winter to fade ; 410 
 
 When the whirlwind has stripped every leaf on the 
 mountain, 
 The more shall Clan-Alpine exult in her shade. 
 Moored in the rifted rock. 
 Proof to the tempest's shock. 
 Firmer he roots him the ruder it blow; 415 
 
 Menteith and Breadalbane, then. 
 Echo his praise again, 
 " Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho ! ieroe ! " 
 
 XX 
 
 Proudly our pibroch has thrilled in Glen Fruin, 
 
 And Bannochar's groans to our slogan replied ; 420 
 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, 
 Think of Clan- Alpine with fear and with woe ; 425 
 
 Lennox and Leven-glen 
 
 Shake when they hear again, 
 ''Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho ! ieroe ! " 
 
 416. Menteith and Breadalbane. Districts north of Loch Lomond. 
 
 419-426. Glen Fruin, Bannochar, Glen Luss, Ross-dhu, Leven-glen. 
 Valleys on the borders of Loch Lomond. 
 
 420. Slogan. Highland war cry. 
 
 422. And the best of Loch Lomond, etc. The Lennox, as the district 
 is called, which encircles the lower extremity of Loch Lomond, w^as 
 peculiarly exposed to the incursions of tl?e mountaineers, who inhabited 
 
CANTO II THE ISLAND 
 
 57 
 
 Row, vassals, row, for the pride of the Highlands ! 
 
 Stretch to your oars for the ever-green Pine ! 430 
 
 O that the rosebud that graces yon islands 
 
 Were wreathed in a garland around him to twine ! 
 
 O that some seedling gem, 
 
 Worthy such noble stem. 
 Honored and blessed in their shadow might grow! 435 
 
 Loud should Clan-Alpine then 
 
 Ring from her deepmost glen, 
 *' Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho ! ieroe ! " 
 
 XXI 
 
 With all her joyful female band 
 
 Had Lady Margaret sought the strand. 440 
 
 Loose on the breeze their tresses flew. 
 
 And high their snowy arms they threw, 
 
 As echoing back with shrill acclaim. 
 
 And chorus wild, the Chieftain's name; 
 
 While, prompt to please, with mother's art, 445 
 
 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 obeyed, 
 
 450 
 
 the inaccessible fastnesses at the upper end of the lake, and the neigh- 
 boring district of Loch Katrine. These were often marked by circum- 
 stances of great ferocity. — Scott, 
 
58 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto ii 
 
 And when a distant bugle rung, 
 
 In the mid-path aside she sprung : — 
 
 " List, Allan-bane ! From mainland cast 455 
 
 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, 460 
 
 And, eagerly while Roderick scanned. 
 
 For her dear form, his mother's band, 
 
 The islet far behind her lay, 
 
 And she had landed in the bay. 
 
 XXII 
 
 Some feelings are to mortals given 465 
 
 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, 470 
 
 'T is that which pious fathers shed 
 
 Upon a duteous daughter's head ! 
 
 And as the Douglas to his breast 
 
 His darling Ellen closely pressed, 
 
 Such holy drops her tresses steeped, 475 
 
 Though 't v/as an hero's eye that weeped. 
 
 Nor while on Ellen's faltering tongue 
 
 Her filial welcomes crowded hung, 
 
 Marked she that fear — affection's proof — 
 
 Still held a graceful youth aloof ; 480 
 
CANTO II THE ISLAND 59 
 
 No ! not till Douglas named his name, 
 Although the youth was Malcolm Graeme. 
 
 XXIII 
 
 Allan, with wistful look the while. 
 
 Marked Roderick landing on the isle; 
 
 His master piteously he eyed, 485 
 
 Then gazed upon the Chieftain's pride, 
 
 Then dashed with hasty hand away 
 
 From his dimmed eye the gathering spray; 
 
 And Douglas, as his hand he laid 
 
 On Malcolm's shoulder, kindly said: 490 
 
 *< Canst thou, young friend, no meaning spy 
 
 In my poor follower's glistening eye ? 
 
 I '11 tell thee : — he recalls the day 
 
 When in my praise he led the lay 
 
 O'er the arched gate of Bothwell proud, 495 
 
 While many a minstrel answered loud, 
 
 When Percy's Norman pennon, won 
 
 In bloody field, before me shone. 
 
 And twice ten knights, the least a name 
 
 As mighty as yon Chief may claim, 500 
 
 Gracing my pomp, behind me came. 
 
 Yet trust me, Malcolm, not so proud 
 
 Was I of all that marshaled. crowd. 
 
 Though the waned crescent owned my might. 
 
 And in my train trooped lord and knight, 505 
 
 497. Percy's Norman pennon was captured by the Douglas. 
 504. Waned crescent. Sir Walter Scott of Buccleuch, whose shield 
 bore a crescent moon, had endeavored to set the king free from the 
 
6o THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto ii 
 
 Though Blantyre hymned her hohest 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 510 
 
 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 dewdrop glows, ^ 515 
 
 The bashful maiden's cheek appeared. 
 
 For Douglas spoke, and Malcolm heard. 
 
 The flush of shamefaced joy to hide, 
 
 The hounds, the hawk, her cares divide ; 
 
 The loved caresses of the maid 520 
 
 The dogs with crouch and whimper paid ; 
 
 And, at her whistle, on her hand 
 
 The falcon took his favorite stand. 
 
 Closed his dark wing, relaxed his eye. 
 
 Nor, though unhooded, sought to fly. 525 
 
 And, trust, while in such guise she stood. 
 
 Like fabled goddess of the wood, 
 
 Douglases, but had been defeated by them. His failure is hence called 
 the waning of the crescent. — Yonge. 
 
 506. Blantyre. An old priory or abbey opposite Bothwell Castle. 
 
 525. Unhooded. It was very unusual for the falcon to rest quietly 
 unhooded. He was kept with his head covered, and when the hood 
 was removed he took flight at once in search of prey. 
 
CANTO II THE ISLAND 6l 
 
 That if a father's partial thought 
 
 O'erweighed her worth and beauty aught, 
 
 Well might the lover's judgment fail 530 
 
 To balance with a juster scale ; 
 
 For with each secret glance he stole, 
 
 The fond enthusiast sent his soul. 
 
 XXV 
 
 Of stature fair, and slender frame, 
 
 But firmly knit, was Malcolm Graeme. 535 
 
 The belted plaid and tartan hose 
 
 Did ne'er more graceful limbs disclose ; 
 
 His flaxen hair, of sunny hue. 
 
 Curled closely round his bonnet blue. 
 
 Trained to the chase, his eagle eye 540 
 
 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, 545 
 
 And scarce that doe, though winged with fear. 
 
 Outstripped in speed the mountaineer : 
 
 Right up Ben Lomond could he press. 
 
 And not a sob his toil confess. 
 
 His form accorded with a mind 550 
 
 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 played the feather on his crest. 555 
 
62 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto ii 
 
 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, 560 
 
 Not long should Roderick Dhu's renown 
 
 Be foremost voiced by mountain fame. 
 
 But quail to that of Malcolm Graeme. 
 
 XXVI 
 
 Now back they wend their watery way, 
 
 And, " O my sire ! " did Ellen say, 565 
 
 " Why urge thy chase so far astray ? 
 
 And why so late returned ? And why " — 
 
 The rest was in her speaking eye. 
 
 " My child, the chase I follow far, 
 
 'T is mimicry of noble war ; 570 
 
 And with that gallant pastime reft 
 
 Were all of Douglas I have left. 
 
 I met young Malcolm as I strayed 
 
 Far eastward, in Glenfinlas' shade ; 
 
 Nor strayed I safe, for all around 575 
 
 Hunters and horsemen scoured the ground. 
 
 This youth, though still a royal ward. 
 
 Risked life and land to be my guard. 
 
 And through the passes of the wood 
 
 Guided my steps, not unpursued ; 580 
 
 571. Reft. Bereft, taken away. 
 574. Glenfinlas. A wooded valley. 
 
CANTO II THE ISLAND 63 
 
 And Roderick shall his welcome make, 
 Despite old spleen, for Douglas' sake. 
 Then must he seek Strath-Endrick glen, 
 Nor peril aught for me again." 
 
 XXVII 
 
 Sir Roderick, who to meet them came, 585 
 
 Reddened at sight of Malcolm Graeme, 
 
 Yet, not in action, word, or eye, 
 
 Failed aught in hospitality. 
 
 In talk and sport they whiled away 
 
 The morning of that summer day ; 590 
 
 But at high noon a courier light 
 
 Held secret parley with the knight. 
 
 Whose moody aspect soon declared 
 
 That evil were the news he heard. 
 
 Deep thought seemed toiling in his head ; 595 
 
 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, 600 
 
 As studying phrase that might avail 
 
 Best to convey unpleasant tale. 
 
 Long with his dagger's hilt he played, 
 
 Then raised his haughty brow, and said : — 
 
 583, Strath-Endrick glen. A valley drained by Strath-Endrick into 
 Loch Lomond. 
 
64 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto ii 
 
 XXVIII 
 
 *' Short be my speech ; — nor time affords, 605 
 
 Nor my plain temper, glozing words. 
 
 Kinsman and father, — if such name 
 
 Douglas vouchsafe to Roderick's claim ; 
 
 Mine honored mother ; — Ellen, — why, 
 
 My cousin, turn away thine eye ? — 610 
 
 And Graeme, in whom I hope to know 
 
 Full soon a noble friend or foe, 
 
 When age shall give thee thy command. 
 
 And leading in thy native land, — 
 
 List all ! — The King's vindictive pride 615 
 
 Boasts to have tamed the Border-side, 
 
 Where chiefs, with hound and hawk who came 
 
 To share their monarch's sylvan game. 
 
 Themselves in bloody toils were snared. 
 
 And when the banquet they prepared, 620 
 
 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, 
 
 Where the lone streams of Ettrick glide, 625 
 
 And from the silver Teviot's side ; 
 
 606. Glozing. Fair, smooth, or flattering. 
 
 616. Tamed the Border-side. James V strove to put down the law- 
 lessness of the Border chiefs, who were almost licensed robbers. He 
 made a progress, dealing stern justice, and taking several by surprise, in 
 especial one Johnnie Armstrong who came out to welcome him, but was 
 seized and put to death. — Yonge. 
 
 623-626. Meggat, Yarrow, Ettrick, Teviot. Streams flowing into the 
 Tweed. 624. Braes. Sloping or hilly ground. 
 
D II THE ISLAND 6$ 
 
 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, 630 
 
 Now hither comes ; his end the same, 
 
 The same pretext of sylvan game. 
 
 What grace for Highland Chiefs, judge ye 
 
 By fate of Border chivalry. 
 
 Yet more ; amid Glenfinlas' green, 635 
 
 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, 640 
 
 Then turned their ghastly look, each one. 
 
 This to her sire, that to her son. 
 
 The hasty color went and came 
 
 In the bold cheek of Malcolm Graeme, 
 
 But from his glance it well appeared 645 
 
 'T was but for Ellen that he feared ; 
 
 While, sorrowful, but undismayed, 
 
 The Douglas thus his counsel said : 
 
 " Brave Roderick, though the tempest roar, 
 
 It may but thunder and pass o'er; 650 
 
 Nor will I here remain an hour, 
 
 To draw the lightning on thy bower ; 
 
 638. streight or s^raiif. Difficulty or emergency. 
 
66 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto ii 
 
 For well fhou know'st, at this gray head 
 
 The royal bolt were fiercest sped. 
 
 For thee, who, at thy King's command, 655 
 
 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 660 
 
 The refuge of some forest cell. 
 
 There, like the hunted quarry, dwell. 
 
 Till on the mountain and the moor 
 
 The stern pursuit be passed and o'er." — 
 
 XXX 
 
 " No, by mine honor," Roderick said, 665 
 
 " So help me Heaven, and my good blade ! 
 
 No, never ! Blasted be yon Pine, 
 
 My father's ancient crest and mine. 
 
 If from its shade in danger part 
 
 The lineage of the Bleeding Heart ! 670 
 
 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, 675 
 
 Will bind to us each Western Chief. 
 
 When the loud pipes my bridal tell, 
 
 The Links of Forth shall hear the knell, 
 
 670. Lineage of the Bleeding Heart. Descendants of the Douglas 
 family. (Cf. note, line 200.) 
 
 678. Links of Forth. Windings of the River Forth. 
 
CANTO II 
 
 THE ISLAND 6/ 
 
 The guards shall start in Stirling's porch ; 
 
 And when I light the nuptial torch, 680 
 
 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 heat might say. — 685 
 
 Small need of inroad or of fight. 
 
 When the sage Douglas may unite 
 
 Each mountain clan in friendly band. 
 
 To guard the passes of their land. 
 
 Till the foiled King from pathless glen 690 
 
 Shall bootless turn him home again." 
 
 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, 695 
 
 Dreamed calmly out their dangerous dream. 
 
 Till wakened by the morning beam ; 
 
 When, dazzled by the eastern glow. 
 
 Such startler cast his glance below. 
 
 And saw unmeasured depth around, 700 
 
 And heard unintermitted sound, 
 
 679. Stirling's porch. Stirling Castle was long the residence of the 
 Scottish kings. 
 
 683. Blench. To draw back or shrink from. 
 
 684. Signs. The mother was probably making the sign of the cross 
 to ward off evil. 
 
 694. Beetled. Hung, extended. 
 
68 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto ii 
 
 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, 705 
 
 Headlong to plunge himself below. 
 
 And meet the worst his fears foreshow ? — 
 
 Thus Ellen, dizzy and astound, 
 
 As sudden ruin yawned around. 
 
 By crossing terrors wildly tossed, ' 710 
 
 Still for the Douglas fearing most, 
 
 Could scarce the desperate thought withstand, 
 
 To buy his safety with her hand. 
 
 xxxn 
 
 Such purpose dread could Malcolm spy 
 
 In Ellen's quivering lip and eye, 715 
 
 And eager rose to speak, — but ere 
 
 His tongue could hurry forth his fear. 
 
 Had Douglas marked the hectic strife. 
 
 Where death seemed combating with life ; 
 
 For to her cheek, in feverish flood, 720 
 
 One instant rushed the throbbing blood. 
 
 Then ebbing back, with sudden sway, 
 
 Left its domain as wan as clay. 
 
 " Roderick, enough ! enough ! " he cried, 
 
 '' My daughter cannot be thy bride ; 725 
 
 702. Battled fence. A defensive wall with openings from which to 
 discharge missiles. 
 
 708. Astound. Astounded. 
 
CANTO 11 THE ISLAND 69 
 
 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 730 
 
 Will level a rebellious spear. 
 
 'T was I that taught his youthful hand 
 
 To rein a steed and wield a brand ; 
 
 I see him yet, the princely boy ! 
 
 Not Ellen more my pride and joy ; 735 
 
 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 ; 740 
 
 The waving of his tartans broad, 
 
 And darkened brow, where wounded pride 
 
 With ire and disappointment vied. 
 
 Seemed, by the torch's gloomy light. 
 
 Like the ill Demon of the night, 745 
 
 Stooping his pinions' shadowy sway 
 
 Upon the nighted pilgrim's way : 
 
 But, unrequited Love ! thy dart 
 
 Plunged deepest its envenomed smart. 
 
 And Roderick, with thine anguish stung, 750 
 
 At length the hand of Douglas wrung, 
 
 747. Nighted. Benighted. 
 
70 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto ii 
 
 While eyes that mocked at tears before 
 
 With bitter drops were running o'er. 
 
 The death-pangs of long- cherished hope 
 
 Scarce in that ample breast had scope, 755 
 
 But, struggling with his spirit proud. 
 
 Convulsive heaved its checkered shroud, 
 
 While every sob — so mute were all — 
 
 Was heard distinctly through the hall. 
 
 The son's despair, the mother's look, 760 
 
 111 might the gentle Ellen brook ; 
 
 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, 765 
 
 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 770 
 
 On Malcolm's breast and belted plaid : 
 
 " Back, beardless boy ! " he sternly said, 
 
 "Back, minion ! holdst thou thus at naught 
 
 The lesson I so lately taught ? 
 
 This roof, the Douglas, and that maid, 775 
 
 Thank thou for punishment delayed." 
 
 Eager as greyhound on his game, 
 
 Fiercely with Roderick grappled Graeme. 
 
 757. Checkered shroud. Tartan plaid. 
 
CANTO II THE ISLAND 7 1 
 
 " Perish my name, if aught afford 
 
 Its Chieftain safety save his sword ! " 780 
 
 Thus as they strove their desperate hand 
 
 Griped to the dagger or the brand, 
 
 And death had been — but Douglas rose, 
 
 And thrust between the struggUng foes 
 
 His giant strength : — " Chieftains, forego ! 785 
 
 I hold the first who strikes my foe. — 
 
 Madmen, forbear your frantic jar ! 
 
 What ! is the Douglas fallen so far, 
 
 His daughter's hand is deemed the spoil 
 
 Of such dishonorable broil ? " 790 
 
 Sullen and slowly they unclasp, 
 
 As struck with shame, their desperate grasp. 
 
 And each upon his rival glared. 
 
 With foot advanced and blade half bared. 
 
 XXXV 
 
 Ere yet the brands aloft were flung, 795 
 
 Margaret on Roderick's mantle hung, 
 
 And Malcolm heard his Ellen's scream. 
 
 As faltered through terrific dream. 
 
 Then Roderick plunged in sheath his sword, 
 
 And veiled his wrath in scornful word : 800 
 
 " Rest safe till morning ; pity 't were 
 
 Such cheek should feel the midnight air ! 
 
 802. Such cheek should feel the midnight cdr. Hardihood was in 
 every respect so essential to the character of a Highlander that the 
 reproach of effeminacy was the most bitter which could be thrown upon 
 him. — Scott. 
 
72 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto ii 
 
 Then mayst thou to James Stuart tell, 
 
 Roderick will keep the lake and fell, 
 
 Nor lackey with his freeborn clan 805 
 
 The pageant pomp of earthly man. 
 
 More would he of Clan-Alpine know, 
 
 Thou canst our strength and passes show. — 
 
 Malise, what ho ! " — his henchman came : 
 
 " Give our safe-conduct to the Graeme." 810 
 
 Young Malcolm answered, calm and bold : 
 
 " Fear nothing for thy favorite hold ; 
 
 The spot an angel deigned to grace 
 
 Is blessed, though robbers haunt the place. 
 
 Thy churlish courtesy for those 815 
 
 Reserve, who fear to be thy foes. 
 
 As safe to me the mountain way 
 
 At midnight as in blaze of day. 
 
 Though with his boldest at his back 
 
 Even Roderick Dhu beset the track. — 820 
 
 Brave Douglas, — lovely Ellen, — nay, 
 
 Naught here of parting will I say. 
 
 Earth does not hold a lonesome glen 
 
 So secret but we meet again. — 
 
 Chieftain ! we too shall find an hour," — 825 
 
 He said, and left the sylvan bower. 
 
 804. Fell. A moor. 
 
 805. Lackey. To serve as footman or wait upon. 
 
 809. Henchman. This officer is a sort of secretary, and is to be 
 ready upon all occasions to venture his life in defense of his master; 
 and at drinking bouts he stands behind his seat, at his haunch, from 
 which his title is derived, and watches the conversation to see if any 
 one offends his patron. — Scott. 
 
CANTO II THE ISLAND 73 
 
 XXXVI 
 
 Old Allan followed to the strand — 
 
 Such was the Douglas's command — 
 
 And anxious told, how, on the morn, 
 
 The stern Sir Roderick deep had sworn, 830 
 
 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 't were safest land, 835 
 
 Himself would row him to the strand. 
 
 He gave his counsel to the wind. 
 
 While Malcolm did, unheeding, bind. 
 
 Round dirk and pouch and broadsword rolled, 
 
 His ample plaid in tightened fold, 840 
 
 And stripped 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 pressed, — 845 
 
 " O, could I point a place of rest ! 
 
 My sovereign holds in ward my land, 
 
 My uncle leads my vassal band ; 
 
 831. The Fiery Cross. See Canto III, line 18. 
 
 832. Down. A barren tract of sand hills blown up by the wind. 
 847. My sovereign holds in ward my land. Because Malcolm was not 
 
 of age. 
 
74 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto ii 
 
 To tame his foes, his friends to aid, 
 
 Poor Malcolm has but heart and blade. 850 
 
 Yet, if there be one faithful Graeme 
 
 Who loves the chieftain of his name, 
 
 Not long shall honored Douglas dwell 
 
 Like hunted stag in mountain cell ; 
 
 Nor, ere yon pride-swollen robber dare, — 855 
 
 I may not give the rest to air ! 
 
 Tell Roderick Dhu I owed him naught, 
 
 Not the poor service of a boat. 
 
 To waft me to yon mountain-side." 
 
 Then plunged he in the flashing tide. 860 
 
 Bold o'er the flood his head he bore. 
 
 And stoutly steered him from the shore ; 
 
 And Allan strained his anxious eye. 
 
 Far mid the lake his form to spy. 
 
 Darkening across each puny wave, 865 
 
 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. 870 
 
 The minstrel heard the far halloo, 
 
 And joyful from the shore withdrew. 
 
Canto Third 
 
 THE GATHERING 
 
 Time rolls his ceaseless course. The race of yore, 
 
 Who danced our infancy upon their knee, 
 And told our marveling boyhood legends store 
 
 Of their strange ventures happed by land or sea, 
 How they are blotted from the things that be ! 5 
 
 How few, all weak and withered of their force. 
 Wait on the verge of dark eternity. 
 
 Like stranded wrecks, the tide returning hoarse. 
 To sweep them from our sight ! Time rolls his cease- 
 less course. 
 
 Yet live there still who can remember well, 10 
 
 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, 15 
 What time aloft their kindred banner flew, 
 
 While clamorous war-pipes yelled the gathering 
 sound, 
 And while the Fiery Cross glanced, like a meteor, round. 
 
 18. Fiery Cross. When a chieftain designed to summon his clan 
 upon any sudden or important emergency, he slew a goat, and making 
 
 75 
 
76 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto hi 
 
 II 
 
 The Summer dawn's reflected hue 
 
 To purple changed Loch Katrine blue ; 20 
 
 Mildly and soft the western breeze 
 
 Just kissed the lake, -just stirred the trees, 
 
 And the pleased lake, like maiden coy. 
 
 Trembled but dimpled not for joy: 
 
 The mountain shadows on her breast 25 
 
 Were neither broken nor at rest ; 
 
 In bright uncertainty they lie, 
 
 Like future joys to Fancy's eye. 
 
 The water-lily to the light 
 
 Her chalice reared of silver bright; 30 
 
 The doe awoke, and to the lawn. 
 
 Begemmed with dewdrops, led her fawn; 
 
 a cross of any light wood, seared its extremities in the fire, and extin- 
 guished them in the blood of the animal. This was called the Fiery 
 Cross, also Cream Tarigh, or the Cross of Shame, because disobedience 
 to what the symbol implied inferred infamy. 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, imply- 
 ing the place of rendezvous. He who received the symbol was bound 
 to send it forward, with equal dispatch, to the next village; and thus 
 it passed with incredible celerity through all the district which owed 
 allegiance to the chief, and also among his allies and neighbors, if the 
 danger was common to them. At sight of the Fiery Cross, every man, 
 from sixteen years old to sixty, capable of bearing arms, was obliged 
 instantly to repair, in his best arms and accouterments, 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 1 745-1 746, 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. — Scott. 
 
CANTO III THE GATHERING 'jj 
 
 The gray mist left the mountain-side, 
 
 The torrent showed its gUstening pridq,; 
 
 Invisible in flecked sky 35 
 
 The lark sent down her revelry ; 
 
 The blackbird and the speckled thrush 
 
 Good-morrow gave from brake and bush ; 
 
 In answer cooed the cushat dove 
 
 Her notes of peace and rest and love. 40 
 
 in 
 
 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. 
 
 And eyed the rising sun, and laid 45 
 
 His hand on his impatient blade. 
 
 Beneath a rock, his vassals' care 
 
 Was prompt the ritual to prepare, 
 
 With deep and deathf ul meaning fraught ; 
 
 For such Antiquity had taught 50 
 
 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, 55 
 
 As, from the cliffs of Benvenue, 
 
 She spread her dark sails on the wind, 
 
 And, high in middle heaven reclined, 
 
 39. Cushat. Ringdove, or wood pigeon. 
 
 48. Ritual. Performance of religious service. 
 
yS THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto iii 
 
 With her broad shadow on the lake, 
 
 Silenced the warblers of the brake. 60 
 
 IV 
 
 A heap of withered boughs was piled, 
 
 Of juniper and rowan wild, 
 
 Mingled with shivers from the oak, 
 
 Rent by the lightning's recent stroke. 
 
 Brian the Hermit by it stood, 65 
 
 Barefooted, in his frock and hood. 
 
 His grizzled beard and matted hair 
 
 Obscured a visage of despair; 
 
 His naked arms and legs, seamed o'er, 
 
 The scars of frantic penance bore. 70 
 
 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, 75 
 
 But Druid's, from the grave released, 
 
 Whose hardened heart and eye might brook 
 
 On human sacrifice to look; 
 
 71. That monk, etc. The state of religion in the Middle Ages afforded 
 considerable facilities for those whose mode of life excluded them from 
 regular worship, to secure, nevertheless, the ghostly assistance of con- 
 fessors, perfectly willing to adapt the nature of their doctrine to the 
 necessities and peculiar circumstances of their flock. Robin Hood, it is 
 well known, had his celebrated domes'tic chaplain, Friar Tuck. — Scott. 
 
 74. Benharrow. A mountain near Loch Lomond. 
 
 76. Druid. A priest of the Celtic inhabitants of Gaul and Britain, 
 who worshiped in groves, and made human sacrifices. 
 
CANTO III THE GATHERING 
 
 79 
 
 And much, 't was said, of heathen lore 
 
 Mixed in the charms he muttered o'er. 80 
 
 The hallowed creed gave only worse 
 
 And deadlier emphasis of curse. 
 
 No peasant sought that Hermit's prayer, 
 
 His cave the pilgrim shunned with care; 
 
 The eager huntsman knew his bound, 85 
 
 And in mid chase called off his hound; 
 
 Or if, in lonely glen or strath. 
 
 The desert-dweller met his path. 
 
 He prayed, and signed the cross between. 
 
 While terror took devotion's mien. 90 
 
 V 
 
 Of Brian's birth strange tales were told. 
 
 His mother watched a midnight fold, 
 
 Built deep within a dreary glen. 
 
 Where scattered lay the bones of men 
 
 In some forgotten battle slain, 95 
 
 And bleached by drifting wind and rain. 
 
 It might have tamed a warrior's heart 
 
 To view such mockery of his art ! 
 
 The knot-grass fettered there the hand 
 
 Which once could burst an iron band ; 100 
 
 Beneath the broad and ample bone. 
 
 That bucklered heart to fear unknown, 
 
 81. Hallowed creed. The hallowed or Christian creed as distin- 
 guished from heathen lore or knowledge. 
 
 87. Glen. A narrow valley through which a small stream usually 
 ■flows. — Strath. A valley of considerable size through which a river runs. 
 
8o THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto hi 
 
 A feeble and a timorous guest, 
 
 The fieldfare framed her lowly nest ; 
 
 There the slow blindworm left his slime 105 
 
 On the fleet limbs that mocked at time; 
 
 And there, too, lay the leader's skull. 
 
 Still wreathed with chaplet, flushed and full, 
 
 For heath-bell with her purple bloom 
 
 Supplied the bonnet and the plume. no 
 
 All night, in this sad glen, the maid 
 
 Sat 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 115 
 
 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, 120 
 
 But locked her secret in her breast. 
 
 And died in travail, unconfessed. 
 
 VI 
 
 Alone, among his young compeers, 
 
 Was Brian from his infant years; 
 
 A moody and heart-broken boy, 125 
 
 Estranged from sympathy and joy, 
 
 1 16. Snood. 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. — Scott. 
 
CANTO m THE GATHERING 8l 
 
 Bearing each taunt which careless tongue 
 
 On his mysterious hneage flung. 
 
 Whole nights he spent by moonlight pale, 
 
 To wood and stream his hap to wail, 130 
 
 Till, frantic, he as truth received 
 
 What of his birth the crowd believed, 
 
 And sought, in mist and meteor fire. 
 
 To meet and know his Phantom Sire ! 
 
 In vain, to soothe his wayward fate, 135 
 
 The cloister oped her pitying gate ; 
 
 In vain the learning of the age 
 
 Unclasped the sable-lettered page; 
 
 Even in its treasures he could find 
 
 Food for the fever of his mind. 140 
 
 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, 145 
 
 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 specter's child. 150 
 
 138. Sable-lettered page. Black lettered, so called because of the 
 heavy-faced type used in early prints. 
 
 142. Cabala. A Hebrew word signifying a method of finding con- 
 cealed meanings, often prophetic, in passages of Scripture. 
 
82 THE LADY OF THE LAKE 
 
 CANTO III 
 
 Where with black cliffs the torrents toil, 
 
 He watched the wheeling eddies boil, 
 
 Till from their foam his dazzled eyes 
 
 Beheld the River Demon rise : 
 
 The mountain mist took form and limb 155 
 
 Of noontide hag or goblin grim ; 
 
 The midnight wind came wild and dread. 
 
 Swelled with the voices of the dead ; 
 
 Far on the future battle-heath 
 
 His eye beheld the ranks of death : 160 
 
 Thus the lone Seer, from mankind hurled, 
 
 Shaped forth a disembodied world. 
 
 One lingering sympathy of mind 
 
 Still bound him to the mortal kind; 
 
 The only parent he could claim 165 
 
 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 170 
 
 1 54. River Demon. 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. 
 — Scott. 
 
 168. Ben-Shie. 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 wailings any 
 approaching disaster. Ben-Shie implies a female fairy, whose lamen- 
 tations were often supposed to precede the death of a chieftain of 
 particular families. — Scott. 
 
 169. Sounds, too, had come. A presage of the kind alluded to in the 
 text is still believed to announce death to the ancient Highland family 
 of M'Lean of Loch Buy. The spirit of an ancestor slain in battle is 
 
CANTO III 
 
 THE GATHERING 83 
 
 Along Benharrow's shingly side, 
 
 Where mortal horseman ne'er might ride; 
 
 The thunderbolt had split the pine, — 
 
 All augured ill to Alpine's line. 
 
 He girt his loins, and came to show 175 
 
 The signals of impending woe. 
 
 And now stood prompt to bless or ban. 
 
 As bade the Chieftain of his clan. 
 
 VIII 
 
 'T was all prepared ; — and from the rock 
 
 A goat, the patriarch of the flock, 180 
 
 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 clogged beard and shaggy limb, 185 
 
 Till darkness glazed his eyeballs dim. 
 
 The grisly priest, with murmuring prayer, 
 
 A slender crosslet framed with care, 
 
 A cubit's length in measure due; 
 
 The shaft and limbs were rods of yew, 190 
 
 heard to gallop along a stony bank, and then to ride thrice around 
 the family residence, ringing his fairy bridle, and thus intimating 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. — 
 Scott. 
 
 171. Shingly, Gravelly. 
 
 177. Ban. To curse. 
 
 188. Crosslet. A little cross. 
 
84 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto hi 
 
 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. 
 
 The Cross thus formed he held on high, 195 
 
 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, 200 
 
 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, 205 
 
 But, from his sires and kindred thrust. 
 Each clansman's execration just 
 
 Shall doom him wrath and woe." 
 
 191. 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 as the place of worship 
 for the parish 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 several neighboring clans. The monuments of the lairds 
 of MacGregor, and of other families, claiming a descent from the old 
 Scottish King Alpine, are most remarkable. The Highlanders 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. — Scott. 
 
 198. Anathema. A ban or curse pronounced by the Church. 
 
 200. Sepulchral yew. Yew trees were often planted in graveyards. 
 
CANTO III THE GATHERING 85 
 
 He paused ; — the word the vassals took. 
 
 With forward step and fiery look, 210 
 
 On high their naked brands they shook, 
 
 Their clattering targets wildly strook; 
 
 And first in murmur low, 
 Then, like the billow in his course. 
 That far to seaward finds his source, 215 
 
 And flings to shore his mustered force, 
 Burst with loud roar their answer hoarse, 
 
 " Woe to the traitor, woe ! " 
 Ben-an's gray scalp the accents knew. 
 The joyous wolf from covert drew, 220 
 
 The exulting eagle screamed afar, — 
 They knew the voice of Alpine's war. 
 
 X 
 
 The shout was hushed on lake and fell, 
 
 The Monk resumed his muttered spell: 
 
 Dismal and low its accents came, 225 
 
 The while he scathed the Cross with flame ; 
 
 And the few words that reached the air. 
 
 Although the holiest name was there, • 
 
 Had more of blasphemy than prayer. 
 
 But when he shook above the crowd 230 
 
 Its kindled points, he spoke aloud : — 
 
 '* Woe to the wretch who fails to rear 
 
 At this dread sign the ready spear ! 
 
 212. strook. Old form of struck. 
 2 1 9. Ben-an's gray scalp. Bare top. 
 226. Scathed. Charred. 
 
S6 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto hi 
 
 For, as the flames this symbol sear, 
 
 His home, the refuge of his fear, 235 
 
 A kindred fate shall know ; 
 Far o'er its roof the volumed flame 
 Clan-Alpine's vengeance shall proclaim. 
 While maids and matrons on his name 
 Shall call down wretchedness and shame, 240 
 
 And infamy and woe." 
 Then rose the cry of females, shrill 
 As goshawk's whistle on the hill. 
 Denouncing misery and ill, 
 Mingled with childhood's babbling trill 245 
 
 Of curses stammered 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 250 
 
 We doom to want and woe ! " 
 A sharp and shrieking echo gave, 
 Coir-Uriskin, thy goblin cave ! 
 And the gray pass where birches wave 
 
 On Beala-nam-bo. 255 
 
 243. Goshawk. A slender brown hawk with white breast. 
 
 253. Coir-Uriskin, or Coir-nan-Uriskin ("the corry, or den, of the 
 wild men "), a hollow cleft in the northern side of Benvenue, supposed 
 to be haunted by fairies and evil spirits. It is surrounded by rocks and 
 overshadowed by birch trees, so as to give complete shelter. The Urisk 
 is the equivalent of the Grecian Satyr, having a human form with goat's 
 feet. —Taylor. 
 
 255. Beala-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, — Scott, 
 
CANTO III THE GATHERING d)"/ 
 
 XI 
 
 Then deeper paused the priest anew, 
 
 And hard his laboring breath he drew, 
 
 While, with set teeth and clenched hand. 
 
 And eyes that glowed like fiery brand. 
 
 He meditated curse more dread, 260 
 
 And deadlier, on the clansman's head 
 
 Who, summoned to his Chieftain's aid, 
 
 The signal saw and disobeyed. 
 
 The crosslet's points of sparkling wood 
 
 He quenched among the bubbling blood, 265 
 
 And, as again the sign he reared. 
 
 Hollow and hoarse his voice was heard : 
 
 *' When flits this Cross from man to man, 
 
 Vich- Alpine's summons to his clan, 
 
 Burst be the ear that fails to heed ! 270 
 
 Palsied the foot that shuns to speed ! 
 
 May 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 ! 275 
 
 As dies in hissing gore the spark, 
 
 Quench thou his light, Destruction dark ! 
 
 And be the grace to him denied, 
 
 Bought by this sign to all beside ! " 
 
 He ceased ; no echo gave again 280 
 
 The murmur of the deep Amen. 
 
88 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto hi 
 
 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. 285 
 
 *'The muster-place be Lanrick mead — 
 
 Instant the time — speed, Malise, speed ! " 
 
 Like heath-bird, when the hawks pursue, 
 
 A barge across Loch Katrine flew: 
 
 High stood the henchman on the prow; 290 
 
 So rapidly the barge-men row, 
 
 The bubbles, where they launched the boat, 
 
 Were all unbroken and afloat, 
 
 Dancing in foam and ripple still. 
 
 When it had neared the mainland hill; 295 
 
 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. 
 
 XIII 
 
 Speed, Malise, speed ! the dun deer's hide 300 
 
 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; 305 
 
 286. Lanrick mead. A meadow bordering on Loch Vennachar. 
 300. Dun deer's hide. The ancient buskin of the Highlander was 
 made of the undressed deer's hide, with the hair outwards. 
 
CANTO III THE GATHERING 89 
 
 With short and springing footstep pass 
 
 The trembling bog and false morass ; 
 
 Across the brook like roebuck bound, 
 
 And thread the brake like questing hound ; 
 
 The crag is high, the scaur is deep, 310 
 
 Yet shrink not from the desperate leap: 
 
 Parched 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 ! 315 
 
 The wounded hind thou track'st not now, 
 
 Pursuest not maid through greenwood bough. 
 
 Nor pliest thou now thy flying pace 
 
 With rivals in the mountain race ; 
 
 But danger, death, and warrior deed 320 
 
 Are in thy course — speed, Malise, speed ! 
 
 XIV 
 
 Fast as the fatal symbol flies, 
 
 In arms the huts and hamlets rise; 
 
 From winding glen, from upland brown, 
 
 They poured each hardy tenant down. 325 
 
 Nor slacked the messenger his pace ; 
 
 He showed the sign, he named the place, 
 
 And, pressing forward like the wind. 
 
 Left clamor and surprise behind. 
 
 The fisherman forsook the strand, 330 
 
 The swarthy smith took dirk and brand ; 
 
 309. Questing. Hunting. 
 
 310. Scaur (skar). Steep bank ; cliff. 
 
90 ' THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto hi 
 
 With changed cheer, the mower bUthe 
 
 Left in the half-cut swath his scythe ; 
 
 The herds without a keeper strayed, 
 
 The plow was in mid-furrow stayed, 335 
 
 The falconer tossed his hawk away, 
 
 The hunter left the stag at bay; 
 
 Prompt at the signal of alarms. 
 
 Each son of Alpine rushed to arms; 
 
 So swept the tumult and affray 340 
 
 Along the margin of Achray. 
 
 Alas, thou lovely lake ! that e'er 
 
 Thy banks should echo sounds of fear ! 
 
 The rocks, the bosky thickets, sleep 
 
 So stilly on thy bosom deep, 345 
 
 The lark's blithe carol from the cloud 
 
 Seems for the scene too gayly loud. 
 
 XV 
 
 Speed, Malise, speed ! The lake is past, 
 
 Duncraggan's huts appear at last. 
 
 And peep, like moss-grown rocks, half seen, 350 
 
 Half hidden in the copse so green ; 
 
 There mayst thou rest, thy labor done, 
 
 Their lord shall speed the signal on. — 
 
 As stoops the hawk upon his prey, 
 
 The henchman shot him down the way. 355 
 
 What woeful accents load the gale ? 
 
 The funeral yell, the female wail ! 
 
 344. Bosky. Woody or bushy. 
 
 349. Duncraggan. A homestead near the Brigg of Turk. 
 
CANTO III THE GATHERING 91 
 
 A gallant hunter's sport is o'er, 
 
 A valiant warrior fights no more. 
 
 Who, in the battle or the chase, 360 
 
 At Roderick's side shall fill his place ! — 
 
 Within the hall, where torch's ray 
 
 Supplies the excluded beams of day, 
 
 Lies Duncan on his lowly bier, 
 
 And o'er him streams his widow's tear. 365 
 
 His stripling son stands mournful by, 
 
 His youngest weeps, but knows not why ; 
 
 The village maids and matrons round 
 
 The dismal coronach resound. 
 
 XVI 
 
 Coronacb 
 
 He is gone on the mountain, 370 
 
 He is lost to the forest. 
 Like a summer-dried fountain. 
 
 When our need was the sorest. 
 The font, reappearing. 
 
 From the raindrops shall borrow, 375 
 
 But to us comes no cheering. 
 
 To Duncan no morrow ! 
 
 The hand of the reaper 
 
 Takes the ears that are hoary, 
 
 369. Coronach. The Coronach of the Highlanders was a wild expres- 
 sion 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. — Scott. 
 
92 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto hi 
 
 But the voice of the weeper 380 
 
 Wails manhood in glory. 
 The autumn winds rushing 
 
 Waft the leaves that are searest, 
 But our flower was in flushing, 
 
 When blighting was nearest. 385 
 
 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, 390 
 
 Like the foam on the river, 
 Like the bubble on the fountain, 
 
 Thou art gone, and forever ! 
 
 xvn 
 
 See Stumah, who, the bier beside, 
 
 His master's corpse with wonder eyed, 395 
 
 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, 400 
 
 Who comes to sorrow o'er the dead, 
 
 But headlong haste or deadly fear 
 
 Urge the precipitate career. 
 
 384. Flushing. Full bloom. 
 
 386. Correi. The hollow side of the hill, where game usually lies. 
 
 387. Cumber. Trouble, perplexity. 
 
 394. Stumah. Faithful ; the name of a dog. 
 
CANTO III THE GATHERING 
 
 93 
 
 All stand aghast : — unheeding all, 
 
 The henchman bursts into the hall ; 405 
 
 Before the dead man's bier he stood, 
 
 Held forth the Cross besmeared with blood ; 
 
 " The muster-place is Lanrick mead ; 
 
 Speed forth the signal ! clansmen, speed ! " 
 
 xvni 
 
 Angus, the heir of Duncan's line, 410 
 
 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, 415 
 
 Back to her opened arms he flew, 
 
 Pressed on her lips a fond adieu, — 
 
 " Alas ! " she sobbed, — " and yet be gone. 
 
 And speed thee forth, like Duncan's son ! " 
 
 One look he cast upon the bier, 420 
 
 Dashed from his eye the gathering tear. 
 
 Breathed deep to clear his laboring breast. 
 
 And tossed aloft his bonnet crest. 
 
 Then, like the high-bred colt when, freed. 
 
 First he essays his fire and speed, 425 
 
 He vanished, and o'er moor and moss 
 
 Sped forward with the Fiery Cross. 
 
 Suspended was the widow's tear 
 
 While yet his footsteps she could hear; 
 
 And when she marked the henchman's eye 430 
 
 Wet with unwonted sympathy. 
 
94 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto hi 
 
 "Kinsman," she said, ''his race is run 
 
 That should have sped thine errand on ; 
 
 The oak has fallen, — the sapling bough 
 
 Is all Duncraggan's shelter now. 435 
 
 Yet trust I well, his duty done. 
 
 The 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 ! 440 
 
 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 
 
 Snatched sword and targe with hurried hand ; 445 
 
 And short and flitting energy 
 
 Glanced from the mourner's sunken eye, 
 
 As if the sounds to warrior dear 
 
 Might rouse her Duncan from his bier. 
 
 But faded soon that borrowed force ; 450 
 
 Grief claimed his right, and tears their course. 
 
 XIX 
 
 Benledi saw the Cross of Fire, 
 
 It glanced like lightning up Strath- Ire. 
 
 439. Hest. Behest; command. 
 
 445. Targe. Shield. 
 
 453. Strath-Ire. The first stage of the Fiery Cross is to Duncrag- 
 gan, a place near the Brigg of Turk, where a short stream divides Loch 
 Achray from Loch Vennachar. From thence it passes towards Callan- 
 der, and then, turning to the left up the pass of Leny, is consigned to 
 
CANTO III THE GATHERING 
 
 95 
 
 O'er dale and hill the summons flew, 
 
 Nor rest nor pause young Angus knew; 455 
 
 The tear that gathered 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 with green, 460 
 
 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 reeled his sympathetic eye, 465 
 
 He dashed amid the torrent's roar: 
 
 His right hand high the crosslet bore, 
 
 His left the pole-ax grasped, to guide 
 
 And stay his footing in the tide. 
 
 He stumbled twice, — the foam splashed high, 470 
 
 With hoarser swell the stream raced by ; 
 
 And had he fallen, — forever there, 
 
 Farewell Duncraggan's orphan heir ! 
 
 But still, as if in parting life, 
 
 Firmer he grasped the Cross of strife, 475 
 
 Until the opposing bank he gained. 
 
 And up the chapel pathway strained. 
 
 Norman at the chapel of Saint Bride, which stood on a small and roman- 
 tic knoll in the middle of the valley called Strath-Ire. Tombea and 
 Amandave, or Ardmandave, are names of places in the vicinity. The 
 alarm is then supposed to pass along the lake of Lubnaig, and through 
 the various glens in the district of Balquidder, including the neighboring 
 tracts of Glenfinlas and Strath-Gartney. — Scott. 
 468. Pole-ax. A kind of long-handled hatchet. 
 
96 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto hi 
 
 XX 
 
 A blithesome rout that morning-tide 
 
 Had sought the chapel of Saint Bride. 
 
 Her troth Tombea's Mary gave 480 
 
 To Norman, heir of Armandave, 
 
 And, issuing from the Gothic arch, 
 
 The bridal now resumed their march. 
 
 In rude but glad procession came 
 
 Bonneted sire and coif-clad dame ; 485 
 
 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 490 
 
 Before the young and bonny bride. 
 
 Whose downcast eye and cheek disclose 
 
 The tear and blush of morning rose. 
 
 With virgin step and bashful hand 
 
 She held the kerchief's snowy band. 495 
 
 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 
 
 Who meets them at the churchyard gate ? 500 
 
 The messenger of fear and fate ! 
 Haste in his hurried accent lies. 
 And grief is swimming in his eyes. 
 
 485, 495. Coif, kerchief. See note, Canto III, line ii6. 
 
CANTO III THE GATHERING 
 
 97 
 
 All dripping from the recent flood, 
 
 Panting and travel-soiled he stood, 505 
 
 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 510 
 
 Just linked to his by holy band, 
 
 F^or 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 515 
 
 The bridegroom from the plighted bride ? 
 
 O fatal doom ! — it must ! it must ! 
 
 Clan-Alpine's cause, her Chieftain's trust, 
 
 Her sunmions dread, brook no delay ; 
 
 Stretch to the race, — away ! away ! 520 
 
 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, 525 
 
 In haste he sped him up the brook. 
 Nor backward glanced till on the heath 
 Where Lubnaig's lake supplies the Teith. — 
 What in the racer's bosom stirred ? 
 The sickening pang of hope deferred, 530 
 
 528. Lubnaig. " The lake of small bends," lying east of Ben Ledi. 
 
98 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto hi 
 
 * 
 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 535 
 
 Ere yet they rush upon the spears ; 
 
 And zeal for Clan and Chieftain burning, 
 
 And hope, from well-fought field returning, 
 
 With war's red honors on his crest. 
 
 To clasp his Mary to his breast. 540 
 
 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, 545 
 
 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, 550 
 
 My vesper song thy wail, sweet maid ! 
 
 It will not waken me, Mary ! 
 
 I may not, dare not, fancy now 
 
 The grief that clouds thy lovely brow, 
 
 546. Bracken. Fern. 
 
CANTO III THE GATHERING 
 
 99 
 
 555 
 
 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. 560 
 
 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 returned from conquered foes, 565 
 
 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, 570 
 
 Rushing in conflagration strong 
 
 Thy deep ravines and dells along. 
 
 Wrapping thy cliffs in purple glow. 
 
 And reddening the dark lakes below; 
 
 Nor faster speeds it, nor so far, 575 
 
 As o'er thy heaths the voice of war. 
 
 570. Midnight blaze. The heath on the Scottish moorlands 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. This custom (exe- 
 crated by sportsmen) produces occasionally the most beautiful nocturnal 
 appearances, similar almost to the discharge of a volcano. — Scott. 
 
 LcfC. 
 
lOO THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto hi 
 
 The signal roused to martial coil 
 
 The sullen margin of Loch Voil, 
 
 Waked still Loch Doine, and to the source 
 
 Alarmed, Balvaig, thy swampy course ; 580 
 
 Thence southward turned its rapid road 
 
 Adown Strath-Gartney's valley broad, 
 
 Till rose in arms each man might claim 
 
 A portion of Clan- Alpine's name, 
 
 From the gray sire, whose trembling hand 585 
 
 Could hardly buckle on his brand, 
 
 To the raw boy, whose shaft and bow 
 
 Were yet scarce terror to the crow. 
 
 Each valley, each sequestered glen, 
 
 Mustered its little horde of men, 590 
 
 That met as torrents from the height 
 
 In Highland dales their streams unite. 
 
 Still gathering, as they pour along, 
 
 A voice more loud, a tide more strong. 
 
 Till at the rendezvous they stood 595 
 
 By hundreds prompt for blows and blood, 
 
 Each trained to arms 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. 600 
 
 577. Coil. Tumult, confusion 
 
 580. Balvaig. River flowing from Lochs Voil and Doine into Lubnaig. 
 
 582. Strath-Gartney. Valley bordering on Loch Katrine. 
 
 599. By his Chieftain's hand. The deep and implicit respect paid 
 by the Highland clansmen 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. — Scott. 
 
CANTO III THE GATHERING lOI 
 
 XXV 
 
 That summer morn had Roderick Dhu 
 
 Surveyed the skirts of Benvenue, 
 
 And sent his scouts o'er hill and heath, 
 
 To view the frontiers of Menteith. 
 
 All backward came with news of truce ; 605 
 
 Still lay each martial Graeme and Bruce, 
 
 In Rednock courts no horsemen wait. 
 
 No banner waved on Cardross gate. 
 
 On Duchray's towers no beacon shone. 
 
 Nor scared the herons from Loch Con ; 610 
 
 All seemed at peace. — Now wot ye why 
 
 The Chieftain with such anxious eye. 
 
 Ere to the muster he repair, 
 
 This western frontier scanned with care ? — 
 
 In Benvenue's most darksome cleft, 615 
 
 A fair though cruel pledge was left ; 
 
 For Douglas, to his promise true. 
 
 That morning from the isle withdrew, 
 
 And in a deep sequestered dell 
 
 Had sought a low and lonely cell. 620 
 
 By many a bard in Celtic tongue 
 
 Has Coir-nan-Uriskin been sung; 
 
 A softer name the Saxons gave. 
 
 And called the grot the Goblin Cave. 
 
 606. Graeme. See note, Canto II, line 109. — Bruce. A family 
 illustrious in Scottish history. 
 
 607-609. Rednock, Cardross, Duchray. Castles. 
 
 610. Loch Con. "Lake of the dogs," lying between Benvenue and 
 Ben Lomond. 
 
 622. Coir-nan-Uriskin. See note, Canto III, line 253. 
 
102 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto hi 
 
 XXVI 
 
 It was a wild and strange retreat, 625 
 
 As e'er was trod by outlaw's feet. 
 
 The dell, upon the mountain's crest, 
 
 Yawned like a gash on warrior's breast; 
 
 Its trench had stayed full many a rock, 
 
 Hurled by primeval earthquake shock 630 
 
 From Benvenue's gray summit wild, 
 
 And here, in random ruin piled. 
 
 They frowned incumbent o'er the spot, 
 
 And formed the rugged sylvan grot. 
 
 The oak and birch with mingled shade 635 
 
 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. 640 
 
 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 645 
 
 The incessant war of wave and rock. 
 
 Suspended cliffs with hideous sway 
 
 Seemed nodding o'er the cavern gray. 
 
 From such a den the wolf had sprung, 
 
 In such a wild-cat leaves her young; 650 
 
 Yet Douglas and his daughter fair 
 
 Sought for a space their safety there. 
 
 633. Incumbent. Lying upon or overhanging. 
 
CANTO III THE GATHERING 103 
 
 Gray Superstition's whisper dread 
 
 Debarred the spot to vulgar tread ; 
 
 For there, she said, did fays resort, 655 
 
 And satyrs hold their sylvan 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, 660 
 
 When Roderick with a chosen few 
 
 Repassed the heights of Benvenue. 
 
 Above the Goblin Cave they go. 
 
 Through the wild pass of Beal-nam-bo; 
 
 The prompt retainers speed before, 665 
 
 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, 670 
 
 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. 675 
 
 656. Satyr (sa'ter). See note, Canto III, line 253. 
 
 672. Single page. A Highland chief, being as absolute in his 
 authority as any prince, had a corresponding number of officers attached 
 to his person : (i) the henchman; (2) the bard; (3) bladier, or spokes- 
 man; (4) gillie-more, or sword bearer ; and so on. There were five more, 
 including the piper and his attendant. — ScoTT. 
 
104 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto hi 
 
 It vv^as a fair and gallant sight, 
 
 To view them from the neighboring height, 
 
 By the low-leveled sunbeam's light ! 
 
 For strength and stature, from the clan 
 
 Each warrior was a chosen man, 680 
 
 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 
 
 A wild and warlike group they stand, 685 
 
 That well became such mountain-strand. 
 
 XXVIII 
 
 Their Chief with step reluctant still 
 
 Was lingering on the craggy hill, 
 
 Hard by where turned apart the road 
 
 To Douglas's obscure abode. 690 
 
 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, 695 
 
 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 ; 700 
 
 For though his haughty heart deny 
 
 A parting meeting to his eye, 
 
CANTO III THE GATHERING 
 
 105 
 
 Still fondly strains his anxious ear 
 
 The accents of her voice to hear, 
 
 And inly did he curse the breeze 705 
 
 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 sacred minstrelsy. 710 
 
 What melting voice attends the strings ? 
 
 'T is Ellen, or an angel, sings. 
 
 XXIX 
 
 |)pmn t0 tl)e ^ivsin 
 
 Ave Maria! maiden mild! 
 
 Listen to a maiden's prayer ! 
 Thou canst hear though from the wild, 
 
 Thou canst save amidst despair. 
 Safe may we sleep beneath thy care, 
 
 Though banished, outcast, and reviled — 
 Maiden ! hear a maiden's prayer ; 
 
 Mother, hear a suppliant child ! 720 
 
 Ave Maria! 
 
 715 
 
 Ave Mafia! undefiled ! 
 
 The flinty couch we now must share 
 Shall seem with down of eider piled, 
 
 If thy protection hover there. 
 
 713- Ave Maria ! Hail, Mary ! The beginning of the Roman Cath- 
 olic prayer to the Virgin Mary. 
 
Io6 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto hi 
 
 The murky cavern's heavy air 725 
 
 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, 730 
 
 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, 735 
 
 And for a father hear a child ! 
 
 Ave Maria ! 
 
 XXX 
 
 Died on the harp the closing hymn, — 
 
 Unmoved in attitude and limb, 
 
 As listening still, Clan-Alpine's lord 
 
 Stood leaning on his heavy sword, 740 
 
 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 — 't is the last," 
 
 He muttered thrice, — " the last time e'er 745 
 
 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. 
 
 An instant 'cross the lake it shot. 750 
 
CANTO III THE GATHERING 107 
 
 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, 
 
 Where mustered in the vale below 755 
 
 Clan-Alpine's men in martial show. 
 
 XXXI 
 
 A various scene the clansmen made: 
 
 Some sat, some stood, some slowly strayed; 
 
 But most, with mantles folded round, 
 
 Were couched to rest upon the ground, 760 
 
 Scarce to be known by curious eye 
 
 From the deep heather where they lie, 
 
 So well was matched the tartan screen 
 
 With heath-bell dark and brackens green; 
 
 Unless where, here and there, a blade 765 
 
 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, 770 
 
 Shook the steep mountain's steady side. 
 
 Thrice it arose, and lake and fell 
 
 Three times returned the martial yell; 
 
 It died upon Bochastle's plain, 
 
 And Silence claimed her evening reign. 775 
 
Canto Fourth 
 
 THE PROPHECY 
 
 " The rose is fairest when 't is budding new, 
 
 And hope is brightest when it dawns from fears ; 
 The rose is sweetest washed with morning dew, 
 
 And love is lovehest when embalmed 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 ! " 
 
 Thus spoke young Norman, heir of Armandave, 
 What time the sun arose on Vennachar's broad wave. 
 
 II 
 
 Such fond conceit, half said, half sung, 
 Love prompted to the bridegroom's tongue. 
 All while he stripped the wild-rose spray, 
 His ax 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. 
 
 lo. Conceit. Fancy; anticipation. 
 1 08 
 
CANTO IV THE PROPHECY IO9 
 
 *' Stand, or thou diest ! — What, Malise ? — soon 
 
 Art thou returned from Braes of Doune. 
 
 By thy keen step and glance I know, 20 
 
 Thou bring'st us tidings of the foe." — 
 
 For while the Fiery Cross hied on, 
 
 On distant scout had Malise gone. — 
 
 "Where sleeps the Chief.?" the henchman said. 
 
 '' Apart, in yonder misty glade ; 25 
 
 To his lone couch I '11 be your guide." — 
 
 Then called a slumberer by his side. 
 
 And stirred him with his slackened bow, — 
 
 "Up, up, Glentarkin ! rouse thee,' ho! 
 
 We seek the Chieftain ; on the track 30 
 
 Keep eagle watch till I come back." 
 
 Ill 
 
 Together up the pass they sped : 
 '' What of the foeman } " Norman said. — 
 ** Varying reports from near and far ; 
 This certain, — that a band of war 35 
 
 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 40 
 
 Speak on our glens in thunder loud. 
 • Inured to bide such bitter bout. 
 The warrior's plaid may bear it out ; 
 
 19. Braes of Doune. Hill slopes on the north side of the Teith, near 
 Doune Castle. 36. Boune. Prepared. 
 
no THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto iv 
 
 But, Norman, how wilt thou provide 
 
 A shelter for thy bonny bride ? " — 45 
 
 " 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, 50 
 
 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 
 
 " 'T is well advised, — the Chieftain's plan 55 
 
 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, 60 
 
 Of that dread kind which must not be 
 
 Unless in dread extremity. 
 
 The Taghairm called ; by which, afar, 
 
 Our sires foresaw the events of war. 
 
 Duncraggan's milk-white bull they slew. " — 65 
 
 63. Taghairm. The Highlanders, like all rude people, had Various 
 superstitious modes of inquiring into futurity. One of the most noted 
 was the Taghairm mentioned in the text. A person was wrapped up 
 in the skin of a newly slain bullock, and deposited beside a waterfall or 
 at the bottom of a precipice or in some other strange, wild, and unusual 
 situation, where the scenery around him suggested nothing but objects 
 of horror. In this situation he revolved in his mind the question 
 
CANTO IV THE PROPHECY III 
 
 MALISE 
 
 "Ah ! well the gallant brute I knew ! 
 
 The choicest of the prey we had 
 
 When swept our merrymen Gallangad. 
 
 His hide was snow, his horns were dark, 
 
 His red eye glowed like fiery spark ; 70 
 
 So fierce, so tameless, and so fleet, 
 
 Sore did he cumber our retreat. 
 
 And kept our stoutest kerns in awe, 
 
 Even at the pass of Beal 'maha. 
 
 But steep and flinty was the road, 75 
 
 And sharp the hurrying pikeman's goad, 
 
 And when we came to Dennan's Row 
 
 A child might scathless stroke his brow." 
 
 NORMAN 
 
 " That bull was slain ; his reeking hide 
 
 They stretched the cataract beside, 80 
 
 Whose waters their wild tumult toss 
 
 Adown the black and craggy boss 
 
 proposed, and v/hatever was impressed upon him by his exalted imagi- 
 nation passed for the inspiration of the disembodied spirits who haunt 
 the desolate recesses. — Scott. 
 
 68. Gallangad. Near Loch Lomond. 
 
 73. Kerns. Foot soldiers of the lowest rank. 
 
 74. Beal 'maha. " The pass of the plain," on the east of Loch 
 Lomond. 
 
 77. Dennan's Row. A starting place for ascending Ben Lomond. 
 82. Boss. A protuberance. 
 
112 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto iv 
 
 Of that huge cliff whose ample verge 
 
 Tradition calls the Hero's Targe. 
 
 Couched on a shelf beneath its brink, 85 
 
 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. 90 
 
 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, Hke a ghost, 95 
 
 That hovers o'er a slaughtered host.** 
 
 Or raven on the blasted oak, 
 
 That, watching while the deer is broke. 
 
 His morsel claims with sullen croak.^^" 
 
 MALISE 
 
 " Peace ! peace ! to other than to me 100 
 
 Thy words were evil augury; 
 
 But still I hold Sir Roderick's blade, 
 
 Clan-Alpine's omen and her aid, 
 
 Not aught that, gleaned from heaven or hell. 
 
 Yon fiend-begotten Monk can tell. 105 
 
 84. Hero's Targe. The name of a rock in the Forest of Glenfinlas by 
 which a noisy cataract runs. 
 
 98. Broke. Quartered. Everything belonging to the chase was 
 matter of solemnity among our ancestors; but nothing was more so than 
 
CANTO IV THE PROPHECY II3 
 
 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, no 
 
 For man endowed 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 rouse like warrior's lance, — 115 
 
 'T is hard for such to view, unfurled, 
 
 The curtain of the future world. 
 
 Yet, witness every quaking limb. 
 
 My sunken pulse, mine eyeballs dim, 
 
 My soul with harrowing anguish torn, — 120 
 
 This for my Chieftain have I borne ! 
 
 The shapes that sought my fearful couch 
 
 A human tongue may ne'er avouch ; 
 
 No mortal man — save he, who, bred 
 
 Between the living and the dead, 125 
 
 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 ! 
 
 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. — Scott. 
 
114 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto iv 
 
 Not spoke in word, nor blazed in scroll, 130 
 
 But borne and branded on my soul : — 
 Which spills the foremost foeman's life, 
 That party conquers in the strife!" 
 
 VII 
 
 ''Thanks, Brian, for thy zeal and care! 
 
 Good is thine augury, and fair. 135 
 
 Clan-Alpine ne'er in battle stood 
 
 But first our broadswords tasted blood. 
 
 A surer victim still I know, 
 
 Self -offered to the auspicious blow : 
 
 A spy has sought my land this morn, — 140 
 
 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, 145 
 
 Till in deep path or dingle brown 
 
 He light on those shall bring him down. — 
 
 But see, who comes his news to show ! 
 
 Malise ! what tidings of the foe ? " 
 
 130. Blazed. Blazoned; displayed. 
 
 133. That party conquers in the strife. Though this be in the text 
 described as a response of the Taghairm, or Oracle of the Hide, it was 
 of itself an augury frequently attended to. The fate of the battle was 
 often anticipated in the imagination of the combatants, by observing 
 which party first shed blood. It is said that the Highlanders under 
 Montrose were so deeply imbued with this notion that on the morning 
 of the battle of Tippermoor they murdered a defenseless herdsman 
 whom they found in the fields, merely to secure an advantage of so 
 much consequence to their party. — Scott. 
 
CANTO IV THE PROPHECY II5 
 
 VIII 
 
 "At Doune, o'er many a spear and glaive 150 
 
 Two Barons proud their banners wave. 
 
 I saw the Moray's silver star, 
 
 And marked the sable pale of Mar." 
 
 " By Alpine's soul, high tidings those ! 
 
 I love to hear of worthy foes. 155 
 
 When move they on .? " " To-morrow's noon 
 
 Will see them here for battle boune." 
 
 "Then shall it see a meeting stern ! 
 
 But, for the place, — say, couldst thou learn 
 
 Naught of the friendly clans of Earn ? 160 
 
 Strengthened by them, we well might bide 
 
 The battle on Benledi's side. 
 
 Thou couldst not.? — well ! Clan- Alpine's men 
 
 Shall man the Trosachs' shaggy glen; 
 
 Within Loch Katrine's gorge we '11 fight, 165 
 
 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 .'' 170 
 
 Or dost thou come, ill-omened tear ! 
 
 A messenger of doubt or fear ? 
 
 150. Glaive. A broadsword ; from 'La.tin ^/adms. 
 
 152-153. Moray's silver star . . . sable pale of Mar. The earls of 
 Moray and Mar were supporters of the King. The shield or banner of 
 the one bore a star, the other a black band going perpendicularly down 
 the center of the shield, called a pale. 
 
 160. Earn. District about Loch Earn. 
 
Il6 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto iv 
 
 No ! sooner may the Saxon lance 
 
 Unfix Benledi from his stance, 
 
 Than doubt or terror can pierce through 175 
 
 The unyielding heart of Roderick Dhu ! 
 
 'T is stubborn as his trusty targe. 
 
 Each to his post ! — all know their charge." 
 
 The pibroch sounds, the bands advance. 
 
 The broadswords gleam, the banners dance, 180 
 
 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 gray stone 185 
 
 Fast by the cave, and makes her moan, 
 
 While vainly Allan's words of cheer 
 
 Are poured on her unheeding ear. 
 
 "He will return — dear lady, trust ! — 
 
 With joy return ; — he will — he must. 190 
 
 Well was it time to seek afar 
 
 Some refuge from impending war. 
 
 When e'en Clan-Alpine's rugged swarm 
 
 Are cowed by the approaching storm. 
 
 I saw their boats with many a light, 195 
 
 Floating the livelong yesternight. 
 
 Shifting like flashes darted forth 
 
 By the red streamers of the north; 
 
 174. stance. Station; foundation. 
 
 198. Red streamers of the north. Aurora Borealis, or northern lights. 
 
CANTO IV THE PROPHECY 
 
 117 
 
 I marked at morn how close they ride, 
 
 Thick moored by the lone islet's side, 200 
 
 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 205 
 
 Some safe retreat for thee prepare ? " 
 
 X 
 
 ELLEN 
 
 *'No, Allan, no ! Pretext so kind 
 
 My wakeful terrors could not blind. 
 
 When in such tender tone, yet grave, 
 
 Douglas a parting blessing gave, 210 
 
 The tear that glistened in his eye 
 
 Drowned not his purpose fixed and high. 
 
 My soul, though feminine and weak, 
 
 Can image his ; e'en as the lake. 
 
 Itself disturbed by slightest stroke, 215 
 
 Reflects the invulnerable rock. 
 
 He hears report of battle rife. 
 
 He deems himself the cause of strife. 
 
 I saw him redden when the theme 
 
 Turned, Allan, on thine idle dream 220 
 
 Of Malcolm Graeme in fetters bound, 
 
 Which I, thou saidst, about him wound. 
 
 Think'st thou he trowed thine omen aught ? 
 
 O no ! 't was apprehensive thought 
 
 223. Trowed. Believed. 
 
Il8 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto iv 
 
 For the kind youth, — for Roderick too — 225 
 
 Let me be just — that friend so true ; 
 
 In danger both, and in our cause ! 
 
 Minstrel, the Douglas dare not pause. 
 
 Why else that solemn warning given, 
 
 * If not on earth, we meet in heaven ! ' 230 
 
 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 ; 235 
 
 He goes to do — what I had done. 
 
 Had Douglas' daughter been his son ! " 
 
 XI 
 
 " Nay, lovely Ellen ! — dearest, nay ! 
 
 If aught should his return delay. 
 
 He only named yon holy fane 240 
 
 As fitting place to meet again. 
 
 Be sure he 's safe ; and for the Graeme, — 
 
 Heaven's blessing on his gallant name ! — 
 
 My visioned sight may yet prove true. 
 
 Nor bode of ill to him or you. 245 
 
 When did my gifted dream beguile ? 
 
 Think of the stranger at the isle. 
 
 And think upon the harpings slow 
 
 That presaged this approaching woe ! 
 
 Sooth was my prophecy of fear ; 250 
 
 Believe it when it augurs cheer. 
 
 231. Cambus-kenneth's fane. An abbey near Stirling. 
 
CANTO IV THE PROPHECY 1 19 
 
 Would he 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, 255 
 
 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. 260 
 
 XII 
 
 Alice Brand 
 Merry it is in the good greenwood, 
 
 When the mavis and merle are singing, 
 When the deer sweeps by, and the hounds 
 are in cry. 
 And the hunter's horn is ringing. 
 
 " O Alice Brand, my native land 265 
 
 Is lost for love of you ; 
 And we must hold by wood and wold, 
 
 As outlaws wont to do. 
 
 " O Alice, 't was all for thy locks so bright, 
 
 And 't was all for thine eyes so blue, 270 
 
 253. Grot. Grotto; secluded place. 
 
 262. Mavis. Thrush. — Merle. Blackbird. 
 
 267. Wold. Open grassy country. 
 
 ^ 
 
I20 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto iv 
 
 That on the night of our luckless flight 
 Thy brother bold I slew. 
 
 '' Now must I teach to hew the beech 
 
 The hand that held the glaive, 
 For leaves to spread our lowly bed, 275 
 
 And stakes to fence our cave. 
 
 **And for vest of pall, thy fingers small. 
 
 That wont on harp to stray, 
 A cloak must shear from the slaughtered deer, 
 
 To keep the cold away." 280 
 
 " O Richard ! if my brother died, 
 
 'T was but a fatal chance ; 
 For darkling was the battle tried. 
 
 And fortune sped the lance. 
 
 " If pall and vair no more I wear, 285 
 
 Nor thou the crimson sheen. 
 As warm, we '11 say, is the russet gray, 
 
 As gay the forest green. 
 
 "And, Richard, if our lot be hard. 
 
 And lost thy native land, 290 
 
 Still Alice has her own Richard, 
 
 And he his Alice Brand." 
 
 277. Vest of pall. An outer garment of rich material. 
 283. Darkling. In the dark. 
 
 285. Vair, The fur of a small, bluish-gray animal resembling a 
 polecat. Such furs were only worn by ladies of rank. — Yonge. 
 
CANTO IV THE PROPHECY 121 
 
 xni 
 ^allaU Contfuncti 
 
 'T is merry, 't is merry, in good greenwood ; 
 
 So blithe Lady Alice is singing ; 
 On the beech's pride, and oak's brown side, 295 
 
 Lord Richard's ax is ringing. 
 
 Up spoke the moody Elfin King, 
 
 Who woned within the hill, — 
 Like wind in the porch of a ruined church. 
 
 His voice was ghostly shrill. 300 
 
 " Why sounds yon stroke on beech and oak. 
 
 Our moonlight circle's screen ? 
 Or who comes here to chase the deer. 
 
 Beloved of our Elfin Queen ? 
 Or who may dare on wold to wear 305 
 
 The fairies' fatal green ? 
 
 *' Up, Urgan, up ! to yon mortal hie, 
 For thou wert christened man ; 
 
 298. Woned. Dwelt. 
 
 304. Elfin Queen. Fairies, if not positively malevolent, are capricious 
 and easily offended. They are, like other proprietors of forests, peculiarly 
 jealous of their rights of ver^ and venison (or, right to wood and game). 
 
 306. Fatal green. As the Daoine Shi\ or Men of Peace, wore green 
 habits, they were supposed to take offense when any mortals ventured 
 to assume their favorite color. 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. . . . More 
 especially is it held fatal to the whole clan of Grahame. — Scott. 
 
 308. Christened man. The elves were supposed greatly to envy the 
 
122 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto iv 
 
 For cross or sign thou wilt not fly, 
 
 For muttered word or ban. 310 
 
 " Lay on him the curse of the withered heart, 
 
 The curse of the sleepless eye ; 
 Till he wish and pray that his life would part, 
 
 Nor yet find leave to die." 
 
 XIV 
 
 ^allati Contintieti 
 
 *T is merry, 't is merry, in good greenwood, 315 
 
 Though the birds have stilled their singing ; 
 
 The evening blaze doth Alice raise, 
 And Richard is fagots bringing. 
 
 Up Urgan starts, that hideous dwarf. 
 
 Before Lord Richard stands, 320 
 
 And, as he crossed and blessed himself, 
 "I fear not sign," quoth the grizzly elf, 
 
 "That is made with bloody hands." 
 
 But out then spoke she, Alice Brand, 
 
 That woman void of fear, — 325 
 
 "And if there 's blood upon his hand, 
 'T is but the blood of deer." 
 
 privileges acquired by Christian initiation, and they gave to those mor- 
 tals who had fallen into their power a certain precedence, founded upon 
 this advantageous distinction. — Scott. 
 
CANTO IV THE PROPHECY 1 23 
 
 " Now loud thou liest, thou bold of mood ! 
 
 It cleaves unto his hand, 
 The stain of thine own kindly blood, 330 
 
 The blood of Ethert Brand." 
 
 Then forward stepped she, Alice Brand, 
 
 And made the holy sign, — 
 '' And if there 's blood on Richard's hand, 
 
 A spotless hand is mine. 335 
 
 *'And I conjure thee, demon elf, 
 
 By Him whom demons fear, 
 To show us whence thou art thyself. 
 
 And what thine errand here ? " 
 
 XV 
 
 ^allaU Continued 
 
 " 'T is merry, 't is merry, in Fairy-land, 340 
 
 When fairy birds are singing, 
 When the court doth ride by their monarch's side, 
 
 With bit and bridle ringing : 
 
 "And gayly shines the Fairy-land — 
 
 But all is glistening show, 345 
 
 Like the idle gleam that December's beam 
 
 Can dart on ice and snow. 
 
 *'And fading, like that varied gleam. 
 Is our inconstant shape, 
 
 330. Kindly. Kindred. 
 
124 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto iv 
 
 Who now like knight and lady seem, 350 
 
 And now like dwarf and ape. 
 
 " It was between the night and day, 
 
 When the Fairy King has power. 
 That I sunk down in a sinful fray, 
 And 'twixt life and death was snatched away 355 
 
 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." 360 
 
 She crossed him once — she crossed him twice — 
 
 That lady was so brave ; 
 The fouler grew his goblin hue, 
 
 The darker grew the cave. 
 
 She crossed him thrice, that lady bold ; 365 
 
 He rose beneath her hand 
 The fairest knight on Scottish mold, 
 
 Her brother, Ethert Brand ! 
 
 Merry it is in good greenwood. 
 
 When the mavis and merle are singing, 370 
 
 But merrier were they in Dunfermline gray, 
 
 When all the bells were ringing. 
 
 357. Wist. Knew. 367. Mold. Soil. 
 
 371. Dunfermline. A town on the Firth of Forth ; the seat of an exten- 
 sive abbey, and the residence of the kings of Scotland in early times. 
 
CANTO IV THE PROPHECY 125 
 
 XVI 
 Just as the minstrel sounds were stayed, 
 A stranger climbed the steepy glade ; 
 His martial step, his stately mien, ^y^ 
 
 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 suppressed a scream : 380 
 *' 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 385 
 
 Met me betimes this morning-tide. 
 And marshaled over bank and bourne 
 The happy path of my return." 
 " The happy path ! — what ! — said he naught 
 Of war, of battle to be fought, 390 
 
 Of guarded pass ? " " No, by my faith ! 
 Nor saw I aught could augur scathe." 
 " O haste thee, Allan, to the kern : 
 Yonder his tartans I discern ; 
 
 Learn thou his purpose, and conjure 395 
 
 That he will guide the stranger sure ! — 
 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." 400 
 
 387. Bourne. Stream. 392. Augur scathe. Predict injury. 
 
126 THE LADY OF TJiE LAKE canto iv 
 
 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 honor 's weighed with death. 
 
 Then let me profit by my chance, 405 
 
 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. 410 
 
 Near Bochastle my horses wait ; 
 
 They bear us soon to Stirling gate. 
 
 I '11 place thee in a lovely bower, 
 
 I '11 guard thee like a tender flower — " 
 
 " O hush. Sir Knight! 't were female art, 415 
 
 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; 420 
 
 And how, O how, can I atone 
 
 The wreck my vanity brought on ! — 
 
 One way remains — I '11 tell him all — 
 
 Yes ! struggling bosom, forth it shall ! 
 
 Thou, whose light folly bears the blame, 425 
 
 Buy thine own pardon with thy shame ! 
 
 But first — my father is a man 
 
 Outlawed and exiled, under ban; 
 
CANTO IV THE PROPHECY 
 
 127 
 
 The price of blood is on his head, 
 
 With me 't were infamy to wed. 430 
 
 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 ; 435 
 
 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, 440 
 
 To give her steadfast speech the lie; 
 In maiden confidence she stood. 
 Though mantled in her cheek the blood. 
 And told her love with such a sigh 
 Of deep and hopeless agony, 445 
 
 As death had sealed her Malcolm's doom 
 And she sat sorrowing on his tomb. 
 Hope vanished from Fitz-James's eye. 
 But not with hope fled sympathy. 
 He proffered to attend her side, 450 
 
 As brother would a sister guide. 
 "O little know' St thou Roderick's heart ! 
 Safer for both we go apart. 
 O haste thee, and from Allan learn 
 If thou mayst trust yon wily kern." 455 
 
 437. Train. Persuasion or enticement. 
 
128 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto iv 
 
 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 crossed his brain. 
 
 He paused, and turned, and came again. 460 
 
 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, 465 
 
 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, 470 
 
 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. 475 
 
 Seek thou the King without delay; 
 
 This signet shall secure thy way: 
 
 And claim thy suit, whate'er it be. 
 
 As ransom of his pledge to me." 
 
 He placed the golden circlet on, 480 
 
 Paused — kissed her hand — and then was gone. 
 
 471. His lordship the embattled field. His estate the battlefield. 
 473. Reck of. Mind or care for. 
 
CANTO IV THE PROPHECY 1 29 
 
 The aged Minstrel stood aghast, 
 
 So hastily Fitz-James shot past. 
 
 He joined his guide, and wending down 
 
 The ridges of the mountain brown, 485 
 
 Across the stream they took their way 
 
 That joins Loch Katrine to Achray. 
 
 XX 
 
 All in the Trosachs' glen was still, 
 
 Noontide was sleeping on the hill : 
 
 Sudden his guide whooped loud and high — 490 
 
 '^ Murdoch! was that a signal cry?" — 
 
 He stammered forth, '* I shout to scare 
 
 Yon raven from his dainty fare." 
 
 He looked — he knew the raven's prey. 
 
 His own brave steed : "Ah! gallant gray ! 495 
 
 For thee — for me, perchance — 't were well 
 
 We ne'er had seen the Trosachs' dell. — 
 
 Murdoch, move first — but silently ; 
 
 Whistle or whoop, and thou shalt die !" 
 
 Jealous and sullen on they fared, 500 
 
 Each silent, each upon his guard. 
 
 XXI 
 
 Now wound the path its dizzy ledge 
 Around a precipice's edge. 
 When lo ! a wasted female form, 
 Blighted by wrath of sun and storm, 505 
 
 In tattered weeds and wild array. 
 Stood on a cliff beside the way, 
 506. Weeds. Dress. 
 
130 . THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto iv 
 
 And glancing round her restless eye, 
 
 Upon the wood, the rock, the sky, 
 
 Seemed naught to mark, yet all to spy. 510 
 
 Her brow was wreathed with gaudy broom; 
 
 With gesture wild she waved a plume 
 
 Of feathers, which the eagles fling 
 
 To crag and cliff from dusky wing ; 
 
 Such spoils her desperate step had sought, 515 
 
 Where scarce was footing for the goat. 
 
 The tartan plaid she first descried. 
 
 And shrieked till all the rocks replied ; 
 
 As loud she laughed when near they drew, 
 
 For then the Lowland garb she knew ; 520 
 
 And then her hands she wildly wrung, 
 
 And then she wept, and then she sung — 
 
 She sung ! — the voice, in better time. 
 
 Perchance to harp or lute might chime ; 
 
 And now, though strained and roughened, still 525 
 
 Rung wildly sweet to dale and hill. 
 
 XXII 
 
 They bid me sleep, they bid me pray. 
 
 They say my brain is warped and wrung, — 
 
 I cannot sleep on Highland brae, 
 
 I cannot pray in Highland tongue. 530 
 
 But were I now where Allan glides. 
 
 Or heard my native Devan's tides, 
 
 531, 532. Allan, Devan. Small streams tributary to the Forth. 
 
CANTO IV THE PROPHECY 13 1 
 
 So sweetly would I rest, and pray 
 
 That Heaven would close my wintry day ! 
 
 'T was thus my hair they bade me braid, 535 
 
 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 drowned in blood the morning smile ! 540 
 
 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 gray, 545 
 
 As the lone heron spreads his wing, 
 
 By twilight, o'er a haunted spring." 
 
 *''T is Blanche of Devan," Murdoch said, 
 
 "A crazed and captive Lowland maid, 
 
 Ta'en on the morn she was a bride, 550 
 
 When Roderick forayed Devan-side. 
 
 The gay bridegroom resistance made. 
 
 And felt our Chief's unconquered blade. 
 
 I marvel she is now at large, 
 
 But oft she 'scapes from Maudlin's charge. — 555 
 
 Hence, brain-sick fool!" — He raised his bow: — 
 
 "Now, if thou strik'st her but one blow, 
 
 I '11 pitch thee from the cliff as far 
 
 As ever peasant pitched a bar ! " 
 
132 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto iv 
 
 "Thanks, champion, thanks!" the Maniac cried, 560 
 
 And pressed her to Fitz-James's side. 
 
 " See the gray 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 ! 565 
 
 No! — deep amid disjointed stones. 
 
 The wolves shall batten on his bones, 
 
 And then shall his detested plaid. 
 
 By bush and brier in mid-air stayed. 
 
 Wave forth a banner fair and free, 570 
 
 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 ; 575 
 
 And, though mine ear is all unstrung, 
 
 Still, still it loves the Lowland tongue. 
 
 " For O my sweet William was forester true. 
 He stole poor Blanche's heart away! 
 
 His coat it was all of the greenwood hue, 580 
 
 And so blithely he trilled the Lowland lay ! 
 
 " It was not that I meant to tell . . . 
 But thou art wise and guessest well." 
 
 562. Pennons. Pinions; wings. 567. Batten. Fatten. 
 
 578. my sweet William. The sight of the Lincoln green reminds 
 Blanche of her husband, and she is led to warn the stranger of his peril. 
 
CANTO IV THE PROPHECY 1 33 
 
 Then, in a low and broken tone, 
 
 And hurried note, the song went on. 585 
 
 Still on the Clansman fearfully 
 
 She fixed her apprehensive eye. 
 
 Then turned it on the Knight, and then 
 
 Her look glanced wildly o'er the glen. 
 
 XXV 
 
 "The toils are pitched, and the stakes are set, — 590 
 
 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 its branches sturdily; 595 
 
 He came stately down the glen, — 
 
 Ever sing hardily, hardily. 
 
 " It was there he met with a wounded doe, 
 
 She was bleeding deathf ully : 
 She warned him of the toils below, 600 
 
 O, so faithfully, faithfully! 
 
 " He had an eye, and he could heed, — 
 
 Ever sing warily, warily; 
 He had a foot, and he could speed, — 
 
 Hunters watch so narrowly." 605 
 
 593. Hunters live so cheerily, etc. The hunters are Clan-Alpine's 
 men ; the stag of ten is Fitz-James ; the wounded doe is Blanche herself. 
 
 594. Stag of ten. Stag having ten branches on his horns. 
 
134 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto iv 
 
 XXVI 
 
 Fitz-James's mind was passion-tossed, 
 
 When Ellen's hints and fears were lost ; 
 
 But Murdoch's shout suspicion wrought, 
 
 And Blanche's song conviction brought. 
 
 Not like a stag that spies the snare, 6io 
 
 But lion of the hunt aware, 
 
 He waved at once his blade on high, — 
 
 *' Disclose thy treachery, or die! " 
 
 Forth at full speed the Clansman flew. 
 
 But in his race his bow he drew. 615 
 
 The shaft just grazed Fitz-James's crest. 
 
 And thrilled 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, 620 
 
 The fierce avenger is behind ! 
 
 Fate judges of the rapid strife — 
 
 The forfeit death — the prize is life ; 
 
 Thy kindred ambush lies before. 
 
 Close couched upon the heathery moor ; 625 
 
 Them couldst thou reach ! — it may not be — 
 
 Thine ambushed kin thou ne'er shalt see. 
 
 The fiery Saxon gains on thee ! — 
 
 Resistless speeds the deadly thrust, 
 
 As lightning strikes the pine to dust ; 630 
 
 With foot and hand Fitz-James must strain 
 
 Ere he can win his blade again. 
 
 Bent o'er the fallen with falcon eye. 
 
 He grimly smiled to see him die, 
 
CANTO IV THE PROPHECY 
 
 135 
 
 Then slower wended back his way, 635 
 
 Where the poor maiden bleeding lay. 
 
 XXVII 
 
 She sat beneath the birchen tree, 
 
 Her elbow resting on her knee ; 
 
 She had withdrawn the fatal shaft. 
 
 And gazed on it, and feebly laughed ; 640 
 
 Her wreath of broom and feathers gray. 
 
 Daggled with blood, beside her lay. 
 
 The Knight to stanch the life-stream tried, — 
 
 "Stranger, it is in vain ! " she cried. 
 
 " This hour of death has given me more 645 
 
 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 650 
 
 That thou 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, 655 
 
 But blood and tears have dimmed its shine. 
 
 I will not tell thee when 't was shred. 
 
 Nor from what guiltless victim's head, — 
 
 My brain would turn ! — but it shall wave ^ 
 
 Like plumage on thy helmet brave, 660 
 
 642. Daggled. Spattered. 
 
136 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto iv 
 
 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 honored sign, 665 
 
 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, 670 
 
 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." 
 
 xxvni 
 A kindly heart had brave Fitz-James ; 675 
 
 Fast poured his eyes at pity's claims ; 
 And now, with mingled grief and ire, 
 He saw the murdered maid expire. 
 " God, in my need, be my rehef, 
 As I wreak this on yonder Chief ! " 680 
 
 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, 685 
 
 No other favor will I wear, 
 
 680. Wreak. Avenge. 
 
 686. Favor. Gift of a lady to a knight, as a glove or a scarf, to be 
 worn by him, 
 
CANTO IV THE PROPHECY 137 
 
 Till this sad token I imbrue 
 
 In the best blood of Roderick Dhu ! — 
 
 But hark ! what means yon faint halloo ? 
 
 The chase is up, — but they shall know, 690 
 
 The stag at bay's a dangerous foe." 
 
 Barred from the known but guarded way, 
 
 Through copse and cliffs Fitz-James must stray. 
 
 And oft must change his desperate track. 
 
 By stream and precipice turned back. 695 
 
 Heartless, fatigued, and faint, at length. 
 
 From lack of food and loss of strength, 
 
 He couched him in a thicket hoar. 
 
 And thought his toils and perils o'er : — 
 
 " Of all my rash adventures past, 700 
 
 This frantic feat must prove the last ! 
 
 Who e'er so mad but might have guessed 
 
 That all this Highland hornet's nest 
 
 Would muster up in swarms so soon 
 
 As e'er they heard of bands at Doune .? — 705 
 
 Like bloodhounds 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 : 
 
 I '11 couch me here till evening gray, 710 
 
 Then darkling try my dangerous way." 
 
 XXIX 
 
 The shades of eve come slowly down. 
 The woods are wrapt in deeper brown, 
 
138 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto iv 
 
 The owl awakens from her dell, 
 
 The fox is heard upon the fell ; . 715 
 
 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, 720 
 
 He climbs the crag and threads the brake ; 
 
 And not the summer solstice there 
 
 Tempered the midnight mountain air. 
 
 But every breeze that swept the wold 
 
 Benumbed his drenched limbs with cold. 725 
 
 In dread, in danger, and alone. 
 
 Famished and chilled, through ways unknown, 
 
 Tangled and steep, he journeyed on ; 
 
 Till, as a rock's huge point he turned, 
 
 A watch-fire close before him burned. 730 
 
 XXX 
 
 Beside its embers red and clear. 
 
 Basked in his plaid a mountaineer ; 
 
 And up he sprung with sword in hand, — 
 
 "Thy name and purpose ! Saxon, stand ! " 
 
 "A stranger." " What dost thou require .? " 735 
 
 " Rest and a guide, and food and fire. 
 
 My life 's beset, my path is lost. 
 
 The gale has chilled my limbs with frost." 
 
 " Art thou a friend to Roderick } " '' No." 
 
 " Thou dar'st not call thyself a foe .? " 740 
 
 722. Summer solstice. The longest day, when the heat is greatest. 
 
CANTO IV THE PROPHECY 1 39 
 
 *'I dare! to him and all the band « 
 
 He brings to aid his murderous hand." 
 
 ** Bold words ! — but, though the beast of game 
 
 The privilege of chase may claim, 
 
 Though space and law the stag we lend, 745 
 
 Ere hound we slip or bow we bend. 
 
 Who ever recked, where, how, or when. 
 
 The prowling fox was trapped or slain ? 
 
 Thus treacherous scouts, — yet sure they lie. 
 
 Who say thou cam'st a secret spy ! " — 750 
 
 " 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, 755 
 
 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." 760 
 
 XXXI 
 
 He gave him of his Highland cheer, 
 The hardened flesh of mountain deer ; 
 Dry fuel on the fire he laid. 
 And bade the Saxon share his plaid. 
 
 746, Slip. Let loose for the game. 
 
 762. Hardened flesh. The Scottish Highlanders in former times had 
 a way of preparing their venison without cooking, by simply pressing it 
 between two pieces of wood, so as to force out the blood and render 
 it extremely hard. This was considered a great delicacy. 
 
I40 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto iv 
 
 • He tended him like welcome guest, 765 
 
 Then thus his further speech addressed : — 
 *' Stranger, I am to Roderick Dhu 
 A clansman born, a kinsman true ; 
 Each word against his honor spoke 
 Demands of me avenging stroke ; 770 
 
 Yet more, — upon thy fate, 't is 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, 775 
 
 Worn as thou art, to bid thee stand : 
 But, not for clan, nor kindred's cause. 
 Will I depart from honor's laws ; 
 To assail a wearied man were shame, 
 And stranger is a holy name ; 780 
 
 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. 
 O'er stock and stone, through watch and ward, 785 
 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 't is nobly given ! " 790 
 
 787. Coilantogle's ford. On arriving at Coilantogle's ford, near the 
 foot of Loch Vennachar, Fitz-James, having passed beyond the limits 
 of the lawless Highlands, came within the district loyal to the Scottish 
 king, and, therefore, needed no further protection from the Highland 
 chief. 
 
CANTO IV THE PROPHECY 
 
 141 
 
 "Well, rest thee ; for the bittern's cry 
 
 Sings us the lake's wild lullaby." 
 
 With that he shook the gathered heath, 
 
 And spread his plaid upon the wreath ; 
 
 And the' brave foemen, side by side, 795 
 
 Lay peaceful down like brothers tried, 
 
 And slept until the dawning beam 
 
 Purpled the mountain and the stream. 
 
Canto Fifth 
 
 THE COMBAT 
 
 Fair as the earliest beam of eastern light, 
 When first, by the bewildered 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. 
 
 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. 
 Looked out upon the dappled sky. 
 Muttered their soldier matins by, - 
 And then awaked their fire, to steal. 
 As short and rude, their soldier meal. 
 
 1 6, 17. To steal their meal. To eat hurriedly. 
 142 
 
CANTO V THE COMBAT I43 
 
 That o'er, the Gael around him threw 
 
 His graceful plaid of varied hue, 
 
 And, true to promise, led the way, 20 
 
 By thicket green and mountain gray. 
 
 A wildering path ! — they winded now 
 
 Along the precipice's brow. 
 
 Commanding the rich scenes beneath. 
 
 The windings of the Forth and Teith, 25 
 
 And all the vales between that lie, 
 
 Till Stirling's turrets melt in sky ; 
 
 Then, sunk in copse, their farthest glance 
 
 Gained not the length of horseman's lance. 
 
 'T was oft so steep, the foot was fain 30 
 
 Assistance from the hand to gain ; 
 
 So tangled oft that, bursting through. 
 
 Each hawthorn shed her showers of dew, — 
 
 That diamond dew, so pure and clear, 
 
 It rivals all but Beauty's tear! 35 
 
 III 
 
 At length they came where, stern 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, 40 
 
 Beneath steep bank and threatening stone; 
 
 A hundred men might hold the post 
 
 With hardihood against a host. 
 
 18. Gael. The Highlander is called Gael, and the 'LoviXdSiditx Saxon. 
 
144 'THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto v 
 
 The rugged mountain's scanty cloak 
 
 Was dwarfish shrubs of birch and oak, 45 
 
 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, 50 
 
 Dank osiers fringed the swamp and hill ; 
 
 And oft both path and hill were torn, 
 
 Where wintry torrent down had borne. 
 
 And heaped upon the cumbered land 
 
 Its wreck of gravel, rocks, and sand. 55 
 
 So toilsome was the road to trace, 
 
 The guide, abating of his pace, 
 
 Led slowly through the pass's jaws, 
 
 And asked Fitz-James by what strange cause 
 
 He sought these wilds, traversed by few, 60 
 
 Without a pass from Roderick Dhu. 
 
 IV 
 
 " Brave Gael, my pass, in danger tried, 
 
 Hangs in my belt and by my side; 
 
 Yet, sooth to tell," the Saxon said, 
 
 " I dreamt not now to claim its aid. 65 
 
 When here, but three days since, I came. 
 
 Bewildered in pursuit of game. 
 
 All seemed as peaceful and as still 
 
 As the mist slumbering on yon hil] ; 
 
 46. Shingles. Gravel. 
 
o V THE COMBAT 145 
 
 Thy dangerous Chief was then afar, 70 
 
 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 ! — 75 
 
 Moves our free course by such fixed cause 
 
 As gives the poor mechanic laws } 
 
 Enough, I sought to drive away ^ 
 
 The lazy hours of peaceful day; 
 
 Slight cause will then suffice to guide 80 
 
 A Knight's free footsteps far and wide, — 
 
 A falcon flown, a greyhound strayed. 
 
 The merry glance of mountain maid ; 
 
 Or, if a path be dangerous known. 
 
 The danger's self is lure alone." 85 
 
 V 
 
 *'Thy secret keep, I urge thee not ; — 
 
 Yet, ere again ye sought this spot. 
 
 Say, heard ye naught of Lowland war. 
 
 Against Clan- Alpine, raised by Mar.?" 
 
 " No, by my word ; — of bands prepared 90 
 
 To guard King James's sports I heard; 
 
 Nor doubt I aught, but, when they hear 
 
 This muster of the mountaineer. 
 
 Their pennons will abroad be flung. 
 
 Which else in Doune had peaceful hung." 95 
 
 93. Muster. Gathering. 
 
 94. Pennons. Flags or streamers. 
 
 95. Doune. See note. Canto V, line 492. 
 
146 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto v 
 
 *' Free be they flung ! for we were loath 
 
 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, 100 
 
 Bewildered in the mountain-game. 
 
 Whence the bold boast by which you show 
 
 Vich- Alpine's vowed and mortal foe.?" 
 
 " Warrior, but yester-morn I knew 
 
 Naught of thy Chieftain, Roderick Dhu, 105 
 
 Save as an outlawed, desperate man. 
 
 The chief of a rebellious clan, 
 
 Who, in the Regent's court and sight, 
 
 With ruflian dagger stabbed a knight; 
 
 Yet this alone might from his part no 
 
 Sever each true and loyal heart." 
 
 VI 
 
 Wrathful at such arraignment foul. 
 
 Dark lowered the clansman's sable scowl. 
 
 A space he paused, then sternly said, 
 
 <*And heardst thou why he drew his blade.? 115 
 
 Heardst thou that shameful word and blow 
 
 Brought Roderick's vengeance on his foe.? 
 
 What recked the Chieftain if he stood 
 
 On Highland heath or Holy-Rood.? 
 
 He rights such wrong where it is given, 120 
 
 If it were in the court of heaven." 
 
 108. Regent. John Stuart, Duke of Albany, regent during the 
 minority of James V. 
 
 119. Holy-Rood. See note, Canto H, line 221. 
 
o V THE COMBAT 147 
 
 ''Still was it outrage; — yet, 't is true, 
 
 Not then claimed sovereignty his due; 
 
 While Albany with feeble hand 
 
 Held borrowed truncheon of command, 125 
 
 The young King, mewed in Stirling tower, 
 
 Was stranger to respect and power. 
 
 But then, thy Chieftain's robber life! — 
 
 Winning mean prey by causeless strife. 
 
 Wrenching from ruined Lowland swain 130 
 
 His herds and harvest reared in vain, — 
 
 Methinks a soul like thine should scorn 
 
 The spoils from such foul foray borne." 
 
 VII 
 
 The Gael beheld him grim the while, 
 
 And answered with disdainful smile: 135 
 
 " Saxon, from yonder mountain high, 
 
 I marked thee send delighted eye 
 
 Far to the south and east, where lay, 
 
 Extended in succession gay. 
 
 Deep waving fields and pastures green, 140 
 
 With gentle slopes and groves between : — 
 
 125. Truncheon. Staff. 
 
 126. Mewed. Imprisoned. 
 
 127. Stranger to respect and power. There is scarcely a more dis- 
 orderly period in Scottish history than that which succeeded the battle 
 of Flodden and occupied the minority of James V. Feuds of ancient 
 standing broke out like old wounds, and every quarrel among the inde- 
 pendent nobility, which occurred daily, and almost hourly, gave rise to 
 fresh bloodshed. — Scott. 
 
148 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto v 
 
 These fertile plains, that softened vale, 
 
 Were once the birthright of the Gael ; 
 
 The stranger came with iron hand, 
 
 And from our fathers reft the land. 145 
 
 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, 150 
 
 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.' 155 
 
 Pent in this fortress of the North, 
 
 Think' st thou we will not sally forth. 
 
 To spoil the spoiler as we may. 
 
 And from the robber rend the prey.-* 
 
 Ay, by my soul ! — While on yon plain 160 
 
 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. 165 
 
 Where live the mountain Chiefs who hold 
 
 That plundering Lowland field and fold 
 
 Is aught but retribution true ? 
 
 Seek other cause 'gainst Roderick Dhu." 
 
 169. Seek other cause 'gainst Roderick Dhu. So far, indeed, was a 
 Creagh, or foray, from being lield disgraceful, that a young chief was 
 
CANTO V • THE COMBAT 149 
 
 VIII 
 Answered Fitz- James: "And, if I sought, 170 
 
 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, — 175 
 
 I seek my hound or falcon strayed, 
 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, 180 
 
 Hadst thou, unheard, been doomed to die, 
 
 Save to fulfill an augury." 
 
 " Well, let it pass ; nor will I now 
 
 Fresh cause of enmity avow, 
 
 To chafe thy mood and cloud thy brow. 185 
 
 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 again, 
 
 I come with banner, brand, and bow, 190 
 
 As leader seeks his mortal foe. 
 
 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 neighboring sept, for which constant feuds usually furnished 
 an apology, or against the Saxons, or Lowlanders, for which no apology 
 was necessary. The Gael, great traditional historians, never forgot that 
 the Lowlands had, at some remote period, been the property of their 
 Celtic forefathers, which furnished an ample vindication of all the rav- 
 ages that they could make on the unfortunate districts which lay within 
 their reach. — Scott, 
 
I50 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto v 
 
 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 ! " 195 
 
 IX 
 
 *' Have then thy wish ! " — He whistled shrill, 
 
 And he was answered from the hill; 
 
 Wild as the scream of the curlew, 
 
 From crag to crag the signal flew. 
 
 Instant, through copse and heath, arose 200 
 
 Bonnets and spears and bended bows ; 
 
 On right, on left, above, below. 
 
 Sprung up at once the lurking foe; 
 
 From shingles gray their lances start, 
 
 The bracken bush sends forth the dart, 205 
 
 The rushes and the willow-wand 
 
 Are bristling into ax and brand. 
 
 And every tuft of broom gives life 
 
 To plaided warrior armed for strife. 
 
 That whistle garrisoned the glen 210 
 
 At once with full five hundred men. 
 
 As if the yawning hill to heaven 
 
 A subterranean host had given. 
 
 Watching their leader's beck and will. 
 
 All silent there they stood and still. 215 
 
 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, 
 
D V THE COMBAT 151 
 
 With step and weapon forward flung, 220 
 
 Upon the mountain-side they hung. 
 
 The Mountaineer cast glance of pride 
 
 Along Benledi's living side, 
 
 Then fixed his eye and sable brow 
 
 Full on Fitz-James: ** How say'st thou now? 225 
 
 These are Clan-Alpine's warriors true; 
 
 And, Saxon, — I am Roderick Dhu ! " 
 
 Fitz-James was brave: — though to his heart 
 
 The life-blood thrilled with sudden start. 
 
 He manned himself with dauntless air, 230 
 
 Returned the Chief his haughty stare. 
 
 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." 235 
 
 Sir Roderick marked, — and in his eyes 
 
 Respect was mingled with surprise. 
 
 And the stern joy which warriors feel 
 
 In foeman worthy of their steel. 
 
 Short space he stood — then waved his hand : 240 
 
 Down sunk the disappearing band ; 
 
 Each warrior vanished where he stood, 
 
 In broom or bracken, heath or wood ; 
 
 Sunk brand and spear and bended bow. 
 
 In osiers pale and copses low; 245 
 
 It seemed as if their mother Earth 
 
 Had swallowed up her warlike birth. 
 
152 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto v 
 
 The wind's last breath had tossed in air 
 Pennon and plaid and plumage fair, — 
 The next but swept a lone hill-side, 250 
 
 'Where heath and fern were waving wide : 
 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 gray stone. 255 
 
 XI 
 Fitz-James looked round, — yet scarce believed 
 The witness that his sight received ; 
 Such apparition well might seem 
 Delusion of a dreadful dream. 
 
 Sir Roderick in suspense he eyed, 260 
 
 And to his look the Chief replied : 
 ''Fear naught — 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 : 265 
 
 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. 
 So move we on ; — I only meant 270 
 
 To show the reed on which you leant. 
 Deeming this path you might pursue 
 Without a pass from Roderick Dhu." 
 
 253. From targe and jack. From shield and coat of armor. The 
 peasant's coat of armor was a leathern jacket. 
 
 273. Without a pass from Roderick Dhu. This incident, like some 
 
CANTO V THE COMBAT 1 53 
 
 They moved ; — I said Fitz-James was brave 
 
 As ever knight that belted glaive, 275 
 
 Yet dare not say that now his blood 
 
 Kept on its wont and tempered flood, 
 
 As, following Roderick's stride, he drew 
 
 That seeming lonesome pathway through, 
 
 Which yet by fearful proof was rife 280 
 
 With lances, that, to take his life, 
 
 Waited but signal from a guide, 
 
 So late dishonored and defied. 
 
 Ever, by stealth, his eye sought round 
 
 The vanished guardians of the ground, 285 
 
 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. 
 
 Nor breathed he free till far behind 290 
 
 The pass was left ; for then they wind 
 
 Along a wide and level green. 
 
 Where neither tree nor tuft was seen, 
 
 Nor rush nor bush of broom was near. 
 
 To hide a bonnet or a spear. 295 
 
 XII 
 
 The Chief in silence strode before. 
 
 And reached that torrent's sounding shore, 
 
 other passages in the poem illustrative of the character of the ancient 
 Gael, is not imaginary but borrowed from fact. The Highlanders, with 
 the inconsistency of most nations in the same state, were alternately 
 capable of great exertions of generosity and of cruel revenge and 
 perfidy. — Scott. 
 
154 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto v 
 
 Which, daughter of three mighty lakes, 
 
 F'rom Vennachar in silver breaks, 
 
 Sweeps through the plain, and ceaseless mines 300 
 
 On Bochastle the moldering lines. 
 
 Where Rome, the Empress of the world, 
 
 Of yore her eagle wings unfurled. 
 
 And here his course the Chieftain stayed, 
 
 Threw down his target and his plaid, 305 
 
 And to the Lowland warrior said : 
 
 ''Bold Saxon ! to his promise just, 
 
 Vich-Alpine has discharged his trust. 
 
 This murderous Chief, this ruthless man, 
 
 This head of a rebellious clan, 310 
 
 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, 315 
 
 Armed like thyself with single brand ; 
 
 For this is Coilantogle ford. 
 
 And thou must keep thee with thy sword." 
 
 298. Three mighty lakes. Katrine, Achray, and Vennachar. 
 
 301. Bochastle. The torrent which discharges itself from "Loch Ven- 
 nachar, the lowest and eastmost of the three lakes which form the 
 scenery adjoining to the Trosachs, 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. — Scott. 
 
 303. Eagle wings unfurled. The eagle was the principal standard of 
 the Roman army. 
 
THE COMBAT 
 
 XIII 
 
 155 
 
 The Saxon paused : " I ne'er delayed, 
 
 When foeman bade me draw my blade ; 320 
 
 Nay more, brave Chief, I vowed thy death ; 
 
 Yet sure thy fair and generous faith, 
 
 And my deep debt for life preserved, 
 
 A better meed have well deserved : 
 
 Can naught but blood our feud atone ? 325 
 
 Are there no means ? " — *' No, stranger, none ! 
 
 And hear, — to fire thy flagging zeal, — 
 
 The Saxon cause rests on thy steel ; 
 
 For thus spoke Fate by prophet bred 
 
 Between the living and the dead : 330 
 
 * Who spills the foremost foeman' 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, — 335 
 
 There lies Red Murdoch, stark and stiff. 
 
 Thus Fate hath 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, 340 
 
 Or if the King shall not agree 
 
 To grant thee grace and favor free, 
 
 I plight mine honor, oath, and word 
 
 That, to thy native strengths restored. 
 
 With each advantage shalt thou stand 345 
 
 That aids thee now to guard thy land." 
 
56 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto v 
 
 XIV 
 
 Dark lightning flashed from Roderick's eye : 
 
 ** Soars thy presumption, then, so high, 
 
 Because a wretched kern ye slew. 
 
 Homage to name to Roderick Dhu ? 350 
 
 He yields not, he, to man nor Fate ! 
 
 Thou add'st but fuel to my hate ; — 
 
 My clansman's blood demands revenge. 
 
 Not yet prepared ? — By heaven, I change 
 
 My thought, and hold thy valor light 355 
 
 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 ! 360 
 
 It nerves my heart, it steels my sword ; 
 
 For I have sworn this braid to stain 
 
 In the best blood that warms thy vein. 
 
 Now, truce, farewell ! and, ruth, begone ! — 
 
 Yet think not that by thee alone, 365 
 
 Proud Chief ! 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. 370 
 
 But fear not — doubt not — which thou wilt — 
 
 We try this quarrel hilt to hilt." 
 
 356. Carpet knight. One who wins his honors in royal halls by 
 favoritism rather than by bravery on the battlefield. 
 
CANTO V THE COMBAT 1 57 
 
 Then each at once his falchion drew, 
 
 Each on the ground his scabbard threw, 
 
 Each looked to sun and stream and plain 375 
 
 As what they ne'er might see again ; 
 
 Then foot and point and eye opposed. 
 
 In dubious strife they darkly closed. 
 
 XV 
 
 111 fared it then with Roderick Dhu, 
 
 That on the field his targe he threw, 380 
 
 Whose brazen studs and tough bull-hide 
 
 Had death so often dashed aside ; 
 
 For, trained abroad his arms to wield, 
 
 Fitz- James's blade was sword and shield. 
 
 He practiced every pass and ward, 385 
 
 To thrust, to strike, to feint, to guard ; 
 
 While less expert, though stronger far, 
 
 The Gael maintained unequal war. 
 
 Three times in closing strife they stood, 
 
 And thrice the Saxon blade drank blood ; 390 
 
 No stinted draught, no scanty tide, 
 
 The gushing flood the tartans dyed. 
 
 Fierce Roderick felt the fatal drain, 
 
 And showered his blows like wintry rain ; 
 
 380. His targe he threw, etc. 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 
 received the thrust of the bayonet in this buckler, twisted it aside, and 
 used the broadsword against the encumbered soldier. — Scott. 
 
 383. Abroad. In France, undoubtedly, where the best swordsmen 
 are still found. 
 
158 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto v 
 
 And, as firm rock or castle-roof 395 
 
 Against the winter shower is proof, 
 
 The foe, invulnerable still. 
 
 Foiled his wild rage by steady skill ; 
 
 Till, at advantage ta'en, his brand 
 
 Forced Roderick's weapon from his hand, 400 
 
 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 ! 405 
 
 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 ; 410 
 
 Received, but recked not of a wound. 
 
 And locked his arms his foeman round. — 
 
 Now, gallant Saxon, hold thine own ! 
 
 No maiden's hand is round thee thrown ! 
 
 That desperate grasp thy frame might feel 415 
 
 Through bars of brass and triple steel ! 
 
 They tug, they strain ! down, down they go, 
 
 The Gael above, Fitz-James below. 
 
 The Chieftain's gripe his throat compressed, 
 
 His knee was planted on his breast; 420 
 
 416. Triple steel. Threefold armor. 
 
^o V THE COMBAT 159 
 
 His clotted locks he backward threw, 
 
 Across his brow his hand he drew, 
 
 From blood and mist to clear his sight. 
 
 Then gleamed aloft his dagger bright ! 
 
 But hate and fury ill supplied 425 
 
 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 gleamed on high, 
 
 Reeled soul and sense, reeled brain and eye. 430 
 
 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, 435 
 
 But breathless all, Fitz-James arose. 
 
 XVII 
 
 He faltered thanks to Heaven for life. 
 
 Redeemed, unhoped, from desperate strife ; 
 
 Next on his foe his look he cast, 
 
 Whose every gasp appeared his last ; 440 
 
 In Roderick's gore he dipped the braid, — 
 
 *' Poor Blanche ! thy wrongs are dearly paid ; 
 
 Yet with thy foe must die or live 
 
 The praise that faith and valor give." 
 
 With that he blew a bugle note, 445 
 
 Undid the collar from his throat, 
 
 Unbonneted, and by the wave 
 
 Sat down his brow and hands to lave. 
 
l6o THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto v 
 
 Then faint afar are heard the feet 
 
 Of rushing steeds in gallop fleet ; 450 
 
 The sounds increase, and now are seen 
 
 Four mounted squires in Lincoln green ; 
 
 Two who bear lance, and two who lead 
 
 By loosened rein a saddled steed ; 
 
 Each onward held his headlong course, 455 
 
 And by Fitz-James reined up his horse, — - 
 
 With wonder viewed the bloody spot, — 
 
 " Exclaim not, gallants ! question not. — 
 
 You, Herbert and Luff n ess, alight, 
 
 And bind the wounds of yonder knight ; 460 
 
 Let the gray 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. 465 
 
 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. 
 
 xvni 
 " Stand, Bayard, stand ! " — the steed obeyed, 470 
 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 stayed. 
 No grasp upon the saddle laid, 475 
 
 461. Palfrey. A small saddle horse for ladies' use. 
 466. Boune. Ready. 
 
CANTO V THE COMBAT l6l 
 
 But wreathed his left hand in the mane, 
 
 And lightly bounded from the plain, 
 
 Turned on the horse his armed heel, 
 
 And stirred his courage with the steel. 
 
 Bounded the fiery steed in air, 480 
 
 The rider sat erect and fair, 
 
 Then like a bolt from steel crossbow 
 
 Forth launched, along the plain they go. 
 
 They dashed that rapid torrent through, 
 
 And up Carhonie's hill they flew ; 485 
 
 Still at the gallop pricked the Knight, 
 
 His merrymen followed as they might. 
 
 Along thy banks, swift Tcith ! they ride. 
 
 And in the race they mock thy tide ; 
 
 Torry and Lendrick now are past, 490 
 
 And Deanstown lies behind them cast ; 
 
 They rise, the bannered towers of Doune, 
 
 They sink in distant woodland soon ; 
 
 Blair-Drummond sees the hoofs strike fire. 
 
 They sweep like breeze through Ochtertyre ; 495 
 
 They mark just glance and disappear 
 
 The lofty brow of ancient Kier ; 
 
 They bathe their coursers' sweltering sides, 
 
 Dark Forth ! amid thy sluggish tides, 
 
 486. Pricked. Spurred or rode. 
 
 490-497. Torry, Lendrick, Deanstown, Blair-Drummond, Ochtertyre, 
 and Kier lie on the banks of the Teith, and were all familiar to Scott 
 in his early years. 
 
 492. The bannered towers of Doune. The ruins of Doune Castle, 
 formerly the residence of the earls of Menteith, now the property of 
 the Earl of Moray, are situated at the confluence of the Ardoch and the 
 Teith. — Scott. 
 
l62 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto v 
 
 And on the opposing shore take ground, 500 
 
 With plash, with scramble, and with bound. 
 
 Right-hand they leave thy cliffs, Craig-Forth ! 
 
 And soon the bulwark of the North, 
 
 Gray Stirling, with her towers and town, 
 
 Upon their fleet career looked down. 505 
 
 XIX 
 
 As up the flinty path they strained, 
 
 Sudden his steed the leader reined ; 
 
 A signal to his squire he flung, 
 
 Who instant to his stirrup sprung : — 
 
 " Seest thou, De Vaux, yon woodsman gray, 510 
 
 Who townward holds the rocky way, 
 
 Of stature tall and poor array .-* 
 
 Mark'st thou the firm, yet active stride. 
 
 With which he scales the mountain-side .? 
 
 Know'st thou from whence he comes, or whom.? " 515 
 
 " 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.? 520 
 
 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. 
 
 504. Stirling. This castle was one of the principal fortresses of 
 Scotland and the residence of James V. Standing upon a lofty rock, 
 it commands a fine view of the surrounding country and Firth of Forth. 
 
NTO V THE COMBAT 163 
 
 'T is James of Douglas, by Saint Serle ! 525 
 
 The uncle of the banished 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." 530 
 
 Then right-hand wheeled their steeds, and straight 
 
 They won the Castle's postern gate. 
 
 XX 
 
 The Douglas, who had bent his way 
 
 From Cambus-kenneth's abbey gray, 
 
 Now, as he climbed the rocky shelf, 535 
 
 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. 540 
 
 I, only I, can ward their fate, — 
 
 God grant the ransom come not late ! 
 
 The Abbess hath her promise given. 
 
 My child shall be the bride of Heaven ; — 
 
 Be pardoned one repining tear ! 545 
 
 For He who gave her knows how dear. 
 
 How excellent ! — but that is by. 
 
 And now my business is — to die. — 
 
 532. Postern gate. Back gate. 
 
 544. Bride of Heaven. One whose life is wholly devoted to the 
 church. 
 
l64 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto v 
 
 Ye towers ! within whose circuit dread 
 
 A Douglas by his sovereign bled ; 550 
 
 And thou, O sad and fatal mound ! 
 
 That oft hast heard the death-ax sound, 
 
 As on the noblest of the land 
 
 Fell the stern headsman's bloody hand, — 
 
 The dungeon, block, and nameless tomb 555 
 
 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 ! 560 
 
 Banner and pageant, pipe and drum, 
 
 And merry morrice-dancers come. 
 
 I guess, by all this quaint array. 
 
 The burghers hold their sports to-day. 
 
 550. Douglas. 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 Scottish history. — Scott. 
 
 551. sad and fatal mound. An eminence on the northeast of the 
 Stirling Castle where state criminals were executed. Stirling was often 
 polluted with noble blood. — Scott. 
 
 558. Franciscan steeple. Grayfriars' church. The Franciscans were 
 a Roman Catholic order founded by St. Francis on the principle of 
 poverty. He held that neither the individual nor an institution should 
 acquire or hold any right of property. 
 
 562. Morrice-dancers. Performers of a Moorish dance, a popular 
 amusement of the day, in which all classes of society joined. The actors, 
 personating certain characters, as Friar Tuck, Robin Hood, etc., were dis- 
 guised in curious vestments of fawn-colored silk in the form of a tunic, 
 with trappings of green and red satin, and wore bells around their ankles, 
 with which they kept time to the music. (See note. Canto V, line 615.) 
 
 564. The burghers hold their sports to-day. Every burgh of Scotland 
 of the least note, but more especially the considerable towns, had their 
 
CANTO V THE COMBAT 165 
 
 James will be there ; he loves such show, 565 
 
 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. 
 
 I '11 follow to the Castle-park, 570 
 
 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, 575 
 
 The quivering drawbridge rocked and rung, 
 
 And echoed loud the flinty street 
 
 Beneath the coursers' clattering feet. 
 
 As slowly down the steep descent 
 
 Fair Scotland's King and nobles went, 580 
 
 While all along the crowded way 
 
 Was jubilee and loud huzza. 
 
 solemn play, or festival, when feats of archery were exhibited, and prizes 
 distributed 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 partial to them. His ready partici- 
 pation in these popular amusements was one cause of his acquiring the 
 title of King of the Commons. — Scott. 
 
 566. Yeoman. A countryman ; in England, next in order of rank to 
 the gentry. The term is also applied to a member of the king's guard. 
 
 572. Stark. Strong; rugged. 
 
 575. Castle. Stirling. (See note, Canto V, line 504.) 
 
l66 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto v 
 
 And ever James was bending low 
 
 To his white jennet's saddle-bow, 
 
 Doffing his cap to city dame, 585 
 
 Who smiled and blushed for pride and shame. 
 
 And well the simperer might be vain, — 
 
 He chose the fairest of the train. 
 
 Gravely he greets each city sire, 
 
 Commends each pageant's quaint attire, 590 
 
 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 thronged peer and knight, 595 
 
 And noble dame and damsel bright. 
 
 Whose fiery steeds ill brooked the stay 
 
 Of the steep street and crowded way. 
 
 But in the train you might discern 
 
 Dark lowering brow and visage stern ; 600 
 
 There nobles mourned their pride restrained, 
 
 And the mean burgher's joys disdained ; 
 
 And chiefs, who, hostage for their clan. 
 
 Were each from home a banished man. 
 
 There thought upon their own gray tower, 605 
 
 Their waving woods, their feudal power, 
 
 And deemed themselves a shameful part 
 
 Of pageant which they cursed in heart. 
 
 584. Jennet. A small Spanish horse. 
 
 594. Commons' King. So called because he favored the common 
 people as opposed to the nobles. 
 
 606. Feudal power. Power to command the services of tenants or 
 vassals in case of war. 
 
CANTO V THE COMBAT 167 
 
 XXII 
 Now, in the Castle-park, drew out 
 Their checkered bands the joyous rout. 610 
 
 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 quart erstaff and cowl, 615 
 
 Old Scathelocke with his surly scowl, 
 Maid Marian, fair as ivory bone, 
 Scarlet, and Mutch, and Little John ; 
 Their bugles challenge all that will, 
 In archery to prove their skill. 620 
 
 The Douglas bent a bow of might, — 
 His first shaft centered 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 625 
 
 A silver dart, the archers' stake ; 
 Fondly he watched, with watery eye, 
 Some answering glance of sympathy, — 
 No kind emotion made reply ! 
 
 Indifferent as to archer wight, 630 
 
 The Monarch gave the arrow bright. 
 
 610. Checkered bands. Companies of players in gay dresses. 
 
 613. Butts. Targets. 
 
 614. Robin Hood. A noted robber or outlaw in the reign of Richard I, 
 about the year 1 1 90. The exhibition of this renowned outlaw and his band 
 was a favorite frolic at festivals in which kings did not disdain to be actors. 
 
 615-618. Friar Tuck, Scathelocke, Maid Marian, Scarlet, Mutch, and 
 Little John were companions of Robin Hood, renowned in valor, and 
 mentioned in Scott's Jvanhoe, 
 
l68 THE LADY OF THE LAKE 
 
 xxin 
 
 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, — 635 
 
 Nor called in vain, for Douglas came. — 
 
 For life is Hugh of Larbert lame; 
 
 Scarce better John of Alloa's fare, 
 
 Whom senseless home his comrades bare. 
 
 Prize of the wrestling match, the King 640 
 
 To Douglas gave a golden ring. 
 
 While coldly glanced his eye of blue. 
 
 As frozen drop of wintry dew. 
 
 Douglas would speak, but in his breast 
 
 His struggling soul his words suppressed ; 645 
 
 Indignant then he turned him where 
 
 Their arms 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 650 
 
 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 gray-haired sires, who know the past, 655 
 
 To strangers point the Douglas cast. 
 
 And moralize on the decay 
 
 Of Scottish strength in modern day. 
 
CANTO V THE COMBAT 169 
 
 XXIV 
 
 The vale with loud applauses rang, 
 
 The Ladies' Rock sent back the clang. 660 
 
 The King, with look unmoved, bestowed 
 
 A purse well filled with pieces broad. 
 
 Indignant smiled the Douglas proud. 
 
 And threw the gold among the crowd. 
 
 Who now with anxious wonder scan, 665 
 
 And sharper glance, the dark gray man ; 
 
 Till whispers rose among the throng. 
 
 That heart so free, and hand so strong, 
 
 Must to the Douglas blood belong. 
 
 The old men marked and shook the head, 670 
 
 To see his hair with silver spread. 
 
 And winked aside, and told each son 
 
 Of feats upon the EngUsh done. 
 
 Ere Douglas of the stalwart hand 
 
 Was exiled from his native land. 675 
 
 The women praised his stately form. 
 
 Though wrecked by many a winter's storm ; 
 
 The youth with awe and wonder saw 
 
 His strength surpassing Nature's law. 
 
 Thus judged, as is their wont, the crowd, 680 
 
 Till murmurs rose to clamors loud. 
 
 But not a glance from that proud ring 
 
 Of peers who circled round the King 
 
 With Douglas held communion kind, 
 
 Or called the banished man to mind ; 685 
 
 660. The Ladies* Rock. The ladies' stand for viewing the sports. 
 
lyo THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto v 
 
 No, not from those who at the chase 
 
 Once held his side the honored place, 
 
 Begirt his board, and in the field 
 
 Found safety underneath his shield; 
 
 For he whom royal eyes disown, 690 
 
 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 favorite greyhounds should pull down, 695 
 
 That venison free and Bordeaux wine 
 
 Might serve the archery to dine. 
 
 But Lufra, — whom from Douglas' side 
 
 Nor bribe nor threat could e'er divide, 
 
 The fleetest hound in all the North, — 700 
 
 Brave Lufra saw, and darted forth. 
 
 She left the royal hounds midway. 
 
 And dashing on the antlered prey, 
 
 Sunk her sharp muzzle in his flank. 
 
 And deep the flowing life-blood drank. 705 
 
 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 morn, 710 
 
 The King's cold look, the nobles' scorn, 
 
 And last, and worst to spirit proud. 
 
 Had borne the pity of the crowd ; 
 
CANTO V THE COMBAT 
 
 171 
 
 But Lufra had been fondly bred, 
 
 To share his board, to watch his bed, 715 
 
 And oft would Ellen Lufra's neck 
 
 In maiden glee with garlands deck ; 
 
 They were such playmates that with name . 
 
 Of Lufra Ellen's image came. 
 
 His stifled wrath is brimming high, 720 
 
 In darkened brow and flashing eye; 
 
 As waves before the bark divide. 
 
 The crowd gave way before his stride; 
 
 Needs but a buffet and no more, 
 
 The groom lies senseless in his gore. 725 
 
 Such blow no other hand could deal, 
 
 Though gauntleted in glove of steel. 
 
 XXVI 
 
 Then clamored loud the royal train, 
 
 And brandished swords and staves amain. 
 
 But stern the Baron's warning : *' Back ! 730 
 
 Back, on your lives, ye menial pack ! 
 
 Beware the Douglas. — Yes ! behold. 
 
 King James ! The Douglas, doomed of old, 
 
 And vainly sought for near and far, 
 
 A victim to atone the war, 735 
 
 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 misproud ambitious clan, 740 
 
 740. Misproud. Mistakenly proud. 
 
172 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto v 
 
 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? — 745 
 
 What ho ! the Captain of our Guard ! 
 
 Give the offender fitting ward. — 
 
 Break off the sports ! " — for tumult rose, 
 
 And yeomen 'gan to bend their bows, — 
 
 ''Break off the sports! " he said, and frowned, 750 
 
 "And bid our horsemen clear the ground." 
 
 XXVII 
 
 Then uproar wild and misarray 
 
 Marred the fair form of festal day. 
 
 The horsemen pricked among the crowd 
 
 Repelled by threats and insult loud; 755 
 
 To earth are borne the old and weak. 
 
 The timorous fly, the women shriek; 
 
 With flint, with shaft, with staff, with bar, 
 
 The hardier urge tumultuous war. 
 
 At once round Douglas darkly sweep 760 
 
 The royal spears in circle deep. 
 
 And slowly scale the pathway steep. 
 
 While on the rear in thunder pour 
 
 The rabble with disordered roar. 
 
 With grief the noble Douglas saw 765 
 
 The Commons rise against the law, 
 
 And to the leading soldier said: 
 
 ''Sir John of Hyndford, 't was my blade 
 
CANTO V THE COMBAT 1 73 
 
 That knighthood on thy shoulder laid ; 
 
 For that good deed permit me then 770 
 
 A word with these misguided men. — 
 
 XXVIII 
 
 *< Hear, gentle friends, ere yet for me 
 
 Ye break the bands of fealty. 
 
 My life, my honor, and my cause, 
 
 I tender free to Scotland's laws. 775 
 
 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, 780 
 
 That, for mean vengeance on a foe. 
 
 Those cords of love I should unbind 
 
 Which knit my country and my kind.? 
 
 O no ! Believe, in yonder tower 
 
 It will not soothe my captive hour, 785 
 
 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, 
 
 For me that widow's mate expires, 790 
 
 For me that orphans weep their sires, 
 
 That patriots mourn insulted laws. 
 
 And curse the Douglas for the cause. 
 
 769. Knighthood. This degree was conferred with a stroke of the 
 flat part of a sword upon the shoulder by the prince or his representative. 
 
174 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto v 
 
 O let your patience ward such ill, 
 
 And keep your right to love me still!" 795 
 
 XXIX 
 
 The crowd's wild fury sunk again 
 
 In tears, as tempests melt in rain. 
 
 With lifted hands and eyes, they prayed 
 
 For blessings on his generous head 
 
 Who for his country felt alone, 800 
 
 And prized her blood beyond his own. 
 
 Old men upon the verge of life 
 
 Blessed him who stayed the civil strife ; 
 
 And mothers held their babes on high, 
 
 The self-devoted Chief to spy, 805 
 
 Triumphant over wrongs and ire. 
 
 To whom the prattlers owed a sire. 
 
 Even the rough soldier's heart was moved; 
 
 As if behind some bier beloved. 
 
 With trailing arms and drooping head, 810 
 
 The Douglas up the hill he led. 
 
 And at the Castle's battled verge. 
 
 With sighs resigned his honored charge. 
 
 XXX 
 
 The offended Monarch rode apart. 
 
 With bitter thought and swelling heart, 815 
 
 And would not now vouchsafe again 
 
 Through Stirling streets to lead his train. 
 
 810. Trailing arms. Carrying a gun in an oblique position, pointing 
 forward with the breech near the ground. 
 
 812. Battled verge. See note, Canto I, Une 199. 
 
CANTO V THE COMBAT 175 
 
 '' O Lennox, who would wish to rule 
 This changeling crowd, this common fool? 
 Hear' St thou," he said, "the loud acclaim 820 
 
 With which they shout the Douglas name? 
 With like acclaim the vulgar throat 
 Strained for King James their morning note ; 
 With like acclaim they hailed the day 
 When first I broke the Douglas sway; 825 
 
 And like acclaim would Douglas greet 
 • If he could hurl me from my seat. 
 Who o'er the herd would wish to reign, 
 Fantastic, fickle, fierce, and vain? 
 Vain as the leaf upon the stream, 830 
 
 And fickle as a changeful dream ; 
 Fantastic as a woman's mood, 
 And fierce as Frenzy's fevered blood. 
 Thou many-headed monster-thing, 
 
 who would wish to be thy king? — 835 
 
 XXXI 
 
 " But soft ! what messenger of speed 
 Spurs hitherward his panting steed? 
 
 1 guess his cognizance afar — 
 
 What from our cousin, John of Mar? " 
 " He prays, my liege, your sports keep bound 840 
 Within the safe and guarded ground; 
 ' ' For some foul purpose yet unknown, — 
 Most sure for evil to the throne, — 
 
 838. Cognizance. A badge by which a knight in armor could be 
 recognized. 
 
176 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto v 
 
 The outlawed Chieftain, Roderick Dhu, 
 
 Has summoned his rebeUious crew ; 845 
 
 'T is said, in James of Bothwell's aid 
 
 These loose banditti stand arrayed. 
 
 The Earl of Mar this morn from Doune 
 
 To break their muster marched, and soon 
 
 Your Grace will hear of battle fought ; 850 
 
 But earnestly the Earl besought. 
 
 Till for such danger he provide. 
 
 With scanty train you will not ride." 
 
 XXXII 
 
 " Thou warn'st me I have done amiss, — 
 
 I should have earlier looked to this ; 855 
 
 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, 860 
 
 We do forbid the intended war; 
 
 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. • 865 
 
 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! " 870 
 
 He turned his steed, — " My liege, I hie, 
 
o V THE COMBAT 1 77 
 
 Yet ere I cross this lily lawn 
 
 I fear the broadswords will be drawn." 
 
 The turf the flying courser spurned, 
 
 And to his towers the King returned. 875 
 
 XXXIII 
 
 111 with King James's mood that day 
 
 Suited gay feast and minstrel lay ; 
 
 Soon were dismissed the courtly throng, 
 
 And soon cut short the festal song. 
 
 Nor less upon the saddened town 880 
 
 The evening sunk in sorrow down. 
 
 The burghers spoke of civil jar, 
 
 Of rumored feuds and mountain war, 
 
 Of Moray, Mar, and Roderick Dhu, 
 
 All up in arms ; — the Douglas too, 885 
 
 They mourned him pent within the hold, 
 
 " Where stout Earl William was of old." — 
 
 And there his word the speaker stayed. 
 
 And finger on his lip he laid, 
 
 Or pointed to his dagger blade. 890 
 
 But jaded horsemen from the west 
 
 At evening to the Castle pressed, 
 
 And busy talkers said they bore 
 
 Tidings of fight on Katrine's shore ; 
 
 At noon the deadly fray begun, 895 
 
 And lasted till the set of sun. 
 
 Thus giddy rumor shook the town. 
 
 Till closed the Night her pennons brown. 
 
 887. Earl William. See note, Canto V, line 550. 
 
Canto Sixth 
 
 THE GUARD-ROOM 
 
 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 revelers 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. 
 
 What various scenes, and O, what scenes of woe, lo 
 
 Are witnessed by that red and struggling beam ! 
 The fevered patient, from his pallet low, 
 
 Through crowded hospital beholds it stream ; 
 The ruined maiden trembles at its gleam. 
 
 The debtor wakes to thought of gyve and jail, 15 
 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. 
 
 178 
 
CANTO VI THE GUARD-ROOM 179 
 
 II 
 
 At dawn the towers of Stirling rang 
 With soldier-step and weapon-clang, 20 
 
 While drums with rolling note foretell 
 Relief to weary sentinel. 
 Through narrow loop and casement barred, 
 The sunbeams sought the Court of Guard, 
 And, struggling with the smoky air, 25 
 
 Deadened the torches' yellow glare. 
 In comfortless alliance shone 
 The lights through arch of blackened stone, 
 And showed wild shapes in garb of war, 
 Faces deformed with beard and scar, 30 
 
 All haggard from the midnight watch, 
 And fevered with the stern debauch ; 
 For the oak table's massive board, 
 Flooded with wine, with fragments stored, 
 •And beakers drained, and cups o'erthrown, 35 
 
 Showed in what sport the night had flown. 
 Some, weary, snored on floor and bench ; 
 Some labored still their thirst to quench ; 
 Some, chilled with watching, spread their hands 
 O'er the huge chimney's dying brands, 40 
 
 While round them, or beside them flung, 
 At every step their harness rung. 
 
 23. Loop. Loophole, a narrow opening in a fortification through 
 
 which small arms are discharged. 
 
 32. Stem. Violent. 
 
 42. Harness. Armor. 
 
l8o THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto vi 
 
 III 
 
 These drew not for their fields the sword, 
 
 Like tenants of a feudal lord, 
 
 Nor owned the patriarchal claim 45 
 
 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 ; 50 
 
 The mountain-loving Switzer there 
 
 More freely breathed in mountain-air ; 
 
 The Fleming there despised the soil 
 
 That paid so ill the laborer's toil ; 
 
 Their rolls showed French and German name : 55 
 
 And merry England's exiles came. 
 
 To share, with ill-concealed disdain. 
 
 Of Scotland's pay the scanty gain. 
 
 All brave in arms, well trained to wield 
 
 The heavy halberd, brand, and shield ; 60 
 
 In camps licentious, wild, and bold ; 
 
 In pillage fierce and uncontrolled ; 
 
 And now, by holytide and feast. 
 
 From rules of discipline released. 
 
 47. Adventurers. The Scottish armies consisted chiefly of the nobility 
 and barons, with their vassals, who held lands under them, for military 
 service by themselves and their tenants. James V seems first to have 
 introduced, in addition to the militia furnished from these sources, the 
 service of a small number of mercenaries, who formed a bodyguard, 
 called the Foot-Band. — Scott. 
 
 51. Switzer. An inhabitant of Switzerland. 
 
 53. Fleming. A citizen of Flanders, now part of Belgium. 
 
CANTO VI . THE GUARD-ROOM " l8l 
 
 IV 
 
 They held debate of bloody fray, 65 
 
 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, 70 
 
 Whose mangled limbs and bodies gored 
 
 Bore token of the mountain sword, 
 
 Though, neighboring to the Court of Guard, 
 
 Their prayers and feverish wails were heard, — 
 
 Sad burden to the ruffian joke, 75 
 
 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, 80 
 
 In host a hardy mutineer, 
 
 But still the boldest of the crew 
 
 When deed of danger was to do. 
 
 He grieved that day their games cut short. 
 
 And marred the dicer's brawling sport, 85 
 
 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." 
 
 81. Host. An army. 
 
 87. Troll. Sing loudly. 
 
 88. Buxom. Brisk ; frolicsome. 
 
1 82 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto vi 
 
 V 
 
 Soulier's ^ans 
 
 Our vicar still preaches that Peter and Poule 90 
 
 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 ! 95 
 
 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 ; 
 Yet whoop, Jack ! kiss Gillian the quicker, 100 
 
 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 't is right of his oflRce poor laymen to lurch 
 Who infringe the domains of our good Mother Church. 105 
 Yet whoop, bully-boys ! off with your liquor, 
 Sweet Marjorie 's the word, and a fig for the vicar ! 
 
 VI 
 
 The warder's challenge, heard without, 
 Stayed in mid-roar the merry shout. 
 
 92. Black-jack. A pitcher made of black leather. 
 
 95. Upsees out. To the bottom of the tankard. 
 
 103. Cure. Priestly office. — Placket and pot. Women and wine. 
 
 104. Lurch. Outwit, 
 
CANTO VI THE GUARD-ROOM 183 
 
 A soldier to the portal went, — no 
 
 '< Here is old Bertram, sirs, of Ghent ; 
 
 And — beat for jubilee the drum ! — 
 
 A maid and minstrel with him come." 
 
 Bertram, a Fleming, gray and scarred, 
 
 Was entering now the Court of Guard, 115 
 
 A harper with him, and, in plaid 
 
 All muffled close, a mountain maid. 
 
 Who backward shrunk to 'scape the view 
 
 Of the loose scene and boisterous crew. 
 
 " What news .? " they roared : — "I only know, 120 
 
 From noon till eve we fought with foe. 
 
 As wild and as untamable 
 
 As the rude mountains where they dwell ; 
 
 On both sides store of blood is lost, 
 
 Nor much success can either boast." — 125 
 
 " 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 ! 
 
 Get thee an ape, and trudge the land, 130 
 
 The leader of a juggler band." 
 
 VII 
 
 ** No, comrade ; — no such fortune mine. 
 After the fight these sought our line, 
 
 131. Juggler. The jugglers used to call in the aid of various assist- 
 ants to render these performances as captivating as possible. The 
 glee-maiden was a necessary attendant. Her duty was tumbling and 
 dancing, and therefore the Anglo-Saxon version of St. Mark's Gospel 
 States Herodias to have vaulted or tumbled before King Herod. — Scott. 
 
1 84 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto vi 
 
 That aged harper and the girl, 
 
 And, having audience of the Earl, 135 
 
 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, 140 
 
 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 ? 
 
 I '11 have my share howe'er it be, 145 
 
 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 ; 150 
 
 But Ellen boldly stepped between, 
 
 And dropped at once the tartan screen : — 
 
 So, from his morning cloud, appears 
 
 The sun of May through summer tears. 
 
 The savage soldiery, amazed, 155 
 
 As on descended angel gazed ; 
 
 Even hardy Brent, abashed and tamed, 
 
 Stood half admiring, half ashamed. 
 
 VIII 
 
 Boldly she spoke : " Soldiers, attend ! 
 
 My father was the soldier's friend, 160 
 
CANTO VI THE GUARD-ROOM 185 
 
 Cheered him in camps, in marshes led, 
 
 And with him in the battle bled. 
 
 Not from the valiant or the strong 
 
 Should exile's daughter suffer wrong." 
 
 Answered De Brent, most forward still 165 
 
 In every feat of good or ill : 
 
 " I shame me of the part I played ; 
 
 And thou an outlaw's child, poor maid ! 
 
 An outlaw I by forest laws. 
 
 And merry Needwood knows the cause. 170 
 
 Poor Rose, — if Rose be living now," — 
 
 He wiped his iron eye and brow, — 
 
 *' Must bear such age, I think, as thou. — 
 
 Hear ye, my mates ! I go to call 
 
 The Captain of our watch to hall : 175 
 
 There 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 ; 180 
 
 Ye all know John de Brent. Enough." 
 
 IX 
 
 Their Captain came, a gallant young, — 
 
 Of Tullibardine's house he sprung, — 
 
 Nor wore he yet the spurs of knight ; 
 
 Gay was his mien, his humor light, 185 
 
 170. Needwood. A royal forest in England. 
 
 183. Tullibardine's house. The seat of the Murrays, who were noted 
 for their pride. 
 
1 86 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto vi 
 
 And, though by courtesy controlled, 
 
 Forward his speech, his bearing bold. 
 
 The high-born maiden ill could brook 
 
 The scanning of his curious look 
 
 And dauntless eye : — and yet, in sooth, 190 
 
 Young Lewis was a generous youth ; 
 
 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. 195 
 
 *' 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, 200 
 
 Or may the venture suit a squire ? " 
 
 Her dark eye flashed ; — she paused and 
 
 sighed : — 
 " O what have I to do with pride ! — 
 Through scenes of sorrow, shame, and strife, 
 A suppliant for a father's life, 205 
 
 I crave an audience of the King. 
 Behold, to back my suit, a ring. 
 The royal pledge of grateful claims. 
 Given by the Monarch to Fitz-James." 
 
 X 
 
 The signet ring young Lewis took 
 With deep respect and altered look, 
 
 199. Errant damosel. Wandering maiden. 
 
CANTO VI THE GUARD-ROOM 1 8/ 
 
 And said : " This ring our duties own ; 
 
 And pardon, if to worth unknown, 
 
 In semblance mean obscurely veiled, 
 
 Lady, in aught my folly failed. 215 
 
 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 220 
 
 Your best, for service or array. 
 
 Permit I marshal you the way." 
 
 But, ere she followed, with the grace 
 
 And open bounty of her race. 
 
 She bade her slender purse be shared 225 
 
 Among the soldiers of the guard. 
 
 The rest with thanks their guerdon took. 
 
 But Brent, with shy and awkward look. 
 
 On the reluctant maiden's hold 
 
 Forced bluntly back the proffered gold : — 230 
 
 a Forgive a haughty English heart. 
 
 And O, forget its ruder part ! 
 
 The vacant purse shall be my share, 
 
 Which in my barret -cap I '11 bear. 
 
 Perchance, in jeopardy of war, 235 
 
 Where gayer crests may keep afar." 
 
 With thanks — 't was all she could — the maid 
 
 His rugged courtesy repaid. 
 
 234. Barret-cap. A cap formerly worn by soldiers. 
 
1 88 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto vi 
 
 XI 
 
 When Ellen forth with Lewis went, 
 
 Allan made suit to John of Brent : — 240 
 
 '* 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. 
 
 Tenth in descent, since first my sires 245 
 
 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, 250 
 
 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 — 255 
 
 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 ; 260 
 
 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 ! 
 
 And, but I loved to drive the deer 265 
 
 More than to guide the laboring steer, 
 
 I had not dwelt an outcast here. 
 
CANTO VI THE GUARD-ROOM 1 89 
 
 Come, good old Minstrel, follow me ; 
 Thy Lord and Chieftain shalt thou see." 
 
 XII 
 
 Then, from a rusted iron hook, 270 
 
 A bunch of ponderous keys he took, 
 
 Lighted a torch, and Allan led 
 
 Through grated arch and passage dread. 
 
 Portals they passed, where, deep within, 
 
 Spoke prisoner's moan and fetters' din ; 275 
 
 Through rugged vaults, where, loosely stored. 
 
 Lay wheel, and ax, and headsman's sword, 
 
 And many a hideous engine grim. 
 
 For wrenching joint and crushing limb, 
 
 By artists formed who deemed it shame 280 
 
 And sin to give their work a name. 
 
 They halted at a low-browed porch, 
 
 And Brent to Allan gave the torch, 
 
 While bolt and chain he backward rolled. 
 
 And made the bar unhasp its hold. 285 
 
 They entered : — 't was 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 290 
 
 Decked the sad walls and oaken floor. 
 
 Such as the rugged days of old 
 
 Deemed fit for captive noble's hold. 
 
 " Here," said De Brent, *'thou mayst remain 
 
 Till the Leech visit him again. 295 
 
90 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto vi 
 
 Strict is his charge, the warders tell, 
 
 To tend the noble prisoner well." 
 
 Retiring then the bolt he drew. 
 
 And the lock's murmurs growled anew. 
 
 Roused at the sound, from lowly bed 300 
 
 A captive feebly raised his head ; 
 
 The wondering Minstrel looked, and knew — 
 
 Not his dear lord, but Roderick Dhu ! 
 
 For, come from where Clan-Alpine fought, 
 
 They, erring, deemed the Chief he sought. 305 
 
 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 ! 310 
 
 And oft his fevered 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 ; — 315 
 
 O, how unlike her course at sea ! 
 
 Or his free step on hill and lea ! — 
 
 Soon as the Minstrel he could scan, — 
 
 '* What of thy lady .? — of my clan ? — 
 
 My mother ? — Douglas ? — tell me all ! 320 
 
 Have they been ruined in my fall ? 
 
 306. Prore. The prow or bows of a ship. 
 
CANTO VI THE GUARD-ROOM 
 
 19 
 
 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. — 325 
 
 " 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 ! " 330 
 *'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. 335 
 
 Thy stately Pine is yet unbent. 
 Though many a goodly bough is rent." 
 
 XIV 
 
 The Chieftain reared his form on high. 
 
 And fever's fire was in his eye ; 
 
 But ghastly, pale, and livid streaks 340 
 
 Checkered 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 ! — 345 
 
 That stirring air that peals on high. 
 
 O'er Dermid's race our victory. — 
 
192 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto vi 
 
 Strike it ! — and then, — for well thou canst, — 
 
 Free from thy minstrel-spirit glanced, 
 
 Fling me the picture of the fight, 350 
 
 When met my clan the Saxon might. 
 
 I '11 listen, till my fancy hears 
 
 The clang of swords, the crash of spears ! 
 
 These grates, these walls, shall vanish then 
 
 For the fair field of fighting men, 355 
 
 And my free spirit burst away, 
 
 As if it soared from battle fray." 
 
 The trembling Bard with awe obeyed, — 
 
 Slow on the harp his hand he laid ; 
 
 But soon remembrance of the sight 360 
 
 He witnessed from the mountain's height, 
 
 With what old Bertram told at night. 
 
 Awakened the full power of song, 
 
 And bore him in career along ; — 
 
 As shallop launched on river's tide, 365 
 
 That slow and fearful leaves the side. 
 
 But, when it feels the middle stream. 
 
 Drives downward swift as lightning's beam. 
 
 XV 
 
 battle of ^tnV an Vuixit 
 
 ** The Minstrel came once more to view 
 
 The eastern ridge of Benvenue, 370 
 
 348. strike it! It is popularly told of a famous freebooter that he 
 composed the tune known as " Macpherson's Rant " while under sen- 
 tence of death and played it at the gallows tree. Some spirited words 
 have been adapted to it by Burns. — Scott. 
 
 Battle of Bear an Duine. A skirmish actually took place at a pass 
 
CANTO VI THE GUARD-ROOM 193 
 
 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 ! — 
 
 There is no breeze upon the fern, 375 
 
 No ripple on the lake, 
 Upon her eyry nods the erne, 
 
 The deer has sought the brake ; 
 The small birds will not sing aloud. 
 
 The springing trout lies still, 380 
 
 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, 385 
 
 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 390 
 
 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 ! 395 
 
 To hero bound for battle-strife. 
 Or bard of martial lay, 
 
 thus called in the Trosachs, and closed with the remarkable incident 
 mentioned in the text. It was greatly posterior in date to the reign of 
 James V. — Scott. 
 
 377. Erne. The sea eagle. 
 
94 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto vi 
 
 'T were worth ten years of peaceful life, 
 One glance at their array ! 
 
 XVI 
 
 " Their light -armed archers far and near 400 
 
 Surveyed the tangled ground, 
 Their center ranks, with pike and spear, 
 
 A twilight forest frowned, 
 Their barded horsemen in the rear 
 
 The stern battalia crowned. 405 
 
 No cymbal clashed, no clarion rang. 
 
 Still were the pipe and drum ; 
 Save heavy tread, and armor's clang. 
 
 The sullen march was dumb. 
 There breathed no wind their crests to shake, 410 
 
 Or wave their flags abroad ; 
 Scarce the frail aspen seemed to quake. 
 
 That shadowed o'er their road. 
 Their vaward scouts no tidings bring, 
 
 Can rouse no lurking foe, 415 
 
 Nor spy a trace of living thing. 
 
 Save when they stirred the roe ; 
 The host moves like a deep-sea wave. 
 Where rise no rocks its pride to brave, 
 
 High-swelling, dark, and slow. 420 
 
 The lake is passed, and now they gain 
 A narrow and a broken plain, 
 
 404. Barded. Wearing armor. 
 
 405. Battalia. Order of battle. 
 
CANTO VI THE GUARD-ROOM 195 
 
 Before the Trosachs' rugged jaws ; 
 
 And here the horse and spearmen pause, 
 
 While, to explore the dangerous glen, 425 
 
 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 pealed the banner-cry of hell ! 430 
 
 Forth from the pass in tumult driven. 
 Like chaff before the wind of heaven. 
 
 The archery appear : 
 For life ! for life ! their flight they ply — 
 And shriek, and shout, and battle-cry, 435 
 
 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 ; 44° 
 
 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 ! ' — 445 
 
 Like reeds before the tempest's frown, 
 That serried grove of lances brown 
 
 At once lay leveled low ; 
 And closely shouldering side to side. 
 The bristling ranks the onset bide. — 450 
 
196 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto vi 
 
 * We '11 quell the savage mountaineer, 
 As their Tinchel cows the game ! 
 
 They come as fleet as forest deer, 
 We '11 drive them back as tame.' 
 
 XVIII 
 
 " Bearing before them in their course 455 
 
 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, 460 
 
 Each targe was dark below ; 
 And with the ocean's mighty swing, 
 When heaving to the tempest's wing, 
 They hurled them on the foe. 
 I heard the lance's shivering crash, 465 
 
 As when the whirlwind rends the ash ; 
 I heard the broadsword's deadly clang. 
 As if a hundred anvils rang ! 
 But Moray wheeled his rearward rank 
 Of horsemen on Clan-Alpine's flank, — 470 
 
 * My banner-man, advance ! 
 I see,' he cried, * their column shake. 
 Now, gallants ! for your ladies' sake, 
 
 Upon them with the lance 1 ' — 
 The horsemen dashed among the rout, 475 
 
 As deer break through the broom ; 
 
 452. Tinchel. A circle of sportsmen, by surrounding a great space and 
 gradually narrowing, brought immense quantities of deer together, which 
 usually made desperate efforts to break through the Tinchel. — Scott. 
 
CANTO VI THE GUARD-ROOM 
 
 97 
 
 Their steeds are stout, their swords are out, 
 
 They soon make Hghtsome room. 
 Clan-Alpine's best are backward borne — 
 
 Where, where was Roderick then ! 480 
 
 One blast upon his bugle-horn 
 
 Were worth a thousand men. 
 And refluent through the pass of fear 
 
 The battle's tide was poured ; 
 Vanished the Saxon's struggling spear, 485 
 
 Vanished the mountain-sword. 
 As Bracklinn's chasm, so black and steep, 
 
 Receives her roaring linn, 
 As the dark caverns of the deep 
 
 Suck the wild whirlpool in, 490 
 
 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, 495 
 
 That deep and doubling pass within. — 
 Minstrel, away ! the work of fate 
 Is bearing on ; its issue wait. 
 Where the rude Trosachs' dread defile 
 Opens on Katrine's lake and isle. 500 
 
 Gray Benvenue I soon repassed. 
 Loch Katrine lay beneath me cast. 
 The sun is set ; — the clouds are met. 
 The lowering scowl of heaven 
 
THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto vi 
 
 An inky hue of livid blue 505 
 
 To the deep lake has given; 
 Strange gusts of wind from mountain glen 
 Swept o'er the lake, then sunk again. 
 I heeded not the eddying surge, 
 Mine eye but saw the Trosaehs' gorge, 510 
 
 Mine ear but heard that sullen sound. 
 Which like an earthquake shook the ground. 
 And spoke the stern and desperate strife 
 That parts not but with parting life, 
 Seeming, to minstrel ear, to toll 515 
 
 The dirge of many a passing soul. 
 
 Nearer it comes — the dim-wood glen 
 
 The martial flood disgorged again. 
 But not in mingled tide; 
 
 The plaided warriors of the North 520 
 
 High on the mountain thunder forth 
 And overhang its side, 
 
 While by the lake below appears 
 
 The darkening cloud of Saxon spears. 
 
 At weary bay each shattered band, 525 
 
 Eying their foemen, sternly stand; 
 
 Their banners stream like tattered sail. 
 
 That flings its fragments to the gale, 
 
 And broken arms and disarray 
 
 Marked the fell havoc of the day. 530 
 
 XX 
 
 "Viewing the mountain's ridge askance. 
 The Saxons stood in sullen trance, 
 
CANTO VI THE GUARD-ROOM 199 
 
 Till Moray pointed with his lance, 
 
 And cried : ' Behold yon isle ! — 
 See ! none are left to guard its strand 535 
 
 But women weak, that wring the hand: 
 'T is 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, 540 
 
 And loose a shallop from the shore. 
 Lightly we '11 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 corselet rung, 545 
 
 He plunged him in the wave: — 
 All saw the deed, — the purpose knew. 
 And to their clamors Benvenue 
 
 A mingled echo gave; 
 The Saxons shout, their mate to cheer, 550 
 
 The helpless females scream for fear. 
 And yells for rage the mountaineer. 
 'T was then, as by the outcry riven. 
 Poured down at once the lowering heaven : 
 A whirlwind swept Loch Katrine's breast, 555 
 
 Her billows reared their snowy crest. 
 Well for the swimmer swell they high. 
 To mar the Highland marksman's eye; 
 For round him showered, mid rain and hail. 
 The vengeful arrows of the Gael. 560 
 
 539. Bonnet-pieces. A gold coin on which the king's head was rep- 
 resented with a bonnet instead of a crown, coined by the " Commons' 
 King." — Taylor. 
 
200 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto vi 
 
 In vain. — He nears the isle — and lo ! 
 
 His hand is on a shallop's bow. 
 
 Just then a flash of lightning came, 
 
 It tinged the waves and strand with flame; 
 
 I marked Duncraggan's widowed dame, 565 
 
 Behind an oak I saw her stand, 
 
 A naked dirk gleamed in her hand : — 
 
 It darkened, — but amid the moan 
 
 Of waves I heard a dying groan ; — 
 
 Another flash ! — the spearman floats 570 
 
 A weltering corse beside the boats, 
 
 And the stern matron o'er him stood. 
 
 Her hand and dagger streaming blood. 
 
 XXI 
 
 " * Revenge ! revenge ! ' the Saxons cried, 
 
 The Gaels' exulting shout replied. 575 
 
 Despite the elemental rage. 
 
 Again they hurried to engage; 
 
 But, ere they closed in desperate fight. 
 
 Bloody with spurring came a knight. 
 
 Sprung from his horse, and from a crag 580 
 
 Waved 'twixt the hosts a milk-white flag. 
 
 Clarion and trumpet by his side 
 
 Rung forth a truce-note high and wide. 
 
 While, in the Monarch's name, afar 
 
 A herald's voice forbade the war, 585 
 
 For Bothwell's lord and Roderick bold 
 
 Were both, he said, in captive hold." — 
 
 565. Duncraggan's widowed dame. See Canto HI, lines 428-451. 
 586. Bothwell's lord. The Douglas. 
 
CANTO VI THE GUARD-ROOM ' 201 
 
 But here the lay made sudden stand, 
 
 The harp escaped the Minstrel's hand ! 
 
 Oft had he stolen a glance, to spy 59° 
 
 How Roderick brooked 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; 595 
 
 At length, no more his deafened ear 
 
 The minstrel melody can hear ; 
 
 His face grows sharp, — his hands are clenched. 
 
 As if some pang his heart-strings wrenched ; 
 
 Set are his teeth, his fading eye 6oo 
 
 Is sternly fixed on vacancy; 
 
 Thus, motionless and moanless, drew 
 
 His parting breath stout Roderick Dhu ! — 
 
 Old Allan-bane looked on aghast. 
 
 While grim and still his spirit passed ; 605 
 
 But when he saw that life was fled. 
 
 He poured his wailing o'er the dead. 
 
 XXII 
 
 lament 
 
 "And art thou cold and lowly laid. 
 
 Thy foeman's dread, thy people's aid, 
 
 Breadalbane's boast, Clan- Alpine's shade'. 610 
 
 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, 
 
202 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto vi 
 
 E'en in this prison-house of thine, 615 
 
 I '11 wail for Alpine's honored Pine ! 
 
 '' What groans shall yonder valleys fill ! 
 
 What shrieks of grief shall rend yon hill ! 
 
 What tears of burning rage shall thrill, 
 
 When mourns thy tribe thy battles done, 620 
 
 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 honored Pine ! 625 
 
 *' Sad was thy lot on mortal stage ! — 
 
 The captive thrush may brook the cage, 
 
 The prisoned eagle dies for rage. 
 
 Brave spirit, do not scorn my strain ! 
 
 And, when its notes awake again, 630 
 
 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 honored Pine." 
 
 xxni 
 Ellen the while, with bursting heart, 635 
 
 Remained in lordly bower apart. 
 Where played, with many-colored gleams, 
 Through storied pane the rising beams. 
 In vain on gilded roof they fall. 
 And lightened up a tapestried wall, 640 
 
 638. storied pane. "Windows adorned with historical or legendary 
 paintings. 
 
CANTO VI THE GUARD-ROOM 203 
 
 And for her use a menial train 
 
 A rich collation spread in vain. 
 
 The banquet proud, the chamber gay, 
 
 Scarce draw one curious glance astray; 
 
 Or if she looked, 't was but to say, 645 
 
 With better omen dawned 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, 650 
 
 While Lufra, crouching by her side. 
 
 Her station claimed with jealous pride. 
 
 And Douglas, bent on woodland game, 
 
 Spoke of the chase to Malcolm Graeme, 
 
 Whose answer, oft at random made, 655 
 
 The wandering of his thoughts betrayed. 
 
 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. 660 
 
 What distant music has the power 
 
 To win her in this woeful hour .-* 
 
 'T was from a turret that o'erhung 
 
 Her latticed bower, the strain was sung. 
 
 XXIV 
 
 lap of tbe ^^mprifioncli |)untfiman 
 
 " My hawk is tired of perch and hood, 665 
 
 My idle greyhound loathes his food. 
 My horse is weary of his stall. 
 
204 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto vi 
 
 And I am sick of captive thrall. 
 
 I wish I were as I have been, 
 
 Hunting the hart in forest green, 670 
 
 With bended bow and bloodhound free. 
 
 For that 's the life is meet for me. 
 
 I hate to learn the ebb of time 
 
 From yon dull steeple's drowsy chime, 
 
 Or mark it as the sunbeams crawl, 675 
 
 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. 680 
 
 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, 685 
 
 And lay my trophies at her feet, 
 
 While fled the eve on wing of glee, — 
 
 That life is lost to love and me ! " 
 
 XXV 
 
 The heart-sick lay was hardly said. 
 
 The listener had not turned her head, 690 
 
 It trickled still, the starting tear, 
 
 When light a footstep struck her ear. 
 
 And Snowdoun's graceful Knight was near. 
 
 She turned the hastier, lest again 
 
 The prisoner should renew his strain. 695 
 
CANTO VI THE GUARD-ROOM 205 
 
 "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, 700 
 
 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. 705 
 
 Come, Ellen, come ! 't is 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, 710 
 
 And gently whispered hope and cheer; 
 
 Her faltering steps half led, half stayed. 
 
 Through gallery fair and high arcade. 
 
 Till at his touch its wings of pride 
 
 A portal arch unfolded wide. 715 
 
 XXVI 
 
 Within 't was brilliant all and light, 
 
 A thronging scene of figures bright ; 
 
 It glowed on Ellen's dazzled sight. 
 
 As when the setting sun has given 
 
 Ten thousand hues to summer even, 720 
 
 707. Morning prime. Dawn, 
 
 713. Arcade. A series of openings, or recesses, with arched ceilings 
 supported by columns. 
 
206 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto vi 
 
 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, 725 
 
 And fearful round the presence gazed; 
 
 For him she sought who owned this state, 
 
 The dreaded Prince whose will was fate ! — 
 
 She gazed on many a princely port 
 
 Might well have ruled a royal court ; 730 
 
 On many a splendid garb she gazed, — 
 
 Then turned bewildered 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, 735 
 
 On him each courtier's eye was bent; 
 
 Midst furs and silks and jewels sheen. 
 
 He stood, in simple Lincoln green. 
 
 The center of a glittering ring, — 
 
 And Snowdoun's Knight is Scotland's King ! 740 
 
 726. Presence. Presence chamber, the room in which a great person 
 receives guests. 
 
 740. Snowdoun's Knight is Scotland's King. 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 attention to the interests of the lower and most 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 reg- 
 ularly administered, and frequently from the less justifiable motive of 
 gallantry, he used to traverse the vicinage of his several palaces in 
 various disguises. — Scott. 
 
CANTO VI THE GUARD-ROOM 207 
 
 XXVII 
 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, — 745 
 
 She showed the ring, — she clasped her hands. 
 O, not a moment could he brook, 
 The generous Prince, that suppliant look ! 
 Gently he raised her, — and, the while. 
 Checked with a glance the circle's smile ; 750 
 
 Graceful, but grave, her brow he kissed, 
 
 And bade her terrors be dismissed : 
 
 " Yes, fair ; the wandering poor Fitz-James 
 
 The fealty of Scotland claims. 
 
 To him thy woes, thy wishes, bring ; 7^5 
 
 He will redeem his signet ring. 
 
 Ask naught for Douglas ; — yester even. 
 
 His Prince and he have much forgiven ; 
 
 Wrong hath he had from slanderous tongue, 
 
 I, from his rebel kinsmen, wrong. 760 
 
 We would not to the vulgar crowd 
 
 Yield what they craved with clamor loud ; 
 
 Calmly we heard and judged his cause, 
 
 Our council aided and our laws. 
 
 I stanched thy father's death-feud stern 765 
 
 With stout De Vaux and gray Glencairn ; 
 
 And Bothwell's Lord henceforth we own 
 The friend and bulwark of our throne. 
 
 But, lovely infidel, how now .? 
 
208 THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto vi 
 
 What clouds thy misbelieving brow ? 770 
 
 Lord James of Douglas, lend thine aid ; 
 Thou must confirm this doubting maid." 
 
 xxvni 
 
 Then forth the noble Douglas sprung, 
 
 And on his neck his daughter hung. 
 
 The Monarch drank, that happy hour, 775 
 
 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 ; 780 
 
 He stepped between — '<Nay, Douglas, nay. 
 
 Steal not my proselyte away ! 
 
 The riddle 't is my right to read. 
 
 That brought this happy chance to speed. 
 
 Yes, Ellen, when disguised I stray 785 
 
 In life's more low but happier way, 
 
 'T is 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. 790 
 
 Thus watch I o'er insulted laws. 
 
 Thus learn to right the injured cause." 
 
 Then, in a tone apart and low, — 
 
 "Ah, little traitress ! none must know 
 
 What idle dream, what lighter thought, 795 
 
 What vanity full dearly bought, 
 
 784. To speed. To a successful result. 
 
CANTO VI THE GUARD-ROOM 209 
 
 Joined 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 ! " 800 
 
 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 ? " 
 
 XXIX 
 
 Full well the conscious maiden guessed 805 
 
 He probed the weakness of her breast ; 
 
 But with that consciousness there came 
 
 A lightening of her fears for Graeme, 
 
 And more she deemed the Monarch's ire 
 
 Kindled 'gainst him who for her sire 810 
 
 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. 815 
 
 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? 820 
 
 No other captive friend to save ? " 
 
 Blushing, she turned her from the King, 
 
 And to the Douglas gave the ring. 
 
2IO THE LADY OF THE LAKE canto vi 
 
 As if she wished her sire to speak 
 
 The suit that stained her glowing cheek. 825 
 
 " Nay, then, my pledge has lost its force, 
 
 And stubborn justice holds her course. 
 
 Malcolm, come forth ! " — and, at the word, 
 
 Down kneeled the Graeme to Scotland's Lord. 
 
 '' For thee, rash youth, no suppliant sues, 830 
 
 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 outlawed man, 835 
 
 Dishonoring thus thy loyal name. — 
 
 Fetters and warder for the Graeme ! " 
 
 His chain of gold the King unstrung, 
 
 The links o'er Malcolm's neck he flung, 
 
 Then gently drew the glittering band, 840 
 
 And laid the clasp on Ellen's hand. 
 
 Harp of the North, farewell ! The hills grow dark. 
 
 On purple peaks a deeper shade descending ; 
 In twilight copse the glow-worm lights her spark, 
 
 The deer, half seen, are to the covert wending. 845 
 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. 
 
CANTO VI THE GUARD-ROOM 211 
 
 Yet, once again, farewell, thou Minstrel Harp ! 851 
 
 Yet, once again, forgive my feeble sway. 
 And little reck I of the censure sharp 
 
 May idly cavil at an idle lay. 
 Much have I owed thy strains on life's long way, 855 
 
 Through secret woes the world has never known, 
 When on the weary night dawned wearier day. 
 
 And bitterer was the grief devoured alone. — 
 That I o'erlive such woes. Enchantress ! is thine own. 
 
 Hark ! as my lingering footsteps slow retire, 860 
 
 Some Spirit of the Air has waked thy string ! 
 'T is now a seraph bold, with touch of fire, 
 
 'T is now the brush of Fairy's frolic wing. 
 Receding now the dying numbers ring 
 
 Fainter and fainter down the rugged dell ; 865 
 
 And now the mountain breezes scarcely bring 
 
 A wandering witch-note of the distant spell — 
 And now, 't is silent all ! — Enchantress, fare thee well ! 
 
INDEX TO NOTES 
 
 The Numbers refer to Pages 
 
 Abroad, 157. 
 
 According pause, 4. 
 
 Adventurers, 180. 
 
 Allan, 130. 
 
 Allan-bane, 37. 
 
 Alpine, 46. 
 
 Anathema, 84. 
 
 And the best of Loch Lomond, 
 
 etc., 56. 
 Arcade, 205. 
 Ardent symphony, 4. 
 Ascabart, 29. 
 Astound, 68. 
 Augur scathe, 125. 
 Ave Maria, 105. 
 
 Balvaig, 100. 
 
 Ban, 83. 
 
 Bannered Pine, 52. 
 
 Bannochar, 56. 
 
 Barded, 194. 
 
 Barret-cap, 187. 
 
 Battalia, 194. 
 
 Batten, 132. 
 
 Battled fence, 68. 
 
 Battled verge, 174. 
 
 Battlement, 13. 
 
 Battle of Baal' an Duine, 192, 
 
 Bead, 17. 
 
 Beala-nam-bo, 86. 
 
 Bear maha, iii. 
 
 Beamed frontlet, 5. 
 
 Beetled, 67. 
 
 Beltane game, 51. 
 
 Ben-an, 17. 
 
 Ben-an's gray scalp, 85. 
 
 Benharrow, 78. 
 
 Benighted, 23. 
 
 Benledi, 8. 
 
 Ben-Shie, 82. 
 
 Benvenue, 8. 
 
 BenvoirHch, 5. 
 
 Beshrew, 18. 
 
 Black-jack, 182. 
 
 Black Sir Roderick, 47. 
 
 Blair-Drummond, 161. 
 
 Blantyre, 60. 
 
 Blazed, 114. 
 
 Bleeding Heart, 46. 
 
 Blench, 67. 
 
 Bochastle, 154. 
 
 Bochastle's heath, 8. 
 
 Bonnet-pieces, 199. 
 
 Bonnets, 53. 
 
 Bosky, 90. 
 
 Boss, III. 
 
 Bothwell's bannered hall, 43. 
 
 Bothwell's lord, 200. 
 
 Boune, 109, 160. 
 
 Bourgeon, 55. 
 
 Bourne, 125. 
 
 Bower, 42. 
 
 213 
 
214 
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE 
 
 Bracken, 98. 
 
 Bracklinn, 49. 
 
 Br^es, 64. 
 
 Braes of Doune, 109. 
 
 Brake, 10. 
 
 Brand, 36. 
 
 Breadalbane, 56. 
 
 Bride of Heaven, 163. 
 
 Brigg of Turk, 9. 
 
 Broke, 112. 
 
 Brook, 29. 
 
 Broom, 16. 
 
 Bruce, loi. 
 
 Burden, 54. 
 
 Butts, 167. 
 
 Buxom, 181. 
 
 By his Chieftain's hand, 100. 
 
 By the rood, 23. 
 
 Cabala, 81. 
 Caledon, 4. 
 
 Cambus-kenneth's fane, 118. 
 Cambusmore, 8. 
 Canna, 52. 
 Cardross, loi. 
 Carpet knight, 156. 
 Castle, 165. 
 Chanter, 53. 
 Checkered bands, 167. 
 Checkered shroud, 70. 
 Christened man, 121. 
 Clan, 42. 
 Clarion, 54. 
 Claymore, 50. 
 Cognizance, 175. 
 Coif, 96. 
 Coil, 100. 
 
 Coilantogle's ford, 140. 
 Coir-Uriskin, 86, loi. 
 Commons' King, 166. 
 
 Conceit, 108. 
 Coronach, 91. 
 Correi, 92. 
 Could bear, 28. 
 Crosslet, 83. 
 Cumber, 92. 
 Cure, 182. 
 Cushat, T"]. 
 
 Daggled, 135. 
 
 Darkling, 120. 
 
 Deanstown, 161. 
 
 Death-halloo, 10. 
 
 Death-wound, 10. 
 
 Dennan's Row, iii. 
 
 Devan, 130. 
 
 Device, 27. 
 
 Disowned by every noble peer, 47. 
 
 Dispensation, 48. 
 
 Douglas, 164. 
 
 Douglases, 43. 
 
 Doune, 145, 161. 
 
 Down, -jT^. 
 
 Druid, 78. 
 
 Duchray, loi. 
 
 Duncraggan, 90. 
 
 Duncraggan's widowed dame, 200. 
 
 Dun deer's hide, 88. 
 
 Dunfermline, 124. 
 
 Eagle wings unfurled, 154. 
 
 Earl William, 177. 
 
 Earn, 115. 
 
 Elfin Queen, 121. 
 
 Embossed, 9. 
 
 Emprise, 25. 
 
 Erne, 193. 
 
 Errant damosel, 186. 
 
 Errant-knight, 25. 
 
 Ettrick, 64. 
 
INDEX TO NOTES 
 
 215 
 
 Falchion, 18. 
 
 Fatal green, 121. 
 
 Favor, 136. 
 
 Fell, 72. 
 
 Fellest, 30. 
 
 Ferragus, 29. 
 
 Feudal power, 166. 
 
 Fiery Cross, 'J't,, 75. 
 
 Fleming, 180. 
 
 Flushing, 92. 
 
 For retreat in dangerous hour, 
 
 26. 
 Franciscan steeple, 164. 
 Friar Tuck, 167. 
 From targe and jack, 152. 
 
 Gael, 143. 
 Gallangad, iii. 
 Gauntlet, 35. 
 Glaive, 115. 
 Glen, 79. 
 Glenartney, 5. 
 Glenfinlas, 62. 
 Glen Fruin, 56. 
 Glen Luss, 56. 
 Glozing, 64. 
 Goshawk, 86. 
 Graeme, 41, loi. 
 Grisly, 35. 
 Grot, 119. 
 Guerdon, 48. 
 
 Hallowed creed, 79. 
 Hap, 38. 
 
 Hardened flesh, 139. 
 Harness, 179. 
 Harp of the North, 3. 
 Heath, 8. 
 Heath-cock, 23. 
 Henchman, 72. 
 
 Hero's Targe, 112. 
 
 Hest, 94. 
 
 Highland plunderers, 18. 
 
 His Border spears with Hotspur's 
 
 bows, 51. 
 His lordship the embattled field, 
 
 128. 
 His standard falls, 34, 
 His targe he threw, etc., 157. 
 Holy-Rood, 47, 146. 
 Host, 181. 
 Hunters live so cheerily, etc., 133. 
 
 Idaean vine, 27. 
 Inch-Cailliach, 84. 
 Incumbent, 102. 
 
 In Holy-Rood a knight he slew, 
 47- 
 
 Jennet, 166. 
 Juggler, 183. 
 
 Ken, 6. 
 
 Kerchief, 96. 
 
 Kerns, iii. 
 
 Kier, 161. r 
 
 Kindly, 123. 
 
 Knighthood, 173. 
 
 Lackey, 72. 
 
 Ladies' Rock, 169. 
 
 Lanrick mead, 88. 
 
 Lendrick, 161. 
 
 Lennox foray, 46. 
 
 Leven-glen, 56. 
 
 Lincoln green, 24. 
 
 Lineage of the Bleeding Heart, 
 
 66. 
 Links of Forth, 66. 
 Linn, 7, 
 
2l6 
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE 
 
 Little John, 167. 
 Loch Achray, 8. 
 Lochard, 8. 
 Loch Con, loi. 
 Loch Katrine, 16. 
 Loch Lomond, 46. 
 Loop, 179. 
 Lubnaig, 97, 
 Lurch, 182. 
 
 Maid Marian, 167. 
 Maronnan, 49. 
 Matins, 17. 
 Mavis, 119. 
 Measured mood, 20. 
 Meggat, 64. 
 Menials, 29. 
 Menteith, 7, 56. 
 Merle, 119. 
 Mewed, 147, 
 Midnight blaze, 99. 
 Minaret, 13. 
 Minstrel, 3. 
 Misproud, 171. 
 Mold, 124. 
 Monan, 4. 
 Monk, 78. 
 
 Moray's silver star, 115. 
 More than kindred knew, 30. 
 Morning prime, 205. 
 Morrice-dancers, 164. 
 Muster, 145. 
 Mutch, 167. 
 
 My sovereign holds in ward my 
 land, 'j^. 
 
 Naiad, 19. 
 Needwood, 185. 
 Nighted, 69. 
 Numbers, 3, 
 
 Ochtertyre, i6r. 
 
 O my sweet William, 132. 
 
 On the visioned future bent, 24. 
 
 Opening pack, 6. 
 
 Orisons, 36. 
 
 O sad and fatal mound, 164. 
 
 Page, single, 103. 
 
 Pagod, 13. 
 
 Palfrey, 160. 
 
 Pennons, 132, 145. 
 
 Percy's Norman pennon, 59. 
 
 Pibroch, 32. 
 
 Placket and pot, 182. 
 
 Plaid, 20. 
 
 Pole-ax, 95. 
 
 Port, 30. 
 
 Postern gate, 163. 
 
 Presence, 206. 
 
 Pricked, 161. 
 
 Prore, 190. 
 
 Prune, 22. 
 
 Ptarmigan, 23. 
 
 Quarry, 10. 
 Questing, 89. 
 
 Reave, 45. 
 
 Reck of, 128. 
 
 Red streamers of the north, 116. 
 
 Rednock, loi. 
 
 Reft, 62. 
 
 Regent, 146. 
 
 Reveille, 33, 
 
 Ritual, 77. 
 
 River Demon, 82. 
 
 Robin Hood, 167. 
 
 Rocky isle, 26. 
 
 Roderigh Vich Alpine, 55. 
 
 Ross-dhu, 56. 
 
INDEX TO NOTES 
 
 217 
 
 Sable-lettered page, 81. 
 
 Sable pale of Mar, 115. 
 
 Saint Fillan, 3. 
 
 Saint Hubert, 9. 
 
 Saint Modan, 42. 
 
 Satyr, 103. 
 
 Scarlet, 167. 
 
 Scathed, 85. 
 
 Scathelocke, 167. 
 
 Scaur, 89. 
 
 Seek other cause 'gainst Roderick 
 
 Dhu, 148. 
 Sepulchral yew, 84. 
 Sheen, 14. 
 Shingles, 144. 
 Shingly, S^- 
 Shrewdly, 7. 
 Shrouds, 49. 
 Signet sage, 22. 
 Signs, 67. 
 Single page, 103. 
 Slaked, 50. 
 
 Slighting the need, 23. 
 Slip, 139. 
 Slogan, 56. 
 Snood, 20, 80. 
 Snowdoun, 30. 
 Snowdoun's Knight is Scotland's 
 
 King, 206. 
 Sooth, 25. 
 
 Sounds, too, had come, 82. 
 Speed, 38. 
 Spey, 44. 
 Stag of ten, 133. 
 Stance, 116. 
 Stark, 165. 
 Stern, 179. 
 Stirling, 162. 
 Stirling's porch, 67. 
 Stock, 10. 
 
 Storied pane, 202. 
 Stranger to respect and power, 147. 
 Strath, 79, 
 
 Strath-Endrick glen, 63. 
 Strath-Gartney, 100. 
 Strath-Ire, 94. 
 Strathspey, 46. 
 Streight or strait, 65. 
 Strike it, 192. 
 Strook, 85. 
 Stumah, 92. 
 
 Such cheek should feel the mid- 
 night air, 71. 
 Summer solstice, 138. 
 Switzer, 180. 
 
 Taghairm, no. 
 
 Tamed the Border-side, 64. 
 
 Targe, 94. 
 
 Target, 28. 
 
 Tartans brave, 52. 
 
 Teviot, 64. 
 
 That monk, of savage form and 
 
 face, 78. 
 That party conquers in the strife, 
 
 114. 
 The bannered towers of Doune, 
 
 161. 
 The burghers hold their sports 
 
 to-day, 164. 
 The flooded Teith, 8. 
 Three mighty lakes, 154. 
 Thrilling sounds, etc., 53. 
 Tinchel, 196. 
 Tine-man, 51. 
 Torry, 161. 
 To speed, 208. 
 To steal their meal, 142. 
 Tower, 13. 
 Trailing arms, 174. 
 
21 
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE 
 
 Train, 127. 
 Triple steel, 158, 
 Troll, 181. 
 Trosachs, 11. 
 Trowed, 117. 
 Truncheon, 147. 
 TuUibardine's house, 
 Tweed, 44. 
 
 [85. 
 
 Uam-Var, 6. 
 
 Unasked his birth and name, 
 
 Unhooded, 60. 
 
 Unless he climb, etc., 15. 
 
 Upsees out, 182. 
 
 Vair, 120. 
 Vennachar, 9. 
 Vest of pall, 120. 
 Votaress, 49. 
 
 30- 
 
 Waned crescent, 59. 
 
 Weeds, 129. 
 
 Weird, 31. 
 
 Whinyard, 10. 
 
 White-haired Allan-bane, ■};]. 
 
 Wildering, 16. 
 
 Wist, 124. 
 
 Witch-elm, 3. 
 
 Without a pass from Roderick 
 
 Dhu, 152. 
 Woe worth the chase, 12. 
 Wold, 119. 
 Woned, 121. 
 Wont, 22. 
 V7ot, 31. 
 Wreak, 136. 
 
 Yarrow, 64. 
 Yeoman, 165. 
 
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