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THE 
 
 LADY OF THE LAKE 
 
 % Poem in %ix Cantos 
 
 BY 
 
 SIR WALTER SCOTT, Bart. 
 
 WITH NOTES AND AN APPENDIX 
 
 FROM THE LATEST EDINBURGH EDITION 
 
 NEW YORK: 46 East i 4 th Street 
 THOMAS Y. CROWELL & CO, 
 
 BOSTON ; 100 Purchase Street 
 
Copyright, 
 
 1883, 1888, 1891, and 1892, 
 
 By T. Y. CROWELL & CO. 
 
TO THE MOST NOBLE 
 
 JOHN JAMES 
 MARQUIS OF ABERCORN 
 
 ETC., ETC., ETC. 
 
 THIS POEM IS INSCRIBED 
 
 BY 
 
 THE AUTHOR 
 
- 
 
 WZ 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 . . i 
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE : 
 
 
 Canto I. — The Chase . • 
 
 • 15 
 
 II. — The Island 
 
 • 54 
 
 III. — The Gathering 
 
 • 97 
 
 IV. — The Prophecy 
 
 . • 138 
 
 V. — The Combat . 
 
 . . 178 
 
 VI. — The Guard-room . 
 
 . 224 
 
 APPENDIX ...... 
 
 . 267 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 TO 
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 Edition 1830. 
 
 After the success of " Marmion," I felt inclined 
 to exclaim with Ulysses in the " Odyssey" 
 
 Ovtos ntv 5tj &ed\os ddaros iKTeriXea-Tai. 
 
 NOv adre GKoirbv &\\ov. Odys. % 5» 6. 
 
 " One venturous game my hand has won to-day — 
 Another, gallants, yet remains to play." 
 
 The ancient manners, the habits and costumes of 
 the aboriginal race by whom the Highlands of Scot- 
 land 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 particulars con- 
 cerning the ancient state of the Highlands from the 
 old men of the last generation. I had always thought 
 the old Scottish Gael highly adapted for poetical 
 composition. The feuds and political dissensions, 
 which half a century earlier would have rendered the 
 richer and wealthier part of the kingdom indisposed 
 to countenance a poem, the scene of which was laid 
 
2 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 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, suffi- 
 ciently shown that if writings 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 was connected with the rec- 
 ollection 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 intro- 
 duced. The frequent custom of James IV., and par- 
 ticularly of James V., to walk through their 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 possibly 
 do to rise so early in the morning (that happening to 
 be the most convenient time to me for composition) . 
 At last I told her the subject of my meditations ; and 
 
INTRODUCTION. 3 
 
 I can never forget the anxiety and affection expressed 
 in her reply. " Do not be so rash, 1 ' she said, " my 
 dearest cousin. 1 You are already popular — more so, 
 perhaps, than you yourself will believe, 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. 11 I replied to this affection- 
 ate 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 
 recollection, " it is a sign that I ought never to have 
 succeeded, and I will write prose for life : you shall 
 see no change in my temper, nor will I eat a single 
 meal the worse. But if I succeed, — 
 
 " Up with the bonnie blue bonnet, 
 
 The dirk, and the feather, and a' ! " 
 
 Afterwards I showed my affectionate and anxious 
 critic the first canto of the poem, which reconciled 
 her to my imprudence. Nevertheless, although I 
 
 1 The lady with whom Sir Walter Scott held this conversa- 
 tion, was, no doubt, his aunt, Miss Christian Rutherford ; there 
 was no other female relation dead when this Introduction was 
 written, whom I can suppose him to have consulted on liter- 
 ary questions. Lady Capulet, on seeing the corpse of Tybalt, 
 exclaims — 
 
 " Tybalt, my cousin ! oh my brother's child ! " — Ed. 
 
4 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 answered thus confidently, with the obstinacy often 
 said to be proper to those who bear my surname, I 
 acknowledge that my confidence was considerably 
 shaken by the warning of her excellent taste and 
 unbiassed friendship. Nor was I much comforted 
 by her retractation of the unfavorable judgment, when 
 I recollected how likely a natural partiality was to 
 effect that change of opinion. In such cases, affec- 
 tion 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," like the " sports- 
 man with his cutty-gun,' 1 in the old song. He was 
 bred a farmer, but a man of powerful understanding, 
 natural good taste, and warm poetical feeling, per- 
 fectly 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 Ashes- 
 teil 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 represen- 
 tative of readers at large. It is, of course, to be sup- 
 posed, 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 listened with 
 great attention through the whole account of the 
 stag-hunt, till the dogs threw themselves into the 
 
INTR OD UC TION. 5 
 
 lake to follow their master, who embarks with Ellen 
 Douglass. He then started up with a sudden excla- 
 mation, 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. He was prob- 
 ably thinking of the lively, but somewhat licentious, 
 old ballad, in which the denouement of a royal 
 intrigue takes place as follows : — 
 
 " He took a bugle frae his side, 
 
 He blew both loud and shrill, 
 And four-and-twenty belted knights 
 
 Came skipping ower the hill ; 
 Then he took out a little knife, 
 
 Let a' his duddies fa', 
 And he was the brawest gentleman 
 
 That was amang them a'. 
 
 And we'll go no more a-roving," etc. 
 
 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." 
 
6 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 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 of Loch Vennachar to Sterling 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 inconsistent wheel of Fortune, whose 
 stability in behalf of an individual who had so boldly 
 courted her favor for three successive times had not 
 as yet been shaken. I had attained, perhaps, that 
 degree of public reputation at which prudence, or 
 certainly timidity, would have made a halt, and dis- 
 continued 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 
 
INTRODUCTION. 7 
 
 not have claimed from merit ; and I endeavored to 
 deserve the partiality, by continuing such exertions 
 as I was capable of for their amusement. 
 
 It may be that I did not, in this continued course 
 of scribbling, 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 dedicated 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 tedious- 
 ness on the public, comforting myself with the re- 
 flection, that if posterity should think me undeserving 
 of the favor with which I was regarded by my con- 
 temporaries, "they could but say I had the crown, 11 
 and had enjoyed for a time that popularity which is 
 so much coveted. 
 
 I conceived, however, that I held the distinguished 
 situation I had obtained, however unworthily, rather 
 like the champion of pugilism, 1 on the condition of 
 being always ready to show proofs of my skill, than 
 in the manner of the champion of chivalry, who per- 
 forms 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 
 
 " In twice five years the ' greatest living poet,' 
 Like to the champion in the fistv ring, 
 Is called on to support his claim, or show it, 
 Although 'tis an imaginary thing," etc. 
 
 Don Juan, canto xi. st. 55. 
 
8 INTR OD UC TION. 
 
 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 negative prescription. Ac- 
 cordingly, those who choose to look at the Introduc- 
 tion to Rokeby, in the present edition, will be able 
 to trace the steps by which I decline as a poet to fig- 
 ure as a novelist ; as the ballad says, Queen Eleanor 
 sunk at Charing-Cross to rise again at Queenhithe. 
 
 It only remains for me to say, that, during my 
 short pre-eminence of popularity, I faithfully observed 
 the rules of moderation which I had resolved to fol- 
 low before I began my course as a man of letters. If 
 a man is determined to make a noise in the world, 
 he is as sure to encounter abuse and ridicule, as he 
 who gallops furiously through a village must reckon 
 on being followed by the curs in full cry. Experi- 
 enced 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 principle, I 
 let parody, burlesque, and squibs find their own level ; 
 and while the latter hissed most fiercely, I was 
 cautious never to catch them up, as school-boys do, 
 to throw them back against the naughty boy who fired 
 them off, wisely remembering that they are, in such 
 cases, apt to explode in the handling. Let me add, 
 that my reign 1 (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 
 
 l " Sir Walter reign'd before," etc. 
 
 Don Juan, canto xi. st. 57. 
 
INTR OD UC TION. 9 
 
 such services in smoothing his way to the public as 
 were in my power ; and I had the advantage, rather 
 an uncommon one with our irritable race, to enjoy 
 general favor, without incurring permanent ill-will, 
 so far as is known to me, among any of my contem- 
 poraries. 
 
 W. S. 
 
 ABBOTSFORD, April (1830). 
 
THE 
 
 LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 A POEM 
 IN SIX CANTOS. 
 
ARGUMENT. 
 
 The Scene of the following Poem is laid chiefly in 
 the vicinity of Loch Katrine, in the Western High- 
 lands of Perthshire. The time of action includes six 
 days, and the transactions of each day occupy a 
 Canto. 1 
 
 1 " Never, we think, has the analogy between poetry and 
 painting been more strikingly exemplified than in the writ- 
 ings of Mr. Scott. He sees everything with a painter's eye. 
 Whatever he represents has a character of individuality, and 
 is drawn with an accuracy and minuteness of discrimination 
 which we are not accustomed to expect from verbal descrip- 
 tion. Much of this, no doubt, is the result of genius ; for there 
 is a quick and comprehensive power of discernment, an 
 intensity and keenness of observation, an almost intuitive 
 glance which nature alone can give, and by means of which 
 her favorites are enabled to discover characteristic differences 
 where the eye of dulness sees nothing but uniformity; but 
 something also must be referred to discipline and exercise. 
 The liveliest fancy can only call forth those images which are 
 already stored up in the memory ; and all that invention can 
 do is to unite these into new combinations, which must appear 
 confused and ill-defined, if the impressions originally received 
 by the senses were deficient in strength and distinctness. It 
 is because Mr. Scott usually delineates those objects with 
 which he is perfectly familiar that his touch is so easy, correct, 
 and animated. The rocks, the ravines, and the torrents, which 
 he exhibits, are no* the imperfect sketches of a hurried traveller, 
 but the finished studies of a resident artist, deliberately drawn 
 from different points of view ; each has its true shape and 
 position ; it is a portrait ; it has its name by which the spec- 
 tator is invited to examine the exactness of the resemblance. 
 
 13 
 
14 ARGUMENT. 
 
 The figures which are combined with the landscape are 
 painted with the same fidelity. Like those of Salvator Rosa, 
 they are perfectly appropriate to the spot on which they stand. 
 The boldness of feature, the lightness and compactness of 
 form, the wildness of air, and the careless ease of attitude of 
 these mountaineers, are as congenial to their native highlands 
 as the birch and the pine which darken their glens, the sedge 
 which fringes their lakes, or the heath which waves over their 
 moors." — Quarterly Review, May, 1810. 
 
 " It is honorable to Mr. Scott's genius that he has been able 
 to interest the public so deeply with this third presentment of 
 the same chivalrous scenes ; but we cannot help thinking that 
 both his glory and our gratification would have been greater 
 if he had changed his hand more completely, and actually 
 given us a true Celtic story, with all its drapery and accom- 
 paniments in a corresponding style of decoration. Such a 
 subject, we are persuaded, has very great capabilities, and 
 only wants to be introduced to public notice by such a hand 
 as Mr. Scott's to make a still more powerful impression than 
 he has already effected by the resurrection of the tales of 
 romance. There are few persons, we believe, of any degree 
 of poetical susceptibility, who have wandered among the 
 secluded valleys of the Highlands, and contemplated the sin- 
 gular people by whom they are still tenanted — with their love 
 of music and of song — their hardy and irregular life, so unlike 
 the unvarying toils of the Saxon mechanic — their devotion to 
 their chiefs — their wild and lofty traditions — their national 
 enthusiasm — the melancholy grandeur of the scenes they 
 inhabit — and the multiplied superstitions which still linger 
 among them — without feeling that there is no existing people 
 so well adapted for the purposes of poetry, or so capable of 
 furnishing the occasions of new and striking inventions. 
 
 " We are persuaded that if Mr. Scott's powerful and 
 creative genius were to be turned in good earnest to such a 
 subject, something might be produced still more impressive 
 and original than even this age has yet witnessed." — JEF- 
 FREY, Edinburgh Review, No. xvi., for 1810. 
 
THE 
 
 LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 CANTO FIRST. 
 
 S%c CJase. 
 
 Harp of the North ! that mouldering long hast hung 
 On the witch-elm that shades Saint Fillan's spring, 
 
 And down the fitful breeze thy numbers flung, 1 
 Till envious ivy did around thee cling, 
 
 Muffling with verdant ringlet every string, — 
 
 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? 
 
 Not thus, in ancient days of Caledon, 
 
 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 2 
 
 1 MS. : " And vn the fitful breeze thy numbers flung, 
 
 Till envious ivy, with her verdant ring, 
 Mantled and muffled each melodious string, — 
 O Wizard Harp, still must thine accents sleep? " 
 
 2 MS. : " At each according pause thou spokest aloud 
 
 Thine ardent sympathy." 
 
 15 
 
1 6 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto i. 
 
 Thine ardent symphony sublime and high ! 
 Fair dames and crested chiefs attention bow'd 
 
 For still the burden of thy minstrelsy 
 Was Knighthood's dauntless deed, and Beauty's 
 matchless eye. 
 
 O wake once more ! how rude soe'er the hand 
 
 That ventures o'er thy magic maze to stray ; 
 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, 
 
 The wizard note has not been touch'd 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, 
 
 And deep his midnight lair had made 
 
 In lone Glenartney's hazel shade ; 
 
 But, when the sun his beacon red 
 
 Had kindled on Benvoirlich's head, 
 
 The deep-mouth'd bloodhound's heavy bay 
 
 Resounded up the rocky way, 1 
 
 And faint, from farther distance borne, 
 
 Were heard the clanging hoof and horn. 
 
 1 MS. : " The bloodhound's notes of heavy bass, 
 Resounded hoarsely up the pass." 
 
canto I.] THE CHASE. 17 
 
 II. 
 As Chief who hears his warder call, 
 " To arms ! the foemen storm the wall," 
 The antler'd monarch of the waste 
 Sprung from his heathery couch in haste. 
 But, ere his fleet career he took, 
 The dewdrops from his flanks he shook ; 
 Like crested leader proud and high, 
 Toss'd his beam'd frontlet to the sky ; 
 A moment gazed adown the dale, 
 A moment snuffd the tainted gale, 
 A moment listen^ to the cry, 
 That thicken'd as the chase drew nigh ; 
 Then, as the headmost foes appeard, 
 With one brave bound the copse he clear'd, 
 And, stretching forward free and far, 
 Sought the wild heaths of Uam-Var. 1 
 
 in. 
 
 Yeird on the view the opening pack ; 
 Rock, glen, and cavern, paid them back ; 
 To many a mingled sound at once 
 The awaken'd mountain gave response, 
 
 1 Ua-var, as the name is pronounced, or more properly 
 Uaighmor, is a mountain to the northeast of the village of 
 Callender 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 ban- 
 ditti, 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, 
 
1 8 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto 
 
 A hundred dogs bay'd deep and strong, 
 Clatter'd a hundred steeds along, 
 Their peal the merry horns rung out, 
 A hundred voices join'd the shout ; 
 With hark and whoop and wild halloo, 
 No rest Benvoirlich's echoes knew. 1 
 Far from the tumult fled the roe, 
 Close in her covert cower'd the doe, 
 The falcon, from her cairn on high, 
 Cast on the rout a wondering eye, 
 Till far beyond her piercing ken 
 The hurricane had swept the glen. 
 Faint, and more faint, its failing din 
 Return 1 d 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 
 Disturb'd the heights of Uam-Var, 
 And roused the cavern, where, 'tis told, 
 A giant made his den of old ; 
 
 surrounded with large rocks, and open above head. It may 
 have been originally designed as a toil for deer, who might get 
 in from the outside, but would find it difficult to return. This 
 opinion prevails among the old sportsmen and deer-stalkers 
 in the neighborhood. 
 
 1 Benvoirlich, a mountain comprehended in the cluster of 
 the Grampians, at the head of the valley of the Garry, a river 
 which springs from its base. It rises to an elevation of three 
 thousand three hundred and thirty feet above the level of 
 the sea. 
 
r . : 
 
 The noble stag was pausing now 
 Upon the mountain's southern brow 
 
canto i.] THE CHASE. 
 
 For ere that steep ascent was won, 
 High in his pathway hung the sun, 
 And many a gallant, stayed perforce, 
 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. 
 
 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 wander'd o'er 
 Mountain and meadow, moss and moor, 
 And ponder'd refuge from his toil, 
 By far Lochard 1 or Aberfoyle. 
 
 1 " About a mile to the westward of the inn of Aberfoyle, 
 Lochard opens to the view. A few hundred yards to the east 
 of it, the Avendow, which had just issued from the lake, tum- 
 bles its waters over a rugged precipice of more than thirty feet 
 in height, forming, in the rainy season, several very magnifi- 
 cent cataracts. 
 
 " The first opening of the lower lake, from the east, is 
 uncommonly picturesque. Directing the eye nearly westward, 
 Benlomond raises its pyramidal mass in the background. In 
 nearer prospect, you have gentle eminences, covered with oak 
 and birch to the very summit ; the bare rock sometimes peep- 
 ing through amongst the clumps. Immediately under the eye, 
 tin- lower lake, stretching out from narrow beginnings to a 
 breadth of about half a mile, is seen in full prospect. On the 
 
THE LAD Y OF THE LAKE, [canto i. 
 
 But nearer was the copsewood gray, 
 That waved and wept on Loch Achray, 
 And mingled with the pine-trees blue 
 On the bold cliffs of Benvenue. 
 
 right, the banks are skirted with extensive oak woods, which 
 cover the mountain more than halfway up. 
 
 " Advancing to the westward, the view of the lake is lost for 
 about a mile. The upper lake, which is by far the most exten- 
 sive, is separated from the lower by a stream of about two 
 hundred yards in length. The most advantageous view of the 
 upper lake presents itself from a rising ground near its lower 
 extremity, where a footpath strikes off to the south, in the 
 wood that overhangs this connecting stream. Looking west- 
 ward, Benlomond is seen in the background, rising, at the 
 distance of six miles, in the form of a regular cone, its sides 
 presenting a gentle slope to the northwest and southeast. On 
 the right is the lofty mountain of Benoghrie, running west 
 towards the deep vale in which Lochcon lies concealed from 
 the eye. In the foreground, Lochard stretches out to the west 
 in fairest prospect; its length three miles, and its breadth a 
 mile and a half. On the right it is skirted with woods ; the 
 northern and western extremity of the lake is diversified with 
 meadows, and cornfields, and farm-houses. On the left, few 
 marks of cultivation are to be seen. 
 
 " Farther on, the traveller passes along the verge of the lake 
 under a ledge of rock, from thirty to fifty feet high ; and, stand- 
 ing immediately under this rock, towards its western extremity, 
 he has a double echo of uncommon distinctness. Upon pro- 
 nouncing, with a firm voice, a line of ten syllables, it is 
 returned, first from the opposite side of the lake; and when 
 that is finished, it is repeated with equal distinctness from the 
 wood on the east. The day must be perfectly calm, and the 
 lake as smooth as glass, for otherwise no human voice can be 
 returned from a distance of at least a quarter of a mile." — 
 Graham's Sketches of Perthshire, 2d edit. p. 182, etc. 
 
canto i.] THE CHASE. 21 
 
 Fresh vigor with the hope return'd, 1 
 With flying foot the heath he spurn'd, 
 Held westward with unwearied race, 
 And left behind the panting chase. 
 
 VI. 
 
 'Twere long to tell what steeds gave o'er, 
 As swept the hunt through Cambusmore ; 2 
 What reins were tighten'd in despair, 
 When rose Benledi's ridge in air ; 3 
 Who flagged upon Bochastle's heath, 
 Who shunn'd to stem the flooded Teith — 4 
 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 ; 5 
 
 !MS. : " Fresh vigor with the thought return'd, 
 With flying hoof the heath he spurn'd." 
 
 2 Cambusmore, within about two miles of Callender, on the 
 wooded banks of the Keltie, a tributary of the Teith, is the seat 
 of a family of the name of Buchanan, whom the poet frequently 
 visited in his younger days. 
 
 3 Benledi is a magnificent mountain, three thousand and 
 nine feet in height, which bounds the horizon on the northwest 
 from Callender. The name, according to Celtic etymologists, 
 signifies the Mountain of God. 
 
 4 Two mountain streams — the one flowing from Loch 
 Voil, by the pass of Leny ; the other from Loch Katrine, by 
 Loch Achray and Loch Vennachar, unite at Callender : and 
 the river thus formed thenceforth takes the name of Teith. 
 Hence the designation of the territory of Menteith. 
 
 5" Loch Vennachar, a beautiful expanse of water, of about 
 five miles in length, by a mile and a half in breadth." — 
 Graham. 
 
THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto I. 
 
 And when the Bfigg of Turk was won, 1 
 The headmost horseman rode alone. 
 
 Alone, but with unbated zeal, 
 That horseman plied the scourge and steel ; 
 For jaded now, and spent with toil, 
 Emboss'd with foam, and dark with soil, 
 While every gasp with sobs he drew, 
 The laboring stag strain'd full in view. 
 Two dogs of black Saint Hubert's breed, 
 Unmatched for courage, breath, and speed, 2 
 
 1 " About a mile above Loch Vennachar, the approach (from 
 the east) , to the Brigg or Bridge of Turk (the scene of the 
 death of a wild-boar, famous in Celtic tradition), leads to the 
 summit of an eminence, where there bursts upon the travel- 
 ler's eye a sudden and wide prospect of the windings of the 
 river that issues from Loch Achray, with that sweet lake itself 
 in front ; the gently rolling river pursues its serpentine course 
 through an extensive meadow; at the west end of the lake on 
 the side of Aberfoyle is situated the delightful farm of Achray, 
 the level field, a denomination justly due to it, when consid- 
 ered in contrast with the rugged rocks and mountains which 
 surround it. From this eminence are to be seen also, on the 
 right hand, the entrance to Glenfinlas, and in the distance 
 Benvenue." — Graham. 
 
 2 " The hounds which we call Saint Hubert's hounds are 
 commonly all blacke, yet, neuertheless, the race is so mingled 
 at these days, that we find them of all colours. These are the 
 hounds which the abbots of St. Hubert haue always kept 
 some of their race or kind in honour or remembrance of the 
 saint, which was a hunter with S. Eustace. Whereupon we 
 may conceiue that (by the grace of God) all good huntsmen 
 shall follow them into paradise. To return vnto my former 
 
canto I.] THE CHASE. 23 
 
 Fast on his flying traces came, 
 
 And all but won that desperate game ; 
 
 For, scarce a spear's length from his haunch 
 
 Vindictive toil'd the bloodhounds stanch ; 
 
 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. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 The Hunter mark'd that mountain high, 
 The lone lake's western boundary, 
 And deenfd the Stag must turn to bay, 
 Where that huge rampart barrd the way ; 
 
 purpose, this kind of dogges hath bene dispersed through the 
 counties of Henault, Loryne, Flanders, and Burgoyne. They 
 are mighty of body, neuertheless their legges are low and 
 short, likewise they are not swift, although they be very good 
 of sent, hunting chaces which are farre straggled, fearing 
 neither water nor cold, and doe more couet the chaces that 
 smell, as foxes, bore, and such like, than other, because they 
 find themselves neither of swiftness nor courage to hunt and 
 kill the chaces that are lighter and swifter. The bloodhounds 
 of this colour proue good, especially those that are cole blacke, 
 but I made no great account to breed on them, or to keepe 
 the kind, and yet I found a book which a hunter did dedicate 
 to a prince of Lorayne, which seemed to loue hunting much, 
 wherein was a blason which the same hunter gaue to his 
 bloodhound, called Souvllard, which was white: — 
 
 " My name came first from holy Hubert's race, 
 Souyllard my sire, a hound of singular grace." 
 
 Whereupon we may presume that some of the kind proue 
 white sometimes, but they are not of the kind of the Grefhers 
 
24 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto i. 
 
 Already glorying in the prize, 
 Measured his antlers with his eyes ; 
 For the death-wound and death-halloo, 
 Muster'd his breath, and whinyard drew ; 1 — 
 
 or Bouxes, which we haue at these days." — The noble art of 
 Venerie or Hunting, translated and collected for the Use of all 
 Noble??ien and Gentlemen. Lond. 1611, 4to, p. 15. 
 
 1 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 tusk of a boar, as the old rhyme testifies : — 
 
 " If thou be hurt with hart, it brings thee to thy bier, 
 But barber's hand will boar's hurt heal, therefore thou need'st not 
 fear." 
 
 At all times, however, the task was dangerous, and to be 
 adventured upon wisely and warily, either by getting behind 
 the stag while he was gazing on the hounds, or by watching 
 an opportunity to gallop roundly in upon him, and kill him 
 with the sword. See many directions to this purpose in 
 the Booke of Hunting, chap. 41. Wilson, the historian, 
 has recorded a most providential escape which befell him 
 in this hazardous sport, while a youth and follower of the Earl 
 of Essex. 
 
 " Sir Peter Lee, of Lime, in Cheshire, invited my lord one 
 summer to hunt the stagg. And having a great stagg in chace, 
 and many gentlemen in the pursuit, the stagg took soyle. 
 And divers, whereof I was one, alighted, and stood with 
 swords drawne, to have a cut at him at his coming out of the 
 water. The staggs there being wonderfully fierce and dan- 
 gerous, made us youths more eager to be at him. But he 
 escaped us all. And it was my misfortune to be hindered of 
 my coming nere him, the way being sliperie, by a falle ; which 
 gave occasion to some, who did not know mee, to speak as 
 if I had fallne for feare. Which being told mee, I left the 
 
canto i.] THE CHASE. 25 
 
 But thundering as he came prepared, 
 
 With ready arm and weapon bared, 
 
 The wily quarry shunn'd the shock, 
 
 And turn'd him from the opposing rock ; 
 
 Then, dashing down a darksome glen, 
 
 Soon lost to hound and hunter's ken, 
 
 In the deep Trosachs' 1 wildest nook 
 
 His solitary refuge took. 
 
 There, while close couch'd, the thicket shed 
 
 Cold dews and wild-flowers on his head, 
 
 He heard the baffled dogs in vain 
 
 Rave through the hollow pass amain, 
 
 Chiding the rocks that yelFd again. 
 
 IX. 
 
 Close on the hounds the Hunter came, 
 To cheer them on the vanished game ; 
 
 stagg, and followed the gentleman who [first] spake it. But I 
 found him of that cold temper, that it seems his words made 
 an escape from him ; as by his denial and repentance it 
 appeared. But this made mee more violent in the pursuit 
 of the stagg, to recover my reputation. And I happened to 
 be the only horseman in, when the dogs sett him up at bay ; 
 and approaching near him on horsebacke, he broke through 
 the dogs, and run at mee, and tore my horse's side with his 
 homes close by my thigh. Then I quitted my horse, and 
 grew more cunning (for the dogs had sette him up again), 
 stealing behind him with my sword, and cut his hamstrings; 
 and then got upon his back and cut his throate : which, as I 
 was doing, the company came in, and blamed my rashness for 
 running such a hazard." — PKCK'S Disiderata Curiosa, ii. 464. 
 1 " The term Trosachs signifies the rough or bristled terri- 
 tory." —GRAHAM. 
 
26 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto i. 
 
 But stumbling in the rugged dell, 
 The gallant horse exhausted fell. 
 The impatient rider strove in vain 
 To rouse him with the spur and rein, 
 For the good steed, his labors o'er, 
 Stretch'd his stiff limbs, to rise no more ; 
 Then, touch'd with pity and remorse, 
 He sorrow'd o'er the expiring horse. 
 " I little thought, when first thy rein 
 I slack'd upon the banks of Seine, 
 That Highland eagle e'er should feed 
 On thy fleet limbs, my matchless steed ! 
 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 limp'd, with slow and crippled pace, 
 The sulky leaders of the chase ; 
 Close to their master's side they press'd, 
 With drooping tail, and humbled crest ; 
 But still the dingle's hollow throat 
 Prolong'd the swelling bugle-note. 
 The owlets started from their dream, 
 The eagles answer'd with their scream, 
 Round and around the sounds were cast, 
 Till echo seem'd an answering blast ; 
 And on the Hunter hied his way, 1 
 To join some comrades of the day ; 
 
 MS. : " And on the hunter hied his pace, 
 
 To meet some comrades of the chase" 
 
canto I.] THE CHASE. 27 
 
 Yet often paused, so strange the road, 
 So wondrous were the scenes it showed. 
 
 The western waves of ebbing day 
 Roird o'er the glen their level way ; 
 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, 
 Round many a rocky pyramid. 
 Shooting abruptly from the dell 
 Its thunder-splinter 1 d pinnacle ; 
 Round many an insulated mass, 
 The native bulwarks of the pass, 1 
 Huge as the tower which builders vain 
 Presumptuous piled on Shinar's plain. 2 
 The rocky summits, split and rent, 
 Fornrfd turret, dome, or battlement, 
 Or seenfd fantastically set 
 With cupola or minaret, 
 Wild crests as pagod ever deck'd, 
 Or mosque of Eastern architect. 
 Nor were these earth-born castles bare, 3 
 Nor lack"d they many a banner fair; 
 For, from their shiver'd brows displayed, 
 Far, o'er the unfathomable glade, 
 
 1 MS. : " The mimic castles of the pass." 
 
 2 The Tower of Babel. — Genesis xi. 1-9. 
 
 3 MS. : " Nor were these mighty bulwarks bare. 
 
28 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto I. 
 
 All twinkling with the dew-drop sheen, 1 
 The brier-rose fell in streamers green, 
 And creeping shrubs, of thousand dyes, 
 Waved in the west-wind's summer sighs. 
 
 XII. 
 
 Boon nature scatter'd free and wild, 
 Each plant of flower, the mountain's child. 
 Here eglantine embalm'd the air, 
 Hawthorn and hazel mingled there ; 
 The primrose pale and violet flower, 
 Found in each clift a narrow bower ; 
 Fox-glove and night-shade, side by side, 
 Emblems of punishment and pride, 
 Group'd their dark hues with every stain 
 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 ; 
 And, higher yet, the pine-tree hung 
 His shatter'd trunk, and frequent flung, 2 
 Where seem'd the cliffs to meet on high, 
 His boughs athwart the narrow'd sky. 
 Highest of all, where white peaks glanced, 
 Where glisfning streamers waved and danced, 
 
 1 MS. : " Bright glistening- with the dew-drops sheen." 
 
 2 MS. : " His scathed trunk, and frequent flung, 
 
 Where seem'd the cliffs to meet on high, 
 His rugged arms athwart the sky. 
 Highest of all, where white peaks glanced, 
 Where hvinkling streamers waved and danced.' 
 
canto i.] THE CHASE. 29 
 
 The wanderer's eye could barely view 
 The summer heaven's delicious blue ; 
 So wondrous wild, the whole might seem 
 The scenery of a fairy dream. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 Onward, amid the copse 'gan peep 
 A narrow inlet, still and deep, 
 Affording scarce such breadth of brim, 1 
 As served the wild duck's brood to swim. 
 Lost for a space, through thickets veering, 
 But broader when again appearing, 
 Tall rocks and tufted knolls their face 
 Could on the dark-blue mirror trace ; 
 And farther as the hunter stray 'd, 
 Still broader sweep its channels made. 
 The shaggy mounds no longer stood, 
 Emerging from entangled wood,' 2 
 But, wave-encircled, seem'd to float, 
 Like castle girdled with its moat ; 
 Yet broader floods extending still 
 Divide them from their parent hill, 
 Till each, retiring, claims to be 
 An islet in an inland sea. 
 
 And now, to issue from the glen, 
 
 No pathway meets the wanderer's ken, 
 
 1 MS. : " Affording scarce such breadth of flood, 
 
 As( served to float the wild-duck's brood. 
 
 2 MS. : " Emerging dry-shod from the wood." 
 
30 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto i. 
 
 Unless he climb, with footing nice, 
 
 A far projecting precipice. 1 
 
 The broom's tough roots his ladder made, 
 
 The hazel saplings lent their aid ; 
 
 And thus an airy point he won, 
 
 Where, gleaming with the setting sun, 
 
 One burnish'd sheet of living gold, 
 
 Loch Katrine lay beneath him roll'd, 2 
 
 In all her length far winding lay, 
 
 With promontory, creek, and bay, 
 
 And islands that, empurpled bright, 
 
 Floated amid the livelier light, 
 
 And mountains, that like giants stand, 
 
 To sentinel enchanted land. 
 
 High on the south, huge Benvenue 3 
 
 Down on the lake in masses threw 
 
 Crags, knolls, and mounds, confusedly hurl'd, 
 
 The fragments of an earlier world ; 
 
 A wildering forest feather'd o'er 
 
 His ruin'd sides and summit hoar, 4 
 
 1 Until the present road was made through the romantic 
 pass which I have presumptuously attempted to describe in 
 the preceding stanzas, there was no mode of issuing out of the 
 defile called the Trosachs excepting by a sort of ladder, com- 
 posed of the branches and roots of trees. 
 
 2 Loch-Ketturin is the Celtic pronunciation. In his Notes to 
 " The Fair Maid of Perth," the author has signified his belief 
 that the lake was named after the Catterans, or wild robbers, 
 who haunted its shores. 
 
 3 Benvenue — is literally the little mountain — i.e., as con- 
 trasted with Benledi and Benlomond. 
 
 4 MS. : " His ruined sides and fragments hoar 
 
 While on the north to middle air." 
 
canto i.] THE CHASE. 31 
 
 While on the north, through middle air, 
 Ben-an x heaved high his forehead bare. 2 
 
 xv. 
 
 From the steep promontory gazed 3 
 The stranger, raptured and amazed. 
 And, " What a scene were here," he cried, 
 " 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 ; 
 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 
 Her forehead in the silver wave, 
 
 1 According to Graham, Ben-an, or Bennan, is a mere 
 diminutive of Ben — Mountain. 
 
 2 Perhaps the art of landscape-painting in poetry has never 
 been displayed in higher perfection than in these stanzas, to 
 which rigid criticism might possibly object that the picture is 
 somewhat too minute, and that the contemplation of it detains 
 the traveller somewhat too long from the main purpose of his 
 pilgrimage, but which it would be an act of the greatest injus- 
 tice to break into fragments, and present by piecemeal. Not 
 so the magnificent scene which bursts upon the bewildered 
 hunter as he emerges at length from the dell, and commands 
 at one view the beautiful expanse of Loch Katrine." — Criti- 
 cal Review, August, 1820. 
 
 3 MS. : " From the high promontory gazed 
 
 The stranger, awe-struck and amazed." 
 
32 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto I. 
 
 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, 
 A sainted hermit from his cell, 
 To drop a bead with every knell — 
 And bugle, lute, and bell, and all, 
 Should each bewilder'd stranger call 
 To friendly feast and lighted hall. 1 
 
 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, 
 Some rustling oak my canopy. 2 
 Yet pass we that ; the war and chase 
 Give little choice of resting-place ; — 
 A summer night, in greenwood spent, 
 Were but to-morrow's merriment : 
 But hosts may in these wilds abound, 
 Such as are better missed than found ; 
 To meet with Highland plunderers here, 
 Were worse than loss of steed or deer. — 3 
 
 1 MS. : " To hospitable feast and hall." 
 
 2 MS. : " And hollow trunk of some old tree, 
 
 My chamber for the night must be." 
 
 3 The clans who inhabited the romantic regions in the 
 neighborhood of Loch Katrine, were, even until a late period, 
 
canto i.] THE CHASE. 33 
 
 I am alone ; — my bugle-strain 
 May call some straggler of the train 
 Or, fall the worst that may betide, 
 Ere now this falchion has been tried." 
 
 XVII. 
 
 But scarce again his horn he wound, 1 
 When lo ! forth starting at the sound, 
 From underneath an aged oak, 
 That slanted from the islet rock, 
 
 much addicted to predatory excursions upon their Lowland 
 neighbors. "In former times, those parts of this district, 
 which are situated beyond the Grampian range, were ren- 
 dered almost inaccessible by strong barriers of rocks, and 
 mountains, and lakes. It was a border country, and though 
 on the very verge of the low country, it was almost totally 
 sequestered from the world, and, as it were, insulated with 
 respect to society, 'Tis well known that in the Highlands it 
 was, in former times, accounted not only lawful, but honorable, 
 among hostile tribes, to commit depredations on one another-, 
 and these habits of the age were perhaps strengthened in this 
 district by the circumstances which have been mentioned. It 
 bordered on a country, the inhabitants of which, while they 
 were richer, were less warlike than they, and widely differ- 
 enced by language and manners." — Graham's Sketches 
 of Scenery in Perthshire, Edin. 1806, p. 97. The reader will 
 therefore be pleased to remember, that the scene of this poem 
 is laid in a time, — 
 
 " When tooming faulds or sweeping of a glen, 
 Had still been held the deed of gallant men." 
 
 1 MS. : " The bugle shrill again he wound, 
 
 And lo! forth starting at the sound." 
 
34 THE LAD Y OF THE LAKE, [canto i. 
 
 A damsel guider of its way, 
 
 A little skiff shot to the bay, 1 
 
 That round the promontory steep 
 
 Led its deep line in graceful sweep, 
 
 Eddying, in almost viewless wave, 
 
 The weeping willow twig to lave, 
 
 And kiss, with whispering sound and slow, 
 
 The beach of pebbles bright as snow. 
 
 The boat had touclvd this silver strand, 
 
 Just as the Hunter left his stand, 
 
 And stood conceal'd amid the brake, 
 
 To view this Lady of the Lake. 
 
 The maiden paused, as if again 
 
 She thought to catch the distant strain. 
 
 With head up-raised, and look intent, 
 
 And eye and ear attentive bent, 
 
 And locks flung back, and lips apart, 
 
 Like monument of Grecian art, 
 
 In listening mood, she seem'd to stand 
 
 The guardian Naiad of the strand. 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 And ne'er did Grecian chisel trace 2 
 A Nymph, a Naiad, or a Grace, 
 Of finer form, or lovelier face ! 
 
 i MS. : "A little skiff shot to the bay, 
 
 The Hunter left his airy stand, 
 And when the boat had touch'd the sand, 
 Conceal'd he stood amid the brake, 
 To view this Lady of the Lake." 
 
 2 MS. : " A finer form, a fairer face, 
 
 Had never marble Nymph or Grace, 
 That boasts the Grecian chisel's trace." 
 
canto i.] THE CHASE. 
 
 What though the sun with ardent frown, 
 Had slightly tinged her cheek with brown, - 
 The sportive toil, which, short and light, 
 Had dyed her glowing hue so bright, 
 Served too in hastier swell to show 
 Short glimpses of a breast of snow : 
 What though no rule of courtly grace 
 
 To measured mood had train'd her pace, 
 
 A foot more light, a step more true, 
 Ne'er from the heath-flower dash'd the dew : 
 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, 1 
 Those silver sounds, so soft, so clear, 
 The list'ner held his breath to hear ! 
 
 xrx. 
 
 A Chieftain's daughter seem'd the maid ; 
 Her satin snood, 2 her silken plaid, 
 Her golden brooch, such birth betray'd. 
 And seldom was a snood amid 
 Such wild luxuriant ringlets hid, 
 Whose glossy black to shame might brim 
 The plumage of the raven's wing ; 
 And seldom o'er a breast so fair, 
 Mantled a plaid with modest care, 
 And never brooch the folds combined 
 Above a heart more good and kind. 
 
 35 
 
 1 MS. : " The accents of a stranger tong_ 
 
 2 See Note post, on Canto III. stanza 5. 
 
 lie. 
 
36 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto i. 
 
 Her kindness and her worth to spy, 
 You need but gaze on Ellen's eye : 
 Not Katrine, in her mirror blue, 
 Gives back the shaggy banks more true, 
 Than every free-born glance confess'd 
 The guileless movements of her breast ; 
 Whether joy danced in her dark eye, 
 Or woe or pity clainVd a sigh, 
 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 unreveaPd, 
 With maiden pride the maid conceal'd, 
 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 : — 
 
 " Father ! " she cried ; the rocks around 
 
 Loved to prolong the gentle sound. 
 
 A while she paused, no answer came, 1 
 
 " Malcolm, was thine the blast? " the name 
 
 1 MS. : " A space she paused, no answer came, — 
 ' Alpine, was thine the blast ? ' the name 
 Less resolutely utter'd fell, 
 The echoes could not catch the swell. 
 • Nor foe nor friend,' the stranger said, 
 Advancing from the hazel shade. 
 Tke startled maid, with hasty oar, 
 Push'd her light shallop from the shore." 
 
canto I.] THE CHASE. 37 
 
 Less resolutely utter'd fell, 
 The echoes could not catch the swell. 
 " A stranger I," the Huntsman said, 
 Advancing from the hazel shade. 
 The maid, alarmed, with hasty oar 
 Pushed her light shallop from the shore, 
 And when a space was gained between, 
 Closer she drew her bosom's screen ; 
 ( So forth the startled swan would swing, 1 
 So turn to prune his ruffled wing), 
 Then safe, though flutter'd and amazed, 
 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 press'd its signet sage, 
 Yet had not quench'd the open truth 
 And fiery vehemence of youth ; 
 Forward and frolic glee was there, 
 The will to do, the soul to dare, 
 The sparkling glance, soon blown to fire, 
 Of hasty love, or headlong ire. 
 His limbs were cast in manly mould, 
 For hardy sports or contest bold ; 
 And though in peaceful garb array'd, 
 And weaponless, except his blade, 
 
 1 MS. : " So o'er the lake the swan would spring, 
 Then turn to prune its ruffled wing." 
 
38 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto I. 
 
 His stately mien as well implied 
 
 A high-born heart, a martial pride, 
 
 As if a Baron's crest he wore, 
 
 And sheathed in armor trode the shore, 
 
 Slighting the petty need he show'd 
 
 He told of his benighted road ; 
 
 His ready speech flowM fair and free, 
 
 In phrase of gentlest courtesy ; 
 
 Yet seem'd that tone, and gesture bland, 
 
 Less used to sue than to command. 
 
 XXII. 
 
 A while the maid the stranger eyed, 
 And, reassured, at length replied, 
 That Highland halls were open still 1 
 To wilder'd wanderers of the hill. 
 "Nor think you unexpected come 
 To yon lone isle, or desert home ; 
 Before the heath had lost the dew, 
 This morn, a couch was pulPd for you ; 
 On yonder mountain's purple head 
 Have ptarmigan and heath-cock bled, 
 And our broad nets have swept the mere, 
 To furnish forth your evening cheer." 
 " Now, by the rood, my lovely maid, 
 Your courtesy has err'd, 11 he said ; 
 " No right have I to claim, misplaced, 
 The welcome of expected guest. 
 A wanderer here by fortune tost, 
 My way, my friends, my courser lost, 
 
 1 MS. : " Her fathers' hall was open still." 
 
canto i.] THE CHASE. 39 
 
 I ne'er before, believe me, fair, 
 Have ever drawn your mountain air, 
 Till on this lake's romantic strand, 1 
 I found a fay in fairy land ! " 
 
 *' I well believe," the maid replied, 
 
 As her light skiff approached the side, — 
 
 " I well believe that ne'er before 
 
 Your foot has trod Loch Katrine's shore ; 
 
 But yet, as far as yesternight, 
 
 Old Allan-Bane foretold your plight, — 
 
 A gray-hair'd sire, whose eye intent 
 
 Was on the visioned future bent. 2 
 
 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, 
 
 That tassell*d horn so gayly gilt, 
 
 That falchion's crooked blade and hilt, 
 
 That cap with heron plumage trim, 
 
 And yon two hounds so dark and grim. 
 
 He bade that all should ready be, 
 
 To grace a guest of fair degree ; 
 
 But light I held his prophecy, 
 
 And deem'd it was my father's horn, 
 
 Whose echoes o'er the lake were borne." 
 
 1 MS. : " Till on the lake's enchanting strand." 
 
 2 MS. : " Is often on the future bent." 
 
 See Appendix, Note A. 
 
4° THE LAD Y OF THE LAKE, [canto i. 
 
 The stranger smiled ; " Since to your home 
 
 A destined errant-knight I come, 
 
 Announced by prophet sooth and old, 
 
 Doom'd, doubtless, for achievement bold, 
 
 I'll lightly front each high emprise, 
 
 For one kind glance of those bright eyes. 
 
 Permit me, first, the task to guide 
 
 Your fairy frigate o'er the tide." 
 
 The maid, with smile suppress'd and sly, 
 
 The toil unwonted saw him try ; 
 
 For seldom sure, if e'er before, 
 
 His noble hand had grasp'd an oar ; x 
 
 Yet with main strength his strokes he drew, 
 
 AndVer the lake the shallop flew ; 
 
 With heads erect, and whimpering cry, 
 
 The hounds behind their passage ply. 
 
 Nor frequent does the bright oar break 
 
 The dark'ning mirror of the lake, 
 
 Until the rocky isle they reach, 
 
 And moor their shallop on the beach. 
 
 XXV. 
 
 The stranger viewed the shore around ; 
 'Twas all so close with copsewood bound. 
 Nor track nor pathway might declare 
 That human foot frequented there, 
 Until the mountain-maiden show'd 
 A clambering unsuspected road, 
 
 1 MS. : " This gentle hand had grasped an oar ; 
 
 Yet with main strength the oars he drew. 
 
canto i.] THE CHASE. 4* 
 
 That winded through the tangled screen, 
 And operfd on a narrow green, 
 Where weeping birch and willow round 
 With their long fibres swept the ground. 
 Here, for retreat in dangerous hour, 
 Some chief had framed a rustic bower. 1 
 
 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. 
 
 1 The Celtic chieftains, whose lives were continually exposed 
 to peril, had usually in the most retired spot of their domains, 
 some place of retreat for the hour of necessity, which, as cir- 
 cumstances 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. 
 
 " It was situated in the face of a very rough, high, and 
 rocky mountain, called Letternilichk, still a part of Benalder, 
 full of great stones and crevices, and some scattered wood 
 interspersed. The habitation called the Cage, in the face of 
 that mountain, was within a small thick bush of wood. There 
 were first some rows of trees laid down, in order to level the 
 floor for a habitation ; and as the place was steep, this raised 
 the lower side to an equal height with the other; and these 
 trees, in the way of joists or planks, were levelled with earth 
 and gravel. There were betwixt the trees growing naturally 
 on their own roots, some stakes fixed in the earth, which, with 
 the trees, were interwoven with ropes, made of heath and birch 
 twigs, up to the top of the Cage, it being of a round or rather 
 oval shape ; and the whole thatched and covered over with 
 
42 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto i. 
 
 Lopp'd of their boughs, their hoar trunks bared, 
 
 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. 
 
 The lighter pine-trees, overhead, 
 
 Their slender length for rafters spread, 
 
 And wither'd heath and rushes dry 
 
 Supplied a russet canopy. 
 
 Due westward, fronting to the green, 
 
 A rural portico was seen, 
 
 Aloft on native pillars borne, 
 
 Of mountain fir with bark unshorn, 
 
 Where Ellen's hand had taught to twine 
 
 The ivy and Idasan vine, 
 
 The clematis, the favor'd flower 
 
 Which boasts the name of virgin-bower, 
 
 And every hardy plant could bear 
 
 Loch Katrine's keen and searching air. 
 
 An instant in this porch she stayed, 
 
 And gayly to the stranger said, 
 
 fog. The whole fabric hung, as it were, by a large tree, which 
 reclined from the one end, all along the roof, to the other, and 
 which gave it the name of the Cage ; and by chance there hap- 
 pened to be two stones at a small distance from one another, 
 in the side next the precipice, resembling the pillars of a 
 chimney, where the fire was placed. The smoke had its vent 
 out here, all along the fall of the rock, which was so much of 
 the same colour that one could discover no difference in the 
 clearest day." — HOME'S History of the Rebellioti. Lond., 
 1802, 4to, p. 381. 
 
canto I.] THE CHASE. 43 
 
 " 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." 
 
 He cross 'd the threshold — and a clang 
 
 Of angry steel that instant rang. 
 
 To his bold brow his spirit rush'd, 
 
 But soon for vain alarm he blush'd, 
 
 When on the floor he saw displayed, 
 
 Cause of the din, a naked blade 
 
 Dropp'd from the sheath, that careless flung 
 
 Upon a stag's huge antlers swung ; 
 
 For all around, the walls to grace, 
 
 Hung trophies of the fight or chase ; 
 
 A target there, a bugle here, 
 
 A battle-axe, a hunting spear, 
 
 And broadswords, bows, and arrows store, 
 
 With the tusk'd trophies of the boar. 
 
 Here grins the wolf as when he died, 1 
 
 And there the wild-cat's brindled hide 
 
 The frontlet of the elk adorns, 
 
 Or mantles o'er the bison's horns ; 
 
 Pennons and flags defaced and stain'd, 
 
 That blackening streaks of blood retain'd, 
 
 And deer-skins, dappled, dun, and white, 
 
 With otter's furs and seal's unite, 
 
 1 MS. : " Here grins the wolf as when he died, 
 
 There hung the wild-cat's brindled hide, 
 Above the elk's branch'd brow and skull, 
 And frontlet of the forest bull." 
 
44 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto I. 
 
 In rude and uncouth tapestry all, 
 To garnish forth the sylvan hall. 
 
 The wandering stranger round him gazed, 
 
 And next the fallen weapon raised : — 
 
 Few were the arms whose sinewy strength 
 
 Sufficed to stretch it forth at length. 
 
 And as the brand he poised and sway'd, 
 
 " I never knew but one," he said, 
 
 " Whose stalwart arm might brook to wield 
 
 A blade like this in battle-field." 
 
 She sigh'd, then smiled, and took the word ; 
 
 1 ' You see the guardian champion's sword ; 
 
 As light it trembles in his hand, 
 
 As in my grasp a hazel wand ; 
 
 My sire's tall form might grace the part 
 
 Of Ferragus, or Ascabart j 1 
 
 But in the absent giant's hold 
 
 Are women new, and menials old." 
 
 The mistress of the mansion came, 
 
 Mature of age, a graceful dame ; 
 
 Whose easy step and stately port 
 
 Had well become a princely court, 
 
 To whom, though more than kindred knew, 
 
 Young Ellen gave a mother's due. 2 
 
 1 See Appendix, Note B. 
 
 2 MS. : " To whom, though more remote her claim 
 
 Young Ellen gave a mother's name." 
 
canto i.] THE CHASE. 45 
 
 Meet welcome to her guest she made, 
 
 And every courteous rite was paid, 
 
 That hospitality could claim, 
 
 Though all unask'd his birth and name. 1 
 
 Such then the reverence of a guest, 
 
 That fellest foe might join the feast, 
 
 And from his deadliest foeman's door 
 
 Unquestiorfd turn, the banquet o'er. 
 
 At length his rank the stranger names, 
 
 "The Knight of Snowdoun, James Fitz-James ; 
 
 Lord of a barren heritage, 
 
 Which his brave sires, from age to age, 
 
 By their good swords had held with toil ; 
 
 His sire had fall'n in such turmoil, 
 
 And he, God wot, was forced to stand 
 
 Oft for his right with blade in hand. 
 
 This morning with Lord Moray's train 
 
 He chased a stalwart stag in vain. 
 
 Outstripp'd his comrades, miss'd the deer, 
 
 Lost his good steed, and wander'd here." 
 
 Fain would the Knight in turn require 
 The name and state of Ellen's sire. 
 
 1 The Highlanders, who carried hospitality to a punctilious 
 excess, are said to have considered it 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 circum- 
 stance, which might have excluded the guest from the benefit 
 of the assistance he stood in need of. 
 
46 ' THE LAD Y OF THE LAKE, [canto i. 
 
 Well show'd the elder lady's mien, 1 
 That courts and cities she had seen ; 
 Ellen, though more her looks display'd 2 
 The simple grace of sylvan maid, 
 In speech and gesture, form and face, 
 Show'd she was come of gentle race. 
 'Twere strange in ruder rank to find 
 Such looks, such manners, and such mind. 
 Each hint the Knight of Snowdoun gave, 
 Dame Margaret heard with silence grave ; 
 Or Ellen, innocently gay, 
 Turn'd all inquiry light away : — • 
 " 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 ; 
 While viewless minstrels touch the string, ' 
 'Tis thus our charmed rhymes we sing." 
 She sung, and still a harp unseen 
 FilPd up the symphony between. 3 
 
 1 MS.: "Well show'd the mother's easy mien." 
 - MS.: " Ellen, though more her looks betray d 
 The simple heart of mountain maid, 
 In speech and gesture, form and grace, 
 Show'd she was come of gentle race ; 
 'Twas strange, in birth so rude, to find 
 Such/ace, such manners, and such mind. 
 Each anxious hint the stranger gave, 
 The mother heard with silence grave." 
 3 " ' They [meaning the Highlanders] delight much in 
 musicke, but chiefly in harps and clairschoes of their own 
 fashion. The strings of the clairschoes are made of brass 
 
canto i.] THE CHASE. 4 7 
 
 XXXI. 
 
 SONG. 
 
 " Soldier, rest! thy warfare o'er, 
 
 Sleep the sleep that knows no breaking ; 
 Dream of battled fields no more, 
 
 Days of danger, nights of waking. 
 In our isle's enchanted hall, 
 
 Hands unseen thy couch are strewing, 
 Fairy strains of music fall, 
 
 Every sense in slumber dewing. 
 Soldier, rest ! thy warfare o'er, 
 Dream of fighting fields no more ; 
 Sleep the sleep that knows not breaking, 
 Morn of toil, nor night of waking. 
 
 wire, and the strings of the harps of sinews ; which strings 
 they strike either with their nayles, growing long, or else with 
 an instrument appointed for that use. They take pleasure to 
 decke their harps and clairschoes with silver and precious 
 stones ; the poor ones that cannot attayne hereunto, decke 
 them with christall. They sing verses prettily compound, 
 contayning (for the most part) prayses of valiant men. There 
 is not almost any other argument, whereof their rhymes 
 intre.it. They speak the ancient French language altered a 
 little.'* The harp and the clairschoes are now only heard 
 in the Highlands in ancient song. At what period these 
 instruments ceased to be used is not on record ; and tradi- 
 tion is silent on this head. But, as Irish harpers occasionally 
 visited the Highlands and Western Isles until lately, the harp 
 might have been extant so late as the middle of the present 
 century. Thus far we know, that from remote times down to 
 
 * / ~ide " Certayne Matters concerning the Realme of Scotland, 
 etc., as they were Anno Domini 1597. Lond., 1603," 4to. 
 
4$ THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto i. 
 
 " No rude sound shall reach thine ear, 1 
 
 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 
 
 At the daybreak from the fallow, 
 And the bittern sound his drum, 
 
 Booming from the sedgy shallow. 
 Ruder sounds shall none be near, 
 Guards nor warders challenge here, 
 Here's no war-steed's neigh and champing, 
 Shouting clans, or squadrons stamping." 
 
 the present, harpers were received as welcome guests, particu- 
 larly in the Highlands of Scotland ; and so late as the latter 
 end of the sixteenth century, as appears by the above quota- 
 tion, the harp was in common use among the natives of the 
 Western Isles. How it happened that the noisy and unhar- 
 monious bagpipe banished the soft and expressive harp we 
 cannot say ; but certain it is, that the bagpipe is now the only 
 instrument that obtains universally in the Highland districts." 
 — Campbell's Journey through North Britain. Lond., 
 1808, 4to, I. 175. 
 
 Mr. Gunn, of Edinburgh, has lately published a curious 
 Essay upon the Harp and Harp Music of the Highlands of 
 Scotland. That the instrument was once in common use 
 there is most certain. Cleland numbers an acquaintance with 
 it among the few accomplishments which his satire allows to 
 the Highlanders : — 
 
 " In nothing they're accounted sharp, 
 Except in bagpipe or in harp." 
 
 1 MS. : " Noon of hunger, night of waking. 
 
 No rude sound shall rouse thine ear." 
 
canto l] THE CHASE. 49 
 
 XXXII. 
 
 She paused — then, blushing, led the lay l 
 
 To grace the stranger of the day. 
 
 Her mellow notes awhile prolong 
 
 The cadence of the flowing song, 
 
 Till to her lips in measured frame 
 
 The minstrel verse spontaneous came. 
 
 SONG CONTINUED. 
 
 " Huntsman, rest! thy chase is done, 
 
 While our slumbrous spells assail ye, 2 
 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, 
 
 How thy gallant steed lay dying. 
 Huntsman, rest ; thy chase is done ; 
 Think not of the rising sun, 
 For at dawning to assail ye, 
 Here no bugles sound reveille." 
 
 XXXIII. 
 
 The hall was clear'd — the stranger's bed 
 Was there of mountain heather spread, 
 
 1 MS. : " She paused — but waked again the lay." 
 
 2 MS. : " Slumber sweet our spells shall deal ye, 
 
 Let our 
 
 , , „ f avail ye, 
 
 slumbrous spells \ , ., ' 
 
 ( beguile ye. 
 
50 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto i. 
 
 Where oft a hundred guests had lain, 
 
 And dream'd their forest sports again. 1 
 
 But vainly did the heath-flower shed 
 
 Its moorland fragrance round his head ; 
 
 Not Ellen's spell had lulPd to rest 
 
 The fever of his troubled breast. 
 
 In broken dreams the image rose 
 
 Of varied perils, pains, and woes : 
 
 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 
 
 Chase that worst phantom of the night ! — 
 
 Again return'd the scenes of youth, 
 
 Of confident undoubting truth ; 
 
 Again his soul he interchanged 
 
 With friends whose hearts were long estranged. 
 
 They come, in dim procession led, 
 
 The cold, the faithless, and the dead ; 
 
 As warm each hand, each brow as gay, 
 
 As if they parted yesterday. 
 
 And doubt distracts him at the view, — 
 
 O were his senses false or true ! 
 
 Dream'd he of death, or broken vow, 
 
 Or is it all a vision now! 2 
 
 1 MS. : " And dream'd their mountain chase again." 
 
 2 " Ye guardian spirits, to whom man is dear, 
 
 From these foul demons shield the midnight gloom : 
 Angels of fancy and of love, be near. 
 
 And o'er the blank of sleep diffuse a bloom. 
 Evoke the sacred shades of Greece and Rome, 
 
canto i.j THE CHASE. 51 
 
 XXXIV. 
 
 At length, with Ellen in a grove 
 
 He seem'd to walk, and speak of love ; 
 
 She listened with a blush and s.igh, 
 
 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, 
 
 Upon its head a helmet shone ; 
 
 Slowly enlarged to giant size, 
 
 With darkened cheek and threatening eyes, 
 
 The grisly visage, stern and hoar, 
 
 To Ellen still a likeness bore. — 
 
 He woke, and, panting with afright, 
 
 Recaird the vision of the night. 1 
 
 And let them virtue with a look impart; 
 But chief, awhile, O ! lend us from the tomb 
 
 Those long-lost friends for whom in love we smart, 
 And fill with pious awe and joy-mixt woe the heart. 
 
 " Or are you sportive ? — bid the morn of youth 
 Rise to new light, and beam afresh the days 
 Of innocence, simplicity and truth ; 
 
 To cares estranged, and manhood's thorny ways. 
 What transport to retrace our boyish plays, 
 
 Our easy bliss, when each thing joy supplied ; 
 The woods, the mountains, and the warbling maze 
 Of the wild brooks ! " — Castle of Indolence, Canto I, 
 1,1 Such a strange and romantic dream as may be natur- 
 ally expected to flow from the extraordinary events of the past 
 day. It might, perhaps, be quoted as one of Mr. Scott's most 
 successful efforts in descriptive poetry. Some few lines of it 
 are indeed unrivalled for delicacy and melancholy tenderness." 
 — Critical Review. 
 
THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto 
 
 The hearth's decaying brands were red, 
 
 And deep and dusky lustre shed, 
 
 Half showing, half concealing, all 
 
 The uncouth trophies of the hall. 
 
 Mid those the stranger fix'd his eye, 
 
 Where that huge falchion hung on high, 
 
 And thoughts on thoughts, a countless throng, 
 
 Rush'd, chasing countless thoughts along, 
 
 Until, the giddy whirl to cure, 
 
 He rose, and sought the moonshine pure. 
 
 xxxv. 
 
 The wild-rose, eglantine, and broom, 
 Wasted around their rich perfume : x 
 The birch-trees wept in fragrant balm, 
 The aspens slept beneath the calm ; 
 The silver light, with quivering glance, 
 Play'd on the waters still expanse, — 
 Wild were the heart whose passions' sway 
 Could rage beneath the sober ray! 
 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 exil'd race? 
 
 i a/tc . •< tdi^„.j „„ ( the bosom of the lake, 
 
 1 MS. : Play d on j Loch Katrine>s still expanse . 
 
 The birch, the wild-rose, and the broom, 
 Wasted around their rich perfume. . . . 
 The birch-trees wept in balmy due ; 
 The aspen slept on Benvenue ; 
 Wild were the heart whose passions' power 
 Defied the influence of the hour." 
 
canto i.] THE CHASE. 53 
 
 Can I not mountain maiden spy, 
 But she must bear the Douglas eye ? 
 Can I not view a Highland brand, 
 But it must match the Douglas hand ? 
 Can I not frame a fever'd dream, 
 But still the Douglas is the theme? 
 I'll dream no more — by manly mind 
 Not even in sleep is will resign'd. 
 My midnight orisons said o'er, 
 Til turn to rest, and dream no more."" 
 His midnight orisons he told, 
 A prayer with every bead of gold, 
 Consigned to heaven his cares and woes, 
 And sunk in undisturb'd repose ; 
 Until the heath-cock shrilly crew, 
 And morning dawn'd on Benvenue. 
 
CANTO SECOND. 
 &6c fertanto. 
 
 At morn the black-cock trims his jetty wing, 
 
 'Tis morning prompts the linnet's blithest lay, 
 All Nature's children feel the matin spring 
 
 Of life reviving, with reviving day ; 
 And while yon little bark glides down the bay, 
 
 Wafting the stranger on his way again, 
 Morn's genial influence roused a minstrel gray, 
 
 And sweetly o'er the lake was heard the strain, 
 Mix'd with the sounding harp, O white-hair'd Allan- 
 Bane! * 
 
 l That Highland chieftains, to a late period, retained in 
 their service the bard, as a family officer, admits of very easy 
 proof. The author of the Letters from the North of Scot- 
 land, an officer of engineers, quartered at Inverness about 
 1720, who certainly cannot be deemed a favorable witness, 
 gives the following account of the office, and of a bard whom 
 he heard exercise his talent of recitation : " The bard is 
 skilled in the genealogy of all the Highland families, some- 
 times preceptor to the young laird, celebrates in Irish verse 
 the original of the tribe, the famous warlike actions of the 
 successive heads, and sings his own lyricks as an opiate to 
 the chief, when indisposed for sleep ; but poets are not equally 
 54 
 
canto ii.] THE ISLAND. 55 
 
 ii. 
 
 SONG. 
 
 Not faster yonder rowers' might 
 Flings from their oars the spray, 
 
 Not faster yonder rippling bright 
 
 That tracks the shallop's course in light, 
 Melts in the lake away, 
 
 Than men from memory erase 
 
 The benefits of former days ; 
 
 Then, stranger, go! good speed the while, 
 
 Nor think again of the lonely isle. 
 
 esteemed and honored in all countries. I happened to be a 
 witness of the dishonor done to the muse r at the house of one 
 of the chiefs, where two of these bards were set at a good dis- 
 tance, at the lower end of a long table, with a parcel of High- 
 landers of no extraordinary appearance, over a cup of ale. 
 Poor inspiration ! They were not asked to drink a glass of 
 wine at our table, though the whole company consisted only 
 of the great man, one of his near relations, and myself. After 
 some little time, the chief ordered one of them to sing me a 
 Highland song. The bard readily obeyed, and with a hoarse 
 voice, and in a tune of few various notes, began, as I was 
 told, one of his own lyricks: and when he had proceeded to the 
 fourth or fifth stanza, I perceived, by the names of several per- 
 sons, glens, and mountains, which I had known or heard of 
 before, that it was an account of some clan battle. But in his 
 going on, the chief (who piques himself upon his school- 
 learning), at some particular passage, bid him cease, and 
 cried out, 'There's nothing like that in Virgil or Homer.' I 
 bowed and told him I believed so. This you may believe was 
 very edifying and delightful." — Letters, ii. 167. 
 
56 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto H. 
 
 " High place to thee in royal court, 
 
 High place in battle line, 
 Good hawk and hound for sylvan sport, 
 Where beauty sees the brave resort, 1 
 
 The honor'd meed be thine! 
 True be thy sword, thy friend sincere, 
 Thy lady constant, kind, and dear, 
 And lost in love and friendship's smile 
 Be memory of the lonely isle. 
 
 in. 
 
 SONG CONTINUED. 
 
 " But if beneath yon southern sky 
 
 A plaided stranger roam, 
 Whose drooping crest and stifled sigh, 
 And sunken cheek and heavy eye, 
 
 Pine for his Highland home ; 
 Then, warrior, then be thine to show 
 The care that soothes a wanderer's woe ; 
 Remember then thy hap ere while, 
 A stranger in the lonely isle. 
 
 " Or if on life's uncertain main 
 
 Mishap shall mar thy sail ; 
 If faithful, wise, and brave in vain, 
 Woe, want, and exile thou sustain 
 
 Beneath the fickle gale ; 
 Waste not a sigh on fortune changed, 
 On thankless courts, or friends estranged, 
 
 1 MS. : " At tourneys where the brave resort." 
 
Upon a rock with lichens wild, 
 Beside him Ellen sate and smiled. 
 
canto ii.] THE ISLAND. 5 7 
 
 But come where kindred worth shall smile, 
 To greet thee in the lonely isle." 
 
 As died the sounds upon the tide, 
 The shallop reach'd the mainland side, 
 And ere his onward way he took, 
 The stranger cast a lingering look, 
 Where easily his eye might reach 
 The harper on the islet beach, 
 Reclined against a blighted tree, 
 As wasted, gray, and worn as he. 
 To minstrel meditation given, 
 His reverend brow was raised to heaven, 
 As from the rising sun to claim 
 A sparkle of inspiring flame. 
 His hand reclined upon the wire, 
 Seem'd watching the awakening fire ; 
 So still he sate, as those who wait 
 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. 
 
 v. 
 Upon a rock with lichens wild, 
 Beside him Ellen sate and smiled, — 
 Smiled she to see the stately drake 
 Lead forth his fleet upon the lake, 
 While her vexed spaniel, from the beach. 
 
58 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto n. 
 
 Bay'd at the prize beyond his reach ? 
 Yet tell me, then, the maid who knows, 
 Why deepen^ on her cheek the rose? 
 Forgive, forgive, Fidelity! 
 Perchance the maiden smiled to see 
 Yon parting lingerer wave adieu, 
 And stop and turn to wave anew ; 
 And, lovely ladies, ere your ire 
 Condemn the heroine of my lyre, 
 Show me the fair would scorn to spy, 
 And prize such conquest of her eye ! 
 
 VI. 
 
 While yet he loiter'd on the spot, 
 It seem'd as Ellen mark'd him not ; 
 But when he turn'd him to the glade, 
 One courteous parting sign she made ; 
 And after, oft the knight would say, 
 That not when prize of festal day 
 Was dealt him by the brightest fair, 
 Who e'er wore jewel in her hair, 
 So highly did his bosom swell, I 
 As at that simple mute farewell. 
 Now with a trusty mountain-guide, 
 And his dark stag-hounds by his side, 
 He parts — the maid unconscious still, 
 Watch'd him wind slowly round the hill ; 
 But when his stately form was hid, 
 The guardian in her bosom chid — 
 " Thy Malcolm! vain and selfish maid!" 
 'Twas thus upbraiding conscience said, — 
 
canto ii.] THE ISLAND. 59 
 
 " Not so had Malcolm idly hung 
 
 On the smooth phrase of southern tongue ; 
 
 Not so had Malcolm strain'd his eye, 
 
 Another step than thine to spy. 1 
 
 Wake Allan-Bane, 11 aloud she cried, 
 
 To the old minstrel by her side, — 
 
 " Arouse thte from thy moody dream! 
 
 I'll give thy harp heroic theme, 
 
 And warm thee with a noble name ; 
 
 Pour forth the glory of ttye Gramme ! " 2 
 
 Scarce frcm her lips the word had rush'd, 
 
 When deep the conscious maiden blush'd : 
 
 For of his clan, in hall and bower, 
 
 Youns: Malcolm Graeme was held the flower. 
 
 1 MS. : " The loveliest Lowland fair to spy." 
 
 2 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 un- 
 daunted partaker of the labors and patriotic warfare of Wal- 
 lace, fell in the unfortunate field of Falkirk, in 1298. The 
 celebrated Marquis of Montrose, in whom De Retz saw real- 
 ized 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 op- 
 pressive mandates of the princes whom he served, I do not 
 hesitate to name as a third, John Graeme, of Claverhouse, 
 Viscount of Dundee, whose heroic death, in the arms of vic- 
 tory, may be allowed to cancel the memory of his cruelty to 
 the non-conformists, during the reigns of Charles II. and 
 James II. 
 
60 THE LAD Y OF THE LAKE, [canto II. 
 
 VII. 
 
 The minstrel waked his harp, — three times 
 
 Arose the well-known martial chimes, 
 
 And thrice their high heroic pride 
 
 In melancholy murmurs died. 
 
 " Vainly thou bid'st, O noble maid," 
 
 Clasping his wither'd hands, he said, 
 
 " Vainly thou bid'st me wake the strain, 
 
 Though all unwont to bid in vain. 
 
 Alas! than mine a mightier hand 
 
 Has tuned my harp, my strings has spann'd! 
 
 I touch the cords of joy, but low 
 
 And mournful answer notes of w6e ; 
 
 And the proud march, which victors tread, 
 
 Sinks in the wailing for the dead. 
 
 O well for me, if mine alone 
 
 That dirge's deep prophetic tone! 
 
 If, as my tuneful fathers said, 
 
 This harp, which erst Saint Modan sway'd, 1 
 
 1 I am not prepared to show that Saint Modan was a per- 
 former on the harp. It was, however, no unsaintly accom- 
 plishment : for Saint Dunstan certainly did play upon that 
 instrument, which, retaining, as was natural, a portion of the 
 sanctity attached to its master's character, announced future 
 events by its spontaneous sound. " But laboring once in these 
 mechanic arts for a devout matrone that had sett him on work, 
 his violl, that hung by him on the wall, of its own accord, with- 
 out anie man's helpe, distinctly sounded this anthime: Gaudent 
 in ccelis animce sanctorum qui Christi vestigia sunt secuti ; et 
 qui pro eius amove sanguinem suum fudevunt, ideo cum Christo 
 gaudent cetevnum. Whereat all the companie being much 
 astonished, turned their eyes from beholding him working, to 
 
canto II.] THE ISLAND. 61 
 
 Can thus its master's fate foretell, 
 Then welcome be the minstrel's knell! 
 
 VIII. 
 
 " But ah! dear lady, thus it sigh'd 
 
 The eve thy sainted mother died ; 
 
 And such the sounds which, while I strove 
 
 To wake a lay of war or love, 
 
 Came marring all the festal mirth, 
 
 Appalling me who gave them birth, 
 
 look on that strange accident. . . . Not long after, manie of 
 the court that hitherunto had borne a kind of fayned friendship 
 towards him, began now greatly to envie at his progresse and 
 rising in goodnes, using manie crooked, backbiting means to 
 diffame his vertues with the black markes of hypocrisie. And 
 the better to authorize their calumnie, they brought in this that 
 happened in the violl, affirming it to have been done by art 
 magick. What more ? this wicked rumour encreased dayly, till 
 the king and others of the nobilitie taking hould thereof, Dun- 
 stan grew odious in their sight. Therefore he resolued to 
 leaue the court, and goe to Elphegus, surnamed the Bauld, 
 then bishop of Winchester, who was his cozen. Which his 
 enemies understanding, they layd wayte for him in the way, and 
 hauing throwne him off his horse, beate him, and dragged him 
 in the durt in the most miserable manner, meaning to have 
 slaine him, had not a companie of mastiue dogges, that came 
 unlookt uppon them, defended and redeemed him from their 
 crueltie. When with sorrow he was ashamed to see dogges 
 more humane than they. And giuing thankes to Almightie 
 God, he sensibly againe perceaued that the tunes of his violl 
 had giuen him a warning of future accidents." — Flower of the 
 Lives of the most renowned Saincts of England, Scotland, and 
 Ireland, by the R. FATHER HlEROME PORTER. Doway, 1632, 
 4to. tome i. p. 438. 
 
62 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto n. 
 
 And, disobedient to my call, 
 
 WaiPd loud through Bothwell's banner'd hall, 
 
 Ere Douglasses, to ruin driven, 1 
 
 Were exiled from their native heaven. 
 
 Oh! if yet worse mishap and woe, 
 
 My master's house must undergo, 
 
 The same supernatural circumstance is alluded to by the 
 anonymous author of" Grim, the Collier of Croydon." 
 
 " {Dimstaiis harp sounds on the wall.") 
 
 " Forest. Hark, hark, my lords, the holy abbot's harp 
 
 Sounds by itself so hanging on the wall ! 
 " Duustan. Unhallow'd man, that scorn'st the sacred rede, 
 
 Hark, how the testimony of my truth 
 
 Sounds heavenly music with an angel's hand, 
 
 To testify Dunstan's integrity, 
 
 And prove thy active boast of no effect." 
 
 1 The downfall of the Douglasses of the house of Angus, 
 during the reign of James V., is the event alluded to in the 
 text. The Earl of Angus, it will be remembered, had married 
 the queen dowager, and availed himself of the right which he 
 thus acquired, as well as of his extensive power, to retain the 
 king in a sort of tutelage, which approached very near to 
 captivity. Several open attempts were made to rescue James 
 from this thraldom, with which he was well known to be 
 deeply disgusted ; but the valor of the Douglasses, and their 
 allies, gave them the victory in every conflict. At length the 
 king, while residing at Falkland, contrived to escape by night 
 out of his own court and palace, and rode full speed to Stir- 
 ling Castle, where the governor, who was of the opposite fac- 
 tion, joyfully received him. Being thus at liberty, James 
 speedily summoned around him such peers as he knew to 
 be most inimical to the domination of Angus, and laid his 
 complaint before them, says Pitscottie, " with great lamenta- 
 tions : showing to them how he was holden in subjection, 
 thir years bygone, by the Earl of Angus, and his kin and 
 friends, who oppressed the whole country, and spoiled it, 
 
canto ii.] THE ISLAND. 63 
 
 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, 
 Fraught with unutterable woe, 
 Then shiver'd shall thy fragments lie, 
 Thy master cast him down and die ! " 
 
 IX. 
 
 Soothing she answer'd him, "Assuage, 
 Mine honor'd friend, the fears of age ; 
 
 under the pretence of justice and his authority; and had 
 slain many of his lieges, kinsmen, and friends, because they 
 would have had it mended at their hands, and put him at 
 liberty, as he ought to have been at the counsel of his whole 
 lords, and not have been subjected and corrected with no 
 particular men, by the rest of his nobles : Therefore, said he, 
 I desire, my lords, that I may be satisfied of the said earl, his 
 kin, and friends; for I avow, that Scotland shall not hold us 
 both, while [i.e. till] I be revenged on him and his. 
 
 " The Lords hearing the king's complaint and lamentation, 
 and also the great rage, fury, and malice, that he bore toward 
 the Earl of Angus, his kin and friends, they concluded all, and 
 thought it best that he should be summoned to underlay the 
 law : if he found no caution, nor yet compear himself, that he 
 should be put to the horn, with all his kin and friends, so 
 many as were contained in the letters. And farther, the lords 
 ordained, by advice of his majesty, that his brother and 
 friends should be summoned to find caution to underlay the 
 law within a certain day, or else be put to the horn. But the 
 earl appeared not, nor none for him : and so he was put to 
 the horn, with all his kin and friends : so many as were con- 
 tained in the summons, that compeared not, were banished, 
 and holden traitors to the king." 
 
64 . THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto ii. 
 
 All melodies to thee are known, 
 
 That harp has rung or pipe has blown, 
 
 In Lowland vale or Highland glen, 
 
 From Tweed to Spey — what marvel, then, 
 
 At times, unbidden notes should rise, 
 
 Confusedly bound in memory's ties, 
 
 Entangling as they rush along, 
 
 The war-march with the funeral song? — 
 
 Small ground is now for boding fear ; 
 
 Obscure, but safe, we rest us here. 
 
 My sire, in native virtue great, 
 
 Resigning lordship, lands, and state, 
 
 Not then to fortune more resign'd, 
 
 Than yonder oak might give the wind ; 
 
 The graceful foliage storms may reave, 
 
 The noble stem they cannot grieve. 
 
 For me," — she stoop'd, and, looking round, 
 
 Pluck'd a blue hare-bell from the ground, — 
 
 " For me, whose memory scarce conveys 
 
 An image of more splendid days, 
 
 This little flower that loves the lea, 
 
 May well my simple emblem be ; 
 
 It drinks heaven's dew as blithe as rose 1 
 
 That in the king's own garden grows ; 
 
 And when I place it in my hair, 
 
 Allan, a bard is bound to swear 
 
 He ne'er saw coronet so fair." 
 
 Then playfully the chaplet wild 
 
 She wreath'd in her dark locks, and smiled. 
 
 1 MS. : " No blither dew-drop cheers the rose." 
 
canto ii.] THE ISLAND. 65 
 
 Her smile, her speech, with winning sway, 
 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 
 Thriird to a tear, then thus replied : 
 " 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 birth-right place, 
 To see my favorite's step advance, 1 
 The lightest in the courtly dance, 
 The cause of every gallant's sigh, 
 And leading star of every eye, 
 And theme of every minstrel's art, 
 The Lady of the Bleeding Heart! 1 ' 2 
 
 XI. 
 
 " Fair dreams are these,' 1 the maiden cried, 
 (Light was her accent, yet she sighed ;) 
 " Yet is this mossy rock to me 
 Worth splendid chair and canopy ; 3 
 Nor would my footsteps spring more gay 
 In courtly dance than blithe strathspey, 
 Nor half so pleased mine ear incline 
 To royal minstrel's lay as thine. 
 
 1 This couplet is not in the MS. 
 
 2 The well-known cognizance of the Douglas family. 
 8 MS. : " This mossy rock, my friend, to me 
 
 Is worth gay chair and canopy." 
 
66 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto II. 
 
 And then for suitors proud and high, 
 To bend before my conquering eye, — 
 Thou, flattering bard! thyself wilt say, 
 That grim Sir Roderick owns its sway. 
 The Saxon scourge, Clan-Alpine's pride, 
 The terror of Loch Lomond's side, 
 Would, at my suit, thou know'st, delay 
 A Lennox foray — for a day." 
 
 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! 
 In Holy-Rood a knight he slew ; l 
 I saw, when back the dirk he drew, 
 . Courtiers give place before the stride 
 Of the undaunted homicide ; 2 
 And since, though outlaw'd, hath his hand, 
 Full sternly kept his mountain land. 
 Who else dare give — ah! woe the day, 3 
 That I such hated truth should say — 
 The Douglas, like a stricken deer, 
 Disown'd by every noble peer, 4 
 Even the rude refuge we have here? 
 
 1 See Appendix, Note C. 
 
 2 MS. : " Courtiers gave place with heartless stride 
 
 Of the retiring homicide." 
 
 3 MS. : " Who else dared own the kindred claim 
 
 That bound him to thy mother's name ? 
 Who else dared give," etc. 
 
 4 The exiled state of this powerful race is not exaggerated 
 in this and subsequent passages. The hatred of James 
 
canto ii.] THE ISLAND. 67 
 
 Alas, this wild marauding Chief 
 
 Alone might hazard our relief, 
 
 And now thy maiden charms expand, 
 
 Looks for his guerdon in thy hand ; 
 
 Full soon may dispensation sought, 
 
 To back his suit from Rome be brought. 
 
 Then, though an exile on the hill, 
 
 Thy father, as the Douglas, still 
 
 Be held in reverence and fear ; 
 
 And though to Roderick thou'rt so dear, 
 
 That thou mightst guide with silken thread, 
 
 Slave of thy will, this chieftain dread ; 
 
 Yet, O loved maid, thy mirth refrain! 
 
 Thy hand is on a lion's mane.'' 1 — 
 
 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 Doug- 
 las, son of the banished Earl of Angus, afterwards well known 
 by the title of Earl of Morton, lurked, during the exile of his 
 family, in the north of Scotland, under the assumed name 
 of James Innes, otherwise James the Grieve {i.e., Reve or 
 Bailiff). " And as he bore the name," says Godscroft, " so did 
 he also execute the office of a grieve or overseer of the lands 
 and rents, the corn and cattle of him with whom he lived." 
 From the habits of frugality and observation which he acquired 
 in his humble situation, the historian traces that intimate 
 acquaintance with popular character, which enabled him to 
 rise so high in the state, and that honorable economy by 
 which he repaired and established the shattered estates of 
 Angus and Morton. — History 0/ the House 0/ Douglas, Edin- 
 burgh, 1743, vol. ii. p. 160. 
 
68 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto II. 
 
 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, 
 Since first an orphan in the wild 
 She sorrow'd o'er her sister's child ; 
 To her brave chieftain son, from ire 
 Of Scotland's king who shrouds my sire, 
 A deeper, holier debt is owed ; 
 And, could I pay it with my blood, 
 Allan! Sir Roderick should command 
 My blood, my life, — but not my hand. 
 Rather will Ellen Douglas dwell 
 A votaress in Maronnan's cell ; 1 
 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, 
 Than wed the man she cannot love. 2 
 
 1 The parish of Kilmaronock, at the eastern extremity of 
 Loch-Lomond, derives its name from a cell or chapel, dedi- 
 cated to Saint Maronoch, or Marnoch, or Maronnan, about 
 whose sanctity very little is now remembered. There is a 
 fountain devoted to him in the same parish ; but its virtues, 
 like the merits of its patron, have fallen into oblivion. 
 
 2 " Ellen is most exquisitely drawn, and could not have 
 been improved by contrast. She is beautiful, frank, affec- 
 tionate, rational, and playful, combining the innocence of a 
 child with the elevated sentiments and courage of a heroine." 
 — Quarterly Review. 
 
canto ii.] THE ISLAND. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 69 
 
 « Thou shakest, 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 ; 
 
 And generous— save vindictive mood, 
 
 Or jealous transport, chafe his blood : 
 
 I grant him true to friendly band, 
 
 As his claymore is to his hand ; 
 
 But O: that very blade of steel 
 
 More mercy for a foe would feel : 
 
 I grant him liberal, to fling 
 
 Among his clan the wealth they bring, 
 
 When back by lake and glen they wind, 
 
 And in the Lowland leave behind, 
 
 Where once some pleasant hamlet stood, 
 
 A mass of ashes slaked with blood. 
 
 The hand that for my father fought, 
 
 I honor as his daughter ought ; 
 
 But can I clasp it reeking red, 
 
 From peasants slaughter^ in their shed? 
 
 No ! wildly while his virtues gleam, 
 
 They make his passions darker seem, 
 
 1 This is a beautiful cascade made by a mountain stream 
 called the Keltie, at a place called the Bridge of Brackl.nn, 
 about a mile from the village of Callendar in Menteith. 
 Above a chasm, where the brook precipitates itself from a 
 height of at least fifty feet, there is thrown, for the convenience 
 of The neighborhood, a rustic footbridge, of about three feet 
 in breadth, and without ledges, which is scarcely to be crossed 
 by a stranger without awe and apprehension. 
 
70 THE LAD Y OF THE LAKE, [canto II. 
 
 And flash along his spirit high, 
 
 Like lightning o'er the midnight sky. 
 
 While yet a child, — and children know, 
 
 Instinctive taught, the friend and foe, — 
 
 I shudder'd at his brow of gloom, 
 
 His shadowy plaid, and sable plume! 
 
 A maiden grow.i, I ill could bear 
 
 His haughty mien and lordly air ; 
 
 But, if thou join'st a suitor's claim, 
 
 In serious mood, to Roderick's name, 
 
 I thrill with anguish ! or, if e'er 
 
 A Douglas knew the word, with fear. 
 
 To change such odious theme were best, — 
 
 What think'st thou of our stranger guest ? " 
 
 xv. 
 " What think I of him? — woe the while 
 That brought such wanderer to our isle! 
 Thy father's battle-brand, of yore 
 For Tine-man forged by fairy lore, 1 
 
 1 Archibald, the third Earl of Douglas, was so unfortunate 
 in all his enterprises, that he acquired the epithet of TlNE- 
 MAN, because he fined, or lost, his followers in every battle 
 which he fought. He was vanquished, as every reader must 
 remember, in the bloody battle of Homildon-hill, near Wooler, 
 where he himself lost an eye, and was made prisoner by 
 Hotspur. He was no less unfortunate when allied with Percy, 
 being wounded and taken at the battle of Shrewsbury. He 
 was so unsuccessful in an attempt to besiege Roxburgh 
 Castle, that it was called the Foul Raid, or disgraceful expedi- 
 tion. His ill fortune left him indeed at the battle of Beauge, 
 in France; but it was only to return with double emphasis at 
 the subsequent action of Vernoil, the last and most unlucky 
 
canto ii.] THE ISLAND. 7 1 
 
 What time he leagued, no longer foes, 
 
 His Border spears with Hotspur's bows, 
 
 Did, self-unscabbarded, foreshow 
 
 The footstep of a secret foe. 1 
 
 If courtly spy hath harbor 1 d here, 
 
 What may we for the Douglas fear? 
 
 What for this island, deerrfd of old 
 
 Clan-Alpine's last and surest hold? 
 
 If neither spy nor foe, I pray 
 
 What yet may jealous Roderick say? 
 
 — Nay, wave not thy disdainful head, 
 
 Bethink thee of the discord dread 
 
 That kindled, when at Beltane game 
 
 Thou ledst the dance with Malcolm Graeme ; 
 
 Still, though thy sire the peace renewed, 
 
 Smoulders in Roderick's breast the feud ; 
 
 Beware! — But hark, what sounds are these? 2 
 
 My dull ears catch no faltering breeze, 
 
 No weeping birch, nor aspens wake, 
 
 Nor breath is dimpling in the lake, 
 
 Still is the canna's 3 hoary beard, — 
 
 Yet, by my minstrel faith, I heard — 
 
 And hark again! some pipe of war 
 
 Sends the bold pibroch from afar. 1 ' 
 
 of his encounters, in which he fell, with the flower of the 
 Scottish chivalry, then serving as auxiliaries in France, and 
 about two thousand common soldiers, A.D. 1424. 
 
 1 See Appendix, Xote D. 
 
 2 " The moving picture — the effect of the sounds — and 
 the wild character and strong peculiar nationality of the whole 
 procession, are given with inimitable spirit and power of ex- 
 pression." — Jeffrey. 
 
 3 Cotton-grass. 
 
72 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto ii. 
 
 xvi. 
 Far up the lengthened lake were spied 
 Four darkening specks upon the tide, 
 That, slow enlarging on the view, 
 Four mann'd and masted barges grew, 
 And, bearing downwards from Glengyle, 
 Steer'd full upon the lonely isle ; 
 The point of Brianchoil they pass'd, 
 And, to the windward as they cast, 
 Against the sun they gave to shine 
 The bold Sir Roderick's banner'd Pine. 
 Nearer and nearer as they bear, 
 Spears, pikes, and axes flash in air. 
 Now might you see the tartans brave, 
 And plaids and plumage dance and wave : 
 Now see the bonnets sink and rise, 
 As his tough oar the rower plies ; 
 See, flashing at each sturdy stroke, 
 The wave ascending into smoke ; 
 See the proud pipers on the bow, 
 And mark the gaudy streamers flow 
 From their loud chanters x down, and sweep 
 The furrow'd bosom of the deep, 
 'As, rushing through the lake amain, 
 They plied the ancient Highland strain. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 Ever, as on they bore, more loud 
 And louder rung the pibroch proud. 
 
 1 The pipes of the bagpipe. 
 
canto ii.] THE ISLAND. 73 
 
 At first the sounds, by distance tame, 
 
 Mellow'd along the, waters came, 
 
 And, lingering long by cape and bay, 
 
 Wail'd every harsher note away ; 
 
 Then, bursting bolder on the ear, 
 
 The clan's shrill Gathering they could hear ; 
 
 Those thrilling sounds, that call the might 
 
 Of old Clan-Alpine to the fight. 1 
 
 Thick beat the rapid notes, as when 
 
 The mustering hundreds shake the glen, 
 
 And hurrying at the signal dread, 
 
 The batter' d earth returns their tread. 
 
 Then prelude light, of livelier tone, 
 
 ExpressYl their merry marching on, 
 
 Ere peal of closing battle rose, 
 
 With mingled outcry, shrieks, and blows ; 
 
 A mimic din of stroke and ward, 
 
 As broadsword upon target jarr'd ; 
 
 And groaning pause, ere yet again, 
 
 Condensed, the battle yell'd amain ; 
 
 1 The connoisseurs in pipe-music affect to discover in a 
 well-composed pibroch, the imitative sounds of march, con- 
 flict, fight, pursuit, and all the " current of a heady fight." To 
 this opinion Dr. Beattie has given his suffrage, in the follow- 
 ing elegant passage : " A pibroch is a species of tune, peculiar, 
 I think, to the Highlands and Western Isles of Scotland. 
 It is performed on a bagpipe, and differs totally from all other 
 music. Its rhythm is so irregular, and its notes, especially in 
 the quick movement, so mixed and huddled together that a 
 stranger finds it impossible to reconcile his ear to it, so as to per- 
 ceive its modulation. Some of these pibrochs, being intended 
 to represent a battle, begin with a grave motion resembling a 
 
74 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto ii. 
 
 The rapid charge, the rallying shout, 
 Retreat borne headlong into rout, 
 And bursts of triumph, to declare 
 Clan-Alpine's conquest — all were there. 
 Nor ended thus the strain ; but slow 
 Sunk in a moan prolong'd and low, 
 And changed the conquering clarion swell, 
 For wild lament o'er those that fell. 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 The war-pipes ceased ; but lake and hill 
 Were busy with their echoes still ; 
 And when they slept, a vocal strain 
 Bade their hoarse chorus wake again, 
 While loud a hundred clansmen raise 
 Their voices in their Chieftain's praise. 
 Each boatman, bending to his oar, 
 With measured sweep the burden bore, 
 In such wild cadence, as the breeze 
 Makes through December's leafless trees. 
 The chorus first could Allan know, 
 " Roderick Vich Alpine, ho ! iro ! " 
 And near, and nearer as they row'd, 
 Distinct the martial ditty flow'd. 
 
 march ; then gradually quicken into the onset ; run off with 
 noisy confusion, and turbulent rapidity, to imitate the con- 
 flict and pursuit ; then swell into a few flourishes of trium- 
 phant joy ; and perhaps close with the wild and low wailings of 
 a funeral procession." — Essays on Laughter and Ludicrous 
 Composition, chap. iii. Note. 
 
canto II.] THE ISLAXD. 75 
 
 XIX. 
 
 BOAT SONG. 
 
 Hail to the Chief who in triumph advances ! 
 
 Honor'd and bless'd be the ever-green Pine ! 
 Long may the tree, in his banner that glances, 
 Flourish, the shelter and grace of our line ! 
 
 Heaven send it happy dew, 
 
 Earth lend it sap anew, 
 Gayly to bourgeon, and broadly to grow, 
 
 While every Highland glen 
 
 Send our shout back agen, 
 " Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho ! ieroe ! " l 
 
 Ours is no sapling, chance-sown by the fountain, 
 Blooming at Beltane, in winter to fade ; 
 
 When the whirlwind has stripp'd every leaf on the 
 mountain, 
 The more shall Clan-Alpine exult in her shade. 
 
 1 Besides his ordinary name and surname, which were 
 chiefly used in the intercourse with the Lowlands, every High- 
 land chief had an epithet expressive of his patriarchal dignity 
 as head of the clan, and which was common to all his pred- 
 ecessors 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. Thus the Duke of Argyle is called MacCallum More, 
 or the son of Colin the Great. Sometimes, however, it is 
 derived from armorial distinctions, or the memory of some 
 great feat; thus Lord Seaforth, as chief of the Mackenzies, or 
 Clan-Kenneth, bears the epithet of Caber-fae, or Buck's Head, 
 as representative of Colin Fitzgerald, founder of the family, 
 who saved the Scottish king when endangered by a stag. But 
 
76 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto ii. 
 
 Moor'd in the rifted rock, 
 
 Proof to the tempest's shock, 
 Firmer he roots him the ruder it blow ; 
 
 Menteith and Breadalbane, then, 
 
 Echo his praise again, 
 11 Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho ! ieroe !" 
 
 xx. 
 
 Proudly our pibroch has thrilPd in Glen Fruin, 
 
 And Bannochar's groans to our slogan replied ; 
 Glen Luss and Ross-dhu, they are smoking in ruin, 
 And the best of Loch Lomond lie dead on her side. 1 
 Widow and Saxon maid 
 Long shall lament our raid, 
 Think of Clan-Alpine with fear and with woe ; 
 Lennox and Leven-glen 
 Shake when they hear again, 
 " Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho ! ieroe ! " 
 besides this title, which belonged to his office and dignity, the 
 chieftain had usually another peculiar to himself, which dis- 
 tinguished him from the chieftains of the same race. This 
 was sometimes derived from complexion, as dhu or roy ; some- 
 times from size, as beg or more ; at other times, from some 
 peculiar exploit, or from some peculiarity of habit or appear- 
 ance. The line of the text therefore signifies, 
 
 Black Roderick, the descendant of Alpine. 
 The song itself is intended as an imitation of the j'orrams, 
 or boat-songs of the Highlanders, which were usually com- 
 posed in honor of a favorite chief. They are so adapted as 
 to keep time with the sweep of the oars, and it is easy to dis- 
 tinguish between those intended to be sung to the oars of a 
 galley, where the stroke is lengthened and doubled, as it were, 
 and those which were timed to the rowers of an ordinary boat. 
 1 See Appendix, Note E. 
 
canto ii.] THE ISLAND. 77 
 
 Row, vassals, row for the pride of the Highlands ! 
 
 Stretch to your oars, for the ever-green Pine ! 
 O! that the rose-bud that graces yon islands, 
 Were wreathed in a garland around him to twine. 
 
 O, that some seedling gem, 
 
 Worthy such noble stem, 
 Honor'd and blessed in their shadow might grow ! 
 
 Loud should Clan-Alpine then 
 
 Ring from her deepest glen, 
 " Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho! ieroe!" x 
 
 XXI. 
 
 With all her joyful female band, 
 
 Had Lady Margaret sought the strand. 
 
 Loose on the breeze their tresses flew, 
 
 And high their snowy arms they threw, 
 
 As echoing back with shrill acclaim, 
 
 And chorus wild, the Chieftain's name ; 2 
 
 While, prompt to please, with mother's art, 
 
 The darling passion of his heart, 
 
 The Dame called Ellen to the strand 
 
 To greet her kinsman ere he land : 
 
 " Come, loiterer, come! a Douglas thou, 
 
 And shun to wreathe a victor's brow ? " — 
 
 Reluctantly and slow, the maid 
 
 The unwelcome summoning obeyed, 
 
 1 " However we may dislike the geographical song and 
 chorus, half English and half Erse, which is sung in praise of 
 the warrior, we must allow that, in other respects, the hero of 
 a poem has seldom, if ever, been introduced with finer effect, 
 or in a manner better calculated to excite the expectations of 
 the reader, than on the present occasion." — Critical Review. 
 
 2 MS. : " The chorus to the chieftain's fame!' 
 
78 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, 
 
 I hear my father's signal blast. 
 
 Be ours," she cried, " the skiff to guide, 
 
 And waft him from the mountain-side." 
 
 Then, like a sunbeam, swift and bright, 
 
 She darted to her shallop light, 
 
 And, eagerly while Roderick scann'd, 
 
 For her dear form, his mother's band, 
 
 The islet far behind her lay, 
 
 And she had landed in the bay. 
 
 XXII. 
 
 Some feelings are to mortals given, 
 With less of earth in them than heaven : 
 And if there be a human tear 
 From passion's dross refined and clear, 
 A tear so limpid and so meek, 
 It would not stain an angel's cheek, 
 'Tis that which pious fathers shed 
 Upon a duteous daughter's head! 
 And as the Douglas to his breast 
 His darling Ellen closely press'd, 
 Such holy drops her tresses steep'd, 
 Though 'twas an hero's eye that weep'd. 
 Nor while on Ellen's faltering tongue x 
 Her filial welcomes crowded hung, 
 
 1 MS. : " Nor while on Ellen's faltering tongue 
 Her filial greetings eager hung, 
 Mark'd not that awe (affection's proof) 
 Still held yon gentle youth aloof; 
 
canto ii.] THE ISLAND. 79 
 
 Mark'd she, that fear (affection's proof) 
 Still held a graceful youth aloof ; 
 No! not till Douglas named his name, 
 Although the youth was Malcolm Graeme. 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 Allan, with wistful look the while, 
 
 Mark'd Roderick landing on the isle ; 
 
 His master piteously he eyed, 
 
 Then gazed upon the Chieftain's pride, 
 
 Then dasb/d, with hasty hand, away 
 
 From his dimm'd eye the gathering spray ; 
 
 And Douglas, as his hand he laid 
 
 On Malcolm's shoulder, kindly said, 
 
 " Canst thou, young friend, no meaning spy 
 
 In my poor follower's glistening eye? 
 
 I'll tell thee : he recalls the day, 
 
 When in my praise he led the lay 
 
 O'er the arch'd gate of Bothwell proud, 
 
 While many a minstrel answer'd loud, 
 
 When Percy's Norman pennon won 
 
 In bloody field before me shone, 
 
 And twice ten knights, the least a name 
 
 As mighty as yon Chief may claim, 
 
 Gracing my pomp, behind me came. 
 
 Yet trust me, Malcolm, not so proud 
 
 Was I of all that marshaird crowd, 
 
 No ! not till Douglas named his name, 
 Although the youth was Malcolm Graeme, 
 Then with flushed cheek and downcast eye, 
 Their greeting was confused and shy." 
 
80 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto n. 
 
 Though the waned crescent own'd my might, 
 And in my train troop'd lord and knight, 
 Though Blantyre hymn 1 d her holiest lays 
 And Bothwell's bards flung back my praise 
 As when this old man's silent tear, 
 And this poor maid's affection dear, 
 A welcome give more kind and true, 
 Than aught my better fortunes knew. 
 Forgive, my friend, a father's boast, — 
 O, it out-beggars all I lost ! " 
 
 xxiv. 
 Delightful praise! — Like surnmer rose 
 That brighter in the dew-drop glows, 
 The bashful maiden's cheek appear'd, 
 For Douglas spoke, and Malcolm heard. 
 The flush of shame-faced joy to hide, 
 The hounds, the hawk, her cares divide ; 
 The loved caresses of the maid 
 The dogs with crouch and whimper paid ; x 
 And, at her whistle, on her hand 
 The falcon took his favorite stand, 
 Closed his dark wing, relax'd his eye, 
 Nor, though unhooded, sought to fly. 
 And, trust, while in such guise she stood, 
 Like fabled Goddess of the wood, 2 
 That if a father's partial thought 
 O'erweigh'd her worth and beauty aught, 
 Well might the lover's judgment fail 
 To balance with a juster scale ; 
 
 1 MS. : " The dogs with whimpering notes repaid." 
 
 2 MS. : " Like fabled huntress of the wood." 
 
canto II.] THE ISLAND. 81 
 
 For with each secret glance he stole, 
 
 The fond enthusiast sent his soul. 
 
 Of stature tall, and slender frame, 
 
 But firmly knit, was Malcolm Graeme. 
 
 The belted plaid and tartan hose 
 
 Did ne'er more graceful limbs disclose ; 
 
 His flaxen hair of sunny hue, 
 
 Curl'd closely round his bonnet blue. 
 
 Train'd to the chase, his eagle eye 
 
 The ptarmigan in snow could spy ; 
 
 Each pass, by mountain, lake, and heath, 
 
 He knew, through Lennox and Menteith ; 
 
 Vain was the bound of dark-brown doe, 
 
 When Malcolm bent his sounding bow, 
 
 And scarce that doe, though wing'd with fear, 
 
 Outstripp'd in speed the mountaineer : 
 
 Right up Ben Lomond could he press, 
 
 And not a sob his toil confess. 
 
 His form accorded with a mind 
 
 Lively and ardent, frank and kind ; 
 
 A blither heart till Ellen came, 
 
 Did never love or sorrow tame ; 
 
 It danced as lightsome in his breast, 
 
 As play'd the feather on his crest. 
 
 Yet friends who nearest knew the youth, 
 
 His scorn of wrong, his zeal for truth, 
 
 And bards, who saw his features bold 
 
 When kindled by the tales of old, 
 
 Said, were that youth to manhood grown 
 
 Not long should Roderick Dhu's renown 
 
82 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto n. 
 
 Be foremost voiced by mountain fame, 
 But quail to that of Malcolm Gramme. 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 Now back they wend their watery way, 
 And, " O my sire ! " did Ellen say, 
 " Why urge thy chase so far astray? 
 And why so late return'd? And why 1 ' — 
 The rest was in her speaking eye. 
 " My child, the chase I follow far, 
 'Tis mimicry of noble war ; 
 And with that gallant pastime reft 
 Were all of Douglas I have left. 
 I met young Malcolm as I stray'd, 
 Far eastward, in Glenfinlas 1 shade. 
 Nor stray'd I safe ; for, all around, 
 Hunters and horsemen scour'd the ground. 
 This youth, though still a royal ward, 
 Risk'd life and land to be my guard, 
 And through the passes of the wood 
 Guided my steps, not unpursued ; 
 And Roderick shall his welcome make, 
 Despite old spleen, for Douglas 1 sake. 
 Then must he seek Strath-Endrick glen, 
 Nor peril aught for me again." 
 
 XXVII. 
 
 Sir Roderick, who to meet them came, 
 Redden'd at sight of Malcolm Graeme, 
 Yet, not in action, word, or eye, 
 FaiPd aught in hospitality. 
 
canto ii.] THE ISLAND. 8 3 
 
 In talk and sport they whiled away 
 The morning of that summer day ; 
 But at high-noon a courier light 
 Held secret parley with the knight, 
 Whose moody aspect soon declared 
 That evil were the news he heard. 
 Deep thought seenfd toiling in his head ; 
 Yet was the evening banquet made, 
 Ere he assembled round the flame, 
 His mother, Douglas, and the Graeme, 
 And Ellen, too ; then cast around 
 His eyes, then fixed them on the ground, 
 As studying phrase that might avail 
 Best to convey unpleasant tale. 
 Long with his dagger's hilt he play'd, 
 Then raised his haughty brow, and said : 
 
 XXVIII. 
 
 " Short be my speech ; — nor time affords, 
 Nor my plain temper, glozing words. 
 Kinsman and father, — if such name 
 Douglas vouchsafe to Roderick's claim ; 
 Mine honor'd mother ; — Ellen, — why, 
 My cousin, turn away thine eye? — 
 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 
 Boasts to have tamed the Border-side. 1 
 
 i In 1529, James V. made a convention at Edinburgh for 
 the purpose of considering the best mode of quelling the 
 
84 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto n. 
 
 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, 
 And wide their loyal portals flung, 
 O'er their own gateway struggling hung. 
 Loud cries their blood from Meggafs mead, 
 From Yarrow braes, and banks of Tweed, 
 Where the lone streams of Ettrick glide, 
 And from the silver Teviofs side ; 
 
 Border robbers, who, during the license of his minority, 
 and the troubles which followed, had committed many exor- 
 bitances. Accordingly, he assembled a flying army of ten 
 thousand men, consisting of his principal nobility and their 
 followers, who were directed to bring their hawks and dogs 
 with them, that the monarch might refresh himself with sport 
 during the intervals of military execution. With this array 
 he swept through Ettrick Forest, where he hanged over the 
 gate of his own castle Piers Cockburn of Henderland, who 
 had prepared, according to tradition, a feast for his reception. 
 He caused Adam Scott of Tushielaw also to be executed, 
 who was distinguished by the title of King of the Border. 
 But the most noted victim of justice during that expedition 
 was John Armstrong of Gilnockie* famous in Scottish song, 
 who, confiding in his own supposed innocence, met the King, 
 with a retinue of thirty-six persons, all of whom were hanged 
 at Carlenrig, near the source of the Teviot. The effect of 
 this severity was such, that, as the vulgar expressed it, " the 
 rush-bush kept the cow," and, " thereafter was great peace and 
 rest for a long time, wherethrough the King had great profit ; 
 for he had ten thousand sheep going in the Ettrick Forest in 
 keeping by Andrew Bell, who made the King as good count 
 of them as they had gone in the bounds of Fife." — PlTS- 
 COTTIE'S History, p. 153. 
 
 * See Border Minstrelsy, vol. i. p. 392. 
 
canto ii.] THE ISLAND. 85 
 
 The dales, where martial clans did ride, 1 
 
 Are now one sheep-walk, waste and wide. 
 
 This tyrant of the Scottish throne, 
 
 So faithless, and so ruthless known, 
 
 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 1 green, 
 
 Douglas, thy stately form was seen. 
 
 This by espial sure I know : 
 
 Your counsel in the streight I show." 1 
 
 XXIX. 
 
 Ellen and Margaret fearfully 
 Sought comfort in each other's eye, 
 Then turn'd their ghastly look, each one, 
 This to her sire, that to her son. 
 
 1 MS. : " The dales where clans were wont to bide." 
 
 2 James was, in fact, equally attentive to restrain rapine and 
 feudal oppression in every part of his dominions. " The King 
 past to the Isles, and there held justice courts, and punished 
 both thief and traitor according to their demerit. And also 
 he caused great men to show their holdings, wherethrough he 
 found many of the said lands in non-entry ; the which he con- 
 fiscate and brought home to his own use, and afterward an- 
 nexed them to the crown, as ye shall hear. Syne brought 
 many of the great men of the isles captive with him, such as 
 Mudyart, M'Connel, M'Loyd of the Lewes, M'Neil, M'Lane, 
 M'Intosh, John Mudyart, M'Kay, M'Kenzie, with many other 
 that I cannot rehearse at this time. Some of them he put in 
 ward and some in court, and some he took pledges for good 
 rule in time coming. So he brought the isles, both north and 
 south, in good rule and peace ; wherefore he had great profit, 
 
86 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto II. 
 
 The hasty color went and came 
 
 In the bold cheek of Malcolm Graeme ; 
 
 But from his glance it well appear'd, 
 
 'Twas but for Ellen that he fear'd ; 
 
 While, sorrowful, but undismay'd, 
 
 The Douglas thus his counsel said : 
 
 " Brave Roderick, though the tempest roar, 
 
 It may but thunder and pass o'er; 
 
 Nor will I here remain an hour, 
 
 To draw the lightning on thy bower ; 
 
 For well thou know'st, at this gray head 
 
 The royal bolt were fiercest sped. 
 
 For thee, who, at thy King's command, 
 
 Canst aid him with a gallant band, 
 
 Submission, homage, humbled pride, 
 
 Shall turn the Monarch's wrath aside. 
 
 Poor remnants of the Bleeding Heart, 
 
 Ellen and I will seek, apart, • 
 
 The refuge of some forest cell, 
 
 There, like the hunted quarry, dwell, 
 
 Till on the mountain and the moor, 
 
 The stern pursuit be pass'd and o'er.' 1 
 
 XXX. 
 
 " No, by mine honor, 1 ' Roderick said, 
 " So help me Heaven, and my good blade ! 
 No, never ! Blasted be yon Pine, 
 My father's ancient crest and mine, 
 
 service, and obedience of people a long time hereafter; 
 and as long as he had the heads of the country in subjection, 
 they lived in great peace and rest, and there was great riches 
 and policy by the King's justice." — PlTSCOTTlE, p. 152. 
 
CANTO II.] 
 
 THE ISLAND. 
 
 57 
 
 If from its shade in danger part 
 The lineage of the Bleeding Heart! 
 Hear my blunt speech : grant me this maid 
 To wife, thy counsel to mine aid ; 
 To Douglas, leagued with Roderick Dhu, 
 Will friends and allies flock enow ; 
 Like cause of doubt, distrust, and grief, 
 Will bind to us each Western Chief. 
 When the loud pipes my bridal tell, 
 The Links of Forth shall hear the knell, 
 The guards shall start in Stirling's porch ; 
 And, & when I light the nuptial torch, 
 A thousand villages in flames, 
 Shall scare the slumbers of King James! 
 — Nay, Ellen, blench not thus away, 
 And, mother, cease these signs, I pray ; 
 I meant not all my heat might say. 
 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 foil'd king from pathless glen, 1 
 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, 
 
 1 MS. : " Till the foil'd king, from hill and glen. 
 
88 TILE LAD Y OF THE LAKE, [canto ii. 
 
 Dreairfd calmly out their dangerous dream, 1 
 
 Till waken'd by the morning beam ; 
 
 When, dazzled by the eastern glow, 
 
 Such startler cast his glance below, 
 
 And saw unmeasured depth around. 
 
 And heard unintermitted sound, 
 
 And thought the battled fence so frail 
 
 It waved like cobweb in the gale ; — 
 
 Amid his senses' giddy wheel, 
 
 Did he not desperate impulse feel, 
 
 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 toss'd, 
 
 Still for the Douglas fearing most, 
 
 Could scarce the desperate thought withstand, 
 
 To buy his safety with her hand. 
 
 XXXII. 
 
 Such purpose dread could Malcolm spy 
 In Ellen's quivering lip and eye, 
 And eager rose to speak — but ere 
 His tongue could hurry forth his fear, 
 Had Douglas mark'd the hectic strife, 
 Where death seem'd combating with life ; 
 For to her cheek, in feverish flood, 
 One instant rush'd the throbbing blood, 
 Then ebbing back, with sudden sway, 
 Left its domain as wan as clay. 
 
 1 MS. : " Dream'd calmly out their desperate dream." 
 
canto ii.] THE ISLAND. gg 
 
 " Roderick, enough! enough!" he cried, 
 
 " My daughter cannot be thy bride ; 
 
 Not that the blush to wooer dear, 
 
 Nor paleness that of maiden fear. 
 
 It may not be — forgive her, Chief, 
 
 Nor hazard aught for our relief. 
 
 Against his sovereign, Douglas ne'er 
 
 Will level a rebellious spear. 
 
 'Twas I that taught his youthful hand 
 
 To rein a steed and wield a brand ; 
 
 I see him yet, the princely boy! 
 
 Not Ellen more my pride and joy ; 
 
 I love him still, despite my wrongs 
 
 By hasty wrath and slanderous tongues. 
 
 O seek the grace you well may find, 
 
 Without a cause to mine combined ! " 
 
 XXXIII. 
 
 Twice through the hall the Chieftain strode 
 The waving of his tartans broad, 
 And darken'd brow, where wounded pride 
 With ire and disappointment vied, 
 Seem'd, by the torch's gloomy light, 
 Like the ill Demon of the night, 
 Stooping his pinions 1 shadowy sway 
 Upon the nighted pilgrim's way; 
 But, unrequited Love ! thy dart 
 Plunged deepest its envenom'd smart. 
 And Roderick, with thine anguish stung, 
 At length the hand of Douglas wrung, 
 While eyes that mock'd at tears before 
 With bitter drops were running o'er. 
 
90 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto n. 
 
 The death-pangs of long-cherish'd hope 
 Scarce in that ample breast had scope, 
 But, struggling with his spirit proud, 
 Convulsive heaved its checker'd shroud, 
 While every sob — so mute were all — 
 Was heard distinctly through the hall. 
 The son's despair, the mother's look, 
 111 might the gentle Ellen brook ; 
 She rose, and to her side there came, 
 To aid her parting steps, the Graeme. 
 
 xxxiv. 
 Then Roderick from the Douglas broke — 
 As flashes flame through sable smoke, 
 Kindling its wreaths, long, dark, and low, 
 To one broad blaze of ruddy glow, 
 So the deep anguish of despair 1 
 Burst, in fierce jealousy, to air. 
 With stalwart grasp his hand he laid 
 On Malcolm's breast and belted plaid ; 
 " Back, beardless boy!" he sternly said, 
 " Back, minion! holdst thou thus at naught 
 The lesson I so lately taught? 
 This roof, the Douglas, and that maid, 
 Thank thou for punishment delay'd." 
 Eager as greyhound on his game, 
 Fiercely with Roderick grappled Graeme. 2 
 
 1 MS. : " The deep-toned anguish of despair 
 
 Flush'd, in fierce jealousy, to air." 
 
 2 " There is something foppish and out of character in 
 Malcolm's rising to lead out Ellen from her own parlor; and 
 
canto ii.] THE ISLAND. 9 1 
 
 " Perish my name, if aught afford 
 
 Its Chieftain safety save his sword! 11 
 
 Thus as they strove, their desperate hand 1 
 
 Griped to the dagger or the brand, 
 
 And death had been — but Douglas rose, 
 
 And thrust between the struggling foes 
 
 His giant strength : — " Chieftains, forego ! 
 
 I hold the first who strikes, my foe. 112 
 
 Madmen, forbear your frantic jar! 
 
 What! is the Douglas falPn so far, 
 
 His daughter's hand is deeirfd the spoil 
 
 Of such dishonorable broil ? " 
 
 Sullen and slowly, they unclasp, 3 
 
 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, 
 Margaret on Roderick's mantle hung, 
 
 the sort of wrestling match that takes place between the rival 
 chieftains on the occasion is humiliating and indecorous." — 
 JEFFREY. 
 
 ! MS.: " Thus, as they strove, each better hand 
 Grasp'd for the dagger or the brand." 
 2 The author has to apologize for the inadvertent appropria- 
 tion of a whole line from the tragedy of Douglas, 
 
 " I hold the first who strikes, my foe." , 
 
 — Note to the Second Edition. 
 8 MS.: " Sullen and slow the rivals bold 
 
 Loos'd at his hest their desperate hold, 
 But either still on other glar'd," etc. 
 
92 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto n. 
 
 And Malcolm heard his Ellen's scream, 
 
 As falter' d through terrific dream. 
 
 Then Roderick plunged in sheath his sword, 
 
 And veird his wrath in scornful word. 
 
 " Rest safe till morning ; pity 'twere 
 
 Such cheek should feel the midnight air ! * 
 
 1 Hardihood was in every respect so essential to the char- 
 acter of a Highlander, that the reproach of effeminacy was 
 the most bitter which could be thrown upon him. Yet it was 
 sometimes hazarded on what we might presume to think 
 slight grounds. It is reported of old Sir Ewen Cameron of 
 Lochiel, when upwards of seventy, that he was surprised by 
 night on a hunting or military expedition. He wrapped him 
 in his plaid, and lay contentedly down upon the snow, with 
 which the ground happened to be covered. Among his 
 attendants, who were preparing to take their rest in the same 
 manner, he observed that one of his grandsons, for his better 
 accommodation, had rolled a large snow-ball, and placed it 
 below his head. The wrath of the ancient chief was awak- 
 ened by a symptom of what he conceived to be degenerate 
 luxury. " Out upon thee," said he, kicking the frozen bolster 
 from the head which it supported ; " art thou so effeminate as 
 to need a pillow ? " The officer of engineers, whose curious 
 letters from the Highlands have been more than once quoted, 
 tells a similar story of Macdonald of Keppoch, and subjoins 
 the following remarks : — " This and many other stories are 
 romantick ; but there is one thing, that at first thought might 
 seem very romantick, of which I have been credibly assured, 
 that when the Highlanders are constrained to lie among the 
 hills, in cold, dry, windy weather, they sometimes soak the 
 plaid in some river or burn {i.e. brook), and then holding 
 up a corner of it a little above their heads, they turn them- 
 selves round and round, till they are enveloped by the whole 
 mantle. They then lay themselves down on the heath, upon 
 the leeward side of some hill, where the wet and the warmth 
 of their bodies make a steam, like that of a boiling kettle. 
 
canto ii.] THE ISLAXB. 93 
 
 Then mayest thou to James Stuart tell 
 Roderick will keep the lake and fell, 
 Nor lackey, with his freeborn clan, 
 The pageant pomp of earthly man. 
 More would he of Clan- Alpine know, 
 Thou canst our strength and passes show. — 
 Malise, what ho! " — his henchman came ; 1 
 " Give our safe-conduct to the Graeme." 
 
 The wet, they say, keeps them warm by thickening the stuff, 
 and keeping the wind from penetrating. I must confess I 
 should have been apt to question this fact, had I not fre- 
 quently seen them wet from morning to night, and, even at 
 the beginning of the rain, not so much as stir a few yards to 
 shelter, but continue in it without necessity, till they were, as 
 we say, wet through and through. And that is soon effected 
 by the looseness and spunginess of the plaiding; but the 
 bonnet is frequently taken off and wrung like a dishclout, and 
 then put on again. They have been accustomed from their 
 infancy to be often wet, and to take the water like spaniels, 
 and this is become a second nature, and can scarcely be 
 called a hardship to them, insomuch that I used to say, they 
 seemed to be of the duck kind, and to love water as well. 
 Though I never saw this preparation for sleep in windy weather, 
 yet, setting out early in a morning from one of the huts, I 
 have seen the marks of their lodging, where the ground has 
 been free from rime or snow, which remained all round the 
 spot where they had lain." — Letters from Scotland, Lond., 
 1754, 8vo, ii. p. 108. 
 
 1,1 This officer is a sort of secretary, and is to be ready, 
 upon all occasions, to venture his life in defence of his master; 
 and at drinking-bouts he stands behind his seat, at his haunch, 
 from whence his title is derived, and watches the conversation, 
 to see if any one offends his patron. An English officer being 
 in company with a certain chieftain, and several other High- 
 land gentlemen, near Killichumen, had an argument with the 
 
94 THE LAD Y OF THE LAKE, [canto ii. 
 
 Young Malcolm answer'd, calm and bold, 
 " Fear nothing for thy favorite hold ; 
 The spot an angel deigned to grace 
 Is bless'd, though robbers haunt the place. 
 Thy churlish courtesy for those 
 Reserve, who fear to be thy foes. 
 As safe to me the mountain way 
 At midnight as in blaze of day, 
 Though with his boldest at his back 
 Even Roderick Dhu beset the track. 
 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," 
 He said, and left the sylvan bower. 
 
 xxxvi. 
 Old Allan follow'd to the strand, 
 (Such was the Douglas's command,) 
 And anxious told, how, on the morn, 
 The stern Sir Roderick deep had sworn, 
 The Fiery Cross should circle o'er 
 Dale, glen, and valley, down, and moor. 
 Much were the peril to the Graeme, 
 From those who to the signal came ; 
 
 great man ; and both being well warmed with usky * at last 
 the dispute grew very hot. A youth who was henchman, not 
 understanding one word of English, imagined his chief was 
 insulted, and thereupon drew his pistol from his side, and 
 snapped it at the officer's head ; but the pistol missed fire, 
 * Whisky. 
 
canto ii.] THE ISLAND. 95 
 
 Far up the lake 'twere safest land, 
 
 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 roll'd, 
 
 His ample plaid in tighten'd fold, 
 
 And stripp'd his limbs to such array, 
 
 As best might suit the watery way, — 
 
 XXXVII. 
 
 Then spoke abrupt : " Farewell to thee, 
 
 Pattern of old fidelity ! " 
 
 The Minstrel's hand he kindly pressU — 
 
 " O! could I point a place of rest ! 
 
 My sovereign holds in ward my land, 
 
 My uncle leads my vassal band ; . 
 
 To tame his foes his friends to aid, 
 
 Poor Malcolm has but heart and blade. 
 
 Yet, if there be one faithful Graeme, 
 
 Who loves the Chieftain of his name, 
 
 Not long shall honored Douglas dwell 
 
 Like hunted stag in mountain cell ; 
 
 Nor, ere yon pride-swoll'n robber dare, — 
 
 I may not give the rest to air ! 
 
 Tell Roderick Dhu I owed him naught, 
 
 Not the poor service of a boat, 
 
 otherwise it is more than probable he might have suffered 
 death from the hand of that little vermin. But it is very dis- 
 agreeable to an Englishman over a bottle with the High- 
 landers, to see every one ef them have his gilly, that is, his 
 servant standing behind him, all the while, let what will be 
 the subject of conversation." — Letters from Scotland, ii. 159. 
 
96 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto 11. 
 
 To waft me to yon mountain-side." 
 Then plunged he in the flashing tide. 1 
 Bold o'er the flood his head he bore, 
 And stoutly steer'd him from the shore ; 
 And Allan strain'd his anxious eye, 
 Far 'mid the lake his form to spy, 
 Darkening across each puny wave, 
 To which the moon her silver gave. 
 Fast as the cormorant could skim, 
 The swimmer plied each active limb ; 
 Then landing in the moonlight dell, 
 Loud shouted of his weal to tell. 
 The minstrel heard the far halloo, 
 And joyful from the shore withdrew. 
 
 1 MS. : " He spoke, and plunged into the tide." 
 
CANTO THIRD. 
 
 2TJie (Satfjmng. 
 
 Time rolls his ceaseless course. The race of yore, 1 
 
 Who danced our infancy upon their knee, 
 And told our marvelling boyhood legends store, 
 
 Of their strange ventures happ'd by land or sea, 
 How are they blotted from the things that be ! 
 
 How few, all weak and 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, 
 How, when a mountain chief his bugle blew, 
 
 Both field and forest, dingle, cliff, and dell, 
 And solitary heath, the signal knew; 
 
 1 " There are no separate introductions to the cantos of this 
 poem ; but each of them begins with one or two stanzas in 
 the measure of Spenser, usually containing some reflections 
 connected with the subject about to be entered on ; and writ- 
 ten, for the most part, with great tenderness and beauty. The 
 following, we think, is among the most striking." — Jeffrey. 
 
 97 
 
98 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto in. 
 
 And fast the faithful clan around him drew, 
 
 What time the warning note was keenly wound, 
 What time aloft their kindred banner flew, 
 
 While clamorous war-pipes yell'd the gathering 
 sound, 
 And while the Fiery Cross glanced, like a meteor, 
 round. 1 
 
 ii. 
 
 The summer dawn's reflected hue 
 To purple changed Loch Katrine blue ; 
 Mildly and soft the western breeze 
 Just kiss'd the lake, just stirr'd the trees, 
 And the pleased lake, like maiden coy, 
 Trembled but dimpled not for joy ; 
 The mountain-shadows on her breast 
 Were neither broken nor at rest ; 
 In bright uncertainty they lie, 
 Like future joys to Fancy's eye. 
 The water-lily to the light 
 Her chalice rear'd of silver bright ; 
 The doe awoke, and to the lawn, 
 Begemm'd with dew-drops, led her fawn 
 The gray mist left 2 the mountain-side, 
 The torrent show'd its glistening pride ; 
 
 1 See Appendix, Note F. 
 
 2 MS. : "The doe awoke, and to the lawn 
 
 Begemm'd with dewdrops, led her fawn, 
 Invisible in fleecy cloud, 
 The lark sent down her matins loud ; 
 The light mist left," etc. 
 
canto in.] THE GATHERING. 99 
 
 Invisible in flecked sky, 
 
 The lark sent down her revelry ; 
 
 The blackbird and the speckled thrush 
 
 Good-morrow gave from brake and bush ; * 
 
 In answer coo'd the cushat dove 
 
 Her notes of peace, and rest, and love. 
 
 III. 
 
 No thought of peace, no thought of rest, 
 
 Assuaged the storm in Roderick's breast. 
 
 With sheathed broadsword in his hand, 
 
 Abrupt he paced the islet strand, 
 
 And eyed the rising sun, and laid 
 
 His hand on his impatient blade. 
 
 Beneath a rock, his vassals 1 care 2 
 
 Was prompt the ritual to prepare, 
 
 With deep and deathful meaning fraught ; 
 
 For such Antiquity had taught 
 
 Was preface meet, ere yet abroad 
 
 The Cross of Fire should take its road. 
 
 The shrinking band stood oft aghast 
 
 At the impatient glance he cast ; — 
 
 Such glance the mountain eagle threw 7 , 
 
 As, from the cliffs of Benvenue, 
 
 She spread her dark sails on the wind, 
 
 And, high in middle heaven reclined, 
 
 " The green hills 
 
 Are clothed with early blossoms ; through the grass 
 The quick-eyed lizard rustles, and the bills 
 Of summer birds sing welcome as ye pass." — Childe Harold. 
 - MS. : " Hard by, his vassals' early care 
 The mystic ritual prepare." 
 
ioo THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto in. 
 
 With her broad shadow on the lake, 
 Silenced the warblers of the brake. 
 
 A heap of wither'd 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, 
 
 Barefooted, in his frock and hood. 
 
 His grisled beard and matted hair 
 
 Obscured a visage of despair ; 
 
 His naked arms and legs seam'd o'er, 
 
 The scars of frantic penance bore. 
 
 That monk, of savage form and face, 1 
 
 The impending danger of his race 
 
 Had drawn from deepest solitude, 
 
 Far in Benharrow's bosom rude. 
 
 Not his the mien of Christian priest, 
 
 But Druid's, from the grave released, 
 
 Whose harden'd heart and eye might brook 
 
 On human sacrifice to look ; 
 
 And much, 'twas said, of heathen lore 
 
 Mix'd in the charms he mutter'd o'er. 
 
 The hallow'd creed gave only worse 2 
 
 And deadlier emphasis of curse. 
 
 No peasant sought that hermit's prayer, 
 
 His cave the pilgrim shunn'd with care ; 
 
 The eager huntsman knew his bound, 
 
 And in mid chase call'd off his hound ; 
 
 1 See Appendix, Note G. 
 
 2 MS. : " While the bless'd creed gave only worse." 
 
canto in.] THE GATHERING. ioi 
 
 Or if, in lonely glen or strath, 
 
 The desert-dweller met his path, 
 
 He pray'd and sign'd the cross between, 
 
 While terror took devotion's mien. 1 
 
 v. 
 Of Brian's birth strange tales were told. 2 
 His mother watch'd a midnight fold, 
 
 1 MS. : " He pray'd with many a cross between, 
 
 And terror took devotion's mien." 
 
 2 The legend which follows is not of the author's invention. 
 It is possible he may differ from modern critics, in supposing 
 that the records of human superstition, if peculiar to and 
 characteristic of the country in which the scene is laid, are a 
 legitimate subject of poetry. He gives, however, a ready 
 assent to the narrower proposition which condemns all at- 
 tempts of an irregular and disordered fancy to excite terror, 
 by accumulating a train of fantastic and incoherent horrors, 
 whether borrowed from all countries, and patched upon a 
 narrative belonging to one which knew them not, or derived 
 from the author's own imagination. In the present case, 
 therefore, I appeal to the record which I have transcribed, 
 with the variation of a very few words, from the geographical 
 collections made by the Laird of Macfarlane. I know not 
 whether it be necessary to remark, that the miscellaneous 
 concourse of youths and maidens on the night and on the 
 spot where the miracle is said to have taken place, might, 
 even in a credulous age, have somewhat diminished the won- 
 der which accompanied the conception of Gilli-Doir-Maghre- 
 vollich. 
 
 " There is bot two myles from Inverloghie, the church of 
 Kilmalee, in Lochyeld. In ancient tymes there was ane 
 church builded upon ane hill, which was above this church, 
 which doeth now stand in this toune ; and ancient men doeth 
 say, that there was a battell foughten on ane little hill not the 
 
102 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto in. 
 
 Built deep within a dreary glen, 
 Where scatter'd lay the bones of men, 
 In some forgotten battle slain, 
 And bleach'd by drifting wind and rain. 
 It might have tamed a warrior's heart x 
 To view such mockery of his art ! 
 
 tenth part of a mile from this church, be certaine men which 
 they did not know what they were. And long tyme thereafter, 
 certaine herds of that toune, and of the next toune, called 
 Unnatt, both wenches and youthes, did on a tyme conveen 
 with others on that Hill ; and the day being somewhat cold, 
 did gather the bones of the dead men that were slayne long 
 time before in that place, and did make a fire to warm them. 
 At last they did all remove from the fire, except one maid or 
 wench, which was verie cold, and she did remain there for a 
 space. She being quyetlie her alone, without anie other com- 
 panie, took up her cloaths above her knees, or thereby, to 
 warm her ; a wind did come and caste the ashes upon her, and 
 she was conceived of ane man-chyld. Severall tymes there- 
 after she was verie sick, and at last she was knowne to be with 
 chyld. And then her parents did ask at her the matter heir- 
 off, which the wench could not weel answer which way to sat- 
 isfie them. At last she resolved them with ane answer. As 
 fortune fell upon her concerning this marvellous miracle, the 
 chyld being borne, his name was called Gilli-Doir-Maghre- 
 vollich, that is to say, the Black Child, Son to the Bones. So 
 called, his grandfather sent him to school, and so he was a 
 good schollar, and godlie. He did build this church which 
 doeth now stand in Lochyeld, called Kilmalee." — MACFAR- 
 LANE, ut supra, ii. 188. 
 
 1 " There is something of pride in the perilous hour, 
 
 Whate'er be the shape in which death may lower; 
 
 For Fame is there to say who bleeds, 
 
 And Honor's eye on daring deeds ! 
 
 But when all is past, it is humbling to tread 
 
 O'er the weltering field of the tombless dead, 
 
canto in.] THE GATHERING. 103 
 
 The knot-grass fetter'd there the hand, 
 Which once could burst an iron band ; 
 Beneath the broad and ample bone, 
 That buckler'd heart to fear unknown, 
 A feeble and a timorous guest, 
 The field-fare framed her lowly nest ; 
 There the slow blind-worm left his slime 
 On the fleet limbs that mockM at time ; 
 And there, too, lay the leader's skull, 1 
 Still wreatlvd with chaplet, flushed and full. 
 For heath-bell, with her purple bloom, 
 Supplied the bonnet and the plume. 2 
 
 And see worms of the earth, and fowls of the air, 
 
 Beasts of the forest, all gathering there ; 
 
 All regarding man as their prey, 
 
 All rejoicing in his decay." — Byron's Siege of Corinth. 
 
 1 " Remove yon skull from out the scattered heaps. 
 Is that a temple where a God may dwell? 
 Why, even the worm at last disdains her shattered cell. 
 
 " Look on its broken arch, its ruin'd wall, 
 Its chambers desolate, and portals foul : 
 Yet this was once Ambition's airy hall, 
 The dome of Thought, the palace of the Soul : 
 Behold through each lack-lustre, eyeless hole, 
 The gay recess of Wisdom and of Wit, 
 And Passion's host, that never brook'd control : 
 Can all saint, sage, or sophist ever writ, 
 People this lonely tower, this tenement refit? " 
 
 Childe Harold. 
 2 " These reflections on an ancient field of battle afford the 
 most remarkable instance of false taste in all Mr. Scott's writ- 
 ings. Yet the brevity and variety of the images serve well to 
 shew, that even in his errors there are traces of a powerful 
 genius." — Jeffrey. 
 
104 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto in. 
 
 All night, in this sad glen, the maid 
 Sate, shrouded in her mantle's shade : 
 She said no shepherd sought her side, 
 No hunter's hand her snood untied, 
 Yet ne'er again to braid her hair 
 The virgin snood did Alice wear ; x 
 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, 
 But lock'd her secret in her breast, 
 And died in travail, unconfess'd. 
 
 VI. 
 
 Alone among his young compeers, 
 Was Brian from his infant years ; 
 A moody and heart-broken boy, 
 Estranged fronTsympathy and joy, 
 
 1 The snood, or riband, with which a Scottish lass braided 
 her hair, had an emblematical signification, and applied to her 
 maiden character. It was exchanged for the curch, toy, or 
 coif, when she passed, by marriage, into the matron state. 
 But if the damsel was so unfortunate as to lose pretensions 
 to the name of maiden, without gaining a right to that of 
 matron, she was neither permitted to use the snood, nor ad- 
 vanced to the graver dignity of the curch. In old Scottish 
 songs there occur many sly allusions to such misfortune ; as 
 in the old words to the popular tune of" Ower the muir amang 
 the heather." 
 
 " Down amang the broom, the broom, 
 Down amang the broom, my dearie, 
 The lassie lost her silken snood, 
 
 That gard her greet till she was wearie." 
 
canto in.] THE GATHERING. 105 
 
 Bearing each taunt which careless tongue 
 
 On his mysterious lineage flung. 
 
 Whole nights he spent by moonlight pale, 
 
 To wood and stream his hap to wail, 
 
 Till, frantic, he as truth received 1 
 
 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, 
 
 The cloister oped her pitying gate ; 
 
 In vain, the learning of the age 
 
 Unclasp'd the sable-letter'd page : 
 
 Even in its treasures he could find 
 
 Food for the fever of his mind. 
 
 Eager he read whatever tells 
 
 Of magic, cabala, and spells, 
 
 And every dark pursuit allied 
 
 To curious and presumptuous pride ; 
 
 Till with fired brain and nerves o'erstrung, 
 
 And heart with mystic horrors wrung, 
 
 Desperate he sought Benharrow's den, 
 
 And hid him from the haunts of men. 
 
 VII. 
 
 The desert gave him visions wild, 
 Such as might suit the spectre's child. 2 
 
 1 MS. : " Till driven to frenzy, he believed 
 
 The legend of his birth received." 
 
 2 In adopting the legend concerning the birth of the 
 Founder of the Church of Kilmalee, the author has endeav- 
 ored to trace the effects which such a belief was likely to pro- 
 duce, in a barbarous age, on the person to whom it related. 
 
io6 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto in. 
 
 Where with black cliffs the torrents toil, 
 
 He watch'd the wheeling eddies boil, 
 
 Till, from their foam, his dazzled eyes 
 
 Beheld the River Demon rise ; 
 
 The mountain mist took form and limb, 
 
 Of noontide hag, or goblin grim ; 
 
 The midnight wind came wild and dread, 
 
 SwelPd with the voices of the dead ; 
 
 It seems likely that he must have become a fanatic or an 
 impostor, or that mixture of both which forms a more fre- 
 quent character than either of them as existing separately. 
 In truth, mad persons are frequently more anxious to impress 
 upon others a faith in their visions, than they are themselves 
 confirmed in their reality ; as, on the other hand, it is difficult 
 for the most cool-headed impostor long to personate an enthu- 
 siast, without in some degree believing what he is so eager to 
 have believed. It was a natural attribute of such a character 
 as the supposed hermit, that he should credit the numerous 
 superstitions with which the minds of ordinary Highlanders 
 are almost always imbued. A few of these are slightly alluded 
 to in this stanza. The River Demon, or River-horse, for it is 
 that form which he commonly assumes, is the Kelpy of the 
 Lowlands, an evil and malicious spirit, delighting to forbode 
 and to witness calamity. He frequents most Highland lakes 
 and rivers ; and one of his most memorable exploits was per- 
 formed upon the banks of Loch Vennachar, in the very dis- 
 trict which forms the scene of our action : it consisted in the 
 destruction of a funeral procession with all its attendants. 
 The " noontide hag," called in Gaelic Glas-lich, a tall, 
 emaciated, gigantic female figure, is supposed in particular 
 to haunt the district of Knoidart. A goblin dressed in an- 
 tique armor, and having one hand covered with blood, 
 called from that circumstance, Lham-dearg, or Red-hand, is 
 a tenant of the forests of Glenmore and Rothiemurcus. 
 Other spirits of the desert, all frightful in shape and malig- 
 
canto in.] THE GATHERING. 137 
 
 Far on the future battle-heath 
 His eve beheld the ranks of death : 
 Thus the lone Seer, from mankind hurPd, 
 Shaped forth a disembodied world. 
 One lingering sympathy of mind 
 Still bound him to the mortal kind ; 
 The only parent he could claim 
 Of ancient Alpine's lineage came. 
 Late had he heard, in prophet's dream, 
 The fatal Ben-Shie's boding scream ; x 
 
 nant in disposition, are believed to frequent different moun- 
 tains and glens of the Highlands, where any unusual 
 appearance, produced by mist, or the strange lights that 
 are sometimes thrown upon particular objects, never fails 
 to present an apparition to the imagination of the solitary 
 and melancholy mountaineer. 
 
 1 MS. : " The fatal Ben-Shie's dismal scream ; 
 And seen her wrinkled form, the sign 
 Of woe and death to Alpine's line." 
 
 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 wail- 
 ings, any approaching disaster. That of Grant of Grant was 
 called May Moullach, and appeared in the form of a girl, who 
 had her arm covered with hair. Grant of Rothiemurcus had 
 an attendant called Bodach-an-dun, or the Ghost of the Hill ; 
 and many other examples might be mentioned. The Ben- 
 Shie implies a female Fairy, whose lamentations were often 
 supposed to precede the death of a chieftain of particular 
 families. When she is visible, it is in the form of an old 
 woman, with a blue mantle and streaming hair. A supersti- 
 tion of the same kind is, I believe, universally received by the 
 inferior ranks of the native Irish. 
 
 The death of the head of a Highland family is also some- 
 times supposed to be announced by a chain of lights of differ- 
 
10S THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto in. 
 
 Sounds, too, that come in midnight blast, 
 
 Of charging steeds, careering fast 
 
 Along Benharrow 1 s shingly side, 
 
 Where mortal horseman ne'er might ride ; x 
 
 The thunderbolt had split the pine, — 
 
 All augur'd ill to Alpine's line. 
 
 He girt his loins, and came to show 
 
 The signals of impending woe, 
 
 And now stood prompt to bless or ban, 
 
 As bade the Chieftain of his clan. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 'Twas all prepar'd ; — and from the rock, 
 A goat, the patriarch of the flock, 
 Before the kindling pile was laid, 
 And pierced by Roderick's ready blade. 
 Patient the sickening victim eyed 
 The life-blood ebb in crimson tide, 
 Down his clogg'd beard and shaggy limb, 
 Till darkness glazed his eyeballs dim. 
 The grisly priest, with murmuring prayer, 
 A slender crosslet fram'd with care, 
 A cubit's length in measure due ; 
 The shaft and limbs were rods of yew, 
 Whose parents in Inch-Cailliach wave 2 
 Their shadows o'er Clan-Alpine's grave, 
 
 ent colors, called Dreug, or death of the Druid. The direc- 
 tion which it takes, marks the place of the funeral. See the 
 Essay on Fairy Superstitions in the Border Minstrelsy. 
 
 1 See Appendix, Note H. 
 
 2 Inch-Cailliach, the Isle of Nuns, or of Old Women, is a 
 most beautiful island at the lower extremity of Loch Lomond. 
 
canto in.] THE GATHERING. 109 
 
 And answering Lomond's breezes deep, 
 Soothe many a chieftain's endless sleep. 
 The Cross, thus form'd he held on high, 
 With wasted hand, and haggard eye, 
 And strange and mingled feelings woke, 
 While his anathema he spoke : — 
 
 IX. 
 
 "Woe to the clansman, who shall view 
 This symbol of sepulchral yew, 
 '• Forgetful that its branches grew 
 
 Where weep the heavens their holiest dew 
 
 On Alpine's dwelling low ! 
 Deserter of his Chieftain's trust, 
 He ne'er shall mingle with their dust, 
 
 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 High- 
 landers are as zealous of their rights of sepulture as mav be 
 expected from a people whose whole laws and government, if 
 clanship can be called so, turned upon the single principle of 
 family descent. "May his ashes be scattered on the water," 
 was one of the deepest and most solemn imprecations which 
 they used against an enemy. See a detailed description of 
 the funeral ceremonies of a Highland chieftain in the " Fair 
 Maid of Perth," Waver ley Novels, vol. 43, chaps, x. arid xi. 
 New Edit. 
 
HO THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto m. 
 
 But, from his sires and kindred thrust, 
 Each clansman's execration just x 
 
 Shall doom him wrath and woe." 
 He paused ; — the word the vassals took, 
 With forward step and fiery look, 
 On high their naked brands they shook, 
 Their clattering targets wildly strook ; 2 
 
 And first in murmur low, 
 Then, like the billow in his course, 
 That far to seaward finds his source, 
 And flings to shore his muster'd force, 
 Burst, with loud roar, their answer hoarse, 
 
 " Woe to the traitor, woe!" 
 Ben-an's gray scalp the accents knew, 
 The joyous wolf from covert drew, 
 The exulting eagle scream'd afar, — 
 They knew the voice of Alpine's war. 
 
 x. 
 
 The shout was hush'd on lake and fell, 
 The monk resumed his mutter'd spell : 
 Dismal and low its accents came, 
 The while he scathed the Cross with flame ; 
 And the few words that reach'd the air, 
 Although the holiest name was there, 3 
 Had more of blasphemy than prayer. 
 
 1 MS. : " Our warriors, on his worthless bust, 
 
 Shall speak disgrace and woe." 
 
 2 MS. : " Their clattering targets hardly strook : 
 
 And first they mutter d low." 
 8 MS. : " Although the holy name was there." 
 
canto ill.] THE GA THERING. 1 1 1 
 
 But when he shook above the crowd 
 Its kindled points, he spoke aloud : — 
 " Woe to the wretch who fails to rear 
 At this dread sign the ready spear ! 
 For, as the flames this symbol sear, 
 His home, the refuge of his fear, 
 
 A kindrec} 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 clown wretchedness and shame, 
 
 And infamy and woe.' 1 
 Then rose* the cry of females, shrill 
 As goshawk's whistle on the hill, 
 Denouncing misery and ill, 
 Mingled with childhood's babbling trill 
 
 Of curses stammer'd slow ; 
 Answering, with imprecation dread, 
 " Sunk be his home in embers red ! 
 And cursed be the meanest shed 
 That e'er shall hide the houseless head 
 
 We doom to want and woe ! " 
 A sharp and shrieking echo gave, 
 Coir-Uriskin, thy goblin cave ! 
 And the gray pass where birches wave, 
 
 On Beala-nam-bo. 
 
 XI. 
 
 Then deeper paused the priest anew, 
 And hard his laboring breath he drew, 
 While, with set teeth and clenched hand, 
 And eyes that glow'd like fiery brand, 
 
1 1 2 THE LAD Y OF THE LAKE, [canto in. 
 
 He meditated curse more dread, 
 
 And deadlier, on the clansman's head, 
 
 Who, summon'd to his Chieftain's aid, 
 
 The signal saw and disobey'd. 
 
 The crosslet's points of sparkling wood 
 
 He quench'd among the bubbling blood, 
 
 And, as again the sign he rear'd, 
 
 Hollow and hoarse his voice was heard : 
 
 " When flits this Cross from man to man, 
 
 Vich- Alpine's summons to his clan, 
 
 Burst be the ear that fails to heed ! 
 
 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 ! 
 
 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 
 
 The murmur of the deep Amen. 1 
 
 XII. 
 
 Then Roderick, with impatient look, 
 
 From Brian's hand the symbol took ; 
 
 " Speed, Malise, speed !" he said, and gave 
 
 The crosslet to his henchman brave. 
 
 " The muster-place be Lanrick mead — 2 
 
 Instant the time — speed, Malise, speed !" 
 
 1 MS. : " The slowly mutter d deep Amen." 
 
 2 MS. : " Murlagan is the spot decreed." 
 
canto in.] THE GATHERING. 1 13 
 
 Like heath-bird, when the hawks pursue, 
 A barge across Loch Katrine flew ; 
 High stood the henchman on the prow; 
 So rapidly the barge-men row, 
 The bubbles, where they launched the boat, 
 Were all unbroken and afloat, 
 Dancing in foam and ripple still, 
 When it had near'd the mainland hill ; 
 And from the silver beach's side 
 Still was the prow three fathom wide, 
 When lightly bounded to the land 
 This messenger of blood and brand. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 Speed, Malise, speed ! the dun deer's hide 1 
 On fleeter foot was never tied. 
 Speed, Malise, speed ! such cause of haste 
 Thine active sinews never braced. 
 
 1 The present brogue of the Highlanders is made of half- 
 dried leather, with holes to admit and let out the water; for 
 walking the moors dry-shod is a matter altogether out of 
 question. The ancient buskin was still ruder, being made of 
 undressed deer's hide, with the hair outwards : a circumstance 
 which procured the Highlanders the well-known epithet of 
 Red-shanks. The process is very accurately described by one 
 Elder (himself a Highlander) in the project for a union be- 
 tween England and Scotland, addressed to Henry VIII. "We 
 go a-hunting, and after that we have slain red-deer, we flay off 
 the skin by and by, and setting of our bare-foot on the inside 
 thereof, for want of cunning shoemakers, by your grace's par- 
 don, we play the cobblers, compassing and measuring so 
 much thereof as shall reach up to our ankles, pricking the 
 upper part thereof with holes, that the water may repass where 
 
H4 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto hi. 
 
 Bend 'gainst the steepy hill thy breast, 
 Burst down like torrent from its crest ; 
 With short and springing footstep pass 
 The trembling bog and false morass ; 
 Across the brook like roebuck bound, 
 And thread the break like questing hound ; 
 The crag is high, the scaur is deep, 
 Yet shrink not from the desperate leap : 
 Parch'd are thy burning lips and brow, 
 Yet by the fountain pause not now ; 
 Herald of battle, fate, and fear, 1 
 Stretch onward in thy fleet career ! 
 The wounded hind thou track'st not now, 
 Pursuest not maid through greenwood bough, 
 Nor pliest thou now thy flying pace, 
 With rivals in the mountain race ; 
 But danger, death, and warrior deed 
 Are in thy course — speed, Malise, speed ! 
 
 XIV. 
 
 Fast as the fatal symbol flies, 
 
 In arms the huts and hamlets rise; 
 
 it enters, and stretching it up with a strong thong of the same 
 above our said ankles. So, and please your noble grace, we 
 make our shoes. Therefore, we using such manner of shoes, 
 the rough hairy side outwards, in your grace's dominions of 
 England, we be called Roughfooted Scots." — PlNKERTON'S 
 History, vol. ii. p. 397. 
 
 1 MS. : " Dread messenger of fate and fear, ) 
 Herald of danger, fate and fear, i 
 Stretch onward in thy fleet career ! 
 Thou track'st not now the stricken doe, 
 Nor maiden coy through greenwood bough." 
 
canto in.] THE GATHERING. 115 
 
 From winding glen, from upland brown, 
 They pourM each hardy tenant down. 
 Nor slack'd the messenger his pace ; 
 He show'd the sign, he named the place, 
 And, pressing forward like the wind, 
 Left clamor and surprise behind. 1 
 The fisherman forsook the strand, 
 The swarthy smith took dirk and brand ; 
 With changed cheer, the mower blithe 
 Left in the half-cut swathe the scythe ; 
 The herds without a keeper strayxl, 
 The plough was in mid-furrow stayed, 
 The falconer toss'd his hawk away, 
 The hunter left the stag at bay ; 
 Prompt at the signal of alarms, 
 Each son of Alpine rush'd to arms 5 
 So swept the tumult and affray 
 Along the margin of Achray. 
 Alas, thou lovely lake ! that e'er 
 Thy banks should echo sounds of fear ! 
 The rocks, the bosky thickets, sleep 
 So stilly on thy bosom deep, 
 The lark's blithe carol, from the cloud, 
 Seems for the scene too gayly loud. 2 
 
 xv. 
 Speed, Malise, speed! the lake is past, 
 Duncraggan's huts appear at last, 
 
 1 " The description of the starting of the Fiery Cross bears 
 more marks of labor than most of Mr. Scott's poetry, and 
 borders, perhaps, upon straining and exaggeration ; yet it 
 shows great power." — Jeffrey. 
 
 2 MS. : "Seems all too lively and too loud." 
 
n6 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto ill. 
 
 And peep, like moss-grown rocks, half seen, 
 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. 
 - What woeful accents load the gale? 
 The funeral yell, the female wail ! x 
 A gallant hunter's sport is o'er, 
 A valiant warrior fights no more. 
 Who, in the battle or the chase, 
 At Roderick's side shall fill his place ! — 
 Within the hall, where torches' ray 
 Supplies the excluded beams of day, 
 Lies Duncan on his lowly bier, 
 And o'er him streams his widow's tear. 
 His stripling son stands mournful by, 
 His youngest weeps, but knows not why ! 
 The village maids and matrons round 
 The dismal coronach resound. 2 
 
 XVI. 
 CORONACH. 
 
 He is gone on the mountain, 
 He is lost to the forest, 
 
 1 MS.: "'Tis woman's scream, 'tis childhood's wail." 
 
 2 The Coronach of the Highlanders, like the Ululatus of the 
 Romans and the Ululoo of the Irish, was a wild expression of 
 lamentation, poured forth by the mourners over the body of a 
 departed friend. When the words of it were articulate, they 
 expressed the praises of the deceased, and the loss the clan 
 
CANTO in.] THE GATHERING. n 7 
 
 Like a summer-dried fountain, 
 
 When our need was the sorest. 
 The font, reappearing, 
 
 From the rain-drops shall borrow, 
 But to us comes no cheering, 
 
 To Duncan no morrow ! 
 
 would sustain by his death. The following is a lamentation of 
 this kind, literally translated from the Gaelic, to some of the 
 ideas of which the text stands indebted. The tune is so popu- 
 lar that it has since become the war-march, or Gathering of 
 the clan. 
 
 Coronach on Sir Lauchlan, Chief ' oj 'Maclean. 
 
 " Which of all the Senachies 
 
 Can trace thy line from the root up to Paradise, 
 
 But Macvuirih, the son of Fergus? 
 
 No sooner had thine ancient stately tree 
 
 Taken firm root in Albin, 
 
 Than one of thy forefathers fell at Harlaw. 
 
 'Twas then we lost a chief of deathless name. 
 
 " 'Tis no base weed — no planted tree, 
 Nor a seedling of last Autumn; 
 Nor a sapling planted at Beltain; * 
 Wide, wide around were spread its lofty branches — 
 But the topmost bow is lowly laid! 
 Thou hast forsaken us before Sawaine.f 
 
 " Thy dwelling is the winter house; — 
 Loud, sad, and mighty is thy death-song! 
 Oh! courteous champion of Montrose! 
 Oh! stately warrior of the Celtic Isles! 
 Thou shalt buckle thy harness on no more! " 
 
 The coronach has for some time past been superseded at 
 funerals by the use of the bagpipe ; and that also is, like many 
 other Highland peculiarities, falling into disuse unless in re- 
 mote districts. 
 
 Bell's fire, or Whitsunday. t Hallowe'en. 
 
 tidi: 
 
 r 
 
n8 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto in. 
 
 The hand of the reaper 
 
 Takes the ears that are hoary, 
 But the voice of the weeper 
 
 Wails manhood in glory. 
 The autumn winds rushing 
 
 Waft the leaves that are searest, 
 But our flower was in flushing, 
 
 When blighting was nearest. 
 
 Fleet foot on the correi, 1 
 
 Sage counsel in cumber, 
 Red hand in the foray, 
 
 How sound is thy slumber! 
 Like the dew on the mountain, 
 
 Like the foam on the river, 
 Like the bubble on the fountain, 
 
 Thou art gone, and for ever ! 2 
 
 1 Or corri. The hollow side of the hill, where game usually 
 lies. 
 
 2 " Mr. Scott is such a master of versification that the most 
 complicated metre does not for an instant arrest the progress 
 of his imagination ; its difficulties usually operate as a salutary 
 excitement to his attention, and not unfrequently suggest to him 
 new and unexpected graces of expression. If a careless rhyme 
 or an ill-constructed phrase occasionally escape him amidst the 
 irregular torrent of his stanza, the blemish is often imperceptible 
 by the hurried eye of the reader; but when the short lines»are 
 yoked in pairs, any dissonance in the jingle, or interruption of 
 the construction, cannot fail to give offence. We learn from 
 Horace, that in the course of a long work, a poet may legiti- 
 mately indulge in a momentary slumber; but we do not wish 
 to hear him snore." — Quarterly Review. 
 
canto in.] THE GATHERING. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 See Stumah, 1 who, the bier beside, 
 His master's corpse with wonder eyed, 
 Poor Stumah ! whom his least halloo 
 Could send like lightning o'er the dew, 
 Bristles his crest, and points his ears, 
 As if some stranger step he hears. 
 'Tis not a mourner's muffled tread, 
 Who comes to sorrow o'er the dead, 
 But headlong haste, or deadly fear, 
 Urge the precipitate career. 
 All stand aghast : — unheeding all, 
 The henchman bursts into the hall ; 
 Before the dead man's bier he stood ; 
 Held forth the Cross besmear'd with blood : 
 " The muster-place is Lanrick mead ; 
 Speed forth the signal ! clansmen, speed ! " 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 Angus, the heir of Duncan's line, 2 
 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, 
 
 1 Faithful. The name of a dog. 
 
 2 MS. : " Angus, the first of Ducan's line, 
 
 Sprung forth and seized the fatal sign, 
 And then upon his kinsman's bier 
 Fell Malise's suspended tear. 
 In haste the stripling to his side 
 His father's targe and falchion tied." 
 
120 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto in. 
 
 Back to her open'd arms he flew, 
 
 Press'd on her lips a fond adieu — 
 
 " Alas ! " she sobb'd, — " and yet, be gone 
 
 And speed thee forth, like Duncan's son ! " 
 
 One look he cast upon the bier; 
 
 Dash'd from his eye the gathering tear, 
 
 Breathed deep to clear his laboring breast, 
 
 And toss'd aloft his bonnet crest, 
 
 Then, like the high-bred colt, when, freed, 
 
 First he essays his fire and speed, 
 
 He vanish'd, and o'er moor and moss 
 
 Sped forward with the Fiery Cross. 
 
 Suspended was the widow's tear, 
 
 While yet his footsteps she could hear ; 
 
 And when she mark'd the henchman's eye 
 
 Wet with unwonted sympathy, 
 
 " Kinsman," she said, " his race is run, 
 
 That should have sped thine errand on ; 
 
 The oak has fall'n — the sapling bough 
 
 Is all Duncraggan's shelter now. 
 
 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 ! 
 
 Let babes and women wail the dead." 
 
 Then weapon-clang and martial call 
 
 Resounded through the funeral hall, 
 
 While from the walls the attendant band 
 
 Snatch'd sword and targe, with hurried hand ; 
 
 And short and flitting energy 
 
 Glanced from the mourner's sunken eye, 
 
canto in.] THE GATHERING. I 
 
 As if the sounds to warrior dear 
 
 Might rouse her Duncan from his bier. 
 
 But faded soon that borrow'd force ; 
 
 Grief claim'd his right, and tears their course. 
 
 Beriledi saw the Cross of Fire, 
 It glanced like lightning up Strath-Ire. 1 
 O'er dale and hill the summons flew, 
 Nor rest nor pause young Angus knew ; 
 
 1 Inspection of the provincial map of Perthshire, or any 
 large map of Scotland, will trace the progress of the signal 
 through the small districts of lakes and mountains, which, in 
 exercise of my poetical privilege, I have subjected to the 
 authority of my imaginary chieftain, and which, at the period 
 of my romance, was really occupied by a clan who claimed a 
 descent from Alpine, a clan the most unfortunate, and most 
 persecuted, but neither the least distinguished, least powerful, 
 nor least brave, of the tribes of the Gael. 
 
 " Slioch non vioghridh duchaisach 
 Bha-shios an Dun-Staiobhinish 
 Aig an roubh crun na Halba othus 
 'Stag a cheil duchas fast ris." 
 
 The first stage of the Fiery Cross is to Duncraggan, a place 
 near the Brigg of Turk, where a short stream divides Loch 
 Archray from Loch Vennachar. From thence, it passes 
 towards Callender, and then, turning to the left up the pass 
 of Leny, is consigned to Norman at the chapel of Saint Bride, 
 which stood on a small and romantic knoll, in the middle of 
 the valley, called Strath- 1 re. Tombea and Arnandave, 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. 
 
122 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto in. 
 
 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, 1 
 
 That graced the sable strath with green, 
 
 The chapel of St. Bride was seen. 
 
 Swoln was the stream, remote the bridge, 
 
 But Angus paused not on the edge ; 
 
 Though the dark waves danced dizzily, 
 
 Though reePd his sympathetic eye, 
 
 He dash'd amid the torrent's roar : 
 
 His right hand high the crosslet bore, 
 
 His left the pole-axe grasp'd, to guide 
 
 And stay his footing in the tide. 
 
 He stumbled twice ; — the foam splash'd high, 
 
 With hoarser swell the stream raced by ; 
 
 And had he falPn, — forever there, 
 
 Farewell Duncraggan's orphan heir ! 
 
 But still, as if in parting life, | 
 
 Firmer he grasp'd the Cross of strife, 
 
 Until the opposing bank he gain'd, 
 
 And up the chapel pathway strain'd. 
 
 A blithesome rout, that morning tide, 
 Had sought the chapel of St. Bride. 
 Her troth Tombea's Mary gave 
 To Norman, heir of Armandave, 
 And, issuing from the Gothic arch, 
 The bridal now resumed their march. 
 
 1 MS. : " And where a steep and wooded knoll 
 
 Graced the dark strath with emerald green. 
 
canto in.] THE GATHERING. 123 
 
 I n rude but glad procession came 
 Bonneted sire and coif-clad dame ; 
 And plaided youth, with jest and jeer, 
 Which snooded maiden would not hear ; 
 And children, that, unwitting why, 
 Lent the gay shout their shrilly cry; 
 And minstrels, that in measures vied 
 Before the young and bonny bride, 
 Whose downcast eye and cheek disclose 
 The tear and blush of morning rose. 
 With virgin step, and bashful hand, 
 She held the kerchiefs snowy band ; 
 The gallant bridegroom by her side, 
 Beheld his prize with victor's pride, 
 And the glad mother in her ear 
 Was closely whispering words of cheer. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 Who meets them at the churchyard gate ? 
 
 The messenger of fear and fate ! 
 
 Haste in his hurried accent lies, 
 
 And grief is swimming in his eyes. 
 
 All dripping from the recent flood, 
 
 Panting and travel-soil'd he stood, 
 
 The fatal sign of fire and sword 
 
 Held forth, and spoke the appointed word : 
 
 "The muster-place is Lanrick mead; 
 
 Speed forth the signal ! Norman, speed !" 
 
 And must he change so soon the hand, 1 
 
 Just link'd to his by holy band, 
 
 For the fell Cross of blood and brand? 
 
 1 MS. : ".And must he then exchange the hand." 
 
124 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto in. 
 
 And must the day, so blithe that rose, 
 
 And promised rapture in the close, 
 
 Before its setting hour, divide 
 
 The bridegroom from the plighted bride ? 
 
 O fatal doom ! — it must ! it must ! 
 
 Clan- Alpine's cause, her Chieftain's trust, 
 
 Her summons dread, brook no delay ; 
 
 XXII. 
 
 Yet slow he laid his plaid aside, 
 And lingering eyed his lovely bride, 
 Until he saw the starting tear 
 Speak woe he might not stop to cheer ; 
 Then, trusting not a second look, 
 In haste he sped him up the brook, 
 Nor backward glanced, till on the heath 
 Where Lubnaig's lake supplies the Teith. 
 — What in the racer's bosom stirr'd ? 
 The sickening pang of hope deferr'd, 
 And memory, with a torturing train, 1 
 Of all his morning visions vain. 
 Mingled with love's impatience, came 
 The manly thirst for martial fame ; 
 The stormy joy of mountaineers, 
 Ere yet they rush upon the spears ; 
 
 1 MS. : " And memory brought the torturing train 
 Of all his morning visions vain ; 
 But mingled with impatience came 
 The manly love of martial fame." 
 
canto in.] THE GATHERING. 125 
 
 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. 
 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. 
 SONG. 
 
 The heath this night must be my bed, 
 The bracken 1 curtain for my head, 
 My lullaby the warder's tread, 
 
 Far, far, from love and thee, Mary 
 To-morrow eve, more stilly laid, 
 My couch may be my bloody plaid, 
 My vesper song, thy wail, sweet maid ! 
 
 It will not waken me, Mary! 
 I may not, dare not, fancy now 2 
 The grief that clouds thy lovely brow, 
 I dare not think upon thy vow, 
 
 And all it promised me, Mary. 
 No fond regret must Norman know. 
 When bursts Clan-Alpine on the foe, 
 His heart must be like bended bow, 
 
 His foot like arrow free, Mary. 
 
 1 Bracken. — Fern. 
 
 - MS. : " I may not, dare not, image now." 
 
126 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto in. 
 
 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. 1 
 And if return'd from conquer 1 d foes, 
 How blithely will the evening close, 
 How sweet the linnet sing repose, 
 
 To my young bride and me, Mary ! 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 Not faster o'er thy heather} 7 braes, 
 Balquidder, speeds the midnight blaze, 2 
 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, 
 As o'er thy heaths the voice of war. 3 
 
 1 MS. : "A time will come for love and faith, 
 
 For should thy bridegroom yield his breath, 
 'Twill cheer him in the hour of death, 
 The boasted right to thee, Mary." 
 
 2 It may be necessary to inform the southern reader that 
 the heath on the Scottish moorlands is often set fire to, that 
 the sheep may have the advantage of the young herbage pro- 
 duced, in room of the tough old heather plants. This cus- 
 tom (execrated by sportsmen) produces occasionally the most 
 beautiful nocturnal appearances, similar almost to the dis- 
 charge of a volcano. This simile is not new to poetry. The 
 charge of a warrior, in the fine ballad of Hardyknute, is said 
 to be " like fire to heather set." 
 
 3 " The eager fidelity with which this fatal signal is hurried 
 on and obeyed is represented with great spirit and felicity." 
 — Jeffrey. 
 
c A NT< > 1 1 1 . ] THE GA THE RING. 1 2 7 
 
 The signal roused to martial coil 
 
 The sullen margin of Loch Voil, 
 
 Waked still Loch Doine, and to the source 
 
 Alarnrd, Balvaig, thy swampy course ; 
 
 Then southward turn'd its rapid road 
 
 Adown Strath-Gartney's valley broad, 
 
 Till rose in arms each man might claim 
 
 A portion in Clan-Alpine's name, 
 
 From the gray sire, whose trembling hand 
 
 Could hardly buckle on his brand, 
 
 To the raw boy, whose shaft and bow 
 
 Were yet scarce terror to the crow. 
 
 Each valley, each sequester'd glen, 
 
 Muster'd its little horde of men, 
 
 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 
 
 By hundreds prompt for blows and blood ; 
 
 Each train'd 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. 1 
 
 1 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. One solemn mode of swearing was by kiss- 
 ing the dirk, imprecating upon themselves death by that, or a 
 similar weapon, if they broke their vow. But for oaths in the 
 usual foim they are said to have paid little respect. As for the 
 
128 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto in. 
 
 XXV. 
 
 That summer morn had Roderick Dhu, 
 Survey'd the skirts of Benvenue, 
 And sent his scouts o'er hill and heath, 
 To view the frontiers of Menteith. 
 And backward came with news of truce ; 
 Still lay each martial Graeme and Bruce, 
 In Rednoch courts no horsemen wait, 
 No banner waved on Cardross gate, 
 On Duchray's towers no beacon shone, 
 Nor scared the herons from Loch Con ; 
 All seem'd at peace. — Now, wot ye why 
 The Chieftain, with such anxious eye, 
 
 reverence due to the chief, it may be guessed from the follow- 
 ing odd example of a Highland point of honor : — 
 
 "The clan whereto the above-mentioned tribe belongs is 
 the only one I have heard of which is without a chief; that is, 
 being divided into families, under several chieftains, without 
 any particular patriarch of the whole name. And this is a 
 great reproach, as may appear from an affair that fell out at 
 my table, in the Highlands, between one of that name and a 
 Cameron. The provocation given by the latter was — ' Name 
 your chief.' — The return of it at once was, — ' You are a fool.' 
 They went out next morning, but having early notice of it, I 
 sent a small party of soldiers after them, which, in all proba- 
 bility, prevented some barbarous mischief that might have 
 ensued ; for the chiefless Highlander, who is himself a petty 
 chieftain, was going to the place appointed with a small-sword 
 and a pistol, whereas the Cameron (an old man) took with 
 him only his broadsword, according to the agreement. 
 
 " When all was over, and I had, at least seemingly, recon- 
 ciled them, I was told the words, of which I seemed to think 
 but slightly, were, to one of the clan, the greatest of all provo- 
 cations." — Letters from Scotland, vol. ii. p. 221. 
 
CANTO III.] THE GATHERING. 129 
 
 Ere to the muster he repair, 
 
 This western frontier scann'd with care ? — 
 
 In Benvenue's most darksome cleft, 
 
 A fair, though cruel, pledge was left ; 
 
 For Douglas, to his promise true, 
 
 That morning from the isle withdrew, 
 
 And in deep sequester'd dell 
 
 Had sought a low and lonely cell. 
 
 By many a bard, in Celtic tongue, 
 
 Has Coir-nan-Uriskin been sung : x 
 
 1 This is a very steep and most romantic hollow in the 
 mountain of Benvenue, overhanging the southeastern ex- 
 tremity of Loch Katrine. It is surrounded with stupendous 
 rocks, and overshadowed with birch trees, mingled with oaks, 
 the spontaneous production of the mountain, even where its 
 cliffs appear denuded of soil. A dale in so wild a situation, 
 and amid a people whose genius bordered on the romantic, 
 did not remain without appropriate deities. The name liter- 
 ally implies the Corri, or Den, of the Wild or Shaggy Men. 
 Perhaps this, as conjectured by Mr. Alexander Campbell* 
 may have originally only implied its being the haunt of a 
 ferocious banditti. But tradition has ascribed to the Urisk, 
 who gives name to the cavern, a figure between a goat and 
 a man ; in short, however much the classical reader may be 
 startled, precisely that of the Grecian Satyr. The Urisk 
 seems not to have inherited, with the form, the petulance 
 of the sylvan deity of the classics : his occupation on the 
 contrary, resembled those of Milton's Lubber-Fiend, or of 
 the Scottish Brownie, though he differed from both in name 
 and appearance. " The Urisks," says Dr. Graham, " were a 
 set of lubberly supernaturals, who, like the Brownies, could 
 be gained over, by kind attention, to perform the drudgery of 
 the farm, and it was believed that many of the families in the 
 
 * Journey from Edinburgh, 1802, p. 108. 
 
13° THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto hi. 
 
 A softer name the Saxons gave, 
 And calPd the grot the Goblin-cave. 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 It was a wild and strange retreat, 
 As e'er was trod by outlaw's feet. 
 The dell upon the mountain crest, 
 Yawn'd like a gash on warrior's breast ; 
 Its trench had stay'd full many a rock, 
 HurPd by primeval earthquake shock 
 From Benvenue's gray summit wild ; 
 And here, in random ruin piled, 
 They frown'd incumbent o'er the spot, 
 And form'd the rugged sylvan grot. 1 
 
 Highlands had one of the order attached to it. They were 
 supposed to be dispersed over the Highlands, each in his own 
 wild recess, but the solemn stated meetings of the order were 
 regularly held in this Cave of Benvenue. This current super- 
 stition, no doubt, alludes to some circumstance in the ancient 
 history of this country." — Scenery on the Southern Confines 
 of Perthshire, p. 19, 1806. It must be owned that the Coir, 
 or Den, does not, in its present state, meet our ideas of a sub- 
 terraneous grotto, or cave, being only a small and narrow 
 cavity, among huge fragments of rocks rudely piled together. 
 But such a scene is liable to convulsions of nature which a 
 Lowlander cannot estimate, and which may have choked up 
 what was originally a cavern. At least the name and tradition 
 warrant the author of a fictitious tale to assert its having been 
 such at the remote period in which this scene is laid. 
 
 1 " After landing on the skirts of Benvenue, we reach the 
 cave (or more properly the cove) of the goblins, by a steep 
 and narrow defile of a few hundred yards in length. It is 
 a deep, circular amphitheatre of at least six hundred yards of 
 extent in its upper diameter, gradually narrowing towards the 
 
ca m o 1 1 1 . ] THE GA T BERING. 1 3 1 
 
 The oak and birch, with mingled shade, 
 At noontide there a twilight made, 
 Unless when short and sudden shone 
 Some straggling beam on cliff or stone, 
 With such a glimpse as prophet's eye 
 Gains on thy depth, Futurity. 
 No murmur waked the solemn still, 
 Save tinkling of a fountain rill ; 
 But when the wind chafed with the lake, 
 A sullen sound would upward break, 
 With dashing hollow voice that spoke 
 The incessant war of wave and rock. 
 Suspended cliffs, with hideous sway, 
 Seem'd nodding o'er the cavern gray. 
 From such a den the wolf had sprung, 
 In such the wild-cat leaves her young; 
 Yet Douglas and his daughter fair 
 Sought for a space their safety there. 
 Gray Superstition's whisper dread 
 Debarr'd the spot to vulgar tread ; 
 For there, she said, did fays resort, 
 And satyrs 1 hold their sylvan court, 
 
 base, hemmed in all round by steep and towering rocks, and 
 rendered impenetrable to the rays of the sun by a close covert 
 of luxuriant trees. On the south and west it is bounded by 
 the precipitous shoulder of Benvenue, to the height of at least 
 five hundred feet ; towards the east, the rock appears at some 
 former period to have tumbled down, strewing the whole 
 course of its fall with immense fragments, which now serve 
 only to give shelter to foxes, wild-cats, and badgers." — Dr. 
 Graham. 
 
 1 The Urisk, or Highland satyr. See a previous Note, 
 p. 129. 
 
132 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto ill. 
 
 By moonlight tread their mystic maze, 
 And blast the rash beholder's gaze. 
 
 XXVII. 
 
 Now eve, with western shadows long, 
 Floated on Katrine bright and strong, 
 When Roderick, with a chosen few, 
 Repass'd the heights of Benvenue. 
 Above the Goblin Cave they go, 
 Through the wild pass of Beal-nam-bo ; x 
 The prompt retainers speed before, 
 To launch the shallop from the shore, 
 For 'cross Loch Katrine lies his way 
 To view the passes of Achray, 
 And place his clansmen in array. 
 Yet lags the chief in musing mind, 
 Unwonted sight, his men behind, 
 A single page, to bear his sword, 
 Alone attended on his lord ; 2 
 
 1 Bealach-nam-bo, or the pass of cattle, is a most magnifi- 
 cent glade, overhung with aged birch-trees, a little higher up 
 the mountain than the Coir-nan-Uriskin, treated of in a for- 
 mer note. The whole composes the most sublime piece of 
 scenery that imagination can conceive. 
 
 2 A Highland chief, being as absolute in his patriarchal 
 authority as any prince, had a corresponding number of offi- 
 cers attached to his person. He had his body-guards, called 
 Luichttach, picked from his clan for strength, activity, and 
 entire devotion to his person. These, according to their 
 deserts, were sure to share abundantly in the rude profusion 
 of his hospitality. It is recorded, for example, by tradition, 
 that Allan MacLean, chief of that clan, happened upon a 
 time to hear one of these favorite retainers observe to his 
 
can i . ) in. ] THE GA THERING. 133 
 
 The rest their way through thickets break, 
 
 And soon await him by the lake. 
 
 It was a fair and gallant sight, 
 
 To view them from the neighboring height, 
 
 By the low-levell'd sunbeam's light ! 
 
 comrade, that their chief grew old. " Whence do you infer 
 that? " replied the other. " When was it," rejoined the first, 
 " that a soldier of Allan's was obliged, as I am now, not only 
 to eat the flesh from the bone, but even to tear off the inner 
 skin, or filament? " The hint was quite sufficient, and Mac- 
 Lean next morning, to relieve his followers from such dire 
 necessity, undertook an inroad on the mainland, the ravage 
 of which altogether effaced the memory of his former expe- 
 ditions for the like purpose. 
 
 Our officer of Engineers, so often quoted, has given us a 
 distinct list of the domestic officers who, independent of 
 Luichttach, or gardes de corps, belonged to the establishment 
 of a Highland Chief. These are : 1. The Henchman. (See 
 these notes, p. 93.) 2. The Bard. (Seep. 54.) 3. B/adier, or 
 spokesman. 4. Gillie-more, or sword-bearer, alluded to in 
 the text. 5. Gillie-casfiue, who carried the chief, if on foot, 
 over the fords. 6. Gillie-comstraine, who leads the chiefs 
 horse. 7. Gillie- Trushanarinsh, the baggage-man. 8. The 
 piper. 9. The piper's gillie or attendant, who carries the 
 bagpipe* Although this appeared, naturally enough, very 
 ridiculous to an English officer, who considered the master of 
 such a retinue as no more than an English gentleman of ^500 
 a year, yet in the circumstances of the chief, whose strength 
 and importance consisted in the number and attachment of 
 his followers, it was of the last consequence, in point of policy, 
 to have in his gift subordinate offices, which called immediately 
 round his person those who were most devoted to him, and, 
 being of value in their estimation, were also the means of 
 rewarding them. 
 
 * Letters from Scotland, vol. ii. p. 15. 
 
134 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto hi. 
 
 For strength and stature, from the clan 
 Each warrior was a chosen man, 
 As even afar might well be seen, 
 By their proud step and martial mien. 
 Their feathers dance, their tartans float, 
 Their targets gleam, as by the boat 
 A wild and warlike group they stand, 
 That well became such mountain-strand. 
 
 XXVIII. 
 
 Their Chief with step reluctant still 
 Was lingering on the craggy hill, 
 Hard by where turn'd apart the road 
 To Douglas's obscure abode. 
 It was but with that dawning morn 
 That Roderick Dhu had proudly sworn 
 To drown his love in war's wild roar, 1 
 Nor think of Ellen Douglas more ; 
 But he who stems a stream with sand, 
 And fetters flame with flaxen band, 
 Has yet a harder task to prove, — 
 By firm resolve to conquer love ! 
 Eve finds the Chief, like restless ghost, 
 Still hovering near his treasure lost ; 
 For though his haughty heart deny 
 A parting meeting to his eye, 
 Still fondly strains his anxious ear 
 The accents of her voice to hear, 
 
 1 MS. : " To drown his grief in war's wild roar, 
 Nor think of love and Ellen more." 
 
canto in.] THE GATHERIXG. 135 
 
 And inly did he curse the breeze 
 
 That waked to sound the rustling trees. 
 
 But hark ! what mingles in the strain ? 
 
 It is the harp of Allan-Bane, 
 
 That wakes its measures slow and high, 
 
 Attuned to sacred minstrelsy. 
 
 What melting voice attends the strings ? 
 
 'Tis Ellen, or an angel, sings. 
 
 XXIX. 
 HYMN TO THE VIRGIN. 
 
 Ave Maria ! maiden mild ! 
 
 Listen to a maiden's prayer ! 
 Thou canst hear though from the wild, 
 
 Thou canst save amid despair. 
 Safe may we sleep beneath thy care, 
 
 Though banish'd, outcast, and reviled — 
 Maiden ! hear a maiden's prayer ; 
 
 Mother, hear a suppliant child ! 
 
 Ave Maria ! 
 
 Ave Maria! undefined ! 
 
 The flinty couch we now must share 1 
 Shall seem with down of eider piled, 
 
 If thy protection hover there. 
 The murky cavern's heavy air - 
 
 Shall breathe of balm if thou hast smiled ; 
 Then, Maiden! hear a maiden's prayer, 
 
 Mother, list a suppliant child! 
 
 Ave Maria ! 
 
 1 MS. : " The flinty couch my sire must share." 
 
 2 MS. : " The murky grotto s noxious air." 
 
136 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto in. 
 
 Ave Maria ! stainless styled ! 
 
 Foul demons of the earth and air, 
 From this their wonted haunt exiled, 
 
 Shall flee before thy presence fair. 
 We bow us to our lot of care, 
 
 Beneath thy guidance reconciled ; 
 Hear for a maid a maiden's prayer, 
 
 And for a father hear a child ! 
 
 Ave Maria I 
 
 XXX. 
 
 Died on the harp the closing hymn, — 
 Unmoved in attitude and limb, 
 As list'ning still, Clan-Alpine's lord 
 Stood leaning en his heavy sword, 
 Until the page, with humble sign, 
 Twice pointed to the sun's decline. 
 Then while his plaid around him cast, 
 " It is the last time — 'tis the last," 
 He muttered thrice, — " the last time e'er 
 That angel-voice shall Roderick hear!" 
 It was a goading thought — his stride 
 Hied hastier down the mountain-side ; 
 Sullen he flung him in the boat, 
 And instant 'cross the lake it shot. 
 They landed in that silvery bay, 
 And eastward held their hasty way, 
 Till, with the latest beams of light, 
 The band arrived on Lanrick height, 
 Where muster'd, in the vale below, 1 
 Clan-Alpine's men in martial show. 
 
 1 MS. : " Where broad extending far below, 
 
 Muster'd Clan-Alpine's martial show." 
 
canto in.] THE GATHERING. I 
 
 XXXI. 
 
 A various scene the clansmen made, 
 
 Some sate, some stood, some slowly stray'd ; 
 
 But most with mantles folded round, 
 
 Were couch'd to rest upon the ground, 
 
 Scarce to be known by curious eye, 
 
 From the deep heather where they lie, 
 
 So well was match'd the tartan screen 
 
 With heath-bell dark and brackens green ; 
 
 Unless where, here and there a blade, 
 
 Or lance's point, a glimmer made, 
 
 Like glow-worm twinkling through the shade, 
 
 But when, advancing through the gloom, 
 
 They saw the Chieftain's eagle plume, 
 
 Their shout of welcome, shrill and wide, 
 
 Shook the steep mountain's steady side. 
 
 Thrice it arose, and lake and fell 
 
 Three times return'd the martial yell ; 
 
 It died upon Bochastle's plain, 
 
 And silence claimed her evening reign, 
 
CANTO FOURTH. 
 
 i. 
 
 " The rose is fairest when 'tis budding new, 
 
 And hope is brightest when it dawns from fears, 1 
 The rose is sweetest wash'd with morning dew, 
 And love is loveliest when embalm'd in tears. 
 O wilding rose, whom fancy thus endears, 
 I bid your blossoms in my bonnet wave. 
 Emblem of hope and love through future years ! " 
 Thus spoke young Norman, heir of Armandave, 
 What time the sun arose on Vennachar 1 s broad wave. 
 
 ii. 
 Such fond conceit, half said, half sung, 
 Love prompted to the bridegroom's tongue. 
 All while he stripp'd the wild-rose spray, 
 His axe and bow beside him lay, 
 For on a pass 'twixt lake and wood 
 A wakeful sentinel he stood. 
 Hark! — on the rock a. footstep rung, 
 And instant to his arms he sprung. 
 
 1 MS. : " And rapture dearest when obscured by fears. 
 138 
 
canto iv.] THE PR OPHE CY. 139 
 
 " Stand, or thou diest ! — What, Malise? — soon 
 
 Art thou retunvd from Braes of Doune. 
 
 By thy keen step and glance I know, 
 
 Thou bring"st us tidings of the foe." 
 
 (For while the Fiery Cross hied on, 
 
 On distant scout had Malise gone.) 
 
 " Where sleeps the Chief? " the henchman said 
 
 "Apart in yonder misty glade ; 
 
 To his lone couch IT1 be your guide." 
 
 Then call'd a slumberer by his side, 
 
 And stirr'd him with his slacken'd bow — 
 
 " Up, up, Glentarkin! rouse thee, ho! 
 
 We seek the Chieftain ; on the track 
 
 Keep eagle watch till I come back." 
 
 Together up the pass they sped : 
 
 " What of the foemen ? " Norman said. — 
 
 " Varying reports from near and far ; 
 
 This certain, — that a band of war 
 
 Has for two days been ready boune, 
 
 At prompt command, to march from Doune ; 
 
 King James, the while, with princely powers, 
 
 Holds revelry in Stirling towers. 
 
 Soon will this dark and gathering cloud 
 
 Speak on our glens in thunder loud. 
 
 Inured to bide such bitter bout, 
 
 The warrior's plaid may bear it out ; 
 
 But Norman, how wilt thou provide 
 
 A shelter for thy bonny bride? " — 
 
 " What! know ye not that Roderick's care 
 
 To the lone isle hath caused repair 
 
140 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto iv. 
 
 Each maid and matron of the clan, 
 
 And every child and aged man, 
 
 Unfit for arms ; and given his charge, 
 
 Nor skiff nor shallop, boat nor barge, 
 
 Upon these lakes shall float at large, 
 
 But all beside the islet moor, 
 
 That such dear pledge may rest secure ? " — 
 
 "'Tis well advised — the Chieftain's plan 1 
 
 Bespeaks the father of his clan. 
 
 But wherefore sleeps Sir Roderick Dhu 
 
 Apart from all his followers true ? " — 
 
 " It is, because last evening-tide 
 
 Brian an augury hath tried, 
 
 Of that dread kind which must not be 
 
 Unless in dread extremity, 
 
 The Taghairm call'd ; by which afar, 
 
 Our sires foresaw the events of war. 2 
 
 Duncraggan's milk-white bull they slew," — 
 
 MALISE. 
 
 " Ah! well the gallant brute I knew ! 
 
 The choicest of the prey we had 
 
 When swept our merry-men Gallangad. 3 
 
 1 MS. : " 'Tis well advised — a prudent plan, 
 
 Worthy the father of his clan." 
 
 2 See Appendix, Note I. 
 
 3 I know not if it be worth observing, that this passage is 
 taken almost literally from the mouth of an old Highland 
 
canto iv.] THE PROPHECY. 141 
 
 His hide was snow, his horns were dark, 
 His red eye glow'd like fiery spark ; 
 So fierce, so tameless, and so fleet, 
 Sore did he cumber our retreat, 
 And kept our stoutest kerns in awe, 
 Even at the pass of Beal 'maha. 
 But steep and flinty was the road, 
 And sharp the hurrying pikemen's goad, 
 And when we came to Dennan's Row, 
 A child might scathless stroke his brow.* 1 
 
 v. 
 
 NORMAN. 
 
 " That bull was slain : his reeking hide 
 They stretch'd the cataract beside, 
 Whose waters their wild tumult toss 
 Adown the black and craggy boss 
 
 Kern, or Ketteran, as they were called. He used to narrate 
 the merry doings of the good old time when he was a follower 
 of Rob Roy MacGregor. This leader, on one occasion, 
 thought proper to make a descent upon the lower part of 
 the Loch Lomond district, and summoned all the heritors 
 and farmers to meet at the Kirk of Drymen, to pay him 
 black-mail, i.e. tribute for forbearance and protection. As 
 this invitation was supported by a band of thirty or forty 
 stout fellows, only one gentleman, an ancestor, if I mistake 
 not, of the present Mr. Grahame of Gartmore, ventured to 
 decline compliance. Rob Roy instantly swept his land of all 
 he could drive away, and among the spoil was a bull of the 
 old Scottish wild breed, whose ferocity occasioned great 
 plague to the Ketterans. " But ere we had reached the 
 Row of Dennan," said the old man, "a child might have 
 
142 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto iv. 
 
 Of that huge cliff, whose ample verge 
 Tradition calls the Hero's Targe. 1 
 Couch'd on a shelve beneath its brink, 
 Close where the thundering torrents sink, 
 Rocking beneath their headlong sway, 
 And drizzled by the ceaseless spray, 
 Midst groan of rock and roar of stream, 
 The wizard waits prophetic dream. 
 Nor distant rests the Chief; — but hush! 
 See, gliding slow through mist and bush, 
 The hermit gains yon rock, and stands 
 To gaze upon our slumbering bands. 
 Seems he not, Malise, like a ghost, 
 That hovers o'er a slaughter'd host ? 
 Or raven on the blasted oak, 
 That watching while the deer is broke, 2 
 His morsel claims with sullen croak?" 
 
 scratched his ears." * The circumstance is a minute one, 
 but it paints the times when the poor beeve was compelled — 
 
 " To hoof it o'er as many weary miles, 
 With goading pikemen hollowing at his heels, 
 As e'er the bravest antler of the woods." — Ethivald. 
 
 1 There is a rock so named in the Forest of Glenfinlas, by 
 which a tumultuary cataract takes its course. This wild place 
 is said in former times to have afforded refuge to an outlaw, 
 who was supplied with provisions by a woman, who lowered 
 them clown from the brink of the precipice above. His water 
 he procured for himself, by letting down a flagon tied to a 
 string, into the black pool beneath the fall. 
 
 2 Quartered. — Everything belonging to the chase was mat- 
 ter of solemnity among our ancestors ; but nothing was more 
 
 * This anecdote was, in former editions, inaccurately ascribed to 
 Gresor Mac^regor of Glengyle, called Gklune Dhu, or Black-knee, a 
 relation of Rob Roy, but, as I have been assured, not addicted to his 
 predatory excesses. — Note to Third Edition. 
 
canto iv.] THE PROPHECY. 143 
 
 MALISE. 
 
 " Peace ! peace ! to other than to me, 
 Thy words were evil augury ; 
 But still I hold Sir Roderick's blade 
 Clan-Alpine's omen and her aid, 
 
 so than the mode of cutting up, or, as it was technically called, 
 breaking, the slaughtered stag. The forester had his allotted 
 portion; the hounds had a certain allowance; and, to make 
 the division as general as possible, the very birds had their 
 share also. " There is a little gristle," says Tubcrville, " which 
 is upon the spoone of the brisket, which we call the raven's 
 bone ; and I have seen in some places a raven so wont and 
 accustomed to it, that she would never fail to croak and cry 
 for it all the time you were in breaking up of the deer, and 
 would not depart till she had it." In the very ancient metrical 
 romance of Sir Tristrem, that peerless knight, who is said to 
 have been the very deviser of all rules of chase, did not omit 
 the ceremony. 
 
 " The rauen he yaue his yiftes 
 Sat on the fourched tre." 
 
 The raven might also challenge his rights by the book of 
 St. Albans ; for thus says Dame Juliana Berners : 
 
 " Sitteth anon 
 
 The bely to the side, from the corbyn bone; 
 That is corbyn's fee, at the death he will be." 
 
 Jonson, in " The Sad Shepherd," gives a more poetical 
 account of the same ceremony : — 
 
 " Marian. He that undoes him 
 
 Doth cleave the brisket bone, upon the spoon 
 Of which a little gristle grows — you call it — 
 
 Robin Hood. The raven's bone. 
 
 Marian. Now o'er head sat a raven 
 
 On a sere bough, a grown, great bird, and hoarse, 
 Who, all the while the deer was breaking up, 
 So croak'd and cried for't, as all the huntsmen, 
 Especially old Scathlock, thought it ominous." 
 
144 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto iv. 
 
 Not aught that, glean'd from heaven or hell, 
 Yon fiend-begotten monk can tell. 
 The chieftain joins him, see — and now, 
 Together they descend the brow." 
 
 VI. 
 
 And, as they came, with Alpine's Lord 
 The Hermit Monk held solemn word : 
 " Roderick ! it is a fearful strife, 
 For man endow'd with mortal life, 
 Whose shroud of sentient clay can still 
 Feel feverish pang and fainting chill, 
 Whose eye can stare in stony trance, 
 Whose hair can rouse like warrior's lance, 
 'Tis hard for such to view, unfurl'd, 
 The curtain of the future world. 
 Yet witness every quaking limb, 
 My sunken pulse, mine eyeballs dim, 
 My soul with harrowing anguish torn, 
 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, 
 Is gifted beyond nature's law, — 
 Had e'er surviv'd to say he saw. 
 At length the fateful answer came, 
 In characters of living flame ! 
 Not spoke in word, nor blazed in scroll, 
 But borne and branded on my soul : — 
 
canto iv.] THE PROPHECY. 145 
 
 Which spills the foremost foeman's life, 1 
 That party conquers in the strife." — 2 
 
 VII. 
 
 " Thanks, Brian, for thy zeal and care ! 
 Good is thine augury, and fair. 
 Clan-Alpine ne'er in battle stood, 
 But first, our broadswords tasted blood. 
 A surer victim still I know, 
 Self-ofifer'd to the auspicious blow : 
 A spy has sought my land this morn, 
 No eve shall witness his return ! 
 My followers guard each pass's mouth, 
 To east, to westward, and to south ; 
 Red Murdoch, bribed to be his guide, 3 
 Has charge to lead his steps aside, 
 Till, in deep path or dingle brown, 
 He light on those shall bring him down. 4 
 — But see, who comes his news to show ! 
 Malise ! what tidings of the foe? " — 
 
 1 MS. : " Which foremost spills a foeman's life." 
 
 2 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 antici- 
 pated in the imagination of the combatants, by observing which 
 party first shed blood. It is said that the Highlanders under 
 Montrose were so deeply imbued with this notion, that on the 
 morning of the battle of Tippermoor, they murdered a de- 
 fenceless herdsman, whom they found in the fields, merely to 
 secure an advantage of so much consequence to their party. 
 
 3 MS. : " The clansmen vainly dcem'd his guide." 
 
 4 MS.: " He light on those shall stab him down." 
 
146 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto iv. 
 
 " At Doune, o'er many a spear and glaive 
 
 Two Barons proud their banners wave. 
 
 I saw the Moray's silver star, 
 
 And mark'd the sable pale of Mar.''' — 
 
 " By Alpine's soul, high tidings those ! 
 
 I love to hear of worthy foes. 
 
 When move they on? " — " To-morrow's noon x 
 
 Will see them here for battle boune." — 2 
 
 " Then shall it see a meeting stern ! — 
 
 But, for the place, — say, couldst thou learn 
 
 Nought of the friendly clans of Earn ? 
 
 Strengthen'd by them, we well might bide 
 
 The battle on Benledi's side. 
 
 Thou couldst not ? — Well ! Clan-Alpine's men 
 
 Shall man the Trosachs' shaggy glen ; 
 
 Within Loch Katrine's gorge we'll fight, 
 
 All in our maids' and matrons' sight, 
 
 Each for his hearth and household fire, 
 
 Father for child, and son for sire, 
 
 Lover for maid beloved ! — But why — 
 
 Is it the breeze affects mine eye? 
 
 Or dost thou come, ill-omen'd tear ! 
 
 A messenger of doubt or fear? 
 
 No! sooner may the Saxon lance 
 
 Unfix Benledi from his stance, 
 
 , „,„ .,,■,,« , -> , f ' This sun ) 
 
 1 MS. : When move they on ? j , \ at noon 
 
 ' 'Tis said will see them march from Doune.' 
 
 ,„ , ( makes ) 
 
 To-morrow then j \ meeting stern. 
 
 2 For battle boune — ready for battle. 
 
canto iv.] THE PROPHECY. 14 7 
 
 Than doubt or terror can pierce through 
 The unyielding heart of Roderick Dhu! 
 'Tis stubborn as his trusty targe. — x 
 Each to his post! — all know their charge." 
 The pibroch sounds, the bands advance, 
 The broadswords gleam, the banners dance, 
 Obedient to the Chieftain's glance. 
 — I turn me from the martial roar, 
 And see Coir-Uriskin once more. 
 
 IX. 
 
 Where is the Douglas? — he is gone ; 
 And Ellen sits on the gray stone 
 Fast by the cave, and makes her moan ; 
 While vainly Allan's words of cheer 
 Are pour'd on her unheeding ear. 
 " He will return — dear lady, trust ! — 
 With joy return ; — he will — he must. 
 Well was it time to seek, afar, 
 Some refuge from impending war, 
 When e'en Clan-Alpine's rugged swarm 
 Are cow'd by the approaching storm. 
 I saw their boats with many a light, 
 Floating the live-long yesternight, 
 Shifting like flashes darted forth 2 
 By the red streamers of the north ; 
 
 1 MS.: " 'Tis stubborn as his Highland targe." 
 
 2 MS. : " Thick as the flashes darted forth 
 
 By morrice-dancers of the north ; 
 
 . , , . ( barges ride, 
 
 And saw at morn their \ ,. 
 
 ( little fleet, 
 
 Close moor'd by the lone islet's side. 
 
148 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto iv. 
 
 I mark'd at morn how close they ride, 
 Thick moor'd by the lone islet's side, 
 Like wild-ducks couching in the fen, 
 When stoops the hawk upon the glen. 
 Since this rude race dare not abide 
 The peril on the mainland side, 
 Shall not thy noble father's care 
 Some safe retreat for thee prepare? " — 
 
 ELLEN. 
 
 " No, Allan, no ! Pretext so kind 1 
 My wakeful terrors could not blind. 
 When in such tender tone, yet grave, 
 Douglas a parting blessing gave, 
 The tear that glisten'd in his eye 
 Drown'd not his purpose fix'd and high. 
 My soul, though feminine and weak, 
 Can image his ; e'en as the lake, 
 Itself disturb'd by slightest stroke, 2 
 Reflects the invulnerable rock. 
 
 Since this rude race dare not abide 
 Upon their native mountain side, 
 'Tis fit that Douglas should provide 
 For his dear child some safe abode, 
 And soon he comes to point the road." 
 
 1 MS. : " No, Allan, no ! His words so kind 
 
 Were but pretexts my fears to blind, 
 When in such solemn tone and grave, 
 Douglas a parting blessing gave." 
 
 2 MS. : " Itself disturb'd by slightest shock, 
 
 Reflects the adamantine rock." 
 
canto iv.] THE PROPHECY. 149 
 
 He hears report of battle rife, 
 
 He deems himself the cause of strife. 
 
 I saw him redden, when the theme 
 
 Turn'd, Allan, on thine idle dream, 
 
 Of Malcolm Graeme, in fetters bound, 
 
 Which I, thou saidst, about him wound. 
 
 Think'st thou he trow'd thine omen aught ? 
 
 Oh no ! 'twas apprehensive thought 
 
 For the kind youth, — for Roderick too — 
 
 (Let me be just) that friend so true ; 
 
 In danger both, and in our cause! 
 
 Minstrel, the Douglas dare not pause. 
 
 Why else that solemn warning given, 
 
 ' If not on earth, we meet in heaven! ' 
 
 Why else, to Cambus-kenneth's fane, 
 
 If eve return him not again, 
 
 Am I to hie, and make me known ? 
 
 Alas! he goes to Scotland's throne, 
 
 Buys his friend's safety with his own ; — 
 
 He goes to do what I had done, — 
 
 Had Douglas' daughter been his son ! " — 
 
 XI. 
 
 ALLAN. 
 
 " Nay, lovely Ellen! — dearest, nay! 
 If aught should his return delay, 
 He only named yon holy fane 
 As fitting place to meet again. 
 Be sure he's safe ; and for the Graeme, — 
 Heaven's blessing on his gallant name! — 
 My vision'd sight may yet prove true, 
 Nor bode of ill to him or you. 
 
 
1 5 o THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto I v. 
 
 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 ; 
 Believe it when it augurs cheer. 
 Would we had left this dismal spot ! 
 Ill luck still haunts a fairy grot. 
 Of such a wondrous tale I know — 
 Dear lady, change that look of woe, 
 My harp was wont thy grief to cheer." — 
 
 ELLEN. 
 
 " Well, be it as thou wilt ; I hear, 
 But cannot stop the bursting tear." 
 The minstrel tried his simple art, 
 But distant far was Ellen's heart. 
 
 XII. 
 BALLAD 1 : ALICE BRAND. 
 
 Merry it is in the good greenwood, 
 
 When the mavis 2 and merle 3 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 
 Is lost for love of you ; 
 And we must hold by wood and wold, 
 As outlaws wont to do. 
 
 1 See Appendix, Note K. 
 2 Thrush. 3 Blackbird. 
 
canto iv.] THE PROPHECY. 151 
 
 " Alice, 'twas all for thy locks so bright, 
 And 'twas all for thine eyes so blue, 
 That on the night of our luckless flight, 
 Thy brother bold I slew. 
 
 " Now must I teach to hew the beech 
 
 The hand that held the glaive, 
 
 For leaves to spread our lowly bed, 
 
 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 slaughter^ deer 
 To keep the cold away." — 
 
 " O Richard! if my brother died, 
 'Twas but a fatal chance ; 
 For darkling was the battle tried, 
 And fortune sped the lance. 1 
 
 " If pall and vair no more I wear, 
 Nor thou the crimson sheen, 
 As warm, we'll say, is the russet gray 
 As gay the forest-green. 
 
 "And, Richard, if our lot be hard, 
 And lost thy native land, 
 Still Alice has her own Richard, 
 And he his Alice Brand." 
 
 1 MS. : " 'Twas but a midnight chance ; 
 
 For blindfold was the battle plied, 
 And fortune held the lance." 
 
152 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto iv. 
 
 XIII. 
 BALLAD CONTINUED. 
 
 'Tis merry, 'tis merry, in good greenwood. 
 
 So blithe Lady Alice is singing ; 
 On the beech's pride, and oak's brown side, 
 
 Lord Richard's axe is ringing. 
 
 Up spoke the moody Elfin King, 
 Who won'd within the hill, — 1 
 
 1 In a long dissertation upon the Fairy Superstitions, pub- 
 lished in the "Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border," the most valu- 
 able part of which was supplied by my learned and indefati- 
 gable friend, Dr. John Leyden, must of the circumstances are 
 collected which can throw light upon the popular belief which 
 even yet prevails respecting them in Scotland. Dr. Grahame, 
 author of an entertaining work upon the Scenery of the Perth- 
 shire Highlands, already frequently quoted, has recorded, with 
 great accuracy, the peculiar tenets held by the Highlanders on 
 this topic, in the vicinity of Loch Katrine. The learned author 
 is inclined to deduce the whole mythology from the Druidical 
 system, — an opinion to which there are many objections. 
 
 " The Daoine Shi,'' or Men of Peace, of the Highlanders, 
 though not absolutely malevolent, are believed to be a peevish, 
 repining race of beings, who possessing themselves but a scanty 
 portion of happiness, are supposed to envy mankind their more 
 complete and substantial enjoyments. They are supposed to 
 enjoy in their subterraneous recesses, a sort of shadowy hap- 
 piness — a tinsel grandeur; which, however, they would will- 
 ingly exchange for the more solid joys of mortality. 
 
 " They are believed to inhabit certain round grassy emi- 
 nences, where they celebrate their nocturnal festivities by the 
 light of the moon. About a mile beyond the source of the 
 Forth above Loch Con, there is a place called Coirs/ii'a/r, or 
 the Cove of the Men of Peace, which is still supposed to be a 
 favorite place of their residence. In the neighborhood are to 
 
canto iv.] THE PR OPHE CY. 153 
 
 Like wind in the porch of a ruin'd church, 
 His voice was ghostly shrill. 
 
 " Why sounds yon stroke on beech and oak, 
 Our moonlight circle's screen? x 
 
 be seen many round conical eminences ; particularly one, near 
 the head of the lake, by the skirts of which many are still afraid 
 to pass after sunset. It is believed, that if, on Hallow-eve, any 
 person, alone, goes round one of these hills nine times, towards 
 the left hand [sinistrorsum) a door shall open, by which he 
 will be admitted into their subterraneous abodes. Many, it is 
 said, of mortal race, have been entertained in their secret re- 
 cesses. There they have been received into the most splendid 
 apartments, and regaled with the most sumptuous banquets, 
 and delicious wines. Their females surpass the daughters of 
 men in beauty. The seemingly happy inhabitants pass their 
 time in festivity, and in dancing to notes of the softest music. 
 But unhappy is the mortal who joins in their joys, or ventures 
 to partake of their dainties. By this indulgence, he forfeits for- 
 ever the society of men, and is bound down irrevocably to the 
 condition of Shi'ich, or Man of Peace. 
 
 " A woman, as is reported in the Highland tradition, was 
 conveyed in days of yore into the secret recesses of the Men of 
 Peace. There she was recognized by one who had formerly 
 been an ordinary mortal, but who had, by some fatality, become 
 associated with the Shi'ichs. This acquaintance, still retaining 
 some portion of human benevolence, warned her of her danger, 
 and counselled her, as she valued her liberty, to abstain from 
 eating and drinking with them for a certain space of time. She 
 complied with the counsel of her friend ; and when the period 
 assigned was elapsed, she found herself again upon earth, 
 restored to the society of mortals. It is added, that when she 
 examined the viands which had been presented to her, and 
 which had appeared so tempting to the eye, they were found, 
 now that the enchantment was removed, to consist only of the 
 refuse of the earth." — P. 107-111. 
 
 1 MS. : " Our fairy ringlet's screen." 
 
154 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto i v. 
 
 Or who comes here to chase the deer, 
 
 Beloved of our Elfin Queen? 1 
 Or who may dare on wold to wear 
 
 The fairies' fatal green ? 2 
 
 " Up, Urgan, up! to yon mortal hie, 
 
 For thou wert christen'd man ; 3 
 For cross or sign thou wilt not fly, 
 
 For mutter'd word or ban. 
 
 1 See Appendix, Note L. 
 
 2 As the Daoine Shi', or Men of Peace, wore green habits, 
 they were supposed to take offence when any mortals ventured 
 to assume their favorite color. Indeed, from some reason, 
 which has been, perhaps, originally a general superstition, ^/w// 
 is held in Scotland to be unlucky to particular tribes and 
 counties. The Caithness men, who hold this belief, allege, as 
 a reason, that their bands wore that color when they were cut 
 off at the battle of Flodden ; and for the same reason they 
 avoid crossing the Ord on a Monday, being the day of the week 
 on which their ill-omened array set forth. Green is also dis- 
 liked by those of the name of Ogilvy ; but more especially is 
 it held fatal to the whole clan of Grahame. It is remembered 
 of an aged gentleman of that name, that when his horse fell in 
 a fox-chase, he accounted for it at once, by observing, that the 
 whip-cord attached to his lash was of this unlucky color. 
 
 3 The Elves were supposed greatly to envy the privileges 
 acquired by Christian initiation, and they gave to those mortals 
 who had fallen into their power, a certain precedence, founded 
 upon this advantageous distinction. Tamlane, in the old bal- 
 lad, describes his own rank in the fairy procession : — 
 
 " For I ride on a milk-white steed, 
 And aye nearest the town; 
 Because I was a christen'd knight, 
 They gave me that renown." 
 
 I presume, that in the Danish ballad of the Elfin Grey (see 
 Appendix, Note K.) the obstinacy of the " Weist Elf," who 
 
canto iv.] THE PROPHECY. 155 
 
 *' 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 rind leave to die." 
 
 XIV. 
 BALLAD CONTINUED. 
 
 'Tis merry, 'tis merry, in good greenwood, 
 Though the birds have stilFd their singing ; 
 
 The evening blaze doth Alice raise, 
 And Richard is fagots bringing. 
 
 would not flee for cross or sign, is to be derived from the 
 circumstance of his having been " christen'd man." 
 
 How eager the Elves were to obtain for their offspring the 
 prerogatives of Christianity, will be proved by the following 
 story: — "In the district called Haga, in Iceland, dwelt a 
 nobleman called Sigward Forster, who had an intrigue with 
 one of the subterranean females. The elf became pregnant 
 and exacted from her lover a firm promise that he would 
 procure the baptism of the infant. At the appointed time, 
 the mother came to the churchyard, on the wall of which she 
 placed a golden cup, and a stole for the priest, agreeable to 
 the custom of making an offering at baptism. She then stood 
 a little apart. When the priest left the church, he inquired 
 the meaning of what he saw, and demanded of Sigward if he 
 avowed himself the father of the child. But Sigward, ashamed 
 of the connexion, denied the paternity. He was then interro- 
 gated if he desired that the child should be baptized ; but this 
 also he answered in the negative, lest, by such request, he 
 should admit himself to be the father. On which the child 
 was left untouched and unbaptized. Whereupon the mother, 
 in extreme wrath, snatched up the infant and the cup, and 
 retired, leaving the priestly cope, of which fragments are still 
 in preservation. But this female denounced and imposed 
 
156 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto i v. 
 
 Up Urgan starts, that hideous dwarf, 
 
 Before Lord Richard stands, 
 And as he cross'd and bless'd himself, 
 " I fear not sign, 1 ' quoth the grisly elf, 
 
 " That is made with bloody hands." 
 
 But out then spoke she, Alice Brand, 
 
 That woman void of fear, — 
 " And if there's blood upon his hand, 
 
 'Tis but the blood of deer. 1 ' — 
 
 " Now loud thou liest, thou bold of mood! 
 
 It cleaves unto his hand, 
 The stain of thine own kindly blood, 
 
 The blood of Ethert Brand. 11 
 
 Then forward stepp'd she, Alice Brand, 
 
 And made the holy sign, — 
 " And if there's blood on Richard's hand, 
 
 A spotless hand is mine. 
 
 " And I conjure thee, Demon elf, 
 
 By Him whom Demons fear, 
 To show us whence thou art thyself, 
 
 And what thine errand here ? " — 
 
 upon Sigward, and his posterity, to the ninth generation, a 
 singular disease, with which many of his descendants are 
 afflicted at this day." Thus wrote Einar Dudmond, pastor 
 of the parish of Garpsdale, in Iceland, a man profoundly 
 versed in learning, from whose manuscript it was extracted 
 by the learned Torfddiis. — Historia Hrolfi Krakii, Ha/nice, 
 1715, prefatio. 
 
canto iv.] THE PROPHECY. 157 
 
 xv. 
 
 BALLAD CONTINUED. 
 
 " 'Tis merry., 'tis merry, in Fairy-land, 
 
 When fairy birds are singing, 
 When the court doth ride by their monarch's side, 
 
 With bit and bridle ringing : 
 
 " And gaily shines the Fairy-land, 
 
 But all is glistening show, 1 
 Like the idle gleam that December's beam 
 
 Can dart on ice and snow. 
 
 " And fading, like that varied gleam, 
 
 Is our inconstant shape, 
 Who now like knight and lady seem, 
 
 And now like dwarf and ape. 
 
 " 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 snatch'd away 
 
 To the joyless Elfin bower. 2 
 
 1 See Appendix, Note M. 
 
 - The subjects of Fairy-land were recruited from the re- 
 gions of humanity by a sort of crimping system, which 
 extended to adults as well as to infants. Many of those who 
 were in this world supposed to have discharged the debt of 
 nature, had only become denizens of the " Londe of Faery." 
 In the beautiful Fairy Romance of Orfee and Heurodiis 
 (Orpheus and Eurydice) in the Auchinleck MS., is the fol- 
 lowing striking enumeration of persons thus abstracted from 
 
158 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto 1 v. 
 
 " 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. 11 
 
 She crossM him once — she cross'd him twice — 
 
 That lady was so brave ; 
 The fouler grew his goblin hue, 
 
 The darker grew the cave. 
 
 She cross'd him thrice, that lady bold ; 
 
 He rose beneath her hand 
 The fairest knight on Scottish mold, 
 
 Her brother, Ethert Brand! 
 
 middle earth. Mr. Ritson unfortunately published this ro- 
 mance from a copy in which the following, and many other 
 highly poetical passages do not occur : — 
 
 " Then he gan biholde about al, 
 
 And seighe ful liggeand with in the wal, 
 Of folk that were thidder y-brought, 
 And thought dede and nere nought; 
 Some stode with outen hadde; 
 And sum none armes nade; 
 And sum thurch the bodi hadde wounde; 
 And sum lay wode y-bounde; 
 And sum armed on hors sete; 
 And sum estrangled as thai ete; 
 And sum war in water adreynt; 
 And sum with fire al forschreynt; 
 Wives ther lay on childe bedde; 
 Some dede, and sum awedde; 
 And wonder fele ther lay besides, 
 Right as thai slepe her undertides; 
 Eche was thus in the warld y-nome, 
 With fairi thider y-come." 
 
canto iv.] THE PROPHECY. 159 
 
 Merry it is in good greenwood, 
 
 When the mavis and merle are singing, 
 
 But merrier were they in Dunfermline gray, 
 When all the bells were ringing. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 Just as the minstrel's sounds were stay'd, 
 
 A stranger climb'd the steepy glade : 
 
 His martial step, his stately mien, 
 
 His hunting suit of Lincoln green, 
 
 His eagle glance, remembrance claims — 
 
 'Tis Snowdoun's Knight, 'tis James Fitz-James. 
 
 Ellen beheld as in a dream, 
 
 Then, starting, scarce suppressed a scream : 
 
 " O stranger ! in such hour of fear, 
 
 What evil hap has brought thee here? 17 — 
 
 "An evil hap how can it be, 
 
 That bids me look again on thee ? 
 
 By promise bound, my former guide 
 
 Met me betimes this morning tide, 
 
 And marshalPd, over bank and bourne, 
 
 The happy path of my return. 11 — 
 
 " The happy path ! — what ! said he nought 
 
 Of war, of battle to be fought, 
 
 Of guarded pass ? " — " No, by my faith ! 
 
 Nor saw I aught could augur scathe. 11 — 
 
 " O haste thee, Allan, to the kern : 
 
 Yonder his tartans I discern ; 
 
 Learn thou his purpose, and conjure 
 
 That he will guide the stranger sure! — 
 
 What prompted thee, unhappy man ? 
 
 The meanest serf in Roderick's clan 
 
1 60 THE LAD Y OF THE LAKE, [canto iv. 
 
 Had not been bribed by love or fear, 
 Unknown to him to guide thee here." 
 
 XVII. 
 
 " Sweet Ellen, dear my life must be, 
 Since it is worthy care from thee ; 
 Yet life I hold but idle breath, 
 When love or honor's weigh'd with death. 
 Then let me profit by my chance, 
 And speak my purpose bold at once. 
 I come to bear thee from a wild, 
 Where ne'er before such blossom smiled, 
 By this soft hand to lead thee far 
 From frantic scenes of feud and war. 
 Near Bochastle my horses wait 1 
 They bear us soon to Stirling gate. 
 I'll place thee in a lovely bower, 
 
 I'll guard thee like a tender flower" 
 
 " O ! hush, Sir Knight ! 'twere female art, 
 To say I do not read thy heart ; 
 Too much, before, my selfish ear 
 Was idly soothed my praise to hear. 2 
 That fatal bait hath lured thee back, 
 In deathful hour, o'er dangerous track; 
 And how, O how, can I atone 
 The wreck my vanity brought on ! — 
 One way remains — I'll tell him all — 
 Yes ! struggling bosom, forth it shall ! 
 
 1 MS. : " By Cambusmore my horses wait." 
 
 2 MS. : " Was idly fond thy praise to hear." 
 
canto iv.] THE PROPHECY. 161 
 
 Thou, whose light folly bears the blame, 
 
 Buy thine own pardon with thy shame ! 
 
 But first — my father is a man 
 
 Outlaw'd and exiled, under ban ; 
 
 The price of blood is on his head, 
 
 With me 'twere infamy to wed. — 
 
 Still wouldst thou speak ? — then hear the truth ! 
 
 Fitz-James, there is a noble youth, — 
 
 If yet he is ! — exposed for me 
 
 And mine to dread extremity — 
 
 Thou hast the secret of my heart ; 
 
 Forgive, be generous, and depart! " 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 Fitz-James knew every wily train 
 
 A lady's fickle heart to gain, 
 
 But here he knew and felt them vain. 
 
 There shot no glance from Ellen's eye, 
 
 To give her steadfast speech the lie ; 
 
 In maiden confidence she stood, 
 
 Though mantled in her cheek the blood, 
 
 And told her love with such a sigh 
 
 Of deep and hopeless agony, 
 
 As death had seal'd 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 proffer'd to attend her side, 
 
 As brother would a sister guide. — 
 
 " O ! little know'st thou Roderick's heart ! 
 
 Safer for both we go apart. 
 
1 62 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto iv. 
 
 haste thee, and from Allan learn, 
 
 If thou may'st trust yon wily kern. ,, 
 
 With hand upon his forehead laid, 
 
 The conflict of his mind to shade 
 
 A parting step or two he made ; 
 
 Then, as some thought had cross'd his brain, 
 
 He paused, and turn'd, and came again. 
 
 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, 1 
 And bade, when I had boon to crave, 
 To bring it back and boldly claim 
 The recompense that I would name. 
 Ellen, I am no courtly lord, 
 But one who lives by lance and sword, 
 Whose castle is his helm and shield, 
 His lordship the embattled field. 
 What from a prince can I demand, 
 Who neither reck of state nor land ? 
 Ellen, thy hand — the ring is thine ; 2 
 Each guard and usher knows the sign. 
 Seek thou the king without delay ; 3 
 This signet shall secure thy way : 
 
 IMS. 
 
 2 MS. 
 
 3 MS. 
 
 " This ring of gold the monarch gave." 
 " Permit this hand — the ring is thine." 
 " ' Seek thou the King, and on thy knee 
 
 Put forth thy suit, what e'er it be, 
 
 As ransom of his pledge to me; 
 
 My name and this shall make thy way.' 
 
 He put the little signet on." 
 
canto iv.] THE PROPHECY. 163 
 
 And claim thy suit, whate'er it be, 
 
 As ransom of his pledge to me." 
 
 He placed the golden circlet on, 
 
 Paused — kissed her hand — and then was gone. 
 
 The aged Minstrel stood aghast, 
 
 So hastily Fitz-James shot past. 
 
 He join*d his guide, and wending down 
 
 The ridges of the mountain brown, 
 
 Across the stream they took their way, 
 
 That joins Loch Katrine to Achray. 
 
 xx. 
 
 All in the Trosachs 1 glen was still, 
 Noontide was sleeping on the hill : 
 Sudden his guide whoop'd loud and high — 
 " 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 ! 
 For thee — for me, perchance — 'twere 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, 
 Each silent, each upon his guard. 
 
 1 MS. : " He stammer'd forth confused reply: 
 
 ' Saxon, It, 
 
 « o- T ^ • 1 . M shouted but to scare 
 Sir Knight, J 
 
 Yon raven from his dainty fare.' " 
 
1 64 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto iv. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 Now wound the path its dizzy ledge 
 Around the precipice's edge, 
 When lo! a wasted female form, 
 Blighted by wrath of sun and storm, 
 In tatter'd weeds and wild array, 1 
 Stood on a cliff beside the way, 
 And glancing round her restless eye, 
 Upon the wood, the rock, the sky, 
 Seem'd nought to mark, yet all to spy. 
 Her brow was wreath'd with gaudy broom ; 
 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, 
 Where scarce was footing for the goat. 
 The tartan plaid she first descried, 
 And shriek'd till all the rocks replied ; 
 As- loud she laugh'd when near they drew, 
 For then the Lowland garb she knew ; 
 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 strain'd and roughen'd, still 
 Rung wildly sweet to dale and hill. 
 
 XXII. 
 SONG. 
 
 They bid me sleep, they bid me pray, 
 
 They say my brain is warp'd and wrung — 
 1 MS. : " Wrapp'd in a tatter'd mantle gray." 
 
canto IV. ] THE PR OPIIE CY. 165 
 
 I cannot sleep on Highland brae, 
 
 I cannot pray in Highland tongue. 
 But were I now where Allan 1 glides, 
 Or heard my native Devan's tides, 
 So sweetly would I rest, and pray 
 That heaven would close my wintry day ! 
 
 'Twas thus my hair they bade me braid, 
 They bade me to the church repair ; 
 
 It was my bridal morn they said, 
 
 And my true love would meet me there. 
 
 But woe betide the cruel guile, 
 
 That drown'd in blood the morning smile ! 
 
 And woe betide the fairy dream ! 
 
 I only waked to sob and scream. 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 " Who is this maid? what means her lay? 
 She hovers o'er the hollow way, 
 And flutters wide her mantle gray, 
 As the lone heron spreads his wing, 
 By twilight, o'er a haunted spring." — 
 " 'Tis Blanche of Devan," Murdoch said, 2 
 " A crazed and captive Lowland maid, 
 Ta'en on the morn she was a bride. 
 When Roderick foray'd Devan-side. 
 The gay bridegroom resistance made, 
 And felt our Chiefs unconquer'd blade. 
 
 1 The Allan and Devan are two beautiful streams, the latter 
 celebrated in the poetry of Burns, which descend from the 
 hills of Perthshire into the great carse, or plain, of Stirling. 
 
 2 MS. : " ' A Saxon born, a crazy maid — 
 
 'Tis Blanche of Devan,' Murdoch said." 
 
1 66 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto iv. 
 
 I marvel she is now at large, 
 
 But oft she 'scapes from Maudlin's charge. — 
 
 Hence, brain-sick fool! " — He raised his bow : — 
 
 " Now, if thou strik'st her but one blow, 
 
 I'll pitch thee from the cliff as far 
 
 As ever peasant pitched a bar ! " — 
 
 " Thanks, champion, thanks! " the Maniac cried, 
 
 And press'd her to Fitz-James's side. 
 
 " See the gray pennons I prepare, 1 
 
 To seek my true love through the air ! 
 
 I will not lend that savage groom, 2 
 
 To break his fall, one downy plume ! 
 
 No ! — deep amid disjointed stones, 
 
 The wolves shall batten on his bones, 
 
 And then shall his detested plaid, 
 
 By brush and brier in mid air stay'd, 
 
 Wave forth a banner fair and free, 
 
 Meet signal for their revelry. 11 — 
 
 " Hush thee, poor maiden, and be still ! " — 
 O ! thou look^t kindly, and I will. 
 Mine eye has dried and wasted been, 
 But still it loves the Lincoln green ; 
 And, though mine ear is all unstrung, 
 Still, still it loves the Lowland tongue. 
 
 1 MS. : " With thee these pennons will I share, 
 
 Then seek my true love through the air." 
 
 2 MS. : " But I'll not lend that savage groom, 
 
 To break his fall one downy plume ! 
 Deep, deep 'mid yon disjointed stones, 
 The wolf shall batten on his bones." 
 
canto iv.] THE PR OPHE CY. 167 
 
 " For O my sweet William was forester true, 1 
 He stole poor Blanche's heart away ! 
 
 His coat it was all of the greenwood hue, 2 
 And so blithely he trill'd the Lowland lay ! 
 
 " It was not that I meant to tell . . . 
 But thou art wise and guessest well." 
 Then, in a low and broken tone, 
 And hurried note, the song went on. 
 Still on the Clansman, fearfully, 
 She fixed her apprehensive eye ; 
 Then turn'd it on the Knight, and then 
 Her look glanced wildly o'er the glen. 
 
 XXV. 
 
 " The toils are pitcb/d, and the stakes are set, 
 Ever singing merrily, merrily ; 
 The bows they bend, and the knives they whet, 
 Hunters live so cheerily. 
 
 " It was a stag, a stag of ten, 3 
 Bearing its branches sturdily ; 
 He came stately down the glen, 
 Ever sing hardily, hardily. 
 
 " It was there he met with a wounded doe, 
 She was bleeding deathfully ; 
 She warn'd him of the toils below, 
 O, so faithfully, faithfully ! 
 
 1 MS. : *Sweet William was a woodsman true, 
 
 He stole poor Blanche's heart away." 
 
 2 MS. : " His coat was of the forest hue, 
 
 And sweet he sung the Lowland lay." 
 8 Having ten branches on his antlers. 
 
1 68 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto i v. 
 
 " He had an eye, and he could heed, 
 Ever sing warily, warily ; 
 He had a foot and he could speed — 
 Hunters watch so narrowly." x 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 Fitz-James's mind was passion-toss'd, 
 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, 
 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, 2 
 But in his race his bow he drew. 
 The shaft just grazed Fitz-James's crest, 
 And thrill'd in Blanche's faded breast. — 
 Murdoch of Alpine! prove thy speed, 
 For ne'er had Alpine's son such need ! 
 
 1 " No machinery can be conceived more clumsy for effect- 
 ing the deliverance of a distressed hero, than the introduction 
 of a mad woman, who, without knowing or caring about the 
 wanderer, warns him, by a song, to take care of the ambush 
 that was set for him. The maniacs of poetry have indeed had 
 a prescriptive right to be musical, since the days of Ophelia 
 downwards ; but it is rather a rash extension of this privilege to 
 make them sing good sense, and to make sensible people be 
 guided by them." — Jeffrey. 
 
 2 MS. : " Forth at full speed the Clansman went; 
 
 But in his race his bow he bent, 
 Halted — and back an arrow sent." 
 
canto iv.] THE PROPHECY. 169 
 
 With heart of fire and foot of wind, 
 
 The fierce avenger is behind ! 
 
 Fate judges of the rapid strife — 
 
 The forfeit death — the prize is life ! 
 
 Thy kindred ambush lies before, 
 
 Close coucrTd upon the heathery moor ; 
 
 Them couldst thou reach! — it may not be — 1 
 
 Thine ambuslvd kin thou ne'er shall see, 
 
 The fiery Saxon gains on thee ! — 
 
 Resistless speeds the deadly thrust, 
 
 As lightning strikes the pine to dust; 
 
 With foot and hand Fitz-James must strain, 
 
 Ere he can win his blade again. 
 
 Bent o'er the fall'n, with falcon eye, 2 
 
 He grimly smiled to see him die : 
 
 Then slower wended back his way, 
 
 Where the poor maiden bleeding lay. 
 
 XXVII. 
 
 She sate beneath the birchen tree, 
 Her elbow resting on her knee ; 
 She had withdrawn the fatal shaft, 
 And gazed on it, and feebly laugh 1 d ; 
 Her wreath of broom and feathers gray, 
 Daggled with blood, beside her lay. 
 
 1 MS. : " It may not be — 
 
 The fiery Saxon gains on thee, 
 Thine ambush'd kin thou ne'er shalt see! 
 Resistless as the lightning's flame, 
 The thrust betwixt his shoulder came." 
 
 2 MS. : " Then o'er him hung, with falcon eye, 
 
 And grimly smil'd to see him die." 
 
170 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto iv. 
 
 The Knight to stanch the life-stream tried. — 
 " Stranger, it is in vain ! " she cried. 
 " This hour of death has given me more 
 Of reason's power than years before ; 
 For, as these ebbing veins decay, 
 My frenzied visions fade away. 
 A helpless injured wretch I die, 1 
 And something tells me in thine eye, 
 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, 
 But blood and tears have dimm'd its shine. 
 I will not tell thee when 'twas shred, 
 Nor from what guiltless victim's head — 
 My brain would turn! — but it shall wave 2 
 Like plumage on thy helmet brave, 
 Till sun and wind shall bleach the stain, 
 And thou wilt bring it me again. — 
 I waver still. — O God! more bright 
 Let reason beam her parting light! — 
 O! by thy knighthood's honor'd sign, 
 And for thy life preserved by mine, 
 When thou shalt see a darksome man, 
 Who boasts him Chief of Alpine's clan, 
 With tartans broad and shadowy plume, 
 And hand of blood, and brow of gloom, 
 Be thy heart bold, thy weapon strong, 
 And wreak poor Blanche of Devan's wrong 
 
 1 MS. : " A guiltless injured wretch I die." 
 
 2 MS. : " But now, my champion, — it shall wave." 
 
canto iv. J THE PROPHECY. 171 
 
 They watch for thee by pass and fell . . . 
 Avoid the path . . . O God! . . . farewell." 
 
 XXVIII. 
 
 A kindly heart had brave Fitz-James ; 
 
 Fast pour'd his eyes at pity's claims ; 
 
 And now with mingled grief and ire, 
 
 He saw the murdered maid expire. 
 
 "God, in my need, be my relief, 1 
 
 As I wreak this on yonder Chief ! " 
 
 A lock from Blanche's tresses fair 
 
 He blended with her bridegroom's hair ; 
 
 The mingled braid in blood he dyed, 
 
 And placed it on his bonnet-side : 
 
 " By Him whose word is truth! I swear 
 
 No other favor will I wear, 
 
 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, 
 
 The stag at bay's a dangerous foe." 
 
 Barr'd from the known but guarded way, 
 
 Through copse and cliff Fitz-James must stray, 
 
 And oft must change his desperate track, 
 
 By stream and precipice turn'd back. 
 
 Heartless, fatigued, and faint, at length, 
 
 From lack of food and loss of strength, 
 
 He couch'd him in a thicket hoar, 
 
 And thought his toils and perils o'er : — 
 
 1 MS. : " God in my need, to me be true, 
 
 As I wreak this on Roderick Dhu." 
 
172 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto iv. 
 
 " Of all my rash adventures past, 
 
 This frantic feat must prove the last! 
 
 Who e'er so mad but might have guess'd, 
 
 That all this Highland hornet's nest 
 
 Would muster up in swarms so soon 
 
 As e'er they heard of bands at Doune? — 
 
 Like 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'll couch me here till evening gray, 
 
 Then darkling try my dangerous way." 
 
 XXIX. 
 
 The shades of eve come slowly down, 
 
 The woods are wrapt in deeper brown, 
 
 The owl awakens from her dell, 
 
 The fox is heard upon the fell ; 
 
 Enough remains of glimmering light 
 
 To guide the wanderer's steps aright, 
 
 Yet not enough from far to show 
 
 His figure to the watchful foe. 
 
 With cautious step, and ear awake, 
 
 He climbs the crag and threads the brake ; 
 
 And not the summer solstice there 
 
 Temper'd the midnight mountain air, 
 
 But every breeze that swept the wold 
 
 Benumb'd his drenched limbs with cold. 
 
 In dread, in danger, and alone, 
 
 Famish'd and chill'd, through ways unknown, 
 
 Tangled and steep, he journey'd on ; 
 
canto iv.] THE PROPHECY. 1 73 
 
 Till, as the rock's huge point he turned, 
 A watch-fire close before him burn'd. 
 
 XXX. 
 
 Beside its embers red and clear, 1 
 
 Bask'd, in his plaid, a mountaineer; 
 
 And up he sprung with sword in hand. — 
 
 " Thy name and purpose! Saxon, stand! " — 
 
 " A stranger. 11 — " What dost thou require? " — 
 
 " Rest and a guide, and food and fire. 
 
 My life's beset, my path is lost, 
 
 The gale has chilPd my limbs with frost. 1 ' — 
 
 " Art thou a friend to Roderick? 11 — " No. 11 — 
 
 " Thou dar'st not call thyself a foe? " — 
 
 " I dare! to him and all his band 2 
 
 He brings to aid his murderous hand. 11 — 
 
 " Bold words! — but, though the beast of game 
 
 The privilege of chase may claim, 
 
 Though space and law the stag we lend, 
 
 Ere hound we slip, or bow we bend, 
 
 Who ever reck'd, where, how, or when, 
 
 The prowling fox was trapp'd or slain ? 3 
 
 Thus treacherous scouts, — yet sure they lie, 
 
 Who say thou cam'st a secret spy! " — 
 
 1 MS. : " By the decaying flame was laid 
 
 A warrior in his Highland plaid." 
 
 2 MS. : " I dare ! to him and all the swarm 
 
 He brings to aid his murderous arm." 
 
 3 St. John actually used this illustration when engaged in 
 confuting the plea of law proposed for the unfortunate Earl of 
 Strafford: "It was true we gave laws to hares and deer, 
 because they are beasts of chase ; but it was never accounted 
 
1 74 THE LAD Y OF THE LAKE, [canto iv. 
 
 " They do, by heaven! — Come Roderick Dhu, 
 
 And of his clan the boldest two, 
 
 And let me but till morning rest, 
 
 I write the falsehood on their crest.'" — 
 
 " If by the blaze I mark aright, 
 
 Thou bear'st the belt and spur of Knight. 1 ' 
 
 " Then by these tokens mayst thou know 
 
 Each proud oppressor's mortal foe." — 
 
 " Enough, enough ; sit down and share 
 
 A soldier's couch, a soldier's fare." 
 
 XXXI. 
 
 He gave him of his Highland cheer, 
 The harden'd flesh of mountain deer ; 1 
 
 either cruelty or foul play to knock foxes or wolves on the 
 head as they can be found, because they are beasts of prey. 
 In a word, the law and humanity were alike ; the one being 
 more fallacious, and the other more barbarous, than in any 
 age had been vented in such an authority." — CLARENDON'S 
 History of the Rebellion. Oxford, 1702, fol. vol. p. 183. 
 
 1 The Scottish Highlanders, in former times, had a concise 
 mode of cooking their venison, or rather of dispensing with 
 cooking it, which appears greatly to have surprised the French 
 whom chance made acquainted with it. The Vidame of 
 Chartres, when a hostage in England, during the reign of Ed- 
 ward VI., was permitted to travel into Scotland, and penetrated 
 as far as the remote Highlands {au fin fond des Sauvages). After 
 a great hunting party, at which a most wonderful quantity of 
 game was destroyed, he saw these Scottish savages devour a 
 part of their venison raw, without any further preparation than 
 compressing it between two batons of wood, so as to force out 
 the blood, and render it extremely hard. This they reckoned 
 a great delicacy; and when the Vidame partook of it, his 
 compliance with their taste rendered him extremely popular. 
 
canto iv.] THE PR OTIIE CY. 175 
 
 Dry fuel on the fire he laid, 
 And bade the Saxon share his plaid. 
 He tended him like welcome guest, 
 Then trgis his further speech address'd. 
 
 This curious trait of manners was communicated by M. de 
 Montmorency, a great friend of the Vidame, to Brantome, by 
 whom it is recorded in Vies des Hommes lllustres, Discours, 
 lxxxix. art. 14. The process by which the raw venison was 
 rendered eatable is described very minutely in the romance of 
 Perceforest, where Estonne, a Scottish knight-errant, having 
 slain a deer, says to his companion Claudius : " Sire, or man- 
 gerez vous, et moy aussi. Voire si nous anions de feu, dit 
 Claudius. Par l'ame de mon pere, dist Estonne, ie vous 
 atourneray et cuiray a la maniere de nostre pays comme 
 pour cheualier errant. Lors tira son espee, et sen vint a la 
 branche dung arbre, et y fait vng grant trou, et puis fend la 
 branche bien dieux piedx, et boute la cuisse du cerf entre 
 deux, et puis prent le licol de son cheval, et en lye la branche, 
 et destraint si fort, que le sang et les humeurs de la chair 
 saillent hors, et demeure la chaire doulce et seiche. Lors 
 prent la chair, et oste ius le cuir, et la chaire demeure aussi 
 blanche comme si ce feust dung chappon. Dont dist a 
 Claudius, Sire, ie la vous ay cuiste a la guise de mon pays, 
 vous en pouez manger hardyement, car ie mangeray premier. 
 Lors met sa main a sa selle en vng lieu quil y auoit, et tire 
 hors sel et poudre de poiure et gingembre, mesle ensemble, 
 et le iecte dessus, et le frote sus bien fort, puis le couppe a 
 moytie et en donne a Claudius l'une des pieces, et puis mort 
 en l'autre aussi sauoureusement quil est aduis que il en feist la 
 pouldre voller. Quant Claudius veit quil le mangeoit de tel 
 goust, il en print grant faim, et commence a manger, tresvou- 
 lentiers, et dist a Estonne: Par l'ame de moy, ie ne mangeay 
 oncquesmais de chair atournee de telle guise : mais dorese- 
 nauant ie nc me retourneroye pas hors de mon chemin par 
 auoir la cuite. Sire, dist Estonne, quant is suis en desers 
 d'Escosse, dont ie suis seigneur, ie cheuaucheray huit iours 
 
176 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto 1 v. 
 
 " Stranger, I am to Roderick Dhu 
 
 A clansman born, a kinsman true ; 
 
 Each word against his honor spoke, 
 
 Demands of me avenging stroke ; «, 
 
 Yet more, — upon thy fate, 'tis said, 
 
 A mighty augury is laid. 
 
 It rests with me to wind my horn. — 
 
 Thou art with numbers overborne ; 
 
 It rests with me, here, brand to brand, 
 
 Worn as thou art, to bid thee stand : 
 
 But, not for clan, nor kindred's cause, 
 
 Will I depart from honor's laws ; 
 
 To assail a wearied man were shame, 
 
 And stranger is a holy name ; 
 
 Guidance and rest, and food and fire 
 
 In vain he never must require. 
 
 Then rest thee here till dawn of day ; 
 
 Myself will guide thee on the way, 
 
 O'er stock and stone, through watch and ward, 
 
 Till past Clan-Alpine's outmost guard, 
 
 ou quinze que ie d'entreray en chastel ne en maison, et si ne 
 verray feu ne personne viuant fors que bestes sauuages, et de 
 celles mangeray atournees en ceste maniere, et mieulx me 
 plaira que la viande de l'empereur. Ainsi sen vont mangeant 
 et cheuauchant iusques adonc quilz arriuerent sur une moult 
 belle fontaine que estoit en vne valee. Quant Estonne la vit 
 il dist a Claudius, allons boire a ceste fontaine. Or beuuons, 
 dist Estonne, du boire que le grant dieu a pourueu a toutes 
 gens, et que me plaist mieulx que les ceruoises d'Angleterre." 
 — La Treselegante Hystoire du tresnoble Roy Perceforest. Paris, 
 1531, fol. tome i. fol. lv. vers. 
 
 After all, it may be doubted whether la chaire nostree, for so 
 the French called the venison thus summarily prepared, was 
 anything more than a mere rude kind of deer-ham. 
 
canto iv.] . THE PROPHECY. 177 
 
 As far as Coilantogle's ford ; 
 
 From thence thy warrant is thy sword."— 
 
 " I take thy courtesy, by Heaven, 
 As freely as 'tis nobly given." 1 — 
 " Well, rest thee ; for the bittern's cry 
 Sings us the lake's wild lullaby." 
 With that he shook the gather'd heath, 
 And spread his plaid upon the wreath ; 
 And the brave foemen, side by side, 
 Lay peaceful down like brothers tried, 
 And slept until the dawning beam * 
 Purpled the mountain and the stream. 
 
 1 MS. : " And slept until the dawning streak 
 Purpled the mountain and the lake. 
 
CANTO FIFTH. 
 
 5T|je Combat. 
 
 Fair as the earliest beam of eastern light, 
 
 When first, by the bewilder'd pilgrim spied 
 It smiles upon the dreary brow of night, 
 
 And silvers o'er the torrent's foaming tide, 
 And lights the fearful path on mountain side ; — 1 
 
 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, 
 Look'd out upon the dappled sky, 
 Mutter'd their soldier matins by, 
 And then awaked their fire, to steal, 
 As short and rude, their soldier meal. 
 
 1 MS. : " And lights the fearful way along its side." 
 178 
 
canto v.] THE COMBAT. 1 79 
 
 That o'er, the Gael 1 around him threw 
 His graceful plaid of varied hue, 
 And true to promise, led the way, 
 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, 
 And all the vales between that lie, 
 Till Stirling's turrets melt in sky ; 
 Then, sunk in copse, their farthest glance 
 Gain'd not the length of horseman's lance. 
 'Twas oft so steep, the foot was fain 
 Assistance from the hand to gain ; 
 So tangled oft that, bursting through, 
 Each hawthorn shed her showers of dew, — 
 That diamond dew, so pure and clear, 
 It rivals all but Beauty's tear. 
 
 in. 
 At length they came where, stern and steep, 2 
 The hill sinks down upon the deep. 
 Here Vennachar in silver flows, 
 There, ridge on ridge, Benledi rose ; 
 Ever the hollow path twined on, 
 Beneath steep bank and threatening stone ; 
 An hundred men might hold the post 
 With hardihood against a host. 
 
 1 The Scottish Highlander calls himself Gael, or Gaul, and 
 terms the Lowlanders, Sassenach, or Saxons. 
 
 2 MS. : " At length they paced the mountain's side, 
 
 And saw beneath the waters wide." 
 
1 80 THE LAD Y OF THE LAKE, [canto v. 
 
 The rugged mountain's scanty cloak 
 Was dwarfish shrubs of birch and oak, 1 
 With shingles bare, and cliffs between, 
 And patches bright of bracken green, 
 And heather black, that waved so high, 
 It held the copse in rivalry. 
 But where the lake slept, deep and still, 
 Dank osiers fringed the swamp and hill ; 
 And oft both path and hill were torn, 
 Where wintry torrents down had borne, 
 And heap'd upon the cumber'd land 
 Its wreck of gravel, rocks, and sand. 
 So toilsome was the road to trace, 
 The guide, abating of his pace, 
 Led slowly through the pass's jaws, 
 And ask'd Fitz-James by what strange cause 
 He sought these wilds, traversed by few, 
 ^Without a pass from Roderick Dhu. 
 
 " 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. 2 
 When here, but three days since, I came, 
 Bewilder'd in pursuit of game, 
 All seem'd as peaceful and as still, 
 As the mist slumbering on yon hill ; 
 
 1 MS. : " The rugged mountain's stunted screen 
 
 Was dwarfish \ \ with cliffs betw 
 
 ( copse J 
 
 2 MS. : " I dreamed not now to draw my blade.' 
 
can-toy.] THE COMBAT. 1S1 
 
 Thy dangerous Chief was then afar, 
 Nor soon expected back from war. 
 Thus said, at least, my mountain-guide, 
 Though deep, perchance, the villain lied." 
 " Yet why a second venture try? " 
 " A warrior thou, and ask me why ! — 
 Moves our free course by such fix'd cause 
 As gives the poor mechanic laws? 
 Enough, I sought to drive away 
 The lazy hours of peaceful clay ; 
 Slight cause will then suffice to guide 
 A Knight's free footsteps far and wide, — 1 
 A falcon flown, a greyhound stray'd, 
 The merry glance of mountain maid : 
 Or, if a path be dangerous known, 
 The danger's self is lure alone. 11 
 
 " Thy secret keep, I urge thee not ; — 2 
 
 Yet, ere again ye sought this spot, 
 
 Say, heard ye naught of Lowland war, 
 
 Against Clan-Alpine, rais'd by Mar? 11 
 
 — " No, by my word : — of bands prepared 
 
 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. 11 — 3 
 
 1 MS. : " My errant footsteps ) , , . . „ 
 
 ,,.,,,,, , . M ar an " wide. 
 
 A knight s bold wanderings ) 
 
 2 MS. : "Thy secret keep, I ask it not." 
 
 ;; MS. : " Which else in hall had peaceful hung." 
 
1 82 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto v. 
 
 " Free be they flung ! for we were loth 
 Their silken folds should feast the moth. 
 Free be they flung ! — as free shall wave 
 Clan- Alpine's pine in banner brave. 
 But, Stranger, peaceful since you came, 
 Bewilder'd in the mountain-game, 
 Whence the bold boast by which you show 
 Vich-Alpine's vow'd and mortal foe ? " — 
 " Warrior, but yester-morn, I knew 
 Naught of thy Chieftain, Roderick Dhu, 
 Save as an outlaw'd desperate man, 
 The chief of a rebellious clan, 
 Who in the Regent's court and sight, 
 With ruffian dagger stabb'd a knight ; 
 Yet this alone might from his part 
 Sever each true and loval heart/ 1 
 
 Wrathful at such arraignment foul, 
 
 Dark lower'd the clansman's sable scowl. 
 
 A space he paused, then sternly said, 
 
 " And heard'st thou why he drew his blade? 
 
 Heardst thou that shameful word and blow 
 
 Brought Roderick's vengeance on his foe ? 
 
 What reck'd the Chieftain if he stood 
 
 On Highland heath, or Holy-Rood? 
 
 He rights such wrong where it is given, 
 
 If it were in the court of heaven." — 
 
 " Still was it outrage ; — yet, 'tis true, 
 
 Not then claim'd sovereignty his due ; 
 
 While Albany, with feeble hand, 
 
 Held borrow'd truncheon of command, 
 
canto v.] THE COMBAT. I03 
 
 The young King, mew'd in Stirling tower, 
 Was stranger to respect and power. 1 
 But then, thy Chieftain's robber life ! — 
 Winning mean prey by causeless strife, 
 Wrenching from ruhvd Lowland swain 
 His herds and harvest rear'd in vain, — 
 Methinks a soul like thine should scorn 
 The spoils from such foul foray borne/ 1 
 
 VII. 
 
 The Gael beheld him grim the while, 
 And answered with disdainful smile, — 
 
 1 There is scarcely a more disorderly period in Scottish his- 
 tory than that which succeeded the battle of Flociden, 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. " There arose," says Pitscottie, 
 " great trouble and deadly feuds in many parts of Scotland, 
 both in the north and west parts. The Master of Forbes, in 
 the north, slew the Laird of Meldrum, under tryst ; " (i.e. at 
 an agreed and secure meeting:} " Likewise, the Laird of Drum- 
 melzier slew the Lord Fleming at the hawking ; and, likewise 
 there was slaughter among many other great lords." p. 121. 
 Nor was the matter much mended under the government of 
 the Earl of Angus : for though he caused the King to ride 
 through all Scotland, " under the pretence and color of justice, 
 to punish thief and traitor, none were found greater than were 
 in their own company ; and none at that time durst strive with 
 a Douglas, nor yet a Douglas's man ; for if they would, they 
 got the worst. Therefore, none durst plainzie of no extortion, 
 theft, reiff, nor slaughter, done to them by the Douglasses, or 
 their men ; in that cause they were not heard so long as the 
 Douglas had the court in guiding." — Ibid. p. 133. 
 
1 84 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto v. 
 
 " Saxon, from yonder mountain high, 
 I mark'd thee send delighted eye 
 Far to the south and east, where lay, 
 Extended in succession gay, 
 Deep waving fields and pastures green, 
 With gentle slopes and groves between : — 
 These fertile plains, that soften'd vale, 
 Were once the birthright of the Gael ; 
 The stranger came with iron hand, 
 And from our fathers reft the land. 
 Where dwell we now ? See rudely swell 
 Crag over crag, and fell o'er fell. 
 Ask we this savage hill we tread, 
 For fatten'd steer or household bread, 
 Ask we for flocks these shingles dry, 
 And well the mountain might reply, — 
 ' To you, as to your sires of yore, 
 Belong the target and claymore ! 
 I give you shelter in my breast, 
 Your own good blades must win the rest.' 
 Pent in this fortress of the North, 
 Think'st thou we will not sally forth, 
 To spoil the spoiler as we may, 
 And from the robber rend the prey ? 
 Ay, by my soul! — While on yon plain 
 The Saxon rears one shock of grain ; 
 While, of ten thousand herds, there strays 
 But one along yon river's maze, — 
 The Gael, of plain and river heir, 
 Shall, with strong hand, redeem his share. 
 Where live the mountain Chiefs who hold 
 That plundering Lowland field and fold 
 
canto v.] THE COMBAT. 185 
 
 Is aught but retribution true ? 
 
 Seek other cause 'gainst Roderick Dhu. 11 — 1 
 
 1 The ancient Highlanders verified in their practice the 
 lines of Gray : — 
 
 " An iron race the mountain cliffs maintain, 
 Foes to the gentler genius of the plain; 
 For where unwearied sinews must be found, 
 With side-long plough to quell the flinty ground; 
 To turn the torrent's swift descending flood; 
 To tame the savage rushing from the wood; 
 What wonder if, to patient valor train'd 
 They guard with spirit what by strength they gain'd: 
 And while their rocky ramparts round they see 
 The rough abode of want and liberty, 
 (As lawless force from confidence will grow), 
 Insult the plenty of the vales below ? " 
 
 Fragment on the Alliance of Education 
 and Government. 
 
 So far, indeed, was a Creagh, or foray, from being held 
 disgraceful, that a young chief was always expected to show 
 his talents for command so soon as he assumed it, by leading 
 his clan on a successful enterprise of this nature, either against 
 a neighboring sept, for which constant feuds usually fur- 
 nished an apology, or against the Sasse?iach, 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 
 ravages that they could make on the unfortunate districts 
 which lay within their reach. Sir James Grant of Grant is 
 in possession of a letter of apology from Cameron of Lochiel, 
 whose men had committed some depredation upon a farm 
 called Moines, occupied by one of the Grants. Lochiel assures 
 Grant, that, however the mistake had happened, his instruc- 
 tions were precise, that the party should foray the province 
 of Moray (a Lowland district), where, as he coolly observes, 
 " all men take their prey." 
 
1 86 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto v. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 Answer'd Fitz-James, — - "And, if I sought, 
 
 Think'st thou no other could be brought? 
 
 What deem ye of my path waylaid ? 
 
 My life given o'er to ambuscade ? " — 
 
 "As of a meed to rashness due : 
 
 Hadst thou sent warning fair and true, — 
 
 I seek my hound, or falcon stray'd, 
 
 I seek, good faith, a Highland maid, — 
 
 Free hadst thou been to come and go, 
 
 But secret path marks secret foe. 
 
 Nor yet, for this, even as a spy, 
 
 Hadst thou, unheard, been doonVd to die, 
 
 Save to fulfil an augury. " — 
 
 " Well, let it pass ; nor will I now 
 
 Fresh cause of enmity avow, 
 
 To chafe thy mood and cloud thy brow. 
 
 Enough, I am by promise tied 
 
 To match me with this man of pride : 
 
 Twice have I sought Clan-Alpine's glen 
 
 In peace ; but when I come again, 
 
 I come with banner, brand, and bow, 
 
 As leader seeks his mortal foe. 
 
 For love-lorn swain, in lady's bower, 
 
 Ne'er panted for the appointed hour, 
 
 As I, until before me stand 
 
 This rebel Chieftain and his band ! " x 
 
 1 MS. : " This dark Sir Roderick ) , , . , . . 
 _,,. _,. . . \ and his band. 
 
 This savage Chieftain J 
 
canto v.] THE COMBAT. 187 
 
 " Have, then, thy wish ! " — he whistled shrill, 
 
 And he was answer' d from the hill ; 
 
 Wild as the scream of the curlew, 
 
 From crag to crag the signal flew. 1 
 
 Instant, through copse and heath, arose 
 
 Bonnets and spears and bended bows : 
 
 On right, on left, above, below, 
 
 Sprung up at once the lurking foe ; 
 
 From shingles gray their lances start, 
 
 The bracken brush sends forth the dart, 2 
 
 The rushes and the willow-wand 
 
 Are bristling into axe and brand, 
 
 And every tuft of broom gives life 3 
 
 To plaided warrior arm'd for strife. 
 
 That whistle garrisoivd the glen 
 
 At once with full five hundred men, 
 
 As if the yawning hill to heaven 
 
 A subterranean host had given. 4 
 
 1 MS. : " From copse to copse the signal flew. 
 
 Instant, through copse and crags arose." 
 
 2 MS. : " The bracken bush shoots forth the dart." 
 
 3 MS. : " And each lone tuft of broom gives life 
 
 To plaided warrior arm'd for strife. 
 That whistle manned the lonely glen 
 With full five hundred armed men." 
 4 The Monthly Review says : — " We now come to the chef- 
 d'oeuvre of Walter Scott, — a scene of more vigour, nature, 
 and animation, than any other in all his poetry." Another 
 anonymous critic of the poem is not afraid to quote, with 
 reference to the effect of this passage, the sublime language of 
 the Prophet Ezekiel : — " Then said he unto me, Prophesy 
 unto the wind, prophesy, sun of man, and say to the wind, 
 
1 88 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto v. 
 
 Watching their leader's beck and will, 1 
 
 All silent there they stood, and still. 
 
 Like the loose crags whose threatening mass 
 
 Lay tottering o'er the hollow pass, 
 
 As if an infant's touch could urge 
 
 Their headlong passage down the verge, 
 
 With step and weapon forward flung, 
 
 Upon the mountain-side they hung. 
 
 The Mountaineer cast glance of pride 
 
 Along Benledi's living side, 
 
 Then fix'd his eye and sable brow 
 
 Full on Fitz-James — " How say'st thou now? 
 
 These are Clan-Alpine's warriors true ; 
 
 And, Saxon, — I am Roderick Dhu ! M 
 
 x. 
 
 Fitz-James was brave : — though to his heart 
 The life-blood thrill'd with sudden start, 
 He mann'd himself with dauntless air, 
 Return'd the Chief his haughty stare, 
 His back against a rock he bore, 
 And firmly placed his foot before : — 
 
 Thus saith the Lord God ; Come from the four winds, O 
 breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So 
 I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into 
 them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceed- 
 ing great army." — Chap, xxxvii. v. 9, 10. 
 
 1 MS. : "All silent, too, they stood, and still, 
 
 Watching their leader's beck and will, 
 While forward step and weapon show 
 They long to rush upon the foe, 
 Like the loose crag, whose tottering mass 
 Hung threatening o'er the hollow pass." 
 
•• ( !ome one. come all! this rock shall fly 
 From its firm base as soon as I." 
 
CANTO v.] THE COMBAT. 1S9 
 
 " Come one, come all ! this rock shall fly 
 
 From its firm base as soon as I." 
 
 Sir Roderick mark'd, — and in his eyes 
 
 Respect was mingled with surprise, 
 
 And the stern joy which warriors feel 
 
 In foemen worth)' of their steel. 
 
 Short space he stood — then waved his hand; 
 
 Down sunk the disappearing band ; 
 
 Each warrior vanish'd where he stood, 
 
 In broom or bracken, heath or wood ; 
 
 Sunk brand and spear and bended bow, 
 
 In osiers pale and copses low ; 
 
 It seem'd as if their mother Earth 
 
 Had swallow'd up her warlike birth. 
 
 The wind's last breath had toss'd in air, 
 
 Pennon, and plaid, and plumage fair, — 
 
 The next but swept a lone hill-side, 
 
 Where heath and fern were waving wide ; 
 
 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. 
 
 XI. 
 
 Fitz-James look*d 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, 
 
 And to his look the Chief replied : 
 
 " Fear naught — nay, that I need not say — 
 
 But — doubt not aught from mine array. 
 
130 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto v. 
 
 Thou art my guest ; — I pledged my word 
 
 As far as Coilantogle ford : 
 
 Nor would I call a clansman's brand 
 
 For aid against one valiant hand, 1 
 
 Though on our strife lay every vale 
 
 Rent by the Saxon from the Gael. 2 
 
 So move we on ; — I only meant 
 
 To show the reed on which you leant, 
 
 Deeming this path you might pursue 
 
 Without a pass from Roderick Dim. 1 ' 3 
 
 1 MS. : " For aid against one brave mans hand." 
 
 2 " This scene is excellently described. The frankness and 
 high-souled courage of the two warriors, — the reliance which 
 the Lowlander places on the word of the Highlander to guide 
 him safely on his way the next morning, although he has 
 spoken threatening and violent words against Roderick, 
 whose kinsman the mountaineer professes himself to be, — 
 these circumstances are all admirably imagined and related." 
 — Monthly Review. 
 
 3 This incident, like some other passages in the poem, illus- 
 trative of the character of the ancient Gael, is not imaginary, 
 but borrowed from fact. The Highlanders, with the incon- 
 sistency of most nations in the same state, were alternately 
 capable of great exertions of generosity, and of cruel revenge 
 and perfidy. The following story I can only quote from tra- 
 dition, but with such an assurance from those by whom it was 
 communicated, as permits me little doubt of its authenticity. 
 Early in the last century, John Gunn, a noted Cateran, or 
 Highland robber, infested Inverness-shire, and levied black- 
 mail up to the walls of the provincial capital. A garrison was 
 then maintained in the castle of that town, and their pay 
 (country banks being unknown) was usually transmitted in 
 specie, under the guard of a small escort. It chanced that 
 the officer who commanded this little party was unexpectedly 
 obliged to halt, about thirty miles from Inverness, at a miser- 
 
canto v.] THE COMBAT. 19 1 
 
 They moved : — I said Fitz-James was brave, 
 As ever knight that belted glaive; 
 Yet dare not say, that now his blood 
 Kept on its wont and temperM flood, 
 As, following Roderick's stride, he drew 
 That seeming lonesome pathway through, 
 Which yet, by fearful proof, was rife 
 With lances, that, to take his life, 
 able inn. About nightfall, a stranger, in the Highland dress, 
 and of very prepossessing appearance, entered the same house. 
 Separate accommodation being impossible, the Englishman 
 offered the newly-arrived guest a part of his supper, which 
 was accepted with reluctance, By the conversation he found 
 his new acquaintance knew well all the passes of the country, 
 which induced him eagerly to request his company on the 
 ensuing morning, He neither disguised his business and 
 charge, nor his apprehensions of that celebrated freebooter 
 John Gunn.— The Highlander hesitated for a moment, and 
 then frankly consented to be his guide. Forth they set in 
 the morning; and, in travelling through a solitary and dreary 
 glen, the discourse again turned on John Gunn. " Would 
 you like to see him?" said the guide; and, without wait- 
 ing an answer to his alarming question, he whistled, and the 
 English officer, with his small party, were surrounded by a 
 body of Highlanders, whose numbers put resistance out of 
 question, and who were all well armed. " Stranger," re- 
 sumed the guide, " I am that very John Gunn by whom you 
 feared to be intercepted, and not without cause: fori came 
 to the inn last night with the express purpose of learning your 
 route, that I and my followers might ease you of your charge 
 by the road. But I am incapable of betraying the trust you 
 reposed in me, and having convinced you that you were in 
 my power, I can only dismiss you unplundered and unin- 
 jured." He then gave the officer directions for his journey, 
 and disappeared with his party as suddenly as they had pre- 
 sented themselves. 
 
192 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto v. 
 
 Waited but signal from a guide, 
 So late dishonored and defied. 
 Ever, by stealth, his eye sought round 
 The vanislVd guardians of the ground, 
 And still, from copse and heather deep, 
 Fancy saw spear and broadsword peep 1 
 And in the plover's shrilly strain, 
 The signal whistle heard again. 
 Nor breathed he free till far behind 
 The pass was left ; for then they wind 
 Along a wide and level green, 
 Where neither tree nor turf was seen, 
 Nor rush nor bush of broom was near, 
 To hide a bonnet or a spear. 
 
 The Chief in silence strode before, 
 
 And reach'd that torrent's sounding shore, 
 
 Which, daughter of three mighty lakes, 
 
 From Vennachar in silver breaks, 
 
 Sweeps through the plain, and ceaseless mines 
 
 On Bochastle the mouldering lines, 2 
 
 Where Rome, the Empress of the world, 
 
 Of yore her eagle wings unfurTd. 3 
 
 1 MS. : " And still from copse and heather bush, 
 
 Fancy saw spear and broadsword rush." 
 
 2 MS. : " On Bochastle the martial lines." 
 
 3 The torrent which discharges itself from Loch Vennachar, 
 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 
 
canto v.] THE COMBAT. 193 
 
 And here his course the Chieftain staid, 
 Threw down his target and his plaid, 
 And to the Lowland warrior said : — 
 " Bold Saxon ! to his promise just, 
 Vich-Alpine has discharged his trust. 
 This murderous Chief, this ruthless man, 
 This head of a rebellious clan, 
 Hath led thee safe, through watch and ward, 
 Far past Clan-Alpine's outmost guard. 
 Now, man to man, and steel to steel, 
 A Chieftain's vengeance thou shalt feel. 
 
 are some intrenchments, which have been thought Roman. 
 There is, adjacent to Callender, a sweet villa, the residence 
 of Captain Fairfoul, entitled the Roman Camp. 
 
 " One of the most entire and beautiful remains of a Roman 
 encampment now to be found in Scotland, is to be seen at 
 Ardoch, near Greenloaming, about six miles to the eastward 
 of Dunblane. This encampment is supposed, on good 
 grounds, to have been constructed during the fourth cam- 
 paign of Agricola in Britain ; it is 1060 feet in length, and 
 900 in breadth ; it could contain 26,000 men, according to 
 the ordinary distribution of the Roman soldiers in their en- 
 campments. There appears to have been three or four 
 ditches, strongly fortified, surrounding the camp. The four 
 entries crossing the lines are still to be seen distinctly. The 
 general's quarter rises above the level of the camp, but is not 
 exactly in the centre. It is a regular square of twenty yards 
 enclosed with a stone wall, and containing the foundations of 
 a house, thirty feet by twenty. There is a subterraneous com- 
 munication with a smaller encampment at a little distance, in 
 which several Roman helmets, spears, etc., have been found. 
 From this camp at Ardoch, tin: great Roman highway runs 
 east to Bertha, about fourteen miles distant, where the Roman 
 army is believed 10 have passed over the Tay into Strath- 
 more." — Graham. 
 
194 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto v. 
 
 See, here all vantageless I stand, 
 ArnVd like thyself, with single brand ; 1 
 For this is Coilantogle ford, 
 And thou must keep thee with thy sword. 1 ' 
 
 XIII. 
 
 The Saxon paused: " I ne'er delay 1 d, 
 
 When foeman bade me draw my blade ; 
 
 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 nought but blood our feud atone ? 
 
 Are there no means? " — " No, Stranger, none ! 
 
 And here, — 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 : 
 
 1 Who spills the foremost foeman's life, 
 
 His party conquers in the strife. 111 — 
 
 " Then, by my word," the Saxon said, 
 
 " The riddle is already read. 
 
 Seek yonder brake beneath the cliff, — 
 
 There lies Red Murdoch, stark and stiff. 
 
 Thus Fate has solved her prophecy ; 
 
 Then yield to Fate, and not to me. 
 
 To James, at Stirling, let us go, 
 
 When, if thou wilt be still his foe, 
 
 Or if the King shall not agree 
 
 To grant thee grace and favor free, 
 
 1 See Appendix, Note N. 
 
canto v.] THE COMBAT. 1 95 
 
 I plight mine honor, oath, and word, 
 That to thy native strengths restored, 
 With each advantage shalt thou stand, 
 That aids thee now to guard thy land.' 1 
 
 XIV. 
 
 Dark lightning flashed from Roderick's eye : x 
 
 " Soars thy presumption, then, so high, 
 
 Because a wretched kern ye slew, 
 
 Homage to name of Roderick Dhu? 
 
 He yields not, he, to man nor Fate ! 2 
 
 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 
 
 As that of some vain carpet knight, 
 
 Who ill deserved my courteous care, 
 
 And whose best boast is but to wear 
 
 A braid of his fair lady's hair." — 
 
 " I thank thee, Roderick, for the word ! 
 
 It nerves my heart, it steels my sword ; 
 
 For I have sworn this braid to stain 
 
 In the best blood that warms thy vein. 
 
 Now, truce, farewell ! and, ruth, begone ! — 
 
 Yet think not that by thee alone, 
 
 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. 
 
 1 MS. : " In lightning flash'd the Chiefs dark eye." 
 
 2 MS. : " He stoopsno\, he, to James nor Fate." 
 
196 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto v. 
 
 But fear not — doubt not — which thou wilt — 
 We try this quarrel hilt to hilt." 
 Then each at once his falchion drew, 
 Each on the ground his scabbard threw, 
 Each look'd to sun, and stream, and plain, 
 As what they ne'er might see again ; 
 Then foot, and point, and eye opposed, 
 In dubious strife they darkly closed. 1 
 
 xv. 
 Ill fared it then with Roderick Dhu, 
 That on the field his targe he threw, 2 
 Whose brazen studs and tough bull-hide 
 Had death so often dash'd aside ; 
 
 1 " The two principal figures are contrasted with uncom- 
 mon felicity. Fitz-James, who more nearly resembles the 
 French Henry the Fourth than the Scottish James V., is gay, 
 amorous, fickle, intrepid, impetuous, affectionate, courteous, 
 graceful, and dignified. Roderick is gloomy, vindictive, ar- 
 rogant, undaunted, but constant in his affections, and true to 
 his engagements ; and the whole passage in which these per- 
 sonages are placed in opposition, from their first meeting to 
 their final conflict, is conceived and written with a sublimity 
 which has been rarely equalled." — Quarterly Review, 1810. 
 
 2 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. In the civil war of 1745, most of the front rank of 
 the clans were thus armed ; and Captain Grose informs us, 
 that in 1747, the privates of the 42d regiment, then in Flanders, 
 were for the most part permitted to carry targets. — Military 
 Antiquities, vol. i. p. 164. A person thus armed had a con. 
 
canto v.] THE COMBAT. 197 
 
 For, trairfd abroad his arms to wield, 
 Fitz-James's blade was sword and shield. 1 
 
 siderable advantage in private fray. Among verses between 
 Swift and Sheridan, lately published by Dr. Barret, there is an 
 account of such an encounter, in which the circumstances, and 
 consequently the relative superiority of the combatants, are 
 precisely the reverse of those in the text : — 
 
 " A Highlander once fought a Frenchman at Margate. 
 The weapons, a rapier, a backsword, and target; 
 Brisk Monsieur advanced as fast as he could, 
 But all his fine pushes were caught in the wood, 
 And Sawney, with backsword, did slash him and nick him, 
 While t'other, enraged that he could not once prick him, 
 Cried, ' Sirrah, you rascal, you son of a whore, 
 Me will fight you, be gar ! if you'll come from your door.' " 
 
 1 The use of defensive armor, and particularly of the buck- 
 ler, or target, was general in Queen Elizabeth's time, although 
 that of the single rapier seems to have been occasionally prac- 
 tised much earlier * Rowland Yorke, however, who betrayed 
 the fort of Zutphen to the Spaniards, for which good service 
 he was afterwards poisoned by them, is said to have been the 
 first who brought the rapier-fight into general use. Fuller, 
 speaking of the swash-bucklers, or bullies of Queen Elizabeth's 
 time, says— " West Smithfield was formerly called Ruffians' 
 Hall, where such men usually met, casually or otherwise, to 
 trv masteries with sword and buckler. More were frightened 
 than hurt, more hurt than killed therewith, it being accounted 
 unmanly to strike beneath the knee. But since that desper- 
 ate traitor Rowland Yorke first introduced thrusting with 
 rapiers, sword and buckler are disused." In " The Two 
 Angry Women of Abingdon," a comedy, printed in 1599, 
 we have a pathetic complaint: — "Sword and buckler fight 
 begins to grow out of use. I am sorry for it : I shall never 
 see good manhood again. If it be once gone, this poking 
 fight of rapier and dagger will come up ; then a tall man, and 
 
 * See Douce's Illustrations of Shakspeare, vol. ii. p. 61. 
 
193 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto v. 
 
 He practised every pass and ward, 
 To thrust, to strike, to feint, to guard ; 
 While less expert, though stronger far, 
 The Gael maintain'd unequal war. 1 
 Three times in closing strife they stood, 
 And thrice the Saxon blade drank blood ; 
 No stinted draught, no scanty tide, 
 The gushing flood the tartans dyed. 
 Fierce Roderick felt the fatal drain, 
 And shower'd his blows like wintry rain ; 
 And, as firm rock, or castle-roof, 
 Against the winter shower is proof, 
 The foe, invulnerable still, 
 FoiPd his wild rage by steady skill ; 
 
 a good sword-and-buckler man, will be spitted like a cat or 
 rabbit." But the rapier had upon the continent long super- 
 seded, in private duel, the use of sword and shield. The 
 masters of the noble science of defence were chiefly Italians. 
 They made great mystery of their art and mode of instruction, 
 never suffered any person to be present but the scholar who 
 was to be taught, and even examined closets, beds, and other 
 places of possible concealment. Their lessons often gave the 
 most treacherous advantages ; for the challenger, having a 
 right to choose his weapons, frequently selected some strange, 
 unusual, and inconvenient kind of arms, the use of which he 
 practised under these instructors, and thus killed at his ease 
 his antagonist, to whom it was presented for the first time on 
 the field of battle. See Brantome's Discourse on Duels, and 
 the work on the same subject, " si gentement ecrit" by the ven- 
 erable Dr. Paris de Puteo. The Highlanders continued to 
 use broadsword and target until disarmed after the affair of 
 1745-6. 
 
 1 MS. : " Not Roderick thus, though stronger far 
 More tall and more inured to war." 
 
canto v.] THE COMBAT. 199 
 
 Till, at advantage ta'en, his brand 
 Forced Roderick's weapon from his hand, 
 And backward borne upon the lea, 
 Brought the proud Chieftain to his knee. 1 
 
 XVI. 
 
 " Now, yield thee, or by Him who made 
 The world, thy heart's blood dyes my blade 
 " Thy threats, thy mercy, I defy ! 
 Let recreant yield, who fears to die." 
 
 m 
 
 ■ 2 
 
 1 This couplet is not in the MS. 
 
 2 I have not ventured to render this duel so savagely des- 
 perate as that of the celebrated Sir Ewan of Lochiel, chief of 
 the clan Cameron, called, from his sable complexion, Ewan 
 Dhu. He was the last man in Scotland who maintained the 
 royal cause during the great Civil War, and his constant in- 
 cursions rendered him a very unpleasant neighbor to the 
 republican garrison at Inverlochy, now Fort William. The 
 governor of the fort detached a party of three hundred men 
 to lay waste Lochiel's possessions, and cut down his trees ; 
 but, in a sudden and desperate attack made upon them by the 
 chieftain with very inferior numbers, they were almost all cut 
 to pieces. The skirmish is detailed in a curious memoir of 
 Sir Ewan's life, printed in the Appendix of Pennant's Scottish 
 Tour. 
 
 " In this engagement, Lochiel himself had several wonder- 
 ful escapes. In the retreat of the English, one of the strongest 
 and bravest of the officers retired behind a bush, when he ob- 
 served Lochiel pursuing, and seeing him unaccompanied with 
 any, he leapt out and thought him his prey. They met one 
 another with equal fury. The combat was long and doubtful : 
 the English gentleman had by far the advantage in strength 
 and size; but Lochiel, exceeding him in nimbleness and 
 agility, in the end tript the sword out of his hand : they closed 
 
200 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto v. 
 
 — Like adder darting from his coil, 
 Like wolf that dashes through the toil, 
 Like mountain-cat who guards her young, 
 Full at Fitz-James's throat he sprung ; * 
 Received, but reck'd not of a wound, 
 And lock'd his arms his foeman round. — 
 Now, gallant Saxon, hold thine own ! 
 No maiden's hand is round thee thrown ! 
 That desperate grasp thy frame might feel, 
 Through bars of brass and triple steel ! — 
 They tug, they strain ! down, down they go, 
 The Gael above, Fitz-James below. 
 The Chieftain's gripe his throat compress'd, 
 His knee was planted on his breast ; 
 His clotted locks he backward threw, 
 Across his brow his hand he drew, 
 From blood and mist to clear his sight, 
 Then gleam'd aloft his dagger bright ! — 
 But hate and fury ill supplied 
 The stream of life's exhausted tide, 
 
 and wrestled, till both fell to the ground in each other's arms. 
 The English officer got above Lochiel, and pressed him hard, 
 but stretching forth his neck by attempting to disengage him- 
 self, Lochiel, who by this time had his hands at liberty, with 
 his left hand seized him by the collar, and jumping at his ex- 
 tended throat, he bit it with his teeth quite through, and kept 
 such a hold of his grasp, that he brought away his mouthful ; 
 this, he said, was the sweetest bit he ever had in his lifetime" — 
 Vol. i. p. 375. 
 
 1 MS. : " ' Yield they alone who fear to die.' 
 
 Like mountain-cat who guards her young, 
 Full at Fitz-James's throat he sprung." 
 
canto v.] THE COMBAT. 
 
 And all too late the advantage came, 
 To turn the odds of deadly game ; 
 For, while the dagger gleam'd on high, 
 Reel'd soul and sense, reel'd brain and eye. 
 Down came the blow ! but in the heath 
 The erring blade found bloodless sheath. 
 The struggling foe may now unclasp 
 The fainting Chief's relaxing grasp ; 
 Unwounded from the dreadful close, 
 But breathless all, Fitz-James arose. 1 
 
 He falter'd thanks to Heaven for life, 
 
 Redeem'd, unhoped, from desperate strife ; 2 
 
 Next on his foe his look he cast, 
 
 Whose every gasp appear'd his last ; 
 
 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, 
 
 Undid the collar from his throat, 
 
 Unbonneted, and by the wave 
 
 Sate down his brow and hands to lave. 
 
 Then faint afar are heard the feet 3 
 
 Of rushing steeds in gallop fleet ; 
 
 1 MS. : " Panting and breathless on the sands. 
 
 But all unwounded, now he stands." 
 
 2 MS. : " Redeem'd, unhoped, from deadly strife ; 
 
 Next on his foe his look he \ , ' 
 ( threw, 
 
 Whose every breath appear'd his last." 
 
 3 MS. : " Faint and afar are heard the feet." 
 
202 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto v. 
 
 The sounds increase, and now are seen 
 
 Four mounted squires in Lincoln green ; 
 
 Two who bear lance, and two who lead, 
 
 By looseiVd rein, a saddled steed ; 
 
 Each onward held his headlong course, 
 
 And by Fitz-James rein'd up his horse, 
 
 With wonder view'd the bloody spot — 
 
 — " Exclaim not, gallants ! question not. — 
 
 You, Herbert and Luffness, alight, 
 
 And bind the wounds of yonder knight ; 
 
 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. 
 
 The sun rides high ; — I must be boune, 
 
 To see the archer game at noon ; j 
 
 But lightly Bayard clears the lea. — 
 
 De Vaux and Hemes, follow me. 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 " Stand, Bayard, stand!" — the steed obey'd, 
 
 With arching neck and bended head, 
 
 And glancing eye and quivering ear, 
 
 As if he loved his lord to hear. 
 
 No foot Fitz-James in stirrup staid, 
 
 No grasp upon the saddle laid, 
 
 But wreath'd his left hand in the mane, 
 
 And lightly bounded from the plain, 
 
 Turn'd on the horse his armed heel, 
 
 And stirr'd his courage with the steel. 
 
canto v.] THE COMBAT. 203 
 
 Bounded the fiery steed in air, 
 
 The rider sate erect and fair, 
 
 Then like a bolt from steel crossbow 
 
 Forth launch'd, along the plain they go. 
 
 They dash'd that rapid current through, 
 
 And up Carhonie's hill they flew ; 
 
 Still at the gallop prick'd the Knight, 
 
 His merrymen follow'd as they might. 
 
 Along thy banks, swift Teith! they ride, 
 
 And in the race they mock thy tide ; 
 
 Torry and Lendrick now are past, 
 
 And Deanstown lies behind them cast ; 
 
 They rise, the banner* d towers of Doune, 1 
 
 They sink in distant woodland soon ; 
 
 Blair-Drummond sees the hoofs strike fire, 2 
 
 They sweep like breeze through Ochtertyre ; 
 
 They mark, just glance and disappear 
 
 The lofty brow of ancient Kier ; 
 
 They bathe their courser's sweltering sides, 
 
 Dark Forth! amid thy sluggish tides, 
 
 And on the opposing shore take ground, 
 
 With plash, with scramble, and with bound. 
 
 Right-hand they leave thy cliffs, Craig-Forth! 3 
 
 And soon the bulwark of the North, 
 
 1 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. 
 
 2 MS. : " Blair-Drummond sazu their hoofs of fire'' 
 
 3 It may be worth noting that the poet marks the progress 
 of the King by naming in succession places familiar and dear 
 to his own early recollections — Blair-Drummond, the seat of 
 the Homes of Kaimes ; Kier, that of the principal family of the 
 name of Stirling; Ochtertyre, that of John Ramsay, the well- 
 
204 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto v. 
 
 Gray Stirling, with her towers and town, 
 Upon their fleet career looked down. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 As up the flinty path they strain'd, 1 
 
 Sudden his steed the leader rein'd ; 
 
 A signal to his squire he flung, 
 
 Who instant to his .stirrup sprung : — 
 
 " Seest thou, De Vaux, yon woodsman gray, 
 
 Who town-ward 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 ? 2 
 
 Know'st thou from whence he comes, or whom ? " 
 
 " No, by my word ; — a burly groom 
 
 He seems, who in the field or chase 
 
 A baron's train would nobly grace. " — 
 
 "Out, out, De Vaux ! can fear supply, 
 
 And jealousy, no sharper eye? 
 
 Afar, ere to the hill he drew, 
 
 That stately form and step I knew ; 
 
 Like form in Scotland is not seen, 
 
 Treads not such step on Scottish green. 
 
 'Tis James of Douglas, by Saint Serle ! 3 
 
 The uncle of the banished Earl. 
 
 known antiquary, and correspondent of Burns ; and Craig- 
 forth, that of the Callenders of Craigforth, almost under the 
 walls of Stirling Castle ; — all hospitable roofs, under which he 
 had spent many of his younger days. — Ed. 
 
 1 MS. : " As Up the steepy path they strain'd." 
 
 2 MS.: " With which he gains the mountain-side." 
 
 3 The Edinburgh Reviewer remarks on " that unhappy 
 couplet,* where the King himself is in such distress for a 
 
canto v.] THE COMB A T. 205 
 
 Away, away, to court, to show 
 
 The near approach of dreaded foe : 
 
 The King must stand upon his guard ; 
 
 Douglas and lie must meet prepared." 
 
 Then right-hand wheel'd their steeds, and straight 
 
 They won the castle's postern gate. 
 
 The Douglas, who had bent his way 
 
 From Cambus-Kenneth's abbey gray, 
 
 Now, as he climbed the rocky shelf, 
 
 Held sad communion with himself: 
 
 " Yes ! all is true my fears could frame ; 
 
 A prisoner lies the noble Gramme, 
 
 And fiery Roderick soon will feel 
 
 The vengeance of the royal steel, 
 
 I, only I, can ward their fate, — 
 
 God grant the ransom come not late! 
 
 The Abbess hath her promise given, 
 
 My child shall be the bride of Heaven; — 
 
 Be pardon'd one repining tear! 
 
 For He, who gave her, knows how dear, 
 
 How excellent ! — but that is by. 
 
 And now my business is — to die. — 
 
 Ye towers ! within whose circuit dread 
 
 A Douglas by his sovereign bled ; 
 
 rhyme as to be obliged to apply to one of the obscurest 
 saints in the calendar." The reading of the MS. is — 
 
 " 'Tis James of Douglas, by my word, 
 The uncle of the banish'd lord." 
 
206 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto v. 
 
 And thou, O sad and fatal mound! l 
 That oft has heard the death-axe sound, 
 As on the noblest of the land 
 Fell the stern headsman's bloody hand, — ■ 
 The dungeon, block, and nameless tomb, 
 Prepare — for Douglas seeks his doom ! 
 But hark! what blithe and jolly peal 
 Makes the Franciscan steeple reel ? 
 
 1 An eminence on the north-east of the Castle, where state 
 criminals were executed. Stirling was often polluted with 
 noble blood. It is thus apostrophized by J. Johnston : 
 
 " Discordia tristis 
 
 Heu quoties procerum sanguine tinxit humum 
 
 Hoc uno infelix, et felix cetera; nusquam 
 Lsetior aut cceli frons geniusve soli." 
 
 The fate of William, eighth Earl of Douglas, whom James 
 II. stabbed in Stirling Castle with his own hand, and while 
 under his royal safe-conduct, is familiar to all who read Scot- 
 tish history. Murdack, Duke of Albany, Duncan, Earl of 
 Lennox, his father-in-law, and his two sons, Walter and 
 Alexander Stuart, were executed at Stirling, in 1425. They 
 were beheaded upon an eminence without the castle walls, 
 but making part of the same hill, from whence they could 
 behold their strong castle of Doune, and their extensive pos- 
 sessions. This " heading hill," as it was sometimes termed, 
 bears commonly the less terrible name of Hurly-hacket, from 
 its having been the scene of a courtly amusement alluded to 
 by Sir David Lindsay, who says of the pastimes in which the 
 young king was engaged : 
 
 " Some harled him to the Hurly-hacket; " 
 
 which consisted in sliding — in some sort of chair, it may be 
 supposed, — from top to bottom of a smooth bank. The boys 
 of Edinburgh, about twenty years ago, used to play at hurly- 
 hacket, on the Calton Hill, using for their seat a horse's skull. 
 
canto v.] THE COMBAT. 207 
 
 And see ! upon the crowded street, 
 
 In motley groups what masquers meet ! 
 
 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, 1 
 
 James will be there, he loves such show, 
 
 Where the good yoeman bends his bow, 
 
 And the tough wrestler foils his foe, 
 
 As well as where, in high career, 
 
 The high-born tilter shivers spear. 
 
 I'll follow to the castle-park, 
 
 And play my prize ; — King James shall mark, 
 
 If age has tamed these sinews stark, 
 
 Whose force so oft, in happier days, 
 
 His boyish wonder loved to praise." 
 
 XXI. 
 
 The Castle gates were open flung, 
 
 The quivering drawbridge rock'd and rung, 
 
 And echo'd loud the flinty street 
 
 Beneath the coursers' clattering feet, 
 
 As slowly down the steep descent 
 
 Fair Scotland's King and nobles went, 2 
 
 While all along the crowded way 
 
 Was jubilee and loud huzza. 
 
 1 See Appendix, Note O. 
 
 2 MS. : " King James and all his nobles went 
 
 Ever the King was bending low- 
 To his white jennet's saddle-bow, 
 Doffing his eap to burgher dame. 
 Who smiling blush 'd for pride and shame." 
 
208 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, 
 
 Who smiled and blush'd 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, 
 
 Gives to the dancers thanks aloud, 
 
 And smiles and nods upon the crowd, 
 
 Who rend the heavens with their acclaims, 
 
 " Long live the Commons' King, King James!" 
 
 Behind the King throng'd peer and knight, 
 
 And noble dame and damsel bright, 
 
 Whose fiery steeds ill brook'd the stay 
 
 Of the steep street and crowded way. 
 
 But in the train you might discern 
 
 Dark lowering brow and visage stern ; 
 
 There nobles mourn'd their pride restrain'd, 1 
 
 And the mean burgher's joys disdain'd ; 
 
 And chiefs, who, hostage for their clan, 
 
 Were each from home a banish'd man, 
 
 There thought upon their own gray tower, 
 
 Their waving woods, their feudal power, 
 
 1 MS. : " Nobles who mourn'd their power restrain'd, 
 And the poor burgher's joys disdain'd; 
 Dark chief, who, hostage for his clan, 
 Was from his home a banish'd man, 
 Who thought upon his own gray tower, 
 The waving woods, his feudal bower, 
 And deem'd himself "a shameful part 
 Of pageant that he cursed in heart." 
 
canto v.] THE COMBAT. 209 
 
 And deem'd themselves a shameful part 
 Of pageant which they cursed in heart. 
 
 Now, in the Castle-park drew out 
 Their checker d bands the joyous rout. 
 Their morricers, with bell at heel, 
 And blade in hand, their mazes wheel ; * 
 ]kit chief, beside the butts, there stand 
 Bold Robin Hood 2 and all his band, — 
 
 1 MS. adds : 
 
 " With awkward stride there city groom 
 Would part of fabled knight assume." 
 
 2 The exhibition of this renowned outlaw and his band was 
 a favorite frolic at such festivals as we are describing. This 
 sporting, in which kings did not disdain to be actors, was 
 prohibited in Scotland upon the Reformation, by a statute 
 of the sixth Parliament of Queen Mary, c. 61, A.D. 1555, 
 which ordered, under heavy penalties, that " na manner of 
 person be chosen Robert Hude, nor little John, Abbot of 
 Unreason, Queen of May, nor otherwise." But in 1561, the 
 " rascal multitude," says John Knox, " were stirred up to 
 make a Robin Hude, whilk enormity was of many years 
 left and damned by statute and act of Parliament; yet 
 would they not be forbidden." Accordingly they raised a 
 very serious tumult, and at length made prisoners the mag- 
 istrates who endeavored to suppress it, and would not re- 
 lease them till they extorted a formal promise that no one 
 should be punished for his share of the disturbance. It 
 would seem, from the complaints of the General Assembly 
 of the Kirk, that these profane festivities were continued 
 down to 1592* Bold Robin was, to say the least, equally 
 successful in maintaining his ground against the reformed 
 
 * Book of the Universal Kirk, p. 414. 
 
210 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto v. 
 
 Friar Tuck with quarterstaff and cowl, 
 Old Scathelocke with his surly scowl, 
 Maid Marion, fair as ivory bone, 
 Scarlet, and Mutch, and Little John ; 
 Their bugles challenge all that will, 
 In archery to prove their skill. 
 The Douglas bent a bow of might, — 
 His first shaft 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 
 A silver dart, the archer's stake ; 
 Fondly he watched with watery eye, 1 
 Some answering glance of sympathy, — 
 No kind emotion made reply ! 
 
 clergy of England; for the simple and evangelical Latimer 
 complains of coming to a country church, where the people 
 refused to hear him, because it was Robin Hood's day; 
 and his mitre and rochet were fain to give way to the vil- 
 lage pastime. Much curious information on this subject 
 may be found in the Preliminary Dissertation to the late 
 Mr. Ritson's edition of the songs respecting this memorable 
 outlaw. The game of Robin Hood was usually acted in 
 May; and he was associated with the morrice-dancers, on 
 whom so much illustration has been bestowed by the com- 
 mentators on Shakspeare. A very lively picture of these 
 festivities, containing a great deal of curious information on 
 the subject of the private life and amusements of our ances- 
 tors, was thrown by the late ingenious Mr. Strutt, into his 
 romance entitled Queen-hoo Hall, published after his death, 
 in 1808. 
 
 1 MS. : " Fondly he watch'd with watery eye, 
 
 For answering glance of sympathy, — 
 
 But ?io emotion made reply ! 
 
canto v.] THE COMBAT. 211 
 
 Indifferent as to archer wight, 
 
 The monarch gave the arrow bright. 1 
 
 Indifferent as to unknown | . 
 Cold as to unknown yoeman J & ' 
 The King gave forth the arrow bright." 
 1 The Douglas of the poem is an imaginary person, a sup- 
 posed uncle of the Earl of Angus. But the king's behavior 
 during an unexpected interview with the Laird of Kilspindie, 
 one of the banished Douglasses, under circumstances similar 
 to those in the text, is imitated from a real story told by Hume 
 of Godscroft. I would have availed myself more fully of the 
 simple and affecting circumstances of the old history, had they 
 not been already woven into a pathetic ballad by my friend 
 Mr. Finlay* 
 
 " His (the king's) implacability (towards the family of 
 Douglas) did also appear in his carriage towards Archibald 
 of Kilspindie, whom he, when he was a child, loved singularly 
 well for his ability of body, and was wont to call him his Grey- 
 Steill.f Archibald, being banished into England, could not 
 well comport with the humor of that nation, which he thought 
 to be too proud, and that they had too high a conceit of them- 
 selves, joined with a contempt and despising of all others. 
 Wherefore being wearied of that life, and remembering the 
 king's favor of old towards him, he determined to try the 
 king's mercifulness and clemency. So he comes into Scot- 
 land, and taking occasion of the king's hunting in the park 
 of Stirling, he casts himself to be in his way, as he was com- 
 ing home to the castle. So soon as the king saw him afar off, 
 ere he came near, he guessed it was he, and said to one of his 
 courtiers, Yonder is my Grey-Steill, Archibald of Kilspindie, 
 if he be alive. The other answered that it could not be he, 
 and that he durst not come into the king's presence. The 
 king approaching, he fell upon his knees and craved pardon, 
 
 * See Scottish Historical and Romantic Ballads. Glasgow, 1808, 
 vol. ii. p. 117. . 
 
 f A champion of popular romance. See Ellis's Romances, vol. iii. 
 
2 1 2 THE LAD Y OF THE LAKE, [canto v. 
 
 xxiii. 
 Now, clear the ring ! for, hand to hand, 
 The manly wrestlers take their stand. 
 Two o'er the rest superior rose, 
 And proud demanded mightier foes, — 
 
 and promised from thenceforward to abstain from meddling 
 in public affairs, and to lead a quiet and private life. The 
 king went by without giving him any answer, and trotted a 
 good round pace up the bill. Kilspindie followed, and, 
 though he wore on him a secret, or shirt of mail, for his 
 particular enemies, was as soon at the castle gate as the king. 
 There sat him down upon a stone without, and entreated 
 some of the king's servants for a cup of drink, being weary 
 and thirsty ; but they, fearing the king's displeasure, durst give 
 him none. When the king was set at his dinner, he asked 
 what he had done, what he had said, and whither he had 
 gone? It was told him that he had desired a cup of drink and 
 had gotten none. The king reproved them very sharply for their 
 discourtesy, and told them, that if he had not taken an oath 
 that no Dougias should ever serve him, he would have re- 
 ceived him into his service, for he had seen him sometime a 
 man of great ability. Then he sent him word to go to Leith, 
 and expect his further pleasure. Then some kinsman of 
 David Falconer, the cannonier, that was slain at Tantallon, 
 began to quarrel with Archibald about the matter, wherewith 
 the king showed himself not well pleased when he heard of it. 
 Then he commanded him to go to France for a certain space, 
 till he heard further from him. And so he did, and died 
 shortly after. This gave occasion to the King of England 
 (Henry VIII.) to blame his nephew, alleging the old saying, 
 That a king's face should give grace. For this Archibald 
 (whatsoever were Angus's or Sir George's fault) had not 
 been principal actor for anything, nor no counsellor nor 
 stirrer up, but only a follower of his friends, and that noways 
 cruelly disposed." — Hume of Godscro/t, ii. 107. 
 
canto v.] THE COMBAT. 213 
 
 Nor call'd in vain ; for Douglas came. — 
 For life is Hugh of Larbert lame ; 
 Scarce better John of Alloa's fare, 
 Whom senseless home his comrades bare. 
 Prize of the wrestling match, the King 
 To Douglas gave a golden ring, 1 
 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 suppress'd ; 
 Indignant then he turn'd 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 
 
 1 The usual prize of a wrestling was a ram and a ring, but 
 the animal would have embarrassed my story. Thus, in the 
 " Cokes Tale of Gamelyn," ascribed to Chaucer : — 
 
 " There happed to be there beside 
 Tryed a wrestling; 
 And therefore there was y-setten 
 A ram and als a ring." 
 
 Again the " Litil Geste of Robin Hood " : 
 
 " By a bridge was a wrestling, 
 
 And there taryed was he, 
 And there was all the best yemen 
 
 Of all the west countrey. 
 A full fayre game there was set up, 
 
 A white bull up y-pight, 
 A great courser with saddle and brydle, 
 
 With gold burnished full bryght; 
 A payre of gloves, a red gold ringe, 
 
 A pipe of wyne, good fay; 
 What man bereth him best, I wis, 
 
 The prize shall bear away." 
 
 RlTSON's Robin Hood, vol. i. 
 
214 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto v. 
 
 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-hair 1 d sires, who know the past, 
 
 To strangers point the Douglas cast, 
 
 And moralize on the decay 
 
 Of Scottish strength in modern day. 1 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 The vale with loud applauses rang, 
 The Ladies 1 Rock sent back the clang. 
 The King, with look unmov'd, bestow'd 
 A purse well filPd with pieces broad. 2 
 Indignant smiled the Douglas proud, 
 And threw the gold among the crowd, 3 | 
 Who now, with anxious wonder scan, 
 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 mark'd, and shook the head, 
 To see his hair with silver spread, 
 And wink'd aside, and told each son, 
 Of feats upon the English done, 
 Ere Douglas of the stalwart hand 4 
 Was exiled from his native land. 
 
 1 MS. : " Of mortal strength in modern day." 
 
 2 MS. : " A purse weigh' d down with pieces broad." 
 
 3 MS. : " Scattered the gold among the crowd." 
 
 4 MS. : " Ere James of Douglas stalwart hand." 
 
canto v.] THE COMBAT. 215 
 
 The women prais'd his stately form, 
 Though wreck'd by many a winter's storm ; x 
 The youth with awe and wonder saw 
 His strength surpassing Nature's law. 
 Thus judged, as is their wont, the crowd, 
 Till murmur 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 caird the banish'd man to mind ; ' 2 
 No, not from those who, at the chase, 
 Once held his side the honor'd place, 
 Begirt his board, and in the field, 
 Found safety underneath his shield ; 
 For he, whom royal eyes disown, 
 When was his form to courtiers known ! 
 
 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. 
 
 That venison free, and Bordeaux wine, 
 
 Might serve the archery to dine. 
 
 But Lufra, — whom from Douglas 1 side 
 
 Nor bribe nor threat could ere divide, 
 
 The fleetest hound in all the North, — 
 
 Brave Lufra saw, and darted forth. 
 
 She left the royal hounds mid-way, 
 
 And dashing on the antler'd prey, 
 
 1 MS. : " Though worn by many a winter storm." 
 
 2 MS. : " Or called his stately form to mind." 
 
216 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto v. 
 
 Sunk her sharp muzzle in his flank, 
 
 And deep the flowing life-blood drank. 
 
 The King's stout huntsman saw the sport, 
 
 By strange intruder broken short, 
 
 Came up, and, with his leash unbound, 
 
 In anger struck the noble hound. 
 
 The Douglas had endured, that morn, 
 
 The King's cold look, the nobles 1 scorn, 
 
 And last, and worst to spirit proud, 
 
 Had borne the pity of the crowd ; 
 
 But Lufra had been fondly bred, 
 
 To share his board, to watch his bed, 
 
 And oft would Ellen, Lufra's neck 
 
 In maiden glee with garlands deck ; 
 
 They were such playmates, that with name 
 
 Of Lufra, Ellen's image came. 
 
 His stifled wrath is brimming high, 
 
 In darken'd brow and flashing eye ; 
 
 As waves before the bark divide, 
 
 The crowd gave way before his stride ; 
 
 Needs but a buffet and no more, 
 
 The groom lies senseless in his gore. 
 
 Such blow no other hand could deal, 
 
 Though gauntleted in glove of steel. 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 Then clamor'd loud the royal train, 1 
 And brandish'd swords and staves amain. 
 But stern the Baron's warning: " Back! 2 
 Back, on your lives, ye menial pack! 
 
 1 MS. : " Clamor'd his comrades of the train." 
 
 2 MS k : " But stern the warrior's warning — ' Back ! ' " 
 
canto v.] THE COMBAT. 217 
 
 Beware the Douglas. — Yes ! behold, 
 
 King James ! The Douglas, doonVcl of old, 
 
 And vainly sought for near and far, 
 
 A victim to atone the war, 
 
 A willing victim, now attends, 
 
 Nor craves thy grace but for his friends. 11 — 
 
 " Thus is my clemency repaid ? 
 
 Presumptuous Lord! " the Monarch said; 
 
 " Of thy misproud, ambitious clan, 
 
 Thou, James of Bothwell, wert the man, 
 
 The only man, in whom a foe 
 
 My woman-mercy would not know: 
 
 But shall a Monarch's presence brook 1 
 
 Injurious blow, and haughty look ? — 
 
 What ho! The Captain of our Guard! 
 
 Give the offender fitting ward. — 
 
 Break off the sports ! " — for tumult rose, 
 
 And yeomen ^an to bend their bows, — 
 
 " Break off the sports! " he said, and frown'd, 
 
 " And bid our horsemen clear the ground." 
 
 XXVII. 
 
 Then uproar wild and misarray 
 Marr'd the fair form of festal day. 
 The horsemen priek'd among the crowd, 
 Repell'd by threats and insult loud : 2 
 To earth are borne the old and weak, 
 The timorous fly, the women shriek; 
 
 1 MS.: " But in my court, injurious blow, 
 
 And bearded thus, and thus out-dared ? 
 What ho ! the Captain of our guard ! " 
 
 2 MS. : " Their threats repell'd by insult loud." 
 
218 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto v. 
 
 With flint, with shaft, with staff, with bar, 
 
 The hardier urge tumultuous war. 
 
 At once round Douglas darkly sweep 
 
 The royal spears in circle deep, 
 
 And slowly scale the pathway steep, 
 
 While on the rear in thunder pour 
 
 The rabble with disordered roar. 
 
 With grief the noble Douglas saw 
 
 The Commons rise against the law, 
 
 And to the leading soldier said : 
 
 " Sir John of Hyndford ! 'twas my blade 
 
 That knighthood on thy shoulder laid ; 
 
 For that good deed, permit me then 
 
 A word with these misguided men. 
 
 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. 
 
 Are these so weak as must require 
 
 The aid of your misguided ire ? 
 
 Or if I suffer causeless wrong, 
 
 Is then my selfish rage so strong, 
 
 My sense of public weal so low, 
 
 That, for mean vengeance on a foe, 
 
 Those cords of love I should unbind, 
 
 Which knit my country and my kind? 
 
 Oh no ! Believe in yonder tower 
 
 It will not soothe my captive hour, 
 
 To know those spears our foes should dread, 
 
 For me in kindred gore are red : 
 
canto v.] THE COMB A T. 
 
 To know, in fruitless brawl begun 
 For me, that mother wails her son. 
 For me, that widow's mate expires, 
 For me, that orphans weep their sires, 
 That patriots mourn insulted laws, 
 And curse the Douglas for the cause. 
 O let your patience ward such ill, 
 And keep your right to love me still! " 
 
 The crowd's wild fury sunk again 1 
 In tears, as tempests melt in rain. 
 With lifted hands and eyes, they pray'd 
 For blessings on his generous head, 
 Who for his country felt alone, 
 And prized her blood beyond his own. 
 Old men, upon the verge of life, 
 Bless'd him who stayed the civil strife ; 
 And mothers held their babes on high, 
 The self-devoted Chief to spy, 
 Triumphant over wrongs and ire, 
 To whom the prattlers owed a sire : 
 Even the rough soldier's heart was moved 
 As if behind some bier beloved, 
 With trailing arms and drooping head, 
 The Douglas up the hill he led, 
 And at the castle's battled verge, 
 With sighs resign'd his honor'd charge. 
 
 1 MS. : "The crowd's wild fury ebb'd amain 
 In tears, as teinpests sink in rain." 
 
THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto v. 
 XXX. 
 
 The offended Monarch rode apart, 
 With bitter thought and swelling heart, 
 And would not now vouchsafe again 
 Through Stirling streets to lead his train. 
 " O Lennox, who would wish to rule 
 This changeling crowd, this common fool? 
 Hear'st thou," he said, " the loud acclaim 
 With which they shout the Douglas name ? 
 With like acclaim, the vulgar throat 
 Strain'd for King James their morning note ; 
 With like acclaim they hail'd the day 
 When first I broke the Douglas sway ; 
 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, 1 
 And fickle as a changeful dream ; 
 Fantastic as a woman's mood, 
 And fierce as Frenzy's fever'd blood. 
 Thou many-headed monster thing, 2 
 O who would wish to be thy king? — 
 
 " But soft ! what messenger of speed 
 Spurs hitherward his panting steed ? 
 
 1 MS. : " Vain as the sick man's idle dream." 
 
 2 " Who deserves greatness, 
 
 Deserves your hate ; and your affections are 
 A sick man's appetite, who desires most that 
 
canto v.] THE COMBAT. 221 
 
 I guess his cognizance afar — 
 
 What from our cousin, John of Mar? 11 
 
 " He prays, my liege, your sports keep bound 
 
 Within the safe and guarded ground ; 
 
 For some foul purpose yet unknown, — 
 
 Most sure for evil to the throne, — 
 
 The outlawed Chieftain, Roderick Dhu, 
 
 Has summon'd his rebellious crew ; 
 
 Tis said, in James of Bothwell's aid 
 
 These loose banditti stand arrayed. 
 
 The Earl of Mar, this morn, from Doune, 
 
 To break their muster march'd, and soon 
 
 Your grace will hear of battle fought ; 
 
 But earnestly the Earl besought, 
 
 Till for such danger he provide, 
 
 With scanty train you will not ride. 111 
 
 XXXII. 
 
 " Thou warn'st me I have done amiss, — 
 I should have earlier looked to this ; 
 I lost it in this bustling day. — 
 Retrace with speed thy former way ; 
 Spare not for spoiling of thy steed, 
 The best of mine shall be thy meed. 
 
 Which would increase his evil. He that depends 
 
 Upon your favors, swims with fins of lead, 
 
 And hews down oaks with rushes. Hang ye ! Trust ye ? 
 
 With every minute you do change a mind ; 
 
 And call him noble, that was now your hate, 
 
 Him vile that was your garland." 
 
 Coriolartus, Act I. Scene I. 
 1 MS. : " On distant chase you will not ride." 
 
THE LAD Y OF THE LAKE, [canto v 
 
 Say to our faithful Lord of Mar, 
 
 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. 
 
 The tidings of their leaders lost 
 
 Will soon dissolve the mountain host, 
 
 Nor would we that the vulgar feel, 
 
 For their Chiefs crimes avenging steel. 
 
 Bear Mar our message, Braco, fly ! " 
 
 He turn'd his steed, — " My liege, I hie, — 
 
 Yet, ere I cross this lily lawn, 
 
 I fear the broadswords will be drawn." 
 
 The turf the flying courser spurn'd, 
 
 And to his towers the Kins: return'd. 
 
 Ill with King James's mood that day, 
 Suited gay feast and minstrel lay ; 
 Soon were dismiss'd the courtly throng, 
 And soon cut short the festal song. 
 Nor less upon the sadden'd town 
 The evening sunk in sorrow down. 
 The burghers spoke of civil jar, 
 Of rumor'd feuds and mountain war, 
 Of Moray, Mar, and Roderick Dhu, 
 All up in arms ; — the Douglas, too, 
 They moura'd him pent within the hold, 
 " Where stout Earl William was of old. 11 
 
 1 Stabbed by James II. in Stirling Castle. 
 
canto v.] THE COMBAT. 223 
 
 And there his word the speaker staid, 
 And finger on his lip he laid, 
 Or pointed to his dagger blade. 
 But jaded -horsemen, from the west, 
 " At evening to the Castle press'd, 
 And busy talkers said they bore 
 Tidings of fight on Katrine's shore ; 
 At noon the deadly fray begun, 
 And lasted till the set of sun. 
 Thus giddy rumor shook the town, 
 Till closed the Night her pennons brown. 
 
CANTO SIXTH. 
 
 The sun, awakening, through the smoky air 
 
 Of the dark city casts a sullen glance, 
 Rousing each caitiff to his task of care, 
 
 Of sinful man the sad inheritance ; 
 Summoning revellers from the lagging dance, 
 
 Scaring the prowling robber to his den ; 
 Gilding on battled tower the warder's lance, 
 
 And warning student pale to leave his pen, 
 And yield his drowsy eyes to the kind nurse of men. 
 
 What various scenes, and O, what scenes of woe, 
 
 Are witness'd by that red and struggling beam ! 
 The fever'd patient, from his pallet low, 
 
 Through crowded hospital beholds its stream ; 
 The ruin'd maiden trembles at its gleam, 
 
 The debtor wakes to thought of gyve and jail, 
 The love-lorn wretch starts from tormenting dream ; 
 
 The wakeful mother, by the glimmering pale, 
 Trims her sick infant's couch, and soothes his feeble 
 wail. 
 224 
 
At dawn the towers of Stirling rang 
 With soldier-step and weapon-clang. 
 
canto vi.] THE G UARD-R OM. 225 
 
 11. 
 At dawn the towers of Stirling rang 
 With soldier-step and weapon-clang, 
 While drums, with rolling note, foretell 
 Relief to weary sentinel. 
 Through narrow loop and casement barr'd, 1 
 The sunbeams sought the Court of Guard, 
 And, struggling with the smoky air, 
 Deaden'd the torches 1 yellow glare. 
 In comfortless alliance shone 2 
 The lights through arch of blacken'd stone, 
 And show'd wild shapes in garb of war, 
 Faces deformed with beard and scar, 
 All haggard from the midnight watch, 
 And fever'd with the stern debauch ; 
 For the oak table's massive board, 
 Flooded with wine, with fragments stored, 
 And beakers drain'd, and cups o'erthrown, 
 Show'd in what sport the night had flown. 
 Some, weary, snored on floor and bench ; 
 Some labord still their thirst to quench ; 
 Some, chill'd with watching, spread their hands 
 O'er the huge chimney's dying brands, 
 W T hile round them, or beside them flung, 
 At every step their harness rung. 
 
 in. 
 These drew not for their fields the sword, 
 Like tenants of a feudal lord, 
 1 MS. : " Through blacken'd arch and casement barr'd." 
 - MS. : "The lights in strange alliance shone 
 Beneath the arch of blacken'd stone." 
 
226 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto vi. 
 
 Nor own'd the patriarchal claim, 
 
 Of Chieftain in their leader's name ; 
 
 Adventurers they, from far who roved, 
 
 To live by battle which they loved. 1 
 
 There the Italian's clouded face, 
 
 The swarthy Spaniard's there you trace ; 
 
 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 show'd French and German name ; 
 
 And merry England's exiles came, 
 
 To share, with ill-conceal'd disdain, 
 
 Of Scotland's pay the scanty gain. 
 
 All brave in arms, well train'd to wield 
 
 The heavy halberd, brand, and shield ; 
 
 In camps licentious, wild, and bold; 
 
 In pillage fierce and uncontroll'd ; 
 
 And now, by holytide and feast, 
 
 From rules of discipline released. 
 
 IV. 
 
 They held debate of bloody fray, 
 Fought 'twixt Loch Katrine and Achray. 
 Fierce was their speech, and, 'mid their words, 
 Their hands oft grappled to their swords ; 
 Nor sunk their tone to spare the ear 
 Of wounded comrades groaning near, 
 Whose mangled limbs, and bodies gored, 
 Bore token of the mountain sword, 
 
 1 See Appendix, Note P. 
 
canto vi.] THE GUARD-ROOM. 227 
 
 Though, neighboring to the Court of Guard, 
 
 Their prayers and feverish wails were heard ; 
 
 Sad burden to the ruffian joke, 
 
 And savage oath by fury spoke ! — 1 
 
 At length up started John of Brent, 
 
 A yoeman from the banks of Trent ; 
 
 A stranger to respect or fear, 
 
 In peace a chaser of the deer, 
 
 In host a hardy mutineer, 
 
 But still the boldest of the crew 
 
 When deed of danger was to do. 
 
 He grieved, that day, their games cut short, 
 
 And marr'd the dicer's brawling sport, 
 
 And shouted loud, " Renew the bowl ! 
 
 And, while a merry catch I troll, 
 
 Let each the buxom chorus bear, 
 
 Like brethren of the brand and spear." 
 
 v. 
 soldier's song. 
 Our vicar still preaches that Peter and Poule 
 Laid a swinging long curse on the bonny brown bowl. 
 That there's wrath and despair in the jolly black-jack, 
 And the seven deadly sins in a flagon of sack ; 
 Yet whoop, Barnaby ! off with thy liquor, 
 Drink upsees 2 out, and a fig for the vicar ! 
 
 Our vicar he calls it damnation to sip 
 The ripe ruddy dew of a woman's dear lip, 
 
 1 MS. : " Sad burden to the ruffian jest, 
 
 And rude oaths vented by the rest." 
 
 2 Bacchanalian interjection, borrowed from the Dutch. 
 
228 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto vi. 
 
 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, 
 Till she bloom like a rose, and a fig for the vicar ! 
 
 Our vicar thus preaches — and why should he not ? 
 For the dues of his cure are the placket and pot ; 
 And 'tis right of his office poor laymen to lurch, 
 Who infringe the domains of our good Mother Church. 
 Yet whoop, bully-boys ! off with your liquor, 
 Sweet Marjorie's the word, and a fig for the vicar ! 1 
 
 The warder's challenge, heard without, 
 Staid in mid-roar the merry shout. 
 A soldier to the portal went, — 
 " Here is old Bertram, sirs, of Ghent ; 
 And, — beat for jubilee the drum ! — 
 A maid and minstrel with him come." 
 Bertram, a Fleming, gray and scarr'd, 
 Was entering now the Court of Guard, 
 A harper with him, and, in plaid 
 All muffled close, a mountain maid, 
 
 1 " The greatest blemish in the poem is the ribaldry and 
 dull vulgarity which is put into the mouths of the soldiery in 
 the guard-room. Mr. Scott has condescended to write a song 
 for them, which will be read with pain, we are persuaded, 
 even by his warmest admirers ; and his whole genius, and 
 even his power of versification, seems to desert him when he 
 attempts to repeat their conversation. Here is some of the 
 stuff which has dropped, in this inauspicious attempt, from the 
 pen of one of the first poets of his age or country," etc., etc. — 
 Jeffrey. 
 
canto vi.] THE GUARD-ROOM. 229 
 
 Who backward shrank to 'scape the view 
 
 Of the loose scene and boisterous crew. 
 
 ** What news ! " they roar'd : " I only know, 
 
 From noon till eve we fought with foe, 
 
 As wild and as untamable 
 
 As the rude mountains where they dwell ; 
 
 On both sides store of blood is lost, 
 
 Nor much success can either boast. 1 ' — 
 
 " But whence thy captives, friend ? such spoil 
 
 As theirs must needs reward thy toil. 1 
 
 Old dost thou wax, and wars grow sharp ; 
 
 Thou now hast glee-maiden and harp ! 
 
 Get thee an ape, and trudge the land, 
 
 The leader of a juggler band." 2 
 
 1 The MS. reads after this : 
 
 " Get thee an ape, and then at once 
 
 Thou mayst renounce the warder's lance, 
 
 And trudge through borough and through land, 
 
 The leader of a juggler band." 
 
 2 The jongleurs, or jugglers, as we learn from the elaborate 
 work of the late Mr. Strutt, on the sports and pastimes of the 
 people of England, used to call in the aid of various assistants, 
 to render these performances as captivating as possible. The 
 glee-maiden was a necessary attendant. Her duty was tum- 
 bling and dancing; and therefore the Anglo-Saxon version of 
 St. Mark's Gospel states Herodias to have vaulted or tumbled 
 before King Herod. In Scotland, these poor creatures seem, 
 even at a late period, to have been bondswomen to their 
 masters, as appears from a case reported by Fountainhall : 
 " Reid the mountebank pursues Scott of Harden and his lady, 
 for stealing away from him a little girl, called the tumbling 
 lassie, that danced upon his stage ; and he claimed damages, 
 and produced a contract, whereby he bought her from her 
 mother for ^30 Scots. But we have no slaves in Scotland, 
 and mothers cannot sell their bairns ; and physicians attested 
 
230 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto vi. 
 
 VII. 
 " No, comrade ; — no such fortune mine. 
 After the fight these sought our line, 
 That aged harper and the girl, 
 And, having audience of the Earl, 
 Mar bade I should purvey them steed, 
 And bring them hitherward with speed. 
 Forbear your mirth and rude alarm, 
 For none shall do them shame or harm." 
 " Hear ye his boast ?" cried John of Brent, 
 Ever to strife and jangling bent ; 
 
 the employment of tumbling would kill her ; and her joints 
 were now grown stiff, and she declined to return ; though she 
 was at least a 'prentice, and so could not run away from her 
 master : yet some cited Moses's law, that if a servant shelter 
 himself with thee, against his master's cruelty, thou shalt 
 surely not deliver him up. The Lords, renitente cancellario, 
 assoilzied Harden, on the 27th of January (1687)." — Foun- 
 tainhaWs Decisions, vol. i. p. 439.* 
 
 The facetious qualities of the ape soon rendered him an 
 acceptable addition to the strolling band of the jongleur. Ben 
 Jonson, in his splenetic introduction to the comedy of "Bar- 
 tholomew Fair," is at pains to inform the audience " that he 
 has ne'er a sword-and-buckler man in his Fair, nor a juggler 
 with a well-educated ape to come over the chaine for the 
 King of England, and back again for the Prince, and sit still 
 on his haunches for the Pope and the King of Spaine." 
 
 * Though less to my purpose, I cannot help noticing a circumstance 
 respecting another of this Mr. Reid's attendants, which occurred dur- 
 ing James II. 's zeal for Catholic proselytism, and is told by Fountain- 
 hall, with dry Scotch irony: " January 17th, 1687. — Reid the 
 mountebank is received into the Popish church, and one of his black- 
 amores was persuaded to accept of baptism from the Popish priests, 
 and to turn Christian papist; which was a great trophy: he was called 
 James, after the king and chancellor, and the Apostle James." — Ibid. 
 p. 440. 
 
canto vi.] THE GUARD-ROOM. 231 
 
 " Shall he strike doe beside our lodge, 
 And yet the jealous niggard grudge 
 To pay the forester his fee ? 
 1*11 have my share howe'er it be, 
 Despite of Moray, Alar, or thee. 11 
 Bertram his forward step withstood ; 1 
 And, burning in his vengeful mood, 
 Old Allan, though unfit for strife, 
 Laid hand upon his dagger-knife ; 
 But Ellen boldly stepp'd between, 
 And dropp'd at once the tartan screen : — 
 So from his morning cloud appears 
 The sun of May, through summer tears. 
 The savage soldiery, amazed, 2 
 As on descended angel gazed ; 
 Even hardy Brent, abash'd and tamed, 
 Stood half admiring, half ashamed. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 Boldly she spoke : " Soldiers, attend ! 
 My father was the soldier's friend, 
 Cheer'd him in camps, in marches led, 
 And with him in the battle bled. 
 Not from the valiant, or the strong, 
 Should exile's daughter suffer wrong. 111 
 Answer'd De Brent, most forward still 
 In every feat of good or ill : 
 
 1 MS. : " Bertram j \ violence withstood.' 
 
 - MS. : " While the rude soldiery, amazed." 
 :; MS.: " Should Ellen Douglas suffer wrong.' 
 
232 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto vi. 
 
 " I shame me of the part I play'd ; 
 
 And thou an outlaw's child, poor maid ! 
 
 An outlaw I by forest laws, 
 
 And merry Needwood knows the cause. 
 
 Poor Rose, — if Rose be living now, 11 — 1 
 
 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 ; 
 
 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 : 
 
 Ye all know John de Brent. Enough.'" 
 
 IX. 
 
 Their Captain came, a gallant young, — 
 Of Tullibardine 1 s house he sprung, — 
 Nor wore he yet the spurs of knight ; 
 Gay was his mien, his humor light, 
 And, though by courtesy controll'd, 
 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, 
 Young Lewis was a generous youth ; 
 But Ellen's lovely face and mien, 
 111 suited to the garb and scene, 
 
 1 MS. : " ' My Rose,' — he wiped his eye and brow, — 
 ' Poor Rose, — if Rose be living now.' " 
 
canto vi.] THE GUARD-ROOM. 233 
 
 Might lightly bear construction strange, 
 
 And give loose fancy scope to range. 
 
 "Welcome to Stirling towers, fair maid ! 
 
 Come ye to seek a champion's aid, 
 
 On palfrey white, with harper hoar, 
 
 Like errant damosel of yore ? 
 
 Does thy high quest a knight require, 
 
 Or may the venture suit a squire ? 11 — 
 
 Her dark eye flash'd ; — she paused and sigh'd : 
 
 "O what have I to do with pride ! — 
 
 — Through scenes of sorrow, shame, and strife, 
 
 A suppliant for a father's life, 
 
 I crave an audience of the King. 
 
 Behold to back my suit, a ring, 
 
 The royal pledge of grateful claims, 
 
 Given by the Monarch to Fitz-James." 1 
 
 The signet-ring young Lewis took, 
 
 With deep respect and alter'd look, 
 
 And said : " This ring our duties own ; 
 
 And pardon, if to worth unknown, 
 
 In semblance mean obscurely veil'd, 
 
 Lady, in aught my folly fail'd. 
 
 Soon as the day flings wide his gates, 
 
 The King shall know what suitor waits. 
 
 Please you, meanwhile, in fitting bower 
 
 Repose you till his waking hour ; 
 
 Female attendants shall obey 
 
 Your hest, for service or array. 
 
 Permit I marshal you the way. 11 
 
 1 MS. : " The Monarch gave to James Fitz-James. 
 
234 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto vi. 
 
 But, ere she followed, with the grace 
 
 And open bounty of her race, 
 
 She bade her slender purse be shared 
 
 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 profFer'd gold : — 
 
 " Forgive a haughty English heart, 
 
 And O, forget its ruder part ! 
 
 The vacant purse shall be my share, 1 
 
 Which in my barret-cap Til bear, 
 
 Perchance, in jeopardy of war, 
 
 Where gayer crests may keep afar." 
 
 With thanks, — 'twas all she could, — the maid 
 
 His rugged courtesy repaid. 
 
 XI. 
 
 When Ellen forth with Lewis went, 
 Allan made suit to John of Brent : 
 " My lady safe, O let your grace 
 Give me to see my master's face ! 
 His minstrel I, — to share his doom 
 Bound from the cradle to the tomb. 
 Tenth in descent, since first my sires 
 Waked for his noble house their lyres, 
 Nor one of all the race was known 
 But prized its weal above their own. 
 With the Chiefs birth begins our care ; 
 Our harp must soothe the infant heir, 
 
 1 MS. : " The silken purse shall serve for me, 
 And in my barret-cap shall flee." 
 
canto vi.] THE GUARD-ROOM. 235 
 
 Teach the youth tales of fight, and grace 
 His earliest feat of field or chase ; 
 In peace, in war, our rank we keep, 
 We cheer his board, we soothe his sleep, 
 Nor leave him till we pour our verse, — 
 A doleful tribute ! — o"er his hearse. 
 Then let me share his captive lot ; 
 It is my riglit — deny it not ! " — 
 " Little we reck," 1 said John of Brent, 
 " We Southern men, of long descent ; 
 Nor wot we how a name — a word — 
 Makes clansmen vassals to a lord : 
 Yet kind my noble landlord's part, — 
 God bless the house of Beaudesert! 
 And, but I loved to drive the deer, 
 More than to guide the laboring steer, 
 I had not dwelt an outcast here. 
 Come, good old Minstrel, follow me ; 
 Thy Lord and Chieftain shalt thou see. 1 ' 
 
 XII. 
 
 Then from a rusted iron hook, 
 A bunch of ponderous keys he took, 
 Lighted a torch, and Allan led 
 Through grated arch and passage dread. 
 Portals they pass'd, where, deep within, 
 Spoke prisoner's moan, and fetters 1 din ; 
 Through rugged vaults, 1 where, loosely stored, 
 Lay wheel, and axe, and headsman's sword, 
 
 1 MS. : " Low broad vaults!' 
 
236 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto vi. 
 
 And many a hideous engine grim, 
 
 For wrenching joint, and crushing 1 limb, 
 
 By artist formed, who deem'd it shame 
 
 And sin to give their work a name. 
 
 They halted at a low-brow'd porch, 
 
 And Brent to Allan gave the torch, 
 
 While bolt and chain he backward roll'd, 
 
 And made the bar unhasp its hold. 
 
 They enteral : 'twas a prison room 
 
 Of stern security and gloom, 
 
 Yet not a dungeon ; for the day 
 
 Through lofty gratings found its way, 
 
 And rude and antique garniture 
 
 Deck'd the sad walls and oaken floor ; 2 
 
 Such as the rugged days of old 
 
 Deem'd fit for captive noble's hold. 
 
 "Here," said De Brent, "thou mayest remain 3 
 
 Till the Leech visit him again. 
 
 Strict is his charge the warders tell, 
 
 To tend the noble prisoner well." 
 
 Retiring then, the bolt he drew, 
 
 And the lock's murmurs growl'd anew, 
 
 Roused at the sound, from lowly bed 
 
 A captive feebly raised his head ; 
 
 The wondering Minstrel look'd, and knew- 
 
 Not his dear lord, but Roderick Dhu ! 
 
 1 MS. 
 
 2 MS. 
 s MS. 
 
 " Stretching." 
 
 " Flinty floor." 
 
 " — Thou mayst remain, 
 And then, retiring, bolt and chain, 
 And rusty bar, he drew again. 
 Roused at the sound," etc. 
 
canto vi.] THE GUARD-ROOM. 237 
 
 For, come from where Clan-Alpine fought, 
 They, erring, deenvd the Chief he sought. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 As the tall ship, whose lofty prore 
 
 Shall never stem the billows more, 
 
 Deserted by her gallant band, 
 
 Amid the breakers lies astrand, — 
 
 So, on his couch, lay Roderick Dhu ! 
 
 And oft his fever'd limbs he threw 
 
 In toss abrupt, as when her sides 
 
 Lie rocking in the advancing tides, 
 
 That shake her frame with ceaseless beat, 
 
 Yet cannot heave her from her seat ; — 
 
 O ! how unlike her course at sea ! x 
 
 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 ! 
 
 Have they been ruin'd in my fall ? 
 
 Ah, yes ! or wherefore art thou here ! 
 
 Yet speak, — speak boldly, — do not fear." — 
 
 (For Allan, who his mood well knew, 
 
 Was choked with grief and terror too.) 
 
 " Who fought — who fled ? — Old man, be brief ; — 
 
 Some might — for they had lost their Chief. 
 
 Who basely live? — who bravely died?" — 
 
 "O, calm thee, Chief I 11 — the Minstrel cried, 
 
 " Ellen is safe ; " — " For that thank Heaven ! " — 
 
 " And hopes are for the Douglas given ; — 
 
 1 MS. : " O ! how unlike her course on main ; 
 Or his free step on hill and plain ! " 
 
233 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto vi. 
 
 The Lady Margaret too is well, 
 And, for thy clan, — on field or fell, 
 Has never harp of minstrel told, 1 
 Of combat fought so true and bold ; 
 Thy stately Pine is yet unbent, 
 Though many a goodly bough is rent." 
 
 XIV. 
 
 The Chieftain rear'd his form on high, 
 
 And fever's fire was in his eye ; 
 
 But ghastly, pale, and livid streaks 
 
 Checker'd his swarthy brow and cheeks. 
 
 — " Hark, Minstrel ! I have heard thee play, 
 
 With measure bold, on festal day, 
 
 In yon lone isle, . . . again where ne'er 
 
 Shall harper play, or warrior hear ! . . . 
 
 That stirring air that peals on high, 
 
 O'er Dermid's race our victory. — 
 
 Strike it ! 2 — and then, (for well thou canst,) 
 
 Free from thy minstrel-spirit glanced, 
 
 1 MS. : " Shall never harp of minstrel tell, 
 
 Of combat fought so fierce and well." 
 
 2 There are several instances at least in tradition, of persons 
 so much attached to particular tunes, as to require to hear 
 them on their deathbed. Such an anecdote is mentioned by 
 the late Mr. Riddel of Glenriddel, in his collection of Border 
 tunes, respecting an air called the " Dandling of the Bairns," 
 for which a certain Gallovidian laird is said to have evinced 
 this strong mark of partiality. It is popularly told of a famous 
 freebooter, that he composed the tune known by the name of 
 Macpherson's Rant, while under sentence of death, and played 
 it at the gallows-tree. Some spirited words have been adapted 
 to it by Burns. A similar story is recounted of a Welsh bard, 
 
canto vi.] THE GUARD-ROOM. 239 
 
 Fling me the picture of the fight, 
 
 When met my clan the Saxon might. 
 
 I'll listen till my fancy hears 
 
 The clang of swords, the crash of spears ! 
 
 These grates, these walls, shall vanish then, 
 
 For the fair field of fighting men, 
 
 who composed and played on his deathbed the air called 
 Dafyddy Garregg Wen. But the most curious example is 
 given by Brantome, of a maid of honor at the court of France, 
 entitled, Mademoiselle de Limeuil. " Durant sa maladie, dont 
 elle trespassa, jamais elle ne cessa, ainsi causa tousjours ; car 
 elle estoit, fort grande parleuse, brocardeuse, et tres-bien et 
 fort a propos, et tres-belle avec cela. Quand l'heure de sa fin 
 fut venue, elle fit venir a soy son valet (ainsi que les filles de la 
 cour en ont chacune un), qui s'appelloit Julien, et scavoit 
 tres-bien joiier du violon. ' Julien,' luy dit elle, ' prenez vostre 
 violon, et sonnez moy tousjours jusques a ce que me voyez 
 morte (car je m'y en vais) la Defaite des Suisses, et le mieux 
 que vous pourrez, et quand vous serez sur le mot, " Tout est 
 perdu," sonnez le par quatre ou cinq fois le plus piteusement 
 que vous pourrez,' ce qui fit l'autre, et elle-mesme luy aidoit de 
 la voix, et quand ce vint ' tout est perdu,' elle le reitera par 
 deux fois ; et se tournant de l'autre coste du chevet, elle dit a 
 ses compagnes : ' Tout est perdu a ce coup, et a bon escient ; ' 
 et ainsi deceda. Voila une morte joyeuse et plaisante. Je 
 tiens ce conte de deux de ses compagnes dignes de foi, qui 
 virent joiier ce mystere." — GLuvres de Brantome, iii. 507. 
 The tune to which this fair lady chose to make her final 
 exit was composed on the defeat of the Swiss at Marignano. 
 The burden is quoted by Panurge, in Rabelais, and consists 
 of these words, imitating the jargon of the Swiss, which is a 
 mixture of French and German — 
 
 " Tout est verlore 
 La Tintelore, 
 Tout est verlore, bi Got! " 
 
240 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto vi. 
 
 And my free spirit burst away. 
 
 As if it soar'd from battle fray. 1 ' 
 
 The trembling Bard with awe obey'd, — 
 
 Slow on the harp his hand he laid ; 
 
 But soon remembrance of the sight 
 
 He witness'd from the mountain's height, 
 
 With what old Bertram told at night, 1 
 
 Awaken'd the full power of song, 
 
 And bore him in career along ; — 
 
 As shallop launch'd on river's tide, 
 
 That slow and fearful leaves the side, 
 
 But when it feels the middle stream, 
 
 Drives downward swift as lightning's beam 
 
 BATTLE OF BEAL' AN DUINE. 2 
 
 " The Minstrel came once more to view 
 The eastern ridge of Benvenue, 
 For ere he parted he would say 
 Farewell to lovely Loch Achray — 
 
 1 The MS. has not this line. 
 
 2 A skirmish actually took place at a pass thus called in the 
 Trosachs, and closed with the remarkable incident mentioned 
 in the text. It was greatly posterior in date to the reign of 
 James V. 
 
 " In this roughly-wooded island * the country people 
 secreted their wives and children, and their most valuable 
 effects from the rapacity of Cromwell's soldiers, during their 
 inroad into this country, in the time of the republic. These 
 invaders not venturing to ascend by the ladders, along the 
 side of the lake, took a more circuitous road through the 
 
 * That at the eastern extremity of Loch Katrine, so often mentioned 
 in the text. 
 
canto vi.] THE GUARD-ROOM. 241 
 
 Where shall he find in foreign land, 
 So lone a lake, so sweet a strand ! — 
 There is no breeze upon the fern, 
 
 No ripple on the lake, 
 Upon her eyry nods the erne, 
 
 The deer has sought the brake ; 
 
 heart of the Trosachs, the most frequented path at that time, 
 which penetrates the wilderness about half way between 
 Binean and the lake, by a tract called Yea-chilleach, or the 
 Old Wife's Bog. 
 
 " In one of the defiles of this by-road, the men of the 
 country at that time hung upon the rear of the invading 
 enemy, and shot one of Cromwell's men, whose grave marks 
 the scene of action, and gives name to that pass* In re- 
 venge of this insult, the soldiers resolved to plunder the 
 island, to violate the women, and put the children to death. 
 With this brutal intention, one of the party, more expert 
 than the rest, swam towards the island, to fetch the boat to 
 his comrades, which had carried the women to their asylum, 
 and lay moored in one of the creeks. His companions 
 stood on the shore of the mainland, in full view of all that 
 was to pass, waiting anxiously for his return with the boat. 
 But just as the swimmer had got to the nearest point of the 
 island, and was laying hold of a black rock, to get on shore, 
 a heroine, who stood on the very point where he meant to 
 land, hastily snatching a dagger from below her apron, with 
 one stroke severed his head from the body. His party seeing 
 this disaster, and relinquishing all future hope of revenge or 
 conquest, made the best of their way out of their perilous 
 situation. This amazon's great-grandson lives at the Bridge 
 of Turk, who, besides others, attests the anecdote." — Sketch 
 of the Scenery near Cullender, Stirling, 1806, p. 20. I have 
 only to add to this account, that the heroine's name was Helen 
 Stuart. 
 
 * Beallach an duine. 
 
242 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto vi. 
 
 The small birds will not sing aloud 
 
 The springing trout lies still, 
 So darkly glooms yon thunder-cloud, 
 That swathes, as with a purple shroud 
 
 Benledi's distant hill. 
 Is it the thunders solemn sound 
 
 That mutters deep and dread, 
 Or echoes from the groaning ground 
 
 The warrior's measured tread ? 
 Is it the lightning's quivering glance 
 
 That on the thicket streams, 
 Or do they flash on spear and lance 
 
 The sun's retiring beams ? — 
 I see the dagger-crest of Mar, 
 1 see the Moray's silver star, 
 Wave o'er the cloud of Saxon war, 
 That up the lake comes winding far ! 
 To hero boune for battle-strife, 
 
 Or bard of martial lay, 
 'Twere worth ten years of peaceful life, 
 
 One glance at their array. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 " Their light-arm'd archers far and near 
 
 Survey 'd the tangled ground, 
 Their centre ranks, with pike and spear, 
 
 A twilight forest frown'd, 
 Their barded horsemen, in the rear, 
 
 The stern battalia crown'd. 
 No cymbal clash'd, no clarion rang, 
 
 Still were the pipe and drum ; 
 
canto vi.] THE GUARD-ROOM. 243 
 
 Save heavy tread, and armor's clang. 
 
 The sullen march was dumb. 
 There breathed no wind their crests to shake 
 
 Or wave their flags abroad ; 
 Scarce the frail aspen seem'd to quake, 
 
 That shadow'd o'er their road. 
 Their vaward scouts no tidings bring, 
 
 Can rouse no lurking foe, 
 Nor spy a trace of living thing 
 
 Save when they stirr'd the roe ; 
 The host moves, like a deep-sea wave, 
 Where rise no rocks its pride to brave, 
 
 High-swelling, dark, and slow. 
 The lake is pass'd, and now they gain 
 A narrow and a broken plain, 
 Before the Trosachs' rugged jaws : 
 And here the horse and spearmen pause, 
 While, to explore the dangerous glen. 
 Dive through the pass the archer-men. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 " At once there rose so wild a yell 
 Within that dark and narrow dell, 
 As all the fiends, from heaven that fell, 
 Had peal'd the banner-cry of hell ! 
 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, 
 
244 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto vi. 
 
 And plaids and bonnets waving high, 
 And broadswords flashing to the sky, 
 
 Are maddening in the rear. 
 Onward they drive in dreadful race, 
 
 Pursuers and pursued ; 
 Before that tide of flight and chase, 
 How shall it keep its rooted place, 
 
 The spearmen's twilight wood? — 
 ' Down, down,' cried Mar, ' your lances down ! 
 
 Bear back both friend and foe ! ' 
 Like reeds before the tempests frown, 
 That serried grove of lances brown 
 
 At once lay levell'd low ; 
 And closely shouldering side to side, 
 The bristling ranks the onset bide. — 1 
 1 Well quell the savage mountaineer, 
 
 As their Tinchel 2 cows the game ! 
 They come as fleet as forest deer, 
 
 We'll drive them back as tame.' 
 
 " Bearing before them, in their course, 
 The relics of the archer force, 
 Like wave with crest of sparkling foam, 
 Right onward did Clan- Alpine come. 
 
 1 The MS. has not this couplet. 
 
 2 A circle of sportsmen, who, by surrounding a great space, 
 and gradually narrowing, brought immense quantities of deer 
 together, which usually made desperate efforts to break through 
 the Tinchel. 
 
canto vi.] THE GUARD-ROOM. 245 
 
 Above the tide each broadsword bright 
 Was brandishing like beam of light, 
 
 Each targe was dark below ; 
 And with the ocean's mighty swing, 
 When heaving to the tempest's wing, 
 They hurl'd them on the foe. 
 I heard the lance's shivering crash, 
 As when the whirlwind rends the ash ; 
 I heard the broadsword's deadly clang, 
 As if a hundred anvils rang ! 
 But Moray wheel'd his rearward rank 
 Of horsemen on Clan-Alpine's flank, — 
 ' My banner-man, advance ! 
 I see, 1 he cried, 'their column shake. 
 Now, gallants ! for your ladies 1 sake, 
 
 Upon them with the lance ! 1 — 
 The horsemen dashed among the rout, 
 
 As deer break through the broom ; 
 Their steeds are stout, their swords are out, 
 
 They soon make lightsome room. 
 Clan-Alpine's best are backward borne — 
 
 Where, where was Roderick then ! 
 One blast upon his bugle-horn 
 Were worth a thousand men. 
 
 And refluent through the pass of fear 
 
 The battle's tide was pour'd ; 
 Vanish'd the Saxon's struggling spear, 
 Vanish'd the mountain-sword. 
 
 1 MS. : " And refluent down the darksome pass 
 The battle's tide was pour'd; 
 There toil'd the spearman's struggling spear, 
 There raged the mountain sword." 
 
246 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto vi. 
 
 As Bracklinn's chasm, so black and steep, 
 
 Receives her roaring linn, 
 As the dark caverns of the deep 
 Suck the wild whirlpool in, 
 So did the deep and darksome pass 
 Devour the battle's mingled mass : 
 None linger now upon the plain, 
 Save those who ne'er shall fight again. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 " Now westward rolls the battle's din. 
 That deep and doubling pass within. — 
 Minstrel, away ! the work of fate 1 
 Is bearing on ; its issue wait, 
 Where the rude Trosachs' dread defile 
 Opens on Katrine's lake and isle. 
 Gray Benvenue I soon repass'd, 
 Loch Katrine lay beneath me cast. 
 
 The sun is set ; — the clouds are met, 
 The lowering scowl of heaven 
 
 An inky hue of vivid blue 
 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 Trosachs' gorge, 
 Mine ear but heard the sullen sound, 
 Which like an earthquake shook the ground, 
 And spoke the stern and desperate strife 
 That parts not but with parting life, 2 
 
 1 MS. : " Away ! away ! the work of fate ! " 
 
 2 — " the loveliness in death 
 That parts not quite with parting breath." 
 
 Byron's Giaour. 
 
canto vi.] THE GUARD-ROOM. 247 
 
 Seeming, to minstrel ear, to toll 1 
 
 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 
 High on the mountain thunder forth 
 And overhang its side, 
 
 While by the lake below appears 
 
 The darkening cloud of Saxon spears. 2 
 
 At weary bay each shatter'd band, 
 
 Eyeing their foemen, sternly stand ; 
 
 Their banners stream like tatter'd sail, 
 
 That flings its fragments to the gale, 
 
 And broken arms and disarray 
 
 Mark'd the fell havoc of the day. 
 
 xx. 
 
 " Viewing the mountain's ridge askance, 
 The Saxons stood in sullen trance, 
 Till Moray pointed with his lance, 
 
 And cried — < Behold yon isle ! — 
 See ! none are left to guard its strand, 
 But women weak, that wring the hand ! 
 Tis there of yore the robber band 
 
 Their booty wont to pile ; — 
 My purse, with bonnet-pieces store, 
 To him will swim a bow-shot o'er, 
 And loose a shallop from the shore. 
 
 1 MS. : " And seem'd to minstrel ear, to toll 
 
 The parting dirge of many a soul." 
 
 2 MS. : " While by the darken'd lake below, 
 
 File out the spearmen of the foe." 
 
248 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto vi. 
 
 Lightly well tame the war-wolf then, 
 Lords of his mate, and brood, and den. 1 
 Forth from the ranks a spearman sprung, 
 On earth his casque and corslet rung, 
 
 He plunged him in the wave : — 
 All saw the deed, — the purpose knew, 
 And to their clamors Benvenue 
 
 A mingled echo gave ; 
 The Saxons shout, their mate to cheer, 
 The helpless females scream for fear, 
 And yells for rage the mountaineer. 
 'Twas then, as by the outcry riven, 
 Pour'd down at once the lowering heaven : 
 A whirlwind swept Loch Katrine's breast, 
 Her billows rear'd their snowy crest. 
 Well for the swimmer swell'd they high, 
 To mar the Highland marksman's eye ; 
 For round him shower'd, 'mid rain and hail 
 The vengeful arrows of the Gael. 
 In vain. — He nears the isle — and lo ! 
 His hand is on a shallop's bow. 
 Just then a flash of lightning came, 
 It tinged the waves and strand with flame ; 1 
 I mark'd Duncraggan's widow'd dame, 
 Behind an oak I saw her stand, 
 A naked dirk gleam'd in her hand : — 
 It darken'd, — but amid the moan 
 Of waves I heard a dying groan ; — 
 
 1 MS. reads : " It tinged the boats and lake with flame." 
 The eight closing lines of the stanza are interpolated on a slip 
 of paper. 
 
canto vi.] THE GUARD-ROOM. 249 
 
 Another flash ! — the spearman floats 
 A weltering corse, beside the boats, 
 And the stern Matron o'er him stood. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 s!'tl 
 
 The Gaels' exulting shout replied. 
 Despite the elemental rage, 
 Again they hurried to engage ; 
 But, ere they closed in desperate fight, 
 Bloody with spurring came a knight, 
 Sprung from his horse, and from a crag 
 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, 
 For Bothwell's lord, and Roderick bold, 
 Were both, he said, in captive hold." — 
 But here the lay made sudden stand, 
 The harp escaped the Minstrel's hand ! 
 Oft had he stolen a glance, to spy 
 How Roderick brook'd his minstrelsy : 
 At first, the Chieftain, to the chime, 
 With lifted hand kept feeble time ; 
 That motion ceased, — yet feeling strong 
 Varied his look as changed the sound ; 1 
 At length, no more his deafen'd ear 
 The minstrel melody can hear ; 
 
 1 MS. : " Glowed in his look, as swell'd the song. 1 
 
250 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto vi. 
 
 His face grows sharp, — his hands are clench'd, 
 
 As if some pang his heartstrings wrench'd ; 
 
 Set are his teeth, his fading eye 1 
 
 Is sternly fixed on vacancy ; 
 
 Thus, motionless, and moanless, drew 
 
 His parting breath, stout Roderick Dhu ! — 2 
 
 Old Allan-Bane look'd on aghast, 
 
 While grim and still his spirit pass'd ; 
 
 But when he saw that life was fled, 
 
 He pour'd his wailing o'er the dead. 
 
 XXII. 
 LAMENT. 
 
 " And art thou cold and lowly laid, 3 
 Thy foeman's dread, thy people's aid, 
 Breadalbane's boast, Clan-Alpine's shade ! 
 
 1MS , — hisjt^eye, 
 
 2 " Rob Roy, while on his deathbed, learned that a person, 
 with whom he was at enmity, proposed to visit him. ' Raise 
 me from my bed,' said the invalid; 'throw my plaid around 
 me, and bring me my claymore, dirk and pistols — it shall 
 never be said that a foeman saw Rob Roy Macgregor de- 
 fenceless and unarmed.' His foeman, conjectured to be one 
 of the MacLarens before and after mentioned, entered and 
 paid his compliments, inquiring after the health of his formid- 
 able neighbor. Rob Roy maintained a cold, haughty civility 
 during their short conference ; and so soon as he had left the 
 house, ' Now,' he said, ' all is over — let the piper play, Ha til 
 mi tulidh ' [we return no more] ; and he is said to have ex- 
 pired before the dirge was finished." — Introduction to Rob 
 Roy, Waver ley Novels, vol. vii. p. 85. 
 
 3 MS. : " ' And art thou gone,' the Minstrel said." 
 
caxto vi.] THE GUARD-ROOM. 251 
 
 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, 1 
 E'en in this prison-house of thine, 
 I'll wail for Alpine's honor'd Pine. 
 
 "What groans shall yonder valleys fill ! 
 What shrieks of grief shall rend yon hill ! 
 W hat tears of burning rage shall thrill, 
 When mourns thy tribe thy battles done, 
 Thy fall before the race was won, 
 Thy sword ungirt ere set of sun ! 
 There breathes not clansman of thy line, 
 But would have given his life for thine. ' 
 O, woe for Alpine's honor'd Pine ! 
 
 " Sad was thy lot on mortal stage ! — 
 The captive thrush may brook the cage, 
 The prison'd eagle dies for rage. 
 Brave spirit, do not scorn my strain ! 
 And, when its notes awake again, 
 Even she, so long beloved in vain, 
 Shall with my harp her voice combine, 
 And mix her woe and tears with mine, 
 To wail Clan-Alpine's honor'd Pine." 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 Ellen, the while, with bursting heart, 
 Remain'd in lordly bower apart, 
 
 1 MS. : "The mightiest of a mighty line.' 
 
252 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto vi. 
 
 Where play'd, with many-color'd gleams, 
 
 Through storied pane the rising beams. 
 
 In vain on gilded roof they fall, 
 
 And lighten'd up a tapestried wall, 
 
 And for her use a menial train 
 
 A rich collation spread in vain. 
 
 The banquet proud, the chamber gay, 1 
 
 Scarce drew one curious glance astray ; 
 
 Or if she look'd., 'twas but to say, 
 
 With better omen dawn'd the day 
 
 In that lone isle, where waved on high 
 
 The dun-deer's hide for canopy ; 
 
 Where oft her noble father shared 
 
 The simple meal her care prepared, 
 
 While Lufra, crouching by her side, 
 
 Her station claim'd with jealous pride, 
 
 And Douglas, bent on woodland game, 2 
 
 Spoke of the chase to Malcolm Graeme, 
 
 Whose answer oft at random made, 
 
 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. 
 
 What distant music has the power 
 
 To win her in this woful hour ! 
 
 'Twas from a turret that o'erhung 
 
 Her latticed bower, the strain was sung. 
 
 1 MS. : " The banquet gay, the chamber's pride, 
 
 Scarce drew one curious glance aside." 
 
 2 MS. : " Earnest on his game." 
 
canto vi.] THE GUARD-ROOM. 253 
 
 XXIV. 
 LAY OF THE IMPRISONED HUNTSMAN. 
 
 " My hawk is tired of perch and hood, 
 My idle greyhound loathes his food, 
 My horse is weary of his stall. 
 And I am sick of captive thrall. 
 I wish I were as I have been, 
 Hunting the hart in forest green, 
 With bended bow and bloodhound free, 
 For that's the life is meet for me. 1 
 
 (i I hate to learn the ebb of time, 
 From yon dull 2 steeple's drowsy chime, 
 Or mark it as the sunbeams crawl, 
 Inch after inch, along the wall. 
 The lark was wont my matins ring, 3 
 The sable rook my vespers sing ; 
 These towers, although a king's they be, 
 Have not a hall of joy for me. 4 
 
 " No more at dawning morn I rise, 
 And sun myself in Ellen's eyes, 
 Drive the fleet deer the forest through, 
 And homeward wend with evening dew ; 
 A blithesome welcome blithely meet, 
 And lay my trophies at her feet 
 
 1 MS. : " was meant for me." 
 
 2 MS. : " From darken'd steeple's." 
 
 3 MS. : " The lively lark my matins rung, 
 
 The sable rook my vespers sung." 
 
 4 MS. : " Have not a hall should harbor me." 
 
254 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto vi. 
 
 While fled the eve on wing of glee, — 
 That life is lost to love and me ! " 
 
 XXV. 
 
 That heart-sick lay was hardly said, 
 The list'ner had not turn'd her head, 
 It trickled still, the starting tear, 
 When light a footstep struck her ear, 
 And Snowdoun's graceful knight was near. 
 She turn'd the hastier, lest again 
 The prisoner should renew his strain. 
 " O welcome, brave Fitz-James ! " she said, 
 " How may an almost orphan maid 
 
 Pay the deep debt ■ " " O say not so ! 
 
 To me no gratitude yoii owe, 
 Not mine, alas ! the boon to give, 
 And bid thy noble father live ; 
 I can but be thy guide, sweet maid, 
 With Scotland's King thy suit to aid. 
 No tyrant he, though ire and pride 
 May lay his better mood aside. 
 Come, Ellen, come ! 'tis more than time, 
 He holds his court at morning prime." 
 With beating heart, and bosom wrung, 
 As to a brother's arm she clung. 
 Gently he dried the falling tear, 
 And gently whisper'd hope and cheer ; 
 Her faltering steps half led, half stay'd, 
 Through gallery fair and high arcade, 
 Till at his touch its wings of pride 
 A portal arch unfolded wide. 
 
canto vi.] THE GUARD-ROOM. 255 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 Within 'twas brilliant all and light, 1 
 
 A thronging scene of figures bright ; 
 
 It glow'd on Ellen's dazzled sight, 
 
 As when the setting sun has given 
 
 Ten thousand hues to summer even, 
 
 And from their tissue, fancy frames 
 
 Aerial knights and fairy dames. 
 
 Still by Fitz-James her footing staid ; 
 
 A few faint steps she forward made, 
 
 Then slow her drooping head she raised, 
 
 And fearful round the presence gazed \ 
 
 For him she sought, who own'd this state, 2 
 
 The dreaded prince whose will was fate ! — 
 
 She gazed on many a princely port, 
 
 Might well have ruled a royal court ; 
 
 On many a splendid garb she gazed, — 
 
 Then turn'd bewilder'd and amazed, 
 
 For all stood bare ; and in the room 
 
 Fitz-James alone wore cap and plume. 
 
 To him each lady's look was lent, 
 
 On him each courtier's eye was bent ; 
 
 Midst furs and silks and jewels sheen, 
 
 He stood, in simple Lincoln green, 
 
 The centre of the glittering ring, — 
 
 And Snowdoun's Knight is Scotland's King ! 3 
 
 1 MS. : " Within 'twas brilliant all, and bright 
 
 The vision glow'd on Ellen's sight." 
 
 2 MS.: " For him who own'd this royal state." 
 
 3 See Appendix, Note Q. 
 
256 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto vi. 
 
 xxvii. 
 
 As wreath of snow on mountain-breast 
 
 Slides from the rock that gave it rest, 
 
 Poor Ellen glided from her stay, 1 
 
 And at the Monarch's feet she lay ; 
 
 No word her choking voice commands, — 
 
 She show'd the ring, — she clasp'd her hands. 
 
 ! not a moment could he brook, 
 
 The generous Prince, that suppliant look ! 
 
 Gently he raised her, — and, the while, 
 
 Check'd with a glance the circle's smile ; 
 
 Graceful, but grave, her brow he kiss'd, 
 
 And bade her terrors be dismiss'd : — 
 
 " Yes, fair ; the wandering poor Fitz-James 
 
 The fealty of Scotland claims. 
 
 To him thy woes, thy wishes, bring ; 
 
 He will redeem his signet-ring. 
 
 Ask 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. 
 
 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. 
 
 1 stanch'd thy father's death-feud stern 
 With stout De Vaux and gray Glencairn ; 
 And Bothwell's Lord henceforth we own 
 The friend and bulwark of our Throne. — 
 
 1 MS. : — " shrinking quits her stay." 
 
canto vi.] THE GUARD-ROOM. 257 
 
 But, lovely infidel, how now ? 
 What clouds thy misbelieving brow ? 
 Lord James of Douglas, lend thine aid ; 
 Thou must confirm this doubting maid." 
 
 XXVIII. 
 
 1 0"1 n o fnvii*.. r 
 
 Then forth the noble Douglas sprung, 
 
 And on his neck his daughter hung. 
 
 The monarch drank, that happy hour, 
 
 The sweetest, holiest draught of Power, — 
 
 When it can say, with godlike voice, 
 
 Arise,'sad Virtue, and rejoice ! 
 
 Yet would not James the general eye 
 
 On Nature's raptures long should pry ; 
 
 He stepp'd between — " Nay, Douglas, nay, 
 
 Steal not my proselyte away ! 
 
 The riddle 'tis my right to read, 
 
 That brought this happy chance to speed. 
 
 Yes, Ellen, when, disguised, I stray 
 
 In life's more low but happier way, 1 
 
 'Tis under name which veils my power, 
 
 Nor falsely veils — for Stirling's tower 
 
 Of yore the name of Snowdoun claims, 2 
 
 And Normans call me James Fitz-James. 
 
 Thus watch I o'er insulted laws, 
 
 Thus learn to right the injured cause." 
 
 Then, in a tone apart and low, — 
 
 " Ah, little traitress ! none must know 
 
 1 MS. : " In lowly life's more happy way." 
 
 2 William of Worcester, who wrote about the middle of the 
 fifteenth century, calls Stirling Castle Snowdoun. Sir David 
 
258 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto vi. 
 
 What idle dream, what lighter thought, 
 
 What vanity full dearly bought, 
 
 Join'd to thine eye's dark witchcraft, drew 
 
 My spell-bound steps to Benvenue 1 
 
 In dangerous hour, and almost gave 
 
 Thy Monarch's life to mountain glaive ! " — 
 
 Aloud he spoke : " Thou still dost hold 
 
 That little talisman of gold, 
 
 Lindsay bestows the same epithet upon it in his complaint of 
 the Papingo : 
 
 " Adieu, fair Snawdoun, with thy towers high, 
 Thy chapele-royal, park, and table round; 
 May, June, and July, would I dwell in thee, 
 Were I a man, to hear the birdis sound 
 Whilk doth againe thy royal rock rebound." 
 
 Mr. Chalmers, in his late excellent edition of Sir David 
 Lindsay's works, has refuted the chimerical derivation of 
 Snawdoun from snedding, or cutting. It was probably de- 
 rived from the romantic legend which connected Stirling with 
 King Arthur, to which the mention of the Round Table gives 
 countenance. The ring within which jousts were formerly 
 practised, in the castle park, is still called the Round Table. 
 Snawdoun is the official title of one of the Scottish heralds, 
 whose epithets seem in all countries to have been fantastic- 
 ally adopted from ancient history or romance. 
 
 It appears (see Appendix, Note Q) that the real name by 
 which James was actually distinguished in his private excur- 
 sions, was the Goodman of Ballenguich : derived from a steep 
 pass leading up to the Castle of Stirling, so called. But the 
 epithet would not have suited poetry, and would besides at 
 once and prematurely, have announced the plot to many of 
 my countrymen, among whom the traditional stories above 
 mentioned are still current. 
 
 1 MS. : " Thv sovereign back ) _. „ 
 
 ' ; , ko Benvenue. 
 
 Thy sovereign s steps } 
 
canto vi.] THE GUARD-ROOM. 259 
 
 Pledge of my faith, Fitz-James's rin 
 What seeks fair Ellen of the king \ 
 
 &> 
 
 ?" 
 
 XXIX. 
 
 Full well the conscious maiden guess'd 
 
 He probed the weakness of her breast ; 
 
 But, with that consciousness, there came 
 
 A lightening of her fears for Graeme, 
 
 And 2 more she deem'd the monarch's ire 
 
 Kindled 'gainst him, who, for her sire 
 
 Rebellious broadsword boldly drew ; 
 
 And, to her generous feeling true, 
 
 She craved the grace of Roderick Dhu. — 
 
 " Forbear thy suit : — the King of kings 
 
 Alone can stay life's parting wings. 
 
 I know his heart, I know his hand, 
 
 Have shared his cheer and proved his brand ; 
 
 My fairest earldom would I give 
 
 To bid Clan-Alpine's Chieftain live ! — 
 
 Hast thou no other boon to crave ? 
 
 No other captive friend to save ? " 
 
 Blushing, she turn'd her from the King, 
 
 And to the Douglas gave the ring, 
 
 As if she wish'd her sire to speak 
 
 The suit that stain'd her glowing cheek. 
 
 1 MS. : " Pledge of Fitz-James's faith, the ring." 
 
 2 MS. : " And in her breast strove maiden shame ; 
 
 More deep she deem'd the Monarch's ire 
 Kindled 'gainst him, who, for her sire, 
 Against his sovereign broadsword drew; 
 And, with a pleading, warm and true, 
 She craved the grace of Roderick Dhu." 
 
260 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto vi. 
 
 " Nay, then, my pledge has lost its force, 
 And stubborn justice holds her course. 
 Malcolm, come forth ! " — and, at the word, 
 Down kneel'd the Graeme 1 to Scotland's Lord. 
 " For thee, rash youth, no suppliant sues, 
 From thee may Vengeance claim her dues. 
 Who, nurtured underneath our smile, 
 Hast paid our care by treacherous wile, 
 And sought, amid thy faithful clan, 
 A refuge for an cmtlaw'd man. 
 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, 
 And laid the clasp on Ellen's hand. 2 
 
 1 " Malcolm Grseme has too insignificant a part assigned 
 him, considering the favor in which he is held both by Ellen 
 and the author ; and in bringing out the shaded and imperfect 
 character of Roderick Dhu, as a contrast to the purer virtue 
 of his rival, Mr. Scott seems to have fallen into the common 
 error of making him more interesting than him whose virtues 
 he was intended to set off, and converted the villain of the 
 piece in some measure into its hero. A modern poet, how- 
 ever, may perhaps be pardoned for an error, of which Milton 
 himself is thought not to have kept clear, and for which there 
 seems so natural a cause in the difference between poetical 
 and amiable characters." — Jeffrey. 
 
 2 . . . " And now, waiving myself, let me talk to you of the 
 Prince Regent. He ordered me to be presented to him at a 
 ball; and after some sayings peculiarly pleasing from royal 
 lips, as to my own attempts, he talked to me of you and your 
 immortalities ; he preferred you to every bard past and pres- 
 ent, and asked which of your works pleased me most. It was 
 
canto vi.] THE GUARD-ROOM. 261 
 
 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. 
 Resume thy wizard elm ! the fountain lending, 
 
 And the wild breeze, thy wilder minstrelsy ; 
 Thy numbers sweet with nature's vespers blending, 
 
 With distant echo from the fold and lea, 
 And herd-boy's evening pipe, and hum of housing bee. 
 
 Yet, once again, farewell, thou Minstrel Harp ! 
 
 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, 
 
 Through secret woes the world has never known, 
 When on the weary night dawn'd wearier day, 
 
 And bitterer was the grief devour d alone. — 
 That I o'erlive such woes, Enchantress! is thine own. 
 
 Hark ! as my lingering footsteps slow retire, 
 Some Spirit of the Air has waked thy string ! 
 
 'Tis now a seraph bold, with touch of fire, 
 'Tis now the brush of Fairy's frolic wing. 
 
 a difficult question. I answered, I thought the ' Lay.' He 
 said his own opinion was nearly similar. In speaking of the 
 others, I told him that I thought you more particularly the poet 
 of Princes, as they never appeared more fascinating than in 
 ' Marmion,' and the ' Lady of the Lake.' He was pleased to 
 coincide, and to dwell on the description of your James's as 
 no less royal than poetical. He spoke alternately of Homer 
 and yourself, and seemed well acquainted with both," &c. — 
 Letter fro??i Lord Byron to Sir Walter Scott, July 6, 1812. 
 Byron's Life and Works, vol. ii., p. 156. 
 
262 THE LADY OF THE LAKE, [canto vr. 
 
 Receding now, the dying numbers ring 
 Fainter and fainter down the rugged dell, 
 
 And now the mountain breezes scarcely bring 
 A wandering witch-note of the distant spell — 
 
 And now, 
 
 well ! 1 
 
 1 On a comparison of the merits of this poem with the two 
 former productions of the same unquestioned genius, we are 
 inclined to bestow on it a very decided preference over both. 
 It would perhaps be difficult to select any one passage of such 
 genuine inspiration, as one or two that might be pointed out 
 in the Lay of the Last Minstrel, — and, perhaps, in strength 
 and discrimination of character, it may fall short of Marmion ; 
 although we are loath to resign either the rude and savage 
 generosity of Roderick, the romantic chivalry of James, or the 
 playful simplicity, the affectionate tenderness, the modest 
 courage of Helen Douglas, to the claims of any competitors 
 in the last-mentioned poem. But, for interest and artificial 
 management in the story, for general ease and grace of versi- 
 fication, and correctness of language, the Lady of the Lake 
 must be universally allowed, we think, to excel, and very far 
 excel, either of her predecessors. — Critical Review. 
 
 " There is nothing in Mr. Scott of the severe and majestic 
 style of Milton, or of the terse and fine composition of Pope, 
 or of the elaborate elegance and melody of Campbell, or 
 even of the flowing and redundant diction of Southey ; but 
 there is a medley of bright images and glowing, set carelessly 
 and loosely together, — a diction tinged successively with the 
 careless richness of Shakspeare, the harshness and antique 
 simplicity of the old romances, the homeliness of vulgar bal- 
 lads and anecdotes, and the sentimental glitter of the most 
 modern poetry; passing from the borders of the ludicrous to 
 those of the sublime; alternately minute and energetic; 
 sometimes artificial, and frequently negligent, but always full 
 of spirit and vivacity ; abounding in images that are striking 
 
canto yi.] THE GUARD-ROOM. 263 
 
 at first sight to minds of every contexture, and never express- 
 ing a sentiment which it can cost the most ordinary reader 
 any exertion to comprehend. Upon the whole, we are inclined 
 to think more highly of the " Lady of the Lake " than of either of 
 its author's former publications. We are more sure, however, 
 that it has fewer faults than that it has greater beauties ; and 
 as its beauties bear a strong resemblance to those with which 
 the public has been already made familiar in these celebrated 
 works, we should not be surprised if its popularity were less 
 splendid and remarkable. For our own part, however, we are 
 of opinion, that it will be oftener read hereafter than either of 
 them, and that if it had appeared first in the series, their re- 
 ception would have been less favorable than that which it has 
 experienced. It is more polished in its diction, and more 
 regular in its versification ; the story is constructed with infi- 
 nitely more skill and address ; there is a greater proportion of 
 pleasing and tender passages, with much less antiquarian de- 
 tail, and, upon the whole, a larger variety of characters, more 
 artfully and judiciously 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 richness 
 and a spirit in the whole piece which does not pervade either 
 of these poems, a profusion of incident and a shifting bril- 
 liancy of coloring, that reminds us of the witchery of Ariosto, 
 and a constant elasticity, and occasional energy, which seems 
 to belong more peculiarly to the author now before us." — 
 Jeffrey. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 Note A. 
 
 A gray-hair' d sire, whose eye intent 
 Was on the vision d future bent. — P. 45. 
 
 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. It is called in Gaelic Taishita- 
 raugh, from Tats A, an unreal or shadowy appear- 
 ance ; and those possessed of the faculty are called 
 Taishatrin, which may be aptly translated vision- 
 aries. Martin, a steady believer in the second-sight, 
 gives the following account of it : — 
 
 ** 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 was represented to them. 
 
 "At the sight of a vision, the eyelids of the per- 
 son are erected, and the eyes continue staring until 
 
 267 
 
268 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 the object vanish. This is obvious to others who 
 are by when the persons happen to see a vision, and 
 occurred more than once to my own observation, and 
 to others that were with me. 
 
 " There is one in Skie, of whom his acquaintance 
 observed, that when he sees a vision, the inner part 
 of his eyelids turns so far upwards, that, after the 
 object disappears, he must draw them down with 
 his fingers, and sometimes employ others to draw 
 them down, which he finds to be the much easier 
 way. 
 
 " This faculty of the second-sight does not lineally 
 descend in a family, as some imagine, for I know 
 several parents who are endowed with it, but their 
 children not, and vice versa ; neither is it acquired 
 by any previous compact. And, after a strict in- 
 quiry, I could never learn that this faculty was com- 
 municable any way whatsoever. 
 
 "The seer knows neither the object, time, nor 
 place of a vision before it appears ; and the same 
 object is often seen by different persons living at a 
 considerable distance from one another. The tine 
 way of judging as to the time and circumstance of 
 an object, is by observation ; for several persons of 
 judgment, without this faculty, are more capable to 
 judge of the design of a vision, than a novice that 
 is a seer. If an object appear in the day or night, 
 it will come to pass sooner or later accordingly. 
 
 " If an object is seen early in the morning (which 
 is not frequent), it will be accomplished in a few 
 hours afterwards. If at noon, it will commonly be 
 accomplished that very day. If in the evening, per- 
 
APPENDIX. 269 
 
 haps that night ; if after candles be lighted, it will 
 be accomplished that night ; the latter always in 
 accomplishment, by weeks, months, and sometimes 
 years, according to the time of night the vision is 
 seen. 
 
 " When a shroud is perceived about one, it is a 
 sure prognostic of death : the time is judged accord- 
 ing to the height of it about the person : for if it is 
 seen above the middle, death is not to be expected 
 for the space of a year, and perhaps some months 
 longer ; and as it is frequently seen to ascend higher 
 towards the head, death is concluded to be at hand, 
 within a few days, if not hours, as daily experience 
 confirms. Examples of this kind were shown me, 
 when the persons of whom the observations were 
 then made enjoyed perfect health. 
 
 "One instance was lately foretold by a seer, that 
 was a novice, concerning the death of one of my 
 acquaintance ; this was communicated to a few only, 
 and with great confidence : I being one of the num- 
 ber, did not in the least regard it, until the death of 
 the person, about the time foretold, did confirm me 
 of the certainty of the prediction. The novice men- 
 tioned above, is now a skilful seer, as appears from 
 many late instances ; he lives in the parish of St. 
 Mary's, the most northern in Skie. 
 
 " If a woman is seen standing at a man's left hand, 
 it is a presage that she will be his wife, whether they 
 be married to others, or unmarried at the time of the 
 apparition. 
 
 " If two or three women are seen at once near a 
 man's left hand, she that is next him will undoubtedly 
 
270 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 be his wife first, and so on, whether all three, or e 
 man, be single or married at the time of the vision or 
 not ; of which there are several late instances among 
 those of my acquaintance. It is an ordinary thing 
 for them to see a man that is to come to the house 
 shortly after ; and if he is not of the seer's acquaint- 
 ance, yet he gives such a lively description of his 
 stature, complexion, habit, etc., that upon his arrival 
 he answers the character given him in all respects. 
 
 " If the person so appearing be one of the seer's 
 acquaintance, he will tell his name, as well as other 
 particulars ; and he can tell by his countenance 
 whether he comes in a good or bad humor. 
 
 " I have been seen thus myself by seers of both 
 sexes, at some hundred miles' distance ; some that 
 saw me in this manner had never seen me personally, 
 and it happened according to their vision, without 
 any previous design of mine to go to these places, 
 my coming there being purely accidental. 
 
 " It is ordinary with them to see houses, gardens, 
 and trees in places void of all three ; and this in 
 progress of time uses to be accomplished : as at Mag- 
 shot, in the Isle of Skie, where there were but a few 
 sorry cowhouses, thatched with straw, yet in a very 
 few years after, the vision, which appeared often, was 
 accomplished, by the building of several good houses 
 on the very spot represented by the seers, and by the 
 planting of orchards there. 
 
 " To see a spark of fire fall upon one's arm or 
 breast, is a forerunner of a dead child to be seen in 
 the arms of those persons, of which there are several 
 fresh instances. 
 
APPENDIX. 2 7 1 
 
 " To see a seat empty at the time of one's sitting 
 in it, is a presage of that person's death soon after. 
 
 " When a novice, or one that has lately obtained 
 the second-sight, sees a vision in the night-time with- 
 out doors, and he be near a fire, he presently falls 
 into a swoon. 
 
 " Some find themselves as it were in a crowd of 
 people, having a corpse which they carry along with 
 them ; and after such visions the seers come in sweat- 
 ing, and describe the people that appeared ; if there 
 be any of their acquaintance among 'em, they give an 
 account of their names, as also of the bearers, but 
 they know nothing concerning the corpse. 
 
 "All those who have the second-sight do not always 
 see these visions at once, though they be together at 
 the time. But if one who has this faculty, designedly 
 touch his fellow-seer at the instant of a vision's ap- 
 pearing, then the second sees it as well as the first ; 
 and this is sometimes discerned by those that are 
 near them on such occasions." — Martin's Descrip- 
 tion of the Western Islands, 1716, 8vo, p. 300, et 
 seq. 
 
 To these particulars innumerable examples might 
 be added, all attested by grave and credible authors. 
 But, in spite of evidence which neither Bacon, Boyle, 
 nor Johnson were able to resist, the Taisch, with all 
 its visionary properties, seems to be now universally 
 abandoned to the use of poetry. The exquisitely 
 beautiful poem of Lochiel will at once recur to the 
 recollection of every reader. 
 
272 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 Note B. 
 
 My sires tall form might grace the part 
 Of Ferragus or As cab art. — P. 50. 
 
 These two sons of Anak flourished in romantic 
 fable. The first is well known to the admirers of 
 Ariosto, by the name of Ferrau. He was an antag- 
 onist of Orlando, and was at length slain by him in 
 single combat. There is a romance in the Auchin- 
 leck MS., in which Ferragus is thus described : — 
 
 " On a day come tiding 
 Unto Charls the King, 
 
 Al of a doughti knight 
 Was comen to Navers. 
 Stout he was and fers, 
 
 Vernagu he hight 
 Of babiloun the soudan 
 Thider him sende gan, 
 
 With King Charls to fight. 
 So hardhe was to-fond 1 
 That no dint of brond 
 
 No greud him, aplight. 
 He hadde twenti men strengthe 
 And forti fet of lengthe, 
 Thilke painim hede, 2 
 And four feet in the face, 
 Y-meten 3 in the place, 
 
 And fifteen in brede. 4 
 His nose was a fot and more ; 
 His brow, as bristles wore; 5 
 
 He that it seighe it sede. 
 He looked lotheliche, 
 
 1 Found, proved. 2 Had. 3 Measured. 4 Breadth. 5 Were. 
 
APPENDIX. 273 
 
 And was swart 1 as any piche, 
 Of him men might adrede." 
 
 Ro?nance of Charlemagne, 1. 461-484, 
 Auchinleck MS., fol. 265. 
 
 Ascapart or Ascabart makes a very material figure 
 in the History of Bevis of Hampton, by whom he was 
 conquered. His effigies may be seen guarding one 
 side of a gate at Southampton, while the other is 
 occupied by Sir Bevis himself. The dimensions of 
 Ascabart were little inferior to those of Ferragus, if 
 the following description be correct : — 
 
 " They metten with a geaunt, 
 With a lothelithe semblaunt. 
 He was wonderliche strong, 
 Rome- thretti fote long 
 His berd was hot gret and rowe ; 3 
 A space of a fot between is 4 browe ; 
 His clob was, to yeue 5 a strok, 
 A lite bodi of an oak. 8 
 
 " Beues hadde of him wonder gret, 
 And askede him what a het, 7 
 And yaf s men of his contre 
 Were ase meche ase 9 was he 
 ' Me name,' a sede, 10 ' is Ascopard, 
 Graci me sent hiderward, 
 For to bring this quene ayen 
 And the Beues her of-slen. 11 
 Icham Graci is 12 champioun, 
 And was i-driue out of me 13 toun 
 Al for that ich was so lite. 14 
 
 1 Black. 2 Fully. 3 Rough. 4 His. 5 Give. 6 The stem 
 of a little oak-tree. 7 He hight, was called. 8 If. 9 Great. 
 10 He said. H Slay. 12 His. is My. M Little. 
 
2 74 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 Eueri man me wolde smite, 
 Ich was so lite and so merugh ;! 
 Eueri man me clepede dwerugh, 2 
 And now icham in this londe, 
 I wax mor 3 ich understonde, 
 And stranger than other tene ; 4 
 And that schel on us be sene.' " 
 
 Sir Bevis of Hampton , I. 2512. 
 Auchinleck MS., fol. 189. 
 
 Note C. 
 
 In Holy-Rood a Knight he slew. — P. 66. 
 
 This was by no means an uncommon occurrence 
 in the court of Scotland ; nay, the presence of the 
 sovereign himself scarcely restrained the ferocious 
 and inveterate feuds which were the perpetual source 
 of bloodshed among the Scottish nobility. The fol- 
 lowing instance of the murder of Sir William Stuart 
 of Ochiltree, called The Bloody, by the celebrated 
 Francis, Earl of Bothwell, may be produced among 
 many ; but, as the offence given in the royal court 
 will hardly bear a vernacular translation, I shall leave 
 the story in Johnstone's Latin, referring for farther 
 particulars to the naked simplicity of BirrelPs Diary, 
 30th July, 1588. 
 
 "Mors im fir obi hominis non ta?7i ifisa im merit a, 
 quam pessimo exemfilo in publicum, f cede perpetrata. 
 Gulielmus Stuartus Alkiltrius, Aranifrater, naturd 
 ac moribus, c?tjus scepius memini, vidgo propter sitem 
 sanguinis sanguinarius dictus, a Bothvelio, in Sanctce 
 Crucis Regid exardescejite ird, ?nendacii probro laces- 
 
 1 Lean. 2 Dwarf. 3 Greater, taller. 4 Ten. 
 
APPENDIX. 275 
 
 situs, obscamuni osculum liberius retorquebat ; Both- 
 velins hanc contumeliam tacitus tulit, sed ingtntum 
 irarum molem animo concepit. Utrinque postridie 
 Edinburgi conventum, totidem numero comitibus ar- 
 matis prcesidii causa, et acriter pugnatum est ; ceteris 
 amicis et clientibus metu torpentibus, aut vi abster- 
 ritus, ipse Stuart us fortissime dimicat ; tandem 
 cxcusso gladio a Bothvelio, Scythica feritate tra7isfo- 
 ditur, sine cujusquam misericordia ; habuit itaque 
 quern debuit exitum. Digitus erat Stuartus qui 
 pateretur ; Bothvelius qui faceret. Vulgus san- 
 guinem sanguine pr&dicabit, et horum cruore inno- 
 cuorum manibus egregie parentatum." — Johnstoni 
 Historia Rerum Britannicarum, ab anno 1572 ad 
 annum 1628. Amstelodami, 1655, fol. p. 135. 
 
 Note D. 
 
 Did, self-unscabbarded, foreshow 
 The footstep of a secret foe. — P. 71. 
 
 The ancient warriors, whose hope and confidence 
 rested chiefly in their blades, were accustomed to 
 deduce omens from them, especially from such as 
 were supposed to have been fabricated by enchanted 
 skill, of which we have various instances in the 
 romances and legends of the time. The wonderful 
 sword Skofnung, wielded by the celebrated Hrolf 
 Kraka, was of this description. It was deposited in 
 the tomb of the monarch at his death, and taken 
 from thence by Skeggo, a celebrated pirate, who 
 bestowed it upon his son-in-law, Kormak, with the 
 following curious directions: — "'The manner of 
 
276 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 using it will appear strange to you. A small bag is 
 attached to it, which take heed not to violate. Let 
 not the rays of the sun touch the upper part of the 
 handle, nor unsheathe it, unless thou art ready for 
 battle. But when thou comest to the place of fight, 
 go aside from the rest, grasp and extend the sword, 
 and breathe upon it. Then a small worm will creeP 
 out of the handle, that he may more easily return into 
 it. 1 Kormak, after having received the sword, re- 
 turned home to his mother. He showed the sword, 
 and attempted to draw it, as unnecessarily as ineffec- 
 tually, for he could not pluck it out of the sheath. 
 His mother, Dalla, exclaimed, ' Do not despise the 
 counsel given to thee, my son. 1 Kormak, however, 
 repeating his efforts, pressed down the handle with his 
 feet, and tore off the bag, when Skofnung emitted a 
 hollow groan ; but still he could not unsheathe the 
 sword. Kormak then went out with Bessus, whom 
 he had challenged to fight with him, and drew apart 
 at the place of combat. He sat down upon the 
 ground, and ungirding the sword, which he bore 
 above his vestments, did not remember to shield the 
 hilt from the rays of the sun. In vain he endeavored 
 to draw it, till he placed his foot against the hilt ; then 
 the worm issued from it. But Kormak did not 
 rightly handle the weapon, in consequence whereof 
 good fortune deserted it. As he unsheathed Skonfung, 
 it emitted a hollow murmur. 11 — Bartholini de Causis 
 Contemptce a Danis adhuc Gentilibus Mortis, Libri 
 Tres. Hafnice, 1689, 4to, p. 574. 
 
 To the history of this sentient and prescient weapon, 
 I beg leave to add, from memory, the following leg- 
 
APPENDIX. 277 
 
 end, for which I cannot produce any better authority. 
 A young nobleman, of high hopes and fortune, 
 chanced to lose his way in the town which he inhab- 
 ited, the capital, if I mistake not, of a German prov- 
 ince. He had accidentally involved himself among 
 the narrow and winding streets of a suburb, inhabited 
 by the lowest order of the people, and an approach- 
 ing thunder-shower determined him to ask a short 
 refuge in the most decent habitation that was near 
 him. He knocked at the door, which was opened by 
 a tall man, of a grisly and ferocious aspect, and sor- 
 did dress. The stranger was readily ushered to a 
 chamber, where swords, scourges, and machines, 
 which seemed to be implements of torture, were sus- 
 pended on the wall. One of these swords dropped 
 from its scabbard as the nobleman, after a moment's 
 hesitation, crossed the threshold. His host immedi- 
 ately stared at him with such a marked expression, 
 that the young man could not help demanding his 
 name and business, and the meaning of his looking 
 at him so fixedly. " I am," answered the man, " the 
 public executioner of this city ; and the incident you 
 have observed is a sure augury that I shall, in dis- 
 charge of my duty, one day cut off your head with 
 the weapon which has just now spontaneously un- 
 sheathed itself/' The nobleman lost no time in 
 leaving his place of refuge ; but, engaging in some of 
 the plots of the period, was shortly after decapitated 
 by that very man and instrument. 
 
 Lord Lovat is said, by the author of the " Letters 
 from Scotland," to have affirmed, that a number of 
 swords that hung up in the hall of the mansion-house 
 
278 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 leaped of themselves out of the scabbard at the instant 
 he was born. The story passed current among his 
 clan, but, like that of the story I have just quoted, 
 proved an unfortunate omen. — Letters from Scot- 
 land, vol. ii. p. 214. 
 
 Note E. 
 
 The best of Loch Lomond lie dead on her side. — P. 76. 
 
 The Lennox, as the district is called, which encir- 
 cles the lower extremity of Loch Lomond, was pecul- 
 iarly exposed to the incursions of the mountaineers, 
 who inhabited the inaccessible fastnesses at the upper 
 end of the lake, and the neighboring district of 
 Loch Katrine. These were often marked by circum- 
 stances of great ferocity, of which the noted conflict 
 of Glen-fruin is a celebrated instance. This was a 
 clan-battle, in which the Macgregors, headed by Allas- 
 ter Macgregor, chief of the clan, encountered the 
 sept of Colquhouns, commanded by Sir Humphrey 
 Colquhoun of Luss. It is on all hands allowed that 
 the action was desperately fought, and that the Col- 
 quhouns were defeated with great slaughter, leaving 
 two hundred of their name dead upon the field. But 
 popular tradition has added other horrors to the tale. 
 It is said, that Sir Humphrey Colquhoun, who was 
 on horseback, escaped to the castle of Benechra, or 
 Banochar, and was next day dragged out and mur- 
 dered by the victorious Macgregors in cold blood. 
 Buchanan of Auchmar, however, speaks of his slaugh- 
 ter as a subsequent event, and as perpetrated by the 
 Macfarlanes. Again, it is reported that the Macgreg- 
 
APPENDIX. 279 
 
 ors murdered a number of youths, whom report of 
 the intended battle had brought to be spectators, 
 and whom the Colquhouns, anxious for their safety, 
 had shut up in a barn to be out of danger. One 
 account of the Macgregors denies this circumstance 
 entirely : another ascribes it to the savage and blood- 
 thirsty disposition of a single individual, the bastard 
 brother of the laird of Macgregor, who amused him- 
 self with this second massacre of the innocents, in 
 express disobedience to the chief, by whom he was 
 left their guardian during the pursuit of the Col- 
 quhouns. It is added, that Macgregor bitterly 
 lamented this atrocious action, and prophesied the 
 ruin which it must bring upon their ancient clan. The 
 following account of the conflict, which is indeed 
 drawn up by a friend of the Clan-Gregor, is altogether 
 silent on the murder of the youths. " In the spring 
 of the year 1602, there happened great dissensions 
 and troubles between the laird of Luss, chief of the 
 Colquhouns, and Alexander, laird of Macgregor. 
 The original of these quarrels proceeded from injuries 
 and provocations mutually given and received not 
 long before. Macgregor, however, wanting to have 
 them ended in friendly conferences, marched at the 
 head of two hundred of his clan to Leven, which bor- 
 ders on Luss, his country, with a view of settling 
 matters by the mediation of friends : but Luss had no 
 such intentions, and projected his measures with a 
 different view ; for he privately drew together a body 
 of three hundred horse and five hundred foot, com- 
 posed partly of his own clan and their followers, and 
 partly of the Buchanans, his neighbors, and resolved 
 
2 So THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 to cut off Macgregor and his party to a man, in case 
 the issue of the conference did not answer his incli- 
 nation. But matters fell otherwise than he expected ; 
 and though Macgregor had previous information of 
 his insidious design, yet dissembling his resentment, 
 he kept the appointment, and parted good friends in 
 appearance. 
 
 "No sooner was he gone, than Luss, thinking to 
 surprise him and his party in full security, and with- 
 out any dread or apprehension of his treachery, fol- 
 lowed with all speed, and came up with him at a 
 place called Glenfroon. Macgregor, upon the alarm, 
 divided his men into two parties, the greatest part 
 whereof he commanded himself, and the other he 
 committed to the care of his brother John, who, by 
 his orders, led them about another way, and attacked 
 the Colquhouns in flank. Here it was fought with 
 great bravery on both sides for a considerable time ; 
 and, notwithstanding the vast disproportion of num- 
 bers, Macgregor, in the end, obtained an absolute 
 victory. So great was the rout, that two hundred of 
 the Colquhouns were left dead upon the spot, most 
 of the leading men were killed, and a multitude of 
 prisoners taken. But what seemed most surprising 
 and incredible in this defeat, was, that none of the 
 Macgregors were missing, except John, the laird's 
 brother, and one common fellow, though indeed 
 many of them were wounded.' 1 — Professor Ross's 
 History of the Family of Sutherland, 1 63 1 . 
 
 The consequences of the battle of Glen-fruin was 
 very calamitous to the family of Macgregor, who had 
 already been considered as an unruly clan. The 
 
APPENDIX. 281 
 
 widows of the slain Colquhouns, sixty, it is said, in 
 number, appeared in doleful procession before the 
 king at Sterling, each riding upon a white palfrey, 
 and bearing in her hand the bloody shirt of her hus- 
 band displayed upon a pike. James VI. was so 
 much moved by the complaints of this "choir of 
 mourning dames,' 1 that he let loose his vengeance 
 against the Macgregors, without either bounds or 
 moderation. The very name of the clan was pro- 
 scribed, and those by whom it had been borne were 
 given up to sword and fire, and absolutely hunted 
 down by bloodhounds like wild beasts. Argyle and 
 the Campbells on the one hand, Montrose with the 
 Grahames and Buchanans on the other, are said to 
 have been the chief instruments in suppressing this 
 devoted clan. The laird of Macgregor surrendered 
 to the former, on condition that he would take him 
 out of Scottish ground. But, to use Birrell's expres- 
 sion, he kept "a Highlandman's promise"; and, 
 although he fulfilled his word to the letter, by carry- 
 ing him as far as Berwick, he afterwards brought him 
 back to Edinburgh, where he was executed with 
 eighteen of his clan (Birrel\s Diary, 2d October, 
 1603). The clan Gregor being thus driven to utter 
 despair, seemed to have renounced the laws from the 
 benefit of which they were excluded, and their dep- 
 redations produced new acts of council, confirming 
 the severity of their proscription, which had only the 
 effect of rendering them still more united and des- 
 perate. It is a most extraordinary proof of the 
 ardent and invincible spirit of clanship, that, not- 
 withstanding the repeated proscriptions providently 
 
282 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 ordained by the legislature, "for the timeous pre- 
 venting the disorders and oppression that may fall 
 out by the said name and clan of Macgregors and 
 their followers, 11 they were in 171 5 and 1745, a potent 
 clan, and continue to subsist as a distinct and 
 numerous race. 
 
 Note F. 
 
 And zuhile the Fiery Cross glanced, like a meteor, round. — 
 P. 98. 
 
 When a chieftain designed to summon his clan, 
 upon any sudden or important emergency, he slew a 
 goat, and making a cross of any light wood, seared 
 its extremities in the fire, and extinguished them in 
 the blood of the animal. This was called the Fiery 
 Cross, also Crean 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, implying 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 re- 
 pair, in his best arms and accoutrements, to the place 
 of rendezvous. He who failed to appear suffered the 
 
APPENDIX. 2 S3 
 
 extremities of fire and sword, which were emblemati- 
 cally denounced to the disobedient by the bloody and 
 burnt marks upon this warlike signal. During the 
 civil war of 1745-6, the Fiery Cross often made its 
 circuit ; and upon one occasion it passed through the 
 whole district of Breadalbane, a tract of thirty-two 
 miles, in three hours. The late Alexander Stewart, 
 Esq., of Invernahyle, described to me his having 
 sent round the Fiery Cross through the district of 
 Appine, during the same commotion. The coast was 
 threatened by a descent from two English frigates, 
 and the flower of the young men were with the army 
 of Prince Charles Edward, then in England ; yet the 
 summons was so effectual, that even old age and 
 childhood obeyed it ; and a force was collected in a 
 few hours, so numerous and so enthusiastic, that all 
 attempt at the intended diversion upon the country 
 of the absent warriors was in prudence abandoned, 
 as desperate. 
 
 This practice, like some others, is common to 
 the Highlanders with the ancient Scandinavians, 
 as will appear by the following extract from Olaus 
 Magnus : — 
 
 " When the enemy is upon the sea-coast, or within 
 the limits of northern kingdomes, then presently, by 
 the command of the principal governours, with the 
 counsel and consent of the old soldiers, who are 
 notably skilled in such like business, a staff of three 
 hands length, in the common sight of them all, is 
 carried, by the speedy running of some active young 
 man, unto that village or city, with this command, — 
 that on the third, fourth, or eighth day, one, two, or 
 
284 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 three, or else every man in particular, from fifteen 
 years old, shall come with his arms, and expenses for 
 ten or twenty days, upon pain that his or their houses 
 shall be burnt (which is intimated by the burning of 
 the staff), or else the master to be hanged (which 
 is signified by the cord tied to it), to appear speedily 
 on such a bank, or field, or valley, to hear the cause 
 he is called, and to hear orders from the said provin- 
 cial governours what he shall do. Wherefore that 
 messenger, swifter than any post or waggon, having 
 done his commission, comes slowly back again, bring- 
 ing a token with him that he hath done all legally, and 
 every moment one or another runs to every village, 
 and tells those places what they must do. 11 . . . "The 
 messengers, therefore, of the footmen, that are to give 
 warning to the people to meet for the battail, run 
 fiercely and swiftly ; for no snow, no rain, nor heat 
 can stop them, nor night hold them ; but they will 
 soon run the race they undertake. The first mes- 
 senger tells it to the next village, and that to the 
 next, and so the hubbub runs all over till they all 
 know it in that stiff or territory, where, when, and 
 wherefore they must meet. 7 ' — Olaus Magnus's His- 
 tory of the Goths, englished by J. S., Lond. 1658, 
 book iv. chap. 3, 4. 
 
 Note G. 
 
 That monk, of savage form and face. — P. 100. 
 
 The state of religion in the middle ages afforded 
 considerable facilities for those whose mode of life 
 excluded them from regular worship, to secure, never- 
 
APPENDIX. 285 
 
 theless, the ghostly assistance of confessors, 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 do- 
 mestic chaplain, Friar Tuck. And that same curtal 
 friar was probably matched in manners and appear- 
 ance by the ghostly fathers of the Tynedale robbers, 
 who are thus described in an excommunication ful- 
 minated against their patrons by Richard Fox, Bishop 
 of Durham, tempore Henrici VII. "We have further 
 understood, that there are many chaplains in the said 
 territories of Tynedale and Redesdale, who are public 
 and open mamtainers of concubinage, irregular, sus- 
 pended, excommunicated, and interdicted persons, 
 and withal so utterly ignorant of letters, that it has 
 been found by those who objected this to them, that 
 there were some who, having celebrated mass for ten 
 years, were still unable to read the sacramental ser- 
 vice. We have also understood there are persons 
 among them who, although not ordained, do take 
 upon them the offices of priesthood ; and, in con- 
 tempt of God, celebrate the divine and sacred rites, 
 and administer the sacraments, not only in sacred 
 and dedicated places, but in those which are profane 
 and interdicted, and most wretchedly ruinous ; they 
 themselves being attired in ragged, torn, and most 
 filthy vestments, altogether unfit to be used in divine, 
 or even in temporal offices. The which said chap- 
 lains do administer sacraments and sacramental rites 
 to the aforesaid manifest and infamous thieves, rob- 
 bers, depredators, receivers of stolen goods, and 
 plunderers, and that without restitution, or intention 
 
286 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 to restore, as evinced by the act ; and do also openly 
 admit them to the rites of ecclesiastical sepulchre, 
 without exacting security for restitution, although 
 they are prohibited from doing so by the sacred 
 canons, as well as by the institutes of the saints 
 and fathers. All which infers the heavy peril of 
 their own souls, and is a pernicious example to the 
 other believers in Christ, as well as no slight, but an 
 aggravated injury, to the numbers despoiled and 
 plundered of their goods, gear, herds, and chattels." 1 
 To this lively and picturesque description of the 
 confessors and churchmen of predatory tribes, there 
 may be added some curious particulars respecting the 
 priests attached to the several septs of native Irish, 
 during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. These friars 
 had indeed to plead, that the incursions, which they 
 not only pardoned, but even encouraged, were made 
 upon those hostile to them, as well in religion as from 
 national antipathy ; but by Protestant writers they 
 are uniformly alleged to be the chief instruments of 
 Irish insurrection, the very well-spring of all rebel- 
 lion towards the English government. Lithgow, the 
 Scottish traveller, declares the Irish wood-kerne, or 
 predatory tribes, to be but the hounds of their hunt- 
 ing-priests, who directed their incursions by their pleas- 
 ure, partly for sustenance, partly to gratify animosity, 
 partly to foment general division, and always for the 
 
 1 The Monition against the Robbers of Tynedale and 
 Redesdale, with which I was favored by my friend Mr. Surtees 
 of Mainsforth, may be found in the original Latin, in the Ap- 
 pendix to the Introduction to the " Border Minstrelsy," No. 
 VII. vol. i. p. 274 of the Edinburgh edition. 12 vols. 
 
APPENDIX. 287 
 
 better security and easy domination of the friars. 1 
 Derrick, the liveliness and minuteness of whose de- 
 scriptions may frequently apologize for his doggerel 
 verses, after describing an Irish feast, and the & en- 
 couragement given by the songs of the bards to its 
 termination in an incursion upon the parts of the 
 country more immediately under the dominion of the 
 English, records the no less powerful arguments 
 used by the friar to excite their animosity : — 
 
 "And more t'augment the flame, 
 
 and rancour of their harte, 
 The frier, of his counsells vile, 
 
 to rebelles doth imparte 
 Affirming that it is 
 
 an almose deede to God, 
 To make the English subjects taste 
 
 the Irish rebells' rodde. 
 To spoile, to kill, to burne, 
 
 this frier's counsell is ; 
 And for the doing of the same, 
 
 he warrantes heavenlie blisse. 
 He telles a holie tale; 
 
 the white he tournes to blacke ; 
 And through the pardons in his male, 
 
 He workes a knavishe knacke." 
 
 The wreckful invasion of a part of the English pale 
 is then described with some spirit; the burning of 
 houses, driving off cattle, and all pertaining to such 
 predatory inroads, are illustrated by a rude cut. 
 The defeat of the Irish by a party of English soldiers 
 from the next garrison is then commemorated, and in 
 like manner adorned with an engraving, in which the 
 
 1 " Lithgow's Travels," first edition, p. 431. 
 
258 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 friar is exhibited mourning over the slain chieftain ; 
 or, as the rubric expresses it, 
 
 " The frier then, that treacherous knave ; with ough ough-hone 
 lament, 
 To see his cousin Devill's-son to have so foul event." 
 
 The matter is handled at great length in the text, 
 of which the following verses are more than a suffi- 
 cient sample : — 
 
 " The frier seying this, 
 
 lamentes that lucklesse parte, 
 And curseth to the pitte of hell 
 
 the death man's sturdie harte 
 Yet for to quight them with 
 
 the frier taketh paine, 
 For all the synnes that ere he did 
 
 remission to obtain. 
 And therefore serves his booke, 
 
 the candell and the bell. 
 But thinke you that such apishe toies 
 
 bring damned souls from hell ? 
 It 'longs not to my parte 
 
 infernall things to knowe ; 
 But I believe till later daie, 
 
 thei rise not from belovve. 
 Yet hope that friers give 
 
 to this rebellious rout, 
 If that their souls should chaunce in hell, 
 
 to bring them quicklie out, 
 Doeth make them lead suche lives, 
 
 as neither God nor man, 
 Without revenge for their desartes, 
 
 permitte or suffer can. 
 Thus friers are the cause, 
 
 the fountain, and the spring, 
 
APPENDIX. 289 
 
 Of hurleburles in this lande, 
 
 of eche unhappie thing. 
 Thei cause them to rebelle 
 
 against their soveraigne quene, 
 And through rebellion often tymes, 
 
 their lives doe vanish clene. 
 So as by friers ' meanes, 
 
 in whom all follie swimme, 
 The Irishe karne doe often lose 
 
 the life, with hedde and limme." 1 
 
 As the Irish tribes, and those of the Scottish 
 Highlanders, are much more intimately allied by 
 language, manners, dress, and customs than the 
 antiquaries of either country have been willing to 
 admit, I flatter myself I have here produced a strong 
 warrant for the character sketched in the text. The 
 following picture, though of a different kind, serves 
 to establish the existence of ascetic religionists, to a 
 comparatively late period, in the Highlands and 
 Western Isles. There is a great deal of simplicity 
 in the description, for which, as for much similar 
 information, I am obliged to Dr. John Martin, who 
 visited the Hebrides at the suggestion of Sir Robert 
 Sibbald, a Scottish antiquarian of eminence, and 
 early in the eighteenth century published a descrip- 
 tion of them, which procured him admission into the 
 Royal Society. He died in London about 17 19. 
 
 1 This curious picture of Ireland was inserted by the author 
 in the republication of Somers's Tracts, vol. i., in which the 
 plates have been also inserted, from the only impressions 
 known to exist, belonging to the copy in the Advocates' 
 Library. See Somers's Tracts, vol. i. pp. 591, 594. 
 
290 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 His work is a strange mixture of learning, observa- 
 tion, and gross credulity. 
 
 " I remember," says this author, " I have seen an 
 old lay-capuchin here (in the Island of Benbecula), 
 called in their language Brahir-bocht, that is, Poor 
 Brother ; which is literally true ; for he answers this 
 character, having nothing but what is given him : he 
 holds himself fully satisfied with food and rayment, 
 and lives in as great simplicity as any of his order : 
 his diet is very mean, and he drinks only fair water ; 
 his habit is no less mortifying than that of his 
 brethren elsewhere : he wears a short coat, which 
 comes no farther than his middle, with narrow sleeves 
 like a waistcoat : he wears a plad above it, girt about 
 the middle, which reaches to his knee : the plad is 
 fastened on his breast with a wooden pin, his neck 
 bare, and his feet often so too ; he wears a hat 
 for ornament, and the string about it is a bit of a 
 fisher's line, made of horse-hair. This plad he wears 
 instead of a gown worn by those of his order in 
 other countries. I told him he wanted the flaxen 
 girdle that men of his order usually wear : he an- 
 swered me, that he wore a leathern one, which was 
 the same thing. Upon the matter, if he is spoke to 
 when at meat, he answers again ; which is contrary 
 to the custom of his order. This poor man fre- 
 quently diverts himself with angling of trouts ; he 
 lies upon straw, and has no bell (as others have) to 
 call him to his devotions, but only his conscience, 
 as he told me." — Martin's Description of the 
 Western Highlands, p. 82. 
 
APPENDIX. 29 
 
 Note H, 
 
 Sounds, too, had come in midnight blast 
 
 Of charging steeds, careering fast 
 
 Along Denharrows shingly side, 
 
 Where tnortal horseman ne'er might ride. — P. 108. 
 
 A presage of the kind alluded to in the text, is 
 still believed to announce death to the ancient High- 
 land family of McLean of Lochbuy. The spirit of an 
 ancestor slain in battle is heard to gallop along a 
 stony bank, and then to ride thrice around the family 
 residence, ringing his fairy bridle, and thus 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. Such an apparition is said to have been 
 witnessed upon the side of Southfell mountain, be- 
 tween Penrith and Keswick, upon the 23d June, 1744, 
 by two persons, William Lancaster of Blakehills, and 
 Daniel Stricket his servant, whose attestation to the 
 fact, with a full account of the apparition, dated the 
 21st July, 1745, is printed in Clarke's "Survey of 
 the Lakes. 11 The apparition consisted of several 
 troops of horse moving in regular order, with a 
 steady rapid motion, making a curved sweep around 
 the fell, and seeming to the spectators to disappear 
 over the ridge of the mountain. Many persons 
 witnessed this phenomenon, and observed the last, 
 or last but one, of the supposed troop, occasionally 
 leave his rank, and pass at a gallop to the front, when 
 he resumed the same steady pace. This curious 
 
292 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 appearance, making the necessary allowance for 
 imagination, may be perhaps sufficiently accounted 
 for by optical deception. — Survey of the Lakes, 
 p. 25. 
 
 Supernatural intimations of approaching fate are 
 not, I believe, confined to Highland families. Howel 
 mentions having seen, at a lapidary's, in 1632, a 
 monumental stone, prepared for four persons of the 
 name of Oxenham, before the death of each of whom 
 the inscription stated a white bird to have appeared 
 and fluttered around the bed while the patient was in 
 the last agony {Familiar Letters, edit. 1726, p. 247). 
 Glanville mentions one family, the members of which 
 received this solemn sign by music, the sound of 
 which floated from the family residence, and seemed 
 to die in a neighboring wood ; another, that of 
 Captain Wood, of Bampton, to whom the signal was 
 given by knocking. But the most remarkable in- 
 stance of the kind occurs in the MS. Memoirs of 
 Lady Fanshaw, so exemplary for her conjugal affec- 
 tion. Her husband, Sir Richard, and she, chanced, 
 during their abode in Ireland, to visit a friend, the 
 head of a sept, who resided in his ancient baronial 
 castle, surrounded with a moat. At midnight she 
 was awakened by a ghastly and supernatural scream, 
 and, looking out of bed, beheld, by the moonlight, a 
 female face and part of the form, hovering at the 
 window. The distance from the ground, as well as 
 the circumstance of the moat, excluded the possibility 
 that what she beheld was of this world. The face 
 was that of a young and rather handsome woman, 
 but pale ; and the hair, which was reddish, was loose 
 
APPENDIX. 293 
 
 and dishevelled. The dress, which Lady Fanshaw's 
 terror did not prevent her remarking accurately, was 
 that of the ancient Irish. This apparition continued 
 to exhibit itself for some time, and then vanished 
 with two shrieks similar to that which had first 
 excited Lady Fanshaw's attention. In the morning, 
 with infinite terror, she communicated to her host 
 what she had witnessed, and found him prepared not 
 only to credit but to account for the apparition. " A 
 near relation of my family," said he, " expired last 
 night in this castle. We disguised our certain ex- 
 pectation of the event from you, lest it should throw 
 a cloud over the cheerful reception which was due 
 you. Now, before such an event happens in this 
 family and castle, the female spectre whom you have 
 seen always is visible. She is believed to be the 
 spirit of a woman of inferior rank, whom one of my 
 ancestors degraded himself by marrying and whom 
 afterwards, to expiate the dishonor done his family 
 he caused to be drowned in the castle moat." 
 
 Note I. 
 
 The Taghairm calPd ; by -which, afar, 
 
 Our sires foresaw the events of war. — P. 140. 
 
 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 a 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 
 
294 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 scenery around him suggested nothing but objects of 
 horror. In this situation he revolved in his mind the 
 question proposed : and whatever was impressed 
 upon him by his exalted imagination, passed for the 
 inspiration of the disembodied spirits, who haunt the 
 desolate recesses. In some of these Hebrides, they 
 attribute the same oracular power to a large black 
 stone by the sea-shore, which they approached with 
 certain solemnities, and considered the first fancy 
 which came into their own minds, after they did so, 
 to be the undoubted dictate of the tutelar deity of 
 the stone, and, as such, to be, if possible, punctually 
 complied with. Martin has recorded the following 
 curious modes of Highland augury, in which the 
 Taghairm, and its effects upon the person who was 
 subjected to it, may serve to illustrate the text. 
 
 "■It was an ordinary thing among the over-curious 
 to consult an invisible oracle, concerning the fate of 
 families and battles, etc. This was performed three 
 different ways : the first was by a company of men, 
 one of whom, being detached by lot, was afterwards 
 carried to a river, which was the boundary between 
 two villages ; four of the company laid hold on him, 
 and, having shut his eyes, they took him by the legs 
 and arms, and then, tossing him to and again, struck 
 his hips with force against the bank. One of them 
 cried out, 'What is it you have got here? 1 another 
 answers, i A log of birch-wood.'' The other cries again, 
 ' Let his invisible friends appear from all quarters, and 
 let them relieve him by giving an answer to our pres- 
 ent demands ' ; and in a few minutes after, a number 
 of little creatures came from the sea, who answered 
 
APPENDIX. 295 
 
 the question, and disappeared suddenly. The man 
 was then set at liberty, and they all returned home, 
 to take their measures according to the predictions 
 of their false prophets ; but the poor deluded fools 
 were abused, for their answer was still ambiguous. 
 This was always practised in the night, and may liter- 
 ally be called the works of darkness. 
 
 4 * I had an account from the most intelligent and 
 judicious men in the Isle of Skie, that about sixty- 
 two years ago, the oracle was thus consulted only 
 once, and that was in the parish of Kilmartin, on the 
 east side, by a wicked and mischievous race of people, 
 who are now extinguished, both root and branch. 
 
 " The second way of consulting the oracle was by 
 a party of men, who first retired to solitary places, 
 remote from any house, and there they singled out 
 one of their number, and wrapt him in a big cow's 
 hide, which they folded about him ; his whole body 
 was covered with it, except his head, and so left in 
 this posture all night, until his invisible friends re- 
 lieved him, by giving a proper answer to the question 
 in hand ; which he received, as he fancied, from sev- 
 eral persons that he found about him all that time. 
 His consorts returned to him at the break of day, and 
 then he communicated his news to them ; which often 
 proved fatal to those concerned in such unwarrant- 
 able inquiries. 
 
 " There was a third way of consulting, which was 
 a confirmation of the second above mentioned. The 
 same company who put the man into the hide, took 
 a live cat, and put him on a spit ; one of the number 
 was employed to turn the spit, and one of his consorts 
 
296 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 inquired of him, 'What are you doing? ' he answered, 
 ' I roast this cat, until his friends answer the question ' ; 
 which must be the same that was proposed by the 
 man shut up in the hide. And afterwards, a very big 
 cat 1 comes, attended by a number of lesser cats, de- 
 siring to relieve the cat turned upon the spit, and 
 then answers the question. If this answer proved the 
 same that was given to the man in the hide, then it 
 was taken as a confirmation of the other, which, in 
 this case, was believed infallible. 
 
 " Mr. Alexander Cooper, present minister of North- 
 Vist, told me that one John Erach, in the Isle of 
 Lewis, assured him it was his fate to have been led 
 by his curiosity with some who consulted this oracle, 
 and that he was a night within the hide, as above 
 mentioned ; during which time he felt and heard such 
 terrible things, that he could not express them ; the 
 impression it made on him was such as could never 
 go off, and he said, for a thousand worlds he would 
 never again be concerned in the like performance, 
 for this had disordered him to a high degree. He 
 confessed it ingenuously, and with an air of great 
 remorse, and seemed to be penitent under a just 
 sense of so great a crime : he declared this about five 
 years since, and is still living in the Lewis for any- 
 thing I know." — Description of the Western Isles, 
 p. no. See also Pennant's Scottish Tour, vol. ii. 
 p. 361. 
 
 1 The reader may have met with the story of the " King of 
 the Cats," in Lord Littleton's Letters. It is well known in the 
 Highlands as a njursery tale. 
 
APPENDIX. 297 
 
 Note K. 
 
 Alice Brand. — P. 150. 
 
 This little fairy tale is founded upon a very curious 
 Danish ballad, which occurs in the Kampe I r zser, 
 a collection of heroic songs, first published in 1591, 
 and reprinted in 1695, inscribed by Anders Sofrensen, 
 the collector and editor, to Sophia, Queen of Den- 
 mark. I have been favored with a literal translation 
 of the original, by my learned friend Mr. Robert 
 Jamieson, whose deep knowledge of Scandinavian 
 antiquities will, I hope, one day be displayed in illus- 
 tration of the history of Scottish Ballad and Song, 
 for which no man possesses more ample materials. 
 The story will remind the readers of the Border 
 Minstrelsy of the tale of " Young Tamlane." But this 
 is only a solitary and not very marked instance of 
 coincidence, whereas several of the other ballads in 
 the same collection find exact counterparts in the 
 Koemfie Viser. Which may have been the originals, 
 will be a question for future antiquaries. Mr. Jamie- 
 son, to secure the power of literal translation, has 
 adopted the old Scottish idiom, which approaches 
 so near to that of the Danish, as almost to give word 
 for word, as well as line for line, and indeed in many 
 verses the orthography alone is altered. As Wester 
 Haf, mentioned in the first stanzas of the ballad, 
 means the West Sea, in opposition to the Baltic, 
 or East Sea, Mr. Jamieson inclines to be of opinion, 
 that the scene of the disenchantment is laid in one 
 of the Orkney or Hebride Islands. To each verse in 
 
298 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 the original is added a burden, having a kind of 
 meaning of its own, but not applicable, at least not 
 uniformly applicable, to the sense of the stanza to 
 which it is subjoined ; this is very common, both 
 in Danish and Scottish song. 
 
 THE ELFIN GRAY. 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE DANISH " K^MPE VISER," PAGE 
 143, AND FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1591. 
 
 Der ligger en void i Vester Haf, 
 
 Der agter e7i bonde at bygge. 
 Hand forer did haade hog og hund, 
 
 Og agter der om vinteren at ligge. 
 (DE VILDE DIUR OG DIURENE UDI SKORVEN.) 
 
 I. 
 There liggs a wold in Wester Haf, 
 
 There a husbande means to bigg, 
 And thither he carries baith hawk and hound, 
 
 There meaning the winter to ligg. 
 ( The wild deer and daes i' the shaw out.) 
 
 II. 
 He taks wi' him baith hound and cock, 
 
 The langer he means to stay, 
 The wild deer in the shaws that are, 
 
 May sairly rue the day. 
 ( The wild deer, etc.) 
 
 III. 
 He's hew'd the beech, and he's fell'd the aik, 
 
 Sae has he the poplar gray ; 
 And grim in mood was the grewsome elf, 
 
 That be sae bald he may. 
 
APPENDIX. 299 
 
 IV. 
 He hew'd him kipples, he hew'd him bawks, 
 
 Wi' mickle moil and haste ; 
 Syne speer'd the Elf i' the knock that bade 
 
 " Wha's hacking here sae fast ? " 
 
 v. 
 
 Syne up and spak the weiest Elf, 
 
 Crean'd as an immert sma : 
 " It's here is come a Christian man; — 
 
 I'll fley him or he ga." 
 
 VI. 
 It's up syne started the firsten Elf, 
 
 And glowr'd about sae grim : 
 " It's we'll awa to the husbande's house, 
 
 And hald a court on him. 
 
 VII. 
 
 " Here hews he down baith skugg and shaw, 
 
 And works us skaith and scorn : 
 His huswife he sail gie to me ; — 
 
 They's rue the day they were born ! " 
 
 VIII. 
 
 The Elfin a' i' the knock that were, 
 
 Gaed dancing in a string: 
 They nighed near the husband's house ; 
 
 Sae lang their tails did hing. 
 
 IX. 
 
 The hound he yowls i' the yard, 
 
 The herd toots in his horn ; 
 The earn scraighs, and the cock craws, 
 
 As the husbande has gi'en him his corn.* 
 
 1 This singular quatrain stands thus in the original : — 
 " Hundcn hand gior i gaarden ; 
 Hiorden tude i sit horn; 
 CErnen skriger, og hanen galer, 
 Som bonden hafd6 gifvet sit korn." 
 
300 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 x. 
 
 The Elfen were five score and seven, 
 
 Sai laidly and sae grim ; 
 And they the husband's guests maun be, 
 
 To eat and drink wi' him. 
 
 XI. 
 
 The husbande, out o' Villenshaw 
 At his winnock the Elves can see : 
 
 " Help me, now, Jesu, Mary's son ; 
 Thir Elves they mint at me 1 " 
 
 XII. 
 In every nook a cross he coost, 
 
 In his chalmer maist ava; 
 The Elfen a* were fley'd thereat. 
 
 And flew to the wild-wood shaw. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 And some flew east, and some flew west, 
 And some to the norwart flew ; 
 
 And some they flew to the deep dale down, 
 There still they are I trow. 1 
 
 XIV. 
 It was then the weist Elf, 
 
 In at the door braids he ; 
 Agast was the husbande, for that Elf 
 
 For cross nor sign wad flee. 
 
 XV. 
 
 The huswife she was a canny wife. 
 
 She set the Elf at the board ; 
 She set before him baith ale and meat 
 
 Wi' many a weel-waled word. 
 
 In the Danish : — 
 " Somme fioyS oster, og S£»mm6 floyd vester, 
 Nogle floye nor paa, 
 Nogle floye ned i dybene dald, 
 Jeg troer de ere- der emdnu." 
 
APPENDIX. 301 
 
 XVI. 
 
 " Hear thou, Gudeman o' Villenshaw, 
 
 What now I say to thee ; 
 Wha bade thee bigg within our bounds, 
 
 Without the leave o' me ? 
 
 XVII. 
 
 " But, an thou in our bounds will bigg, 
 
 And bide as well as may be, 
 Then thou thy dearest huswife maun 
 
 To me for a lemman gie." 
 
 Up spak the luckless husbande then, 
 As God the grace him gae : 
 
 " Eline she is to me sae dear, 
 Her thou may nae-gate hae." 
 
 XIX. 
 
 Till the Elf he answered as he couth : 
 
 " Let but my huswife be, 
 And take whate'er, o' gude or gear 
 
 Is mine, awa wi' thee." 
 
 XX. 
 
 " Thine I'll thy Eline tak and thee, 
 
 Aneath my feet to tread ; 
 And hide thy goud and white monie 
 
 Aneath my dwelling stead." 
 
 The husbande and his househald a* 
 
 In sary rede they join : 
 " Far better that she be now forfairn, 
 
 Nor that we a' should tyne." 
 
302 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 XXII. 
 
 Up, will of rede, the husbande stood, 
 
 Wi' heart fu' sad and sair ; 
 And he has gien his huswife Eline 
 
 Wi' the young Elfe to fare. 
 
 Then blyth grew he, and sprang about 
 
 He took her in his arm ; 
 The rud it left her comely cheek ; 
 
 Her heart was clem'd wi' harm. 
 
 A waefu' woman then she was ane, 
 And the moody tears loot fa' ; 
 
 " God rew on me, unseely wife, 
 How hard a weird I fa ! 
 
 " My fay I plight to the fairest wight 
 That man on mold mat see ; — 
 
 Maun I now mell wi' a laidly El, 
 His light lemman to be? " 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 He minted ance — he minted twice, 
 Wae wax'd her heart that syth : 
 
 Syne the laidliest fiend he grew that e'er 
 To mortal ee did kyth. 
 
 When he the thirden time can mint 
 To Mary's son she pray'd, 
 
 And the laidly Elf was clean awa, 
 And a fair knight in his stead. 
 
APPENDIX. 3°3 
 
 This fell under a linden green, 
 That again his shape he found ; 
 
 O wae and care was the word nae mair, 
 A' were sae glad that stound. 
 
 XXIX. 
 
 " O dearest Eline, hear thou this, 
 
 And thou my wife sail be, 
 And a' the goud in merry England 
 
 Sae freely I'll gi'e thee ! 
 
 XXX. 
 
 " Whan I was but a little wee bairn, 
 
 My mither died me fra ; 
 My stepmither sent me awa fra her; 
 
 I turn'd till an Elfin Gray. 
 
 XXXI. 
 
 " To thy husbande I a gift will gie, 
 
 Wi' mickle state and gear, 
 As mends for Eline his huswife ; — 
 
 Thou's be my heartis dear." 
 
 XXXII. 
 
 " Thou nobil knyght, we thank now God 
 That has freed us fiae skaith ; 
 
 Sae wed thou thee a maiden free, 
 And joy attend ye baith ! 
 
 XXXIII. 
 
 " Sin I to thee nae maik can be 
 
 My dochter may be thine ; 
 And thy gud will right to fulfill, 
 
 Lat this be our propine." — 
 
3°4 
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 XXXIV. 
 
 " I thank thee, Eline, thou wise woman ; 
 
 My praise thy worth sail ha'e ; 
 And thy love gin I fail to win, 
 
 Thou here at hame sail stay." 
 
 XXXV. 
 
 The husbande biggit now on his oe, 
 And nane ane wrought him wrang; 
 
 His dochter wore crown in Engeland, 
 And happy lived and lang. 
 
 xxxvi. 
 
 Now Eline, the husbande's huswife has 
 Cour'd a* her grief and harms 
 
 She's mither to a noble queen 
 That sleeps in a kingis arms. 
 
 GLOSSARY TO "THE ELFIN GRAY." 
 
 STANZA I. 
 
 Wold, a wood ; woody fastness. 
 
 Husbande, from the Danish hos, 
 with, and bonde, a villain, or 
 bondsman, who was a cul- 
 tivator of the ground, and 
 could not quit the estate to 
 which he was attached, with- 
 out the permission of his 
 lord. This is the sense of 
 the word in the old Scot- 
 tish records. In the Scot- 
 tish " Burghe Laws," trans- 
 lated from the Reg. Majest. 
 
 (Auchinleck MS. in the 
 Adv. Lib.), it is used in- 
 discriminately with the Da- 
 nish and Swedish bonde. 
 
 Bigg, build. 
 
 Ligg, lie. 
 
 Daes, does. 
 
 STANZA II. 
 
 Shaw, wood. 
 
 Sairly, sorely. 
 
 STANZA III. 
 
 Aik, oak. 
 
 Grewsome, terrible. 
 
 Bald, bold. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 3°5 
 
 STANZA IV. 
 
 Kipples (couples), beams 
 joined at the top, for sup- 
 porting a roof, in building. 
 
 Baivks, balks; cross beams. 
 
 Moil, laborious industry. 
 
 Speerd, asked. 
 
 Knock, hillock. 
 
 STANZA V. 
 
 Weiest, smallest. 
 
 Creaiid, shrunk, diminished ; 
 from the Gaelic, crian, very 
 small. 
 
 Immert, emmet; ant. 
 
 Christian, used in the Danish 
 ballads, etc., in contradis- 
 tinction to demoniac, as it is 
 in England in contradistinc- 
 tion to brute ; in which sense 
 a person of the lower class 
 in England would call a 
 yew or a Turk a Christian, 
 
 Fley, frighten. 
 
 STANZA VI. 
 Glowr'd, stared. 
 Bald, hold. 
 
 STANZA VII. 
 
 Skugg, shade. 
 Skaith, harm. 
 
 STANZA VIII. 
 Nighed, approached. 
 
 STANZA IX. 
 
 Yowls, howls. 
 
 Toots. — In the Danish tude is 
 
 applied both to the howling 
 
 of a dog, and the sound of a 
 horn. 
 Scraiche, screams. 
 
 STANZA X. 
 
 Laidly, loathly ; disgustingly 
 
 ugly. 
 Grim, fierce. 
 
 STANZA XI. 
 Winnock, window. 
 Mint, aim at. 
 
 STANZA XII. 
 Coost, cast. 
 Chalmer, chamber. 
 Maist, most. 
 Ava, of all. 
 
 STANZA XIII. 
 Norwart, northward. 
 Trow, believe. 
 
 STANZA XIV. 
 Braids, strides quickly for- 
 ward. 
 Wad, would. 
 
 STANZA XV. 
 Canny, adroit. 
 Mony, many. 
 Weel-waled, well chosen. 
 
 STANZA XVII. 
 
 A?i, if. 
 Bide, abide. 
 Lemman, mistress. 
 
 STANZA XVIII. 
 Nae-gate, nowise. 
 
 STANZA XIX. 
 Couth, could, knew how to. 
 
3° 6 
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 Lat be, let alone. 
 
 Gudes, goods ; property. 
 STANZA XX. 
 
 Aneath, beneath. 
 
 Dwa I 'ling-stead, dwelling- 
 place. 
 
 STANZA XXI. 
 
 Sary, sorrowful. 
 
 Rede, counsel ; consultation. 
 
 For/aim, forlorn ; lost, gone. 
 
 Tyne (verb neuter), be lost; 
 perish. 
 
 STANZA XXII. 
 
 Will of rede, bewildered in 
 thought ; in the Danish orig- 
 inal, " vildraadage ;" Lat. 
 " inops consilii ; " Gr. airopov. 
 This expression is left 
 among the desiderata in 
 the Glossary to Ritson's 
 Romances, and has never 
 been explained. It is ob- 
 solete in the Danish as well 
 as in English. 
 
 Fare, go. 
 
 STANZA XXIII. 
 
 Rud, red of the cheek. 
 
 Clem'd, in the Danish, klemt 
 (which, in the North of 
 England, is still in use, as 
 the word starved is with 
 us) ; brought to a dying 
 state. It is used by our 
 old comedians. 
 
 Harm, grief; as in the original, 
 and in the old Teutonic, 
 English, and Scottish poetry. 
 
 STANZA XXIV. 
 
 Waefu, woful. 
 
 Moody, strongly and wilfully 
 passionate. 
 
 Rew, take ruth ; pity. 
 
 Unseely, unhappy ; unblest. 
 
 Weird, fate. 
 
 Fa (I si. Dan. and Swed.), 
 take ; get ; acquire ; pro- 
 cure ; have for my lot. 
 This Gothic verb answers, 
 in its direct and secondary 
 significations, exactly to the 
 Latin capio ; and Allan 
 Ramsay was right in his 
 definition of it. It is quite 
 a different word from fa' , 
 an abbreviation of fall, or 
 befall ; and is the principal 
 root in fengan, to fang, 
 take, or lay hold of. 
 
 STANZA XXV. 
 
 Fay, faith. 
 
 Mold, mould ; earth. 
 
 Mat, mote ; might. 
 
 Maun, must. 
 
 Me 11, mix. 
 
 El, an elf. This term, in the 
 Welsh, signifies what has in 
 itself th e power of m otion ; a 
 moving principle ; an intel- 
 ligejice ; a spirit ; an angel. 
 In the Hebrew it bears the 
 same import. 
 
 STANZA XXVI. 
 Minted, attempted ; meant ; 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 307 
 
 showed a mind, or intention 
 
 to. The original is : — 
 " Hande mindte hende forst — 
 
 og anden gang ; — 
 Hun giordis i hiortet sa vee : 
 End blef hand den Icdistc 
 
 deifvel 
 Mand kunde med oyen see. 
 Der hand vilde minde den 
 
 tredie gang," etc. 
 Syth, tide ; time. 
 Kyth, appear. 
 
 stanza xxvni. 
 Stound, hour ; time ; moment. 
 
 STANZA XXIX. 
 Merry (old Teutonic mere), 
 famous ; renowned ; an- 
 swering in its etymological 
 meaning, exactly to the Latin 
 Mactus. Hence merry-men, 
 as the address of a chief to 
 his followers ; meaning, not 
 
 men of mirth, but of renown. 
 The term is found in its 
 original sense in the Gaelic 
 mara, and the Welsh mawr, 
 great ; and in the oldest Teu- 
 tonic Romances, mar, mcr, 
 and mere, have sometimes 
 the same signification. 
 
 STANZA XXXI. 
 Mends, amends ; recompense. 
 
 STANZA XXXIII. 
 Maik, match ; peer ; equal. 
 Propine, pledge ; gift. 
 
 STANZA XXXV. 
 
 Oe, an island of the second 
 magnitude ; an island of the 
 first magnitude being called 
 a /and, and one of the third 
 magnitude a holm. 
 
 STANZA XXXVI. 
 Cour'd, recovered. 
 
 THE GHAIST'S WARNING. 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE DANISH K/EMPE VISER, PAGE 721. 
 
 [By the permission of Mr. Jamieson, this ballad is added 
 from the same curious collection. It contains some pas- 
 sages of great pathos.] 
 
 Svend Dyring hand rider sig op under oe, 
 
 ( Vare jeg selver wig) 
 Der fceste hand sig saa ven en m'oe. 
 
 (Mig lyster udi I unden at ride,) etc. 
 
308 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 Child Dyring has ridden him up under oe, 1 
 
 {And O gin I were young !) 
 There wedded he him sae fair 2 a may. 
 
 (/' the greetiwood it lists me to ride.) 
 
 Thegither they lived for seven lang year, 
 
 (And 0, etc.) 
 And they seven bairns hae gotten in fere. 
 
 (/' the greenwood, etc.) 
 
 Sae Death's come there intill that stead, 
 And that winsome lily flower is dead. 
 
 That swain he has ridden him up under oe, 
 And syne he has married anither may. 
 
 He's married a may, and he's fessen her hame; 
 But she was a grim and laidly dame. 
 
 When into the castell court drave she, 
 
 The seven bairns stood wi' the tear in their ee. 
 
 The bairns they stood wi' dule and dout ; — 
 She up wi' her foot, and she kicked them out. 
 
 Nor ale nor meed to the bairnies she gave : 
 " But hunger and hate frae me ye's have." 
 
 She took frae them the bowster blae, 
 And said, " Ye sail ligg i' the bare strae ! " 
 
 1 " Under oe." — The original expression has been preserved 
 here and elsewhere, because no other could be found to sup- 
 ply its place. There is just as much meaning in it in the 
 translation as in the original ; but it is a standard Danish 
 ballad phrase ; and as such, it is hoped, will be allowed to pass. 
 
 2 "Fair." — The Danish and Swedish ven, van, or venne, 
 and the Gaelic ban, in the oblique cases bhcin (van), is the 
 origin of the Scottish bonny, which has so much puzzled all 
 the etymologists. 
 
APPENDIX. 309 
 
 She took frae them the groff wax-light : 
 Says, " Now ye sail ligg i' the mirk a' night ! " 
 
 'Twas lang i' the night, and the bairnies grat ; 
 Their mither she under the mools heard that; 
 
 That heard the wife under the eard that lay ; 
 " For sooth maun I to my bairnies gae ! " 
 
 That wife can stand up at our Lord's knee, 
 And " May I gang and my bairnies see ! " 
 
 She prigged sae sair, and she prigged sae lang 
 That he at the last ga'e her leave to gang. 
 
 "And thou sail come back when the cock does craw : 
 For thou nae langer sail bide awa." 
 
 Wi' her banes sae stark a bowt she gae : 
 She's riven baith wa' and marble gray. 1 
 
 When near to the dwalling she can gang, 
 The dogs they wow'd till the lift it rang. 
 
 When she came till the castell yett, 
 Her eldest dochter stood thereat. 
 
 " Why stand ye here, dear dochter mine ? 
 How are sma brithers and sisters thine ? " — 
 
 " For sooth ye're a woman baith fair and fine ; 
 But ye are na dear mither of mine." — 
 
 1 The original of this and the following stanza is very 
 fine : — 
 
 " Hun skod op sine modige been, 
 Der revenede muur og graa marmorsteen. 
 Der hun gik igenmen den by, 
 De hunde de tude saa hojt 1 sky." 
 
3io THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 " Och ! how should I be fine or fair ? 
 
 My cheek it is pale, and the ground's my lair. 
 
 " My mither was white, wi' cheek sae red ; 
 But thou art wan, and liker ane dead.*' — 
 
 " Och ! how should I be white and red, 
 Sae lang as I've been cauld and dead ? " 
 
 When she cam till the chalmer in, 
 
 Down the bairns' cheeks the tears did rin. 
 
 She buskit the tane, and she brush'd it there, 
 She kem'd and plaited the tither's hair. 
 
 The thirden she doodled upon her knee, 
 And the fourthen she dichted sae cannilie. 
 
 She's ta'en the fifthen upon her lap, 
 And sweetly suckled it at her pap. 
 
 Till her eldest dochter syne said she, 
 
 " Ye bid Child Dyring come here to me." 
 
 When he cam till the chalmer in, 
 Wi' angry mood she said to him : 
 
 " I left you routh o* ale and bread ; 
 My bairnies quail for hunger and need. 
 
 " I left ahind me braw bowsters blae; 
 My bairnies are ligging i' the bare strae. 
 
 " I left ye sae mony a groff wax-light ; 
 My bairnies ligg i' the mirk a' nicht. 
 
 " Gin aft I come back to visit thee, 
 
 Wae, dowy, and weary thy luck shall be." 
 
 Up spak little Kirstin in bed that lay : 
 " To thy bairnies I'll do the best I may." 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 3 11 
 
 Aye when they heard the dog nirr and bell, 
 Sae ga'e they the bairnies bread and ale. 
 
 Aye when the dog did wow, in haste 
 
 They cross'd and sain'd themselves frae the ghaist. 
 
 Aye whan the little dog yowl'd, with fear 
 
 {And O gin I were young /) 
 They shook at the thought that the dead was near. 
 
 (/ ' the greenwood it lists me to ride. ) 
 or, 
 
 {Fair words sae motry a heart they cheer.) 
 
 GLOSSARY TO "THE GHAIST'S WARNING." 
 
 May, maid. 
 Lists, pleases. 
 Stead, place. 
 Bairns, children. 
 In fere, together. 
 Winsome, engaging ; giving 
 
 joy (old Teutonic). 
 Syne, then. 
 
 Fessen, fetched, brought. 
 Drave, drove. 
 Dule, sorrow. 
 Dout, fear. 
 Bowster, bolster ; cushion ; 
 
 bed. 
 Blae, blue. 
 Strae, straw. 
 
 Groff, great : large in girt. 
 Mark, mirk ; dark. 
 Lang i the night, late. 
 Grat, wept. 
 Moots, mould ; earth. 
 
 Eard, earth. 
 
 Gae, go. 
 
 Prigged, entreated earnestly 
 
 and perseveringly. 
 Gang, go. 
 Craw, crow. 
 Banes, bones. 
 Stark, strong. 
 Bowt, bolt ; elastic spring, like 
 
 that of a bolt, or arrow from 
 
 a bow. 
 Riven, split asunder. 
 XV a , wall. 
 Wow'd, howled. 
 Lift, sky ; firmament ; air. 
 ) T ett, gate. 
 Sma, small. 
 Lire, complexion. 
 Cald, cold. 
 Till, to. 
 I Rin, run. 
 
3 I2 
 
 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 Buskit, dressed. 
 A'em'd, combed. 
 Tither, the other. 
 Routh, plenty. 
 Quail, are quelled ; 
 Need, want. 
 A kind, behind. 
 Braw, brave ; fine. 
 Dowy, sorrowful. 
 Nirr, snarl. 
 
 die. 
 
 Bell, bark. 
 
 Sained, blessed : literally, 
 signed with the sign of the 
 cross. Before the introduc- 
 tion of Christianity, Runes 
 were used in saining, as a 
 spell against the power 
 of enchantment and evil 
 genii. 
 
 Ghaist, ghost. 
 
 Note L. 
 
 Why sounds yon stroke on beach and oak, 
 
 Our moonlight circle's screen ? 
 Or who cotnes here to chase the deer, 
 
 Beloved of our Elfin Queen? — P. 162. 
 
 It has been already observed, that fairies, if not 
 positively malevolent, are capricious, and easily of- 
 fended. They are, like other proprietors of forests, 
 peculiarly jealous of their rights of vert and venison, 
 as appears from the cause of offence taken, in the 
 original Danish ballad. This jealousy was also an 
 attribute of the northern Duergar, or dwarfs ; to 
 many of whose distinctions the fairies seem to have 
 succeeded, if, indeed, they are not the same class of 
 beings. In the huge metrical record of German Chiv- 
 alry, entitled the Helden-Buch, Sir Hildebrand, and 
 the other heroes of whom it treats, are engaged in 
 one of their most desperate adventures, from a rash 
 violation of the rose-garden of an Elfin, or Dwarf 
 King. 
 
APPENDIX. 313 
 
 There are yet traces of a belief in this worst and 
 most malicious order of fairies among the border 
 wilds. Dr. Leyden has introduced such a dwarf into 
 his ballad entitled the Cout of Keeldar, and has not 
 forgotten his characteristic detestation of the chase. 
 
 " The third blast that young Keeldar blew, 
 Still stood the limber fern, 
 And a wee man, of swarthy hue, 
 Upstarted by a cairn. 
 
 " His russet weeds were brown as heath 
 That clothes the upland fell ; 
 And the hair of his head was frizzly red 
 As the purple heather-bell. 
 
 "An urchin, clad in prickles red, 
 Clung cowering to his arm ; 
 The hounds they howl'd, and backward fled, 
 As struck by fairy charm. 
 
 " ' Why rises high the stag-hound's cry, 
 Where stag-hound ne'er should be ? 
 Why wakes that horn the silent morn 
 Without the leave of me ? ' — 
 
 " ' Brown dwarf, that o'er the muirland strays, 
 Thy name to Keeldar tell ! ' — 
 ' The Brown Man of the Muirs, who stays 
 Beneath the heather-bell.' 
 
 " ' 'Tis sweet beneath the heather-bell 
 To live in autumn brown ; 
 And sweet to hear the lav'rock's swell, 
 Far, far from tower and town. 
 
 " ' But woe betide the shrilling horn, 
 The chase's surly cheer! 
 And ever that hunter is forlorn, 
 Whom first at morn I hear.' " 
 
314 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 The poetical picture here given of the Duergar cor- 
 responds exactly with the following Northumbrian 
 legend, with which I was lately favored by my learned 
 and kind friend, Mr. Surtees of Mainsforth, who has 
 bestowed indefatigable labor upon the antiquities of 
 the English Border counties. The subject is in itself 
 so curious, that the length of the note will, I hope, 
 be pardoned. 
 
 " I have only one record to offer of the appearance 
 of our Northumbrian Duergar. My narratrix is Eliza- 
 beth Cockburn, an old wife of Offerton, in this county, 
 whose credit, in a case of this kind, will not, I hope, 
 be much impeached, when I add, that she is, by her 
 dull neighbors, supposed to be occasionally insane, 
 but, by herself, to be at those times endowed with a 
 faculty of seeing visions, and spectral appearances, 
 which shun the common ken. 
 
 " In the year before the great rebellion, two young 
 men from Newcastle were sporting on the high moors 
 above Elsdon, and after pursuing their game several 
 hours, sat down to dine in a green glen near one of 
 the mountain streams. After their repast, the younger 
 lad ran to the brook for water, and after stooping to 
 drink, was surprised, on lifting his head again, by the 
 appearance of a brown dwarf, who stood on a crag 
 covered with brackens, across the burn. This ex- 
 traordinary personage did not appear to be above half 
 the stature of a common man, but was uncommonly 
 stout and broad-built, having the appearance of vast 
 strength. His dress was entirely brown, the color of 
 the brackens, and his head covered with frizzled red 
 hair. His countenance was expressive of the most 
 
APPENDIX. 315 
 
 savage ferocity, and his eyes glared like a bull. It 
 seems he addressed the young man first, threatening 
 him with his vengeance for having trespassed on his 
 demesnes, and asking him if he knew in whose pres- 
 ence he stood? The youth replied, that he now sup- 
 posed him to be the lord of the moors ; that he 
 offended through ignorance ; and offered to bring 
 him the game he had killed. The dwarf was a little 
 mollified by this submission, but remarked, that noth- 
 ing could be more offensive to him than such an offer, 
 as he considered the wild animals as his subjects, and 
 never failed to avenge their destruction. He conde- 
 scended further to inform him, that he was, like him- 
 self, mortal, though of years far exceeding the lot of 
 common humanity ; and (what I should not have had 
 an idea of) that he hoped for salvation. He never, he 
 added, fed on anything that had life, but lived in the 
 summer on whortleberries, and in winter on nuts and 
 apples, of which he had great store in the woods. 
 Finally, he invited his new acquaintance to accom- 
 pany him home, and partake his hospitality ; an 
 offer which the youth was on the point of accepting, 
 and was just going to spring across the brook (which 
 if he had done, says Elizabeth, the dwarf would cer- 
 tainly have torn him in pieces), when his foot was 
 arrested by the voice of his companion, who thought 
 he had tarried long : and on looking round again, 
 'the wee brown man was tied. 1 The story adds, that 
 he was imprudent enough to slight the admonition, and 
 to sport over the moors on his way homewards: but 
 soon after his return he fell into a lingering disorder, 
 and died within the year." 
 
316 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 Note M. 
 
 And gaily shines the Fairy-land — 
 But all is glistenimg show. — P. 165. 
 
 No fact respecting Fairy-land seems to be better 
 ascertained than the fantastic and illusory nature of 
 its apparent pleasure and splendor. It has been 
 already noticed in the former quotations from Dr. 
 Grahame 1 s entertaining volume, and may be con- 
 firmed by the following Highland tradition: "A 
 woman, whose new-born child had been conveyed 
 by them into their secret abodes, was also carried 
 thither herself, to remain, however, only until she 
 could suckle her infant. She, one day, during this 
 period, observed the ShVichs busily employed in mix- 
 ing various ingredients in a boiling caldron ; and, as 
 soon as the composition was prepared, she remarked 
 that they all carefully anointed their eyes with it, lay- 
 ing the remainder aside for future use. In a moment 
 when they were all absent, she also attempted to 
 anoint her eyes with the precious drug, but had time 
 to apply it to one eye only, when the Daoine ShP re- 
 turned. But with that eye she was henceforth enabled 
 to see everything as it really passed in their secret 
 abodes ; she saw every object, not as she hitherto 
 had done, in deceptive splendor and elegance, but in 
 its genuine colors and form. The gaudy ornaments 
 of the apartment were reduced to the walls of a gloomy 
 cavern. Soon after, having discharged her office, 
 she was dismissed to her own home. Still, however, 
 she retained the faculty of seeing, with her medicated 
 eye, everything that was done, anywhere in her pres- 
 
APPENDIX. 3 1 7 
 
 encc, by the deceptive art of the order. One day, 
 amidst a throng of people, she chanced to observe 
 the ShVich) or man of peace, in whose possession she 
 had left her child ; though to every other eye invisi- 
 ble. Prompted by maternal affection, she inadver- 
 tently accosted him, and began to inquire after the 
 welfare of her child. The man of peace, astonished 
 at being thus recognized by one of mortal race, de- 
 manded how she had been enabled to discover him. 
 Awed by the terrible frown of his countenance she 
 acknowledged what she had done. He spat in her eye, 
 and extinguished it forever.' 1 — Grahame's Sketches, 
 pp. 116-118. It is very remarkable, that this story, 
 translated by Dr. Grahame from popular Gaelic tradi- 
 tion, is to be found in the " Otia Imperialia" of Ger- 
 vase of Tilbury. 1 A work of great interest might be 
 
 1 This story is still current in the moors of Staffordshire, and 
 adapted by the peasantry to their own meridian. I have re- 
 peatedly heard it told, exactly as here, by rustics who could 
 not read. My last authority was a nailer near Cheadle. — R. 
 Jam ik. sox. 
 
 One other legend, in a similar strain, lately communicated 
 by a very intelligent young lady, is given, principally because 
 it furnishes an opportunity of pursuing an ingenious idea sug- 
 gested by Mr. Scott, in one of his learned notes to the Lady of 
 the Lake : — 
 
 " A young man roaming one day through the forest, ob- 
 served a number of persons all dressed in green, issuing from 
 one of those round eminences which are commonly accounted 
 fairy hills. Each of them in succession called upon a person 
 by name, to fetch his horse. A caparisoned steed instantly ap- 
 peared; they all mounted, and sallied forth into the regions of 
 air. The young man, like Ali Baba in the Arabian Nights, 
 ventured to pronounce the same name, and called for his 
 
3i8 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 compiled upon the origin of popular fiction, and the 
 transmission of similar tales from age to age, and 
 from country to country. The mythology of one 
 period would then appear to pass into the romance of 
 the next century, and that into the nursery-tale of 
 the subsequent ages. Such an investigation, while 
 it went greatly to diminish our ideas of the richness of 
 human invention, would also show, that these fictions, 
 however wild and childish, possess such charms for 
 the populace, as enable them to penetrate into coun- 
 tries unconnected by manners and language, and 
 having no apparent intercourse, to afford the means 
 of transmission. It would carry me far beyond my 
 bounds, to produce instances of this community of 
 fable, among nations who never borrowed from each 
 other anything intrinsically worth learning. Indeed, 
 the wide diffusion of popular fictions may be compared 
 
 horse. The steed immediately appeared; he mounted, and 
 was soon joined to the fairy choir. He remained with them 
 for a year, going about with them to fairs and weddings, and 
 feasting, though unseen by mortal eyes, on the victuals that 
 were exhibited on those occasions. They had, one day, gone 
 to a wedding, where the cheer was abundant. During the 
 feast, the bridegroom sneezed. The young man, according to 
 the usual custom, said, ' God bless you ! ' The fairies were 
 offended at the pronunciation of the sacred name, and assured 
 him, that if he dared to repeat it, they would punish him. 
 The bridegroom sneezed a second time. He repeated his 
 blessing ; they threatened more tremendous vengeance. He 
 sneezed a third time ; he blessed him as before. The fairies 
 were enraged; they tumbled him from a precipice; but he 
 found himself unhurt, and was restored to the society of mor- 
 tals." — Dr. GRAHAME'S Sketches, second edition, pp. 255-7. 
 See Note, " Fairy Superstitions," Rob Roy, N. Edit. 
 
APPENDIX. 3 T 9 
 
 to the facility with which straws and feathers are dis- 
 persed abroad by the wind, while valuable metals 
 cannot be transported without trouble and labor. 
 There lives, I believe, only one gentleman, whose 
 unlimited acquaintance with this subject might enable 
 him to do it justice ; I mean my friend Mr. Francis 
 Douce, of the British Museum, whose usual kindness 
 will. I hope, pardon my mentioning his name, while 
 on a subject so closely connected with his extensive 
 and curious researches. 
 
 Note N. 
 
 See, here all vantageless I stand, 
 
 Artud like thyself with single brand. — P. 204. 
 
 The duellists of former times did not always stand 
 upon those punctilios respecting equality of arms, 
 which are now judged essential to fair combat. It is 
 true that, in formal combat in the lists, the parties 
 were, by the judges of the field, put as nearly as pos- 
 sible in the same circumstances. But in private duel 
 it was often otherwise. In that desperate combat 
 which was fought between Ouelus, a minion of Henry 
 III. of France, and Antraguet, with two seconds on 
 each side, from which only two persons escaped alive, 
 Ouelus complained that his antagonist had over him 
 the advantage of a poniard which he used in parrying, 
 while his left hand, which he was forced to employ 
 for the same purpose, was cruelly mangled. When 
 he charged Antraguet with this odds, " Thou hast 
 done wrong,** answered he, " to forget thy dagger at 
 home. We are here to fight, and not to settle punc- 
 
3?o THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 tilios of arms." In a similar duel, however, a younger 
 brother of the house of Aubayne, in Angoulesme, be- 
 haved more generously on the like occasion, and at 
 once threw away his dagger when his enemy chal- 
 lenged it as an undue advantage. But at this time 
 hardly anything can be conceived more horribly brutal 
 and savage than the mode in which private quarrels 
 were conducted in France. Those who were most 
 jealous of the point of honor, and acquired the title 
 Ruffines, did not scruple to take every advantage of 
 strength, numbers, surprise, and arms, to accomplish 
 their revenge. The Sieur de Brantome, to whose 
 discourse on duels I am obliged for these particulars, 
 gives the following account of the death and principles 
 of his friend, the Baron de Vitaux : — 
 
 " Pay oui conter a un Tireur d'armes, qui apprit a 
 Millaud a en tirer, lequel s'apelloit Seigneur le Jacques 
 Ferron, de la ville d'Ast, qui avoit este a moy, il fut 
 despuis tue a Saincte-Basille en Gascogne, lors que 
 Monsieur du Mayne Fassiegea, lui servant d'lngenieur ; 
 et de malheur, je Pavois addresse audit Baron quelques 
 trois mois auparavant, pour Texercer a tirer, bien 
 qu'il en sceust prou ; mais il no'en fit compte ; et le 
 laissant, Millaud s'en servit, et le rendit fort adroit. 
 Ce Seigneur Jacques done me raconta, qu'il s'estoit 
 monte sur un noyer, assez loing, pour en voir le com- 
 bat, et qu'il ne vist jamais homme y aller plus brave- 
 ment, ny plus resolument, ny de grace plus asseuree 
 ny determinee. II commenca de marcher de cinquante 
 pas vers son ennemy, relevant souvent ses moustaches 
 en haut d 1 une main ; et estant a vingt pas de son 
 ennemy, (non plustost,) il mit la main a Tespee qu'il 
 
APPENDIX. 321 
 
 tenoit en la main, non qu'il l'eust tire"e encore ; mais 
 en marchant, il fit voller le fourreau en Pair, en le 
 secouant, ce qui est le beau de cela, et qui monstroit 
 bien une grace de combat bien asseuree et froide, et 
 nullement temeraire, corame il y en a qui tirent leurs 
 espees de cinq cents pas de l'ennemy, voire de mille, 
 comme pen ay veu aucuns. Ainsi mourut ce brave 
 Baron, le parogon de France, qu'on nommoit tel, a. 
 bien venger ses querelles, par grandes et determi- 
 nees resolutions. II n'estoit pas seulement estime en 
 France, mais en Italie, Espaigne, Allemaigne, en 
 Boulogne et Angleterre ; et desiroient fort les Estran- 
 gers, venant en France, le voir; car je l'ay veu, tant 
 sa renommee volloit. II estoit fort petit de corps, 
 mais fort grand de courage. Ses ennemis disoient 
 qu'il ne tuoit pas bien ses gens, que par advantages 
 et supercheries. Certes, je tiens de grands capitaines, 
 et mesme d'ltaliens, qui ont estez d'autres fois les 
 premiers vengeurs du mond, in ogni modo, disoient- 
 ils, qui ont tenu cette maxime, qu'une supercherie ne 
 se devoit payer que par semblable monnoye, et n'y 
 alloit point la de deshonneur. 11 — Oeuvres de Bran- 
 tome, Paris, 1787-8. Tome viii. p. 90-92. It may 
 be necessary to inform the reader, that this paragon 
 of France was the most foul assassin of his time, and 
 had committed many desperate murders, chiefly by 
 the assistance of his hired banditti ; from which it 
 may be conceived how little the point of honor of the 
 period deserved its name. I have chosen to give my 
 heroes, who are indeed of an earlier period, a stronger 
 tincture of the spirit of chivalry. 
 
322 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 Note O. 
 
 The burghers hold their sports to-day. — P. 217. 
 
 Every burgh of Scotland of the least note, but more 
 especially the considerable towns, had their solemn 
 play, or festival, when feats of archery were exhibited, 
 and prizes distributed to those who excelled in wrest- 
 ling, hurling the bar, and the other gymnastic exer- 
 cises 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 participation in these 
 popular amusements was one cause of his acquiring 
 the title of King of the Commons, or Rex Plebeiorum, 
 as Leslie has latinized it. The usual prize to the best 
 shooter was a silver arrow. Such a one is preserved 
 at Selkirk and at Peebles. At Dumfries, a silver gun 
 was substituted, and the contention transferred to 
 fire-arms. The ceremony, as there performed, is the 
 subject of an excellent Scottish poem, by Mr. John 
 Mayne, entitled the Silver Gun, 1808, which surpasses 
 the efforts of Fergusson, and comes near to those of 
 Burns. 
 
 Of James's attachment to archery, Pitscottie, the 
 faithful, though rude recorder of the manners of that 
 period, has given us evidence : — 
 
 " In this year there came an embassador out of 
 England, named Lord William Howard, with a 
 bishop with him, with many other gentlemen, to the 
 number of threescore horse, which were all able men 
 and waled [picked] men for all kinds of games and 
 
APPENDIX. 323 
 
 pastimes, — shooting, louping, running, wrestling, and 
 casting of the stone, but they were well sayed [es- 
 sayed or tried) ere they past out of Scotland, and 
 that by their own provocation ; but ever they tint : 
 till at last, the Queen of Scotland, the king's mother, 
 favoured the English-men, because she was the King 
 of England's sister ; and therefore she took an enter- 
 prise of archery upon the English-men's hands, con- 
 trary her son the King, and any six in Scotland that 
 he would wale, either gentlemen or yeomen, that the 
 English-men should shoot against them, either at 
 pricks, revers, or buts, as the Scots pleased. 
 
 u The king, hearing this of his mother, was content, 
 and gart her pawn a hundred crowns, and a tun of 
 wine, upon the English-men's hands ; and he incon- 
 tinent laid down as much for the Scottish-men. The 
 field and ground was chosen in St. Andrews, and 
 three landed men and three yeomen chosen to shoot 
 against the English-men, — to wit, David Wemys of 
 that ilk, David Arnot of that ilk, and Mr. John Wed- 
 derburn, vicar of Dundee ; the yeomen, John Thom- 
 son, in Leith, Steven Taburner, with a piper, called 
 Alexander Bailie ; they shot very near, and warred 
 [worsted] the English-men of the enterprise, and 
 wan the hundred crowns and the tun of wine, which 
 macte the king very merry that his men wan the vic- 
 tory.' 1 (P. 147.) 
 
324 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 Note P. 
 
 These drew not for their fields the sword, 
 Like tenants of a feudal lord, 
 Nor own' d the patriarchal claim, 
 
 Of Chieftain in their leader's name : 
 Adventurers they P. 237. 
 
 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. The patriarchal influence exercised by the 
 heads of clans in the Highlands and Borders was of a 
 different nature, and sometimes at variance with feu- 
 dal principles. It flowed from the Patria Potest as, 
 exercised by the chieftain as representing the origi- 
 nal father of the whole name, and was often obeyed 
 in contradiction to the feudal superior. James V. 
 seems to have first introduced, in addition to the 
 militia furnished from these sources, the service of a 
 small number of mercenaries, who formed a body- 
 guard, called the Foot-Band. The satirical poet, Sir 
 David Lindsay (or the person who wrote the pro- 
 logue to his play of the " Three Estaites ") has intro- 
 duced Finlay of the Foot-Band, who, after much 
 swaggering upon the stage, is at length put to flight 
 by the Fool, who terrifies him by means of a sheep's 
 skull upon a pole. I have rather chosen to give them 
 the harsh features of the mercenary soldiers of the 
 period, than of this Scottish Thraso. These partook 
 of the character of the Adventurous Companions of 
 Froissart or the Condottieri of Italy. 
 
 One of the best and liveliest traits of such manners 
 
APPENDIX. 3 2 5 
 
 is the last will of a leader, called Geffroy Tete Noir^ 
 who having been slightly wounded in a skirmish, his 
 intemperance brought on a mortal disease. When he 
 found himself dying, he summoned to his bedside the 
 adventurers whom he commanded, and thus addressed 
 them : — 
 
 " Fayre sirs, quod Geffray, I knowe well ye have 
 alwayes served and honoured me as men ought to 
 serve their soveraygne and capitayne, and I shall be 
 the gladder if ye wyll to have to your capitayne one 
 that is descended of my agre blode. Beholde here 
 Aleyne Roux, my cosyn, and Peter his brother, who 
 are men of amies and of my blode. I require you to 
 make Aleyne your capitayne, and to swere too hym 
 faythe, obeysaunce, love and loyalte, here in my pres- 
 ence, and also to his brother : howe be it, I wyll that 
 Aleyne have the soverayne charge. Sir, quod they, 
 we are well content, for ye hauve ryght well chosen. 
 There all the companyons made theym servyant to 
 Aleyne Roux and to Peter his brother. Whan all 
 that was done, then Geffray spake agayne, and sayde : 
 Nowe, sirs, ye hauve obeyed to my pleasure, I canne 
 you great thanke ; wherefore, sirs, I wyll ye have 
 parte of that ye have holpen to conquere. I say 
 unto you, that in yonder chest that ye se stande 
 yonder, therin is to the some of XXX thousande 
 frankes, — I wyll give them accordynge to my con- 
 scyence. Wyll ye all be content to fulfil my testa- 
 ment : how save ye? Sir, quod they, we be ryght 
 well contente to fulfyl your commaundement. Thane 
 firste, quod he, I wyll and give to the Chapell of 
 Saynt George, here in this Castell, for the reparacions 
 
326 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 therof, a thousand and five hundrede frankes : and I 
 give to my lover who hath truly served me, two 
 thousand and five hundrede frankes ; and also I 
 give to Aleyne Roux, your new Capitayne, four thou- 
 sande frankes : also to the varlettes of my chambre 
 I gyve fyve hundrede frankes. To mine offycers I 
 gyve a thousand and five hundred frankes. The 
 rest I gyve and bequeth as I shall show you. Ye be 
 upon a thyrtie companyons all of one sorte : ye ought 
 to be bretherne, and all of one alyaunce, without 
 debate, ryotte, or stryfe among you. All this that 
 I have shewed you ye shall fynde in yonder cheste. 
 I wyll that ye departe all the resydue equally and 
 truelly bitwene you thyrtie. And if ye be nat thus 
 contente, but that the devylle wyll set debate by- 
 twene you, than beholde yonder is a strong axe, 
 breke up the coffer, and gette it who can. To those \ 
 words every man ansuered and said : Sir and dere \ 
 maister we are and shall be all of one accorde. Sir, 
 we have so moche loved and doubted you that we 
 will break no coffer nor breke no poynt of that ye 
 have ordayned and commaunded." — Lord Berners's 
 Froissart. 
 
 Note O. 
 
 And Snowdoun's Knight is Scotland's King. — P. 269. 
 
 This discovery will probably remind the reader of 
 the beautiful Arabian tale of // Bondocani. Yet the 
 incident is not borrowed from that elegant story, but 
 from Scottish tradition. James V., of whom we are 
 treating, was a monarch whose good and benevolent 
 
APPENDIX. 3 2 7 
 
 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 see- 
 ing that justice was regularly administered, and fre- 
 quently from the less justifiable motive of gallantry, 
 he used to traverse the vicinage of his several palaces 
 in various disguises. The two excellent comic songs, 
 entitled "The Gaberlunzie Man," and " We'll gae 
 nae mair a roving, 1 ' are said to have been founded 
 upon the success of his amorous adventures when 
 travelling in the disguise of a beggar. The latter is 
 perhaps the best comic ballad in any language. 
 
 Another adventure, which had nearly cost James 
 his life, is said to have taken place at the village of 
 Cramond, near Edinburgh, where he had rendered 
 his addresses acceptable to a pretty girl of the lower 
 rank. Four or five persons, whether relations or 
 lovers of his mistress is uncertain, beset the distin- 
 guished monarch as he returned from his rendezvous. 
 Naturally gallant, and an admirable master of his 
 weapon, the king took post on the high and narrow 
 bridge over the Almond river, and defended himself 
 bravely with his sword. A peasant, who was thresh- 
 ing in a neighboring barn, came out upon the noise, 
 and whether moved by compassion or by natural 
 gallantry, took the weaker side, and laid about with 
 flail so effectually, as to disperse the assailants, well 
 threshed, even according to the letter. He then con- 
 ducted the king into his barn, where his guest re- 
 quested a basin and a towel, to remove the stains of 
 
328 THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 the broil. This being procured with difficulty James 
 employed himself in learning what was the summit of 
 his deliverer's earthly wishes, and found that they 
 were bounded by the desire of possessing, in property, 
 the farm of Braehead, upon which he labored as a 
 bondsman. The lands chanced to belong to the 
 crown ; and James directed him to come to the palace 
 of Holyrood, and inquire for the Guidman (i.e. farmer) 
 of Ballenguich, a name by which he was known in 
 his excursions, and which answered to the II Bon- 
 docani of Haroun Alraschid. He presented himself 
 accordingly, and found, with due astonishment, that 
 he had saved his monarch's life, and that he was to be 
 gratified with a crown-charter of the lands of Brae- 
 head, under the service of presenting a ewer, basin, \ 
 and towel, for the king to wash his hands, when he 
 shall happen to pass the bridge of Cramond. This 
 person was ancestor of the Howiesons of Braehead 
 in Mid-Lothian, a respectable family, who continue 
 to hold the lands (now passed into the female line) 
 under the same tenure. 1 
 
 Another of James's frolics is thus narrated by Mr. 
 Campbell from the Statistical Account : " Being once 
 benighted when out a-hunting, and separated from 
 his attendants, he happened to enter a cottage in the 
 
 1 [The reader will find this story told at greater length, and 
 with the addition in particular of the king being recognized, 
 like the Fitz-James of the Lady of the Lake, by being the 
 only person covered, in the First Series of Tales of a Grand- 
 father, vol. iii. p. 37. The heir of Braehead discharged his 
 duty at the banquet given to King George IV. in the Parlia- 
 ment House at Edinburgh, in 1822. — Ed.] 
 
APPENDIX. 3-9 
 
 midst of a moor, at the foot of the Ochil hills, near 
 Alloa, where, unknown, he was kindly received. In 
 order to regale their unexpected guest, the gudeman 
 {i.e. landlord, farmer) desired the gudewife to fetch 
 the hen that roosted nearest the cock, which is always 
 the plumpest, for the stranger's supper. The king, 
 highly pleased with his night's lodging and hospita- 
 ble entertainment, told mine host, at parting, that he 
 should be glad to return his civility, and requested 
 that the first time he came to Stirling he would call at 
 the castle, and enquire for the Gudeman of Ballen- 
 guich. Donaldson, the landlord, did not fail to call 
 on the Gudeman of Ballengnich, when his astonish- 
 ment at finding that the king had been his guest 
 afforded no small amusement to the merry monarch 
 and his courtiers ; and, to carry on the pleasantry, 
 he was thenceforth designated by James with the title 
 of King of the Moors, which name and d 
 
 esignation 
 
 have descended from father to son ever since, and 
 they have continued in possession of the identical 
 spot, the property of Mr. Erskine of Mar, till very 
 lately, when this gentleman, with reluctance, turned 
 out the descendant and representative of the King of 
 the Moors, on account of his majesty's invincible in- 
 dolence, and great dislike to reform or innovation of 
 any kind, although, from the spirited example of his 
 neighbor tenants on the same estate, he is convinced 
 similar exertion would promote his advantage." 
 
 The author requests permission yet farther to verify 
 the subject of his poem, by an extract from the 
 genealogical work of Buchanan of Auchmar, upon 
 Scottish surnames : — 
 
33° THE LADY OF THE LAKE. 
 
 "This John Buchanan of Auchmar and Arnpryor 
 was afterwards termed King of Kippen, 1 upon the 
 following account: King James V., a very sociable, 
 debonair prince, residing at Stirling, in Buchanan of 
 Arnpryor's time, carriers were very frequently passing 
 along the common road, being near Arnpryor's house, 
 with necessaries for the use of the king's family ; and 
 he, having some extraordinary occasion, ordered 
 one of these carriers to leave his load at his house, 
 and he would pay him for it ; which the carrier re- 
 fused to do, telling him he was the king's carrier, and 
 his load for his majesty's use ; to which Arnpryor 
 seemed to have small regard, compelling the carrier, 
 in the end, to leave his load ; telling him, if King 
 James was King of Scotland, he was King of Kipben, 
 so that it was reasonable he should share with iris 
 neighbor king in some of these loads, so frequently 
 carried that road. The carrier representing this 
 usage, and telling the story, as Arnpryor spoke it, to 
 some of the king's servants, it came at length to his 
 majesty's ears, who, shortly thereafter, with a few 
 attendants, came to visit his neighbor king, who was 
 in the mean time at dinner. King James having sent 
 a servant to demand access, was denied the same by 
 a tall fellow with a battleaxe, who stood porter at the 
 gate, telling, there could be no access till dinner was 
 over. This answer not satisfying the king, he sent 
 to demand access a second time ; upon which he was 
 desired by the porter to desist, otherwise he would 
 find cause to repent his rudeness. His majesty find- 
 
 1 A small district of Perthshire. 
 
APPENDIX. 331 
 
 ing this method would not do, desired the porter to 
 tell his master that the Goodman of Ballaneigh de- 
 sired to speak with the King of Kippen. The porter 
 telling Arnpryor so much, he, in all humble manner, 
 came and received the king, and having entertained 
 him with much sumptuousness and jollity, became so 
 agreeable to King James that he allowed him to take 
 so much of any provision he found carrying that road 
 as he had occasion for ; and seeing he made the first 
 visit, desired Arnpryor in a few days to return him a 
 second to Stirling, which he performed, and con- 
 tinued in very much favour with the king, always 
 thereafter being termed King of Kippen while he 
 lived." — Buchanan's Essay upon the Family of Bu- 
 chanan. Edin. 1775, 8vo, p. 74. 
 
 The readers of Ariosto must give credit for the 
 amiable features with which he is represented, since 
 he is generally considered as the prototype of Zerbino, 
 the most interesting hero of the Orlando Furioso. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS