Alas, this wild marauding Chief And now thy maiden charms expand, Be held in reverence and fear; And though to Roderick thou'rt so dear, XIII. "Minstrel," the maid replied, and high A votaress in Maronnan's cell;1 Rather through realms beyond the sea, Where ne'er was spoke a Scottish word, Than wed the man she cannot love.2 XIV. Thou shakest, good friend, thy tresses grayThat pleading look, what can it say 8 But what I own?—I grant him brave, 1 The parish of Kilmarnock, at the eastern extremity of Loch-Lomond, derives its name from a cell or chapel, dedicated 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, affectionate, rational, and playful, combining the innocence of a child with the elevated sentiments and courage of a heroine." Quarterly Review.] 3 This is a beautiful cascade made by a mountain stream called the Keltie, at a place called the Bridge of Bracklinn, about a mile from the village of 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 neighbourhood, a rustic foot-bridge, of about three feet in breadth, and without ledges, which is scarcely to be crossed by a stranger without awe and apprehension. I grant him true to friendly band, Among his clan the wealth they bring, From peasants slaughter'd in their shed? Like lightning o'er the midnight sky. XV. "What think I of him?-woe the while For Tine-man forged by fairy lore,1 If courtly spy hath harbour'd here, 1 Archibald, the third Earl of Douglas, was so unfortunate in all his enterprises, that he acquired the epithet of TINEMAN, because he tined, 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 expedition. His ill fortune left him indeed at the battle of Beaugé, in France; but it was only to return with double emphasis at the subsequent action of Vernoil, the last and most unlucky 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. 2 [See Appendix, Note D.] Bethink thee of the discord dread That kindled, when at Beltane game Thou led'st the dance with Malcolm Græme, No weeping birch, nor aspens wake, XVI. Far up the lengthen'd lake were spied The bold Sir Roderick's banner'd Pine. 1 ["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 expression."-JEFFREY.] 2 Cotton-grass. |