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brated Marquis of Montrose, in whom De Retz saw rered his abstract idea of the heroes of antiquity, was the second of these worthies. And, notwithstanding the severity of his temper, and the rigour with which be executed the oppressive mandates of the princes whom he served, I do not hesitate to name as the third, in Græme, of Claverhouse, Viscount of Dundee, whose ⚫ heroic death in the arms of victory may be allowed to [cancel the memory of his cruelty to the non-conforImsts, during the reigns of Charles II. and James II.

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Note 3. Stanza vii.

This harp, which erst Saint Modan sway'd.

I am not prepared to show that Saint Modan was a performer on the harp. It was, however, no unsaintly Laremplishment; for Saint Dunstan certainly did play ps that instrument, which, retaining, as was natural, a portion of the sanctity attached to its master's character, announced future events by its spontaneous But labouring once in these mechanic arts fra devoute matrone that had sett him on work, his all, that hung by him on the wall, of its own accord, vour anie man's helpe, distinctly sounded this antime: Gaudent in cælis animæ sanctorum qui Christi | vestigia sunt secuti: et quia pro eius amore sanguinem fuderunt, ideo cum Christo gaudent æternum. Whereat all the companie being much astonished, arned their eyes from behoulding him working, to cke on that strange accident.» ............. «. Not long after, mime of the court that hitherunto had born a kind of fayned friendship towards him, began now greatly envie at his progress and rising in goodness, using manie crooked, backbiting meanes to diffame his verthes with the black maskes of hypocrisie. And the better to authorise their calumnie, they brought in this hat happened in the violl, affirming it to have been ne by art imagick. What more? this wicked rumour reased dayly, till the king and other of the nobilitie skog hould thereof, Dunstan grew odious in their sight. Therefore he resolued to leaue the court, and 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 red him in the durt in the most miserable manner, meaning to haue slaine him, had not a company of mastine dogges, that came unlookt uppon them, defended and redeemed him from their crueltie. When with sorrow he was ashamed to see dogges more humaze than they. And giuing thankes to Almightie Grid, he sensibly againe perceiued that the tunes of his vill had given him a warning of future accidents.»Flower of the Lives of the most renowned Saincts, of England, Scotland, and Ireland, by the R. FATHER HOME PORTER. Doway, 1632. 4to. Tome I, p. 438. The same supernatural circumstance is alluded to by the anonymous author of «< Grim, the Collier of Croydon. »

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---【Dunstan's harp sounds on the wall.] Forest, Hark, bark, my lords, the holy abbot's harp Sounds by itself so banging on the wall!

Punttas. Unhallow'd man, that scorn'st the sacred rede, Hark, how the testimony of my truth

Sounds heavenly music with an angel's band,

To testify Dunstan's integrity,

And prove thy active boast of no effect.

Note 4. Stanza viii.

Ere Douglasses, to ruin driven,

Were exiled from their native heaven.

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 valour 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 Stirling Castle, where the governor, who was of the opposite faction, joyfully received him. Being thus at liberty, James speedily summoned around him such peers as he knew to be most inimical to the domination of Angus, and laid his complaint before them, says Pitscottie, «with great lamentations shewing 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, 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 underly the law; if he fand not 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 further, the lords or dained, by advice of his majesty, that his brother and friends should be summoned to find caution to underly the law within a certain day, or else be put to the horn. But the earl appeared not, nor none for him; and so he was put to the horn, with all his kin and friends: so many as were contained in the summons, that compeared not, were banished, and holden traitors to the king.»-LINDSAY of Pitscottie's History of Scotland. Edinburgh, fol. p. 142.

Note 5. Stanza xii. In Holyrood a knight he slew.

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 following instance of the murder of Sir George 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 John

stone's Latin, referring for further particulars to the naked simplicity of Birrell's Diary, 30th July, 1588.

tates itself from a height of at least fifty feet, there's 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.

Note 9. Stanza xv.

For Tineman forged by fairy lore.

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 m every battle which he fought. He was vanquished, us every reader must remember, in the bloody battle of Homildon-hill, near Wooler, where he himself lost eye, and was made prisoner by Hotspur. He was no

<< Mors improbi hominis non tam ipsa immerita, quam pessimo exemplo in publicum fœde perpetrata, Gulielmus Stuartus Alkiltrius, Arani frater, natura ac moribus, cujus sæpius memini, vulgo propter sitim sanguinis sanguinarius dictus, a Bodhivelio, in Sanctæ Crucis Regia, exardescente ira, mendacii probro lacessitus, obscœnum osculum liberius retorquebat; Bothvelius hanc contumeliam tacitus tulit, sed ingentem irarum molem animo concepit. Utrinque postridie Edinburgi conventum, totidem numero comitibus armatis, præsidii causa, et acriter pugnatum est; cæteris amicis et clientibus metu torpentibus, aut vi absterritis, ipse Stuartus fortissime dimicat, tandem excusso gladio a Bothvelio, Scythica feritate transfoditur, sine cujus-less unfortunate when allied with Percy, being wounded quam misericordia; habuit itaque quem debuit exitum, and taken at the battle of Shrewsbury. He was 0 Dignus erat Stuartus qui pateretur; Bothvelius qui fa- unsuccessful in an attempt to besiege Roxburgh Castle, Vulgus sanguinem sanguine prædicabat, et that it was called the Foul Raid, or disgraceful expe horum cruori innocuorum manibus egregie parenta-dition. His ill fortune left him indeed at the battle of tum. »>— JOHNSTONI Historia Rerum Britannicarum, Beaugé, in France: but it was only to return with double ab anno 1572, ad annum 1628. Amstelodami, 1655, fol. p. 135.

ceret.

Note 6. Stanza xii.

The Douglas, like a stricken deer,
Disown'd by every noble peer.

The exiled state of this powerful race is not exaggerated in this and subsequent passages. The hatred of James against the race of Douglas was so inveterate, that, numerous as their allies were, and disregarded as the regal authority had usually been in similar cases, their nearest friends, even in the most remote parts of Scotland, durst not entertain them, unless under the strictest and closest disguise. James Douglas, son of the 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 this humble situation, the historian traces that intimate acquaintance with popular character, which enabled him to rise so high in the state, and that honourable economy by which he repaired and established the shattered estates of Angus and Morton.-History of the House of Douglas. Edinburgh, 1743. vol. II, p. 160.

"

Note 7. Stanza xiii.

Maronnan's cell.

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.

Note 8. Stanza xiv.
Bracklinn's thundering wave.

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.

Note 10. Stanza xv.
Did, self-unscabbarded, foreshow
The footsteps of a secret foe.

upon

his son-in

rested chiefly in their blades, were accustomed to de-
The ancient warriors, whose hope and confidence
duce omens from them, especially from such as were
of which we have various instances in the romances
supposed to have been fabricated by enchanted skill,
and legends of the time. The wonderful sword Skor-
NUNG, wielded by the celebrated Hrolf Kraka, was of
this description. It was deposited in the tomb of the
a celebrated pirate, who bestowed it
monarch at his death, and taken from thence by Skegg,
law, Kormak, with the following curious directions:
«The manner of 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
of fight, go aside from the rest, grasp and extend the
ready for battle. But when thou comest to the plae
sword, and breathe upon it. Then a small worm will
creep out of the handle: lower the handle, that he may
more easily return into it.» Kormak, after having
received the sword, returned home to his mother. fle
showed the sword, and attempted to draw it, as unne
cessarily as ineffectually, for he could not pluck it out
of the sheath. His mother, Dalla, exclaimed, « Do not
despise the counsel given to thee, my son.» 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 lis
vestments, did not remember to shield the hilt from the
rays of the sun.
In vain he endeavoured to draw it,
till he placed his foot against the hilt; then the worm
But Kormak did not rightly handle the

This is a beautiful cascade made at a place called the
Bridge of Bracklinn, by a mountain stream called the
Keltic, about a mile from the village of Callender, in
Menteith. Above a chasm, where the brook precipi-issued from it.

Weapon, in consequence whereof good fortune deserted As he unsheathed Skofnung, it emitted a hollow murmur.-Bartholini, de Causis Contemptæ a Danis adhuc Gentilibus Mortis, Libri Tres. Hafnia, 1689, 1. p. 574.

Note 12. Stanza xix.

Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho! ¡eroe! Besides his ordinary name and surname, which were chiefly used in the intercourse with the Lowlands, every Highland chief had an epithet expressive of his patriarchal dignity as head of the clan, and which was common to all his predecessors and successors, as Pharaoh to the kings of Egypt, or Arsaces to those of Parthia. This name was usually a patronymic, expressive of his descent from the founder of the family. Thus the Duke of Argyle is called Mac-Callum More, or the son of Colin the Great. Sometimes, however, it is

To the history of this sentient and prescient weapon, They leave to add, from memory, the following legend, for which I cannot produce any better authority. A yang noble man, of high hopes and fortune, chanced lose his way in the town which he inhabited, the capital, if I mistake not, of a German province. He dad accidentally involved himself among the narrow and winding streets of a suburb, inhabited by the low-derived from armorial distinctions, or the memory of est order of the people, and an approaching thundersever determined him to ask a short refuge in the most decent habitation that was near him. He knocked Is the door, which was opened by a tall man of a grisly and ferocious aspect, and sordid dress. The stranger was readily ushered to a chamber, where swords, courges, and machines, which seemed to be imple-chieftain had usually another peculiar to himself, ments of torture, were suspended on the wall. One of these swords dropped from its scabbard, as the noblemen, after a moment's hesitation, crossed the threshold. Eis lost immediately stared at him with such a marked expression, that the young man could not help demandng his name and business, and the meaning of his ooking at him so fixedly. «I am,» answered the man, the public executioner of this city; and the incident nabave observed is a sure augury that I shall, in discharge of my duty, one day cut off your head with the weapon which has just now spontaneously unsheathed Pf. 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.

some great feat; thus Lord Seaforth, as chief of the Mackenzies, or Clan-Kennet, bears the epithet of Caberfae, or Buck's Head, as representative of Colin Fitzgerald, founder of the family, who saved the Scottish king, when endangered by a stag. But besides this title, which belonged to his office and dignity, the

Lord Lovat is said, by the author of the Letters from Scotland, to have affirmed, that a number of swords dat hung up in the hall of the mansion-house, leaped of themselves out of the scabbard at the instant he was born. The story passed current among his clan, but, ae that of the story I have just quoted, proved an unfortunate omen.-Letters from Scotland, vol. II, p. 214.

Note 11. Stanza xvii.

➖➖➖➖ the pibroch proud.

The connoisseurs in pipe-music affect to discover in a well-composed pibroch, the imitative sounds of march, conflict, flight, pursuit, and all the «< current of a heady To this opinion Dr Beattie has given his suffrage, in the following elegant passage::- A pibroch is a species of tune, peculiar, I think, to the Highlands and Western Isles of Scotland. It is performed on a Sappipe, and differs totally from all other music. Its mythm 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, as to perceive its modulation. Some of these pibrochs, being intended to represent a battle, begin with a grave motion, resembling a march; then gradually quicken the onset; run off with noisy confusion, and turbulent rapidity, to imitate the conflict and pursuit; then swell into a few flourishes of triumphant joy; and perhaps close with the wild and slow wailings of a funeral procession.»-Essay on Laughter and Ludicrous Composition, Chap. III, Note.

which distinguished him from the chieftains of the same race. This was sometimes derived from complexion, as dhu or roy; sometimes from size, as beg or more; at other times from some particular exploit, or from some peculiarity of habit or appearance. The line of the text therefore signifies,

Black Roderick, the descendant of Alpine.

The song itself is intended as an imitation of the jorrams, or boat-songs of the Highlanders, which were usually composed in honour of a favourite chief. They are so adapted as to keep time with the sweep of the oars, and it is easy to distinguish between those intended to be sung to the oars of a galley, where the stroke is lengthened and doubled as it were, and those which were timed to the rowers of an ordinary boat.

Note 12. Stanza xx.

These

-the best of Loch Lomond lie dead on her side. The Lennox, as the district is called, which encircles the lower extremity of Loch Lomond, was peculiarly exposed to the incursions of the mountaineers, who inhabited the inaccessible fastnesses at the upper end of the lake, and the neighbouring district of Loch Katrine. were often marked by circumstances of great ferocity, of which the noted conflict of Glen Fruin is a celebrated instance. This was a clan-battle, in which the Macgregors, headed by Allaster Macgregor, chief of the clan, encountered the sept of the Colquhouns, commanded by Sir Humphry Colquhoun of Luss. It is on all hands allowed, that the action was desperately fought, and that the Colquhouns were defeated with 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 Humphry Colquhoun, who was on horseback, escaped to the castle of Benechra, or Banochar, and was next day dragged out and murdered by the victorious Macgregors in cold blood. Buchanan of Auchmar, however, speaks of his slaughter as a subsequent event, and as perpetrated by the Macfarlanes. Again it is reported, that the Macgregors murdered a number of youths, whom report of the intended battle had brought to be spectators, and whom the Colquhouns, anxious for their safety, had shut up in a barn to be out of danger. One account

clan. The laird of Macgregor surrendered to the former, on condition, that he would take him out of Scot tish ground. But to use Birrell's expression, he kept " a Highlandman's promise ;» and, although be fulfilled his word to the letter, by carrying him as far as Ber

of the Macgregors denies this circumstance entirely: borne were given up to sword and fire, and absolutely another ascribes it to the savage and blood-thirsty dis-hunted down by blood-hounds like wild beasts. Argyle position of a single individual, the bastard brother of and the Campbells, on the one hand, Montrose, with the the laird of Macgregor, who amused himself with this Græmes and Buchanans, on the other, are said to have second massacre of the innocents in express disobe-been the chief instruments in suppressing this devoted dience to the chief, by whom he was left their guardian during the pursuit of the Colquhouns. 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 Gre-wick, he afterwards brought him back to Edinburgh, gor, is altogether silent on the murder of the youths. «In the spring of the year 1602, there happened great dissentions 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 borders on Luss, his country, with a view of settling matters by the mediation of friends; but Luss had no such intentions, and projected his measures with a different view; for he privately drew together a body of 300 horse and 500 foot, composed partly of his own clan and their fol- | lowers, and partly of the Buchanans, his neighbours, and resolved to cut off Macgregor and his party to a man, in case the issue of the conference did not answer his inclination. But matters fell otherwise than he expected; and though Macgregor had previous information of his insidious design, yet, dissembling his resentment, he kept the appointment, and parted good friends in appearance.

where he was executed with eighteen of his clan.-Bi RELL'S Diary, 2d Oct. 1603. The clan Gregor being thus driven to utter despair, seem to have renounced the laws from the benefit of which they were excluded, and their depredations produced new acts of council, confirming the severity of their proscription, which had only the effect of rendering them still more united and despe rate. It is a most extraordinary proof of the ardent and invincible spirit of clanship, that, notwithstanding the repeated proscriptions providently ordained by the le gislature,« for the timeous preventing the disorders and oppression that may fall out by the said name and clan of Macgregors and their followers,» they were, in 1715 and 1745, a potent clan, and continue to subsist as a distinct and numerous race.

Note 14. Stanza xxviii.

The king's vindictive pride
Boasts to have tamed the Border side.

In 1529, James V. made a convention at Edinburgh,
for the
of
purpose considering the best mode of quelling
the Border robbers, who, during the license of his mino-
rity, and the troubles which followed, had committed
many exorbitancies. Accordingly he assembled a fly-
ing army of ten thousand men, consisting of his prn-
cipal nobility and their followers, who were directed to
bring their hawks and dogs with them, that the mo
narch might refresh himself with sport during the in-
tervals 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 re-
ception. He caused Adam Scott of Tushielaw also to
be executed, who was distinguished by the title of King
But the most noted victim of justice,

«No sooner was he gone, than Luss, thinking to surprise him and his party in full security, and without any dread or apprehension of his treachery, followed 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 numbers, Macgregor, in the end, obtained an absolute victory. So great was the rout, that 200 of the Colquhouns were left dead upon the during that expedition, was John Armstrong of Gu spot, most of the leading men were killed, and a mul-nockie, famous in Scottish song, who, confiding in his titude 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.»-Professor Ross's History of the Family of Sutherland, 1631.

The consequences of the battle of Glen Fruin were very calamitous to the family of Macgregor, who had already been considered as an unruly clan. The widows of the slain Colquhouns, sixty, it is said, in number, appeared in doleful procession before the king at Stirling, each riding upon a white palfrey, and bearing in her hand the bloody shirt of her husband displayed upon a pike. James VI. was so much moved by the complaints of this «< choir of mourning dames,» that he let loose his vengeance against the Macgregors, without either bounds or moderation. The very name of the clan was proscribed, and those by whom it had been

of the Border.

own supposed innocence, met the king, with a retinos
of thirty-six persons, all of whom were hanged at Car
lenrig, 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 a long time, wherethrough the king bad
great profit; for he had ten thousand sheep going!
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.»-PITSCOTTIE'S History, p. 153.

Note 15. Stanza xxviii.

What grace for Highland chiefs judge ye,
By fate of Border chivalry.

James was, in fact, equally attentive to restrain rapine and feudal oppression in every part of his dom nions. « The king past to the Isles, and there held justice courts, and punished both thief and traitor ac cording to their demerit. And also he caused great

aen to show their holdings, wherethrough he found many of the said lands in non-entry; the which he conscated and brought home to his own use, and afterward annexed them to the crown, as ye shall hear Syne brought many of the great men of the isles capves with him, such as Mudyart, M'Connel, M'Loyd of the Lewes, M'Neil, M'Lane, M'Intosh, John Mudyard, Kay, M'Kenzie, with many other that I cannot rebearse at this time. Some of them he put in ward, and sme in court, and some he took pledges for good rule a time coming. So he brought the isles, both north and south, in good rule and peace; wherefore he had great profit, service, and obedience of people a long time hereafter; and as long as he had the heads of the Tatry in subjection, they lived in great peace and 1st, and there was great riches and policy by the king's justice.»-PITSCOTTIE, p. 152.

прод

Note 16. Stanza xxxv.

Best safe till morning;-pity 't were Such cheek should feel the midnight air. Hardihood was in every respect so essential to the character of a Highlander, that the reproach of effemacy was the most bitter which could be thrown him. Yet it was sometimes hazarded on what 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 uating or military expedition. He wrapped him in his ad, and lay contentedly down upon the snow, with Which the ground happened to be covered. Among Les attendants who were preparing to take their rest in the same manner, he observed that one of his grandas, for his better accommodation, had rolled a large ow-ball, and placed it below his head. The wrath of the ancient chief was awakened by a symptom of what e conceived to be degenerate luxury. « Out upon thee, said he, kicking the frozen bolster from the rad which it supported, « art thou so effeminate as to seed a pillow? The officer of engineers, whose curious etters 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 romantic; but There is one thing, that at first thought might seem very romantic, 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 seak 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 themselves round and round, till they e enveloped by the whole mantle. They then lay themselves down on the heath, upon the leeward side of the hil, where the wet and the warmth of their boes make a steam, like that of a boiling kettle. The Yet, they say, keeps them warm by thickening the caff, and keeping the wind from penetrating.

I must confess I should have been apt to question this fact, had I not frequently seen them wet from morning to night, and, even at the beginning of the ren, not so much as stir a few yards to shelter, but continue in it without necessity, till they were, as we , wet through and through. And that is soon effeeted by the looseness and spunginess of the plaiding; bat the bonnet is frequently taken off, and wrung like 2 dishelout, and then put on again.

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«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 around the spot where they had lain.»-Letters from Scotland, Lond. 1754, 8vo. II, p. 108.

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<<This officer is a sort of secretary, and is to be rea

dy, 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 Highland gentlemen, near Killichumen, had an argu nent with the 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, otherwise it is more than probable he might have suf fered death from the hand of that little vermin.

« But it is very disagreeable to an Englishman over a bottle, with the Highlanders, to see every one of 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.

CANTO III.

Note 1. Stanza i.

who ran

And while the fiery cross glanced, like a meteor, round. 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, scared its extremeties 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, 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 neighbours, if the danger was common to them. At sight of the fiery cross, every man, from sixteen years old to sixty, capable of bearing arms, was obliged instantly to repair, in his best arms and accoutrements, to the place of rendezvous. He who failed to appear suffered the extremities of fire and sword, which were emblematically

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