from the deep corrie, or hollow, in the mountains of Cuilin, which affords the basin for this wonderful sheet of water. It is as exquisite a savage scene as Loch Katrine is a scene of romantic beauty. After having penetrated so far as distinctly to observe the termination of the lake under an immense precipice, which rises abruptly from the water, we returned, and often stopped to admire the ravages which storms must have made in these recesses, when all human witnesses were driven to places of more shelter and security. Stones, or rather large masses and fragments of rocks of a composite kind, perfectly different from the strata of the lake, were scattered upon the bare rocky beach, in the strangest and most precarious situations, as if abandoned by the torrents which had borne them down from above. Some lay loose and tottering upon the ledges of the natural rock, with so little security, that the slightest push moved them, though their weight might exceed many tons. These detached rocks, or stones, were chiefly what is called plum-pudding stones. The bare rocks, which formed the shore of the lakes, were a species of granite. The opposite side of the lake seemed quite pathless and inaccessible, as a huge mountain, one of the detached ridges of the Cuillen hills, sinks in a profound and perpendicular precipice down to the water. On the left-hand side, which we traversed, rose a higher and equally inaccessible mountain, the top of which strongly resembled the shivered crater of an exhausted volcano. I never saw a spot in which there was less appearance of vegetation of any kind. The eye rested on nothing but barren and naked crags, and the rocks on which we walked by the side of the loch, were as bare as the pavements of Cheapside. There are one or two small islets in the loch, which seem to bear juniper, or some such low bushy shrub. Upon the whole, though I have seen many scenes of more extensive desolation, I never witnessed any in which it pressed more deeply upon the eye and the heart than at Loch Corrisken; at the same time that its grandeur elevated and redeemed it from the wild and dreary character of utter barrenness."

NOTE M.

Men were they all of evil mien,

Down-look'd, unwilling to be seen. – P. 115.

The story of Bruce's meeting the banditti is copied, with such alterations as the fictitious narrative rendered necessary, from a striking incident in the monarch's history, told by Barbour, and which I shall give in the words of the hero's biographer. It is the sequel to the adventure of the bloodhound, narrated in Note K. It will be remembered that the narrative broke off, leaving the Bruce escaped from his pursuers, but worn out with fatigue, and having no other attendant but his foster-brother.

And the gud king held forth his way,
Betuix him and his man, quhill thai
Passyt owt throw the forest war;
Syne in the more thai entryt thar,

It wes bathe hey, and lang, and braid;
And or thai haiff it passyt had,

Thai saw on syd three men cummand,
Lik to lycht men and wauerand.
Swerdis thai had, and axys als;

And ane off thaim, apon his hals,'

A mekill boundyn wethir bar.

Thai met the king, and halist 2 him thar:
And the king thaim thar hailsing yauld; 3
And askyt thaim quethir thai wauld.

Thai said, Robert the Bruyss thai soucht;
For mete with him giff that thai moucht,
Thar duelling with him wauld thai ma.4
The king said, 'Gif that ye will swa,
Haldys furth your way with me,
And I sall ger yow sone him se.'

"Thai persawyt, be his speking,

That he wes the selwyn Robert king.
And chaungyt contenance and late; 5
And held nocht in the fyrst state.
For thai war fayis to the king:
And thoucht to cum in to sculking

And duell with him, quhill that thai saw
Thar poynt, and bring him than off daw.

1 Neck. 2 Saluted.-3 Returned their salute.-4 Make.- Gesture or manner. Kill him.

Thai grantyt till his spek forthi.'
Bot the king, that wes witty,
Persawyt weill, by thar hawing,
That thai luffyt him na thing:
And said, 'Falowis, ye mon, all thre,
Forthir aqwent till that we be,
All be your selwyn furth ga;
And, on the samyn wyss, we twa
Sall folow behind weill ner.'

Quoth thai, 'Schyr, it is na myster 2

To trow in ws ony ill.'

Nane do I,' said he; bot I will,
That yhe ga fourth thus, quhill we
Better with othyr knawin be.'

'We grant,' thai said, 'sen ye will swa:'
And furth apon thair gate gan ga.

"Thus yeid thai till the nycht wes ner.
And than the formast cummyn wer
Till a waist housband houss; 3 and thar
They slew the wethir that thai bar:
And slew fyr for to rost thar mete;
And askyt the king giff he wald ete,
And rest him till the mete war dycht.
The king, that hungry was, Ik hycht,
Assentyt till thair spek in hy.
Bot he said, he wald anerly 4
At a fyr; and thai all thre

On na wyss with thaim till gyddre be.
In the end off the houss thai suld ma
Ane othyr fyr: and thai did swa.
Thai drew thaim in the houss end,
And halff the wethir till him send.
And thai rostyt in hy thair mete;
And fell rycht freschly for till ete.
For the king weill lang fastyt had;
And had rycht mekill trawaill mad:
Tharfor he eyt full egrely
And quhen he had etyn hastily,

He had to slep sa mekill will,

That he moucht set na let thar till.

1 Therefore.-2 There is no need.- Husbandman's house, cottage. Alone. -Bellies.-6 Becomes.

And to slepe drawys hewynes,
The king, that all fortrawaillyt ' wes,
Saw that him worthtyt slep nedwayis.
Till his fostyr-brodyr he sayis;
'May I traist in the, me to waik,

Till Ik a litill sleping tak?'

Ya, Schyr,' he said, 'till I may drey.' 2

The king then wynkyt a litill wey;

And slepyt nocht full encrely;
Bot gliffnyt wp oft sodanly.

For he had dreid off thai thre men,
That at the tothyr fyr war then.
That thai his fais war he wyst;
Tharfor he slepyt as foule on twyst.3
"The king slepyt bot a litill than;
Quhen sic slep fell on this man,
That he mycht nocht hald wp his ey,
Bot fell in slep, and rowtyt hey.
Now is the king in gret perile:
For slep he swa a litill quhile,
He sall be ded, for owtyn dreid.
For the thre tratouris tuk gud heid,
That he on slep wes, and his man.
In full gret hy thai raiss wp than,
And drew thair suerdis hastily;
And went towart the king in hy,
Quhen that thai saw him sleip swa,
And slepand thoucht thai wald him sla.

The king wp blenkit hastily,

And saw his man slepand him by;

And saw cummand the tothyr thre.

Deliuerly on fute gat he;

And drew his suerd owt, and thaim mete.

And, as he yude, his fute he set
Apon his man, weill hewyly.
He waknyt, and raiss disily:
For the slep maistryt hym sway,
That or he gat wp, ane off thai,
That com for to sla the king,

Gaiff hym a strak in his rysing,
Swa that he mycht help him no mar.
The king sa straitly stad wes thar,

1 Fatigued. Endure. - Bird on bough. —4 So dangerously situated.

Thet he wes neuir yeyt sa stad.
Ne war the armyng that he had,
He had bene dede, for owtyn wer.
But nocht for thi2 on sic maner
He helpyt him, in that bargayne,3
That thai thre tratowris he has slan,
Throw Goddis grace, and his manheid.
His fostyr-brothyr thar was dede.
Then wes he wondre will of wayn,*
Quhen he saw him left allane.
His fostyr-brodyr menyt he;
And waryit all the tothyr thre.
And syne hys way tuk him allane,

6

And rycht towart his tryst is gane."

The Bruce, Book v., v 405.

NOTE N.

Such hate was his on Solway's strand,
When vengeance clench'd his palsied hand,
That pointed yet to Scotland's land. P. 116.

To establish his dominion in Scotland had been a favourite object of Edward's ambition, and nothing could exceed the pertinacity with which he pursued it, unless his inveterate resentment against the insurgents, who so frequently broke the English yoke when he deemed it most firmly riveted. After the battles of Falkirk and Methven, and the dreadful examples which he had made of Wallace and other champions of national independence, he probably concluded every chance of insurrection was completely annihilated. This was in 1306, when Bruce, as we have seen, was utterly expelled from Scotland: yet, in the conclusion of the same year, Bruce was again in arms and formidable; and in 1307, Edward, though exhausted by a long and wasting malady, put himself at the head of the army destined to destroy him utterly. This was, perhaps, partly in consequence of a vow which he had taken upon him, with all the pomp of chivalry, upon the day in which he dubbed his son a knight, for which see a subsequent note. But even his spirit of vengeance was unable to restore his

1 Had it not been for the armour he wore. Nevertheless.- Fray, or dispute.- Much afflicted.- Cursed. The place of rendezvous appointed for his soldiers.