strue: Deem it not of light avail that I considered to have been innocent; if they must speak of worldly love. 20. Despiteously.-Cruelly. Shakespeare uses dispiteous in this sense : dispiteous torture" (King John). Chaucer's word is despitous: 'with ful despitous herte" (Knightes Tale). 21. Martin Swart.- Martin Schwartz, a German general, who commanded the auxiliaries sent by the Duchess of Burgundy in aid of Lambert Simnel. He was defeated and killed at Stokefield, 1487. The field of battle preserves his nameSwartmoor. 22. On Simnel's part.-Lambert Simnel, the son of a baker in Oxford, was induced by the enemies of Henry VII. to personate the young Earl of Warwick, son of George, Duke of Clarence, and nephew of Richard III. Warwick was then (1487) a prisoner in the Tower, and when Simnel appeared, it was pretended that he had escaped from prison. Warwick's cousin, John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, and his aunt, the Duchess of Burgundy (a sister of Edward IV.), were induced to enter into the scheme of imposture. The defeat at Stoke proved fatal to the conspiracy. Simnel was taken prisoner, and after serving for some time as a scullion in the royal kitchen, was promoted to the rank of falconer. 23. As wont-As was customary. Note 33, Canto II. floated, they were declared guilty, were drawn out of the water, and were burned on an adjoining hill !-Trial by battle consisted of a personal combat between the disputants in presence of a court of justice. It was believed that Heaven, thus appealed to, would "defend the right;" and the victor was declared innocent. This mode of trial was specially countenanced by the Church, and sanctioned by law. This barbarous enactment disfigured the English statute-book till 1829, when it was abolished by Act of Parliament. Duelling, whether with swords, pistols, or fists, is doubtless a relic of this rude style of dispensing justice. 25. Recreant.-The name applied to the vanquished in the wager of battle, when he yielded his cause and craved his life. 26. Drenched. --A happy instance of the use of a transitive verb derived from an intransitive one. To drench is not only to cause to drink, but to make drunk. Compare, blink, blench; wake, watch; rise, raise; fall, fell, &c. 27. Clerk.-A scholar. See Note 25, Canto III. 28. What ail'st thou?-Ail must, in this construction, be taken as an intransitive verb, meaning to be in trouble; and what as an accusative of reference:" As to See what art thou in trouble?" "What ails 24. The blessed ordeal.-The wager of battle is the ordeal referred to. Ordeal is the name given in general to all those means in use amongst primitive nations for determining guilt or innocence by the issue of natural experiments. The kinds of ordeal most common in Europe were those of fire, water, and battle.-In the ordeal of fire, the accused had to carry a bar of red-hot iron in his hand, or had to walk over red-hot ploughshares. The hand, or the feet, were bound up for three days. If no harm had been done, he was declared innocent; if otherwise, guilty. In the case of the water ordeal, the accused had either to take with impunity a stone out of a vessel filled with boiling water, or he was thrown into a pond, lake, or river. If he floated, he was judged guilty; if he sank, he was innocent. This was the usual mode of dealing with reputed witches. For example, in St. Andrews, the practice continued till the beginning of last century of throwing women charged with witchcraft into the Witch's Lake." If they sank, they were unicorn on its top. This column formed the Cross proper. The whole structure was removed in 1756; but its site is indicated by a device in the causeway. The stone column, or Cross proper, has lately been re-erected within the railings of St. Giles's, not far from its ancient site. The visionary pageant described in the poem is a romantic rendering of the proclamations usually made from the Cross, and still made with "pomp and circumstance" from its former site. 31. As fancy forms, &c.-The pageant was of that vague, indistinct kind which the fancy frames out of the changing shapes of the midnight clouds. 32. Her beads did tell.-To tell the beads, was to count the petitions or prayers offered by the votary in the Roman Catholic Church. A bead is literally a prayer. [A.-S. bed, gebed, a prayer, from biddan, to ask, pray, demand; E. bid.] 33. Shift we the scene.-Imperative, first person plural. 34. Needs. Of necessity. [A.-S. nedes, nydes; from neod, necessity. The 8 is a genitive suffix. See Canto I., Note 20.] 35. I wot-I know. Infinitive, to wit (used an adverb=namely). Past tense, I wist. [A.-S. witan, to know.] CANTO SIXTH. 1. Terouenne.-A town in the north of France, a few miles south-east of Calais. Henry VIII. laid siege to this town in August 1513. A French force sent to relieve it was defeated in the "Battle of the Spurs"-so called from the precipitate flight of the French cavalry-and the town surrendered. 2. In Leaguer.-As a beleaguerer, or besieger. 3. Nothing. An accusative of reference: as to nothing, in no respect. 4. The Bloody Heart.-The Heart in the arms of the Douglas family commemorates the dying charge of Bruce to the good Lord James Douglas, that he should bury his heart in the Holy Land. Douglas died in battle with the Moors in Spain, and the heart of Bruce was brought back to Scotland, and buried in Melrose Abbey. 5. Three mullets stood.-A mullet, in heraldry, is a star with five points, intended to represent the rowel of a spur. It is the mark of cadency assigned to the third son, to incite him to chivalry. Sometimes, however, it indicates the fish so called. 6. Vantage-coign.-A commanding corner. The expression is taken from Macbeth, Act i., Scene 6, line 7: No jutty, frieze, Buttress, nor coign of vantage, but this bird Hath made his pendent bed." In masonry, a corner-stone is called a quoin. [Fr. coin, Lat. cuneus, a wedge.] tive conjunction, connecting principal clauses. Because is a subordinative conjunction, connecting a subordinate with a principal clause. When for is subordinative, it is usually followed by that. In the following passage, both the subordinative uses of for are exemplified: I hate him for he is a Christian; Mer. of Venice, Act i., Scene 3, line 43. 8. Red De Clare, stout Gloster's Earl.Gilbert De Clare, Earl of Gloucester. His father Richard was one of the leaders of the Barons in their rebellion against Henry III. Quarrelling with Leicester, he secretly joined the King. On his death, in 1264, his son Gilbert attached himself to Leicester's party; but before the Battle of Evesham (1265), he returned to his allegiance. When Henry III. died (1272) his son, Edward I., was absent in the Holy Land; and Gloucester was one of three Guardians of the Realm, who carried on the civil administration until his return. Gloucester married Joan, one of Edward's numerous daughters. Their son plied the bloody sword" at Bannockburn (see Lord of the Isles, Canto VI., Stanza 25, line 7), and fell in that fatal field. 66 9. Blood-gouts.-Drops of blood. [Fr. goutte, Lat. gutta, a drop.] 10. Much was there need.-There was much need of the moonlight, so poorly was the chapel lit by the torches. 11. A bishop by the altar stood.-Ga 7. For.-Because. For is a coördina-wain, or Gavin Douglas, Bishop of Dun a castle. When the chains on which it was hung were let loose, it fell by its own weight, crushing whatever lay beneath it, and was an effectual means of shutting an enemy either out or in. 24. He halts.-Again we have present and past tenses recklessly intermingled. He halts and turns, when he reached; he pours and he shook. But in every case it is either the rhythm or the rhyme to which grammar is sacrificed. 25. Saint Bothan.-The identity of this saint, whom Douglas thanks for keeping 13. More pleased that, &c.-Supply "he all his sons but one in blissful ignorance, was " before more." 14. Kneels....bound.-Another example sentence. There is no reason why binds of a present and a past tense in the same should not have been written in the second line. 15. Dub.-The technical description of the act of knighting. [A.-S. dubban, to strike.] After the sword and spurs were bound on the candidate, he was struck on the cheek or shoulder with a sword, to indicate that no future insult must go unresented. 16. For King, for Church, for Lady fair. -These were the three duties of knighthood: to protect the King (as a vassal), the Church (as a servant), the fair sex (as a champion). 17. Sobbed. Here a transitive verb, meaning said while sobbing. Its object is the clause, "Where'er I meet," &c. Sob, in "Sob he must," is the intransitive verb. 18. Would Clara on her palfrey place.Would implies determination. He insisted upon placing Clara on her palfrey. 19. Stoop.-A term in falconry, applied to the swoop with which a hawk comes down on its prey. 20. Still.-Always. 21. Whom he lists.-List is usually an intransitive verb. Its proper complement should be an infinitive. In Old English it is construed with an infinitive subject, its personal subject being in the dative: Him lists it pleases him. See Canto I., Note 11. 22. An 'twere not-If it were not. An, meaning if, is a corruption of and, implying that the two clauses, the condition and the conclusion, are to be taken together. See Lay of the Last Minstrel, Canto I., Note 8. 23. Portcullis. A sliding gate, formed of cross-bars, suspended in the gateway of is difficult to determine, as there are several saints in the Scottish calendar with names similar to this. There was a convent at St. Bothan's in Berwickshire (referred to in Canto I., Stanza 19, line 5), now Abbey St. Bathan's, a village on the main road from Coldstream to Dunbar. 26. My boy-bishop. - His son Gawain, above referred to (Note 11). 27. The Master. - His eldest son, the Master of Angus. This title is given, especially in Scotland, to the eldest son of a nobleman. 28. Fay. --A corruption or contraction of fairy; a spirit. -if the leading wand of Douglas, or the | (by the suffix -el) of run; the same as runspeed of Randolph, had been there-if let. Wallace or Bruce had ruled the fight for one hour. But the apodosis also is partly in the form of a prayer, Would that Flodden had been Bannockbourne ! 34. Thus have I ranged my power. The English force was drawn up in four divisions Surrey led the centre; Sir Edward Stanley, the left wing; the two sons of Surrey, the right wing; Lord Dacre, with a body of horse, formed a reserve. 35. Brian Tunstall, stainless knight."Sir Brian Tunstall, called, in the romantic language of the time, Tunstall the Undefiled, was one of the few Englishmen of rank slain at Flodden. Tunstall perhaps derived his epithet of undefiled from his white armour and banner (the latter bearing a white cock about to crow), as well as from his unstained loyalty and knightly faith. His place of residence was Thurland Castle."—S. 36. The Scottish foe has fired his tent.The Scots set fire to their encampment, partly to prevent it falling into the hands of the English, partly also that the smoke might conceal the advance of their forces. 37. Stanley broke Lennox and Argyle.The Scottish army was disposed in three divisions the centre was commanded by King James in person; the left wing, by the Earls of Huntly and Home; the right, by the Earls of Lennox and Argyle. 38. Slogan. The war-cry or watchword of a clan. [Sc. slughorne; Fr. sluagh, an army, and corn, a horn.] 39. May bid your beads.—To bid means properly to pray. A bead is literally a prayer. See Canto V., Note 32. But the name was transferred to the little balls, mounted on a string or wire, used by Roman Catholics in counting, to aid the memory in reckoning their petitions.Patter prayer.-Repeat prayers. Patter," as applied to prayer, is a corruption of Pater noster, Our Father," the opening words of the Lord's Prayer. 40. Doffed his casque. - An absolute phrase his casque being doffed. Doff is a compression of do-off, as don is of do-on, and dup of do-up. 42. Shrieve. Confess, or receive confession; and hence to absolve. The noun is shrift, the penance prescribed by a priest, and absolution. [A.-S. scrifan, to receive confession, scrift, confession; Ger. schreiben; Lat. scribere, to write] 43. The Royal Pilgrim.-There was a tradition long prevalent in Scotland that King James was not killed at Flodden; but that, ashamed to present himself after his defeat, he went in disguise on pilgrimage to merit absolution for the death of his father, and for the breach of his oath of amity to Henry of England. There is no doubt, however, that James was slain on that disastrous field (9th September 1513); and though his iron belt was never found, his sword and dagger are preserved in the Heralds' College in London. 44. Holinshed or Hall. Two English chroniclers of the sixteenth century, to whose works Shakespeare was greatly indebted for the materials of his historical plays. Hall's Chronicle contains an account of the Battle of Flodden; Holinshed's does not. 45. Wolsey.-Cardinal Wolsey, the great minister of Henry VIII., died 1530. 46. More. Sir Thomas More, who succeeded Wolsey in the office of chancellor. He joined Fisher in denying the King's ecclesiastical supremacy, and was executed in 1535. He is honourably known in English literature as the author of the "Life of Edward the Fifth and Richard the Third," which Hallam considers the earliest prose work in modern or current English. He was also the author of a romance in Latin, entitled Utopia;" whence the English word Utopian, visionary. Sands. Sir William Sandys, chamberlain to Henry VIII.Denny.— Sir Anthony Denny, a favourite courtier of Henry VIII., and one of his gentlemen of the Privy Chamber, as well as an executor of his will. 47. The stocking threw.-Throwing the slipper or stocking after a bride is still a token of good luck. 48. Love they.-The imperative, or opta41. Runnel. Streamlet. A diminutive tive, third person plural=let them love. THE LADY OF THE LAKE. INTRODUCTION. THE Lady of the Lake followed Marmion, after an interval of little more than two years. The former appeared in February 1808, the latter in May 1810. Its success was even greater than that of the previous poems, eight editions, or 20,000 copies, having been sold before the end of the year; and Scott's reputation was proportionately increased by the work. Mr. Cadell, the publisher, says: "The whole country rang with the praises of the poet-crowds set off to view the scenery of Loch Katrine, till then comparatively unknown; and as the book came out just before the season for excursions, every house and inn in that neighbourhood was crammed with a constant succession of visitors." Writing in 1830, Scott himself says: "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 Stirling Castle within the time supposed in the poem, and had the pleasure to satisfy myself that it was quite practicable." The general verdict on Scott's three greatest poems is thus fairly expressed by Lockhart: "The Lay,' if I may venture to state the creed now established, is, I should say, generally considered as the most natural and original; 'Marmion,' as the most powerful and splendid; 'The Lady of the Lake,' as the most interesting, romantic, picturesque, and graceful of his great poems ;" and Jeffrey predicted that the last would be "oftener read hereafter than either of the former." The charm of the poem lies not more in the magnificent descriptive passages, than in the romantic interest with which the poet has invested Highland scenery. CHARACTERS OF THE POEM. ANGUS, the young chieftain of Duncraggan. JAMES FITZ-JAMES, the Knight of Snow- MALISE, Roderick's henchman. of the banished Earl of Angus. ELLEN DOUGLAS, his daughter. MALCOLM GREME, Ellen's lover. ALLAN-BANE, a minstrel attendant on Douglas. BRIAN, a hermit, retainer of Roderick THE RED MURDOCH, a follower of Rode- BLANCHE of Devan. BERTRAM of Ghent. SCENE: Perthshire, chiefly Loch Katrine and its neighbourhood: afterwards Stirling Castle. TIME: About 1530. |