74. Beal'maha. "The pass of the plain," on the east of Loch Lomond, opposite Inch-Cailliach. In the olden time it was one of the established roads for making raids into the Lowlands.
77. Dennan's Row. The modern Rowardennan, on Loch Lomond at the foot of Ben Lomond, and a favorite starting=point for the ascent of that mountain.
82. Boss. Knob; in keeping with Targe.
83. Verge. Pronounced varge, as the rhyme shows. In v. 219below it has its ordinary sound; but cf. v. 812.
84. The Hero's Targe. "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 down 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" (Scott).
98. Broke. Quartered. Cf. the quotation from Jonson below.
Scott says here: "Everything belonging to the chase was matter of solemnity among our ancestors; but nothing was more 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 Tubervile, '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.' [FN#9]([FN#9] To the raven that sat on the forked tree he gave his gifts.)
"The raven might also challenge his rights by the Book of St.
Albans; for thus says Dame Juliana Berners:
'slitteth anon The bely to the side, from the corbyn bone;That is corbyns 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 croaked and cried for 't, as all the huntsmen, Especially old Scathlock, thought it ominous.'"115. Rouse. Rise, stand erect. Cf. Macbeth, v. 5. 12:
"The time has been, my senses would have cool'd To hear a night-shriek, and my fell of hair Would at a dismal treatise rouse and stir As life were in 't."119. Mine. Many eds. have "my."
128. Fateful. The reading of the 1st ed. and that of 1821;"fatal" in some recent eds.
132. Which spills, etc. The MS. has "Which foremost spills a foeman's life.""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 anticipated, 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 defenceless herdsman, whom they found in the fields, merely to secure an advantage of so much consequence to their party"(Scott).
140. A spy. That is, Fitz-James. For has sought, the 1st ed. has "hath sought."
144. Red Murdoch, etc. The MS. has "The clansman vainly deemed his guide," etc.
147. Those shall bring him down. For the ellipsis of who, see on i. 528 above. The MS. has "stab him down."153. Pale. In the heraldic sense of "a broad perpendicular stripe in an escutcheon." See Wb.
155. I love to hear, etc Cf. v. 238 below.
156. When move they on? etc. The MS reads:
"'When move they on?' |'This sun | at noon |'To-day |'T is said will see them march from Doune.'
'To-morrow then |makes| meeting stern.'"
sees
160. Earn. That is, the district about Loch Earn and the river of the same name flowing from the lake.
164. Shaggy glen. As already stated, Trosachs means bristling.
174. Stance. Station; a Scottish word.
177. Trusty targe. The MS. has "Highland targe."197. Shifting like flashes, etc. That is, like the Northern Lights. Cf. the Lay, ii. 86:
"And red and bright the streamers light Were dancing in the glowing north.
. . . . . . .
He knew by the streamers that shot so bright That spirits were riding the northern light."The MS. reads:
"Thick as the flashes darted forth By morrice-dancers of the north;And saw at morn their |barges ride, |little fleet, Close moored by the lone islet's side.
Since this rude race dare not abide Upon their native mountain side, 'T is fit that Douglas should provide For his dear child some safe abode, And soon he comes to point the road."207. No, Allan, etc. The MS. reads:
"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."212. Fixed and high. Often misprinted "fixed on high."215. Stroke. The MS. has "shock," and in the next line "adamantine" for invulnerable.
223. Trowed. Trusted, believed. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. v. 2. 34:
"So much is more then [than] just to trow." See also Luke, xvii.
9.
231. Cambus-kenneth's fane. Cambus-kenneth Abbey, about a mile from Stirling, on the other side of the Forth. The massive tower is now the only part remaining entire.
235. Friends'. Many recent eds. misprint "friend's."250. Sooth. True. See on i. 476 above.
