to have been prophesied that how often soever Douglas Castle should be destroyed, it should always again arise more magnificent from its ruins. Upon one of these occasions he used fearful cruelty, causing all the store of provisions, which the English had laid up in his castle, to be heaped together, bursting the wine and beer casks among the wheat and flour, slaughtering the cattle upon the same spot, and upon the top of the whole cutting the throats of the English prisoners. This pleasantry of the 'good Lord James' is commemorated under the name of the Douglas's Larder.

Line 24. And fiery Edward routed stout Saint John.

John de Saint John, with 15,000 horsemen, had advanced to oppose the inroad of the Scots. By a forced march he endeavored to surprise them; but intelligence of his motions was timeously received. The courage of Edward Bruce, approaching to temerity, frequently enabled him to achieve what men of more judicious valor would never have attempted. He ordered the infantry, and the meaner sort of his army, to entrench themselves in strong narrow ground. He himself, with fifty horsemen well harnessed, issued forth under cover of a thick mist, surprised the English on their march, attacked and dispersed them.' - Dalrymple's Annals of Scotland.

Line 25. When Randolph's war-cry swelled the southern gale.

Thomas Randolph, Bruce's sister's son, a renowned Scottish chief, was in the early part of his life not more remarkable for consistency than Bruce himself. He espoused his uncle's party when Bruce first assumed the crown, and was made prisoner at the fatal battle of Methven, in which his relative's hopes appeared to be ruined. Randolph accordingly not only submitted to the English, but took an active part against Bruce; appeared in arms against him; and in the skirmish where he was so closely pursued by the bloodhound it is said his nephew took his standard with his own hand. But Randolph was afterwards made prisoner by Douglas in Tweeddale, and brought before King Robert. Some harsh language was exchanged between the uncle and nephew, and the latter was committed for a time to close custody. Afterwards, however, they were reconciled, and Randolph was created Earl of Moray about 1312. After this period he eminently distinguished himself, first by the surprise of Edinburgh Castle, and afterwards by many similar enterprises, conducted with equal courage and ability.

Line 72. Northward of Tweed, but Stirling's towers.

When a long train of success, actively improved by Robert Bruce, had made him master of almost all Scotland, Stirling Castle continued to hold out. The care of the blockade was committed by the king to his brother Edward, who concluded a treaty with Sir Philip Mowbray, the governor, that he should surrender the fortress, if it were not succored by the King of Eng

land before St. John the Baptist's day. The consequence was, of course, that each kingdom mustered its strength for the expected battle; and as the space agreed upon reached from Lent to Midsummer, full time was allowed for that purpose.

Line 95. And Cambria, but of late subdued. Edward the First, with the usual policy of a conqueror, employed the Welsh, whom he had subdued, to assist him in his Scottish wars, for which their habits, as mountaineers, particularly fitted them. But this policy was not without its risks. Previous to the battle of Falkirk, the Welsh quarrelled with the English men-at-arms, and after bloodshed on both parts, separated themselves from his army, and the feud between them, at so dangerous and critical a juncture, was reconciled with difficulty. Edward II. followed his father's example in this particular, and with no better success. They could not be brought to exert themselves in the cause of their conquerors. But they had an indifferent reward for their forbearance. Without arms, and clad only in scanty dresses of linen cloth, they appeared naked in the eyes even of the Scottish peasantry; and after the rout of Bannockburn were massacred by them in great numbers, as they retired in confusion towards their own country.

Line 97. And Connoght poured from waste and wood.

There is in the Fodera an invitation to Eth O'Connor, chief of the Irish of Connaught, setting forth that the king was about to move against his Scottish rebels, and therefore requesting the attendance of all the force he could muster, either commanded by himself in person, or by some nobleman of his race. These auxiliaries were to be commanded by Richard de Burgh, Earl of Ulster.

Page 354, line 220. Their chief, Fitz-Louis, had the care.

Fitz-Louis, or MacLouis, otherwise called Fullarton, is a family of ancient descent in the Isle of Arran. They are said to be of French origin, as the name intimates. They attached themselves to Bruce upon his first landing; and Fergus MacLouis, or Fullarton, received from the grateful monarch a charter, dated 26th November, in the second year of his reign, 1307, for the lands of Kilmichel, and others.

Line 258. Beneath their chieftains ranked their files.

The men of Argyle, the islanders, and the Highlanders in general, were ranked in the rear. They must have been numerous, for Bruce had reconciled himself with almost all their chieftains, excepting the obnoxious MacDougals of Lorn.

Page 355, line 309. The monarch rode along the van.

The English vanguard, commanded by the Earls of Gloucester and Hereford, came in sight of the Scottish army upon the evening of the 23d of June. Bruce was then riding upon a little palfrey, in front of his foremost line, putting his host in order. It was then that the per

sonal encounter took place betwixt him and Sir Henry de Bohun, a gallant English knight, the issue of which had a great effect upon the spirits of both armies. The Scottish leaders remonstrated with the king upon his temerity. He only answered, 'I have broken my good battleaxe.' The English vanguard retreated after witnessing this single combat. Probably their generals did not think it advisable to hazard an attack while its unfavorable issue remained upon their minds.

Page 357, line 516. Pipe-clang and buglesound were tossed.

There is an old tradition, that the well-known Scottish tune of 'Hey, tutti taitti,' was Bruce's march at the battle of Bannockburn. The late Mr. Ritson, no granter of propositions, doubts whether the Scots had any martial music, quotes Froissart's account of each soldier in the host bearing a little horn, on which, at the onset, they would make such a horrible noise, as if all the devils of hell had been among them. He observes that these horns are the only music mentioned by Barbour, and concludes that it must remain a moot point whether Bruce's army were cheered by the sound even of a solitary bagpipe.

Line 552. See where yon barefoot abbot stands. • Maurice, Abbot of Inchaffray, placing himself on an eminence, celebrated mass in sight of the Scottish army. He then passed along the front barefooted, and bearing a crucifix in his hands, and exhorting the Scots, in few and forcible words, to combat for their rights and their liberty. The Scots kneeled down. "They yield," cried Edward; see, they implore mercy. They do," answered Ingelram de Umfraville, "but not ours. On that field they will be victorious, or die."' of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 47. Line 593. Forth, Marshal, on the peasant foe!

- Annals

The English archers commenced the attack with their usual bravery and dexterity. But against a force, whose importance he had learned by fatal experience, Bruce was provided. A small but select body of cavalry were detached from the right, under command of Sir Robert Keith. They rounded, as I conceive, the marsh called Milntown bog, and. keeping the firm ground, charged the left flank and rear of the English archers. As the bowmen had no spears nor long weapons fit to defend themselves against horse, they were instantly thrown into disorder, and spread through the whole English army a confusion from which they never fairly recovered.

Page 358, line 627. Twelve Scottish lives his Baldric bore!

Roger Ascham quotes a similar Scottish proverb, whereby they give the whole praise of shooting honestly to Englishmen, saying thus, "that every English archer beareth under his girdle twenty-four Scottes." Indeed, Toxophilus says before, and truly of the Scottish nation, "The Scottes surely be good men of warre in theyre owne feates as can be; but as for shoot

inge, they can neither use it to any profite, nor yet challenge it for any praise. Line 646. Down! down! in headlong overthrow.

It is generally alleged by historians, that the English men-at-arms fell into the hidden snare which Bruce had prepared for them. Barbour does not mention the circumstance. According to his account, Randolph, seeing the slaughter made by the cavalry on the right wing among the archers, advanced courageously against the main body of the English, and entered into close combat with them. Douglas and Stuart, who commanded the Scottish centre, led their division also to the charge, and the battle becoming general along the whole line, was obstinately maintained on both sides for a long space of time; the Scottish archers doing great execution among the English men-at-arms, after the bowmen of England were dispersed.

Line 656. And steeds that shriek in agony ! I have been told that this line requires an explanatory note; and, indeed, those who witness the silent patience with which horses submit to the most cruel usage, may be permitted to doubt that in moments of sudden and intolerable_anguish, they utter a most melancholy cry. Lord Erskine, in a speech made in the House of Lords, upon a bill for enforcing humanity towards animals, noticed this remarkable fact, in language which I will not mutilate by attempting to repeat it. It was my fortune, upon one occasion, to hear a horse, in a moment of agony, utter a thrilling scream, which I still consider the most melancholy sound I ever heard.

Page 359, line 739. Lord of the Isles, my trust in thee.

When the engagement between the main bodies had lasted some time, Bruce made a decisive movement by bringing up the Scottish reserve. It is traditionally said that at this crisis he addressed the Lord of the Isles in a phrase used as a motto by some of his descendants, My trust is constant in thee.'

Page 360, line 797. To arms they flew, club, or spear.

axe,

The followers of the Scottish camp observed, from the Gillies' Hill in the rear, the impression produced upon the English army by the bringing up of the Scottish reserve, and, prompted by the enthusiasm of the moment, or the desire of plunder, assumed, in a tumultuary manner, such arms as they found nearest, fastened sheets to tent-poles and lances, and showed themselves like a new army advancing to battle. The unexpected apparition of what seemed a new army completed the confusion which already prevailed among the English, who fled in every direction, and were pursued with immense slaughter. The brook of Bannock, according to Barbour, was so choked with the bodies of men and horses that it might have been passed dry-shod.

Line 808. O, give their hapless prince his due! Edward II., according to the best authorities, showed, in the fatal field of Bannockburn, personal gallantry not unworthy of his great sire

and greater son. He remained on the field till forced away by the Earl of Pembroke, when all was lost. He then rode to the Castle of Stirling, and demanded admittance; but the governor, remonstrating upon the imprudence of shutting himself up in that fortress, which must so soon surrender, he assembled around his person five hundred men-at-arms, and, avoiding the field of battle and the victorious army, fled towards Linlithgow, pursued by Douglas with about sixty horse. They were augmented by Sir Lawrence Abernethy with twenty more, whom Douglas met in the Torwood upon their way to join the English army, and whom he easily persuaded to desert the defeated monarch, and to assist in the pursuit. They hung upon Edward's flight as far as Dunbar, too few in number to assail him with effect, but enough to harass his retreat so constantly, that whoever fell an instant behind, was instantly slain, or made prisoner. ward's ignominious flight terminated at Dunbar, where the Earl of March, who still professed allegiance to him. 'received him full gently. From thence, the monarch of so great an empire, and the late commander of so gallant and numerous an army, escaped to Bamborough in a fishing vessel.

THE FIELD OF WATERLOO.

Ed

Page 363, line 31. Plies the hooked staff and shortened scythe.

The reaper in Flanders carries in his left hand a stick with an iron hook, with which he collects as much grain as he can cut at one sweep with a short scythe, which he holds in his right hand. They carry on this double process with great spirit and dexterity.

Page 364, line 71. A stranger might reply. [On the margin of the proof sheets submitted by Ballantyne and preserved by him appeared the following:

James. -My objection to this is probably fantastical, and I state it only because, from the first moment to the last, it has always made me boggle. I don't like a stranger Query, "the questioned," the spectator"

66

gazer," etc.

'Scott.

-

66

Stranger is appropriate - it means stranger to the circumstances.

-

Line 113. Her garner-house profound. James. You had changed "garner-house profound," which I think quite admirable, to garner under ground" which I think quite otherwise. I have presumed not to make the change must I ?

Scott.I acquiesce, but with doubts: profound sounds affected.']

Page 365, line 155. Pale Brussels! then what thoughts were thine.

It was affirmed by the prisoners of war that Bonaparte had promised his army, in case of victory, twenty-four hours' plunder of the city of Brussels.

Line 177. 'On! On!' was still his stern exclaim.

The characteristic obstinacy of Napoleon was

never more fully displayed than in what we may be permitted to hope will prove the last of his fields. He would listen to no advice and allow of no obstacles. An eyewitness has given the following account of his demeanor towards the end of the action:

It was near seven o'clock; Bonaparte, who till then had remained upon the ridge of the hill whence he could best behold what passed, contemplated with a stern countenance the scene of this horrible slaughter. The more that obstacles seemed to multiply, the more his obstinacy seemed to increase. He became indignant at these unforeseen difficulties; and, far from fearing to push to extremities an army whose confidence in him was boundless, he ceased not to pour down fresh troops, and to give orders to march forward- to charge with the bayonetto carry by storm. He was repeatedly informed, from different points, that the day went against him, and that the troops seemed to be disordered; to which he only replied, "En-avant! En-avant!" "

Line 187. The fate their leader shunned to share.

It has been reported that Bonaparte charged at the head of his guards, at the last period of this dreadful conflict. This, however, is not accurate. He came down, indeed, to a hollow part of the high-road leading to Charleroi, within less than a quarter of a mile of the farm of La Haye Sainte, one of the points most fiercely disputed. Here he harangued the guards, and informed them that his preceding operations had destroyed the British infantry and cavalry, and that they had only to support the fire of the artillery, which they were to attack with the bayonet. This exhortation was received with shouts of Vive l'Empereur, which were heard over all our line, and led to an idea that Napoleon was charging in person. But the guards were led on by Ney; nor did Bonaparte approach nearer the scene of action than the spot already mentioned, which the rising banks on each side rendered secure from all such balls as did not come in a straight line.

Line 194. England shall tell the fight!

In riding up to a regiment which was hard pressed, the duke called to the men, 'Soldiers, we must never be beat, what will they say in England?' It is needless to say how this appeal was answered.

Page 366, line 241. As plies the smith his clanging trade.

A private soldier of the 95th regiment compared the sound which took place immediately upon the British cavalry mingling with those of the enemy, to a thousand tinkers at work mending pots and kettles.'

Line 255. As their own ocean-rocks hold stance. [In the marginal notes, John Ballantyne writes: I do not know such an English word as stance,' and Scott rejoins, 'Then we 'll make it one for the nance.']

Page 368, line 440. Period of honor as of woes. [Sir Thomas Picton, Sir William Ponsonby.

and Sir William de Lancey were among the lost. The last-named was married in the preceding April. Colonel Miller, when mortally wounded, desired to see the colors of the regiment once more ere he died. They were waved over his head, and the expiring officer declared himself satisfied. Colonel Cameron, of Fassiefern, so often distinguished in Lord Wellington's despatches from Spain, fell in the action at Quatre Bras (16th June, 1815), while leading the 92d or Gordon Highlanders, to charge a body of cavalry supported by infantry. Colonel Alexander Gordon fell by the side of his chief.]

Line 446. Redoubled Picton's soul of fire. [James. From long association, this epithet strikes me as conveying a semi-ludicrous idea.

Scott. It is here appropriate, and your objection seems merely personal to your own association']

HAROLD THE DAUNTLESS.

Page 381, line 8. Some reverend room, some prebendary's stall.

[It is possible that in these introductory lines, Scott did have a half sly purpose of throwing readers off the scent as to the authorship of the poem. Nobody would suspect Scott of such dreams, though the sentiment might easily have been attached to Erskine, a son of an Episcopal clergyman, and by his temper and predilections, quite likely to entertain such hopes.]

Line 14. There might I share my Surtees' happier lot.

[Robert Surtees of Mainsforth. A Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, and author of The History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham. He was an early and dear friend of Scott's. A club for the publication of documents connected with the history of the English border was formed, named The Surtees Club.]

Page 385, line 27. And such—if fame speak truth-the honored Barrington.

[Shute Barrington, Bishop of Durham, was a friend of Scott's. The lives of Bishops Matthew and Morton are recorded by Surtees in his History of the Bishopric of Durham.]

Page 398, line 380. A tale six cantos long, yet scorned to add a note.

[Scott here gives a sly dig at the Scott, whose name was not attached to Harold the Dauntless, and whose predilection for notes was well known.]

THE NORMAN HORSE-SHOE.

Page 399, line 14. In crimson light on Rymny's stream.

Rymny is a stream which divides the counties of Monmouth and Glamorgan. Caerphili, the scene of the supposed battle, is a vale upon its banks, dignified by the ruins of a very ancient castle.

THE POACHER.

Page 407, line 62. On the bleak coast of frostbarred Labrador.

Such is the law in the New Forest, Hamp

shire, tending greatly to increase the various settlements of thieves, smugglers, and deerstealers, who infest it. In the forest courts the presiding judge wears as a badge of office an antique stirrup, said to have been that of William Rufus. See Mr. William Rose's spirited poem, entitled The Red King.'

Line 81. Yon cask holds moonlight, run when

moon was none.

A cant term for smuggled spirits.

THE BOLD DRAGOON.

Page 408, line 14. And, as the devil leaves a house, they tumbled through the wall.

In their hasty evacuation of Campo Mayor, the French pulled down a part of the rampart, and marched out over the glacis.

LETTER IN VERSE.

Page 412, line 104. But spring, I'm informed, from the Scotts of Scotstarvet.

The Scotts of Scotstarvet, and other families of the name in Fife and elsewhere, claim no kindred with the great clan of the Border, and their armorial bearings are different.

SONG ON THE LIFTING OF THE BANNER OF THE HOUSE OF BUCCLEUCH.

Page 424, line 13. A stripling's weak hand to our revel has borne her.

[This was Scott's eldest son, Walter.]

THE RETURN TO ULSTER.

Page 426, line 20. Like a burst of the sun when the tempest is nigh.

In ancient Irish poetry, the standard of Fion, or Fingal, is called the Sun-burst, an epithet feebly rendered by the Sun-beam of Macpher

son.

THE SEARCH AFTER HAPPINESS.

Page 434, line 239. The work too little and the pay too much.

See the True-Born Englishman, by Daniel Defoe.

EPILOGUE TO THE APPEAL.'

Page 439, line 10. Since the New Jail became our next-door neighbor.

It is necessary to mention, that the allusions in this piece are all local, and addressed only to the Edinburgh audience. The new prisons of the city, on the Calton Hill, are not far from the theatre.

Line 22. With the tempestuous question, Up or down?

At this time, the public of Edinburgh was much agitated by a lawsuit betwixt the magistrates and many of the inhabitants of the city, concerning a range of new buildings on the western side of the North Bridge, which the latter insisted should be removed as a deformity.

THE BATTLE OF SEMPACH.

Page 442, line 27. The Switzer priest has ta'en the field.

All the Swiss clergy who were able to bear arms fought in this patriotic war.

Line 52. Might well-nigh load a wain. This seems to allude to the preposterous fashion, during the middle ages, of wearing boots with the points or peaks turned upwards, and so long, that in some cases they were fastened to the knees of the wearer with small chains. When they alighted to fight upon foot, it would seem that the Austrian gentlemen found it necessary to cut off these peaks that they might move with the necessary activity.

THE NOBLE MORINGER.

Page 444. The original of these verses occurs in a collection of German popular songs, entitled Sammlung Deustcher Volkslieder, Berlin, 1807, published by Messrs. Busching and Von der Hagen, both, and more especially the last, distinguished for their acquaintance with the ancient popular poetry and legendary history of Germany.

In the German editor's notice of the ballad, it is stated to have been extracted from a manuscript Chronicle of Nicolaus Thomann, chaplain to Saint Leonard in Weisenhorn, which bears the date 1533; and the song is stated by the author to have been generally sung in the neighborhood at that early period. Thomann, as quoted by the German editor, seems faithfully to have believed the event he narrates. He quotes tombstones and obituaries to prove the existence of the personages of the ballad, and discovers that there actually died, on the 11th May, 1349, a Lady Von Neuffen, Countess of Marstetten, who was, by birth, of the house of Moringer. This lady he supposes to have been Moringer's daughter, mentioned in the ballad. He quotes the same authority for the death of Berckhold Von Neuffen, in the same year. The editors, on the whole, seem to embrace the opinion of Professor Smith, of Ulm, who, from the language of the ballad, ascribes its date to the 15th century.

CARLE, NOW THE KING'S COME.

Page 469, line 47. Come, Clerk, and give your bugle breath.

Sir George Clerk, of Pennycuik, Bart. The Baron of Pennycuik is bound by his tenure, whenever the king comes to Edinburgh, to receive him at the Harestone (in which the standard of James IV. was erected when his army en camped on the Boroughmuir, before his fatal expedition to England), now built into the park

THE BANNATYNE CLUB.

Page 471. [This club was instituted in 1822 for the publication of rare and curious works connected with the history and antiquities of Scotland. It consisted, at first, of a very few members, gradually extended to one hundred. They assume the name from George Bannatyne, of whom little is known beyond that prodigious effort which produced his present honors, and is, perhaps, one of the most singular instances of its kind which the literature of any country exhibits. His labors as an amanuensis were undertaken during the time of pestilence, in 1568. The dread of infection had induced him to retire into solitude, and under such circumstances he had the energy to form and execute the plan of saving the literature of the whole nation; and, undisturbed by the general mourning for the dead, and general fears of the living, to devote himself to the task of collecting and recording the triumphs of human genius in the poetry of his age and country; thus, amid the wreck of all that was mortal, employing himself in preserving the lays by which immortality is at once given to others, and obtained for the writer himself. He informs us of some of the numerous difficulties he had to contend with in this self-imposed task. The volume containing his labors, deposited in the Library of the Faculty of Advocates at Edinburgh, is no less than eight hundred pages in length, and very neatly and closely written, containing nearly all the ancient poetry of Scotland now known to exist.']

To J. G. LOCKHART, ESQ.

Page 475, line 2. Fat worship.

[So also at foot of the page; Fatsman, one of the many aliases of Mr. James Ballantyne, Speats and raxes are spits and ranges.']