om me
With new lamenting ancient oversights!"

305. Some mossy bank, etc. The MS. reads:

"And hollow trunk of some old tree
My chamber for the night must be."

313. Highland plunderers. "The clans who inhabited the romantic regions
in the neighborhood of Loch Katrine were, even until a late period, much
addicted to predatory excursions upon their Lowland neighbors" (Scott).

317. Fall the worst. If the worst befall that can happen. Cf.
Shakespeare, M. of V. i. 2. 96: "an the worst fall that ever fell, I
hope I shall make shift to go without him."

319. But scarce again, etc. The MS. reads:

"The bugle shrill again he wound,
And lo! forth starting at the sound;"

and below:

"A little skiff shot to the bay.
The hunter left his airy stand,
And when the boat had touched the sand,
Concealed he stood amid the brake,
To view this Lady of the Lake."

336. Strain. The 1st ed. has a comma after strain, and a period after
art in 340. The ed. of 1821 points as in the text.

342. Naiad. Water nymph.

343. And ne'er did Grecian chisel, etc. The MS. reads:

"A finer form, a fairer face,
Had never marble Nymph or Grace,
That boasts the Grecian chisel's trace;"

and in 359 below, "a stranger tongue."

353. Measured mood. The formal manner required by court etiquette.

360. Dear. This is the reading of the 1st ed. and almost every other
that we have seen. We are inclined, however, to believe that Scott wrote
"clear." The facsimiles of his handwriting show that his d's and cl's
might easily be confounded by a compositor.

363. Snood. The fillet or ribbon with which the Scotch maidens bound
their hair. See on iii. 114 below. It is the rich materials of snood,
plaid, and brooch that betray her birth.

The rhyme of plaid with maid and betrayed is not imperfect, the Scottish
pronunciation of plaid being like our played.

385. One only. For the inversion, cf. Shakespeare, J. C. i. 2. 157:
"When there is in it but one only man;" Goldsmith, D. V. 39: "One only
master grasps the whole domain," etc.

393. Awhile she paused, etc. The MS. reads:

"A space she paused, no answer came,--
'Alpine, was thine the blast?' the name
Less resolutely uttered fell,
The echoes could not catch the swell.
'Nor foe nor friend,' the stranger said,
Advancing from the hazel shade.
The startled maid, with hasty oar,