FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141  
142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   165   166   >>   >|  
159. From Tweed to Spey. From the Tweed, the southern boundary of Scotland, to the Spey, a river far to the north in Invernessshire; that is, from one end of the land to the other. 170. Reave. Tear away. The participle reft is still used, at least in poetry. Cf. Shakespeare, V. and A. 766: "Or butcher-sire that reaves his son of life" (that is, bereaves); Spenser, F. Q. i. 3. 36: "He to him lept, in minde to reave his life;" Id. ii. 8. 15: "I will him reave of arms," etc. 178. It drinks, etc. The MS. has "No blither dewdrop cheers the rose." 195, 196. To see... dance. This couplet is not in the MS. 200. The Lady of the Bleeding Heart. The bleeding heart was the cognizance of the Douglas family. Robert Bruce, on his death-bed, bequeathed his heart to his friend, the good Lord James, to be borne in war against the Saracens. "He joined Alphonso, King of Leon and Castile, then at war with the Moorish chief Osurga, of Granada, and in a keen contest with the Moslems he flung before him the casket containing the precious relic, crying out, 'Onward as thou wert wont, thou noble heart, Douglas will follow thee.' Douglas was slain, but his body was recovered, and also the precious casket, and in the end Douglas was laid with his ancestors, and the heart of Bruce deposited in the church of Melrose Abbey" (Burton's Hist. of Scotland). 201. Fair. The 1st ed. (and probably the MS., though not noted by Lockhart) has "Gay." 203. Yet is this, etc. The MS. and 1st ed. read: "This mossy rock, my friend, to me Is worth gay chair and canopy." 205. Footstep. The reading of the 1st and other early eds.; "footsteps" in recent ones. 206. Strathspey. A Highland dance, which takes its name from the strath, or broad valley, of the Spey (159 above). 213. Clan-Alpine's pride. "The Siol Alpine, or race of Alpine, includes several clans who claimed descent from Kenneth McAlpine, an ancient king. These are the Macgregors, the Grants, the Mackies, the Mackinnans, the MacNabs, the MacQuarries, and the Macaulays. Their common emblem was the pine, which is now confined to the Macgregors" (Taylor). 214. Loch Lomond. This beautiful lake, "the pride of Scottish lakes," is about 23 miles in length and 5 miles in its greatest breadth. At the southern end are many islands, one of which, Inch-Cailliach (the Island of Women, so called from a nunnery that was once upon it), was the burial-place of Clan-Alpine.
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141  
142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   165   166   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
Alpine
 

Douglas

 

casket

 

precious

 

Macgregors

 
Scotland
 
southern
 

friend

 
Highland
 

Strathspey


valley

 

strath

 
Lockhart
 

Burton

 
reading
 

Footstep

 
recent
 
footsteps
 

canopy

 

length


greatest

 

breadth

 

beautiful

 

Lomond

 

Scottish

 

islands

 

burial

 

nunnery

 

called

 

Cailliach


Island

 
McAlpine
 

Kenneth

 

ancient

 

descent

 
claimed
 

includes

 
Grants
 

emblem

 
confined

Taylor
 

common

 
Mackinnans
 
Mackies
 

MacNabs

 

MacQuarries

 
Macaulays
 

couplet

 
cheers
 

drinks