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.