tains... had usually, in the most retired spot of their domain, some place of retreat a tower, a cavern, or a rustic hut in a strong and secluded situation. One of these last gave refuge to the unfortunate Charles Edward, in his perilous wanderings after the battle of Culloden. 525. Idæan vine. Idean is derived from Mt. Ida near Troy. Read the opening stanza of Tennyson's Enone for the description of the home of another "fay in fairy land." 528. Plant bear. Ellipsis. Common in Shakespeare. ... This 545. Trophies. An interesting word. Find its cousins. whole description might have applied to a room in one of Scott's own residences. 558. Tapestry. How many syllables here? What is tapestry? 566. Brook. Endure. 573. Ferragus or Asçabart (Ascapart). Two fabulous sons of the giant Anak. See Ariosto's Orlando Furioso. 580. Though... knew. Meaning? 587. Fellest. Most dreadful. 591. Snowdoun. Former name for Stirling Castle. 596. Wot. Knows. We still use "to wit," the noun wit, etc. 602. Require. Ask, merely, as always in Elizabethan English. 616. Weird women. Watch for alliteration and see how it adds to the music. What did Ellen mean? 622. Harp unseen. "They (the Highlanders) delight much in music, but chiefly in harps and clairschoes of their own fashion : ... the strings of the harps [are made] of sinews. . . . They take great pleasure to deck their harps and clairschoes with silver and precious stones."-ScoTT. 624-648. Soldier . . . stamping. Notice the effect of the trochaic measure. How do you explain the indentation of the margin ? 631. Dewing. Bedewing. Cf. Shakespeare's Julius Cæsar, II. i. 230, "The honey-heavy dew of slumber." 638. Pibroch. A Highland air usually played on the martial bagpipe; or the bagpipe itself. Cf. Whittier's "The Pipes at Lucknow ": "Pipes of the misty moorlands, Voice of the glens and hills, The droning of the torrents, The treble of the rills. "Sweet sounds the Gaelic pibroch, The pipes at Lucknow played." 642. Bittern. . . drum. Cf. Goldsmith's Deserted Village, 1. 44, "the hollow-sounding bittern." 651. Cadence. Originally a falling. 655. Spells. Carrying out the idea of "weird Sisters." 669. Dreamed. Transitive ? 674-706. In broken dreams If you cannot, keep it in mind. woke. Interpret his dream. 704. Grisly. Horrible and weird; a favorite word in old poetry. 721. Aspens. Why are they especially mentioned? out the metaphor. 731. Douglas. See Tales of a Grandfather. 732. Brand. Sword. Follow 738. Orisons. Prayers. Find other words from same root. 745. Morning dawned. Why does the canto close with the dawn and not with undisturbed repose? GENERAL QUESTIONS ON CANTO FIRST 1. Poetry differs from prose in respect to its mission and style. What have you learned in Canto I. regarding each of these? How does the diction of poetry differ from that of prose? The arrangement of the words ? 2. Imagine a series of paintings that might be made from descriptions in this Canto. 3. Recall beautiful descriptive passages from your previous reading: passages by Irving, Hawthorne, Ruskin, Muir, Burroughs, and other masters. 4. Collect all the proofs of the delicacy and high breeding of the Knight and his hosts. Are they characteristics of the Highlanders? Have you read Ian Maclaren's sketches of Drumtochty? If so, you remember instances of fine courtesy among humble folk. 5. Compare the Knight's reception by Ellen Douglas with that of Ulysses by the Princess Nausicaa as told in the Odyssey, Book VIII. CANTO SECOND LINE 7. Minstrel gray. "Highland chieftains, to a late period, retained in their service the bard, as a family officer.". - SCOTT. It was the duty of this minstrel to improvise and sing accounts of clan battles and other warlike stories pertaining to the family. 9. Express the subject of this first stanza in two or three words. 10-16. Not. . . days. Give carefully in prose order. How many points of resemblance can you find between benefits, and the spray and ripple ? Is there a suggestion here that the minstrel guessed the stranger's name? 20. Battled line. Line of battle. N 30. Crest. Helmet or its plumes. Here apparently the head. 35. Hap. Misfortune. Erewhile. Formerly. 52-53. Blighted tree. Note the effectiveness of introducing the tree. 55. Reverend. Worthy of reverence. 56. As from. As if from. 64. As. fled. A similar omission. 79. My lyre. Whose lyre? Why? 80. Fair would. Fair that would. Is spy a pleasing word to apply to Ellen's interest? 87. Prize of festal day. Refers to tournaments. 94. Parts. Departs. Common in our older English. 109. Graeme. So spelled for the measure. Usually Graham. An ancient and powerful family who held large tracts in the counties of Dumbarton and Stirling. It included Wallace's comrade, Sir John the Graeme, who fell at Falkirk in 1298; the Marquis of Montrose, sung by Aytoun; and Claverhouse, Viscount of Dundee, the hero of Old Mortality. 115. Martial: Derivation. What month is named from the same source ? Saint Modan. One of the numerous Scotch abbots. He lived in the seventh century. 141. Bothwell's bannered hall. A beautiful ruined castle nine miles above Glasgow on the Clyde. 142. Ere Douglases to ruin driven. "The Earl of Angus had married the queen dowager, and availed himself of the right which he thus acquired, as well as of his extensive power, to retain / the king [James V.] in a sort of tutelage, which approached very near to captivity. Several open attempts were made to rescue James from this thraldom, with which he was well known to be deeply disgusted; but the valor of the Douglases and their allies gave them the victory in every conflict. At length the king, while residing at Falkland, contrived to escape by night out of his own court and palace, and rode full speed to Stirling Castle, where the governor, who was of the opposite faction, joyfully received him." Scott goes on to tell how James then summoned such peers as were hostile to the Douglas, and they decided to call the great earl, his brother and other kin, to appear before a certain day, or be banished. "But the earl appeared not, nor none for him; and so he was put to the horn, with all his kin and friends: so many as were contained in the summons, that compeared not, were banished, and were holden traitors to the king." 159. From Tweed to Spey. The southern and northern border rivers of Scotland, respectively. 170. Reave. Tear away. We still use participle reft. Cf. bereave and bereft. 170-171. The grieve. What was the stem? What the foliage? 200. Bleeding Heart. The cognizance of the Douglas, because Robert Bruce, dying, bequeathed his heart to his friend, Lord James Douglas. The story of its adventure with the Moslems is familiar. The heart is now in Melrose Abbey. 206. Strathspey. A Highland dance. See note to line 159. 214. Loch Lomond. The largest lake in Scotland, about twentythree miles by five. 216. Lennox foray. The Lennox family lived south of Loch Lomond. This means a foray into their territory. 220. Black Sir Roderick. Dhu is Gaelic for Black. |