extremities. in the fire, and extinguished them in the blood of the animal. This was called the Fiery Cross, also Crean Tarigh, or the Cross of Shame, because disobedience to what the symbol implied, inferred infamy." This was carried by relays of swift messengers, and every able-bodied man, between sixteen years and sixty, on sight of it was obliged to hasten to the meeting-place. "During the civil war of 1745-46, the Fiery Cross often made its circuit; and upon one occasion it passed through the district of Breadalbane, a tract of thirty-two miles, in three hours." 19-40. The Summer dawn's love. Why is this peaceful picture introduced here ? 30. Chalice. Cup. 39. Cushat dove. Ring-dove. 40. In speaking of Scott's use of color, Ruskin quotes the above passage, which he says "has no form in it at all except in one word (chalice), but wholly composes its imagery either of color, or of that delicate half-believed life which we have seen to be so important an element in modern landscape." What does he mean by "half-believed life"? 46. Impatient blade. Transferred epithet. 47. Vassals. Dependents of a feudal lord. 51. Preface meet. Fitting preparation. 57. Sails. What is meant? Cf. Deut. xxxii. 11. 62. Rowan. Mountain ash. 63. Shivers. Slivers. 69-70. His . . . bore. Explain. 74. Benharrow. Mountain at head of Loch Lomond, 76. Druid. See early British history. 81. Hallowed. Christian. 87. Strath. A broad river valley. 91. This legend was borrowed by Watch for its compounds. Scott from some old tales Medieval heroes were apt to have supernatural origins, as King Arthur and Sigurd. 104. Fieldfare. A small brownish thrush. 130. Hap. See note to II., 1. 35. 131. MS. "Till, driven to frenzy, he believed The legend of his birth received." 138. Sable-lettered. Black-lettered, like all old English books. 142. Cabala. Mysteries. 162. Disembodied world. World bereft of human beings. 168. Ben-Shie. Cf. Irish Banshee. A domestic spirit whose wailings foreboded death. 171. Shingly. Pebbly. 174. All augured line. Explain. 188-189. Crosslet cubit's. Little cross, in length the dis tance from the elbow to the tip of the forefinger. 191. Inch-Cailliach. "Isle of Nuns" in Loch Lomond. 199-281. Make a study of the different curses and responses, the means by which the weird effect is produced, the climax of each curse, and see which is the most terrible. 200. Sepulchral yew. Because common in graveyards. 212. Strook. Old past of strike. 213-217. And first . . . hoarse. See how the sound, including alliteration, carries out the sense. 220-221. Joyous, exulting. At the thought of prey. 255. Beala-nam-bo. Pass the other side of Benvenue from Goblin's Cave. 278. Grace. Forgiveness. 279. This sign. Sign of the cross. A 286. Lanrick Mead. At northwestern end of Loch Vennachar. 288 et seq. Make especial study of Malise's run. It is one of the finest things in the poem. Note the various touches by which the feeling of breathless speed is produced. 300. Dun deer's hide. A sort of buskin or moccasin. 304. Steepy. Steep; poetic. 310. Scaur. Cliff. Same as scar. Cf. Scarborough, and Tennyson's Bugle Song, "O sweet and far, from cliff and scar." 322-347. Fast . . . loud. Note details. 332. Cheer. Look. 344. Bosky. Woody. 349. Duncraggan. Near Brigg of Turk. 369. Coronach. A funeral lamentation, mingled with praise of the dead. What is the effect of the amphibrachic movement? "He is gone on 384. Flushing. 386. Correi. He is lost to the mountain, the forest, Like a summer-dried fountain When our need was the sorest." With its full color and beauty. Hollow frequented by game. 387. Cumber. Puzzling difficulty. 393. Study all comparisons in the above song. 394. Stumah. "Faithful," the dog. 403. Precipitate. Headlong. 425. Essays. Tries. 439. Hest. Command. How do we know that Duncan was Roderick's right-hand man! What makes the pathos of this description, farther than that there was a death ? 453. Scott summarizes this imaginary passage of the Fiery Cross as being to Duncraggan, toward Callander until it turns to the left for the Chapel of Saint Bride, then from that vicinity along Loch Lubnaig through the glens of Balquidder, including the neighboring Glenfinlas and Strathgartney. 453. Strath-Ire. Connecting Lochs Voil and Lubnaig. 465. Reeled his sympathetic eye. Dizzy from gazing at the dancing water. 478. Blithesome rout. Merry company. Morning-tide. Cf. Eastertide, Christmastide. 480. Tombea. A certain hamlet. 482. Gothic. Pointed. 485-499. Bonneted sire . . . cheer. Can you picture the various individuals? 485. Coif-clad. Wearing a sort of cap or kerchief, the sign of the matron as distinguished from the virgin's snood. 533-534. Mingled fame. What do these lines mean? 542. Like fire flint. Explain simile. 544. Song. How does the versification of this differ from the main part of the poem? 546. Bracken. Ferns, "brakes." 569. Not faster. Conclusion of this sentence? Braes. Hillsides. Cf. "Ye banks and braes of Bonnie Doon.” 570. Balquidder. At eastern end of Loch Voil. The burialplace of Rob Roy. 577. Coil. Confusion. 599-600. No oath ... A Shakespearean word. command. These lines show the abso lute obedience of the clansmen to a Highland chieftain. 307-609. Rednock, Cardross, Duchray. Castles on the route. 611. Wot ye. Know ye. Cf. Bible. 2 633. Incumbent. Overhanging; used literally. This grotto was supposed to be inhabited by a sort of Scottish Satyr or lubberly Brownie. 641. Still. Noun, stillness. 643. Chafed with. Blew over surface, roughening it. Cf. Julius Cæsar, I. ii. 101, “The troubled Tiber chafing with her shores." Originally chafe meant "to warm (chafing-dish); then "to warm by rubbing"; finally "to fret." 651-658. Yet . . . gaze. What besides the seclusion of the entrance made Douglas and his daughter safe in the cave? 672. Single page. According to Scott, the regular officers attached to a Highland chief were: (1) the henchman; (2) the bard; (3) the bladier, or spokesman; (4) the gillie-more, or sword-bearer [alluded to in this line]; (5) a gillie, who bore the chief across the fords; (6) a gillie to lead the horse; (7) a baggageman; (8) a piper; (9) a piper's gillie. 683-684. Feathers gleam. Explain. 713-736. Notice arrangement of rhymes. 737-750. Died shot. Notice how dramatic this is. 751. That silvery bay. What one? 758. Some . strayed. Do you like this line? Why not? GENERAL QUESTIONS ON CANTO THIRD 1. What relics of ancient superstition are seen in this Canto ? 2. Make a list of the synonyms for "curse." 3. Compare the Monk with Robin Hood's Friar Tuck. 4. Why is the imagery in the Coronach especially appropriate to the death of Duncan ? 5. Make a picture in your own words of the Goblin Cave. Draw one if you can. |