Rather will Ellen Douglas dwell Where ne'er was spoke a Scottish word, XIV. "Thou shakest, good friend, thy tresses grey- 1 3 But what I own?-I grant him brave, Among his clan the wealth they bring, From peasants slaughter'd in their shed? 'The parish of Kilmaronock, at the eastern extremity of Loch-Lomond, derives its name from a cell or chapel, dedicated to Saint Maronoch, or Marnoch, or Maronnan, about whose sanctity very little is now remembered. There is a fountain devoted to him in the same parish; but its virtues, like the merits of its patron, have fallen into oblivion. ["Ellen is most exquisitely drawn, and could not have been improved by contrast. She is beautiful, frank, affectionate, rational, and playful, combining the innocence of a child with the elevated sentiments and courage of a heroine."-Quarterly Review.] 3 This is a beautiful cascade made by a mountain stream called the Keltie, at a place called the Bridge of Bracklinn, about a mile from the village of Callender, in Menteith. Above a chasm, where the brook precipitates itself from a height of at least fifty feet, there is thrown, for the convenience of the neighbourhood, a rustic foot-bridge, of about three feet in breadth, and without ledges, which is scarcely to be crossed by a stranger without awe and apprehension. I shudder'd at his brow of gloom, His shadowy plaid, and sable plume; A Douglas knew the word, with fear. XV. "What think I of him ?-woe the while If courtly spy hath harbour'd here, What yet may jealous Roderick say? Archibald, the third Earl of Douglas, was so unfortunate in all his enterprises, that he acquired the epithet of TINE-MAN, because he tined, or lost, his followers in every battle which he fought. He was vanquished, as every reader must remember, in the bloody battle of Homildon-hill, near Wooler, where he himself lost an eye, and was made prisoner by Hotspur. He was no less unfortunate when allied with Percy, being wounded and taken at the battle of Shrewsbury. He was so unsuccessful in an attempt to besiege Roxburgh Castle, that it was called the Foul Raid, or disgraceful expedition. His ill fortune left him indeed at the battle of Beauge, in France; but it was only to return with double emphasis at the subsequent action of Vernoil, the last and most unlucky of his encounters, in which he fell, with the flower of the Scottish chivalry, then serving as auxiliaries in France, and about two thousand common soldiers, A. D. 1424. 2 [See Appendix, Note D.] 3 [The moving picture-the effect of the sounds-and the wild character and strong peculiar nationality of the whole procession, are given with inimitable spirit and power of expression."-JEFFREY.] Nor breath is dimpling in the lake, XVI. Far up the lengthen'd lake were spied From their loud chanters down, and sweep The furrow'd bosom of the deep, As, rushing through the lake amain, They plied the ancient Highland strain. XVII. Ever, as on they bore, more loud Then bursting bolder on the ear, The clan's shrill Gathering they could hear; 'Cotton-grass. The pipe of the bagpipe. 3 The connoisseurs in pipe-music affect to discover in a well composed pibroch, the imi Thick beat the rapid notes, as when With mingled outcry, shrieks, and blows; XVIII. The war-pipes ceased; but lake and hill tative sounds of march, conflict, flight, pursuit, and all the "current of a heady fight." To this opinion Dr. Beattie has given his suffrage, in the following elegant passage :-"A pibroch is a species of tune, peculiar, I think, to the Highlands and Western Isles of Scotland. It is performed on a bagpipe, and differs totally from all other music. Its rhythm is so irregular, and its notes, especially in the quick movement, so mixed and huddled together, that a stranger finds it impossible to reconcile his ear to it, so as to perceive its modulation. Some of these pibrochs, being intended to represent a battle, begin with a grave motion, resembling a march; then gradually quicken into the onset; run off with noisy confusion, and turbulent rapidity, to imitate the conflict and pursuit ; then swell into a few flourishes of triumphant joy; and perhaps close with the wild and slow wailings of a funeral procession."-Essay on Laughter and Ludicrous Composition, chap. iii. Note. XIX. BOAT SONG. Hail to the Chief who in triumph advances! Earth lend it sap anew, Gayly to bourgeon, and broadly to grow, While every Highland glen Sends our shout back agen, "Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho! ieroe!" Ours is no sapling, chance-sown by the fountain, Blooming at Beltane, in winter to fade; When the whirlwind has stripp'd every leaf on the mountain, Moor'd in the rifted rock, Proof to the tempest's shock, "Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu, ho! ieroe!" XX. Proudly our pibroch has thrill'd in Glen Fruin, Glen Luss and Ross-dhu, they are smoking in ruin, Besides his ordinary name and surname, which were chiefly used in the intercourse with the Lowlands, every Highland chief had an epithet expressive of his patriarchal dignity as head of the clan, and which was common to all his predecessors and successors, as Pharaoh to the kings of Egypt, or Arsaces to those of Parthia. This name was usually a patronymic, expressive of his descent from the founder of the family. Thus the Duke of Argyle is called Mac-Callum More, or the son of Colin the Great. Sometimes, however, it is derived from armorial distinctions, or the memory of some great feat; thus Lord Seaforth, as chief of the Mackenzies, or Clan-Kenuet, bears the epithet of Caber-fae, or Buck's Head, as representative of Colin Fitzgerald, founder of the family, who saved the Scottish king, when endangered by a stag. But besides this title, which belonged to his office and dignity, the chieftain had usually another peculiar to himself, which distinguished him from the chieftains of the same race. This was sometimes derived from complexion, as dhu or roy; sometimes from size, as beg or more; at other times, from some peculiar exploit, or from some peculiarity of habit or appearance. The line of the text therefore signifies, Black Roderick, the descendant of Alpine. The song itself is intended as an imitation of the jorrams, or boat songs, of the Highlanders, which were usually composed in honour of a favourite chief. They are so adapted as to keep time with the sweep of the oars, and it is easy to distinguish between those intended to be sung to the oars of a galley, where the stroke is lengthened and doubled, as it were, and those which were timed to the rowers of an ordinary boat. |