Part 24

"And hollow trunk of some old tree My chamber for the night must be."

313. Highland plunderers. "The clans who inhabited the romantic regions in the neighborhood of Loch Katrine were, even until a late period, much addicted to predatory excursions upon their Lowland neighbors" (Scott).

317. Fall the worst. If the worst befall that can happen. Cf. Shakespeare, M. of V. i. 2. 96: "an the worst fall that ever fell, I hope I shall make shift to go without him."

319. But scarce again, etc. The MS. reads:

"The bugle shrill again he wound, And lo! forth starting at the sound;"

and below:

"A little skiff shot to the bay. The hunter left his airy stand, And when the boat had touched the sand, Concealed he stood amid the brake, To view this Lady of the Lake."

336. Strain. The 1st ed. has a comma after strain, and a period after art in 340. The ed. of 1821 points as in the text.

342. Naiad. Water nymph.

343. And ne'er did Grecian chisel, etc. The MS. reads:

"A finer form, a fairer face, Had never marble Nymph or Grace, That boasts the Grecian chisel's trace;"

and in 359 below, "a stranger tongue."

353. Measured mood. The formal manner required by court etiquette.

360. Dear. This is the reading of the 1st ed. and almost every other that we have seen. We are inclined, however, to believe that Scott wrote "clear." The facsimiles of his handwriting show that his d's and cl's might easily be confounded by a compositor.

363. Snood. The fillet or ribbon with which the Scotch maidens bound their hair. See on iii. 114 below. It is the rich materials of snood, plaid, and brooch that betray her birth.

The rhyme of plaid with maid and betrayed is not imperfect, the Scottish pronunciation of plaid being like our played.

385. One only. For the inversion, cf. Shakespeare, J. C. i. 2. 157: "When there is in it but one only man;" Goldsmith, D. V. 39: "One only master grasps the whole domain," etc.

393. Awhile she paused, etc. The MS. reads:

"A space she paused, no answer came,-- 'Alpine, was thine the blast?' the name Less resolutely uttered fell, The echoes could not catch the swell. 'Nor foe nor friend,' the stranger said, Advancing from the hazel shade. The startled maid, with hasty oar, Pushed her light shallop from the shore."

and just below:

"So o'er the lake the swan would spring, Then turn to prune its ruffled wing."

404. Prune. Pick out damaged feathers and arrange the plumage with the bill. Cf. Shakespeare, Cymb. v. 4. 118:

"his royal bird Prunes the immortal wing," etc.

408. Wont. Are wont, or accustomed; now used only in the participle. The form here is the past tense of the obsolete won, or wone, to dwell. The present is found in Milton, P. L. vii. 457:

"As from his lair the wild beast, where he wons In forest wild, in thicket, brake, or den."

Cf. Spenser, Virgil's Gnat:

"Of Poets Prince, whether we woon beside Faire Xanthus sprincled with Chimaeras blood, Or in the woods of Astery abide;"

and Colin Clouts Come Home Againe: