Marmion Part 30

Hamlet himself, ib. line 83, says:--

'Thus conscience does make cowards of us all.'

line 234. For vail = lower, see close of Editor's Preface.

Stanza XV. line 243. For practised on = plotted against, cp. King Lear, iii. 2. 57, 'Hast practised on man's life.'

lines 248-51. See above, II. xxix.

Stanza XVII. line 286. Cp. Burns's 'Bonnie Doon':--

'And my fause lover staw my rose, But ah! he left the thorn wi' me.'

Stanza XVIII. line 307. Loch Vennachar, in the south of Perths.h.i.+re, is the most easterly of the three lakes celebrated in the 'Lady of the Lake.'

line 321. Cp. 'wonder-wounded hearers,' Hamlet, v. I. 265.

Stanza XIX. line 324. Clerk is a scholar, as in Chaucer's 'Clerk of Oxenford,' &c., and the 'learned clerks' of 2 Henry VI, iv. 7. 76.

See below, VI. xv. 459, 'clerkly skill.'

line 325. Alexander III (1240-1286) came to the throne at the age of nine, and proved himself a vigorous and large-hearted king. He was killed by a fall from his horse, near Kinghorn, Fife, where there is a suitable monument to his memory. The contemporary lament for his death bewails him as one that 'Scotland led in love and lee.' Sir Walter Scott (Introductory Remarks to 'Border Minstrelsy') calls him 'the last Scottish king of the pure Celtic race.'

line 333. 'A vaulted hall under the ancient castle of Gifford, or Yester (for it bears either name indifferently), the construction of which has, from a very remote period, been ascribed to magic. The Statistical Account of the Parish of Garvald and Baro, gives the following account of the present state of this castle and apartment:--"Upon a peninsula, formed by the water of Hopes on the east, and a large rivulet on the west, stands the ancient castle of Yester. Sir David Dalrymple, in his annals, relates that 'Hugh Gifford de Yester died in 1267; that in his castle there was a capacious cavern, formed by magical art, and called in the country Bo-Hall, i.e. Hobgoblin Hall.' A stair of twenty-four steps led down to this apartment, which is a large and s.p.a.cious hall, with an arched roof; and though it hath stood for so many centuries, and been exposed to the external air for a period of fifty or sixty years, it is still as firm and entire as if it had only stood a few years. From the floor of this hall, another stair of thirty-six steps leads down to a pit which hath a communication with Hopes- water. A great part of the walls of this large and ancient castle are still standing. There is a tradition that the castle of Yester was the last fortification, in this country, that surrendered to General Gray, sent into Scotland by Protector Somerset."-- Statistical Account, vol. xiii. I have only to add, that, in 1737, the Goblin Hall was tenanted by the Marquis of Tweedale's falconer, as I learn from a poem by Boyse, ent.i.tled "Retirement," written upon visiting Yester. It is now rendered inaccessible by the fall of the stair.

'Sir David Dalrymple's authority for the anecdote is in Fordun, whose words are:--"A. D. MCCLXVII. Hugo Giffard de Yester moritur; cujus castrum, vel saltem caveam, et donglonem, arte daemonica antique relationes ferunt fabrifactas: nam ibidem habetur mirabilis specus subterraneus, opere mirifico constructus, magno terrarum spatio protelatus, qui communiter BO-HALL appellatus est." Lib. x.

cap. 21.--Sir David conjectures, that Hugh de Gifford must either have been a very wise man, or a great oppressor.'--SCOTT.

Stanza XX. line 354. 'In 1263, Haco, King of Norway, came into the Frith of Clyde with a powerful armament, and made a descent at Largs, in Ayrs.h.i.+re. Here he was encountered and defeated, on the 2nd October, by Alexander III. Haco retreated to Orkney, where he died soon after this disgrace to his arms. There are still existing, near the place of battle, many barrows, some of which, having been opened, were found, as usual, to contain bones and urns.'--SCOTT.

line 358. Ayrs.h.i.+re in early times comprised three divisions, Cunninghame in the north, Kyle between the Irvine and the Doon, and Carrick to the south of that stream. Burns, by his song 'There was a Lad was born in Kyle,' has immortalised the middle division, which an old proverb had distinguished as productive of men, in contradistinction to the dairy produce and the stock of the other two.

line 362. '"Magicians, as is well known, were very curious in the choice and form of their vestments. Their caps are oval, or like pyramids, with lappets on each side, and fur within. Their gowns are long, and furred with fox-skins, under which they have a linen garment reaching to the knee. Their girdles are three inches broad, and have many cabalistical names, with crosses, trines, and circles inscribed on them. Their shoes should be of new russet leather, with a cross cut upon them. Their knives are dagger-fas.h.i.+on; and their swords have neither guard nor scabbard."--See these, and many other particulars, in the Discourse concerning Devils and Spirits, annexed to REGINALD SCOTT'S Discovery of Witchcraft, edition 1665.'--SCOTT.

line 369. Scott quotes thus from Reginald Scott's 'Discovery of Witchcraft' (1665):--

'A pentacle is a piece of fine linen, folded with five corners, according to the five senses, and suitably inscribed with characters. This the magician extends towards the spirits which he invokes, when they are stubborn and rebellious, and refuse to be conformable unto the ceremonies and rights of magic.'

line 373. The term 'Combust' is applied to the moon or the planets, when, through being not more than eight and a half degrees from the sun, they are invisible in his light. Chaucer, in the 'Astrolabe,'

has 'that he be not retrograd ne COMBUST.' 'Retrograde' is the term descriptive of the motion of the planets from east to west. This is the case when the planets are visible on the side opposite to the sun. See Airy's 'Popular Astronomy,' p. 124. 'Trine' refers to the appearance of planets 'distant from each other 120 degrees, or the third part of the zodiac. 'Trine was considered a favourable conjunction. Cp. note on Par. Lost, X. 659, in Clarendon Press Milton--

'In s.e.xtile, square, and TRINE, and opposite.'

Stanza XXII. line 407. 'It is a popular article of faith that those who are born on Christmas or Good Friday have the power of seeing spirits and even of commanding them. The Spaniards imputed the haggard and downcast looks of their Philip II to the disagreeable visions to which this privilege subjected him.'--SCOTT.

line 408. See St. Matthew xxvii. 50-53.

line 415. Richard I of England (1189-99) could not himself have presented the sword, but the line is a spirited example of poetic licence.

line 416. Tide what tide is happen what may. Cp. Thomas the Rhymer's remarkable forecast regarding the family of Haig in Scott's country;--

'Betide, betide, whate'er betide, Haig shall be Haig of Bemerside.'

line 420. Alexander III was the last of his line, which included three famous Malcolms, viz. Malcolm II, grandfather of the 'gracious Duncan,' who died in 1033; Malcolm Canmore, who fell at Alnwick in 1093; and Malcolm IV, 'The Maiden,' who was only 34 at his death in 1165. The reference here is probably to Canmore.

Stanza XXIII. line 438. See Chambers's 'Encyclopaedia,' articles on 'Earth-houses' and 'Picts' Houses.'

line 445. Legends tell of belated travellers being spell-bound in such spots.

line 461. The reference is to Edward I, who went as Prince Edward to Palestine in 1270, so that the legend at this point embodies an anachronism, Edward became king in 1274. His s.h.i.+eld and banner were emblazoned with 'three leopards courant of fine gold set on red.'

Stanza XXIV. line 472. Largs, on the coast of Ayrs.h.i.+re, opposite Bute.

line 479. The ravens on the Norse banners were said to flutter their wings before a victory, and to let them droop in prospect of a defeat.

line 487. 'For an account of the expedition to Copenhagen in 1801, see Southey's "Life of Nelson," chap. vii.'--LOCKHART. There may possibly be a reference to the bombardment of Copenhagen in 1807.

Stanza XXV. line 497. The slight wound was due to the start mentioned in line 462. He had been warned against letting his heart fail him.

line 503. Scott quotes thus from the essay on 'Fairy Superst.i.tions'

in the 'Border Minstrelsy,' vol. ii., to show 'whence many of the particulars of the combat between Alexander III and the Goblin Knight are derived':--

'Gervase of Tilbury (Otia Imperial ap. Script, rer. Brunsvic, vol.

i. p. 797), relates the following popular story concerning a fairy knight: "Osbert, a bold and powerful baron, visited a n.o.ble family in the vicinity of Wandlebury, in the bishopric of Ely. Among other stories related in the social circle of his friends, who, according to custom, amused each other by repeating ancient tales and traditions, he was informed, that if any knight, unattended, entered an adjacent plain by moonlight, and challenged an adversary to appear, he would be immediately encountered by a spirit in the form of a knight. Osbert resolved to make the experiment, and set out, attended by a single squire, whom he ordered to remain without the limits of the plain, which was surrounded by an ancient intrenchment. On repeating the challenge, he was instantly a.s.sailed by an adversary, whom he quickly unhorsed, and seized the reins of his steed. Daring this operation, his ghostly opponent sprung up, and darting his spear, like a javelin, at Osbert, wounded him in the thigh. Osbert returned in triumph with the horse, which he committed to the care of his servants. The horse was of a sable colour, as well as his whole accoutrements, and apparently of great beauty and vigour. He remained with his keeper till c.o.c.k-crowing, when, with eyes flas.h.i.+ng fire, he reared, spurned the ground, and vanished. On disarming himself, Osbert perceived that he was wounded, and that one of his steel boots was full of blood." Gervase adds, that, "as long as he lived, the scar of his wound opened afresh on the anniversary of the eve on which he encountered the spirit." Less fortunate was the gallant Bohemian knight, who travelling by night with a single companion, "came in sight of a fairy host, arrayed under displayed banners. Despising the remonstrances of his friend, the knight p.r.i.c.ked forward to break a lance with a champion, who advanced from the ranks apparently in defiance. His companion beheld the Bohemian overthrown, horse and man, by his aerial adversary; and returning to the spot next morning, he found the mangled corpses of the knight and steed."--Hierarchy of Blessed Angels, p. 554.

'Besides these instances of Elfin chivalry above quoted, many others might be alleged in support of employing fairy machinery in this manner. The forest of Glenmore, in the North Highlands, is believed to be haunted by a spirit called Lham-dearg, in the array of an ancient warrior, having a b.l.o.o.d.y hand, from which he takes his name.

He insists upon those with whom he meets doing battle with him; and the clergyman, who makes up an account of the district, extant in the Macfarlane MS., in the Advocates' Library, gravely a.s.sures us, that, in his time, Lham-dearg fought with three brothers whom he met in his walk, none of whom long survived the ghostly conflict.

Barclay, in his "Euphormion," gives a singular account of an officer who had ventured, with his servant, rather to intrude upon a haunted house, in a town in Flanders, than to put up with worse quarters elsewhere. After taking the usual precautions of providing fires, lights, and arms, they watched till midnight, when, behold! the severed arm of a man dropped from the ceiling; this was followed by the legs, the other arm, the trunk, and the head of the body, all separately. The members rolled together, united themselves in the presence of the astonished soldiers, and formed a gigantic warrior, who defied them both to combat. Their blows, although they penetrated the body, and amputated the limbs, of their strange antagonist, had, as the reader may easily believe, little effect on an enemy who possessed such powers of self-union; nor did his efforts make more effectual impression upon them. How the combat terminated I do not exactly remember, and have not the book by me; but I think the spirit made to the intruders on his mansion the usual proposal, that they should renounce their redemption; which being declined, he was obliged to retreat.

'The most singular tale of this kind is contained in an extract communicated to me by my friend Mr. Surtees of Mainsforth, in the Bishopric, who copied it from a MS. note in a copy of Burthogge "On the Nature of Spirits," 8vo, 1694, which had been the property of the late Mr. Gill, attorney-general to Egerton, Bishop of Durham.

"It was not," says my obliging correspondent" in Mr. Gill's own hand, but probably an hundred years older, and was said to be, E libro Convent. Dunelm. per T. C. extract., whom I believe to have been Thomas Cradocke, Esq., barrister, who held several offices under the See of Durham a hundred years ago. Mr. Gill was possessed of most of his ma.n.u.scripts." The extract, which, in fact, suggested the introduction of the tale into the present poem, runs thus:--

"Rem miram hujusmodi que nostris temporibus evenit, teste viro n.o.bili ac fide dignissimo, enarrare haud pigebit. Radulphus Bulmer, c.u.m e castris, quae tunc temporis prope Norham posita erant, oblectationis causa, exiisset, ac in ulteriore Tuedae ripa praaedam c.u.m canibus leporariis insequeretur, forte c.u.m Scoto quodam n.o.bili, sibi antehac, ut videbatur, familiariter cognito, congressus est; ac, ut fas erat inter inimicos, flagrante bello, brevissima interrogationis mora interposita, alterutros invicem incitato cursu infestis animis petiere. Noster, primo occursu, equo praeacerrimo hostis impetu labante, in terram eversus pectore et capite laeso, sanguinem, mortuo similis, evomebat. Quern ut se aegre habentem comiter allocutus est alter, pollicitusque, modo auxilium non abnegaret, monitisque obtemperans ab omni rerum sacrarum cogitatione abstineret, nec Deo, Deiparae Virgini, Sanctove ullo, preces aut vota efferret vel inter sese conciperet, se brevi eum sanum validumque rest.i.turum esse. Prae angore oblata conditio accepta est; ac veterator ille nescio quid obscaeni murmuris insusurrans, prehensa manu, dicto citius in pedes sanum ut antea sublevavit.

Noster autem, maxima prae rei inaudita novitate formidine perculsus, MI JESU! exclamat, vel quid simile; ac subito respiciens nec hostem nec ullum alium conspicit, equum solum gravissimo nuper casu afflictum, per summam pacem in rivo fluvii pascentem. Ad castra itaque mirabundus revertens, fidei dubius, rem primo occultavit, dein, confecto bello, Confessori suo totam a.s.seruit. Delusoria procul dubio res tota, ac mala veteratoris illius aperitur fraus, qua hominem Christianum ad vet.i.tum tale auxilium pelliceret. Nomen utcunque illius (n.o.bilis alias ac clari) reticendum duco, c.u.m haud dubium sit quin Diabolus, Deo permittente, formam quam libuerit, immo angeli lucis, sacro oculo Dei teste, posse a.s.sumere."

'The MS. chronicle, from which Mr. Cradocke took this curious extract, cannot now be found in the Chapter Library of Durham, or, at least, has. .h.i.therto escaped the researches of my friendly correspondent.

'Lindesay is made to allude to this adventure of Ralph Bulmer, as a well-known story, in the 4th Canto, Stanza xxii. p. 103.

'The northern champions of old were accustomed peculiarly to search for, and delight in, encounters with such military spectres. See a whole chapter on the subject in BARTHOLINUS De Causis contemptae Mortis a Danis, p. 253.'

line 508. Sir Gilbert Hay, as a faithful adherent of Bruce, was created Lord High Constable of Scotland. See note in 'Lord of the Isles,' II. xiii. How 'the Haies had their beginning of n.o.bilitie'

is told in Holinshed's 'Scottish Chronicle,' I. 308.

Stanza XXVI. line 510. Quaigh, 'a wooden cup, composed of staves hooped together.'--SCOTT.

Stanza XXVIII. line 551. Darkling, adv. (not adj. as in Keats's 'darkling way' in 'Eve of St. Agnes'), really means 'in the dark.'

Cp. 'Lady of the Lake,' IV. (Alice Brand):--