Walter Scott - Scott's Lady of the Lake

The heath or heather is a small ever-green shrub very common in the Scottish Highlands.

The head of a stag is said to be beamed after its fourth-year horns appear.

“Tainted gale,” i.e., the wind scented with the odor of the pursuers.

A pack of hounds is said to "open" when the dogs begin to bark, upon recovering the scent or catching sight of the game.

A confused or boisterous gathering.

Sight.

A deep pool.

Severely.

Or Monteith, a picturesque district of Scotland watered by the river Teith.

An estate about two miles from Callander on the wooded banks of the Keltie.

Bridge.

Spur.

Thicket; underbrush.

The trunk of a tree.

Ben Venue.

“Turn to bay,” i.e., to face an antagonist, when escape is no longer possible.

“The Trosachs” is the name now applied to the valley between Lochs Katrine and Achray.

Echoed back their barks or chidings.

In.

The river which flows through Paris, France.

Be to (from the old verb worthen , “to become”).

“Hied his way,” i.e., hastened.

“The western waves,” etc., i.e., the horizontal rays of the setting sun.

Isolated.

The Tower of Babel (see Gen. xi. 1-9).

The many-storied tower-like temples of the Chinese and Hindoos are called “pagodas.” About each story there is a balcony decorated with pendants or numerous projecting points or crests.

Bright.

Kind; bountiful.

The trembling poplar, so called from the trembling of its leaves, which move with the slightest impulse of the air.

Careful.

A bushy shrub common in western Europe.

Used adverbially.

“Little Mountain,” east of Loch Katrine.

The first canonical hour of the day in the Catholic Church, beginning properly at midnight. Here referring to the striking of the hour by the "cloister" bell.

“Drop a bead,” i.e., say a prayer. The rosary used by Catholics is a string of beads by which count may be kept of the prayers recited.

Happen; befall.

( Nā´yăd. ) In classic mythology, one of the lower female deities who presided over lakes, streams, and fountains, as the Nymphs presided over mountains, forests, and meadows.

The Graces were in classic mythology three lovely sisters who attended Apollo and Venus.

A band used by Scottish maidens to bind the hair.

( Plāyed. ) Several yards’ length of usually checkered woolen cloth called "tartan," which the Scottish Highlanders of both sexes wound about their bodies, and which formed a characteristic feature of their national costume.

Boat.

Trim or arrange.

Of wisdom.

Need of food.

Bewildered.

Heather, of which the Highlanders’ rude couches were made.

( Tär´mĭ-gan. ) The white grouse.

Lake.

Crucifix or cross of Christ.

“Vision’d future,” i.e., visions of the future.

Lincoln green is a kind of cloth made in Lincoln.

“Fair degree,” i.e., high rank.

Wandering.

True.

“High emprise,” i.e., dangerous adventures.

“Idæan vine,” i.e., a translation of the Latin name of the red whortleberry, Vitis Idæa ; but this is a shrub, and could not be “taught to twine.”

Which could.

Small shield.

Hangings used to decorate the walls of a room.

Endure.

Ferragus and Ascabart were two giants of romantic fable. The former appears in Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso; the latter in the History of Bevis of Hampton. His effigy may be seen guarding the gate at Southampton.

Dame Margaret was Roderick Dhu’s mother, but had acted as mother to Ellen, and held a higher place in her affections than the ties of blood would warrant.

Bitterest.

An old name of Stirling Castle.

Fitz means “son” in Norman French.

“By the misfortunes of the earlier Jameses and the internal feuds of the Scottish chiefs, the kingly power had become little more than a name.”

Knows.

A half-brother of James V. (James Fitz-James).

Hilly or undulating land.

Refreshing.

The Highlanders’ battle air, played upon the bagpipes.

Untilled land.

A kind of heron said to utter a loud and peculiar booming note.

( Rē-vāl´yĕ. ) The morning call to soldiers to arise.

A mailed glove used by warriors in the middle ages to protect their hands from wounds.

Repeated.

A small European song bird.

( Măt´in. ) Pertaining to the morning.

Highland chieftains often retained in their service a bard or minstrel, who was well versed not only in the genealogy and achievements of the particular clan or family to which he was attached, but in the more general history of Scotland as well.

Ranged in order of battle.

Recompense.

Of ducks.

The ancient and powerful family of Graham of Dumbarton and Stirling supplied some of the most remarkable characters in Scottish annals.