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NOTES.
Of dull existence which had faintly gleam'd
Like yonder Serpent river, through dark rocks
Which bury it.”
—p. 32.
The Serpent River is a rapid mountain stream on the north side of Loch Leven, which after a fall of about twenty feet, rushes through a series of overhanging rocks, like natural arches, through which the rapid water below can be scarcely discerned.
Studded with island woods, which make the soul
Effeminate with richness, like the scenes
In which the baffled Campbells hid their shame,
And scorn'd their distant foes.”
—p. 33.
These lines refer to the charge which the enemies of the Campbells used to urge against them, that when beaten from the borders of Loch Finne, they found shelter on the shores and in the islands of Loch Awe, and defied their foes to follow them, by the proverb, “It is a far cry to Loch Awe.” Perhaps Loch Awe embraces or borders on the most lovely scenery in the Highlands, and Glencoe is embedded in that which is the most sublime.
Not awe-struck;—for The Beautiful was there
Triumphant in its palace.”
—p. 57.
In seeking to embody in this passage, the author's impression of the Cave of Fingal, in Staffa, he is aware that it differs from that which all the descriptions he has read of the same scene convey. All suggest far greater dimensions—a hollow far more vast and awful, but less exquisite in beauty, than to his eye the reality justifies. “Compared to this (it has been said) what are the cathedrals or the palaces built by men?—mere models or playthings;—imitative or diminutive as his works will always be when compared with those of nature.” According to the author's recollection, the cave would be more fitly compared to a narrow aisle of a great cathedral, fashioned with nicest art, and embellished with the most florid sculpture, than represented as something immeasurably greater than the cathedral itself; and the actual admeasurement of the cave will rather accord with this impression, than with that which is more popular. The height of the top of the arch above the water at mean tide is sixty-six feet; the breadth at the entrance forty-two feet; whence it contracts during its length of two hundred and twenty-seven feet, until at the extremity it is only twenty-two feet in width; and the roof descends in nearly the same proportion. When it is further recollected that even this width is narrowed to the eye by the row of exquisite columns which continue on the northern side, and along which the adventurer may step, and that a slight bend about half way breaks its uniformity, perhaps he will be pardoned for thinking that there has been much exaggeration in attributing the grandeur which arises from space and gloom to this wonderful cavern. On the other hand, justice has not been done—indeed, never can be done by words—to the fairy loveliness of the scene,—the delicate colour of the water,—the grace of the columns,—the elegance of the arched roof, and the blue serenity of the distant sea, as seen from beneath it.
To-night, and ere the morning, put in force
The Royal ordinance on the lives of all
Below the age of seventy.”
—p. 66.
The following is the despatch which Duncanson sent, and on which Glenlyon acted. It was addressed,
“You are hereby ordered to fall upon the rebels, and put all to the sword under 70;—you are to have special care that the old fox and his cubs do on no account escape your hands;—you are to secure all the avenues, that no man escape. This you are to put in execution at four in the morning precisely, and by that time, or very shortly after, I will strive to be at you with a stronger party; but if I do not come to you at four, you are not to tarry for me, but fall on. This is by the king's special command, for the good and safety of the country, that these miscreants be cut off root and branch. See that this is put in execution without either fear or favour, else you may expect to be treated as not true to the king or government, nor a fit man to carry a commission in the king's service. Expecting that you will not fail in the fulfilling hereof, as you love yourself, I subscribe these with my hand.
“Robert Duncanson.”Upon King James's side; but with Dundee
His cause expired.”
—p. 74.
“Dundee himself,” says Sir Walter Scott, “contrary to the advice of the Highland chiefs, was in the front of the battle, and fatally conspicuous. Observing the stand made by two English regiments, he galloped towards the clan of Macdonald, and was in the act of bringing them to the charge, with his right arm elevated, as if pointing the way to victory, when he was struck by a bullet beneath the armpit, where he was unprotected by the cuirass. He tried to ride on, but being unable to keep the saddle, fell mortally wounded, and died in the course of that night. Such was the general opinion of his talents and courage, and the general sense of the peculiar crisis at which his death took place, that the common people of the low country cannot even now be persuaded that he died an ordinary death. They say that a servant of his own, shocked at the severities which, if triumphant, his master was likely to accomplish against the Presbyterians, and giving way to the popular prejudice of his having a charm against the effect of leaden balls, shot him in the tumult of the battle with a silver button taken from
Sir Walter Scott says,—“Claverhouse's sword, a straight cut-and-thrust blade, is [1802] in the possession of Lord Woodhouselee; and the buff coat which he wore at the battle of Killicrankie, having the fatal shot-hole under the armpit of it, is preserved in Pennycuick-house, the seat of Sir George Clerk, Baronet.”—Border Minstrelsy, vol. ii. p. 45; Note to Tales of a Grandfather, vol. ii. 114.
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