Marmion Part 37

Stanza x.x.xIV. line 998. Cp. AEneid, IV. 174:--

'Fama, malum qua non aliud velocius ullum.'

line 1001. Strongholds in Northumberland, near Flodden.

line 1017. Opposite Flodden, beyond the Till.

line 1032. 'bated of, diminished. Cp. Timon of Athens, ii. 2. 208:--

' You do yourselves Much wrong; you BATE too much of your own merits.'

INTRODUCTION TO CANTO SIXTH.

Richard Heber (1773-1833) half-brother of Bishop Heber, was for some time M. P. for Oxford University. His large inherited fortune enabled him freely to indulge his love of books, and his, English library of 105,000 volumes cost him L180,000. He had thousands besides on the continent. As a cherished friend of Scott's he is frequently mentioned in the 'Life.' He introduced Leyden to Scott (Life, i. 333, 1837 ed.).

'Mertoun House, the seat of Hugh Scott, Esq., of Harden, is beautifully situated on the Tweed, about two miles below Dryburgh Abbey.'--LOCKHART.

line 7. 'The Iol of the heathen Danes (a word still applied to Christmas in Scotland; was solemnized with great festivity. The humour of the Danes at table displayed itself in pelting each other with bones, and Torfaeus tells a long and curious story, in the History of Hrolfe Kraka, of one Hottus, an inmate of the Court of Denmark, who was so generally a.s.sailed with these missiles, that he constructed, out of the bones with which he was overwhelmed, a very respectable intrenchment, against those who continued the raillery.

The dances of the northern warriors round the great fires of pine- trees, are commemorated by Olaus Magnus, who says, they danced with such fury, holding each other by the hands, that, if the grasp of any failed, he was pitched into the fire with the velocity of a sling. The sufferer, on such occasions, was instantly plucked out, and obliged to quaff off a certain measure of ale, as a penalty for "spoiling the king's fire."'-SCOTT.

line 33. Scott, after explaining that in Roman Catholic countries ma.s.s is never said at night except on Christmas eve, quotes as ill.u.s.trative of early celebrations of the festival the names and descriptions of the allegorical characters in Jonson's 'Christmas his Masque. 'The personages are Father Christmas himself and his ten sons and daughters, led in by Cupid. 'Baby-Cake,' the youngest child, is misprinted 'Baby-c.o.c.ke in Scott.

line 45. Post and pair, a game at cards, is one of the sons of Father Christmas in Jonson's Masque. He comes in with 'a pair-royal of aces in his hat; his garment all done over with pairs and purs; his squire carrying a box, cards, and counters.'

line 55. The reference is to the ancient salt-cellar, which parted superiors from inferiors at table.

line 75. 'It seems certain that the MUMMERS of England, who (in Northumberland at least) used to go about in disguise to the neighbouring houses, bearing the then useless ploughshares; and the GUISARDS of Scotland, not yet in total disuse, present, in some indistinct degree, a shadow of the old mysteries, which were the origin of the English drama. In Scotland, (me ipso teste,) we were wont, during my boyhood, to take the characters of the apostles, at least of Peter, Paul, and Judas Iscariot; the first had the keys, the second carried a sword, and the last the bag, in which the dole of our neighbours' plum-cake was deposited. One played as a champion, and recited some traditional rhymes; another was:--

...."Alexander, King of Macedon, Who conquer'd all the world but Scotland alone.

When he came to Scotland his courage grew cold, To see a little nation courageous and bold."

These, and many such verses, were repeated, but by rote, and unconnectedly. There were also, occasionally, I believe, a Saint George. In all, there was a confused resemblance of the ancient mysteries, in which the characters of Scripture, the Nine Worthies, and other popular personages, were usually exhibited. It were much to be wished that the Chester Mysteries were published from the MS.

in the Museum, with the annotations which a diligent investigator of popular antiquities might still supply. The late acute and valuable antiquary, Mr. Ritson, showed me several memoranda towards such a task, which are probably now dispersed or lost. See, however, his "Remarks on Shakspeare," 1783, p. 38.

'Since the first edition of "Marmion" appeared, this subject has received much elucidation from the learned and extensive labours of Mr. Douce; and the Chester Mysteries (edited by J. H. Markland, Esq.) have been printed in a style of great elegance and accuracy (in 1818) by Bensley and Sons, London, for the Roxburghe Club.

1830.'--SCOTT.

line 93. The proverb 'Blood is warmer than water' is also common in the form 'Blood is thicker than water.'

line 96. 'Mr. Scott of Harden, my kind and affectionate friend, and distant relation, has the original of a poetical invitation, addressed from his grandfather to my relative, from which a few lines in the text are imitated. They are dated, as the epistle in the text, from Mertoun-house, the seat of the Harden family:--

"With amber beard, and flaxen hair, And reverend apostolic air, Free of anxiety and care, Come hither, Christmas-day, and dine; We'll mix sobriety with wine, And easy mirth with thoughts divine.

We Christians think it holiday, On it no sin to feast or play; Others, in spite, may fast and pray.

No superst.i.tion in the use Our ancestors made of a goose; Why may not we, as well as they, Be innocently blithe that day, On goose or pie, on wine or ale, And scorn enthusiastic zeal?-- Pray come, and welcome, or plague rott Your friend and landlord, Walter Scott.

"Mr. Walter Scott, Lessuden"

'The venerable old gentleman, to whom the lines are addressed was the younger brother of William Scott of Raeburn. Being the cadet of a cadet of the Harden family, he had very little to lose; yet he contrived to lose the small property he had, by engaging in the civil wars and intrigues of the house of Stuart. His veneration for the exiled family was so great, that he swore he would not shave his beard till they were restored: a mark of attachment, which, I suppose, had been common during Cromwell's usurpation; for, in Cowley's "Cutter of Coleman Street," one drunken cavalier upbraids another, that, when he was not able to afford to pay a barber, he affected to "wear a beard for the King." I sincerely hope this was not absolutely the original reason of my ancestor's beard; which, as appears from a portrait in the possession of Sir Henry Hay Macdougal, Bart., and another painted for the famous Dr. Pitcairn, was a beard of a most dignified and venerable appearance.'-- SCOTT.

line 111. 'See Introduction to the 'Minstrelsy,' vol. iv. p. 59.'-- LOCKHART.

lines 117-20. The Tweed winds and loiters around Mertoun and its grounds as if fascinated by their attractiveness. With line. 120 cp.

'clipped in with the sea,' I Henry IV, iii. I. 45.

line 126. Cp. 2 Henry IV, iii. 2. 228: 'We have heard the chimes at midnight, Master Shallow!'

line 132. Scott quotes from Congreve's 'Old Bachelor,'--'Hannibal was a pretty fellow, sir--a very pretty fellow in his day,' which is part of a speech by Noll Bluffe, one of the characters.

line 139. With 'Limbo lost,' cp. the 'Limbo large and broad' of 'Paradise Lost,' iii. 495. Limbo is the borders of h.e.l.l, and also h.e.l.l itself.

line 143. 'John Leyden, M. D., who had been of great service to Sir Walter Scott in the preparation of the 'Border Minstrelsy,' sailed for India in April, 1803, and died at Java in August, 1811, before completing his 36th year.

"Scenes sung by him who sings no more!

His brief and bright career is o'er, And mute his tuneful strains; Quench'd is his lamp of varied lore, That loved the light of song to pour; A distant and a deadly sh.o.r.e Has LEYDEN'S cold remains."

Lord of the Isles, Canto IV.

'See a notice of his life in the Author's Miscellaneous Prose Works, vol. iv.'--LOCKHART.

line 146. For the solemn and powerful interview of Hercules and Ulysses, see close of Odyssey XI. Wraith (Icel. vordhr, guardian) is here used for SHADE. In Scottish superst.i.tion it signifies the shadow of a person seen before death, as in 'Guy Mannering,' chap.

x: 'she was uncertain if it were the gipsy, or her WRAITH.' The most notable use of the word and the superst.i.tion in recent poetry is in Rossetti's 'King's Tragedy':--

'And the woman held his eyes with her eyes:-- "O King; thou art come at last; But thy WRAITH has haunted the Scottish sea To my sight for four years past.

"Four years it is since first I met, 'Twixt the Duchray and the Dhu, A shape whose feet clung close in a shroud, And that shape for thine I knew,"' &c.

line 148. AEneid, III. 19.

line 159. 'This pa.s.sage is ill.u.s.trated by "Ceubren yr Ellyll, or the Spirit's Blasted Tree," a legendary tale, by the Reverend George Warrington, who says:--

'"The event, on which the tale is founded, is preserved by tradition in the family of the Vaughans of Hengwyrt; nor is it entirely lost, even among the common people, who still point out this oak to the pa.s.senger. The enmity between the two Welsh chieftains, Howel Sele, and Owen Glendwr, was extreme, and marked by vile treachery in the one, and ferocious cruelty in the other. {3} The story is somewhat changed and softened, as more favourable to the character of the two chiefs, and as better answering the purpose of poetry, by admitting the pa.s.sion of pity, and a greater degree of sentiment in the description. Some trace of Howel Sele's mansion was to be seen a few years ago, and may perhaps be still visible, in the park of Nannau, now belonging to Sir Robert Vaughan, Baronet, in the wild and romantic tracks of Merionethshire. The abbey mentioned pa.s.ses under two names, Vener and Cymmer. The former is retained, as more generally used."--See the Metrical Tale in Sir Walter Scott's Poetical Works, vol. vii. pp. 396-402.'--LOCKHART.

line 161. By a victory gained at Maida, 6 July 1806, Sir John Stuart broke the power of the French in southern Italy.

line 163. 'The Daoine shi,' or Men of Peace, of the Scottish Highlanders, rather resemble the Scandinavian Duergar, than the English Fairies. Notwithstanding their name, they are, if not absolutely malevolent, at least peevish, discontented, and apt to do mischief on slight provocation. The belief of their existence is deeply impressed on the Highlanders, who think they are particularly offended at mortals, who talk of them, who wear their favourite colour green, or in any respect interfere with their affairs. This is especially to be avoided on Friday, when, whether as dedicated to Venus, with whom, in Germany, this subterraneous people are held nearly connected, or for a more solemn reason, they are more active and possessed of greater power. Some curious particulars concerning the popular superst.i.tions of the Highlanders may be found in Dr.

Graham's Picturesque Sketches of Perthshire.'--SCOTT.

Friday (the day of the G.o.ddess Freya) is regarded as lucky for marriages. Mr. Thiselton Dyer in 'Domestic Folk-lore,' p. 39, quotes the City Chamberlain of Glasgow as affirming that 'nine-tenths of the marriages in Glasgow are celebrated on a Friday.' In Hungary nothing of any importance is undertaken on a Friday, and there is a Hungarian proverb which says that 'whoever is merry on a Friday is sure to weep on the Sunday.' The Sicilians make the exception for weddings. In America Friday is a lucky day-the New World, no doubt, upsetting in this as other matters the conservatism of the Old. The superst.i.tion of sailors about Friday is famous. Cp. the old English song 'The Mermaid.' For further discussion of the subject see 'Notes and Queries,' 6th S. vol. vi.

line 175. 'The journal of the Friend, to whom the Fourth Canto of the poem is inscribed, furnished me with the following account of a striking superst.i.tion:--

'"Pa.s.sed the pretty little village of Franchemont (near Spaw), with the romantic ruins of the old castle of the counts of that name. The road leads through many delightful vales, on a rising ground: at the extremity of one of them stands the ancient castle, now the subject of many superst.i.tions legends. It is firmly believed by the neighbouring peasantry, that the last Baron of Franchemont deposited, in one of the vaults of the castle, a ponderous chest, containing an immense treasure in gold and silver, which, by some magic spell, was intrusted to the care of the Devil, who is constantly found sitting on the chest in the shape of a huntsman.

Any one adventurous enough to touch the chest is instantly seized with the palsy. Upon one occasion, a priest of noted piety was brought to the vault: he used all the arts of exorcism to persuade his infernal majesty to vacate his seat, but in vain; the huntsman remained immovable. At last, moved by the earnestness of the priest, he told him, that he would agree to resign the chest, if the exorciser would sign his name with blood. But the priest understood his meaning, and refused, as by that act he would have delivered over his soul to the Devil. Yet if any body can discover the mystic words used by the person who deposited the treasure, and p.r.o.nounced them, the fiend must instantly decamp. I had many stories of a similar nature from a peasant, who had himself seen the Devil, in the shape of a great cat."'--SCOTT.

line 190. Begun has always been a possible past tense in poetry, and living poets continue its use. There is an example in Mr. Browning's 'Waring':--

'Give me my so-long promised son, Let Waring end what I BEGUN;

and Lord Tennyson writes:--

'The light of days when life BEGUN!