By that blithe beacon-light they steer'd, Whose lustre mingled well With the pale beam that now appear'd, As the cold moon her head uprear'd Above the eastern fell. XXIII. Thus guided, on their course they bore, Until they near'd the mainland shore, When frequent on the hollow blast Wild shouts of merriment were cast, And wind and wave and sea-bird's cry With wassail sounds in concert vie,* Like funeral shrieks with revelry, Or like the battle-shout By peasants heard from cliffs on high, Madden the fight and rout. Now nearer yet, through mist and storm Dimly arose the Castle's form, And deepen'dt shadow made, Far lengthen'd on the main below, Where, dancing in reflected glow, A hundred torches play'd, Spangling the wave with lights as vain As pleasures in this vale of pain, That dazzle as they fade. XXIV. Beneath the Castle's sheltering lee So straight, so high, so steep, From turret, rock, and bay, To light the upward way. Fear'd lest, amid these wildering seas, XXV. "Warder," the younger stranger said, Until the break of day; That's breathed upon by May. * [MS." The wind, the wave, the sea-bird's cry, In melancholy concert vie."] + (MS.-" Darksome."] : ["Mr. Scott, we observed in the newspapers, was engaged during last summer in a maritime expedition; and, accordingly, the most striking novelty in the present poem is the extent and variety of the sea pieces with which it abounds. One of the first we meet with is the picture of the distresses of the King's little bark, and her darkling run to the shelter of Artornish Castle." Edinburgh Review, 1815.] The fortress of a Hebridean chief was almost always on the sea shore, for the facility of communication which the ocean afforded. Nothing can be more wild than the situations which they chose, and the devices by which the architects endeavoured to defend them. Narrow stairs and arched vaults were the usual mode of access: and the drawbridge appears at Dunstafinage, and elsewhere, to have fallen from the gate of the building to the top of such a staircase; so that any one advancing with hostile purpose. found nimself in a state of exposed and precarious elevation, with a gulf between him and the object of his attack. These fortresses were guarded with equal care. The duty of the watch devolved chiefly upon an officer called the Cockman. who had the charge of challenging all who approached the cas tle. The very ancient family of Mac-Niel of Barra kept this attendant at their castle about a hundred years ago. Martin gives And for our storm-toss'd skiff we seek Answered the Warder, "In what name Whence come, or whither bound? Or Scotland's mountain ground?" We have been known to fame; XXVII. XXVIII. To land these two bold brethren leapt, Droops from the mountain oak. Such as few arms could wield; the following account of the difficulty which attended his procuring entrance there :-" The little island Kismul lies about a quarter of a mile from the south of this isle (Barra ;) it is the seat of Mackneil of Barra; there is a stone wall round it two stories high, reaching the sea; and within the wall there is an old tower and an hall, with other houses about it. There is a little maga zine in the tower, to which no stranger has access. I saw the officer called the Cockman, and an old cock he is; when I bid him ferry me over the water to the island, he told me that he was but an inferior officer, his business being to attend in the tower; but if (says he) the constable, who then stood on the wall, will give you access, I'll ferry you over. I desired him to procure me the constable's permission, and I would reward him; but having waited some hours for the constable's answer, and not receiving any, I was obliged to return without seeing this famous fort. Mackneil and his lady being absent, was the cause of this difficulty, and of my not seeing the place. I was told some weeks after, that the constable was very apprehensive of some design I might have in viewing the fort, and thereby to ex pose it to the conquest of a foreign power; of which I supposed there was no great cause of fear." TIMS. No bolt e'er closed our castle doors."] ** [Sir William Wallace.] [See note (§) page 586.) But when he boun'd him to such task, XXIX. The raised portcullis' arch they pass, The entrance long and low,t And all the passage free To one low-brow'd and vaulted room, And "Rest ye here," the Warder bade, A damsel tired of midnight bark, From one the foremost there,§ Made brief and stern excuse ;"Vassal, were thine the cloak of pall That decks thy Lord in bridal hall, 'Twere honour'd by her use.' XXXI. And gazed like startled deer. Where feasted fair and free That Island Prince in nuptial tide, With Edith there his lovely bride, * [MS.-"Well could it cleave the gilded casque, +IMS.-"The entrance vaulted low."I From one the boldest there." ["Still ways their souls with that commanding art The first Canto is full of business and description, and the (MS. and give birth To jest, to wassail, and to mirth."1 $ [MS.-Would seem the loudest of the loud, And gayest of the guy."] And her bold brother by her side, CANTO SECOND. I. FILL the bright goblet, spread the festive board! II. With beakers' clang, with harpers' lay, Like distant sounds which dreamers hear. III. Yet naught amiss the bridal throng [MS.-"Since Lom, the proudest of the proud."] TTIMS.-" And since the keen De Argentine."] *** Sir Egidius, or Giles de Argentine, was one of the most accomplished knights of the period. He had served in the wars of Henry of Luxemburg with such high reputation, that he was, in popular estimation, the third worthy of the age. Those to whom fame assigned precedence over him were, Henry of Luxemburg himself, and Robert Bruce. Argentine had warred in Palestine, encountered thrice with the Saracens, and had slain two antagonists in each engagement-an easy matter, he said, for one Christian knight to slay two Pagan dogs. His death corresponded with his high character. With Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, he was appointed to attend immediately upon the person of Edward II. at Bannock: urn. When the day was utterly lost they forced the king from the field. De Argentine saw the king safe from immediate danger, and then took his leave of him: "God be with you, sir," he said, "it is not my wont to fly." So saying, he turned his horse, cried his war-ery, plunged into the midst of the combatants, and was slain. Baston, a rhyming ed triumph, and who was compelled by the victors to compose a monk, who had been brought by Edward to celebrate his expectpoem on his defeat, mentions with some feeling the death of Sir Giles De Argentine: Nobilis Argenten, pugil inclyte, dulcis Egidi, Vix scieram mentem cum te succumbere vidi, "The first line mentions the three chief requisites of a true knight, noble birth, valour, and courteousness. Few Leonine couplets can be produced that have so much sentiment. I wish that I could have collected more ample memorials concerning a character altogether different from modern manners. Sir Giles d'Argentine was a hero of romance in real life." So observes the excellent Lord Hailes. But one sad heart, one tearful eye, IV. She watch'd-yet fear'd to meet his glance, Had given a milder pang! He writhed-then sternly mann'd his heart And from the table sprang. To you, brave lord, and brother mine, V. Let it pass round!" quoth He of Lorn, "And in good time--that winded horn Must of the Abbot tell; * A Hebridean drinking cup, of the most ancient and curious workmanship has been long preserved in the Castle of Dunvegan, in Skye, the romantic seat of Mac-Leod of Mac-Leod, the chief, of that ancient and powerful clan. The horn of Rorie More, preserved in the same family, and recorded by Dr. Johnson, is not to De compared with this piece of antiquty, which is one of the greatest curiosities in Scotland. The following is a pretty accurate description of its shape and dimensions, but cannot, I fear, be perfectly understood without a drawing. This very curious piece of antiquity is nine inches and three Ufo: Johis: Mich: "Mgn: Pncipis: De: The inscription may run thus at length: Ufo Johanis Mich The cups, thus elegantly formed, and highly valued, were by no means utensils of mere show. Martin gives the following account of the festivals of his time, and I have heard similar instances of brutality in the Lowlands at no very distant period. "The manner of drinking used by the chief men of the Isles is called in their language Streah, ie, a Round; for the company sat in a circle, the cup-bearer fill'd the drink round to them, and all was drank out, whatever the liquor was, whether strong or weak; they continued drinking sometimes twenty-four, sometimes forty-eight hours: It was reckoned a piece of manhood to drink until they became drunk, and there were two men with a barrow attending punctually on such occasions. They stood at the door until some became drunk, and they carri'd them upon the barrow to bed, and returned again to their post as long as any continued fresh, and so carried off the whole company, one by one, The laggard monk is come at last.' The untasted goblet fell. As some poor criminal might feel, VI. "Brother of Lorn," with hurried voice as they became drunk. Several of my acquaintance have been Among persons of distinction it was reckoned an affront put upon any company to broach a piece of wine, ale, or aquavitæ, and not to see it ail drank out at one meeting. If any man chance to go out from the company, though but for a few minutes, be is obliged upon his return, and before he take his seat, to make an apology for his absence in rhyme; which if he cannot perform, he is liable to such a share of the reckoning as the company thinks fit to impose; which custom obtains in many places still, and is called Bianchiz Bard, which, in their language, signifies the poet's congratulating the company." " Few cups were better, at least more actively, employed in the rude hospitality of the period, than those of Dunvegan; one of which we have just described. There is in the Leabhar Dearg, a song intimating the overflowing gratitude of a bard of Clan-Ro nald, after the exuberance of a Hebridean festival at the patr archal fortress of Mac-Leod. The translation being obviously very literal, has greatly flattened, as I am informed, the enthu siastic gratitude of the ancient bard; and it must be owned that the works of Homer or Virgil, to say nothing of Mac Vunch. might have suffered by their transfusion through such a medium. It is pretty plain, that when the tribute of poetical praise was be stowed, the horn of Rorie More had not been inactive. Upon Sir Roderic Mor Macleod, by Niall Mur Mac Vulrich' The six nights I remained in the Dunvegan, it was not a show of hospitality I met with there, but a plentiful feast in thy fair hall among thy numerous host of heroes. The family placed all around under the protection of their great chief, raised by his prosperity and respect for his warlike feats, now enjoying the company of his friends at the feastAmidst the sound of harps, overflowing cups, and happy youth unaccustomed to guile, or feud, partaking of the generous fare by a flaming fire. Mighty Chief, liberal to all in your princely mansion, filled with your numerous warlike host, whose generous we would overcome the hardest heroes, yet we continued to enjoy the feast, so happy our host, so generous our fare."-Translated by D. Mac Intosh. It would be unpardonable in a modern bard, who has experienced the hospitality of Dunvegan Castle in the present day, to omit paying his own tribute of gratitude for a reception more ele gant indeed, but not less kindly sincere, than Sir Roderick More himself could have afforded. But Johnson has already described a similar scene in the same ancient patriarchal residence of the Lords of Mac-Leod:- Whatever is imaged in the wildest tales, if giants, dragons, and enchantment be excepted, would he felt by him, who, wandering in the mountains without a guide, or upon the sea without a pilot, should be carried, amidst his terror and uncertainty, to the hospitality and elegance of Raasay or Dunvegan." [MS." As may their presence fittest grace."] To these strange guests."] 5 The Sewer, to whom, rather than the Seneschal, the office of arranging the guests of an island chief appertained, was an offcer of importance in the family of a Hebridean chief." Every Then lords and ladies spake aside, And 'gainst an oaken bough "I, too," the aged Ferrand said, Am qualified by minstrel trades Of rank and place to tell ; Mark'd ye the younger stranger's eye, Glancing among the noble rout!! And yet it moves me more, Scann'd the gay presence o'er, The mantle veil both face and eye, Then question'd, high and brief, With Carrick's outlaw'd Chief?** X. That younger stranger, fierce and high, Kindled the mountain Chieftain's ire, 66 To chase the night with Ferrand's rhyme, 66 Then whisper'd Argentine,- Bruce retreated to the mountainous parts of Breadalbane, and approached the borders of Argyleshire. There, as mentioned in note to stanza viii. p. 579, and more fully in note* p. 586, he was de family had commonly two stewards, which, in their language, were called Marischal Tach: the first of these served always at home, and was obliged to be versed in the pedigree of all the tribes in the isles, and in the highlands of Scotland; for it was his pro-feated by the Lord of Lorn, who had assumed arms against him in vince to assign every man at table his seat according to his quality; and this was done without one word speaking, only by draw ing a score with a white rod, which this Marischal had in his hund, before the person who was bid by him to sit down: and this was necessary to prevent disorder and contention; and though the Marischal might sometimes be mistaken, the master of the family incurred no censure by such an escape; but this custom has been laid aside of late. They had also cup-bearers, who always filled and carried the cup round the company, and he himself always drank off the first draught. They had likewise pase-masters, who kept their money. Both these officers had an here litary right to their office in writing, and each of them had a 1wn and land for his service: some of those rights I have seen fairly written on good parchment."-MARTIN's Western Isles. Dais-the great hall-table-elevated a step or two above the rest of the room. ↑ [MS.-" Aside then lords and ladies spake, And ushers censured the mistake." !!" The first entry of the illustrious strangers into the castle of the Celtic chief, is in the accustomed and peculiar style of the poet of chivalry."-JEFFREY.] § (MS.-1, too,' old Ferrand said, and laugh'd, Am qualified by minstrel craft.'"] [MS. -"the festal rout."] (MS-Nor hide," &c.] **It must be remembered by all who have read the Scottish history, that after he had slain Comyn at Dumfries, and asserted his right to the Scottish crown. Robert Bruce was reduced to the greatest extremity by the English and their adherents. He was crowned at Stone by the general consent of the Scottish barons, but his authority endured but a short time. According to the phrase said to have been used by his wife, he was for that year ́a summer king, but not a winter one." On the 29th March, 1306, he was crowned king at Scone. Upon the 19th June, in the same year, he was totally defeated at Methven, near Perth; and his most important adherents, with few exceptions, were either executed or compelled to embrace the English interest, for safety of their lives and fortunes. After this disaster his life was that of an outlaw, rather than a candidate for monarchy. He separated himself from the females of his retinue, whom he sent for safety to the Castle of Kildrummie, in Aberdeenshire, where they afterward became captives to England. From Aberdeenshire, VOL. I.-3 V evenge of the death of his relative. John the Red Comyn. Escaped [MS.-"That younger stranger, naught out-dared, I [MS." Men say that he was sworn."]. $$ 1 The description of the bridal feast, in the second canto, has several animated lines; but the real power and poetry of the author do not appear to us to be called out until the occasion of the Highland quarrel which follows the feast."-Monthly Review, March, 1815] [In a very different style of excellence (from that of the first three stanzas) is the triumphant and insulting song of the bard of Lorn, commemorating the pretended victory of his chief over Robert Bruce, in one of their rencontres. Bruce, in truth, had been set on by some of that clan, and bad extricated himself from a fearful overmatch by stupendous exertions. In the struggle, however, the broach which fastened his royal mantle had been torn off by the assailants; and it is on the subject of this trophy that the Celtic poet pours forth this wild, rapid, and spirited strain."-JEFFREY.] XI. THE BROACH OF LORN.* "Whence the broach of burning gold, As, through night's pale rainbow gleaming, Fitful shines the northern star? "Gem! ne'er wrought on highland mountain, SONG CONTINUED. "No!-thy splendours nothing tell Foreign art or faëry spell. *It has been generally mentioned in the preceding notes, that Robert Bruce, after his defeat at Methven, being hard pressed by the English, endeavoured, with the dispirited remnant of his followers, to escape from Breadalbane and the mountains of Perthshire into the Argyleshire Highlands. But he was encountered and repulsed, after a very severe engagement, by the Lord of Lorn. Bruce's personal strength and courage were never displayed to greater advantage than in this conflict. There is a tradition in the family of the Mac Dougals of Lorn, that their chieftain engaged in personal battle with Bruce himself, while the latter was employed in protecting the retreat of his men; that Mac-Dougal was struck down by the king, whose strength of body was equal to his vigour of mind, and would have been slain on the spot, had not two of Lorn's vassals, a father and son, whom tradition terms M'Keoch, rescued him, by seizing the mantle of the monarch, and dragging him from above his adversary. Bruce rid himself of these foes by two blows of his redoubted battle axe, but was so closely pressed by the other followers of Lorn, that he was forced to abandon the mantle, and broach which fastened it, clasped in the dying grasp of the Mac-Keochs. A studded broach, said to have been that which King Robert lost upon this occasion, was long preserved in the family of Mac Dougal, and was lost in a fire which consumed their temporary residence. The metrical history of Barbour throws an air of credibility upon the tradition, although it does not entirely coincide either in the names or number of the vassals by whom Bruce was as sailed, and makes no mention of the personal danger of Lorn, or of the loss of Bruce's mantle. The last circumstance, indeed, might be warrantably omitted. According to Barbour, the King, with his handful of followers, not amounting probably to three hundred men, encountered Lorn with about a thousand Argyleshire men, in Glen-Douchart, at the head of Breadalbane, near Teyndrum. The place of action is still called Dalry, or the King's Field. The field of battle was unfavourable to Bruce's adherents, who were chiefly men-at-arms. Many of the horses were slain by the long pole-axes, of which the Argyleshire Scottish had learned the use from the Norwegi ans. At length Bruce commanded a retreat up a narrow and difficult pass, he himself bringing up the rear, and repeatedly turning and driving back the more venturous assailants. Lorn, observing the skill and valour used by his enemy in protecting the retreat of his followers, "Methinks, Murthokson," said he, addressing one of his followers, "he resembles Gol Mak morn, protecting his followers from Fingal."-"A most unworthy comparison," observes the Archdeacon of Aberdeen, unsuspicious of the future fame of these names; "he might with more propriety have compared the King to Sir Gaudefer de Layrs, protecting the foragers of Gadyrs against the attacks of Alexander."* Two brothers, the strongest among Lorn's followers, whose names Barbour calls Mackyn-Drosser. (interpreted Durward, or Porterson,) resolved to rid their chief of this formidable foe. A third person (perhaps the Mac Keoch of the family tradition) associated him self with them for this purpose. They watched their opportunity until Bruce's party had entered a pass between a lake (Loch Dochart probably) and a precipice, where the King, who was the last of the party, had scarce room to manage his steed. Here his three foes sprung upon him at once. One seized his bridle, but received a wound which hewed off his arm; a second grasped Bruce by the stirrup and leg, and endeavoured to dismount him, but the King, putting spurs to his horse, threw him down, still holding by the stirrup. The third, taking advantage of an acclivity, sprung up behind him upon his horse. Bruce, however, whose personal strength is uniformly mentioned as exceeding that of most men, extricated himself from his grasp, threw him to the ground, and cleft his skull with his sword. By similar exertion he drew the stirrup from his grasp whom he had overthrown, and killed him also with his sword as he lay among the horse's feet. The story seems romantic, but this was the age of romantic ex "This is a very curious passage, and has been often quoted in the Ossianic controversy. That it refers to ancient Celtic tradition, there can be no doubt, and as little that it refers to no incident in the poems published by Mr. Macpherson as from the Gaelic. The hero of romance, whoin Barbour thinks a more proper prototype for the Bruce, occurs in the romance of Alexander, of which there is a que translation into Scottish verse, in the library of the Honourable Mr. Maule of Panmure."-See Weber's Romances, vol. i. Appendix to Introduction, p. lxxiii. Moulded thou for monarch's use, "When the gem was won and lost, XIII. BONG CONCLUDED. "Vain was then the Douglas brand, ploit; and it mus the remembered that Bruce was armed capapie, and the assailants were half clad mountaineers. Barbour adds the following circumstance, highly characteristic of the sen timents of chivalry. Mac Naughton, a Baron of Cowal, pointed Gut to the Lord of Lorn the deeds of valour which Brace per formed in this memorable retreat, with the highest expressions of admiration. "It seems to give thee pleasure," said Lorn," that he makes such havoc among our friends."-" Not so, by my faith," replied Mac-Naughton; "but be he friend or foe who achieves high deeds of chivalry, men should bear faithful witness to his valour; and never have I heard of one, who, by his knightly feats, has extricated himself from such dangers as have this day surrounded Bruce." Great art and expense was bestowed upon the fibule, or broach, which secured the plaid, when the wearer was a person of importance. Martin mentions having seen a silver broach of a hundred marks value. "It was broad as any ordinary pewter plate, the whole curiously engraved with various animals, &c. There was a lesser buckle, which was wore in the middle of the larger, and above two ounces weight; it had in the centre a large piece of crystal, or some finer stone, and this was set all round with several finer stones of a lesser size."- Western Islands. Pennant has given an engraving of such a broach as Martin de scribes, and the workmanship of which is very elegant. It is said to have belonged to the family of Lochbuy.-See PENNANT 8 Tour, vol. iii. p. 14. The gallant Sir James, called the Good Lord Douglas, the most faithful and valiant of Bruce's adherents, was wounded at the battle of Dalry. Sir Nigel, or Niel Campbell, was also in that unfortunate skirmish. He married Marjorie, sister to Robert Bruce, and was among his most faithful followers. In a man script account of the house of Argyle, supplied, it would seem, as materials for Archbishop Spottiswoode's History of the Churrb of Scotland, I find the following passage concerning Sir Niel Camp bell:- Moreover, when all the nobles in Scotland had left King Robert after his hard success, yet this noble knight was most faithful, and shrinked not, as it is to be seen in an indenture bear ing these words:- Memorandum quod cum ab incarnatione Domini 1308 conventum fuit et concordatum inter nobiles viros Dominum Alexandrum de Seatoun militem et Domninum Gilbertum de Haye militem et dominum Nigellum Comp bell militem apud monasterium de Cambuskenneth 9o Septem bris qui tacta sancta eucharista, magnoque juramento facis, jurarunt se debere libertatem regni et Robertum nuper re-em coronatum contra omnes mortales Francos Angios Scotes de fendere usque ad ultimum terminum vita ipsorum Ther sealles are appended to the indenture in greene wax, togithir with the seal of Gulfrid, Abbot of Cambuskenneth." Every reader must recollect that the proximate cause of Bruce's asserting his right to the crown of Scotland, w: s the death of John, called the Red Comyn. The causes of this act of violence, equally extraordinary from the high rank both of the perpetrator and f ferer, and from the place where the slaughter was committed, are variously related by the Scottish and English historians, and can not now be ascertained. The fact that they met at the high altar of the Minorites, or Greyfriars Church in Dumfries, that their dif ference broke out into high and insulting language, and that Bruce drew his dagger and stabbed Comyn, is certain. Rushing to the door of the church, Bruce met two powerful harons, Kirkpatrick of Closeburn, and James de Lindsay, who eagerly asked him what tidings? "Bad tidings," answered Bruce, I doubt I have slain Comyn."-"Doubtest thou?" said Kirkpatrick; "I make sick. er," (i. e. sure.) With these words, he and Lindsay rushed into the church, and despatched the wounded Comyn. The Kirkpa tricks of Closeburn assumed, in memory of this deed, a hand hold ing a dagger, with the memorable words, "I make sicker." Some doubt having been started by the late Lord Hailes as to the iden tity of the Kirkpatrick who completed this day's work with Sir Roger, then representative of the ancient family of Closeburn, my kind and ingenious friend, Mr. Charles Kirkpatricke Sharpe, has furnished nie with the following memorandum, which appears to fix the deed with his ancestor : The circumstances of the Regent Cummin's murder, from which the family of Kirkpatrick, in Nithsdale, is said to have de rived its crest and motto, are well known to all conversant with Scottish history; but Lord Hailes has started a doubt as to the |