lines 1-6. The earlier editions have a period at the end of line 5,
and neither Scott himself nor Lockhart changed that punctuation.
But, undoubtedly, the first sentence ends with line 11, 'roll'd' in
the second line being a part, and not a finite verb. Mr. Rolfe is
the first to punctuate the passage thus.
line 9. 'The Abbey of Whitby, in the Archdeaconry of Cleaveland, on
the coast of Yorkshire, was founded A. D. 657, in consequence of a
vow of Oswy, King of Northumberland. It contained both monks and
nuns of the Benedictine order; but, contrary to what was usual in
such establishments, the abbess was superior to the abbot. The
monastery was afterwards mined by the Danes, and rebuilded by
William Percy, in the reign of the Conqueror. There were no nuns
there in Henry the Eighth's time, nor long before it. The ruins of
Whitby Abbey are very magnificent.'--SCOTT.
line 10. 'Lindisfarne, an isle on the coast of Northumberland, was
called Holy Island, from the sanctity of its ancient monastery, and
from its having been the episcopal seat of the see of Durham during
the early ages of British Christianity. A succession of holy men
held that office: but their merits were swallowed up in the
superior fame of St. Cuthbert, who was sixth bishop of Durham, and
who bestowed the name of his "patrimony" upon the extensive property
of the see. The ruins of the monastery upon Holy Island betoken
great antiquity. The arches are, in general, strictly Saxon, and the
pillars which support them, short, strong, and massy. In some
places, however, there are pointed windows, which indicate that the
building has been repaired at a period long subsequent to the
original foundation. The exterior ornaments of the building, being
of a light sandy stone, have been wasted, as described in the text.
Lindisfarne is not properly an island, but rather, as the Venerable
Bede has termed it, a semi-isle; for, although surrounded by the sea
at full tide, the ebb leaves the sands dry between it and the
opposite coast of Northumberland, from which it is about three miles
distant.'--SCOTT.
The monastery, of which the present ruins remain, was built, between
1093 and 1120, by Benedictine monks under the direction of William
Carileph, Bishop of Durham. There were sixteen bishops in Holy
Island between St. Aidan (635 A. D.) and Eardulph (875 A. D.). The
Christians were dispersed after the violent inroad of the Danes in
868, and for two centuries Lindisfarne suffered apparent relapse.
Lindisfarne (Gael. farne, a retreat) signifies 'a place of retreat
by the brook Lindis.' The name Holy Island was given by Carileph's
monks, to commemorate, they said, 'the sacred blood which had been
shed by the Danes.' See Raine's 'History of North Durham,' F. R.
Wilson's 'Churches of Lindisfarne,' and Mr. Keeling's 'Lindisfarne,
or Holy Island: its History and Associations.'
line 17. Cp. Coleridge's 'Ancient Mariner':--
'The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew,
The farrow followed free.'
line 20. For Saint Hilda, see below, note on line 244.
Stanza II. line 33. sea-dog, the seal.
line 36. still. Cp. above, I. 430.
line 44. A Novice is one under probation for a term extending to at
least a year, and it may extend to two or three years, after which
vows are either taken or declined.
Stanza IV. line 70. Benedictine school. St. Benedict founded his
order--sometimes, because of their dark garb, called Black Friars--
in the beginning of the sixth century. Benedict of Aniana, in the
eighth century, reformed the discipline of the order.
line 74. Cp. Chaucer's Prioress in the Prologue:--
'And sikerly sche was of gret disport,
And ful plesaunt, and amyable of port.'