Stanza I. Mr. Guthrie Wright, advocate, prosaically objected to the
indirect route chosen by the poet for his troopers. Scott gave the
true poetic answer, that it pleased him to take them by the road
chosen. He is careful, however, to assign (11.6-8) an adequate
reason for his preference.
line 16. wan, won, gained; still used in Scotland. Cp. Principal
Shairp's 'Bush Aboon Traquair':--
'And then they WAN a rest,
The lownest an' the best,
I' Traquair kirkyard when a' was dune.'
line 19. Lammermoor. 'See notes to the Bride of Lammermoor, Waverley
Novels, vols. xiii. and xiv.'--LOCKHART.
line 22. 'The village of Gifford lies about four miles from
Haddington; close to it is Yester House, the seat of the Marquis of
Tweeddale, and a little farther up the stream, which descends from
the hills of Lammermoor, are the remains of the old castle of the
family.'--LOCKHART.
Many hold that Gifford and not Gifford-gate, at the outskirts of
Haddington, was the birthplace of John Knox.
Stanza II. line 31. An ivy-bush or garland was a tavern sign, and
the flagon is an appropriate accompaniment. Chaucer's Sompnour
(Prol. 666) suggested the tavern sign by his head-gear:--
'A garland hadde he set upon his heed,
As gret as it were for an ALE-STAKE.'
See note in Clarendon Press ed., and cp. Epilogue of As You Like It
(and note) in same series:--'If it be true that good wine needs no
bush,' &c.
line 33. 'The accommodations of a Scottish hostelrie, or inn, in the
sixteenth century, may be collected from Dunbar's admirable tale of
"The Friars of Berwick." Simon Lawder, "the gay ostlier," seems to
have lived very comfortably; and his wife decorated her person with
a scarlet kirtle, and a belt of silk and silver, and rings upon her
fingers; and feasted her paramour with rabbits, capons, partridges,
and Bourdeaux wine. At least, if the Scottish inns were not good, it
was not from want of encouragement from the legislature; who, so
early as the reign of James I, not only enacted, that in all
boroughs and fairs there be hostellaries, having stables and
chambers, and provision for man and horse, but by another statute,
ordained that no man, travelling on horse or foot, should presume to
lodge anywhere except in these hostellaries; and that no person,
save innkeepers, should receive such travellers, under the penalty
of forty shillings, for exercising such hospitality. But, in spite
of these provident enactments, the Scottish hostels are but
indifferent, and strangers continue to find reception in the houses
of individuals.'--SCOTT.
It is important to supplement this note by saying that the most
competent judges still doubt whether Dunbar wrote 'The Friars of
Berwick.' It is printed among his doubtful works.
Stanza III. Such a kitchen as that described was common in Scotland
till recent times, and relics of a similar interior exist in remote
parts still. The wide chimney, projecting well into the floor,
formed a capacious tunnel to the roof, and numerous sitters could be
accommodated with comfort in front and around the fire. Smoke and
soot from the wood and peat fuel were abundant, and the 'winter
cheer,'--hams, venison, &c.--hung from the uncovered rafters, were
well begrimed before coming to the table.
line 48. The solan goose frequents Scottish haunts in summer. There
are thousands of them on Ailsa Craig, in the Frith of Clyde, and on
the Bass Rock, in the Frith of Forth, opposite Tantallon.
line 49. gammon (O. Fr. gambon, Lat. gamba, 'joint of a leg'), the
buttock or thigh of a hog salted and dried; the lower end of a
flitch.
Stanza IV. line 73. 'The winds of March' (Winter's Tale, iv. 3.
120), are a prominent feature of the month. The FRESHNESS of May has
fascinated the poets since it was told by Chaucer (Knightes' Tale,
175) how Emelie arose one fine morning in early summer:--
'Emilie, that fairer was to scene
Than is the lilie on hire stalke grene,
And fresscher than the May with floures newe.'
line 76. Cp. 'Jock o' Hazeldean':--
'His step is first in peaceful ha',
His sword in battle keen.'
line 78. buxom (A. S. bocsum, flexible, obedient, from BUGAN, to
bend) here means lively, fresh, brisk. Cp. Henry V, iii. 6. 27:--
'Bardolph, a soldier firm and sound of heart,
And of BUXOM valour.