84. Shrewdly. Severely, keenly; a sense now obsolete. Shrewd originally
meant evil, mischievous. Cf. Shakespeare, A. Y. L. v. 4. 179, where it
is said that those
"That have endur'd shrewd days and nights with us
Shall share the good of our returned fortune."
In Chaucer (Tale of Melibocus) we find, "The prophete saith: Flee
shrewdnesse, and do goodnesse" (referring to Ps. xxxiv. 14).
89. Menteith. The district in the southwestern part of Perthshire,
watered by the Teith.
91. Mountain and meadow, etc. See on 35 above. Moss is used in the
North-of-England sense of a boggy or peaty district, like the famous
Chat Moss between Liverpool and Manchester.
93. Lochard. Loch Ard is a beautiful lakelet, about five miles south
of Loch Katrine. On its eastern side is the scene of Helen Macgregor's
skirmish with the King's troops in Rob Roy; and near its head, on the
northern side, is a waterfall, which is the original of Flora MacIvor's
favorite retreat in Waverley. Aberfoyle is a village about a mile and a
half to the east of the lake.
95. Loch Achray. A lake between Loch Katrine and Loch Vennachar, lying
just beyond the pass of the Trosachs.
97. Benvenue. A mountain, 2386 feet in height, on the southern side of
Loch Katrine.
98. With the hope. The MS. has "with the THOUGHT," and "flying HOOF" in
the next line.
102. 'Twere. It would be. Cf. Shakespeare, Macb. ii. 2. 73: "To know my
deed, 't were best not know myself."
103. Cambusmore. The estate of a family named Buchanan, whom Scott
frequently visited in his younger days. It is about two miles from
Callander, on the wooded banks of the Keltie, a tributary of the Teith.
105. Benledi. A mountain, 2882 feet high, northwest from Callander. The
name is said to mean "Mountain of God."
106. Bochastle's heath. A moor between the east end of Loch Vennachar
and Callander. See also on v. 298 below.
107. The flooded Teith. The Teith is formed by streams from Loch Voil
and from Loch Katrine (by way of Loch Achray and Loch Vennachar), which
unite at Callander. It joins the Forth near Stirling.
111. Vennachar. As the map shows, this "Lake of the Fair Valley" is the
most eastern of the three lakes around which the scenery of the poem
lies. It is about five miles long and a mile and a half wide.
112. The Brigg of Turk. This brig, or bridge (cf. Burns's poem of The
Brigs of Ayr), is over a stream that comes down from Glenfinlas and
flows into the one connecting Lochs Achray and Vennachar. According to
Graham, it is "the scene of the death of a wild boar famous in Celtic
tradition."