395. =The chorus first could Allan know.= The chorus was the first part
of the song which the harper, listening from the shore, could distinctly
make out.
408. =Roderigh Vich Alpine dhu.= The words _vich_ and _dhu_ are Gaelic,
the first meaning "descendant of," the second "black or swarthy." King
Alpine was the half-mythical ancestor from whom the clan of Alpine
sprung. The line means, therefore, "Black Roderick, descendant of
Alpine." Compare II, xii, 220, where Allan-bane calls the chieftain
"Black Sir Roderick."