The lord of the Isles a poem Author:Walter Scott Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: NOTES TO CANTO THIRD. Note I. For, glad of each pretext for spoil, A pirate sworn wot Cormac Doil. St. IV. p. 87". A sort of persons common in the isles, a... more »s may be easily believed, until the introduction of civil polity. Witness the Dean of the Isles' account of Ronay. " At the north end of Raarsay, be half myle of sea frae it, layes ane ile callit Ronay, mair then a myle in lengthe, full of wood and heddir, with ane havin for heiland galeys in the middis of it, and the same havein is guid for fostering of theives, ruggairs, and reivairs, till a nail, upon the peilling and spulzeing of poor pepill. This ile perteins to M'Gillychallan of Raarsay by force, and to the bishope of the iles be heritage."—Sir Donald Mon- Ko's Description of the Western Islands of Scotlpnd, largh, 1805, p. 22. Note II. " Alas ! dear youth, the unhappy time" Answer'd the Bruce, " must bear the crime, Since, guiltier far than you, Even F' he paused; for Falkirk's woes Upon his conscious soul arose.' St. VII. p. 92. I have followed the vulgar and inaccurate tradition, that Bruce fought against Wallace, and the array of Scotland, at the fatal battle of Falkirk. The story, which seems to have no better authority than that of Blind Harry, bears, that having made much slaughter during the engagement, he sat down to dine with the conquerors without washing the filthy witness from his hands. Fasting he was, and had been in great need, Blooded were all his weapons and his weed; Southeron lords scorn'd him in terms rude, And said, Behold you Scot eats his own blood Then rued he sore, for reason bad be known, That blood and land alike should be his own; With them he long was, ere he got away, Bat rontrair Scots, he fought not from that day. The account given by most of our historians,...« less