Page:Marmion - Walter Scott (ed. Bayne, 1889).pdf/248



l. 88. Harriet, Countess of Dalkeith, afterwards Duchess of Buccleuch. A suggestion of hers led to the composition of the 'Lay of the Last Minstrel.' See Prof. Minto's Introduction to Clarendon Press edition of the poem, p. 8.

'''ll. 90-93.''' 'These lines were not in the original MS.'—.

l. 106. 'The late Alexander Pringle, Esq., of Whytbank—whose beautiful seat of the Yair stands on the Tweed, about two miles below Ashestiel.'—.

l. 108. 'The sons of Mr. Pringle of Whytbank.'—.

l. 113. Cp. VI. 611, below.

l. 115. 'There is, on a high mountainous ridge above the farm of Ashestiel, a fosse called Wallace's Trench.'—

l. 124. Cp. Gray's 'Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College,' especially lines 61-2:—

'''ll. 126-33.''' Cp. Wordsworth variously, particularly in the Matthew poems, the Ode on Intimations of Immortality, and Tintern Abbey, especially in its last twenty-five lines:—

l. 143. Cp. I Kings xix. 12.

'''ll. 147-73.''' 'This beautiful sheet of water forms the reservoir from which the Yarrow takes its source. It is connected with a smaller lake, called the Loch of the Lowes, and surrounded by mountains. In the winter, it is still frequented by flights of wild swans; hence my friend Mr. Wordsworth's lines:—

Near the lower extremity of the lake are the ruins of Dryhope tower, the birth-place of Mary Scott, daughter of Philip Scott of