picturesque. They consist of a large shattered tower, with many vaults, and fragments of other edifices, enclosed within an outward wall of great circuit.'—Scott.
l. 4. battled = embattled, furnished with battlements. See Introd. to Canto V. l. 90, and cp. Tennyson's 'Dream of Fair Women,' l. 220:—
'the donjon keep. 'It is perhaps unnecessary to remind my readers, that the donjon, in its proper signification, means the strongest part of a feudal castle; a high square tower, with walls of tremendous thickness, situated in the centre of the other buildings, from which, however, it was usually detached. Here, in case of the outward defences being gained, the garrison retreated to make their last stand. The donjon contained the great hall, and principal rooms of state for solemn occasions, and also the prison of the fortress; from which last circumstance we derive the modern and restricted use of the word dungeon. Ducange (voce Dunjo) conjectures plausibly, that the name is derived from these keeps being usually built upon a hill, which in Celtic is called Dun. Borlase supposes the word came from the darkness of the apartments in these towers, which were thence figuratively called Dungeons; thus deriving the ancient word from the modern application of it.'—Scott.
l. 6. flanking walls, walls protecting it on the sides. Cp. the use of flanked in Dryden's 'Annus Mirabilis' xxvi;—
Which, flanked with rocks, did close in covert lie.'
Stanza II. l. 14. St. George's banner. St. George's red cross on a white field was the emblem on the English national standard. Saint George is the legendary patron saint who slew the dragon.
Stanza III. l. 29. Horncliff-hill is one of the numerous hillocks to the east of Norham. There is a village of the same name.
A plump of spears. Scott writes, 'This word applies to a flight of water-fowl; but is applied by analogy to a body of horse:—
l. 33. mettled, same as metalled (mettle being a variant of metal), spirited, ardent. So 'mettled hound' in 'Jock o' Hazeldean.' Cp. Julius Caesar, iv. 2. 23:—
