Stanza XXIX. l. 838. 'The convent alluded to is a foundation of Cistertian nuns, near North Berwick, of which there are still some remains. It was founded by Duncan, Earl of Fife, in 1216.'— Scott.
1. 840. Two rocky islands off North Berwick.
Stanza XXX. l. 899. Nares says: 'In the solemn form of excommunication used in the Romish Church, the bell was tolled, the book of offices for the purpose used, and three candles extinguished, with certain ceremonies.' Cp. 'Lay of the Last Minstrel,' VI. xxiii. 400, for the observance at a burial service.
Stanza XXXI. 1. 914. "This relates to the catastrophe of a real Robert de Marmion, in the reign of King Stephen, whom William of Newbury describes with some attributes of my fictitious hero: "Homo bellicosus, ferocia, et astucia, fere nullo suo tempore impar." This Baron, having expelled the monks from the church of Coventry, was not long of experiencing the divine judgment, as the same monks, no doubt, termed his disaster. Having waged a feudal war with the Earl of Chester, Marmion's horse fell, as he charged in the van of his troop, against a body of the Earl's followers: the rider's thigh being broken by the fall, his head was cut off by a common foot soldier, ere he could receive any succour. The whole story is told by William of Newbury'—Scott.
l. 926. The story of Judith and Holofernes is in the Apocrypha.
l. 928. See Judges iv.
l. 931. St. Antony's fire is erysipelas.
Stanza XXXII. 1. 947. This line, omitted in early editions, was supplied by Lockhart from the MS.
Stanza XXXIII. l. 973. Tantallon, owing to its position, presents itself suddenly to those approaching it from the south.
l. 980. Lockhart annotates thus:—
'During the regency (subsequent to the death of James V) the Dowager Queen Regent, Mary of Guise, became desirous of putting a French garrison into Tantallon, as she had into Dunbar and Inchkeith, in order the better to bridle the lords and barons, who inclined to the reformed faith, and to secure by citadels the sea-coast of the Frith of Forth. For this purpose, the Regent, to use the phrase of the time "dealed with" the (then) Earl of Angus for his consent to the proposed measure. He occupied himself, while she was speaking, in feeding a falcon which sat upon his wrist, and only replied by addressing the bird, but leaving the Queen to make the application.
