The Lady of the Lake/Notes to Canto 1
NOTES TO CANTO FIRST.
Note I.
And round that cavern where 'tis told
A giant made his den of old.—St. I. p. 6.
Ua-var, as the name is pronounced, or more properly Uaigh-mor, is a mountain to the north-east of the village of Callender in Menteith, deriving its name, which signifies the great den, or cavern, from a sort of retreat among the rocks on the south side, said, by tradition, to have been the abode of a giant. In latter times, it was the refuge of robbers and banditti, who have been only extirpated within these forty or fifty years. Strictly speaking, this strong hold is not a cave, as the name would imply, but a sort of small inclosure, or recess, surrounded with large rocks, and open above head. It may have been originally designed as a toil for deer, who might get in from the outside, but would find it difficult to return. This opinion prevails among the old sportsmen and deer-stalkers in the neighbourhood.
Page:The Lady of the Lake - Scott (1810).djvu/310 Page:The Lady of the Lake - Scott (1810).djvu/311 Page:The Lady of the Lake - Scott (1810).djvu/312 Page:The Lady of the Lake - Scott (1810).djvu/313 Page:The Lady of the Lake - Scott (1810).djvu/314 Page:The Lady of the Lake - Scott (1810).djvu/315 Page:The Lady of the Lake - Scott (1810).djvu/316 Page:The Lady of the Lake - Scott (1810).djvu/317 Page:The Lady of the Lake - Scott (1810).djvu/318 Page:The Lady of the Lake - Scott (1810).djvu/319 Page:The Lady of the Lake - Scott (1810).djvu/320 Page:The Lady of the Lake - Scott (1810).djvu/321 Page:The Lady of the Lake - Scott (1810).djvu/322 Page:The Lady of the Lake - Scott (1810).djvu/323 But, as Irish harpers occasionally visited the highlands and western isles till lately, the harp might have been extant so late as the middle of the present century. Thus far we know, that from remote times down to the present, harpers were received as welcome guests, particularly in the highlands of Scotland; and so late as the latter end of the sixteenth century, as appears by the above quotation, the harp was in common use among the natives of the western isles. How it happened that the noisy and inharmonious bagpipe banished the soft and expressive harp, we cannot say; but certain it is, that the bagpipe is now the only instrument that obtains universally in the highland districts."—Campbell's Journey through North Britain. Lond. 1808. 4to. I. 175.
Mr Gunn, of Edinburgh, has lately published a curious essay upon the harp and harp music of the Highlands of Scotland. That the instrument was once in common use there, is most certain. Cleland numbers an acquaintance with it among the few accomplishments which his satire allows to the Highlanders:—
Except in bag-pipe or in harp.