634.  By fate of Border chivalry.  Scott says:  “James was, in fact, equally attentive to restrain rapine and feudal oppression in every part of his dominions.  ’The King past to the isles, and there held justice courts, and punished both thief and traitor according to their demerit.  And also he caused great men to show their holdings, wherethrough he found many of the said lands in non-entry; the which he confiscate and brought home to his own use, and afterwards annexed them to the crown, as ye shall hear.  Syne brought many of the great men of the isles captive with him, such as Mudyart, M’Connel, M’Loyd of the Lewes, M’Neil, M’Lane, M’Intosh, John Mudyart, M’Kay, M’Kenzie, with many other that I cannot rehearse at this time.  Some of them he put in ward and some in court, and some he took pledges for good rule in time coming.  So he brought the isles, both north and south, in good rule and peace; wherefore he had great profit, service, and obedience of people a long time hereafter; and as long as he had the heads of the country in subjection, they lived in great peace and rest, and there was great riches and policy by the King’s justice’ (Pitscottie, p. 152).”

638.  Your counsel.  That is, give me your counsel.  Streight = strait.

659.  The Bleeding Heart.  See on 200 above.

662.  Quarry.  See on i. 127 above.

672.  To wife.  For wife.  Cf.  Shakespeare, Temp. ii. 1. 75:  “such a paragon to their queen;” Rich.  II. iv. 1. 306:  “I have a king here to my flatterer,” etc.  See also Matt. iii. 9, Luke, iii. 8, etc.

674.  Enow.  The old plural of enough; as in Shakespeare, Hen.  V. iv. 1. 240:  “we have French quarrels enow,” etc.

678.  The Links of Forth.  The windings of the Forth between Stirling and Alloa.

679.  Stirling’s porch.  The gate of Stirling Castle.

683.  Blench.  Start, shrink.

685.  Heat.  Misprinted “heart” in many eds.

690.  From pathless glen.  The Ms. has “from hill and glen.”

692.  There are who have.  For the ellipsis, cf.  Shakespeare, Temp. ii. 1. 262:  “There be that can rule Naples,” etc.  See also iii. 10 below.

694.  That beetled o’er.  Cf.  Hamlet, i. 4. 71: 

“the dreadful summit of the cliff That beetles o’er his base into the sea.”

696.  Their dangerous dream.  The Ms. has “their desperate dream.”

702.  Battled.  Battlemented; as in vi. 7 below.

703.  It waved.  That it waved; an ellipsis very common in Elizabethan and earlier English.  Cf. 789 below.

708.  Astound.  Astounded.  This contraction of the participle (here used for the sake of the rhyme) was formerly not uncommon in verbs ending in d and t.  Thus in Shakespeare we find the participles bloat (Ham. iii. 4. 182), enshield (M. for M. ii. 4. 80), taint (1 Hen.  Vi. v. 3. 183), etc.