5 Lo, by thy charming rod, all breathing things And yet o'er me to spread thy drowsy wings Or if, deaf god, thou do deny that grace, 5. Charming: charm, a spell, comes through O. Fr. charme, from Lat. carmen. In M. E. it is used in the form chirm of the murmuring noise of birds; and even Milton, P. L., iv. 642, talks of the " charm of earliest birds." BALLAD POETRY. The horrible incident described in this-called by Mr. Froude the most touching of all the Northern ballads-really occurred in 1572, during the Mary Stuart troubles in Scotland. The scene of the atrocity was Towie Castle in Aberdeenshire, the perpetrator of it Edom (Adam) Gordon, and the victims Lady Forbes, her children, and servants. See Froude's History, vol. x. page 341. 41. Edom o' Gordon. 1 It fell about the Martinmas, When the wind blew shrill and cauld, "We maun draw till a hauld. 5" And what a hauld sall we draw till, We wul gae to the house o' the Rodes, 4. Maun; same word as the provincial English mun, must; as in Mr. Tennyson's Northern Farmer, "Gin I mun doy, I mun doy." It meant originally to consider; and "may," says Dr. Guest, "has taken successively the meanings we think of (going), we shall (go), and we must (go)." Till, Ger. ziel, is L. Sc. for to. 12. Toun, the enclosure in which the castle stood. See note 15, extract 11, p. 22. 15. Methinks, it seems to me. Me is here a dative, and thinks means appears, fr. O. E. pincan (videri), whereas think, to reflect, comes from O. E. pencan (putare). 17. Weened, thought, fr. O. E. wênan, M. E. wenen. 20. Reckt, cared for. See note 3, extract 13. 21. Buskit, busked, got ready. Mr. Dasent (Preface to Njal, p. xv.) has explained this word. It is the English form of the Norse "at bua sik," to getready oneself, the participle of which word, buinn, became boun, ready (modern bound in outward-bound, homewardbound, &c.). According to this explanation the use of boun in the "busk and boun" of a subsequent line is hardly correct, as it is there employed as a verb and not as a mere participle. 28. Were light, had alighted. See note 3, extract 21. But whan he see this lady saif, And her gates all locked fast, 35 He fell into rage of wroth, 40 And his look was all aghast. "Cum down to me, ye lady gay, Cum down, cum down to me; This night sall ye lig within mine armes, "I winna cum down, ye false Gordon, 45 "Give ower your house, ye lady fair, "Set fire to the house!" quo' false Gordon, "False lady, ye sall rue this deid, As ye brenn in the fire." 65 "Wae worth, wae worth ye, Jock my man, 80 O, then bespaik her little son, Sat on the nurse's knee: Says, "Mither dear, gi' ower this house, "I wad gie a' my gowd, my child, For ane blast o' the western wind, 85 O, then bespaik her dochter dear, 90 They rowed her in a pair of sheits 62. Wood, mad, O. E. wód. So woodness in Chaucer means madness. 62. Dule, dole, grief. 65. Wae worth ye, woe be to you. See note 1, extract 1. 66. Fee; this word of old meant property, as in a subsequent line. It is simply the Latin pecus, Ger. vieh, by the law of the interchange of letters, called Grimm's law, from its discoverer. 68. Reek, smoke. The old word rack, in the sense of the mass of floating clouds above us, is the same word. 86. Jimp, slender. 87. Row, roll. 110 I canna luik in that bonnie face, "Thame luiks to freits, my master deir, Then freits will follow thame, Let it neir be said brave Edom o' Gordon But when the ladye see the fire Cum flaming ower her head, 115 She wept and kist her children twain, 120 The Gordon then his bugle blew, And said, "Awa! awa! This house o' the Rodes is a' in flame, I hauld it time to ga'." O, then bespyed her ain dear lord, 106. Dooms, judgments, substantive of deem. See note, line 11, of 4th extract from Chaucer. 109. Thame luiks to freits, them that look to ill-omens. The s as termination of pres. ind. plur. still continued to be a north-country usage. It was a mark of the same dialect in very early times. |