BOOK VII.
2 will of wayn. “Wild of weening” or thought—i.e., quite at a loss. See on II. 471.
10 yhe. Ye from an inferior to a superior; you on the part of the latter, as in line 15.
17 I haf herd, etc. In a note to the Wallace, Bk. v. 25, Jamieson cites from “Bellenden, after Boece,” a long passage on bloodhounds, in which this occurs: “And thocht the thevis oftymes cors the wattir, quhair thai pas, to caus the hound to tyne the sent of thaym and the guddis, yit he serchis heir and thair with sic deligence, that be his fut he fyndis baith the trace of the theiff and the guddis” (Description of Albion, chap. xi.). See on VI. 484.
48 “And he is a good distance off by this time.”
90 price and loving. “Honour and praise.” Cf. 99, 294.
103 war bodyn all evynly. “Were armed equally well,” equipped for fighting.
132 bryng hym than of daw. “Bring him then out of day”—i.e., kill him. Cf. on Bk. VI. 650.
163 housis. MSS. give “hous” with flourished “s,” here expanded to “is.” See Preface 3.
177 slep. “To sleep,” infinitive, not a substantive.
188 as foul on twist. “Like a bird on a bough.”
*302 to-waverand. “To-wavering”—i.e., distracted, uncertain. Waverand occurs in line 112 above, and in the Wallace in “waverand wynd” (Bk. iv. 340). “To” is intensive = German zer. In Morte Arthure we have “to-stonayede” = astounded (1436) and “to-briste” = burst asunder (3982). Skeat gives for the text, “wandering uncertainly in different directions,” but “her and thar” follows.
330 nakyt. “Without armour,” as always in the poem.
423 for Jhon Cumyng’s sak. That this feeling did operate in certain quarters we gather, further, from a story told in the Scalacronica, citing “the chronicles of his (Bruce’s) actions,” in which two men ferry Bruce, whom they did not know, over a passage between two islands. They ask about Bruce, and express a wish that they had him in their hands, that they might kill him. Bruce inquired why, and the answer is, “Because he murdered John Comyn, our lord.” This incident is placed after Loudon Hill, and the precise locality is not mentioned. Bruce discloses his identity in parting from them (Scala., pp. 132-3).
455 top our teill. “Top over tail,” head over heels. The phrase occurs in the Alexander (72, 8).
468 till him dreuch. “Drew the man towards him.”
494 Glentruell. Glen Trool and Loch Trool are in the west of Kirkcudbright. See below on 622.
497 the deir war in sesoun. June or July, and so after Loudon Hill in Bk. VIII.
561 the Clyffurd. Sir Robert Clifford. See note on 622 and on Bk. I. 282.
588 his baneour. “His banner-bearer,” as in Morte Arthure, “He byddys his baneoure, Buske yow,” etc. (3732).
622 Vaus. “Vaux” = de vallibus, like Clifford, a Cumberland family. Sir John de Vaus is on service under Valence against Bruce in June, 1307 (Bain, ii., No. 1938). We have a set of memoranda relative to expeditions against Bruce in Galloway, dated February 12 to May 3, 1307, for wages to horse, foot, and archers under different commanders, “in the valley of Nith,” “beyond the water of Cree,” “Glentruil, riding in search of Robert de Brus,” “on the raid to Glentruyl, against said Sir Robert,” “in Carrick and Glentruyl”; and among the leaders is Sir Robert de Clifford (Bain, ii., No. 1923).
623 raucht him a colè. “Reached him a blow.” Skeat explains colè as from O.F. colee, from col (cou), the neck. Cf. accolade, a blow with the flat of a sword in dubbing a knight.
624 “Both drew up their men in sides,” for a fight.
632 than he com of toune. “Than when he set out,” a general phrase.