[11] The Moorish fortress of Alhama was rightly regarded as one of the two “Keys” of Granada, Loja—the Lôsha of the Moors—ranking as the other. Loja was besieged by Ferdinand and Isabella, and captured, in 1488, after thirty-four days’ investment; chiefly, it is said, by the aid of English archers under Earl Rivers, son of Anthony Wydeville, brother to Elizabeth, Queen of our Edward IV. Alhama had fallen 28th February, 1482, and its loss is the subject of the ballad referred to.
[12] Such, at least, are the reasons given for the abandonment of the gigantic blocks of stone which were heaped up by Charles to rival the unsurpassable. It is said, however, that repeated shocks of earthquake frightened him out of the enterprise.
[13] Al-’arif, in Spanish, Alarife, means “an inspector of public works”; and, according to Ibnu-l-Khattíb, the Grand Wizír of Yúsuf I., and of his son, Mohammed V., the site of the Generalife belonged to a person of that profession before it passed into the hands of the Sultán Isma’il-Ibn-Faraj, who, in A.D. 1320, bought the land for a large sum, and built the palace as a delightful retreat from the cares of State.
[14] Acequia Court. The Arab word is Sákiyyah, whence the Spanish Acequia is derived. The word means an artificial or diverted running stream in a garden; or, a canal for the purpose of irrigation.
