In the spurious letters of Æschines (Letter x.) is a passage which explains the allusion.
"It is the custom of maidens, on the eve of their marriage, to wash in the waters of the Scamander, and then to utter this almost sacred formula,
'Take, O Scamander, my virginity'
'Take, O Scamander, my virginity'
"The motto to The Giaour:
which is taken from one of the Irish Melodies, had been quoted by him incorrectly in the first editions of the poem" (Moore).One fatal remembrance—one sorrow that throws
Its bleak shade alike o'er our joys and our woes,' etc.
One fatal remembrance—one sorrow that throws
Its bleak shade alike o'er our joys and our woes,' etc.