[628] The nimble air of Scone Castle. It was of the air of Inverness, not of Scone, that "the air nimbly and sweetly recommends itself unto our gentle senses."—Macbeth, i. 6.
[629] Portia's villa. See the moonlight scene, Merchant of Venice, v. 1.
[630] The antres vost, etc. See Othello, I. 3. "Antres" is an old word, meaning caves, caverns.
[631] Cyclopean architecture. In Greek mythology, the Cyclops were a race of giants. The term 'Cyclopean' is applied here to the architecture of Egypt and India, because of the majestic size of the buildings, and the immense size of the stones used, as if it would require giants to perform such works.
[632] Phidian sculpture. Phidias was a famous Greek sculptor who lived in the age of Pericles and beautified Athens with his works.
[633] Gothic minsters. Churches or cathedrals, built in the Gothic, or pointed, style of architecture which prevailed during the Middle Ages; it owed nothing to the Goths, and this term was originally used in reproach, in the sense of "barbarous."
[634] The Italian painting. In Italy during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries pictorial art was carried to a degree of perfection unknown in any other time or country.
[635] Ballads of Spain and Scotland. The old ballads of these countries are noted for beauty and spirit.
[636] Tripod. Define this word, and explain its appropriateness here.
[637] Aubrey. John Aubrey, an English antiquarian of the seventeenth century.