534. Stature fair. The reading of the 1st ed. and that of 1821; "stature tall" in most of the other eds.
541. The ptarmigan. A white bird.
543. Menteith. See on i. 89 above.
548. Ben Lomond. This is much the highest (3192 feet) of the mountains on the shores of Loch Lomond. The following lines on the ascent were scratched upon the window-pane of the old inn at Tarbet a hundred years or more ago:
"Trust not at first a quick adventurous pace;
Six miles its top points gradual from its base;
Up the high rise with panting haste I past,
And gained the long laborious steep at last;
More prudent thou—when once you pass the deep,
With cautious steps and slow ascend the steep."
549. Not a sob. That is, without panting, or getting out of breath, like the degenerate modern tourist.
574. Glenfinlas. A wooded valley between Ben-an and Benledi, the entrance to which is between Lochs Achray and Vennachar. It is the scene of Scott's ballad, Glenfinlas, or Lord Ronald's Coronach. A mile from the entrance are the falls of the Hero's Targe. See iv. 84 below.
577. Still a royal ward. Still under age, with the king for guardian.
583. Strath-Endrick. A valley to the southeast of Loch Lomond, drained by Endrick Water.
584. Peril aught. Incur any peril. Milton uses the verb intransitively in Reason of Church Government, ii. 3: "it may peril to stain itself."