Rob Roy – Complete

45

[Executed for treason.]

46

Inch-Cailleach is an island in Lochlomond, where the clan of MacGregor were wont to be interred, and where their sepulchres may still be seen. It formerly contained a nunnery: hence the name of Inch-Cailleach, or the island of Old Women.

47

[The Saltmarket. This ancient street, situate in the heart of Glasgow, has of late been almost entirely renovated.]

48

Anglice, the head of the sow to the tail of the pig.

49

The boys in Scotland used formerly to make a sort of Saturnalia in a snow-storm, by pelting passengers with snowballs. But those exposed to that annoyance were excused from it on the easy penalty of a baik (courtesy) from a female, or a bow from a man. It was only the refractory who underwent the storm.

50

Thigging and sorning was a kind of genteel begging, or rather something between begging and robbing, by which the needy in Scotland used to extort cattle, or the means of subsistence, from those who had any to give.

51

The word pretty is or was used in Scotch, in the sense of the German prachtig, and meant a gallant, alert fellow, prompt and ready at his weapons.

52

Cutlass.

53

An outlaw.

54

Plundered.

55

Two great clans fought out a quarrel with thirty men of a side, in presence of the king, on the North Inch of Perth, on or about the year 1392; a man was amissing on one side, whose room was filled by a little bandy-legged citizen of Perth. This substitute, Henry Wynd – or, as the Highlanders called him, Gow Chrom, that is, the bandy-legged smith – fought well, and contributed greatly to the fate of the battle, without knowing which side he fought on; – so, “To fight for your own hand, like Henry Wynd,” passed into a proverb. [This incident forms a conspicuous part of the subsequent novel, “The Fair Maid of Perth.”]

56

[The Chronicle of the Kings of England, by Sir Richard Baker, with continuations, passed through several editions between 1641 and 1733. Whether any of them contain the passage alluded to is doubtful.]

57

Sackless, that is, innocent.

58

Note G. Mons Meg.

59

Note H. Fairy Superstition.

60

Archilowe, of unknown derivation, signifies a peace-offering.

61

Lymphads. The galley which the family of Argyle and others of the Clan Campbell carry in their arms.

62

Lochow and the adjacent districts formed the original seat of the Campbells. The expression of a “far cry to Lochow” was proverbial.

63

A rude kind of guillotine formerly used in Scotland.

64

This, as appears from the introductory matter to this Tale, is an anachronism. The slaughter of MacLaren, a retainer of the chief of Appine, by the MacGregors, did not take place till after Rob Roy’s death, since it happened in 1736.

65

Note I. Clachan of Aberfoil.

66

A great feudal oppressor, who, riding on some cruel purpose through the forest of Guiyock, was thrown from his horse, and his foot being caught in the stirrup, was dragged along by the frightened animal till he was torn to pieces. The expression, “Walter of Guiyock’s curse,” is proverbial.

67

A kind of lighter used in the river Clyde, – probably from the French abare.

68

The affairs of Prestonpans and Falkirk are probably alluded to, which marks the time of writing the Memoirs as subsequent to 1745.

69

i. e. The throat and the withy. Twigs of willow, such as bind faggots, were often used for halters in Scotland and Ireland, being a sage economy of hemp.