line 457. 'Lest the reader should partake of the Earl's astonishment, and consider the crime as inconsistent with the manners of the period, I have to remind him of the numerous forgeries (partly executed by a female assistant) devised by Robert of Artois, to forward his suit against the Countess Matilda; which, being detected, occasioned his flight into England, and proved the remote cause of Edward the Third's memorable wars in France. John Harding, also, was expressly hired by Edward IV to forge such documents as might appear to establish the claim of fealty asserted over Scotland by the English monarchs.'--SCOTT. line 458. It likes was long used impersonally, in the sense of it pleases. Cp. King John, ii. 2. 234: 'It likes us well.' line 460. St. Bothan, Bythen, or Bethan is said to have been a cousin of St. Columba and his successor at Iona. His name is preserved in the Berwickshire parish, Abbey-Saint-Bathan's; where, towards the close of the twelfth century, a Cistertian nunnery, with the title of a priory, was dedicated to him by Ada, daughter of William the Lion. There is no remaining trace of this structure. line 461. The other sons could at least sign their names. Their signatures are reproduced in facsimile in 'The Douglas Book' by Sir William Eraser, 4 vols. 4to, Edin. 1886 (privately printed). line 468. Fairly, well, elegantly, as in Chaucer's Prol. 94:-- 'Well cowde he sitte on hors, and FAIRE ryde'; and in 'Faerie Queene,' I. i. 8:-- 'Full jolly knight he seemed, and FAIRE did sitt.' Stanza XVI. line 498. This line is a comprehensive description of a perfectly satisfactory charger or hunter. line 499. Sholto is one of the Douglas family names. One of the Earl's sons, being sheriff, could not go with his brothers to the war. line 500. 'His eldest son, the Master of Angus.'--SCOTT. Stanza XVII. line 532. In Bacon's ingenious essay, 'Of Simulation and Dissimulation,' he states these as the three disadvantages of the qualities:--'The first, that Simulation and Dissimulation commonly carry with them a show of fearfulness, which, in any business, doth spoil the feathers of round flying up to the mark. The second, that it puzzleth and perplexeth the conceits of many, that would otherwise co-operate with him, and makes a man almost alone to his own ends. The third, and greatest, is that it depriveth a man of one of the most principal instruments for action; which is trust and belief.' Stanza XVIII. line 540. 'This was a Cistertian house of religion, now almost entirely demolished. Lennel House is now the residence of my venerable friend, Patrick Brydone, Esquire, so well known in the literary world. {4} It is situated near Coldstream, almost opposite Cornhill, and consequently very near to Flodden Field.'--SCOTT. line 568. traversed, moved in opposition, as in fencing. Cp. Merry Wives, ii. 3. 23: 'To see thee fight, to see thee foin, to see thee traverse,' &c.