SIGNET. 1. A seal. 2. A ring containing a signet or private seal. SLIP. To let slip; to loose hands from the noose; to be sent in pursuit of game. SQUIRE. An attendant upon a knight. STIRRUP CUP. A cup of wine drunk on parting from a friend on horseback. STORE. (An obsolete adjective.) Accumulated; stored up. STRATH. A valley of considerable size, through which a river flows. TARGE. Target-shield. TINE-MAN. An officer of the forest, who had the nocturnal care of vert and venison. TROLL. 1. A song the parts of which are sung in succession; a round. 2. To sing in the manner of a catch or round, also in a full, jovial voice. VAIR. The skin of the squirrel, much used in the fourteenth century as fur for garments. VANTAGE COIGN. A position of advantage for observing or operating. WARD. A guarding or defensive position or motion in fencing. WARDER. One who wards or keeps. WHINYARD. A short sword or knife. SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY. _The Lady of the Lake_ is usually read in the first year of the high school course, and it is with this fact in mind that the following suggestions have been made. It is an excellent book with which to begin the study of the ordinary forms of poetry, of plot structure, and the simpler problems of description. For this reason in the exercises that follow the emphasis has been placed on these topics. THE POEM. _The Lady of the Lake_ is an excellent example of the minor epic. Corresponding to the "Arms and the man I sing," of the Æneid, and the invocation to the Muse, are the statement of the theme, "Knighthood's dauntless deed and Beauty's matchless eye," and the invocation to the Harp of the North, in the opening stanzas. For the heroes, descendants of the gods, of the great epic, we have a king, the chieftain of a great clan, an outlaw earl and his daughter, characters less elevated than those of the great epic, but still important. The element of the supernatural brought in by the gods and goddesses of the epic is here supplied by the minstrel, Brian the priest, and the harp. The interest of the poem lies in the incidents as with the epic. The romantic story of Ellen and Malcolm, however, lies quite outside the realm of the great epic, which is concerned with the fate of a state or body of people rather than with that of an individual. THE PLOT. There are two threads to the story, one concerned with the love story of Ellen and Malcolm, the main plot; and one with Roderick and his clan against the King, the minor plot. The connection between them is very slight, the story of Ellen could have been told almost without the other, but the struggle of the Clan makes a fine background for the love story of Ellen and Malcolm. The plot is an excellent one for the beginner to study as the structure is so evident. The following is a simple outline of the main incidents of the story. I. The complication: