221. =In Holy-Rood a knight he slew.= Holyrood is the royal castle at Edinburgh, where the court usually was held. It was deemed a heinous and desperate offense to commit an act of blood in the royal residence or its immediate neighborhood, since such an act was an indirect violation of the majesty of the king, and a breaking of "the king's peace." It was for this offense that Roderick Dhu was exiled, and compelled to live like an outlaw in his mountain fastness. 227. =Who else dared give.= Notice how skilfully Scott manages to give us the relations of the chief characters of the poem to each other, and to show that Ellen's father, pursued by the hatred of James V, has been given the island shelter in Loch Katrine by Roderick Dhu who is about to make his appearance in the story. 236. =Full soon may dispensation sought.= A papal dispensation was necessary, because Ellen and Roderick Dhu were cousins. See next note. 249. =All that a mother could bestow.= Here again the poet takes the indirect way of making clear his point, namely that the matron introduced in the first canto is the mother of Roderick Dhu. The phrase "an orphan in the wild," is in apposition with the following phrase "her sister's child"--i.e., Ellen herself. From this it appears that Lady Margaret is Ellen's aunt, and that Roderick Dhu is, therefore, Ellen's cousin. 260. =Maronnan's cell.= A chapel at the eastern extremity of Loch Lomond, dedicated to the rather obscure saint here named. 270. =Bracklinn's thundering wave.= The reference is to a cascade made by a mountain torrent at the Bridge of Bracklinn, near the village of Callender in Menteith. Notice how Scott's numerous references to places in the region where the poem is laid tend gradually to give us an idea of the richness and diversity of the landscape. 274. =claymore.= A large two-handed sword. 305. =Thy father's battle-brand.= Some swords, especially those which had been magically forged, were held to possess the property of drawing themselves from their scabbard at the approach of their owner's deadly enemy. This is the first vague hint which Scott gives us as to the real identity of the "Knight of Snowdoun." To throw a further glamor of romance about the prophetical weapon, he tells us that it was given by fairies to an ancestor of its present owner, namely, to Archibald, third Duke of Angus, called Tine-man (Loseman) because he always lost his men in battle, and that this gift was made while Archibald was in league with Harry Hotspur. 319. =Beltane game.= The sports of May Day. 327. =canna.= Cotton grass. Stanza XVI. In this and the two following stanzas notice how skillfully description and narrative are woven together, and how the picture gains in detail and distinctness as the boats approach. 334. =barges.= What change has occurred in the use of this word? 335. =Glengyle ... Brianchoil.= Why does the poet introduce these proper names? Are they of any value as information?