798. My spell-bound steps. The MS. has

798. My spell-bound steps. The MS. has

"Thy sovereign back | to Benvenue." Thy sovereign's steps |

800. Glaive. Sword. See on iv. 274 above.

803. Pledge of my faith, etc. The MS. has "Pledge of Fitz-James's faith, the ring."

808. A lightening. Some eds. have "A lightning."

809. And more, etc. The MS. reads:

"And in her breast strove maiden shame; More deep she deemed the Monarch's ire Kindled 'gainst him, who, for her sire, Against his Sovereign broadsword drew; And, with a pleading, warm and true, She craved the grace of Roderick Dhu."

813. Grace. Pardon.

825. Stained. Reddened.

829. The Graeme. Jeffrey says: "Malcolm Graeme has too insignificant a part assigned him, considering the favor in which he is held both by Ellen and the author; and in bringing out the shaded and imperfect character of Roderick Dhu as a contrast to the purer virtue of his rival, Mr. Scott seems to have fallen into the common error of making him more interesting than him whose virtues he was intended to set off, and converted the villain of the piece in some measure into its hero. A modern poet, however, may perhaps be pardoned for an error of which Milton himself is thought not to have kept clear, and for which there seems so natural a cause in the difference between poetical and amiable characters."