The poetical works of Sir Walter Scott ... Notes & life of the author.

Ootte to Marefion.
CANTO THIRD.
NOTE I.
The village Inn.
The aecommodations of a Scottish hostelrie, or inn, in the 16th onm.
fury, may be collected from Dunbar's admirable tale of the "Friars of
Berwick." Simon Lauder, " the gay ostleir," seems to have lived very
comfortably; and his wife decorated her person with a scarlet kertle, and
a belt of silk and silver, and rings upon her fingers: and feasted her
paramour with rabbits, capons, partridges, and Bourdeaux wine. At
least, if the Scottish inns were not good, it was not from want of encour.
agement from the legislature, who, so early as the reign of James I., not
only enacted, that in all boroughs and lairs there be hostellaries, having
stables and chambers, and provision for man and horse, but, by another
statute, ordained, that no man travelling on horse or foot, should presume
to lodge any where except in these hostellaries; and that no person, save
inn-keepers, should receive such travellers,. under the penalty of forty
shillings for exercising such hospitality. But, in spite of these provident
enactments, the Scottish hostels are indifferent, and strangers continue to
find reception in the houses of individuals.
NOTE II.
The death of a dear friend.
Among other omens to which faithful credit is given among the Scottish
peasantry, is what is called the " dead bell," explained by my friend,
James Hogg, to be that tinkling in the ears which the country people re.
gard as the secret intelligence of some friend's decease.
NOTE III.
The Goblin Hall.
A vaulted hall under the ancient castle of Gifford, or Yester, the construction of which has, from a very remote period, been ascribed to magic.
The statistical Account of the Parish of Garvald and Baro, gives the fol.
lowing account of the present state of this castle and apartment: " Upon
a peninsula, formed by the water of Hopes on the east, and a large rivulet on the west, stands the ancient castle of Yester. Sir David Dalrymple,
in his annals, relates, that' HIugh Gifford de Yester died in 1267; that in
his castle there was a capacious cavern formed by magical art, and called
in the country Bo-hall, i. e. Hobgoblin Hall.' A stair of twenty-four
steps led down to this apartment, which is a large and spacious hall,
with an arched roof; and though it hath stood for so many centuries, and
been exposed to the external air for a period of fifty or sixty years, it is
still as firm and entire asif it had stood only a few years. From the floor
of this hall, another stair of thirty-six steps leads down to a pit which
hath a communication with Hopes-water. A great part of the walls of
this large and ancient castle are still standing. There is a tradition, that
the castle of Yester was tje last fortification, in this country, that surren.
dered to General Gray, sent into Scotland by Protector Somerset." —
Statistical Account, vol. xiii. I have only to add, that in 1737, the
Goblin Hall was tenanted by the Marquis of Tweedale's Falconer, as I
learn from a poem by Boyse, entitled " Retirement," written upon visittng Yester. It is now rendered inaccessible by the fall of the stair.
NOTE IV.
There floated Haco's banner trunm,
Above Norweyah warriors grim.
In 1263, Haco, King of Norway, came into the Firth of Clyde with a
powerful armament, and made descent at Largs, in Ayrshire. Here he
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