nders is very fertile and
productive, in marked contrast to the greater part of Scotland.
60. Halberd. A combination of spear and battle-axe. See Wb.
63. Holytide. Holiday. For tide = time, see on iii. 478 above.
73. Neighboring to. That is, lying in adjacent rooms.
75. Burden. Alluding to the burden, or chorus, of a song. Cf. ii. 392
above. The MS. has "jest" for joke; and in the next line "And rude oaths
vented by the rest."
78. Trent. the English river of that name. Cf. 231 below.
84. That day. Modifying cut shore, not grieved.
87. A merry catch, I troll. Cf. Shakespeare, Temp, iii. 2. 126: "will
you troll the catch," etc.
88. Buxom. Lively, brisk; as in Hen. V. iii. 6. 27: "of buxom valour,"
etc. Its original sense was yielding, obedient; as in F. Q. i. 11. 37:
"the buxome aire" (see also Milton, P. L. ii. 842); and Id. iii. 2. 23:
"Of them that to him buxome are and prone." For the derivation, see Wb.
90. Poule. Paul; an old spelling, found in Chaucer and other writers.
The measure of the song is anapestic (that is, with the accent on every
third syllable), with modifications.
92. Black-jack. A kind of pitcher made of leather. Taylor quotes Old
Mortality, chap. viii.: "The large black-jack filled with very small
beer."
93. Sack. A name applied to Spanish and Canary wines in general; but
sometimes the particular kind was specified. Cf. 2 Hen. IV. iv. 3. 104:
"good sherris-sack" (that is, sherry wine); and Herrick, Poems:
"thy isles shall lack
Grapes, before Herrick leaves Canarie sack."
95. Upsees. "Bacchanalian interjection, borrowed from the Dutch"
(Scott). Nares criticises Scott for using the word as a noun. It is
generally found in the phrases "upsee Dutch" and "upsee Freeze" (the
same thing, Frise being = Dutch), which appear to mean "in the Dutch
fashion." Cf. Ben Jonson, Alchemist, iv. 6:
"I do not like the dullness of your eye,
It hath a heavy east, 't is upsee Dutch;"
that is, looks like intoxication. See also Beaumont and Fletcher,
Beggar's Bush, iv. 4: "The bowl... which must be upsey English, strong,
lusty, London beer."
98. Kerchief. See on iii. 495 above.
100. Gillian. A common old English name (according to Coles and others,
a corruption of Juliana), often contracted into Gill of Jill, and used
as a familiar term for a woman, as Jack was for a man. The two are often
associated; as in the proverbs "Every Jack must hav
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