On right, on left, above, below,
Sprung up, at once, the lurking foe;
From shingles gray their lances start;
The bracken bush sends forth the dart;
The rushes and the willow-wand
Are bristling into axe and brand;
And every tuft of broom gives life
To plaided warrior armed for strife.
That whistle garrisoned the glen
At once with full five hundred men,
As if the yawning hill to heaven
A subterranean host had given.

7. Watching their leader's beck and will,

All silent there they stood, and still,
Like the loose crags whose threatening mass
Lay tottering o'er the hollow pass,
As if an infant's touch could urge
Their headlong passage down the verge ;
With step and weapon forward flung,
Upon the mountain-side they hung.
The Mountaineer cast glance of pride
Along Benledi's living side,
Then fixed his eye and sable brow
Full on Fitz-James— How say'st thou now?
These are Clan-Alpine's warriors true;
And, Saxon—I am Roderick Dhu!'

trained to the pursuit of brack'-en, fern.
game.

gar'-ris-oned, filled with soldiers. lure, temptation.

sub-ter-ra'-ne-an, underground. chafe thy mood, make thee angry. beck, sign with the finger or head. Clan-Al’-pine, the family name of verge, edge. Roderick Dhu.

moun-tain-eer', person who resides brand, sword.

on or near a mountain. mor'-tal, deadly.

Ben-led'-i, a mountain in Perthshire, swain, lover.

near Callander. shin'-gles, loose fragments of rock. sa'-ble, dark.

EXERCISES.—1. The Saxon prefix (1) mis- means ill, wrong; as misbehave, to behave ill ; misplace, to put in the wrong place; misdeed, an ill deed; misconduct, bad conduct. (2) n means not, as never, not ever ; none, not one.

2. Analyse and parse the first four lines of stanza 7.

3. Make sentences of your own, and use in each one or more of the following words : Traverse, bewildered, misbehave, misplace.

FITZ-JAMES AND RODERICK DHU—II.
1. Fitz-James was brave. Though to his heart

The life-blood thrilled with sudden start,
He manned himself with dauntless air,
Returned the Chief his haughty stare;
His back against a rock he bore,
And firmly placed his foot before :-
'Come one, come all! this rock shall fly
From its firm base as soon as I.'
Sir Roderick marked—and in his

eyes
Respect was mingled with surprise,
And the stern joy which warriors feel

In foeman worthy of their steel.
2. Short space he stood—then waved his hand:

Down sunk the disappearing band;
Each warrior vanished where he stood,
In broom or bracken, heath or wood

Sunk brand, and spear, and bended bow,
In osiers pale and copses low;
It seemed as if their mother Earth
Had swallowed up her warlike birth.
The wind's last breath had tossed in air
Pennon, and plaid, and plumage fair-
The next but swept a lone hillside,
Where heath and fern were waving wide:
The sun's last glance was glinted back,
From spear and glaive, from targe and jack-
The next, all unreflected, shone
On bracken green, and cold gray stone.

3. Fitz-James looked round-yet scarce believed

The witness that his sight received;
Such apparition well might seem
Delusion of a dreadful dream.
Sir Roderick in suspense he eyed,
And to his look the Chief replied:
'Fear nought--nay, that I need not say;
But-doubt not aught from mine array.
Thou art my guest; I pledged my word
As far as Coilantogle ford :
Nor would I call a clansman's brand
For aid against one valiant hand,
Though on our strife lay every vale
Rent by the Saxon from the Gael.
So move we on ;-I only meant
To show the reed on which you leant,
Deeming this path you might pursue
Without a pass from Roderick Dhu.'

4. They moved. I said Fitz-James was brave

As ever knight that belted glaive;

Yet dare not say, that now his blood
Kept on its wont and tempered flood,
As, following Roderick's stride, he drew
That seeming lonesome pathway through,
Which yet, by fearful proof, was rife
With lances that, to take his life,
Waited but signal from a guide
So late dishonoured and defied.

5. Ever, by stealth, his eye sought round

The vanished guardians of the ground, And still, from copse and heather deep,

, Fancy saw spear and broadsword peep, And in the plover's shrilly strain, The signal whistle heard again. Nor breathed he free till far behind The pass was left; for then they wind Along a wide and level green, Where neither tree nor tuft was seen, Nor rush nor bush of broom was near, To hide a bonnet or a spear.

EXERCISES.—1. The Saxon prefix out- means beyond ; as outlive, to live beyond ; outgrow, to grow beyond; outlaw, to place beyond the law, that is, to deprive of the benefit of the law. 2. Analyse and parse the following:

• Each warrior vanished where he stood,
In broom or bracken, heath or wood ;
Sunk brand, and spear, and bended bow

In osiers pale and copses low.' 3. Make sentences of your own, and use in each one or more of the following words : Guest, ford, vanish, outlaw.

corner

THE STRANGERS' NOOK. [This lesson is from the miscellaneous writings of Dr Robert Chambers, author of the Traditions of Edinburgh and many other works, and one of the founders of Chambers's Journal. ]

1. In country churchyards in Scotland, and perhaps in other countries also, there is always a

near the gateway which is devoted to the reception of strangers, and is distinguished from the rest of the area by its total want of monuments. When you inquire of the passing peasant respecting this part of the burial-ground, he tells you that it is the corner for strangers, but never, of course, thinks

that there is or can be any sentiment in the matter. To me, I must