Editorial note — CANTO SIXTH THE GUARD-ROOM
Reading edition · Edition 2
42. harness, armor and other war gear.
60. halberd, a weapon consisting of a battle-ax and pike at the end of a long staff. brand, a poetical word for sword.
92. black-jack, a large drinking can of tarred or waxed leather.
95. Drink upsees out. "Upsees" is a corruption of a Dutch Bacchanalian interjection.
103. cure. Parish or charge. placket. Petticoat.
104. lurch, swindle, leave in difficulty.
306. prore, poetical form of "prow."
377. erne, eagle.
Stanza XVII. Notice how both rime and rhythm mirror the growing excitement of the conflict.
452. As their Tinchel cows the game. The "Tinchel" was a circle of hunters, surrounding a herd of deer and gradually closing in on them.
488. linn, the word here means waterfall.
586. Bothwell's lord, Douglas. See note to II, xiii, 141.
591. How Roderick brooked his minstrelsy. "Brooked" is not used in its strong sense of "endured," but in the weaker one of "received"; we should say colloquially "how he took it."