A Name for Herself

by L. M. Montgomery

  221 Loch Awe is a large body of water in the Argyll and Bute area of southwestern Scotland. Kilchurn Castle, which was built in the fifteenth century and which remains a popular site for tourists, is located on the northeastern part of the loch.

  222 For more on New London Harbour, see “The Alpine Path,” note 96, above.

  223 The travel company Thomas Cook and Son (as it was known during the period described here) was founded in 1841 and remains operational to this day.

  224 Fingal’s Cave is a sea cave on the island of Staffa, renowned for its natural acoustics. A photograph captioned “Climbing over the Staffa rocks to Fingal’s Cave” appears in LMMCJ, 1: 4.

  225 I have corrected the original, which reads “dour guide.”

  226 Possibly a reference to Isaiah 57:15 (KJV): “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy.”

  227 Irish-born St. Columba (521–597 CE) established a monastery on the island of Iona in Scotland.

  228 King Duncan, a fictional character in Shakespeare’s tragic play Macbeth.

  229 Properly, “storied urn or animated bust.” From “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard,” by Gray.

  230 In her journal, Montgomery used the phrase “one or two congenial spirits” instead of “a few ‘kindred souls’” (Montgomery, 20 July 1911, in LMMCJ, 1: 6).

  231 In her journals, Montgomery mentioned that the letters from home were from her cousins Frede and Stella, daughters of John and Annie Campbell of Park Corner (Montgomery, 20 July 1911, in LMMCJ, 1: 6).

  232 Ayr, home of the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum, is a popular resort town 60 kilometres southwest of Glasgow.

  233 In her journal, in which this entry appears in slightly different form, Montgomery identified this couple as “Mr. and Mrs. Thorpe from Guelph, Ontario” (Montgomery, 30 July 1911, in LMMCJ, 1: 7).

  234 Properly, “Where’er we tread, ’tis haunted, holy ground.” From Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, a narrative poem by Byron.

  235 From “Locksley Hall Sixty Years After,” a poem by Tennyson. Possibly a reference to the birthplace of Burns in Alloway, just outside Ayr.

  236 Alloway Auld Kirk, a sixteenth-century church that is the location of “Tam O’Shanter,” a narrative poem by Burns.

  237 The Burns Monument at the Burns Birthplace Museum was designed by Thomas Hamilton (1784–1854), Scottish architect.

  238 Mary Campbell (1763–1786) died young but was immortalized in several of Burns’s songs, including “The Highland Lassie.”

  239 Properly, “unwept, unhonoured, and unsung.” From “The Lay of the Last Minstrel,” a poem by Scott.

  240 “Laura,” the muse of Petrarch’s poetry; Beatrice, portrayed as the “ideal woman” in Dante’s Divine Comedy; Stella, likely a reference to the title character in Astrophil and Stella (1591), a sonnet sequence by Sir Philip Sidney (1554–1586), English poet; Lucasta, the addressee of “To Lucasta, Going to the Wars,” a poem by Richard Lovelace (1618–1657), English poet; Julia, the addressee of several poems by Robert Herrick (1591–1674), English poet; “Un secret,” a poem by Félix Arvers (1806–1850), French poet, which was translated into English by Longfellow.

  241 A scenic region 51 kilometres northwest of Glasgow, now known more commonly as “Trossachs” (the 1974 book version of this text updates the spelling accordingly). Similar to Cavendish in Montgomery’s novels, this region was popularized in large part due to Scott’s epic poem The Lady of the Lake; in addition, Robert Browning had published a poem entitled “The Trosachs.”

  242 The Lady of the Lake (1810), an epic poem by Scott, part of which focuses on Ellen Douglas and her three suitors, Roderick Dhu, James Fitz-James, and Malcolm Graeme. For an earlier account of her girlhood fascination with this work of literature, see Montgomery, 14 January 1900, in CJLMM, 1: 448.

  243 Loch Lomond and Loch Katrine are freshwater lochs in the Trossachs region of Scotland, as is Loch Achray, mentioned later in this entry; the rural community of Inversnaid is located on the banks of Loch Lomond. Loch Katrine is the setting of Scott’s The Lady of the Lake, hence Montgomery’s disappointment.

  244 Stronachlachar, a settlement on Loch Katrine.

  245 “Château en Espagne” is French for “castle in Spain.” See “Around the Table,” note 225, above.

  246 Properly, “The beach of pebbles bright as snow.” From The Lady of the Lake, by Scott.

  247 The fifth instalment of the 1917 version of “The Alpine Path” ends here, along with the following note, signed “The Editors”: “In the concluding instalment of this fascinating story of the career of L.M. Montgomery, which will appear in ‘Everywoman’s World’ for November, will be four more letters from her Journal giving you a further treat by way of realistic description of noted places in Scotland and in England. The story ends with her leaving Prince Edward Island to move to Ontario as her husband was pastor of an Ontario congregation.”

  248 In the 1974 book version of the text, the term “Highland plunderers” is within quotation marks (see AP, 85).

  249 Properly, “Where shall he find, in foreign land, / So lone a lake, so sweet a strand?” From The Lady of the Lake, by Scott.

  250 A rural community in the Trossachs.

  251 One of several islets on Loch Katrine and a central setting of Scott’s The Lady of the Lake. A photograph of Ellen’s Isle by Thomas Ogle had been included in an 1863 edition of Scott’s poem.

  252 A mountain in the Trossachs, sometimes spelled as “Ben Venue.”

  253 The phrase “summit hoar” is from The Lady of the Lake, by Scott.

  254 Abbotsford, Scott’s ancestral home, is located in Melrose, a town in the southeastern region of Scotland.

  255 The Eildon Hills consist of a three-peaked hill south of Melrose.

  256 Here, Montgomery’s journal entry continues, “I am sure I would not” – a comment that reveals her self-awareness as a famous author (Montgomery, 6 August 1911, in LMMCJ, 1: 13).

  257 Scott is interred in the north transept of Dryburgh Abbey in St. Boswells, approximately 7 kilometres southeast of Melrose.

  258 “If thou wouldst view fair Melrose aright, / Go visit it by the pale moonlight.” From canto 2 of “The Lay of the Last Minstrel,” a poem by Scott. The partly ruined Melrose Abbey had been founded in 1136.

  259 Properly, Michael Scot (1175–c. 1232), Scottish scholar and mathematician.

  260 Robert I, the Bruce (1274–1329) ruled as King of Scots from 1306 until his death.

  261 A city in the Scottish Highlands, more than 300 kilometres northwest of Melrose.

  262 Kirriemuir, almost 200 kilometres north of Melrose, famed as the original setting of Sentimental Tommy (1896), a novel by Barrie, who was born and raised in Kirriemuir.

  263 “Through the Den runs a tiny burn, and by its side is a pink path, dyed this pretty color, perhaps, by the blushes the ladies leave behind them.” From Sentimental Tommy, by Barrie. See also Epperly, Through Lover’s Lane, 50–51.

  264 For the etymology of the phrase “Lover’s Lane”/“Lovers’ Lane,” see “The Alpine Path,” note 196, above. Chapter 9 of the 1974 book version of “The Alpine Path” ends here.

  265 Culloden, a village east of Inverness.

  266 Titania, Queen of the Fairies, a character in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

  267 Fort William, a large settlement more than 200 kilometres northwest of Edinburgh, is connected to Inverness by the Caledonian Canal.

  268 Properly, the Rosslyn Chapel, a fifteenth-century building in the village of Roslin, 12 kilometres south of Edinburgh.

  269 Section 23 of canto 6 of “The Lay of the Last Minstrel,” by Scott.

  270 Alloa, a village 60 kilometres northwest of Edinburgh.

  271 Natural area near the town of Dollar (55 kilometres northwest of Edinburgh and 10 kilometres northeast of Alloa) that has been a popular destination for tourists since the mid-nineteenth century.

  272 George Boyd MacMilla
n (1881–1953), with whom Montgomery had been corresponding since 1903 and to whom she would dedicate Emily of New Moon. A selection of Montgomery’s letters to MacMillan appears in Francis W.P. Bolger and Elizabeth R. Epperly’s volume My Dear Mr. M: Letters to G.B. MacMillan from L.M. Montgomery (1980). Montgomery’s complete correspondence to MacMillan is held at Library and Archives Canada.

  273 Stirling, a city almost 60 kilometres northwest of Edinburgh and 10 kilometres west of Alloa. Abbey Craig, a hilltop just north of Stirling.

  274 Berwick-upon-Tweed, a town 90 kilometres southeast of Edinburgh, in the northernmost part of England; Marmion: A Tale of Flodden Field (1808), an epic poem by Scott.

  275 In her journal, Montgomery identifies the “Miss A.” in question as Miss Jean Allan, MacMillan’s much younger fiancée, who, according to her, had a “dazzling” complexion but “no intellect” and “no conversational powers” (Montgomery, 13 August 1911, in LMMCJ, 1: 18, 19). In a letter dated 1917, MacMillan reportedly mentioned to Montgomery that Allan had married someone else (Montgomery to MacMillan, 15 March 1931, in MDMM, 160–61).

  276 Spittal, just south of Berwick-upon-Tweed, across the Tweed River.

  277 Carlisle, a city in the county of Cumbria, in northwest England, 16 kilometres south of the border between England and Scotland and 85 kilometres southwest of Berwick-upon-Tweed.

  278 “Shank’s mare” refers to using “one’s own legs as a means of conveyance” (OED) – in other words, travel by foot.

  279 Holy Island, 20 kilometres down the coast from Berwick-upon-Tweed and 115 kilometres southwest of Edinburgh, is the location of Lindisfarne Abbey.

  280 Norham Castle, near the border between England and Scotland, was built in the twelfth century on the River Tweed.

  281 Ladykirk, a village just north of the border between England and Scotland.

  282 “Meeter” as an adjective is an archaic term referring to something that is fitting or proper.

  283 In Northumberland in England, Flodden Field was the site of the Battle of Flodden, fought on 9 September 1513 between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland, that ended in a victory for England and the death of James IV (1473–1513), King of Scots.

  284 Properly, Horncliffe Glen, Horncliffe being a village in Northumberland, south of the River Tweed.

  285 York, a city in North Yorkshire, in northeast England, 185 kilometres southeast of Carlisle.

  286 Keswick, a market town more than 200 kilometres south of Edinburgh, in the Lake District, a mountainous region in northwestern England.

  287 Properly, “The haughtiest breast its wish might bound / Through life to dwell delighted here.” From “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage,” a poem by Byron.

  288 Scott’s The Bridal of Triermain, or The Vale of St. John, a narrative poem in three cantos, had been published in 1813.

  289 Buttermere and Windermere are both in the Lake District in northwestern England.

  290 The china dogs mentioned here would figure in Anne of the Island and Anne’s House of Dreams.

  291 Westminster Abbey, “Minster” referring to a major church.

  292 The phrase “lares and penates” refers to “household gods” in the sense of “household belongings regarded as defining or embodying one’s home” (OED). The phrase “dignity and aplomb” is used to describe these dogs in Anne’s House of Dreams (see AHD, 78).

  293 Properly, Hotel Russell, a four-star hotel built in 1898.

  294 The British Museum, the first national museum available to the public, on Russell Street in London, had opened in 1753. The Tower of London, a castle in central London. Westminster Abbey, an abbey church in London. The Crystal Palace, an exhibition hall made of iron and glass, built to house the Great Exhibition of 1851 and subsequently moved to Sydenham Hill, where it was destroyed by fire on the night of 30 November 1936, coincidentally Montgomery’s sixty-second birthday. Kenilworth Castle, in Warwickshire, the site of a lavish reception given by Robert Dudley, first Earl of Leicester (1532–1588), English nobleman, for Elizabeth I (1533–1603), Queen of England and Ireland, in 1575. Shakespeare Land, referring to Stratford-upon-Avon, a market town in the West Midlands; Montgomery and Macdonald visited both his birthplace and the site of his burial. Hampton Court Palace, a royal palace southwest of central London. Salisbury, home of the medieval Salisbury Cathedral, 12 kilometres south of Stonehenge, a prehistoric monument. Windsor Castle, an eleventh-century royal residence just west of London.

  295 Russell Square, a garden square located in the west end of central London. Amelia Sedley, George Osborne, Becky Sharp, and Joseph Sedley are among the large cast of characters in Thackeray’s satirical novel Vanity Fair.

  296 In July 1575, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, welcomed Elizabeth I, Queen of England and Ireland, as a guest in his home.

  297 Amy Robsart (1532–1560), wife of Robert Dudley, whose death as a result of a fall down a flight of stairs was seen as suspicious. Their marriage formed the basis for Kenilworth (1821), a novel by Scott.

  298 Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774), Irish author whose works include the novel The Vicar of Wakefield (1766).

  299 Fleet Street, a major London street that, at the time Montgomery wrote “The Alpine Path,” was a major centre for London newspapers. The Pickwick Club in Dickens’s The Pickwick Papers, one of Montgomery’s favourite novels, is also set there.

  300 “Poor Noll” refers to an epigraph to Goldsmith attributed to David Garrick (1717–1779), English actor and playwright: “Here lies Nolly Goldsmith, for shortness called Noll, / Who wrote like an angel, and talked like poor Poll.” See Roberts, Hoyt’s New Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations, 231.

  301 A reference to “Lady Clara Vere de Vere,” a poem by Tennyson about an aristocratic lady.

  302 The Marquis of Carabas, a bogus character in “Puss and Boots,” a European folk tale about a cat that tricks people in order to gain power.

  303 The RMS Adriatic had been launched in 1906.

  304 Montgomery’s account in her journal was even more blunt about her fatigue: “I am beginning to feel that I have had enough of sight seeing and knocking about, for one time. I am tired of living in a trunk – and I am tired of hotel cookery. And I want a home again” (Montgomery, 18 September 1911, in LMMCJ, 1: 38). Omitted here is an account of her last days in England, which included the discovery of the childhood home of her recently deceased grandmother. See Montgomery, 18 September 1911, in LMMCJ, 1: 39–42.

  305 Ewan Macdonald (1870–1943) had been the minister at Montgomery’s church in Cavendish, where they met in September 1903 and became secretly engaged in October 1906; he had become the pastor of the Presbyterian church in Leaskdale, Ontario, in 1910. See Montgomery, 12 October 1906, in CJLMM, 2: 154–58; Rubio and Waterston, in CJLMM, 2: 335n2.

  306 From Endymion: A Poetic Romance (1818), a book-length poem by Keats. Montgomery quoted these lines in a 1909 letter to MacMillan, in which she mentioned that she had been reading Keats for the first time. See Montgomery to MacMillan, 21 May 1909, in MDMM, 46.

  307 The quotation from Keats and this final paragraph would reappear in slightly different form in chapter 19 of Emily Climbs, entitled “‘Airy Voices’” (see EC, 248). Montgomery also quoted these lines in Montgomery to Weber, 2 September 1909, in GGL, 92. The quotation “far-off divine event” is from “In Memoriam,” a poem by Tennyson.

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