he boasted to have ascertained by the position of the oriel window, and
the direction in which the moonbeams fell at night, through the stained
glass, casting the shadow to the red cross on the spot; as had all been
specified in the poem. "I pointed out the whole to the shirra," said
he, "and he could na' gainsay but it was varra clear." I found
afterward that Scott used to amuse himself with the simplicity of the
old man, and his zeal in verifying every passage of the poem, as though
it had authentic history, and that he always acquiesced in his
deductions. I subjoin the description of the wizard's grave, which
called forth the antiquarian research of Johnny Bower.

"Lo warrior! now the cross of red,
Points to the grave of the mighty dead;
Slow moved the monk to the broad flag-stone,
Which the bloody cross was traced upon:
He pointed to a sacred nook:
An iron bar the warrior took;
And the monk made a sign with his withered hand,
The grave's huge portal to expand.

"It was by dint of passing strength,
That he moved the massy stone at length.
I would you had been there to see,
How the light broke forth so gloriously,
Streamed upward to the chancel roof,
And through the galleries far aloof!
And, issuing from the tomb,
Showed the monk's cowl and visage pale,
Danced on the dark brown warrior's mail,
And kissed his waving plume.