The Lady of the Lake marked the pinnacle of Walter Scott's popularity as a poet, with record-breaking sales and ecstatic reviews which helped spread his fame far beyond Britain. It also inspired thousands to flock to Loch Katrine in the Trossachs to see for themselves the isle where the banished James of Douglas and his daughter Ellen take refuge, and where the mysterious knight, James Fitz James, arrives and sets in motion a chain of events which have far-reaching consequences for them all.

A fictional work set during the reign of James V and featuring an astonishing range of themes, from political conflict, feud and mystery to love, loss and reconciliation, The Lady of the Lake is a key work of the romantic movement which swept Europe by storm in the early nineteenth century.