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The Lady of the Lake

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This version of one of my favorite poems seems to have one small problem - the poem itself seems to be missing! The notes are great, however.

INTRODUCTORY SYNOPSIS: The hero of THE LADY OF THE LAKE is James Stewart. To Ellen Douglas, the Lady of the Lake, he calls himself James Fitz-James and The Knight of Snowdoun. When, on a second visit, she declines his invitation to come with him to Stirling and become either James's wife (her interpretation) or his mistress (James's intent), the kind-hearted amourist proves a good loser and gives Ellen a ring to admit her instantly to his chum King James V should she ever need help. At poem's end, Ellen comes to Stirling to plead for both her imprisoned father, Lord James Douglas, onetime mentor of the youthful monarch, and for her lover Malcolm Graeme, a ward of the king. James Fitz-James keeps Ellen in suspense as he leads her in to present her to the King. But where is the King, Ellen wonders, as she looks about? Why is everyone focused on her escort?

"To him each lady's look was lent,
On him each courtier's eye was bent;
'Midst furs and silks and jewels sheen,
He stood, in simple Lincoln green,
The centre of the glittering ring, --
And Snowdoun's Knight is Scotland's King." (Canto VI, Stanza xxvi)

The playful king soon reveals that her father and he have made peace. His ward, Malcolm Graeme, had offered the Douglas shelter despite the King's general loathing of the clan which had held him virtual captive during his boyhood. Will Ellen not plead for him? No? Then he must be chained.

"His chain of gold the King unstrung,
The links o'er Malcolm's neck he flung,
Then gently drew the glittering band,
And laid the clasp on Ellen's hand." (Canto VI, Stanza xxix)
END INTRODUCTORY SYNOPSIS

KIng James V (1512 - 1542) was the father of Mary Queen of Scots. There are similarities in character both to England's Henry V and Baghdad's Haroun al Raschid. James V was a good, strong king, protector of the poor, often going out among them in disguise, either to detect and correct their woes or to woo their daughters. He died young, forecasting correctly that the Stewart dynasty would end in less than two centuries "with a lass" (Queen Anne) as it had begun with a lass, the daughter of Robert the Bruce.

Scott's poem THE LADY OF THE LAKE sketches six days in the life of a good-hearted, randy, grudge-bearing, high tempered young monarch. The title of the six cantos sketch the tale's progress:

The Lake.
The Island.
The Gathering.
The Prophecy.
The Combat.
The Guard-Room.

-- I. The Lake. James Fitz-James, lost hunting a stag in the Trossachs of Scotland, is given a night's hospitality by Ellen, the lady of the lake, and by the mother of the castle's owner, on an island in Loch Katrine belonging to Roderick Dhu (Black Roderick). Roderick, with his aged mother Margaret, shelters Ellen and her banished father, the once mighty Lord James Douglas. Fitz-James is smitten by Ellen. But leaves at dawn.

-- II. The Island. The island's owner, Roderick Dhu, is rowed to his island fortress while his hardy followers sing "Hail to the Chief," which has become the American Presidential processional hymn. Ellen's father also returns, with her young admirer Malcolm Graeme in tow. Roderick asks Ellen's hand but this is denied by her father. Ellen's two admirers quarrel and Malcolm then swims the length of Loch Katrine rather than be indebted to Roderick for a boat.

-- III. The Gathering. Believing that King James means to march into the Trossachs to subdue Clan Alpine, clan chief Roderick Dhu has the wild Brian the Hermit peform semi-pagan rites, then sends out the burning cross to assemble his liege men for war at Lanrick mead. Duncan, Ellen and the minstrel Allan hide from the King in the Goblin Cave.


-- IV. The Prophecy. The hermit Brian prophesies that whichever chief "spills the foremost foeman's life, that party conquers in the strife" (Stanza vi). James Fitz-James arrives on foot planning to take Ellen to safety behind royal lines. But he is being led into a trap by a man of Roderick. Ellen will not leave. James gives Ellen a ring to gain instant admission to King James should she ever need him. Fleeing pursuit. James meets Blanche of Devan, a mad woman whose brand new bridegroom had been murdered by Roderick during a raid into the Scottish lowlands. She asks for vengeance. The guide shoots off an arrow at James but kills Blanche instead. James pursues and kills the traitor guide. He later comes upon Roderick. Neither recognizes the other though they exchange frank views. They spend a hospitable evening together before departing at dawn for a proper dueling place.


-- V. The Combat. Once just beyond Roderick's mountain fiefdom, they duel. Terribly wounded, Roderick grapples James and would have killed him but his strength fails. James bugles for help and has the wounded man carried to Stirling castle. En route James recognizes Lord James of Douglas, who is coming to Stirling to give himself up for the cause of peace between King and Clan Alpine. James allows Douglas entry to the castle grounds, where a popular athletic contest is about to take place. The aging but still incomparably powerful and gifted Douglas enters the contests and wins at archery, wrestling and hurling. The king gives awards but otherwise ignores him. At last, Douglas identifies himself and his reason for surrendering and is led to prison.

-- VI. The Guard-Room. Ellen and the minstrel Allan pass through the guard-room occupied by foreign mercenaries. She awaits audience with the King. Allan asks to be admitted to his imprisoned master. The warder thinks Roderick Dhu is meant. The dying Roderick asks Allan to sing of the battle just ended by the King's truce. Meanwhile, the King has made peace with the imprisoned Douglas. Still in his assumed role, James leads Ellen in to an audience with the king. He cannot grant her mercy to the newly dead Roderick. And her reconciled father needs no mercy. He teases Ellen to intercede for Malcolm. When she does not, the King places a golden chain on Malcolm's neck and places its clasp in Ellen's hand. She may now marry the Graeme.

THE LADY OF THE LAKE is made up of hundreds of gorgeous lines, mostly iambic tetrameters, of descriptions of nature, hunting, mobilization of a highland army, politics, character and love. You can read this poem aloud in two hours. Its music will ring with you forever. -OOO-

This download was incomplete, no poem included! I went to project Gutenburg and found the comeplete text with active links to the notes, plus illustrations. This ebook should be removed until remedied

Yeah, the notes are nice and all, but I second the first reviews. really ought to have to content in the download, you know?

There is no point in downloading this book; it's only the notes. Until somebody uploads the full Project Gutenberg book to Amazon, you'll either have to pay or move the Gutenberg book to your Kindle yourself.

This refers to the version: Public Domain Books (March 17, 2006)


The book's configured first page is set to the introduction, not to the cover, so that the reader must turn back through much of the frontmatter in order to get to the Table of Contents.

The Table of Contents links the many Cantos, but the Cantos are empty - the actual poem is missing.

The Footnotes and End notes, which comprise the body of what is downloaded, are thorough but not actually recorded in the TOC.


This is a horrible edition. Please, please do not waste the time downloading it.

Though I have ancestors from Scottland, I sadly do not know much about the country's history. Perhaps a more thorough knowledge would lead to even greater apprecation of this poem, but the introduction gave me enough background to not feel completely stupid as I became sucked into the passionate story of chivalry, adventure, and revenge. The story explores characters in the vicinity of King James V's administration's attack on the wild men of the Highlands. However, they have their own version of the story, being people who don't much care for being mowed down without so much as a trial. In the center of it all is Ellen, a Douglas daughter who lives a nearly-enchanted life in a peaceful, hidden lake. Though I understand Scott's novels are superior to his poems, this is not bad poetry by any means. The verse takes us through widely-scoping, descriptive scenes as well as deeply personal emotions. There is danger, romance, blood, intrigue, everything needed for a great story.

his is a handsome 1910 First Thus from Bobbs-Merrill featuring extraordinary illustrations by Howard Chandler Christy. Bertha Steward designed the binding.

An elegant hardback binding of stamped green cloth in gold, pale yellow, and light green details. Glossy stock typical of early 20th century American illustrated books.

Christy's illustrations appear on every page: interstitial illustrations in black and blue on the margins and 12 full color, full page painted illustrations.

Chandler's work here is authoritative. It serves the poem's narrative ends (being less lush -- and much less sensuous -- than his sometimes bosomy commercial work.) The rendering on the marginal illustrations is quite free. It is refreshing to see a realistic artist finding his way so confidently in a graphic medium. Contrasting this, the full color works are carefully finished with much attention paid to texture. Christy gives Scott's heroic characters great weight within exquisitely detailed environments.

All in all, Christy accomplishes quite more than providing pretty pictures (and they are pretty indeed!) He's fully at home here in the great tradition of illustrators such as Howard Pyle and N.C. Wyeth.

I purchased this for my husband, and just as a "to read" model. It is NOT a collector but is an excellent SOURCE for reading.