LB2000.52.1040

LB2000.52.1040

Photograph of illustration Ellen's Isle, Loch Katrine, Scotland: The illustration is pinned to a brick wall and seems likely to have been removed from a book. CAPTION: ELLEN'S ISLE, LOCH KATRINE, SCOTLAND - One of the loveliest features in the Trossachs is the little sheet of water known as Loch Katrine. It is diminutive but so incomparably situated that its small size makes it more enchanting, since not a single charm escapes us. What can be more attractive than the combination of light and shade, when its fair surface is flecked by touches of the sun and clouds? Around it mountains rear their massive forms like giant guardians of the peaceful lake, within which they again appear like an inverted world, until we can with difficulty tell which is the real and which the counterfeit presentment! Moreover, its heathery banks and limpid waves, so long as they endure, will be fondly associated with memories of Sir Walter Scott and his fairest creation, the "Lady of the Lake." In fact, the pretty island in the center is still known as "Ellen's Isle," for according to Scott's fancy, this wave-encircled sylvan retreat was the home of that fair Lady of the Lake, "Her head thrown back, her lips apart, Like Monument of Grecian art." Scott is the special genius of this place, and here one fairly revels in the scenes portrayed with absolute perfection by his magic pen. Each point recalls some stanza or some well-known line, so accurate are his poetical descriptions. Never was a writer more particular in this respect than Scott. For example, while writing the "Lady of the Lake," he once galloped the entire distance from Loch Achray to Sterling to prove to himself that his hero could have ridden it in a certain time! TROSSACHS The Trossachs is a small woodland glen in the Stirling council area of Scotland. It lies between Ben A'an to the north and Ben Venue to the south, with Loch Katrine to the west and Loch Achray to the east. However, the name is used generally to refer to the wider area of wooded glens and braes with quiet lochs, lying to the east of Ben Lomond.