Gleaming with the setting sun One burnish'd sheet of living gold, Loch Katrine lay beneath him roll'd, In all her length far winding lay With promontory, creek, and bay, And islands that, empurpled bright, Floated amid the livelier light, And mountains, that like giants stand, To sentinel enchanted land. In this wise Scott described Loch Katrine in his The Lady of the Lake. The natural beauty and wildness of the scenery here are worthy of the pen of the great Scotch bard. It is largely because of Scott's poem that thousands of tourists each year go to see Ellen's Isle and Loch Katrine. Loch Katrine lies northwest of Glasgow a short distance. It is one of a number of lakes which have become known in history or in song. This entire section of Scotland is called "The Trossachs", which means "bristling country." Of course "loch" means "lake". It was on Ellen's Isle that Douglas and his daughter had sought refuge from King James of Scotland. Ellen was the name of the daughter. Scott's The Lady of the Lake tells the story of the King's becoming lost in the mountains and seeking shelter from the night on Ellen's Isle. Following this he was guided a few miles away to a ford. There he fought and overcame the outlaw chieftain, Roderick Dhu. The country of the Trossachs is famous in Scotch history for its robbers. Here bold chieftains, many of them of noble blood, fled from the law. Here they gathered together other outlaws and formed bands of robbers. It was not far from here that William Wallace, the hero of all Scotland, was taken to be tried and put to death for treason to the English crown. Keystone ID: 2607 Note: All titles, descriptions, and location coordinates are from the original Keystone Slide documentation as supplied by the Keystone View Company. No text has been edited or changed.