Was written in 1809, and published in 1810, and was considered by the
author as the best of his poetic compositions. He appears to have
taken more than ordinary pains in its accuracy, especially in
verifying the correctness of the local circumstances of the story. In
his introduction to a late edition of the poem, he says--"I recollect,
in particular, that to ascertain whether I was telling a probable
tale, I went into Perthshire, to see whether King James could actually
have ridden from the banks of Loch Venachar to Stirling Castle within
the time supposed in the poem, and had the pleasure to satisfy myself
that it was quite practicable." The success of the poem "was certainly
so extraordinary, as to induce him for the moment to conclude, that he
had at last fixed a nail in the proverbially inconstant wheel of
Fortune, whose stability in behalf of an individual, who had so boldly
courted her favours for three successive times, had not as yet been
shaken."