SS Sir Walter Scott

has been a major visitor attraction on Loch Katrine for over 100 years.

The first pleasure craft on the loch was a galley named the Water Witch. It was manned by eight sturdy rowers in kilts and plyed it's trade until 1843 when the first steamer, The Gypsy, arrived.

There was great competition between the two until The Gypsy disappeared one night never to be seen again. The galley oarsmen were suspected of scuttling her and were taken to court. They claimed a Water Bull in the loch was the culprit by holing it with its horns but their Gaelic dialect gave the court translator such a problem the case was thrown out with the verdict that the boat was sunk by persons or things unknown.

Built on the River Clyde, in 1899 the SS Sir Walter Scott has been sailing on Loch Katrine since 1900. She has a crew of five and is the only surviving steam screw steamer in regular passenger service in Scotland. She is named after the writer Walter Scott who set his 1810 poem Lady of the Lake and his 1818 novel Rob Roy around the loch.