Lady of the Lake - Legends & Lore

Lady of the Lake - Legends & Lore

Lady of the Lake

The original term “Lady of the Lake” stems from the legends of Arthur. Known variously by the names Viviane, Niniane, Nyneve and Nimue, the Lady of the Lake plays an integral part in the legends; from raising Lancelot after his father is killed in battle, to giving Arthur his legendary sword “Excalibur”; to seducing Merlin and imprisoning him in an oak tree.

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Trust Me Not at All or All in All
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
From Merlin and Vivien, Idylls of the King

"In Love, if Love be Love, if Love be ours,

Faith and unfaith can ne'er be equal powers:

Unfaith in aught is want of faith in all.

   "It is the little rift within the lute,

That by and by will make the music mute,

And ever widening slowly silence all.

   "The little rift within the lover's lute

Or little pitted speck in garnered fruit,

That rotting inward slowly molders all.

   "It is not worth the keeping:  let it go:

But shall it? answer, darling, answer, no.

And trust me not at all or all in all."

Winnipesaukee’s Lady of the Lake Steamer

A wood hulled passenger steamer, the Lady of the Lake was built in 1848 in Lakeport was owned by the Concord and Montreal Railroad. Employing what today would be termed “business synergies” the Lady of the Lake would dock right at the railroad station where the Concord and Montreal train would let off passengers. Some of these passengers boarded the Lady for a casual trip around the lake, others for a ride to their summer cottage on one of the hundreds of islands on Lake Winnipesaukee. At 125 feet long, with a 35 foot beam and displacing 120 gross tons the Lady was the largest craft on the big lake making daily trips around the lake and carrying up to 400 passengers and their baggage.

 In 1895 after a long and productive career the Lady was filled with rocks. It was planned to tow her into deeper water and scuttle the ship. While being towed the Lady foundered and went down in only 30 feet of water.

 Today the Lady of the Lake sits upright in the middle of Glendale Cove.

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