The lady of the lake [graphic]

"A rough-looking woman, stout, tall and muscular, with loose hair blown by the wind, stands in a dinghy, holding an oar, inscribed 'Moll Muggins Billingsgate', to punt or paddle her craft. One foot is on the gunwale, and her pose, looking up and to the left, travesties the lines below the title: "The Maiden paus'd, as if again, She thought to catch the distant strain, With head uprais'd and look intent, And eye and ear attentive bent, And locks flung back, and lips apart, Like monument of Grecian art" 'Walter Scott's Poem'. A bottle inscribed 'Mack . . .' and a short clay pipe project from a pocket. In the background (right) is a man in a similar boat with a basket of fish. Two figures, one a Billingsgate woman with a basket on her head, are indicated on the quay, against which lies a small vessel."--British Museum online catalogue