Known better for his novel-length work, Sir Walter Scott nevertheless wrote a few short stories. This volume consist of three of Scott's tragic short stories: "The Highland Widow," a tale of Elspat, the widow of MacTavish Mhor, one of the last of the Highland mauraders, and her ill-fated attempt to have her son follow in her husband's footsteps; "The Two Drovers," the story of a dispute between a Highland drover and his Yorkshire companion; and "The Surgeon's Daughter," a tale of a wife, lured to India by her husband to help further his ambitions and greed. The first two are generally thought to be his best work in short fiction.