The Lay of the Last Minstrel is a narrative poem set in the Scottish Borders of the late sixteenth century. Scott was inspired to write it while working on his Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, an anthology of ballads and local legends, first published in 1802 (see RCINs 1050426-7). He had hoped to add a narrative poem of his own composition based on these songs in his third volume, printed in 1803, but due to some confusion among his friends being taken as disapproval, he removed it from the final work and burned the original manuscript. Scott rewrote his poem during the remainder of 1803. Now titled The Lay of the Last Minstrel, the poem recounted the tale – an account of the feud between the Scotts and the Cars/Kerrs – through the mouth of a late-seventeenth-century minstrel, introduced to serve as an intermediary between the events of the story and the reader's present. The sixth and final canto was finished by August 1804 and the full poem was printed at Edinburgh by James Ballantyne for Archibald Constable on 12 January 1805. On preparing the second edition, printed that October, and in response to criticism from the Edinburgh Review, Scott extensively annotated this copy of the book, removing many of his additional notes and changing words and phrases. In a note he added to the flyleaf in June 1821, Scott stated that he was soon persuaded by Constable that such excessive amends were unnecessary. 
This volume was presented to Queen Victoria by James Ballantyne's son, John Alexander Ballantyne on 11 September 1842 during her first visit to Scotland. The Queen noted in her Journal throughout the tour of her reading several of Scott's works to Prince Albert. She read The Lay of the Last Minstrel in stages: the first three cantos on 11 September while staying at Drummond Castle, the fourth and fifth at sea while returning from Scotland on 16 September, finishing it at Windsor Castle the following day. It is unknown if it was this copy of the Lay she read, or a copy from one of several collections of Scott's works she owned.
In 1871, the book was loaned to the Scott Exhibition at Edinburgh, held to mark the centenary of Sir Walter Scott's birth.