LAING, MALCOLM, Scottish historian, born in Orkney; passed through Edinburgh University to the Scottish bar, to which he was called in 1785, but proved an unsuccessful advocate; turning to literature, he edited “Ossian,” and wrote a “History of Scotland from James VI. to Anne” (1800), in a subsequent edition of which he inserted the well-known attack on Mary Stuart (1762-1818).

LAIS, the name of two Greek courtesans celebrated for their beauty, the one a native of Corinth, who lived at the time of the Peloponnesian War, and the other belonging to Sicily, and who, having visited Thessaly, was stoned to death by the women of the country out of jealousy.

LAISSEZ-FAIRE (lit. let things alone and take their course), the name given to the let-alone system of political economy, in opposition to State interference, or State regulation, in private industrial enterprise.

LAKE DISTRICT, a district in Cumberland and Westmorland, 20 m. long by 25 m. broad, abounding in lakes, environed with scenery of rare beauty, and much frequented by tourists.

LAKE DWELLINGS, primitive settlements, the remains of which have been found in many parts of Europe, but chiefly in Switzerland, the N. of Italy, and in Scotland and Ireland.  They were constructed in various ways.  In the Swiss lakes piles, consisting of unbarked tree trunks, were driven in a short distance from the shore, and strengthened more or less by cross beams; extensive platforms laid on these held small villages of rectangular wooden huts, thatched with straw and reeds.  These were sometimes approachable only in canoes, more often connected with the shore by a narrow bridge, in which case cattle were kept in sheds on the platforms.  In Scotland and Ireland the erection was rather an artificial island laid down in 10 or 12 ft. of water with brushwood, logs, and stones, much smaller in size, and holding but one hut.  The Swiss dwellings, the chief of which are at Meilen, on Lake Zurich, date from very early times, some say 2000 years before Christ, and contain remains of the Stone, Bronze, and Iron Ages, weapons, instruments, pottery, linen cloth, and the like.  The relic of latest date is a Roman coin of A.D. 54.  The British remains are much more recent, belonging entirely to the Iron period and to historic times.  The object sought in these structures is somewhat obscure—­most probably it was the security their insular nature afforded.

LAKE POETS, a school of English poets, the chief representatives of which were Wordsworth, Southey, and Coleridge, who adorned the beginning of the 19th century, and were so designated by the Edinburgh Review because their favourite haunt was the LAKE DISTRICT (q. v.) in the N. of England, and the characteristic of whose poetry may be summed as a feeling of and a sympathy with the pure spirit of nature.

LAKSHMI, in the Hindu mythology the wife of Vishnu and the goddess of beauty, pleasure, and victory; she is a favourite subject of Hindu painting and poetry.