The latest in our series by Ian Mitchell charting Sir Walter Scott’s travels around the Scottish islands
Almost everything Scott had seen had been new to him, since he had left Edinburgh in 1814 on the vessel of the Northern Light-House Commissioners, sailing to Shetland and then to the Hebrides.
But coming to Iona he was on familiar ground. In 1810 he had been invited by MacDonald of Staffa, to visit...
Scott's Islands
from Issue 30 published on 01/12/2006
This issue, Ian Mitchell looks at Sir Walter Scott’s experiences on the islands of Harris and Eigg on Scotland’s west coast
In 1814, the poet and novelist Walter Scott accepted an invitation from the engineer Robert Stevenson, to accompany him on a ship of the Northern Lighthouse Commissioners which was circumnavigating Scotland to inspect the condition of maritime safety installations.
Scott later confessed that “so fa...
Scott's Islands
from Issue 29 published on 25/10/2006
In the latest in our series, Ian Mitchell reports on Sir Walter Scott's love affair with the Isle of Skye
There have been many visits to Skye, but few have had the impact which Walter Scott’s visit to the island in 1814 did.
The wanderings of the Pretender had given Skye its romantic aura, and the visits of travellers and authors Boswell and Johnson in the 18th century had encouraged a trickle of touri...
Scott's Islands
from Issue 28 published on 20/09/2006
In the first of a new series tracing Sir Walter Scott’s relationship with the Scottish islands, Ian Mitchell looks at Shetland
In 1814 Scott accepted an invitation from the engineer Robert Stevenson to accompany him aboard a ship of the Northern Lighthouse Commissioners, on a tour circumnavigating Scotland and inspecting the condition of maritime safety installations.
An unforeseen outcome of the voyage was the appearance ...
Scottish Islands
from Issue 27 published on 09/06/2006
In the latest of our series Ian Mitchell visits visits St Magnus Cathedral on Orkney
Sailing into Kirkwall, the capital of Orkney, one building dominates the skyline, soaring above the medieval town centre, with its close, narrow streets and steeply–pitched roofs: St Magnus Cathedral.
St Magnus is one of the largest ecclesiastical buildings in Scotland, and also one of the oldest. ...
Scottish Islands
from Issue 26 published on 21/04/2006
In the latest in our series Ian Mitchell visits st Clement's Church, at Rodel, Harris
The turf around the grandest medieval building in the Western Isles is green and springy, but inside the great structure, the stone is grey, cold and very different from, say, the warm sandstone of Iona Cathedral.
Partly this is due to the grey, cold hardness of the rock beneath the turf, but partl...
Scottish Islands
from Issue 25 published on 17/02/2006
Alladale is a vast estate packed with natural beauty. It can also host visitors in luxury. Ian Mitchell visited it
Set in the gorgeous Northern Highlands, close to the Sutherland/Ross-Shire border, Alladale Estate is so remote that I had some difficulty locating it on the map before visiting.
Remote – yet accessible at only an hour’s drive from Inverness airport or rail station.
The estate has become a high fo...
Best of Scotland
from Issue 24 published on 05/01/2006
In the first of a new series on Scottish holy buildings Ian Mitchell visits Iona
The best time to see Iona Cathedral, or Abbey, is at sundown on a summer evening, when the wind of the day has died and the roar or rustle of the sea – depending on the strength and direction of the wind – has calmed down to a breathy whisper, if that.
The Abbey church might be empty, or it might h...
Scottish Islands
from Issue 24 published on 05/01/2006
You don’t have to go to the Hebrides for a Scottish ferry-hopping holiday, as Ian R Mitchell explains. Cowal and Bute have castles, stately homes, churches and grand walks nearer to hand
As the crow flies the Cowal peninsula and its neighbouring island of Bute are the closest parts of the Southern Highlands to the central belt of Scotland.
Yet, probably since it is a long, circuitous and slow road journey of 80 miles from Glasgow via Loch Lomond to Cowal, this is one of the lesserf...
Regional Focus
from Issue 19 published on 20/3/2005
Queen Victoria's love of Scotland is well documented. Ian R Mitchell, author of 'On the trail of Queen Victoria in the Highlands', chooses 10 of his favourite Victoria locations on Deeside.
Balmoral Castle
Victoria rented Balmoral without having visited it, persuaded by paintings she viewed of the Deeside location, done by Aberdeen artist James Giles.
It was also recommended as a good and dry location by the Royal Physician, Sir James Clark, for helping with both Victoria and Albert’...
Scottish Destinations
from Issue 13 published on 25/3/2004
IAN MITCHELL, NATIVE ISLANDER AND AUTHOR, INTRODUCES THE FASCINATING HISTORY AND CULTURE OF THE HEBRIDES
When Columba sailed his coracle north from Ireland to Iona in 563, he moved from a world of discipline into one of freedom. The church he founded in the Hebrides might have been Catholic in doctrine and belief, but it acknowledged no allegiance to Rome. It was an independent entity, based on an isla...
Regional Focus
from Issue 6 published on 6/2/2003