In July 1814, Sir Walter Scott accompanied the Commissioners of the Northern Lights on a tour of inspection in the lighthouse yacht Pharos. For six weeks Scott and the commissioners sailed round Scotland visiting lighthouses and surveying sites for new lights.
The Pharos took them from Leith, north to Shetlands and Orkney, through the Pentland Firth, across The Minch and down through the Sea of the Hebrides to Ireland and the Clyde. Scott kept a detailed diary recording both the scenes and impressions of the cruise and his reflections on the social conditions he found and the vexed issue of the Highland Clearances.
This important piece of Scottish travel writing has no been readily available for many years and the Scottish library Association wants to introduce it to all lovers of Scott, Scotland, lighthouses, travel and the sea.
Illustrations from William Daniell's aquatints of Scottish coastal scenery, almost exactly contemporary with Scott's cruise, complement the text.
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