Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland

by Samuel Johnson, James Boswell, Patrick Tull (Narrator)

The writings of Samuel Johnson, though often reprinted, have never appeared in a complete or accurate edition. A new edition of Johnson has long been needed which would include all his writings, present texts based on the best editorial practice, and supply annotation adequate for general use. The Yale Edition undertakes to satisfy these three obligations. All writings by Johnson, as now identifiable, are to be included except the Dictionary and the Letters.

Genres: Travel, Classics, History, Scotland, Nonfiction, Memoir, 18th Century

Audiobook

First published January 1, 1775

About the author

People note British writer and lexicographer Samuel Johnson, known as "Doctor Johnson," for his Dictionary of the English Language (1755), for Lives of the Poets (1781), and for his series of essays, published under the titles The Rambler (1752) and The Idler (1758).

Samuel Johnson used the first consistent Universal Etymological English Dictionary , first published in 1721, of British lexicographer Nathan Bailey as a reference.

Beginning as a journalist on Grub street, this English author made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, novelist, literary critic, biographer, and editor. People described Johnson as "arguably the most distinguished man of letters in English history." James Boswell subjected him to Life of Samuel Johnson , one of the most celebrated biographies in English. This biography alongside other biographies, documented behavior and mannerisms of Johnson in such detail that they informed the posthumous diagnosis of Tourette syndrome (TS), a condition unknown to 18th-century physicians. He presented a tall and robust figure, but his odd gestures and tics confused some persons on their first encounters.

Johnson attended Pembroke college, Oxford for a year before his lack of funds compelled him to leave. After working as a teacher, he moved to London, where he began to write essays for The Gentleman's Magazine. His early works include the biography The Life of Richard Savage and the poem " The Vanity of Human Wishes ." Christian morality permeated works of Johnson, a devout and compassionate man. He, a conservative Anglican, nevertheless respected persons of other denominations that demonstrated a commitment to teachings of Christ.

After nine years of work, people in 1755 published his preeminent Dictionary of the English Language, bringing him popularity and success until the completion of the Oxford English Dictionary in 1905, a century and a half later. In the following years, he published essays, an influential annotated edition of plays of William Shakespeare, and the well-read novel Rasselas . In 1763, he befriended James Boswell, with whom he later travelled to Scotland; A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland , travel narrative of Johnson, described the journey. Towards the end of his life, he produced the massive and influential Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets , which includes biographies and evaluations of 17th- and 18th-century poets.

After a series of illnesses, Johnson died on the evening; people buried his body in Westminster abbey. In the years following death, people began to recognize a lasting effect of Samuel Johnson on literary criticism even as the only great critic of English literature.

Reviews

[Steve]

How odd that I find Boswell the more enjoyable author; in his day, Dr. Johnson was idolized with a rock star reputation known throughout Great Britain. Sic transit gloria mundi? While I’ve now read much of Dr. Johnson, this volume is the first I’ve read from his pen. It does not stand equal to Boswell. Maybe I need my own Boswell to elevate my game?

Dr. Johnson does have his opinions; some brief ones are worth including here. On formal education, he noted: “The first race of scholars, in the fifteenth century, and some time after, were, for the most part, learning to speak, rather than to think, and were therefore more studious of elegance than of truth.” In defense of local cuisine: “If an epicure could remove by a wish, in quest of sensual gratification, where he had supped he would breakfast in Scotland.” Scottish restaurants should leverage that quote into their marketing spend, I think. With respect to a combative culture, he wrote: “The religion of the North was military; if they could not find enemies, it was their duty to make them: they travelled in quest of danger, and willingly took the chance of Empire or Death.” I disagree, however, with his comment: “To be ignorant is painful; but it is dangerous to quiet our uneasiness by the delusive opiate of hasty persuasion.” I think ignorance really is bliss, though hasty persuasion has been proven a dangerous opiate.

[Elizabeth]

*ahem* Samuel Johnson had very strong views on 1. Scotland and Scottish people 2. Whigs 3. Any church other than the Church of England. This book apparently offended Scottish people while he was alive. I'm pretty sure it would offend them now. But if you want to know who Samuel Johnson was, and/or the Scottish isles in the late 18th century this is the book for you. Also, I found it pretty funny in parts.

[ValeReads Kyriosity · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd been wanting to read Johnson himself since I read Boswell's Life, and I think this was the first one I bumped into on Scribd. Or maybe it was just the shortest. At any rate, it was the one I had bookmarked, so it was the one I listened to. It wasn't a great choice. It was more Boswell than Johnson, and it was a travel diary, which just isn't a genre of much interest to me.

The readers were fine, but the perfections of David Timson spoiled me too much with the biography, so I probably underappreciated Tull and Spencer.

[Jarvo · Rating 3 out of 5]

In 1773 Samuel Johnson undertook a journey to the Hebrides, accompanied by the ever faithful James Boswell. Travelling at the slow pace of the eighteenth century it took them 83 days to complete the journey. Reading at my own slow pace it has taken me somewhat longer to complete the book - this would be a good book to study but its hard work at the end of a long day.
It is held together by two key tensions. The date of Johnson's trip is 28 years after the final Jacobite uprising and 3 years before the publication of The Wealth of Nations, both key dates in the history of Scotland. Johnson is drawn to the highlands by the hope of finding the kind of Clan culture that was destroyed at Culloden, a sort of pre-modern society held together by older and more Romantic values. But as he admits what he came to find was already dead. Instead he provides a very sober commentary on life on the islands, readily adopting the language of political economy - deploring emigration and calling for agricultural improvements. (What is interesting is that Johnson finds the scenery that draws most modern visitors to the highlands deplorable and desolate).
However in contrast to Johnson's highly serious description is Boswell's accompanying account of Johnson's progress, which paints a different and more entertaining picture. Johnson is something of a conversational brawler, never entering a conversation unless he hopes to provoke a lively discussion, which he, of curse, gets the best of. Amusing as Boswell's accounts of Johnson are though, I find Boswell's own style annoying and ingratiating.

[Miriam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprisingly good! There were some fairly boring parts, but also quite a few beatiful and thought-provoking quotes. Besides the apparently total lack of trees (see below), the islands of Scotland seem like a beautiful place!

Various laments by Johnson on the lack of trees (this guy was tree-starved by the end of the trip):

"From the bank of the Tweed to St. Andrews I had never seen a single tree, which I did not believe to have grown up far within the present century." - p. 12

"A tree might be a show in Scotland as a horse in Venice." - p. 12

"I had now travelled two hundred miles in Scotland, and seen only one tree not younger than myself." - p. 25

"The uncultivated parts are clothed with heath, among which industry has interspersed spots of grass and corn; but no attempt has yet been made to raise a tree." - p. 154

[Irene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who would have thought that a travel journal from 1775 could be this entertaining and enlightening?

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are not many first hand descriptions of the Scottish Highlands and Islands from the 18th century, which gives Dr. Johnson's account a certain value in itself. That apart, I found this only of moderate interest. Johnson and Boswell caught the Highlands at a period of enormous change, when a society that had changed little since the Dark Ages suddenly found itself exposed to what was then the world's most developed commercial economy. Johnson himself expresses regret that he is "come too late" to have seen the traditional society that existed prior to the 1745 rebellion. There is some insight into the development of a new money economy for the Highlands and what this might mean for the traditional social structure, and an interesting account of the "epidemick" of emigration that the Highlands were experiencing at the time. There are also one or two amusing passages, such as the discussion on the proper way of addressing the Laird of Muck! Overall though the reader learns little about the way of life of the ordinary Highlanders. Johnson and Boswell spend most of their time lodging with clan chiefs or at least with church ministers or members of the tacksman class (the second rung of Highland society), and Johnson seems to have regarded the homes of the latter as slumming it a bit. There is little of the keen observation of ordinary life that we can find in Edmund Burt's letters for example. Johnson's assessments are also slanted by his well-known prejudices against the Scots and his view that England and the English were superior in every way. When delving into any book from this era, the reader has to expect a certain amount of non-PC attitude, but Johnson might fairly be considered unenlightened even by the standards of the time (take for example his dismissal of the Gàidhlig language as "the rude speech of a barbarous people").

One unintentionally interesting aspect of the book is how Johnson's view of the Highland landscape is more or less the opposite of modern day fashion. He is repelled by its barren nature, "horrid nakedness," and "uncultivated ruggedness". This view was typical of the time. Wild or uncultivated land was associated with poverty, famine and social disorder, and the 18th century eye gazed approvingly on a well manicured lawn or a field with neat hedges and a bumper crop. This view was changing and it would not many decades before Lord Byron praised "Dark Lochnagar" and denounced England's landscapes as "tame and domestic".

Johnson provides us with a reasonably interesting snapshot of a society undergoing radical change, but his account is marred by too many preconceptions on his own part.

[Mick Bordet · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had always thought that Robbie Coltrane's portrayal of Samuel Johnson was over-the-top and played entirely for laughs. Now I know that it was an entirely accurate and, if anything, slightly toned-down version of reality. Johnson's travelogue through Scotland and the Hebrides in particular is packed full of pompous comments, arrogant observations and thinly-veiled racism. In several places he mocks earlier writers for guessing at the unknown, only to follow up with his own hypocritical leaps of misguided logic.

For all of that, however, this is still an interesting insight into highland life in the decades after Culloden, with the clearances already in progress and the clan system all but extinguished. There are some tangents into topics such as emigration, which are well-considered and could fit into some of the current debates, but the contemporary view of the 18th Century in Scotland is the most interesting part, even when seen through the eyes of one so condescending.

[Hailey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read this for school, I'm honestly not sure why anyone would ever want to read this for fun.

[Adam Stevenson · Rating 3 out of 5]

In 1773, a Sixty-two (nearly three) year old Johnson and a thirty-odd year old Boswell went on a trip they had been playfully imagining for ten years, up to the Hebrides in an effort to see what was left of the old Highland way of life. Both of them wrote a book - Johnson’s came first.

In many ways, it’s a traditional travel book, with Johnson describing the key features on the way and often measuring them. He then makes his conclusions and opinions on what he sees and hears. The book is arranged by location, with the odd gallimaufry of discussion and opinion in various parts.

I always enjoy a bit of Johnson, and swimming through his lengthy sentences and sometimes unusual word choice (conglobulated anyone?) was like stepping into a warm bath. Discussing things as inconsequential as scenery with Johnson makes this quite a relaxing book to read but there is a well-spring of anger just underneath. Famous for being disparaging to Scots and Scotland, he quickly finds himself warmed (if not always inspired) by the people’s company and flattered by their welcome. His disgust at how parts of Scotland are then not looked after or developed then shine through the text - not a disgust at the people, but in how they are being let down by their leaders. This disgust comes through his frequent astonishment at the lack of trees, the poor quality of the housing and the huge swathes of people emigrating to America. The Highland Clearances are under way and there is many a deserted village.

There is also the quality that has him called a ‘secret papist’. His dismayed reaction to the seemingly endless array of destroyed churches that he sarcastically describes as ‘a triumph of reformation.’ Not, I think, out of any real Catholic sensibility, but more from a general reverence for churches and holy land. His paragraphs about the ruined Abbey on Iona are worthy of the praise Boswell gave them in his own book.

Johnson has a few daydreams, of Macbeth and the witches, of owning his own island, of the existence of a recently past feudal society but he mainly stays in description mode and mainly stays neutral. Things liven up a little when he discusses the power of second sight, of which he says, “I could never advance my credibility to conviction; but came away at last only willing to believe.” - rather like his opinion on ghosts. I also enjoyed his description of his ungainly body on a Shetland pony and the fact he called a single beef cow a ‘beef’, and a group of them, ‘beeves’. (Which it turns out is legit, howabouthat?)

This isn’t prime Johnson, but it is Johnson and so was worth reading… (re-reading, maybe not).

[Louis Thomson · Rating 3 out of 5]

An important, useful book, but not one that I think many modern readers would find enjoyable.

The descriptions of the land and peoples tends to be fairly scant, but still interesting insofar as it captured a way of life that was not otherwise much recorded by documentary sources. Johnson's attitude towards the common Gael is a mixture of condescension, scorn and sympathy; not that he actually spoke to many, mostly he was not interested in anything that had to be translated from Gaelic. The lairds, he was more favorable towards, if he felt they mimicked the conventions of civilised life he was accustomed to.

I think an important piece of context is that Johnson was in large part driven to make the trip due to his public involvement with the Ossianic controversy. In short, he sought to definitively disprove that any legacy of epic poetry could survive solely through oral tradition, and I think this largely informed his view of the Highlands. Johnson was a man of letters, and those that did not advance society in the way that he devoted his life to, were not doing much worthwhile.

The middle also drags somewhat, in fairly dry arguments regarding social and economic structure. I also found it a bit irritating when Johnson would disparage the folk knowledge of locals on matters that are beyond debate in the present day, such as disbelieving that Loch Ness could not ever freeze, which we now know to be the case.

Probably only worth a read if you're interested in this period of Scottish history, though admirers of Johnson may get more out if it.

[Evan Hays · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have wanted to read this one for a while for a number of reasons. First, I have never read anything by the esteemed Doctor. Second, my own heritage is Scottish (mainly, but among many), so this seemed like a good way to learn. Thirdly, ever since I first heard of the Hebrides, they have fascinated me. They have natural beauty, but then also that magical quality of being the repository of history that still lives on into the present. They are mostly just too remote for any conquerors to really have bothered with, so they have maintained many very old ways. And that, of course, is what Johnson and Boswell went to find. Because they went after the clearing of the highlands and when emigration to America had already begun in full swing, they felt, even then (1775), that they came too late to truly see Scotland as it once was. It's funny, because travelers have been saying the same thing about the Hebrides for centuries, and probably say the same thing about other remote repositories of ancient human customs (like say, Mt. Lebanon or Tibet).

This book probably would not be of much interest to someone like myself who enjoys reading primary sources. It was fascinating to me to learn about how he was treated, to read his mingled respect and prejudice, and perhaps most of all, to learn his perspective on the natural history of Scotland, particularly how it had been denuded of its trees. Overall, a fascinating little read for me this year.

[Mary Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a review of the audiobook where they've stitched together Samuel Johnson's officially published book on Johnson's & Boswell's tour and Boswell's journals from that same journey. There are two narrators, one portraying Johnson (whether Johnson's own book, or Boswell quoting what Johnson said).

Unsurprisingly, Johnson still hates Scotland after his sojourn to the country, especially to its outer reaches where there is a lot of rock and few people. There were some interesting observations on the part of Johnson, as this trip occurred in 1773. Johnson observed that many people were leaving Scotland for America, and it wasn't just the dregs of the population as had occurred before. Johnson realized a lot of the people with agricultural knowledge and ability were leaving to go to America because of the economics of Scotland. He noted that there could be bad consequences for Scotland as some of its most talented people were going away. And obviously, this was a boon to America.

I found this most interesting as long as you try to keep the historical context of the book in mind. It can get tiresome with Boswell's name-dropping, recalling incidents with Johnson from back in London (forget about Scotland) which, while somewhat amusing, is not really to the point.

[Julie MacKay · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about the author’s journey to the Western Isles of Scotland as well as some of the places on his way there and on the way back. It was an interesting read, but probably only people with a vested interest in Scotland’s culture or in anthropology would enjoy it. He sometimes rambles on with some of his anthropological insights, or general philosophising about the way the world works, but I found it interesting to read his thoughts. True traditional culture had already mostly been replaced by the influences of Christianity and modernisation by the time the author travelled to these areas, so he wasn’t able to write as much about traditional customs as he would have liked to. Still it gives a good snapshot into what life was like in highlands and islands of Scotland at the time the book was written.

[Neil Stanley · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I think of Dr Johnson, I tend to think of Stephen Fry in ‘Blackadder’! While Johnson can be arrogant at times, I found this ‘travelogue’ interesting once I got used to the 18th Century terminology. Travel in the Highlands & Inner Hebrides in the 18th century was somewhat slower & more tiring that we are now used to, with Johnson & Boswell being stuck more than once in remote locations by contrary winds or the weather. Johnson’s observations are entertaining & he has an enquiring mind. What he is unable to find out, he will say so. This book may not be for every one, but it is a unique insight into travel & Scottish life almost 250 years ago.

[Dwayne Hicks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Doctor Johnson and Boswell take a tour of Scotland. Fun to read with my own loop of Scotland in mind. Johnson was hoping to document the life and society of the pre-civilized Highlands, but arrived a generation or more too late. By 1775 a mass exodus (forced to or lured by the American colony, mostly) had occurred, depopulating the Highlands and disrupting the old forms of life. So instead Johnson makes naturalistic observations on geography, landscape, and ruins, with a note on the odd legend.

Your enjoyment depends on how much affection you have for Johnson, your level of interest in historical travelogues, etc. Pretty dry for general audiences, I imagine.

[Stewart · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was glad to stumble across this book, just a few months after visiting Skye and the Western Highlands last summer. Overall, it’s an entertaining read with generally charming observations about the splendid geography and unique people they encountered. On the other hand, Johnson’s pomposity towards the Scots, especially highlanders, was rather off-putting — at one point, he remarks that they can become civilized “just as easily as the Cherokee or the orangutang,” recalling the insufferable cultural superiority so often displayed by the English. Nonetheless, the book did a wonderful job sharing the delightful beautiful of a very special corner of the world.

[AJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book by Johnson is mostly play-by-play, and his buddy Boswell's book is color commentary about their trip together. I read Johnson and have not finished Boswell. Johnson had a lot to sneer about English vs Scottish language, education, religion, literature, agricultural practices, dress, and more. Still, it's a digestable 250-year-old travelogue with some interesting (to this American reader) bits about emigration and sending troops to fight the American war (known to us at the French & Indian or Seven Years War; the American Revolution had not yet begun), and generally about life in Scotland at the very start of the decades of landlords driving people away from the country.

[t.s. esque · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kv5DPD1x_M8

He was clearly receptive, intelligent, & insightful. I found this very interesting & well-written. Enjoyed his descriptions of his surroundings & the society of highlanders/lowlanders. It's cool to hear someone from 245 years ago describe Fort Augustus / Loch Ness which are sites that seem to remain visually similar today.

[Brandon · Rating 2 out of 5]

A first hand historical account of the famous Samuel Johnson (inventor of the English dictionary) and his journey around Scotland with his best friend and Scot James Boswell. It's interesting how despite being a worldwide power at the time, with the British Empire emerging, the communities of the isolated Highlands and Hebrides were so primitive compared to the rest of Britain. These people didn't even know how to use wheels on carts to tow about their produce. Their strange lifestyles and Gaelic tongue must have seemed alien even to native Boswell.

[Elisabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a weekend morning book as it is the sort that would send me straight to sleep at night. Keeping that in mind, I found Johnson’s recounting of his journey very interesting, both for what it imparted about Scotland 200+ years ago and for what it imparted of Johnson himself. I have read several of Boswell’s diaries and have read his Life of Johnson but never anything by Johnson himself. This was the perfect text to start me off.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I probably haven't picked the right edition -- I have a Kindle edition put out by Oxford that combines this book with James Boswell's companion piece of the Journal to the Hebrides (which I'm still reading). I read this due to an upcoming trip to the Scottish islands. It was on a suggested reading list but it was also mentioned a number of times in a Scottish Highlands guidebook that I recently read. I have to say, for a 250 year old book, it was very readable and I enjoyed it very much.

[Nat · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating account of travel through Scotland and some of its islands. As it was written several hundred years ago there is a fair amount of prejudice in the writing but once you get over this the journey is vividly brought to life. I have been to many of the places visited in the book and it is amazing how much has changed but also how some things have stayed the same!

[Michael J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

a fascinating snapshot of a society - from the perspective of a stranger travelling with his own set of judgements and preconceptions. Johnson is a product of his upbringing and the telling of his travels may at times say more about him than the people he meets.

[Juliet · Rating 1 out of 5]

So dry, genuinely so dry. I had to read this for university and there is a lot to analyse, but my god it’s so so dry. Good luck and enjoy the bits about the clans because the tax bit had me put eye drops in… because it’s so dry.

[Laurel Hicks · Rating 5 out of 5]

A jolly travelogue indeed. Dr Johnson writes about the journey, and Mr Boswell writes about Dr Johnson.

[Bap · Rating 4 out of 5]

Samual Johnson was a famous author and personality who was convinced bt James Boswell to tour Scotland. Johnson was thought to be a staunch tory, a devoted church of england type who had nothing but contempt for the Scots, who were considered to be rustics, wild, and dissenters. Boswell was 32, Johnson was in his 60's. They embarked on a trip of almost 3 months starting in Edinburgh to Aberdeen and then to Iverness and the highlands where the roads could not accomodate a carriage and they either rode horses and walked to the coast and then to the western isles including Skye and Mull. It was a rugged trip in land where most spoke Gaelic and where less than 20 years earlier the Scots rose in revolt in support of Bonnie Prince Charles.

Johnson's account of this trip taken in 1773 may have been the first popular travel book. He had a keen eye for places, landscapes, and people. Any traveler to Scotland would benefit from reading this book for an introduction to this beautiful land.

[Sally George · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading Boswell's version of the journey to the islands this book does compliment it. More of the history and geography of the trip so both books together are worth a read. I did find out that they stayed in a former house of General Wade (who from 1725 established the military roads in Scotland). A quick search on the internet and I found that this house is now a holiday cottage complete with plaque on the wall and more recently a hotel has been built next door. "Soon afterwards we came to the General's Hut, so called because it was the temporary abode of Wade, while he superintended the works upon the road. It is now a house of entertainment for passengers, and we found it not ill stocked with provisions." Boswell and Johnson had to take guides with them on their journey as many places had no roads or defined paths. A reference in verse is said to be inscribed on a stone at the start of one of his military roads in Scotland:
If you had seen this road before it was made.
You would lift up your hands and bless General Wade

[Rob · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not giving this book 2/5 stars in the classical sense, it's more of a 2.5, incidentally, but I'm sticking strictly to Goodread's tool-tip: "it was ok".

Johnson's focus, throughout his travelogue, was on the household and domestic arrangements of the inhabitants of the Hebrides, with a minimum of seasoning from interesting historical anecdotes of these places. Johnson had good reason to do so, because, as he explained it, the bulk of our lives is defined by the mundanities of daily existence, rather than the occasional battle or disaster. While true, mundanities are indeed, sometimes mundane, and can be tedious reading. This is doubly so because, while Samuel Johnson wanted to find in the Hebrides a time-capsule of the ancient Highland culture, he found only the smallest remains, the post-Culloden reforms having done as intended.

Still, the read was leavened with Johnson's excellent prose (and diction, of course!), enough flavorful anecdotes, and so it was not a joyless read.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not only do you get to spend time in the company of one of the most famous talkers of all time but there are fascinating insights into eighteenth century life in the remotest part of the British Isles as the clans were breaking up, money was coming into circulation and much of the population was leaving for America.