Scenes and Stories of the North of Scotland

From the book's Preface:

This book has been written with a three-fold aim: to
awaken interest, to stimulate, and to amuse.

The scenes described have been selected chiefly from
parts of Scotland which are remote, or aside, from the
ordinary thoroughfares of travel, and are therefore less
known than they deserve to be. I have tried to present
them as vividly as possible, so as to awaken in others an
interest in them. If many more travellers are induced
to visit these localities, they will not be disappointed,
and I shall be pleased.

Again, no one reaps full benefit from travel who does
not go to and fro with open eyes, open ears, open mind,
and open heart. What a pitiful lot are many of our
modem sight "do"-ers, who take in no more from
nature than the eye of a calf might do! Not for
these do 1 write; but for very many ? I hope the majority
after all ? who long to taste the sweet secrets of nature,
and through these to reach a better knowledge of her
great Author. I like to think that God, Who has made
all that is beautiful and grand, and has given to us any
sense or love of these which we possess, is Himself the
prime Admirer of the varied scenery of His world. My
aim has been that these pages should feed the love of
nature, and stimulate the study of her works with that
all-round " openness " which I have commended above.

As for the incidents and stories scattered here and
there, they have been inserted simply to interest and
amuse. Not even a wild Highland landscape is perfect
without its little curl of smoke in a corner to suggest
some relation between nature and mankind. Thus are
one or two harmless adventures and brief sketches of
character thrown in to play the part of the light blue
pennant from the shepherd's cottage. I make bold to
claim that these incidents and anecdotes, with one or
two trifling exceptions, are new and fresh, in the sense
that they are only known to very limited circles, and
have never, so far as I am aware, appeared in print.

If these "Scenes and Stories" prove acceptable to
the public, the Author has material enough to form the
basis of another, series, still drawn from his native
Scotland.

JOHN SINCLAIR.
My 1890.
..............................................................................

CONTENTS:

CHAPTER I. Loch Duich, Ross-shire

CHAPTER 11. The Black Rock, Ross-shire

CHAPTER III. The Island of Lewis

CHAPTER IV. Assynt in Sutherland

CHAPTER V. The Caithness Coast

CHAPTER VI. The Town of Thurso

CHAPTER VIL The Shetland Islands