Elizabeth and Joseph Pennell, travel writer and illustrator respectively for Harpers Magazine in the 1880s, longed to do a cycle tour of France or perhaps Holland, but their editor insisted upon their backpacking through the Hebrides. Their loss, perhaps; our gain, certainly. With awkward 19th century canvas backpacks, Mrs Pennell's voluminous Victorian skirt and petticoats, and a distinct lack of guidance from any guidebook (it is small comfort, says Elizabeth, when one needs a route, to be presented with a quotation!) -- and in addition, the constant Highland mist and rain -- it is little wonder that they found it miserably hard going. Yet it did not quench Elizabeth's wit and their own difficulties only increased their sympathy for the plight of the crofters. Only a short time after the brutality of the clearances, the remnant of the Highland people were denied the necessary land to grow crops and barely eking out an existence, yet forced to pay extortionate rents and taxes. Altogether a fascinating look at both the tourist sights (Oban is described as "a town of hotels and photograph shops, into which excursion trains were forever emptying excursionists and never carrying them away again") and the realities of Highland life just prior to the passage of the Crofters Act of 1886.

Joseph Pennell's sketches, rendered as engravings for the book, add immensely to its interest. Nearly every place Elizabeth describes is meticulously depicted, as well as sketches of the heavily laden travellers at the start of their journey, trudging in the rain, and trying to decipher a map. My book is the 1889 edition: I don't know, but I doubt that the print-on-demand technology of the 21st century reprints conveys the exquisite detail of these illustrations.

It really is a delight to read, and so full of lively descriptions and clever turns of phrase that there's a temptation to read so many excerpts aloud to whoever happens to be within earshot, that you might as well read the whole book aloud from the beginning. ( )