This text offers Martin Martin's narrative of his journey around the Western Isles, with information on custom, tradition and life, and an account of St Kilda, published in 1697, and Sir Donald Monro, High Dean of the Isles, visit after the fall of the Lords of the Isles, written in 1549.
Martin Martin (Martainn MacGilleMhartainn) was born at Bealach, near Duntulm, Skye, and was a native Gaelic speaker. He studied at the universities of Edinburgh and Leiden, and died in London in 1719.
Charles W.J. Withers is Professor Emeritus and former Ogilvie Chair of Geography at the University of Edinburgh. Between 2015 and 2022, he was Geographer Royal for Scotland, the first in 118 years. His books include Zero Degrees: Geographies of the Prime Meridian (2017) and, as co-author, the prize-winning Scotland: Mapping the Nation (2011).