This travel book retraces Samuel Johnson and James Boswell's journey through Scotland and its Western Isles in the autumn of 1773. The book tells in some part the history of Scotland in the 18th century and today, of the people of the Highlands and islands then and now, their history, their whisky distilleries, the Loch Ness monster, their literature and songs, their food and hospitality, their lochs and harbours and sea-sounds - all observed via a stream of anecdotes. Johnson's book "A Journey to the Western Isles of Scotland" and Boswell's book "Journal of a Tour of the Hebrides with Samuel Johnson" are compared throughout.