origins of the medieval Arabic document, the Achtiname of Muhammad, which claims that Muhammad had personally confirmed a grant of protection and other privileges to the monks of Saint Catherine's Monastery in Egypt. Irish tour (1747–60) During the years 1747–60, Pococke made a number of tours around various parts of Ireland. The longest of these tours occurred in 1752, when he travelled to just over half of Ireland's counties. He kept a record of this tour, but did not publish it. It ended up in the library of Trinity College, Dublin. Eventually, in 1891, an edited edition of Pococke's 1752 tour was published by George Thomas Stokes. Tours in Scotland (1747, 1750, 1760) Pococke made three tours in Scotland. The first two were quite short, the third in 1760 very extensive taking him as far north as Orkney. The first tour commenced on 27 September 1747 and finished on 26 October of the same year. During that month, he visited Edinburgh, Stirling, Glasgow and Ayr, returning to Ireland via Port Patrick. The second tour was very short of only a few days duration. He crossed from Carlisle on 16 July 1750, visiting Dumfries and Drumlanrig Castle before returning via Carlisle. The third tour was far more extensive, lasting nearly five months (excepting 8 May to 22 May spent in the north of England). He crossed from Port Patrick on 30 April 1760, returning via Berwick on Tweed on 22 Sept of the same year. His itinerary took him in a clockwise circuit round most of Scotland, including Loch Lomond, Iona, Fort William, Inverness, the North West, Orkney, the North East, Perth, Fife and Edinburgh, finishing at Berwick on Tweed. His travels and observations were recorded in a series of letters to his mother and sister, these letters being subsequently edited by him and transcribed into four manuscript quarto volumes. These were published for the first time by the Scottish History Society in 1887, this being the Society's first Volume. Episcopal office and further travels While known for this travels and travel writing, Pococke also seemed to have been a conscientious churchman: this despite the time he spent travelling, his privileged background and reasonable wealth, in an age when the Anglican church was under some criticism for its lax ways. He came from a family of Anglican clergymen, his father and grandfather both being vicars. He was also related to the