title: Whisky, Kilts, and the Loch Ness Monster: Traveling Through Scotland with Boswell and Johnson (Non Series)
author:  William W. Starr 
description: Those who have traveled through Scotland know it as the myth-shrouded, precipitation-drenched northern kingdom of the island of Great Britaina ruggedly beautiful place. The author did just that, clocking 2,789 miles by car and ferry (Scotland has numerous costal islands), but he did so with a particular agenda: to retrace the three-month journey undertaken by 1773 by Englands famous man of letters, Samuel Johnson, and his ever-faithful companion, James Boswell. Starr constantly references the activities and attitudes of the duo as he puts in his own many-miles-per-day travel, but in no way is this narrative technique distracting; rather, it adds a layer of interest for the contemporary reader, allowing us to compare and contrast past and present in this still-remote part of Europe. Equally well integrated are Starrs digressions into events in Scottish history. As with any good travelogue, engrossing anecdotes abound; and the authors writing style is direct, comfortable, effortless. (Edinburgh is memorably striking to the eye, for instance.) This delightful book ends with a discussion of the issue of Scottish independence. --Brad Hooper
zlib_text: ![](images/00001.jpg)
  
  
  ##### www.blackmask.com
  
  * * *
  
  Angling Sketches
  
  
  PREFACE
  
  THE CONFESSIONS OF A DUFFER
  
  A BORDER BOYHOOD
  
  LOCH AWE—THE BOATMAN'S YARNS
  
  THE YARN OF THE BLACK OFFICER
  
  LOCH-FISHING
  
  THE BLOODY DOCTOR
  
  THE LADY OR THE SALMON?
  
  A TWEEDSIDE SKETCH
  
  THE DOUBLE ALIBI
  
  THE COMPLETE BUNGLER
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * * *
  
  # Angling Sketches
  
  
  ### Andrew Lang
  
  
  This page copyright © 2002 Blackmask Online.
  
  
  http://www.blackmask.com  
    
  
  * PREFACE
  
  
  * THE CONFESSIONS OF A DUFFER
  
  
  * A BORDER BOYHOOD
  
  
  * LOCH AWE—THE BOATMAN'S YARNS
  
  
  * THE YARN OF THE BLACK OFFICER
  
  
  * LOCH-FISHING
  
  
  * THE BLOODY DOCTOR
  
  
  * THE LADY OR THE SALMON?
  
  
  * A TWEEDSIDE SKETCH
  
  
  * THE DOUBLE ALIBI
  
  
  * THE COMPLETE BUNGLER
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
      
  
  This etext was prepared by David Price, email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk
  
  
  from the 1895 Longmans, Green, and Co. edition.
  
  
  ### PREFACE
  
  
  Several of the sketches in this volume have appeared in
  
  
  periodicals. "The Bloody Doctor" was in Macmillan's Magazine, "The
  
  
  Confessions o