Description of the Western Isles of Scotland is the oldest known account of the Hebrides and the Islands of the Clyde, two chains of islands off the west coast of Scotland. The author was Donald Monro, a clergyman who used the title of "Dean of the Isles" and who lived through the Scottish Reformation. Monro wrote the original manuscript in 1549, although it was not published in any form until 1582 and was not widely available to the public in its original form until 1774. A more complete version, based on a late 17th-century manuscript written by Sir Robert Sibbald, was first published as late as 1961. Monro wrote in Scots and some of the descriptions are difficult for modern readers to render into English. Although Monro was criticised for publishing folklore and for omitting detail about the affairs of the churches in his diocese, Monro's Description is a valuable historical account and has reappeared in part or in whole in numerous publications, remaining one of the most widely quoted publications about the western islands of Scotland.
A cave on Garbh Eilean in the Shiant Isles. In 1549, Donald Monro wrote that "through the arch we used to row or sail with our boats, for fear of the horrible break of the sea that is on the outward side of the point".
The tomb effigy of Domhnall Mac Gilleasbuig, crown tenant of Finlaggan during the mid 16th century
Castle Craig on the Black Isle, with the Cromarty Firth beyond. Donald Monro may have lived here in the 1560s.
The 8th century Kildalton Cross on Islay, carved when the island was part of Dál Riata.
The Shiant Islands or Shiant Isles are a privately owned island group in the Minch, east of Harris in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. They are five miles southeast of the Isle of Lewis.
View from Garbh Eilean, with Eilean an Taighe on the right, and Eilean Mhuire in the distance. This photograph was taken through a "fisheye” (ultra-wide-angle) lens; it is not representative of what an observer on the ground would see.
Galtachan sunset. From left to right: Galta Beag, unnamed islet, Bodach (with the stooping silhouette of the "old man") Stacan Laidir and Galta Mòr.