Sir William Burrell's Northern Tour, 1758

This publication of a tour undertaken by Sir William Burrell in 1758 is noteworthy not only for its early date, but also for its wide-ranging itinerary, which took the author to parts of Scotland not previously visited by English and Continental travellers. Sir William Burrell (1732-96) was an English lawyer and antiquary belonging to a landed family based mainly in Sussex and Kent. For several years a Member of Parliament, he was also a Fellow of the Royal Society and of the Society of Antiquaries of London. On his death, he bequeathed his historical papers to the British Museum, but the journal of his northern tour, undertaken when he was in his mid-20s, became detached from the bulk of the collection and was subsequently purchased by the National Library of Scotland. On his way north, he also travelled through Northern England and made a brief detour to Ireland. Burrell was a meticulous recorder whose interests included antiquities, fine art and contemporary architecture, as well as agriculture, trade and industry. His journal, with its descriptions of the rural and urban scene, should be of interest to anyone studying Scotland in the years after the "Forty-Five" Rebellion.