0:00:02 > 0:00:05Argyll on the west coast of Scotland.
0:00:05 > 0:00:10This ancient landscape of mountains, islands and long sea lochs
0:00:10 > 0:00:13was once the cradle of the Scottish nation.
0:00:13 > 0:00:16It's also a place that's inspired visitors and tourists
0:00:16 > 0:00:18for the last 200 years,
0:00:18 > 0:00:21drawn here by the incomparable scenery
0:00:21 > 0:00:26and a haunting atmosphere shaped by 2,000 years of myth and legend.
0:00:26 > 0:00:31I've always said that if you want to experience the real Scotland,
0:00:31 > 0:00:33the true spiritual heart of the country,
0:00:33 > 0:00:36then you should come here to Argyll.
0:00:36 > 0:00:38And even on a grey, windy day like today,
0:00:38 > 0:00:41this place has a magic all of its own.
0:00:41 > 0:00:46But then I would say that, wouldn't I? This is where I grew up.
0:00:47 > 0:00:50As a child, Scotland remained a mystery to me
0:00:50 > 0:00:52until my father rediscovered
0:00:52 > 0:00:56an old copy of Black's Picturesque Guide To Scotland.
0:00:57 > 0:01:00It had been in my family for generations
0:01:00 > 0:01:04and, in Victorian times, was the most influential tourist guide book of all.
0:01:06 > 0:01:11Inspired by the route suggested by Black's, my father took us all over the country,
0:01:11 > 0:01:15searching for Scotland's special places.
0:01:15 > 0:01:17Now, four decades on,
0:01:17 > 0:01:20I'm letting the pages of Black's guide me again,
0:01:20 > 0:01:23as I follow in the footsteps of the early tourists.
0:01:23 > 0:01:25On my grand tour,
0:01:25 > 0:01:28I'll also discover the works of some early travel writers
0:01:28 > 0:01:31who came in search of the true spirit of Scotland.
0:01:44 > 0:01:48My grand tour begins just north of the Firth of Clyde in Cowal
0:01:48 > 0:01:52and follows a network of now-forgotten steamer routes
0:01:52 > 0:01:56from loch to loch, finally reaching the fabled island of Islay -
0:01:56 > 0:01:58the whisky capital of the west.
0:02:01 > 0:02:03This is Loch Eck.
0:02:04 > 0:02:06According to Black's guide,
0:02:06 > 0:02:09"Loch Eck is a very pleasing miniature lake
0:02:09 > 0:02:13"embosomed in green mountains of graceful and rounded outline.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16"Soft it seems to lie and tenderly protected
0:02:16 > 0:02:20"amongst the green hills of Cowal."
0:02:20 > 0:02:25In the spirit of adventure, I'm handling my own canoe, as they say.
0:02:25 > 0:02:29In this case, a beautiful replica of the original Rob Roy canoe
0:02:29 > 0:02:32built in the 1890s.
0:02:34 > 0:02:37'Although Black's guide book doesn't have anything to say
0:02:37 > 0:02:39'about canoeing as a pastime,
0:02:39 > 0:02:42'increasing numbers of Victorian gentlemen
0:02:42 > 0:02:47'were inspired by the daring adventures of a canoeing Scot.'
0:02:47 > 0:02:52John MacGregor, inventor of the Rob Roy leisure canoe.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56As a young man, John MacGregor had travelled in the wilds of Canada
0:02:56 > 0:03:00and was inspired by the Native American canoes he saw there.
0:03:00 > 0:03:03When he got back to Scotland, he decided to build his own
0:03:03 > 0:03:09and named it Rob Roy in honour of his illustrious MacGregor ancestors.
0:03:11 > 0:03:15He wrote about his travels in a ripping yarn called
0:03:15 > 0:03:17A Thousand Miles In The Rob Roy Canoe.
0:03:18 > 0:03:23"After taking on supplies, I shoved off into the tide,
0:03:23 > 0:03:27"lit a cigar and felt I had really started.
0:03:27 > 0:03:30"But then began a strange feeling of freedom and novelty.
0:03:30 > 0:03:34"I was in a canoe which could be paddled or sailed
0:03:34 > 0:03:37"to Rome or Hong Kong if I liked."
0:03:37 > 0:03:40Ah, the freedom of the open water!
0:03:40 > 0:03:43'The illustrious John MacGregor
0:03:43 > 0:03:46'had much to say on the subject of canoeing,
0:03:46 > 0:03:50'including tips on the best attire for the budding paddler.'
0:03:50 > 0:03:54For the gentleman, he recommends a flannel Norfolk jacket,
0:03:54 > 0:03:56flannel shirt and a straw hat,
0:03:56 > 0:04:00which he says is the best of all for boating.
0:04:01 > 0:04:05'With my own hat firmly clamped over my ears,
0:04:05 > 0:04:08'there can be no better way of exploring these secluded waterways
0:04:08 > 0:04:13'than by paddling one of Mr MacGregor's famous canoes.'
0:04:13 > 0:04:16I grew up close to the shores of Loch Eck,
0:04:16 > 0:04:18so I'm naturally a wee bit biased,
0:04:18 > 0:04:22but for me this has to be one of the prettiest stretches of water
0:04:22 > 0:04:24to be found anywhere in Scotland.
0:04:28 > 0:04:30'When I was a boy, I didn't realise the role
0:04:30 > 0:04:33'that Loch Eck once played in the development of Scottish tourism.'
0:04:33 > 0:04:39In 1827, the genius and pioneering marine engineer David Napier
0:04:39 > 0:04:43built one of the world's first iron ships
0:04:43 > 0:04:46to carry tourists on the sheltered waters of Loch Eck.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50Napier was a real innovator.
0:04:50 > 0:04:54He wanted to open up a new route from the Clyde to the Hebrides
0:04:54 > 0:04:56and saw Loch Eck as a shortcut.
0:04:57 > 0:05:02Napier built hotels, piers, boats and even a steam carriage
0:05:02 > 0:05:04to carry his passengers on overland sections
0:05:04 > 0:05:07of what became known as the famous Loch Eck route.
0:05:10 > 0:05:12'Changed days.
0:05:12 > 0:05:16'All that's left of Napier's dream are a few rotting wooden piers.'
0:05:18 > 0:05:20The Loch Eck route could never compete
0:05:20 > 0:05:21with the bulk of tourist traffic
0:05:21 > 0:05:25using steamers on the Clyde as a way out to the west
0:05:25 > 0:05:29and, sadly, Napier's boats were hauled ashore and abandoned to the elements
0:05:29 > 0:05:33and there hasn't been a steamer on Loch Eck for over 70 years.
0:05:37 > 0:05:39For the next leg of my journey,
0:05:39 > 0:05:42I follow Napier's Loch Eck route northwards,
0:05:42 > 0:05:44finally emerging at the sea
0:05:44 > 0:05:47and into lovely Loch Fyne.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50Although the adventurous Scot John MacGregor
0:05:50 > 0:05:53was the first to bring canoeing, or should I say kayaking,
0:05:53 > 0:05:55to public attention,
0:05:55 > 0:05:58the sport remained in the doldrums for decades.
0:05:58 > 0:06:02But then, in 1936, a couple of idealistic Scotsmen
0:06:02 > 0:06:06rediscovered the delights of paddling your own canoe
0:06:06 > 0:06:09for themselves when they embarked on a daring trip
0:06:09 > 0:06:13to discover the true spirit of Scotland.
0:06:14 > 0:06:17Alastair Dunnett and his friend James Adam,
0:06:17 > 0:06:19otherwise known as Seumas,
0:06:19 > 0:06:21were barely out of their teens
0:06:21 > 0:06:23when they embarked on their great expedition
0:06:23 > 0:06:27and became known to the world as the Canoe Boys.
0:06:28 > 0:06:30Clad in kilts and as keen as mustard,
0:06:30 > 0:06:33Alastair and Seumas set off on their eleven-week adventure
0:06:33 > 0:06:37kayaking from the Clyde to the Isle of Skye.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43Theirs was a boys' own adventure par excellence
0:06:43 > 0:06:48and, to find out more, I've joined kayaking expert Duncan Winning
0:06:48 > 0:06:51on a short section of the Canoe Boys' original route,
0:06:51 > 0:06:53coming ashore in a bay on Loch Fyne.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58Duncan, the Canoe Boys have become legendary.
0:06:58 > 0:07:00Who were they and what were they trying to do?
0:07:00 > 0:07:03Well, they were a couple of young journalists
0:07:03 > 0:07:05and they were trying to, er...
0:07:05 > 0:07:06do two things I think, mainly.
0:07:06 > 0:07:11One was trying to run a magazine for boys called The Claymore,
0:07:11 > 0:07:15to encourage the youth of Scotland in the great outdoors
0:07:15 > 0:07:19and the things that were available for them to do on their doorstep.
0:07:19 > 0:07:22And one of the, er...the other things they were trying to do
0:07:22 > 0:07:23through their trip
0:07:23 > 0:07:26was they were very keen in promoting
0:07:26 > 0:07:29a revival in the economic activity
0:07:29 > 0:07:33in the islands and in the Highlands.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38The Canoe Boys weren't interested in the Scotland of guide books.
0:07:38 > 0:07:42They were concerned with the plight of the modern Highlander,
0:07:42 > 0:07:44not the romantic image.
0:07:44 > 0:07:47But the reading public cared less for their politics
0:07:47 > 0:07:50than the novelty of their great adventure.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53The excitement of two canoeing novices
0:07:53 > 0:07:58braving the elements in boats held together by screws and wire.
0:07:58 > 0:08:02I think it was something like September they set off, from memory,
0:08:02 > 0:08:04and as they progressed up the west coast
0:08:04 > 0:08:07of course the weather deteriorated and deteriorated
0:08:07 > 0:08:12and they ended up finishing their epic journey at Kyle of Lochalsh.
0:08:12 > 0:08:15It seems to me that the Canoe Boys were pretty brave in what they did.
0:08:15 > 0:08:17Er, they were indeed.
0:08:17 > 0:08:20Compared to modern canoeists, they roughed it.
0:08:20 > 0:08:23They put up with a lot of harsh conditions.
0:08:23 > 0:08:27They threw themselves in at the deep end. So, yes, it's...
0:08:27 > 0:08:28- Almost literally there.- Yes!
0:08:28 > 0:08:32Let's put it this way, I don't think I'd have done what they did.
0:08:32 > 0:08:33Don't think I would have, either!
0:08:36 > 0:08:38Leaving Duncan to paddle home,
0:08:38 > 0:08:42I make my watery way across Loch Fyne to Inverary,
0:08:42 > 0:08:45the Highland capital of Argyll.
0:08:47 > 0:08:49According to Black's,
0:08:49 > 0:08:52"Its situation is exceedingly beautiful.
0:08:52 > 0:08:54"Here nature is so vast and grand
0:08:54 > 0:08:58"that works of art diminish in her awful presence."
0:09:00 > 0:09:04Black's was not alone in admiring Inveraray.
0:09:04 > 0:09:08The eminent philosopher Edmund Burke considered the landscape here
0:09:08 > 0:09:11to represent the quintessence of sublime beauty.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14'He thought the scenery was stunning.'
0:09:15 > 0:09:17So too did the artist Turner,
0:09:17 > 0:09:20who captured the magic of the scene in watercolours
0:09:20 > 0:09:25and in 1796 the early travel writer Sarah Murray
0:09:25 > 0:09:30considered Inveraray to be, "The noblest place in Scotland."
0:09:30 > 0:09:33Although she was dismayed by the miserable weather!
0:09:33 > 0:09:37Inveraray Castle, home to the Campbell Dukes of Argyll,
0:09:37 > 0:09:40has been attracting tourists for almost 200 years.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44In fact, it's Black's number one recommendation -
0:09:44 > 0:09:47although I have to say the tone adopted by my old guide
0:09:47 > 0:09:49is a bit obsequious.
0:09:49 > 0:09:53In fact, a bit grovelling. For example, it says here,
0:09:53 > 0:09:55"The castle is reached through the grounds which,
0:09:55 > 0:09:59"by the liberality of the noble proprietor, are open to the public."
0:10:02 > 0:10:06But not all visitors were overawed by the Ducal pile.
0:10:06 > 0:10:09In 1787, the poet Robert Burns visited the town
0:10:09 > 0:10:14and wrote pointedly about the social divisions he found here.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17"Who e'er he be who sojourns here
0:10:17 > 0:10:19"I pity much his case
0:10:19 > 0:10:22"Unless he's come to wait upon
0:10:22 > 0:10:25"The Lord, their God, His Grace."
0:10:25 > 0:10:29A few years later, the poet William Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy
0:10:29 > 0:10:32visited the town on their Highland tour
0:10:32 > 0:10:34and they, too, saw the contrast
0:10:34 > 0:10:36between the wealth of the Duke in his castle
0:10:36 > 0:10:39and the poverty in the streets.
0:10:40 > 0:10:42"We passed through the town
0:10:42 > 0:10:46"which is a doleful example of Scotch filth.
0:10:46 > 0:10:48"A melancholy spectacle,
0:10:48 > 0:10:52"giving the notion of either vice or extreme wretchedness."
0:10:52 > 0:10:55Happily, there's no sign of "Scotch filth"
0:10:55 > 0:10:57on the windy streets of Inveraray today,
0:10:57 > 0:11:00which seems spotlessly clean
0:11:00 > 0:11:03and peopled exclusively by the virtuous.
0:11:03 > 0:11:05But to find out more about the gulf
0:11:05 > 0:11:08between vice and virtue, rich and poor,
0:11:08 > 0:11:12I've come to another popular tourist attraction - the jail.
0:11:14 > 0:11:17I'm met by the formidable figure of Hannah Nixon.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20- Hello, Hannah.- Good afternoon. - Lovely to meet you.
0:11:20 > 0:11:22'In her role as prison matron,
0:11:22 > 0:11:26'it's Hannah's job to educate and entertain modern tourists
0:11:26 > 0:11:29'on visits to this once grim penal institution.'
0:11:29 > 0:11:32This is the old prison. I'll take you to a cell
0:11:32 > 0:11:35which shows you how it really was in the early days.
0:11:35 > 0:11:39- You're talking about 1820, when we first opened.- Right.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42You would have three, four prisoners in every cell originally.
0:11:42 > 0:11:45- You can see here this. - In this small space?
0:11:45 > 0:11:48- In this small space.- Right. - You know, sleeping on the floor.
0:11:48 > 0:11:52Men, women, children, criminally insane, all together in the prison.
0:11:52 > 0:11:55You've got a good example here of a prisoner that was in in 1820.
0:11:55 > 0:11:59He's a prisoner with a sense of humour. He's written on the wall,
0:11:59 > 0:12:03"A room to let to the 26th day of June.
0:12:03 > 0:12:05"Application to be made to Duncan Campbell, jailer.
0:12:05 > 0:12:08- "Hugh Currie is off forever."- Right.
0:12:08 > 0:12:10So if you're wanting a cell to live in, he's off.
0:12:10 > 0:12:12You can have this if you make the application.
0:12:14 > 0:12:18'Role play at Inveraray is part of a modern tourist experience.
0:12:18 > 0:12:21'Not only is there a prison matron,
0:12:21 > 0:12:23'I'm about to meet one of the inmates, too.'
0:12:23 > 0:12:26- Another cell and a prisoner. - And a prisoner. This is Elizabeth.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29This is a good example of the reforms kicking in now.
0:12:29 > 0:12:341841 and the cleanliness prisoners would have to endure, really.
0:12:34 > 0:12:38- Right. She doesn't look very happy. - Well, unfortunately she had lice.
0:12:38 > 0:12:42She wouldn't wash properly, so we have had to go to drastic measures.
0:12:42 > 0:12:44I hope you've not got a weak stomach.
0:12:44 > 0:12:48- I've a slightly weak one.- Elizabeth, take your bonnet off, please.
0:12:48 > 0:12:49We have had to shave her head.
0:12:49 > 0:12:52If you don't wash properly, this is what will happen.
0:12:52 > 0:12:54- Right.- It's to teach you a lesson. All right?
0:12:54 > 0:12:56- Behaving yourself?- Yes, Matron.
0:12:56 > 0:12:58- She's in for theft. - She's in for theft.
0:12:58 > 0:12:59So what did you steal?
0:12:59 > 0:13:03I stole two silver jugs from a hotel in Dunoon where I was working.
0:13:03 > 0:13:05Right. And how long did you get?
0:13:05 > 0:13:07- I got 2½ years, sir.- 2½ years.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10So that's one year and three months per jug.
0:13:10 > 0:13:14- Is it, sir?- Do you think that was worth it?- It was at the time, sir.
0:13:14 > 0:13:16'Despite prison reforms,
0:13:16 > 0:13:21'crime was still harshly punished in Victorian times.'
0:13:21 > 0:13:26So this is an example of punishments set with the Reforms of Scotland.
0:13:26 > 0:13:28- This is the whipping table. - A whipping table?
0:13:28 > 0:13:31So if you disobey our rules here, you will be beaten.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34- Now, it is just for the males. Boys as well.- Boys?
0:13:34 > 0:13:36Children as young as seven would come to this prison.
0:13:36 > 0:13:39If you disobey our rules, a child may well be beaten.
0:13:39 > 0:13:42- And beaten with this? - Yes, that's the birch.
0:13:42 > 0:13:46- So how did this contraption work? - The best way is to demonstrate, sir.
0:13:46 > 0:13:49- If I take that and you'd like to lie up there.- OK.
0:13:49 > 0:13:51- It looks quite innocuous. - On your stomach.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54It's a bit like a, I don't know, a massage table or something.
0:13:54 > 0:13:57It won't feel like a massage, sir.
0:13:57 > 0:14:00- I put my arms through here? - Straight through.- OK.
0:14:00 > 0:14:03'At Inveraray Jail, visitors are encouraged to sample
0:14:03 > 0:14:05'even the grimmest aspects of prison life.
0:14:05 > 0:14:09'The experience can sometimes take quite a beating.'
0:14:09 > 0:14:12Ooh! Please! Ooh!
0:14:12 > 0:14:15That was painful. That was painful.
0:14:15 > 0:14:20Er...slightly risible but I suppose what I find curious
0:14:20 > 0:14:23is why people on holiday want to come to a prison.
0:14:23 > 0:14:27Is there a kind of misery tourism going on here, do you think?
0:14:27 > 0:14:31There is. People have always been interested in what the macabre.
0:14:31 > 0:14:34Anything to do with death, torture, damnation.
0:14:34 > 0:14:36People like to come, have a go, see what it was like,
0:14:36 > 0:14:39try all the different things that we have here.
0:14:39 > 0:14:43Today, yes, it is humorous for them, but it does give them an idea of what went on in the past.
0:14:43 > 0:14:48'As matron leads me back through the prison to freedom,
0:14:48 > 0:14:50'she tells me that in Victorian times,
0:14:50 > 0:14:54'people would go on holiday and visit prisons like this.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57'It's amusing to think that a century later,
0:14:57 > 0:15:00'modern tourists are still doing the same thing.
0:15:00 > 0:15:03'Back on the streets of Inveraray,
0:15:03 > 0:15:07'it looks as if were in for a spot of rain.
0:15:07 > 0:15:09'Before I catch the worst of the weather,
0:15:09 > 0:15:14'it's time to move on and over the hills to my next destination -
0:15:14 > 0:15:15'Loch Awe.'
0:15:19 > 0:15:22Loch Awe is the longest freshwater loch in Scotland
0:15:22 > 0:15:24and is, without question,
0:15:24 > 0:15:27an absolute treasure, whatever the weather.
0:15:27 > 0:15:31Black's is fulsome in its praises, describing the loch as,
0:15:31 > 0:15:35"A glittering jewel with green bowered islands
0:15:35 > 0:15:38"nestling on the bosom of the lake."
0:15:38 > 0:15:39Not today it isn't!
0:15:41 > 0:15:45Come rain or shine, the Victorians were quick to see
0:15:45 > 0:15:48the tourist potential of lovely Loch Awe.
0:15:48 > 0:15:52And at one time, as many as 15 steamers
0:15:52 > 0:15:55sailed among the wooded islands.
0:15:55 > 0:15:56But of course progress has meant
0:15:56 > 0:15:59these elegant little ships suffered the same fate
0:15:59 > 0:16:03as nearly all the other steamers on Scotland's lochs.
0:16:03 > 0:16:06They were scrapped years ago.
0:16:06 > 0:16:08The steamer may have gone
0:16:08 > 0:16:12but the landscape is just as spectacular and wild
0:16:12 > 0:16:14as it was when Victorian tourists
0:16:14 > 0:16:17were told enthralling legends about the landscape,
0:16:17 > 0:16:20as they sailed amongst the islands of the loch.
0:16:22 > 0:16:25'Hearing these romantic tales told to them
0:16:25 > 0:16:27'by their kilted Highland guides,
0:16:27 > 0:16:29'in this wonderful setting,
0:16:29 > 0:16:34'made Victorian tourists feel close to the true spirit of Scotland.'
0:16:36 > 0:16:42'Here, every island, every inlet and bay, has a tale of its own.
0:16:42 > 0:16:45'Part of a tradition that connects Loch Awe to an epic past.'
0:16:47 > 0:16:50As I make my way down the loch,
0:16:50 > 0:16:53I am passing through 2,000 years of history,
0:16:53 > 0:16:56heading for the cradle of the nation.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01This is Kilmartin Glen.
0:17:01 > 0:17:05I've always thought that this part of Argyll has a magic of its own.
0:17:05 > 0:17:08There's something about the quality of light here,
0:17:08 > 0:17:10the distant views to the islands,
0:17:10 > 0:17:13the long sea lochs and the roughly wooded hillsides,
0:17:13 > 0:17:16that's particularly atmospheric.
0:17:16 > 0:17:18It's also a place with a special significance
0:17:18 > 0:17:21in the history of the Scottish nation.
0:17:24 > 0:17:28Kilmartin Glen has one of the most important concentrations
0:17:28 > 0:17:32of Neolithic and Bronze Age remains in Scotland.
0:17:32 > 0:17:37Within just a few miles there are over 350 ancient monuments,
0:17:37 > 0:17:40making this a unique ceremonial landscape
0:17:40 > 0:17:42that was once sacred to our ancestors.
0:17:44 > 0:17:48For 3,000 years this tiny, damp corner of Scotland
0:17:48 > 0:17:51was an important centre for different people
0:17:51 > 0:17:52and different cultures,
0:17:52 > 0:17:55from the Stone Age right up to the early Christian period
0:17:55 > 0:17:59when the country we now call Scotland was coming into being.
0:17:59 > 0:18:03The most striking and significant of all the ancient monuments
0:18:03 > 0:18:07associated with this story can be found right here at Dunadd.
0:18:09 > 0:18:11Now, it might not look much
0:18:11 > 0:18:15but this small rocky hill is where the story of the nation begins.
0:18:15 > 0:18:18This is the cradle of Scotland.
0:18:18 > 0:18:241,600 years ago, a fort stood at the top of this hill.
0:18:24 > 0:18:29Over the years, it's become a place of pilgrimage for tourists.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32And it was up here on a sacred stone
0:18:32 > 0:18:36that the Kings of Dal Riada were invested with their royal powers.
0:18:38 > 0:18:41Now, this is where it's all said to have taken place.
0:18:41 > 0:18:45Over here is a stone footprint cut into the rock
0:18:45 > 0:18:47and, according to archaeologists,
0:18:47 > 0:18:50this is where the King to be would have placed his own foot
0:18:50 > 0:18:56in a ritual act that symbolised the union of the human world with the divine.
0:18:56 > 0:18:58Now, I'm not the first person to have noticed
0:18:58 > 0:19:02that this Kingly footprint is a bit, well, diminutive.
0:19:02 > 0:19:05Now I'd say that was probably a size 3.
0:19:08 > 0:19:10You can get a sense of why Dunadd
0:19:10 > 0:19:14was so important to the ancient world from the summit.
0:19:14 > 0:19:16It lies at the centre of a landscape
0:19:16 > 0:19:19that has an almost mystical atmosphere.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22Up here you get a powerful feeling
0:19:22 > 0:19:26of being in touch with the distant past.
0:19:26 > 0:19:30Which is why, for me, this could be the spiritual heart of Scotland.
0:19:30 > 0:19:34But there is another contender for the title of spiritual heart
0:19:34 > 0:19:38and to get there I have to sail to the islands.
0:19:41 > 0:19:43On the next leg of my journey,
0:19:43 > 0:19:45I'm crossing the sea to Islay -
0:19:45 > 0:19:47the spiritual home of whisky.
0:19:48 > 0:19:52But this is no scheduled ferry service.
0:19:52 > 0:19:56To retrace the old steamer routes that once crossed the west coast,
0:19:56 > 0:20:02I joined Sandy Campbell aboard the modern motor cruiser Venture West.
0:20:02 > 0:20:04Sandy, what kind of business do you run then?
0:20:04 > 0:20:06Er, well, just a charter boat business.
0:20:06 > 0:20:09Take people where they want to be, along with some wildlife trips
0:20:09 > 0:20:12and Corryvreckan trips to the whirlpool.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15There's usually...it's quite a good kind of area for wildlife.
0:20:15 > 0:20:19There's some seagulls that nest along with...there's a lot of seals
0:20:19 > 0:20:22and porpoise sometimes, or dolphin.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25Later on in the year we have basking shark and a minky whale around.
0:20:25 > 0:20:29So, yeah, it's very interesting.
0:20:29 > 0:20:32Sandy's hi-tech rib is a far cry from the steamers
0:20:32 > 0:20:35that carried the few early tourists
0:20:35 > 0:20:38who ventured this far off the beaten track.
0:20:39 > 0:20:41As Black's notes,
0:20:41 > 0:20:44"The traffic of the westward isles is maintained
0:20:44 > 0:20:46"by steamers of the smaller class.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49"The natives herding on the foredeck,
0:20:49 > 0:20:50"Gaelic their dialect
0:20:50 > 0:20:54"and teetotalism a creed little believed in."
0:20:55 > 0:20:57I think it's odd that my guide should make
0:20:57 > 0:20:59such a sneering reference to the pleasures
0:20:59 > 0:21:02that ordinary folk could derive from alcohol
0:21:02 > 0:21:04because in the very next sentence,
0:21:04 > 0:21:06the same writer goes on to praise Islay
0:21:06 > 0:21:09for the quality of its whisky.
0:21:09 > 0:21:11Now I think what he's trying to imply here
0:21:11 > 0:21:16is that it's OK for wealthy tourists to enjoy the water of life
0:21:16 > 0:21:19but for ordinary people, it's degrading.
0:21:19 > 0:21:21Wealthy people could be connoisseurs.
0:21:21 > 0:21:23The poor just got drunk.
0:21:27 > 0:21:30'As I consider the mixed morals of Victorian tourists,
0:21:30 > 0:21:33'I enjoy a large glass of whisky.
0:21:33 > 0:21:37'I count myself lucky that I'm a connoisseur and not a lush.'
0:21:39 > 0:21:41Anyone arriving in Islay today
0:21:41 > 0:21:46can't fail to notice the continuing importance of whisky.
0:21:46 > 0:21:48Famous names greet you at every turn.
0:21:48 > 0:21:51Lagavulin, Laphroaig, Bowmore.
0:21:51 > 0:21:54Villages celebrated the world over
0:21:54 > 0:21:56because of the whisky that comes from them.
0:22:00 > 0:22:01This is Port Ellen.
0:22:01 > 0:22:04In 1868, Black's wrote encouragingly,
0:22:04 > 0:22:10"A fair entertainment may be had in the inns above the harbour.
0:22:10 > 0:22:14"A smart trade going on in the consumption of whisky."
0:22:16 > 0:22:19Ah! Just smell that!
0:22:19 > 0:22:21That's the tangle of the Isles.
0:22:21 > 0:22:25A wonderful combination of peat smoke, seaweed...
0:22:25 > 0:22:28Ah! ..and whisky.
0:22:30 > 0:22:34For me, uisge beatha - the water of life -
0:22:34 > 0:22:36has its spiritual home right here on Islay
0:22:36 > 0:22:40and I'm just one of thousands making the pilgrimage each year
0:22:40 > 0:22:43to the island made famous because of its spirit.
0:22:45 > 0:22:50We love the, er, Islay whisky. Er, the peaty taste is our favourite.
0:22:50 > 0:22:54There's so many different whiskies, they all taste different.
0:22:54 > 0:22:58So it's interesting to learn about how they turn out different.
0:22:58 > 0:23:01We know this whisky for a few years
0:23:01 > 0:23:07but it's the first time that we are here on Islay directly.
0:23:09 > 0:23:13'To find out more about the arcane magical art of whisky-making,
0:23:13 > 0:23:16'I've joined Duncan McGilvery
0:23:16 > 0:23:19'on a tour of the Bruichladdich Distillery.
0:23:19 > 0:23:25'Duncan tells me that Islay has been on the whisky connoisseurs itinerary for well over a hundred years.
0:23:25 > 0:23:31'In 1886, the island, its drinking habits and its water of life,
0:23:31 > 0:23:34'were all lovingly and minutely described
0:23:34 > 0:23:36'by an Englishman, Alfred Barnard.'
0:23:37 > 0:23:41Alfred Barnard did a survey in the late 1800s of all the distilleries
0:23:41 > 0:23:44of Scotland and England and Wales, that he could find.
0:23:44 > 0:23:46Not that I was around at the time but, er...
0:23:46 > 0:23:50it was a very in-depth investigation into what they did.
0:23:50 > 0:23:55And his result was a survey and the conclusions are absolutely priceless.
0:23:55 > 0:24:00In those days it was rare to find a whisky connoisseur because people...
0:24:00 > 0:24:03I mean, whisky was just a way of life and it was a means to make money.
0:24:03 > 0:24:07Nowadays, so many people are so much better educated about whisky
0:24:07 > 0:24:09and whisky/tourism on Islay
0:24:09 > 0:24:14must be one of the biggest earners that there is on the island,
0:24:14 > 0:24:17along with bird watching and nature, etc.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20But whisky has become very much a tourist industry.
0:24:22 > 0:24:27Barnard not only wrote extensively and passionately about whisky,
0:24:27 > 0:24:30he was also the first to celebrate
0:24:30 > 0:24:34the special relationship between booze and the environment.
0:24:34 > 0:24:37Barnard's book isn't just an account of whisky.
0:24:37 > 0:24:39It is, in fact, a love story.
0:24:39 > 0:24:41The story of a man's infatuation
0:24:41 > 0:24:44with a landscape and a culture
0:24:44 > 0:24:46that's produced a world-beating spirit.
0:24:50 > 0:24:53To find out more about the fruitful marriage between whisky,
0:24:53 > 0:24:55tourism and fabulous scenery,
0:24:55 > 0:24:59I'm meeting up with historian Kevin James at Duffies Bar,
0:24:59 > 0:25:03which has over 250 brands of whisky to choose from.
0:25:03 > 0:25:08'Apparently, the most expensive dram will set you back £250!
0:25:08 > 0:25:10'Let's hope Kevin's buying.'
0:25:10 > 0:25:14Kevin, Barnard's book was seminal in many ways, was it not,
0:25:14 > 0:25:16in kicking off whisky tourism?
0:25:16 > 0:25:20He seems to have a special love for Scottish landscape
0:25:20 > 0:25:23and there's a connection, I think, between the landscape and whisky.
0:25:23 > 0:25:25Oh, absolutely. Absolutely.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28And particularly in the Hebridean landscape.
0:25:28 > 0:25:32I think that he has an affection for the wildness of the landscape.
0:25:32 > 0:25:35There are occasions on which he comments on the...
0:25:35 > 0:25:39kind of the almost, er...austereness of the Hebridean landscape,
0:25:39 > 0:25:41and I think that he works that into
0:25:41 > 0:25:43his overall appreciation of the malts as well.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46And I think that's one way of kind of casting Barnard's book,
0:25:46 > 0:25:49and indeed the whole whisky tourism phenomenon,
0:25:49 > 0:25:53as people tried to penetrate beyond the visual landscape
0:25:53 > 0:25:56and get into the culture by other ways.
0:25:56 > 0:25:58Engaging their senses in other ways.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01- And, er, what better way to do it than through drink?- Right.
0:26:01 > 0:26:04So you didn't just come to Islay to drink in the landscape?
0:26:04 > 0:26:07You came to Islay, had a drink, and saw the landscape at the same time.
0:26:07 > 0:26:09And maybe saw it in different ways.
0:26:09 > 0:26:12Right, so do you think, you know, in becoming connoisseurs,
0:26:12 > 0:26:16some Victorians felt that they had a kind of special knowledge,
0:26:16 > 0:26:18not just of the drink but of the culture
0:26:18 > 0:26:22and a knowledge, in some ways, that was more sophisticated
0:26:22 > 0:26:24than local people's understanding of the drink?
0:26:24 > 0:26:26Yeah. I think they could assert
0:26:26 > 0:26:30that they had a more tasteful appreciation of the culture
0:26:30 > 0:26:33and a more tasteful appreciation of the drink itself as well.
0:26:33 > 0:26:37That's really interesting because, in many ways, whisky, uisge beatha,
0:26:37 > 0:26:40is a kind of wild drink. It's a dangerous drink associated with,
0:26:40 > 0:26:43you know, rebellion, the Jacobite rebellion.
0:26:43 > 0:26:47But somehow the Victorians and tourism had tamed this drink,
0:26:47 > 0:26:49had tamed the spirit of Scotland.
0:26:49 > 0:26:54It is. It's like taming a primitive aspect of Scottish peasant culture.
0:26:54 > 0:26:56It's also allowing the tourist
0:26:56 > 0:26:59to distance him or herself from the culture,
0:26:59 > 0:27:03at the same time as taking one of the icons of that culture -
0:27:03 > 0:27:04whisky - and consuming it.
0:27:04 > 0:27:08- Right, well, I'll have a wee... Slainte!- Slainte!
0:27:11 > 0:27:15- Mm. That's not the £250 dram. - It isn't.
0:27:15 > 0:27:19- Ardbeg, is it? It's not bad. - It's not bad. It'll do.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24Armed with a bottle of the finest malt -
0:27:24 > 0:27:26the one that's not going to break the budget -
0:27:26 > 0:27:29I leave Kevin and make my way to the coast.
0:27:29 > 0:27:31As I've found for myself,
0:27:31 > 0:27:35the spirit of Scotland is not easily tamed.
0:27:35 > 0:27:39But that doesn't deter people from hoping to discover something
0:27:39 > 0:27:41that captures the essence of the place.
0:27:41 > 0:27:43The landscape, history and culture.
0:27:43 > 0:27:45Many claim to have found it
0:27:45 > 0:27:48in the views of the lochs and islands of the west coast.
0:27:48 > 0:27:51While some believe it lies in the past,
0:27:51 > 0:27:56others think the spirit of Scotland is a commodity that can be bottled.
0:27:56 > 0:27:59For me, the truth lies somewhere in between.
0:27:59 > 0:28:03There are lots of different ways you can drink whisky, of course.
0:28:03 > 0:28:06Some people take it with ice - on the rocks -
0:28:06 > 0:28:09and others like to add a wee drop of water.
0:28:09 > 0:28:13And some, heaven forbid, drink it with a mixer!
0:28:13 > 0:28:16Personally, I like to drink it neat and outside,
0:28:16 > 0:28:21with a view of the Atlantic and the smell of the sea in my nostrils.
0:28:21 > 0:28:25And even on a grey, cold day like today,
0:28:25 > 0:28:27I can think of no more appropriate place
0:28:27 > 0:28:31to experience the true spirit of Scotland.
0:28:31 > 0:28:33Slainte!
0:28:34 > 0:28:37Join me on my next Grand Tour,
0:28:37 > 0:28:39when I go in search of sunshine.
0:28:52 > 0:28:56Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:28:56 > 0:28:59E-mail us at subtitling@bbc.co.uk