Before England had thoroughly explored Scotland, the Highlands were dangerous and wild. This is the true autobiographical account of Johnson's journey into the Highlands following the prohibition of the Scottish clan system. He notices that the Scots make whisky that the English started to call "Scotch," but at the time, it was illegal for them to make it, so Scotch was only being made by bootleggers. They even have a cultural custom called "Stalk" where they wake up with a glass of Scotch before breakfast. The Scots in general have a low respect for English law.
Johnson travels with his friend James Boswell to the islands by boat, then they tour the islands on horseback or horse-drawn carriage. The year is 1773. Their trip is inherently dangerous; pirates and illegal slave-traders roam the Highland islands, and the Scots are not too keen on the English government.
They find an acquaintance abroad, Lord Monboddo, but when they arrive at his home, he is dressed like a primitive Scot, working hard in his small farm/garden—much different than how they're used to seeing him in court (he's a nobleman). They remark on the naturalistic beauty of Scotland, since there is no infrastructure. It's elemental, and all three agree that there is something beautiful about that.
When they move on, Johnson tells the reader that the journey is an arduous one, because of the hills and mountains. They travel through the Isle of the Skye, and he notes that it takes hours and hours to travel only a short distance. He understands absolutely nothing of Scottish Gaelic. He says that the English have a saying about their language, a racist, horrible joke that their language is indecipherable because they aren't expressing real thoughts.
Johnson writes that he is nervous about his timing—a lot of the cool Scottish tribal customs were already dying, but finally they arrive in a village where the men still wear plaid kilts and play bagpipes. But he regards them as disappointingly peaceful and docile (they were rumored to be fierce and barbaric, but he notices they're just like regular people).
