Circuit Journeys

Out of Print

Henry Cockburn (1779-1854) was a prominent member of the Whig party during a period of Tory ascendancy - a political stance which cost him a government post; an eloquent and persuasive advocate whose contemporaries at the Scottish bar included such luminaries as Sir Walter Scott and Francis, Lord Jeffrey; a stylish prose writer at a time when Edinburgh could boast as many literary lions as London; and an inveterate traveller who spanned the transition from horse to steam with considerable regret.

Circuit Journeys, first published in 1888, is the witty and perceptive journal of his years as a Circuit judge (1837-54) - of the places visited, people encountered and trials conducted - interspersed with asides on Scottish history and reminiscences of his younger days.

But this is no "dry as dust" tome, for Circuits then meant pleasant detours to lochs and rivers, to the Islands when his landsman's stomach could be quelled for a choppy voyage, public dinners - and breakfasts - processions, balls and picnics.

Packed with anecdotes and brimfull of highly quotable comments, Circuit Journeys provides a refreshing contrast with the romantic Scotland of Scott and sets that romance against the onslaught of the Industrial Revolution.

Ballachulish is the paradise of Scotland.
Argyleshire stots make the stupidest jurymen.
Britain is at present an asylum of railway lunatics.
When I'm a queen, I shall hold it to be my dignity to go slow.
Elegance and the Spread Eagle at Jedburgh probably never came together before; and the only elegance that I am aware of, was, that nineteen persons drank thirty-five bottles of wine.
I never see a scene of Scotch beauty, without being thankful that I have beheld it before it has been breathed over by the angel of mechanical destruction.

The cover shows a detail from the portrait Henry. Lord Cockburn by Sir John Watson Gordon.
Scottish National Portrait Gallery.