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The Immeasurable Wilds: Travellers to the Far North of Scotland

       Bishop Leslie's Map 1578: The First Separate Map Published in a Book

Bishop John Leslie (or Lesley), 1527 - 1596, was a Catholic Bishop and fervent supporter of Mary Queen of Scots. He formed part of the group sent over to France in 1561 to bring the young Queen over to Scotland, and he was later confined for a while when Mary herself was imprisoned in England. In 1573 he was released, but banished, and he spent much of the rest of his life in France. 

Whilst confined in England, he collected the information that formed the contents of his book published in 1578 in Rome, De Origine, Moribus et Rebus Gestis Scotorum..., the work by which he is now chiefly remembered.

The Title page of Leslie's 1578 History

The book is a History of Scotland, much of it based on the writings of Boethius and John Mair. The work contains biographies of many of the Kings.

In connection with these histories, the book contains 11 plates concerned with the genealogy of these royal personages:

Genealogy of Fergus 1st, 330

Genealogy of Donald 1st, 203....                                                     ..... of Fergus II, 420....                                                                 ..... of Achaius, 809

Genealogy of Malcolm III....                                                 .....of Robert Bruce....                                                                   .....of James II

A particularly ornate tree, "A Geneology of the Stuart Family of which Eight Consecutive Kings Ruled over Scotland in an Unbroken Line of Descent." The tree goes down to Banquo.

Genealogy of Henry VII....                                                           .....of James V....                                                                                 ....of Mary, Queen of Scotland

As a staunch Catholic, and supporter of Mary, Queen of Scots, Leslie would be keen to press her claim the the throne of England, which is what he does in these last three tables.

The folding map that is tipped into the book is based on the map of the British Isles by George Lily of 1546, the first such to be engraved on copper apart from those by Ptolemy.  There is another edition of this book, re-titled Scotiae Regni Antiquissimi Nova et Accurata Descriptio, also issued in 1578, of which only one copy seems to exist, in Paris. This contains a different map, based on that by Ortelius, which had been published in 1573. It is an improvement in accuracy on that found in the edition of the book described above.

Scotiae  Regni Antiquissimi Accurata Descriptio, based on the map by George Lily

Less accurate it may be, but it provides a fascinating view of how Scotland was seen in the middle of the 16th century. Take for example the Orkney Islands.

The various islands are thrown together in a rather haphazard fashion. What is more, the group incorporates islands found elsewhere: one is titled "Scetlandia", the Shetland Islands, and another, to the west (or north as laid out on this map) "Hirta", which is one of the islands that make up the St Kilda group.

On the northern coast of the mainland there are two big estuaries, presumably the Kyle of Tongue to the east, and Loch Eriboll further west. Sutherland and Ross-shire gets a brief mention within the text, Sutherland being noted as a place "very convenient for the feeding of cattle and wild deer." But it is obvious that much of the detail of this region derives from knowledge of the east, rather than the west coast.

The Hebrides, too, are scattered rather haphazardly, with those to the north without names. Iona, on the other hand, with its importance as a Christian centre, is given some prominence.

The East coast was obviously better known, though the accuracy clearly leaves something to be desired. Ortelius's map of 1573 was, indeed, a leap forward in that respect.