page_title: Description of the Western Isles of Scotland
section_title: Colonsay and Mull
hierarchical_section_title: Description of the Western Isles of Scotland / Identity of the islands / Colonsay and Mull
caption_attribution_description: English: Restored Tiree 'spotted' house
context_page_description: Description of the Western Isles of Scotland is the oldest known account of the Hebrides and the Islands of the Clyde, two chains of islands off the west coast of Scotland. The author was Donald Monro, a clergyman who used the title of "Dean of the Isles" and who lived through the Scottish Reformation. Monro wrote the original manuscript in 1549, although it was not published in any form until 1582 and was not widely available to the public in its original form until 1774. A more complete version, based on a late 17th-century manuscript written by Sir Robert Sibbald, was first published as late as 1961. Monro wrote in Scots and some of the descriptions are difficult for modern readers to render into English. Although Monro was criticised for publishing folklore and for omitting detail about the affairs of the churches in his diocese, Monro's Description is a valuable historical account and has reappeared in part or in whole in numerous publications, remaining one of the most widely quoted publications about the western islands of Scotland.
context_section_description: Here the shorter Auld version has another missing passage. After Frosa (94) Monipennie states that "all their isles are subject to Sanct Colme's abbey".
  Re Staffa above, it is a small island and in Monro's day it had not achieved its later fame, which did not occur until its late 18th century "discovery". The Auld version joins Sibbald here again and Moniepennie adds Mekle Viridis and Little Viridis to the list.
caption: Cottage on Tiree
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