Imagining Scotland

Every year, thousands of tourists are drawn to Scotland by images of pipers and fairy-tale castles, Highland games and haggis, misty glens and heather, and, despite widespread disparagement, that imagery is still as carefully nurtured by indigenous tourist agencies as by the international tourist industry. This illustrated text looks at the portrayal of Scotland in tourist promotional literature from the mid-eighteenth century to the present day, with illustrations drawn from many parts of continental Europe and North America. After providing an analytical framework for the interpretation of tourist promotional imagery, the early chapters focus on the all-important creation of the Highland myth through the reports of eighteenth and nineteenth century travellers, its enhancement as tourism grew from 1850 onwards - completely belying the contemporary reality of the Highland clearances - and its apotheosis in the film-maker's art. Subsequent chapters turn to the selling of urban Scotland, looking at the long-standing marketing of Edinburgh and more recent attempts to sell Glasgow as a cultural centre.