The Welsh Naturalist Who Unveiled Scotland to the World
Thomas Pennant was a Welsh naturalist, antiquarian, and travel writer whose pioneering journeys through Scotland in 1769 and 1772 fundamentally transformed English perceptions of the Highlands and Islands. His meticulously illustrated travel narratives not only documented the natural history, antiquities, and customs of post-Jacobite Scotland, but also inspired some of the greatest literary figures of the age, including Samuel Johnson and James Boswell, to follow in his footsteps. At a time when the Scottish Highlands remained largely unknown to southern readers, Pennant's works served as both guidebook and cultural bridge, helping to forge a common British identity whilst preserving invaluable records of a society on the cusp of profound change.
Early Life and Education
Born on 14 June 1726 at Downing Hall near Whitford in Flintshire, Wales, Thomas Pennant entered a world of Welsh gentry prosperity. His father, David Pennant, had inherited the Downing estate in 1724 from a cousin, considerably augmenting the family's fortune and establishing Downing Hall - where Thomas was born in the "yellow room" - as the main Pennant residence. The family had built up their modest estate at Bychton over the preceding century, but the inheritance of Downing marked a significant leap in their social standing.
From an early age, Pennant displayed an insatiable curiosity about the natural world. According to his own account in his Literary Life (1793), he acquired his taste for ornithology at the age of twelve when a relative, John Salusbury of Bachygraig, presented him with Francis Willoughby's book on birds. This gift would prove transformative, igniting a lifelong passion for natural history that would shape his career and legacy.
Pennant received his early education at Wrexham Grammar School before continuing his studies at Thomas Croft's school in Fulham, London. At the age of eighteen, he matriculated at Queen's College, Oxford, though his university career was not without incident. Caught up in troubles between dons and undergraduates, he was required to move to Oriel College and pay caution money. Despite residing at Oxford for some years, Pennant followed the custom of gentry scholars of his time and left without taking a degree - though his contributions to zoology would later be recognised with an honorary doctorate of laws more than twenty years later.
The Making of a Naturalist
Whilst still at university, Pennant undertook a journey to Cornwall in 1746 or 1747 that would prove pivotal to his scientific development. There he met Dr William Borlase, the noted rector of Ludgvan, who instilled in him a profound interest in geology and fossils. This encounter broadened Pennant's focus beyond ornithology to encompass the full spectrum of natural history, from mineralogy to palaeontology.
Pennant began publishing scientific papers on geological subjects, including accounts of earthquakes he had experienced. His work so impressed the great Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus that in 1757, Linnaeus put forward Pennant's name for election to the Royal Swedish Society of Sciences - an honour that Pennant cherished throughout his life. The two men maintained a correspondence that lasted until Linnaeus's death, cementing Pennant's place in the international scientific community.
When Pennant inherited the family estate in 1763 following his father's death, his financial circumstances improved considerably. He put his geological knowledge to practical use by opening a profitable lead mine on the estate, the proceeds from which helped fund improvements to Downing Hall and, crucially, the expensive production of his lavishly illustrated books. In 1754, he had been elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, though he resigned in 1760, citing narrow finances and domestic contentment. His marriage in 1759 to Elizabeth Falconer seemed to promise permanent happiness and retirement from society, though tragedy struck when Elizabeth died in 1764.
British Zoology and Scientific Recognition
Observing that naturalists across Europe were producing comprehensive volumes describing the animals of their territories, Pennant embarked on an ambitious project to do the same for Britain. The result was British Zoology, published in 1766 and 1767 in four volumes with 132 folio plates in colour. The work was comprehensive and groundbreaking, largely written from personal observations rather than merely compiling existing knowledge.
The production costs of British Zoology were enormous - the colour illustrations were so expensive that Pennant made little profit from the publication. True to his generous character, when there were profits, he donated them to charity. The bookseller Benjamin White, brother of the naturalist Gilbert White, received permission to publish an octavo edition for £100, and Pennant gave the entire sum to the Welsh Charity School. Further appendix volumes were added later, and the text was translated into Latin and German, spreading Pennant's reputation across the Continent.
In 1767, Pennant was elected a fellow of the Royal Society, the pinnacle of scientific recognition in Britain. Around this time, he met the much-travelled Sir Joseph Banks and visited him at his home in Lincolnshire. Banks presented Pennant with the skin of a king penguin recently brought back from the Falkland Islands, and Pennant wrote an account of this bird and all other known species of penguin, which was published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.
The First Scottish Journey, 1769
In June 1769, whilst work on his Synopsis of Quadrupeds was still in progress, Pennant decided to undertake a journey to Scotland - then a relatively unexplored country that had not previously been visited by a naturalist of his standing. The timing was significant: just twenty-four years after the failed Jacobite uprising of 1745, the Highlands were still recovering from the systematic dismantling of clan society and the subsequent repression.
Pennant travelled north along the eastern coast of Scotland, visiting the Farne Islands off Northumberland on the way and expressing great enthusiasm for the breeding seabird colonies he observed there. He enquired into the fisheries and commerce of the different places he passed through, visited great houses to report on their antiquities, and maintained careful journals whilst making sketches throughout his travels. In Montrose, he was surprised to learn that many thousands of lobsters were caught each year and sent to London - one of many economic observations that made his accounts valuable beyond their natural history content.
He visited Inverness, Dunkeld, Perth, and other key locations before finishing his journey by passing through Edinburgh again and travelling through Moffat, Gretna, and Carlisle on his way back to Wales. The entire tour took about three months and provided material that would reshape English understanding of Scotland.
A Tour in Scotland, 1769: A Publishing Triumph
In 1771, Pennant published A Tour in Scotland, 1769, and the work met with immediate acclaim. The Critical Review declared it "the best itinerary which has hitherto been written on that country", and its popularity far exceeded expectations. The book did more than describe scenery and wildlife - it provided English readers with their first comprehensive, sympathetic, and accurate account of Scottish life, culture, and economy in the post-Jacobite era.
The success of A Tour in Scotland was no accident. Pennant's writing combined scientific rigour with engaging narrative, detailed observations with broader cultural analysis. He treated Scottish customs and traditions with respect rather than the contempt or condescension that often characterised English writing about Scotland. According to historian David Allan, Pennant's work was a "deliberate attempt to educate English readers about Scotland" and to instil "both a genuine curiosity and a profound sympathy for their fellow Britons" - in marked contrast to the prevailing English ignorance and hostility towards the Scots.
The book's impact was immediate and far-reaching. It stimulated tourism to Scotland and fundamentally altered how the English viewed their northern neighbours. Most notably, it inspired the great Dr Samuel Johnson himself to contemplate a similar journey. Johnson praised Pennant lavishly, declaring him "the best traveller I ever read; he observes more things than anyone else does."
The Second Scottish Journey and the Hebrides, 1772
Encouraged by the success of his first book, Pennant undertook a more ambitious second journey to Scotland in the summer of 1772. This time, he was accompanied by two companions: the Reverend John Lightfoot, a naturalist, and Moses Griffith, his talented draughtsman. They set out from Chester with the intention of exploring not just the mainland but also venturing into the Western Isles - the remote Hebrides that remained largely unknown to the outside world.
This second tour was more extensive and more challenging than the first. The party travelled through the Highlands by horseback, on foot, and by boat, often staying at the houses of local gentry but sometimes enduring far more primitive accommodation. Weather proved a constant adversary, particularly when attempting sea crossings between islands.
One of the most famous incidents of the tour concerned the Isle of Staffa and the spectacular Fingal's Cave. Pennant had planned to visit Staffa from Mull, but bad weather prevented the crossing, and he never got to see the geological wonder himself. Fortunately, Sir Joseph Banks had visited Staffa the previous year during his journey to Iceland and generously allowed Pennant to use both his observations and the drawings made by his artist, James Miller. These illustrations of Staffa's remarkable basalt columns and Fingal's Cave became some of the most celebrated images in Pennant's published account, even though he had never set foot on the island.
Moses Griffith: The Indispensable Collaborator
No account of Pennant's achievements would be complete without recognising the crucial contribution of Moses Griffith, his artist and faithful companion. Born on 25 March 1747 at Trygarn, Bryncroes, in Caernarfonshire, Griffith was the illegitimate son of a labourer who received only a rudimentary education at the free school at Botwnnog Church. Despite these humble beginnings, he possessed an extraordinary natural talent for drawing.
Griffith entered Pennant's service in 1769, initially working on illustrating specimens for Pennant's scientific publications. Many of the pictures of birds and animals in British Zoology bear his name. He rapidly developed as an artist of landscapes and buildings, and from the 1772 Scottish tour onwards, he became Pennant's constant travelling companion. Griffith was employed full-time by Pennant and lived at Downing Hall, occupying a house on the estate at Gwibnant after his marriage in 1781 to Margaret Jones of Whitford.
The relationship between Pennant and Griffith was unusual for its time - technically master and servant, yet also patron and artist, with Pennant making full use of Griffith's talents whilst providing him with security and opportunities that would otherwise have been impossible for someone of his background. Griffith accompanied Pennant on his tours and sketched the things they encountered, later working these sketches up into watercolours and helping to prepare them for engraving. His illustrations became integral to the success of Pennant's publications, providing readers with visual documentation of Scotland and Wales on an unprecedented scale.
A Tour in Scotland and Voyage to the Hebrides, 1772
Pennant's account of his second Scottish journey was published in 1774, with a second volume appearing in 1776 under the title A Tour in Scotland and Voyage to the Hebrides, 1772. These volumes built on the success of the first tour but offered something even richer - a comprehensive picture of Highland and Island life that ranged from natural history and geology to antiquities, economy, social customs, and the lingering effects of the Jacobite suppression.
The book contained so much detail about the countryside, its economy, and the customs of its inhabitants that it remains a valuable historical source today, offering a snapshot of Scotland at a crucial moment of transition. The work was more antiquarian than purely natural historical, as Pennant was fascinated by ruins and ensured his artists captured and engraved nearly every antiquity they encountered. Yet it also contained important scientific observations, particularly on geology, marine life, and ornithology.
The illustrations were exceptional in both quality and quantity - over 90 engraved plates made this the first extensively illustrated travel book of Scotland. This visual documentation was revolutionary for its time and became one of the work's defining features. Readers could not only read about Scotland but see it through the eyes of Pennant and his artists.
Inspiring Johnson and Boswell
Perhaps no greater testament to Pennant's influence exists than the fact that his tours directly inspired Samuel Johnson and James Boswell to undertake their own celebrated journey to the Highlands and Hebrides in 1773. Johnson, who had spent most of his life in London and only began travelling in 1771, was captivated by Pennant's accounts. His praise - "the best traveller I ever read" - was high endorsement indeed from one of the age's most formidable critics.
Johnson and Boswell's tour took place after both of Pennant's journeys but before the publication of his second book. Both men subsequently published their own accounts: Johnson's A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland appeared in 1775, and Boswell's Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides in 1786. All three works - Pennant's two tours and the Johnson-Boswell account - became what historian David Allan termed "famous" texts that were "deliberate attempts to educate English readers about Scotland."
However, there were crucial differences. Whilst Johnson focused primarily on philosophical and social observations and Boswell concentrated on portraying his famous companion, Pennant provided the most comprehensive documentation - combining natural history, antiquarian research, economic observation, and cultural analysis in unprecedented detail. His scientific training and methodical approach produced work of lasting scholarly value that transcended the genre of mere travel writing.
Tours in Wales and Later Works
The phenomenal success of Pennant's Scottish tours led him to apply the same approach to his native Wales. Between 1773 and 1776, he made three journeys through Wales, accompanied by the faithful Moses Griffith and occasionally by John Lloyd, rector of Caerwys, whose knowledge of Welsh language and antiquities Pennant acknowledged as invaluable. These tours resulted in the publication of A Tour in Wales in parts between 1778 and 1781 (with a second edition appearing in 1783).
Like his Scottish works, the Tours in Wales combined natural history observations with antiquarian research and cultural commentary. The books played a significant role in stimulating English tourism to Wales, with one contemporary reviewer noting that before Pennant's book appeared, "hardly anyone ever thought of travelling to Wales for pleasure only," but that afterwards "tourists began to make their way westwards, and the number has been steadily increasing ever since."
Pennant's eight extra-illustrated volumes of A Tour in Wales, compiled for his own library at Downing and now held at the National Library of Wales, are particularly remarkable. These unique volumes include numerous original drawings by Moses Griffith, John Ingleby (whom Pennant occasionally employed for town scenes and vignettes), and other well-known artists of the period, including Paul Sandby.
Between his travels, Pennant continued his scientific work. His Synopsis of Quadrupeds appeared in 1771, expanded into the History of Quadrupeds in subsequent editions. He published Arctic Zoology in 1784 and Indian Zoology, demonstrating his ability to write authoritatively about fauna he had never personally observed, drawing instead on specimens, correspondence, and the observations of others. He also published Journey from Chester to London and his 1790 Account of London, which proved another popular success.
A Man of His Time: Politics and Social Conscience
Pennant was very much a product of the eighteenth-century gentry class. He served as High Sheriff of Flintshire in 1761 and was an improving landowner who actively defended the established order in church and state. Politically conservative, he actively opposed popular agitation for parliamentary reform and in 1784 even supported the prosecution of William Davies Shipley, Dean of St Asaph, for seditious libel. As the French Revolution unfolded, he became increasingly reactionary in his views.
Yet his writings reveal a more complex character than this political conservatism might suggest. Pennant was deeply moved by the conditions of poverty he encountered on his travels and wrote with genuine sympathy about the hardships faced by ordinary people in the Highlands and Islands. He demonstrated a thoughtful and generous spirit and maintained a social conscience that transcended his political affiliations. His decision to donate the profits from British Zoology to charitable causes exemplified this generosity.
The Collector and Patron
When Pennant's financial circumstances improved following his inheritance and the success of the lead mine, he became an active patron and collector. However, his approach to collecting was distinctly scientific rather than aesthetic. He amassed a considerable collection of artworks, but they were selected primarily for their scientific interest and graphical information rather than artistic merit.
He commissioned works from Nicholas Pocock representing topographical landforms, mostly in Wales, and from Peter Paillou, whose paintings represented different climate types. His portrait by Thomas Gainsborough, now part of the collection, shows him as a country gentleman of his era. Many of his works, including the extensive collection of watercolours by Moses Griffith, are now housed at the National Library of Wales and the National Museum of Wales, forming the invaluable "Pennant Collection."
The Scientific Network
Throughout his life, Pennant maintained an extensive correspondence with many of the leading scientific figures of his age. Beyond his correspondence with Linnaeus, he exchanged letters with Sir Joseph Banks, the naturalist Gilbert White of Selborne (whose Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne contains many letters to Pennant), Peter Simon Pallas at The Hague, Gronovius at Leyden, and Le Comte de Buffon in France. Among Welsh correspondents, he was indebted to the Morris brothers of Anglesey (Richard, William, and Lewis) and Hugh Davies, author of Welsh Botanology.
This international network was crucial to Pennant's work, particularly for his writings on animals from regions he never visited. He never travelled further afield than continental Europe, yet his Arctic Zoology and Indian Zoology demonstrated that one could be an authority on far-flung fauna through careful correspondence, the study of specimens, and critical evaluation of travellers' reports. In an age before modern communications, Pennant's letter-writing was prodigious, and his correspondence offers invaluable insights into the collaborative processes behind his published works.
Final Years and Legacy
In 1778, fourteen years after the death of his first wife, Pennant married Ann Mostyn of Mostyn Hall, the adjacent estate to Downing. The marriage brought companionship in his later years as he continued his scholarly pursuits. He published his Literary Life in 1793, providing a valuable autobiographical account of his work and travels. His major work, the four-volume Outlines of the Globe, was partly published in 1798, with two volumes appearing posthumously in 1800, demonstrating that his intellectual curiosity and productivity continued unabated into his seventies.
After Thomas Pennant died at Downing on 16 December 1798, Moses Griffith continued to work for the family, producing a series of some 200 watercolours of Welsh scenes between 1805 and 1813 for Pennant's son David. Griffith himself died on 11 November 1819 and was buried at Whitford churchyard, closing a remarkable artistic partnership that had lasted for half a century.
Pennant's influence extended far into the nineteenth century and beyond. His Scottish tours remained in print and continued to be read as both travel literature and historical sources. Scotland conferred several honours upon him during his lifetime, including the freedom of Edinburgh, recognising his role in reshaping perceptions of their country. In August 2007, the television presenter Nicholas Crane featured Pennant's 1772 journey to Scotland in the Great British Journeys series, introducing his achievements to a new generation.
Today, the Curious Travellers project, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and conducted by the University of Wales and the University of Glasgow, has produced digital editions of over 500 letters in Pennant's correspondence and 25 previously unpublished tours by other writers, many of them women, demonstrating his lasting influence on subsequent travellers. The project has made his Tours in Scotland and Wales freely accessible online, ensuring that his remarkable documentation of eighteenth-century Britain remains available to scholars and general readers alike.
A Pioneering Vision
Thomas Pennant occupies a unique position in British cultural history. He pioneered the "home tour" of the British Isles at a time when educated gentlemen typically undertook the Grand Tour of continental Europe. Inspired by the Pacific travels of contemporaries like Captain Cook and Sir Joseph Banks, he turned his attention to parts of his own country that were equally unknown to outsiders. In doing so, he effectively "discovered" Scotland and Wales for English readers, making previously remote regions recognisable and accessible.
His achievement was multifaceted. As a naturalist, he combined field observation with an international network of correspondents to produce works of lasting scientific value. As an antiquarian, he documented and preserved knowledge of Britain's past at a crucial moment when ancient traditions and structures were disappearing. As a travel writer, he created a new genre that blended scientific observation, antiquarian research, economic analysis, and cultural commentary into compelling narratives that educated and entertained. As a patron, he fostered the career of Moses Griffith and ensured that his verbal descriptions were matched with superb visual documentation.
Perhaps most significantly, Pennant helped forge a new sense of British identity in the decades following the Jacobite uprisings and the Act of Union. By treating Scotland and Wales with respect and genuine curiosity, by documenting their landscapes, peoples, and customs with sympathy and rigour, he helped English readers see their fellow Britons not as threatening others but as fascinating neighbours worthy of understanding and appreciation. In an age of profound change, when traditional ways of life were vanishing under the pressures of agricultural improvement, industrialisation, and political suppression, Pennant's works preserved invaluable records of societies in transition.
Thomas Pennant lived his entire life at Downing Hall, yet through his travels and writings, he changed how Britain saw itself. He was amiable, generous, intellectually curious, and productive into his sixties and beyond. An enthusiast for economic improvement and industry who nonetheless possessed a social conscience, a political conservative who wrote with genuine sympathy about those less fortunate, a gentleman scholar who maintained friendships and correspondences with the leading minds of his age - Pennant embodied the contradictions and complexities of his era. His tours of Scotland remain not just readable but genuinely illuminating, offering modern readers a window into a vanished world captured by one of its most observant and sympathetic witnesses.
