'[an] exploration of Scotland's past through the eyes of a scholarly hiker ... Magnificent' - New Statesman, Books of the Year Fourteen centuries ago, Irish saints journeyed to the Hebrides and Scotland's Atlantic shore. They sought spiritual solitude in remote places, but their mission was also to spread the word of God to the peoples of Scotland. Columba was the most famous of these pioneers who rowed their curraghs towards danger and uncertainty in a pagan land, but the many others are now largely forgotten. Alistair Moffat sets off in search of these elusive figures. As he follows in their footsteps, he finds their traces not so much in tangible remains as in the spirit and memory of the places that lay at the very edge of their world. 

Fourteen centuries ago, Irish saints brought the Word of God to the Hebrides and Scotland's Atlantic shore. These 'white martyrs' sought solitude, remoteness, even harshness, in places apart from the world where they could fast, pray and move closer to an understanding of God: places where they could see angels. Columba, who founded the famous monastery at Iona, was the most well-known of these courageous men who rowed their curraghs towards danger and uncertainty in a pagan land, but the many others are now largely forgotten by history.

In this book, Alistair Moffat journeys from the island of Eileach an Naoimh at the mouth of the Firth of Lorne to Lismore, Iona and then north to Applecross, searching for traces of these extraordinary men. He finds them not often in any tangible remains, but in the spirit of the islands and remote places where they passed their exemplary lives. Brendan, Moluag, Columba, Maelrubha and others brought the Gaelic language and echoes of how the saints saw their world can still be heard in its cadences. And the tradition of great piety endures.