Rollo in Scotland

Twelve-year-old Rollo and his uncle, Mr. George, sail from Liverpool up the Clyde to Glasgow and give themselves a fortnight in Scotland. On the steamer they meet Waldron Kennedy, a strong, venturesome boy whose mother can barely keep him off the rigging, and Mr. George tells the boy’s father that a lad with no work to do is like a steam engine running with nothing to pull: the force has to go somewhere. Waldron joins the tour, and the three of them see Glasgow cathedral and the Necropolis, sail up Loch Lomond to the inn at Rowerdennan under Ben Lomond, cross the Trossachs, then take in Stirling, Loch Leven, Holyrood and Edinburgh Castle. Abbott keeps the history and geography moving in conversation, so the lesson arrives without much lecturing.