Samuel Laing (travel writer)
Encyclopedia
Samuel Laing from Papdale in Orkney was a Scottish
travel writer. He travelled in Scandinavia
and northern Germany
and published descriptions of these countries.
Laing's son, also named Samuel Laing
, was a railway administrator and important writer on religion and science, and a Liberal
Member of Parliament
.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
travel writer. He travelled in Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
and northern Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and published descriptions of these countries.
Laing's son, also named Samuel Laing
Samuel Laing (science writer)
Samuel Laing, , was a British railway administrator, politician, and influential writer on science and religion during the Victorian era.He was born at Edinburgh on the 12th of December 1810...
, was a railway administrator and important writer on religion and science, and a Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
.
Works
- Journal of a residence in Norway during the years 1834, 1835, and 1836, 1836
- A tour in Sweden in 1838, 1839
- In this work, the author strongly criticizes the SwedishSwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
-NorwegianNorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
union, implying that Norway ought to strive for independence. This caused a comment from the Swedish-Norwegian ambassador in LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, M. Björnstierna, On the moral state and political union of Sweden and Norway, 1840.
- In this work, the author strongly criticizes the Swedish
- Notes of a traveller, 1842
- Covers journeys in PrussiaPrussiaPrussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
and other countries. The preface contains a response to Björnstierna's work (see above).
- Covers journeys in Prussia
- Heimskringla. The Chronicle of the Kings of Norway, 3 vol., 1844
- This is Samuel Laing's English translation of the 13th century Icelandic work by Snorri SturlusonSnorri SturlusonSnorri Sturluson was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was twice elected lawspeaker at the Icelandic parliament, the Althing...
's HeimskringlaHeimskringlaHeimskringla is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorri Sturluson ca. 1230...
(which see).
- This is Samuel Laing's English translation of the 13th century Icelandic work by Snorri Sturluson
- (by Samuel Laing junior) Pre-historic remains of Caithness, with notes on the human remains by Thomas H. Huxley, 1866