3 Review(s)

Published in 1876, this vivid, action-packed account describes the experiences of David Kennedy Jr (1849-85) as he toured the world with his musician father and family choir between 1872 and 1876 performing 'The Songs of Scotland'. Kennedy travelled through 'nearly every town and village in Australia, New Zealand and Canada', and over a three-year period wrote articles recording his impressions for publication in Edinburgh newspapers; this book is an edited and expanded compilation of those pieces. Kennedy describes places and events including Sydney Harbour, floods in Melbourne, the New Zealand volcanic country, a violent storm at sea, the cosmopolitan, frenetic atmosphere of San Francisco, the American trans-continental railway and a Canadian snowstorm. His closely observed vignettes of local society are particularly fine, and depict entertainments and pastimes, education and worship, and indigenous traditions as well as individuals such as innkeepers, stage-coach drivers, travellers, miners, and particularly his fellow Scots.