Editing Staffa (section)

===18th century===
Little is known of the early history of Staffa, although the [[Switzerland|Swiss]] town of [[Stäfa]] on [[Lake Zurich]] was named after the island by a monk from nearby [[Iona]].<ref name=Smith/> Part of the [[Ulva]] estate of the [[Clan MacQuarrie|MacQuarries]] from an early date until 1777,<ref>Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 124</ref> it was brought to the English-speaking world's attention after a visit by Sir [[Joseph Banks]] in August 1772. ''En route'' to [[Iceland]] in the company of the painter [[Johann Zoffany]], the Bishop of [[Linköping]], and the Swedish naturalist [[Daniel Solander]], Banks (later a president of the [[Royal Society]]) was entertained by Maclean of Drummen, on the [[Isle of Mull]]. Hearing about Staffa he resolved to visit and set out from [[Tobermory, Mull|Tobermory]] the next day. The winds were light and they did not arrive until darkness had fallen.<ref>Bray (1996) pp. 89&ndash;90</ref><ref>Bray (1996) p. 89 suggests that Banks' companion was a Bishop of Iceland, but this seems unlikely as Cooper (1979) provides him with a name and a bishopric - see note below.</ref> Banks wrote:

<blockquote>
It was too dark to see anything, so we carried our tent and baggage near the only house on the island, and began to cook our suppers, in order to be prepared for the earliest dawn, and to enjoy that which, from the conversation of the gentlemen we had, now raised the highest expectations of.<ref>Pennant, Thomas (1772) ''A Tour of Scotland and a Voyage to the Hebrides''. London. Benjamin White. Quoted in Bray (1996) p. 90.</ref>
</blockquote>

They were not disappointed. Despite becoming infested with lice during his short stay on the island, he provided glowing reports of his visit.<ref name=Smith/> He confessed that he was:

<blockquote>
forced to acknowledge that this piece of architecture, formed by nature, far surpasses that of the [[Louvre]], that of [[St. Peter's Basilica|St. Peter]] at Rome, all that remains of [[Palmyra]] and [[Paestum]], and all that the genius, the taste and the luxury of the Greeks were capable of inventing.<ref name=Keay/><ref>However, Cooper (1979) p. 26 is unequivocal in stating that this "hyperbole" was penned by The Bishop of Linköping, Uno von Troil, who accompanied Banks.</ref>
</blockquote>

[[Samuel Johnson]] and his protege [[James Boswell]] visited [[clan MacQuarrie]] on Ulva in 1773, the year after Banks' visit. Perhaps aware that Banks considered that the columnar basalt cliff formations on Ulva called "The Castles" rivalled Staffa's<ref>MacNab, Peter (1993) ''Mull and Iona: Highways and Byways''. Edinburgh. Luath Press. pp. 72&ndash;73</ref> Johnson wrote:

<blockquote>
When the islanders were reproached with their ignorance or insensibility of the wonders of Staffa, they had not much to reply. They had indeed considered it little, because they had always seen it; and none but philosophers, nor they always, are struck with wonder otherwise than by novelty.<ref>Johnson, Samuel (1775) ''A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland''. London. Chapman & Dodd. (1924 edition).</ref>
</blockquote>
[[File:Scotia Depicta - Fingal's Cave -Plate-.jpg|thumb|right|Engraving of Fingal's Cave by [[James Fittler]] in Scotia Depicta, 1804]]
Amongst the first<ref>In fact Cooper (1979) p 16 states that Faujus was the first such person to be attracted to the Hebrides, but then later (p 26) refers to a prior visit by Uno von Troil in the company of Banks. Perhaps he did not consider Swedish bishops to be sufficiently important to merit this accolade.</ref> eminent overseas visitors to Staffa were [[Barthélemy Faujas de Saint-Fond]], a wealthy French zoologist and mineralogist and the American architect and naturalist [[William Thornton]]. Visiting in 1784, they were suitably impressed, Faujus writing: "this superb monument of nature, which in regard to its form bears so strong a resemblance to a work of art, though art can certainly claim no share in it."<ref>Faujus de Saint Frond, B. ''A Journey through England and Wales to the Hebrides in 1784'', edited by Sir Archibald Geikie (1907) and quoted in Cooper (1979) p. 17.</ref>