Historic map provides fascinating depiction of the country

THE first ever printed map of Scotland, drawn by an Italian who had never visited the country, will go on display today. The fascinating depiction dates back to 1560 and was drawn up by notable cartographer Paulo Forlani.

He created it for use in atlases and experts say it would have been bought mostly by merchants and traders.

The map offers an insight into place names and boundaries dating to a time when Mary, Queen of Scots, sat on the throne prior to a union between Scotland and England.

And it was drawn largely on the basis of latitudinal and longitudinal co-ordinates and stories provided by travellers.

Only three of Forlani’s original Scotland maps are known to still be in existence.

They reveal interesting geographic discrepancies and spellings of place names from those used in the modern world.

Map curator Paula Williams, who works for the National Library of Scotland exhibition, said she was impressed by the early depiction of Scotland.

She said: “For someone who never visited Scotland, I’m impressed by how close to accurate the map is. It’s a lot better than I could do if I was drawing freehand.

“It’s been beautifully engraved backwards against a plate of copper.

“Much of what Forlani drew up was based on stories at the time of people visiting Scotland and of latitude and longitude readings.

“There are some interesting rearrangements as Arbroath and Montrose seem to have swapped places and been moved much closer to Edinburgh.

“And the spellings of different towns and places are not as we know them today.

“Owning a map would also have been used as a status symbol and would obviously be handy for those who wanted to trade with Scotland.”