Today is #RLSDay which marks the birthday of Robert Louis Stevenson, born #OTD in 1850.

In June 1869 Stevenson visited #Orkney on a tour of lighthouses aboard the @NLB_UK yacht Pharos.

He wrote in a letter to his mother:
& #39;The first sight one gets of Kirkwall is rather striking - a cluster of grey roofs with the red cathedral and a knot of umber ruin at the top, and the sea at it& #39;s foot, running into a long and shallow creek.& #39; #RLSDay

& #39;But the glory of Kirkwall, as of Salisbury, lies about it& #39;s Cathedral, which towers, with narrow gables and slope-slate roof and wonder of red stonework and white, above the little green and little grey town on the seaboard.& #39; #RLSDay

(Artwork by William Daniell 1769-1837)

He also wrote of St Magnus Cathedral: & #39;You enter through the usual triple door of Gothic churches...with mouldings of red and white, and red columns crumbled down to the consistency of Madeira cake.& #39;

And now we want Madeira cake.

(https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="📷" title="Camera" aria-label="Emoji: Camera"> St Magnus Cathedral from the Archives today)