The first transatlantic telegraph cable, via Ireland and Newfoundland, was laid in 1858 – and after a month broke down. It would be seven years before the next attempt, and in the meantime another option was suggested, part overland and part by sea – going via Shetland, Faroe, Iceland and Greenland. The telegraph company commissioned the ideal man for the work – the Orcadian Arctic explorer Dr John Rae.

Dr Fleur Ward, a graduate of UHI’s Institute for Northern Studies, describes his account of the terrain and the various indigenous communities along the way. Although the telegraph company decided to persevere with its existing route, his work shows, she says, a shared northern strategic dimension for telecommunication development.