Photograph of the town of Oban with houses standing next to bay. Ships of varying sizes are on the water and an area of open grassland with a boy seated with his back to the viewer can be seen in the foreground.

Following the visit of Sir Walter Scott to Oban in 1814 during the writing of his poem The Lord of the Isles, Oban became a popular tourist destination. It had previously it had relied on the quarrying and fishing industries as a main source of income. In 1880, when the Railways reached the town, the numbers of tourists visiting Oban increased and strengthened its tourist industry. This photograph is from a portfolio of 42 photographs taken by Wilson that were used to illustrate a book featuring entries from Queen Victoria's journals, written during her visits to Scotland. Leaves from the Journal of Our Life in the Highlands, was published to great success in 1868.