sentences:  The need for research on the northern isles, and other occupations, slowed Scott down, and the first volume was not completed until early August, but his pace then quickened and the work was finished in late October.In 1814 Scott had taken a six-week cruise with the Northern Lighthouse Commissioners.He kept a diary (eventually published in his biography by J. G. Lockhart), and when he came to write "The Pirate" he was able to draw on it for many details about an otherwise unfamiliar part of Scotland.