It’s a strange time we live in, a testing time for all of us. In this term of political, social, and medical turmoil, I find it very difficult to be creative. Add to that the lack of travel and of photo opportunities, the lack of new blog posts is understandable. Anne and I were scheduled to be in Scotland now after having rescheduled our spring trip into a fall time-slot, but that plan, too, had to be abandoned. We have rebooked our flights to April/May, 2021 dates. For all our sakes, I hope the world conditions will be such that we can take that trip.
This leads me back to the travel blog and what to write about. Snatching victory out of defeat, I decided to abandon my Colorful Scotland book idea (which didn’t seem to be going anyplace exciting) and use the material instead for a blog (or two) about the places in Scotland I’d like to be revisiting. Thus, we have this post: a series of colorful Scotland photos, each followed by commentary (description, story, or other). This is the same formula I used successfully in the Scotland in Black and White: 90 Photos book, at least that is what most who bought the book said. [Crass Commercial Announcement: there are still a few copies of the limited edition 90 Photos book available from me for $25 plus $5 shipping.]
Special Request: After you’ve read this post, please send me a note (in the comments section or via email) with your reactions. It’s nice to hear from those who look at my work.
Stones of Machrie Moor, Isle of Arran, Scotland
Most important of all the archeological sites on Arran is Moss Farm Road Circle and Machrie Moor, which has been called the best group of architecturally varied circles in western Europe. The one and a half mile walk from the main island road to the moor is an easy hike along a farm track with sheep watching warily the whole way.
Machrie Moor is an area of approximately five square miles of flat fertile sandy soil, machair in Gaelic. The wide moor hosts numerous prehistoric monuments, tombs, hut-circles besides the six megalithic stone circles currently in care of Historic Scotland. The moor is a sacred, ritualistic landscape on a high plateau on the southwest side of island between the Kilbrannan Sound on the west and Firth of Clyde on the east. The exact purpose of the stone circles is not known, but most have astronomical alignments and some are suspected of being ceremonial graves.
We’ve always enjoyed our visits to these ancient sites where even the crows seem to honor the quiet of the landscape.
Eilean Donan Castle
Eilean Donan Castle is probably the most photographed castle in Scotland. Located at the confluence of three lochs (Loch Long, Loch Duich, and Loch Alsh), in Scotland’s northwest highlands, the castle has an interesting history. Set on a small island along the shore of Loch Duich, the original castle dates to the early 1300s. But that castle was completely destroyed by British bombardment in 1719. The current Eilean Donan Castle (the name goes back to the 6th century, the “Island of Doom”) was completed in 1932—a modern mansion built to look like a medieval fortress.
The castle is a popular tourist attraction and an almost mandatory stop when heading to the Isle of Skye. It also has a strong Hollywood connection—used in The Highlander, 007 movies, Loch Ness (movie), Master of Ballantrae, Avengers, and as the BBC logo.
The Amulree Church, Perthshire
The Amulree and Strathearn Church in the clachan (hamlet—three homes, one closed hotel, one closed tearoom, and a scattering of farming crofts) sits on the border between the Highlands and the Lowlands of Scotland at an elevation of about 1000 feet. The church is named from the Gaelic meaning the ford of Maolruibhe (one of St Columba’s monks who came to Scotland about 650 AD). The current church underwent major refurbishment in 1881. The church, which is in the Parish of Dull (the village of Dull is twinned with Boring in Oregon) is still in full use today.
The site of the church at Amulree is quite lovely. It is set at the beginning of one of Scotland’s many lovely glens, Glen Quaich, and is next to the River Braan. The site is very close to the geographic center of Scotland. The location is along one of Scotland’s historic main Drover’s Trails and at certain times of the year (in about the 1880s) as many as 30,000 cattle would graze in the fields nearby as they were driven to markets in southern Scotland and England. Today, when you visit the church you might be greeted by a few local sheep.
Scotland’s Colorful Sheep
On one of our visits to Amulree Church we realized we had never toured Glen Quaich, reputed to be one Scotland’s finest small glens (valleys). The views of mountains and lochs along the glen were lovely. At one point we had to drive a half mile stretch of single track road seeming straight up with no turnouts and no guard rails—if you meet another vehicle on this part of the road someone will have a terribly difficult backup. At the top of the climb we were rewarded with some nice closeup views of red grouse on fence posts beside the road, The most interesting sight along the road was a flock of what looked like flocked sheep—the whole flock was bright yellow/gold. I stopped and got a batch of pictures of the colored sheep and later did some research.
Originally photographer Gary Malin developed a project called “The Dream Series.” Malin worked with sheep farmers in Australia to develop a non-toxic vegetable dye to color a flock of sheep for a photo essay. Applied with the same tools used to spray sheep for ticks and lice, the coloring brings no harm or bother to the sheep. Since 2007 various Scotish farmers have been dying their sheep to entertain passing motorists or tourists. One farmer, Andrew Jack, in Bathgate (West Lothian) has been dying his sheep either gold, yellow, pink, blue or rainbow colored. Obviously, the farmer in Glen Quaich liked the look.
NEXT: I'm on a roll now. In a couple of weeks I'll have up another post about Colorful Scotland or something even more exciting. Slainte, which means good health to us all.
