Stories and photos from Scotland
2019 got off to an exciting start for me with the news that my historical novel, The Mermaid and the Bear, will be published by GWL Publishing this Autumn.
An editing journey lies ahead, but I can tell you these things about the book:
I made a wee aesthetic for it, because: oh the fun!
Beautiful Aikey Brae. Of the 150 or so recumbent stone circles in the North East of Scotland, this is my favourite.
I used to live close by and enjoyed many a summer picnic and winter stroll there. One year I watched a solar eclipse, with my children, sat right in the middle of the circle. The setting made it feel timeless and magical.
The snow picks out detail and shape, makes the stones look different.
The fallen stone on the right in this next picture must have popped right out of the ground when it fell, because you can see the carved point of the anchoring lower part.
This pointy feature can also be seen on the Lang Stane, hidden away just off Union Street in Aberdeen, leading to the theory that it was once part of a stone circle too.
But back to the sun and snow at Aikey, and the smiling recumbent.
On another subject, I have made a page for my mailing list sign-up form here – thank you to those who have already signed up! I’ve been thinking about what to put in the newsletters: news about my life and writing, some exclusive photos, and I’d also like to feature other people’s work. So if you have a site or blog that you’d be happy to have included, please feel free to link it up in the comments. I can’t guarantee to use them all in the mailings as they will only be occasional, but it would be great to see your sites here 🙂
If you have any else you’d like to see in the mailing list, do let me know that too!
Let’s finish up by staring through the stones, to the world beyond.
Through the gates we go… to Fyvie Castle where it’s more icy than snowy and we’re getting down and frosty with it!
Great shadows reach towards the castle, but we’re backing away, we’re leaving…
We’re travelling across country like Ice Road Truckers… to Delgatie!
It’s bright and properly snowy here. Let’s walk in the woods.
And circle back round to the castle.
Say hello to the unicorns!
On to a stormier day and a dark ruin: Huntly.
Look at the old chimneys…
And the slopes and trees…
Finally, it’s time to snuggle up at home with hot chocolate in a mermaid mug!
The ground is solid, all the ruts and bumps hard and crunchy under my feet as I climb the hill. And there on the top, small from this angle, is the Witch Stone.
It’s said that witches were burned there in the past.
It’s quiet now. Cold. Peaceful.
Ladybirds are hibernating on it! I hope they survive the season.
Above: a scene from a moonlit walk, because I so appreciate being able to go on walks now that I can’t wait for it to get light!
It’s been a strange summer. I spent much of it being ill, properly ‘can’t do anything, go anywhere, just have to sit still‘ ill. I feel changed by it. I have such huge appreciation for the good in my world now: the wonderful people I share my life with, the amazing place I live.
Seriously, there was no better place to lie around being ill than in my garden. Bats and giant dragonflies kept coming out of the pond and trees to peer at me. Tall trees rustled protectively around me. And the sun shone and shone this summer, didn’t it?
And books! Films! Netflix! Thank you, thank you, to all those creators: you kept my mind occupied while my body healed.
And the less than good? It highlighted itself with such clarity that I am left so much wiser and, I hope, more able to deflect it in the future.
Things that happened while I was still: the witch stone near Fraserburgh was cleared of gorse so it can now be seen.
I had a wee story published in an anthology.
But summer is over now. Illness is over. So, boots on, off out into the moonlight I go!
For years I passed by the road signs for Findlater Castle on my way to other places, joking that ‘I must find that later’. I’m so glad I finally did! I’ve been a few times now and it’s always stunning.
On this day it was exceptionally warm and still for Northern Scotland which emboldened me to go a bit further down onto the ramparts than I’ve been before.
Off I went, past the gorse which was warmed by the sun and smelled all coconutty:
This is as far as I normally dare, just to this first chunk of wall…
And then up the wee path for a peek at the shore beyond.
But with no gusts of wind to blast me off the edge, on I marched (or tentatively crept, to be more accurate).
Look at those craggy walls!
I sat down here and contemplated being really brave and jumping down that hole under the archway. Ah, what photos I would get, what views, what atmosphere… then I remembered the ghost story. A small boy and his nurse were standing near an open window, maybe even one of those in view, when he jumped from her arms and disappeared down the side of the cliff, presumably to his death. She scrambled after him, also to her doom, and her spirit still haunts the castle searching for her errant charge.
So, sorry to disappoint, but after another look over the edge I retraced my steps back up the hill.
This meant I survived to visit the nearby Doocot (pigeon house). It dates from the 15th century as does the castle.
I love its door:
And all the little nesting boxes within:
If you visit Findlater do be careful not to fall to your doom. If it’s muddy or windy it would be much more dangerous than it was for me on this occasion. Look, the council have even written it in great big red letters underneath the history:
There’s been a lot of barefoot walking along beaches this summer, with friends, with family, much of it between St Combs and Scotstown. And that’s where there do be many shipwrecks to see! Aye, aye, me hearties! Prepare yersels for the photos!
I don’t know the name or date of this first wreck. It’s wooden and relatively small and sometimes entirely covered by the shifting sands that it, no doubt, fell victim to. It’s well bedecked with seaweed!
Closeby is a large metallic boat. It’s usually more submerged than this. I *think* it’s the HMS Erne. She ran aground in 1915 and broke her back 🙁
On this day I got to go right up to it.
And touch the barnacles.
And wonder if that’s a treasure chest…
A bit further on, between Rattray Head and Scotstown, lies a much more well documented ship: the Excelsior of Laurwig, a Norwegian barque wrecked in 1881. It’s rather impressive.
There is another, somewhat different, wreck on this bit of coastline, sometimes to be seen wedged into the sand:
Now, let’s go to Cruden Bay, for the last barefoot walk of the summer!
Trip, trap, trip. trap, across the bridge. To find…
Is it a shipwreck? I’m not sure. It may be part of a defense from WW2. Not very boat shaped!
But it’s a great beach to finish the season and the post on.
The Isle of Skye. That’s the Old Man of Storr in the hills above, a beautiful rock formation visible for miles around. The island is a place of fairies: there’s a castle and a glen and a bridge… but first, back to another rock formation, specifically the one spied from the bedroom window of our holiday house.
‘That’s an interesting rocky outcrop,’ said I to husband.
‘Aye, we should walk up to it,’ he replied.
So we did.
And there was Dun Hallin, an Iron Age broch we had intended visiting but thought would be hard to find. Duns, or brochs, were a complex form of roundhouse, probably defensive, precursors to castles.
I loved Dun Hallin and the surprise of finding it like that. And the wonderful views of Trumpan Point.
Trumpan Kirkyard held surprise too. An ancient standing stone, Clach Deuchainn, the Trial Stone:
Trial stones were used to try a person. In this case if the accused could put their finger in the hole located on the stone while blindfold they were innocent. The stone is undoubtedly far older than this use; it is also known as the Priest Stone and the Heaven Stone.
There were some interesting graves too; these, and the gruesome history of the church can be read about here.
But back to the fairies. Firstly the Fairy Glen, an unusual land formation, which sadly does not have any old fairy folklore associated with it but it does feel otherworldly when you walk round it.
The rocky peak is known as Castle Ewen:
But it’s Dunvegan Castle we need for fairy legends!
Displayed inside the castle, so no photos, is the ancient and tattered Fairy Flag. There are many stories and traditions surrounding this relic and its origins. The tale favoured in the information provided to visitors is the one in which the Chief of Clan Macleod marries a fairy. The couple have a child together but the fairy knows she has to return to her people in Fairyland. She leaves the magical flag, imbued with protective powers, wrapped round the baby, and this she does a few miles away at the Fairy Bridge:
There are also Fairy Pools on Skye but we did not get to them this trip. We did manage a quick visit to Kilt Rock:
We also took in the Museum of Island Life, one of the few places on the island with good mobile internet which meant I was distracted by a sudden barrage of Twitter notifications!
Near to the museum is the memorial to Flora MacDonald:
One more fairy mention: the house we stayed in was previously owned by the writer Aileen P. Roberts, and full of books, so I read her novella Fairy Fire while there which was set in Skye and surprising and perfect.
The sun rises over Dun Hallin:
And sets at Trumpan Point:
Goodbye Skye! We’ll be back!
Broadsea is the older part of Fraserburgh in Aberdeenshire, having been the site of a Pictish settlement and later a fishing community. It still feels distinctly different from the surrounding town, more like a small village, and is a great place for a walk!
From Fraserburgh, we’re heading down Broadsea Road, past all the wee hoosies, right to the end.
From there we’re going left to see the craggy rocks and some paintings. There’s a Lion Rampant on the other side of that outcrop but it’s taken a bit of a bashing from the sea and is rather faded.
Let’s retrace our steps and continue on round the corner to the right towards the cove of Broadsea, the lighthouse at Kinnaird Head just coming into view.
We tiptoe between houses and walk the curving path, passing many old cottages. The new housing development we come to next holds on to hints of the past in the form of various buoys placed along the verge.
On we go. Up to lighthouses, old and new. Great museum and tearoom here if you need a break. Older post with more on the museum and lighthouse here.
A little further along from the lighthouse is The Wine Tower, said to be Fraserburgh’s oldest building. Post on it here.
We can finish there if you like, but I prefer to walk all the way back so as to see Broadsea from the other direction.
So, one last look at The Wine Tower… perhaps a quick run up and down the steps and a peer in the window…
And we return to the wee hoosies.
And Broadsea Road.
The best time of day for a Broadsea stroll definitely seems to be in the morning. Clash with school let out time and you may have sticks and stones brandished at you! For a fascinating read on the 19th century history of the place, I highly recommend The Christian Watt Papers
Buchan Ness Lighthouse in Boddam, Aberdeenshire, shining its light out into the sunrise.
We’ve reached the point in the year, here in Northern Scotland, where light is scarce. It arrives late in the day and leaves early, by about 4pm. But that low sun does some special things, especially at the beach:
And the low temperatures play with ice and colours…
Above is the large sand dune on Fraserburgh beach known as Tiger Hill. Below, a puddle.
Rivers and lochs seem to reflect back more light than you can see in the sky. Morning reflections at Pitfour:
The sun sets in the woods… What sparks of light have you spotted in winter?
