Category Archives: Scotland

The Crossing Place

Posted on December 5, 2019 by

A pinch of the River Clyde; a squeezing of the water that flows west through Glasgow towards the sea; a watery place where shipyards once dominated the shoreline and the air shook with the hammering of rivets, the scrape and … Continue reading →

Posted in Cities, History, Scotland | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Riasg Buidhe – an abandoned village on the Isle of Colonsay

Posted on July 21, 2019 by

It is not that easy to find but if you go to the recycling depot at the highest point on the road between Scalasaig and Kiloran on the Isle of Colonsay, then follow the rough track that leads towards the … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Islands, Scotland | Tagged , , , , , , | 9 Comments

(Thirty-)Six Views of Bass Rock

Posted on November 12, 2018 by

‘It is just the one crag of rock, as everybody knows, but great enough to carve a city from.’ Robert Louis Stevenson Catriona Japan’s Mount Fuji is a dormant volcano that looks just like a volcano should. An almost perfectly … Continue reading →

Posted in Islands, Scotland, wildlife | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Shores of Loch Bee

Posted on May 11, 2018 by

An island. A loch. An island — South Uist — that forms a link in an archipelago that lies off a much larger island, which in turn lies to the northwest of the world’s largest continental landmass. If the world … Continue reading →

Posted in Islands, Scotland, wildlife | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Landfall – absence and dislocation on the Forth shore

Posted on March 9, 2018 by

It began with a dislocation. A couple of weeks’ residence north of the border in the house of friends who had chosen to trade the Scottish late winter for the Antipodean summer. It was an opportunity for some writing time … Continue reading →

Posted in Scotland, wildlife | Tagged , , , , , , | 12 Comments

The Bridge to Nowhere and the Bays Road

Posted on December 17, 2017 by

Just three main roads radiate out of Stornoway, the capital of the Isle of Lewis. One heads across mountains towards Tarbet and Harris to the south; another goes east past the island’s airport and along the Eye Peninsula to come … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Geography, Islands, Scotland, Travel | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Callanish

Posted on November 10, 2017 by

“a place appointed for worship in the time of heathenism” Martin Martin A Description of the Western Islands of Scotland circa 1695 Someone once said that the wonder evoked by historical sites is inversely proportional to the number of eyes … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Islands, Scotland, Travel | Tagged , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

The Shape on the Map — South Lochs, Isle of Lewis

Posted on October 2, 2017 by

Eleven miles east of the main road, six from the nearest shop (closed on the Sabbath), two miles from the open sea as the raven flies. Glen Gravir – a slender thread of houses stretching up a glen, just four … Continue reading →

Posted in Islands, Scotland, Travel, wildlife | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Gloomy Sunday

Posted on March 2, 2012 by

It is Sunday in Edinburgh and the city streets are filled with Frenchmen in blue shirts and black berets all come for the Six Nations rugby match against Scotland at Murrayfield stadium. Preferring the game that favours a more spherical … Continue reading →

Posted in Literature, Scotland, Travel | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments