Friday, 30 July 2010

Walk to Egypt

Grey Granite and Rufus walked, under wide Buchan skies, along the back road from Craigiefold towards New Aberdour. On the left the hanging stone on Gallows Hill was conspicuous standing sentinel above a field of barley. Grey Granite has seen this stone hundreds of times, but having recently read Hilary Mantell's extraordinary novel, Woolf Hall, with its vivid descriptions of public executions of various sorts, the stone in what now seems a tranquil location, sent a shudder down her spine. She wonders what terrible scenes this field must have witnessed.

The main objective of the walk was to check that there is still a stranded railway carriage by the dam at Ironhill Farm.




Grey Granite was pleased to see that the carriage has survived recent building work and is still in place, bizarrely decorated with bird boxes and planters. There is a duck house attached to one end.

 
Grey Granite and Rufus continued to along the road, passing Stonebrigs, where Rufus was astonished to meet a flock of indignant peacocks, peahens and chicks. As Rufus passed some of the peacocks strutted self importantly across the road, rustling their tail feathers, reminding Grey Granite of  a photograph of Queen Alexandra, complete with bustle.



Beyond Stonebrigs is Egypt Farm, apparently  so named after a gypsy encampment. From the farm road end onwards there are impressive views of the cliffs across  New Aberdour Bay and beyond. By now there were heavy rain clouds gathering, showers were clearly moving round the coast. Grey Granite and Rufius had clearly had 'the best of the day'.

Bluebells Campanula rotundifolia
This magnificent clump was growing in the ditch close to the Hanging Stone. These, according to folk lore are used by fairies to make hats and are rung by them as  a warning to hares of approaching danger.

2 comments:

  1. Is this the same campanula that I have in my garden. I have just dead head and stripped them. They were beautiful early July. When out in the East Braes I thought I was looking at harebells. What is the difference?

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  2. The campanulas are a very diverse genus. Harebells are Scottish bluebells. These are rung by fairies as a warning of foxes, white ones are lucky in some areas but not in Buchan where they are known as Devil's hatties.There are very many cultivated members of the genus which vary from fairy's thimbles, the small rockery ones only a couple of inches high, to giants including Canterbury Bells.

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