Tide in the affairs of men

Pittulie Castle.

 When Grey Granite left Scotland the castle was surrounded by fields of ripe grain, transformed  in her absence to stubble and ploughed land.

Grey Granite has been on an extraordinary, surreal expedition to London and France. This took her outside her comfort zone in many spheres; emotional, linguistic, social, geographic, climatic and cultural. So sudden and precipitous was the journey that only on her return was she able to work out just where in France she had been.(The Charante) The expedition was made bearable by the kindness of friends in London and beautiful surroundings and gracious, highly cultured hosts in France. A pictorial record will appear in due course.

On her return to the familiarity of Buchan, Grey Granite was relieved to experience bearable temperatures and to be back within sight and sound of the sea.

Walking past Pittulie Castle,she sensed that she had left Scotland in summer and returned in autumn. This seemed an apposite metaphor for the catastrophe which gave rise to this journey, 'all having been thrown into confusion and disarray.'

Harvest time - already

Barley bales at Easter Cardno

The injustice of it -summer having only just begun but the nights are perceptibly drawing in and today we saw several cut fields of barley.

Translating the British 2012

Grey Granite freely admits to having minimal interest in sport, and only a passing interest in 2012, but felt that this poem brilliantly captures what she perceives to be the spirit of  the London Olympics.  Grey Granite posts this poem in honour of Dr Anne who helped to make 2012 happen.

Translating the British, 2012

by Carol Ann Duffy

A summer of rain, then a gap in the clouds

and The Queen jumped from the sky

to the cheering crowds.

               We speak Shakespeare here,

a hundred tongues, one-voiced; the moon bronze or silver,

sun gold, from Cardiff to Edinburgh

               by way of London Town,

on the Giant's Causeway;

we say we want to be who we truly are,

now, we roar it. Welcome to us.

We've had our pockets picked,

               the soft, white hands of bankers,

bold as brass, filching our gold, our silver;

we want it back.

We are Mo Farah lifting the 10,000 metres gold.

We want new running-tracks in his name.

For Jessica Ennis, the same; for the Brownlee brothers,

Rutherford, Ohuruogu, Whitlock, Tweddle,

for every medal earned,

we want school playing-fields returned.

Enough of the soundbite abstract nouns,

austerity, policy, legacy, of tightening metaphorical belts;

we got on our real bikes,

for we are Bradley Wiggins,

               side-burned, Mod, god;

we are Sir Chris Hoy,

Laura Trott, Victoria Pendleton, Kenny, Hindes,

Clancy, Burke, Kennaugh and Geraint Thomas, 

               Olympian names.

We want more cycle lanes.

               Or we saddled our steed,

or we paddled our own canoe,

or we rowed in an eight or a four or a two;

our names, Glover and Stanning; Baillie and Stott;

Adlington, Ainslie, Wilson, Murray,

               Valegro (Dujardin's horse).

We saw what we did. We are Nicola Adams and Jade Jones,

bring on the fighting kids.

               We sense new weather.

We are on our marks. We are all in this together.

Wildgoose chase to Fetterangus

Grey Granite was mortified, having inadvertently taken her friend T on a wild goose chase of an expedition. The failure of our first objective led us to Fetterangus kirkyard to hunt what has been described as the 'angels in kilts' gravestone.

 The kirkyard, which is situated amidst fields to the west of the village, has an unusual, imposing gateway which includes the war memorial for the district

This badly weathered Pict'ish symbol stone is on the inside of the kirkyard dyke just to the left of the gate. The symbol stone is a block of whinstone just over 1m high and was unearthed in 1876. According to the RCAHMS record  the remains of a scroll, a mirror case and the triple disc with cross bar symbol were discernible in 1985. Grey Granite and T. were unable to discern them with any degree of confidence.

Ruins of the 12th century chapel just inside the kirkyard.

The rectangular chapel measures about 10m x4m and is thought to have originated as a cell frequented by St Fergus. The rubble walls are about 1m high and almost completely covered in ivy.

The chapel is now used as a burial enclosure,  the font is visible at the foot of the graveslab.

This is thought to be the chapel font, it is claimed that the water never disappears

The Kirkyard is attractively set about with yews and surrounded by a substantial dyke, stoutly buttressed on the outside. This dyke  was rebuilt by public subscription in 1877.

Looking through two of the yew trees over towards Drinnie's Wood and the Observatory

We eventually found the graveslab we were looking for nestling, partly concealed by ivy,  behind the chapel. The ivy has protected the carving which includes two angels of the resurrection, the date 1745, a pair of hour glasses and a roundel with the initials JW and AG. The date 1745 is interesting since, as will be seen below, the inscription on the stone does not appear to record a death in that year. 

The angels have very distinct features but we eventually concluded that they are wearing feathery skirts rather than kilts, thus preserving Peathill's claim to have the only kilted angels in the North East. The very feint lettering between the angels reads, 'The trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised'.

Later Grey Granite checked out the full inscription in The Kirkyard of Fetterangus by J Shearer, published by Aberdeen and North East Scotland Family History Society, and found that our wild goose chase had ended appropriately. The inscription reads:

'Here lyes waiting a glorious Resurrection the corpse of Anna Gordon spous to John Wildgoos in Hythy died 23 April 1736 aged 51 John Wildgoos her husband died 12 January 1752 aged 76 Also James Mary William and Jannet Wildgoo's their children.' (Sic)

Greening The Broch

A delightful planting of annuals on the corner of Queens Road  and Alexandra Terrace brightens up a drab Fraserburgh morning.

This is one of several drifts of annuals which has sprung up in recent days, transforming otherwise dull areas of the Broch. On sunny days the plantings are alive with butterflies and other insects. Grey Granite applauds the imagination of the horticultural services department of the council.

Fordyce Kirkyard

Grey Granite and Dr. Anne passed through gently undulating countryside to reach Fordyce. This attractive, secluded village, was created a Burgh of Barony by Bishop Elphinstone of Aberdeen in 1499.  The higgledy-piggledy streets and 18th century architecture have a charm which is very different from the grid iron streets and austere  buildings of most North East settlements.

St Tarquin's, or Talorgan's Church, dedicated to a Pictish  saint who was made bishop in about 500 and is thought to have founded a church in the area. The belltower is dated 1661. The church was in use until 1804 by which time a new larger church had been built to accommodate the expanding congregation. 

 The rather dank and spooky Abercromby Aisle contains this very  grand classical memorial to James Abercromby of Glassheugh who died in 1781. It also houses many pigeons.

 
This magnificent ogee-arched altar tomb, known as the Findlater and Boyne Tomb, is set into the wall of would would originally have been the chancel. The chancel is now open to the sky and the tomb is  prettily set about with ferns and ivy-leaved toad flax. The inscription on the front of the tomb translates as; 'Here rest  two honourable men, James Ogilvy of Deskford, and James Ogilvy his son and heir presumptive. The former died 13 February 1509 and the latter 1 February 1505. Pray for their souls'.

A wonderful recumbent effigy of a knight rests on the tomb, his feet supported by  a dog which Dr Anne thought looked rather like a Chinese animal.

The Birkenbog Tomb in the more westerly burial aisle within the former chancel dates from 1505.

Feverfew or Bachelor's Buttons (Tanacetum parthenium) growing on the kirkyard dyke.
As the name suggests this plant, introduced from the Balkans in the Middle Ages, was grown as folk remedy for colds and fevers and headaches. Recent experiments have proved that it really does help to relieve  migraines.

Deskford kirkyard

Grey Granite and Dr. Anne went on to visit the tranquil Kirkton of Deskford, a small hamlet clustered round Deskford Church.

The ruins of Deskford Church  in the corner of the kirkyard. The kirk, originally dedicated to St John the Evangelist, is thought to have been erected about 1541 as  a chapel serving the Ogilvy family whose 4 storey tower house stood nearby. By 1545 it was referred to as a church and the wondrous sacrament house was added in 1551.The Ogilvy's castle was demolished around 1830 when the family  moved to Cullen House by which time the family had risen to be Lords Deskford and eventually Earls of Findlater and Seafield. A replacement church was built nearby in 1872 at which point St John's was abandoned. Despite the great age of the church most of the gravestones in the kirkyard date from the 19th century.

A rare example of a Victorian cast iron grave-marker. Behind it  is the iron urn pictured below.

Another fascinating Victorian funerary relic, an immortelle. These grave decorations were popular in the Victorian era but, due to their fragility, few remain. This example probably owes its survival to the protective wire cage. The glass dome contains plaster ornaments including flowers and doves.

Looking out across the kirkyard from the shell of the kirk. Note the aumbry  on the right .

The astonishing Deskford Sacrament House, recently restored and protected from the elements, is inside the ruin of the church and contrasts remarkably with the apparent austerity of the building.

The sacrament House is far larger than Grey Granite has envisaged, it is about 8ft high and 3.5 ft wide. The quality of the recently restored carving is superb. The sacrament house, basically a cupboard set into the wall near the altar,  was built at the behest of Alexander Ogilvy in 1551, at a time when personal salvation was thought to be achievable through church endowment. the sacrament house would have been used to contain the consecrated elements of the mass

Detail from the exquisitely  carved Sacrament House shows two angels,very medieval  in appearance in the act of raising the host which is contained within an ornate monstrance. The details of the wings are particularly impressive. A border of what appear to be grape vines surrounds the main panel. The protective glass panel creates reflections but does not distract from the quality of the carvings.

This beautiful and unusual teardrop mural monument, known as The Ogilvy Monument,  commemorates Walter Ogilvy, a minister  in this church who died on 15th February 1658

Gravestone dated 1771, now set into what may have been  a doorway in the kirk.


Grey Granite and Dr Anne then progressed to Fordyce...