Scotiana » Rannoch Moor

Our Top 15 Most Popular Posts!

MAJA — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 21:54:50 +0000

Mairiuna, before the New Year ramps up, why not investigate about our most popular posts to see what are our readers’ favourite subjects?

Let’s see what the stats reveal. Suspense….

And the winners are :

1. Rannoch Moor: First Steps Into The Scottish Wilderness

People seemed to be energized in the clear and fresh atmosphere of the place and everybody looked happy and cheerful, not to say euphoric.

It’s one of our best travel memories. But beware of the appearances!

The weather is very changing in Scotland and Rannoch Moor may suddenly offer a gloomier face to its visitors and even prove to be dangerous for unprepared walkers …

Read more…. | Watch Video ( Royal Scotsman entering Rannoch Station)

The Complete Book of Tartan by Iain Zaczek and Charles Phillips

2. Scottish Tartans: “Children Of The Mist”, The Clan MacGregor

Scottish clans have more than one tartan attributed to their name and the only person to make a clan tartan an “official” one is the chief. Surprisingly enough, the “clan tartans” date no earlier than late 18^th century.

That means this tradition was not in use when the battle of Culloden took place in 1746!. The clansmen were wearing different tartans….

So how did the clansmen recognize who was who? By the colour of ribbon worn upon the bonnet !

Sherlock Holmes - Playing The Violin

4. From Conan Doyle’s Sycamore to Sherlock Holme’s Violin

If you question people about Conan Doyle’s nationality many will probably answer : ‘English’. But let’s try to render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s.

If Conan Doyle did spend most of his life, died and was buried in England, he was born, spent his childhood and studied medicine in Edinburgh.

That is why, on 22 may 2009, the day of his one hundred and fiftieth birth anniversary, he was paid a very moving tribute in Edinburgh, his native town.

Art Nouveau in architecture - Princes Square Peacock

5. Art Nouveau Peacock On Princes Square Shopping Center In Buchanan Street, Glasgow

At the end of the nineteenth century, Art Nouveau transformed towns and countryside around the world. Even though its style had gained popularity from just the last ten years or so, Art Nouveau permeated many arts & crafts: jewellery, book design, glasswork, textiles, wrought iron, and architecture, to name just a few, with its high Victorian design and craftwork.

The peacock being the most spread Art Nouveau pattern, a great example is the one adorning the Princes Square building facade on Buchanan Street in the heart of Glasgow.

In 1985, Hugh Martin & Partners were commissioned to renovate the Princes Square building. They had several meetings with Alan Dawson to create the Princes’ building decorative art program consisting of gates, balustrades, the famous “Peacock” and other associated decorative ironwork.

While studying at the School of Art, Mackintosh met sisters, Frances and Margaret MacDonald and they were to form a group along with Herbert MacNair, to become known internationally as the Glasgow Four.

On our trip to Scotland in 2007, it was with great excitement that we arrived on Sauchiehall Street, to visit and admire one of his greatest masterpiece! We took pictures of the elements composing the building’s facade, and upon examination of these mysterious, or should I say, mystical elements, I wondered about the meaning that Charles Rennie Mackintosh, his wife Margaret, and the group all together were trying to convey through the symbols of the tree, the rose and the flower heads, to name just these few.

Glencoe Lochan

10. Lord Strathcona’s Glencoe Estate Bought Back By Macdonalds of Glencoe Descendance

Donald Alexander Smith had always been interested in Scotland’s most popular glen, Glencoe, that was owned by the McDonalds of Glencoe until 1894, when Archibald Burns McDonald put the land up for sale.

Upon taking possession of the Glencoe Estate in 1895, he moved from Canada to Scotland with his wife Isabella Sophia Hardisty and built a very imposing house, the Glencoe House.

Even though he planted a Canadian-like tree forest on the Estate to resemble his wife’s native land’s environment, she could not overcome home sickness. They consequently moved back to Canada and a portion of the land was transformed into a beautiful park offering three different walking trails, known as the Glencoe Lochan Walks.

Edmund J Sullivan, the man behind the beautiful illustrations contained in Thomas Carlyle’s Sartor Resartus.

Born in London in 1869, he studied art with his father. He was only 20 years old when he began contributing to various magazines including the Daily Chronicle, The Daily Graphic, The Pall Mall Gazette and Punch magazine.

To give you an example of his unique style, take a look at this superb drawing to illustrate one of the characters of the book, Blumine. (page 169, of the 1898 George Bell and Sons edition of Sartor Resartus, see book cover at the end of the post)

Read more… (includes links to 79 illustrations!)

12. Buchanan Street: Up and Down One of Glasgow’s Most Popular and Coloured Streets

We never stayed long enough, alas, to be able to visit all the treasures hidden in the rich and fascinating Scottish metropolis but it did not take long for us to feel the sense of place there and to love it. Glasgow speaks with a very specific accent which mixes with many other ones due to its cosmopolitanism. A harsh accent, not easy to understand for foreigners

I never saw a town singing in the rain as Glasgow does with its coloured umbrellas. “Can I help you ?” will say the Glaswegian to the drenched visitor desperately looking for his way on a map. For that and for many other reasons too, we do love Glasgow and it was love at first sight when we got out of the plane, at Paisley, one wintry day, in may 2000.

Painting by Sir Francis Grant of "Sir Walter Scott in his study at Abbotsford writing his last novel 'Count Robert of Paris' ", 1831. Source : SCRAN

14. A Writing Day For Walter Scott In Company of His Favourite Dogs

(…) to help us trigger our imagination, let us open again A Day with Scott. In this little old book I had mentioned in my last post, May Byron seems to have catched the sense of the place particularly well. I still don’t know when this book was published, but I will check that soon in our Sir Walter Scott Bibliographical History. For biographical purposes we’ll also make some incursions in Lockhart’s Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, Bart. The author of this very interesting biography happens to be Sir Walter’s son-in-law, so he must know better.

(…) I’ve often wondered how a man like Sir Walter Scott can have posed for so many long hours with his dogs, keeping still and quiet …But I let the master speak for himself and for the dogs. In his Journal, on 7 saturday 1826, Sir Walter has written something full of humour and tenderness about the question…

I’d like to write a word or two today about the world-famous Scottish tenor, Mr Kenneth McKellar, who sadly died last week in the USA at the age of 82. Following a short but serious illness, Mr McKellar passed away at the home of his daughter, Jane, in Lake Tahoe, California, on 9th April. Scotland has lost a most worthy and distinguished ambassador.

I find it tremendously sad when a great singer leaves the stage; it’s as though a bright light has gone out.

I’m reminded of the words of John McCormack, quoted by his wife Lily in her memoir, ‘I Hear You Calling Me’ : “I live again the days and evenings of my long career. I dream at night of operas and concerts in which I have had my share of success. Now, like the old Irish Minstrels, I have hung up my harp because my songs are all sung.”

Read more… | Watch Video 1 / 2 / 3 / and 4/…

A special mention and great thanks to our dear Scottish friends, Iain & Margaret, who provided such great and moving Scottish stories in ”Letters from Scotland“ .

We wish to thank everyone who visits and reads, on the site or via email or RSS feed. Your feedback/comments on the blog are very much appreciated and we love to hear from you.

I’d also like to call your attention to Mairiunas’s series-of-posts (7) featuring our travel on the ”Blue Road” through the Province of Quebec, inspired by Kenneth White’s novel: The Blue Road

Following the Blue Road on the Steps of Kenneth White in Quebec =>

As soon as Mairiuna recuperates her voice, we will continue the ongoing audio recording of Walter Scott’s most popular novel: Rob Roy

We’re looking forward to an even more active 2011. Stay tuned for more reporting on our favourite Scottish authors and themes. We’ve already introduced a few of them on Scotiana but there is so much more to read and share with you.

Of course, we’ll go on with our reading of Sir Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson, Iain Rankin, Thomas Carlyle, Kenneth White but we also intend to introduce many other Scottish writers (Neil Gunn, Iain Crichton Smith, George Mackay Brown, Margaret Oliphant, George Douglas Brown, Lewis Grassic Gibbon…)

We are also eager to introduce on Scotiana some of our favourite subjects in the historical and archaelogical fields (The Pictish Stones – The massacre of Glencoe…) and, while preparing our next trip to Scotland, we will share with you many more photos of our previous Scottish travels. There is so much to say about the Scottish landscapes, cities and towns, the old abbeys and castles… and what about Scottish lifestyle : whisky and food… and delicious recipes : scones, pancakes, soups!

If there is a subject you would like us to tackle, do not hesitate to contact us and share your thoughts.

Have a wonderful 2011!

Best,

Mairiuna and Janice

Rannoch Moor : First Steps into the Scottish Wilderness

MAJA — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 00:05:23 +0000

In 2006, on Itinerary 5, we stopped our car on the side of the A82. We love this road which leads to Glencoe, the place where, in 2000, on Itinerary 1, we definitely fell in love with Scotland in front of one of the most striking and beautiful landscapes we ever saw. There were already a number of cars parked here.The weather was fine though wintry and cloudy and the point of view we discovered up a little hill which dominates the area, would have been worth a painting with its blue, green and brown colours.

People seemed to be energized in the clear and fresh atmosphere of the place and everybody looked happy and cheerful, not to say euphoric. It’s one of our best travel memories. But beware of the appearances! The weather is very changing in Scotland and Rannoch Moor may suddenly offer a gloomier face to its visitors and even prove to be dangerous for unprepared walkers …

Robert Louis Stevenson - Kidnapped

Robert Louis Stevenson Kidnapped (1886) Catriona (1893) Polygon Birlinn Limited (2007)

Some seven hours’ incessant, hard travelling brought us early in the morning to the end of a range of mountains. In front of us there lay a piece of low, broken, desert land, which we must now cross. The sun was not long up, and shone straight in our eyes; a little, thin mist went up from the face of the moorland like a smoke; so that (as Alan said) there might have been twenty squadron of dragoons there and we none the wiser. (…) The mist rose and died away, and showed us that country lying as waste as the sea; only the moorfowl and the pewees crying upon it, and far over to the east, a herd of deer, moving like dots. Much of it was red with heather; much of the rest broken up with bogs and hags and peaty pools; some had been burnt black in a heath fire; and in another place there was quite a forest of dead firs, standing like skeletons. A wearier-looking desert man never saw; but at least it was clear of troops, which was our point. (…) We went down accordingly into the waste, and began to make our toilsome and devious travel towards the eastern verge. There were the tops of mountains all round (you are to remember) from whence we might be spied at any moment; (…) (Kidnapped Chapter XXII The Flight in the Heather: The Moor Robert Louis Stevenson 1886)

Rannoch Moor covers an area of around 50 square miles (130 square kilometres) between Loch Rannoch, Glencoe and the Bridge of Orchy.

At an altitude of about 300 metres, Rannoch Moor is covered with a “blanket bog” or “blanket mire”, the kind of vegetation forming on acidic soils in upland areas situated above 200 m and submitted to heavy rainfall and low temperature. One must remember that the uplands of Scotland are covering almost two thirds of the country and that around 14 per cent of that land can be classified as blanket bog. The blanket bogs and lochans of Rannoch Moor drain into Loch Tummel, via Loch Rannoch. Thanks to its very specific fauna and flora, quite typical of peatland areas, the Moor has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest, SSSI. It has also been declared a National Nature Reserve, NNR. Rannoch Moor is also a proposed SAC, Special Area of Conservation and a part of it has been listed as Ramsar site of worldwide wetland importance. As a Natura 2000 SAC site it is of European importance.

Vast and desolate, surrounded by mountains that rise to over 3000ft to the south-east and the west and to over 2000ft in the north, Rannoch Moor opens to you like a changing mosaic composed of lochs, lochans, streams and peat bogs. It is never the same, its atmosphere being as contrasted as the Scottish weather. Rannoch Moor can only be crossed on foot along more or less difficult walking paths or by train, following the lonely 16 kilometres of the West Highland Line rail track which crosses it.

Scotland's 100 best Walks Cameron McNeish Lomond Books 2005

I’ve crossed the Moor several times and have always been thrilled by its lonely emptiness. In 1792 The Revd John Lettice, later chaplain to the Duke of Hamilton, wrote of the Moor : ‘An immense vacuity, with nothing in it to contemplate, unless numberless mis-shapen blocks of stone rising hideously above the surface of the earth would be said to contradict the inanity of our prospects’. Lettice’s sentiments convey his enmity with such a landscape. I find it immensely appealing, an empty quarter where the spirit can soar in unfettered abandon. I find it moving and I find it humbling. (…) Can a moor share the same attributes as our highest mountains? The Moor of Rannoch can. (Cameron McNeish Scotland’s 100 Best Walks Lomond Books 1999)

Wuthering Heights Emily Brontë 1847 Random House Publishers 1945 edition Illustrated with wood engravings by Fritz Eichenberg

Given the very specific atmosphere associated with moorland, no wonder it has inspired so many writers. I have just given an extract of Stevenson’s Kidnapped, which takes place in Rannoch Moor. But who could have forgotten the Yorkshire Moors which serve as a background in Emily Brontë’s masterpiece Wuthering Heights or, along the same lines, the lonely and gloomy setting given by Conan Doyle to The Hound of the Baskervilles which happens to be situated in Dartmoor, one of the most desolate places to be found in Britain.

Conan Doyle The Hound of the Baskervilles Campfire (February 1, 2010)

Even though Conan Doyle did give an English background to one of his most famous stories he would certainly not have forgotten his Scottish roots…

By the way, and to end this post on a note of humour, did you know that Uncle Scrooge, one of the most famous characters of the American cartoon, had Scottish origins? Yes he has ! He is a member of the Clan McDuck and Castle McDuck, his ancestral home, happens to be situated in Dismal Downs, somewhere on Rannoch Moor.

Uncle Scrooge McDuck Rannoch Moor Scottish Castle Walt Disney Uncle Scrooge illustration 285 1994

Bonne lecture ! A bientôt ! Mairiuna

The Royal Scotsman Stops at Rannoch Station in a Luxury Tour across the Highlands

MAJA — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 00:56:51 +0000

Rannoch Station Scotiana 2007

Hi everybody ! Are you ready to embark with us on a new Scottish adventure? You won’t regret it! You’re going to travel through breathtaking scenery in a most funny way. Tchouk-tchouk! Let’s go on… here begins the first episode of a new Scotiana series : Scottish railways.

I do love trains and the steam locomotives of my childhood are still running in my memories spitting out big volutes of grey smoke so, today, I’m particularly happy to welcome you at Rannoch Station which is situated in one the most spectacular wildernesses in the United Kingdom. With its timber buildings and its flower pots, Rannoch Station is one of the nicest railway stations I ever went to!

Iron Road to the Isles Michael Pearson ScotRail 2005

Arguably RANNOCH is one of the most romantic railway destinations in the world. It stands in splendid isolation, eighty seven miles from Glasgow, thirty five miles from Fort William, and a little matter of sixteen from Kinloch Rannoch, the nearest settlement of any size. Panic sets in as the train rumbles away into the distance: “What am I doing here, I must have been mad to get off the train,” then slowly but surely your confidence returns, stress evaporates and a sense of well-being takes over. There’s no signal for your mobile phone, you cannot be got at, an invigorating feeling of optimism and potential manifests itself in your mind. However long you are here for, it is not time to be killed, but time to be treasured. (Iron Road to the Isles – Michael Pearson 2005)

Rannoch Station Scotiana 2007

Do you remember, Janice, our visit to this enchanting place in July 2007?

Rannoch Station Scotiana 2007

We arrived there at the end of a wet and cloudy day but the red, pink, yellow and green colours of the place looked still more vivid, as it is often the case in Scotland with that kind of atmosphere.

Rannoch Station Scotiana 2007

Rannoch Station is situated on the 99-mile-long West Highland Line which runs from Glasgow to Fort William and then turns west to Mallaig, crossing over the famous viaduct of Glenfinnan. It is one of the greatest railway journeys in the world, famous for its spectacular scenery.
The West Highland Line was opened in August 1894. It had needed the work of more than 5,000 navvies and taken nearly five years to complete it. The section across Rannoch Moor must have been a big challenge for the contractors, Lucas & Aird, and the engineers, Formans & McCall who were lodging at the nearby Moor of Rannoch Hotel. I’ve learned on reading the noticeboards that the first stationmaster here had had to live in a wooden hut to begin with and that his wife had fallen ill and died. In winter, with the snow, life must be particularly difficult here and the railway traffic too.

Rannoch Station Scotiana 2007

When we arrived at Rannoch Station a train was about to stop, emerging from the solitary landscape of Rannoch Moor.True wilderness and quite a feat to walk across that land, I suppose. I remember quite well our first glimpse of it in 2006. We had stopped on a little car park, on the A86, on the western side of Rannoch Moor, not far from Glencoe, and the sight of the vast and lonely stretches of heathery and boggy moor studded with small lochs and lochans reflecting the colours of the sky had made us feel like walking there immediately. But easier said than done.

In my next post, I’ll try to get a clearer idea of Rannoch Moor to see what kind of walking paths we can expect to find there and how far it is safe to venture into such desolate country. A good alternative, of course, is to take the train…

Rannoch Station The Royal Scotsman train Scotiana 2007

The one which had stopped in front of us was sumptuous.The Orient Express class!

Rannoch Station Scotiana 2007

We rushed up the steps of the footbridge which crosses over the first track and down onto the island platform of the station to take pictures of this beautiful train before it disappeared into the wilderness.

Rannoch Station The Royal Scotsman Scotiana 2007

Our Scottish ‘Orient Express’ happened to be the Royal Scotsman, one of the Great Scottish & Western Railway trains.

Rannoch Station The Royal Scotsman train Scotiana 2007

Just imagine yourself travelling across the breathtaking Highlands scenery while savouring some of the refined meals served at the table of this luxury train, sheltered from the rain, the scorching heat or the midges which are, more often than not, waiting for you outside. Each means of travelling however, be it on foot or by train, is worth the price to pay and has its adepts. Happy are those who can try both of them …

GPS Rannoch Station Road B846 Loch Eigheach Scotiana 2007

After running along loch Tummel, loch Rannoch and loch Eigheach, the B846 road which meets the A9 between Pitlochry and Blair Atholl, about 55 kilometres eastward, ends at Rannoch station. It is not the most isolate station in the area. There is another one which can only be reached by train or foot. Lost as it is, Corrour station, as this remote little station is called, has become a very famous place thanks to a scene of the film Trainspotting, which was turned there, after Irvin Welsh’s well-known novel.

Trainspotting Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, and Kevin McKidd (DVD - 2004)

If you’re waiting for the train at Rannoch Station, and if the weather is fine, you can always roam about the place. There are some interesting curiosities to discover in the neighbourhood.

At the north end of the island platform, Janice came across the low-relief sculpture of the financier J H Renton, who was a backer of Lucas & Aird, the contractors for the construction of the West Highland Line. We got some details from one of the notice boards we found on site :

Rannoch Station John Renton memorial Scotiana 2007

Rannoch Station John Renton memorial Scotiana 2007

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

The Renton Stone has been designated under the Railway Heritage Act as “historically significant” and something that should be permanently preserved. The challenges posed by Rannoch Moor meant that progress was slow and money became tight. To save the situation, one of the railway’s directors, a Mr Renton, gave part of his private fortune to bail the project out (this was in effect a bridging loan). To commemorate his act, navvies sculpted a likeness of his head out of a large boulder. Take a look at the end of the platform and you will see where they placed it!

Not far from the Moor of Rannoch Hotel Jean-Claude, whose French nickname ‘Harfang’ means snow owl discovered, not far from the Hotel, a stone sculpted owl, ready to take its flight …

Rannoch Station Moor of Rannoch Hotel stone sculpted owl Scotiana 2007

And if the weather is not fine, as it is often the case in this area, why not have a good cup of tea at the station tearoom and then visit the shop which offers to the customer, among other things, local pastries and jam…

Rannoch Station tearoom shop Scotiana 2007

Rannoch Station Tearoom Scotiana 2007

Rannoch Station Scotiana 2007

Tchouk-tchouk! Meet you at the next station! A bientôt. Mairiuna.