The Wife With the Bratty Plaid

Excellent day walking yesterday in Stirlingshire near Balfron. Paul and I headed out to find the Carlin Stone and the Wife with the Bratty Plaid (the wife clothed in plaid - link to come shortly). 

With OS map in hand we set off into the forest and soon came upon a logging operation.

The world smelled of pine, but it was a sad sight. A sustainable forest, but a 'tree farm' all the same. The machines were in full flow. One minute a standing pine, the next a toppled log. Sad to watch. We took a small path deeper into the woods, away from it all.

The ground was saturated after the recent rains which have caused chaos in the North of England and even brought to life one of the largest waterfalls in the United Kingdom for the first time in centuries. The moisture also brought out a wide selection of fungi, including this nest of honey fungus, which glows in the dark.

And plenty of moss - yes, more of that shortly.

Eventually we came to the edge of the wood, where it gave way to open moorland. The stones were shown as being along the boundary of the forest and the moor. 

Moss on a Gate

The large clumps of heather and grass (lovingly referred to as tribbles) can be a burden and a boon. They keep your feet out of the water, but they're also hard going to trek across. Definitely a work out.

We soon found the Wife with the Bratty Plaid, and both agreed she has a lovely nature. A really nice, if somewhat stumpy, standing stone.

We were trying to work out the name. From a certain angle, the bobble on top sort of looks like a woman's head looking down, pulling her plaid about her for warmth, but it's tenuous. Perhaps it relates to a dressing ritual of local boundary walkers or something like that, or to the moss, but little is written about her.

Pulling Her Plaid About?

There's another slab of stone a little further up the path.

And one just over the fence.

But the most interesting is a lump of rock placed next to her, almost like a table or altar, with thick seams of quartz running through it.

Right, time for some moss shots...

There was just time for a quick cup of coffee before heading on to find the Carlin Stone.

To get there, we had to wade across a marshy stream. The ground was thickly covered in moss, but it moved with the water beneath. We did well on the way there, managing to use clumps of reeds as stepping stones, but on the way back, with feet already soaked, we just waded through it up to our knees.

I got ever so slightly distracted in the woods. There was a gap in the trees and I followed it down. I could see lumps between them that almost looked like a hut. Slightly uncertain, I ventured in and soon discovered that the lumps were clods of up-turned tree root.

I then discovered a set of fairy steps up the side of a tree.

Too cute for words. Moss shot... 

I found a fairy pool. An exchange was made, and suddenly all the light in the woods turned golden. It was very beautiful. By the time I found my way out again, there was just time to see the Carlin Stone (even smaller than the Wife) and have a little snack before we began to lose the light.

I didn't feel so affectionate towards this one, but the landscape was lovely enough in the last of the light.

We made our way back through the forest...

Passing a farm house with its own wind farm. 

And reclaimed Kitty from her desolate spot just as the rains came down. Rather good timing, and a lovely night of red wine and waffling commenced.

Kings Bookshop in Callander

Took a little drive out to Callander yesterday with my friend Paul. Popped into an iconic bookshop, Kings, on Main Street. I'd been once before a couple of years back.  

There are many special things about this bookshop. Partly that they're not online because they prefer people to 'pop in and look around.' Partly because the books are organised more by a sense of category rather than by any strict system - which means you can find surprises on any shelf. Partly for Finlay the cat, who is quite a character, and will come to greet - and play fight - any guests. And partly for the owners, Sally Evans and husband Iain King.

Iain has a passion for bookbinding, and many of the books on the shelves are rare, old or out-of-print works that he has lovingly re-bound.

There's something thrilling about pulling a beautifully smooth book from the shelf, only to glimpse rough, deckle-edging between the cover. They're a little pricier than you'd expect a second-hand copy to be, but essentially, you're purchasing a work of art. These books have lovingly been given a second shot at life, deservingly preserved.

As well as modern paperbacks for a pound, there are also shelves of good-condition classics, including a fascinating children's section.

Sally is a poet, who has spent over thirty years in the Scottish poetry community. She also set up Diehard Poetry, which publishes a wide range of international poetry. Both Sally's own works and those of Diehard are available for purchase in the shop. I picked up a copy of Poetic Adventures in Scotland by Sally Evans, and Light Caught Bending by Martha Modena Vertreace. 

I was really lucky that Sally was in the bookshop when we visited, so I managed to get a signed copy, including the lovely Finlay. It really is a gem of a bookshop. If you're up Stirlingshire, do take time to drop in and brows.