Menoturals; The Bard As Countryman

This is a Nature Friday and Final Friday Feature post.

It is worth remembering that Rabbie Burns was born and bred to farm. He had a strong love for the countryside...

Many of his works allude to scenery, flora and fauna, and the interaction between Man and Nature. One of the many small things that caught his eye led to one of his most enduring poems. This was one of the pieces that my father would suddenly break into reciting when the mood took him!

If you would like to read the poem, click here! This poem engenders much imagery, not least the impressive sculpture on Poet's Walk, the pathway that joins the modern museum with the original cottage. It's HUGE! About eight feet tall - no sae wee or timorous!

At the cottage, we learn more about Burns' farming and family background. The cottage is now set up in period fashion, with animals at one end and people at the other...

Close quarters! It was blissful to sit in the paddock in the early autumn sunshine and listen to the birds and insects. 

I had been blessed with late September warmth and spent most of the day wandering through these places. Eventually, though, it was time to move, so back into The Grey and off we drove, finding a delightful parking spot in the hills near Crawfordjohn by a babbling burn and nary another sound. Sigh... nature. Nothing can beat it!