Band money
I found this envelope on the kitchen floor, and it made me think that maybe I spent my own working life in the wrong business.
Hamish and offspring
Hamish is a bull – a pedigree Highland bull. He lives in a field in the Trossachs, outside the Trossachs Woollen Mill about a mile north of Callander.
His full name is Hamish McKay Denovan, he’s been on TV and he has his own Facebook page where he has over 270 friends.
If we’re on the way north to climb hills or stay somewhere in the campervan, we usually stop at the Woollen Mill for a coffee and smoko, and it’s while we’ve been parking the van there that I’ve noticed what a fantastic attraction Hamish is for the tourists. Many touring bus trips stop at the retail outlet and the tourists actually run over from their buses to take photos of Hamish. They also buy vegetable blocks from the shop so that they can feed him, and they get quite excited about seeing highland cattle. Hamish does very well, and so does the Mill shop.
These sorts of things are exactly what tourists, and children, like to see, and there’s nothing wrong with that at all. It’s part of the Scottish heritage.
What I visited Edinburgh Castle a few weeks back I didn’t see any people in kilts or highland outfits, and no-one playing bagpipes. Maybe there were some men wearing kilts, but I certainly didn’t see them. This is a shame, as the place heaves with tourists, and they surely would be delighted to see such things. At every tourist attraction we visited in China, back in May, there were local people in traditional dress, either acting as guides, or selling things, or dancing or just walking around, and they looked beautiful.
Once whilst waiting for folk to wander aimlessly in the woolen mill place, I sat down on the grass near Hamish once and drew the quizzical stares of the locals. “There is a man sitting still cross legged on the grass,” they said pointing over at me. What Scotland needs is more meditators, not folk dressed up to look like idiots!
Did any of the tourists try to feed you one of Hamish’s vegetable cakes? What did Hamish think of the competition?
Your description makes me want to go there, although I don’t know that I’d feed the bull. I would be delighted to ser guys in kilts, though, and have coffee in the restaurant of that mill. The mill’s websIte might make it easier if they posted a map. Guess folks know where to find them without it. They can look for the mill by the bull.
Hi Kay. You’re right – there is no map. There should always be a map.
Yesterday at the foot of arthurs seat there was a complete pipe band. But they were from Canada.
Well done for spelling Callander correctly. On the motorway from Edinburgh to stirling there’s an official sign for the turn off to The Trossachs and “Callendar”.
Not a lot of people know that.
What is it that makes the Scots Scottish? And if you think of Scotland or its inhabitants what is the first thing that springs to mind? The history and the clans perhaps? The beautiful landscape? The castles ? The bagpipes? The Highland Games? Or is it whisky? Fact is that you are likely to find some unique features in Scotland and its people that you won’t find easily, and originally, anywhere else in the world. For most outsiders Scotland is about clans, battles, kilts, tartan etc. It must be said though that this image is up to a certain point valid for the Highland/Gaelic area but doesn’t include the lowlands of Scotland although most people, and specially the tourist agents, want us to belief that. But let’s start with the typical images some of us have and deal with the other things that make the Scots Scottish later.