Thursdays election can't come soon enough. After five weeks with politics dominating the air waves people are ready to vote. We've seen a few posters in town but yesterday we spot the first party political sign out here in the countryside. I'd reckon a dozen people, twenty tops, will pass it during the day.
Swallows nesting under the church eaves. They swoop and do barrel rolls as we pass by. Swallows always make us smile and are a sure sign that all is well with the world.
In the churchyard a strand of ancient yews were cut down fifty or so years ago to make room for a burial.
Farthings and halfpennies ( when was the last time you saw a farthing or a halfpenny ?) have been pressed into what's left of the yew stumps. The fact the coins haven't been stolen is a reminder that in rural parts the 'auld' traditions and offerings linger. The church has been here for 900 years, the yews probably a whole lot longer. Yews are special things in these parts.
The church itself is one of those quiet delights. The farmers wives ensure that the war memorials are carefully polished, the wreaths dusted, and the windows washed every month. There's a Lorimer baptismal font with a wonderfully carved owl on the lid. A smattering of freshly planted and ever so slightly wind bent aquilegia line the path to the door. The table cloth on the table is always freshly ironed. A dog bed and water bowl by the entrance porch hint that the farmers wives don't come alone. The church is a greatly loved, if poorly attended, old lady. On a morning like this it's warm inside with a lingering smell of Pledge furniture polish in the air. There's a Dutch Nissan in the car park. A young couple and two toddlers ask if they can look inside. The children giggle and the mother tells them to be quiet. The toddlers giggle again.
Back in town a group of Spanish tourists have got off the first bus from Edinburgh. They're well wrapped up against the chill of a Scottish summer. It used to be that tourists headed south from cold northerly climes. Now, with climate change, there's two way traffic. After the unrelenting heat of Madrid a spell of cool , wet, weather has a special allure.So starts a Tuesday morning in a quiet- and slightly overcast- corner of Scotland.
9 comments:
There is a battle of competing election banners in adjacent fields near our market town. A large yellow SNP banner v. a blue Conservative one. At the last election there were 500 votes between them, with the Conservative being the sitting MP, so feelings are running high. Each banner has been destroyed multiple times, and replaced each time with an even more highly reinforced version. Hilarious and sad at the same time.
Oh how we envy your six week election cycle.
That is certainly a glowering sky over the election poster. Small village and rural churches have a charm and personality that most of the large and well visited cathedral sized edifices lack. They are personal both in size and presentation. Maybe that doesn't speak to the glory of god but it says a lot about the community.
What a beautifully written post, Angus.
Sad about the grove of yews being cut down; they are so beautiful. What's the tradition of pushing coins into the stumps about? Is it a simple offering?
Rottrover - Old Druid ways still exist in rural parts.
Such a lovely start to Tuesday. The auld traditions are very heartwarming.
Travel, so true. 2028 is already being discussed.
Thanks, Angus.
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