29 April Glen Trool 2

Land of the brown heath and shaggy wood,
Land of the mountain and of the flood,
Walter Scott

Eight of us drove into Galloway and gathered at Bruce’s Stone in Glen Trool. The intention of the day was to traverse the Awful Hand range from north to south but the view of the fog-covered hills as we drove southward and the forecast of later rain caused a change of mind. We would now stay low and hope the rain would stay away.
Jimmy, who knows the area well, suggested a couple of routes that would keep us reasonably low and yet give some superb views. We took his advice for we are mostly novices in this part of the world and, in some cases, complete Glen Trool virgins. He also warned us that part of the route would be through a wet, boggy area (what else could we expect from a Jimmy walk?) but we were all willing to try it anyway. So off we went.

We started up the Merrick hill path towards Culsharg bothy, Robert and Jimmy leading the way. At one point, we were strung in Indian file along the narrow path. ‘Reminiscent of a canal cycle’, said a voice from the rear, ‘All you can see is the a*** of the person in front’. At this point we had to agree – if you weren’t watching your footing, you were trying to avoid running into the back of the person climbing in front. And we continued like this for half a mile or so with the path climbing, narrow and steep, beside the Buchan burn into the hanging valley.
When the slope eased and the path widened sufficiently to allow side-by-side progress, we were into the trees so still could see nothing. But, at least we weren’t staring at each other’s backsides now. Then the trees ended and we found ourselves in the wide valley of Culsharg with the bothy barely a hundred yards in front of us. We stopped at the bothy for coffee.
Somebody was in the bothy when we arrived. A chap from down south had spent the night there and was for the Merrick in the afternoon. He was still determined even after we told him the forecast was for hill fog and rain. Not everybody is as sensible as we are. We hoped he would enjoy himself and left him to it.
Davie led the way upward from the bothy, still following the Merrick path, on to the forest road. Here we met the tree planters, two older men, two young men and a lassie. They were carrying out an experimental planting of hardwoods on the Merrick path with both native and exotic species. They were armed today with sacks full of Tealeaf Willow (Salix Phylicifolia). ‘There are only five examples of Tea-leaf Willow in Galloway’, said the one who appeared to know, with a modicum of pride in his voice. Yet he didn’t seem unduly concerned by the fact he was about to ruin the rarity value of the other specimens. We let them to go about their business and turned left along the forest road.
This was new territory for all except Jimmy. A lot of the more mature forest has been felled now and the clearing afforded us a good view back down the hanging valley towards Glen Trool. The cloud hung on the top of Lamachan and the glen looked dismal in the dull light. We were glad of our change of mind.
Amongst the clear-fell, dead trees stood up like totem poles. Many and varied were the reasons put forward for leaving these but the consensus was that they were left for the benefit of wildlife – for perches for birds of prey, rotting wood for insect food, feeding stations for insectivore birds etc.. This must be true for it was the conclusion arrived at by two independent think tanks of Ooters. It’s amazing what we can turn our intellect to now that it isn’t taken up with filling up teaching paperwork. And we turned our intellect to many things as we walked along the forest road.
A mile or so after talking to the tree planters, we left the road. Now came Jimmy’s wet, boggy bit. There was a path of sorts, which Jimmy said was the route of the Merrick hill race. But it was a rudimentary path, formed only by the feet of the runners. Yet it was not as wet nor as boggy as he led us to believe and, with the trees felled, gave us good views out over the Moors of Wigtownshire. We walked along the path, in single file again, until we came to a wee heathery top where we halted for the view.

This was the Fell of Eschonchan and, even in these overcast conditions, the view was superb for so little effort. We looked down on Loch Trool snaking away westward towards the Wigtownshire Moors, and eastward to the Glenhead of Trool. The dark green tree-clad slopes of Muldonach rose on the other side of the loch and Lamachan behind this was now free of its blanket of cloud. Curlywee, Millfore, Craiglee and the Rig of the Jarkness formed the eastern skyline. Below this, ran the pass to Loch Dee and the road through this that we followed for White Laggan bothy (11/7/07) was pointed out. The fresh spring green of the ancient oak wood filled the base of the glen and ran down to the Englishman’s Holm and the loch. And a hint of sun dappled the glen floor and silvered the falls of the Gairland burn. Were we to regret our change of mind? Were we heck! Behind us, Benyellery and Merrick still brooded under a mass of boiling cloud and the valley of Culsharg was dark and sombre. We were happy to continue the way we were.
We dropped steeply from Eschonchan top, being careful of underfoot conditions, and came quickly to the car park at Bruce’s Stone.

But the day was young and the rain seemed far away so the walk wasn’t finished yet. We turned our footstep down the track to the Buchan Brig. A brief halt on the Buchan Brig to view the falls and read Scott’s stanza from ‘The Lay of the Last Minstrel’ and we were off again. Still on the road yet, we continued past Buchan, over the Gairland bridge and on towards Glenhead Farm. Then we left the farm road to follow the Sustrans route that runs through to Loch Dee. We were in tow groups now, Robert, Johnny, Davie and Jimmy in the advanced with Ian, Ronnie, Allan and Paul bringing up the rear. But the fast waited for the slow on the bridge over the Glenhead Burn where we joined The Southern Uplands Way. We would take the westerly branch.
Robert led us uphill beside the forest of Muldonnach. Somebody suggested lunch but Jimmy thought it better to wait for ten minutes until we got to The Steps o’ Trool where we could make use of the duckboards as a seat. This was thought sensible. (That made twice today when Jimmy has been accused of being sensible.) But, before we could make the Steps, the promised rain hit. Lunch was taken in two groups crouched under the trees at the steps for the boardwalk was exposed to the worst of the rain. We sat and watched as the downpour swept up the loch.
The rain was to continue for a while yet. We left the lunch stop, suitably waterproofed, and followed the path westward through the trees. Sometimes there were gaps in the forest and we could look out over the loch but the views over to the other side were washed out by the incessant rain. We were glad now that we didn’t take to the hill today.
The path brought us close to the loch side. Jimmy and Davie, both veterans of this walk, had us diverted away from the main path onto a wee pine-covered promontory for they said this gave a superb view of the loch. This was Jimmy’s favourite picnic spot and it certainly was a super wee area with a great view of the loch running eastward into its hills. But the rain was still on so not too long was spent admiring the view. We came back across the peninsula, through the grove of mature Scots Pines, to find the main path again.
Glen Trool Lodge sat on the other side of the water. Two large rhododendrons in full flower took the attention, spectacular even through the rain. Johnny suggested we would see them better when we passed later but Jimmy said this was the best view. We had to take his word.
The main path was followed upward and downward to Caldons. Another diversion was made to view the martyr’s grave. This was where five covenanters*, James Dun, Robert Dun, John Stevenson, James McLive and Andrew McCall were surprised at worship and were shot and buried. The enclosed grave sits among the trees of the ancient oak wood and is worth a couple of hundred yards diversion to visit.

Back on track again, we followed the road over the Trool and took the path through more clear-fell and into a wood of mature spruce. Ian and Ronnie dallied at the rear. We thought they might want to be alone so left them to it and walked on into the forest. But sympathy for the pair overcame our natural instincts and we waited for them to catch up. We were all together again, at least until the bottom of the slope up to Bruce’s Stone.
We were back on the road and the walking was good. We thought perhaps the climb to the stone would be taken easily as well but Johnny had different ideas. He took off like a man possessed. Only Davie, being dragged along by Holly, went with him. But even he had to concede as the slope took its toll and Johnny was left to race out the remaining few hundred metres to the car park on his own.

The only problem with a visit to Glen Trool is the lack of nearby watering holes. We had to return to Minishant for FRT today but, as usual, it was worth it.

Distance: 14.1 km

*A history lesson for those interested in such things

Covenanters
The history of the Covenanters is long and complex. They took their name from the a document called the Solemn League and Covenant signed in Greyfriars Kirk, Edinburgh in 1643 and culminated in a period known as the Killing Times in the late 1680’s.
During the reign of the Catholic James VII, a system of Episcopy was imposed on the Scottish Presbyterian church with Episcopal ministers enforced on the congregation. Those who disagreed with this left the church and formed their own congregations. These were then outlawed in order to get the people to accept the Episcopalian system. The Presbyterian Covenanters then met in outdoor meetings called Conventicles. The army was employed to hunt down these Conventicles and to impose an oath of allegiance to the king and his religious policy. If they refused to take this oath, they were summarily shot. They were refused burial in sanctified ground so were buried in the place they were shot. This is the reason that covenanters monuments are in remote areas.
Three of the most barbaric of the covenanter hunters were Graham of Claverhouse (Bloody Claver’se), Greirson of Lagg and Cornet William Douglas. One or more of these three names will crop up on most martyrs stones in the country.
The Killing Times ended with the Glorious Revolution when James VII was replaced on the throne by the protestant Mary II and William II.

Old Mortality
Old Mortality was the epithet given to Robert Paterson who, in the middle of the eighteenth century, left his wife and family to travel the country erecting headstones over the graves of the covenanters. When he was an old man he was introduced to Water Scott who named his novel of covenanting times after him. Many of Paterson’s original stones still stand in situ but the Caldons one has been removed to Dumfries museum to avoid the effects of vandalism.

Report by Jimmy
Photos by Johnnie
3D map by Paul