Portrait of Scotland

Portrait of

Scotland

First published in Great Britam in 1997 for Lomond Books

36 West Shore Road, Granton

Edinburgh EH5 IQD

Produced by Colin Baxter Photography Ltd.

Reprinted 1999

Text Copyright © Colin Baxter Photography Ltd 1997

Photographs Copyright © Colin Baxter 1997

All rights reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored

in a retrieval System or transmitted in any form or by any means

without the prior written permission of the publisher,

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 0 947782 87 7

Printed in Hong Kong

Front Cover Photograph: Eilean Donan Castle, Loch Duich.

Back Cover Photograph: Loch Kishorn and Loch Carron, Wester

Ross.

Page One Photograph: Loch Linnhe.

Portrait of

ScotlandPh o t o g r a p h s b y C o l i n B a x t e r

LOMOND BOOKS

EDINBURGH • SCOTLAND

Contents

Introduction Page 7

The Highlands and Islands Page 11

Argyll and the West Page 41

Eastern Scotland and the Borders Page 53

The Grampians and North East 5

Northern Landscapes Page 85

Index of Places Page 96

Culduie, Wester Ross (Ieft); Loch Lomond from the slopes of Ben Lomond (following page).

Portrait 0f Scotland

6

Introduction

How can you capture a portrait of Scotland on film?

Only by travelling its length and breadth in every season.

Scotland offers a variety of landscape and light out of all

proportion to its size. Its story grows out of the very

rocks of which it is made – from the gouging of glaciers

in the not-so-long ago Ice Age, to the rock cuttings made

for modern Highland roads. Its history and land use can

be read wherever you travel in the countryside.

There are contrasts at every turn. What could be more

different in texture than the cool grey glint of Grampian

granite from the warm honey sandstone of Edinburgh?

Or the red blocks which build Orkneys cliffs from the

pale quartz screes which stream off the anaent eroded

peaks of the far north-west? And if the very building

blocks of Scotland are so characteristic, then the land-

scapes they support reflect this, from the Southern

Uplands' lush river-valley woodlands to the endless

boggy moors of Caithness.

Rock, wood, pasture and moor are overlaid with a

pattern of land use which teils both of Scotland's past

and its present. The ruins of ancient Castles are the most

obvious signs of a martial story. But there are also more

subtle signs to look for, from the faint stripes of the

lazy-beds of a long-vanished rural Highland population

to the random, marbled pattern of an eastern Highland

grouse moor after years of annual heather burning.

There are few other places where such a sense of

continuity is woven into the landscape. The Scots pines,

with their open understorey of juniper and blaeberry,

surviving in places like Rothiemurchus below the

Cairngorms, are the descendants of trees which sheltered

bear and elk. The western seaboard, where the horizon-

profiles of far-flung islands alternately dissolve and

re-appear as the Atlantic squalls pass over, looks the

same now as it did when the Viking raiders and traders

named the high peaks of the island of Rum.

Rock forms, land use and a sense of permanency are

only some of the elements in the portrait. Yet another

factor is plain from a glimpse of a map of Europe.

Scotland is a tiny country, up at the bows of the

Continent, butting into the north Atlantic. On one side

are the mild but moist weather patterns sailing in from

the south-west. (This is why the lushest and most exotic

gardens are in the west, while many eastern extremities of

Scotland get less rain than, say, Rome.) The high

pressure and more stable Systems of the Continent lie

7

Portrait of Scotland

out to the east. Where do the two weather Systems, ocean

and Continental, meet? Somewhere in the Minch perhaps

today, or the central corridor around Stirling tomorrow,

or the Border hills next week.

Ever-changing, hour upon hour, the weather fronts

battle it out over the heads of the Scottish folk. They

accept both the warm gold of the late summer after

harvest and the cold silver of the Arctic blast, when clear

northern air brings into sharp focus mountains sixty

miles away (and more) from the viewer. In Scotland, the

quality of light owes everything to this essential

instability of the weather. It creates the palette of

rainbows and haloes, orange tints, rain-washed greens,

piercing blues and diffuse yellows which paints the land-

scapes as the year – or as the day – goes round.

However, we did not always appreciate this wonder-

fully visual element in the Scottish landscape. For most

of the 18th Century, for example, the wilderness of the

northlands was seen as a decidedly unromantic and fear-

ful place of savagery. Later, Sir Walter Scott helped

change the perception of Scotland, creating a mix of the

sentimental and the grand in his verse-narratives and

novels. Before him, the cult of the picturesque had

already taken root in the Romantic Age, with Coleridge

and Wordsworth just two of the Romantic poets who

ventured beyond the Highland line in the early 19th

Century. By that time, the first real tourists had already

journeyed north in search of the perfect Scottish picture,

which they composed in a suitably framed mirror, their

'viewing glass', which it was the fashion to carry with

them.

Painters, too, came to interpret Scotland in a

dramatic light, both as visitors, such as JMW Turner,

and as natives, like the Reverend John Thomson – a kind

of Sir Walter Scott in paint – or Horatio McCulloch

with his gloomy crags and Castles like scaled-up picture

postcards. In the 19th Century, they all responded emo-

tionally to the austere and unforgiving landscapes of

Highland Scotland, and influenced the way we perceive

the place today.

Yet any portrait of Scotland cannot be exclusively

Highland. Another angle is represented by, say, the

fishing villages of Fife, with their long struggle with

the sea and their architecture which speaks of ancient

trading links with the Low Countries. The wooded river

valleys and pastoral scenes of the Scottish Borders also

contribute to the picture. Essential Scotland also has to

encompass the livelmess of its cities: the style and

panache of Glasgow or the sheer theatricality of

Edinburgh. Industrial Scotland even has its own icon in

8


the shape of the Forth Rail Bridge, the epitome of

Victorian confidence and exuberance, and also a symbol

in steel of the grandeur and drama of Scotland.

The islands, too, have much to add to a complex and

many-faceted picture. Those of the Clyde estuary, such

as Arran, have for generations played a part as an escape

from the industry of the central corridor of Scotland.

Generations of Glaswegians, for instance, have trampled

the granite ridges of Goat Fell – or at least enjoyed the

view of its distinctive profile from the ferry.

Further to the west, the Inner Hebrides beckon with

all their varied charms: Islay of the glorious beaches, yet

a place busy with whisky distillenes; Mull with its grand

Castles and pastel-painted Tobermory; or Iona, Mull's

tiny neighbour, a place of pilgrimage exerting a pull on

thousands of visitors each year out of all proportion to

its size. On Colonsay, moor and pasture, woodland,

beach and cliff are just the right scale for the near-

perfect Hebridean island – irresistibly beguiling. Others

might argue that it is further out still, somewhere in the

long chain of the Western Isles, that the stronghold of

Gaelic culture is to be found.

Not all of Scotland's islands belong to the Celtic

world. Orkney and Shetland embrace a Norse heritage.

Orkneys cluster of islands has a greater concentration of

prehistonc Sites than anywhere else in Europe. At Skara

Brae you can glimpse the everyday life of the Orcadians'

ancient ancestors – a neolithic village, complete with

stone furniture. Beyond the horizon, beyond the Viking

stepping-stone of Fair Isle, Shetland is positively un-

Scottish, so near the surface lie its Norse roots.

Yet the traveller need not voyage so far. Some of

Scotland's finest landscapes can be seen almost from the

roadside at places like Glencoe or Torridon and many

other points in the West Highlands. The light that

bathes the hills has a special quality, making the heart

ache with its sheer unexpectedness and clarity and adding

atmophere and drama. Its effect can be equally

transforming on other rural and urban landscapes,

inviting the observer familiar with theses scenes to look

at them afresh. Small wonder the Romantic poets, the

painters and generations of ordmary folk have been

inspired by it.

Yes, Scotland really does look like these photographs.

This is one man's portrait of the country, capturing its

essence in the fleeting moments of light on the elements

of rock and water – austere, grand, inspiring or, more

likely, something beyond words.

Gilbert Summers

9

The Highlands and Islands

Loch Torridon, Wester Ross – looking west towards Liathach (left) and from Beinn Alligin (above).

11


Loch Hourn and Knoydart with Eigg and Rum in the background.

12


Skye and Raasay from near Applecross.

13


An Teallach and Strath Beag, Wester Ross.

14


Loch Ewe, Wester Ross.

15


'The Three Sisters', Glencoe.

16

The Higblands and Islands

Castle Stalker, Loch Linnhe and Kingairloch.

17


The Isle of Skye across Inner Sound.

18


Shieldaig, Wester Ross.

19


Strath Croe and the mountains of Kintail.

20


Nostie Post Office, Kyle, Wester Ross.

21


Summer Isles.

22


Stac Polly, Wester Ross.

23


Plockton and Loch Carron.

24


Beinn Sgritheall and Loch Hourn.

25


The remote Islands of St Kilda – Boreray and stacs (left), Hirta and Dùn (above).

27


Inverness and the River Ness.

28


Urquhart Castle and Loch Ness.

29


Quiraing, Isle of Skye.

30


The Cuillin Hills and Loch Scavaig, Isle of Skye.

31

The distinctive profile of the Island of

Rum seen from the golden sands of

Lòn Liath near Arisaig, Lochaber.


Eigg from Arisaig, Lochaber.

33


Tràigh Scarasta and Chaipaval, Harris.

34


Loch Druidibeg and Hecla, South Uist.

35


Ben-Damph and Loch Torridon, Wester Ross.

36


Vibrant golden colours at

the end of a rainbow near Alligin Shuas,

Upper Loch Torridon, Wester Ross.

37


Glen Affric and Loch Affric

– from the air with Beinn Fhada in the

distance (left), and in the last light of

late autumn (right).

38

.


39

Argyll and the West

Iona – looking across the Sound of Iona towards Loch Scridain and the Isle of Mull (left);

Iona Abbey bathed in the warm light of a November afternoon (above).

41


Inveraray Castle, Argyll.

42

Argyll and the West

Tarbert harbour, by Loch Fyne, Argyll.

43


Bridges over the River Clyde, Glasgow.

44

Argyll and the West

The warm sandstone colours of Glasgow's

tenement buildings alongside Great Western

Road, seen from the air.

45


The Islands of Gometra, Staffa and Iona.

46

Argyll and the West

Tobermory, Isle of Mull.

47


The Islands and shore of Loch Lomond in winter.

48

Argyll and the West

Loch Lomond from the air.

49


Oban harbour (above); Bàgh an Tigh-Stòir, Craignish, Argyll (right).

50

Eastern Scotland and the Borders

Glaniis Castle, Angus (left); St Cyrus, near Montrose (above).

53


Quothquan Law, South Lanarkshire.

54


Devonshaw Hill and the Upper Clyde Valley, South Lanarkshire.

55


The Bass Rock near North Berwick.

56


East Lothian and the Firth of Forth.

57


Jedburgh Abbey at dusk, Borders.

58


The Tweed Valley, Borders.

59


The Old Town and St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh.

60


Edinburgh City Centre and Arthur's Seat from the west.

61


Pittenweem, Fife (above); The Forth Bridge at dawn (right).

62

The Grampians and North East

Lochnagar and Balmoral Castle, Deeside (left); Fyvie Castle, Aberdeenshire (above).

65


A frosty morning near Nethybridge, Strathspey.

66

Morning mist in November across

Corriechuille near Grantown-on-Spey, with

the great bulk of the Cairngorm mountains

towering in the distance.


Loch Tummel and Schiehallion from the Queen's View.

68


Loch Laidon, Rannoch Moor.

69


Loch an Eilein, Rothiemurchus, Strathspey.

70

The Gratnpians and North East

The River Spey and Loch Insh, Strathspey.

71


Aberdeen Town House clock tower at dusk.

72


Aberdeen harbour and city.

73


The Cairngorm Mountains from the air.

74

Remnant Caledonian pine forest

dwarfed below the Cairngorm mountains

at Rothiemurchus, shieldmg the still waters

of Loch an Eilein.


Loch Tay, Perthshire.

76


The Falls of Dochart at Killin.

77


Glen Feshie, Cairngorms.

78


Looking south from Beinn Mheadhoin high in the Cairngorm mountains.

79


Glen Avon, near Tomintoul, Moray.

80


Corgarff Castle, Aberdeenshire.

81


The Lairig Ghru, Cairngorms, from the air (above), and from near Aviemore (right).

82


83


84

Northern Landscapes

Ardvreck Castle and Loch Assynt, Sutherland (left); Balnakeil Bay, Sutherland (above).

85


Gaada Stack, Foula, Shetland.

86

Northern Landscapes

Coppa Wick near Sandness on the west mainland of Shetland – the island of Papa Stour beyond.

87


Handa Island and Point of Stoer, Sutherland.

88

Northern Landscapes

Looking north from Handa towards the far north west corner of Sutherland – Cape Wrath.

89


Ben Hope and Loch Hope, Sutherland.

90

Northern Landscapes

Foinaven from Oldshoremore, Sutherland.

91


'The Old Man of Hoy', Orkney.

92

Northern Landscapes

The prehistoric village of Skara Brae, Orkney.

93


The northern landscape of Shetland – Breakon, Yell (above); Aith Voe, Mainland (right).

94

Northern Landscapes

95

Index of PlacesAberdeen 72, 73 Glen Avon 80 Nostie 21

Aberdeenshire 53, 64, 65, 81 Glencoe 16 Oban 50

Angus 52 Glen Feshie 78 Old Man of Hoy 92

AnTeallach 14 Gometra 46 Oldshoremore 91

Ardvreck Castle 84 Grampians 74 Orkney 92, 93

Argyll 40, 41, 42, 43, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51 Handa Island 88, 89 Perthshire 68, 69, 76

Arisaig 33 Harris 34 Pittenweem 62

Balmoral Castle 64 Hecla 35 Plockton 24

Balnakeil Bay 85 Inveraray Castle 42 Queen's View 68

Bass Rock 56 Inverness 28 Quiraing 30

Beinn Alligin 11 Iona 40, 41, 46 Raasay 13

Beinn Fhada 38 Jedburgh Abbey 58 Rannoch Moor 69

Beinn Mheadhoin 79 Killin 77 Rothiemurchus 70, 75

Beinn Sgritheall 25 Kingairloch 17 Rum 12, 32

Ben-Damph 36 Kintail 20 Schiehallion 68

Ben Hope 90 Knoydart 12 Shetland 86, 87, 94, 95

Ben Lomond 6, 49 Laing Ghru 82, 83 Shieldaig 19

Borders 58, 59 Liathach 10 Skara Brae 93

Cairngorms 67, 74, 75, 78, 79, 82, 83 Lochaber 32, 33 Skye 13, 18, 30, 31

Castle Stalker 17 Loch Affnc 38, 39 South Lanarkshire 54, 55

Chaipaval 34 Loch Assynt 84 South Uist 35

Clyde Valley 54, 55 Loch Carron 24 Stac Polly 23

Corgarff Castle 81 Loch Druidibeg 35 Staffa 46

Craignish 51 Loch an Eilein 70, 75 St Cyrus 53

Cuillin Hills 18,31 Loch Ewe 15 Stirlingshire 77

Culduie 4 Loch Hope 90 St Kilda 26, 27

Deeside 64 Loch Hourn 12, 25 Strath Beag 14

East Lothian 56, 57 Loch Insh 71 Strath Croe 20

Edinburgh 60, 61 Loch Laidon 69 Strathspey 66, 67, 70, 71

Eigg 12, 33 Loch Linnhe 17 Summer Isles 22

Falls of Dochart 77 Loch Lomond 6, 48, 49 Sutherland 84,85,88,89,90,91

Fife 62 Lochnagar 64 Tarbert 43

Foinaven 91 Loch Ness 29 Tobermory 47

Firth of Forth 56, 57, 63 Loch Scavaig 31 Torridon 10, 11

Forth Bridge 63 Loch Tay 76 Tràigh Scarasta 34

Foula 86 LochTorridon 10, 11, 36, 37 Tweed Valley 59

Fyvie Castle 65 Loch Tummel 68 Urquhart Castle 29

Glamis Castle 52 Moray 80 Wester Ross 4, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 19,21,

Glasgow 44, 45 Mull 40,47 22, 23, 24, 36, 37

Glen Affnc 38, 39 Nethybridge 66 Yell 94

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Portrait of Scotland

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