All Places Sacred to the Muse

 

Edinburgh

   There have been so many writers whose lives have been cut short, one such writer was Robert Louis Stevenson, who passed away at the age of 44-years-old due to bronchial problems. However, the contribution he made to the world of literature undoubtedly didn't leave us feeling deprived. 

A Stevenson Light, NMS

    He wasn't interested in making a living in his family's business of lighthouse engineering, but a man who could use his life's experiences and put them into words that resonated with the reader.

Anstruther, Fife

    Many of his books, essays and poetry brought his love of travel, Scotland and the sea to the forefront. Whatever his family may have thought about him abandoning his career within their business, the time he spent travelling and studying engineering certainly didn't go to waste either.

Harbour at St Andrews, Fife

    For example, his visits to the coastal villages and towns of Fife and other parts of Scotland were mentioned and brought to life in his works. One place being, Anstruther which was included in the Education of an Engineer, Across the Plains and another, the old Hawes Inn, South Queensferry, near Edinburgh where he was born featured in Kidnapped.
     Like Anstruther, all places were sacred to the muse.

The Hawes Inn, South Queensferry

 



"Anstruther is a place sacred to the muse"
The Education of an Engineer: More Random memories, in and Across the Plains - Robert Louis Stevenson


#RobertLouisStevenson

The Price You Paid

The Peebles Quadrangle (War Memorial)

On this special day,

Many of us will bow our heads and pray.

Whether we join together and form a crowd,

To demonstrate that we are proud.

Or, quietly at home take time to reflect,

It is our way of showing respect.

You gave us our freedom.

Your courage was selfless, but the price was high for your wisdom.

The love you had for your country was proven by your refusal to yield.

Resulting you paying with your life on the battlefield.

For that, we shall always remember,

On this day and forever.

The Peebles Quadrangle (B N H Orphoot 1922)

#remembranceday #foreverremember

Walking with the Dinosaurs

Carving of a Mammoth

    Whether you believe we were put on this planet by, something, someone, arrived in a spaceship or in Darwin's theory that we evolved from other non-complex life-forms.
  

Squirrel

    Our being is somewhat a mystery and causes much debate amongst scientific, religious and ethical communities.

Tyrannosaurus Rex

    Going along to a museum and looking at the skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus Rex and then looking at the mammals of various kinds that live in the here and now with us is most definitely fuel for an author's imagination.

Various dinosaurs and mammals

El Dia de Los Muertos

Statue in Grounds of Abbotsford House

We loved you while you were here,

We cried when we realised you would no longer be near.

Time moves on.

So does life even although you are gone.

We now want to remember you and the times we had.

It's time to celebrate without being sad.

Garlands and wreaths make a flowery bed.

We will honour you today, the Day of the Dead.

#DayoftheDead

The Deil is Knocking

The Deil he knocks on the door and waits.

While the rest of the world contemplates.

He watches and grabs every opportunity,

To cause trouble for just one of us or even a whole community.

Beware this night of Halloween.

Because it's either Heaven or Hell no between.

Food for Thought

Rev. Henry Duncan

    Each morning there are individuals, parents, grandparents and carers throughout the world who wake up and wonder how they're either going to feed themselves or those in their care that day.They may have a temporary crisis or a long-term one, due to illness, homelessness, unemployment and need to turn to a food bank.

    While the concept has come to the forefront this century there have been soup kitchens, food cooperatives and various other ways for charitable organisations to distribute food to the needy.

    I can personally remember of a food cooperative in the next village distributing food to the miners and their families back in 1984/85. They were suffering hardship due to the year-long industrial action by the National Union of Coal miners, which was the biggest of its kind in the UK since the General Strike of 1926.

    However, on my recent visit to Dumfries and Galloway, I came across a statue of a Rev. Henry Duncan of Ruthwell. The impressive sculpture adorning the front of a red stone building in the town instantly made me want to find out more about the man.

St Andrews University

    A well-educated man, having studied at St Andrews University and in Liverpool, Henry Duncan put his banking career behind him and returned to Scotland to study for the religious ministry in both the Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh.

    But just as there are poverty stricken families today, there were also many in the 18th and 19th-centuries. Rev.Henry Duncan recognised that his poorer parishioners in Ruthwell, Dumfries and Galloway where he was now a minister, needed help. Coaxing and cajoling some of the wealthier parishioners into backing him, from a small cottage in his parish he distributed food and grain to the very poor.

    He also recognised that with help it is possible to turn lives around and from the same cottage he used his background of banking to set up a Friendly Society. Here savers received a healthy return on whatever little they managed to put by, and his model was the pioneer for the savings-bank we know today.

    He also was a writer, editor, publisher and founder of the Dumfries and Galloway Courier, a weekly newspaper published now known as the Dumfries Courier and published by the DNG media Group.

    A man I was glad I had taken the time to find out about.  


#WorldSavingsDay  #poverty #povertyisunnessary

Products of the Author's Imagination

Rear-Admiral Thomas Cochrane

    As a writer, I love to find out what inspired, or inspires the fictitious characters of other writers. Was it a grumpy neighbour, family member, old school friend or maybe even the local barista? The writer may not use all of their traits but their little idiosyncrasies sometimes can unintentionally creep in and become part of the players characteristics.

    One individual who is said to have inspired C.S Forester's, Horacio Hornblower and Patrick O'Brian's, Captain Jack Aubrey, is Royal Naval officer Thomas Cochrane. Although a naval hero who was known as the 'Wolf of the Seas' by the French during the Napoleonic wars, he also had a questionable reputation. Which may not have been something so unusual in those bygone days.

    I came across a statue of him in the town of Culross, the other week and it was good to put a face to the character even he was a 'product of the author's imagination.'