The Power of a Smile

 What sunshine is to flowers

Smiles are to humanity

These are but trifles, to be sure

But scattered along life's pathway

The good they do is inconceivable

                                                                                          Joseph Addison

    There is nothing better than seeing and hearing a baby gurgle with laughter. When we stick our heads into their pram, or crib, we talk silly, make faces and tickle them in an effort just to get that smile.

    I'm no doctor, but having read and experienced for myself, I can confirm that laughing is a tonic. Basically, because when we laugh and smile, endorphins, a group of hormones which hide themselves away in our brain and nervous system are released into our bodies.

    I would love to explain the ins and outs of what goes on, when these little guys go shooting into our system's. But, at the risk of repeating myself, I'm no doctor.

    Yes, we don't always have something to smile about, however even a stranger giving us a smile can lift our spirits.

    I read this morning about recent research, that has found that smiling can make us look two years older. Therefore, if we don't want those laughter lines ageing us, we'll need to go about with a poker face.

    Umm, I think I'll just keep the ever-growing number of crinkly lines at the sides of my eyes. I hope you have something to smile about today and if you can spare one, give it to someone else. They may need it more than you.

    So, remember today,

    A smile costs nothing, but gives a lot

    It enriches those who receive it

    Without making poorer those who give it

                                                                                                     Author unknown

   

Over the Sea to Pervyse

Mairi Chisholm and Elsie Knocker in the trenches

   

    A show I used to love on TV was M*A*S*H.The comedy show was based in an army hospital in the Korean War and featured the antics of the staff there. Life always became a lot more serious when they heard the helicopters approaching, it was time to knuckle down and get down to business. The business being to take care of the sick and wounded personnel being brought in from the front line.

    Getting medical treatment quickly was the difference between life and death, helicopters playing an important part in the service personnel's transfer. Otherwise, logistically it would have been more difficult, probably impossible in some instances.

    Thirty-six years before, WWI was being fought and transporting the wounded to receive the medical help they needed was slightly more difficult. It was also important to the cause that  those who had less serious injuries were required to take up their place in the trenches once again. Medical staff therefore had to be stationed as forward on the front line as possible.

    Medical staff being male, as women were expected to keep the home fires burning. However, some women did travel overseas to help, taking up their roles as nurses and ambulance drivers, some distance away from the dangerous battle-field.

        Two women, who became increasingly frustrated at their role's in the war, were Scottish nurse Mairi Chisholm and her English, friend Elsie Knocker. They knew they could help on the front line and did.

The beach, Nairn, hometown of Mairi Chisholm

    Eighteen-year- old Mairi and thirty-year-old Elsie travelled to Pervyse, Belgium, and were the only women on the Western Front. Carrying out their nursing roles under less than perfect conditions, gas attacks, shell and sniper fire, were part of every day life.

    Receiving, seventeen medals between them, including the Order of Leopold II, Knights Cross, awarded to them by King Albert of Belgium, in recognition of their bravery.

    These two women also known as the, Madonnas of Pervyse I wanted to mention because of their contribution to nursing. However, there are many nurses who will never be named, or receive medals for the great job they do each day. That's why we should pay tribute to all of them May,12th #International Nurses Day.





 WW1 image source:
www.IWM.org.uk/collections/item/object/2143

    Interested in finding out more about Mairi, or Elsie? https://www.amazon.co.uk/Elsie-Mairi-Go-War-Extraordinary/dp/1848091354 
 Book by Diane Atkinson 

His Devilish Watch

Main Hall

        The wooden floorboards creaked and groaned, each step I took echoed around the main hall of Cowane's Hospital, Stirling, when I visited there last week.  The eyes of the former, Deans of the Guild, in the paintings that adorn the walls seeming to follow my every move, adding to the ambiance of this already eerie 17th century building.

Exterior Cowane's Hospital

       On the death of John Cowane, a rich, local merchant, funds he had bequest were used to set-up this once charitable home for Guildry members of the burgh. The merchants who had fallen on hard times were expected to abide by certain rules and regulations on their stay here and are worth a read. www.cowanes.org.uk/cowanes-hospital-rules

Bowling Green

    A bowling-green which was used by the members sits between the building and the Old Town Jail, with wonderful views over the neighbouring countryside. The building has been used in the past as both a school and hospital. During a cholera outbreak in the city 1831-1832, Cowane's was used as an isolation unit. Considering, Stirling lost a third of its residents during this epidemic, the buildings location next to the Old Cemetery, may have been one of the factors that influenced the decision in it being brought back into use at this time.

John Cowane

     A statue of John Cowane watches over the entrance and is said to come alive on New Year's Eve, dancing along with the other revellers in the city. Ghost walks in the Old Town and paranormal investigations hosted in the hospital are always under his devilish watch.

    It is obvious that restoration is badly needed to the exterior and funds are being raised to do so. Pieces of history like this deserve to be conserved and I hope that the work planned to start next year returns the building and statue to its former glory. Making sure the people of the Royal Burgh can treasure it for the next 400 years.


www.cowanes.org.uk

    

The Zealot and the Two Marys

   

    Religion has played a strong part in the turbulent past of Scotland. In modern day society there is no place for bigotry, but I'm afraid that there are sporting occasions when it still does rear its ugly head.

    However,  thankfully we no longer take those who disagree with the majority on the day and execute them. This is what happened to two women from Wigton, Scotland in the seventeenth century, who refused to recognise that the then monarch, King James VII, as the head of the church.

    Found guilty of treason eighteen-year-old, Margaret Wilson and sixty-year-old Margaret McLachlan were sentenced to death by drowning. The two women met their fate on the Solway Firth, England, where they were tied to a stake and drowned by the incoming tide.

    While the two Margaret's have no connection to Stirling a local farmer and business man wanted to commemorate, Presbyterian martyrs and a monument was erected in memory of them in the, Old Town Cemetery, Stirling in the nineteenth century.

    It's an amazing monument and when I came across it the other day, I could hardly take my eyes off it. The angel watching over the two women, makes a powerful statement.

   

Written in the Scars

The Church of Holy Rude, Stirling

   Built high on sandstone rock overlooking the Forth Valley in Scotland, sits  the second oldest building in Stirling, the Church of Holy Rude. The oldest building being, Stirling Castle, sits majestically on the neighbouring  promontory.

     I visited the church the other day and the blue sky and icy cold west wind that blasted my face, seemed to make the beauty that surrounded me more outstanding.

Stirling Castle

    The Holy Rude, which was built in the twelfth century, is the only church apart from,Westminster Abbey, where a coronation has taken place that still continues to function as a place of worship.

    Following the abdication of his mother, Mary Queen of Scots, one-year-old James Stuart was crowned, King James VI of Scotland here. Also being the great-grandson of King Henry VIII, James went on to become King of England and Ireland on the death of Queen Elizabeth I.

The Ochil Hills, from the church-yard

  During turbulent times between Scotland and England, Lieutenant-General George Monck led English troops southwards, after defeating the Scots at Perth in 1651. Under the orders of Oliver Cromwell, Monck's army attacked Stirling Castle and the tower of the church still bear the marks of musket shot.

    The church and its yard are steeped in history and the story is written for all to read in its scars. I will be writing more about this area in forthcoming blogs. For now, I'll leave you with some of the pictures I took of the church, its yard and surroundings. I hope you enjoy.

   

I Can See Clearly Now!

    I can remember as a kid there were days when the fog never seemed to lift. Walking to school I had to wear little luminous armbands on cold winter mornings over my coat, so I was clearly visible to traffic. Of course, the fog wasn't just caused by the freezing cold conditions in Scotland, but by the smoke that filled the air. Our homes were heated by coal fires and the power stations that generated our electricity were also coal fired, therefore polluting the atmosphere.

    The first such, UK, power station  was opened in 1882 and the country became heavily dependent on coal not just for heat and power but for our steel industry. Power stations like the one in the picture, Longannet, was designed with a working life expectancy of 25 years, however closed in March 2016 after 46 years in service.

    The British Government, announced last year that they will phase out all coal fired stations by the year 2025.The National Grid, provider of our electricity, last week managed to supply the country with electricity for one whole day without using coal. Utilising alternative methods, such as, wind turbines and solar panels.

    Twenty-four hours, seems a drop in the ocean, but it is important for the whole of the human race that we find efficient replacements to provide us with the energy our homes, towns and cities crave for.  Even if the steps we're taking to clean our air are baby, there can be no going back.

    

   

Voice in the Wilderness

Dunbar

    One hundred and seventy-nine years ago the Naturalist, environmentalist and author John Muir was born in Dunbar, Scotland.

Callendar Park, Falkirk

    Whilst born in Scotland John Muir is an adopted son of the US, moving there with his family at the age of eleven. In recognition of his work, trails named after him can be found both in America and Scotland. He was a man who in my view was ahead of his time. He knew that the preservation of nature was important to the existence of mankind.

Edinburgh

   There are two hundred and ten miles of trail in the United States to be hiked, through spectacular parks and countryside. In Scotland there are one hundred and thirty-four miles of equally beautiful countryside to be explored, by foot, bike and even on horseback in certain places.

South Queensferry

    I don't have pictures available of places along the US route however, I do have many of the places incorporated in the Scottish trail, which I've included today.

Linlithgow

   John Muir's books include the titles, The Yosemite, My First Summer in the Sierra and Travels in Alaska.

Helix Park, Falkirk

 
Please also read  my previous post https://devilslayingamongstotherthings.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/coming-home.html