SANDY’s OFFBEAT HISTORY
Some say that Glen Affric is “the Most Beautiful glen Scotland.”Its a moot point, considering that virtually all Scottish glens are beautifull – each with own cutural and physical characteristics. But few, if any Scottish Glens can match thephysical and much celebrated cultural status of the Trossachs. As a native of the Trossach’s I am surely biased. However, I can speak some authority on the matter former forest worker who worked in several highland districts from Stirlingshire to Ross and Cromarty. My sincere apologies if I have unwittlingly blockeda few of Scotland’s best viewpoints of wildlands with magnificent forests that have unexpectedly grown tall so quickley!
One of the most valuable skills that I learned, while cloistered in a three of the Forestry Commission bothies, was basic land surveying and drawing maps –a most valuable and skill that has served me well on my many treksthrough Europe and North America these past six decades, or so.
One of my most memorable treks was day’s hikefrom the forestry bothy in Cannich to Glen Shiel and Morvicand back to Cannich in a day. – a round trip of about 80 Km or so. As of 2015, the route is known as itThe Glen Affric and Kintail Way.
I planned this hike to toughen me up for a mountaineering expedition to Iceland in 1962. Although for one who earned a hard and poorly paid living draining sodden hills;cuttingdown birch trees with an axe; and doing the work normally done by a small horse by dragging the logs to a road side;all for the purpose of restoring Glen Arklet’s famous Caledonian Pine forest.
By the time got to east end of Beinn Flada could just barely see the dim light of Alltbeithe bothy sat down beside the path to the magnificence of the mountains in the moonlight their hillside – some of lower slopes dotted with black cattle and,beside the path, a few resting sheep.
When I was about to resume my journey, I scuffed the slightly muddy path with boots and was surpised by streak short-lived, tiny bursts of bright light. I pick some of the soil up and discovered could make it glow in my hands and even on the cuffs of sleaves. The glow was created by a colony of bioluminescencent bacteria. It made think of the legendary 7th century Trossach’s lad St. Fillan; famous his glowing arm left arm.
Legend has it that a maid was sent to call St. Fillan to supper, when she reach his abode, she peeked through a chink in the wall and saw what she thought was a glowing arm. Hence was born the legend of St. Fillan’s glowing arm.
Perhaps what she actually saw was a chunk of meat that glowed. For in an age before refridgerators, meat that was hung up on hooks and after some started to acquire little spots of glowing light. For example,the eminent Scottish chemist Robert Boyle wrote in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, London, (volume 7, pages 5108- 5116 (1672)
“....to observe, whether any other meat ..within less than 48 hours of that, at Lumniousless of the Veal had first taken notice of; for at this time there was; in the same larder a conspicuous light seen in the Pullet (hen) that hung up there, which have caused to be brought up into a darkened place in my chamber in the night time, I percieved four or five luminous places...... near the rump and that which appear most like a Spark of fire, shone at the very tip .....”
At the risk of upsetting the applecart, it sounds a lot like what the St. Fillan’s maid saw (and perhaps exaggerated the brightness of the bioluminescent bacteria.
Bioluminescences is quite common in the natural world, such as fish and other creatures in the sea; flora and on land. For example, in Scotland there’s a blue-green glowing mushrooms we call Firefox or Fairy Fire.There’s much research aimed at the practicul uses of bioluminescencs;such aspasting genetic biobricks onto street trees that one day may light up mainstreet of Aberfoyle – thus reducing dependence on electricity.
So let’s thank our famous Trossach’s Saint with the Glowing Arm who lighteth the way for the science of bioluminescencens.