I bought this book during our Scottish holiday, some months ago. I have been deliberately saving it, not wanting to spend my Scottish currency all in one go, as it were but, as the moment for booking our annual Scottish holiday approaches, I thought the time might be ripe to refresh the memories and provide a little inspiration. Continue reading
Tag Archives: ring of bright water
Booking Through Thursday – It’s all About Me
An interesting meme:
Which do you prefer? Biographies written about someone? Or autobiographies written by the actual person (and/or ghost-writer)?
I have to admit to a wariness wrt biographies, auto or otherwise. To date the few autobiographies which I have ventured to read were ghost-written and, not to put too fine a point on it, uniformly dire. Continue reading
Camusfeàrna – Literary Expedition #3, Part II
Or perhaps I should call it ‘Extreme Literary Expedition;’ since it makes my so-called ‘Extreme Reading’ look only ‘Extremely Tame.’ Also, I know that this is quite possibly going to take off in the direction of a Scottish Forestry Commission directed rant, leaving the literary connection dead in the water. I’m done disclaiming, here is the story… such as it is:
Following our visit to the Bright Water Museum, and the discovery that the ‘Camusfeàrna’ of Ring of Bright Water is Sandaig Bay, the expedition was mounted the next day. The last mile or so is accessible only on foot: great disappointment on finding a forestry commission sign announcing that the walk was closed.
Continue reading
Kylerhea, Kyleakin & Eilean Bàn – Literary Expedition #3, Part I
During our recent visit to the Glenshiel region of Scotland, multiple references, to Ring of Bright Water and Gavin Maxwell, began to register on my literary radar.
Our first small step on the Ring of Bright Water pilgrimage was a visit to the otter hide at Kylerhea, which rewarded us with a glimpse of honest to goodness, if distant, real live otters.
Step two was at Kyleakin. Having seen the OH striding off into the mountainous distance, the girls and I set off for the Bright Water Museum, ostensibly in the interests of the children. Full of activities for children it was a great way to spend an hour of a wet Scottish morning. Also a fascinating memorial to GM. Ring of Bright Water is just one of Gavin Maxwell’s multi-faceted works of autobiography. It tells of his life at Camusfeàrna with his otters. The museum displayed a copy of the manuscript of Ring of Bright Water, and I was also interested to learn that Gavin Maxwell (and his otters) spent their last few years on Eilean Bàn, which is not only an island but a part of the foundation for the Skye Bridge. Access is only possible by booking a guided tour at the museum. I am not a big fan of the guided tour, but I wish I had made an exception on this occasion.
However, more compelling for me, the revelation of the location of ‘Camusfeàrna,’ from whence, and of which, he wrote Ring of Bright Water.
The museum was also equipped with money-spending options designed to appeal to younger customers. And older ones. Since it is a wicked long time since I borrowed Ring of Bright Water from the library, and I recall very little, I did feel perfectly justified in acquiring my own personal copy. The first chapter, which is all I permitted myself to read at the time, made an irresistable argument for a further literary expedition…
