Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond

Hi everyone............................just a quick post to let you know I am back from the most fabulous week.... right on the Banks of Loch Lomond. We were so lucky with the weather as the temperatures were always in double figures and mainly dry with short sunny showers. On the one day that it did rain we had a pyjama day and read our books...then went for a meal in the evening..........delicious !!!

We were right on the edge of the loch and the scenery was breathtaking. I have always had a love affair with  Loch Lomond  and the beautiful song, though I  do prefer the more traditional version than  that of the band Runrig.  

Wilkipedia informs the composer of Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond is unknown and that 'there are many theories about the meaning of the song, most of which are connected to the Jacobite Uprising of 1745. One interpretation based on the lyrics is that the song is sung by the lover of a captured Jacobite rebel set to be executed in London following a show trial. The heads of the executed rebels were then set upon pikes and exhibited in all of the towns between London and Edinburgh in a procession along the "high road" (the most important road), while the relatives of the rebels walked back along the "low road" (the ordinary road travelled by peasants and commoners).^[7]

Another interpretation of the 'Low Road' is that it refers to the traditional underground route taken by the 'fairies' or 'little people' who were reputed to transport the soul of a dead Scot who died in a foreign land - in this case, England - back to his homeland to rest in peace.^[8][7]

The Hanoverian British victors were known to play cruel games on the captured Jacobites, and would supposedly find a pair of either brothers or friends and tell them one could live and the other would be executed, and it was up to the pair to decide. Thus the interpretation here is that the song is sung by the brother or friend who chose or was chosen to die. He is therefore telling his friend that they will both go back to Scotland, but he will go on the 'low road' or that of the dead, and be home first. Another supporting feature of this is that he states he will never meet his love again in the temporal world, on Loch Lomond. Some believe that this version is written entirely to a lover who lived near the loch'.

As you travel up towards Tarbet, at the top of the loch, the landscape changes and becomes very atmospheric. 

Sunrise

 Sunrise again

 Below you can just make out Ben Lomond  to the right of the tree

 Walking  by the Loch......................honestly Lynne...I am not singing :-)

Sky at dusk and as it was taken from inside you can also see a ghostly picture of me reflecting on the glass

A trip to Balmaha where we popped in to The Oak Tree Inn for yet another cream tea !! Their inglenook fire was just stunning and there were lots of vintage pieces everywhere you looked. Another room had china teacups hanging from every beam on the ceiling and  china saucers/plates  on the walls.............will certainly go back there.

 Feathered friends who visited twice daily for supper and breakfast..........!!! They also thoroughly enjoyed some bread from one of the finest hotels that just happened to slip in to my napkin when we were having dinner....oops !!!!

Take Care and Best Wishes xx