A SCOTTISH TOUR

A SCOTTISH TOUR

Link to the Essential Scotland - Scottish Tour glossy picturebook

A SCOTTISH TOUR

By Scottish Andrew

SALTIRE

Born in a dream of Scottish unity

St Andrew promises victory

With impunity

Over the massed English foes

At Athelstaneford

And in the morn

A nation was born

As the cloudy cross

Stretched in the blue sky

Above the battle

That decreed the Apostle

Was for Scotland

TARTAN

Colourful districts

A patchwork of fate

A full-blooded charge

Like a river in spate

The claymore and pibroch

The plaid and the croft

The spirit on free wings

Flying aloft on the tide of time

A family of the Clan

The great glens of Man

In a dance that longs to be home

MOUNTAINS

The mist covered mountains

And peat water glens

The ancient bones

With fingers of pine

The stag and the coast

The wandering ghost

Awaiting a sign

The croft in the Bens

The sparkling fountains

The fox in the dens

Such granite as these will stand

GOLDEN EAGLE

Soaring aloft on the updraft

Of crags

And diving a drop onto a beastie

Tha lags behind the pack

Imperial gold with

Talons of steel

Rapidly deploying

Vigilant and free

Its ancient feathers

By the decree of

The carnate cycle

HEBRIDES

Misty islands of the setting sun

Wave crashing shores

The tides of the minches

And fishermans nets

And standing stones

The Atlantic beach

On the brink of a storm

Selkie taking human form

From their underwater palace

EDINBURGH

Athens of the North

For enlightened Scots

Edins worth is not in thoughts

Nor its seven mystical hills

For its theatrical intellects

A new and old town

Delving deep into caverns

And faerie stories

Told in taverns after a wee dram

Castle and palace and

Seat of determination

The flags are flying

The fireworks fly for the

Dream that was the azure sky

And saltire clouds

THISTLE

Prickly purple

Sovereign plant

Mover of bones and gristle

Resistance and calling

The weeds of the thistle

Stubborn and hard

To handle is bad

The Scottish bard

Will sing of its roots

Borne upon the winds of time

Its endless shoots uprising

To greet the morning

CASTLE

Darkened stone against the tide

Of armies broken at its side

The fortress of hope

For some a hassle

The resistance of a Scottish castle

Sitting there on jut or gap

An inconvenience on the map

Just as the winds will bring a sail

The lasting memories of the Gael

Are the walls of its inclusion

BLOODLINES

The lost tribe of Dan

Fresh air in a can

The secretive plan

Of the Bloodline of Rosslyn

Our tartan procured

For the return of the Solan Steward

A prophesy foretold

Of the millennial King of Scotland

Whilst lost treasure does sleep

Way down in the deep

Of the Templar caverns

The Rosslyn secret Mary vowed to keep

Is whispered in the taverns

THE OCEAN

The Atlantic crashing

On the rocks

On granite bones

The storm does shock

Through fingers of cloud

Ever westward

Crying loud

The parting flock of geese

Whilst rain on the mountains the trees

A solemn release of morning

THE HEATHER

In what peak hides

the Solan Steward

In the purple heather of Scotland

The mountains wear

Their regal cloak

Glistening with the

Jewels of mist

And in the summer sun

The bees are busy

Bringing sweetness

As they ring the heatherbells

And in the glens

The sun has kissed

The blossom round the well

 LOCHS

In evening light

The last days glimmer

Is reflected off the eternal mirror

Of the Loch

In dark and deep

Its cold waters turn from sleep

Down in the deep

There is a moan

As the spirit of the Kelpie

Roams the misty shoreline

THE BORDERS

The rolling lowland hills and dales

Roman forts, Pilgrim trails

Contentious castles

Ruined stone,

Battles for cattle, glory and pride

A Covenant with treasure

Dow to the river Annan

Castles rise and fall

To the echoes of cannon

Fairy hills the full moon measure

Courting not unnatural displeasure

From the parade of fate