Ancients knew about weather!
THE ancients, lacking formal scientific knowledge, but living closer to the natural world than we do today, observed their surroundings more closely.
Weather patterns were of great importance to folk living on or by the land. Weather lore thus developed in the form of anecdote and rhyme which, even now, can often be seen as containing a germ of truth.
February 2 is Candlemass Day; in North America it is known as Groundhog Day. The date lies midway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox.
"If Candlemass be bright and fair
Half the winter's to come - and mair."
This year Friday February 2 was like a fine Spring day; clear blue and almost cloudless skies overhead.
Walking along the Brechin Paths Network - Stannochy, Burghill Woods, Rough Moss, Reisky and back over Brechin Brig via Dalgety was a delight but so warm was the sun that I was somewhat overdressed in a sweater and light anorak. I came across a clump of daisies in a sheltered spot and the woods were full of birdsong. It felt good to be out in the countryside on such a day but the feeling was tempered somewhat by a mental picture of my grandfather who, in such a circumstance, would look at the sky and mutter, "We'll pay for this." He was, you will gather, one of nature's pessimists.
A couple of days later there was a frost but it was sunny and just a little chillier when the Monday Walkers started a trek from the village of Charleston which is only a stone's throw down the road from Glamis.
"If you've never crossed the Seedlie Hills an' looked alang Strathmore
If ye've never seen historic Glamis wi' a' its ancient lore
If ye've never seen the Airlie Braes or Catlaw white wi' snaw
If ye've never been tae Kirrie, lad, ye've never lived at a' " (Old Song)
This particular part of the Sidlaws was new to me although it took us quite close to more familiar territory; Craigowl and Kinpurney. We followed landrover and sheep tracks that took us on an undulating route up Berry Hillock, Carlunie and Ark Hill (1100 ft) where, I'm told, there is, or was, an intention to site windmills.
East from here is the Tealing TV mast while to the north-west you "look alang Strathmore," agricultural land par excellence.
Beside the way we came upon the corpse of a young fox, not long dead. On closer inspection it wasn't apparent how it had met its end. A throat wound suggested that it hadn't been shot; vaguely disturbing.
Some stravaigin' through heather, always tough work I find these days, took us down to Easter Denoon and it was near here, so a local farmer informed us, that the original Glamis Castle, a wooden affair, had been sited. Marked on the map at Denoon Law is an Iron Age fort. Set atop a rocky outcrop it would have commanded a strategic position over the surrounding countryside. An old coaching road which ran from Dundee used to pass along this way. I believe that I remember reading somewhere that this particular stretch, presumably due to its relative seclusion, was where highwaymen pursued their nefarious activities.
Descending through woodland we arrived back at Charleston in late afternoon. Ian, always a stickler for accuracy in such matters, said that we'd covered 7.62 miles. I wouldn't argue with that. (OS LANDRANGER SHEET 54).
As I write, less than a week after Candlemass, snow covers the ground outside. Many schools are closed in Aberdeenshire due to blizzards and, further south, a certain amount of traffic chaos prevails. Could it be, I wonder, that our forefathers knew a thing or two?
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Weather for Brechin
Friday 25 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 14 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 8 C to 15 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: East
