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Six more of Scotland’s haunted castles
Scotland will never run short of haunted castles. Since Hallowe’en is approaching, I wondered if you’d like to tiptoe around a few of them with me…
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Midsummer’s Eve
Looking for some words to celebrate midsummer, I found this lovely extract which casts a magic spell… “Out of this wood do not desire to go: Thou shalt remain here, whether thou wilt or no. I am a spirit of no common rate; The summer still doth tend upon my state; And I do love thee: therefore, go with me; I’ll give thee fairies to attend on thee, And they shall fetch thee jewels from the deep, And sing while thou on pressed flowers dost sleep.” Titania, ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ Photo © Colin Woolf
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Early summer gold
Walking around Taynish woods in the early summer sunshine, I was reminded of these words by the American poet Robert Frost. The newly-emerged leaves of the oak trees were making the hillside glow with a rich gold. It won’t last long – every day will see them turn a slightly deeper green, as summer gathers pace – but while it lasts, it is pure magic. “Nature’s first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf’s a flower; But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay.” Robert Frost
The Hazel Tree
by Jo Woolf
