From the lone shieling...

This was Loch Striven late this afternoon - a day of mist and low cloud but mild none the less. When I saw it I thought immediately of the "Canadian Boat Song" , and most particularly of its second verse :

From the lone shieling of the misty island
Mountains divide us, and the waste of seas-
Yet still the blood is strong, the heart is Highland,
And we in dreams behold the Hebrides:

The song is a fine one and the mystery of its provenance an intriguing literary and cultural enigma.