Cora and Her Purple Tartan Faeries

As Kiltwalkers, living in Scotland, we have a lot to be proud of within this small nation, as we seem to have more than our fair share of founders or inventors like William Paterson for instance, who proposed the creation of the Bank of England in 1691.

If you then add bicycles, chicken tikka masala, chloroform, colour photography, decimal fractions, deep-fried Mars Bars, Dolly the Sheep, driving on the left, faxes, Gin and tonic, Glasgow Coma Scale, Golf, Hypodermic syringes, Irn-Bru, Kelvin scale, McDonald's, microwave, Oor Wullie, paraffin, penicillin, the pneumatic tyre, porridge, the propeller, radar, steam engines, tarmacadam, telephones, the US Navy, the vacuum flask, wee ginger people and let’s not forget whisky, then you have quite a formidable list.

However, it was the invention in 1824 of the Macintosh coat, named after its Glaswegian inventor, Charles Macintosh that was most welcome last Sunday in Aberfoyle.

Sunday 27th October was supposed to be “Kiltwalk Super Sunday”, with our 13 mile Forest walks kicking off in Aberfoyle and Peebles, where around one hundred walkers were due to pull their boots on one last time and raise a few more pennies in our final 2013 events program.

Unfortunately, due to our ‘inclement’ weather, we had to postpone both Kiltwalks due to conditions around each route. It wasn’t so much the water logged tracks we found on Friday as we started to put up the signs, nor was it the wind and lashing rain predicted by the Met Office. No, the reason for calling them off was due to the fact we couldn’t ensure our Red Cross support vehicles could actually reach someone if they were distressed, due to the quagmire that existed in certain patches. So with a heavy heart, we had to think safety first and call them off, which meant that for those of us who had planned to walk, we were forced into making use of that extra hour to stay in bed / carry out the chores we’d been putting off (delete as appropriate).

That is unless you were Angela, (Cora’s Mum) and her Purple Tartan Faeries, walking in memory of Oor Cora. You see the Tartan Faeries had not only promised to walk, they had also made a promise to visit Cora’s grave on the way round and once you’ve told Cora you’re popping by, she doesn’t let you cancel lightly.

Now as the locals will tell you, if you want to know what the weather is doing in Aberfoyle . . . look to Ben Lomond . . . and as they say locally “it wasn’t lookin too braw”. However, at around eleven there were smiles all round as they headed off in the rain.

I asked one of the walkers "what the weather conditions had been like throughout the 13 miles", to which they answered, “there was a wee bit o rain, then heavy rain, mare rain and then it really rained” and I think we all know exactly what they meant.

It was therefore no surprise that they returned all looking like “droon’t rats”. However no matter how wet they were, they returned as they left, smiling.

It’s funny how the heart works. The head may say “don’t be daft, you’ll catch your death o cold if you walk in that”, however when you have the love of someone special in your heart, as Oor Purple Faeries did, then combined with determination and your pals, 13 miles in the rain passes quickly.

In keeping with true Kiltwalk tradition, Oor Kiltwalkers adjourned to the pub for some warmth, laughter and entertainment, provided by Oor Gary, who out performed Bruce Springsteen by playing his guitar and singing for around four and a half hours, after which his finger were loupin’. There’s an rumour going round Aberfoyle that Gary even gave them a sneek preview of "next year’s" Kiltwalk song, however they’re all sworn to some strange mysterious code, so we can’t tell for sure.

What an achievement fae Oor Faeries and we hope you’ll don the Tartan again and join us all next year.

I’ll finish as I started and talk of inventions, or in this case a myth.

They say Scot’s invented Meanness. The joke that copper wire was invented by two Scots pulling at opposite sides of a penny, has done little to dispel the myth that the Scottish are frugal. But a myth it is as in a recent national poll by a well respected journal, Scottish people give more money to charity per head, than anywhere else in the UK and with the million raised by our Kiltwalkers this year alone, we can whole heartedly agree. AYE!!!!

Slainte