Rural Drive North Fife Scotland August 17th

This is for you Haggis. I can dream of Fife and watch this little clip! This is about the time of year I visited in 2007 so it looks so familiar with the corn fields turning golden. Fife ([ˈfəif]; Scottish Gaelic: Fìobha) is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire. It was originally one of the Pictish kingdoms, known as Fib, and is still commonly known as the Kingdom of Fife within Scotland.

Ronnie Browne sings Afton Water

The River Afton (or Afton Water) is a small river in Ayrshire, Scotland. which flows North from Alwhat Hill in the Carsphairn and Scaur Hills, through Afton Reservoir and then for eight miles down Glen Afton before joining the River Nith at New Cumnock. Ronnie Browne (born Ronald Grant, 20 August 1937 in Edinburgh, Lothian, Scotland), is a Scottish folk musician and founding member of The Corries.

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Afton Water
by Robert Burns


1 Flow gently, sweet Afton, among thy green braes,
2 Flow gently, I'll sing thee a song in thy praise;
3 My Mary's asleep by thy murmuring stream,
4 Flow gently, sweet Afton, disturb not her dream.

5 Thou stock-dove, whose echo resounds thro' the glen,
6 Ye wild whistling blackbirds in yon thorny den,
7 Thou green-crested lapwing, thy screaming forbear,
8 I charge you disturb not my slumbering fair.

9 How lofty, sweet Afton, thy neighbouring hills,
10 Far mark'd with the courses of clear winding rills;
11 There daily I wander as noon rises high,
12 My flocks and my Mary's sweet cot in my eye.

13 How pleasant thy banks and green valleys below,
14 Where wild in the woodlands the primroses blow;
15 There oft, as mild Ev'ning sweeps over the lea,
16 The sweet-scented birk shades my Mary and me.

17 Thy crystal stream, Afton, how lovely it glides,
18 And winds by the cot where my Mary resides,
19 How wanton thy waters her snowy feet lave,
20 As gathering sweet flowrets she stems thy clear wave.

21 Flow gently, sweet Afton, among thy green braes,
22 Flow gently, sweet river, the theme of my lays;
23 My Mary's asleep by thy murmuring stream,
24 Flow gently, sweet Afton, disturb not her dream



This post is dedicated to David Robertson of Irvine, North Ayrshire

One Way Donkey Ride

by Sandy Denny


There you may stand in your splendour and jewels
swaying me in both directions
One is the right one, the other for fools
How do I make my selection?
The city lies silent in the warm morning light
The sand is as golden as saffron
Oasis of love sweet water of life
God bless the poor ones who have none though they have tried

Someone is drowning down there in the flood
But this river will dry by tomorrow
Is it ocean or stream, this love in my blood?
Bringer of joy or of sorrow?
The end of the journey must soon be in sight
Birth is the start of the swansong
Oasis of love sweet water of life
God bless the poor ones who want some by are denied

No one is given the map to their dreams
All we can do is to trace it
See where we go to
Know where we have been
Build up the courage to face it
While we fumble in the darkness where once there was light
Roaming the land of the ancients
Oasis of love sweet water of life
God bless the poor ones whose patience never died
While we stumble in blindness where once there was sight
Searching for trees in the forest
Oasis of love sweet water of life
God bless the poor ones who have none though they have tried
God bless the poor ones who want some but are denied
God bless the poor ones whose patience never died
God bless the poor ones on that one way donkey ride




Performed by Mary Black, written by Sandy Denny

A lovely white goat

My friend Tammy has a big heart and she took in this lovely, white ,milk-goat that someone else no longer wanted. The doe is so sweet its like she is an old soul. The little doe looks like she is smiling all the time as she knows she cheated death when she somehow managed to find a safe haven on the Davis farm. Tammy has been putting weight back on her frame by letting her trim the weeds around the garden and graze with the other stock.

Modern Man

Modern Man ...
Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money
Then he sacrifices his money to recuperate his health
And then he is so anxious about the future that he doesn’t enjoy the present
And as a result he doesn't live in the present or the future
And he lives as if he's never going to die, and then he dies having never really lived.

From my friend Lou in Australia

Summer is growing like a weed

Snowflake and her daughter, Summer today in the wee shed.

Sheep bells in my collection