Stardate: 29 April 2019 - Killin it.

Most of today's exploring took place close to home because I'm feeling poorly.  I think I need an oat poultice and a turnip and nettles infusion.  The locals in Killin are lovely, with the exception of the sour old stick who runs the chemist shop.  Her shop was just like Mrs Tishell's in Doc Martin. 

We had a slow meander down the lane to the Neolithic Kinnell standing stones - like many other less fancy examples, they're located in a sheep paddock. 

Of course, we asked Farmer MacGregor if we could wander in, and he was very cheerful about it.

The walk along the lane was glorious, although a tad muddy.  We loved the mossiness of this very old dry-stone wall.

There were many birds about but few we could identify.  Geoff is still fuming that he is yet to see a red squirrel. 

Next door to our house is the River Dochart and right in the middle is an island called Inchbuie that is the burial ground of a quite a number of McNab clan chieftans and their immediate families.  Some of the burials are from the last 50 years or so but some, unmarked, go back many centuries.  Geoff will share some more McNab pics shortly.  There's also supposedly an Iron Age fort but it wasn't visible to us and was not signposted.

This is a fairly recent interment in the crypt.  I don't know about you but being a tad curvaceous myself, I don't think that I'd be thrilled if my memorial stone referred to me as "Jumbo" like poor old Jumbo Simonds here.  Perhaps her step-children were having the last laugh.

I'm signing off now to have another dose of Andrews Liver Salts and take to my bed.  Over to Mr Pants. 

***

The only qualification you need to be buried in the MacNab burial site is be called MacNab.  Doesn't seem to matter much what you did or how long ago.  There is a crypt in the middle that says 15 MacNabs are buried there and nine were chiefs.

We're sure this one was a chief and by the looks of things an ancient one, since they don't seem to do burials like that any more.

You have to borrow a key to unlock the padlock to get in, and pay a modest fee and deposit on the key.  It occurred to me too late that I should have introduced myself as Geoff MacNab and demanded immediate and gratis access to the front gate.

In the PM we headed a bit further afield to the village of Balquhidder, to view the grave site of Rob Roy MacGregor, the 17th - 18th century outlaw and folk hero and subject of the 1995 movie starring that well known Scot Liam Neeson.  OK, so he's from Northern Ireland, but you can't give Sean Connery all the Scottish roles.

Disappointingly, when you get to the grave site the information casts serious doubt on whether he IS actually buried there, although his widow and sons are certainly residents.  The headstone says 'MacGregor Despite Them' to emphasise what a real outlaw and loyal MacGregor clansmen he was. 

Whether it's the real site or not, it was a nice outing.  The grave is in a yard that features two churches.

This is the original 17th century one, long since ruined, but nonetheless atmospheric.

And this is the 19th century version, still in regular use.  It's a beautiful spot, and not overrun by tourists, most of whom we hopefully left behind us in Edinburgh.

To demonstrate the tranquility, here's a view of the distant surrounds, from a conveniently located seat beside the church, where we enjoyed some rare mid-afternoon sunshine.

An enjoyable day, where we didn't venture too far afield.  We may go further tomorrow, in which event, stay tuned for updated bulletins.