Not all in the highlands of Scotland is beautiful. There are acres and acres of pine plantations and, as in Victoria when the pines or blue gums are harvested, the various stages of growth and harvest can be a horrible blot on the landscape.
There are signs of hope. We visited the beautiful Loch Maree and apparently it's one of the more pristine lochs. Scottish Pines that are hundreds of years old are growing on islands in the loch. I have read that a lot of Scottish Pines were cut down during WW2 to make ammunition boxes.
And in other areas we have seen areas of hillside fenced off from sheep and deer and Scottish Pine plantations well established. Apparently only 4% of Scotland has natural vegetation, and in Ayrshire it is worse - only 1% of natural vegetation there. Sounds like the Western District of Victoria! At Muirkirk, where my father's Wyllie ancestors lived, a small woodland of trees is being maintained.
Hello Loraine, sorry to bother you on your holidays, but are you the same Lorraine Phelan who wrote the book on the Cook family?
ReplyDeleteHi Peeboo
ReplyDeleteYes, that's me. Do I assume you're a twig on the Cook tree?
Almost but not quite. We 'stem' from the 2nd marriage of a George Imlay Montgomery, AKA Fred Booth, who's first wife was Charlotte Jennings, daughter of Jane Cook (d.1924). So no blood relation as such, but part of the family history. Just adding to Fred and his family's story and more history on Swan Hill. (I'm beginning to believe that if I throw a rock down the main street I'm liable to hit a distant relative).
ReplyDeleteI received the lead on your book from a fleeting answer to a question posed on ancestry.com and know nothing of it, is is a published book or a self published book? Is it available?
Much thanks.
Paul Booth
Hi Paul
ReplyDeleteIt's a sel-published book but I have the info on a database. Contact me and I'll send you a PDF file. lphelan at bigpond dot com dot au