Oh Scotland, Sweet Scotland…

By Sean Fagan

Mute swans at dawn, Scotland (Photo: Sean Fagan).

"Land of brown heath and shaggy wood, land of the mountain and the flood"

Sir Walter Scott, Scottish novelist

Until only recently - I've never been to Scotland before.

I've camped numerous times before in England and Wales and really enjoyed my visits there.

Considering that Scotland is very near to Ireland (only a 50 minute plane journey from Dublin to Glasgow) - and the Scottish countryside has a reputation as a wild and rugged place - it seems odd that I've never been there before.

I've wanted to go for a long time but never got around to it.

So how was my trip to Scotland?

Well, lets just say I know what all the fuss is about Scotland now. Scotland is a magnificent country.

It greatly helped that my 3-day camping trip was blessed with mostly glorious sunshine.

I'll be writing a lot more about my recent visit to Scotland in future posts (along with revisiting Scotland soon) - but for now I just want to leave you with a visual impression of my visit with some photographs.

I hope you enjoy them...

I've also included a brief tribute to a great man of Scotland - Tom Weir (which includes a video about Tom's favourite places to visit in the Scottish Highlands).

Enjoying a beer while route planning hikes around Loch Lomond - where I was mostly based as regards hiking (Photo: Sean Fagan).

I was pleased and intrigued to discover that the Gaelic used in the place-names of Scotland is pretty much the same Gaelic used in Ireland. A nice connection (Photo: Sean Fagan, map of Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park).

Loch Lomond at dawn. I enjoyed the many moods of this magnificent, 22.6 mile long, fresh water lake during my visit (Photo: Sean Fagan).

Standing atop Conic Hill (Conic is derived from the Gaelic word "Coinneach" meaning mossy). I'm looking north - to the start of the famous Scottish highlands - a great mountainous region - just begging to be explored. Next time (Photo: Sean Fagan, near Balmaha village).

What can I say about the highland cattle of Scotland? They are a calm breed and certainly fit in with the demanding, Scottish landscape (Photo: Sean Fagan).

A native, oak woodland near Luss village. The Scottish oak woodlands I ventured into were nothing short of magnificent - and like Scotland in general - full of character (Photo: Sean Fagan).

Statue of Tom Weir, Balmaha village. What better way to end a piece about Scotland than with Tom Weir. Tom was an iconic figure of Scotland and further afield - his deep knowledge and life-long love of Scotland's people, history and landscapes was sweeping and inspired (At the end of this article is a video about Tom's favorite places to visit in Scotland - well worth checking out), (Photo: Sean Fagan).

"Nowhere else known to me is more magical in spring, when the blackthorn froths and the yellow primroses are swamped in the bluebell seas"

Tom Weir on Inchcaillach island, Scotland.

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