Nature - Scotland, Glen Isla
Figure 1: River Isla near Auchavan where we parked the car
Sunshine
You’ll see from the pictures that we hiked on a clear-skied sunny day, which is no mean feat during January in Scotland. The more I read about the benefits of sunshine, the more convinced I am that I should actively seek more of it. However, I am always minded that only healthy skin should be exposed to much sunshine. The best way to ensure healthy skin, is to avoid exposure to seed oils in cooking and processed food.
Most of us probably know that exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation in sunlight is a natural way to produce Vitamin D. The benefits of sunlight go well beyond that, however. In retrospect, I shouldn’t have been surprised by this given that our ancestors were exposed to sunlight during the millions of years during which our species evolved [1]. Here’s a quick summary of sunlight’s additional health benefits [1]:
Lowers stress-inducing hormones
Helps protect blood vessel lining
Regulates our circadian rhythm
Lowers oxidative stress
Promotes blood flow
Figure 2: Looking up the glen with River Isla in foreground, Monega Hill on LHS and Druim Mor straight ahead
Ordinarily I don’t really enjoy walking anywhere or biking on well-maintained tracks. On the other hand, I am fascinated by the historic uses to which our ancestors put the land. For this reason, I loved biking in the forests of Pennsylvania and New Jersey through the remains of long-gone and overgrown mining, logging, and iron smelting communities. In Scotland it’s Caledonian pine forests, temperate rain forests and drove roads that fascinate me.
Drove Roads
Our hike on this day involved Glen Isla (Figures 1,2,3,6,7) and parts of the Monega Pass (Figures 2,5,6). Glen Isla is one of the Angus Glens which contained a drove road from the Monega Pass south, eventually leading to the markets in Crieff and Later Falkirk. The Monega Pass was one of the highest drove roads in Scotland and was used to funnel livestock from north (Moray and Aberdeenshire) to the southern markets [2,3]. The Monega Pass is itself an example of a Scottish drove road [3].
Figure 3: Another shot up the glen showing the lethal Land Rover track
The best source of information on Scottish drove roads is the 1952 book by Haldane [2].
Scotland’s economy for many years was pastoral and the movement of livestock was an important part of that lifestyle. Daily and weekly movement between pastures was important, but the drove roads were required for the longer overland journeys between points of production and their markets. Early on (through the 1400s and up until the 1500s and 1600s) the drove roads were used mostly by cattle thieves. Momentum away from lawlessness and towards lawful cattle droving built steadily but slowly until the early 1700s when the Parliaments of Scotland and England became one in 1707. After that date, Scotland’s local economy became increasingly integrated with the larger British economy and its global reach throughout the 1700s and 1800s. Droving became a large-scale industry of moving cattle by foot from the remote parts of Scotland to the large central markets in places like Crieff and Falkirk. From there they were transported to England to feed its growing population and the British armed forces.
Figure 4: A small herd of deer running away across the side of Monega Hill
The droving industry grew rapidly through the 1700s but that growth started to slow by the end of the century and its decline set in by the first half of the 1800s. The decline was caused initially by improved agricultural practices which reduced the drovers’ freedom of passage, grazing whilst moving, and overnight stopovers. With the passage of time, agricultural improvements also produced heavier livestock less amenable to droving. The death knell of widespread droving was struck by railways which replaced the busier routes.
The drove roads link all of Scotland. Today they range from still well delineated routes that are easily followed to little more than grassy, barely contoured tracks only just visible on the landscape. They still make for fascinating hikes and mountain biking.
Figure 5: Looking up Monega Hill
Angus Glens
The Angus Glens are glens (valleys) which lead from the low-lying region of Angus up into the Cairngorm mountain range. They have been described:
“There is a remoteness and a solitude and an absence of people. These are the Angus hills and glens … steeped in history and little changed over the passing centuries.”
The Angus Glens represent the easiest way to experience the incredible landscapes of the Cairngorm mountain range.
Figure 6: From our lunch spot on Monega Hill looking down Glen Isla with River Isla shining in the sun. The white band between the distant mountains and blue sky is low cloud hanging over the Strathmore Valley
Figure 7: A bridge to nowhere. Back down the glen close to Auchaven
References
Hussey, S. (2022) Understanding the Heart: Surprising insights into the evolutionary origins of heart disease – and why it matters. London. Chelsea Green Publishing
Haldane, A.R.B. (1952) The Drove Roads of Scotland. Edinburgh: Thomas Nelson and Sons
Marr, G. (2017) The Mounth Passes: My journey on old roads in Speyside, Deeside and Atholl. Ballater: Deeside Books