Glen Croe

This is Glen Croe , one of the entrances to Argyll, leading up to the "Rest and Be Thankful"

In 1914 Gilleasbaig Mac an t-Saoir (Archibald Macintyre of Inveraray) wrote Oran Ghilinne Chro, which is in essaence a lament for the end of his era and the imposition of stalking rather than agriculture .

Gur beag mo shannta
Bhith nis sa ghleann seo
"S gach taigh is fang
A'dol glan as ordugh
"S gach lianag uaine
As tric a bhuain mi
Gun ann ach cluaran
An ait' an eorna

Chann ionn 's mar bha e
Nuair bha mi 'm phaiste
Bha cur is aiteach
Aig daoine coire
E nis 'na fhasach
Is feidh gun aireamh
Toirt spurt do gharlaich
"s do dhaoine neonach

"Small is my wish
To be now in this glen
With each house and each fank
Going out of repair
And every green pasture
Which often I reaped
Yielding nothing but thistles
In place of the barley

It's not how it was
When I was a child
Being sown and being tilled
By civilised folk
It's now just a desert
With deer beyond number
Giving sport to rapscallions
And some very strange people"