House or tomb?

...... And then, a house , So still it lay!
Still as the moon that overhead
In silence took her crystal way.
A house can die, like men, 'tis said;

And this lay dead and desolate.
How tell the pathos of the scene—
The hush of things inanimate,
The moonlight, sad, immense, serene?

What should I term it, house or tomb?
Now all was over. Now the dust
Lay thick in each deserted room.
The latch was given to the rust.

Sere on the threshold lay the leaves;
Hopeless and blank the windows stared,
Like eyes of one who sits and grieves
In hours remorseful and unshared.
......
Chill and forlorn the wintry gleam
Of moonlight flooding all the space.
The age-long murmur of the stream
Made lonelier the hour and place.
From the Abandoned Farm by George Sterling

Actually this little house had a far nicer atmosphere than the one described and we were exploring in sunlight not moonlight. A friend, C, wants to do a possible PhD on vernacular houses in the area and courtesy of another friend, J, we were looking at possible houses to start with. J is a friend also of TJ (catch up) and he took us high up onto the mountain to admire some little clusters of buildings. C was delighted for they all date from at least the early 1800s and he was busily examining mortar and render and opes!! This old farm was set in fertile lands, its little fields still around it, enclosed by sturdy stone walls and even a line of sycamore trees leading up to it. An old shed attached had the remains of a cart and wheels. C is an archaeologist and it looks like TJ and I have volunteered to do some digging!
An early entry for Derelict Sunday - Admirer is hosting for the month of August. We are currently at DS41.

A few people wanted to see Derry from yesterday - here he is hard at it, looking for an elusive holy well in a graveyard! You can see why we were excited by the stone slab he uncovered pretty quickly. No well though.

Apologies for the lack of abstraction today youorgeon1 but I got distracted.



Himself is still powering across Scotland. Sounds like he's had a bit of a culture shock today! The final day's walk tomorrow, a rather daunting 19 miles :/