I often feel the need for a special dictionary when reading the works of Scotland’s most celebrated poet, Robert Burns. When I came across The Birks of Aberfeldy I had no idea what a birk was. Turns out it is Gaelic for birch trees, and these are the trees overlooking the Falls of Moness on the outskirts of Aberfeldy, which provided the inspiration for this poem. There is a woodland walk taking in the scene, complete with a statue of Burns.
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| The Birks of Aberfeldy, Robert Burns statue - geograph.org.uk - 1195252. Photo by Bill Clark, via Wikimedia Commons. |
The poem invites a “bony lassie” to go to the birks and enjoy the “flowery braes” (steep banks) and “chrystal streamlets”, “the hoary cliffs…crown’d wi’ flowers”, “fragrant spreading shaws” (hawthorn), and the “burnie” (stream) pouring “white o’er the linns (ravines).
Aberfeldy is a small town on the banks of the River Tay in Perthshire. As well as the Burns connection, the town’s main claim to fame is the beautiful old stone bridge dating from 1733 and built by British Army officer General Wade. Near the bridge is the Black Watch Monument consisting of a tall cairn topped by a statue of Private Farquhar Shaw dressed in the uniform of the Black Watch Regiment.
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| Wade's Bridge |
