Bog Myrtle & Peat

This post is chronologically weird, since it concerns a feather I found more than six weeks ago. I have had it sticking up behind my kitchen clock ever since, and it was only when I put the kettle on this morning with my eyes still foggy that it occurred to me that it was quite a noteworthy find.

Blackcock are famous as a sporting bird, but their feathers have a massive significance to the cultural history of southern Scotland. The blue/black plumage is stunning even in the dullest weather, and the curved tail feathers are an iconic characteristic. Since time immemorial, Scottish regimental pipers have worn unauthorised blackcock feathers in their caps, and since 1903, the full dress uniform of the King’s Own Scottish Borderers was altered to include an entire tail in the Kilmarnock bonnet.

What I had found in the rushes on the Chayne was not only a cool feather, but a piece of lowland Scottish history.