Sometimes when (and if) you tire of walking through drying mud in Hutton on a gorgeous day, then it could be off to Duns where there is quite a lot to do even apart from the Golf Course (MPBUI)Away from the unhealthy obsession with Reivers there is, tucked away, high above Duns Castle, the Covenanters Stone where the army of Scottish fundamentalists raised their banner of rebellion in support of Cromwell and against poor Charles 1 in 1639. Quite a canny move as it was clear by that time that the Royalists were not going to win. It appears that there is very little if any written evidence of this event hence the careful inscription relying on oral tradition rather than contemporary bloggers.(Click on image to read)A pity as the Covenanters (aka in England, as Roundheads), unlike the bloodstained murderous Reivers had some moral purpose''right but revolting'is a slightly unfair description in '1066 and All That' The Reivers were 'wrong but never 'romantic' to complete the 1066 and 'a tha'(scottish version) reference to the Royalists.

Apart from the wonderful view of the Merse there is interesting flora, or at least fungi. Poking puff balls to see them smoke may not have the same challenge as a birdie at the first at Duns (MPBUI) but it can while a way a pleasant if otherwise uneventful morning. And there were a lot of puff balls from where this lot came.

Hurry, while stocks last.  ¶ 1:00 PM