Third-degree Burns

Day 42: you can’t get away from Robert Burns in these parts. He was quite big in Sanquhar but even more so here in Mauchline; he lived nearby for several years, and the picture shows the inn where he may have met his wife Jean. Today we were up in the morning early and started by Afton Water (“Flow gently, sweet Afton”) where we came upon a monument to him set up by the New Cumnock Burns Club to celebrate its golden jubilee (who knew?). The day was sunny, and we walked through pleasant rolling Ayrshire countryside – I’m missing the hills already, but Cathy and Paul are grateful for the reduced pressure on the knees. Most of the 19 miles were on roads – my best-laid schemes to find off-road bits went aft agley. First there was the disused railway line – promising on the map, but impassable with bushes and briars. Then there was a pathless section where we met an angry farmer on a tractor towing a machine with a lot of fearsome spikes. We could have tried discussing with him the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 and our right to roam enshrined therein, but being wee, sleekit, cowrin’, tim’rous beasties, we beat a hasty retreat instead. So back to the roads it was – quick and mostly fairly quiet, but hard on the feet, and the scenery changes slowly except for the variation in roadside litter (Irn Bru cans seem to be the most popular). Anyway, we got here, and after the inn had brought us a pint o’ wine in a silver tassie and a Rabbie Burns burger (including a slice of haggis in batter), we were much restored.

This is our third Track of the Day to celebrate an artist who has died since we started the journey, in this case Tom Lehrer, whose Masochism Tango seems appropriate for people who actually seem to enjoy putting their feet through pain day after day.