Before the Romans, thick forests of birch, alder, hazel, elm and pine choked with boggy thickets of elder, willow, rowan and hawthorn covered the swampy valleys bog by bog all the way to the Campsies. This must have made great cover for our hairy Caledonian ancestors peering out suspiciously on the lookout for stragglers and unguarded supplies.

The Scots had not yet arrived at this time to give Scotland its name, and the area was inhabited by the Damnonii, known in Ireland as the Fir Domnann .. the "men who deepen the earth". They were reckoned to be the Race of Nemed, and not Milesian, which in the language of sanity means they were not of Gaelic or Scotic origin, but of the same race as the Britons!

The great Celtic hero Cuchulainn was reputed to be of this tribe, but although they were noted as one of the three warrior tribes of Ireland, they were known primarily for their skill at mining and were associated with the Fir-Bolg or bog-men. Was this the age of brochs and crannogs like these ....?

      (with thanks to Bill Taylor)