Balnaknock and the Faerie Glen
Chapter 7

Balnaknock

To think we almost gave up.  The road ended up rather harder to find than the map made it seem, but we perservered, and we were greatly rewarded.

First, we drove past the Faerie Glen all the way to the end of the road, and stood there looking across the moors of Balnaknock.

I wish there were some way to tell you what this was like.  The heather and gorse stretched on to mountains in the distance, green as Eire.  Far in the distance was a massive, massive waterfall.  It was like watching the storms of Jupiter through a telescope - clearly there was tremendous violence and uproar going on, yet not a sound across the broad green stretch.

At our feet, chickens scratched and clucked as if we were still on earth.  And there, so far away, was the waterfall.  In an odd way, it reminded me of Hale-Bopp.

There were many ruins and many rowans.  I'm not sure which were more magical.

The rowans are said to have magical properties, actually, and it's easy to believe when you look at them.  According to Celtic Tree Lore, its name comes from the Gaelic rudha-an, which means "the red one".  You can find a song about them, and a bit more lore, at Rick's Music.

Balnaknock Photo Gallery

The Faerie Glen

Then back to the Faerie Glen.

Everything is miniature here, and everything is quite odd.  The hills are conical, and have haggis tracks spiraling across them.  There's a perfect minature loch against a perfect miniature mountain.

And the glen itself - what magic.  Green, green, green, moss and lichens, rowans, rock walls, wildflowers, and - even though it was nearly October - even foxgloves.

There's nothing to say about what we did here.  We could only marvel.

Faerie Glen Photo Gallery