Published in Scotland Magazine Issue 4 on 9/9/2002.

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A scenic dream

For many people, the real Scotland is to be found in the Highlands. Tom Bruce-Gardyne heads north

If it is true what they say, that Scotland has a split personality, on the one hand reserved and slightly dour, on the other passionate and sometimes sentimental - it is perhaps not entirely surprising. The country itself is split in two by a giant geological rift which runs south west to north east from the Firth of Clyde to the south Aberdeen shire coast. The Highland Boundary Fault was the result of intense volcanic activity deep in the earth's crust. At the time of its birth, the Highlands would have rivalled the Himalayas, but 400 million years of Scottish weather has stripped away mile upon mile of rock to expose a core of black granite. Even so that Highlands are still clearly visable from space.

There is a parallel rift, some 200 miles to the north, that is even more dramatic, running from Fort William to Inverness. The Great Glen Fault resembles a deep gash as if Scotland has been struck by a giant axe which almost created a separate island out of the land north of Loch Ness. Yet it is the division between the Highlands and the Lowlands which has always divided the country.

To get a good idea of how the mountains rise up out of the plain, simply drive north up the M9 motorway. As you pass Stirling the flatlands to the south are rich and fertile, characterised by reddish soil and sandstone buildings, while to the north lies the land of granite and semi-subsistance farming. This difference has long been recognised. After a failed harvest which provoked virtua.....

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By Tom Bruce-Gardyne

Section : The Highlands

Page number : 46