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Tuesday 7 December 2010

Eighth of the Eighth

Thinking about what I could write today, other than about the snow – which is still with us.  It was minus 16 C all day today -  I remembered I was reading someone else’s blog yesterday. when I came upon a challenge.  It  said “Go to where you keep your photos.  Go to the eighth file, and pick the eighth photo.  Then put it on your blog and write about it – what, where, when, why…… etc.”

So, as I have several photo folders, I decided on the external hard disk photos, and this is what came up - my eighth photo in the eighth file – one you will have seen before!the ferry tap

This is a very old pub in the historic Royal burgh of Queensferry, on the Firth of Forth just northwest of Edinburgh.  I can’t find anything on the internet about its history, but its name The Ferry Tap could be Scots for the Ferry top.  Queensferry got its name from the fact that in the 11th century Queen Margaret of Scotland, whose home was the Palace at Dunfermline, used to cross by ferry to journey on to her chapel at the castle in Edinburgh.  Her husband, King Malcolm III, granted a free passage at the Queen’s Ferry to pilgrims bound for St Andrews.  Maybe the original ferry crossing was from the shore below this ale-house – behind the building across the road - though the present building isn’t quite that old (17th/18th century perhaps?).  Another inn on the same spot maybe?  Or maybe the Tap was/is the  beer tap.  Historically though, I think beer would have been dispensed from jugs.

The photo was taken on 8 May 2009 when my cousins Don and Nancy from Vancouver Island, British Columbia, were visiting.  We stopped here to look at the old village and then continued to Culross, another Royal burgh, over the Forth in the Kingdom of Fife.  It was a lovely day. You can read about it here.

nice day again 005 dawn

Just a couple of snow pictures from today before I go!  Sun-up this morning from my balcony…..

 nice day again 011

 

 

…..and in my garden looking through the buddleia branches to the roofed bird table.  Before the thaw at the weekend the roof had far more snow on top of it!

nice day again 014

Well, just one more  –  a young blackbird sheltering in the laburnum tree in Morag’s neighbour’s garden.

Talk again soon.

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