Tony and I found ourselves on a very rough beach below the King's Cave on the west coast of Arran.
It is a popular place with walkers and many have built stone towers.
There are a whole series of caves and arches here and we followed a subterranean route to the entrance of...
,,,the King's Cave. On this occasion the large gate was not locked and we entered ...
...the cool darkness of the cave.
Once our eyes had adjusted to the lack of light we were able to get right to the back of the cave and...
...see some Victorian and...
...early Christian graffiti. This is one of the caves in which Robert the Bruce was supposed to have been inspired by a spider during his long struggle to win Scottish Independence. Robert the Bruce was of Norman rather than Scottish ancestry. Nowhere in the cave did I see the initials R de B or indeed a spider! I don't suppose the proletariat had much say in the Scottish Wars of Independence in the late 13th and early 14th centuries.except when their blood was spilt.
At least no blood was spilt in the recent referendum on Scottish Independence. After a record turnout of 84.59% at the polls, Scots decided by 2,001,926 to 1,617,989 to remain within the United Kingdom. Members of my family and close friends voted on either side of the referendum. I am pleased to say none of us have fallen out over the result. We realize that we are so very fortunate to live in a mature democracy where people have the freedom to vote for who or what they want and respect each other's decisions. Scotland was not always like this. We used to burn people at the stake if they held different opinions and last century in Europe, Germany fell into the clutches of the Nazi party and the World suffered. I don't suppose people in areas controlled by Islamic State today have much freedom of expression or anything else for that matter. What a troubled World, is it too much to hope for peace and tolerance?
Tony and I made our way carefully back over the slippery rocks to...
...our waiting kayaks and the blue waters of the Kilbrannan Sound. We were very much enjoying our freedom.
