25 April 2010 Edradour Walk

And run! We did a 2-2.5 mile circuit walk today from Pitlochry to Edradour distillery through the Black Spout forest, past a 150 foot waterfall (pictures coming soon) and then down through Moulin. Unfortunately the distillery was just closing by the time we got there, so no wee dram for us today. But we enjoyed our romp through the woods and across farmland and through kissing gates. AC and I disagreed on the origin of that term. He insisted that it must refer to the mechanics of the gate: the way the swinging arm of the gate “kisses” each side of the enclosure. I spun a more fanciful theory about farmhand lovers kissing each other while one person passes through the gate (which closes it off to the other person). Turns out, according to the Wikipedia entry, that we’re both right! Well, really AC is right. But we can put my image of playful, kissing countryfolk down to folk etymology: there’s a traditional game where the person who goes through the gate refuses to budge until kissed by the individual waiting next to squeeze into the enclosure. One time I asked Sam for a kiss when she entered the gate first. She half turned and blew me one, before racing on down the trail. Who has time for a kissing gate when there’s running to do?