6 a.m. Tuesday morning, finds us wading
in the river Tay, which flows past our camp by the side of the
bridge. 6 a.m. Tuesday morning, finds us wading
in the river Tay, which flows past our camp by the side of the
bridge.
Feet inspection is the order of the morning and 'Cold Cream' with bandages is handed out to the owners of blisters etc., one unfortunate member displays a foot with toes entwined like 'Siamese Twins'. he is in receipt of much sympathy, and the motto wear larger boots.
Down again on the ground are our tents, the wheels of our waggon are being fastened on.
At the moment a neighbouring caravan which has been with us all night leaves the field to take the same road as we are to go later to Aberfeldy. 10 a.m. we pass the sign post, farewell Birnam woods, farewell Dunkeld, once more on the lone trail we trek north.
On either side of the river lay long fields of Barley and of Rye the sweet fragrance of Laburnum reaches us. The lark rises warbling the song sweet & clear on the still morning air the sun shines down in splendour upon us as we go marching along.
Our advance cyclist returns to warn us
of a steep descent at the turn of the road, but we take no heed,
and start at a gallop. From a cloud of dust we emerge at the
foot, and halt to see Melville, who has not taken well with our
wild rush down, but still hung on to the rope, well done
Melville!!.
Easy does it at an easy pace we keep going on and see in the distance the Caravan which had left Dunkeld almost an hour before us. With a triumphant shout we pass and feel sorry for the poor "nag" that pulls. A scout from the front rope enquires if the iron shoe hurts the horses feet and with great gusto Mr Shaw replies "It 'aint the 'osses 'ooves, that 'urt the 'osses 'ooves, it's the 'ammer, 'ammer, 'ammer of the 'osses 'ooves, on the 'ard 'ighway".
So for the next mile or more, we meditate, over the 'ammer, 'ammer, 'ammer, of the 'osses 'ooves.
The sun over our head tells us mid-day, seven miles on our way, 10 more to go, and still we are marching along.
Lunch is the next item on our programme so off goes our cyclists in search of refreshments and halting at a farm we enter the park to satisfy our hunger with sandwiches and milk.
We stretch ourselves on the grass and enjoy the pleasure of the warm sun before resuming our journey.
"Glory, Glory, Glory,
Hallelujah"! again we are marching along. On the other side
of the river we see Ballinbuig and faintly hear the roar of the
falls of "Tummel" from the road.
We come upon a cluster of bushes laden with Raspberries not a sound is heard not a bugle note for the scouts are silently feasting.
A Church Spire surrounded by a number of houses looms in the distance now we take a turn in the road and enter into Grandtully.
We halt for a moment to enquire our way then emerge at the other side of the village on the main road to Aberfeldy. For a mile or so we steadily climb now a party of Farm Labourers greet us now we pass the village postman on his rounds.
At this point I go off with Cargill in search of camping ground and making a stop half a mile from Aberfeldy we see a suitable place and go to get permission. Here again luck favours us as the owner readily grants our request. We commence at once to build a fire so that it may be ready by the time the others get up.
As the smoke curls skyward the advance
cyclist makes his appearance and is soon followed by the main
body who enter the ground at this moment.
Once again the hammering of pegs may be heard. Our "Marquees" again take up their position, once more the tea is singing on the "Hob" once more we sit down to dine.
But alas an unpleasant surprise awaits us having found it impossible to get milk we had decided to use Condensed milk and not understanding how to use it we allow it to burn spoiling altogether the taste of the tea. As we gulp it over we remember the words
'Theirs not to make reply
Theirs but to do and die
Not tho' the soldier knew
Someone had blunder'd'.
At this moment two strangers enter our camp dressed in scout Garb they are Scoutmaster Moon of the 64th Glasgow Troop and his brother they have walked down from Kenmore and wish to pitch a tent with us for the evening. We are very pleased to help and soon their tent is beside our own.
The proposal to have a concert is made so we enter the 'Marquee' and sit down.
It opens brilliantly with a 'flute solo' "Annie Laurie", then Rodger sings us the joys of 'the day he went to Rothesay Oh'. Conning now obliges with a coon song about 'Whistling Rufus and his one man band'. Mr Moon on being called upon renders "Clemintine" and we all join in the chorus. Jack recites to us about "Bill the scout and the burglar" but after a few dramatic passes with his hands sits down in the middle of it. Mr Shaw now chimes in and sings us the story of "The bonnie wee Window". Again we call upon Rodger and again he responds giving us a parody on "Asleep in the Deep". McLean is indisposed having discovered he has a very bad cold. Willie Cumming is in the same position so again we call upon Rodger and again Rodger responds. Time flies 10.30 p.m. we decide to have a last chorus we nerve ourselves for the final effort and burst out in "Poor old Jeff way down in Tennessee".
Darkness has descended upon us and we go out to sit by the river and enjoy the coolness of the evening.
We bid the angler on the bank "good-night" and turn in.