Big Tree Country >> Features >> Walks in Celebration of Robert Burns

Walks in Celebration of Robert Burns

24/01/2012
Aberfeldy & Kenmore

Robert Burns visited Perthshire towards the end of his 22 day tour of the Highlands during August and September 1787. His visit, though brief inspired him to write the Birks of Aberfeldy, The Braes o’ Killiecrankie and The Humble Petition of Bruar Water in which he urged the 4th Duke of Atholl to plant its bleak banks with trees.

Why not take a walk in the footsteps of our national bard and see for yourself the inspirational landscape Perthshire Big Tree Country.

Birks of Aberfeldy

The valley in which the Birks lies was shaped during the ice age, with the river Tay running through its centre. It contains one of the tributaries of the Tay – the Moness Burn – and the site has been a scenic walk for more than two centuries.

Originally known as the Den of Moness, the Birks acquired the recent name thanks to the song The Birks o’ Aberfeldy penned by Robert Burns in August 1787.

The braes ascend like lofty wa's.
The foaming stream deep-roaring fa's
O'erhung wi' fragrant spreading shaws
The Birks of Aberfeldy

The Birks owes its popularity, at least in part, to Burns who is said to have found inspiration whilst resting in a small, naturally formed seat in the rock at the side of the gorge.

Follow in the footsteps of the bard through the Birks – Scots for birch trees (Betula pendula) – which still cloak the steep slopes of the Moness gorge, along with oak (Quercus robur), ash (Fraxinus excelsior) and elm (Ulmus).

Divided into two sections, the first walk through the Lower Birks begins just off the town square, on the road to Kenmore and follows a tree trail, as planted by Bobby Masterton, Cluny House Gardens, in the early 1960s, containing a wide range of exotic specimen trees.

The longer Upper Birks walk begins on the other side of the A826 road to Crieff, from the carpark. The narrow path climbs to a bridge directly above the Falls of Moness, one of the most accessible waterfalls in Big Tree Country, providing spectacular views into the gorge.