News of Sounds

An entertaining day in the Sound of Mull today. At lunchtime we had the following ships passing before us: two of the Northern Lighthouse Board's ships, Pharos (left in picture) and Pole Star, the salmon farm supply ship Ronja Skye (right in picture), a whale watching boat out of Tobermory (centre), two fishing boats, the Kilchoan-Tobermory ferry Loch Linnhe, and the two Royal Navy patrol boats which ran up the Sound on Saturday. To add to the fun, a Royal Navy Sea King, which had flown across the face of Ben Hiant a little earlier, came up the Sound and passed almost directly overhead.

For those of you who remember Mary-Jane Scott, there is excellent news.

Mary-Jane was renowned for the chickens she kept. They were such a feature of Ormsaigbeg that Michael MacGregor, a local photographer who produces the most lovely postcards, produced one which showed them scratching around in the dust in front of the Craigard byre and across the road. They were expensive chickens: Mary-Jane charged £5 if you ran one over.

Yesterday, this new, noisy bird appeared at Craigard. He's a very fine rooster, a pedigree, and his owner has promised him a number of wives to keep him company. But, be warned: inflation has struck here too - running him over is costed at £15.

Lastly, the Diary very much appreciates the comments people make. They are moderated before being posted and, so far, only one has been rejected - it had a link to scantily clad ladies in Taiwan. But one of the most recent, from Nigel Mackenzie, relates to an entry several weeks ago in March, and gives a link to his music. I thoroughly enjoyed the sound, so the link is here.