Just recently, while reading a lovely book called ‘True Tales from the West Highlands and Islands’ by Tony Dalton, I came across this old Gaelic verse:

Bogha a dh’iubhar Easragain,
Sioda na Gaillbhinn
Saighead a bheithe an Doire-dhuinn,
Ite firein Locha Treige

Bow of the yew of Easragan,
Silk of the Gallvinn
Arrow of the birch of Doire-donn,
Feather of the eagle of Loch Treig.

The verse is, in fact, a kind of recipe… or, at least, it describes the components necessary for making bows and arrows, and where to find them.  Loch Treig is a freshwater loch high on Rannoch Moor, a wilderness haunted by golden eagles; Gallvinn is likely to be the town of Dunkeld, known for producing honey, beeswax and silk, whose old name was Baile nan Gaillbhinn. The birch woods of Doire-donn are said to be in Glen Orchy, while Easragan lies on the north shore of Loch Etive.