(^10) • VOCABLE Du 11 juillet au 4 septembre 2019 facile A2-B1 / moyen B2-C1 / difficile C1-C
À la une
- “Everybody who comes here says how won-
derful it is, but so few people make it in the first
place,” one local says, ruefully. “When you go
up and down the M74 (the cross-border motor-
way), there’s no indication anything exists on
this side.” One must, in other words, make a
special effort to visit. The SWC300 provides a
reason. You can start anywhere and drive in
either direction. I choose to travel anti-clock-
wise as it seems in keeping with the contrary,
stubborn nature attributed to folk in this part
of Scotland.
A L L O WAY
- I begin in the village of Alloway, in order
to visit the cottage where, in 1759, Robert
Burns was born. It’s a kind of shrine. Keats
and Tennyson came here, as did that other
poetic heavyweight, Muhammad Ali. It is a
low stone building, painted white, with a
thatched roof. Though extremely popular, the
cottage is not universally loved. It has been
regarded as emblematic of the moist-eyed
sentimentality to which Scots are prone, and
a symbol of patriarchy. In 1914, the suffra-
gettes Frances Parker and Ethel Moorhead
attempted to blow it up.
6. From Alloway, it’s a run down the coast,
passing ruined Dunure Castle, and pausing
only to conduct a purification ritual outside
Trump Turnberry, the golf resort that was the
scene of the president’s summer visit last year.
The island of Ailsa Craig, a great dark dome,
looms out of the sea to the west. There are boat
trips to it from the seaside town of Girvan. It
is the most dramatic sight in
the whole 300 miles. The
SWC300 is a pastoral sympho-
ny – a journey through a green
and gentle landscape. Well,
perhaps that’s not quite true.
The clifftop lighthouse at the
Mull of Galloway, Scotland’s
most southerly point, has a cer-
tain discordant wildness, especially in stormy
weather, when waves crash around the rocks
far below.
THE “CRADLE OF SCOTTISH
CHRISTIANITY”- Near the town of Whithorn, I fall in with a
group of friends – among them the writer Sara
Maitland, who lives locally – picnicking on
scones and jam in preparation for a short pil-
grimage of three miles or so to St Ninian’s Cave.
Whithorn is known as the “cradle of Scottish
Christianity” as it was here that, in the fourth
century, Ninian established the first church in
Scotland. Every year, on a Sunday close to his
feast day of 16 September, his life is celebrated
with a mass on the beach near the cave which
he is said to have used as a retreat. KIRKCUDBRIGHT
- Onwards, now, to Kirkcudbright, which calls
itself Scotland’s Artists’ Town. Since the 19th
century, painters have been
drawn here by the light and the
prettiness of the place. Kirkcud-
bright Galleries, opened last
summer, has a splendid collec-
tion of works by artists who
called this town home, among
them Jessie M King and her
husband Ernest A Taylor, part
of the bohemian set between the wars. - My final stop is the Burns Mausoleum in
Dumfries. Having started at the cottage where
Robert Burns was born, it seems fitting to end
with the town where, in 1796 at the age of 37,
he died. St Michael’s and its churchyard are the
colour of rust, or dried blood; the tomb stands
out for being a brilliant white. Like Alloway, it
takes sentimentality to the point of vulgarity,
and yet there is something undeniably numi-
nous about this place. l - in the first place to begin with / ruefully s adly, with
regret / cross-border going both ways at each border /
motorway main road, highway / side part / SWC300 =
South West Coastal 300 Route / to provide to supply,
offer, give / anti-clockwise the opposite direction of the
movement of a clock / to keep, kept, kept to remain
faithful to, to abide by / stubborn obstinate, determined /
folk people, here, residents. - kind sort / shrine place of worship, holy or sacred place
/ heavyweight influential person, person respected in a
field / stone rock / thatched made out of straw / to
regard as to consider as / moist watery, here, tearful /
prone inclined to / to attempt to try / to blow, blew,
blown up to cause to explode. - run here, trip / to conduct to carry out / resort holiday
or hotel complex / scene here, location / to loom (out of)
to appear / seaside town town that is situated by the sea
/ dramatic spectacular / sight view / whole entire /
journey voyage / gentle pleasant, peaceful / landscape
natural surroundings, countryside / clifftop highest point
of a cliff / lighthouse tower equipped with a powerful
light to warn or guide ships / discordant not in harmony,
that does not fit in / wildness savage quality / stormy
tempestuous, affected by storms /
wave movement of the sea.- cradle place where sth originated, birthplace / to fall,
fell, fallen in to join / scone small cake made with milk /
pilgrimage journey to a place of religious or cultural
importance / cave cavern / mass religious ceremony. - onwards moving forward / to draw, drew, drawn
here, to attract / works artistic creations / to call this
town home be be a resident / set group, clique. - fitting appropriate / churchyard graveyard, cemetery /
rust powdery reddish-brown layer which forms on iron
caused by corrosion / blood red liquid which circulates
around the body / to stand, stood, stood out to be
distinct from others / for here, because / numinous sacred.
Retrouvez plus d’infos sur http://www.vocable.frThe SWC
is a pastoral
symphony.
I Destination I ÉCOSSE I B2-C
Rappel :
a bookshop une librairie
a library une bibliothèque
Mais on garde l'origine grecque en
anglais dans des mots tels que :
bibliophile, bibliomaniac,
bibliographer et, bien sûr, The Bible.SUR LE BOUT DE LA LANGUEThe village of Alloway. (PT-VS/ScottishViewpoint/REX/SIPA)3.5 million
In 2018, 3.5 million international
tourists visited Scotland.£2.2 billion
They spent £2.2 billion in the country.11.8 million
The same year, 11.8 million overnight
trips to Scotland were taken by
UK residents.AA 09-10-806-Steph.indd 10 27/06/2019 17: