"Look Aboon Ye"

Mark W. Ingalls

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Houston, TX
Chuckling over one of HighZ's posts ("I don't know about Patrick, but I always leave rocks where I find them. I find them on the ground and I leave them on the ground.") the signature phrase, "look aboon ye," caught my eye.

Dr. S, I wonder if you've crossed this snippet before, from The Hereditary Sheriffs of Galloway by Andrew Agnew--

The roof-tree of Monreith rang with merriment; the wine passed freely, and the colonel indulged in tall talk, and seemed playing into the hands of his guest, who was on the watch to get him to back his reckless assertions.

The opportunity offered.

The colonel asserted that from a hill close by, we could any clear day see five kingdoms. The gambler betted him £100 that we could not. The colonel closed, making the reservation that the old kingdom of Man was one of these. To this, after a rapid mental calculation, the guest agreed; his great anxiety being to have the bet booked forthwith, and the company present named the judges.

On a fine clear morning, Colonel Maxwell led the party to the top of Barhullion, and proceeded to business; "Here," he said, pointing below, "is the kingdom of Scotland."

"Good" said his friends.

"To the west is Ireland."

"Good again."

"Eastward you see St. Bees Head, there's England."

" Right."

"And south there's the Isle of Man."

"Agreed." A long pause ensued, the wagerer mentally discounting his cheque. At last, chuckling, he said, "Well, my friend, and how about the fifth?"

The colonel looked him steadily in the face, then slowly and solemnly raising his hand, said, "Look aboon ye, man; there's the kingdom of Heaven, and maybe ye'll never be nearer it."

Fisherman, are you also a Scot?
 
Aboon and aboot

Mark,

I hadn't seen that, but I just downloaded a pdf of The Hereditary Sheriffs of Galloway. Thanks for the reference!

I chose my motto for three reasons

1) It refers to my profession
2) It's a reminder to keep my aspirations high
3) It's a play on words. My ancestors on my dad's side were colliers near Alloa in Clackmannanshire. The motto of "the wee county" is "Look Aboot Ye".

BTW, the offer of a sandwich at the Jamocha Bean still stands whenever you and Edna are out my way. You can tell me all about antennas.
 
I'm really hankerin' for Big Bend, which is south of you, right?

Edna's booked up every weekend in February, except possibly the last.

I don't know very much of antennas, except for having made one or two.
 
Big Bend

Big Bend is about 400 miles south and a little east of my hangout.

I've only been there once, but really liked it - tent camped in the Chisos and did a little traveling on the backroads there.

Are you repeat visitors to Big Bend? If so, do you have favorite spots?

I'm thinking that a camping trip to the Davis Mts. should be on the schedule this year for me. Have you ever done any camping in that area?
 
We've never been to Big Bend, nor the Davis Mtns.

Although I'm not a native Texan, I gather from them that "400 miles" is of the same gauge as "next door."

The ulterior motive here is to gather enough mass to gravitate a rally toward these parts...
 
I have to work Sunday, Mar. 1, so the weekend of Feb. 28/Mar 1 is out for me. I am free Feb. 21, 22 though. I'm also free the other weekends in March.

A Big Bend Rally sounds like a fine idea to me if the timing works out.
 

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