 A
Walk Round “The Cradle of Scotland’s Independence”
Glentrool and its environs are described
as “The Cradle of Scotland’s Independence”
by Andrew McCormick in his authoritative
book “Galloway: The spell of its Hills
and Glens”. This walk starts and ends
at Bruce’s Stone overlooking one of Scotland’s
finest views, Loch Trool. 
This walk is not particularly arduous
but as with all Galloway upland areas
due respect should be given to the terrain,
weather and time of the year.
It is assumed that anyone attempting
the walk has suitable clothing and the
ability to navigate should the need arise.
Before leaving your car make certain it
is locked and nothing is on view that
could attract the unwelcome attention
of thieves who, sadly, do target our beauty
spots.
Lastly leave a note of your intended
route and time of return; this could be
done on Galloway Mountain Rescue Teams
web site at www.gallowaymrt.org.uk where
there is a dedicated route
planner.
However, on with the walk following a
route that arguably gives some of the
finest views of the four ranges in the
Galloway Hills.
On leaving your car take the path to
Bruce’s Stone and as you read the inscription
imagine that it is March 1307 and you
are Robert the Bruce, high on the lofty
grandeur of the hill at your back, the
Fell of Eschoncan. You watch the march
of the English soldiers along the narrow
defile that skirted the opposite shore
of Loch Trool walking into the ambush
set for them at the Steps of Trool, lying
at the foot of the 1800 feet steep sided
Mulldonoch. You sound the bugle that resonates
around the glen signalling an avalanche
of boulders on the unsuspecting soldiers.
Those who fled eastwards ran straight
into your men who put them to the sword.
Somehow it is difficult to equate the
tranquillity and beauty of this area with
the spilling of blood, not only in 1307,
but also in 1685 during the Covenanting
times.
When Bruce traversed the hills around
Loch Trool they were covered with native
deciduous trees affording him total cover.
Today the hills are denuded of oak, rowan
and birch replaced in 1947 by the fast
growing Sitka Spruce. The village of Glentrool
did not exist until 1953.
As we look eastward towards the broad
valley of the Glenhead Burn the remnants
of the native sessile oak fringe the first
mile of our walk along a track to Glenhead
farm. We cross a bridge over the Buchan
Burn built in 1851 by Randolph, Ninth
Earl of Galloway. An inscription from
Sir Walter Scott’s poetry appropriately
reads:
“Land of brown heath and shaggy wood,
Land of the mountain and the flood,
Land of my sires ! what mortal hand
Can e’er untie the filial band
That knits me to thy rugged strand.”
The farmstead at Buchan was built in
1856 in the style of a turreted baronial-looking
small castle, and although it does look
out of place it adds a romantic touch
to the glen. The Buchan and Glenhead,
along with a number of other former homesteads,
gave shelter to many a traveller, and
I have been privileged to read one of
the guest books revealing an interesting
insight into the type of person who passed
this way in the past two hundred years,
including the odd well known literary
figure.
A few hundred yards before reaching Glenhead
branch right over the Glenhead Burn to
join the Southern Upland Way, the 212-mile
footpath running from Portpatrick in the
west to Cockburnspath in the east. It
is now twenty years since this long distance
footpath was opened, and I recently again
viewed Jimmie McGregor’s television programme
and it certainly did justice to the beauty
of Loch Trool. The next stretch follows
the Southern Upland way for two kilometres
and on leaving the trees your right hand
is dominated by Bennanbrack and Culeywee
with the ridge of White Hill running towards,
the still out of sight, Loch Dee. Continue
to the watershed at Dargall Lane where
you leave the comfort of manmade roads
and strike up the ever-steepening ridge
leading to the high point of our walk,
Craiglee.
If you are fortunate enough to be blessed
with a clear day the surrounding vistas
are quite magnificent. Looking back to
our starting point the appetite is whetted
to what only gets better further into
the walk. Due south are the Minnigaff
Hills, south easterly the white sands
of Loch Dee glisten and beyond Clatteringshaws.
In the northeast the Rhinns of Kells seem
to extend forever with Corserine their
highest point. Swinging our gaze a little
further anti-clockwise the Cooran Lane
takes our eye to the boggy Silver Flowe,
a Sight of Special Scientific Interest
where a number of people have perished.
Looking due north the rugged granite of
the Dungeon Hills lie starkly bare, and
in the distant north west the Awfu Hand
Range peeks its tops over the Buchan ridge
with the Merrick proudly standing above
all others.
The walk now follows the high ground
overlooking two of Galloway’s hidden jewels,
the Glenhead Lochs, shimmering in the
afternoon sun, and in the distance the
pendant of all the lochs running southerly
from Loch Doon, Loch Trool, but from the
elevated position the sheer magnificence
of the view takes the breath away. The
route continues along the Rig of Jarkness,
a name that is believed to have both Gaelic
and Norse derivations, and can mean ridge
of the lonely desolate waste, or ridge
of the head of the cataract. Both are
equally descriptive. Walking along the
Rig to your right hand are Loch Narroch,
Loch Valley and Loch Neldricken where
the Murder Hole, immortalised in S. R.
Crockett’s “The Raiders”, can be found.
The next part of the walk can be dictated
by the quantity of water flowing from
Loch Valley into the Gairland Burn. McBain
in his “Merrick and the Neighbouring Hills
suggests that some form of dam existed
at the outflow of Loch Valley, and during
the salmon run the sluice gates would
be opened enabling them to swim upstream
from Loch Trool. This hypothesis is most
unlikely.
If the Gairland Burn is running high
the safest route is to remain on the east
bank and follow it downhill to Glenhead
and retrace your steps along the rough
road to Bruce’ Stone. However, if it is
safe, cross the Gairland Burn a short
distance from Loch Valley and take the
well trodden, but often muddy, path around
Buchan Hill. By taking this route the
final kilometre to Buchan Farm is gently
downhill with “The Cradle of Scotland’s
Independence”, Loch Trool, as your final
backdrop.
This walk is a good introduction to the
Galloway Hills giving a variety of terrains
and certainly a succession of wonderful
views, and if you look carefully wildlife
abounds in the air and on the ground.
 Depending
on your meanderings the total distance
could be ten miles.
The map of choice is Harveys Galloway
Hills 1:25000.
 You
can now download this route for your GPS
if you use Memory
Map Software
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