Cairngorms authors meet in spirit and celebrate the mountains
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It looks if the Cairngorms’ inaugural Writer in Residence is about to peak once more.
Merryn Glover was invited by publisher Polygon to take a walk in those hallowed mountains with the late, but legendary, Nan Shepherd.
The result was presented to a very receptive audience on Saturday in Loch Insh Outdoor Centre’s ‘dome’ – and where better, since the building in a former life had sat atop the Cairngorms as the Ptarmigan restaurant.
In The Hidden Fires, Glover proves a highly adept and appropriate Boswell to Shepherd’s almost mystical musings.
Following in the footsteps and contours of The Living Mountain, she explores the same landscapes and themes as Shepherd’s seminal work, on a journey separated by time yet, as trumpeted rightly by her publishers, unified by space and purpose.
This is indeed a conversation between two women across nearly a century which explores how entering the life of a mountain can illuminate our own.
The nub of the matter is well discussed by Glover, as she ‘mixes’ it in the land of the isolated walker with some company, both literary and literal:
“When I lead writing bookshops about nature, most people confess to wanting the outdoors to themselves, unsullied by the presence of others – or at least, others outside their party.
“We seek an antidote to our crowded lives through the solace of natural beauty and the absence of social demands.
“It is understandable. I believe such quiet experiences are restorative, deepening both our inner and outer lives, and they were key to Shepherd’s relationship with the mountain, which often grew in solitude. ‘I’ve walked all day,’ she wrote once, ‘and seen no-one.’
“But I’ve also learned to welcome the presence of others, as she did. Without the leading of more experienced and knowledgeable guides, she would never have gone to the tops or discovered all she did, and over the years, she shared many of her Cairngorms journeys with companions, ultimately leading her own students and the children of friends.
“Like her, I am genuinely glad to see people drinking of the mountain’s refreshing draught. She also did not presume that her long and quiet exploration or her relative proximity to the Cairngorms gave her superior rights.
“Some later critics have accused her of being a snob and patronising to the working class and agricultural communities she wrote about, but I think this is unfair and see evidence to the contrary...”
Saturday was certainly sociable enough, with Shepherd’s amiable Boswell offering Prosecco and crisps freely to all those who packed out the erstwhile Ptarmigan after simply driving their cars to its door.
Changed days indeed for the many walkers and mountaineers among the invited guests.
They were also rewarded with the evocative flute of Hamish Napier and the gentle nosing of ‘Cairngorm Wanderer’ Neil Reid, recently retired editor of Scottish Mountaineer magazine and veteran of our range, equally as walker, reader and writer.
As interviewer he proved pleasantly adept at punctuating his hostess’s readings from a fascinating book which sold promisingly well on the night.
How, for instance, did the two time-travelling authors really compare?
“Well,” thought Merryn, “she lived her entire life in one bedroom. I’m an Australian who grew up in the Himalayas. By the time I was 19 I had moved 60 times...”
The Hidden Fires, though, makes perfect travelling companions of the two.
