From Crosscanonby along Allonby Bay to Dubmill Point and the Lees Scar Lighthouse lies a flat inhospitable region. North and northwest, forested and sturdy, Dumfries and Galloway flexes its time immemorial muscles.

There was little on the beaches, but what there was proved distinctive, like the softly spoken local dialect. Don’t be misled by the seemingly chunky base/stem: it’s elder, very light. So worn by the elements that its knots stick out like organ-stops.

The region demanded the title. One little bird hugging its sanctuary, t’other permanently on the look out, revolving 360 degrees, never at rest.