Higgs - My hearts in the lowlands: ten days in bonny Scotland

Praise for
My Hearts in the Lowlands

An absolutely delightful armchair travel book. Liz Curtis Higgs lovingly portrays the beauty and ruggedness of South West Scotland by her adept use of the vernacular of the region, the appropriate quotations by Robert Burns, and the references from her earlier books, all the while thoroughly enticing the readers to discover this charming, offbeat part of Scotland for themselves. The enchanting original sketches by Simon Dawdry, scattered throughout, add immense flavor. As one whose ancestors hailed from Galloway, I found that Mrs. Higgs certainly tugged at my heartstrings with her descriptions of sites well known to me. Aye, and I canna wait to return!

L OIS Y. F LYTE , MLS, Dumfries and Galloway
Family History Society

Oh, how I wish Id read this exquisite book before my first bungling trip to Scotlandor better yet, had the effervescent Liz for my guide! Her eye for detail never fails, and her heart is even more true than her sight. With loving care, Liz shares it all with her reader in a wonderful you-are-there, conversational style.

D ONNA F LETCHER C ROW , author of The Fields of
Bannockburn

A delightful excursion into the Lowlands of Scotland begins with page one as Liz Curtis Higgs takes you along to visit favorite sites. Of special interest is Kirkcudbright, where the historic town house of Sir Thomas MacLellan, Lord Kirkcudbright, takes center stage. Higgss talent for painting pictures with words makes you feel at home, whether visiting eateries, bookshops, jewelry stores, or the Selkirk Arms. Its with a sense of sadness that you board the plane to fly home. I long to visit Galloway, but reading this delightful description of the land and the people is the next best thing!

N ANCY M AC C LELLAN S EARS , treasurer, Clan MacLellan

A bonny blend of Lizs lyrical fiction and tantalizing Scotland facts told in an intimate style. Not only do we explore a beautiful country, but we also discover treasures about Liz Curtis Higgs. With her wit and stories, Liz charms residents and booksellers, just as she charms readers. After reading this book, Id put my luggage in the right-hand-driving-car boot next to Lizs anytime. In fact, I feel as if I have.

J ANE K IRKPATRICK , author of All Together in One Place

M Y H EARTS IN THE L OWLANDS
P UBLISHED BY W ATER B ROOK P RESS
12265 Oracle Boulevard, Suite 200
Colorado Springs, Colorado 80921
A division of Random House Inc.

All Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

eISBN: 978-0-307-49953-0

Copyright 2007 by Liz Curtis Higgs

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
Higgs, Liz Curtis.
My hearts in the lowlands : ten days in bonny Scotland / Liz Curtis Higgs.1st ed.
p. cm.
1. Galloway (Scotland)Description and travel. 2. Galloway (Scotland)Social life and customs. 3. Lowlands (Scotland)Description and travel. 4. Lowlands (Scotland)Social life and customs. I. Title.
DA880.G1H54 2007
941.47086092dc22
[B]

2006032097

v3.1

Liz Curtis Higgs fell in love with Scotland more than a decade ago when she began researching the Lowlands for a series of historical novels. Her luminous and vivid storytelling has transported countless readers to her adopted homeland through the rich details gathered on her many trips to the region, including her twelve-city Heart for Scotland book tour.

A busy conference speaker, Liz has addressed audiences in all fifty states and eight foreign countries. She is the author of twenty-five books, with more than three million copies in print, including her nonfiction bestseller, Bad Girls of the Bible, and her Christy Awardwinning novel, Whence Came a Prince. Liz and her husband, Bill, share their nineteenth-century farmhouse in Kentucky with two teenagers, Matt and Lilly, and too many cats.

O Scotia!
For whom my warmest wish
to Heaven is sent!
R OBERT B URNS

But first, before you see heavens glory,
May ye get mony a merry story.
R OBERT B URNS

L iz, are you off to Scotland again?

I blush to confess it.

Aye. At first everyone understood. Doing research for your novels, they said. Who wouldnt enjoy seeing the land of Braveheart and Rob Roy?

But when my visits became an annual pilgrimage, when every spare penny and frequent-flier mile was earmarked Glasgow, when I had to build more bookshelves to hold all my treasured tomes from you-know-where, one fact became abundantly clear: Scotland had captured my heart and was not about to let go.

So lets go, shall we? Just the two of us?

Rather than running breathlessly from one end of the country to the other, well take a leisurely turn around South West Scotland, known as Dumfries and Galloway. Many travelers bypass this quiet corner, eager to experience the stark beauty of the Highlandsa sight worth seeing, to be sure. But I consider Galloway the countrys best-kept secret: a place where time holds its breath, where ancient ruins dot the countryside in moss-covered splendor, where the natives are friendly and the tourists are few, only because they dont know what theyre missing.

So, ten days in bonny Scotland. Youll join me, aye?

May is the best month for a leap across the pond. The sun rises by five and tarries past nine, providing ample time to wander down every footpath that beckons. The air is scented with lilacs. Month-old lambs gambol along the hedgerows, and the rolling hills and glens are covered with the greenest grass you can imagine.

Im on tiptoe just thinking about it.

Dont worry about the driving; a steering wheel on the right side of the car and traffic on the left side of the road feel perfectly natural to me. Besides, in May well have the place to ourselves. Students are still in school, and most tourists wait for summer. English sightseers, however, barrel up the M6 motorway on the weekends, so well plan to arrive on a Sunday and depart on a Tuesday. That will give us lots of weekdays to poke about the village shops and explore half a dozen castles and linger over pots of tea and nibble on scones and