The Temple of the Muses, Dryburgh

It rained hard until mid-afternoon, but I wasn't too unhappy having an excuse to stay inside. But I did gird my loins when it stopped and went to Dryburgh, partly to recce another holiday cottage which I might stay in sometime. I found that an enormous house was being built next door, so I will leave it until that's been finished.

Anyway, I parked on the opposite side of the river from Dryburgh and walked over the suspension foot bridge and had a short walk along the river bank past Stirling Towers - another holiday cottage - and on to the largest walled garden I have ever seen (must defeat the purpose of having walls, I reckon) before climbing the hill to this temple, built in 1817 and dedicated to the poet James Thomson who wrote the lyrics to Rule Britannia (among other things). The temple originally contained a stone statue of the Apollo Belvedere on a circular pedestal showing nine Muses with laurel wreaths. Bronze figures of the Four Seasons by Siobhan O'Hehir were installed as a replacement in 2002. I went home satisfied that I had had my dose of culture for the day.