Scottish Thistle

I was at a bit of a loose end this morning, while my wife was off walking the dogs with a neighbour at Barns Ness, and decided to spend my time taking photographs with my compact camera out with a view to a blip.

The area is one I visit at least twice a week so it is in danger of being over-blipped. I tried my hand at a whole range of things - pictures of the lighthouse, chasing butterflies (actually succeeding in getting one decent one) , pictures of rock pools and grasses, one of Zoe, our dog but when I got home the only thing that really caught my eye was a photograph of a scottish thistle.

Looked at closely the thistle shows that it not only had nasty spiky thorns but in between there is a gelatinous white substance which is extremely sticky. - a double whammy for any animal who cares to try to eat them.

As to its origins as the emblem of Scotland :-

According to a legend, an invading Norse army was attempting to sneak up at night upon a Scottish army's encampment. During this operation one barefoot Norseman had the misfortune to step upon a thistle, causing him to cry out in pain, thus alerting Scots to the presence of the Norse invaders. Some sources suggest the specific occasion was the Battle of Largs, which marked the beginning of the departure of King Haakon IV (Haakon the Elder) of Norway who, having control of the Northern Isles and Hebrides, had harried the coast of the Kingdom of Scotland for some years.