Hello and welcome to this fireside folklore episode of Stories of Scotland. I'm Jenny, a spotless saucer.

And I'm Annie, an eloquent and highly educated kelpie. Today we are telling each other

traditional Scottish tales about the marvellous Rowan tree. These trees may not be as mighty as the

oaks or as tall as the pines, but they are truly wonderful in their own right. The Rowan is native to Scotland and has been rooted here for as long as people have.

Nowadays, they are common throughout the Highlands, particularly in the north-west.

And not many species can survive, let alone thrive in the northwest of Scotland.

So this is a testament to just how exceptionally hardy these trees are.

They can grow higher up on the mountains than any other Scottish tree.

And there's even one little stunted rowan growing at an altitude of 870 metres in the Rannoch area, and that's

2,850 feet high, almost the height of a Monroe. And while this little naturally bonzied

Rowan is alone up there, it's not unlike many others, which can often be spotted as lone sentinels on crags,

cliff faces and boulders throughout the mountains and glens of Scotland.

That's so cool, Jenny. I think we often romanticise the Rowan, but what you're saying to me

is that they are rowdy and rugged little rascals.

They are. And also, there's nothing I love more than seeing a tree growing really high up in a

mountain all by itself, because that tree could be a hundred years old, and it's like up to your

knee. It's amazing. It's so cool. It's like these trees are forced to live their life much slower because they're at such high and altitude.

But they're so determined.

Yeah.

And they're getting the best view because they're so up high.

So good on them.

Much slower and much lower.

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