Bothy Quotes

“The lighthouse was called The Longing. Pitched amidst tessellations of rock black as coke, thrashed for over a hundred years by disconsolate squalls, it needled upwards, spine-straight, a white bolt locking earth, sky, and ocean together. It was lovely in its decrepitude, feathery paint gnawed off by north winds and rust-blazed window frames signatures of use and purpose. -The Lighthouse Witches, C.J. Cooke”
― C.J. Cooke, The Lighthouse Witches

“The current generation of huts might help creative folk focus on making new work but the bothy's original function was more egalitarian.
It wanted to offer shelter in remote Scottish locations for walkers and climbers, the idea being that if hikers made the sacrifice to explore extreme locations they should be rewarded by basic accommodation that was free of charge.
The concept was rolled out across the country and aroused a new kind of generosity among landowners.
More than a hundred of these shelters are provided by estate owners on the proviso they are left clean and undamaged.
"Bothying" came about as agricultural methods changed and farmsteads were increasingly abandoned.
During the 1940s the idea of leisure was shifting as it began to mean roaming in the hills and countryside.
Walkers looked for shelter on their meanderings and these small buildings did the trick.
All share the same unique highlight: they are sited within some of the most breath-taking scenery that rural Scotland has to offer.
To come across a bothy is the closest experience Scotland has to a palm tree dotted island mirage after hours stranded out at sea.
With one slight difference: this vision is real.”
― Gabriella Bennett, The Art of Coorie: How to Live Happy the Scottish Way