Yesterday was the 200th Anniversary of the birth of Kirkpatrick McMillan, the inventor of the pedal bicycle. The McMillans went down to the Smiddy where he lived and a wreath was laid at his grave in Keir Mill. In attendance was George, the Clan Chief. Here's a poem for the occasion:

Both Feet off the Ground



What makes the difference is letting go:
whether peddling or dreaming,
letting go of the ground.
I wonder what’s in this landscape
that turns whiskered sons
of the soil or manse into dreamers?
Not far from here are cottages,
yards apart, that in the space of fifty years
turned out an Oxford Don
and an Admiral of the Sultan’s navy;
not posh boys, boys from the village school.
I suppose it’s our imagination that makes
ordinary things marvels,
the Dandy Horse a bicycle,
a road from Carronbridge to Holywood
the runway to infinity.