Thistle (September)

The Scots brought the Grampians. They look nothing like the Grampians. They brought churches. The felix country had never witnessed such stone outcrops. They brought September. Land was managed by clockwork. They brought whisky. It brings colour to the cheeks and lucidity of mind. They brought tartan, turning the landscape into hundreds of squares. They brought guns and golf-clubs. They brought bagpipes. It could have been worse. The Scots brought pinecones. Formidable lines of pines explained where places squared off. They brought thistles. Their prickly heads and purple outbursts reminded them of home. Now they remind us of felix country.