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From the Red Brigwhere the A920 road crosses the river, there is a big loop northwards by Drumdelgie and the Falconry centre to Huntly. Click to see the crossing places The song 'Drumdelgie' is one of the best-known 'bothy ballads'..... Sing it as you walk.....  DRUMDELGIE There's a farm toon in Cairnie, well-kent far and wide It is the great Drumdelgie, On bonnie Deveronside. The fairmer o' yon muckle toon He is harsh and sair, The coldest winds and the hardest work Us servants get our share. At five o'clock we quickly rise And hurry down the stair; There to corn our horses, Likewise to straik their hair. Syne, after working half-an-hour Each to the kitchen goes, It's there to get our breakfast, Which generally is brose. We've scarcely got our brose well supped, And gi'en our points a tie, When the forman cries, 'Hallo, my lads! The hour is drawing nigh'. At six o'clock the mill's put on, To gie us all some work; Four o' us has to work at it, Till ye can wring our sark. And when the water is put aff; We hurry doon the stair, To get some quarters through the fan Till daylicht does appear. When daylicht does begin to peep, And the sky begins to clear, The forman he cries out, 'My lads, Ye'll stay no longer here! There's six o' you'll go to the ploo, And twa will drive the neeps, And the oxen they'll be after you Wi' strae raips roun' their queets' The song goes on for a few more verses,but that's the best bit, that describes the timetable of farmwork about 100 years ago. Ian Middleton has written new verses to bring it up to date, here's a condensed version:Drumdelgie's praise in bothy lays is gey ill-fitting noo The finest farm on Deveronside foresaken by the ploo The landlord of that muckle farm retired to take his ease Now half the place is setaside, the other half is trees. The logic of this transformation's hard to understand A waste of a century of work, a waste of finest land. So fare ye well Drumdelgie; since days of horse and cart. When i see your sad decline it fairly breaks my heart. 
When you approach Huntly,
it's easy to cross under the main A96 bridge
on the outskirts of Huntly. 
Then you come to a place where skiers practise on astroturf when there's no snow!
This ski place has a wee café, with a small selection of coffee, soup, etc. Just the thing after the day's walk.Any comments or stories or photos about your walk along the deveron?.....
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