Dalescord Button Hills - Run Rabbit Run

Button Hill Cairn

I had planned to climb Ronas Hill but first light was blown in by a strong south westerly that had raged through the night dislodging various outdoor accoutrement's that had crashed past the house.  The rain was flying not falling so I languished about doing bits of work and waiting for an alternative plan to materialise. There was always the Button Hills, in the middle of nowhere south of Sullom Voe, with no obvious merits and not even appearing in any guide book but a Marilyn nevertheless if I could find the summit.  I knew from years of munro bashing that even the most tedious sounding hills can generate all sorts of unseen adventures even on foul days and so it proved.

When I mentioned my plan to a local she said that this area was where the first bombs of the Second World War had landed in November 1939 when the Luftwaffe tried to hit the seaplanes based in Sullom Voe but had only managed to kill two rabbits. This had led to an adaption of the popular song Run_Rabbit_Run and it became a hit. 

So late morning I set out for Voe and then along to Susetter where I parked in a desolate wind swept glen below a scarp slope that led to a great expense of peat moorland.  I donned waterproofs and  was sucked over the nearest fence by a vortex of rain assisted wind. With it at my back the ascent over steep wet slopes was no sweat.  I was soon on the cusp of the scarp and could see the finger of Dale Voe to the north east and a vast panorama of peat hags ahead. I knew that there was no obvious top or trig point but thankfully the cloud level had risen so I could see the full extent of the rising hillocks.  

I made for what I thought was the high point of the convex slopes but upon arrival concluded that there was a slightly higher button to the north west.  I headed for it and the high point of the Button Hills turned out to be a peat hag.  There were some stones scattered around which I collected and fashioned into a cairn on a hill I will now call Marilyn's Buttons.  Building the cairn was a lot easier than the return trip, it may have been down hill but slaloming down the peat hags was no fun in the wind.  But the walk had cleared my mind and I stripped off my wet clothes and drove down to Brae to call on friends. 

I sat in a beautifully constructed timber frame house with a view that only nature could conspire.  I scanned across the voe, had the chance to hold and admire the smiles and tears of a 5 week old baby, learnt more about community life, local football, and felt privileged to be welcomed into the abundant sharing that takes place across the northern isles. I am not surprised that life expectancy is so high, folk just "breathe in the air and aren't afraid to care" in Shetland.  I left with a bag of Shetland black potatoes,  Kenny Dalglish's biography and advice on where to buy a leg of Shetland lamb for tomorrow's evening mea that I was cooking for colleagues whom I would be collecting from the airport. 

I went out to an evening meal with other friends, four people had contributed to the different courses and it was a fusion meal with a Czech starter,  lobster chowder and some dark chocolate brownies made from an iPad app recipe. I was given a bag of frozen rosemary to cook the leg of lamb, which will be served with black potatoes, parsnips and kale later today. I'm afraid I shall have no kitchen assistants so I will eke out the meal with the help of some wine and a Tesco apple crumble.  

Shetland Black Potatoes

I was reminded by Wiki that Run Rabbit Run was in the lyrics of Breathe in the Air, one of life's enduring soundtracks and the opening track on Dark Side of the Moon
Breathe, breathe in the air
Don't be afraid to care
Leave but don't leave me
Look around, choose your own ground
For long you live and high you fly
And smiles you'll give and tears you'll cry
And all your touch and all you see
Is all your life will ever be

Run rabbit run
Dig that hole, forget the sun
And when at last the work is down
Don't sit down, it's time to dig another one
For long you live and high you fly
But only if you ride the tide
And balanced on the biggest wave
You race towards an early grave

I didn't see any rabbits, which is unusual on Shetland but in that weather I think Pink Floyd had it right, they had run to dig another hole, I just breathed in the air .