Mull of Galloway

Walking towards Lagvag Point, the view is awe-inspiring. It used to be said that you could see seven kingdoms from the headland: Scotland, Ireland, England, Wales, Isle of Man, Strathclyde, and Heaven. Narrow cliff ledges and crevices crowd with raucous herring gulls, great and lesser black-backed gulls, shags, razorbills, black guillemots, and fulmars.

Westward along the clifftops, high ledges blaze with color from sea pinks, mountain milk-vetch, yellow vetch, and spring squill. Far beneath, seals are often seen bobbing and diving in offshore waters. The route continues to East and West Tarbet, past shores once used as smuggling landing points from the Isle of Man.

From the narrowest point of the peninsula, head north to find St Medan's Cave and Chapel, associated with an Irish princess who fled an unwanted suitor.

On the way back to East Tarbet, massive grassy ramparts reveal evidence of a huge Iron Age fort — reportedly the site where the last four members of the Picts (a father and three sons) made their final stand before choosing death over revealing the secret recipe for heather ale.

Acknowledgment: Text derived from the Out and Out Series; Discovering the Countryside on Foot. Pictures courtesy of Wikipedia.