BIGGER

‘Come let us spend the lightsome days

In the birks of Aberfeldy’

Terrain: Steep climbs, guide rails in places

Starting point: Birks Car Park in Aberfeldy, PH15 2DX

Distance:  2.9 km (1.8 miles)

Walking time:  59 mins

OS Map: Explorer OL379. The map can be found online at: https://osmaps.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/route/10378803/Aberfeldy

Facilities: Toilets at the start, facilities in Aberfeldy

What is it?

Robert Burns (1759-1796) visited the Den of Moness and the birch trees of Aberfeldy during a tour of the Scottish Highlands in 1787. The beauty of the scenery inspired him to write The Birks Of Aberfeldy, which Burns tells us in the manuscript was ‘composed on the spot’.

The verses became so famous that the area was renamed The Birks Of Aberfeldy, and this is the well-marked trail we walk up today, with its steep gorge and spectacular waterfalls.

‘The Birks Of Aberfeldy’

‘Bony lassie, will ye go,

Will ye go, will ye go;

Bony lassie, will ye go


To the birks of Aberfeldy.

Now Simmer blinks on flowery braes,

And o’er the chrystal streamlets plays;

Come let us spend the lightsome days

In the birks of Aberfeldy.


The little birdies blythely sing

While o’er their heads the hazels hing,

Or lightly flit on wanton wing,

In the birks of Aberfeldy.


The braes ascend like lofty wa’s,

The foamy stream deep-roaring fa’s,

O’erhung wi’ fragrant spreading shaws,

The birks of Aberfeldy.


The hoary cliffs are crown’d wi’ flowers,

White o’er the linns the burnie pours,

And rising, weets wi’ misty showers

The birks of Aberfeldy.


Let Fortune’s gifts at random flee,

They ne’er shall draw a wish frae me;

Supremely blest wi’ love and thee,

In the birks of Aberfeldy.


Bony lassie, will ye go,

Will ye go, will ye go;

Bony lassie, will ye go

To the birks of Aberfeldy.’

A statue of Robert Burns composing his famous poem, sits at the entrance to the walk.

Burns is said to have found his inspiration while resting on a natural rock seat on the eastern side of the glen, now known as Burns’ Cave. We sit on this rock ledge and enjoy the same beauty that inspired Burns.

The path takes us high above the river with views of the crags on the opposite side of the ravine. There is a break in the trees that gives a fine view of the impressive Upper Moness Falls, the highest on the walk.

The return walk is higher above the ravine and there are fewer open views of the waterfalls. However, the woodland here is mostly the birches – or birks – that have given the glen its name.