Tattie Bogle


We saw the first one at the turning for Carbost, on our way to Talisker beach. A gypsy scarecrow in a bus shelter, it struck a faintly sinister note as we headed into ever more remote country on increasingly narrow roads.

The Stig himself stood at the entrance to Carbost village.



Further along, a cheerful Dalek guarded a cattle grid. We all know they can't go up or down stairs, but what about cattle grids? We had seen no humans by this point, which reinforced our unseasy feeling that the inhabitants of Carbost had been taken over by some extra-terrestrial invasion.



'They' had taken over the post office, in a regulation Royal Mail postie's jacket:



And the health centre, in the guise of Dr Who.


There was the grisly, outside the Carbost Inn. We revised our earlier plan of having fish and chips:


And the benign, in school uniform outside the primary school:


In fact there were so many that driverly patience began to wear thin at the frequent cries of "stop! just one more photo!". We did go into the Carbost Inn for a cup of tea, where all seemed normal. So normal that we didn't quite like to ask about the alternate reality outside.

On returning from holiday I've discovered that there are scarecrow festivals held up and down Britain. 'Tattie bogle' is Scots for scarecrow. I've always found the name faintly scary, redolant of boggarts and freets and a whole faerie world of babies stolen while their mothers pull bracken, and Thomas the Rhymer transported away by the Queen of Elfland.

Comments

  1. Oh, how I wish we had Tattie Bogle festivals here! Instead, there are too many frightening and/or grisely competitions with pumpkins on porches. Just not the same!

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  2. You got back safely then?! Wow,it looks spooky. Brilliant scarecrows, especially Stig who's car has obviously just rolled away down the hill. I remember scarecrow festivals in Pirbright in Surrey near where we lived. Extraordinarily creative and inventive affairs!

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  3. Hi Linda, Great Post! What an adventure. Glad you made it back in one piece for fears of monster kidnapping! Cheers, Jenni

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  4. That's amazing! Quite a selection of modern tattie bogles. They are sinister because they're not doing what I thought scarecrows are supposed to do, so they probably are loitering around with intent...

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  5. Dragonfly Dreams, I was surprised to see how grisly these displays were, in a copy of Martha Stewart magazine, of all things. I didn't think Martha went in for scary, but some of the decorations were enough to give you nightmares.

    Annie, I was amazed at the creativity. And there were so many of them. I would go back next year just to see the tattie bogles.

    Jenni, I was just glad we weren't on the road in the dark - imagine the fright an unsuspecting driver must get.

    Christine - they definitely had that 'loitering with intent' air about them.

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  6. That looks like great fun - we have no scarecrows in the city - how boring is that!

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  7. Love all the photos. Thanks for sharing.

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  8. Your description of the undertones of the words 'Tattie Bogle' describes just how I hear them too. Although I always thought that Thomas the Rhymer probably had quite a good deal.

    These are fabulous, though! I love the wit that's gone into them. But sinister, definitely. Stig especially unnerves me: the thought of nothing behind that visor. Or is there something.....? (Cue 'Psycho' screeching violins).

    I have had the same experience on Skye: not of encountering scarecrows, that is, but of feeling increasingly unnerved and unhinged as we venture further and further along tiny roads past apparently deserted dwellings. And then you get to a beach/ pub/ village shop, and all is cheery and normal again. Unless it's actually Summerisle, of course...

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  9. I love these photos! The creativity is so much fun. I like the Dr. Who version the best.

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  10. what a great collection of photos! Remarkable diversity in the Tattie Bogle(s)! I've never seen anything like them.

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  11. Cool stuff. I'd probably never reach my destination for all the stops I'd be making. Fortunately, I have a very patient husband. Saintly I would even dare say.

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  12. very good and weird serie ;)

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  13. How fun!!! And I love Tattie bogle!!! Very fitting!!!

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  14. rather unnerving indeed. i think i'd be glad to see some real people after all this and no-one around.

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  15. You are telling here a very interesting story. Great photo series.
    Have a nice day
    Nordis

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  16. That was a real fun post. I have never heard of scarecrow competitions. What a great idea.

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  17. I love these! I also love scary punkins and everything that goes along with the Samhain/Halloween season. Then again, I wander alone through graveyards on rainy days year round, so perhaps it's in my blood... mwahahahahahahhhhhh!

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  18. Lol - there are a couple that we pass on the way to Uig - i keep meaning to post a picture, but they never seem to fit in. I might for Haloween. xx

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  19. Your pictures are so green.... Do you have a changing of the leaves? As in, do they turn colors and fall off the trees?

    I'm so enamored with your photos and writings.

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  20. Glad to see I'm not alone in finding the tattie bogles unsettling.
    Alli, our leaves to indeed change colour and fall, but I'm so behind with posting photos that these are still green ones from summer(the shame...). Back to seasonal posting soon!

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  21. Well, this post gives me the creeps, and for some reason reminds me of the movie "The Wicker Man". Just the kind of chills you expect around Hallowe'en. *tingle*

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  22. Like another commenter, first I've heard of this! Which is why I read blogs like yours. Thanks!

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