This is an old Publication that is no longer available
Grey Stone Books is a small publishing company that specialises in mountain guide books and other outdoor titles. They produced their first guidebook, Bowland and the South Pennines, in 1990 and have been slowly adding to their list since then.
Publisher's website 2018
Every Autumn for hundreds of years hardy Highlanders set out with their hardy Highland cattle from every corner of the North towards the markets of the Lowlands. Among the very toughest of such journeys was the 200 miles from Skye to the mart at Crieff in Perthshire. Through seven great mountain ranges the cattle plodded their twelve miles a day, fording rivers swollen by October rains and swimming the stormy waters of the narrows at Kylerhea to the mainland.
Sponsored by Matthew Gloag and Son, the distillers of The Famous Grouse Whisky, twenty-nine Highland bulls and a cow called Matilda set out in 1981 to recreate this epic trek. Sharing their adventurous journey was Irvine Butterfield, author of the definitive High Mountains of Britain and Ireland. In this guidebook he leads today’s walkers in the hoofprints of the drove, along riversides and quiet green glens, and through wild mountain passes.
The journey is illustrated with superb colour photographs and clear maps. For the walker seeking the summits, the author plots several high-level alternatives.
Heroes and ancient legend have walked before you; echoes of clan battles haunt the way. Forgotten footpaths lead into mysterious places deep in the folds of the hills. Above all the route is defined by the great clouded crags of Scotland and the drover who passed through them.
