Layout and Location - The Stones and the Stars: Building Scotland's Newest Megalith - page 149

himself had worked in holiday jobs, also full-time when he first
left Strathclyde University. Five minutes of fast talking secured us
a pocket compass on indefinite loan, and we left with an irrever-
ence for official procedures that was to last for quite a time. A sore
trial, no doubt, to the permanent staff who had to deal with us, but
necessary if we were to have any chance of completing the circle in
the originally allotted time, of which we had only 7 months left.
For his next miracle, John produced a portable clinometer, a
tiny instrument that wobbled at the least breath of air when sus-
pended, but would let us roughly assess the height of any obstruc-
tion. One of many questions still to be settled was whether, if a
horizon event was completely obscured by a building, we should
set our alignment to where the Sun or Moon first became visible,
or to where it should be on the actual horizon. No doubt the deter-
mining factor would be just how many alignments were obscured;
one or two lined up with the temporary irritant of buildings might
be permissible.
Both instruments had rings for attaching them to walkers'
belts. I was interested to see that the compass was identical to one
my father retained from the war, except that the case was plastic
instead of metal. The total weight of both was only a few ounces,
but John supposed I would insist he carry both, gathering the office
staff to witness his badges of servitude.
On the hilltop we waded around in the long grass, climbing
over rubble in places, checking out a total of seven promising-
looking spots. The ground seemed deserted, but suddenly we were
accosted by an elderly man who came out from behind a hillock
and required us to give an account of ourselves, while his terrier
gave us a very suspicious eye. Hearing what was planned for the
area, he declared that he and his dog would be just as well pleased
if we took ourselves and our new park somewhere else. They liked
the hilltop desolate as it was, ruins and all, so they could walk
in peace. It didn't seem a very good omen for the popularity of
our megalith in the area, and John was sufficiently impressed by
this strange encounter to commemorate it in song, to the tune of
Strawberry Fair , viz:
'As I was going to Sighthill Park,
Singing, singing, megaliths on Rollox,