Celebrating John Muir's birthday on the Isle of May

 

Landscape photos of the island courtesy of David Best.

A fine weekend to celebrate John Muir's birthday the Isle of May,  an island that must have filled his view as a child. John Muir was born in Dunbar and spent much of his childhood roaming the hills and coast around his home town with his friends. This must have given him a love of wilderness that stayed with him through out his life when later he moved to America. He became one of the best known modern environmentalists and his efforts resulted in the setting up some of the first national parks in the world as a way of protecting wildlife and landscapes from the effects of man. He was also a prolific and influential writer and his books have inspired many to value nature and recognise the importance it has to the health of the human soul. As a direct result of John Muir's work the UK passed legislation after the Second World War that enabled National Parks to be set up and National Nature Reserves to be declared. I wonder what he would have thought about an island within sight of his birthplace being made a National Nature Reserve in 1956 as a result of his campaigning.
82 people came out to the May this weekend and leaned a little more about John Muir whole enjoying the island. They also read some of his most famous quotes that were set up around the island - such as "In every walk with Nature one receives far more than he seeks"