Tour Scotland very short 4K Spring travel video clip of a Scotsman wearing a Kilt and and Sporran and walking by a 16th Century Beehive Doocot on Spring ancestry, history visit and trip to the coast by St Monans, East Neuk of Fife, Britain, United Kingdom. The doocot also known as a Dovecot was built by the Sandilands of Cruivie. A doocot, the Scots word for dovecote, is a stone structure built to house pigeons and doves, historically used as a " living larder " for meat, eggs, and fertiliser. In Scotland, these buildings were once powerful status symbols for landowners and castle owners, as laws strictly regulated who was allowed to build them. They provided fresh meat and eggs during lean winter months. Their droppings, known as guano, were highly valued as a potent fertiliser and even used in making gunpowder and leather. In the 16th and 17th centuries, owning a doocot was a mark of wealth. King James IV actually mandated that local lords build them, though later laws restricted their construction to landowners who produced enough grain to feed the birds themselves to prevent them from eating neighbours' crops. A common Scottish folk belief claimed that destroying a doocot would bring a death in the family or specifically the death of the "Laird's wife" within the year, which is why many still stand even after their main estates have vanished. A beehive doocot is an early Scottish, circular stone dovecote or pigeon house with a tapering, dome shaped roof, dating primarily from the 16th century. These structures, often found near farms and castles, featured hundreds of internal stone nesting boxes to provide landowners with a consistent source of food and manure. St Monans is a popular tourist destination situated on the Fife Coastal Walking Path which passes through St Monans, it is a Scottish long distance walking footpath that runs from Kincardine to Newburgh. It runs for 117 miles along the coastline of Fife and passes through many seaside towns and villages including Anstruther, Cellardyke, Crail, Elie, Lower Largo, Pittenweem, St Andrews and St Monans. The path would take around one week to walk completely from end to end. Of interest to folks with ancestry, genealogy or Scottish Family Roots in Scotland who may wish to visit one day. Find things to see and do in Scotland where you are always welcome. The date for astronomical Spring is 20th March, ending on 21st June
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
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