Aquamarine
Kenneth Steven combines Scottish landscape and geological history with his own poetry. In this Essay he searches for the elusive blue of aquamarine.
The great Victorian collector of minerals Matthew Heddle mentions two places in particular for the finding of aquamarine in Scotland, one the island of Arran and the other a mountain in the Cairngorms. But locating these gems is another story.
The Cairngorm mountains are a kind of fortress. There is nowhere else like them in Scotland. You enter their world from one side or another and thereafter are inside them until you withdraw once more. You become aware of other noises than the ones that dominate our days: you hear streams, the breeze lifting the pine trees, the wind in the high hills once you have climbed into them. It’s an elemental place: pure and to all intents and purposes undamaged, undisturbed.
Kenneth Steven explores the history of this semi-precious stone and reflects in poetry on his finds.
Presenter Kenneth Steven
Producer Mark Rickards
A Whistledown Scotland production
Last on
More episodes
Previous
Broadcast
- Wed 20 Nov 2024 21:45Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3
Death in Trieste
Watch: My Deaf World
The Book that Changed Me
Five figures from the arts and science introduce books that changed their lives and work.
Podcast
-
The Essay
Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.