There's Money In Them Thar Hills ...

The previous post made reference to the Southern Upland Way.  In it entirety it runs from Portpatrick to Cockburnspath.  212 miles.  For me, it misses out on some of the best scenery, but each to their own.  Whilst it doesn't have the popularity of the West Highland Way or the Pennine Way, there are a lot of people that walk sections of it, rather than spend about two weeks doing the whole thing.

One of the lesser known features of the SUW is that there are small kists along thw route, containing merks.

The merks themselves have been made of lead or copper, and were originally used as money in years gone by.  Although not hidden from view, they need a concentrated eye to be found. The kists and the merks are very authentic, as  the following news report may suggest :-

"walkers in the Abbey St Bathans area were stunned to find what looked like an ancient treasure chest; they immediately covered it with earth and contacted the nearest National Museum department, who reassured them that what they had found was indeed one of the Waymerks Kists!"

There are thirteen kists in total.  Some of them now contains badges as the supplies of merks has run low.

They make a change from the usual cloth badge.  It also entirely possible that in the current econmic climate, such merks might end up being worth more than the pound!