When grateful Poles put Scotland on the map

Stories of man’s best friend are followed by a visit to a monument to friendship when Fiona takes the train to the Borders...

Iam on the train when a nice lady spots the screen saver on my laptop. On it is a picture of the MacNaughties. Two butter-wouldn’t-melt-in the mouth faces. Two lovable four-legged friends. A cocker spaniel and a Norfolk terrier, good as gold... My travelling companion admires them. She then takes out her mobile and show me a picture of her own doggies. A clumba spaniel and another cocker stare sweetly out. There is nothing like a dog to break the ice.

Cockers are bundles of energy. Great fun and never dull. Not quite mad, bad and crazy but getting there...

The clumba, however, is a very different kettle of fish or, in this case, kennel of hound. Placid and rather fond of sleep, this traditional breed is known as the retired gentleman’s friend.

But the beauty is, it can either be the old man’s spaniel or it can be a wizard working dog or the perfect family pet.

Over the years, the great and the good have kept these white-coated and marmalade-marked animals.

In the 19th Century Queen Victoria’s husband, Albert, had a veritable pack of them – “such dear nice dogs”. Today, I understand, the Archbishop of Canterbury has one. For he or she is everything you can want in a human: steady, loyal, reliable and good-natured.

Then he or she also comes with some things you might not relish: prodigious hair-shedders, they are prone to snoring and slobbering.

Touch wood, my hair is still hanging on in there. As is the chief’s. And I do not think either of us slobbers. Or certainly not when sober.

But we both have to confess to being slight snorers. Sleeping on the side, not on the back, is generally the answer.

And if we do raise a few decibels at night, there’s nothing that a gentle poke in the ribs cannot put right...

But back to the train journey. I am heading up to Edinburgh to edit a film about the Great Polish Map of Scotland.

This iconic feature sits in the grounds of a hotel at Eddlestone village near Peebles and it is the world’s biggest three-dimensional terrain map.

This massive concrete geographic curiosity was constructed in the 1970s by Polish veterans and students and it remembers the kindness shown by Scots to Polish soldiers during and after the Second World War. There are other links between the two countries.

In the Second World War thousands of Polish soldiers were stationed in Scotland

Bonnie Prince Charlie’s mother was Polish and during the 17th Century some 30,000 Scots lived and worked in Poland.

In the Second World War thousands of Polish soldiers were stationed in Scotland and, today, almost half our EU nationals come from Poland.

The giant map had fallen into disrepair until some years ago, when a group of enthusiasts got together to restore it. Newly unveiled, it is one of Scotland’s wonders.

And well worth a visit if you find yourself in that part of the world…