Welcome to Pictavian Drums!

This is a brand new post, for a brand new site, for a well-established business!

I used to trade as Bean-Sidhe Drumcraft but people found it hard to spell the Gaelic for some reason, so I was guided to establish a new name for what I've been doing for twenty-something years.

I chose Pictavian to reflect where I live: in what used to be a Pictish kingdom, in rural Aberdeenshire. I'm surrounded by remainders of the Picts, from their Symbol Stones (picture below) to place names such as Pitmedden or Pitfour, I live within the Forest of Deer, home of both the Book of Deer (the oldest surviving Gaelic writing is included in this 10th Century prayer book) and Deer Abbey, a later monastery founded on what had been an earlier religious site, and the name of my home - Cairnorchies - is believed to derive from a hostel or hospice the monks maintained on the road near the Abbey. Although 'Forest' is a legal term meaning 'a stretch of land reserved for hunting' rather than our modern understanding of it, I am surrounded by trees - and by lots of roe deer!

I also share my life with a wide variety of other creatures. There are the two pet sheep, Ross and Gregor, who are Shetland wethers (castrated male sheep), whom I bottle-fed as lambs. They still think they should live in the house, despite now being strapping great beasts with thick fleeces! They love having their cheeks stroked and throats and chests scratched.

There are six ferrets - Paris and Rambo are hobs (males) and Holly, Ivy, Iris and Yarrow are jills (females).

There are three dogs; Wicket and Rocket are whippets, while Jack is a cross-bred terrier. He's much younger, only about three, but the nine-year old girls put up with his mischief and teasing tolerantly. They all love mousing and ratting in the barns!

There are various poultry; Hannibal the Gander and his three geese, Lucy, Sally and Freya, are currently sharing the barn with the Muscovy duck, Black Duck, and drake Tux, until the Avian Flu lockdown lifts. They'd much prefer to be outside, enjoying the spring sun and grass! There are also various chickens who are in arks in the orchard, though they too will (hopefully!) soon be released to free-range happily again.

Inside the house are Emily Plunkett and Jamie Bunkin, a pair of dwarf lop rabbits, and currently their two litters of offspring; the Mousketeers are looking for new homes while the Titchlings are still in with their parents. Jamie is due to visit the vet next week, before the house is overrun with his offspring!

Very definitely not least is The Herd: Poppy the bay Arab mare, her palomino daughter Dancer, Abe the grey Arab gelding and George, the huge chestnut Suffolk Punch gelding. They live as a largely autonomous herd, with liberty to go into their barn to eat hay, out to drink water or sunbathe in their yard, or right out into the field as they wish, day and night. I do have to confine them for their regular hoof trimming appointments and vet visits, but otherwise we try to work together to suit their convenience and wishes as much as mine.