Craigellachie Bridge over the Spey River in Moray, Scotland (United Kingdom)

"...Then as knowledge is my most ardent pursuit a thousand things occur which call for investigation which would pass unnoticed by those who are content to trudge only in the beaten path. I am not contented unless I can give a reason for every particular method or practice which is pursued."

By Thomas Telford,

engineer who designed this bridge

Ross Bridge over the Earn River in Comrie, Scotland (United Kingdom)

 The river blue, that lapses through the valley, hears thee sing,
And murmurs much beneath the touch of thy light-dipping wing;

The thunder-cloud, over us bow'd, in deeper gloom is seen,

When quick relieved it glances to thy bosom's silvery sheen.

From the lyrics of  The Swallow

by Robert Chambers

Road Bridge crossing the Firth of Forth near Queensferry in Scotland (United Kingdom)

Now as the river dissolves in sea
So Neptune has claimed another soul
And so with gods and men
The sheep remain inside their pen
Until the shepherd leads his flock away
The sands of time were eroded by
The river of constant change

Extract from Firth of Forth

Song by Genesis

Forestry Commision Bridge crossing the Affric Glen near Cannich, Scotland (United Kingdom)

He who first met the Highlands swelling blue
Will love each peak that shows a kindred hue,
Hail in each crag a friend's familiar face,
And clasp the mountain in his mind's embrace.
Long have I roamed through lands which are not mine.
Adored the Alp and loved the Apennine,
Revered Parnassus and beheld the steep
Jove's Ida and Olympus crown the deep.
But t'was not all long ages' lore, nor all
Their nature held me in their thrilling thrall;
The infant rapture still survived the boy,
And Loch-na-gar with Ida look'd o'er Troy.
...

From The Highlands Swelling Blue

Lord Byron

Railway Forth Bridge over the Firth of Forth in Scotland (United Kingdom)

"Engineers ... are not mere technicians and should not approve or lend their name to any project that does not promise to be beneficent to man and the advancement of civilization."

                                                               

Sir John Fowler, 

designer of the bridge

LONGEST CANTILEVER BRIDGE IN THE WORLD FROM 1890 TO 1917

Glenfinnan Viaduct in Scotland (United Kingdom)

Come come little darling

There's a secret place

Where the trees of green and skies of blue

Cradle in their arms a lake of

Shimmering dew

Come come little darling

There's a secret place

Where music fills its people's souls

Overflowing with the songs

Of their old

Freedom sings, freedom calls

One day little darling

I will take you there

On a train you've never seen before

Straight out of a fairy tale that

No one wrote

Freedom sings, freedom calls

Lyrics from Glenfinnan

Ramón Mirabet

Butterbridge in the Trossachs National Park, Scotland (United Kingdom)

Boon nature scattered, free and wild,
Each plant or flower, the mountain's child.
Here eglantine embalmed the air,
Hawthorn and hazel mingled there;
The primrose pale and violet flower
Found in each cliff a narrow bower;
Foxglove and nightshade, side by side,
Emblems of punishment and pride,
Grouped their dark hues with every stain
The weather-beaten crags retain.

From The lady of the Lake,

poem by Walter Scott about the Trossachs

Forth Railway Bridge over the Firth of Forth near Edinburgh, Scotland (United Kingdom)

"This railway bridge, spanning the estuary of the Forth River in Scotland, was the world’s earliest great multispan cantilever bridge, and at 2,529 m remains one of the longest Innovative in style, materials and scale, the Forth Bridge is an important milestone in bridge design and construction during the period when railways came to dominate long-distance land travel."

The Forth Bridge

UNESCO World Heritage Site

Kylesku Bridge over the Loch Chairn Bhain near Kylestrome, Scotland (United Kingdom)

My heart is in the Highlands,
my heart is not here,
my heart is in the Highlands,
a-chasing the deer
and following the roe,
my heart is in the Hignlands
whereever I go.

Poem by Robert Burns

Bridge over the Sligachan River in the Isle of Skye, Scotland (United Kingdom)

One places of the deer,

Corrie, and Loch, and Ben,

Fount that wells in the cave,

Voice of the burn and the wave,

Softly you sing and clear

Of Charlie and his men!

Here has he lurked, and here

The heather has been his bed,

The wastes of the islands knew

And the Highland hearts were true

To the bonny, the brave, the dear,

The royal, the hunted head.

Poem by Andrew Lang about Skye 

Moy Bridge on the Caledonian Canal near Gairlochy, Scotland (United Kingdom)

Let me tell you that I love you
That I think about you all the time
Caledonia, you're calling me, now I'm going home
But if I should become a stranger
Know that it would make me more than sad
Caledonia's been everything I've ever had

Lyrics from Caledonia
Traditional song 

Greig Street Bridge over the River Ness in Inverness, Scotland (United Kingdom)

The lovely lass o' Inverness, 
   Nae joy nor pleasure can she see; 
For e'en and morn she cries, 'Alas!' 
   And aye the saut tear blin's her e'e: 
'Drumossie moor, Drumossie day, 
   A waefu' day it was to me! 
For there I lost my father dear, 
   My father dear and brethren three. 

In a poem of Robert Burns

Skye Bridge over the Loch Alsh between the islands of Skye and Eilean Bán, Scotland (United Kingdom)

Speed, bonnie boat, like a bird on the wing,
Onward! the sailors cry, 
Carry the lad that's born to be King,
 Over the sea to Skye.

Loud the winds howl, loud the waves roar,
Thunderclaps rend the air; 
Baffled, our foes stand by the shore, 
Follow they will not dare.

The Skye Boat Song, 

Scottish Folk Song

Forth Rail Bridge over the Firth of Forth near Edinburgh, Scotland (United Kingdom)

Out over the Forth, I look to the North;
But what is the north and its Highlands to me?
The south nor the east gie ease to my breast,
The far foreign land, or the wide rolling sea.


But I look to the west when I gae to rest,
That happy my dreams and my slumbers may be;
For far in the west lives he I loe best,
The man that is dear to my babie and me. 

Poem by Robert Burns