I thought I'd post a link to an article from The Guardian that appeared a day or so ago.
It's on the very serious subject of midges. I have just found myself subconsciously scratching my head thinking about this topic :)
The Guardian tells us that the problem is getting worse. It has been an unusually wet summer across the UK, and that's great for midges. They love to come out when it's still and calm after some rain. Climate change may be playing a role. It's not good news according to The Guardian.
A couple of anecdotes I can think of:
I was camping with friends years ago on the shores of Loch Lomond, somewhere on the Balmaha / Rowardennan side. Everyone was absolutely eaten alive by midges. A fire works to a certain extent to keep them at bay, but you need to be sitting right next to a really smoky fire for it to make much difference. My tent ended up filled with midges and I was being driven mad when I retired for the night. I ended up going to sleep in my car, a 1979 Mini, like Mr Bean's. I have a strong memory of being hunched up in the back of a Mini, seeing the shafts of light from the sunrise cascading through the gaps in the door (a feature of British Leyland cars), filled with clouds of midges.
Another time is a very short fishing trip I took with my dad to Loch Long in the Firth of Clyde. I would say we lasted all of thirty minutes. It was unbearable to be outside. The other anglers had midge nets. There were some other folks scuba diving and that looked like such a relief from midge hell.
Anyone else suffered at the hand of midges in Scotland?
A little etymological point; the way I speak (west central Scotland accent and dialect) midges are more like "midgies" with an emphasis on the "ees" sound at the end. The singular midge is also a "midgie".