Connections in Stone: Nick Aitken Dry Stane Dyker and Author
How is a friendship measured? Is it by points of contact or the spaces between them? Is the strength of a friendship the sum of all shared experiences or the sense of timelessness between those experiences? Some friendships sustain themselves by daily routine while others are capable of resuming unaffected after long partings. Friendships that span decades may encounter both storylines.
Nick Aitken and I became fathers to daughters in the same era, and likewise, grandfathers to granddaughters. That might be enough to link two guys through time but for us there’s been an even more common thread; that we’ve both had long careers in stone. We’ve both traveled extensively to work in stone tradecraft and we’ve both had two books published on the subject of dry stone construction. And along the way we’ve stayed in touch, occasionally joining forces to build together or instruct together. A recent example found Nick at Scott Farm in Dummerston where he gave a presentation related to his 2024 authorship of Drystone, A Gathering of Terminology and Technique, and his other book Dry Stone Walling – Materials and Techniques. That same week, along with other Medley Week workshops, he and I taught a workshop together for The Stone Trust.
Drystone, A Gathering of Terminology and Technique, is the consummate compendium of stonework definitions. Besides the mandatory facts and figures expected of a thorough reference book (336 pages), it is chock-full of interesting tidbits. Nowhere else will you discover that a “rangel” a “ronnie”, a “roo” and a “ruckle” are all words to describe a loose heap of stones. The bibliography, alone, runs twenty pages long.
Nick, a native son of Scotland, was employed for two decades by a local authority in the Highlands. He covered a wide geographic area, working on all manner of dry stone structures. It’s where his curiosity for the etymology of stone-related words began.
One would think that with the publication of Drystone A Gathering of Terminology and Technique, Nick’s thirst for knowledge about stonework would be quenched. But knowing my friend, no doubt he’s already seeking new horizons. There’s always more to discover in the world of stone. I look forward to our next get-together. It will feel like no time has passed, at all.