Spurtle smooth taper. The custom is that a spurtle should be used to stir in a clockwise direction with the right hand. Early spurtles were flat, wooden or metal instruments, with long handles and flat blades. The spatula-like utensils, known as 'Couthie Spurtles,' can be used for flipping oatcakes or making pancakes - but not for making porridge. The World Porridge Making Championship awards a "Golden Spurtle" as its main prize. Spurtle The spurtle (or "spurtel", "spurtil", "spirtle" or "spartle") is a wooden Scottish kitchen tool, dating from the fifteenth century, that is used to stir porridge, soups, stews and broths.
Cairngorms exception of the bothies there are no building or settlements within the Cairngorms, nor is there evidence for historic settlement, except in the uppermost reaches of the Derry and Gairn rivers. In the surrounding areas, villages such as Aviemore and Braemar provide a base for visitors to the core mountain area. Much of the core mountain area is owned by conservation bodies, with the National Trust for Scotland owning Mar Lodge Estate and the RSPB's Abernethy Estate stretching from the lower slopes up to the plateau. The main private landowners are the Glenavon Estate in the northeast, the Invercauld Estate