Hamish Macbeth-Death of a Poison Pen 2

This trackable has the goal to survive more than five years and be dropped by at least 25 cachers. I maintain records on all my trackables. In the years 2010-22, I released 5,223 trackables. Of these, a total of 4,268 were released only in North America (NAO, meaning chiefly the United States) and never left the region, which includes Canada, Mexico and the islands of the Caribbean. Another 304 trackables were released outside North America (EUO, meaning chiefly Europe) and were never dropped in North America. Still another collection of 651 trackables had drops both in and outside North America. Statistics for the two former cohorts are as follows: % Missing; NAO-71.0, EUO-48.0; Maximum Drops; NAO-55.0, EUO-67.0; Average Total Drops, NAO-5.3, EUO-12.5; Average Drop Rate per Year, NAO-4.6, EUO-7.2. As of 1-Nov-25 this trackable has survived for 3.2 years and had been moved by 23 cachers, for an average drop every 50 days, or 7.3 drops per year. Please keep it moving, then drop it in a safe place!

No permission is needed to leave the U.S. While in the U.S., please drop it at an event, in a Premium Member only OR a rural cache near a busy trail or road. Do not place it in an urban, non-premium cache. Transport the bug in the original plastic bag for as long as the bag lasts; the bag keeps the trackable clean and dry, protects the number and prevents tangling with other items. Otherwise, take the trackable anywhere you wish.

In a series of mystery novels created by M. C. Beaton, Hamish Macbeth is the police constable of the small Scottish Highland town of Lochdubh. While Lochdubh and the neighboring town of Strathbane are fictional, the series is set in the real county of Sutherland and mentions the real Scottish towns of Dornoch, Dingwall, Inverness and others. Among the more than 30 books in the series is a colorful cast of recurring characters. If such can be said about tales of murder, the stories are presented in a more light-hearted manner than those of many modern authors. The books are not long, usually 100-200 pages. Or, if you listen to them as I do, they last 4-6 hours.

Macbeth is very well informed about his community's activities and often overlooks minor transgressions in the interest of public harmony. Following Highland tradition, as the eldest child, he remains unmarried because he is supporting his crofter parents and six much younger siblings. Still, he finds various ways to supplement his income, including poaching game. Many residents of Lochdubh consider Hamish a useless, lazy moocher. He has created a comfortable niche for himself in the community and is reluctant to change. On the police force, he uses his intelligence and skills to solve murders cases, while evading all efforts to transfer, promote or fire him from it.

Each trackable in this series is named for one of the Hamish Macbeth book titles. They were assembled in the United States but were either dropped at, or visited, the geocaching event, Seeking Hamish Macbeth (GC9W3J3), in Inverness, Scotland. The glass donut attached to the dog tag is a bead produced using the ancient millefiori (thousand flowers) technique. The creation of millefiori glass begins with the heating of a bundle of thin glass rods of different colors until they fuse. After that, the process gets more complicated, depending on the final form desired.