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Cognitive maps can grow more complex as an individual becomes more and more familiar with an area. Or they can evolve, as they do for Kenn in Highland River, whilst he grows to adulthood. In this novel, the environment is seen at first from a single point of view, sometimes an entrance or a threshold. In terms of prospect / refuge theory (Appleton 1996), landmarks are viewed as prospects, in retrospect or in parallel. Later Kenn sees the open moorland beyond the craggy threshold of Hawk’s Hol as a daunting prospect beyond the familiar refuge of his sheltered Strath, where his home lies. The gaunt cliffs act as a boundary to his childhood experience and image of the valley. He will not cross this craggy limit until his schooldays are behind him.

A series of viewpoints can be connected to make a description of a route, which unrolls like a narrative over an environment more complex than the single view. In the Glen Etive of Macintyre’s Song to a Ewe, as Donnchadh Bàn follows his route, he becomes a moving point of reference for encounters and action. His vision is sequential and results from the motion of walking and twice wading the River Etive, along a continuous pathway of observation and expectation. As for Kenn, the environment is not seen as one moment or from one point. It is perceived in the round, and all of one piece.