by Cathy MacRae
Margaret Ellen MacLaren: Known as Maggie to her friends, she was a dutiful daughter who reluctantly agreed to marry the Earl of Mar according to her da’s wishes. Bitter after the earl abandons her, she decides she’s had enough of men ordering her life, and refuses to retire peaceably to a nunnery to live her life in penance for not bearing a child. She returns to her childhood home on Ben Narnain (mountain of iron) near the banks of Loch Lomond, though she doesn’t find peace there.
What if she met a man whose was struggling with his past as much as she? Could she reach beyond her hurts and sorrows—and stubbornness—and allow a relationship to form? Both characters would be outside the favor of the Church, an institution as powerful as the monarchy. We wanted to explore this unique situation while attempting to stay true to the rules and influence of the Catholic Church at that time.
Known as freya to the people of Hola, Maggie sets out on a journey that will, at last, set her free to love again.
The Earl of Mar: Richard de Moravia is a fictional character, though the title has been in use in Scotland since at least 1014 AD.
Avril: In The Highlander’s Crusader Bride, we introduced the Turkoman Horse, aka the Akhal-Teke. By the time of this story, Arbela’s horse Voski has stood at stud and produced a number of beautiful, sure-footed foals, of which Avril is one. The Akhal-Teke is unique in that its coat has an almost metallic sheen, and is one of the oldest surviving horse breeds on the planet.
Serkan: Phillipe’s puppy, named for the Turkish word for ‘chief’, brings back memories of the Aidi dogs Arbela brought to Scotland. More of a livestock protector, fearless and strong, the breed also has quite a good sense of smell. Serkan was a mix of what would eventually become the Border Collie (Coley), and the Aidi.
Saint Martin’s Abbey on Hola: St. Martin is the patron saint of beggars, vintners, equestrians soldiers, tailors, innkeepers, alcoholics, and geese. He is known for his gentle, unassuming nature, and his ability to bring warmth and light to those in need. In this imagined abbey, the monks developed a tasty, potent mead which was much sought after.
Saint Donan: (also Donnan) The tale Father Sachairi relates about Donan of Eigg is true. Or, as true as can be said of a tale of such age. It was curious that, while we find most other subjects are more or less cut-and-paste repeats which vary little from website to website, the story of St. Donan and his death on Eigg did have some interesting differences. We discovered scholarly, ecumenical, oral tradition, and incidental recountings of the story which we blended for Father Sachairi’s tale. Quite fascinating, really, and of course, the mention of warrior women employed by the Queen Moidart caught our attention.
You may recognize his namesake, Eilean Donan (Donan’s Isle), and many other places in Scotland. He also lent his name to the Kildonnan Cross, at least ten churches in Scotland, and the Kildonnan Monastery on Eigg.
The Treasure of Hola:
What, exactly, were we likely to find on a small isle in the Hebrides? The answer was, pretty much anything. So, after digging up vast quantities of information on Pictish treasure, the Traprain Law Hoard, St. Ninian’s Isle hoard, baubles a Crusader may have brought back from the East, and gold and silver coins, we added a brooch you may recognize from the book, Mhàiri’s Yuletide Wish. Keep watch for it in other Yuletide tales.
To the best of our knowledge, there is no lost treasure of St. Donan, though the descriptions of a ringed cross with a hunting scene engraved on it are from the Kildonnan Cross, discovered in the graveyard at Kildonnan Church which now occupies the site of St. Donan’s monastery. It is a pinkish slab with a Pictish hunting scene engraved on one side and the Christian cross and key pattern on the reverse.
Peregrine Falcon:
Colyn’s inclusion was prompted by Cathy’s visit to Dunrobin Castle where a falconry exhibit and demonstration was enough to encourage her to spend hours researching the how, when, and why of raising a hunting falcon. And, of course, the young chick became a great way for Maggie and Phillipe to meet.
Poison: What did Phillipe actually drink? It is likely he would have ingested an extract of aconitum, though the actual mixture remains a mystery. It was rather interesting to find the name, aconitum, possibly came from the village of Akonai in Turkey. The village doesn’t exist today, but was thought to be near a cave said to house the entrance to Hades and guarded by Cerebus. The Chinese were said to have smeared a paste made of aconitum on arrow shafts as well as their tips, in the hope that anyone attempting to remove an arrow from a wounded warrior would also absorb the poison. It is easily absorbed through broken skin and open wounds, and there have been cases of people feeling unwell after working with the plant.
Hola: The isle was based on the Isle of Muck, but we wanted an isle we could manipulate as needed for the story, and so, Hola does not exist beyond these pages.
Weapons: We included a mix of weapons including the Kilij, a single-edged curved sword or scimitar which originated in the Middle East. This is a light saber excellent for using from horseback.
The crossbow was Maggie’s weapon of choice. It was relatively lightweight and quite easy to use. It’s only drawback was the slow firing rate of about two bolts per minute. However, it required little training to use, and little strength to operate—at least, the use of a foot-based method (stirrup) of pulling the string leveled the playing field quite a bit.
Narnain Castle (castle of iron), Maggie’s childhood home, was a motte and bailey castle. Laird MacLaren was transitioning the walls from wood to stone, but lacked the men and coin to make this a priority.
Mead: We discovered orchards were first planted on a notable scale in Scotland during the 12th century, and primarily maintained by various religious orders. Without firsthand knowledge, though we have a friend who makes his own mead with modern methods, we decided the Pippin apple would be a good choice to add to honey, spring water, and exposure to air—as yeast had not yet been discovered. The ‘blessing stick’ used to stir the honey was actually the means by which yeast was introduced to the honey so it would ferment. The monks did not know this was happening, only that it worked.
Bridei Keep: The name is ours, but it is based on the keep—a motte and bailey castle—at the site of the Pictish church established in 581 by King Bridei I of the Picts. Kildrummy Castle was built (1250) on the site and was the home of the Earl of Mar.
Eels: Raw eels were a favored cure for a hangover in Medieval Europe. A more modern Scottish cure would have been a bit of corn starch (aka corn flour) stirred into buttermilk, heated, and seasoned with salt and pepper. However, corn was not available in Europe until after the arrival of explorers in North America in 1492.
Acknowledgements
This story wouldn’t be complete without the support of our critique group. Dawn Marie Hamilton, Cate Parke, and Lane McFarland are hands-down the most amazing group to work with. Thank you all for your help, suggestions, and even the hard questions. We’re very glad to be working with you.
Thanks also to the amazing Dar Albert for the cover. It is exactly what we wanted!