Caledonii: Birth of a Nation. (Part One: The Great Gather)

by Hall, Ian

  “An’ the other two?”

  “Pardon?”

  “The Meatae an’ the Epidds!”

  “Ah yes. As far as Ca’duell of the Epidds is concerned; no one knows what goes on inside his head. He’s a maverick, no one knows from one day to the next exactly what he will think, never mind do. I watched as he voted, his hand was in the air before Ma’damar’s. Perhaps they voted together, having talked it out beforehand, but I do not think so.”

  “They are neighbors.”

  “Yes Calach, they are. But did you notice if they travelled together?”

  Calach shook his head. “They didn’t.”

  “Exactly. If clan Epidd was as close to clan Meatae as we are thinking, they would have travelled together for increased safety. Just because a clan is a neighbor and they vote similarly, does not mean they vote for the same reason.”

  The two continued along the lightly worn path, following the cart tracks of the clansmen ahead.

  I’ve got to find out why the gaither broke up. Ranald never told me. If I keep talking to Sewell, I’ll get to that question eventually.

  “The thing that perplexes me, Sewell, is the other clans in the southern lands; the Novants, the Damon. I can’t understand what they’ve got to lose by a union against the Romans?

  “Why have they nothing to lose?”

  “Well, they’re next in line to the Selgove to be invaded, why can’t they both see the wisdom in the plan?”

  Sewell took his normal interval between answers.

  “The Novants are an interesting lot,” He said, and a strange look spread over his face. “They never said anything at all in the discussion until prompted to, the end, then simply stated that they would deal with the Romans on their own. The chief, Daglass, was adamant that the Romans would pose no problem for his warriors. Nothing we could say could persuade them to any other attitude. The Damon are a different matter. Neall has spent so much of his time defending his land from the ravages of Ma’damar and Daglass’s clans, that there was no way he was giving possible command of Damon warriors to a known enemy. He said he would die before he did anything like that.”

  “He probably will!”

  “Yes, Calach. He probably will, and many at the gather told him so. But it did not change his mind.”

  “So in the end?”

  “Well, my impetuous friend, there were so many different reasons for not uniting the clans, the whole meeting broke up having achieved little.”

  “Achieving little he says! According to you, the gathering came to no agreement at a’.” Calach stopped suddenly and put out a hand to halt the dhruid. “We didn’t achieve little, we achieved nothing!”

  “The dhruid rounded on Calach.

  “Now Calach.....”

  “Wait!” Calach hissed, putting his hand up between them. He motioned into the bushes at the side of the path. Calach put one finger to his lips, motioning the dhruid to silence. Sewell nodded his head, then followed Calach’s gaze. Calach watched the bushes rustle again. He quickly and silently had his bow strung and an arrow knocked, the point aimed at the disturbance in the undergrowth. There was a further, closer rustle and a small brown speckled shape leapt out onto the path. Calach’s bow followed it, the arrow still knocked. In silence they watched the small deer as it appraised the two travellers. It looked at them for a moment, then dashed past them into cover on the other side of the path.

  “Not big enough for the pot Calach?”

  “It will be one day.” Calach slipped the arrow back into his quiver and re-slung his bow over his shoulder.

  “My little chief,” Sewell mimicked Calach’s mother, and patted him affectionately on the head as they continued on their way to the Caledon town. “Just because I said that the gathering achieved little, do not come to the conclusion that nothing was gained.” Sewell began to count off the points on his fingers as he spoke. “The clan chiefs are now on their way homeward with two options in their minds. The first is this huge clan army crushing the Romans, the second is this huge Roman army crushing the clans individually. The seed for our idea has been planted, the fact that you and I are talking about it in depth proves that the notion is still alive; it lives on in the young blood of the clans. In Finlass, in Cam’bel, in Morro, and in blood like yours. We must hope that the seeds will have time and peace to grow into something more substantial.”

  By Lugh! He’s outlined Finlass’s plan in a few sentences! He’s even mentioned the main conspirators by name!

  “Sewell?”

  “Yes, my prickly one?”

  “Wha.....” Calach was instantaneously reminded of Quen’tan’s translation of his name.

  Prickly one? Has Sewell been told by Quen’tan about our initial contact? Come on Calach, pull yourself together!

  He carefully organized his thoughts and marshaled the question again.

  “Why did the ‘great gaither’ finally break down?”

  The question was a cautious one. He half expected to be refused the information.

  “Ah, the burning question. You do take a long time to get to the point Calach.”

  Me, a long time? Oh, by Lugh, am I that transparent?

  “Leadership, Calach”

  “As simple as that?”

  “A single point, my young warrior, but not simple. Who would lead the joint army? As complex a subject as there was in the whole day. The two prime candidates were, of course, Ranald and Ma’damar, but even putting the unification question aside, none of the clan leaders could decide to limit the choice to those two. Petty clan squabbles got in the way of the discussion at every turn.”

  Leadership! They couldn’t agree on fighting together, but they broke up a dhruid meeting when it came to choosing one leader!

  Calach strode along quietly for a long part of the way back to Lochery. He let his mind wander on the events of the last three days that had undoubtedly changed his life permanently. No longer did he consider himself as simply Calach, chief’s son. He was now a warrior of the Norlands, and the Norlands needed his help.

  He thought mainly of the dhruid involvement in the ‘great gaither’ and the task of keeping Finlass’s plan secret from the holy order. As they walked home, Calach had tried to ask his questions in a conversational manner, but the more he asked, the more he recognized the risk in continuing his ‘interrogation’.

  Although Calach had thought themselves secretive, it was obviously common knowledge that the four chief’s sons had met at the gather. He wondered what would come from their associations.

  I wonder if our plan could run along with the grand machinations of the dhruids. Probably not. We all want the same outcome eventually, so maybe one day we can tell the dhruids, but not yet.

  Something made him hold back; it was not time yet. Their plan had to be bigger, more advanced. They needed to have achieved something before they told anyone, never mind the dhruidic order.

  “What were the sides on the leadership debate?”

  “Oh, there were many.”

  Calach walked in silence as he waited for Sewell to continue.

  “Ranald, Ma’damar, Neall, Torthor, Pe’weric. They all had their supporters. Most could not come to terms with their warriors being led by another.”

  “Aye, I can see why Neall wouldn’t want command o’ the clan army to go to Ma’damar.”

  “Yes, for the obvious reasons. Ma’damar has raided Damon lands one time too many; just one of the many facets of that argument.”

  “Who voted against Ranald? He’s considered one o’ the best warriors there is in the Norlands.”

  “Yes he is, and his guarantee of safety and neutrality was used as an argument, but there were some who argued that Ranald was a great warrior only by reputation, not deed. Some voiced the opinion that your father has grown old badly when it comes to a warrior breed.”

  My father old?

  “What do you mean by ‘reputation’, Sewell?”

  “Well, when was the last time he r
aided a neighbor?”

  “Ranald has ruled over a peaceful land for most o’ his days!” Calach’s voice had inadvertently crept up in volume in defense of his father. “I’ve not known a day of war in my fifteen.... almost sixteen summers!”

  “Yes. Therein lays the problem. Do you see where they could not agree?”

  No! I must be stupid. I can’t see it at all.

  Calach’s silence answered Sewell’s question.

  “Well then. The very reason that no one would pick your father to lead was the fact that he had not raided his neighbors!”

  Of course!

  “An’ the chiefs that have raided their neighbors had cancelled themselves out of the leadership by the fact that they had made enemies.”

  Sewell smiled as he walked. “Well done lad!”

  “So the ‘gaither’ was never going to come to a decision on a leader.”

  “No. There the ‘great gaither’ broke apart. Ma’damar and his supporters calling Ranald a ‘spineless child’, and Ranald and his calling Ma’damar a murdering thief!”

  Calach could do no more than walk in silence, his mouth open.

  “A spineless child!” No wonder Ranald stormed off when I kept mentioning his name! No wonder he couldn’t stay till the end of the gaither; he’s been called a coward to his face! He would have lost all that was left of his pride to have shook Ma’damar’s hand.

  “Ranald’s not warlike enough,” Calach began, “Ma’damar’s been too warlike an’ has made too many enemies. Mauchty’s too young? Pe’weric? Neall?”

  Sewell nodded. “Mauchty is not even chief yet! Gillaine is too sick, and Pe’weric is too far south to hold the highland clans. As for Neall, well! There is more than one chief that Neall would like to put on his back with a dirk between his ribs.”

  “Oh.”

  “Yes, and many would like the chance to get at Daglass, the Novants chief too. He’s also ruffled a few feathers along the way.”

  “I didn’t know that he was disliked as much as that.”

  “Worse. If there is an unstable link in the Norland clan chiefs, it is him.”

  Calach shifted his bow on his back, and his hand brushed the pocket which carried Ma’damar’s silver boar talisman. He pondered whether to tell Sewell about it, then quickly thought it prudent to keep the gift to himself for a while.

  “I had the feeling that Ma’damar was for some form o’ union, when he spoke to me at the end o’ the gathering.” He said, sounding out the dhruid on his feelings towards the Meatae chief.

  “There are unions and there are unions. Some unite, some divide.”

  This is where I would have left it before, but now I’m going to ask the direct question!

  “What do you mean Sewell?”

  “Some unite, some divide.” The dhruid repeated, almost absent-mindedly. The topic was closed.

  So much for direct questions!

  Calach felt, not for the first time, that he wished that dhruids would talk plainly, like ordinary clanspeople.

  Calach walked in silence for a spell trying to work out possible scenarios in which ‘some unions divided’.

  His thought processes were put on hold as a he heard the noise of a bow being unleashed, then an arrow flew high in the air in a lazy arc towards the pair. He laid a hand on the dhruid’s chest, stopping him mid-step.

  “Calach! Ahoy!”

  He watched as the badly aimed arrow landed harmlessly on the path, a little ahead of the two travellers. A young boy raced out of the undergrowth, ran through the bracken to Calach and threw himself at him.

  “Lachlin!” Calach shouted, as he spun the boy round. “That means we’re home Sewell!” The brothers embraced, and Lachlin nodded to Sewell.

  “Aye you’re home alright big brother! Have you missed me?”

  “Aye ya wee scamp! I’ve missed you like I’ve missed Ma’s home cooking.”

  “Faither came home last night.” Lachlin blurted breathlessly. “He wouldn’t say a word about the ‘great gaither’. What’s the news?”

  Calach put his arm round his brother’s shoulders and continued down the path towards Lochery. He thought as he walked that his brother’s childhood was nearly over; showing two fingers, he was almost ready for all the trials of the young warrior.

  “There will be plenty of time for stories later Lachlin.” Sewell said as the boy leant down to gather his arrow, and fell into step between them.

  “Aye! An’ for telling tales on Da’.” Calach ruffled Lachlin’s long brown hair, irritating the boy. “Go an’ run ahead an’ tell Mawrin that we’re back.”

  Within a few moments they came to a crest in the path where they were afforded their first glimpse of their home settlement. Calach paused for a while and wondered what it would look like having been ravaged by the invading Roman army. He resolved to see their plan through, or die trying. It seemed to him that it was the only way.

  ~ ~ ~

  A hilltop fort was a common means of defense, numerous ditches and dykes surrounded a high stone wall. The clan would farm or tend animals in the vicinity, always watchful for a signal fire which called them into the fort for safety.

  Near lochs, a crannog was a useful base. Built on an artificial island, it was reached by a series of stepping stones, the correct paths only known by the clansmen. Rocky, unstable stones were traps in the path, leading an attacker to an ungainly fall into the deep, surrounding water. Attackers could easily be picked off by bowmen in the crannog.

  A broch was a circular tower, wide at the base, and tapering to a flat, walled top. A circular staircase spiraled inside, leading to both the top and to as many as four internal floors.

  The central core of the settlement of Lochery had seven of these towers, in a wide circle, connected by a tall stone wall. The main outer defense, both against wild animals and human attack, was a steep wall of closely fitting pine pillars. With a dike of piled earth behind, and a ditch in front, it made a considerable barrier. Three other ditches surrounded the walled dyke.

  The four entrances were tall wooden gates, with complicated turns on the approach path.

  There had never been an attack which had breached the outer walls.

  Between the dike and the ‘inner ring’ was the largest part of the settlement, the area which housed most of the dwellings. These were wooden huts with conical roofs; some linked together, some separate. This was where the bulk of the inhabitants of Lochery lived. This was also the space for the market, the place where traders from all over Europe came to barter for clan goods.

  Caledon lands were wild and barren in most areas, but traders still came into the Norlands trading cloth, silks, herbs, spices, yeasts, weapons, jewelry and most highly prized of all, dyes for clothing and the clans people’s tattoos. The traders returned southwards with carts full of hides; deer, boar and bear, and gold, silver and gems from the fast flowing Norland rivers.

  This area between the two defense walls was also the workplace of the bakers, butchers, blacksmiths, armorers, jewelers, potters, weavers; the tradesmen who made the clan wares. The tradesmen and women were also the warriors who, in times of conflict, picked up sword and spear to fight for the clan.

  The circle of brochs which sat in the inner ring at the centre of Lochery were the homes of the chief, his family, the dhruids with their retinue, and the main buildings which stockpiled grain, meat, vegetables, and beer. The coin maker also shared the inner ring.

  Outside the outer defenses lay the farmed land. Fields of wheat and barley were already planted and lush and green. Vegetables like turnips, leeks and cabbage grew well in the deep brown soil. Many of the northern clans came to trade at the Lochery market.

  Calach and Sewell walked down the wooded slopes towards their home. Calach reflected that the old tales told that the broch ring system had worked for hundreds of years. But he reasoned that it was a system that had reckoned without the Romans.

  ~ ~ ~

  “Calach has good hunting instincts,
but that alone does not make him a dhruid. He was given the tests when he was showing two fingers. He failed.”

  The two grey cowls sat immobile at the small fire. Shadows danced on the bare walls of the broch.

  “But he has some power. Quen’tan remarked on it.” Wrapping his hand in a wet cloth, Sewell reached into the fire and retrieved a small chalice. He sipped the warm fluid. “Using all his power, Quen’tan could not control him.” He passed the chalice to the other dhruid.

  “Ah, yes, the challenge on the approach.” He too sipped the dark amber liquid. “That was quite impressive. If he is to be chief one day, he might be difficult to bend to our ways.”

  “I noticed them twice on his way home with me.”

  “And nothing more?”

  “He anticipated my thoughts on more than one occasion. He has a small vein of talent, but nothing like his younger brother.”

  “But two in the same family is rare.”

  “The union of Ranald and Mawrin was always going to produce strong sons. They are both strong-willed parents.”

  “So the eldest; he will be of no use to us?”

  “I do not think so. But at the same time, I anticipate he will not be powerful enough to hinder us either.”

  “Good.”

  “Good for him and us.”

  The grey robed figures ate in silence, the only noise being the fire in the centre of the room.

  ~ ~ ~

  Aysar returned home five days later and sought Calach at once. “Everything went well. Mauchty invited me along, just as you’d said he would, and I spent a night in a crannog-village called Ross before heading back here.”

  “Did you get to meet Gillaine, their chief?”

  “No, I wasn’t even asked. That privilege would be reserved for people like yourself.” Aysar grinned at his friendly jibe regarding Calach’s lineage. “Plus, he was attended day and night. He’s not well.”

  “What’s the situation concerning a visit this summer?” Calach asked.

  “Mauchty said there would be no objection to that at a’. Wi’ that in mind, I was introduced to the clansmen in the border village o’ Antae, they’ll let me through again, on the orders o’ Mauchty. If you’re along wi’ me, there’s a chance you’ll get through as well.”