What lies in store? the king of Fortriu asked her. Have I done right? Have I led my people on a path of truth?
The goddess gazed down on him, bathing his form in silver. And it seemed to him she whispered, Walk on, my loyal son. Step forward with faith and with courage. Your people need you; they look to you. Do not fail them.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
As with the other books in The Bridei Chronicles, The Well of Shades is a blend of historical fact, informed guesswork, and pure invention. The broader political and military framework of the story is loosely based on the small amount we know of Pictish history in the latter half of the sixth century. There are few written records, none of them Pictish, and all of them were set down well after Bridei’s time.
The major players in this story were real historical figures: King Bridei, his druid Broichan, Gabhran of Dalriada, Drust the Boar of Circinn and his brothers, and the powerful Uí Néill chieftains in Ireland. The account of the battle of Cúl Drebene and its aftermath is on historical record. Brother Colm, better known as Saint Columba, did have to leave Ireland under unfortunate circumstances, and is recorded as making a journey up the Great Glen to Bridei’s court and performing a number of miracles on the way, several of which make an appearance in this book in somewhat altered form. Columba was promised the island of Ioua, or Yew Tree Isle, by the Gaelic king of Dalriada, and later had to negotiate with Bridei to ensure permission for his monastic base to be founded there. Ioua gained its later and much better known name of Iona as the result of a slip in penmanship. The details of Columba’s progress up the Great Glen, and such additional gems as the story of the white pebble by means of which he scored points against Broichan, we owe to Adomnan’s Life of St. Columba, written about a hundred years after the saint’s death. It is a far more starry-eyed account than Brother Suibne’s.
Adomnan’s chronicle tells us that Bridei kept hostages from Orkney (the Light Isles) at his court to ensure the loyalty of his vassal king, and that such hostages were at court when Columba came to visit, as was the Orcadian king himself.
The Well of Shades includes much that is fictional, although I have always tried to base the story on what might have been possible in the context of the beliefs and culture of the highlands in Pictish times. The Good Folk arise from the folklore of the region, and the religion followed by Bridei and his people blends together a number of earth-based spiritual beliefs. My Priteni are probably a little further down the path toward equality of the sexes than is altogether likely for that period, but the matrilineal succession is a plausible theory that has long been attached to Pictish culture, and it seemed to me that indicated a respect for women that might well flow more broadly into the attitudes and practices of the people. Hence the highly influential wise woman, Fola, the determined educator, Ferada, and a spiritual practice in which three goddesses (the Shining One, All-Flowers, and Bone Mother, sometimes known as Black Crow) are revered alongside the warrior deity, the Flamekeeper.
The geography of The Bridei Chronicles is that of the Scottish Highlands. In the interests of good storytelling, I have taken some liberties with some of the locations and distances. White Hill is located at Craig Phadraig in Inverness; Caer Pridne is Burghead. I placed the house of the wise women at Banmerren around Burghead Bay, where the spiritual center of Findhorn can now be found.
For the Irish section of the book, I chose a location at Kerrykeel in the north for Colm’s temporary dwelling while he is waiting to leave for Fortriu. Faolan’s home at Fiddler’s Crossing and Eile’s at Cloud Hill are somewhere in County Armagh.
Breakstone Hollow is an invention, but I expect that during those tumultuous times of internal warfare, such places of arbitrary imprisonment existed, just as they do now.
For more on the culture of the Picts and the historical background to The Bridei Chronicles, visit www.julietmarillier.com.
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