regshoe: Close-up of a grey heron, its beak open as if laughing (Heron 2)
[personal profile] regshoe
Hark! now the drums they beat again for all good soldiers, gentlemen...

Welcome back to the Flight of the Heron read-along! This week we read the first two proper chapters, and meet Keith Windham—and Keith meets Ewen Cameron.

As you'll have noticed, Broster is fond of including both Gaelic and Scots words in dialogue; this online Gaelic-English dictionary and this one for Scots may be of use if you'd like to look anything up.

Next week we will continue with chapters 3 and 4.

Date: Oct. 2nd, 2021 05:25 pm (UTC)
luzula: a Luzula pilosa, or hairy wood-rush (Default)
From: [personal profile] luzula
in real life the second captain was James Thomson, who was taken captive with the rest

Wasn't the second one Captain Sweetenham? I'm at my parents' place now, but I can check tomorrow. Anyway, IIRC, Keith's fate is a sort of amalgam of the two captains': Scott was taken to Achnacarry and his wounds dressed, etc, like Keith at Ardroy, but Sweetenham was taken along to Glenfinnan like Keith.

Oh, interesting about the actual Windhams, I hadn't dug so deep on them!

Here's the Well of the Seven Heads.

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Date: Oct. 7th, 2021 04:51 am (UTC)
impala_chick: (Default)
From: [personal profile] impala_chick
I'm learning a lot from your comment - the bit about mountain landscapes being ugly is so interesting. It would probably change the way I think about mountains if I couldn't look at pictures and appreciate the entire region at once.

Keith thinks about Ewen, but I will note the very funny contrast between Keith's immediate attraction to and admiration of Ewen, which only get stronger once he sees—as he very quickly does—how gentlemanlike and courteous Ewen is, and his insistence that Ewen is a barbarian.
Yes! I love the perfect internal struggle set-up between Keith's upbringing/preconceived notions and the way Ewen treats him in real life.

Date: Oct. 2nd, 2021 05:18 pm (UTC)
luzula: a Luzula pilosa, or hairy wood-rush (Default)
From: [personal profile] luzula
Awwww, Keith! ♥ I love him so.

I think he's different from other Broster heroes especially in his sense of humor, also his exasperated professionalism. And then there's his backstory of being emotionally abandoned and neglected, and his consequent distrust of love, which of course makes him into fannish catnip because I just want to see someone break through that reserve and make him happy. That whole bit of Keith backstory and characterization at the beginning of Chapter 2 is great.

I love the balanced viewpoint of both sides of the war that we get, which is also different from other Broster novels: Ewen's unquestioning devotion to his Prince, and Keith's dismissal of "his absurd landing on Moidart". Also their very different experiences of the Highland landscape.

And then Keith and Ewen's first meeting, which is obviously perfect. ♥ I love how Ewen's chivalry, though it surprises and provokes Keith at first, then brings out his own as he willingly gives his parole. I also like how Ewen keeps surprising Keith out of his preconceived notions of Highlanders, and Ewen's delicacy at the end of chapter 2.

This bit: "I have given Mr. Cameron my parole of honour, and I assure you that even 'the Elector’s' officers observe that!" (For he believed so then.) is a chilly bit of foreshadowing, but for a historical event which I can't remember is directly mentioned in the book, or is it (the captured Hanoverian officers breaking parole en masse some time after the battle of Prestonpans)? But it works as more general foreshadowing of dastardliness, as well.

I love the introduction of Aunt Margaret--she has a great sense of humor, and I love that she isn't intimidated by Keith. Also she reads Henry Fielding, who I've read was an author condemned by strict moralists, which indicates that even though she's a devout Christian (which we see later) she has an open mind.

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Date: Oct. 2nd, 2021 07:10 pm (UTC)
sanguinity: woodcut by M.C. Escher, "Snakes" (Default)
From: [personal profile] sanguinity
his consequent distrust of love, which of course makes him into fannish catnip

I laughed aloud when I got to that detail, because very much yes.

Date: Oct. 2nd, 2021 06:49 pm (UTC)
luzula: a Luzula pilosa, or hairy wood-rush (Default)
From: [personal profile] luzula
Oh, and I forget: I hadn't heard the Martin Carthy version of that song! Lovely, and of course very appropriate for Keith...

Date: Oct. 2nd, 2021 07:09 pm (UTC)
sanguinity: woodcut by M.C. Escher, "Snakes" (Default)
From: [personal profile] sanguinity
Well, that is a satisfyingly romantic and slashy beginning! Do tell us one more time, Keith, how splendidly made Ewen is! Make him clash swords with you! Swoon against the tree! He'll take you home and bind your hurts indeed. Ewen is a splendidly-made barbarian who knows French and Latin and has excellent manners -- can a mortal man be any more alluring??

Are we eventually told who the narrator is? I was very startled by the line suggesting that the (apparently omniscient) narrator is actually one of the Highlanders?

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Date: Oct. 4th, 2021 06:28 pm (UTC)
dr_zook: (wee!)
From: [personal profile] dr_zook
Haha, I swear I had to howl a few times for all the obvious pining. There is no heterosexual explaination for this and I love it!! :D

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Date: Oct. 7th, 2021 04:53 am (UTC)
impala_chick: (Default)
From: [personal profile] impala_chick
Yesssss. Keith really did go into detail about Ewen's attributes *g* I loved the image of them talking in that study while Keith is healing at the end of ch2.

Date: Oct. 2nd, 2021 11:43 pm (UTC)
hyarrowen: (Action Hero)
From: [personal profile] hyarrowen
Keith captured my heart at the procession of elephants, and never let go. I love his snark.

I went past the Well of the Seven Heads a few years ago. It's now on a busy 'A' road, and there's a pub (or tea room?) close by. Keith's whole route is full of traffic. :(

Quite by chance, I discovered last week that in the 1740s the head gardener of Stowe in Buckinghamshire was a certain Lancelot Brown. I used the Stowe on the Welsh Borders for the Earl's seat, but the idea of Keith interacting with Capability Brown, no less, is an intriguing one - and might explain his dissatisfaction with the Highland landscape! "Gently swelling hills one could admire..."

Date: Oct. 3rd, 2021 12:44 pm (UTC)
luzula: a Luzula pilosa, or hairy wood-rush (Default)
From: [personal profile] luzula
*loves on Keith's snark*

Re: traffic, yes, I suppose I'll need to do some adjusting when I eventually go and visit the Highlands...at least some of Wade's roads are still there, even if I suppose the ones down in the Great Glen probably have modern roads built on top of them.

Oh, interesting about the head gardener, I hadn't heard of him. *checks him out on Wikipedia*

Date: Oct. 3rd, 2021 02:21 am (UTC)
friendofthejabberwock: two screencaps: Data and Spock holding cats (Default)
From: [personal profile] friendofthejabberwock
I think I liked these couple of chapters even more than the prologue, honestly. Keith's continual bewilderment about Ewen just never got old. Keith just not knowing what to do with a not-so-barbaric "barbarian" was especially good during the surrender -- the combination of Keith trying to do things properly and at least going down with a fight and Ewen being exceedingly polite the entire time made for a very entertaining dynamic that also gave some more character detail.

And ooh, the heron! I feel badly for the poor horse but I was very excited to encounter it again. I'll be interested for Ewen's thoughts on that -- he certainly must have been shaken if he let it be that obvious to Keith.

That's so interesting about Keith's attitude towards the mountains! I chalked that up to his general disgust for all things Highland, but the land as beautiful because of its usefulness vs. inherent beauty makes a lot of sense. I always find those little differences in attitudes between past and present so interesting. I've been enjoying your historical notes -- while I'm not familiar enough with the period to catch the references while reading the book, I'm always happy to be reading a historical novel that fits in so well with history.

And last but certainly not least, I love that we got another reminder of how splendidly built Ewen is, and from Keith, no less.

Date: Oct. 3rd, 2021 09:22 am (UTC)
luzula: a Luzula pilosa, or hairy wood-rush (Default)
From: [personal profile] luzula
Here's an actual 18th century Englishman opining about the Highlands: "an eye accustomed to flowery pastures and waving harvests is astonished and repelled by this wide extent of hopeless sterility," where the mountains, "always horrid to behold, looked positively diseased when the heather was in bloom."

Keith seems almost restrained by contrast!

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Date: Oct. 7th, 2021 04:55 am (UTC)
impala_chick: (Default)
From: [personal profile] impala_chick
Oh interesting point about the horse - I didn't think much of Ewen's reaction but you're right, he did let on that it was disturbing to him. And he seems to do most things deliberately in front of Keith.

Date: Oct. 3rd, 2021 08:53 pm (UTC)
hedgebird: (Default)
From: [personal profile] hedgebird
Keith: There is neither beauty nor love in the world, or at least the Highlands
Ewen: cool cool I'm just gonna wait over there. Being quietly decent and really, really, ridiculously good-looking
Horse: a sacrifice to Fate

Ah, enter my grouchy fave. I learned about the pre-Romantic view of mountains shortly before I first read FotH and it amused me no end to find it there. I think I also warm to Ewen, the Ideal Man, more in these chapters than in the prologue, because the admiration for his manifold good qualities feels like it's coming from Keith instead of directly from the omniscient narrator.

I really appreciate the map, and the historical commentary you guys are providing. It's not a period or place I know a lot about, so it's always interesting to learn what is and isn't factual.

Date: Oct. 4th, 2021 06:34 pm (UTC)
dr_zook: (Default)
From: [personal profile] dr_zook
I love how you break down the main characters here, haha! ♥

I think I also warm to Ewen, the Ideal Man, more in these chapters than in the prologue, because the admiration for his manifold good qualities feels like it's coming from Keith instead of directly from the omniscient narrator.

Very good point, same here. :)

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Date: Oct. 3rd, 2021 10:11 pm (UTC)
stonepicnicking_okapi: books (books)
From: [personal profile] stonepicnicking_okapi
Hullo! I just wanted to let you know I am following along. I get very intimated by book clubs (so many opinions!) so I probably won't contribute much, but I am reading the book (and the opinions). I know it is a very important book to you, and I'd like to know it, too.

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Date: Oct. 4th, 2021 09:31 pm (UTC)
philomytha: airplane flying over romantic castle (Default)
From: [personal profile] philomytha
Late to the party here. I remember the first time I read this it took me a while to warm to Keith, he seemed so grumpy and annoyed at everything it was hard to like him, but once he gave Ewen his parole he seemed almost transformed. It’s easy to see what Keith sees in Ewen - and these chapters give us plenty, with the descriptions of how handsome Ewen is and what a swordsman and how chivalrous and how gentlemanly - but seeing it from the other side, what Ewen sees in Keith, I can’t help thinking it was that transformation, that moment when despite how bitterly angry he is at everything that’s gone wrong for him, he is able to set it aside and match Ewen in courtesy and show grace in defeat.

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Date: Oct. 5th, 2021 04:50 pm (UTC)
tei: Rabbit from the Garden of Earthly Delights (Default)
From: [personal profile] tei
Oh no, I missed this and woke up today like “why didn’t regshoe ever post a Flight of the Heron discussion😤” ANYWAY, I found these much more fun than the prologue, probably because there was more swordfighting and less description of scenery. :P As has been discussed, Keith ages mountains a normal amount, apparently. THAT SAID, I think I had an initial impression of him that was more negative than that of Ewan, because Ewan is introduced splashing around in the lake, forbidding the shooting of birds, contemplating how much he loves the lake and his girlfriend and how wonderful everything in the world is, etc., and Keith stomps in like “this sucks. I hate this. Fuck THIS MOUNTAIN IN PARTICULAR.” However, once they meet he becomes much more pleasant!

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