Flight of the Heron read-along: Part I chapters 1-2

[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.

Comments

[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!

[hyarrowen]

It was the depths of the Little Ice Age at that point, so it'd be a much starker scene than present-day Scotland. And even I, much though I love the uplands, have to admit that an entire landscape full of heather in bloom is a startling sight!

[friendofthejabberwock]

Keith does indeed seem somewhat restrained, then! Where's the quote from?

[luzula]

It's from Captain Edward Burt, who was one of General Wade's road-building crew in the Highlands in the first half of the 18th century. Not that I've read his book; I got the quote via Christopher Duffy who has written some great books about the '45.

(Hmm, I wonder if I can track down Burt's book...)

[regshoe]

Here it is! (I looked it up when I was using the quote in 'I'll Mount the Air on Swallow's Wings' :) )

[luzula]

Yes, I had also found it now. But thanks! : )

[friendofthejabberwock]

Thank you for the information! I can definitely see where someone trying to build roads would be especially unhappy with the terrain, lol. And I'll have to look up Christopher Duffy -- this isn't a setting I'm particularly familiar with but I'm hoping to change that.

[dr_zook]

Wonderful quote! Haha, I may develop a thing for restrained!Keith. :q