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

[regshoe]

Epigraph notes: The epigraph to Part I is from The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides with Samuel Johnson, LL.D. by James Boswell; the quoted passage is from the entry for 3 November 1773.

So, Keith! We learn a lot about him in the space of these two chapters, and I'm sure you all already love him as much as I do :D I love how much characterisation we get here: proud, impatient, determined, brave, with a warm, 'passionate and impulsive' heart hidden under depths of protective cynicism after a tragic backstory. I especially like the line 'Bullets, however, did not discompose him like cowardice', a very nice bit of word choice and arrangement which conveys a lot about his character.

And of course I absolutely love Keith and Ewen's first meeting, and Keith's reaction to Ewen :D I won't quote all the amazing things 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. 'This disturbing exponent of Highland chivalry' is another favourite line; one gets the sense already that Ewen is 'disturbing' to Keith in several different ways. And of course Keith is very much a gentleman too: he may think Ewen is a barbarian, but even in chapter 2 he thinks it shameful rudeness to let Ewen see that he thinks so.

After last week, the contrast between the landscape descriptions in the prologue and in chapter 1 is very stark. But the actual descriptive prose is as beautifully written as ever (I do like the image of mountains like 'a procession of elephants'!), and if there's one thing I like more than lovely nature descriptions, it's lovely nature descriptions used thoughtfully with character perspectives to convey different characters' personalities and relationships with the places they describe.

And Keith's hatred of mountains, while it may seem slightly ludicrous to a modern reader, is very historically accurate! Before the Romantics made upland scenery fashionable, mountains as horrible and ugly seems to have been the general view amongst educated English people. Christopher Duffy in The '45 (a book highly recommended for anyone wanting to learn more about the 1745 Rising) attributes it to Enlightenment ideas about landscapes deriving beauty from usefulness and productivity rather than dramatic natural scenery.

The actual geographical detail in these two chapters is also great. It's possible to follow the entire sequence of events on a map, and work out roughly where Ardroy—the only fictional location here—is supposed to be, as I did in this post a while ago.

There's plenty of detailed historical accuracy too, of course. The incident of the ambush at High Bridge by 'eleven men and a piper!' really happened pretty much exactly as described, and Broster again slots Keith's presence in very neatly. Captain James Scott, Keith's senior, is historical; in real life the second captain was James Thomson, who was taken captive with the rest. Another interesting historical detail is the identity of Keith's stepfather, the Earl of Stowe. This—or at least Earl Temple of Stowe—is a real title, but one that wasn't created until the nineteenth century. Keith might be related to the Temple family of Stowe in Buckinghamshire, who got their title a bit earlier in this version of history, or his stepfather might derive his title from one of the various other places in England called Stowe. The Windhams are also a real family and important in the eighteenth century—several Windhams were Whig politicians and one of them was Comptroller to the Household of the Duke of Cumberland, so there's the background of Keith's allegiances.

One historical detail I've not come across in any of my researches is the story of the stream where Keith stops for a wash, in which 'seven gory severed heads' were washed 'less than a hundred years before'. Does anyone know what this is referring to?

And the heron has returned, with ominous significance...

[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.

[luzula]

Oh, and I forget: I hadn't heard the Martin Carthy version of that song! Lovely, and of course very appropriate for Keith...

[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?

[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..."

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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!