Flight of the Heron read-along: Part II chapters 3-4

[regshoe]

I do think things are getting good in this week's chapters... :D

Next week we'll read the first two chapters of Part III.

Comments

[hyarrowen]

I found a map of Edinburgh in the late 18th century: https://maps.nls.uk/view/74400070 which makes it very clear just how close to the Castle they were. All those narrow wynds are very clear as well. There's another earlier map here, https://maps.nls.uk/view/74414281 showing how the city is basically a spine with houses crammed in on either side. A good place for night-time shenanigans. Robert Louis Stevenson described it perfectly in "Catriona" - the tall, dark city.

Ewen, 'pining for a fight' is delighted at the prospect of getting to fight Keith before being taken prisoner, while Keith, sincere and courteous, would really rather avoid the fuss and the risk of hurting him, much like Ewen did at their first meeting. 'As the threads are twisted...' indeed!

Oh, that's a good point! That phrase had always confused me.

Keith is once again really unpleasant to his men - not good officering, Keith! No wonder they slammed the door on him. Get a hold on your temper! And then he takes it out on Ewen and is immediately Stricken with Remorse. So you should be!

Nor do the Jacobite men come off at all well here. They all bugger off down the secret stair, leaving a very old lady and a very young lady, with just an inebriated doorkeeper to protect them. They’re perfectly safe with Keith, of course, but suppose it had been Thguevr leading that patrol?

(And I wonder if the drunken doorkeeper owes anything to his predecessor in Macbeth. Knock, knock, knock… who’s there?)

Finally, Miss Isobel Cochran and Lady Easterhall reappear briefly and I still like them both very much. If I were Isobel, I would have made a determined play for Keith, but there’s no accounting for tastes.

[luzula]

Oh, thanks for the Edinburgh map! That's going to be useful for fic-writing.

Nor do the Jacobite men come off at all well here.

If BPC hadn't been so set on the cloak-and-dagger shenanigans, they could have sent for a sizeable contingent of the Camerons in the West Bow to come and just generally be present in that part of the Grassmarket. They needn't even have told them why--and then the redcoats coming down from the Castle wouldn't have got far.

But of course, this would have prevented Ewen and Keith from meeting, which is obviously the real object here. : )

[hyarrowen]

If BPC hadn't been so set on the cloak-and-dagger shenanigans, they could have sent for a sizeable contingent of the Camerons in the West Bow to come and just generally be present in that part of the Grassmarket.

Good heavens, I'd never thought about that! Though it's very much in-character for BPC to adopt a disguise. He was an adventurer, when all's said and done.

[sanguinity]

Oh, those maps are very helpful. I was tracing the route against modern-day Google, and while all the locations still exist, I was still befuddled by "they went up the street? and then down the street? and all the streets are parallel to the street?" But now seeing that 18th-century Edinburgh was basically bar shot, I am more bemused than befuddled.

Keith is once again really unpleasant to his men - not good officering, Keith! No wonder they slammed the door on him.

I had to laugh at their very appropriate complaint about how they're supposed to take Ewen without injuring him, when he obviously felt no reluctance to injure them. If you're going to give orders, give actionable orders, sir!

[hyarrowen]

I've found a map dated 1742. Don't know how I missed it before.

https://maps.nls.uk/towns/rec/7467

It's amazing how many of those tiny streets are still there.

[luzula]

I had to laugh at their very appropriate complaint about how they're supposed to take Ewen without injuring him, when he obviously felt no reluctance to injure them. If you're going to give orders, give actionable orders, sir!

Hee. I imagine Keith is feeling some emotional dissonance in that moment! His orders probably make more sense when he's trying to capture someone other than Ewen...

[sanguinity]

One should hope so!

[regshoe]

XD

Poor soldiers, they didn't ask to get caught up in this emotional mess...

[regshoe]

Ooh, those maps are good! Thank you. I like the design of the second one, part map and part 3 dimensional drawing.

After my earlier confusion about the 'twisted threads', I did think that was a good interpretation of it. :D

[hyarrowen]

I was surprised at how small the city was!

[regshoe]

Yes, that's something that's struck me several times in 18th century history books, the small size of even fairly significant towns and cities! It must have made a great difference to the landscape the characters are experiencing compared to what we know now. Although I suppose in a city as vertical as 18th-century Edinburgh apparently was, the actual ground area occupied wasn't the whole story.