regshoe | Flight of the Heron read-along: Part III chapters 1-2

Epigraph notes: The epigraph to Part III is from The Lyon in Mourning, a collection of contemporary accounts of the '45 made by the Jacobite clergyman Robert Forbes. The quoted passage is from a description of the battle of Culloden Moor written by the Reverend Mr George Innes of Forres, sent to Forbes in March 1748, and can be found here, beginning on p. 268.

Anyway, poor Ewen, things are not going well for him in these chapters!

We've skipped over some time and quite a bit of important history since the end of Part II, and once again Broster opens chapter 1 with a summary of what's been happening. But the tone seems very different from the otherwise similar passage in chapter 2.1, with much less of light-hearted humour and more of solemn foreboding—although there are still humorous touches, like the anecdote about the Rout of Moy. I like the interspersing of historical exposition, Ewen's thoughts on developing events and description of his immediate surroundings, chilly and bleak as it all is—the cold wind on the water, Ewen's 'draggled eagle's feathers and soiled cockade'.

Lady Anne Mackintosh, mentioned in the passage about Moy, was a colourful figure, an ardent Jacobite who raised several hundred men to fight for Charles (while her husband, the Laird of Mackintosh, refused to commit himself to either side) and earned herself the nickname Colonel Anne. Lady Ogilvy, who also appears in chapter 1, is another highly memorable Jacobite: amongst other things, she accompanied her husband on the march into England, and at one point stood by a mercat cross where the Jacobites were declaring James as King with a drawn sword in her hand.

As for the rest of chapter 1, I won't say too much—I don't like (the significance of) Alison ('s role in the book/Ewen's life), and I don't like this. I do feel there were missed opportunities for symbolic significance there—it would have been so easy and, I think, thematically appropriate for things to go the other way in that scene where he's trying to persuade her. Nevertheless.

Chapter 2 always feels to me a bit of a chaotic jumble, which is really very appropriate—I definitely get the sense of things spiralling uncontrollably into doom for the Jacobites. The unsuccessful siege of Fort William, Ewen's injury, Glen Nevis House, the retreat, Ewen's visit to Ardroy and the heron, all feel like images flickering rapidly by until we end up, as if drawn into a whirlpool, in the horrible 'nightmare' of Culloden at the end. But there's a lot going on there! Ewen is still thinking about the heron sufficiently to look for it on the island when he's back at Ardroy, and finally finds out about Lachlan's disobedience in the prologue—and yet he still doesn't expect anything more to happen about Keith or the prophecy, and the image whirls away from us with the rest of the chapter. We shall see... I also love Ewen's indignant reply to the lawyer from Maryburgh that 'I am not in the least killed'.

And then we end up at Culloden, where Broster—typically—focusses not on the battle itself but on the events leading up to it. It's once again very historically detailed, and accurate (listening to the song linked above, I recognise several of the details Broster mentions in there too!), and gives a very vivid picture of how incredibly awful the whole thing was, without needing to get into explicit descriptions of exactly what happened after 'the kettledrums of Cumberland’s advance'. Brrr.

It's in these chapters that Ewen's intense loyalty to Lochiel, which we've already heard a bit about, really comes into view properly. If I wasn't so committed to Ewen/Keith I might almost say there was an opportunity for another slash ship there, what with all the throwing himself into cannon fire without a second thought and 'radiant smiles' and 'more deeply moved than he had ever seen him' and constant reminders throughout the chapter about how incredibly, ardently loyal Ewen is and how affected Lochiel is by it. In any case, I very much enjoy some good loyalty, and this is and will continue to be good stuff. I do love how happy Ewen is at hearing about Lochiel's planned hiding-place on Beinn Bhreac.

For all that I adore all the Ewen/Keith stuff, as a teenager my absolute favourite bit of the entire book was the bit where Ewen throws himself in front of the cannon fragment to protect Lochiel, and comes round to find himself cradled in Lochiel's arms. It is just SO dramatic and perfect, Ewen is so happy to have the chance to die for Lochiel, and the bit where his first reaction is to check that Lochiel's okay... I don't ship it, but I do adore it as the absolute pure form of platonic loyalty kink. And of course it sets up just how happy Ewen would be to die for Lochiel, to give meaning to what happens later on.

Ugh, the sense of DOOM in these chapters! I mean, it's really built into the history (I've definitely felt it while reading history books about it, too) but Broster makes the most of it. And I think it was a good choice not to include the actual battle. We can imagine it, after that lead-up.

I suppose, in the scene with Alison and Ewen before they get married, that Broster is going for one of her "conflicts of loyalties" themes, with Alison being torn between going to her ill father and staying to marry Ewen. In broad strokes I like it, but I think it might have worked better through Alison's eyes, since she's the one having the conflict. Although I do feel for Ewen, thinking that he may well be going to die soon, as well! But he doesn't want to say so. Also I do wonder why Alison hesitates even before getting the letter? I don't think we're meant to infer it's because she doesn't love him and doesn't want to marry him. My theory, I suppose, is that she doesn't want to admit what Ewen is thinking, namely that Ewen might be about to die as the army is defeated, and they should get what happiness they can, while they can.

This bit is lovely: From the quay Ewen went straight to Lochiel's head-quarters and reported himself for duty. Two hours later his body was marching out of Inverness in the van of the Cameron reinforcements. Where his soul was he hardly knew.

I do also love all the loyalty stuff with Lochiel. This time around I noticed this bit, where Ewen is down at heart because of Alison leaving, and: Lochiel, who knew him well and did observe him closely, gave him as much to do as possible. Awww. I love this indication of Lochiel caring for Ewen. And then later after throwing himself in the way of the splinters, he wakes up in Lochiel's arms--awww. (I can't see Ewen/Lochiel though, it smacks too much of parent/child incest for me, what with Lochiel being such a father figure for Ewen.)

Broster is taking a stand on some controversial topics regarding the battle: whether they should have made a stand at the Spey, which battlefield would have been the best, whether the Franco-Irish officers were competent or not. I note that mostly Duffy does not agree with her on these issues, though I'm sure opinions vary.

I was unfamiliar with the history of the Rising (which included being entirely innocent of Culloden) on my first read-through, and I have to say, Broster built the foreboding doom very well: the exhaustion and hunger and demoralization was extremely evocative, and whatever was going to happen after the end of the chapter couldn't possibly be good, that much was clear. However, I'm torn on her choice to entirely skip the battle and its aftermath, even in summary. Perhaps this comment is better left for next week, but I was left floundering in quite a big hole of bewildered ?????? by the time-and-pov skip of the coming chapter. (That said, I acknowledge I was probably never her imagined target audience, so.)

I really liked the chapter with Alison. I love how loving and affectionate their relationship is, and for all Ewen's talk in the Prologue of carrying her off, he's ultra-careful to never let himself be intimidating or cruel with her, however desperately he wants them to be married while they still can. (I'm reminded of that description near the beginning of the Gleam in the North: Like many large, strong men, Ewen Cameron was extraordinarily gentle with creatures that were neither. It's something that I love about Ewen.) I'm glad that they had their two days together here, for courage against everything that's coming. And here is the second time a ring is given as a gift! Gurer ner n ahzore bs fznyy zbzragf guebhtubhg gur abiry jurer Xrvgu vf pnfg cnenyyry gb Nyvfba -- gur bofreingvba gung cebcurpvrf bsgra fubj bar'f fcbhfr, gur jnl Rjra guvaxf bs obgu gur fuvryvat naq uvf jrqqvat avtug nf ubyl, gur jnl vg vf Xrvgu jub raqf hc pneelvat arkg gb uvf urneg gur ybpx bs Rjra'f unve zrnag sbe Nyvfba -- naq V guvax guvf tvsg bs n evat nf n jrqqvat cerfrag vf cneg bs gung frevrf jurer Xrvgu'f fvtavsvpnapr vf yvxrarq gb Nyvfba'f.

As for Ewen almost blowing himself up for love of Lochiel, and Lochiel's grief over Ewen nearly having done so, and also the various MacLarens' similar devotion to Ewen caught in glimpses throughout these two chapters... Ewen is so unlike Keith in this respect: he is deeply embedded in a wide circle of people who love deeply, devotedly, and unreservedly. Loving is a thing that you do as a part of living, as natural and necessary as breathing air, and is deeply entangled with duty and honour and loyalty, inseparable from any of them. It is such a marked contrast to Keith's emotional isolation, and I think that contrast is fundamental to several things that are coming.

And I have to say, Lachlan's perversity is growing on me, this read-through. He does what he wants (but only out of devotion to Ewen, of course!), and whenever Ewen tries to rein him in, Lachlan immediately goes for extreme overreaction and threatens suicide, thereby ensuring that he can continue to do what he wants. It's 100% clear that Ewen hasn't the least idea how to manage him. Lrf, V'z jryy njner guvf jvyy nyy raq va grnef, ohg sbe gur zbzrag, uvf novyvgl gb pbzcyrgryl syhzzbk Rjra znxrf zr ynhtu.

What springs out at me most in these two chapters is how messy real history can be, as opposed to fiction. All that marching and counter-marching is just so bitty. Compare that to the strong narrative drive of the prophecy and it's easy to see why people prefer reading a novel about the '45, whether it's FotH, Outlander or any number of bodice-rippers, to reading about the real thing.

I can quite understand why DKB didn't want to write about the battle. She'd served on the Western Front, after all, as did many of her readers.

As for Ewen and Alison's relationship, I generally like it in canon, though I'm not so sure about the prevaricating and putting-off and issuing of orders that we get here. Try doing that sort of thing to Keith, Ewen, and see what you get!

V'ir arire xabja dhvgr jung gb guvax bs Nyvfba orvat hfurerq bss-fgntr ng guvf cbvag. Fur'f gur guveq znva punenpgre, ohg V fhccbfr gur znva pbasyvpg va ure fgbelyvar/eryngvbafuvc jvgu Rjra vf "pvephzfgnaprf qrynl bhe jrqqvat" naq nsgre gung'f erzbirq, nccneragyl gurer'f ab zber cybg sbe ure. And then on the other hand, the relationship that the novel is structured around, Ewen & Keith, is full of built-in conflict. IDK what I'm trying to say here except that I guess Broster had widely distinct tastes in Official Couple and Platonic Smarm relationships.

On a completely different note, I like a good battle scene and have always felt a bit cheated not getting them! The failed night raid is interesting too, though.

Hello, hello! I'm very late to the party (and to this week's reading), so I should probably introduce myself a bit. Name's Tgarnsl (after the proper pronunciation of 'topgallantsail') and I fell into this fandom a few weeks back when I came across it on AO3, whereupon I promptly went 'oh, looks like there are some fun evening reads in this tag, I should read the last chapter of the book to get to grips with the characters so I don't have to read the whole novel.' Which resulted in reading the final chapter, wondering who the hell this Keith character was, and going back to the first chapter so I could read the book properly. And here I am, several weeks later, alarmingly invested in this novel and its characters.

I wanted to comment on last week's chapters, as those are set in Edinburgh, and as someone who lived in the city centre for several years (and visited this summer) I enjoyed reading about the places I know quite well. Nonetheless, I enjoyed this week's chapters: the conflict between Ewen and Alison and their respective duties and loyalties is interesting, even if I would have preferred to have read it through Alison's POV. I get the sense that they're both aware of what's coming, even if neither of them want to openly acknowledge it, but their reactions to it are quite different. I find it interesting how Broster carefully sets up Alison's eagerness to get married in the early part of the book and then has her feel so conflicted about it here — it's clear she still wishes to get married, but the state of the war is clearly taking its toll on her. I can't help but wonder if her reluctance is, at least in part, based in the fear of becoming a widow so soon after marriage. Ewen, in contrast, seems to have the complete opposite view: that any time married is precious, and that they should seize life with both hands while they have it. I find the scenes of their brief married life quite sweet; one thing I really like about their pairing is that there is the real sense that they are partners in all senses of the world — they both love and respect the other tremendously, and it seems that there's an easy companionship to their marriage that makes their ensuing heartbreak over their parting all the more understandable.

I found Chapter 2 quite gloomy, as you might expect. Broster makes it clear that this isn't going to end well, and by now most of the characters recognise it too, even if they do not acknowledge it. Ewen, for his part, seems to be dissociating from everything around him, in part due to his parting from Alison, in part due to the sorry state of the war. I find it interesting how Ewen's loyalty seems to shift in this chapter, away from the Prince and towards Lochiel — he will always be loyal to the Prince, but Lochiel is his family, and his concern for the aftermath of Culloden is not so much what will happen to the Prince, but what will happen to Lochiel. The last paragraph or so of the chapter is terribly poignant in its imagery. I don't ever feel that Broster is ever in danger of purple prose, even though her writing is descriptive and lush. It's a talent I quite admire.

I did enjoy the brief mention of Keith when Ewen is at Ardroy. It was a good way to subtly remind the reader where the story is headed, that even though this particular chapter of the Jacobite Uprising is swiftly drawing to a close, there is still plenty of story left.

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