regshoe | Flight of the Heron read-along: Part III chapters 3-4

Once again we have some accurate historical background, and it's a bit grim this time. Keith's attitude to the atrocities committed by the Hanoverian army after Culloden is a difficult subject, I think, and in some ways one of the most interesting parts of the book. As a relatively decent Hanoverian he doesn't take the attitude of 'well, I'm not doing anything dishonourable so it's nothing to do with me' that he might do; we get language like 'a sensation of being branded' and 'feeling that he belonged now to a band of executioners'. And yet he doesn't take the opposite extreme of resigning and refusing to have anything more to do with it at all (there's a minor character in one of Broster's other books who does exactly this on discovering the moral bankruptcy of his military superiors, and it's often made me wonder...). The conflict between a moral sense more than typical 'gentlemanliness'—historically what we're seeing here is the logic of the British Empire working itself out, and that these atrocities were committed by people who regarded themselves as, and did in fact behave in other circumstances as, gentleman is really kind of the point—and the 'ambitious regard for his own career' that's so important to Keith's character is a fascinating one, and I've never really worked out exactly what to make of it in the end.

In any case, the incident of the dead woman and child is quietly horrible in a very effective way. Even with all the repugnance Keith shows about affairs in Inverness—and I think his attitude of a sort of irritated disgust, rather than more open horror, is very characteristic of him—he's still pretty naive about the extent of what's happening, not guessing the likely history of the woman as Mackay does.

So there Keith is, resignedly disgusted and believing he can't do anything about it—and he switches in a moment from that to running straight out in front of the levelled muskets when he recognises Ewen. Yeah, I think there's some significant character stuff there...! I also like the contrast between that immediate instinctive action and the conscious strategising Keith does later on in the scene while trying to figure out how to manipulate Guthrie in a way that'll keep Ewen safe—the combination of impulse and considered thought working together alongside his feelings for Ewen.

Another nice detail—Keith's indignant retort to Guthrie that Ewen is 'a Highlander and a gentleman'. Joining those two epithets, and emphasising Ewen's being a Highlander to assert that he'd never do something dishonourable—Keith has certainly come a long way from when we first met him. :)

The Gaelic 'herself' which Mackay uses in chapter 3—I've read somewhere, I think in an annotation to Walter Scott's Waverley, that the stereotype of Gaelic speakers inappropriately calling everyone 'she' came from a misunderstanding of how grammatical gender works (which seems odd; English doesn't have it but virtually all the foreign languages commonly taught in Britain do, besides the Celtic languages, and people like Broster would certainly be familiar with the idea). I don't know how accurate the rest of Broster's Gaelic is, but the phonetic accent is slightly annoying.

Major Guthrie is a highly unpleasant person! His constant aggravatingness towards Keith in chapter 4 is grimly funny, and I love Keith's careful self-control (for Ewen's sake...!). I especially like the dirty joking about how Keith's regard for Ewen must be due to a sister or wife whom he fell in love with—haha, Guthrie, you've nearly got it... Incidentally, 'kind as yon ither lass of a Cameron was kind to the Pretender’s son' is (I think) a reference to Jenny Cameron, a slightly mysterious figure who brought 300 Camerons to join the Prince at Glenfinnan and was endlessly slandered in the Whig press—the assertion that she was Charles's mistress was one of the less bizarre stories made up about her sex life. She was a Cameron of Glendessary, and a cousin of Lochiel, so it's quite possible she and Ewen know each other.

The omniscient narrator told us back in the prologue that 'Loch na h-Iolaire' means 'the Eagle's Lake', but how does Keith, who doesn't speak Gaelic, know that? Either Ewen or someone else must have explained it to him while he was there, which is a rather sweet scene to imagine, or he must have asked around about it afterwards.

It hadn't occurred to me that an officer could simply resign in the middle of a campaign. But this was pre-conscription, of course, so I suppose it was an option for him. I don't know what he'd do afterwards, though - soldiering is all he knows, and he could hardly go home to his mother (who in some sense obtained that commission for him.)

Keith's insistence that Ewen is a gentleman always amuses me. Class trumps all! But it's the poor woman and her baby who cause the sea-change in him.

Phonetic accents are annoying - though I think it was the convention in books of the time to write them thus.

I find myself wondering how he recognises Ewen for certain. What does the And --- at the end of that paragraph refer to? He's already caught glimpses of Ewen's face and hair, and knows the tartan. Ewen's head is now above the level of the thatch. I can only assume that he recognises Ewen's knees.

[Eagle's Lake] Either Ewen or someone else must have explained it to him while he was there, which is a rather sweet scene to imagine

Aww, it really is!

I can only assume that he recognises Ewen's knees.

Keith has obviously spent a lot of time admiring the fine figure Ewen cuts in his kilt - in a purely platonic way, of course! :P

I don't know what he'd do afterwards, though - soldiering is all he knows, and he could hardly go home to his mother

That's a very important consideration too, of course!

Hmm, that's a good point about how Keith recognises Ewen—I'd assumed that it was a matter of the various things he's already seen suddenly coming together into a moment of recognition, but the 'And——' does suggest a specific additional detail. Mysterious.

I'd assumed that it was a matter of the various things he's already seen suddenly coming together into a moment of recognition

Ah, that could well be it. I've got a much clearer picture of the scene now. I'd always thought that Ewen's face was partially concealed by the eaves when he stood up again, but perhaps there were no eaves, so his face was clearly visible. So it might not be the knees after all!

Edited 2021-11-14 21:01 (UTC)

As much as I love the idea of Keith recognizing those oft-ogled knees...!

As someone with less-than-great vision, I'm as likely to recognize someone by how they move or stand or gesture, as I am by anything that takes real acuity, like their facial features. It might well be that the reverse happened here: Keith, watching from a distance, was thrown off by the way Ewen's wound hampered his movement: this man did not move or stand like Ewen, so he was obviously not Ewen, however tall or red-headed or Cameron-tartaned he was. It might take a few moments of continuous observation -- and maybe coming near enough to see his face better -- to overcome that first impression.

Of course there's also the fact that Keith is laboring without the benefit of knowing that he's fated to meet Ewen three more times...

Hah, yes, that's a possibility. It's voices that are often a clue to recognition with me.

there's also the fact that Keith is laboring without the benefit of knowing that he's fated to meet Ewen three more times...

That's a very good point!

God, this section was a bit grim in parts, wasn't it? Like you, I found Keith's attitude really interesting, and I felt a bit sorry for him; he must have invested a lot of time and effort and loyalty in the army, so it can't be easy to face up to the awfulness of it all or his part in it.

I don't know anything about the Habsburg war that Keith was fighting in Flanders, but I wonder if he's so eager to go back because it felt cleaner than this? Fighting other professional soldiers instead of his own countrymen, at least.

The way Keith swooped in to save Ewen was wonderful! And then arguing for Ewen's life, even though it goes against every instinct he has to imply that Ewen would be less than perfectly honourable. ♥ I love that he came all the way back to help him, since of course that means they can be alone again in the next chapter. :D

Either Ewen or someone else must have explained it to him while he was there, which is a rather sweet scene to imagine, or he must have asked around about it afterwards. Aww, I love this!

I wonder if he's so eager to go back because it felt cleaner than this? Fighting other professional soldiers instead of his own countrymen, at least.

I think that's exactly what he does feel–and I suppose it's an interesting contrast with his similar but rather differently motivated feeling at the beginning that he'd prefer to go back to Flanders because there it's 'real warfare' rather than being surrounded by barbarians and not seeing any actual fighting (because he thinks it won't come to that). Hmmm.

I love that he came all the way back to help him, since of course that means they can be alone again in the next chapter. :D

Terribly important :D

I feel like Broster very much wants to convince us that Keith's hands are clean, emphasizing the disgust he feels for other men's actions. But Keith is also very obviously going along to get along, so there's an argument to be made that he's at least complicit.

Of course, he only goes along right until we recognizes Ewen. It is lovely how there's no conscious thought in his blind panic to throw himself in front of the firing squad: I rather think he's gotten feelings all over his debt of honour.

And the sheer amount of crap he eats from Major War Crimes' hands! He wouldn't take that from the Duke of Cumberland, but if it's Ewen's life at stake... (Again, Keith: you've gotten feelings all over your debt of honour!) I'll admit, when he all but offered to duel Major War Crimes, I was rooting for him to do it. Save everyone a bunch of trouble, Keith! Shoot Major War Crimes dead, then go back for Ewen and ride off into the mountains with him. Yes, sure, you'll have to keep Lachlan from slitting your throat when he catches up with you, but maybe if you talk VERY quickly and let him lead the horse...

Oh, and there's this interesting description: Keith, no Puritan himself, yet innately fastidious... Helpfully dropped there for any enterprising smut writers working out their characterizations, thank you Ms. Broster!

I like that description of him too. Much characterisation in very few words.

Yes, probably—but it's not an easy, simple way of showing him to be innocent, especially when he himself feels—somewhat correctly in my opinion, and I don't think Broster means for it to come across as untrue—that he is complicit.

I rather think he's gotten feelings all over his debt of honour.

:D

Shoot Major War Crimes dead, then go back for Ewen and ride off into the mountains with him.

*cheers Keith on to do this, unwise and unlikely as it might be*

Oh, yes, that is a good and interesting bit of description. What this attitude might mean in relation to Keith's feelings for Ewen left for us fic writers to work out...!

I feel like Broster very much wants to convince us that Keith's hands are clean, emphasizing the disgust he feels for other men's actions. But Keith is also very obviously going along to get along, so there's an argument to be made that he's at least complicit.

Yeah. Broster kind of makes it easy for Keith here, by having him be a staff officer rather than a captain who's supposed to be leading his company around the countryside killing, raping and burning. There's a story from the time about a Navy ship in the Western Highlands where the captain orders the men to rape all the women in a village on the coast. But one of the sailors sneaks away and warns the village before it happens...

If you haven't been keeping an eye on the last post, I wrote up some historical notes on how holding an estate in the Highlands worked, and the implications for Ewen.

I love these chapters! I mean, the first one is grim, yes, but we're past the looming dread before Culloden, and Keith and Ewen are finally meeting again. I always felt that if I could design my own cover for FotH, I would want it to have Keith holding the scantily clad and swooning Ewen in his arms. It's so incredibly romantic: once Keith sees it's Ewen, he just runs with no thought of any consequences for himself.

Also I love the image of Ewen standing there before the firing squad, how he has nothing left but the proud and stubborn urge to meet death on his feet. ♥

More thoughts tomorrow; I had a busy and long weekend...

I always felt that if I could design my own cover for FotH, I would want it to have Keith holding the scantily clad and swooning Ewen in his arms.

Excellent choice! Now we just need some fanartists to come and join the fandom... :D aargh, you're right, though, it is such a romantic moment. Lovely.

It's romantic and Romantic too. Me, I want to see them on a cover locked in a passionate embrace on a windy hilltop, bodice-ripper style. Heaven knows they embrace often enough in the books, so there are plenty to choose from.

I think my ideal cover would feature the heron somehow—a Romantic picture of it flying over the loch?—perhaps with Ewen and Keith on the shore watching it and/or embracing, to include birds and the OTP. :D

Oooh, nice! Of course the heron must be there.

I am caught up. And support the bodice ripping cover design in the comment above.

Yay! And excellent taste in cover designs :D

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

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