Turn of the Tide (47 page)

For a moment only, he reached up to rest his hand against the stone lintel feeling the impress of the carved initials under his palm. There was no other way. He returned to the hall to toss
lighted rags dipped in oil through the doorway, retreating from the heat and the flames that flared behind him, and from the smoke that spiralled down the stair in his wake, stinging his nostrils,
acrid on his tongue.

At the entrance he pulled the heavy yett into place, jamming it shut with an iron bar. The straw heaped in the passageway behind it ignited with a roar, the flames fanned by the wind, tongues of
fire licking at the doorframe. He lit the last of the rags as he ran towards the jumble of outbuildings, lobbing one onto the thatch, one through each open door, retreating as the flames took.

On the horizon, dawn was seeping into the sky, crimson and white.

One job remained.

He plunged down to the hollow to back-fill the graves, smooth the mounds, trample down the turfs. He raced to Sweet Briar, who pawed at the ground, her head up and back, eyes rolling, straining
to break free of her tether. He caught at the bridle and pulled her face into his chest, stroking her neck, mumuring into her ear, taking the time to calm her before swinging into the saddle.

Behind him a crash, as part of the chimney toppled inwards, the flames reaching for the sky. Another explosion, sparks flying. Curls of smoke rising from the gorse, first one, then another and
another, then a wall of fire sweeping across the hillside, leaving in its wake a tangle of blackened stems, like wraiths, etched against the dawn sky. He turned to take one last look at Broomelaw
as the flakes of ash sifted downwards, settling on him like rain. In the flicker of the flames, faces: Anna, Archie, Sybilla . . . the Montgomerie lad.

Voices on the wind: John, by the shore at Rough, ‘Our hands aren’t exactly clean.’ Lady Margaret Langshaw, ‘I am a Cunninghame, God help me.’

He drew a deep breath – a Cunninghame no longer, one thing remained: that Kate and the bairns be safe. Today or tomorrow, William would come . . . and John. He could trust John. And Kate
had said that she would wait. He wondered what like it would be in Norway and if Sigurd was indeed docked at Leith, as his normal pattern would suppose.

Gathering the reins, he turned towards the east. The sun, gaining in intensity, warmed his face as the blazing tower scorched his back. Another roar, another rumble of falling masonry, Sweet
Briar startling afresh. Munro leant forwards, rested his good hand for a moment on her neck, promised himself, ‘I won’t stay long away.’

Throughout its hundred and fifty year duration the feud between the Cunninghames and Montgomeries was characterized by repeated acts of brutality and murder on both sides,
evidence of the reality that, as
Ayrshire, Its History
puts it, ‘blood feud was the custom of the times’.

However it was my choice rather than a reflection of documented history to cast William Cunninghame and the Earl of Glencairn as the primary villains of this story. The Massacre of Annock is
well documented, though sources differ in regard to the numbers involved on each side. I have used the account in the Montgomerie family manuscripts as my primary source. The fate of key members of
the Cunninghame faction in the aftermath of Annock as written here, is generally accepted. An enduring animosity between Hugh Montgomerie and William Cunninghame and the quarrel Hugh has with
Patrick Maxwell are also on record, though without detail as to the timing, the cause of the quarrel, or who prevented them killing each other. In the interests of the story I have taken some
liberites with the timing of events and with William Cunninghame’s age. In casting Maxwell as a villain I have done him no disservice as the real Patrick Maxwell was a much more unpleasant
character than depicted here: gaining notoriety for physically abusing his wife.

aught
(n): anything

bailie
(n): magistrate

bailieship
(n): office of magistrate

bailiewick
(n): district under magistrate’s control

barmkin
(n): enclosed area within the outer fortification of a castle or tower house

bawbee
(n): small value coin

baxter
(n): baker

birl
(v): to whirl around

bliant
(n): expensive fabric probably made of silk

bonnet-laird
(n): minor laird

butterbur
(n): plant, rhubarb-like in appearance

cap-house
(n): guard chamber at roof level in a castle or tower house

cap-stone
(n): coping stones topping a wall

caul
(n): cap

champ
(v): to be eager

clack
(n): talk, gossip

clatching
(v): to transport mud on the soles of shoes (from clatch, noun: mire)

clegg
(n): gad-fly

cludgie
(n): earth closet

coney
(n): rabbit

coup
(v): to overturn

craw
(n): gullet

curtain-wall
(n): outer fortification, rampart

deeve
(v): to weary by constant talking

dour
(adj): humourless, sullen

dreich
(adj): damp, miserable

dunt
(v): to bump into

dwam
(n): stupor, trance

farl
(n): a flat bread formed by cutting a circle of dough into quarters before cooking

feart
(adj): afraid

feisty
(adj): spirited

fissling
(adj): muted rustling sound

fitty
(adj): fitting, appropriate

flesher
(n): butcher

forbye
(n): besides, in addition to

foundered
(adj): extremely cold

ganch
(n): dull-witted person

gey
(adv): very

glaur
(n): slime, soft mud

grizzle
(v): to whimper

hackbut
(n): early form of firearm

hall
(n): main public apartment in a castle or tower house

heft
(v): to lift (esp. onto shoulders)

hirsel
(n): wheeze, catarrhal sound in chest

ingle-nook
(n): corner by a fireplace, usually with seating

looby
(n): ill-educated person

lucken-booth
(n): covered stall which could be locked up

midden
(n): refuse heap

neep
(n): turnip

nicker
(v): to whinny softly

pauchled
(adj): exhausted

pawky
(adj): vivacious

peched
(adj): gasping for breath

plackard
(n): piece made to fill in a U or V-shaped opening in a bodice

pommel
(n): knob on the hilt of a sword

posset
(n): a drink of hot milk, curdled with ale or wine, sometimes flavoured

pruch
(n): goods

put to the horn
(figure of speech): banished

ram-stam
(adj): reckless or precipitate manner

redd-out
(v): to spring-clean

reek
(n): stench

scunner
(v): to annoy, irritate, disgust

simple
(n): herbal remedy made from a single ingredient

sit
(v): to maintain (spec. Scots)

skitters
(n): thin execrement

slub
(n): raised imperfection in the weave of cloth

smoult
(n): young salmon, trout

sneck
(n): latch

snood
(n): close fitting outer cap (esp. of fur)

solar
(n): private, family apartment in a castle or tower house

sonsy
(adj): comely, attractive

souter
(n): shoemaker

speir
(n): talk, gossip

stook
(n): bundle of cut sheaves of grain, set up to dry

thole
(v): to suffer, endure

turnpike stair
(n): spiral staircase, usually stone

wabbit
(adj): weak

wall-walk
(n): an external walk-way at roof level where a watch can be kept, often leading to a cap-house

wandered
(adj): mentally incompetent

ween
(adj): small amount

wheest
(imp): be quiet

whiffler
(n): person at the front of a procession, clearing the way

wynd
(n): narrow alley or lane leading off a main thoroughfare

yett
(n): defensive metal grid door, in addition to external main (wooden) door of a castle or tower house