Highland Tides (22 page)

“But Margaret would have known,” Braden said.

“If he washed up somewhere far from Oban, she might not have known. Look how far you men travelled from where you drowned.”

The docent furrowed his brow, eyeing them as if they were lunatics.

John pointed to the document. “We’re done. Thank you. It can be returned now.”

The man hurried away with the historic document in his gloved hands.

Braden sat, drumming his fingers on the table, drawing glares from other patrons. “We always suspected Donal might turn to the priesthood. If your theory is correct, it’s possible he might have met Rheade, or Margaret or at least their sons.”

“Aye,” John replied. “Many young Scots went to fight in England. But many died too. However, as I recollect neither Blair nor Craig Robertson died in the Towton bloodbath. They married and sired children. I’ll have to dig deeper into what happened to them. If I recall correctly, they both married English women.”

“Nay,” the four Ogilvies exclaimed.

Thank you for reading
Highland Tides.
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.

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I was born in England, but I’ve lived most of my life in Canada. I was an elementary school teacher for 25 years, a job I loved.

After that I worked with my husband in the management of his businesses. He’s a born entrepreneur who likes to boast he’s never had a job!
 

My final “career” was as Director of Administration of a global disaster relief organization.

I then embarked on writing a romance, something I’d always wanted to do. I chose the medieval period because it’s my favorite to read.

I have a keen interest in genealogy. This hobby has had a tremendous influence on my stories. My medieval romances are tales of family honor, ancestry, and roots. As an amateur genealogist, I cherished a dream of tracing my own English roots back to the Norman Conquest—most likely impossible since I am not descended from nobility! So I made up a family and many of my stories follow its members through successive generations.

I want readers to feel happy that the heroes and heroines have found their soul mates and that the power of love has overcome every obstacle. For me, novels are an experience of another world or time. I lose myself in the characters’ lives, always knowing they will triumph in the end and find love. One of the things I enjoy most about writing historical romance is the in-depth research necessary to provide readers with an authentic medieval experience. I love ferreting out bits of historical trivia I never knew! I based the plot of my first novel,
Conquering Passion
, on a bizarre incident that actually happened to a Norman noblewoman.

I hope you come to know and love my cast of characters as much as I do.

COMING SOON. Roses Among the Heather. Book 3 of The Caledonia Chronicles.
 

If you’d like to read the saga of the Montbryce family in chronological order, here’s a handy list.

Conquering Passion—Ram and Mabelle, Rhodri and Rhonwen

If Love Dares Enough—Hugh and Devona, Antoine and Sybilla

Defiant Passion-Rhodri and Rhonwen

A Man of Value—Caedmon and Agneta

Dark Irish Knight—Ronan and Rhoni

Haunted Knights—Adam and Rosamunda, Denis and Paulina

Passion in the Blood—Robert and Dorianne, Baudoin and Carys

Dark and Bright—Rhys and Annalise

The Winds of the Heavens—Rhun and Glain, Rhydderch and Isolda

Dance of Love—Izzy and Farah

Carried Away—Blythe and Dieter

Sweet Taste of Love—Aidan and Nolana

Wild Viking Princess—Ragna and Reider

Hearts and Crowns—Gallien and Peridotte

Fatal Truths—Alex and Elayne

Sinful Passions—Bronson and Grace; Rodrick and Swan

New series featuring the stories of the Viking ancestors of my Norman families

The Rover Bold—Bryk and Cathryn

The Rover Defiant—Torstein and Sonja

The Rover Betrayed—Magnus and Judith

If you like stories with medieval breeds of dogs, you’ll enjoy If Love Dares Enough, Carried Away, Fatal Truths, and Wild Viking Princess. If you have a soft spot for cats, read Passion in the Blood and Haunted Knights.

Caledonia Chronicles

Book I Pride of the Clan—Rheade and Margaret

Book II Highland Tides—Braden and Charlotte

Novellas (Just for fun)

Maknab’s Revenge—Ingram and Ruby

Forged in the Fire—Matthieu and Brigandine (2016)

Looking for historical fiction centered on a certain region?

English History—all books

Norman French History—all books

Crusades—A Man of Value

Welsh History—Conquering Passion, Defiant Passion, Dark and Bright, The Winds of the Heavens

Scottish History—Conquering Passion, A Man of Value, Sweet Taste of Love, Caledonia Chronicles Series

European History (Holy Roman Empire)—Carried Away

Danish History—Wild Viking Princess

Spanish History—Dance of Love

Ireland—Dark Irish Knight

If you like to read about historical characters:

William the Conqueror—Conquering Passion, If Love Dares Enough, Defiant Passion

William Rufus—A Man of Value

Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy—Passion in the Blood

Henry I of England—Passion in the Blood, Sweet Taste of Love, Haunted Knights, Hearts and Crowns

Heinrich V, Holy Roman Emperor—Carried Away

Vikings—Wild Viking Princess, The Rover Bold, The Rover Defiant

Kings of Aragon (Spain)—Dance of Love

The Anarchy (England) (Stephen vs. Maud)—Hearts and Crowns, Fatal Truths, Sinful Passions

James I of Scotland—Pride of the Clan

Jacobites—Highland Tides

CORRYVRECKAN

The third largest maelstrom in the world is located in the narrow Strait of Corryvreckan. Extreme tidal currents surge into whirlpools swirling round and round due in part to its location between two islands off the west coast of Scotland and the pyramidal rock on the sea floor. 30 foot waves swell from a depth of 100 fathoms and nature’s fury is heard from as far as ten miles away. Legends were told by Celtic people about the ominous vortex of churning water.

Scottish filmmakers tossed a mannequin with a life jacket into the Corryvreckan or “Brecan’s Cauldron” during a documentary called “Lethal Seas.” The life-size dummy disappeared into the dangerous vortex. When the mannequin was later found far away, there was evidence of it being scraped along the bottom and 262 feet showed on the depth meter. The Discovery Channel picked up the film and aired it as “Sea Twister.”

I stumbled across information about this tidal bore while researching whirlpools for
The Rover Betrayed
.

TRANSPORTATION

Most of the transported Jacobites were shipped off to government plantations in Maryland or Virginia, where they worked as slave labor.

GEORGE ROBERTSON

There exists a list of the 303 prisoners who were held in the powder magazines at Tilbury Fort in Essex between 1746 and 1750 after being taken prisoner following the uprising in ’45. The prisoners were held at Inverness prior to being taken, by seven ships, to London and then onwards to Tilbury. There is one Robertson among them, “number 2855 George Robertson, transported 31st 3rd 1747”, but there is no indication where he was sent.

TOBIAS SMOLLETT

I chose the pseudonym Charles Tobias for Charlotte in honor of 18
th
century Scottish picaresque novelist,
Tobias Smollett
. Click on the link to find out more about him. He penned
The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle
and the poem
Tears of Scotland
in which he laments the horrors perpetrated on his country after the ’45.

JOHN REID

I based the character of John Reade loosely on
John Reid
a British army officer and Robertson descendent who fought on the government side in 1745. His name dovetailed nicely with Rheade Robertson, the hero of
Pride of the Clan
, Book I of the Caledonia Chronicles.

LIQUEURS

Royal Usquebaugh was a spicy concoction containing flecks of gold leaf thought to capture the sun’s golden radiance.
It was usually flavored with aniseed, liquorice and saffron and sweetened with fruit sugar extracted from figs and raisins. The
name derives from the Irish
uisce beatha
, which is literally the Gaelic translation of Latin ‘aqua vitae’, ‘the water of life’. The word whisky is also derived from the Irish
uisce beatha
, but this was not the same as the cordial consumed in 17th and 18th century England and France which bore no resemblance to the spirit we now call whisky.

Vespetrò was another popular liqueur d’ltalie, flavored with anise, angelica and lemon.

RUFF AND HONORS

A trick-taking card game popular in the 16
th
, 17
th
and early 18
th
centuries. It was superseded by whist.

COFFEEHOUSES

Mrs. Rochford and Moll King did operate coffee houses in London, but they were notorious dens of prostitution. It’s unlikely Charlotte’s book would have found an audience there. The coffee house in Edinburgh did exist.

BEGGAR’S BENISON CLUB

Founded in Anstruther on the Firth of Forth in 1732. A Scottish gentleman’s club dedicated to “the convivial celebration of male sexuality.” Charlotte’s hair would have curled even more had she been aware of what went on there.

MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS & JAMES HEPBURN

Historians disagree about the relationship between Mary and James Hepburn. I’ve tried to remain as impartial as possible, but by all accounts James was a ladies’ man. He had no brother, only a sister. I based my belief Hepburn wore armor to his wedding on a oil painting by James Drummond,
The Marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots, and the Earl of Bothwell
, now in the museum in Glasgow. Of course, the work was painted three hundred years after the event! The description of Mary’s gown is also based on that painting. Hepburn died in prison in Denmark, apparently driven mad after spending years chained to a pillar.

PRESTONFIELD

Originally built in 1687 and called Priestfield, the name of the estate was changed to avoid offending Scottish Protestants. The house still exists. Sir Alexander Dick was the first to cultivate rhubarb, and the restaurant there bears the name of that versatile plant. Dick served eight consecutive terms as President of the Edinburgh Royal College of Physicians.
 

AINSLIE TAVERN

Did exist and Hepburn’s supporters gathered there to sign the Ainslie Tavern Bond. Many of them later reneged and withdrew their support.

DEAN VILLAGE

Now part of Edinburgh. I was taken with this name partly because it sits on the river, but also because I was christened in Deane, Lancashire!

PANSIED SLOPS

Google them!