Insurrection (76 page)

Affraig walked into the bright morning, her watery eyes blinking at the sun’s radiance. The storms that had swept in from the east several days ago, causing rain to run in rivers from the hills, had dissipated late last night. The howling wind had since died down to a whisper, the clouds fading into a clear blue dawn as the tempest’s tattered remnants pushed west towards Arran.

The ground, sparkling with dew, was covered in twigs and thatch from her roof, ripped away by the gale, although the hill that squatted over her dwelling had sheltered her from the worst of its violence. Murmuring her thanks to the gods of the air, she stooped to pick up the pail she had left outside to catch the rain. As she did so, her eyes caught sight of something lying on the ground under the oak, half hidden by the debris of the storm. It was a destiny, fallen in the night, fulfilled.

Straightening, Affraig headed across the wet grass, the brittle leaves prickling her bare feet. She crouched, her old bones creaking and protesting. Carefully, she brushed away the russet leaves to reveal a lattice of bone-white twigs. The moss-stained rope within was knotted like a noose – the root of St Malachy’s curse. Her fingers stretched out to touch the weather-worn wood, her breath quickening as she fixed on the length of frayed twine that had held on to the old lord’s destiny so stubbornly for so long. Her eyes moved up through the fluttering leaves and she saw a scrap of twine drifting aimlessly among the higher boughs. Close by, other webs of twigs swayed gently in the breeze. Affraig’s gaze alighted on one, the limbs of which were brown and strong. Inside, a crown of heather and broom swung to and fro in the golden light, hanging by a thread.

Author’s Note

In June 2007 I was in Scotland on a research trip for
Requiem
, the last novel of my first trilogy, based on the downfall of the Knights Templar. My main character was Scottish and I’d always intended for him to return from the crusades to be embroiled in the Wars of Independence. The struggles of William Wallace and his rebel army made a powerful parallel with the Templars’ fight for survival during the trial against them, both conflicts culminating in 1314 with the Battle of Bannockburn and the burning at the stake of the last Templar Grand Master, Jacques de Molay. I’d been in Paris the month before, working on the knights’ side of the story and the Scottish excursion was supposed to help me fill in the other half of the narrative. I spent three weeks on the road, travelling from battlegrounds that were now housing estates to crumbling abbeys and ivy-clad ruins. Day by day, out of the pages of history and the wild landscape, one figure came striding, larger, clearer than all the others – Robert the Bruce. He swept me off my feet and carried me into a story that went way beyond the English invasion of 1296 and the subsequent insurrection led by Wallace, right into the heart of bitter family feuds, two civil wars and the struggle for a crown. By the end of the trip, I was so caught up in Robert’s world I’d almost forgotten about the Templars – the protagonists of
Requiem
. Back home, I realised there was no way this character could play a cameo role in another man’s story. His tale was just too sprawling, too intricate and too good to be cut down and boxed to fit. I had to let him go and focus on the dramatic, but much simpler story of Wallace which worked well alongside my Templar narrative. Robert refused to go quietly, however, and several weeks later, unable to silence his voice, I phoned my agent, who had been asking me to get a proposal together for my next set of novels. I now knew what they would be.

As a historical novelist you are forever walking a fine line between fact and fiction. It is the facts that inspire our stories and enable readers to enter these vanished worlds, but those same facts can sometimes be detrimental to a novel. The sources, both historical and contemporary, can be highly contradictory and often things are left unexplained – we might know what someone did when, but have no way of knowing why they did it. A historian can say this happened and these are the facts to support it and we believe this, but a novelist has to create the motivations that lie behind the actions of characters in order to make readers believe. For example, we have no concrete explanation as to why Robert deserted his father and King Edward that day outside Douglas’s castle and joined the Scottish rebellion. He had so much to lose and so little to gain. Even the simplest theory: that it was an act fired by patriotism, doesn’t totally hold water when you look at the broader picture. So, I made it more individualistic – not just a national cause, but a personal one, driven by Robert’s frustration and the antagonism between him and his father. Of course, such personal instances are what most great events are born out of. We make split decisions, we do things in the moment, we hardly ever see that broad picture until we’re looking back on it. History turns on a knife-edge.

The first big licence I took with history is the murder of Alexander III. Chroniclers of the time and modern historians regard his death on the road to Kinghorn as an accident and there is no reason to suspect otherwise. But as a novelist with a suspicious mind the rapidity with which Edward I secured permission from the pope for his infant son to marry the Maid of Norway, coupled with the fact that Alexander was thought to have mooted the possibility of such a union two years earlier in a letter to Edward and that when he married  Yolande any offspring they produced would have rendered this proposition meaningless for Edward and his son, led me quickly down the
what if
route. Similarly, there is no evidence to suspect that the Maid’s subsequent death was anything other than a tragic double-twist of fate. Her murderers, the Comyns, are tarnished with the black brush of fiction here, for the princess was thought to have died eating rotten food on the voyage rather than through any nefarious design, although it’s true that the Comyns abducted Alexander during his minority in an attempt to gain control over the kingdom.

I have simplified the proceedings of what would much later be termed the ‘Great Cause’. The hearing set up by Edward I to choose a successor to Scotland’s throne was a protracted affair that, while interesting in terms of history, doesn’t work well in a novel, essentially being a series of political discussions and lengthy periods of waiting. The chapter at Norham therefore is an amalgamation of many meetings that would have taken place over a longer period and in various locations.

Robert’s grandfather did claim to have been named heir presumptive by Alexander II, although I have made more of it here than was made at the time. The assigning of the earldom of Carrick to Robert shortly after John Balliol was named king is real, but the transfer of the claim to the throne is fiction. At this point, the claim was passed from the grandfather to the father, with the assertion that it was for him and his heirs. But in light of Robert’s dramatic shift in allegiance and the fact that even as early as the parley at Irvine he was accused of aiming at the throne, I chose to have it passed on here, rather than dilute the power of the moment and muddy the waters later on.

The
Prophecies of Merlin
are real. They were written by Geoffrey of Monmouth in the twelfth century, who claimed to be translating from an earlier source. Along with his hugely popular
The
History of the Kings of Britain
, the
Prophecies
were in wide circulation and Edward is known to have owned copies. The
Last Prophecy
, as it appears in the novel, is my invention; however, Monmouth suggested that there were others written. At the end of his
History
,
Monmouth, writing of the Saxon invasions, speaks of an angelic voice that tells the Britons they will not rule their kingdom any more until a certain time when the relics of the saints are gathered. The four relics I focus on all existed. Edward did seize the Crown of Arthur, but earlier than portrayed, during the conquest of 1282–84. Likewise, he took the Stone of Destiny from Scone, although the coronation chair that housed it at Westminster was made a few years later. When reading that passage in Monmouth’s
History
and looking at Edward’s actions during the invasions of Wales and Scotland – the taking of sacred and royal regalia – the two certainly seem connected. Edward was well known for his fascination with all things Arthurian. He and Queen Eleanor reburied the bones of Arthur and Guinevere in an elaborate ceremony at Glastonbury Abbey. Along with other nobles of the time, he organised popular Round Table jousts and had his own Round Table made. You can see it today in Winchester Castle. The Knights of the Dragon are fictitious, but the members are real.

Robert’s experiences in Wales are pure fiction, although he is thought to have spent some time at Edward’s court during this period and it seems he may have become close with a number of young English nobles. His father and an uncle had fought for Edward in the 1282–84 conquest of  Wales and owed military service for their English lands, so I didn’t feel it too large a leap to place Robert in Edward’s army. The 1295 uprising and campaign are mostly based in fact, although Madog’s brother Dafydd and the execution are fictional.

Many smaller details have been tweaked or altered, either for ease of reading or to suit fictional elements of plot and character. For instance, William Douglas’s first wife was the sister of James Stewart, but by the time we meet him he was married to an Englishwoman. Likewise, Robert’s father married again after Marjorie of Carrick died. The Setons aren’t thought to have been related despite sharing the same name, but it made more sense to portray them as such. John Comyn the Younger and other Scottish nobles did serve Edward in France, but not until after 1296. Humphrey de Bohun’s father didn’t die at Falkirk, but soon after. For those who wish to gain more insight into the period, please consult the bibliography.

Robert the Bruce’s story is complex, not simply due to the vagaries of history. There is none of the black-and-whiteness of Wallace about him. He is grey; a changeable, often intangible figure, flitting from one side to the other during the Wars of Independence, disappearing at points into the mists of obscurity before reappearing, suddenly and vividly, to shift the direction of the whole struggle. It was never going to be an easy tale to tell. But in its complexity, in Robert’s – some might say – perfidiousness lie the real essence and beauty of his story: the remarkableness of human frailty and human strength, the capacity to change, to falter, to adapt, and for one man, against all odds, to steer the course of his own destiny, and with it that of a nation.

Robyn Young

Brighton

May 2010

Character List

(* Indicates fictitious characters, relationships or groups)

*ADAM: Gascon commander

ADAM: cousin of  William Wallace

*AFFRAIG: wise woman from Turnberry

ALEXANDER II: King of Scotland (1214 – 49), named Robert’s grandfather as his heir, but later had a son who succeeded him as Alexander III

ALEXANDER III: King of Scotland (1249–86), brother-in-law of Edward I by his first marriage; his wife and children died before him, forcing him to name his granddaughter, Margaret, as his heir  

ALEXANDER BRUCE: brother of Robert

ALEXANDER MACDONALD: son and heir of Angus Mór MacDonald

ALEXANDER MENTEITH: son and heir of  Walter Stewart, Earl of Menteith

ALEXANDER SETON: lord from East Lothian and *cousin of Christopher Seton

ANGUS MÓR MACDONALD:
Lord of Islay

ANGUS OG MACDONALD: youngest son of Angus Mór MacDonald

*ANDREW BOYD: one of Robert’s vassals in Carrick

ANDREW MORAY: led the rebellion in the north of Scotland against Edward I in 1297

ANTHONY BEK: Bishop of Durham

AYMER DE  VALENCE: son and heir of  William de Valence, cousin of Edward I and a  *Knight of the Dragon

*BRIGID: niece of Affraig

CHRISTIAN BRUCE: sister of Robert, married Gartnait of Mar  

CHRISTOPHER SETON: son of an English knight from Yorkshire and *cousin of Alexander Seton  

*DAFYDD: brother of Madog ap Llywelyn

DAVID OF ATHOLL: son of John, Earl of Atholl

DERVORGUILLA BALLIOL: mother of John Balliol

DONALD OF MAR: Earl of Mar, Robert’s father-in-law by the marriage of his daughter

DUNGAL MACDOUALL: *son of the steward of Buittle, becomes captain of the army of Galloway  

EDMUND: Earl of Lancaster, younger brother of Edward I

EDWARD I: King of England (1272–1307)

EDWARD OF CAERNARFON: son and heir of Edward I

EDWARD BRUCE: brother of Robert  

EGIDIA DE BURGH: sister of Richard de Burgh, married James Stewart  

ELEANOR BALLIOL: sister of John Balliol, married John Comyn II

ELEANOR OF CASTILE: first wife of Edward I, and Queen of England

ELIZABETH (BESS): daughter of Edward I

ERIC II: King of Norway, father of Margaret, the Maid of Norway

*EVA OF MAR: daughter of Donald, Earl of Mar