Off to Scotland

(View from Skye Bridge)

I'll be heading to Scotland in a couple of days for research and fun. Fortunately for me, when I go to Scotland, research and fun happen simultaneously. Nothing is better! Although I love to read certain historical research tomes, especially those written a hundred or so years ago, others can be somewhat dry and snoozeworthy. I'd much rather roll up my sleeves and dig in, so to speak. I can more easily learn what the peat smoke drifting on cold ocean mist smells like if I'm actually on Isle of Skye, instead of reading a secondhand account. A side benefit is that I am so immersed in the setting I can bring it to life more vividly, realistically and also draw the reader in more easily. Not only that, I'm in a dream come true location for me. (Photos: above, Old Man of Storr, trying to hide in the drifting mist on Isle of Skye. Below, croft cottages at the Skye Museum of Island Life.)

If I want to accurately describe the smell, feel and atmosphere of a dungeon, then I want to actually be in a dungeon, at least for a few minutes. (Below, Urquhart Castle)

This trip I hope to visit several castles in the east of Scotland, in Aberdeenshire, a place I haven't been before, along what is known as the Castle Trail. At mid-point we plan to cross over, and drive along Loch Ness (below), to the Western Highlands and the Isle of Skye to take in the very different scenery, topography, etc. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures to share when I return. Where is your favorite place to do hands on research?

Nicole

www.nicolenorth.com

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The Legend of the Kelpie

My latest story Beast in a Kilt was released last week in Secrets Volume 29 Indulge Your Fantasies. It is a paranormal historical erotic romance. The hero in this story is a special type of shapeshifter-- a kelpie.

Kelpies are a part of Scottish folklore and legend. Centuries ago, Scots believed certain lochs or rivers were inhabited by these malicious water demons. A kelpie appears to be a normal-looking, beautiful white (or black) horse. This creature charms and lures weary travelers onto his back and then dives into the loch or river, drowning and eating his victims. Kelpies have the strength and stamina of ten horses. And some legends say these kelpies could shift into gorgeous human males if they wanted. In this form they sometimes seduced women.

Of course Torr Blackburn, the hero of my story, doesn't drown people or eat them, but he does shift into a beautiful white "horse" at night and feels an intense, violent rage at times. When he's hungry, he eats grass or oats like a normal horse. He loves swimming in the nearby loch to burn off energy or aggression, and he never feels cold, even in midwinter. In kelpie form, he does, as legend says, have the strength of ten horses; he can run all night if required. (I used this picture of Gerry Butler as Attila as inspiration for Torr. Yes, he does like to smirk. ;-) )

Traditionally, the only way to capture a kelpie is with a magical bridle. If a person can manage to place this special bridle over his head, the kelpie is enslaved. And that's exactly what the witch of the dark arts does at one point--the witch who cursed him in the first place. The only way he can escape the curse is to find true love.

I thoroughly enjoy researching and creating paranormal stories, whether they are shapeshifter, time travel or magical. I can let my imagination fly free and ignore the restraints of everyday rationality and logic. Paranormal romance is pure escape and fantasy, yet still believable.

When I visited Scotland, I saw this sculpture called The Kelpies at the Falkirk Wheel.

I created this paranormal world in my first novella in this series, Devil in a Kilt, Red Sage Secrets Volume 27 Untamed Pleasures. The novellas take place in the year 1621 in Scotland. A dark witch placed a curse on three men who are friends and Highlanders (Gavin, Torr and Brodie) the year before because her son was killed in a skirmish in which he and his friends were trying to ambush and kill our three heroes. The witch took her revenge by placing a different curse on each of the three heroes. Gavin, the Highland chief from Devil in a Kilt, shapeshifts into a hawk. Only one thing will break the curse for each man, love given and received, in equal parts with complete trust. I've recently sold the third story in this series, Scoundrel in a Kilt for a future Secrets volume. The 3rd friend, Brodie, shapeshifts into a selkie. More on that Scottish legend later. :)

Here's the blurb for Beast in a Kilt:
Scottish lady Catriona MacCain has loved Torr Blackburn, a fierce Highland warrior, since she was a young lass, but Torr only sees Catriona as his best friend’s little sister. When Catriona’s family promises her in marriage to a detestable chieftain, she desperately needs Torr to save her from a fate worse than death. But Torr is under the spell of a witch of the dark arts and is cursed to spend his nights as a kelpie water demon. He doesn’t believe himself worthy of the virginal Lady Catriona. However, she is determined to seduce Torr and claim him… body, heart and soul, if only they can banish the curse and defeat the enemies who have vowed to possess and enslave them both.

What is your favorite legend, Scottish or otherwise?

Nicole

http://www.nicolenorth.com/

A Trip Back In Time: Skye Museum of Island Life

When I visited Scotland, my stop at the wonderful Skye Museum of Island Life in Kilmuir was one of the most interesting and memorable. It is located close to the northern tip of the Trotternish peninsula. It is a beautiful and remote area. To get here from Portree (the capital of Skye) you must travel about 18 miles, and most of it on single lane road. See map below. (I borrowed this from their website so you could see the exact location.)
This outdoor museum is like a trip back in time to see how residents of Isle of Skye lived a hundred or more years ago. The seven stone cottages are the genuine articles and their thatch roofs are fascinating. Since Skye is almost devoid of trees, stone was the only material available in early days for building. Some of the walls are three feet thick. Timber had to be used for the rafters, of course, and the residents got this from the ocean when (wooden) shipwrecks washed up on shore. The thatch is a locally grown reed, and beneath this is sod or turf.This (above) is called the The Old Croft House with mill stones sitting outside. It is the largest building on this site. It contains three rooms, the most important of which is the kitchen where the fire was kept in the fireplace year round. The family gathered here to stay warm, to eat, etc. The fireplace used in the 1800s was an improvement and replaced the earlier central hearth which caused the whole house to be smoky. This house also contains a children’s bedroom with two box-beds, and a smaller parents’ bedroom. The Old Croft House was built at the beginning of the 1800s and was a real family home for about 150 years.

Also included here is a barn containing old farm equipment to be used with horses, a smithy (above) showing how farming implements and other things like horseshoes were made. If I'm remembering correctly, we were not allowed to take photos inside the buildings. But if you visit the website, you will see the inside of the smithy on the front page. The Ceilidh House is another of the buildings. The Ceilidh (pronounced kei-li) House was where the people of the community would gather in the evenings to entertain themselves, especially during the long dark winters. (Since Skye is so far north, their winter nights are longer than ours here in most of the US.) They would tell stories, play music, sing, dance and socialize. The Ceilidh House now contains a large amount of historical material about Isle of Skye.

There is also a Weaver’s Cottage (above). Weavers made all the clothing worn by the community as well as blankets, curtains, or anything of fabric. The cloth was mostly wool and maybe some linen.

Here is a lovely view of the Western Isles or Outer Hebrides across the Minch.

One interesting side note, over 50% of the population of Kilmuir still speaks Scottish Gaelic.

Just to show you the contrast, here is a modern community on Skye.

I hope you enjoyed this wee visit to Isle of Skye.

Nicole

www.nicolenorth.com

Why Highlanders? By Terry Spear

My friend Terry Spear has a new historical romance which just released, so I asked her to guest blog. Welcome Terry!

Thanks so much for having me!

I'd love to give an autographed free copy of Winning the Highlander's Heart to a lucky winner who comments on today's blog. The cover will not be the same featured. The Accidental Highland Hero is the second in the Medieval Highland romance.

Why Highlanders? My great grandmother was in love with all things Scots, which I inherited from her! She was the descendant of a proud Highlander, Malcolm MacNeill, who worked for the Duke of Argyll. His daughter, who might have been born on the other side of the sheets, Elizabeth Campbell, was still considered a lady, and ran off with her love, the commoner MacNeill. It's a true life love story in Scotland where a woman would give up her wealth and rank to be with the Highlander she loved. The Duke was said to have offered the proud MacNeill as much land as he could walk in a day, but MacNeill wouldn't have it. Instead, he bought passage to the Americas, to North Carolina, only the ship was sailed by Cpt MacDonald, whose father was the minister in the Campbeltown kirk, and one of the captain's brothers owned land in Prince Edward Island, where he was having a difficult time getting settlers to settle the wilderness.

So the story goes, Cpt MacDonald took the Highlanders to PEI instead of North Carolina, wrecked the ship, and though the settlers refused for sometime to go ashore, they finally had to find food and water. Indians on the land showed the settlers how to hunt for seal or they would have died during the harsh winter without homes to shelter them. Elizabeth Campbell died, leaving behind three small children. One was my direct ancestor, a 6 or 7 year old boy, another older boy by about 9, and a very young girl. The girl and my direct ancestor were raised by different families and then married into those families. All were have said to have come from Scotland on the same ship that mine had traveled on. It was said that Elizabeth had taken furs and jewels with her and used these to barter with the Indians.

My grandmother and others in the family felt Elizabeth had let the family down by leaving her home in Scotland for a life and hardship in PEI, in which she didn't survive for long. When the Duke's family eventually had no issue to carry on the title, my grandmother and great grandmother were visited by Scotland Yard as they were searching for the family Bibles that would prove their claim that they were descendants of the earlier Duke. A family who was more distantly related was able to prove their tie and claimed the title and estates. :)

And so that's why I love the Highland Scots. Because sometime in the distant past, my mother's family were from Scotland, both tied to the commoners and royalty too. Love bloomed between them and though it didn't have an entirely happy ending, for a while, Elizabeth and Malcolm were lovers united.

My Playfairs are of Scotland also, and the eldest son was a brilliant scientist, another a famous architect, and another, the one I'm directly descended from also brilliant (inventing the bar and circle graphs we studied in school) and a scoundrel too (blackmailing a duke over the legitimacy of a couple of children the duke claimed were his own, and Playfair claimed were not).

I salute our rich history, no matter where we're from and continue to write about Scottish scoundrels in fictional books of romance, passion, adventure and mystery.

If you'd been the Duke's daughter, would you have run off with a man you loved, or waited for someone who had money and title? When I've asked this before, some have said they want both, but that's too easy, and ye must choose one or the other. :)

Thanks again for having me here! May all your historical readings give you pleasure, take you into worlds you can only dream about, and satisfy your quest for love and truth.

Terry Spear

Bio:
Award-winning author of urban fantasy and medieval historical romantic suspense, Terry Spear also writes true stories for adult and young adult audiences and loves all things Celtic because of her Scottish and Irish ancestry where true love flowered in the Scottish Highlands and in Ireland . She’s a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves and has an MBA from Monmouth University. She also creates award-winning teddy bears, Wilde & Woolly Bears, to include personalized bears designed to commemorate authors’ books. When she’s not writing or making bears, she’s teaching online writing courses. Originally from California, she’s lived in eight states and now resides in the heart of Texas. She is the author of Heart of the Wolf (Publishers Weekly's Best Book of the Year), Destiny of the Wolf, To Tempt the Wolf, Legend of the White Wolf, Seduced by the Wolf, Winning the Highlander’s Heart, The Accidental Highland Hero, Deadly Liaisons, The Vampire… In My Dreams (young adult) and numerous articles and short stories for magazines.

The Accidental Highland Hero
ISBN: 978-0-9819896-6-2

Lady Ellis Dunbarton didn't think life could get any worse, until her loving cousin dies and Ellis learns she is to wed the man her cousin was to marry. Not by a change of contract, though. Instead, by deceit. If he learns she is not her cousin, Agnes, her life is forfeit. Crossing the Irish Sea, her ship sinks, she survives, but temporarily loses her memories. When a Highland Clan takes her in, she remembers one thing. She must flee at all costs and disappear. She knows if her family learns of her whereabouts, her life is over.

James MacNeill must take a bride or give up his holdings to one of
his younger brothers. Malcolm has already taken to wife, the fair Lady Anice of Brecken. Dougald is the next one in line to govern the MacNeill Clan if James does not wed and provide an heir. But when James discovers his cousin and advisor have rescued a half-drowned lass from the sea, there's speculation she is of the enemy clan. Returning her to them is his plan, since he has no intention of using one of their lasses as a bargaining tool. But his mother has another notion--use the lass as a means to entice one of the ladies he is interested in marrying, to visit him and commit to marriage. And then return her to her clan, if she is agreeable.

Only nothing works out as anyone plans.

***

Please check out Terry's websites:
www.terryspear.com
Wickedly Romantic Blog
Casablanca Authors Blog
Fierce Romance Blog
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Terry Spear's Blog

Oldest Building in Edinburgh: St. Margaret’s Chapel

By Nicole North

When I visited Edinburgh Castle, my favorite among all the wonderful old buildings was St. Margaret’s Chapel. It is the oldest building in Edinburgh, built in 1124 by King David in honor of his mother, Queen Margaret. The chapel is located within the Edinburgh Castle fortress on Castle Rock, an extinct volcano which hasn't been active in millions of years.

The castle was damaged or destroyed in sieges many times over the centuries. In 1314, Randolph, Earl of Moray captured the castle and destroyed all the buildings except the chapel. We can assume the chapel was damaged however, because on his deathbed a few years later, Robert the Bruce ordered the chapel be repaired.

Because of the Protestant Reformation in the 1500s, the chapel wasn’t used for many years, except as a storage building for gunpowder. Canons are located just outside and were fired at certain times. If you stand in this area, you look out over the whole city of Edinburgh.

(To the left is a drawing of St. Margaret.) In 1853, the chapel was again restored by Queen Victoria and the five small windows adorned with stained glass. The beautiful stained glass windows we see today were installed in 1922, and further restorations were carried out over the years since. At 10 feet by 16 feet the chapel is only large enough to hold about 20 people comfortably, but it is still used for baptisms and weddings on occasion.

Above is the alter. The architecture of the building is Romanesque and resembles earlier Scottish and Irish Celtic chapels. The stained glass windows feature the following saints and people important in Scottish history:

St. Andrew

St. Columba

St. Margaret

St. Ninian and

William Wallace

According to legend, St. Margaret's Gospel Book, richly adorned with jewels, was one day dropped into a river. The book was recovered later and miraculously without any stain or damage. This medieval manuscript, purchased for just six pounds at auction in 1887, is now held in the Bodleian library at Oxford and the above picture is a copy displayed in St. Margaret’s Chapel.

This chapel is tiny and ancient, yet incredibly beautiful. The walls are thick and it is cool inside. It has a quiet peaceful feel. To stand inside the building is to stand in the midst of medieval history, or at least as close as we can to it.
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