Duncan, earl of Fife, however, did in fact construct the first castle in Strathbogie in the late twelfth century. His descendents offered the castle to Robert the Bruce in which to recuperate prior to the Christmas battle of Slioch against the earl of Buchan. A later earl of Strathbogie turned against Bruce prior to Bannockburn, and ultimately the lands were taken from him by the King, who granted them to Adam de Gordon of Huntly in Berwickshire. The castle of Strathbogie, therefore, received both a new owner and a new name, and from that time until the present, that region of Scotland has been called, as it is today, “the Gordon District.” The village became Huntly, where what has managed to survive of Strathbogie Castle remains to this day, magnificent even in collapse and decay—one of the truly impressive castle ruins in Scotland. The motte (earthen mound) raised in the late 1100s by Earl Duncan II still stands.
Robert the Bruce, of course, and his commanders, as well as those of the English, are all factual, as are generally the events leading up to and including the battle of Bannockburn itself.
The marriage between the Gordon strain and the fictional lineage of MacDonnuill/MacDarroch/MacDonal is fictional, as are the characters of Helen MacDonal and Cailean Darroch Gordon.
Several poems of Robert Burns have been cited. In the approximate order of their appearance, I have quoted from the following: “A Winter Night,” “The Winter Is Past,” “Yon Wild Mossy Mountains,” “My Heart’s in the Highlands,” one modified stanza at the end of chapter 11 from “Caledonia,” and “Scots, Wha Hae.”
The Gaelic lullaby sung to the children by Aileana in chapter 3 is from “A Fairy Lullaby” (An Cóineachan), taken from The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Highlands (arr. Alfred Moffat, translation by Lachlan MacBean).
The Gaelic Lord’s Prayer in chapter 3 is taken from Scottish Lore and Folklore by Ronald Macdonald Douglas.
The Gaelic ballad sung by Calum Dhuibh in chapter 9 was adapted from the song Chi Mi Na Mór-bheanna (“I Will See the Big Mountains”) by John Cameron, from The Gaelic Echo (Summer 1992).
As I did in the earlier volume, I would again express my indebtedness to the eminent Scottish historian John Prebble, author of many wonderfully readable accounts, whose Lion in the North I heartily recommend. His definitive account, simply entitled Culloden—as does all his work—illuminates the personal story of all the principal players of the drama. It was one of the most helpful of all the books of my research and, as I said before, is simply the best history you will find anywhere.
In addition, the following books were extremely helpful in my research for An Ancient Strife.
Barbour, John. The Bruce. Originally written in 1395. Translated by Archibald A.H. Douglas in 1964. Reprint, William MacLellan.
Barke, James. Poems and Songs of Robert Burns. London: Fontana/Collins, 1955.
Blaikie, Walter, ed. Origins of the Forty-Five. Edinburgh: Scottish History Society, 1916.
Bold, Alan. Scotland’s Kings and Queens. London: Pitkin Pictorials, 1980.
Bonnie Prince Charlie. London: Pitkin Pictorials, 1973.
Cannon, John and Ralph Griffiths. The Oxford Illustrated History of the British Monarchy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988.
Carruth, J.A. Scotland the Brave. Norwich: Jarrold & Sons, 1973.
Crowl, Philip. The Intelligent Traveller’s Guide to Historic Scotland. New York: Congdon & Weed, 1986.
Dickinson, William Croft. Scotland from the Earliest Times to 1603. Edinburgh: Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1961.
Donaldson, Gordon. Scotland: The Shaping of a Nation. London: David & Charles, 1974.
Douglas, Ronald Macdonald. Scottish Lore and Folklore. New York: Crown, 1982.
Ferguson, William. Scotland: 1689 to the Present, vol. 4 of The Edinburgh History of Scotland. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd, 1968.
Fisher, Andrew. A Traveller’s History of Scotland. Gloucestershire, UK: Windrush Press, 1990.
Kybett, Susan. Bonnie Prince Charlie. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1988.
Lindsay, Maurice, ed. Modern Scottish Poetry. London: Faber & Faber, 1946.
Macdonald, Donald J. Clan Donald. Loanhead, Scotland: Macdonald Publishers, 1978.
MacKintosh, John. Scotland: From the Earliest Times to the Present Century. 1890. Reprint, Freeport, New York: Books for Libraries Press, 1972.
Maclean, Fitzroy. A Concise History of Scotland. London: Thames and Hudson, 1970.
Martine, Roddy. Scottish Clan and Family Names. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing, 1992.
McGrigor, Mary. “St. Margaret of Scotland.” Scottish World, Winter 1992.
McNie, Alan. Clan Gordon. Jedburgh, Scotland: Cascade Publishing, 1983.
Nicholson, Ranald. Scotland: the Later Middle Ages, vol. 2 of The Edinburgh History of Scotland. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd, 1974.
Parliament. London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1991.
Parliamentary Elections. London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1991.
Prebble, John. Culloden. Martin Secker & Warburg, Ltd., 1961.
———. The Lion in the North. London: Penguin Books, 1971.
Ritchie, Anna. Scotland BC. Edinburgh: Scottish Development Department, 1988.
Scots Kith and Kin. Glasgow: HarperCollins, 1953.
Simpson, W. Douglas. Huntly Castle. Edinburgh: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office.
Tranter, Nigel. Robert Bruce: The Path of the Hero King. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1970.
Whitaker’s Concise Almanack, 1999. London: Whitaker & Sons, 1999.
For those of you not familiar with my other work, I might just add here a brief biographical note.
My own love affair with Scotland began more than thirty years ago with my discovery of the writings of a nearly forgotten Scotsman, George MacDonald (1824–1905). A contemporary of England’s greatest Victorian novelists and poets whose immense popularity in his day on both sides of the Atlantic rivaled that of Dickens himself, MacDonald produced more than fifty books of enormous variety, including novels, poems, fantasies, children’s stories, sermons, essays, and literary criticism. Yet I found that the passage of time had not treated MacDonald so kindly as it had many of his contemporaries. The attempt to lay my hands on MacDonald’s work proved daunting. Only four or five of his titles were then in print and his literary reputation, once so widespread, had all but vanished.
Happily that situation is now reversed. MacDonald’s work—especially his wonderful Scottish stories!—is again widely available.
If you love Scotland, MacDonald is the master storyteller of the land. Whatever you may have enjoyed in my attempt to bring Caledonia to life, you will find, and more besides, in George MacDonald. Five titles deserve special attention as being what I would call classically Scottish: The Baronet’s Song, The Laird’s Inheritance, The Highlander’s Last Song, The Maiden’s Bequest, and The Fisherman’s Lady. I have also written a biography entitled George MacDonald, Scotland’s Beloved Storyteller. These titles have all been published by Bethany House.
As I said when we began this quest together, in a magical sense we are all Scots together, and Andrew Trentham’s story is a universal one. We all have roots that stretch back into antiquity, even all the way to those intrepid wanderers who first explored and peopled our lands. As I look over Andrew’s genealogy, therefore, fictional though it may be, a tingle of excitement surges through me to realize that we all possess just such a family tree—if only we knew how to trace it far enough backward in time. I wrote this tale not just to tell the story of one individual, but in a sense to tell the story of all men and women. I hope you will consider it your story, too, as I feel it is mine.
I hope and pray that your own personal Caledonian adventure, like Andrew’s and Ginny’s, never ends, and that you will follow your own white stag to whatever discoveries lie ahead for you in the ancient land of the Wanderer.
About the Author
Michael Phillips is a bestselling author of a number of beloved novels, including such well-known series as SHENANDOAH SISTERS, CAROLINA
COUSINS, CALEDONIA, and THE JOURNALS OF CORRIE BELLE HOLLISTER. He’s also served as editor of many more titles, adapting the classic works of Victorian author George MacDonald (1824–1905) for today’s reader, and his efforts have since generated a renewed interest in MacDonald. Phillips’s love of MacDonald’s Scotland has continued throughout his writing life.
In addition to his fifty published editions of MacDonald’s work, Phillips has authored and coauthored over ninety books of fiction and nonfiction, ranging from historical novels to contemporary whodunits, from fantasy to biblical commentary.
Michael and his wife, Judy, spend time each year in Scotland but make their home in California. To learn more about the author and his books, visit macdonaldphillips.com or fatheroftheinklings.com. He can be found on Facebook at [email protected].
Books by Michael Phillips
Fiction
THE RUSSIANS*
The Crown and the Crucible • A House Divided • Travail and Triumph
THE STONEWYCKE TRILOGY*
The Heather Hills of Stonewycke • Flight from Stonewycke • Lady of Stonewycke
THE STONEWYCKE LEGACY*
Stranger at Stonewycke • Shadows over Stonewycke • Treasure of Stonewycke
THE SECRETS OF HEATHERSLEIGH HALL
Wild Grows the Heather in Devon • Wayward Winds
Heathersleigh Homecoming • A New Dawn Over Devon
SHENANDOAH SISTERS
Angels Watching Over Me • A Day to Pick Your Own Cotton
The Color of Your Skin Ain’t the Color of Your Heart • Together Is All We Need
CAROLINA COUSINS
A Perilous Proposal • The Soldier’s Lady
Never Too Late • Miss Katie’s Rosewood
CALEDONIA
Legend of the Celtic Stone • An Ancient Strife
THE HIGHLAND COLLECTION*
Jamie MacLeod: Highland Lass • Robbie Taggart: Highland Sailor
THE JOURNALS OF CORRIE BELLE HOLLISTER
My Father’s World* • Daughter of Grace* • On the Trail of the Truth*
A Place in the Sun* • Sea to Shining Sea • Into the Long Dark Night
Land of the Brave and the Free • A Home for the Heart
THE SECRET OF THE ROSE
The Eleventh Hour • A Rose Remembered
Escape to Freedom • Dawn of Liberty
AMERICAN DREAMS
Dream of Freedom • Dream of Life • Dream of Love
The Sword, the Garden, and the King
Heaven and Beyond
Angel Harp
From Across the Ancient Waters
Angel Dreams**
SECRETS OF THE SHETLANDS
The Inheritance
Nonfiction
The Eyewitness New Testament (3 volumes)
The Commands
The Commands of the Apostles
George MacDonald: Scotland’s Beloved Storyteller
*with Judith Pella **with Chris Schneider
An Ancient Strife Page 61
