A hot breakfast in the Western Isles
To finish this Western Isles trilogy, there is the story of Allan-a-Sop, Allan of the Straw, so named because he was born on a bed of straw to an unmarried woman. His father was a chief of some kind who was already married and wanted nothing to do with the child. The mother was a beauty and managed to marry when Alan was a boy . His stepfather disliked the attention his mother paid to the lad, probably increased because she didn’t produce an heir for the step father. Allan left ‘home’ as soon as he could and joined a group of Swedish pirates, then active in the area. (The Swedish connection to Scotland, especially it sea routes is largely ignored but played a part in later, Jacobite, rebellions.) On one visit to his ‘Home’, Allan’s mother had seen his ship coming and had some bannocks on the girdle when she was called away. His step father called Allan into the kitchen, took the bannocks, still hot, put them in Allan’s hands and closed his hands on them, scalding him, making the comment it was a good hot breakfast. Allan made a success of his career and became a leader of a fleet of longships. On his mothers death he went to visit his stepfather, who suggested to him that he needed to have somewhere he could settle ashore to rest and recuperate from his depredations and urged him to attack and take over a neighbouring island, whose chief he was at odds with. Allan liked the idea of a base and went as suggested to be met by the new chief on the shore, welcomed and entertained. At the end of the visit, Allan apologised for having come under false pretences and with evil in mind. At that, the chief mentioned that his step father’s island was just as suitable as a base and Allan, remembering the bannocks returned to his stepfather’s place,told his stepfather it was time to pay for the hot breakfast and, as Scott put it, dashed out his stepfather’s brains with a battleaxe.
This is a real Bernard Cornwell, tale, full of savagery, deception and revenge. Maybe a bit heavy for Nigel Tranter but in the right vein. I’m not sure how it would fit with the other stories but I’ll give it a think and see how it might make a saga with the other two stories.