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Today, I am delighted to welcome Regan Walker as she takes us back to medieval Scotland and explores the world behind her novel, Bound by Honor, in A Life in the Time of Angus Og Macdonald, Lord of the Isles, and Robert Bruce, King of Scots.
Many people know of King Robert Bruce, but few know of his good friend, Angus Og Macdonald, Lord of the Isles. Theirs was a friendship that changed the destiny of a nation. The story is told in my novel, Bound by Honor, book 2 in the Clan Donald Saga.
After 1266 and the Treaty of Perth, following the inconclusive Battle of Largs in 1263, the Scottish Isles became subject to Scotland, and the Lords of the Isles were accepted into Scottish nobility while generally maintaining their independence.
At the time of my story, the kingdom forged by Somerled, as told in my novel Summer Warrior, had been divided among his descendants. The northernmost territory of Garmoran, along with the Isles from Eigg to the Uists, became the territory of the MacRuaris, descended from Donald’s brother, Ruari. The power center of the Macdonald Lords of the Isles, including the lands of Angus Og and his brother Alexander, was Islay (pronounced Eye’ la) and Kintyre, though their influence was felt across a much greater area. The MacDougalls were the senior line but eventually were eclipsed by the Macdonalds.
My story begins in 1286 with the Turnberry Band because of its significance in light of the events that followed. It was a pact between Scottish and Anglo-Irish nobles signed at Turnberry Castle on the west coast of Scotland. It is known that Angus Og was ever loyal to Robert Bruce but, as far as I could determine through considerable research, no one knows exactly when their friendship began. I imagine they might have met and Angus pledged his honor when they were young. It is more than plausible given that their fathers came together that September to discuss Scotland’s fate and pledge themselves to a common purpose, including the Bruces’ claim to the Scottish throne. In those times, boys of twelve and fourteen would have been given much responsibility and might have tagged along.
There was also this line in The Macdonnells of Antrim by George Hill, written in 1873: “From the time in which Angus Og joined the party of Bruce, so early as the year 1286, his loyalty never faltered, even when the fortunes of the king became at times apparently hopeless.”
Angus Og “the noble and renowned chief of the Innsigall” (referring to the Hebrides, or the “Isles of the Strangers”) has been remembered in historical accounts as “personable, modest and affable”, yet we know he was a formidable warrior. He was several inches over six feet and would have carried many weapons and trained with the elite class of warriors known as the galloglass. One historian has described the Macdonalds of that era as “the Hell’s Angels of the Hebrides” likely because of the galloglass they were known for. I put that together with my research, and what emerged was a fierce warrior, a skilled fighter and a leader of men, who was also well liked. Angus was staunchly loyal to his friends, including Robert Bruce, to whom Angus had bound himself by the honor of Clan Donald and never wavered.
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| Dürer, A. (1521). Irish soldiers and peasants [Drawing]. Museum of Prints and Drawings, National Museums in Berlin, Berlin, Germany. |
The battle that secured the title King of Scots for Robert Bruce was Bannockburn, fought in June of 1314 near Stirling in Scotland against King Edward II of England. Angus brought thousands of Islesmen and Highlanders to fight alongside Robert Bruce at Bannockburn, securing the new king’s victory, a fact often omitted in some accounts of the battle. For his valiant loyalty, King Robert honored Angus by bestowing upon him many isles and lands and giving the Macdonalds the honored position of the right flank of the Royal Scots Army—for always. The same position Angus held at Bannockburn.
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| Hassall, J. (1910). Bruce brought his battle axe crashing down on the head of Bohun [Lithograph illustration]. |
Edward I, called “Longshanks” for his height (6 feet 2 inches, the same as Angus Og) was known for his arrogance, intimidating manner and his brutal conduct toward the Welsh and Scots, including William Wallace and Robert Bruce’s brothers and his women. His son, Edward II continued to object to a free Scotland. In 1327 he was deposed by his nobles and senior clergy. It wasn’t until 1328 and the Treaty of Edinburgh that England gave up all claims to Scotland. King Robert lived to see it. Finally, he had brought the Kingdom of Scotland to peace.
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| Unknown. (c. 1307). Portrait of King Edward I [Sedilia panel painting detail]. Westminster Abbey, London, England. westminster-abbey.org |
The Macdonalds were known for their galleys. These ships were smaller than the larger longships of the Norsemen. Sometimes called “lymphads” or “birlinns”, they came in different sizes referred to by their number of oars. A typical galley might have twenty-four oars, but a chief might have a larger ship. These galleys could have two or three men on each oar, so even a small galley could transport 40 to 50 warriors. The larger galleys could hold more than 100 warriors. Even then, the vessel would be small enough to maneuver around the isles.
From the time of Somerled, Angus Og’s progenitor, whose story is told in Summer Warrior, castles were important to the Lords of the Isles. Timber castles may have preceded stone, but they were still considered castles. My research has convinced me that Angus Og’s castles, including Ardtornish, Dunyvaig and Dunaverty, to name a few, were stone by this time. So was Christina MacRuairi’s Castle Tioram. The same is true of the Bruces’ castles at Turnberry and Annandale and the Comyn castle at Inverlochy.
I leave you with this story of the Macdonald Chief from the days of Queen Elizabeth of England because it made me smile. It seems the Lord Mayor of London gave a banquet to which Donald Gormeson Macdonald, 6th of Sleat, was invited, and at which, by an oversight, he was given a seat some way down the table. Before long, this breach of etiquette was pointed out to the mayor, it being explained to him that Donald was a great prince in his own country, who ought undoubtedly to have occupied the place of honor beside his lordship at the head of the table. A message of apology was at once sent to the Highland Chief, accompanied by the request that he would come up and seat himself beside the Mayor. Macdonald received it with indifference. “Tell his lordship not to be troubling himself,” he said. “Wherever Macdonald is sitting, that will be the head of the table.”
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Intrigued by the world of Angus Og Macdonald and Robert Bruce? Discover how Regan Walker brings this turbulent period of Scottish history to life in her novel, Bound by Honor. Read on to find out more...
Publication Date: 24th August 2022
Publisher: Regan Walker Publishing
Print Length: 548 Pages
Genre: Historical Biographical Fiction
The friendship that changed the destiny of a nation…
In the waning years of the thirteenth century, two young noblemen form a bond that forever changes their destiny and that of Scotland’s. Their shared pledge of honor would endure for a lifetime to secure power in the Isles for Angus Og Macdonald and a crown for Robert Bruce. This is the story of their friendship, their times and the battle that secured their future.
Standing beside them would be two women from Ireland, Áine O’Cahan, the dark-haired beauty from Ulster, who captured the heart of the Lord of the Isles, and Elizabeth de Burgh, the fair Norman heiress who stood by her man, King Robert Bruce, though it would cost her dearly.
Enter the world of medieval Scotland and live the adventure!
1st Place in the Readers Choice Awards 2022 - "A compelling and captivating read.”
Discover Bound by Honor HERE.
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Regan Walker
Regan Walker is an award-winning author of more than twenty historical novels spanning the Regency, Georgian, Medieval, and Revolutionary eras. With meticulous research and a storyteller’s eye for drama, she transports readers from the cobblestones of early nineteenth-century London to the intrigues of eighteenth-century France, from Scotland’s mist-shrouded Highlands to ships riding dangerous seas. From spies, smugglers, and pirates to masked balls and opulent palaces, her novels reveal the courage, faith, and love that endure through history’s most turbulent days.
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See you on your next coffee break!
Take Care,
Mary Anne xxx