We haven't talked about Scotland in some time ... so let's do so today with Amanda Forester's TRUE HIGHLAND SPIRIT. From Amanda's bio,
Amanda lives in the Pacific Northwest with her officer and a gentleman husband and their two remarkably active, naturally brilliant children. They share their home with two fiendishly destructive cats and one lazy dog.
I think the Pacific Northwest lends itself to inspiring stories about Scotland! I had the opportunity to review her third books in THE HIGHLANDER series, TRUE HIGHLAND SPIRIT:
Morrigan McNab learned to survive with a sword in her hand. Taking command, she is determined to protect her impoverished clan, no matter the cost. When an elusive French knight offers gold to fight against England, she joins the call to arms. Sparks fly on the battlefield as a forbidden passion smolders between Morrigan and Sir Dragonet. Yet Sir Dragonet holds a secret that will destroy the hope for a life together, and will make them rivals on a dangerous quest for a mysterious relic. As they fight beside each other against the English, and against each other to find the treasure, their love becomes a greater force than either can control.
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| Clan McNab is associated with Doune Castle near Sterling. It is cared by Historic Scotland and made its film debut in MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL. I have the coconuts! |
Check out my review on Amazon at this link. Early in the story, Morrigan refers to the desperate state of her clan since her grandfather did not support Robert the Bruce. The clan suffered for it and she seeks a means to keep them fed. My thoughts wondered to our trip to Alba in 2007 as we searched for almost every crumbling castle. We specifically visited Dunfermline Palace, a Royal Residence (at this link) and Dunfermline Abbey, a Royal chapel (at this link). We assumed that Scotland's long line of kings were buried in Dumfernline Abbey but this is not the case. Only a handful have tombs which are not as elaborate as their English cousins in Westminister Abbey.
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| Can you see "King" atop the tower? piningforthewest.co.uk |
As we read the displays, we came to realize that Scotland did not come together as the kingdom until Robert II established the House of Stuart. Even during Robert the Bruce's reign, Scotland remained fractured. Forester incorporates the warring alligiences in TRUE HIGHLAND SPIRIT.
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| Robert the Bruce's tomb in Dunfermline Abbey scottishweb.net |
One tidbit from the Dunfermline Abbey website,
1818 AD: Following the collapse of the great tower, work to clear the site prior to rebuilding the church began. Many tombs were uncovered, including that of King Robert 1 (the Bruce) which was opened and his remains examined and measured. The king was re - interred amid great scenes of national fervour.
Lord Elgin, the hereditary chief of the Bruce Clan, commissioned a brass plaque to mark Robert the Bruce's grave. The tower's upper stone work spells out KING - ROBERT - THE -BRUCE.
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| Dunfermline Abbey's Royal Tower rampantscotland.com |
I am giving away a print copy of TRUE HIGHLAND SPIRIT to one randomly selected commenter. To enter the giveaway,
1. Leave a comment about Medieval Times ... either the historic period or the entertaining dinner.
I admit it - I love Medieval Times the entertaining dinner!
2. This giveaway is open to all readers.
3. Comments are open through Saturday, March 24, 10 pm in Hawaii. I'll post the winner on Sunday, March 25.
Mahalo,
Kim in Hawaii
To learn more about Amanda and her books, check out her website at www.amandaforester.com.
March Madness continues here at SOS Aloha! All commenters in March will be entered into a special drawing for prizes from RT in Chicago. 3 US, 3 Canadian, and 3 international readers will win a package with books and goodies. Comments can be made at:
- SOS Aloha, sosaloha.blogspot.com
- Aloha On My Mind, alohaonmymind.blogspot.com
- My guest posts at the Reading Reviewer (Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday) at marygramlich.blogspot.com
I'll post the winners of March Madness on Monday, April 2.
- SOS Aloha, sosaloha.blogspot.com
- Aloha On My Mind, alohaonmymind.blogspot.com
- My guest posts at the Reading Reviewer (Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday) at marygramlich.blogspot.com
I'll post the winners of March Madness on Monday, April 2.
We have a Medieval Times dinner show here in Las Vegas but it's called The Tournament of Kings and it's at the Excalibur Hotel. I went one time with my hubby and sister in law and we had so much fun eating with our hands and shouting for the knight on horse back on the side we were sitting on.
ReplyDeleteThe food was good and fun to eat without utensils and the show was so much fun. Plus we walked through the Excalibur which is one of my favorite Hotels here in vegas. But this was many years ago.
Hubby talked about a Medieval Times dinner some where near or around Chicago. One of these days I will have to go to a Renn fair just to pretend!
ReplyDeleteJust really would love to experience it just once, the difference in the food, how they ate it, etc.
Love the garments.
Raonaid at gmail dot com
Love the garment of medieval times and I love the castles of medieval times:). My grandma loves the medieval food when she attended a party of medieval food as a teenager:), Aretha zhen
ReplyDeleteI think it would have been hard living during Medieval times. Disease was rampant & might was right.
ReplyDeleteI particularly enjoy romances set during the Norman invasion.
ReplyDeleteI went to a Medieval dinner when I was in Ireland. They held it in a restored castle. It was quite fun.
ReplyDeleteI live in the Chicagoland area and have never been to Medieval Times or to the Renascence Fair. :(
ReplyDeletenever experience with medieval times, so dont have any idea
ReplyDeleteYellow!!!!
ReplyDeleteYeah that was the color section I was seated in when I saw Medieval Times, it was great! I can't wait for my kids to be older so my husband and I can take them, even if they don't love it I know I will!
I love the idea of a knight riding to my rescue on a giant horse, it wouldn't even have to be white! I am not picky! He can steal me away and keep me safe as we cross the country, hiding and falling in love along the way.
Thanks for sharing the pictures, always fun to see real castle pictures. Helps me imagine it in my head, though it always gets turned around in my imagination and looks bigger than life. I am ok with that =)
When I lived in England, I went to Warwick Castle twice for their Medieval Banquets. The company that I worked for used to lay this on for us as a "thank you" and they also paid for the hire of our costumes. We all looked so authentic, and the food and entertainment was brilliant. I can still hear the haunting tones of "Greensleeves" being played as we all feasted on our amazing fayre and watched the jesters. Good times, and extremely good memories. I wish that you had a place where I could post a few pics of us all enjoying ourselves.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to read "True Highland Spirit" by Amanda. Thank you for this opportunity.
I would enjoy going to a Medieval Banquet, think it would be a lot of fun, I should talk to my husband, he is from the Chicago area, maybe I can convince him of a trip! Enjoyed viewing the pics, fascinating architecture.
ReplyDeleteThe closest I've come is also a dinner in a castle in England. We ate off of wooden plates, wenches served us way too much mead and wine but we had a wonderful time. Medieval's are my favorite kind of read - for some reason it calls to me. Maybe from another lifetime lol. I've not read Amanda's books, but now I definitely want to.
ReplyDeletecatslady
I love the photo of the Monty Python-featured castle. It reminds me of Spamalot, which is hysterically funny. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed as much or as hard as when I saw that show.
ReplyDeleteAmanda’s book sounds good and I look forward to reading it.
I wouldn't have wanted to live in that period but visiting the castles would be fun.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy romances set in Medieval Times.
ReplyDeleteHi Kim -
ReplyDeleteWhat great insight into True Highland Spirit. I'm definatelyy checking out Amanda's website and finding out more about her books.
My husband and I were lucky enough to have the opportunity to visit Scotland in 1990 and somehow we missed visiting Doune Castle when we visited Sterling. It was so close by but we didn't have the time that day to visit. Actually when we were in Scotland my husband was more interested in visiting Stonehenge than anything else! I guess that's understanable since he's a master stone mason!
One of my favorite places that we discovered was Linlithgow Palace which is the birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots and the preserved ruins of the Royal Palace can be visited in a picturesque setting next to Linlithgow Loch. The day we visited we were the only tourists there and had it all to ourselves! Since we were there they have done some additional renovations but it is really a magical place and a must see if you every visit Scotland. I've only read one book that was set in Linlithgow so if anyone knows of any I'd love to find out more!
PS: Glad you had a great vacation with your family!
Aloha, Jeanne!
DeleteWe also visited Linlithgow - I was determined to visit all "royal" residence. I agree that it is picturesque, even with the modern church nearby. Did you notice the engraving on the wall near the church that named the Scottish kings? The most recent is Elizabeth I of Scotland ... because Elizabeth from Tudor times was not the queen of Scotland!
My daughters just love eating at Medieval times. The closest one to use now is in Chicago, which is 6 hours away. They've been to one there, LA and Washington, DC.
ReplyDeleteI just found your blog and lovt it!! I have been to variuos Medieval Times dinners. We have one in St. Louis called the Royale Dumpe. It is an adult like dinner theater. No kids allowed. I have a blast everytime we go. We also have fairs in the area. In college I used to work the fairs we had during the summer. I loved it.
ReplyDeleteMel
bournmelissa AT hotmail DOT com
I went to a medieval dinner while I was on a tour in Ireland.
ReplyDeleteThere is a Medieval Times in Dallas and I would love to go sometimes. As soon as I can figure out how to get there without dealing the the traffic.
ReplyDeletei've often thought it would be interesting to attend one of the medieval times dinner shows but haven't yet since the one around here is a bit of a drive. I have gone to the Renaissance fair and seen the medieval events there. the jousting was kinda cool ;)
ReplyDeleteI would like to go to a Medieval Times dinner. It sounds like fun.
ReplyDeleteWhen I see the artwork from Medieval times it seems pretty gruesome with bloody religious figures in so many of the pictures.
ReplyDeleteI have read Medieval stories that have taken me to the era and I find it interesting. The castles housed more than the family but also the keepers, defenders and their families. I'm fascinated with how they kept house and if I could time-travel I'd want to visit that time.
ReplyDeleteIf I could travel trough time the Middle Ages would be the era I would choose. I just love everything medieval.
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting the pictures and the links. I'm always interested in learning and these give me additional places to visit. I'm glad you pointed out where the "King" was. LOL!!!
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