Ailish Sinclair's Blog, page 37
August 1, 2022
Cairnbulg and Inverallochy: Come Awa In!
Come away in!I took a wee trip to Cairnbulg. And also Inverallochy, as the two fishing villages are joined together. I drove myself, a major milestone in the healing process (see posts about illness here and here).
Cairnbulg LibraryThe library had some lovely signs up, written in the Doric, the Scots language as spoken in the northeast of Scotland. They were fairly simple, but I will translate under the pictures.
The CounterMy favourite was the one that separated the adult books from the junior section.
Big folks booksThere’s a vaguely Pictish feel to the statue outside the library.
Statue outside Cairnbulg LibraryThe BeachAfter perusing the books and signs, I drove down to the beach.
Communal washing lineI had forgotten how beautiful the rugged and rocky nature of the coast at the bottom of the village was.
BeachI just had to walk down onto the beach. Another ‘blue mind‘ moment!
Rocks at Cairnbulg beachMemorialThe memorial below commemorates all those who have been lost at sea from the community.
Memorial at CairnbulgHaste Ye Back!And lastly, probably needing no translation, but I will anyway, Haste Ye Back! To the blog as well as the library…
Haste You Back: return soon!For more Doric sayings see the post Dancing Round Aberdeen in the Rain
My books, also available at the library!
Set in an Aberdeenshire castle, THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR features the Scottish witchcraft accusations, a handsome Laird, an ancient stone circle and a love story.
FIREFLIES AND CHOCOLATE was inspired by the 18th century kidnapped children of Aberdeen and is set in both Scotland and Colonial Pennsylvania.
Paperbacks and kindle: Amazon UK or Amazon Worldwide
“Filled with excitement and suspense…” Historical Novel Society
Picture taken at Fraserburgh Library, books on the just returned shelf.And coming soon…
Set in 2nd century Northern Scotland, SISTERS AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD is a tale of chosen sisters, fierce warriors, neurodiversity, divided loyalties and, ultimately, love. More…
See my About Page here
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July 29, 2022
Balgorkar Stone Circle and Castle Fraser
This post details a day in 2014 when we set off to find Balgorkar Stone Circle and visited two castles and another circle too.
We headed off to look for the stones. But first, there was a quick stop at Fraserburgh beach where the haar (Scottish word for mist that rolls in off the sea) hung low and filtered the sunlight in a silvery way. A seagull flew by as I took the photo.
Balgorkar Stone CircleInland we travelled, to bright sunshine and summer colours and the stones of Castle Fraser.
To the left in the picture below (click to see larger image) are two standing stones and to the right, in the distance by the trees, is Balgorkar Stone Circle (also known as Castle Fraser Stone Circle). The stones were visible from the road, so quite easily found.
Up the side of the field we walked.
I thought we’d have to just view the stones from there, but no, some naughty person had trampled a pathway through the crop, so we did no further damage by walking it.
The recumbent and flankers, dark against the field:
Castle FraserNext we visited Castle Fraser, where I was meant to be doing research for writing on heraldry, historic dates and architecture. This took the form of running about taking photos:
I loved the rooftop and later wrote about it here.
Kildrummy CastleThen, after picnicking, with only half the day gone, we decided to head to ruinous Kildrummy Castle, a few miles further on.
There in the reception was an old friend who I hadn’t seen for years. There was hugging and much talking. Other people got fed up waiting to be served… We kept saying it was amazing. My friend is currently doing a PhD in history, so some of our conversation became spontaneous research.
We finally moved on to look around:
I do appreciate the use of the adverb ‘treacherously’ there; without it we might think Osbourne the Blacksmith to have merely made a mistake or had an unfortunate accident such as tripping with a pot of molten metal or dropping a freshly forged sword.
Broomend of Crichie Stone CircleThe day ended with a visit to Broomend of Crichie stone circle, Pictish stone placed in the middle.
This blog post is ending in a rather unrelated way, with some ballet. It’s beautiful and romantic and only two minutes long. It’s Scottish Ballet performing at the opening of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014.
Some of my Historical Fiction
FIREFLIES AND CHOCOLATE was inspired by the kidnapped children of Aberdeen and is set in both Scotland and Colonial Pennsylvania.
There’s love. There’s derring-dos on the high seas… And there’s chocolate!
“Filled with excitement and suspense…” Historical Novel Society
Writer’s The post Balgorkar Stone Circle and Castle Fraser appeared first on Ailish Sinclair.
July 26, 2022
Memorial: the History of Witchcraft in Aberdeen
The Steeple of St Nicholas KirkAberdeen has quite a brutal history of witchcraft accusations (and other dark events such as mass kidnappings). This post details the start of my research into those areas.
Memorial
Aberdeen’s Cowdray Hall doubles as a war memorial and a venue for classical concerts, and it’s where I started my wee tour of the city on this day.
Gaol!Leaving grand places behind, I journeyed on to the Tolbooth Museum, a 17th and 18th century gaol. Unlike the pristine war memorial, the prison exhibits the dark nature of its origin for all to see. The small cells are stifling and scary. They smell stale. There are a few of those terrifying pretend people; some of them talk, regaling you with tales of their mistreatment.
The 18th century record of prisoners reveals many debtors, a murder spree and one intriguing entry of unspecified ‘outrages’.
History of Witchcraft AccusationsAn interesting fact gleaned behind the bars and bolts and padlocks of the jail was that people accused of witchcraft were once imprisoned in the steeple of St. Nicholas Kirk. Out the door I went.
The present day kirk is serene and beautiful and open to visitors in the afternoons. The steeple sits just above the part pictured below. It’s not the same one that was used as a prison in the 16th century, but it is situated in exactly the same place.
Those boards on the left display a detailed history of the church, but there was no mention of witchcraft.
There was an excavation happening in the east part of the building. Lots of skeletons were uncovered along with a metal ring that ‘witches’ were once tied to.
The 12th century St. John’s Chapel houses a memorial to those killed in the Piper Alpha oil disaster. These amazing chairs are part of it. They sit right underneath the steeple.
This window depicts the history of Aberdeen. It was paid for by the oil and gas industry so those themes dominate.
I walked down steps and cobbled streets in search of comfort, hot chocolate and books.
Unfortunately there’s not much comfort to be found in researching The Witchcraft Act and all that followed.
The Witch Stone
It is said that witches were tied to the witch stone near Fraserburgh, and burnt. The landowner questions whether this was the case as no documentation exists on the subject. But such evidence was often destroyed, or omitted from written history. After the burnings and ‘dookings’ and other well specified outrages by church and state had ended, people were ashamed. And rightly so. But where’s the memorial in that?
Memorial through Dance70 years since D-Day, BalletBoyz pay tribute to the thousands of soldiers who lost their lives with a specially commissioned short film for Channel 4:
More Witch Related PostsWalking the Witchy Ways of AberdeenA Map of Witches and Some Autumn BeautyMy Witchy Debut Novel is PublishedApology for Scotland’s Witchcraft Trials and an AnniversaryThe book that eventually sprang from all this is out in both paperback and Kindle now!
See the publisher’s press release here.
Set in a fictional castle in Aberdeenshire, Ailish Sinclair’s debut novel, THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR, blends an often overlooked period of history, the Scottish witchcraft accusations, in particular the 1597 Aberdeen witchcraft panic, with a love story.
Mailing ListKeep up to date with all my news by signing up to the mailing list. It’s a more intimate space than the blog, and always includes some exclusive photos. I aim to send it once a month, but don’t always succeed!
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July 22, 2022
Byronic Heroes and the Bad Boys of Ballet
I’m still deep in the TENDU manuscript, though the end of this edit approaches and I’ll soon be returning to SISTERS.
Between chapters, I’m watching things like this:
Byronic HeroesSergei Polunin, known as the bad boy of ballet, was born in the Ukraine, as was my own ballet bad boy from TENDU.
Unlike the mainly perfect men from MERMAID and FIREFLIES, Aleks is a Byronic hero. What’s that, you ask?
From Dictionary.com:
A Byronic hero is a type of fictional character who is a moody, brooding rebel, often one haunted by a dark secret from his past. The term describes the type of main character found in many fictional works by Lord Byron, who is said to have had this type of personality.
I love Byronic heroes. I love reading them. And I love writing them. He is very naughty though, and I will have to punish him for the rest of his life. Oh, the FUN!
Side note: see my post on Gight Castle, the ancestral home of Lord Byron.
Interview
I was recently featured over on Instagram in a Fast Facts type interview. Read about my obsessions, fears and atrociously bad singing here.
BooksSet in a castle, THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR features the Scottish witchcraft accusations and a love story.
FIREFLIES AND CHOCOLATE was inspired by the 18th century kidnapped children of Aberdeen and is set in both Scotland and Colonial Pennsylvania.
Paperbacks and kindle: Amazon UK or Amazon Worldwide
“Filled with excitement and suspense…” Historical Novel Society Editor’s Pick
Go here to sign up for my occasional emails that always include exclusive photos and news of my writing and life.
Writer’s Tip Jarkofiwidget2.init("Buy me a coffee!", "#FF5F5F", "ailish");let kofiShortcode477Html = kofiwidget2.getHTML().replace('<div class=btn-container>', '<div style="float: none; text-align: left;" class=btn-container>');document.writeln(kofiShortcode477Html);The post Byronic Heroes and the Bad Boys of Ballet appeared first on Ailish Sinclair.
July 19, 2022
The Mysterious Lang Stane of Aberdeen
The Lang Stane (long stone) of Aberdeen is situated close to busy and bustling Union Street. Many places in the city are named after this stone, but most people don’t know that it’s there. It’s hidden away on the corner of Langstane Place and Dee Street. The Music Hall can be seen in the background of the above photo.
From Google Street ViewHistory of the Lang StaneThere’s not a lot of documented history on the stone or how it came to be placed in the wall, though I have heard that this event happened in the 1960s. It’s shown as a solitary standing stone on a map from 1746, before Langstane Place was built.
Battles and BoundariesThe Lang Stane may have originally been part of a stone circle. The carved base is consistent with this idea, that anchor shape being common in the stones of Aberdeenshire recumbent circles. It is also thought to have been used as a boundary marker along with another old and mysterious stone, the Crabstane. Both stones may have borne stony witness to the 1571 Battle of Craibstone between Clans Forbes and Gordon.
Who carved the words onto it, or when, I don’t know. There is also a faint six pointed star just below the text.
Visiting the StoneI like to pay the stone a wee visit when I’m in the vicinity, all tucked away and squished into its alcove as it is. There’s no scenic rolling hillsides or lush forests for the Lang Stane as enjoyed by its contemporaries!
The opening scene of FIREFLIES AND CHOCOLATE takes place in a stone circle, the story then travelling the old cobbled streets of Aberdeen before leaving Scotland’s shores.
There’s a lovely new review of the book up on Pink Quill Books here: “This is a love story that transcends colour, race, and class, as Elizabeth grows from being a spoilt lady of the castle to a young woman who fiercely defends her closest friends.“
FIREFLIES AND CHOCOLATE was inspired by the 18th century kidnapped children of Aberdeen.
Set in a castle, THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR features the Scottish witchcraft accusations and a love story.
Paperbacks and kindle: Amazon UK or Amazon Worldwide
“Filled with excitement and suspense…” Historical Novel Society Editor’s Pick
Go here to sign up for my occasional emails that include exclusive photos and news of my writing and life.
Writer’s Tip Jarkofiwidget2.init("Buy me a coffee!", "#FF5F5F", "ailish");let kofiShortcode757Html = kofiwidget2.getHTML().replace('<div class=btn-container>', '<div style="float: none; text-align: left;" class=btn-container>');document.writeln(kofiShortcode757Html);The post The Mysterious Lang Stane of Aberdeen appeared first on Ailish Sinclair.
July 16, 2022
Just a wee description of a castle rooftop today…
Photo taken at Castle FraserA castle rooftop from my work in progress:
The gable of the great hall rose high to the front, a huge chimney boasted diminutive battlements, and other lower layers of pink castle sprawled out haphazardly in front of me. There were three small turrets, upended cones that had been meticulously finished round and round with ever smaller and smaller lichen dotted tiles. Tiny mismatched windows blinked in the sun: circles, squares and one narrow bent rectangle. Sections of roof ended randomly, some with mossy little steps to nowhere; one jutting brick triangle had been shaped to fit the side of a sloping turret.
Excerpt from TENDU by Ailish Sinclair
And that really is all today. Because: busy writing. Been sucked in to the manuscript and am finding it hard to leave.
Other castle rooftops are available.
As are other thefts from castles.
Other books too…
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July 15, 2022
Culloden Battlefield and the Clava Cairns
This post details a 2014 trip to Culloden Battlefield and the nearby Clava Cairns.
A bright blue sky day. Good for a journey up the coast and into the past. I stopped to take a picture of the anchor on the hill in Macduff.
A couple of hours and many miles later, the skies had clouded.
Culloden Moor
The visitor centre at Culloden is high-tech, swish, clean and pristine, all the things the bloody battle of the past was not. The contrast always gets me. I sit on a soft red sofa looking out at the battlefield, eating my delicious lentil soup and enjoying decadent chocolate cake in comfort and warmth.
Compare that to being one of the Jacobite clansmen, having marched across boggy rough terrain in the dark all night, exhausted, starving, about to be slaughtered in a fight so unfairly matched that it was all over in one hour. What would he think of Culloden Moor today and the nice day out it provides for families and tourists?
Out on the battlefield, things feel more authentic, more memorial. Red flags mark the government line:
Clan stones over mass graves:
Old Leanach Cottage is dated about 1760, several years after the battle, but is said to stand on the site of an earlier cottage that was used as a field hospital for government troops:
People leave offerings:
After a little look at the peaceful, cud-chewing, Highland cattle, it’s time to visit some ancient standing stones.
The Clava Cairns
Here ancient burial cairns (estimated at about 4000 years old) are surrounded by circles of stone and trees. It’s the perfect peaceful place to visit after Culloden.
You can walk right into two of the three cairns, though the entrance tunnel would have been covered in the past: you would have had to crawl.
Some of the standing stones are high and shaped, rather like enormous graves:
Let’s finish with one of the aforementioned Highland Coos. There’s four of them in a field next to Culloden.
Also see the post about the Cumberland Stone.
My BooksFIREFLIES AND CHOCOLATE, out April 1st, is set at the time of Culloden and inspired by the kidnapped children and young people of Aberdeen. The story follows the adventures of Elizabeth Manteith from the castle and her determined efforts to get back home. There’s love. There’s derring-dos on the high seas… And there’s chocolate!
See the publisher’s Press Release here
Set in a fictional castle in Aberdeenshire, Ailish Sinclair’s debut novel, THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR, blends an often overlooked period of history, the Scottish witchcraft accusations, in particular the 1597 Aberdeen witchcraft panic, with a love story.
Newsletter sign-upSign up here to receive my occasional emails. They contain exclusive photos and insights into my writing and life.
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July 12, 2022
A Ballet Novel and a Tale of Publishing Woes
Aesthetic for TenduI am now editing my ballet novel, a dark contemporary romance, TENDU, having pulled it from the proverbial drawer where it’s been for the last three years.
I’m LOVING it. I’d forgotten quite how much FUN this book this. It also feels as if I’m connecting to a different version of myself. Me before illness took hold. Me before doctors and medication and pain. It’s doing something to me. Something good. The book is funny and witty and SO naughty. I am slightly concerned that no one will be able to look me in the face again after reading it. But, hey-ho, life’s too short to worry about things like that, and I intend releasing this novel and the rest of the series in the near future.
It’s had a tumultuous publishing journey though. And I’m sharing that today.
Lovely Porselli Pointe ShoesPublishersI sent TENDU out into the world of publishers and quite a large one offered on it quickly. However, they wanted me to change something fundamental about the plot of the series (three titles) as a whole. And I couldn’t. Or, more correctly, I wouldn’t. I am always willing to make changes that will improve a book, but this was just to make it fit the guidelines of a particular romance line. It would have become formulaic. So, much to that publisher’s astonishment, I turned them down.
Time went by.
MERMAID got accepted by a British publisher (not to be confused with the one I’m writing about here. GWL are very organised and always on the ball), and then along came an offer from a small American press for TENDU. It came with amazingly generous royalties, and no big requested changes, and I accepted it.
And more time went by.
After 18 months (the time, according to the contract, by which the book should have been published) I emailed the publisher and asked when things might get going. There was no reply.
Writers GroupInto the writers group I went. This was an amazing resource. All the writers from that publisher, chatting together and, as it turned out, sharing the same tales of woe. Through the group I learned that the woman who owned the publishing house had become too ill to continue working and she had sold the company. I had huge empathy for that. The new owner had a large backlog of books waiting to be published and it was all taking a very long time. The slowness of publication didn’t really bother me. I was rather busy being ill, after all.
But then the stories began to change. Already published writers were not receiving royalties or statements. Cheques were bouncing. So, three years after signing the contract, I asked for my rights back. And I got them. Very politely. Very apologetically. So there are no hard feelings, and I’m not going to name the publisher. They are still going though…
And that’s where I am.
SISTERS is back with the editor. I’m working on a press release for it and delving deeply into TENDU. I’m loving being in the castle again, yes the same one from the other books. It’s a dance school in the modern day. I love the characters. I love the stone circle and the dancing and the chocolate and the London bits and the romance. I love the story of this ballet novel, dark as it sometimes is.
And it all feels good.
BooksSet in an Aberdeenshire castle, THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR features the 1597 Aberdeen witchcraft panic and a love story.
FIREFLIES AND CHOCOLATE was inspired by the 18th century kidnapped children of Aberdeen.
Paperbacks and kindle: Amazon UK or Amazon Worldwide
“Filled with excitement and suspense…” Historical Novel Society Editor’s Pick
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July 10, 2022
Down the Rabbit Hole… to a Book Cover!
At first it doesn’t feel quite real… where is the white rabbit leading? To a book cover? That seems odd…
This Alice in Wonderland style post dates from the build up to the release of THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR in 2019.
The rabbit leads us down or, as is more accurate, through, a giant rabbit hole!
Things get stranger yet as we pass between a huge fork and knife…
We come to a place of unicorns.
We want to stay here with the unicorns, but we have to move on, to see…
A miniature castle! We go inside, and peer out like giants.
We hear sweet music, percussion. Everything feels dreamy and lovely.
And then, finally, this is where the rabbit has been taking us… to the book cover!
Set in a castle in Aberdeenshire, THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR features a fictional account of three real women who were accused of witchcraft in 1597. It’s also a love story. And the cover makes it all very real now to Ailish (the Gaelic form of Alice)…
She needs to have a nice lie down like the huge white rabbit (6.5 metres long) in the Playful Garden at Brodie Castle, featured in this post.
Don’t miss any of Ailish in Wonderland’s news; sign up to her mailing list 
The Mermaid and the Bear is out now in both paperback and Kindle.
Amazon UKAmazon WorldwideWaterstones
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July 8, 2022
Crovie, a Historic Village in Aberdeenshire
Crovie is an 18th century fishing village in the North-East of Scotland. People first came to live there after having been cleared away from their inland homes to make way for sheep farming.
Today many of the houses are holiday lets and it’s a scenic place to walk. And take photos.
Oh yes.
A Crovie WalkThis post details a walk taken in 2015.
See those vans below? Beside the amazing sea? That’s as far up the street as vehicles can go in Crovie:
View from the shore:
The wee postbox:
The coastline is beautiful and dramatic. Light conditions change constantly.
Myself and a friend set off on what was meant to be a 1.5 mile walk.
We got lost.
There was torrential rain.
The approach of the rain:
We walked on and on.
We followed the arrows.
And then we found ourselves in a pea field.
The pea field led to a gorge. We retraced our many, many steps, eight miles of steps in the end… but then there was soup and pie and cake and all was very, very well.
BooksSet in an Aberdeenshire castle, THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR features the Scottish witchcraft accusations and a love story.
FIREFLIES AND CHOCOLATE was inspired by the 18th century kidnapped children of Aberdeen and is set in both Scotland and Colonial Pennsylvania.
Paperbacks and kindle: Amazon UK or Amazon Worldwide
“Ailish Sinclair spins this Scottish tale filled with excitement and suspense…” Historical Novel Society
Go here to sign up for my occasional emails. They always include some exclusive photos and news of my writing and life.
See my About Page
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