Ailish Sinclair's Blog, page 44
November 4, 2021
Things I Stole From Castles
That’s the earthen floor of the medieval great hall at Drum Castle.
I love it.
So I took it!
From Chapter 3 of THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR:
Bessie had shown me the great hall, a huge room that put one in mind of a church. Sunlight fell through twelve windows, making narrow shapes on the earthen floor of that place…
I did rather fill up my writer’s swag bag at Drum. Below is a beautiful bedpost…
Chapter 34:
“It’s beautiful, Thomas,” I said, walking into the room and running my hands up and down the dark smooth wood of the bedposts which were swirled with infinite oak leaves.
I don’t have a good picture of the dungeon there, though I pilfered that too. It’s a terrible place with a narrow stairway leading down, down, down into the dank. However, bats were roosting in it the last couple of times I visited the castle, and they’re a protected species so it was absolutely forbidden to disturb them. Which was quite a relief really… but here is a pictorial quote from the book:
And into the swagbag goes… a forest view from a high window at Crathes Castle.
From Chapter 38:
I sat up on my seat by the three thin windows and watched the first golden shafts of morning light creep over the tops of the trees in the forest.
From beautiful Craigievar I took the secret stairway that runs from top to bottom of the castle, strictly no photos allowed inside…
From Chapter 28:
We were in another passage, small and stony and grey, and after a short way it led to a narrow stairwell that was not lit by torches and sconces like the big one, but dark and shadowy and hidden. Secret. Indeed safe. For now.
Castle Fraser gave me it’s triangular peep-hole and ‘Laird’s Lug’.
From Chapter 28:
I told the Laird, and he took his turn at the peephole and gave the scene a long assessing look. “It is a pity there is so much noise tonight; we could have made out their words otherwise, the walls of the lug are thinned in places and shaped to augment speech made in the hall.”
I think that’s enough of my rampant thievery for one post – there may be others – so I’ll leave you with this recent review of the book from Terry Tyler, a brilliant writer herself. Actually – I can’t help myself – I’ll just steal a quote from that too:
Ailish Sinclair’s portrayal of 16th century, wild rural Scotland is quite magical. On one recent evening I was curled up in bed, head on cushions and lights dimmed, and I found that I was revelling in every description of the countryside, the day-to-day life at the castle (particularly the Christmas revellry; this made me long to be in the book myself!), the suggestion of ancient spirituality, and the hopes and dreams of the characters. Suddenly I realised that I’d gone from thinking ‘yes, this is a pleasant enough, easy-read’ to ‘I’m loving this’.
And here’s a wee picture of my recently arrived author copies, or swag bags, if you will. Buy your own here on Amazon in paperback or on Kindle.
Keep up with all my news by signing up to the mailing list. It’s occasional and always contains some exclusive photos.
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October 27, 2021
On Monsters: being one, writing one…
Arriving at a Halloween party in the past…Originally posted 2020.
I don’t need a Halloween costume this year. I already look like a monster. The medication I’m on to stop my body killing me (condition lamented here) has made my face swell up. Like a moon. It is a well documented side effect actually referred to as ‘moonface’. The same drug is also causing insomnia so I have massive eye bags that extend to what feels like halfway down my face. There’s quite a lot of bandage action across my body too, which adds an air of mummification fun to the whole ensemble.
I’m also pale. Pale like a ghost.
However, being a monster on the outside, in appearance, is nothing to being truly monstrous. While researching witch-hunting in preparation for writing THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR, I wanted to find a real monster, a person so enthused for the brutal activity that they could become a focal point for that dark energy in the story. History did not give him up easily. There was no obvious individual in the court documents or confessions. But I hunted him down and finally cornered the rogue in the financial accounts of Aberdeen.
In September 1597 William Dunn, Dean of Guild, was awarded, £47 3s 4d (the equivalent of £6000 in today’s money) for taking ‘extraordinary pains in the burning of a great number of witches’. It was really unusual for someone to be given a large lump sum like this. With the exception of some witch prickers and those who sought to escheat their rich relatives, money was not commonly a motivating factor in the witch trials. William Dunn’s job was being in charge of the public money of the town, so he basically gave the cash to himself. I found you Sir, and I made you smell of rotten fish! If you read the historical notes section of the book, you’ll see that I’ve also cast him as the devil.
Bandage action!So now I’m editing Fireflies and Chocolate and, 150 years later, there is brief mention of the Dean of Guild again. It does seem to be a role associated with making money from the suffering of others, at least historically in Aberdeen.
Moving on from monsters, there are a couple of nice bookish things to mention. The book blogger Rosie Amber is running a Review-A-Book Challenge. It’s open to those who have never written a review and experienced reviewers alike, and is a great chance to get some free books for writing short reviews. THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR is one of the books on offer!
CelebsForSmallBiz over on Twitter are organising a charity auction in aid of Crisis to help homeless people this Christmas. A signed copy of MERMAID is up for bidding there on the 14th and 15th of November.
There’s a review I forgot to mention earlier, being rather distracted by the task of becoming a monster, here from Undiscovered Scotland: “The Mermaid and the Bear is a delight from end to end. There is a superb level of description in the book, that transports the reader back to the sights, sounds and smells of 16th Century life in a Scottish castle.” See the whole review here.
And finally, a spooky wee quote for this spooky old week:
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October 20, 2021
Writerly Roundup: interview, reviews, group
A rather distracting cobbled street in Aberdeen. It features here and here.I get easily distracted by the places and things that I write about here and forget to mention other writerly bits and pieces of note in some posts. So here goes!
InterviewI recently did an interview with the lovely Tonya Ulynn Brown on her blog The Rose and the Thistle here. Tonya’s review of THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR came out while I was in hospital last year and it really cheered me up. I tweeted about it from my bed very early in the morning, having finally worked out how to use the WiFi. I remember the scene so clearly: the dimmed light in the ward, the wall clock with its strange night and day depiction, the quiet padding about of nurses, and the prick of the blood sugar checking device. At least I had performed some worthwhile task from my bed. I was almost working! A man instantly tweeted back to me that I was being too ‘self congratulatory’ in mentioning the review. And that only encouraged me…
In the interview I ask such questions as: Is it really good enough? Is it, in fact, bilge? Or nonsense? Or the worst thing that has ever been written in the whole history of the world?
And dispense advice like: Don’t let other people tear you down and tell you you’re doing it wrong. People have strange agendas when it comes to the writing of others. Do your own thing. Go your own way.
Sunlight peers round the corner of the Duff House MausoleumThe second writerly thing: reviewsThere’s been quite a few. Two of the most recent for FIREFLIES AND CHOCOLATE are from Elisabeth on the writer’s tip jar site Kofi here. I found her mention of language very interesting.
And then over on Goodreads, this one from Alex came in yesterday. “I was moved and shocked by what I read but also took solace from the portrayal of genuine historic figures in the book such as the vile Alexander Young and the decent Benjamin Lay, Peter Williamson and Benjamin Franklin whose kindness and determination make a difference to those reduced to the status of chattels.”
Ah, those cobbles, or cassies as they are up here. See yet more of them.And the last writerly mention: the groupI’ve started a wee Facebook Group to promote Scottish books. Your own or those you’ve read, fiction or non-fiction, about or set in Scotland or written by a Scottish author. If you’re interested feel free to join here.
Possibly the biggest distraction of all, stone circles. See this one here.For more cobbled streets and old stones, sign up to the mailing list.
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.
FIREFLIES AND CHOCOLATE was 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
The post Writerly Roundup: interview, reviews, group appeared first on Ailish Sinclair.
October 16, 2021
Shifting Sands and Shipwrecks
There’s been a lot of barefoot walking along beaches this summer, with friends, with family, much of it between St Combs and Scotstown. And that’s where there do be many shipwrecks to see! Aye, aye, me hearties! Prepare yersels for the photos!
I don’t know the name or date of this first wreck. It’s wooden and relatively small and sometimes entirely covered by the shifting sands that it, no doubt, fell victim to. It’s well bedecked with seaweed!
Closeby is a large metallic boat. It’s usually more submerged than this. I *think* it’s the HMS Erne. She ran aground in 1915 and broke her back 
On this day I got to go right up to it.
And touch the barnacles.
And wonder if that’s a treasure chest…
A bit further on, between Rattray Head and Scotstown, lies a much more well documented ship: the Excelsior of Laurwig, a Norwegian barque wrecked in 1881. It’s rather impressive.
There is another, somewhat different, wreck on this bit of coastline, sometimes to be seen wedged into the sand:
Now, let’s go to Cruden Bay, for the last barefoot walk of the summer!
Trip, trap, trip. trap, across the bridge. To find…
Is it a shipwreck? I’m not sure. It may be part of a defense from WW2. Not very boat shaped!
But it’s a great beach to finish the season and the post on.
Keep up to date with me by signing up to the mailing list for exclusive photos and news.
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.
The post Shifting Sands and Shipwrecks appeared first on Ailish Sinclair.
Duff House Mausoleum in Autumnal Aberdeenshire
I wandered through the woods to the 18th century Duff House Mausoleum.
It’s about a mile away from the majestic Duff House, now an art gallery. When I was a child the house was in quite a rough state but still open to the public. A lot of the furniture was covered in sheets, paint peeled off the walls and spooky music floated up from the lower levels.
I loved it.
I still do.
The front of Duff House Mausoleum:
And round the back…
To an effigy of a knight. Sadly it is not Robert the Bruce as once purported by the Earl who built the mausoleum. The skulls, crossbones and wheat are quite common on older graves in Aberdeenshire.
Below: the interior of the mausoleum taken through the metal door.
During autumn in Scotland the days seem to be either golden or grey, sunny or dreich. It didn’t get properly light at all on this day, but autumn added its gold regardless.
The River Deveron:
I came upon an old dog grave in the lower parts of Wrack Wood. The dogs had lovely Dickensian sounding names.
Grey and golden, the colours of the day:
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Sometimes books like to dress up and have their photo taken. Sometimes writers have to work very hard to resist a wafting scent of chocolate (medical condition/special diet. 8 months in people, 8 months).
Paperbacks and Kindle: http://author.to/mermaid
And a wee quote from Mermaid:
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October 13, 2021
Culloden and Clava
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.
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:
Stones are placed 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 off to the nearby 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.
Keep up to date with all my news by signing up to the mailing list.
FIREFLIES 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.
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October 11, 2021
A Swashbuckling Adventure, Through Hospital Windows
Originally posted 2020.
The start of the title is a bit of a lie. In fact it’s a total fabrication. There’s no derring-dos on the high seas recounted here. I do have crutches, so am a bit peg-legged and I like to think there’s an (imaginary) parrot on my shoulder. I have been diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder, so my body has basically been trying to kill me. I’m now on medication to stop those efforts, but I have to be checked once a week in case the drug makes its own attempts to kill me. So there are elements of a thriller genre at work in my life.
During my month of cannulas, needles, tests and scary procedures I sought beauty where I could find it. Through the hospital windows. I woke the first morning to a beautiful pink sunrise and a rather wonderful view of St Nicholas Kirk steeple, the church that features in THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR. Despite the fact that I wrote of truly terrible events involving that steeple, I found it somewhat comforting to see it there. I felt a connection to the place. It lit up in the evening sun too.
But I was soon moved. This was something that was being done due to Covid. Constant rearranging of patients between wards. Decisions made by ‘bed managers’, not medics. It didn’t make any sense to me, and the medical staff were pretty unimpressed by it too.
However, I saw through many different windows. This next ward had the worst view, just a small box of buildings, but the best bed. Air mattresses are magical things; lying in them is a little bit like being hugged as they inflate and deflate to maximise your comfort.
I was soon off to sparkling chimney sunrises and sunsets:
Then, finally, the last of the hospital windows. At first I was quite annoyed about this move. Diagnosed and treated, just awaiting final tests, I was shunted away to what felt like a far flung area of the hospital, and I no longer had my own room. I posted a somewhat morose quote from Lord of the Rings about the sunrise that morning on Instagram.
But, it really worked out very well. The other three ladies I was with were lovely. There was kindness and understanding between us all and we shared frequent laughing conversations, our room being referred to as the party room by the nurses.
And it had a swashbuckling sea view… just.
While I was in, a rather wonderful review went up on The Rose and the Thistle blog. Reading the opening line cheered me up instantly! “Before I go any further, I just have to say, this is one of the most beautifully written books I have ever read. Yes, it is written in one of my favorite time periods, and yes it takes place in one of my favorite places in all the world, but when you combine that with the almost poetic style of Sinclair’s writing—sigh!” See the whole review here.
Set in a fictional castle in Aberdeenshire, Ailish Sinclair’s debut novel, THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR, features an often overlooked event in history, the 1597 Aberdeen witchcraft panic, and a love story.
The post A Swashbuckling Adventure, Through Hospital Windows appeared first on Ailish Sinclair.
September 26, 2021
A Map of Witches and some Autumn Beauty
The Map of Witches is a brand new resource from the University of Edinburgh, utilising the extensive data collected in their Survey of Scottish Witchcraft Database. See it here. It’s a visual and clickable map of over 3000 people accused of witchcraft in Scotland, and is both fascinating and terrible, as this subject always is. My three quines from THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR are included (see Isobell’s entry above) as are a disturbing Witch Pricker’s Journey and various other stories. You can choose to view a modern map or a historical one, the latter suiting it better, I think.
After peering back into the dark like that, I need to look at beauty, so here’s some from recent days:
The wonderful blue and gold of Autumn.
Pink shimmering rockpools at New Aberdour beach.
A dark cave, blue reflected within.
And the path up to St Drostan’s well, shining in the sunlight:
Keep up to date with all my news, witchy and otherwise, by signing up to the mailing list.
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.
FIREFLIES AND CHOCOLATE, out April 1st 2021, was 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
Sign up to my occasional email newsletters for updates on my life and writing and exclusive photos:
The post A Map of Witches and some Autumn Beauty appeared first on Ailish Sinclair.
September 20, 2021
Turn Left for Tyrebagger Stone Circle
Tyrebagger Recumbent Stone Circle is near Aberdeen, situated on the hill behind the airport and overlooking the Kirkhill Industrial Estate. So, when my family and I went seeking this circle we thought it would be easy to find. Yes. Well. Google maps took us close. Very close in fact. But there’s nowhere to stop a car and get out on the dual carriageway, so no possibility of taking the app’s advice to ‘walk the rest of the way to your destination’.
We turned to directions found on the internet which took us up the side of the industrial estate and into the woods. But the last instruction, to turn right along the line of trees… there was no right there. We ended up lost and peering over gates and up tracks and across fields. But then, Google maps pinpointed the exact location of the stones and we retraced our steps.
‘”It’s somewhere in that direction…”
“Just the other side of those trees…”
“But how can we get through there?”
Until:
A pathway was spotted – it had been there after all, but on the LEFT – and it had a certain look and feel about it. It reminded me of the path into the often elusive Louden Wood circle. Sure enough, moments later the stones came into view over a gate and field, silhouetted against a misty looking forest.
Tyrebagger Stone Circle proved well worth the search.
It’s a beautiful circle, with unusually tall stones.
Sometimes when I post stone circle photos on social media, people ask if they are the stones from Outlander, and I explain that those are fictional stones. But these do look a little like the ones used in the TV show. (Inverness Outlanders found another site that may be even more like it and have photographed it in all seasons here.)
I had heard that, due to its close proximity to Aberdeen, Tyrebagger sometimes has a graffiti problem. This was not the case on the day we visited. The stones stood tall and unblemished against the blue sky.
I liked the trees too, grey and tall like the stones.
Back in my own bookish territory, there are a couple of things to mention. The Fraserburgh Herald reported on THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR here, and the book has had its first ever review here on the Lost in a Good Book blog.
The Kindle is on pre-order from Amazon and the paperback from Waterstones.
Though it’s not out until October 18th, you can add the book to your Goodreads to-read list now, should you wish:
Let’s finish with one last look at Tyrebagger…
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September 8, 2021
Deer Abbey and the Man Trap!
Copper beech at Deer AbbeyDeer Abbey in Aberdeenshire is a beautiful sprawling ruin. It’s a peaceful place to visit. Reflective. A place to peer through old doorways into the past.
Into the kitchen…If I look back a year into my own past I see myself in quite a state, just about to go into hospital and become monstrous. I am better this year. Better than that anyway. Able to go out and about to places other than my doctor’s surgery.
Which brings me to the man trap:
Man trap!You would definitely need some medical intervention after stepping in that! It’s a hideous contraption that was designed to catch poachers, widely used in the 19th century by local Lairds. It’s not known how it came to be at Deer Abbey.
From one of the informational plaques, the man trap in use:
Ouch!For 340 years the Abbey housed a Cistercian community. The monks of Deer wore white robes and no underwear, a brave choice given Aberdeenshire’s low temperatures and the strong gales of winter!
CloistersAfter the reformation the building became the property of the Keith family. Mrs Keith dreamed of angry monks coming to destroy her home, Dunnottar Castle. And more recently, there have been sightings of a ghostly monk on the main road outside the Abbey. Maybe the old Cistercians do not rest easy yet.
A boundary of yews.I love the ancient trees of the Abbey grounds. And the pink hue of the crumbling walls. The hillside beyond is satisfyingly timeless, and probably offers quite a similar view to the one that the white robed monks looked out on.
A little more Deer Abbey will be dropping into my mailing list next week. Go here to sign up if you like.
My books!FIREFLIES AND CHOCOLATE was inspired by the 18th century kidnapped children of Aberdeen and is set in both Scotland and Colonial Pennsylvania.
Set mainly in an Aberdeenshire castle, THE MERMAID AND THE BEAR features the 1597 Aberdeen witchcraft panic and a love story.
Paperbacks and kindle: http://author.to/mermaid
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