My winner will receive an ecopy of Monogamy Twist, and a bumper pack of Scottish Castle Greetings Cards and Matching Gift Tags (see sidebar photo)
Use this link to enter the blog hop page:
http://thebloghopspot.com/event-page/
My competition rules. All you have to do is this:
1. Like and tag -MONOGAMY TWIST by Nancy Jardine-
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you’re there will be most welcome!
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2. Find the name of my featured castle each day. There will be a photo on my blog sidebar and the name of it in the short blog post. Send all 4 castle names in an email to nan_jar@btinternet.com to be entered into the draw for my winner!
3. And ...Say 'Hi!' in the comments box below. Just that one word will do.
****It could be you****
Day 4-Name the castle
….Shamus told tales of his travelling adventures by the
fireside many a time, and they eventually reached the ears of the King of
Scotland. Shamus was summoned to court to meet the king. The king, finding
Shamus a man of great wisdom, strength and courage, ordered him to defend the
area around Kintail, since the western coasts of Scotland were plagued by attacks
from the Norsemen. The king commanded Shamus to build a castle on Eilean Donan,
on the rocky islet opposite Totaig. And so
Eilean Donan Castle
was built.
and the beginning of that story is...The legend of Eilean Donan Castle
(Image credit: <a
href='http://www.123rf.com/photo
_3914794_common-raven-portrait
-isolated-on-white.html'>igabriela
/ 123RF Stock Photo</a>)
|
A
Long ago chieftain of Kintail decided to try the theory out. He gave
his son, Shamus, his first drink of cow’s milk from a fragile raven’s
skull. For a long time it appeared to have made no difference till the
day that the father found his son under an apple tree. The child was
looking up into the branches uttering a strange language. As the
chieftain drew near a handful of small birds flew away in an alarmed
flutter of wings.
Shamus
chided his father. “You have frightened them away. They were telling me
of the warm lands they visit when the cold cloak of winter descends
upon us and of the ocean that heats under the warm sun while we look
upon our grey, turbulent seas.
“How do you talk to the birds, my son? They do not speak our language.”
The
chieftain discovered that his son had been given the ability to talk to
the birds and believed, then, that the properties of the raven skull
had been proven.
Shamus
grew up to become a youth blessed with courage and wisdom, who talked
to the falcon on his wrist and listened to the sea birds that brought
him news from afar. Small birds around his father’s house told him of
what transpired around them. Shamus became known as a wise youth who
would be a worthy heir to his father’s chiefdom.
Yet,
the day came when the chief was not so enamoured of his son. One
evening at supper the chief asked Shamus, “What do the starlings chatter
about tonight?” For time untold the starlings had inhabited the smoke
blackened rafters of the chief’s hall.
Shamus
knew his father would be angry with his answer. “They say one day our
positions will be reversed and the day will come that you will wait upon
me at the high table.”
The old chief was horrified. “Traitor!” He banished his son forthwith for he could not have his son betray him.
Shamus
protested his innocence, but his father would not relent. So Shamus
left Kintail with only the clothes on his back. He considered himself
very lucky though to board a ship that left that day for foreign lands.
As a new crew member he worked his way through stormy seas to France
where he disembarked and then happily made his way through the
countryside
Soon he came to a great park with beautiful lilies growing wild and free among the grass. He caught a glimpse of gilded turrets in the distance and guessed it must be the king’s palace. Closer to the great gateway the sky was filled with the swirl of little birds, noisy and shrill, flying around in great alarm. Huge trees were being felled by an army of woodcutters lopping the trees down with great fervour.
A
servant stopped him. “You need to shut your ears to the unholy din of
the birds which takes place both inside and outside the palace. The king
is at his wits end to know how to deal with it, and stop the noise!”
Thinking
he could help the king Shamus followed the servant through a long maze
of corridors to a small room, having walked past many courtiers who
could not hear themselves converse in the cacophony of noise around
them. The king took refuge in a
tiny room, its windows and doors shut tight against the chirruping and
cheeping of the plague of birds. One
sparrow had managed to get into the room with the king and was sat
perched upon the arm of the king’s chair when Shamus entered. He told
the king that he believed he could help him. Naturally delighted to hear
it the king promised him great rewards but asked why Shamus was so
confident. Shamus told him of his power with speaking to the birds in
their own tongue.
The
king watched as Shamus talked to the little sparrow on his chair. The
conversation over Shamus declared the solution simple. He told the king
the birds were angry that the order had been given for all the poplar
trees to be cut down. In cutting down the trees their nests and homes
were in peril, and the birds were homeless. Shamus told the king if he
withdrew his order and ceased the cutting down of the trees then the
birds would stop troubling him.
The king’s command given the birds all quit the palace and made their nests among the remaining poplar trees.
Image credit: <a
href='http://www.123rf.com/photo
_10805593_sailing-vessel-in-art-nouveau
-style-stencil.html'>kristina0702
/ 123RF Stock Photo</a>
|
During
the feasting that evening, given in honour of the stranger, Shamus
decided to declare his identity. In the time honoured custom of
welcoming a stranger, the master of the house waited upon the honoured
guest, bringing him a cup of wine. Shamus cried out to his father, “You
have waited on me at table, father! I am your son who has been gone
these ten years. The prophecy of the birds has come true, but please let
us have done with our estrangement? Receive me as your son, again, for I
have sorely missed you, my father. I never sought to replace you, and
never harboured any evil design against you.”
Forgiveness
was given for his father had missed him too. Shamus told tales of his
adventures by the fireside many a time, and they eventually reached the
ears of the King of Scotland. Shamus was summoned to court to meet the
king. The king, finding Shamus a man of great wisdom, strength and
courage, ordered him to defend the area around Kintail, since the
western coasts of Scotland were plagued by attacks from the Norsemen.
The king commanded Shamus to build a castle on Eilean Donan, on the
rocky islet opposite Totaig.
And so Eilean Donan Castle was built.
Great Story! Maybe if I'd drank from a raven's skull, I'd have written more books.
ReplyDeleteHi, Sandy. I'll have to look out the raven skulls and have a go myself! There's still time, though, for all those books to happen.
ReplyDeleteplaying castle tag has been fun :O)
ReplyDeleteHi Carin. Glad you've enjoyed it. Tell all your friends to visit!
ReplyDelete