Fast and Loose

 The latest in my Nigel Tranter project is out of the ordinary. It was one of his early novels, written in 1951, and instead of covering a broad sweep of Scottish history, it focuses on the events of one small clan in north west Scotland, in the early years of the 18th century.

Tranter bases his story around the eldest son of the clan chief of MacColl, coming back from a grand tour of Europe, although confusingly the cover says he was a hostage at the King's court. Having been robbed, he and his foster brother capture a boat in Dunbarton to get them home. They arrive to find his younger brother Cormac has locked up his father and taken over the clan, and his beloved. The story revolves around the measures he takes to win back the clan.

Tranter usually sticks pretty close to the history, sometimes inventing characters to narrate the story. However, he has invented a whole new history for the MacColls. The place names in the book don't exist, and he has placed them much further north than their traditional territory around Loch Fyne. The MacColls are probably a sept of the MacDonalds (Coll being a popular MacDonald first name) and, like many smaller clans, were squeezed out by the Campbells. After being almost wiped out in the 17th century, they settled in Appin and fought in the 1745 rising as part of the Appin Regiment. One-third of those killed in the regiment had the surname MacColl.

I won't spoil the plot, as this is almost totally fiction. Tranter paints a more realistic picture of clan life and the fighting capabilities of the average member than popular myth. The young MacColl has many challenges in gathering the forces needed to win back his birthright, and his journey takes him across northern Scotland, with Tranter's remarkable ability to describe the scenery. It all makes a cracking read. 

Some of my better-equipped Highlanders of the period