The Canadian Highland Page 3
Chapter 2
The day was still early when I went outside after tidying up. Papa and Liam were off in the distance, hunched over, working as hard as always.
I joined up with them, and then we worked quietly for an hour or so. The sun started to move in the sky and the day got a little warmer, yet the dampness from last night still hung over the Highland like a wet cloth. Every once in a while, a cool wind would blow across the plain sending a brief chill up and down my spine. It was at those times I wish I was still in bed.
Liam started to complain like always. “Papa, do I have to do this all day? Can’t I go find Blane to play with? He never has to work as hard as I do!”
“Come over here and sit down Liam, you too Molly.”
“Yes Papa”, Liam and I said almost at the same time.
“You know, the Fraser clan has lived in these parts of Argyll for many years. I don’t even know how many generations back we go. We have had our fair share of hardship and difficulties. We have gone through tough times and have made it stronger in the end, and we’ll come through this time as well.
“What worse times have we gone through?” I asked.
“Well”, Papa continued, “Many years ago there was a battle that raged north of here in Culloden. Ah, you don’t want to hear about that. I’ve already bored you with the story before I’m sure.”
“Tell it again,” Liam demanded excitedly.
“Well, the year was 1746, so that would make it well over 60 years ago. Many Frasers were at the battle. In fact, your great Uncle Donnan Fraser saw many of his closest friends and clansmen fall to the British as they led the charge with swords blazing in the sunshine.”
“So what happened to Uncle Donnan, Papa?” Liam asked excitedly.
“Culloden was a bloody battle. The Scots were outgunned by the English perhaps as much as three to one, but what we lacked in weaponry, we made up for in courage. Donnan, along with many other brave Scots, heard the bagpipes, and knew the only chance they had was to charge against a well-trained line of British red coats and cannon. Not one Fraser held back. With guns sounding off in the distance, they charged not knowing what would happen to them, if they would make it across to the other side in one piece or not. The battle itself did not last more than an hour, and many brave men died heroically on the battlefield. It was a sad day for Scotland …”
“What were they fighting for Papa?”
“What does any man fight for? The hope to live peacefully as a free man! But there was no such freedom back then. All good Scotsmen heard the call to help get the throne of Scotland back to its rightful heir, Bonnie Prince Charlie. I say all good Scotsmen, yet there were some who decided not to fight for the good side. There were some, like the Campbells of Argyll, who chose to fight alongside the British in order to keep their castles! What does it mean about a man to betray his own people to keep his place to live?”
“What happened to Uncle Donnan, Papa?”
“Your Uncle Donnan was lucky to not get shot, but I wonder if he would have wished for death anyway. All Highlanders who were not killed at Culloden were placed under arrest and forced to rot in jail. Of course, good soldiers should never be put to waste. The British knew how to free up the jails…”
“Your uncle had to make a choice between a sure death in jail, or a slower one as a soldier for the very army he fought against. What an awful choice for a man to have to make between two certain kinds of death. Like all good Scotsman, your great uncle fought for the side of freedom, the side of the Jacobites, and for that choice he was made a prisoner in the British army, and forced to fight their great war against France years later.”
“Was that the war fought over the water Papa?” I asked.
“Aye, indeed. Just as bloody a conquest as Culloden in ’46…” Just then, we all heard a friendly whistling off in the distance. Looking up, I saw it was Willie approaching as he always does: without a care in the world. I guess that’s what all the drinking sometimes does to you. I have seen my Uncle Willie get so angry you would think steam was rising from his head. Yet most of the time, he is happy and smiling, without a worry to speak of. That’s why Mama seems to both love and get angry with him at the same time.
“What nonsense are you filling their heads with John? Can’t you see how bored they look? Aye, let the children have a rest from your constant chatter and boring stories. It’s too bad they’re too young to have a little drink.”
“It’s good to see you too Willie. And remember, if you want to try and teach children something important, why don’t you have some of your own? Then you can show them all the drinking games and tricks you want.”
Liam, as if coming out of a trance, exclaimed, “I’m not young Uncle Willie.” Just last week, Blane’s Papa let me try some of his ale. I can drink too.”
“Remind me to have a talk with Blane’s father about what you are getting up to when you visit,” Papa said playfully.
“Leave the poor boy alone,” cried Willie. “Drinking beer is the start of a boy turning into a man.”
“What utter nonsense. So why have you come for a visit in the middle of the day for? Don’t you have any of your own work to do?”
“Are you sad to see me? At least Molly seems happy to see her good old uncle, right sweetie?”
“Hello Uncle!” I really like Uncle Willie. He always seems so confident. Nothing in this world could possibly hurt him. He’s the kind of person people want to follow. “So, are you going to help us with a little work, or are you just going to stand there bothering Papa?”
“Ah Molly, you’re starting to look like your mother more and more every day. You’re just as pretty as she was when she decided to give your Papa some charity and marry the poor bugger. Your wish, Molly, is my command.”
It was a good thing I couldn’t see myself then. Who knows what natural shade of red I had on my face. Willie grabbed a pitchfork and started to help. I guess our break was over, because soon we were all back to work.
“I still don’t know why you’ve come,” said Papa. “It’s not like you to come out this way so early on in the day.”
“I’ve heard about your problems with Mr. Selby, and…”
“Oh, so that’s it, is it? You’ve heard about what might happen to us just like many other folk in these parts. Don’t you have some of the same problems Willie? Why come and talk to me about it?”
“Just listen for a bit before you get so angry. Of course I’m just as worried as you are. Why do you think I drink so much? Aye, the sheep herds will come, and no amount of praying to the Almighty is going to change the fact you’ll have to move off of your farm, away from the only life you’ve ever known.”
I could see that look in Papa’s eyes. Bending his head, he took a deep breath and replied, “Why are you telling me things I already know?”
“We have to stick together John. You know it just as well as I do. We can fight what is coming. You’re not a landlord with money. It’s not Selby who’s going to do the work to make sure you leave your house. He won’t be getting his hands dirty. You know this.”
“Aye, I know full well what’s going to happen. I’m not blind to all the bad dealings happening in other parts. I know about families evicted from their homes just outside of Inveraray. People forced to leave with the clothes on their back and a few possessions. And for what? To end up on the streets of Glasgow begging for a few scraps from the table of the same man that forced them from their home!”
“There are factories being built in the city John. You may find some work to provide for Fiona and the children.”
“What work are you talking about Willie? You want me to find work in a clothing mill? You can blow that kind of thinking up your arse. Wouldn’t that be something, to work in a mill with wool provided from the very same land I was forced to leave? No Willie, I can’t do that, I won’t do that. We Frasers have farmed this land for generations. It’s t
he only thing I know, and it’s the only thing you know too. I could never bring Fiona to the city with a child on the way. She’s sick enough as it is inside her own home.”
“The way I see it John, you don’t have much choice in the matter. You can’t stay here, and there is no other place to go in Scotland besides the city. They will come and take over our crofts, but we certainly can’t make it easy for them to do it.”
“Aye, you might be right, but I don’t want to think about it anymore. It’s bad enough worrying the kids.”
“Alright John, whatever you say. You are the older brother after all. I guess you got the brains, while I got all the looks, right Molly?”
Willie wants me to smile, but I didn’t feel like it. Sensing my mood, he left with Papa to work in the barn, leaving Liam and I to finish tending the crops.
It seems strange for Willie would come out in the middle of the day to depress Papa, but he’s worried about his home too. Grandpa and grandma are not around to help take care of things, and we’re the only family he’s got. Mama always says what Uncle Willie needs is a good woman to settle down with, to start a family with. She also says what a family needs in times of trouble is to stay together. That’s pretty difficult when you are all by yourself.
Chapter 3