Chapter 16: Enlargement

We were barely into autumn and there were still weeks before I thought bad weather would make travel and development difficult. I sent the majority of the Knapdale host back to Oban to recover the longships but detoured on my way back to Aird Driseig to visit Cowall and Bute. I ordered the longships to meet with us at the main camp of the lordship, Rothesay, as quickly as they could get there. My party was now about seventy on horseback, including my long bow archers and we made directly for Rothesay.

My approach had obviously been communicated because our passage was not challenged and when we arrived at Rothesay a small group emerged from behind their fortifications to greet us.

"Welcome my Lord," said one of these, "I am Aedan the current steward of Cowall and Bute, guardian of our Lord here Gabrain mac Domangairt."

With that he thrust forward a black haired boy of perhaps nine or ten. The boy looked at me suspiciously but showed no fear. I decided immediately I liked him and would do all that I could to make sure his lordship was well looked after and developed until he was old enough to take on its rule himself. I leapt from my horse and walked up to the lad, bowing low before him in an exaggerated show of respect.

"It is my pleasure to meet the most puissant Lord of Cowall and Bute. Well-met, Gabrain mac Domangairt! I am Scott mac Fergus, appointed by King Fergus to lend some small assistance to you until you take on the full responsibilities of your lordship."

"Aedan, refreshments please for our guests," the boy said, voice high but firm enough.

He turned and we were led inside the settlement to Rothesay's hall where meat and ale was served. Gabrain sat with us and listened attentively as I explained what my plans were for assuming control in the short term. I made it clear that I had no pretensions to take over the lordship but would lend assistance to improve the land and to introduce some of the other advances I had brought about in Knapdale. My treatment of the young Gabrain and my plans seemed to re-assure the men of Cowall and Bute and the initial stiff-necked attitude towards us began to noticeably thaw.

My idea was that Colmgil would come to Rothesay and oversee developments here. He could take a detailed accounting of the resources of the lordship for me and share with these men the techniques that were now being put to good use in my own lands. Various craftsmen and some of the warriors could visit Aird Driseig and see at first hand how to introduce things like salt production and production and training around the long bow. We also discussed improvements to the defences around the lordship along the lines of what I had developed elsewhere.

We had a pleasant week in Rothesay overseeing the beginnings of the improvements before two of my longships arrived having made the passage from Oban round Kintyre and up the Firth of Clyde. I left last instructions for Colmgil and left one of the longships at his disposal so he could travel easier between here and Aird Driseig. That done, I prepared to take my leave of Rothesay and young Gabrain and his people.

"My thanks for your kind hospitality Lord Gabrain. I hope that my men from Knapdale can help your lordship flourish before your eyes. Now I must leave and go to Kintyre to make similar arrangements there. It is my hope that I will see you soon but until then stay well!"

"Aedan, co-operate with Colmgil and these others. My Lord Scott, it is my wish that you see me sooner than you think, I would go with you to Kintyre and on to Aird Driseig!" Said the young Gabrain, in something of a rush, a concerned look on his face, perhaps in case he was rebuffed.

I was delighted that the boy wanted to travel with me. I decided he wanted to do so in order to learn more of my ideas and I measured him as a lad of some intelligence, worthy indeed of some of my time to help him develop himself as well as his lordship.

"I would be delighted to have you travel with me Gabrain, come, our ship awaits."

Two days of sailing down the Firth of Clyde, passing the mighty island of Arran and swinging westwards at its foot, brought us to Campbeltown, the main settlement in Kintyre. I had stared fondly at Arran as we passed down its western seaboard, passing Brodick Bay with high Goat's Fell towering over it and passed Lamlash Bay with its Holy Isle sheltering the anchorage. My parents had brought me to Arran on vacation when I was younger and I had lots of pleasant memories of my time there. Arran had been described as Scotland in miniature, all of the features of the mainland replicated in some way on the island.

Looping round the tiny Davaar Island we sailed up Campbeltown Loch to its head and landed at another fortified camp on the shoreline there. Once more a welcoming party came out to meet us and we were taken within the settlement to meet its principals.

"Lord Scott this is Echdach mac Aed, Lord of Kintyre." Said one of the lordship's captains as he presented a boy of perhaps thirteen or fourteen.

Once more I bowed low to show respect to the lad and then spoke directly to him rather than the captain.

"Lord Echdach, it is my pleasure to meet you. Let me present Gabrain mac Domangairt, Lord of Cowall and Bute."

The two boys bowed slightly and stiffly, each eyeing the other warily. The introductions over, we sat down with some food and drink to repeat the conversation and process we had gone through in Rothesay. I laid out my plans and ideas for Kintrye, emphasising once more that I had no desire to take the lordship for myself. I tried to make it clear that there was much that I could do to help make it safer from Viking assault and also to have it producing more than it had in the past.

Echdach remained more wary of me than did Gabrain and I could see he was sullen and moody. Some of his comments made it clear he already saw himself as perfectly capable of taking on the full rule of his lordship now, without any guardian. His eyes held some resentment that King Fergus had appointed me to oversee things and I thought he could well be a source of trouble in the future. He was hotheaded and full of himself, perhaps as a result of his age, hormones or some inflated idea of his worth as a lord. I decided that I would leave Lachlan here at Campbeltown to run things for me and to keep this Echdach under his close watch.

I discussed with Lachlan what I would like to see achieved before winter set in and what arrangements he should make to have Kintyre men come to Aird Driseig for training in the various techniques that we would share.

"Keep this Echdach under your close supervision Lachlan. He appears too full of himself, too hotheaded for my liking. I want no trouble from him, see you."

"Aye my Lord. I too think he may be something of a handful but I will try to teach him some better ways!"

The next morning I set off at last on the final leg back to Aird Driseig. There was no surprise that Echdach had absolutely no desire to copy Gabrain and travel with me.

We beached the ship and made camp for the night just before the entrance to Loch Fyne, quickly getting some campfires burning. I rigged up a spit and began to roast some meat. Gabrain seemed to have decided to attach himself to me and he sat by my side as the meat cooked.

"My Lord, tell me again how your archers halted the Saxons?" He asked me.

I retold the story of the battle at Hazelrigg and Gabrain showed his quick-witted intelligence by asking a number of insightful questions. He asked about distance and angles, about numbers and about how the Saxons might have defended themselves against the hail of arrows. I found myself enjoying our conversation. He was the first person I had met who seemed to be this inquisitive, seemed to have a thirst for learning, a thirst I was happy to try and slake.

"My Lord...

"Call me Scott, Gabrain. After all you are as much of a lord as I am. Anyway, I still haven't quite got used to all this 'lord' stuff. Just plain Scott will do between us."

"Okay, Scott, where did you get all the ideas you talked about in Rothesay and Campbeltown? What made you think about spikes, stakes and oil in the water to help fend off the Vikings? How did you figure out that digging ditches would help make the fields drier and suitable for pasture? How did you discover you could make salt out of seawater?"

"So many questions my young Lord, so many questions. Which to answer first?"

I knew I would have to be careful with my explanations. His nimble mind would identify holes if they were there and I didn't think I could just come out and tell him I was from the twenty-first century.

"Ideas come from study Gabrain. By studying one thing and thinking about it we can sometimes make connections to other things or think about using something we already have in a different way."

"What do you mean?" He asked again.

"Well, the stakes and spikes for example. We have been using spears to hunt and in battle for years. I just thought about how I could use sharpened wood and iron in a slightly different way, on a bigger scale to do the same job as a spear."

"Oh, I see." He said, and I could see he was thinking this over."

"Haven't you ever spilt oil from a lamp? When you try to put out the flames with water, it makes the flames spread rather than douse so I thought about how oil might be used on a bigger scale on the water to help beat the Vikings. And when I was sitting beside a stream one day, I noticed how it had cut a channel through the land. The water level in the channel grew when it rained as if the water was drawn to it. When I thought about that it occurred to me that maybe I could create new channels for water to gather in, that would attract the water, so I tried that and it worked."