Chapter 17: Knapdale Inc.

Gabrain 'dined out' on his pipeline for some time. The camp loved him and he basked in it all. I made sure he didn't get a big head though and had something in mind that I thought might stimulate him but at the same time calm him down a little. The Abbot of Iona had agreed to my request to establish a church here at Aird Driseig and had sent a monk to survey the possibilities. He and I had agreed a site to build on but there was little for him to do until the structure was up. I was going to change that by having him begin lessons for young Gabrain. I wanted him to be able to read and write as a start and I thought he might rebel at the prospect of spending time with the elderly monk each day. I just needed to sell the idea somehow.

I settled on the idea of suggesting to him that it would be a big help in getting the girls to study if he would too. This had the added benefit of getting the girls involved and learning to read and write. Bless him, he fell for it and began his studies right away. I made sure he continued with his weapons practice too and we continued to discuss ideas in the evening.

During this week Colmgil and Lachlan arrived with parties from Rothesay and Campbeltown to learn about the ideas and improvements they could begin to put in place in their own camps. Trawling was a big hit as was the salt evaporation. Gabrain was in the limelight again when our pipeline and tap were demonstrated for the visitors. None of the men from Cowall, Bute or Kintyre could make an impression on the long bow and were open mouthed when my own men put on a demonstration.

I was sitting eating with the girls and Gabrain when the girls began their mothering routine again. Gabrain seemed conflicted. He was enjoying the attention in one way but there was a residual concern I think about being too girly!

"Gabrain, what happened to your mother and father?" Asked Kirsty, out of the blue, perhaps just feeling maternal.

"My father contracted an illness and wasted away over the spring." He replied. "Mother is back at Rothesay."

"What!" Both girls shouted at once.

"Scott, how could you take this boy away from his mother!" Scowled Kirsty.

I was just as surprised as the girls were. I hadn't thought for a second that Gabrain's mother was still alive. When he had volunteered to come to Aird Driseig I had assumed he was an orphan. Gabrain noticeably bristled at Kirsty's use of 'boy' to describe him, his brows lowering.

"Kirsty, I had no knowledge that Gabrain's mother was still alive. I would not have knowingly separated them if I had."

Gabrain didn't seem to know what all the fuss was about but he was still annoyed at being called a boy!

I spoke to Colmgil before he departed for Rothesay, telling him that Gabrain's mother was to be shipped to Aird Driseig as soon as he made landfall at the camp.

I think all the visitors left at the end of the week with plenty of food for thought given all they had seen and tried. Colmgil and Lachlan would do all they could to help see the other lordships took up my ideas I knew. We had discussed how much was to be distributed throughout the lordships they were overseeing, how much should go to King Fergus at Dunadd and how much should come here to me. At this rate I would have plenty to trade with the merchants the next time they came to the camp.

One of the things I had thought of to trade for was limestone. I had remembered a number of different uses for lime and one of them was mortar. I knew this was just a mix of sand, lime and water although I wasn't sure of the ratios of the ingredients. I was interested in this because another thing had come into my head, bricks. So far as I knew, bricks could be made using clay and a little sand. So, if I could make bricks and find some lime to make mortar, I could be building brick structures!

There were other uses for lime I was sure but they were tickling the back of my brain and I was learning to just let them surface in their own time.

As luck would have it two merchantmen arrived at Aird Driseig that week. One was a ship that had called previously and carried some interesting cargo given my previous attempts at bartering. One such was a supply of vines as I had asked and I was keen to secure these, not that I let the merchant know how keen! He also carried a small quantity of seeds for other plants that he had been given when he had purchased the vines and he included these in the trade as a free extra.

On the previous trip I had traded some barrels but now I drove a harder bargain and told the merchant that, as I was using the barrels for the salt, for each barrel of salt we traded he would need to give me two empty barrels free. I assured him that this would ensure I would have even more salt for him in future. The gleam in his eyes told me that he wanted this badly and he agreed easily to my demands.

He had an abundance of iron ore and tried to use that as a bargaining point to gain more of my salt. I played it cool and once more managed to get a good exchange rate that left me with a considerable store of salt left.

I was surprised when he also enquired about more soap. I was sure that soap wouldn't catch on quickly and had given him some as a 'loss leader' on his last visit. Now it seemed that there was a market out there for it after all as he was keen to take some off my hands. I toyed with him a little to try and gauge just how badly he wanted it.

"We don't have very much of the soap." I told him, watching closely to see his reaction.

This guy obviously didn't play poker and wasn't used to people who didn't just offer up everything they had in exchange for some of what he could offer. I was a lot more savvy than that and when his obvious disappointment at the lack of soap showed I knew I could gain even more from him. I had already secured my vines, barrels and some iron ore, some free seeds of indeterminate nature thrown in.

I still had many barrels of salt and plenty of soap, not to mention some high quality pottery to trade. I let the merchantman know I had some soap that I might trade but it would have to come at a price. I motioned to some of my men to bring up a lot I had prepared. It included six barrels of salt and about a hundred bars of soap. Once more the merchants face lit up, giving away just how badly he wanted my goods.

He fished out a small drawstring bag and extracted a single gold coin, holding it up to catch the light. I knew what gold was and it caught my attention but I continued to act as before. I had already refused to trade with him for coins and I acted now as if the gold coin was no different to the copper and silver coins he had offered my previously. He physically deflated. From a posture of producing the coin and expecting an excited reaction to being told I wasn't interested seemed to really take it out of him.

"This coin is worth all of your goods put together!" He said.

"Your coins are of no value to me merchant." I said. "But, I will trade you these barrels and bars of soap for something else. If you can find me a load of limestone or chalk I would be willing to part with some of my stock."

"But I have none of that on my ship." He complained.

His response confirmed for me that he was very keen to do the trade, he really wanted my goods. I decided to play it hardball and told him the limestone or chalk was what it would take. I turned to the men from the camp that stood behind me and asked if there was anything else that they knew of that we might want. My benefactor from several weeks ago, he who had cured my sore head, spoke to the merchant and ordered some supplies that had medicinal qualities.

The merchantman suggested he could make a return trip in four weeks and I agreed to be ready for him.

I spoke to the other ship's master and didn't find anything worth trading for but I tarried with him as the first ship departed to give the impression that I might be trading some of my salt. There's nothing wrong with a little competition, is there!

Gabrain had been at my side through all of the exchanges with the merchant and now he spoke to me about what he thought he had witnessed. I was impressed at his reading of the way I had manipulated the merchant to get the best deal possible for our goods. It was clear that he would become a good negotiator in his own right. He did enquire as to why I had asked for the limestone or chalk and I had to think quickly for an answer.

"I have heard somewhere that if lime is mixed with sand it forms a good form of mortar to hold stones together." I told him.

"Where did you hear this Scott?" He asked.

"Oh, I'm not sure Gabrain, but it's worth having a go at. It's another of those things we need to think about and try and make connections. If it works it could be very useful."

I'm not sure he was convinced by my rather weak answer but he let it go nonetheless.

I left him to search out my potter and the smith. I sat them both down and described some of the things I wanted. From the smith I wanted a range of oblong moulds and two iron 'stamps'. I described the stamps as heavy iron weights with handles. One would fit the moulds and have a short handle. The other would be much bigger and have a longer handle so a man standing up could use it comfortably. I explained to the potter that I wanted him to make up a mixture of clay and sand, perhaps three quarters clay to one quarter sand, and to use the moulds and the smaller stamp to prepare blocks of clay. These should then be fired in the forge and left to cool. I told him I wanted a great many of these blocks prepared.

I also asked the potter about making some more glass. He looked at me doubtfully but I assured him I wasn't looking for glasses, jugs or bowls merely some squares of flat glass. He relaxed and confirmed that his skill would run to that. Leaving them to get on with meeting my requirements I walked to the hall-house to share a beaker of ale with Niall, I figured I'd had a good day and deserved it.

After a few beakers of ale I sat outside the house and enjoyed the view down the lochs once more. This was becoming something of a habit for me, I used the time to review what was going on and think about what I wanted to do next. Gabrain joined me, sitting quietly at my side, somehow tuning in to the mood and remaining silent.

I spent some time marshalling my thoughts and then shared them with my young companion.

"Gabrain, I have some simple goals in life. Goals for myself, Kirsty and Fifi, goals for the men of my lordship and now yours too, and goals for our God-given country, Scotland.

"Yes my Lord." He replied, focussing and preparing himself to soak up what I was about to say."

"These simple goals are the same for all of the levels I mention, the same for family, lordship and country."

"What are these goals Scott." He asked, his youth at last betraying a little impatience.

"Simple goals - security, health and then wealth, in that order."

"I don't understand Scott?"

"All of the projects that I have set in train are aimed at these three things. My first priority is to ensure security so far as I can. So, I have looked to develop defences and new weapons against our enemies so we have a better chance of surviving."

"Yes, I can see that Scott. What about health?"

"Health relies on many things I think. I have introduced things such as boiling water before anyone drinks it, heating the milk too. Variety in our diets is something I think is important and we are achieving that through better husbandry of our animals, better fishing and the introduction of things like honey. Using soap is crucial too and I know that the girls have explained to you how you must always wash things before eating and the like. But there is more that we need to do on this. I would improve the disposal of our waste if I could and also we need to be careful about how we care for our teeth. I'm thinking about these things."