Chapter 18: Keeping things warm

I managed to continue to avoid being alone with Eilean for some weeks. Gabrain kept the temperature up by telling me how much his mother liked me and how she was still speaking my name as she slept. I focussed my energy on other things.

I questioned Kirsty closely as to the conditions we might expect during winter. The summer temperature had been above what I was used to so I thought it was important to ask. She advised that I could expect lots of snow and ice, extreme cold, biting winds. That presented another set of challenges for me to think about. I decided that Gabrain would be a help in this, given how smart he was.

We sat on the grass outside the house after our evening meal and I introduced the idea that we should think about things that might help us cope with winter better.

"What kind of things might help our people withstand the cold, the ice, the snow?" I asked him.

"Well fire of course!" He replied.

"But what about when they are outside? There is no fire they can take with them to keep warm. What could we do about that?"

"What about stones Scott, they retain heat. I've noticed this when we have made a fire, the stones round the edge remain hot for ages."

"Good thinking Gabrain, that's the kind of idea we're looking for, now what else?"

"Animals. The animals seem to survive okay outside in the snow. Sheep, cattle, even the Eider ducks and they walk on the ice!"

"Brilliant Gabrain!" I exclaimed as his response gave me some new ideas.

His mention of sheep and ducks in particular has stimulated me to think of sheepskin jackets and eiderdown quilts and quilted clothing. These would certainly help ward off the cold and should be easy enough to fashion given the availability of the raw materials. I patted the boy on the back and he flashed a wide smile.

Nothing would do but that we should immediately set out to try and find some Eider duck nests. I guessed that these would be lined with down from the ducks and therefore should be a rich source of one of the materials we wanted. I snagged one of Kirsty's rush baskets and we headed out to scour the loch-side for our prize. After several hours the basket was full and we returned to the house to show the girls how well we had done.

"Very good Scott, but why have you been harvesting duck nests?" Asked Kirsty.

"You will appreciate this once you have put in a little work my dear!" I responded."

I explained to her that I wanted her to sew together some linen to make a cover big enough for the bed. The down was then to be emptied into the linen and its distribution evened out before cross stitching should be used to make sure the down didn't all move to the bottom of the 'quilt'. I suggested the down should be boiled first to make sure any germs were killed off before it went into the linen. I knew one basket of down wouldn't be enough so Gabrain and I went out again to collect more nests.

Several days later we had two down quilts and had tried them on the beds. Everyone agreed they made a huge difference and Eilean and the girls took it upon themselves to share the idea with other women in the camp. I suggested they also think about making quilted jackets and trousers as they would be good for going out in the cold.

Gabrain and I left the womenfolk to spread their new find and went out into the fields to find some of my shepherds. This proved to be a wasted trip as the shepherd informed me that all of the sheep that were slaughtered for food were slaughtered up at the camp and their hides cured there too. So, we made our way back to the settlement and asked where we might find the slaughterhouse. I had never been to this place before, didn't even know it existed. We found the tanner in the remotest corner of the camp and I was reminded why when the smell caught our noses.

"Yuck!" Cried Gabrain.

Yuck indeed. We took a number of already cured sheepskins from the tanner and made our way back to the house. The womenfolk turned their noses up at the smell but agreed to wash the skins for me after I told them what I intended to do with them.

It took several weeks but eventually we had four sheepskin jackets that fitted us and four pairs of ugg boots, soled with leather.

During those weeks, while the girls and Eilean were making our sheepskins, Gabrain and I had been working with the smith to create a basic hand-pump. Our success pleased me as I could think of a number of uses for this - serving ale from a barrel was one! - and the smith and Gabrain were impressed with what the pump could do.

"Scott, how did you think of this idea?" Gabrain asked me, his inquisitive nature showing itself again.

I thought quickly of a feasible explanation.

"Well Gabrain, you must spit sometimes?"

"Of course I do." He replied.

"What do you do immediately before you spit?"

He thought for a second before responding.

"I suppose I take a breath." He said.

"Exactly! You take in a breath of air and then force it and the spit out of your mouth far quicker and with more force than you took it in. It's the same principle with the pump. It takes in some liquid into a chamber and then when we push down on the handle the chamber is compressed and forces the liquid out under force just like you and I would spit.""

That seemed to be believable as an explanation because he nodded in understanding and let the matter rest

The next big event at Aird Driseig was a dramatic message from Colmgil to say that Saxons were advancing through Cowall and Bute, perhaps partly in retaliation for the raid into Northumbria some weeks ago. I had Niall begin to raise the lordship and sent a message to Lachlan to do likewise in Kintyre. I wasn't yet sure just how many men the two additional lordships could muster but I asked that the maximum possible be turned out. I also despatched a message to King Fergus to advise him what was going on and to request assistance should I need it.

A day later I was ready to cross Loch Fyne into Cowall to see for myself what the position was. The girls once more gave me a passionate send off with fierce hugs and demanding kisses. When I turned to the door I took in the sight of Eilean standing there, her head bowed submissively as usual. I strode to her and lifted her chin to land a kiss on her lips. I looked deeply into her eyes and a silent message passed between us. If I returned I would be with her and she knew and accepted it.

The womenfolk came to the door to see me off and stopped as I did when we all noticed Gabrain standing outside the door, his sword and targe at the ready.

"Gabrain, what is this?" I asked him.

"What?" He replied, playing the innocent.

"You don't think you're coming with me do you?"

"Of course! The Saxons are attacking my lands, my people. I must go to their aid."

"No Gabrain, you are too young. You'll have plenty of opportunity for battle later I can assure you. For now you must remain here at Aird Driseig and defend my camp while I go to try and defend yours."

He wheeled away in disgust knowing from my tone that I wouldn't change my mind. I boarded the longship with some one hundred and twenty Knapdale men, one hundred of them now long bow archers and we made the short crossing of Loch Fyne, landing at Kilfinan Bay on the Cowall peninsula. I decided to camp here while scouts went out and messengers took to horse and ship to advise Colmgil and Lachlan where I was.

Two days later and another three hundred Knapdale levies had joined me and two of my longships were off to Campbeltown to ferry the Kintyre men across. Colmgil had rallied some two hundred and fifty men from the Cowall and Bute lordship, a number I was disappointed in given the size of the lands. Still, I could not really blame some for trying to remain to protect their homes and possessions.

Scouts had come in to advise that there were about five thousand Saxons, currently they were making their way down Glendaruel, only some seven or eight miles away. I fretted as I waited for Lachlan; thinking furiously about what I could do when so heavily outnumbered. I couldn't rely on support reaching me from the King in time so the people of Cowall and Bute were dependent on me.

Lachlan arrived with three hundred Kintyre men, including the young Lord, Echdach mac Aed. I immediately sent the longships back to Aird Driseig to ferry some additional horses over and to urge the camp to begin to make as many additional arrows as they could.

My scouts kept up a flow of information so I knew the Saxons were moving cautiously, swinging eastwards at the foot of Glendaruel, probably aiming at Dun Uin. I was poring over my maps, looking for any advantage I could.

I made up my mind on what needed to be done in the first instance. I called for Lachlan and Colmgil and outlined my plan. They would take the majority of the men and march as quickly as they could across the peninsula to the shores of Loch Striven. I would send the ships round to ferry them across the very narrow loch to get ahead of the Saxons while I remained behind with fifty archers to try the old 'hit and run' tactic, wearing the Saxons down and hopefully reducing their numbers.

The longships returned with horses and we mounted up to go play some games with the Saxons. I sent the longships, with their additional cargo I had ordered, round the peninsula to rendezvous with the troops on Loch Striven. The archers and I rode towards Cruach nan Caorach, a hill that rose just over fifteen hundred feet that seemed to be on the Saxon line of march.

My archers 'sniped' at them from the hill and we picked off a few, halting their advance for a while, which would help give Lachlan and Colmgil more time to get the main body of men into position.

Mounting up, we rode through the marshy ground at the head of Loch Riddon and set up an ambush near Ormidale. My military knowledge was almost non-existent but I had read a bit and thought about something called enfilade fire and cross fire. To enfilade fire you fire along the long axis of your target. That way raising or lowering your aim will still have a chance of hitting the enemy, just at a different point in their lines. Cross fire was just having fire come at the target from two different sides. I decided to use a bit of both and split the archers into two groups of twenty-five, some twenty yards apart. I thought this formation would have the maximum impact.