Isla from the Clan MacCoinnich and Castle Stormeil fell in love with a boy, Gavan of Clan MacColuim of Castle Tàileach. Their families had been fighting each other for over one hundred years, so long that no one could even remember what they were fighting about, but that mattered little to the two families, and so Isla and Gavan were forbidden from seeing each other.

The two young lovers, however, were not easily dissuaded. They would meet at the glen, exactly halfway between the two lands, and spend long hours speaking of a future they would share.

Times were hard and very dangerous. Seasons of bad crops and tides of illness swept across the country. Raids between the two neighbouring kingdoms were taking their toll and food was becoming scarce. The girl’s father, the Laird of Stormeil, was unsure how he was going to provide for his tenants over the coming winter, and then one day, he was approached by a Baron, seeking the hand of Isla in marriage.

The Baron was ruthless and had an army of men. He vowed to protect the Laird’s tenants and bring in food, and promised to join Stormeil in fighting the MacColuim of Tàileach. All the Laird had to do was give his daughter’s hand in marriage.

The Laird despised the Baron, but he knew that without the Baron’s help, many of his tenants would die through the winter, and he was already unable to pay the King the taxes he owed. He would lose his castle and his land, and his family would be cast out to fend for themselves. So, the Laird reluctantly agreed to the wedding.

Isla and Gavan continued to meet as often as they could, but it was growing increasingly dangerous. In tears, Isla told Gavan of her father’s plan to marry her off to the Baron. But she was followed by some of her father’s men and their romance was discovered. Isla bargained with her father’s men to release Gavan, promising she would return with them, and pleaded with Gavan to leave. Then Isla was taken back to the castle and locked in her room until the wedding.

Gavan told his father the Laird of Stormeil’s plan. It was quickly decided that Gavan must wed Isla and end the planned union of the Baron and the MacCoinnichs, lest all at Castle Tàileach face being destroyed by the Baron when he joined forces with Isla’s father.

The night before the wedding, a lavish feast was held in Castle Stormeil. The girl, grief-stricken over her upcoming marriage to the brutal Baron, asked to be excused when she could take no more, and her mother, feeling sorry for her, urged her father to allow her to leave.