The Lewis Man
Chapters (43)
- Pronunciation
- Prologue
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-one
- Twenty-two
- Twenty-three
- Twenty-four
- Twenty-five
- Twenty-six
- Twenty-seven
- Twenty-eight
- Twenty-nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-one
- Thirty-two
- Thirty-three
- Thirty-four
- Thirty-five
- Thirty-six
- Thirty-seven
- Thirty-eight
- Thirty-nine
- Forty
- Acknowledgments
The Lewis Man
Also by Peter May
The Blackhouse
New York • London
© 2012 by Peter May, represented by Rouergue
First published in the United States by Quercus in 2014
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e-ISBN: 978-1-62365-820-5
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Cover photo © David Wilson
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, institutions, places, and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons—living or dead—events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
In memory of my dad
That is where they live:
Not here and now, but where all happened once.
From “The Old Fools” by Philip Larkin
Pronunciation
Pronunciation
Here is a simple guide to the English pronunciation of some of the Gaelic names and words in the book. ch is pronounced as in the Scottish word loch, and the emphasis is placed on the underlined syllable:
| Gaelic name | Pronunciation |
| An Sgeir | An Skerr |
| Beag | Beg |
| Ceit | Kate |
| Coinneach | Coinyach |
| Dubh | Doo |
| Eachan | Yachan |
| Eilean | Yaylan |
| Eilidh | Aylay |
| Fionnlagh | Feeonlach |
| Gaelic | Gahlick |
| Iain | Yan |
| Mairead | Myrad |
| Mamaidh | Mammy |
| Marsaili | Marshally |
| Niseach | Neeshuch |
| Ruadh | Rooagh |
| Seonaidh | Shawnay |
| Seoras | Shawrass |
| Sine | Sheenuh |
| Slàinthe mhath | Slange e vah |
| Uilleam | Willyam |
Machair, pronounced macher, is the Gaelic word for the fertile sandy soil around the coastal areas of the Western Isles of Scotland. It has passed into the English language as a result of international concern over the problem of “machair erosion.” Much of the machair is gradually being reclaimed by the sea.
Prologue
Prologue
On this storm-lashed island three hours off the north-west coast of Scotland, what little soil exists gives the people their food and their heat. It also takes their dead. And very occasionally, as today, gives one up.
It is a social thing, the peat-cutting. Family, neighbours, children, all gathered on the moor with a mild wind blowing out of the south-west to dry the grasses and keep the midges at bay. Annag is just five years old. It is her first peat-cutting, and the one she will remember for the rest of her life.