A Note of Thanks

I’m very grateful to Bill Drummond Moray, twenty-second Laird of Abercairny, who knows his family’s history better than I ever will, and who, with his wife, Emma, has been generous and kind to me with all my inquiries.

My thanks also to his brother, John Drummond Moray, for taking time to walk with me across the field to show me where the first great house his forebears built at Abercairny had once stood.

Anna and Daniel Moray Parker are owed more than simple thanks, and well they know it. This book would not be what it is were it not for the help they’ve given me—the warmth with which they’ve always welcomed me to Abercairny and their willingness to answer any question I might ask. Their children—Noah, Francis, Jacob, and Minerva—have been equally as helpful, each in their own way, and I am beyond grateful to them all.

Just as Anna and her children are direct descendants of the Laird of Abercairny mentioned in this novel (and by a happy twist of genealogy, of Captain Thomas Gordon), Alex Graeme is descended from the Black Pate through his grandson Patrick (Maggie’s father).

Alex, award-winning owner of Unique Devon Tours, thoughtfully provided me with his own family history notes and throughout the writing of this novel has stood ready to supply me with any information I might need about the Graemes.

Alison Lindsay, head of the Legal and Historical Search Rooms at the National Records of Scotland, has already been mentioned in my previous note, About the Characters, but deserves to be mentioned twice for her continuing support and friendship and for her ability to always and inevitably find the single reference I despaired of ever finding. I will owe her dinner till the end of time.

To all the staff and volunteers at Gladstone’s Land, but most particularly to Anna Brereton, visitor services manager there, my thanks for making all my stays within the upstairs flat seem more like homecomings, and for the time and effort taken to show me behind the scenes so I could craft my scenes.

I owe a debt of gratitude to Nigel Nairne and Allan Somerville, who, fortunately for me, were both working as senior castle guides at Edinburgh Castle (although Allan, after more than thirty years of service, recently retired) on the day I wandered up to them and asked if they knew where, precisely, Robin Moray would have been held prisoner. They not only shared their valuable time and their knowledge of the castle’s history, but let me stand in Robin’s footsteps and see briefly through his eyes. A rare gift, for a writer.

To Lara Haggerty, thirty-first Keeper of Books at the incredible Library of Innerpeffray—established nearly three centuries ago as Scotland’s first free public lending library—my thanks for sharing some of the books, including the atlas, that made their way into this story and for letting me hold history in my hands in the shape of the little Bible that was carried by the great Marquis of Montrose, still with his jottings in the margins. It’s a moment that I never will forget.