Some thoughts and research…
Characters:
Kaitlyn Maude Sheffield - born 1994
Magnus Archibald Caelhin Campbell - born 1681
Isla Peace Barbara Campbell - born October 4, 2020
Baby Archie Colin Campbell - born August 12, 2382
Lady Mairead (Campbell) Delapointe she is the sister of the Earl of Breadalbane
Hayley Sherman - Kaitlyn’s best friend
Quentin Peters - Magnus’s security guard/colonel in his future army
Beaty Peters - Quentin’s wife. Born in the late 1680s
Zach Greene - The chef
Emma Garcia - Household manager
Baby Ben Greene - born May 15, 2018
Sean Campbell -Magnus’s half-brother
Lizbeth Campbell - Magnus’s half-sister
Sean and Lizbeth are the children born of Lady Mairead and her first husband.
Bella Florentin - mother of Archie
The Earl of Breadalbane - Lady Mairead’s brother
Grandma Barb
Grandpa Jack
Fraoch MacDonald - born in 1714, is aged 26 in 1740 when he meets Magnus is pretending to be a MacLeod
Colonel Hammond Donahoe - Magnus calls him Hammie, come to find out — cousin.
King Roderick - now just plain Roderick, because Magnus has kicked his arse and sent him into hiding. Wait, he’s back.
The line of kings in Riaghalbane
Donnan the Second - murdered by Kaitlyn Campbell in the year 2381
Samuel - Donnan’s brother. Attempted takeover during the transfer of power between Donnan and Magnus, uncrowned. (Killed in the arena by Magnus.)
Magnus the First - crowned August 11, 2382 day before the birth of his son, Archibald Campbell, next in line for the throne.
Some Scottish and Gaelic words that appear within the book series:
Chan eil an t-sìde cho math an-diugh 's a bha e an-dé - The weather's not as good today as it was yesterday.
Tha droch shìde ann - The weather is bad.
Dreich - dull and miserable weather
Turadh - a break in the clouds between showers
Solasta - luminous shining (possible nickname)
Splang - flash, spark, sparkle
Mo reul-iuil - my North Star (nickname)
Tha thu a ’fàileadh mar ghaoith - you have the scent of a breeze.
Osna - a sigh
Rionnag - star
Sollier - bright
Ghrian - the sun
Mo ghradh - my own love
Tha thu breagha - you are beautiful
Mo chridhe - my heart
Corrachag-cagail - dancing and flickering ember flames
Mo reul-iuil, is ann leatsa abhios mo chridhe gu brath - My North Star, my heart belongs to you forever
Dinna ken - didn’t know
A h-uile là sona dhuibh 's gun là idir dona dhuib - May all your days be happy ones
Tae - to
Winna - won’t or will not
Daena - don’t
Tis - it is or there is. This is most often a contraction t’is, but it looked messy and hard to read on the page so I removed the apostrophe. For Magnus it’s not a contraction, it’s a word.
Och nae - Oh no.
Ken, kent, kens - know, knew, knows
iora rua - a squirrel. (Magnus compares Kaitlyn to this ;o)
scabby-boggin tarriwag - Ugly-foul smelling testicles
latha fada - long day
sùgh am gròiseid - juice in the gooseberry
Beinn Labhair - Ben Lawers, the highest mountain in the southern part of the Scottish Highlands. It lies to the north of Loch Tay.
"And I will come again, my love, though it were ten thousand mile…” is from the beautiful Robert Burns poem, O my Luve's like a red, red rose, written in 1794 after Magnus’s time.
beannachd leibh - farewell or blessings be with you.
"Fra banc to banc, fra wod to wod, I rin, Ourhailit with my feeble fantasie, Lyk til a leif that fallis from a trie…” is from a Sonet by Mark Alexander Boyd. 1563-1601
breac - trout.
iasg mòr - big fish
uile-bhèist - monster
mucag is Gaelic for piglet
m’bhean - my wife
m’bhean ghlan - means clean wife, Fraoch's nickname for Hayley.
Droch-spiorad - evil spirit
Locations:
Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island, Florida, present day
Magnus’s home in Scotland - Balloch. Built in 1552. In early 1800s it was rebuilt as Taymouth Castle. (Maybe because of the breach in the walls caused by our siege from the future?) Situated on the south bank of the River Tay, in the heart of the Grampian Mountains. In 2382 it is a ruin.
Kilchurn Castle - Magnus’s childhood home, favorite castle of his uncle Baldie. On an island at the northeastern end of Loch Awe. In the region Argyll.
The kingdom of Magnus the First, Riaghalbane, is in Scotland.
His Caisteal Morag is very near Balloch Castle lying on the south bank of the River Tay about a mile from Loch Tay.
Edinburgh in the year 1554. I spent a lot of time enjoying this reconstruction...
True things that happened:
Sir Colin, otherwise known as 'Grey Colin’, began building a tower house on the east end of Loch Tay, known as Balloch Castle in 1551-1552. Balloch means 'the house at the narrow pass'.
Sir Colin is said to have chosen the site for Balloch castle because he was instructed in a dream to found it where he heard a blackbird sing.
In 1787, Robert Burns described the beauty of Balloch Castle and its surrounding lands in verse, as follows:-
The Tay meandering sweet in infant pride,
The Palace rising on its verdant side,
The lawns, wood fringed, in Nature's native taste,
The hillocks dropped in Nature's native haste...
His son, Sir Duncan Campbell, born in 1550 (I fudged that date a bit) was otherwise known as Black Duncan, or Duncan of the Seven Castles. He is the bairn Kaitlyn nurses.
Here’s a few of the dark things he did in his lifetime:
He imprisoned his first wife while he courted another, swore he wasn’t married, and made his first wife deny their marriage before he let her free.
He had many men of Clan Gregor killed and their lands given to Campbells.
Apparently he had a pit in the courtyard of his Finlarig Castle for all the beheadings of noblemen. There was also a special oak tree for the hanging of commoners.
Sir Duncan's lands were widespread and difficult to control he built or strengthened seven castles:
Kilchurn Castle on Loch Awe was repaired.
Taymouth Castle, formerly known as Balloch, was strengthened at the east end of Loch Tay.
Edinample Castle at the west end of Loch Earn was built.
Achallader at the head of Glenorchy was built.
Finlarig at the west end of Loch Tay was built.
The island Castle on Loch Dochart was built.
Barcaldine was built.
From A Boke or Counseill Against the Disease Commonly Called the Sweate, or Sweatyng Sicknesse* (1552), a common and very deadly illness that year.
As Cynthia Tyler pointed out, “Sweating Sickness often ended quickly, in death... But, since Kaitlyn and Magnus are from different times, are healthier thanks to better nutrition, have tried to stay clean because they know about germs, maybe that's why they didn't succumb.”