Other historical bits I loved about this story is that the Scots had a tradition to bury the placenta beneath a tree. They believed if the tree weakened and died, the child would as well. Yet if the tree thrived, so would the child. I just love the old wives-tales. I think this one is linked to the Picts or ancient worship to the Gods, which may or may not have been carried out into the future. In my story, the Gunns would do so.
Sometimes as a writer the timeline of events doesn't match up, but it's enough to inspire the historical element into the story. I had to tweak just a little. As to the western lands of Scotland, it's true that Domhnall mac Raghnaill tried to keep the lands from both Haakon, the King of Norway, and Alexander II, the King of Scotland, though the fighting didn't really begin until around the year 1244 when Alexander tried to buy the lands from Norway without much success. Scotland invaded Norway's territories in 1249. We know how it ends and fortunately the western territory is part of Scotland's beautiful great nation.
If you've read on A Highland Hill you know that poor Kenneth is a warrior who is haunted by his past. Elisa does everything to save him. In the story, his horse ails and they spend the night in the stable, a round stable with more than one floor. In my research, I found that clans that had armies often had such large stables. I suppose the roundness of them was for a purpose, but what ??? I had to make Elisa a veggie lover in this book, which was inspired by my 2nd daughter. And of course, Elisa had to torment Kenneth to get him to realize how much he cared for her.
I absolutely loved writing this story and hoped you enjoyed reading it.
Happy Historical reading,
Kara Griffin
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