25th. October 2012
Next Tuesday, (30th.) in the Edinburgh Central Library 7-9
George 1V Bridge Edinburgh (6 to 7.30 p.m.) sees the launch a a new book by
Society member Marie Macpherson
entitled;
"The First Blast of the
Trumpet"
As the Rev StewartLamont, author of "The Swordbearer", a biography of John Knox writes
in his review;
"This is an intriguing fictional tale of the early life of
John Knox.
All member s of the Society are cordially invited to the
opening when refreshments will be served and their will be period music from the duo "Shattered Consort"
A renowned academic Marie is the winner of
the Martha Hamilton prize for creative writing from the University of Edinburgh
and also writer for the year 2011 awarded by Tyne and Esk writers Marie will be
presenting a short documentary film followed by a reading from her novel and
book signing.
Signed hardback copies of the book signed
by the author will be available to purchase - price £20.
Society member Ann McMillan has written a
review for which we are much indebted as follows;
It is Halloween in Hailes Castle Elizabeth
wishes to marry David Lindsey the poet and tutor to James V, but they prove to
be star-crossed lovers. Elizabeth ’s Uncle, John
Hepburn, the Prior of St. Andrews , has different
plans for her, and for her sister who really does have a vocation for the
religious life. Prior Hepburn decides that his niece Elizabeth will eventually
become the Prioress of St. Mary’s Haddington, not for pious reasons but to
further family interests. Thus begins the tale of the birth of the Scottish
Reformation.
Most of the famous players from the 16th century
appear, and because of the excellent research their roles seem natural and
believable; they include Marie of Guise, John Knox, ‘Bell the Cat’ Douglas,
James 1V and V, and the various warring families of the age, amongst them the
brutish Douglases and the devious Hepburns. Herein James 1V is not the golden
monarch so beloved by his people, but a posturing man who enjoys acting the
drunken jester at a wedding and who cannot wait to rush into the nuptial
chamber to comment on the groom’s performance [the bride has already been his
mistress] in ‘tail-toddle’. Nothing could dissuade James from his ill-judged
campaign in Flodden , with lack of planning and
untried weapons and his misguided cult of chivalry. Considering the
catastrophic effect of Flodden Dr. MacPherson deals with it briefly. However
the aftermath and effects are apparent throughout the book: the rivalries
around the young King, the ‘widows of Flodden ’
with their ragged starving children and the young undisciplined orphaned
nobles.
In pre-Reformation Scotland sins of the flesh were
considered venial rather than mortal and almost every churchman had at least
one mistress, and several had a ‘wheen o’ weans’ whose futures had to be paid
for. There were constant festivals and plays to keep the populace happy, and
morality and nativity plays served like the music halls of a later date with
the players being insulted and pelted with weapons.
Witnessing a nativity play where jeering comments question the parentage of
the ‘Babe of Bethlehem’ and lewd suggestions query what the Virgin and the
Angel Gabriel ‘were up to’, the young student priest John Knox is horrified.
Unable to stand the blasphemy any longer, he stands up and harangues the
raucous crowd – only to be slapped down by being hit across the face with a wet
haddock for his pains. So his debut as a preacher is not deemed much of a
success.
It is from this ‘puddle of Papistry’, corruption and
superstition that the young Knox begins to emerge and to question the practises
of the Church and the role of the ‘ Anti-Christ’. The villain of the book is the Catholic
Church and the nastiest villain of all is James Beaton, who was to become
Cardinal of Scotland. He first appears
in France
as a vain popinjay with every conceivable vice, there is even a sickly odour
around him, and it is not the odour of sanctity! The book is peopled with
marvellous characters, most of whom existed. Some have a Chaucer-like quality -
the gluttonous voluptuaries, the Hepburn brother and sister. They both eat
enormous meals, and dress richly under their religious robes; and Janet’s cell
in St. Mary’s is full of rich furnishings and trappings. With lewd thick lips,
and small eyes that examine young maidens with a lascivious stare, the
corpulent Prior indulges himself in every excess. Prioress Janet is huge, with bulbous eyes set
in a podgy face and evil smelling breath.
There is an hilarious scene where she tucks into a dish of
stag's testicles that ‘tastes like strumpet’s teats’. The rest of the convent
ate sparse and humble fare.
The protagonists are human, and no one is presented with a
monopoly of right. There is a tenderness and humanity in the presentation of
real historical characters. Marie of Guise comforting another mother as she
watches her beloved little daughter run happily up the gang plank to the ship
that will take her out of her life. The sturdy little girl plays tig with her
‘Marys’ on board the ship unaware that her life is about to change.
Betsy the fictional nursemaid to the Hepburn girls, lovingly
laying out her dead youngest charge [‘her little harebell’] in her mother’s wedding gown, and swallowing
her tears, which can be saved for later, because if ‘tears fall on the body,
the spirit will not rest’. The young Adam Hepburn tries manfully to hold true
to the Hepburn family motto ‘Keep Tryst’ – Keep Trust. Going off to Flodden , like a young Hector proud in his shining armour,
he salutes his Andromache and his young son on the battlements and, like
Hector, never to return.
Dr Macpherson’s thrilling narrative is evocative and
descriptive, full of the wonderful Scots words of the 16th century
and there are many quotations from the rick literature of the period. Being a
linguist – she has ‘taught languages across Europe from Madrid to Moscow’- Dr
Macpherson makes the Scots words and phrases sound natural and expected, and
they do not appear forced nor in ‘inverted commas’.
The writer’s excellent research uncovers a harsh, decaying,
unforgiving and raw world of rivalry and betrayal, where sins and decisions
made can affect further generations. The brutal, earthy world of the 16th
century seems real and immediate, laced with saving humour. The romances are
gritty and sensual without being gratuitous. There are some surprising plot
revelations but, although questionable, they seem possible and believable. In
the chaotic upheavals of this uncertain world with the looming religious
conflicts, there are the stirring of the Reformation to come which will change Scotland
forever and lead to the Enlightenment.
I look forward with impatience to the second book in the
Knox trilogy.
Ann McMillan the Marie
Stuart Society. Hon. President of the Dorothy Dunnett Society
The First Blast s of
the Trumpet by Marie McPherson is published by Knox Robinson
ISBN 978-1-908483-21-8 380pp £19.99 [Hbk] and £6.17 e-book.
Available from bookstores and on line at
The Book Depository, Amazon and Books from Scotland
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