Authors: Liz Curtis Higgs

Fair Is the Rose (62 page)

BOOK: Fair Is the Rose

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When Leana and Jamie visit Glensone, they are treated to fiddle tunes chosen from those described in George Emmerson’s
Scotland through Her Country Dances
(1967). The jig “Johnny McGill” was named for an itinerant dancing master from Ayrshire who composed the tune. Burns would later add lyrics and call it “Tibbie Dunbar.” An even older tune is “Green Grow the Rashes,” first identified as “Cou thou me the raschyes green” in a book of Scottish music from 1549. Burns added lyrics to this tune as well, and his verses were amusingly autobiographical: “The sweetest hours that e’er I spend, are spent among the lasses, O.”

“Croup” was an old Scottish name for a disease frequently found in rural Fife, Ayrshire, and Galloway, as noted in John Comrie’s
History of Scottish Medicine to 1860
(1927) and as experienced by our poor Rose. Dr. Francis Home (1719–1813) was the first to describe croup in 1765 and to recommend a tracheotomy as the solution. The disease would be properly diagnosed and named a half-century later by Pierre Bretonneau, who called it
La Diphthérite
—diphtheria.

Leana had good cause for concern when Rose fell ill, for medicine was a primitive art in the eighteenth century, and bloodletting—phlebotomy—was a common practice. The few instruments described in Dr. Gilchrist’s etui were often the only tools at a physician’s disposal. No wonder Scottish folk turned to the old ways when illness struck! Saint Queran’s Well—one of some six hundred Scottish healing wells—still exists near the hamlet of Islesteps. When the well was cleaned out in 1870, coins were discovered from the reign of Elizabeth I. Today rags left by more recent visitors can be found tied to the nearby bushes.

Rose’s recipe for marmalade was adapted from my favorite book of Scottish recipes, F. Marian McNeill’s
The Scots Kitchen with Old Time Recipes
(1932). A tourist soon learns that no “full Scottish breakfast” is complete without a rack of toast served with a huge slab of butter and a pot of marmalade, as well as a bowl of porridge doused in rich cream. Of marmalade and porridge McNeill writes, “These two dishes are Scotland’s chief culinary gifts to the world.” Scottish porridge is smoother and paler in color than the hearty, lumpy oatmeal served in America. Raisins, however, are not served on the side; quite a few eyebrows rose round the breakfast table when I requested currants and dumped them into my porridge!

The herbs in Leana’s physic garden and stillroom were chosen with care from two recent books: Tess Darwin’s
The Scots Herbal: The Plant Lore of Scotland
(1996) and
Scottish Plants for Scottish Gardens
(1996) by Jill, Duchess of Hamilton. Mrs. M. Grieve’s recently reprinted two-volume set,
A Modern Herbal
(1931), is a grand resource for those of us who want to learn about wild arum, cowslip, shepherd’s-purse, comfrey, and valerian. The list of medicinal herbs is endless and ever fascinating.

I am grateful to be surrounded by editors and friends who cherish
such details, as I do. Heartfelt thanks to my editorial team at WaterBrook Press—Laura Barker, Dudley Delffs, Carol Bartley, and Paul Hawley—and to Benny Gillies, my favorite Scottish bookseller, cartographer, and proofreader. His well-tended bookshop near Castle Douglas in the village of Kirkpatrick Durham is brimming with Scottish books, maps, and prints. Do visit him online at
www.bennygillies.co.uk
. I am also indebted to several “specialist readers”: Blessings to Madame Susan Thompson for her command of French, Barbara Wiedenbeck for her shepherding skills, Verna McClellan for her expertise in spinning and carding, Leesa Gagel for her eagle eye, and Ginia Hairston for her exceptional horse sense. Finally, I can never thank enough my agent and friend, Sara Fortenberry, who read the manuscript more times than I can count and offered ongoing encouragement and wise direction. Bless you, dearie.

Kindly join me on a virtual tour of the Scottish countryside featured in
Fair Is the Rose
and
Thorn in My Heart
via my Web site:
www.LizCurtisHiggs.com
. You’ll also find there my complete Scottish bibliography, additional historical notes, diaries from my trips to Scotland, readers’ comments, links to my favorite Scottish sites, a discography of Celtic music and soundtracks that inspire me as I write, and some uniquely Scottish recipes.

If you would enjoy receiving my free newsletter,
The Graceful Heart
, printed and mailed just once a year, please contact me directly:

Liz Curtis Higgs
P.O. Box 43577
Louisville, KY 40253-0577

Or visit my Web site:

www.LizCurtisHiggs.com

Do join Jamie, Leana, and Rose once more for
Whence Came a Prince
, which brings their story to a rousing conclusion. Until then, dear reader, you are a blissin!

Fair Is the Rose
R
EADER’S
G
UIDE

In books lies the soul of the whole Past Time.

T
HOMAS
C
ARLYLE

1.
Fair Is the Rose
begins with the very scene where
Thorn in My Heart
ends … but this time we see things from Rose’s viewpoint. She soon tells Jamie, “What is
right
and what is
fair
are not necessarily the same.” Is that a true statement? Does Rose have a rightful claim to Jamie’s heart? Does he treat Rose fairly in this difficult situation? If you could advise Rose at this turning point in her life, what would you say to her?

2. Lachlan McBride cautions Rose, “Your bonny face may open doors better left closed.” How do Rose’s fair face and figure work for her, and how do they work against her? Does charming Rose elicit sympathy from you … or jealousy? Do you find yourself rooting
for
her or
against
her? Which of the following quotes best describes Rose McBride: “A rosebud set with willful little thorns” (Alfred, Lord Tennyson) or “That crimson rose how sweet and fair!” (Robert Burns)?

3. In
Thorn in My Heart
, Jamie’s behavior is often less than honorable. In
Fair Is the Rose
, we find him becoming more trustworthy. Describe the positive attributes you find in Jamie McKie. And in what ways might he disappoint you? What are Jamie’s weaknesses, and how do they affect his relationships with Rose and with Leana?

4. Is Leana “too good to be true,” or can you relate to her struggles and flaws? What incidents have most influenced Leana’s life to date?
In particular, how has motherhood changed Leana? When she stands up to the kirk session, what thoughts and feelings run through your mind and heart? And when she flees to Twyneholm, are you proud of Leana or disappointed in her? Could she remain at Auchengray in such circumstances? Could you?

5. What do you make of the disciplinary actions of the early Scottish kirk—the session meetings, the repentance stool, the jougs, the subscribing of bands, the testimonial letters? How might conventions like these create a better society? And what are the dangers inherent in such practices? How would you compare the role of religion in today’s culture with its role in eighteenth-century Scotland?

6. Each of the three main characters—Jamie, Leana, Rose—would be justified in echoing Rose’s oft-stated claim, “ ’Tis not fair!” In what ways have they been wronged and by whom? Which one of the three has the most cause for complaint? Describe how each person handles unfair treatment and what that says about his or her character. How else does the concept of fairness play out in this story?

7. The epigraphs that introduce each chapter are meant to foreshadow the action that follows or to capture the essence of a character’s struggles.
Chapter 55
opens: “For every rose a thorn doth bear.” What thorns press into Rose’s tender heart in this chapter? Choose another epigraph from the novel that strikes you as particularly appropriate, and explain its significance to the story.

8. Rose tries everything to heal her barren womb—from cantrips and herbs to a predawn pilgrimage to Saint Queran’s Well. Think of the various reasons she is so desperate for a child of her own. Which ones ring the most true to you? In what ways might modern women define themselves by their childbearing abilities?

9. In his poem “Halloween,” Robert Burns describes “the principal charms and spells of that night, so big with prophecy to the peasantry in the west of Scotland”:

Some merry, friendly, country-folks
Together did convene,
To burn their nits, an’ pou their stocks,
An’ haud their Halloween
Fu’ blythe that night.

Do the Scottish traditions of dunking for apples, building bonfires, and carving faces in turnips conjure up fond memories of your own childhood autumns? How has your view of Halloween changed over the years? What do you make of Rose’s many divining rites? Are they harmless diversions or risky forays into a darker world?

10. Do you consider Jane Grierson the “bad girl” of
Fair Is the Rose?
Or might that title belong to Lillias Brown? How and why do these women make a mark on young, impressionable Rose? Perhaps you’ve found yourself drawn to such risktakers at one time or another. What is their appeal? Might they serve some divine purpose in our lives? in Rose’s life?

11. When they share their testimonies before the kirk session, Rose, then Jamie, and finally Leana strive to “speak the truth in love.” Review their statements in
chapters 40
,
41
, and
42
. What truths do you find there? And what untruths do you discover? What one word might you choose to describe Rose’s testimony? and Jamie’s? and Leana’s? Was the outcome of the session meeting what you expected? Why or why not?

12. Reverend Gordon undergoes a significant change of heart throughout
Fair Is the Rose
. Compare the man we first meet in
chapter 4
with the man we see in
chapter 59
. How might you explain such a transformation? Can you pinpoint one or two places in the novel where his behavior shifts? What conclusions might you draw about the difference between a religion based on law and a religion founded on grace?

13. Jamie’s uncle, Lachlan—like the biblical Laban after whom this character is patterned—depends on devious words and clever deception to
accomplish his will. Can a person simply be
bad
, without explanation or justification? What do you make of Lachlan’s relationship with the Widow Douglas of Edingham Farm? How might life at Auchengray be affected if Lachlan McBride suddenly became a happily married man?

14. The scene in which Rose asks Leana for the valerian Ian has pulled from the garden, then hurts Leana’s feelings and sends her fleeing into the gloaming in search of Jamie, parallels the account in Genesis 30:14-16, in which Rachel offers Leah a night with Jacob in exchange for a fertility plant pulled from the ground by Leah’s son. However, what was common practice circa 1900 B.C. is hardly acceptable in either A.D. 1790 or the present! I decided young Rose would never make such an offer, nor would Leana throw aside her band and all that preceded it for one night of passion with Jamie. Had the story followed the biblical account to the letter, how might that have altered the lives of Jamie, Leana, and Rose in the days that followed? How would their relationships with one another and with God have been affected? And how would it have changed your opinion of Rose? of Leana? of Jamie? What might this pivotal scene suggest about choices and consequences?

15. Though our story comes to a meaningful close, clearly the tale is not yet finished. How do you hope things will conclude for Jamie, Leana, and Rose in
Whence Came a Prince?
All three of them long to love and to be loved, but that is not all they need. What do you think Jamie needs most? And what of Leana? Finally, what might Rose require above all things? What is your definition of a “happy ending,” in novels and in life?

Scots Glossary

a’
—all

aboot
—about

aften
—often

ain
—own

ane
—one

anither
—another

argle-bargle
—argument

athegither
—altogether

auld
—old

awa
—away, distant

bacheleer
—bachelor