The Flight of the Heron

Product Information

The Flight of the Heron, by D. K. Broster". Country Life. London. 14 November 1925 . Retrieved 25 March 2023. a b c d Lorna Sage, The Cambridge Guide to Women's Writing in English Cambridge University Press, 1999 ISBN 0-521-66813-1, p. 94.

Ewen Cameron's foster-father, who has the two sights, predicts their meeting five times, through an encounter with a heron, and these meetings do indeed come about. Though each is unswervingly loyal to his own allegiance, in the course of the rebellion they continue to meet, and their friendship develops and deepens in adversity. Angus MacMartin (Finlay Currie) was the blind soothsayer who foresaw the flight of the heron, which was meant to herald the coming together of a young highland chieftain and an English officer. His prophecy is fulfilled by Ewen Cameron (Ian McCulloch) and Captain Keith Windham (Jon Laurimore), who-although on opposing sides, come to know and respect each other. However, history is set on course for one of the bloodiest battles ever fought on British soil, and one that would tear apart the clan system in Scotland forever. The production was Scottish Television's most expensive at that time for a children's drama and their investment amounted to around 60,000 pounds. Much of this was recouped by repeating the series on the same night but in a late-night slot for adults illustrating the strength of children's drama in the 1960s. Extra credence was given to the series by filming all the location scenes right on the spot where the actual events had taken place some 200 years before. Their fates are linked inextricably when a highland prophecy tells Ewen that the flight of a heron will predict five meetings with an Englishman who will cause him much harm but also render a great service.Set in Scotland in the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion, this is the story of an unlikely friendship between Keith Windham, a career soldier in the British Army, and a young Highland chieftain who follows Bonnie Prince Charlie in his bid for the throne. Extra credence was given to the series by filming all location scenes on the exact spot where the actual events had taken place some 200 years previously – among them, Fort Augustus at the southern end of Loch Ness. I'm fairly sure Broster knew what she was doing. She certainly doesn't take it to the sexual, but there is intimacy galore. Other, earlier books of hers (Mr. Rowl, The Wounded Name, even to some extent the religious novel she co-wrote, The Vision Splendid) have similar pre-slash - or, if you prefer, romantic friendship - elements. But this is the one that is most perfectly conceived, and when I scribble, I still find myself unconsciously imitating moments from "The Flight of the Heron." Dorothy Kathleen Broster (2 September 1877 – 7 February 1950), usually known as D. K. Broster, was an English novelist and short-story writer. Her fiction consists mainly of historical romances set in the 18th or early 19th centuries. Her best known novel is The Flight of the Heron (1925), set during the Jacobite rising of 1745. I really do find that relaxing; there is something exciting about dipping into a complete unknown. You might find a gem! Or something awesomely bad. Or just something really bizarre.

His prophecy is fulfilled by Ewen Cameron (Ian McCulloch) and Captain Keith Windham (Jon Laurimore), who – although on opposing sides – come to know and respect one another. I was given this book as a present nearly forty years ago. Struggled as a child (just preteen) to read it, but held on - it had reputation for being good. Broster avoided personal publicity. During her lifetime, many of her readers wrongly assumed she was both male and Scottish. [4] She died in Bexhill Hospital on 7 February 1950, aged 73. Angus McMartin (Currie) was the blind soothsayer who foresaw the flight of the heron, which was meant to herald the coming together of a young highland chieftain and an English officer. It is the most popular of Broster’s works, having remained in print throughout the twentieth century and been adapted multiple times for radio, television and the stage. Broster wrote two sequels, The Gleam in the North (1927) and The Dark Mile (1929); while these were originally published as loose sequels, some later descriptions and omnibus editions use the title ‘The Jacobite Trilogy’ for the three novels.Epic period drama made by Scottish Television and based on D.K. Broster's 1925 novel centred round fictional events at the time of the non-fictional Jacobite Rebellion of 1746 and leading up to the battle of Culloden. However, one of the bloodiest battles fought on British soil is on the way and one that would tear apart the clan system in Scotland forever.

Broster’s previous novels were largely set during the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, but she was inspired to write about the ’45 during a visit to the Scottish Highlands. She wrote that ‘the spirit of the place got such a hold upon me that before I left I had the whole story planned almost in spite of myself.’ [1] Love across battle lines” is one of my very favorite tropes, and this squeezes every bit of angsty juice out of it. To give more of a taste of how this goes, I’ll summarize the first fifth or so. Waterhouse, Ruth (1996). "Dorothy Kathleen Broster". In Hettinga, Donald; Schmidt, Gary D. (eds.). Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 160: British Children’s Writers, 1914-1960. Detroit: Gale Research Inc. p.76. ISBN 0810393557.

You may also be interested in...

Keith refuses to surrender, and they have a swordfight. Ewen defeats him and, weakened by his wounds and exhaustion, Keith passes out. He wakes up cradled in Ewen’s arms. And so begins a friendship, or possibly “friendship,” which becomes the most important thing in Keith’s life and second only in Ewen’s life to his beloved Scotland. I got a teeny bit of time off before finals week, so naturally I thought the most relaxing possible thing to do would be to settle down with a completely random book found on the library free giveaway shelf.