In this last book of my Lyon’s Den series, both the hero and the heroine are from Scotland. 27% of my DNA is directly from Central Scotland. My 9th Great-Grandfather on my father’s side was the 7th Chieftain of the Clan MacThomas. John Mccomie (Iain Mòr), my 9x great-grandfather, has passed into the folklore of Perthshire. 40% of my DNA claims Celtic/Gaelic roots. According to the tale of the Mccomies, my 9th great-grandfather objected to the taxes the Earl of Atholl had placed on them. One must remember that the Mormaer or Earl of Atholl was the title of the holder of a medieval comital lordship straddling the highland province of Atholl (Ath Fodhla), now in northern Perthshire. Atholl is a special Mormaerdom, because a King of Atholl is reported from the Pictish period. ANYWAY, the Earl of Atholl thought to be done away with my great-grandfather by employing a champion swordsman from Italy. One problem existed; Mccomie slew the swordsman instead.
Let us have a look at some of the superstitions. These come from Spooky Scotland.
Baobhan Sìth: A particularly evil and dangerous female vampire from the highlands of Scotland who preyed on unwary male travellers in the glens and mountains. [I used the Baobhan Sìth in my vampiric Pride and Prejudice tale.]
Bodachan Sabhail (Little Old Man of the Barn): A brownie who would come to the aid of aging farmers and thresh their grain for them.
Brown Man of the Muirs: A dwarf from the Scottish borders who serves as a guardian spirit over the wild animals. He wore brown clothes and had a shock of frizzy red hair and wild looking eyes.
Cailleach Bheur: A blue-faced hag found in the Scottish Highlands or is known as the Carlin in eastern Scotland. She is also known as Beira, Queen of the Winter. She is ill-tempered and dangerous and is seen with a crow on her left shoulder. Associated with winter, she was reborn at Samhain or Halloween and ruled over winter when she brought the winter snows. She carried a magical staff which froze the ground with every tap. She also guarded animals in winter. A wooden log was burned at Yule in her honour.
Cailleachan: The Cailleachan are the eight hag sisters of the Cailleach. They are giantesses and are powerful thunder, storm or sea hags.
Dhu Guisch/ Beast of the Charred Forest/ The Dragon of Dornoch: The Beast of the Charred Forests, or Dhu Guisch, is a fearsome, fire-breathing dragon from Sutherland, Scotland, said to have incinerated vast ancient woodlands. This terrifying monster could only be slain by someone who saw it before it saw them, a feat achieved by Saint Gilbert of Dornoch.
Domhnull Mor Bad an t-Sithean (Big Donald, King of the Faeries): Big Donald, King of the Fairies, resides in Glen More’s Loch Morlich area. He’s known for playing invisible bagpipes and once drove away lowlanders by pelting them with sticks and stones.
Fachan (Peg-Leg-Jack/ Direach): A giant/ cruel, malevolent faerie with improbable deformities. One hand emerges from his chest; one leg is attached to his haunch; one eye rests in his head, one tooth juts from his mouth and one tuft of rigidly inflexible hair grows from that head.
Gentle Annie/ Gentle Annie: The nature spirit and Hag controlling the southwesterly gales and winds in the Cromarty Firth. The Firth is guarded against the wind on the north and east by tall hills, but a gap allows sporadic and violent wind bursts to rush through, earning the fay a reputation for treachery. It is thought that this might be another manifestation of the Cailleach or Carlin.
Muc-sheilch: A kin to the famed Nessie yet unmistakably its own beast, the Muc-sheilch haunts the waters of Loch Maree in Wester Ross. Described as a loch-dwelling monster with a distinctive form, it was said to slip between neighbouring lochs.
Sìthichean (Faeries): Often called “the wee folk,” faeries or the sìthichean as they are called in Gaelic, are central to Scottish folklore and appear in many forms under many names. They are commonly divided into two courts: the Seelie, dangerous yet less malevolent, whose members are mischievous but often harmless; and the Unseelie, malicious beings known to harm humans for sport. There have been many human encounters with faeries, including kidnappings, faery tithes and the infamous faery rade.
Trow: A malignant or mischievous fairy or spirit in the folkloric traditions of the Orkney and Shetland Islands. They are generally inclined to be short of stature, ugly, and shy. Trows are nocturnal creatures and are similar to Scandinavian trolls. They venture out of their ‘trowie knowes’ (earthen mound dwellings) solely in the evening, and often enter households as the inhabitants sleep. Trows traditionally have a fondness for music. Thus, folktales tell of their habit of kidnapping musicians or luring them to their dens.
“He served in the Continental Congress from 1775 to 1777, where he worked on the committees that supervised supplies of ammunition and military stores for the Army. During the war, the British burned and wrecked Morrisania. Lewis would spend many years after the war rebuilding his estate. Morris then served in the New York Legislature from 1777 to 1790. He was also a Major General of the New York State Militia during the Revolutionary War. In 1787, Lewis’s brother, Gouverneur Morris wrote much of the final draft of the US Constitution. Lewis attended the convention in Poughkeepsie, NY, to determine if New York would accept the Constitution. Thanks largely to Lewis Morris’s efforts, a narrow vote of 30 in favor to 27 opposed, was achieved, bringing New York into the union as the 11th state.” (
After three years at William and Mary, Jefferson decided to read law under Wythe, one of the preeminent lawyers of the American colonies. There were no law schools at this time; instead aspiring attorneys “read law” under the supervision of an established lawyer before being examined by the bar. Wythe guided Jefferson through an extraordinarily rigorous five-year course of study (more than double the typical duration); by the time Jefferson won admission to the Virginia bar in 1767, he was already one of the most learned lawyers in America. Jefferson said of Wythe, “No man ever left behind him a character more venerated than George Wythe.” 
Jefferson was tall and thin, but athletic in build. He had red hair and was known to be shy. He was said to be no “public” speaker, but his ability to compose written works was exemplary. He was a diplomat and an architect. He invented the first swivel chair. Beside designing Monticello, he also designed his own tomb. He played the violin. He cultivated tomatoes in a time when others thought them to be poisonous. He also planted extensive vineyards when many thought the American soil would not tolerate the vines. He enjoyed the study of archaeology and developed a better lock and key system. Jefferson was a student of climates and was constantly making measurements and recording the data. He invented a portal writing desk (which he used to draft the Declaration of Independence).
Thomas Jefferson was one of the earliest and most fervent supporters of the cause of American independence from Great Britain. He was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1768 and joined its radical bloc, led by Patrick Henry and George Washington. In 1774, Jefferson penned his first major political work, “A Summary View of the Rights of British America,” which established his reputation as one of the most eloquent advocates of the American cause. A year later, in 1775, Jefferson attended the Second Continental Congress, which created the Continental Army and appointed Jefferson’s fellow Virginian, George Washington, as its commander-in-chief. However, the Congress’s most significant work fell to Jefferson himself.
These prices were not incremental. To purchase a promotion, an officer only had to pay the difference in price between his existing rank and the desired rank. [Goldsmith, Jeremy (May 2007), “A gentleman and an officer – Army commissions”, Family Tree Magazine, 23 (7), pp. 10–13.]
“In 1749 he began to preach in Bridgeport, and was ordained by the Fairfield West Consociation. In 1751, however, he was dismissed by the Consociation following a hearing on charges of immoral conduct. Those charges were proven, and confessed by him; but the Consociation, confident in his sincere repentance, voted to restore him to good standing in the ministry. He continued to preach for two years, filling vacant pulpits.
An active and early leader in the Revolutionary movement, he was elected to represent St. John’s Parish in the Second Continental Congress in 1775. He participated in debates in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that year but did not vote, as he did not represent the entire colony. A year later, as an official representative of Georgia, Hall signed the Declaration (along with Button Gwinnett and George Walton of Georgia). He left Philadelphia in February 1777, though he continued to be elected to Congress until 1780.
Every Woman Dreams... 