Largie Castle: a rifled nest (The Highland Sea)

Mary C Gladstone, a descendent of rebels and high Tories, seeking moral truth, offers an open view of her Macdonald uncle and his lasting influence. The Laird-to-be died twice, in war and again by slander in the press, with the prevailing code of honor broken by an unlikely cannibal, literally. By re- creating her uncle’s life and adding to the British narrative in all its layered complexity, Mary has completed the first book in her Highland Trilogy. Growing up with the pagan Broonie and the future Archbishop, influenced by his Crabbe & Lockhart military ancestors, trained to be an effective agent of empire through his classical, sporting public school education and his time at Oxford as a rower, flyer, and student of history, Angus Macdonald looked forward to a bright future. He joined the Argylls and embarked on a military career that put him on the front line in Malaya, in WW2 as Chief of Staff to various Commanders, where he lived in tents, out-ran tanks in his baby Fiat, and escaped, only to die at sea in uncertain circumstances. Seventy-five years later, his niece Mary Gladstone sets out to retrace his life to find out why her uncle’s mysterious death had so deeply affected her family. Her quest is like that of her Lockhart ancestor who rode to the crusades with the heart of King Robert the Bruce. In the years after WW2, Largie castle, roofless through neglect, was reduced to a rubble of stones & with it the author’s own sense of self & family. Gaining full understanding, she ends with an inspired disquisition on the British Empire, that nicely defines its evolving and layered character.