The Isle of Skye is the second-largest of Scotland’s islands, located off the north-west coast and home to some of the most striking geological formations in the world. It was known to the Vikings as Skíð—misty isle—or Skýey—cloudy isle—probably in reference to the weather that surrounds the famous Black and Red Cuillin mountain ranges that dominate the landscape.
According to the Book of Kells, the first known Viking raid on the island was in AD 794, with the first Norse settlers arriving in the late eight hundreds, when my story is set.
One problem I discovered while researching, however, is that historians are surprisingly vague about the ninth century on Skye. Although evidence such as carved stones and brochs—round towers—suggests that the early people were Pictish, it seems likely that by this period they had already adopted the Gaelic language and become part of the Dal Riada confederation, having more in common with Irish Gaels than Scots. The old Irish romance Scéla Cano meic Gartnáin, for example, is based on rival families in Skye. For this reason, I’ve chosen to refer to the indigenous people as Gaels while focusing my story predominantly on the Norse population.
While Orkney remained the nominal centre of Viking power in Scotland, the 2011 discovery of a dockyard, complete with canal and stone quay, on the Rubh an Dunain peninsula suggests that Skye may have been a more important location than previously thought.
Whatever the reality, the island remained part of Viking territory for the next four hundred years, up until the Battle of Largs in 1263, which finally returned the island to the Kingdom of Scotland.
This book has been fun to write, as well as slightly intimidating, as it forms part of a series with Michelle Willingham, Harper St George, Michelle Styles and Terri Brisbin. We came up with the overall storyline together, although we developed our own books independently—the first time I’ve done this kind of collaboration.
I hope readers enjoy the series as much as we’ve enjoyed working together. A huge thank you and a hug to all of them!
Keep reading for an excerpt from The Governess’s Guide to Marriage by Liz Tyner.