Our 100th Video!

We’ve just posted our 100th video!

Since our humble beginnings in August 2021 we’ve welcomed twenty-four guest contributors to our YouTube channel and blog, as well as two new additions to our original line-up of five.

We’ve also bid farewell to two Time Tunnellers: Jeannie Waudby and Catherine Randall. Parting is always such sweet sorrow, but the friendships we have made have not ended with their time in the group.

Part of the reason we formed the Time Tunnellers was as a place for authors of historical fiction for children to support and encourage each other, and this will always be the case: once a Time Tunneller, always a Time Tunneller!

Thousands of people have watched over 200 hours of our videos, and over 150 people have joined us as regular YouTube subscribers. If you’ve not subscribed yet, you can do it today! Head on over to our YouTube channel and click ’subscribe’ - and don’t forget to click the bell icon to allow all notifications: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY7LQZiq-eVaIg4AINuLpKg

We’ve covered almost the entire history of the world, from Ancient Egypt up to the Second World War and beyond - and we’re not going to stop now! We’ve had a blast researching subjects as varied as the history of soap and glass, the legacy of slavery in the London Docklands, Christmas traditions, gladiatorial combat, pirates, queens, earls and criminals - and setting a weekly writing challenge to go with each one.

We’d like to take a moment to thank you, dear reader, for reading our blog and watching our videos. If you’ve shared the Time Tunnellers with teachers and librarians that you know, then thank you again! Without our readers and watchers we are nothing. We look forward to delving further into the stories in history with you, and sharing the fascinating things we find.

A new member of the team …

The eagle-eyed among you will have noticed that we said we’ve welcomed two new additions to the team. So far you will only have met one, and we’re pleased and proud to be able to introduce the second one to you today!

Robin Scott-Elliot is a Scottish author of children's historical fiction, including 'Sweet Skies', 'The Acrobats of Agra', and his latest book 'Finding Treasure Island', which traces the origins of Robert Louis Stevenson's famous adventure. Robin worked for many years as a sports journalist, writing for the BBC, ITV, Sunday Times and Independent, before packing it all in to become a children's author. We asked Robin to tell our followers a little bit more about himself ...

Hi Robin. To start with, can you tell us what led you to exchange journalism for children's fiction?

My children! It was a combination of moving home to Scotland and our two daughters making me promise to write a story for them – on long journeys I used to tell them Scottish stories, a mix of myth and history, part made up, part what I could remember my granny and mum telling me. Now they wanted me to write one down. So I made a promise.

Ten years ago, when we decided to leave London for Scotland, I swapped roles with my partner. She travels a lot for her job in TV so I stayed home with the kids and gradually did less journalism and more story writing. It was Karen who gave me the opportunity to have a proper go at writing for children – and Iona and Torrin who pestered me to write for children. I owe the three of them big time!

So why did you make historical fiction your genre of choice?

History was my favourite subject at school and I’ve never lost interest in it. I’m probably a frustrated historian at heart. It was also my favourite genre to read for as long as I can remember. I used to like Rosemary Sutcliffe’s Roman stories or DK Broster’s Jacobite trilogy. Even my comics/graphic novels were historical when I was at school – Tintin or Asterix.

When it comes to writing historical fiction, I like the idea of putting a character of mine into a real moment in time. Or trying to write a real person, like Robert Louis Stevenson in Finding Treasure Island; work out what they might have been like and bring them back to life – while making sure you try to be true to who they were.

Is there an era, event or person you'd really love to cover, but you haven't been able to yet?

Lots! That’s the great thing about writing historical fiction – there are so many places to go, stories to discover. For the Acrobats of Agra it was one line in an old history book – “among those trapped in the siege was a French travelling circus” – that sparked the story. You never know what you’re going to find or where it might take you.

I’ve always wanted to write something about Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobite march to Derby. Or one set way back in the days when the Lord of the Isles held sway in Scotland. Or a story set around the Russian Revolution and Civil War. Or the French Revolution – revolutions and rebellions are always good settings for a story I think! Or how about fictionalising Camille Fily, who rode the Tour de France in 1904 aged 17, the youngest ever rider, a race full of cheating and fighting and guns – and some cycling!

The book I’ve just finished writing is set in the years after the Second World War. It’s about the Ratlines, the escape routes Nazis used to get out of Europe, and revenge. I’m interested in what happens to people after major events. Because that’s the thing that fascinates – history never ends. What happened next? There’s always something to find.

And what are you hoping for as a member of the Time Tunnellers?

To burrow into all sorts of different periods of history and help retell the stories. History is not just about kings and queens and generals and prime ministers. The history of children, and children’s contribution to history, is so often overlooked – Svetlana Alexeivich, a brilliant oral historian, wrote a staggering book called Last Witnesses, recording memories of children in the Soviet Union during the Second World War. She’s tried to make sure what young people went through is not forgotten.

You Time Tunnellers make history come alive and I’d like to help do that as well. Some of the most successful podcasts at the moment, being downloaded in their millions, are about history – people are interested in our pasts. Because history is exciting. And history matters, always has and always will.

Thanks so much for answering our questions, Robin. We can’t wait to see where our time tunnelling adventures take us next!

Looking back

Our 100 videos so far have provided us with some great moments and brilliant memories. Here are some reflections from Time Tunnellers old and new:

Ally Sherrick

Settings are often the first spark for my own stories and I've particularly enjoyed my fellow Time Tunnellers' 'on location' videos.

Favourites include Susan's trip into the brilliant miniature world of engineering toymaker maestro, Frank Hornby at the museum dedicated to his inspirational creations at Maghull, near Liverpool.

Also Barbara's guided tour of the atmospheric Culloden Battlefield site, near Inverness, the setting for her exciting Jacobite Rebellion book 'The Reluctant Rebel'.

And then there's Catherine's post from the Wright Brothers National Memorial Museum in North Carolina, USA all about the famous early pioneers of aviation - 'First to Flight'.

And I had great fun out in the wilds myself doing a spot of Time Tunnelling filming at one of my best-loved historic sites in the UK, the ruins of Chysauster Romano-British village near Penzance.

History and the stories hidden inside it are all around us - you just need to remember to pack your curiosity. Oh, and something to dig with too!

Barbara Henderson

What a long way we have come since those very early tentative conversations about ‘maybe doing something for those of us who write historical fiction’. What a learning curve it has been too - I had done very little video recording and editing until we started the YouTube channel.

I am obviously thrilled to have another Scot on the Time Tunnellers team in Robin now, too - and for me, time-tunnelling has been a brilliant excuse to explore some places which were significant in Scotland’s past for myself. Yes, all these videos have been challenging to record or edit at times - but what I love is that they are now there as a resource for schools whenever they may want them. Take a look!

Sometimes the best videos are the ones about history you didn’t know you wanted to know about! For me, an example of that was Catherine’s video about the history of holidays, Thomas Cook and all that! She gets extra brownie points for dressing up too - I loved it, and I think that any youngsters will find it interesting too.

The same goes for Ally Sherrick’s mediaeval banquet video- who knew that putting a meal on the table could be so complicated! And again, much kudos for the dramatic presentation and props - it goes a long way for me as a Drama teacher.

Another favourite was Susan Browrigg’s video on female pirates - I had never given any thought to the fact that pirates may have been women, not had I heard of the famous pirate graveyard!

I also loved Matt’s recent video offering a tour of a Tudor hall - especially the nifty manoeuvring across an actual map - an ideal resource for anyone studying the Tudors.

My favourite video by Matt must be the one on the ghost signs - I had never, ever really noticed them, but on a recent trip to London I could not help looking up - only because I had watched his video. As I said - a bit of history that I didn’t know I wanted to know about - but I really did!

In terms of Guest Time Tunnellers, Lindsay Littleson’s video on travelling in 3rd class on Titanic was a real eye opener, and I think that schools would find it really fascinating. We should be proud of our back catalogue!

Matthew Wainwright

From the first time I saw one of the Time Tunnellers’ videos I was hooked! Their enthusiasm and passion for history shone through, and I learned more than I thought possible in the space of three and a half minutes. TED Talks, eat your heart out!

I remember thinking what a precious thing it was to have authors talking about history. Children relate to authors in a particular way - they trust them as custodians of stories, and often feel like they've come to know their favourite authors just through reading their books … which I suppose is quite possible, in a way.

Having authors talk about historical subjects gave them a special kind of life - and there was always the fact that you then had a brilliant book to go to if you wanted to learn even more!

The first videos I remember seeing were their Birth of a Book series for World Book Day 2022, followed closely by a powerful run of videos for Women's History Month. They got me hooked!

Aside from those, one of my favourites was Catherine Randall's overseas location shoot for The Lost Colony - the story of the first English settlers on Roanoke Island in North Carolina, who vanished without a trace in the late 16th century. I love a good mystery, and it felt very exotic to have a Time Tunneller reporting from the states!

I was thrilled, honoured, and a little disbelieving when I was asked, first to contribute as a guest, and then to join the team in late 2022. It's been a fantastic year, working with brilliant colleagues to produce outstanding videos that I know will be used and enjoyed for many years to come.

Susan Brownrigg

I am so proud that the Time Tunnellers have achieved 100 videos! I have relished the opportunity to explore a new topic when it has been my turn and I have ventured out to some fab locations for research including Windermere, Worsley Delph, Maghull, Pendle Hill and of course Blackpool!

I have also had great pleasure inviting some of my favourite authors to take part including M A Bennett, Jenni Spangler, Marie Basting, Laura Noakes and Richard O'Neill among them! I do hope you will watch their videos, if you haven't already!

I have learned so much history from watching the Time Tunnellers videos and I hope you will investigate our playlists and see just what a variety of subjects we have covered since we began back in in August 2021.

Recording the videos is always fun, even if it takes several takes, but the one I most enjoyed making was the BBC one when I got to play homage to presenter Annette Mills and the famous puppet!

Congratulations Time Tunnellers! Here's to the next 100 videos!

Competition Time!

To celebrate our 100th video, we’ve joined forces for a historical hamper giveaway! We’ve all donated books, making a great mini-library for any classroom or home bookshelf.

Ally Sherrick

The Queen's Fool

Vita and the Gladiator

Barbara Henderson

Rivet Boy

The Chessmen Thief

The Siege of Caerlaverock

Matthew Wainwright

Out of the Smoke

Through Water and Fire

Robin Scott-Elliot

Sweet Skies

Finding Treasure Island

Susan Brownrigg

Gracie Fairshaw and the Mysterious Guest

Kintana and the Captain’s Curse

Entering is very simple: just head on over to the giveaway posts on our social media channels and like, repost (where possible) and tag a friend in the comments. Don’t forget to make sure you’re following us so we can get in touch if there’s good news!

A Very Merrie Tudor Christmas! with Time Tunneller Matthew Wainwright

People all over the world celebrate Christmas in different ways. From the enormous Yule Goat constructed of straw in Sweden, to the Pastorelas (Shepherd’s Plays) of Mexico, to a game of Trivial Pursuit alongside a box of Quality Streets in the UK, people have created their own traditions around this major Christian festival.

But what about people in the past? How different were their Christmas celebrations from our own? To find out a little bit about what might have changed, let’s go back five hundred years to Tudor England under the reign of King Henry VIII …

The Twelve Days of Christmas

You’ve probably heard the carol that begins, “On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me …” and ends with the unfortunate recipient of the gifts having their house overrun by poultry and leaping lords.

In Tudor times Christmas really was twelve days long! Starting on December 25th and ending on January 5th, people downed tools and took part in a number of traditions, one for each of the twelve days.

On Christmas Eve (December 24th) people would decorate their spinning wheels with greenery brought in from outside, signifying that work was stopping for the duration of Christmas. Christmas trees came a lot later - in Tudor times people would ‘deck the halls with boughs of holly’, and festoon their houses with ‘the holly and the ivy’.

On Christmas Day itself people would eat! The Tudors knew how to throw a party, and they would have feasted in the best style they could afford.

Roast meats featured prominently (including Turkeys, which were a new delicacy and could be seen being driven in huge flocks from London to Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire) as well as pies that contained two or three different kinds of bird meat alongside fruit and spices.

Mince pies were originally filled with actual minced meat, spiced and mixed with fruit - until later the meat was taken out, and all that remained was the spiced fruit with the rather confusing name of ‘mincemeat’!

One famous tradition is that of the Boar’s Head, commemorated in the Boar’s Head Carol. In a spectacle echoing back to ancient pagan origins, a boar’s head would be cooked and garlanded with fruits and herbs, and brought into the feasting hall on a magnificent platter. The Boar’s Head Feast is still celebrated in Oxford University’s Queen’s College to this day!

The Feast of St. Stephen was on what we now call Boxing Day. It was a day for charity and giving to the poor, and it’s immortalised in the carol ‘Good King Wenceslas’ who looked out on the Feast of Stephen to see a poor man struggling through the snow, and was moved to bring him ‘flesh and wine’.

Child Bishops were appointed in churches from 6th December until Childermas on 28th December. A young boy, usually a member of the choir, would be adorned with all the regalia of a bishop for this time, and would take services and preach sermons!

Childermas commemorated the children that were killed on the orders of King Herod, as depicted in the moving Coventry Carol:

O sisters too, how may we do For to preserve this day This poor youngling for whom we sing, “Bye bye, lully, lullay?”

New Year’s Day was the traditional day for giving gifts. People gave gifts to show their appreciation to those in authority over them, and those at court were expected to give presents to the king.

Tudor Christmas presents could be expensive - but they were an excellent way to make sure you stayed in favour in the coming year! Just think about that next time you’re doing your Christmas shopping …

Father Christmas

One of the most endearing and bizarre Tudor Christmas traditions was the appointment of a Lord of Misrule to preside over the twelve days of festivities.

Revived by Henry VII, the post of Lord of Misrule was a way to upset the normal order of things. Someone would be chosen to direct all the Christmas celebrations, and would preside over them in a mock court, receiving mock homage from the revellers.

In Scotland, the same position was held by the Abbot of Unreason - although with the progression of the Reformation across Britain these traditions slowly faded away.

The idea of a Lord of Misrule does persist today, however, in the unlikely form of Father Christmas! Lords of Misrule were sometimes given names like ‘Captain Christmas’, ‘The Christmas Lord’ or ‘Prince Christmas’.

In 1616, the playwright Ben Johnson put on a Christmas play featuring an old man called ‘Christmas’ or ‘Old Gregorie Christmas’. He had sons and daughters called ‘Mince Pie’, ‘Misrule’, ‘Carol’ and others, and he had a long beard.

So the idea continued through the 1600s, the character appearing in numerous Christmas plays. He always personified Christmas parties and games, however, and had less to do with the idea of bringing presents. And as you can see in the picture above, he sometimes rode a goat!

Another tradition had been around in Europe for a long time - that of St. Nicholas, based on the real-life figure of a Bishop from Turkey. On St. Nicholas’ day (6th December) children were given presents to commemorate his gold-giving exploits.

According to tradition, St. Nicholas (or ‘Sinterklaas’) would deliver presents by passing through locked doors or descending chimneys. In Dutch markets, Sinterklaas impersonators could be found wearing his distinctive red and white robes …

It’s possible that the legend of Sinterklaas crossed the Atlantic to the North American Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, which later became New York.

However it happened, Santa Claus born, and eventually immortalised in Clement Clark Moore’s poem, ‘The Night Before Christmas’, where we find many of the features of our familiar Santa, including a huge belly, red costume and reindeer.

For a while Santa Claus and Father Christmas existed side-by-side, even appearing together in an 1864 story by Susanna Warner. But eventually the two merged, although in the UK the character has traditionally kept the name Father Christmas, harking back to the Lord of Misrule and providing us with a fascinating link to the Tudors!

And Christmas traditions are still evolving, with Elf on the Shelf and other festive celebrations taking their place in the hearts and lives of British people.

Writing challenge

For your writing challenge this week, become a Lord of Misrule! Come up with your own crazy Christmas tradition, and make it as weird and wonderful as you like, to rival the things you've read in this post. Perhaps you decide that everyone should bow to cats on the Thursday before Christmas, or that presents are brought to good children by flying ants ...? Go wild!

About the author

Matthew Wainwright is an author of children's historical fiction, and a member of the Time Tunnellers. His first book, 'Out of the Smoke' is set in Victorian London and was inspired by the work of Lord Shaftesbury with chimney sweeps and street gangs. His second book, 'Through Water and Fire', is set in Tudor England and features Anne Boleyn and the English Reformation.

For more information on Matthew and his books, visit his website: matthewwainwright.co.uk

You can buy 'Through Water and Fire' online, or from your local bookshop. Buy here.

Sources https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/A-Tudor-Christmas/
https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/members-area/kids/kids-tudors/twelve-days-of-christmas/
https://kriii.com/news/2022/medieval-christmas-the-boar-s-head-festival/
https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/occasions/christmas/coventry-carol-lyrics-meaning-history/
https://www.britannica.com/art/Lord-of-Misrule-English-medieval-official
https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/christmas/the-history-of-father-christmas/

Your sister, brother, mother and grandmother have confessed to witchcraft - and you must give evidence against them! That's what happened to nine-year-old Jennet Device in 1612.

Jennet was the star witness in one of three cases being tried known collectively as the Lancashire Witch Trials - that took place at the summer assize at Lancaster Castle. 

Lancaster Castle (photo by Susan Brownrigg)

Those accused of witchcraft included a group of twelve people who lived around Pendle Hill, three women from Samlesbury, near Preston, a woman from Padiham. near Burnley and another from Windle, near St Helens.

The accused were kept together in a pitch black dungeon in horrendous conditions without access to lawyers. Coercion and torture were used to extract confessions that could be used as evidence against them - and neighbours and family members were made to testify against them.

PENDLE WITCHES

Jennet's sister, was 19-year-old Alizon Device - she was walking across a field when she came across a peddlar (someone who sells items for a living) called John Law. She asked him for some metal pins - it's unclear if she was begging or wanted to buy them - but he refused her. She was so cross that she cursed him, and soon after he had an attack that caused some kind of paralysis - probably a stroke.

Things quickly snowballed - when Roger Nowell the justice was brought in to investigate, Alizon not only confessed but incriminated other members of her own family and the rival Chattox family.

Nowell quizzed more members of both families.

Alizon's grandmother - known as Old Demdike - admitted she had a familiar or devil spirit called Tib. She also confessed to killing a man and a child - saying that making clay figures was the speediest way to take a man's life away.

Depiction of Old Demdike with familiars

on display at Pendle Heritage Centre

The head of the other family - Anne Whittle, known as Old Chattox also confessed to having a familiar or devil spirit - this one called Fancie. She also said she had killed men and children, making clay images for hurting life and limb - and to bewitching milk and ale and bewitching and killing two cows.

Anne Whittle's daughter Ann Redfearn denied being a witch - but she was sent to face trial alongside the other three women.

Not a week later, on Good Friday,  20 or more supporters of the women gathered for a special meeting at Malkin Tower. It is said they fed on stolen mutton. Nowell heard about it and resumed his investigation - believing it was an example of a witches' sabbath - a Midnight meeting for witchcraft.

Nowell questioned the Device family and Jennet and her brother James incriminated their mother, who confessed to being a witch, having a familiar, making clay figures and killing two men.

James himself confessed to crumbling a clay image of a woman and causing her 'lingering' death after she had accused him of stealing peat for his fire. He also said he had a familiar - Dandie who appeared as a brown dog or hare.

He also said the meeting had been arranged to discuss blowing up Lancaster Castle, murdering the gaoler and freeing the four women imprisoned there.

Statue of Alice Nutter in Roughlee

 (photo by Susan Brownrigg)

Jennet named a number of people at the meeting including Alice Nutter, a gentlewoman (and a Catholic) from nearby Roughlee.

Now Jennet's brother, James, her mother, Elizabeth, Alice Nutter and four others from the meeting were sent to the dungeons at Lancaster Castle to face trial for witchcraft too.

Old Demdike died in the dungeon and her grandson, James was so traumatised that it was said he could neither speak, hear no stand at his trial.

The court proceedings were recorded by the court clerk, Thomas Potts, who later published his account as The Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Lancaster. 

The accused had no defence lawyer. Jennet was called as a witness - even though she was too young to normally be admissable.

She again incriminated her sister, brother and mother - and identified Alice Nutter as a witch by taking her hand. She described witches mounting ponies and flying into the air.

Jennet's mother was dragged out of court screaming at her daughter and shouting curses at Nowell.

Why did Jennet condemn her family? Historians think having no family to care for her, she was trained so that she would give evidence against those accused.

Some of those accused likely considered themselves witches, the two families may have competed for business. Claiming to have magical powers was a way of bringing in extra money.

King James I, who was on the throne at the time, definitely believed in witches. He was convinced that a coven of Scottish witches had tried to murder him and his wife by causing terrible storms as they travelled by ship from Denmark. He was so convinced by the power of witchcraft that he wrote a book on the subject called Daemonologie.

GUILTY

The judge found all but one of the group guilty. They were sentenced to hang by the neck until they died. The execution took place on Gallows Hill.

No-one knows what became of Jennet Device. 20 years later a Jennet Device was found guilty of witchcraft. Could it have been the same person?

Susan Brownrigg is a Lancashire lass. She is the author of Kintana and the Captain's Curse, and the Gracie Fairshaw mystery series. (Uclan Publishing)

Find out more at susanbrownrigg.com

St Andrew's Day and the Declaration of Arbroath

There is a national saint for Scotland! 

It’s a thing: Other UK nations have patron saints too (St George for England, St David for Wales and St Patrick for Ireland) – but the Scottish St Andrew’s Saint’s Day is celebrated at the end of November - and as I am based in Scotland myself, I thought we’d spend a little while thinking about St Andrew’s Day, and the history surrounding it. 30th of November is not primarily marked as a religious festival nowadays – it is a day to celebrate all things Scottish, around the world. In Scotland, it is a national holiday, although it is left up to employers to decide whether their workers should have a day off. 

Most young people still have to go to school. Of course, Scotland is part of the United Kingdom and has been for hundreds of years, but it is a country with its own traditions (like Wales, or Ireland etc) and its own history. St Andrew’s Day is the perfect occasion to celebrate all of that. 

In keeping with its national patron saint, the Scottish flag is known as the St Andrew’s Cross, or the Saltire – and it is said to be the oldest flag in Europe.

St Andrew was a disciple of Jesus and one of the twelve apostles. He was definitely not Scottish – he never even set foot in Scotland, but following his death, it is claimed that some of his relics were taken to St Andrews.

In the Middle Ages St Andrews became a popular pilgrimage destination because its church, soon replaced by a great cathedral, housed one of the saint’s teeth, a kneecap, arm and finger bones, or so the story went. Despite earlier references to him in Pictish and Scottish culture, he was only oficially claimed as the national saint of Scotland following the medieval Wars of Scottish Independence.

The trouble kicked off with Edward I's attempt to conquer Scotland in 1296. When the deaths of Alexander III (the previous Scottish king) and his granddaughter Margaret, Maid of Norway, left Scotland without a monarch, Edward used the invitation to help choose a successor as an excuse to claim the overlordship for England and himself. 

When the Scots resisted, he invaded. This resulted in a period of upheaval and violence as Edward and then his son tried to bring the rebellious Scots to heel – ultimately not successfully, thanks to Scottish leaders like William Wallace and, after Wallace’s execution, Robert the Bruce.

After Bruce’s army finally defeated the English army of Edward II at the Battle of Bannockburn, the Scots nobles drafted the Declaration of Arbroath in the year 1320. 

Written in Latin, this amazing document survives to this day and can be seen at the National Records of Scotland. In it, the Scottish nobles claimed that Scotland was under St Andrew’s protection (‘the most gentle Saint Andrew, the Blessed Peter’s brother, and desired him to keep them under his protection as their patron for ever.’)

Choosing Saint Andrew as Scotland's patron saint was clever: it gave the country a crucial advantage: Saint Andrew was the brother of Saint Peter, founder of the Church – this meant that the Scots were able to appeal directly to the Pope for protection against the attempts of English kings to conquer the Scots.

In essence, the declaration is a letter from the barons and whole community of the kingdom of Scotland to the Pope, asking him to recognise Scotland's independence and acknowledge Robert the Bruce as the country's lawful king. 

The power of words, right? Just check out the best-known passage in the Declaration of Arbroath: ‘As long as a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be subjected to the lordship of the English. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.’

Writing challenge: What do you feel strongly about? What issue bothers you? And who could help? How would you persuade them? Write your own declaration, making sure that it is passionate and heartfelt (you could even invent a patron saint and claim that you have their protection. 

Best of all, you could write your declaration in ink and decorate the first letter beautifully, just like the monks did at the time of the Arbroath declaration.

Barbara Henderson is a children’s writer and author of eight adventure stories for children. Her novel The Siege of Caerlaverock is set during the Scottish Wars of Independence, twenty years before the Declaration of Arbroath.

Fun fact: St Andrew is also the patron saint of Greece, Romania, and Russia (among others).

Finding Treasure Island - Robin Scott Elliot on Scotland, Stevenson and Seeking a Story

“Where do you get your ideas from?” It’s a question I get asked all the time – and I’m sure all authors do. And every time I get asked my mind goes blank. But it’s a good question… if only I knew the answer, everybody’s answer. 

Where do you get your ideas from? I want to ask it of every author or movie maker. In fact, anyone who has created something that interests me. The scientist in their lab discovering, say, the Covid jag, the engineer who invented the jet engine. Where did you get your idea from Frank Whittle? What was the Eureka moment?

It was Archimedes, the ancient Greek scholar, who is supposed to have had the original Eureka moment – it’s a Greek word meaning ‘I’ve got it’. Legend has it he leapt from his bath and ran naked into the street shouting ‘Eureka’. 

Legend is not always right. I’ve made up a legend to tell the story of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Eureka moment; the moment that was to change his life forever, the moment that set him on the course to become one of the best known writers in the world, a fame that lasts to this day more than a century after he died aged only 44 in Samoa. 

My ideas tend to begin as a muddle of thoughts. There is rarely a Eureka moment, although I did have one for my second book, Acrobats of Agra. They happen – and it feels fantastic when they do. There was a great deal of chance involved too. I was in a bookshop with my daughter, she was taking ages to make her choice (she loves books), I wandered downstairs, saw the history section (I love history), saw an old book on the Indian Mutiny that interested me, bought it and while reading came across a single line about a French travelling circus being trapped in the siege of Agra. Eureka! 

There’s a large serving of serendipidity in there too – several ‘What-ifs’. And that applies to Stevenson and his idea for Treasure Island.

Come back to 1881. Queen Victoria is on the throne, and staying near where my story is set. She’s on holiday at Balmoral, her Highland home (and makes a fleeting appearance in the book). 

The presence of the Queen is why Braemar, the nearby village, became such a popular destination. Stevenson arrived at Old Mrs McGregor’s Cottage in Braemar with his mother and father, his American wife Fanny and Sam, her teenage son, his old nanny, known as Cummy, Maggie, his parents’ maid, and a dog.

Stevenson was 30. He’d wanted to be a writer for as long as he could remember. And he was not a well man, had been sickly since childhood. Stevenson never thought he’d live a long life – so he really did worry time was running out. 

He’d written well-received travel books but had never managed to finish a novel. He contemplated turning his back on fiction. Perhaps history was the way to go, perhaps a biography of the Duke of Wellington… He needed something, anything, a spark… And then it started to rain – of course it did, this was a Scottish summer holiday – and Stevenson had to stop worrying about himself and turn attention to his new stepson.

Sam Osbourne was 13 and something of a lost soul. He’d been dragged from place to place through his short life. 

His father was an adventurer, a man always one break from making it big. And family seems to have come a poor second to his dreams of riches. The family shuffled around the wild west of the US and when his parents split, Sam, his younger brother and older sister, were taken off to Europe by Fanny, who fancied herself as an artist. 

It was in France that Stevenson first leapt into their lives, jumping through a doorway into a hotel in Grez-sur-Long, a small town south of Paris that had become an artists’ colony. By then Sam’s younger brother, Hervey, had died. His sister, Bel, was 10 years older. Sam felt alone. 

From Paris, they went to London, returned to California then back across the Atlantic to Scotland. In this strange new land – how different to California – Sam clung to his new stepfather. 

They developed a bond (much of the suggestion for this comes from Sam himself, but they do seem to have been close) and so one rainy afternoon in Braemar – imagine the rain smattering against the small windows of the cottage, the fire spitting and crackling – Stevenson reached for a piece of paper and drew a sketch to amuse a bored Sam. It was a map. A map of an island that over the course of the afternoon grew ever more detailed until finally Stevenson wrote two words on the bottom and handed it to Sam. ‘Treasure Island,’ Stevenson had written and here was the spark. Eureka! 

Treasure Island, a story that has sold millions of copies, been made into a movie time and time again and in a host of different languages. It’s a story that has defined the image of a pirate, a treasure hunt; it is the adventure story. Stevenson later wrote an essay on how he came up with the story. But, rather like some of his characters, Stevenson is an unreliable narrator. His later account of how he came up with the idea for Jekyll and Hyde – in a dream – is barely believable, and differed to other versions he told friends and family.

It makes for a good story though – and that is what Stevenson is all about. Perhaps it was freeing his mind of his worries just for one afternoon that helped Stevenson come up with Treasure Island; thinking about Sam rather than himself (what would have happened if it hadn’t rained?).

It wasn’t an original idea. Pirates had featured in plenty of other stories but then most ideas borrow something from other books, paintings, movies.

What Stevenson did was take his idea and make it into something unforgettable. In Finding Treasure Island I have tried to play with Stevenson’s idea and where it came from. Could it have come from Sam? Could Sam’s own adventures in the magical, mysterious glens, forests and hills around Braemar have foreshadowed Jim Hawkins’ trials and tribulations on Treasure Island?

It's Sam who tells us the story in Finding Treasure Island; this is his version of history. But is it true? Perhaps. But what is undoubtedly true is that it all started with a map; a map and an ‘Eureka!’ moment.

Writing challenge – draw a map. It can be an island, a treasure island, a forest, a town, your own street and house – anywhere – but it must include an X because as every treasure seeker knows, X marks the spot. Once you’ve drawn your map, which can include dragons or castles or swamps or multi-storey car parks and shopping centres, write a short story about it.

Robin Scott-Elliot has been a sports journalist for 25 years with the BBC, ITV, the Sunday Times, the Independent and the ‘i’, covering every sport you can think of and a few you probably can’t. He threw that all away to move home to Scotland and chase his dream of writing books instead of football reports. Once there his daughters persuaded him to write a story for them and that is how his career as a children's author began. Finding Treasure Island is his latest book and is published by Cranachan.

Giving History a Twist –by Marie Basting

 

The idea for My Family and Other Romans came to me in a dream. Red caped legionaries, glowing amber as they boarded a gleaming silver bullet train. It seemed obvious to me that these soldiers must have belonged to Vulcan, the Roman god of fire. And I just had to tell their story.

But that meant writing a historical novel, right? Legionaries equalled Rome, even if these soldiers were made of lava. And I didn’t write historical fiction. I write fantasy, funny books that help us escape the present rather than delve into our past. I couldn’t write a book set in Ancient Rome…?

But I couldn’t not. Fortuna had gifted me too good a story seed not to plant. And, so, I did three things. I swallowed back the imposter syndrome, set to work on the research and I gave the story a twist.

That twist was LARP.

Live Action Role Play -  LARP -  is a  type of role play game where players choose and develop a character, dress up like that character and, guided by a loose script and series of rules, meet up with other players to bring the game to life.  It is sometimes described as a form of interactive storytelling, with the player fully immersed in the story world. As Silvia, our protagonist, says in the book, ‘it’s part acting, part dressing up and one hundred percent awesome!’

Impressions from the LARP "ConQuest of Mythodea" 

2018 in Brokeloh, Credit Frank fotografiert

There are lots of types of LARP including fantasy, horror, sci-fi and, yes, even historical. Many LARPs are pretty simple, relying mostly on the imagination, but others have elaborate sets inhabited by people in spectacular costumes. It’s perhaps the only place where you can be a centurion, cyclops or sorceress for the day and still go the chippy on the way home for your tea.

As a writer who likes to mix things up, I thought it would be interesting to ask the question, what if a keen LARPer thought they were on the set of a major LARP event but had actually stumbled through a portal back to Ancient Rome?

This is what happens to Silvia. A resident of Once Brewed, a tiny village off Hadrian’s Wall, she’s no stranger to history. But nothing could prepare her for what she uncovers as she journeys back to Ancient Rome. 

My dog looking for Silvia’s portal at Housesteads
 Roman Fort, Hadrian’s Wall.

Or rather an alternative version of Ancient Rome, for the world Silvia finds herself in has all the quirks you’d expect from the Romans – like having to wipe your bum with a communal sponge and rich people eating flamingo tongues and stuffed dormice – but there are also elements that take Silvia by surprise. Not least the fact she has a baby cyclops for a sister.

The Research  

Even though My Family and Other Romans is very much a fantasy, I worked really hard to get the historical setting right; to make the world as vivid as possible and immerse the reader in the sights, sounds and tastes of Rome. You want me to tell you how I did this? Oh, OK, then.

Well, first off, I read lots of Roman books and articles. And when I say lots, I mean LOTS! In fact, my brain is now so full of Roman facts every time I blow my nose one appears on the tissue.

I also watched lots of documentaries and films set in the era which meant I got to eat lots of ice cream – you can’t watch a film without ice cream right?

Finally, I had fun visiting lots of historic sites and I even did a course in both Classical Mythology and Roman Architecture. 

Bye Bye Imposter Syndrome…Sort Of

Impressed? Well, I have to be honest, eating up Roman facts like Pac-Man eating up dots was driven partly by the imposter syndrome – by the fact I still wasn’t sure if I could pull this off. Sure, I’d done shed loads of research and been interested in the Romans ever since my collage of Pompei was hung in the head teacher’s office at primary school but there are lots of people far more knowledgeable about the classics than me.

But I’d learnt the hard way we can’t let self-doubt stop us doing things and so I decided I’d just do my best and see what happened. And look where that led to – a published book that people seem to like and which has a dog on the front just like my dog Polly.

So maybe next time you’re worried you can’t do something, you’ll remember this blog and think, hey if that Marie woman with the cute dog could put away her imposter syndrome and be good at history and writing maybe I can too. Maybe I too can look at things in a new way and give them a twist? Maybe my difference is my strength.

Writing Challenge

And so that’s my challenge to you. I want you to take a story or myth and give it your own modern twist. Because after all that’s what many of the great Roman story tellers did – they took myths that were centuries old and gave them a new flavour to better suit the times.

So how might you approach this? How about dropping a Roman god in your local shopping centre and seeing how they get along in the food court? Or imagine your favourite mythological character reborn as a child? A child attending your school, maybe, who can’t control their powers? What kind of trouble would that bring? Or maybe you want to invent a totally new mythological character – Ducklius Ceaser here suggests a cross between Jupiter and a duck. 

So, off you go. Fire up your imaginations and rewrite the myths. Have fun and may the gods be with you!

Marie Basting

Marie Basting writes funny fiction for middle-graders. Her debut novel, the critically acclaimed Princess BMX, was listed by the Guardian and BookTrust in their ‘best new books’ category and has been praised by Gender Collect as one of the best books out there for smashing stereotypes. Her latest book, My Family and Other Romans, is a laugh-out-loud funny family caper full of excitement and heart and has been equally well received by critics.

Told by a career adviser, that girls like her don’t become writers, Marie loves nothing more than inspiring others to believe in themselves and achieve their dreams whatever the limits put on them. Her school and festival events have inspired thousands of children to smash stereotypes and to read and write for pleasure.

Find out more at: http://mariebasting.com/

 

Twitter - @riewriting

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Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/MarieBastingAuthor/

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