Welcome to Kildonan Times ezine! You can subscribe to Kildonan Times and it will come to your email box every month free of charge. Just sign up below.

>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•<

Medieval foods (Britain):

OATCAKES

A "cake" in early times was any flat, unleavened bread-like food that was baked hard on both sides on a heated stone or a metal girdle (griddle) over hot coals. The oat cake was made from oat flour or a mixture of oat and barley flour with water and a bit of salt if it were available. The resulting paste was made into thick roundish patties by hand, and baked hard. They had the consistency and durability of hardtack. Oatcakes were a basic non-spoiling food for hunters, shepherds and soldiers, eaten for every meal. They would be softened in whatever was available, water, tea, ale, or whiskey, for eating. Or, a chunk would be broken off and sucked on until soft enough to chew.

They were also eaten as a staple bread in the homes of cottagers and crofters, often served with another staple food, cheese. As above, they would be softened at mealtime by the individual in whatever beverage was available to make the cakes edible. Later, the occasional addition of eggs and hot milk made a thicker, heavier cake for household use.

Like any widely used food, there were variations in oatcakes depending on the locality or the cook. Sometimes they were salted, sometimes sugar was added. Butter was a popular addition to the paste, or heavy cream.

Oakcakes are available today in bakeries and shops that specialize in traditional foods. They are quite dry and tasteless eaten alone. But topped with a slice of good cheese or dipped in tea, they are as good as any cracker, and very nutritious.

>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•<•

GLOSSARY

I have had requests for definitions of some of the words I use in the text. The identification behind each word in parentheses indicates either the word is derived from a similar word in an older language, or that the word is used today in that language. Also, there are some words in the book that I just plain made up out of my head- (identified as "mine.") If you want to know about a certain word, please email me at clovenstone@aol.com, or look it up in your dictionary.

daimen: (Scottish) (adj) occasional

dale: (from Old English, Middle English, Icelandic, and German, and Gothic) (vale) a valley, usually broad

dell: (same sources as dale) a ravine or hollow, usually wooded or turfed; a small valley or vale

doire: (Celtic) an oak grove (often sacred) Corrupted in Ireland to the place name "derry."

dolmen: (from Cornish Gaelic) two or more upright slabs supporting a horizontal slab, as in "standing stones"

dreye: (Middle English) same as dray, horse-drawn wagon for carrying goods

durk: (Scottish) a long dagger, a dirk

elf: (Old English aelf) a magical creature, a type of fairy, usually lives in woods

ell: (Old English) a measurement, usually of fabric, equivalent to 45 inches

fagot: (also faggot) (Middle English) a bundle of sticks or twigs tied together for firewood

>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•<•

Literary Notes

WORDS FROM THE BARDS

The three-line poems that begin each chapter are verses from songs of bárds and harpers.

Bárds and harpers are the transmitters of oral history and legends of the past in Kildonan. They preserved this knowledge in their poetry and song, each generation learning from the previous one. In Kildonan, early history of the land has passed down through many generations. Some has been lost, and each harper "improves" on the rhyme and sense. But through it all, there is a thread to carry vital knowledge from the past to the Nonesuch Players in their quest for Clovenstone.

Harpers are also the conveyers of news as they moved throughout the land. Important events were presented as poetry and song. One harper learns from another, and so the news is passed.

You will notice that the poems have rhythm, but not always do they rhyme. The pleasant cadence of the rhythm as the reciter sang or spoke the tales was highly regarded by listeners, and also an easy way to remember and pass along the history and legends. The very short final line on many of the chapter heading poems are an indication that this stanza of the lay is ended. The short line is a period, as it were.

The three-line poems are just snatches of poems or songs that were recited or sung at some time in Kildonan. Many are from songs and poems telling the compelling story of the search of Clovenstone that were sung in following years to entertain people and to preserve the exciting tale so important to the land. Others of the three-line poems are from historic lays that predict the coming again of the Mêrthyr, and some lays are created by Harper Morpeth as the events take place.

>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•<•

On the website (webmaster talk)

HELP POP-UPS AND TRACKING BANNERS

I talked in the last issue about advertising banners and pop-ups. There are other uses for these items, also.

Sometimes a pop-up window will come up at a website that gives you information you may need to use that site, or the means to go to information to use for the site. Or, when you activate a link on a web page, you may get a small pop-up window instead of another full page. Usually these pop-ups are more square-shaped than the advertising pop-up banners.

These mechanizations may have multiple uses. I have on the splash page and the first information page of my site what looks like the usual advertising banner at the bottom of the pages. However, these are tracking banners. In return for allowing the company to display advertisement on my page, they "track" for me the visitors to my website. The code for the banner not only displays the banner, but sends back to the parent site, in this case SuperStats, information about the visitors to my site. SuperStats tells me how many visitors I have to the site, what pages they view, how long they stay on a page, if they return to a page, what page they enter the site on, what page they exit the site on. It also tells me the type of computer, the monitor resolution, the web browser, and the operating system being used by my visitors.

All this information helps me to plan my website better to attract and keep viewers. It also tells me the mechanics of code I need to include so that the greatest number of my viewers will see the site on their various computers as I intend it to be seen.

>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•<•

HERBS

In my discussions of herbs in all the issues of Kildonan Times, I present only general information. It is not intended to be a guide for the use of the herbs. If you wish to use any of the herbs described in Kildonan Times, consult an herbalist or a definitive guide book to using herbs.

From the meadows and pastures around Olwen's croft, Fiona gathers dandelions, mugwort, and sorrel, among other herbs.

dandelion: Dandelion leaves' greatest medical use is as in removing excess water from the body (a diuretic). In removing the excess liquid, it also purifies and is a tonic. A tea can be made from the fresh or dried leaves and chopped root. A milk can be produced by pressing the roots, stems, and leaves that is diluted with water and taken for liver complaints. In food uses, the leaves are used in salads and can be cooked as a green. Wine is made from the flowers, and the buds are pickled.

mugwort: Mugwort in a salve was an insect repellent, and also helped with other skin problems. An infusion or tea was taken to aid digestion. It was also a flavorful herb for soups and stuffings.

horehound: This herb is best known for easing coughing and bronchitis. As a tea, it is also good for the stomach. In Fiona's time, an infusion of horehound would be mixed with honey for cough and as an expectorant. It is available today as a candy/cough drop. It is at the Cracker Barrel Restaurants and many other places where old-fashioned candies are sold.

sorrels: Fiona would more likely have gathered sorrels for Olwen to use as fresh or cooked greens. Most sorrels have a vinegar-like taste that livens up a salad, soup or batch of cooked greens when mixed with other vegetables.

My basic herb reference books for the herbs I use either for food or medicine in Clovenstone and Stones Seven are: The Herb Book by John Lust (Bantam Books), Brother Cadfael's Herb Garden by Robin Whitman (Bullfinch Press) and Herbs by Lesley Bremness (DK Publishing).

>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•<•

A FEW THOUGHTS FROM THE EDITOR (me, Ruth)

I write this while sitting in a van camper on Hecla Island surrounded by Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba, Canada. It's been gray all day, with sprinkles of rain, and more rain predicted tomorrow. Today my husband and I tramped a trail along the shore and out a narrow spit of land to a lighthouse. There is something in the air of the far North. It smells cleaner, crisper. There's an eternal coolness in the breeze, an icy hint that summer is only a brief break from winter's grasp. As you walk along the lake shore, the gray sky and lapping waters envelope you and the wind blows through you. You are one with Nature.

But the shore is not the only bewitching place. There's the Northern forests from Minnesota to Maine and all points north of there where deep shadows under the leafy branches beckon you to explore, and the scent of evergreen perfumes the air. You can tread carpets of pine needles or bracken fern under the trees, and come upon sudden meadowy clearings and bubbling streams like jewels in the forestscape. But it's not all that poetic, of course. More often you have to push through the heavy brush, skid down steep hills, clutch your way down craggy rock faces, or slosh through mire and swamp to navigate a forest. But it's exciting and inviting. The Greenwald, in Kildonan, is patterned after the Northern forests of Michigan, Canada, and Maine, which are both beautiful and challenging.

And speaking of Maine, I have heard the rounded cobblestones roll back to the sea with the backwash of shore-broken waves, seen the ocean crash and boil over boulders and against cliffs, smelled the tang of seaweed and salt air. Maine is another captivating piece of work by Mother Nature. I borrowed forested mountains (for the southern mountains of The Greenwald), cliffs on the sea, and rocky beaches from the Maine coast for several locations in Kildonan.

But the Raineld Mountains, the mountains of the Northeast in Clovenstone, are from Switzerland. The small mountainside villages, grazing goats and cattle fit in well with the culture I've drawn. The high passes, snow-covered summer peaks, and treacherous winters are settings for excitement, mystery, and challenge.

Lastly, if you've read any of Clovenstone, you recognize Britain. The hedgerowed meadows, thatched croft cottages, castles, and oatcakes breathe fairy tales and fantasy. From Scotland to Wales to Cornwall, from the Midlands to Dartmoor, Britain lent itself to Kildonan.

There's borrowings from Scandanavia, too, and a splash of Indiana caves . Many places I have visited or read of have influenced my concept of the land of Kildonan. And, as with any fantasy, much of the geography is purely from my imagination. Kildonan, taken as a whole, is an amalgam of sights, impressions, and ideas stirred and molded into a unique world that really exists—somewhere. And if we really believe, maybe we can all find it.

R
>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•<•
WEBSITES TO EXPLORE

This site has all kinds of neat Celtic related goods you can order, from bath salts to scarves. Take a look at it. http://www.celticattic.com

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Are you Irish or wish you were? Or maybe you've traveled over there and would like a neat souvenir. How about a free screensaver? This site offers a variety of free screen savers of things/scenes Irish. Go to http://www.Ireland-information.com/freescreensavers.htm

>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•>•<•

And, as always, tell your aunts, uncles, cousins and friends about Clovenstone. Give them an adventure!

Good Fate Be Yours —
Ruth

All art work and text © copyright by Ruth McIntyre-Williams