Oan the tenth ae this month, the last we heard ae Sir Seumas ae Knockrinsay he wis bein dragged oot “ane meiddane” efter a failed escape fae Edinburgh Castle. Weel, eight years later, he finallie goat oot ae prison and raced aff tae reclaim his loast lands in Islay.
We dinnae ken exactlie how he escapit this time — beidsheets tied thegither tae abseil oot a windae? Unlikelie. Why? Because Sir Seumas brocht his ane personal librarie alang wae him!
Aye, even though he wis a prisoner, and hud his legs shackult thegither, he wis still allooed sum smaw comforts. So aff he gangs oan the run, nuthin tae his name apairt fae a few auld buiks, includin various Jesuit texts and “the Mekle old Cornikle” (maybe Walter Bower’s Scoticronicon). But soon enough he realises he’s gonnae huv tae lee his lovelie librarie behint — he’s nae choice, itherwise he’s gonnae get caught and he’s never gaun back tae Edinburgh Castle. Mair than onyhin, he langs tae sit oan the crags at Lagavulin Bay and hear the throaty skreich ae the guga. And so, he abandons his buik collection and it ends up in the hauns ae wan ae his political opponents, the Earl ae Atholl.
Did Sir Seumas ever git his librarie back?
Weel, soon efter his escape fae the castle, he wis defeatit in battle oan Islay and fled intae exile in the Spanish Netherlands. Ah’ve nae evidence fur it, but maybe Atholl postit oot his buiks, a sign ae guidwill and nae haird feelins. Did Sir Seumas spend the next few years porin ower Scoticronicon? A quiet lyfe in Bruges or Courtrai? That’s whit ah like tae imagine onywiy.
Written as part of #Scotstober on Twitter (29th October 2021 — ‘skreich’)
