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Darkland Tales
Nothing Left to Fear from Hell: Darkland Tales
A battle lost. A daring escape. A long walk into obscurity. The ultimate failure…
In the aftermath of the disastrous Battle of Culloden, a lonely figure takes flight with a small band of companions through the islands and mountains of the Hebrides. His name is Charles Edward better known today as Bonnie Prince Charlie. He had come to the country to take the throne. Now he is leaving in exile and abject defeat.
In prose that is by turns poetic, comic, macabre, haunting and humane, multi- award-winning author Alan Warner traces the frantic last journey through Scotland of a man who history will come to define for his failure.
'Written in carefully crafted prose shot through with cleverly-deployed alliteration and assonance, this reimagining of Charles Edward Stuart’s escape from Culloden is a triumph' – Stuart Kelly, The Scotsman
In the aftermath of the disastrous Battle of Culloden, a lonely figure takes flight with a small band of companions through the islands and mountains of the Hebrides. His name is Charles Edward better known today as Bonnie Prince Charlie. He had come to the country to take the throne. Now he is leaving in exile and abject defeat.
In prose that is by turns poetic, comic, macabre, haunting and humane, multi- award-winning author Alan Warner traces the frantic last journey through Scotland of a man who history will come to define for his failure.
'Written in carefully crafted prose shot through with cleverly-deployed alliteration and assonance, this reimagining of Charles Edward Stuart’s escape from Culloden is a triumph' – Stuart Kelly, The Scotsman
122 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 6, 2023
22 people are currently reading
651 people want to read
About the author
Alan Warner
78 books184 followersNote: There is more than one Alan Warner, this is the page for the award-winning Scottish novelist. For books by other people bearing the same name see Alan Warner
Alan Warner (born 1964) is the author of six novels: the acclaimed Morvern Callar (1995), winner of a Somerset Maugham Award; These Demented Lands (1997), winner of the Encore Award; The Sopranos (1998), winner of the Saltire Society Scottish Book of the Year Award; The Man Who Walks (2002), an imaginative and surreal black comedy; The Worms Can Carry Me to Heaven (2006), and The Stars in the Bright Sky (2010), a sequel to The Sopranos. Morvern Callar has been adapted as a film, and The Sopranos is to follow shortly. His short story 'After the Vision' was included in the anthology Children of Albion Rovers (1997) and 'Bitter Salvage' was included in Disco Biscuits (1997). In 2003 he was nominated by Granta magazine as one of twenty 'Best of Young British Novelists'. In 2010, his novel The Stars in the Bright Sky was included in the longlist for the Man Booker Prize.
Alan Warner's novels are mostly set in "The Port", a place bearing some resemblance to Oban. He is known to appreciate 1970s Krautrock band Can; two of his books feature dedications to former band members (Morvern Callar to Holger Czukay and The Man Who Walks to Michael Karoli). Alan Warner currently splits his time between Dublin and Javea, Spain.
Alan Warner (born 1964) is the author of six novels: the acclaimed Morvern Callar (1995), winner of a Somerset Maugham Award; These Demented Lands (1997), winner of the Encore Award; The Sopranos (1998), winner of the Saltire Society Scottish Book of the Year Award; The Man Who Walks (2002), an imaginative and surreal black comedy; The Worms Can Carry Me to Heaven (2006), and The Stars in the Bright Sky (2010), a sequel to The Sopranos. Morvern Callar has been adapted as a film, and The Sopranos is to follow shortly. His short story 'After the Vision' was included in the anthology Children of Albion Rovers (1997) and 'Bitter Salvage' was included in Disco Biscuits (1997). In 2003 he was nominated by Granta magazine as one of twenty 'Best of Young British Novelists'. In 2010, his novel The Stars in the Bright Sky was included in the longlist for the Man Booker Prize.
Alan Warner's novels are mostly set in "The Port", a place bearing some resemblance to Oban. He is known to appreciate 1970s Krautrock band Can; two of his books feature dedications to former band members (Morvern Callar to Holger Czukay and The Man Who Walks to Michael Karoli). Alan Warner currently splits his time between Dublin and Javea, Spain.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 64 reviews
February 1, 2024
3.5* Great title and cover and subject matter, but in the end it didn't quite live up to the expectation generated. Despite the serious and tense nature of the cover and title, this feels more like a Prince out for japes with his mates. There is a lack of tension and drama given he's on the run from an army. The longest chapter is dedicated to the Prince getting into his disguise as a servant woman, the description of every piece of clothing seemed entirely unnecessary. Good, but flawed, and as with all of the Darkland series, I'm left wishing for something more, and something longer, which is a good thing, I suppose. Short and interesting rather than gripping.
September 10, 2023
This is the third book of the Darklands series that Ive read I have enjoyed them all. By his own admission in the afterword I don’t believe the author liked the ‘Bonny’ Prince one little bit and this came thru in his book I believe. I agree with him! What an insufferable little narcissist he must have been! I was shocked by some descriptions, especially the razed village, but Warner suggests that the Prince was too yet ‘he failed to fully connect the atrocity he saw around him to his own presence in this new country’ Excellent writing.
April 11, 2023
Darkland Tales is a fictional series written by Scottish authors retelling stories from Scotland's history. If you've read my reviews of Denise Mina's Rizzio and Jenni Fagan's Hex, you'll know that I have loved the series so far and that I was really looking forward to the next instalment. Despite the excitement, my self-imposed book buying ban for 2023 meant that I had resigned myself to not reading Alan Warner's Nothing Left to Fear from Hell until next year. You can perhaps imagine my delight then when I discovered a pre-publication copy amongst my post a couple of weeks ago. I don't know who sent it since there was no note, but to whoever you are - thank you, it really made my day!
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In Nothing Left to Fear from Hell, Warner reimagines the true story behind the Skye Boat Song, writing of a defeated Jacobite prince fleeing across the Hebrides as he desperately tries to evade the clutches of the British army and, honestly, it's every bit as good as it sounds. Everything about Warner's writing screams familiarity with the Scottish weather and landscape as he charts the prince's progress across bog and field, conjuring wet and frigid terrain with ease. This is no romanticised retelling - neither Scotland nor the Bonnie Prince himself are flattered much - but it has a rawness to it that surprised and moved me, leaving me feeling as if I had just watched the events transpire myself.
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Warner portrays a prince who is impatient, often unpleasant, and also seemingly ignorant of his country's boundaries, but who has nonetheless stared into the eyes of defeat and retained conviction in his cause. It's a nuanced and, at times, comedic portrayal that really brings both the character and the story to life.
📚
Nothing Left to Fear from Hell was a delight to read and I'd highly recommend giving it a shot, especially if you're anything like me - scunnered with the British government, dying for a Jacobite hit, and sitting twiddling your thumbs until June 16th when Outlander's (finally) back.
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📚
In Nothing Left to Fear from Hell, Warner reimagines the true story behind the Skye Boat Song, writing of a defeated Jacobite prince fleeing across the Hebrides as he desperately tries to evade the clutches of the British army and, honestly, it's every bit as good as it sounds. Everything about Warner's writing screams familiarity with the Scottish weather and landscape as he charts the prince's progress across bog and field, conjuring wet and frigid terrain with ease. This is no romanticised retelling - neither Scotland nor the Bonnie Prince himself are flattered much - but it has a rawness to it that surprised and moved me, leaving me feeling as if I had just watched the events transpire myself.
📚
Warner portrays a prince who is impatient, often unpleasant, and also seemingly ignorant of his country's boundaries, but who has nonetheless stared into the eyes of defeat and retained conviction in his cause. It's a nuanced and, at times, comedic portrayal that really brings both the character and the story to life.
📚
Nothing Left to Fear from Hell was a delight to read and I'd highly recommend giving it a shot, especially if you're anything like me - scunnered with the British government, dying for a Jacobite hit, and sitting twiddling your thumbs until June 16th when Outlander's (finally) back.
📚
December 30, 2023
The point of these Darkland Tales is supposed to be to look at events in Scottish history through the lens of modern sensibilities. This is a simple fictionalised description of Prince Charlie's escape after Culloden. There's zero insight in it, through any kind of lens, modern or otherwise. The writing is poor, with a stilted use of vocabulary that I couldn't decide if he meant to sound antiquated. For example, why say "inundated accoutrements" when you mean "wet clothes"? Despite its brevity, I couldn't force myself to finish, giving up at 60%. Tells us nothing about anything except that Warner is obsessed with bodily functions. At least it has warned me off attempting any of his other books, so not a complete waste of time.
April 30, 2023
2.5⭐️
August 11, 2023
This is third in a tremendous series of fictionalised Scottish histories, Darkland Tales, and concerns the flight of the Young Pretender, Charles Edward Stewart, from Culloden.
The first in the series was also exceptional, Denise Mina’s Rizzio, which reimagined the murder of the ill-fated advisor to Mary, Queen of Scots, and effectively drew parallels between gossip and social media, as a resentment of outsiders and ingrained privilege.
The second was Jenni Fagan’s Hex, 4 stars from 5 for me, which told of Geillis Duncan, accused of witchcraft and yet mysteriously visited by a being from the future who tells her the bad news that misogyny won’t be over any time soon.
The tragic figure of Bonnie Prince Charlie and his many errors of judgement still manages to hold a special place in the hearts of many. As Warner says in his Afterword..
Warner writes without sentiment and though Charles has a central role his supporting cast is an ominous presence upon whom the Prince’s fate lies. It opens with Charles getting off a boat and promptly throwing up, and more.. These are the agonies of a man on the run, haunted by the humiliation at Culloden.
Yet there is plenty of humour; Charles is lampooned by his men when he, the Pretender, is disguised as an illiterate Irish barmaid, commenting that he is not very good at pretending.
After so much literature about the man it is remarkable that something different and refreshing can still be written. It is a case that out of disaster comes an absolute triumph.
An afterword of my own… Charles Edward Stewart has a special place in our local history here in the Eastern fells of the Lake District. On a remote bit of moor not far from Shap Fell is a monument that commemorates the place the Young Pretender and his Jacobite followers spent a week, as their invasion of England was delayed by inclement weather.
The first in the series was also exceptional, Denise Mina’s Rizzio, which reimagined the murder of the ill-fated advisor to Mary, Queen of Scots, and effectively drew parallels between gossip and social media, as a resentment of outsiders and ingrained privilege.
The second was Jenni Fagan’s Hex, 4 stars from 5 for me, which told of Geillis Duncan, accused of witchcraft and yet mysteriously visited by a being from the future who tells her the bad news that misogyny won’t be over any time soon.
The tragic figure of Bonnie Prince Charlie and his many errors of judgement still manages to hold a special place in the hearts of many. As Warner says in his Afterword..
The limited, often staged, photographic record of the American Civil War fails to convey the experience, and as we move further back into eras before audio and photography, the fiction writer journeys deeper into mystery.
What did the Prince really look like when he was 24 years old? How did his spoken voice sound? What did it sound like when Charles Edward Stuart and the most able commander of his army, Lord George Murray, had a conversation in English?
Warner writes without sentiment and though Charles has a central role his supporting cast is an ominous presence upon whom the Prince’s fate lies. It opens with Charles getting off a boat and promptly throwing up, and more.. These are the agonies of a man on the run, haunted by the humiliation at Culloden.
Yet there is plenty of humour; Charles is lampooned by his men when he, the Pretender, is disguised as an illiterate Irish barmaid, commenting that he is not very good at pretending.
After so much literature about the man it is remarkable that something different and refreshing can still be written. It is a case that out of disaster comes an absolute triumph.
An afterword of my own… Charles Edward Stewart has a special place in our local history here in the Eastern fells of the Lake District. On a remote bit of moor not far from Shap Fell is a monument that commemorates the place the Young Pretender and his Jacobite followers spent a week, as their invasion of England was delayed by inclement weather.
July 9, 2023
Warner's first foray into historical fiction for Polygon's Darkland Tales recounts the flight of Charles Edward Stuart from Scotland in the months after the Jacobite army's defeat at Culloden in April 1746. It's thoughtful stuff, clever and brooding and sorrowful and darkly humorous while remaining tightly bound to the narrative tradition of this storied historical fulcrum. And it's beautiful, if not always in the imagery then at least in the way in which Warner's prose captures both landscape and human interaction with a biting verisimilitude that defies the primitivity of most fictive sallies into historic territories.
In his afterword, the author explains that his challenge was to explore the 'fundamental mystery' of what the Bonnie Prince's epic coda was really like, and this particular scholar of the Jacobite era can fully endorse that he accomplishes that goal with equal parts criticism and compassion that is as interesting and as relevant as anything that Prebble, Broster, Stevenson, and Scott have ever penned.
In his afterword, the author explains that his challenge was to explore the 'fundamental mystery' of what the Bonnie Prince's epic coda was really like, and this particular scholar of the Jacobite era can fully endorse that he accomplishes that goal with equal parts criticism and compassion that is as interesting and as relevant as anything that Prebble, Broster, Stevenson, and Scott have ever penned.
June 18, 2025
As an archaeologist and historian, I have been fascinated by the Jacobites and prince Charles Edward Stuart for over two decades and I have gathered and read a lot of related literature, both non-fiction and fiction, about the Jacobite movement and related history and politics.
This book focuses on a small part of prince Charles' escape to the Scottish Isles after the battle of Culloden in 1746. Far from a romantic adventure, the book focuses on the weather-beaten melancholic prince and his followers, suffering from the elements, the midges, malnourishment and the ever present government patrols.
The book sets the right atmosphere and has a genuine feeling of desolation. I found it quite refreshing among the many history books, military stories and biographies I usually read about the subject.
Warner seems to have done his research and makes the historic characters come alive.
This book focuses on a small part of prince Charles' escape to the Scottish Isles after the battle of Culloden in 1746. Far from a romantic adventure, the book focuses on the weather-beaten melancholic prince and his followers, suffering from the elements, the midges, malnourishment and the ever present government patrols.
The book sets the right atmosphere and has a genuine feeling of desolation. I found it quite refreshing among the many history books, military stories and biographies I usually read about the subject.
Warner seems to have done his research and makes the historic characters come alive.
March 10, 2025
I'll kick off by stating clearly, that the language in this novella, set just after the Battle of Culloden and the start of the ethnic cleansing and genocide perpetrated by the British Government Forces in the highlands and islands of Scotland, was way too flowery for my tastes.
At times it read more like poetry, rather than a good old fashioned yarn. Which may be enjoyable for some, but alas, certainly not for me. However, I'll park that to one side and concentrate on the parts of this short book that did work for me, and which I managed to take some pleasure from.
The story follows Charles Edward Stewart (Bonnie Prince Charlie/The Young Pretender) and several cohorts, as they flee across country, by land and sea from defeat on the battlefield at Culloden moor by British Government Forces. The British generals had chosen this particular battle to successfully change up and alter their battlefield tactics, to combat and put an end to the highland charge, which had decimated British and before them, English armies for decades. This military disaster is lamented by the highland cadres, and despite the flowery language, is a great passage in the tale, where the sorrow at such a calamitous event, bleeds out from the pages, like the defiled highland corpses, felled with no such regret.
This change in battle tactics by the British, which saw the individual Redcoat, bayonet the highland charger on their exposed left, rather than the shielded soldier directly in front of them, is a widely known fact, not so prevalent however, for me anyway, was the slaying of unseated horses in battle by the highland clansmen. Lest a stray equine beast found a way back to its dragoon and rejoined the fray. Where the legs were unceremoniously hacked off from under them by the mighty blow from a broadsword. The grisly retelling of which by the war hardened highland fugitives, made for unsettling reading!
The author certainly didn't shy away from the gritty, unpleasant realities of life on the run in the beautiful, if yet at times also desolate and bleak Highland landscape.
Where the royal outlaw and his meagre band of Jacobite war veterans were eaten alive by the dreaded and ferociously hungry Scottish midge! Truly a plague to rival no other, if you've ever been unlucky enough to be consumed by the irritating and painful cursed beastie, I have much sympathy on your soul.
The novella's realism however, was plentiful and besides many an example of highland hospitality shown to the Prince and his lieutenants, often at the expense of retribution by the egregious and marauding Redcoat invaders, with waves of description showering us with the myriad forms of precipitation that endlessly drench the tartan clad fellows and the countryside of Alba, the realism gets amusingly down and dirty with a multitude of bodily functions. There was much dropping of trews and lifting of plaids for the purposes of sh*tting and p*ssing, and when this next passage appeared featuring an old crone meeting the Bonnie Prince, I near ended myself laughing!
'She farted massively like a gunhorse, and there was a gurgle from her midriff, muffled by her mass slag of layerings. O'Sullivan stepped further back. The Prince smiled. "Do I hear there a loyal prayer to King George?" '
Extremely amusing, and I'll sum up with another line that had me chortling and guffawing away, all the way up Ben Nevis and back,
'When in youthful disgrace as a child, you would ever slap my bared arse with a fish!'
The long winter nights must've flown by in that particular bothy!
At times it read more like poetry, rather than a good old fashioned yarn. Which may be enjoyable for some, but alas, certainly not for me. However, I'll park that to one side and concentrate on the parts of this short book that did work for me, and which I managed to take some pleasure from.
The story follows Charles Edward Stewart (Bonnie Prince Charlie/The Young Pretender) and several cohorts, as they flee across country, by land and sea from defeat on the battlefield at Culloden moor by British Government Forces. The British generals had chosen this particular battle to successfully change up and alter their battlefield tactics, to combat and put an end to the highland charge, which had decimated British and before them, English armies for decades. This military disaster is lamented by the highland cadres, and despite the flowery language, is a great passage in the tale, where the sorrow at such a calamitous event, bleeds out from the pages, like the defiled highland corpses, felled with no such regret.
This change in battle tactics by the British, which saw the individual Redcoat, bayonet the highland charger on their exposed left, rather than the shielded soldier directly in front of them, is a widely known fact, not so prevalent however, for me anyway, was the slaying of unseated horses in battle by the highland clansmen. Lest a stray equine beast found a way back to its dragoon and rejoined the fray. Where the legs were unceremoniously hacked off from under them by the mighty blow from a broadsword. The grisly retelling of which by the war hardened highland fugitives, made for unsettling reading!
The author certainly didn't shy away from the gritty, unpleasant realities of life on the run in the beautiful, if yet at times also desolate and bleak Highland landscape.
Where the royal outlaw and his meagre band of Jacobite war veterans were eaten alive by the dreaded and ferociously hungry Scottish midge! Truly a plague to rival no other, if you've ever been unlucky enough to be consumed by the irritating and painful cursed beastie, I have much sympathy on your soul.
The novella's realism however, was plentiful and besides many an example of highland hospitality shown to the Prince and his lieutenants, often at the expense of retribution by the egregious and marauding Redcoat invaders, with waves of description showering us with the myriad forms of precipitation that endlessly drench the tartan clad fellows and the countryside of Alba, the realism gets amusingly down and dirty with a multitude of bodily functions. There was much dropping of trews and lifting of plaids for the purposes of sh*tting and p*ssing, and when this next passage appeared featuring an old crone meeting the Bonnie Prince, I near ended myself laughing!
'She farted massively like a gunhorse, and there was a gurgle from her midriff, muffled by her mass slag of layerings. O'Sullivan stepped further back. The Prince smiled. "Do I hear there a loyal prayer to King George?" '
Extremely amusing, and I'll sum up with another line that had me chortling and guffawing away, all the way up Ben Nevis and back,
'When in youthful disgrace as a child, you would ever slap my bared arse with a fish!'
The long winter nights must've flown by in that particular bothy!
August 26, 2023
This is the third in the Darkland Tales series of novellas in which significant events in Scottish history are re-imagined by a selection of Scottish writers. In this latest publication Alan Warner recounts Bonnie Prince Charlie’s flight through the islands of the Inner Hebrides and the Highlands following his defeat at Culloden. The Prince, accompanied by a small band of loyal followers, travels from island to island on a small boat, hiding out from the pursuing English forces. They are soaked, starving and tired but the Prince attempts to keep his companies spirits up by regaling them with tales of his exploits on the battlefield and beyond. The story also includes the famous tale where the Prince disguises himself as a female, Irish maid servant Betty Burke,while travelling to Skye, accompanied by Flora MacDonald, to avoid detection. This is the most humorous part of the novella, especially the passages where another maid describes the Prince’s appearance and behaviour unaware of who the ‘female’ actually is !
This is another welcome addition to the Darkland Tales series which usually send me off on a search to find out more about the subject matter.
This is another welcome addition to the Darkland Tales series which usually send me off on a search to find out more about the subject matter.
May 27, 2024
3.5 stars. A good retelling of Bonnie Prince Charlie's perilous flight from mainland Scotland to the Isle of Skye in the disastrous wake of the Battle of Culloden, before making his final escape back to Europe. Warner's Bonnie Prince is one that's easy to believe existed, in the way of his being very inexperienced and almost childlike in his view of the situation and throwing his weight around in company. There are some very good scenes in which his peers have to delicately take him down a peg or two. A good read.
August 4, 2024
2.5 ⭐️ rounded up.
After having read all five of the Darkland books I can confidently say that this one was my least favourite.
This is especially unfortunate given that I wrote about the Stuart monarchs in my NEA, and have since retained a great deal of interest in anything dealing with their stories, especially those doing so through fiction (which is simply the easier and therefore more enjoyable way — sorry to all my history teachers).
Therefore I was rather excited to read this one, but couldn’t help but feel bored by the story itself and uninterested in all of the characters.
After having read all five of the Darkland books I can confidently say that this one was my least favourite.
This is especially unfortunate given that I wrote about the Stuart monarchs in my NEA, and have since retained a great deal of interest in anything dealing with their stories, especially those doing so through fiction (which is simply the easier and therefore more enjoyable way — sorry to all my history teachers).
Therefore I was rather excited to read this one, but couldn’t help but feel bored by the story itself and uninterested in all of the characters.
August 20, 2025
This rating is 4 stars rounded up from 3.5. I found the book very readable and filled in the narrative on what occurred on the boat trip following Culloden other than the king wore a dress. I am by no means a fan of the romance of bonny Prince Charlie. Just look at the results of his decisions. This book needed a little more in character development. However, I enjoyed the read and I am greatly enjoying the Darkland Tales series.
October 27, 2025
I found this book incredibly difficult to access. The language seemed to be a mixture of old Scots and French phrases. The story was difficult to follow at times.
Yet, it was also obvious the author could write. a strange conundrum and a disappointing read.
Yet, it was also obvious the author could write. a strange conundrum and a disappointing read.
December 18, 2024
An interesting wee short story about Bonnie Prince Charlie and his last journey through Scotland.
February 18, 2025
What happens when you try to usurp the king and fail. You run. A great period piece mixing both history and myth.
July 12, 2025
short but hard to get into
made me lol on the plane at least
made me lol on the plane at least
May 10, 2023
"Speed, bonnie boat, like a bird on the wing,
Onward! the sailors cry;
Carry the lad that's born to be king
Over the sea to Skye."
- The Skye Boat Song
The third installment of the Darkland Tales series follows the Jacobite Bonnie Prince Charlie as he flees the British Army across the Hebrides.
Warner has a gift in evoking the landscape and harsh weather of the Scottish Isles, hurling the reader in amongst the stormy waves, blustery skies and of course, the dreaded midges.
The language is coarse, with bold humour - exactly what you would expect from a prince on the run and the author does not attempt to paint his characters in a flattering light, simply allowing history to tell the tale.
Paranoia and mistrust build up steadily in this story, almost to an overwhelming degree as you experience the level of fear that the characters felt as they fled for their lives.
These Darkland Tales are exquisite pieces of Scottish fiction and must-reads for those fascinated by the history of Scotland.
Onward! the sailors cry;
Carry the lad that's born to be king
Over the sea to Skye."
- The Skye Boat Song
The third installment of the Darkland Tales series follows the Jacobite Bonnie Prince Charlie as he flees the British Army across the Hebrides.
Warner has a gift in evoking the landscape and harsh weather of the Scottish Isles, hurling the reader in amongst the stormy waves, blustery skies and of course, the dreaded midges.
The language is coarse, with bold humour - exactly what you would expect from a prince on the run and the author does not attempt to paint his characters in a flattering light, simply allowing history to tell the tale.
Paranoia and mistrust build up steadily in this story, almost to an overwhelming degree as you experience the level of fear that the characters felt as they fled for their lives.
These Darkland Tales are exquisite pieces of Scottish fiction and must-reads for those fascinated by the history of Scotland.
March 4, 2025
This was short but there was so much in it. The depiction of events and the setting were both realistic and fascinating. The midges were a character by themselves - just as they are in real life! I have read Rizzio and am looking forward to reading the other two of these Darkland Tales.
This wasn't the usual romantic view of the tale - and so I found it more enjoyable and believable.
This wasn't the usual romantic view of the tale - and so I found it more enjoyable and believable.
June 1, 2023
Every Scot knows that Flora MacDonald helped Bonnie Prince Charlie escape to Skye after the battle of Culloden in 1746. It is immortalised in the song, "Speed Bonnie Boat"... The Skye Boat Song. But truth be told, other than romanticised film scenes of the Prince skipping through purple heather in a plaid and paintings showing a weary Flora at the mast most of us don't really have anything like a genuine picture of what happened. Alan Warner's imagination brings the escape through the Isles to life and paints a more realistic hungry trudge through peat bogs in the rain. As anyone who has done so and suffered the dreaded midge this gives a sense of the misery it entailed. It also gives a motivation for the life preserving camaraderie and humour that would be required to keep spirits up on the run in a harsh, if beautiful environment. All in all Warner does this brilliantly with great use of evocative Scots words and with a perfect sense of pace and reflection. Underpinning the story is the question of the senselessness of the Clans supporting someone who was essentially from outside the country and whose belief in his right to the throne was absolute but ill timed in a world that was changing rapidly. The devastating impact on the Highland culture is touched upon with just the right sense of angst. Putting down the rebellion gave the new "British" just the reason they needed to change the Highlands and its people for ever.... and they did so just as harshly as the new "Americans" eradicated the native american people 100 years later!!
May 2, 2023
In parts laugh out loud funny, enraging in others and ultimately quite sad (depending on your point of view) this is the best yet in the Darkland Tales series. Alan Warner has humanised Charles Edward Stuart in a way that no-one else could have. I pre-ordered this before Christmas and it was well worth the wait.
July 1, 2024
An interesting short novel about Charles Stewart hiding in the Highlands.
Having recently been semi forced to watch Outlander it was nice to have a sensible version of this story to fall into. This may have coloured my view of this book tbh.
Having recently been semi forced to watch Outlander it was nice to have a sensible version of this story to fall into. This may have coloured my view of this book tbh.
December 25, 2024
Ugh, the fuck?
May 19, 2024
Bonnie Prince Charlie has escaped the killing grounds of the Battle of Culloden, fled across mainland Scotland, and is now hiding among the Hebridean islands, hungry, dirty and frequently sodden, with a few loyal companions, ever alert for a hint of a redcoated soldier.
This short novel describes, in visceral detail, his tribulations. In the first chapter, we watch as he vomits, defecates and urinates. Warner deploys remarkable powers of description as we endure, with the Prince, the infamous West Highland midges, we tramp with him across then landscape, losing our shoes in sucking bogs. To start off with I wondered if, perhaps, the descriptions had gone overboard, foregrounding the language to the extent that the narrative was disrupted. for example, the end of the second paragraph states that "a blunt phalanx of fumes manouevred from the outcrops of the low island snuffing its colours down to a bulk." The third paragraph then begins: "A shore emerged from the briny effluvium ..." Words such as 'phalanx' and 'effluvium' seemed to me to shout for attention, as if the author was showing off. But then I thought that this sort of language would be routine if this was poetry. That's when I realised that this is wildly, wonderfully, impressively poetic prose. And, once we have reached the second chapter, the balance between description and dialogue, between observation and action, somewhat settles down, leaving the reader with a story that is nevertheless rendered in language so lyrical as to become a thing of beauty in itself.
Then we learn about the characters, focusing on that of the Young Pretender. He is portrayed as "a chancer who brought havoc" as the author himself says in an afterword. He's a chameleon of a man, stoic and terrified, charming and petulant, selfish and repeatedly self-deluding as he describes the latest roofless byre as a palace and assures his followers that he will return with a French army, at times courageous and at others, such as when he is hysterically frightened of being captured and hanged, drawn and quartered, a frightened rabbit.
This is a remarkable picture of a human being in all his moods and aspects and it combines with the rapturously expressive and passionate descriptions of the landscape, a character in its own right, to make an outstanding work of literature.
This short novel describes, in visceral detail, his tribulations. In the first chapter, we watch as he vomits, defecates and urinates. Warner deploys remarkable powers of description as we endure, with the Prince, the infamous West Highland midges, we tramp with him across then landscape, losing our shoes in sucking bogs. To start off with I wondered if, perhaps, the descriptions had gone overboard, foregrounding the language to the extent that the narrative was disrupted. for example, the end of the second paragraph states that "a blunt phalanx of fumes manouevred from the outcrops of the low island snuffing its colours down to a bulk." The third paragraph then begins: "A shore emerged from the briny effluvium ..." Words such as 'phalanx' and 'effluvium' seemed to me to shout for attention, as if the author was showing off. But then I thought that this sort of language would be routine if this was poetry. That's when I realised that this is wildly, wonderfully, impressively poetic prose. And, once we have reached the second chapter, the balance between description and dialogue, between observation and action, somewhat settles down, leaving the reader with a story that is nevertheless rendered in language so lyrical as to become a thing of beauty in itself.
Then we learn about the characters, focusing on that of the Young Pretender. He is portrayed as "a chancer who brought havoc" as the author himself says in an afterword. He's a chameleon of a man, stoic and terrified, charming and petulant, selfish and repeatedly self-deluding as he describes the latest roofless byre as a palace and assures his followers that he will return with a French army, at times courageous and at others, such as when he is hysterically frightened of being captured and hanged, drawn and quartered, a frightened rabbit.
This is a remarkable picture of a human being in all his moods and aspects and it combines with the rapturously expressive and passionate descriptions of the landscape, a character in its own right, to make an outstanding work of literature.
May 9, 2025
In Nothing Left to Fear From Hell a tall man accompanied by several companions, is making hazardous journeys by small boat between the islands of the Outer Hebrides, mostly under the cover of darkness. They are on the run and at one point the man has to disguise himself as a serving girl, when he is given the name Betty Bourke.
We are of course following the flight of Charles Edward Louis John Sylvester Maria Casimir Stuart (to give him his full complement of names, never used in the text,) otherwise known as Bonnie Prince Charlie, down on his luck but ever hopeful fortune will favour him in the end.
Though the Young Pretender has featured as a character in many of them, most novelistic examinations of the Jacobite inheritance - a perennial subject of Scottish fiction - have focused on that cause’s adherents and their (mis)adventures. I certainly have not before read one in which the Prince is the protagonist. But my acquaintance with the subject is by no means exhaustive.
Warner inhabits the time and its susceptibilities vert effectively, presenting a picture of Charles Stuart as a human being, with every necessity and function we all have, along with his convictions of divine right, plus the all but unthinking deference of his comrades. Not that the text confines itself to the viewpoint of the Prince. A particular highlight is a servant girl’s view of the kenspeckle and overly presumptuous Betty Burke
A quirk of this publication is that on even numbered pages between chapters - and before the Afterword - are depictions of that minute pest of the Scottish summer, the midge, with which the travelling party is plagued, starting with one and going up to ten.
In that Afterword Warner speculates on the conundrums of historical fiction, the difficulties of portrayal. As he says, “they were so like us, and they were so unlike us.”
But apart from the drier and necessarily more restricted approach of historical record and academe, fiction is the only way we can explore past times such as these.
This novella gives us Charles Edward Stuart as a believable, if misguided, human being. But he was trapped by his birth; as most of us are.
We are of course following the flight of Charles Edward Louis John Sylvester Maria Casimir Stuart (to give him his full complement of names, never used in the text,) otherwise known as Bonnie Prince Charlie, down on his luck but ever hopeful fortune will favour him in the end.
Though the Young Pretender has featured as a character in many of them, most novelistic examinations of the Jacobite inheritance - a perennial subject of Scottish fiction - have focused on that cause’s adherents and their (mis)adventures. I certainly have not before read one in which the Prince is the protagonist. But my acquaintance with the subject is by no means exhaustive.
Warner inhabits the time and its susceptibilities vert effectively, presenting a picture of Charles Stuart as a human being, with every necessity and function we all have, along with his convictions of divine right, plus the all but unthinking deference of his comrades. Not that the text confines itself to the viewpoint of the Prince. A particular highlight is a servant girl’s view of the kenspeckle and overly presumptuous Betty Burke
A quirk of this publication is that on even numbered pages between chapters - and before the Afterword - are depictions of that minute pest of the Scottish summer, the midge, with which the travelling party is plagued, starting with one and going up to ten.
In that Afterword Warner speculates on the conundrums of historical fiction, the difficulties of portrayal. As he says, “they were so like us, and they were so unlike us.”
But apart from the drier and necessarily more restricted approach of historical record and academe, fiction is the only way we can explore past times such as these.
This novella gives us Charles Edward Stuart as a believable, if misguided, human being. But he was trapped by his birth; as most of us are.
March 21, 2024
Considering I am really enjoying the Darkland Tales and their exploration of Scottish History, I am constantly surprised by how little I know about it. I was excited to get to this story after hearing the author talking about it last year at a book festival but I realised very quickly how little I know of the story of Bonnie Prince Charlie.
I enjoyed the atmosphere in this book, you can get a sense of how bleak everything seems and how difficult it is for the Prince and his party as they make their way across the Scottish Highlands. At the same time though the party hadn't lost their sense of fun and I did chuckle a few times at some of the remarks and I quite liked the contrast between that and the unforgiving conditions.
The one thing I did struggle a little bit with in this story was that characters that had been in the book were suddenly no longer in the Prince's party, I realise the journey would have been long and not everyone would have possibly gone the whole way but they just kind of drop off without a mention again. I also sometimes found the language quite hard to discern, I'm usually good at picking up words in context even if I've not encountered them before but I didn't find that quite as easy in this book.
I didn't enjoy this instalment as much as I have the others in the series so far, it could be the fact that I don't have much prior knowledge of the story and feel like I haven't grasped what the significance of this voyage is, or it could be the way it is written. Don't get me wrong it had many enjoyable moments, the diatribe from a maid towards the Irish spinner stands out as one such occasion, but I didn't feel hooked by the story in quite the same way.
Originally posted on everywhere and nowhere
I enjoyed the atmosphere in this book, you can get a sense of how bleak everything seems and how difficult it is for the Prince and his party as they make their way across the Scottish Highlands. At the same time though the party hadn't lost their sense of fun and I did chuckle a few times at some of the remarks and I quite liked the contrast between that and the unforgiving conditions.
The one thing I did struggle a little bit with in this story was that characters that had been in the book were suddenly no longer in the Prince's party, I realise the journey would have been long and not everyone would have possibly gone the whole way but they just kind of drop off without a mention again. I also sometimes found the language quite hard to discern, I'm usually good at picking up words in context even if I've not encountered them before but I didn't find that quite as easy in this book.
I didn't enjoy this instalment as much as I have the others in the series so far, it could be the fact that I don't have much prior knowledge of the story and feel like I haven't grasped what the significance of this voyage is, or it could be the way it is written. Don't get me wrong it had many enjoyable moments, the diatribe from a maid towards the Irish spinner stands out as one such occasion, but I didn't feel hooked by the story in quite the same way.
Originally posted on everywhere and nowhere
September 5, 2024
(Some light spoilers ahead)
Quite good... a nice little trip back to a moment in Scottish history. Narrative-wise, it felt like the individual scenes and encounters could have happened in any order; there wasn't a particular progression of one to the next: no causation or escalation. As a result, I didn't feel a sense of growing menace, or rising tension as the English forces closed in; just a prince in a dress being carted around in boats.
There was an overarching theme of the machinations of kings/princes/pretenders resulting in the brutal insanity of war - I know this because the book says so explicitly, brought on by the Prince noting the senselessness of a slaughtered kitten. (Nice scene tbh, just marred by the insertion of authorial voice to comment on how senseless it all is. But still, a moment of character development for the Prince).
It was still atmospheric with lovely prose and some decent scenes of trudging through marshland or foggy coastland, relying on the goodwill of strangers and sympathisers etc.
Just not quite the tense "cornered rat" type of story that it could have been.
Quite good... a nice little trip back to a moment in Scottish history. Narrative-wise, it felt like the individual scenes and encounters could have happened in any order; there wasn't a particular progression of one to the next: no causation or escalation. As a result, I didn't feel a sense of growing menace, or rising tension as the English forces closed in; just a prince in a dress being carted around in boats.
There was an overarching theme of the machinations of kings/princes/pretenders resulting in the brutal insanity of war - I know this because the book says so explicitly, brought on by the Prince noting the senselessness of a slaughtered kitten. (Nice scene tbh, just marred by the insertion of authorial voice to comment on how senseless it all is. But still, a moment of character development for the Prince).
It was still atmospheric with lovely prose and some decent scenes of trudging through marshland or foggy coastland, relying on the goodwill of strangers and sympathisers etc.
Just not quite the tense "cornered rat" type of story that it could have been.
December 3, 2024
“Nothing Left to Fear from Hell”
by Alan Warner
This is another of the so-called “Darkland Tales”, a serially published set of novellas, written by contemporary Scottish authors who present bite-sized accounts of some of the darker events from their country‘s past, legend and mythology. This is the fourth one I’ve read (five are published) and I’ve loved them all.
In “Nothing Left…” we find ourselves in 1746 Scotland as we follow Bonnie Prince Charlie and his entourage of about a dozen rebels and enablers as they meander around the Highlands and Islands following the historically decisive loss by the Jacobite Army at the Battle of Culloden. The author depicts Charlie as somewhat of a delusional and pathetic interloper whose fails to recognize that he will never rule over Scotland. I really enjoy these creative little history lessons. I recommend them all.
#DarklandTales
by Alan Warner
This is another of the so-called “Darkland Tales”, a serially published set of novellas, written by contemporary Scottish authors who present bite-sized accounts of some of the darker events from their country‘s past, legend and mythology. This is the fourth one I’ve read (five are published) and I’ve loved them all.
In “Nothing Left…” we find ourselves in 1746 Scotland as we follow Bonnie Prince Charlie and his entourage of about a dozen rebels and enablers as they meander around the Highlands and Islands following the historically decisive loss by the Jacobite Army at the Battle of Culloden. The author depicts Charlie as somewhat of a delusional and pathetic interloper whose fails to recognize that he will never rule over Scotland. I really enjoy these creative little history lessons. I recommend them all.
#DarklandTales
July 12, 2025
My third in this Polygon series which reimagines moments from Scotland's past - both factual and mythical. All have been excellent.
This novella tells a version of Charles Stuart's escape after the defeat at Culloden. It invites some good questions about the idea of the Prince as a heroic figure - he believed in the divine right of kings and his rebellion brought, perhaps unwittingly, horror to parts of Scotland. Conversely he seems charming, brave and occasionally thoughtful.
The book is funny in places, but ultimately it's a very sad story about the end of a way of life in the Highlands.I'm glad I read it as it has helped in my ongoing efforts to understand the very distinctive nature of Scotland - which has been my home for nearly 30 years.
One last thing - the final chapter is a very good essay on historical fiction and its relationship to history.
This novella tells a version of Charles Stuart's escape after the defeat at Culloden. It invites some good questions about the idea of the Prince as a heroic figure - he believed in the divine right of kings and his rebellion brought, perhaps unwittingly, horror to parts of Scotland. Conversely he seems charming, brave and occasionally thoughtful.
The book is funny in places, but ultimately it's a very sad story about the end of a way of life in the Highlands.I'm glad I read it as it has helped in my ongoing efforts to understand the very distinctive nature of Scotland - which has been my home for nearly 30 years.
One last thing - the final chapter is a very good essay on historical fiction and its relationship to history.
May 6, 2023
Another short novella from Polygon's "Darkland Tales" series, asking contemporary Scottish writers to write a story from Scotland's history.
Here we have Alan Warner following Bonnie Prince Charlie across the bogs and lochs of Scotland in the months after Culloden, trying to evade capture and flee back to France. It is an interesting story to tell, as we are vaguely familiar with the fact that Flora MacDonald disguised him as a woman to get him over to Skye, but I hadn't really ever thought about how this actually panned out. How did Charlie talk to his small group of fellow travellers, how did he walk in a dress? Did the midges start to annoy him? If these are the questions you've been wanting answers to, then read on.
Here we have Alan Warner following Bonnie Prince Charlie across the bogs and lochs of Scotland in the months after Culloden, trying to evade capture and flee back to France. It is an interesting story to tell, as we are vaguely familiar with the fact that Flora MacDonald disguised him as a woman to get him over to Skye, but I hadn't really ever thought about how this actually panned out. How did Charlie talk to his small group of fellow travellers, how did he walk in a dress? Did the midges start to annoy him? If these are the questions you've been wanting answers to, then read on.
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