The Devil in Tartan

by Elisabeth Ogilvie

Twenty-four-year-old Noel Paige goes off with her 14-year-old stepbrother to Brierbank in Nova Scotia for the summer. Noel is to complete the genealogy Robbie's father was working on when he died - the tracing of his family back to the Scotsman Angus James Kendrum. Angus was a son of the fifth Earl of Strathcoran, massacred at the Battle of Culloden in April of 1746.

Somehow Angus, 16, and his younger brother escaped both death or slavery after the battle and made their way to America where they settled for a time in Georgia; many years later they emigrated to Nova Scotia.

The family ran to bearing sons, and by 1979 there were a host of Kendrums in and around Brierbank and elsewhere across Canada. One of them is the legitimate Earl of Strathcoran, though nobody knows who he is, since Angus and his brother were illiterate and left no written records for their descendants.

As Noel settles down to her task and Robbie starts getting acquainted with his cousins, it begins to appear that somebody is making a methodical effort to wipe out the male members of the clan who have the most likely claim to the Earl's mantle. There are near-fatal "accidents". Noel, who has vivid dreams and a touch of ESP, is conscious that ghosts are walking and talking in the house she and Robbie occupy. She overhears fragments of conversation between them which start to fill in the picture about the long years during which the Kendrum history has been a blank.

Violence comes to a crescendo just as the long-planned "Gathering", a sort of mammoth family picnic with songs, dances, and games for cousins from near and far, is about to take place.

273 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Elisabeth Ogilvie’s striking evocation of the atmosphere of the Maine seacoast that is the background of The Seasons Hereafter is no accident, for she lived in just such an area for many years, and her love for its people and their way of life has influenced all her novels.
Her activities on Gay’s Island, where she spent most of the year, included writing, gardening, and “trying not to suspect that a bear is at the door, a moose lurking in among the alders, or a horned owl hovering overhead about to bear away the cat.”
She contributed a considerable amount of writing of magazine fiction and children’s books, and is the author of several novels, including There May Be Heaven, The Witch Door, Rowan Head, The Dawning of the Day, Storm Tide, and one book of nonfiction, My World Is an Island.

Reviews

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Noel Paige and her 14 year old stepbrother travel to Brierbank in Nova Scotia to complete the genealogy Robbie's father was working on when he died. He was trying to trace the family back to Angus James Kendrum...the son of the fifth Earl of Strathcoran, who was massacred at the Battle of Culloden in 1746. I have visited Culloden with my grandfather and can remember being awed and a little scared that this rough and feisty Scot could be reduced to tears over a site that was over 200 years old. I later learned that nearly every clan in the Highlands had been literally wiped off the face of the Earth in less than 30 minutes. So I was very interested in Noel's history search. There was also a touch of the supernatural as it seems some of the Culloden ghost were interested in seeing that their 20th century ancestor learn everything about what happened that fateful day. A good story but would have earned a higher rating if there had been less of the 14 year olds :) and more of the history and the ghost. Now my question that I have always wondered about...Where do they get the men to pose for these covers??? :)

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now looking at the title, you might think “This is clearly a Highlander romance” and you would, shockingly, be wrong. Instead it’s a genealogical bungle of ancestors, family lore, a thousand cousins, and Scottish references. The writing was quite soothing, actually, and I liked the protagonist a lot. I mean, she was a Lord of the Rings fan, how could I not?

[Toni Wyatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a pretty good mystery about who will be the head of the clan.

[Anna Butera · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nova Scotia Cape Breton