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The Chequerboard
A story of unassailable love and rampant lust, of jealousy and revenge, of superstition and cruel hardship, set on the turbulent border between England and Scotland in the early 17th century.
528 pages, Paperback
First published March 25, 1993
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April 12, 2026
It’s a lively yarn. But hard to swallow if your name is Maxwell, or Graham. And while the author credits George MacDonald Fraser’s ‘Steel Bonnets’ as the source material for the book, she seems to have mis-read some of it.
It would have been better had she not used the names of real people and had them do things they didn’t.
I could list quite a few inaccuracies. But I’ll stick to two.
Hutchen Graham had a wife and children. He was a reiver, a blackmailer, and accused of murdering two men. But when he took part in the 1603 ill week, he (like his followers) rode with his face uncovered, having no reason to do otherwise.
Meanwhile, the Storeys were not driven out by his grandfather’s falsehoods (Hutchen's line didn’t live at Arthuret, either, but close to Gretna). The Storeys fled after forewarning the Armstrongs about a raid by the English authorities (in 1528). Which was treason and led to their properties being forfeited. And it was Richard Graham of Netherby who was initially falsely accused and nearly hanged, drawn and quartered for something he hadn’t done.
It would have been better had she not used the names of real people and had them do things they didn’t.
I could list quite a few inaccuracies. But I’ll stick to two.
Hutchen Graham had a wife and children. He was a reiver, a blackmailer, and accused of murdering two men. But when he took part in the 1603 ill week, he (like his followers) rode with his face uncovered, having no reason to do otherwise.
Meanwhile, the Storeys were not driven out by his grandfather’s falsehoods (Hutchen's line didn’t live at Arthuret, either, but close to Gretna). The Storeys fled after forewarning the Armstrongs about a raid by the English authorities (in 1528). Which was treason and led to their properties being forfeited. And it was Richard Graham of Netherby who was initially falsely accused and nearly hanged, drawn and quartered for something he hadn’t done.
Displaying 1 of 1 review