While photographs of his home on the Schoolhill survive, George Jamesone’s house and garden are both now sadly gone, but it is a matter of record that in 1635 the painter was granted the use of a former public playfield (open-air theatre and recreation ground), fallen into misuse and neglect, for his own use as a private garden during his lifetime, on condition that he repaired walls and drainage and made the place secure. The events I have portrayed as taking place in these gardens are entirely fictional.
The name of the French master of Aberdeen in 1635 was not Louis but Alexander Rolland. I changed his Christian name to avoid confusion with my main character. The character of Christiane Rolland is purely fictional. Patrick Dun (1584–1652) was principal of Marischal College from 1621–1649.
The Hays of Delgatie as I have portrayed them in this series are not the historical Hays of Delgatie, but very largely a figment of my imagination. The more fascinating, and true history of the Hays can be read in their castle, restored by the late Captain John Hay of Delgatie, open to the public and run as a charitable trust.
Translations – I would like to thank my niece, Ellen MacPhee, for the Gaelic translations in this book.
Shona MacLean
,
February 2012
.
*
From figures given in Steve Murdoch (ed.),
Scotland and the Thirty Years’ War, 1618-1648
, (2001), p. 19.