Free Laird of the Mist by Paula Quinn Page B

and deep, compelling even Brodie to sit up again and listen. “The MacGregors found themselves reduced to the position of tenants on the lands that were once theirs.”
    “Taken from us by cunnin’ and devious schemes that continued until yer ancestors had gained it all,” Angus added solemnly and produced another pouch from a heavy fold in his plaid.
    “The MacGregors fought back, of course,” Graham said. “Naturally, they directed their attacks against those who had wrested their land and their livestock from them. They were brutal and feared by all. They killed and slaughtered many until their oppressors were forced to obtain royal assistance in putting an end to the troublesome tribe. Given noble titles and the right to hunt their enemies with dogs, the Campbells and some others provoked the MacGregors into more acts of violence, and the formidable clan was only too happy to oblige.”
    “Driven from Glen Orchy, the MacGregor chiefs lived at Stronmelochan at the foot of Glenstrae,” Brodie added. “While the Campbells expanded eastward into Breadalbane.”
    “Aye,” Graham agreed. “’Twas up to the Glenstrae MacGregors to carry on the resistance, but their chiefs were hunted down and murdered, their sons along with them, and their land taken, also. When the Protestant parliament, many of whom are Campbells, declared it illegal to be a Catholic, many Highlanders joined the Gordon clan chieftain in his fight against the realm. But the chieftain was beheaded, and the clans who backed him were pursued with fire and sword.”
    “To this day, we are considered papist heretics,” Jamie muttered quietly.
    “After a particularly bloody battle at Glen Fruin, a half century ago, the clan was proscribed,” Graham continued. “The name MacGregor, abolished. They are forbidden to bear it.”
    Kate nodded, knowing a little about their proscription and what it meant. “All lieges are prohibited from bearing them aid,” she said, repeating the creed she’d heard her uncle say many times.
    “Aye,” Graham confirmed and then added, “They have been stripped of every basic human need, including the right to bear arms and the right to gather together in one place. They are hunted, men, women, and children alike, and their heads are used as pardon fer the most vicious of crimes. Care of the aged and the sick is still refused to them. Even the sacraments of baptism, marriage, and burial are denied. And yet the MacGregors remain, despite everything.”
    They were to be forgotten.
    Jamie tore a hunk of bread away from his loaf and offered it to Kate, breaking her thoughts. She’d known the MacGregors were forbidden to bear their name, but she’d believed they had forfeited that right by defying every decree set forth by the realm. She had no idea their proscription had stripped them of so much more. Did her kin truly have so much to do with the annihilation of an entire clan? It was difficult to believe. Why hadn’t Amish or John ever told her any of this? Mayhap they were afraid of contradicting her uncle. They never judged the MacGregors, even knowing they killed her father. She closed her eyes and inhaled, gathering the strength to ask her next query and the courage to hear the reply.
    “Is this why Callum killed my grandfather? What did my father do to deserve his wrath?”
    “I do not know anything about yer father, lass,” Graham answered her and untied his belt, settling more comfortably into his plaid. “But Callum did not kill yer grandfather.”
    “But everyone knows the Devil—”
    “They know only what yer uncle believes to be true. Mayhap yer father and yer grandfather fought. We Highlanders know Colin Campbell did not agree with his father’s tactics against the MacGregors. Mayhap he—”
    Kate rose to her feet and held up her palm to stop him. She was not about to listen to such treachery against her father. “Has the Devil convinced you of this?”
    “Nae,” he said, never flinching at her