To Dunnottar and to Scotland with Love and the Deepest Admiration and Respect

To the Dunnottar Area Folk and the People of Alba, Past and Present (and I reckon Future as well):

I want to say thank you, moran taing, with all of the heart that is in me, partly for not shooting me (yet), but mainly for simply being your own selves.

From half a world away your generosity and kindness, unbeknownst to you, have struck a chord that has turned into a SONG.

My research led me deep into the Past; it also allows me glimpses of the Present, without which the Past would remain more of a mystery than it is.

Were I one of you I would be bursting with pride.

From what I find on line, Scotland breeds true and strong. Please accept my kudos. From half a world away I see still the very things that the Characters, the Legacy, of the Mamm Books represent: Faith, Family, Friends, Freedom, the Future – and I am not surprised to find tears rising, coursing, falling.

Well yes, I am an emotional one, what can I say?

Still, I see the tenderness with which you protect and preserve the things of old. The world is fortunate indeed, and the future a better place, because you care.

You too are fortunate – to have such an ancient heritage right at your doorstep. And I thank you more than you can know for not only keeping it safe but for sharing it with those of us who cannot come to share it with you in person.

The Characters of the Mamm Books are fictional; yet they are based not only on what research has turned up about the past but as well (and perhaps more important) the evidence before our eyes which proves the value of their struggles and sacrifices.

That would be you. And you. And you and you and you. Look around you at this moment, at those who stand nearby. Reach out to shake their hands, because you have the right to say with pride and satisfaction, ‘We did it. We did it.’ Because you are the Keepers of the Legacy, and you ARE doing it. I can see and feel it from the other side of the world.

I write fiction. And I am a ‘method writer’ which is to say that, like method actors, I immerse myself to the best of my ability in the time and the place of which I write.

And so:

On behalf of the Cast of the Mamm Books I say to you of today’s Scotland and of the Dunnottar area in particular, and to the generations between:

Well done.

Oh so very well done.

With love from Sidhelagh.

And Danann.

And Mamm.

And Alianora, Drustann, Sass, Thann, Caileen, Talorc, Aine, Kalann, and the Younglings of Dunnottar.

Sheesh. These Characters, I tell ya!

(Also from Shiela B.)