Sentence The Threehundredandfirst
“Alexander III had ten years between his marriages, and it is well known that during that time he was the most profligate of Kings that Scotland ever had,” said Tavish, “and I have good reason to believe that he was the first member of Royalty to also be a member of Sir Parlane MacFarlane's Ring of Gold, one of the Unco Guid, who dictate what standards of behaviour are expected from others, though not necessarily living up to them themselves, but his second marriage changed all that and he became a loving husband until his fatal ride, alone, to meet the Queen at Kinghorn in Fife,” at which Thomas grew pale and seemed to shiver, and in a strained voice which seemed to twang with
emotion, he asked Tavish, “you speak as though the King is dead, when did this happen? although not a courtier myself, I did meet His August Majesty one year when The Court made a Progress to Melrose Abbey, and it grieves me to now be told that he is no longer – who then is my Liege now?” and this made Tavish regret the casual way he had spoken: “I regret my tone and the words I spoke, Thomas, I am no Sooth-Sayer, who can foretell the future – I speak of what, in our time, that is me and the others here, is ancient history, just as you, in your own lifetime, may care to think of us as being descendants of yourself, your kin, and other fellow Scots alive then,” but that did not make Thomas any happier, and there were tears in his eyes when he made a glance that encompassed us all: “although I have not spoken the thought, I have been aware that the things you have told me of before, mean that you probably know the date of my own death, and that is something that I do not wish to be told, I do not think I could live with that knowledge; even though I know it comes to all of us and that it is like passing through a portal which will bring me into the presence of the Lord God and his son, Jesus of Nazareth, and I will meet my own father and mother, in a bower of foliage with such flowers as have never been seen in our lifetimes, yet it is a date that I would not hear, do you understand me?” and Bernie spoke for all of them: “my dear friend, Thomas, the last thing any of us would wish to do is cause you any distress or unhappiness, and we would not dream of telling you of things which have yet to occur in your own lifetime after you return to your home, which I feel is
coming soon, unless you expressly wish it, but we do want to tell you about things which lie well into the future and will confirm your Gift of Foresight, which the ballads say you received from the Faery Queen – as there is no Faery Queen, perhaps you would permit my friends and I to give you that gift?” and she sat back, shaken with the emotion of speaking of these things, and Thomas gazed upon her face with a blank expression which hid the furious helter-skelter of his own thoughts, the memories of the family he had not seen for many years, the confusion which his friends here had brought to him and which seemed to threaten his Faith and his previously sure and certain belief in the Hereafter; which was when Tavish spoke: “the gift of aeromancy, foretelling events by a study of the weather is, if I recall rightly, connected with your prediction of the death of your present King, Alexander III, in a great storm, and one which you only communicate to the Earl of Dunbar,” Thomas looked keenly at Tavish; “and it proves to be correct?” he asked, “yes,” and then Thomas asked, quietly, “in what year?” and Tavish, equally quietly replied: “1286,” and Thomas, shivering, although the Cavern was warm, asked: “on what date?” and Tavish told him: “the twelfth of March,” and Thomas cried out: “beware The Ides of March!”
“Alexander III had ten years between his marriages, and it is well known that during that time he was the most profligate of Kings that Scotland ever had,” said Tavish, “and I have good reason to believe that he was the first member of Royalty to also be a member of Sir Parlane MacFarlane's Ring of Gold, one of the Unco Guid, who dictate what standards of behaviour are expected from others, though not necessarily living up to them themselves, but his second marriage changed all that and he became a loving husband until his fatal ride, alone, to meet the Queen at Kinghorn in Fife,” at which Thomas grew pale and seemed to shiver, and in a strained voice which seemed to twang with
emotion, he asked Tavish, “you speak as though the King is dead, when did this happen? although not a courtier myself, I did meet His August Majesty one year when The Court made a Progress to Melrose Abbey, and it grieves me to now be told that he is no longer – who then is my Liege now?” and this made Tavish regret the casual way he had spoken: “I regret my tone and the words I spoke, Thomas, I am no Sooth-Sayer, who can foretell the future – I speak of what, in our time, that is me and the others here, is ancient history, just as you, in your own lifetime, may care to think of us as being descendants of yourself, your kin, and other fellow Scots alive then,” but that did not make Thomas any happier, and there were tears in his eyes when he made a glance that encompassed us all: “although I have not spoken the thought, I have been aware that the things you have told me of before, mean that you probably know the date of my own death, and that is something that I do not wish to be told, I do not think I could live with that knowledge; even though I know it comes to all of us and that it is like passing through a portal which will bring me into the presence of the Lord God and his son, Jesus of Nazareth, and I will meet my own father and mother, in a bower of foliage with such flowers as have never been seen in our lifetimes, yet it is a date that I would not hear, do you understand me?” and Bernie spoke for all of them: “my dear friend, Thomas, the last thing any of us would wish to do is cause you any distress or unhappiness, and we would not dream of telling you of things which have yet to occur in your own lifetime after you return to your home, which I feel is coming soon, unless you expressly wish it, but we do want to tell you about things which lie well into the future and will confirm your Gift of Foresight, which the ballads say you received from the Faery Queen – as there is no Faery Queen, perhaps you would permit my friends and I to give you that gift?” and she sat back, shaken with the emotion of speaking of these things, and Thomas gazed upon her face with a blank expression which hid the furious helter-skelter of his own thoughts, the memories of the family he had not seen for many years, the confusion which his friends here had brought to him and which seemed to threaten his Faith and his previously sure and certain belief in the Hereafter; which was when Tavish spoke: “the gift of aeromancy, foretelling events by a study of the weather is, if I recall rightly, connected with your prediction of the death of your present King, Alexander III, in a great storm, and one which you only communicate to the Earl of Dunbar,” Thomas looked keenly at Tavish; “and it proves to be correct?” he asked, “yes,” and then Thomas asked, quietly, “in what year?” and Tavish, equally quietly replied: “1286,” and Thomas, shivering, although the Cavern was warm, asked: “on what date?” and Tavish told him: “the twelfth of March,” and Thomas cried out: “beware The Ides of March!”
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