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| Where exactly are we?? |
When I first started writing the Grouse and Partridge stories, I didn't really put much thought into where they would be set and it never occurred to set them in a real place, because the things I was describing were so far fetched. I was hardly setting out to write a ground-breaking police proceedural - I just wanted to have some fun with genre cliches!
This has actually been really useful over the years because it has enabled me to change and shape Murkshire as I've gone along. As I've needed places for the stories I've invented them - Murkhaven, Murkbury... a bit like 'Midsummer' in 'Midsummer Murders' - all you need to add is the ending!! Slowly I've build up a sort of county map in my head although it probably makes no geographical sense at all. Murkton itself is a probably a bit like Hull, where I lived for three years, mixed with parts of Birmingham.
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| Nuff said!! |
With the new book, however, I hit a dilemma. It's got to be based in Scotland because that's where Hamish is living. I'd always been coy about naming his 'wee glen' except to say its in The Trossachs (and to be honest, I picked the Trossachs because it sounded vaguely rude! I didn't realise until I went there that it is so lovely!!!) Not that I was expected hoards of G&P fans to descend on some little hamlet I'd accidentally named, you understand, but I just felt I didn't need to be that specific when it would only concern one or two scenes.
In 'Scotch Pine' I wanted to name Killin and the Falls of Dochart because of the MacNab connection and I really tried to make it as close to reality as I could get. At the end of that book I mention Hamish working in Callendar for part of the week, simply because I'd found the police station there and it looked just right for him, but I didn't want him to have to live in a real place all the time. (I don't, so why should he?)
So, this summer, I am creating my very own Scottish Glen. Armed with Ordinance Survey maps, I've taken the best bits of all the glens and lochs round the area and hopefully created an arena for my characters to explore. It is somewhere on the fringes of the Trossachs, surrounded by romantic hills, it has a large loch with three settlements on its shores of varying sizes, the largest being a bit of a tourist centre for walkers, sailers and the like. There's neolithic standing stones nearby and the remains of a Roman fort, a bit of a deserted castle along the road, some forestry, waterfalls... you get the picture!! It's all very lovely!
But - what to call it? Well, Murkton was easy: I just wanted somewhere that sounded bland, boring and a bit dull. ( And I'd always liked 'Mirkwood' in The Hobbit). However, Scottish places have fabulous sounding names with silent letters and lovely Gaelic suffixes and prefixes. I thought about just making something up by shoving bits of names together - like Auchterauderpittenmuchty - but nothing really worked on paper.
Browsing the books in the Edinburgh Book Festival Tent last week, however, I came across a rather lovely book which demystifies Scottish Place Names and has a really useful list of said prefixes and suffixes. On my return, I found and downloaded a 19th century book on the same subject which goes into it all in some detail and is really fascinating. Armed with these and my trusty Scots dictionary I'm inching towards naming all the places on my rather sketchy map. And funnily enough, it's much easier to write about them when I've named them!
Watch this space for further developments...!
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| One of my photos - Loch Lomond I think.. |
Best cake : In Whitby last week so had to have some Yorkshire Brack (a kind of sticky tea loaf!) from Elizabeth Botham's bakery in Skinner Street. Gorgeous with butter and a cup of their tearoom blend coffee. She does mail order too... YUM!
