Authors have vivid imaginations which is why I envision the rest of the story with my 6th great-grandfather, George Hume, the inspiration behind my new release A BOUND HEART. As I was researching and writing this story of my heart & heritage, I kept wondering what might have happened to me as a direct descendant if ‘Immigrant George’ as he is referred to by historians, had never been exiled from his beloved Scotland…
So many pieces of Grandfather George’s story intrigue me. His ancient castle along the very dangerous Scottish borders. The half dozen Hume sons called ‘the Spears of Wedderburn.’ The Hume women who lived in the castle (one was murdered by a servant). The fact that while many of his fellow Jacobites were drawn & quartered for acts of treason, he was simply banished. His kinship with the royal governor in colonial Virginia. His surveying with the young George Washington. His settling in Virginia and then journeying to Kentucky where his family – my family – lives today.
On a whimsical note, I’ve always wanted to be royalty since I was small. Even Lady Laura of Wedderburn Castle has a compelling ring to it:) Since I’m a sixth great-granddaughter, I have no idea where I’d be if George hadn’t lost his holdings in Scotland. His surviving letters to his family whom he would never see again are both a joy and a wrench to read. His was a hard life no matter on which side of the Atlantic he happened to be.
He was a family man. A man of faith. Maybe that faith sustained him as it does Magus and Lark in the novel. Maybe George’s legacy is foremost the faith that is still treasured by his Kentucky descendants today. So I’ll just sip my English tea and eat my Scottish tarts and enjoy my royal ornament and wonder what it might have been like if George had stayed in Scotland.
Hope you enjoy this Scottish-coming-to-America story inspired by George!