The Flight of the Heron is a historical novel by British author D. K. Broster, first published in 1925. Set in Scotland during the Jacobite rising of 1745, it follows the developing friendship between two men on opposite sides of the rising: Ewen Cameron, a Highland chieftain and Jacobite, and Keith Windham, an Englishman and an officer in the Government army.
It is the most popular of Broster’s works, having remained in print throughout the twentieth century and been adapted multiple times for radio, television and the stage. Broster wrote two sequels, The Gleam in the North (1927) and The Dark Mile (1929); while these were originally published as loose sequels, some later descriptions and omnibus editions use the title ‘The Jacobite Trilogy’ for the three novels.
Background
Broster’s previous novels were largely set during the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, but she was inspired to write about the ’45 during a visit to the Scottish Highlands. She wrote that ‘the spirit of the place got such a hold upon me that before I left I had the whole story planned almost in spite of myself.’
Another influence was Violet Jacob’s 1911 novel Flemington, which also features a close relationship between two men on opposite sides of the 1745 rising. The Flight of the Heron is dedicated to Jacob ‘in homage’.
Plot
In July 1745, Ewen Cameron, a young Highland chieftain and ardent Jacobite, learns of Prince Charles Edward Stuart’s arrival in Scotland. Ewen’s foster-father, who has the ‘second sight’, foretells that Ewen will shortly meet a man whose destiny is entangled with his; a heron will bring them together.
Keith Windham, a captain in the Royal Scots, is leading a party of recruits when they are ambushed by Jacobites. Keith rides back alone for reinforcements, but his horse startles at a heron taking flight and breaks its leg; continuing on foot, Keith encounters Ewen, who takes him captive. Keith remains a parole prisoner for a week, at Ewen’s home of Ardroy and with the Jacobite army. After past disappointments, Keith is cynical about personal attachments, and moreover he believes Highlanders are barbarians; but he is struck by Ewen’s gentlemanly courtesy to him and by his handsome appearance, and finds himself increasingly drawn to Ewen. They are parted when Keith escapes.
In Edinburgh after the battle of Prestonpans (1745), Ewen accompanies Charles Edward on a secret mission. Keith leads a party of soldiers who follow them, attempting to capture Charles. While Charles escapes, Ewen is cornered; but the tables turn when Cameron reinforcements arrive and the soldiers under Keith’s command flee. Ewen, feeling sympathetically towards Keith, lets him escape.
After the Jacobites’ unsuccessful invasion of England, Ewen reunites with his fiancée Alison Grant at Inverness, and they marry hastily before Alison goes to France. Ewen is badly injured at the battle of Culloden (1746); his foster-brothers Neil and Lachlan MacMartin carry him to a shieling hut amongst the mountains. Here he is discovered by a party of soldiers, who kill Neil; but Ewen is saved by the arrival of Keith, who throws himself in front of the muskets in Ewen’s defence. Keith persuades the officer in charge, Major Guthrie, to spare Ewen’s life because he may have valuable information about his kinsman Lochiel. Later, Keith returns to nurse Ewen’s injuries and bring him food and drink.
Guthrie brings Ewen as a prisoner to Fort Augustus, where he is threatened with torture; eventually he involuntarily reveals information about Lochiel’s whereabouts by talking in his sleep. Keith hears of Ewen’s treatment, and, horrified, returns to Fort Augustus. He finds Ewen devastated by his ‘betrayal’ of Lochiel and by Keith’s apparent betrayal of him. Keith explains that he never meant to suggest Ewen would intentionally betray Lochiel and that he is appalled by the treatment Ewen has received; they reconcile. Ewen, still a prisoner, later learns that Lochiel has evaded capture. Meanwhile the Duke of Cumberland asks Keith to give evidence at Ewen’s trial for treason; Keith indignantly refuses, incurring the Duke’s wrath, and narrowly avoids ruining his career. Later, Keith visits Ewen again. Now on terms of friendly intimacy, Ewen thanks Keith for the service he has done him. Keith realises that, contrary to his earlier cynicism, his love for the honourable Ewen is worthwhile, and they could have been friends.