The Waste Land Read online

  Also by Tim Hodkinson

  Richard Savage series

  Lions of the Grail

  The Waste Land

  The Whale Road Chronicles

  Odin’s Game

  The Raven Banner

  The Wolf Hunt

  The Serpent King

  THE WASTE LAND

  Tim Hodkinson

  An Aries book

  www.headofzeus.com

  This edition first published in the United Kingdom in 2021 by Aries, an imprint of Head of Zeus Ltd

  Copyright © Tim Hodkinson, 2021

  The moral right of Tim Hodkinson to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

  ISBN (PB) 9781801105514

  ISBN (E) 9781801105491

  Cover design © Dan Mogford

  Aries

  c/o Head of Zeus

  First Floor East

  5–8 Hardwick Street

  London EC1R 4RG

  www.headofzeus.com

  For Trudy, Emily, Clara and Alice

  Contents

  Welcome Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Historical Note

  Glossary

  Map

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Chapter 59

  Chapter 60

  Chapter 61

  Chapter 62

  Chapter 63

  Chapter 64

  Chapter 65

  Chapter 66

  Chapter 67

  Chapter 68

  Chapter 69

  Chapter 70

  Chapter 71

  Chapter 72

  Chapter 73

  Chapter 74

  Chapter 75

  Chapter 76

  Chapter 77

  Afterword

  About the Author

  An Invitation from the Publisher

  Historical Note

  This book is the second in a series set during the Scottish invasion of Ireland in the Fourteenth Century.

  In 1314, Robert Bruce of Scotland defeated Edward II of England at the Battle of Bannockburn, ensuring the sovereignty of Scotland as a separate country. One year later Robert’s brother Edward took an army across the sea to invade Ireland, provoking a war that raged up and down the island for four years and continued despite the onset of one of the worst famines in European history. This was the backdrop to the previous novel in this series – Lions of the Grail – and it is at that point in time, 1316, that this story commences.

  Some of the characters in this work of fiction are based on real historical figures. For those unfamiliar with them from the previous novel, I am providing this list of the main ones to give some context.

  The Scots

  Robert Bruce (Robert de Brus/Roibert a Briuis)

  Robert Bruce probably needs no introduction. As the names listed above show, he was a man of mixed Anglo-Norman and Gaelic heritage. Through his mother’s side he is believed to have spent part of his early life being fostered among the Gaelic nobility of western Scotland or their cousins in the north of Ireland. On his father’s side he was related to many of the nobility of England. He began his career as a “young bachelor [knight] of King Edward’s Chamber” and fought for King Edward I of England in what is now called the first wars of Scottish Independence. In 1302 he married Elizabeth, daughter of Richard de Burgh, the Earl of Ulster and staunch supporter of Edward I. By doing so he wrapped himself further into the web of allegiances and blood that crisscrossed the north channel at the time. Robert then decided, in his own words that he “must join my own people and the nation in which I was born”. Having himself crowned king of Scotland, he embarked on a long war which culminated in his decisive victory at Bannockburn in 1314.

  Edward Bruce (Edward de Brus/Edubard a Briuis)

  Edward Bruce was the Earl of Carrick, a lordship in south-west Scotland (not to be confused with Carrickfergus in Ireland). He was King Robert Bruce of Scotland’s younger brother and supported his brother in the Scottish Wars of Independence. In 1315, one year after the Scots defeated the English at the battle of Bannockburn, Edward invaded Ireland at the head of an army. Within a year he had taken half the island and had himself crowned King of Ireland.

  Gib Harper

  Harper was from Edward Bruce’s estates in Carrick and seems to have been a key henchman and a formidable warrior, though not a knight or member of the nobility. He is described in chronicles as ‘douchteast in deid’ (the most doughty in deeds) and ‘without peer’ in Bruce’s personal entourage.

  Syr (Sir) Neil Fleming

  Fleming was a young Scottish knight and captain in Edward Bruce’s army in Ireland.

  Tavish Dhu/Thomas Dun/‘Black Thomas’

  Tavish was a notorious sea captain and pirate who terrorised the Irish Sea in the early 1300s. As the fledgling Scottish kingdom lacked a navy, in 1315 Robert Bruce hired Tavish to ferry his brother’s invading army across to Ireland.

  The Irish

  Richard Óg de Burgh

  De Burgh was Earl of Ulster and Baron of Connaught. Known as the ‘Red Earl’ he was immensely rich and at one point ruled nearly half of Ireland. He played a key role in fighting against the Scots during the reign of Edward I of England (a personal friend) and his daughter was married to Robert Bruce (who at that time was nominally on the side of the English King). ‘Óg’ is another Irish title usually interpreted as ‘young’ and referring to the young age he became earl (twenty). At the time of this novel he is in his fifties and has lost all his lands to the Scottish invaders.

  Thomas de Mandeville

  De Mandeville was the Seneschal of Ulster. The role of seneschal – an official title in medieval government – in Irish realms was slightly broader than the usual administrative remit and de Mandeville spent most of his tenure acting as a military leader.

  Henry de Thrapston

  De Thrapston was keeper (or castellan) of Carrickfergus Castle. In medieval life, a castellan was responsible for the running of a castle, overseeing both the domestic staff and the military garrison.

  John de Bermingham

  The de Berminghams (known in Irish annals as the MacFeorais) were a powerful Anglo-Irish clan who were barons of Athenry. De Bermingham became Justiciar of Ireland, which meant he ruled the island in the name of the King of England. The Lordship of Ireland (Tiarnas na hÉireann) refers to the lands in Ireland ruled in the name of the King of England by the justiciar (now called the ‘lord lieutenant’). The lordship was created as a Papal possession following the Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169.

  The English

  Roger Mortimer

  Baron Roger Mortimer was a very powerful English nobleman with ties to Ireland through marriage. At the time of this book, he was part of a small ruling cabal of nobles who effectively governed England.

  Edward II (Plantagenet)

  Edward II succeeded his father Edward ‘Longshanks’ to the throne of England in 1307. His reign was a troubled one and due to the defeat at the hands of Robert Bruce, the onset of the famine and behaviour generally regarded at the time as not suitable for a king, he became very unpopular and was forced to relinquish a lot of his power to his barons, including Mortimer.

  Fictional characters

  Of the fictional characters, many have some basis in historical fact. John Barbour, a poet sometimes referred to as the ‘Father of Scottish Poetry’, wrote an epic account of the life of Robert Bruce with
in living memory of some of the events described in this book. At one point he listed the names of the chiefs of the Ulster army fighting against Robert Bruce and some readers may recognise a few of the names:

  ‘Brynrane, Wedounne, Fitzwarryne,

  And Schyr Paschall of Florentine,

  That was a knycht of Lumbardy,

  And was full of chewalry.

  The Mawndweillis war thar alsua,

  Besatis, Loganys, and other ma;

  Savages als, and yeit was ane

  Hat Schyr Nycholl of Kylkenane.’

  Brinrans, Weddens, FitzWarins,

  And Sir Paschal of Florence,

  who was a knight from Lombardy,

  full of chivalry.

  The Mandevilles were there also,

  Bysits, Logans, and other men;

  Savages too, and one

  named Sir Nichol of Kilkenny

  Glossary

  Some of the names of characters and places and terms that appear in The Waste Land may sound strange to modern ears. In order to help the reader, this glossary of some of the more frequent words has been provided, giving the word as it appears in the book and its modern equivalent.

  Galloglaich: Gallowglass – a heavily armed Scots-Irish mercenary

  Domnall: Donal

  Ui Neill: O’Neill

  Tyr Eoghan: Tyrone (roughly equivalent to the modern-day county Tyrone)

  Ceannaideach: Kennedy

  MacHuylin: McQuillan

  Cladh Mor: Claymore

  Vikingsford: Larne Lough

  Ui Flainn: O’Flynn

  Syr: Sir

  Le Poer: Powers

  Aengus: Angus

  Seneschal: A medieval position part judicial and part military. The Seneschal had to keep the peace and defend a district in the name of the earl and through him, the king.

  Béal Feirste: Belfast

  Hobyny: A small, highly agile Irish cavalry horse. The lightly armoured skirmishers who rode hobynys were called Hobelars. Hobynys proved so effective in war that King Edward II at one point banned their export from Ireland. They are thought to be the ancestor of the modern Connemara pony and the term “Hobby Horse”.

  Map

  ‘Whii werre and wrake in londe and manslauht is i-come,

  Whii hunger and derthe on eorthe the pore hath undernome,

  Whii bestes ben thus storve, whii corn hath ben so dere,

  Ye that wolen abide, listneth and ye mowen here

  The skile’

  ‘Why war, destruction and murder has come to the land,

  Why hunger and famine have seized the poor,

  Why animals starve, why corn is so dear,

  You that will wait, listen and you will hear

  The reason.’

  From ‘Poem on the Evil Times of Edward II’, circa 1321

  1

  27th March 1316 AD, Bordeaux, South-East France

  Two men sat high up on a set of tiered wooden benches. In a temporary arena below them another pair of men faced each other, preparing to fight.

  The benches surrounded an oval enclosure about thirty-five paces across, its surface covered in a mixture of sand and sawdust. So far that day the arena had seen wrestling contests, quarterstaff fights and finally, sword fighting. Each combat had left its mark. Now, as the dreary winter sunlight faded to the grey of late afternoon, the ground was churned up, the sawdust swept away by feet and here and there clogged by patches of mud and half-dried blood.

  The pair watching on the benches were clearly men of violence. Despite the holiday they wore mail shirts over leather jerkins. Their armour was old but well maintained, repaired many times and shaped so they fitted like well-made shirts. They wore wide-brimmed steel helmets sporting dents that showed they had been in conflict, but the armour still was fit for purpose. Their bare arms and faces bore scars and the marks of former fights. Both had badly broken noses. They had the look of professional soldiers but that was not unusual in Gascony. It was a province of France recently taken back by the King of England. It was a frontier fief. Over the border the forces of Louis of France waited like an impatient surgeon to lance this last infected boil of dissent to his rule. To deter that happening, the English kept Gascony permanently flooded with men of war. These men were not in the employ of Edward of England, however.

  One of them pointed at one of the combatants below – a bedraggled figure in a stained leather jerkin and rusty chain mail.

  ‘That’s him,’ he said, speaking quietly in the Gaelic language, his accent Irish.

  ‘Are you sure? He looks like nothing,’ the second watcher said. He spoke the same language but with a strong Scottish accent. ‘How do you know?’

  ‘I watched him competing in a tournament back in Ireland. We fought against him as well in a forest and again in Carrickfergus Castle. Vicious bastard he is. That’s Richard Savage all right.’

  ‘Good.’ His companion thumbed the hilt of the kidney dagger sheathed at his waist. ‘We’ll get him after the tournament.’

  ‘He’s a tricky one,’ the other man said, a flash of concern crossing his face. ‘We’ll need to be careful.’

  The Scot grunted and gave a wry smile. ‘Don’t worry. He’ll never know what hit him.’

  2

  To call the day’s hastilude a “tournament” was to aggrandise it far above what the paltry fighting competition really deserved. However, the fact that it had happened at all was a minor miracle. It was certainly a gathering of martial games, enough to warrant the title hastilude, but there were no knights, no jousting, no melee. Instead it had been a rather dour affair of quarterstaff fighting, wrestling and single combats: lower-class contests that lacked flair and spectacle. The seats in the arena were only half full and the spectators were not treated to any of the usual treats and titbits that hawkers would normally sell at these events. The few spectators there watched the contests with intent, but their eyes were sunken, their faces pale and their expressions hungry.

  Gascony, like the rest of the known world, was in the pitiless grip of famine. The Archbishop of Bordeaux, the sponsor of the hastilude, had insisted that the games go ahead despite the current crisis, on the grounds that the people of the town needed something to divert them from the ongoing misery.

  The arena, like everything else in the seemingly drowned world, was drenched by the ever-falling rain. It had been raining for months; a merciless, insistent downpour that had washed all the colour and life from the land and rotted the crops in the fields. A dismal harvest unleashed widespread starvation. To accompany the famine, the next of those terrible apocalyptic horsemen – war – had begun to ride abroad also.

  Unaware of the attention he was getting from the spectators’ benches, Richard Savage wiped a gloved hand across his helmet visor to clear away the rain drips. He looked down at his hand, noticing the slight tremor, perceptible despite the thick leather gauntlet he wore. He was not scared. He was getting tired. The path to this final contest had not been difficult in terms of opponents, but each contest had still taken its toll in terms of effort and he had not exactly been well nourished to start with. His opponent stood opposite him. A tall, heavily muscled German whose equipment showed he was a professional swordsman, probably a mercenary who made his living fighting in the English or French armies and taking part in competitions like this one for prize money. The German looked to be in remarkably good shape for someone who, like Savage, had been fighting for most of the afternoon through all the previous rounds. Worse, despite the fact that most people in the country were starving, compared to Savage he looked depressingly well fed.

  It was hardly surprising, Savage reasoned. If there was one place during a famine where you could be guaranteed a meal it was in one of the armies or bands of brigands that raged across France. Warriors did not heed the ridiculous prices that bread had risen to; they just took what they wanted. When famine and war colluded, children starved but soldiers feasted.