THE PRIORY OF CALLAN
With the aid of Celtic sorcerers, tragic lovers of ancient lore reunite in modern time.
GABRIEL THE VOYAGER ~ Evangeline (1847, Longfellow)
My grand-father tracked the Bourque family back to Martaize, France then to Port-Royal, Acadia until they were deported to Quebec in the 18th Centurie. He told me of the Acadian deportation and the story of Evangeline and Gabriel when I was a little girl. That story has stayed with me for decades until I was inspired to reunite these two tragic lovers on paper.
PHOEBUS THE FALCONER ~ Gaston Phoebus, Count of Foix-Bearn (1331-1391)
French writers Gaston and Myriam de Bearn made many woman dream when their version of Gaston Phoebus was played on the screen by French heartrob Jean-Claude Drouot. I cried with them all when the fictitious Phoebus discovers that his beloved first wife Myriam de Bearn has been poisoned under order of the King by Agnes de Navarre which Phoebus then marries to punish her forever.
LOIC THE MONK ~ Heloise (1101-1164): Letter to Abelard
I read many version of this story as a child, including the original letters translated in French. The tragic fate of these two lovers, Abelard castrated for loving his pupil and their follow-up retreat into the religious life drew me to give them another chance.
ROAN THE HIGHWAYMAN ~ The Highwayman (1906, Alfred Noyes) I first heard this poem in its beautiful rendition by Loreena McKinnitt. At a dark moment in my life, this song became so vivid that I felt compelled to reunite the highwayman with his lover.
RENAUD THE KNIGHT ~ Le Roi Renaud (The Death of King Renaud) My father sang this song to me in its French version countless times when I was a child. As a teenager, so touched was I by its tragic story of a queen who willingly follow her king to death that I learned the words and now sing it to my own children.
TARA THE WARRIOR ~ The Callanish Stones (Lewis, Scotland)
