What are you reading this summer?

It’s shaping up to be a summer of escapism. With politics and dysfunction dominating the news, more readers are turning to subjects that take them as far away from Washington government as possible.

One genre very popular this summer is historical, particularly narrative nonfiction. There is something comforting about reading of a past era; even if they had their share of misfortune, war, strife or hardship, we know the world kept revolving and for the most part, things turned out and life went on. It is also a reminder that though things look bleak, there is still hope; that life is often cyclical and though the world has encountered extreme negative forces—such as Nazi Germany’s expansion and takeover of much of Europe—things can turn around and positivity can prevail. There is also something about reading of an historical figure who, faced with few prospects at home, wandered far from where he had ever thought he would be in order to make a better life for himself and future generations.

I encountered such a man in my own family’s genealogy, but he is not uncommon. Anyone who has delved deep into their family history has also uncovered men and women that went through extraordinary hardship and achieved great things through the strength of willpower, determination and faith—faith in themselves, in the world or in a higher power.

William Neely was born at a time in which the Lowlands of Scotland was a desolate, deforested place. The vast majority of holdings were by only a handful of people and even home ownership was considered out of reach of 99% of the population. Those people did not even have time to contemplate their circumstances because they were focused on keeping the roof over their heads (a thatched roof that often belonged to a laird and they were granted permission to live there in exchange for their work and rent) and food on the table. Food was so scarce that by the time spring planting was ready to begin the decimated cows had to be carried into the fields to be hooked up to the plows.

It was in this bleak circumstance that William was given the opportunity to leave Scotland for Ireland. Only 20 miles across the Irish Sea, it was a world removed; King James I was engaged in widespread colonization—even leading to the Americas. He was offering Lowland Scots and Englishmen the opportunity to serve him by granting land in Ireland; in return, the land owners would pledge their loyalty to the King, fight for him if needed (and was it ever), raise sheep to provide them with wool, and raise crops such as potatoes to feed the English people.

When William arrived in Ulster in 1608, he came to know the native Irish and even discovered his own family had lived in Ireland until the 13^th century. In a sense, it was a homecoming. But his plans to live peacefully, raising sheep and crops and providing a better future for his children were soon placed in jeopardy. The land given to those loyal to King James was not simply land for the taking; it had belonged to the Irish. With Cahir O’Doherty, the Gaelic King of the Inishowen Peninsula, his family had owned their land and ruled its people for more than a thousand years—which is eight times longer than the independent existence of the United States of America.

As colonization began under Queen Elizabeth I, several powerful clans in Ulster were overrun by English forces, their lands decimated, their people killed, their homes burned. Cahir O’Doherty was determined to spare his people that fate and he joined forces with the English, agreeing to fight for the Queen (and later King James I) in return for maintaining control of the Inishowen Peninsula.

That would all come to an end only months after William arrived in Ulster. Sir George Paulet, the English Governor of Derry, was a vindictive man that despised the native Irish. Derry was situated beside O’Doherty’s green, lush lands and Paulet tried repeatedly to confiscate them, even though the English courts had forbidden it. Finally, Cahir had had enough. If he had been of a lowlier status, he might have set a trap for Paulet and killed him in the dark of night and without witnesses. But he was the last Gaelic King of Ireland. He led hundreds of men into Derry after overrunning and confiscating weapons at Culmore Fort, burning the village to the ground and killing Paulet. It touched off O’Doherty’s Rebellion and William Neely would have to choose between his oath to the king and joining the forces of a people that were likely distant relatives.

The book I wrote of William’s adventures and O’Doherty’s Rebellion, Checkmate: Clans and Castles, is the first of a new historical series that chronicles the lives of the men and women on both sides of the English-Irish conflict. It would eventually lead to Irish independence, the Republic of Ireland as we know it today; but the story is not yet finished. In establishing the Republic, the counties of Ulster with the exception of County Donegal, became known as Northern Ireland and is today part of the United Kingdom. The laws are quite remarkable still: they are not permitted to fly the Irish flag, Catholics are still considered second- or third-class citizens (though that has been changing) and Irish Gaelic is not spoken. For centuries, the native Irish were not permitted to vote, could not own land and did not have a voice in government—or their own futures.

With Brexit, however, decisions will need to be made by both Scotland and Northern Ireland: whether to remain with England or remain in the European Union. Only time will tell, but if Northern Ireland joins with the Republic of Ireland through a vote that the English Parliament has said they will honor, it will result in the first time since the late 1500’s that a united Ireland will be truly independent from the British Empire.

Meanwhile, I am working on the rest of the series, a set of books that take place against the backdrop of wars, famine and political, religious and cultural strife, spanning from 1608 through the 20^th century.

What are you reading this summer?

p.m.terrell is the internationally acclaimed author of more than 21 books, including the award-winning River Passage, award-winning series Black Swamp Mysteries and award-winning Ryan O’Clery Mystery Series. She is the Founder of Book ‘Em North Carolina Writers Conference and Book Fair and the Founder of The Novel Business. She has been a full-time author since 2002. Prior to that, she founded and operated two computer companies in the Washington, DC area with specialties in defense and intelligence. Her clients included the CIA, Secret Service and Department of Defense. For more information, visit www.pmterrell.com.

Who We Are

Genealogy research is one of the most popular hobbies in America. In discovering our roots, we discover ourselves.

A few years ago when my book Songbirds are Free, the true story of Mary Neely’s capture by Shawnee warriors was released, I was contacted by a Neely descendant. She told me that when she was growing up, she always felt out of place; she never looked like anybody else and it had shaken her confidence. When she saw the picture of Mary Neely along with a police artist’s regression sketch, she felt as though she was looking at herself. It turned out that she lived in a part of the country that was heavily Hispanic and her pale Irish skin, hazel eyes, light hair and slight figure was in contrast with the olive complexions, brown eyes and hair and more robust physiques.

In learning of her Scots-Irish heritage, it opened doors for her—just as it had for me. Since that time, I have delved deeper into my family history. Scores of people spend untold hours placing names in perfect boxes to form extensive family trees, but I always wanted to go deeper. I wanted to know who my ancestors were, why they did what they did, what experiences formed their lives.

My father and brothers were deeply involved in establishing our more recent past, going back to the American Civil War and Revolutionary War. I wanted to go back even further to the time before they left for America. I wanted to know why they left all they had ever known—their culture, their language, their friends and family, to move to a country halfway around the world they had never visited and knew little about.

My quest for knowledge led me to William Neely. In 1608 at the age of eighteen, he left Scotland for Ulster, not knowing that the Neely family had lived in Ulster until the 1200’s. He was, in a sense, going home again. I wrote in Clans and Castles, the first book of the new Checkmate series, his thoughts as he sailed westward with Captain William Stewart:

But isn’t that why men leave? He thought. For a man that is content with his lot, one with standing in the community and a future laid out before him is rarely the man that leaves for the unknown. But take a man with poor prospects of employment, one with a doubtful future, and he has but two choices. He can remain where he is for the simple reason that he has always been there, and take what Life may send him; or he take his destiny into his own hands and set sail for the unknown in search of new opportunities and a brighter future.

At the time William left Wigtownshire, the Lowlands of Scotland had been deforested to the point that it was a crime to damage a sapling, a tree or even a branch. The class system had ensured that those born into nobility remained in nobility and those born with a lesser standing had little or no prospects for improvement. Sandwiched in between the English to their south and the Highlanders to their north, they were often caught in the middle of the fierce battles between the two. So it was when King James I of England offered land to Scottish Lowlanders in Ulster as part of his colonization efforts (the same efforts that landed the British on American shores), he jumped at the chance. He was searching to make his life better and in so doing, he changed the course of history for his Neely descendants.

His experience was not to be smooth, however, as the Irish continued to fight against oppressive edicts against their religion and their native birthrights. The land that was given to Captain Stewart, which was the land on which William first lived and worked, was sandwiched between the Gallowglass MacSweeneys (of Highlander and Viking stock) and the Gaelic clans of the O’Doherty, O’Donnell and more.

Going to Ulster and standing on the land my ancestors once owned was a life-changing experience for me. Looking at the cemetery situated on a hill so it would always overlook their holdings was like no other experience I’d ever had. Visiting a local historian and finding our family tree written in pencil a hundred years prior on the back of wallpaper was a memory burned into my consciousness.

I understand why many of William Neely’s descendants chose Virginia and Tennessee when they immigrated to America, for the rolling green hills must have reminded them of Ireland. My ancestors became ranchers and farmers, taking what they knew of cattle and sheep as well as farming vegetables, and creating enterprises in America that mirrored what they had built in Europe. They were tough and had to be tough to carve out lives for themselves against the Native Americans warring against them—just as they had carved out lives despite the Gaelic Irish efforts to drive them out.

In return, I’d like to think they made things better. When visiting Ballygawley, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, I was happy to learn that William’s descendants, who had been given 1,000 acres at Ballygawley-Glencull, had donated land for the Irish Catholic church and school, despite the fact that they were Protestant. I learned that during the heated troubles between the two religions, the Neely family often hid the priests to protect them from harm.

And later, after coming to America, I learned that Mary Neely—the one that had been captured by the Shawnee and kept as a slave for three years before her escape and journey home—had learned so much about Native American medicine that people of all races traveled a hundred miles to see her and hopefully be cured by her.

Are you interested in genealogy? Have you explored not only the names and dates of your ancestors but also who they were, what they accomplished and what motivated them to do what they do? I would love to hear about it!

Read a free excerpt from Songbirds are Free, p.m.terrell's bestselling book about Mary Neely's capture, Shawnee captivity, escape and journey home. Read a free excerpt from Checkmate: Clans and Castles, based on the true story of William Neely and O'Doherty's Rebellion. p.m.terrell is the award-winning author of more than 21 books in a variety of genres, including the award-winning River Passage, the true story of the Donelson journey westward at the height of the Chickamauga Indian Wars.

What if you could walk in your ancestor's footsteps?

What if you could walk in your ancestor’s footsteps?

Today’s environment comes with a host of challenges, including economic recession, political drama, declining industries, a shrinking middle class, wars and threats on multiple fronts. It might be easy to come to the conclusion that living in today’s day and age poses more challenges than ever.

But what if you could take a step back in time to live as your ancestors did? What do you suppose you would find there?

I discovered a series entitled Victorian Slum House that takes modern-day families and places them in the environment of their ancestors. The day-to-day struggles are an eye-opener. Consider that during the 1870’s the average lifespan in areas of London was 28. Or the 91,000 Irish that immigrated to London in search of work, many of whom came because they had watched their own family members starve to death during the potato famine. One couple, when arriving in London, discovered lodging meant renting a coffin-shaped bed for eight hours, surrounded by dozens of others; or when the bed could not be afforded, one could sit on a wood bench with a rope that prevented falling off it during sleep for half the cost.

It may be easy to think that if we are doing well economically today, our ancestors did as well. Perhaps we have an image of our ancestors living a simpler life but having all they needed—plenty of food, a stable roof over their heads and adequate, steady employment. The reality, however, may be far from that.

When I began writing Clans and Castles, the first book in the Checkmate series, I was astounded at all I learned about Wigtownshire, Scotland in the early 17^th century. The Lowlands of Scotland had become so deforested that it was a crime to cut off a branch, fell a tree or damage a sapling. Tenants often received their homes as part of their payment for work on a laird’s property, and they were moved on an annual basis. Because of that, they tended to build houses that could be erected within two days’ time and often blew away during major storms. They did not understand rudimentary agriculture such as irrigation but often thought if the land was too wet or too dry, it was simply “God’s will”.

It was that environment that my ancestor, William Neely, was born into. At the age of 18, he had the opportunity to leave Wigtownshire for Ulster—an opportunity he jumped at. In the scene below, Wills is with his friends Fergus and Tomas discussing a beautiful woman he has fallen in love with but her father doesn’t seem too keen on him:

“You have been unusually silent since you returned from dinner last eve,” Tomas said. “Things didn’t go well with the lass?”

Wills sighed. “They went well with her, aye. ‘Tis her father I am worried about.”

“What’s the story there, ‘ey?”

With the ropes secured and a short stretch of northward sail before them, Wills leaned against the railing and looked his friend in the eye for a moment. “I am afraid he could be looking for a nobleman for his daughter.”

“Ha! And didn’t we tell you?” Fergus said. “What would she want with the likes of you? More importantly, what would her da want?”

“What of your family?” Tomas pressed.

Wills shrugged. “Truth be told about it, they are tenant farmers—same as the three of us are here. Oh, and for sure, the Neely family has a decent reputation, one that has served us well. It has been a long time since our house and lands were rotated, so the house is sturdier than most and we’ve served the same laird for several generations now, we have.”

“Ah, but there’s the rub, ‘ey? Her father is looking for a nobleman for his daughter; a landowner. And a tenant farmer never owns the land himself, now does he? He tills it or he ranches it for the pleasure of the laird, and at his displeasure, he can be sent packing. ‘Ey?”

He nodded and turned to face the ocean waves. The mists were heavy this morning, the skies gray like his heart at the moment. “But though her da has lived in Donegal for two decades, at least, I had the impression his family was not of there.”

“Aye?”

“So why does a man leave all he has ever known for the wilderness of Donegal?” Without waiting for a reply, he jabbed his finger in their direction. “I’ll tell you this, I will. No man leaves home if there is something there for him.”

“Are you suggesting—?”

“I am suggesting that Varney Ó Dálaigh is a self-made man himself. See, here’s the thing: when a man is at the top of the heap, there is no reason for him to leave that. He may own lands, a manor house or a castle, even; he might have the ear of his noblemen neighbors, a place in his community. Why would he give up all of that to travel to a place so vastly different?”

Fergus and Tomas grunted but whether they approved of his logic, Wills couldn’t tell. After another moment of thought, he added, “I’d be willing to bet, I would, that he had nothing to keep him close to his family for a man does not leave home unless he sees a brighter future for himself and his children elsewhere. He brought his wife to Donegal as well, which means at the time he knew he would not likely be returning, and with his two daughters having been born in Donegal, I believe it’s safe to say that he has determined he is better off now than he was before.”

“So where does that leave you?” Tomas asked.

“Truth be told, I left Wigtownshire for the same reason, I did. I knew I was leaving. I just didn’t know when or how.”

“But that doesn’t answer the question, now does it?”

“Oh, I have an answer alright. I do. I came to Ireland to make something more of myself than I figured I could do where I was. And that I will do, or die trying. It’s just now the timetable has sped up a bit, ‘ey?”

If you could place yourself in your ancestor’s shoes, where would you be? Who would you be? How vastly different would your life be from what you are experiencing today, here, in the 21^st century?

My ancestor’s life was to change dramatically when Cahir O’Doherty, the last Gaelic Irish King, launched O’Doherty’s Rebellion and he found himself fighting for King James I of England. His actions on the battlefield would set in motion not only his own fate but those of future generations. Here’s a trailer from the book:

p.m.terrell is the award-winning, internationally acclaimed author of more than 21 books, including Songbirds are Free, the true story of Mary Neely’s capture by Shawnee warriors; River Passage, the true story of John Donelson’s river journey to Fort Nashborough; the award-winning series Black Swamp Mysteries and award-winning Ryan O’Clery Mysteries, and more. A full-time writer since 2002, she founded Book‘Em North Carolina and The NovelBusiness to assist other authors and connect readers and authors. Visit www.pmterrell.com for more information.