Dancing at the Rascal Fair by Ivan Doig August Book Club Online

[JoanP]

 
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Dancing at the Rascal Fair by Ivan Doig

Dancing at the Rascal Fair is an authentic saga of the American experience at the turn of this century and a passionate, portrayal of the immigrants who dared to try new lives in the imposing Rocky Mountains. Ivan Doig's supple tale of landseekers unfolds into a fateful contest of the heart between Anna Ramsay and Angus McCaskill, walled apart by their obligations as they and their stormy kith and kin vie to tame the brutal, beautiful Two Medicine country. It is a story rich in detail, recounted in language that rings true, from the Scottish lilt of Lucas Barclay to the laconic speech of Stanley Meixell; above all, it is a story filled with “those word rainbows called poems.” (Barnes & Noble) "Against this masterfully evoked backdrop. Mr. Doig addresses his real subject: love between friends, between the sexes, between the generations....His is a prose as tight as a new thread and as special as handmade candy....Dancing at the Rascal Fair races with real vigor and wit and passion." Lee K. Abbott ~ The New York Times Book Review

Discussion Schedule:

August 1 ~ 5  Scotland and Helena; Gros Ventre; Medicine Lodge (about 88 pages)
August 6 ~ 14  Scotch Heaven (about 111 pages)
August 15 ~ 21  The Steaders (about 75  pages)
August 22 ~ 31  Two Medicine, 1918, 1919

*****

Some Topics for Consideration
August 15 ~ 21 

The Steaders
1. How has his "after-thought wife" fit into Angus'  life?  Do you think he believes this marriage will cure him of Anna in time?

2.  Is Adair adapting to life in Montana? How does  she pass her time  on the Homestead? 

3.  Will a  visit from the stork(s)  settle things once and for all?

3. When did the narrative become addressed to "you"?  Is this a sort of diary of Varick's childhood -  or a glimpse into the future? Could Adair ever leave Angus and take Varick back to Scotland?  Would she leave without him?

4.  What were Teddy Roosevelt's actual orders regarding the  grazing rights on the  free range surrounding the settlement? Has this area always been "free range"?

5.  Does Rob believe he has power to resist Ranger Stanley Meissel's plan for grazing allotments? Why has Angus taken the initiative?

6.  "Has everyone more than the simple face they show the world?"  How would you answer Angus?

7. Why would Anna ask Angus if he has the life he wants to lead?  Does he get an answer to his question to her - is he alone in this unled life?

8. How do the new homesteaders   differ from those who originally settled in Scotch Heaven? What became of these "Steaders"?  Why did Angus agree to the new moneymaking land locator  scheme with Rob and Lucas - when he sensed it was morally wrong?


Related links:
1862 - the Pacific Railroad Act and the Homestead Act
Gros Ventre Indians in Montana
Ivan's Notes on his home page

Discussion Leaders:  Babi  & Joan P

[JoanP]

Sally, PatH - I too was surprised at first at the fact that Angus was not Anna's first - even more so at the fact that Angus didn't find it remarkable.   Could it be that this was NOT the 1880's-but rather the mid-1890's - later referred to as the 'gay nineties'?  Does anyone  remember where Anna and her family had come from?  Anna was educated somewhere else - she'd probably been exposed to the new ideas of Feminism - and sexual freedom,  which went hand in hand with a woman's economic freedom.
Here's an article on The New Woman of the 1890's.

We still don't know how long Rob had hoped to pair his sister with his best friend, do we?  He knew Adair's situation in Scotland was precarious.  This would solve this worry and also do his friend Angus a favor - as he didn't seem satisfied with any of the young ladies in Scotch Heaven.  We can't fault him on this thinking, can we?
He was bound to be unhappy with the sudden appearance of Anna in Angus' life.  The question does remain - did Rob quickly send for Adair, after Anna appeared on the scene - hoping she would distract Angus from Anna?

PatH - I'm not so sure that Angus did not fall in love the moment he laid eyes on Anna. Well, all right, that first moment you wouldn't call love.  But  her face, her demeanor pleased him in a way no other woman ever had -  and  his feelings only intensified the more he got to know her.  Would things have been different had she accepted his proposal right then?  I wondered why she wanted him  to wait with his proposal until she returned at the end of summer.  Was she hoping for a better offer?    Didn't Angus question whether that meant that her ardor did not match his?

[JoanP]

Illeism

Babi - I loved hearing there's a name for Adair's trait.  At first I thought it was cute - endearing - when she muttered under her breath - "Adair is not to be fretted about."   She seems to be saying - "Don't worry about Adair." She knew what she wanted, she could take care of herself.
  Maybe it
"reinforced self-promotion."  She's is up for the challenge of Anna Ramsay.

That was some scene when she stepped off the train - and Angus realized that he'd been tricked into thinking they were there to pick up an egg-separator.  I have to say, I felt sorry for Rob.  This was not going as he had hoped.  Not only that - Adair was not in love with Montana either.  Since she stays on, she must be here because of her feelings for Angus.

[PatH]

It's something like 1897 when Anna arrives.  Angus has had 8 years of not finding a woman he likes.  The Ramsays had been in Canada before coming to Montana, but presumably not for very many years, since Anna had taught school in Scotland.

Yes, Joan, Angus definitely fell like a ton of bricks the second he saw Anna.  I don't quite want to call something like that "love" until it has had a chance to ripen a bit--be based on more than a moment's impression.  By the time Anna left for the summer, they knew more about each other.

[Mippy]

Hi, everyone!  I've read ahead, now up to p. 222 in the paperback.
To avoid mentioning any spoilers, I'll be careful what to post.

I wasn't especially surprised that Anna had had experience with men.   Going back to colonial times, many cultures in this country did not repress relationships before marriage.   And pregnant brides were also common in some cultures.   I'm not sure about lowland Scotland, however, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was customary to allow sex before marriage.

[CallieOK]

Was that what was called "bundling" in Colonial Days?

I'd wondered about Adair referring to herself in the 3rd person.  Interesting information about the possible reason.

When they stop for Adair to find the "airy convenience" on the way back from the rr station, Angus accuses Rob of plotting.   Angus:  "How long have you had this little visit of Adair's in the works?"
Rob:  "Angus, I don't carry a calendar around in my head."   Angus: "..no one with your arm load of schemes...would.  Just tell me this, you thought it up back this spring before I met Anna, didn't you?"  Rob:  "Angus, Angus.  Which would you rather hear - yes, no or maybe?"

And a bit farther on, after saying he "wouldn't mind" if Angus and Adair worked out, he rather breezily says, "...if you're not the one for Adair, there are other possibilities wearing pants in this world, aren't there?  What harm can it do to bring her over for the summer...?"

Rob thinks he can just have an idea, set it in motion and Angus will follow right along.  He probably believes everyone else will, too.  So - just avoid straight answers with jovial comments that make the other person look like the bad guy if he disagrees.    What a manipulator!!!!

[JoanP]

PatH - your post reminded me of the Ramsays - Anna's parents.  The whole family, her father, mother and daughter  will spend the summer working for Isaac Reese.  They are not wealthy people. I'm thinking that their future hinges on their daughter's marrying well.
 
Remember the uncomfortable meeting when the parents grilled Angus? Although he thought it went well with his entertaining tale of his grandfather - the Ramsays were really interested in his background and education (what do you think he meant when Angus told them he attended a "venture" school in Nethermuir?)

Do you think that Anna was aware of her parents' views and that this might have been the reason she told Angus to hold the marriage proposal until she returned?  If  Anna is  hoping for a better offer during the summer, then I have no respect for her. 

Mippy, pre-marital sex might have been accepted at this time - with your intended.  BUT consider Anna's behavior - with Isaac Reese!  How many times is such behavior consider "acceptable." Is this what happened with others before Angus?

[JoanP]

OK, Callie.   Rob is a manipulator... but perhaps a manipulator with good intentions?

It's important for Angus to know if Rob thought of bringing Adair to Montana- "back this spring before he met Anna?" Do you see that to be the case - or did he decide to bring her over after he saw that Angus was falling hard for Anna - and that Anna would be away for the summer?

This trip has been pretty rough on Adair, hasn't it?  The sea voyage across the Atlantic - and then the train ride across the continent, and finally, making her way through the wilderness - and Indian territory. We're seeing more familiar place names now - like Browning, Montana...Two Medicine River.  Have we ever talked about the meaning of Two Medicine country?  Or Lucas' Medicine Lodge?
"These Blackfeet put their medicine lodge near.  Two times. The river got its name."
Can anyone find the meaning of the Blackfeet's  medicine lodge?

[CallieOK]

This is a link to information about the Blackfeet culture and traditions. 

http://www.trailtribes.org/greatfalls/all-my-relations.htm

Scroll down to the section on "Sweat Lodge".    Wikipedia lists this as another name for Medicine Lodge and sites for other tribes also use the two interchangeably.

Joan,  I don't think Rob has a clue.  He simply thinks any idea of his is good - and that makes it right.  When someone challenges him (as Angus did about the timing of his decision to bring Adair to Montana), he simply evades giving a straight answer.  (My wise Aunt Esther always said "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." 
I think he probably manipulated Adair into coming.

[Babi]

 Anna is definitely a cool one. She is almost masculine in her ability to
separate her emotions from sexual activity. She can enjoy the latter without
being emotionally committed. I am surprised that in such a small community,
her neighbors seem unaware. Such behavior is likely accepted between two
betrothed, but Anna's behavior would generally cause a woman to be ostracized...not to mention, unmarriageable. 

  Rob was certainly capable of adjusting his goals if necessary. Witness the
episode about Nancy.     
  "Somewhere in his mind Rob had to adjust about Nancy. But with her absent to Toussaint's household and Lucas's offer laying like money to be picked up, you
could all but hear Rob click with adjustment."   With Adair, tho', he had taken on a responsibility for her welfare and a husband was definitely on his agenda. He wasn't about to give up easily on that one.
  As for Adair, JOAN said it perfectly, I think.

She knew what she wanted, she could take care of herself

.

 Manipulator? I think Rob definitely tries to be, CALLIE. I suspect he has yet
to understand that Angus is his own man, despite the close bond between them.
Look at how these two pick out their homesteads. Angus, practical and sensible.
Rob yearning for higher ground and grand views, with plans to supply the more
practical needs of his homestead in other ways. Rob assures Angus the possible
shortcomings of his site "won't make the difference", in what Angus describes
as his "Barclay future-owning style".

[PatH]

When Anna meets Angus, the Ramsays are already beholden to Isaac Reese.  He helped them finance their claim.  Now they are all going to work for him in the summer, and Anna remarks that having 3 salaries at once might finally let them catch up.  Reese is a real achiever, having come from nothing a few years ago to his thriving business.  Marrying him would certainly make financial sense.  Was Anna already thinking of this?  Were her parents hinting it and Anna reluctant?  And what were her final motives in accepting him?  She explains herself at length to Angus, convincing him that she has genuinely found that Isaac is the one she loves, and of course this has been cemented by a summer of passionate sex.  But I don't feel I know at all what Anna is really like.

[JoanP]

Callie, thank you!  I've just read the article on "Sweat Lodges" - which were also Medicine Lodges?  Fascinating reading - though still not entirely clear about the "Two Medicine County" designation.  I'm gathering the Blackfeet had two such lodges next to one another in this area - near this river which bears the same name today?

From this article:

"The sweat lodge is one of the gifts that Creator gave to the Blackfeet
Once inside, it is dark, but safe. Participants pray to Creator and Mother Earth to take pity on them, their children. The head lodgeman sits in the west direction and splashes the hot rocks in the center of the lodge with medicine water. After four rounds of singing and being purified from Creator's breath with the steam from the holy rocks, all negative toxins from the person's body and spirit have been taken by Mother Earth. Crawling out of the lodge the sweaty and red with life people, are now rejuvenated. Their spirits and bodies have been cleansed.
Traditionally, the Blackfeet religion did not allow women to participate in sweat lodges. Today, many lodges are open to any who choose this path"

 I can understand why Lucas' bar has been named "Medicine Lodge"    Come to think of it, I haven't seen any women among the clientele in Lucas' place either - have you?

I love the way Doig inserts a history lesson into the intriguing story - telling how the handful of Blackfeet got into it with Lewis and Clark - and from then on the land was no longer Blackfeet domain.  Was that all there was to the story?  Does anyone know? Adair wasn't too impressed with the story - or with Montana, for that matter..

[JoanP]

Babi - I wonder if Rob wasn't on to Anna.  He is not happy at the growing attraction between his buddy and this girl.  Tells Angus she's "snotty."  Does he know something else about her that he's not telling him?

PatH, I don't feel I know Anna either. I think you're right - most likely there was pressure coming from her family for Anna to attempt to interest Isaac into marriage.   I know one thing.  From her actions, she lacks the integrity and the forthrightedness that Angus has. , she lacks the integrity and the forthrightedness that Angus has.  Weren't you absolutely floored when she tells Angus - "if I ever see that Isaac and I are not right for each other, I'll know who to turn for better" ? To give her the benefit of the doubt - she said this to Angus BEFORE he married Adair.  Maybe she did feel differently about what she said - as time passed, but kept it to herself because he was married?  

Still, what kind of a comment was that for her to make to the obviously devastated Angus?  Was she attempting  to make him feel better?  Or keep him hoping? I think he is well rid of her...
Babi points out that Rob had to adjust his thinking about Nancy.  Now it's Angus' turn to adjust his thinking about  Anna.  Does he have any choice?

[JoanR]

Have to watch what I say since I've read far into next weeks selection and show no signs of stopping!  This story won't let one go.
Isn't it a bit odd that 3, yes - 3,  schoolteachers have ended up in this remote part of the country?

I couldn't "cotton on" to Anna - she seemed rather calculating  -   and poor Adair - I can't help but feel sorry for her even if she's pretty self-referential with that use of the 1st person sing. to refer to herself.  Haven't we, as parents, used the 1st person plural to exert authority - in such as "we do not play in the street"?  Adair has been hauled across the ocean and most of a huge continent to a place that seems to intimidate her with the prospect of marrying a man who doesn't really love her.

I try to get my mind around the idea of 2 men managing huge flocks of sheep - thousands even!!  Even with extra help how do they manage to shear all that wool?  They don't mention (at least I didn't notice) the special sheepdogs that help control the flocks!

I've been to Montana and it is impressive.  Truly "big sky country".  My far-back relative John Bozeman (bit of a "black sheep" of the family since he deserted his wife & 3 children in Alabama to join the gold rush) , a handsome rascal - there's a picture of him on one of the Montana sites- he founded Bozeman, Montana and established the Bozeman Trail used by many of the early settlers. The following article doesn't mention Jim Bridger who probably did most of the work on the trail - that's too bad.
  http://www.distinctlymontana.com/article/john-bozemans-historic-highway

[PatH]

Goodness, JoanR, can you get any kudos in Montana for your connection?

I don't recall any mention of dogs anywhere, but they did hire teams of shearers.  I wonder about the inevitable traffic jam of everyone wanting shearers at the same time, but that isn't mentioned.

You're right about the book not letting you go.  I've read way ahead too.

[Babi]

 But I don't feel I know at all what Anna is really like.  I can relate to that,
PAT. Anna is something of a mystery; it's hard to know what to think of her.
  JOANP raises a possibility I hadn't thought of. Rob probably did have a
clearer picture of Anna than Angus. I may have been doing him a slight injustice,
but I don't doubt he would attempted to interfere in any case. After all, he
had brought his sister all the way from Scotland hopeful of winning Angus as
her husband. 
 Actually, even knowing Angus is enraptured with Anna did not keep her from
agreeing to marry him. I suspect she has loved Angus since childhood, and she
is a strong enough character to be willing to take the bad with the good.

 A dog is mentioned, JOANR, tho' I'm not certain when it first appeared. And
teams of shearers can handle amazing numbers of sheep. I'm sure any of our
friends from Australia and New Zealand could testify to that.
[ The scenery is magnificent. Of course, the weather can be terrifying!
 Frost in August! It's a good thing these two haven't immigrated from a warm
climate. Personally, I can see right now I'd never survive a Montana mountain
winter. I have a quote from Chas. Campbell Doig: "Scotchmen and coyotes are  ones that could live in the Basin, and pretty damn soon the coyotes
starved out." 

[dean69]

From a 21st century perspective, I find Angus and Rob's traveling the distance from Scotland to Montana without notifying Lucas they were coming reckless.  Particularly, when we are accustomed to call, as a common courtesy, before visiting a friend or neighbor living in the same city.  However, histories tell of many who have traveled long distances not knowing what was on the other end. 

Many have mentioned the delightful humor Doig has injected into the story through the thoughts of Angus.  I especially like the comparisons between Montana and Scotland.  I come from a relatively small state, but have traveled to all 50 states and loved every one.  My first impression of Montana was on a bus trip.  As we crossed the state line from North Dakota which happened to be somewhat cloudy that day the sun came out and it was as if the sky opened up.  For miles and miles all we could see was blue sky.  No wonder they call it  "Big Sky Country."

[JoanP]

Dean69 - you just said it - BIG SKY COUNTRY - Montana is BIG - something beyond Rob and Angus' ability to imagine.  And so much of it unexplored and unsettled.  
You've pointed out that the boys were behaving reckless - coming unannounced from Scotland - from the 21st century perspective.
From the 19th century perspective, I'd say they were more naive than recklless.  The family had been receiving checks from Lucas in Montana.  Though they had no return address on them, they had heard he was in Helena.  So, they couldn't write to let him know they were coming - and never dreamed he'd be so hard to locate.  They got jobs in Helena and from there continued their search for Uncle Lucas.  It wasn't until the next Christmas that the family in Scotland received some money from him - with the postmark in Gros Ventre.  
Do you think they should have written to him there?  Did Gros Ventre even have a post office back then?  The boys were already so near in Helena (so they thought) - they'd just drop in and surprise their wealthy uncle...

The humor you refer to is so dry and often unexpected, isn't it?  I was just rereading the paragraphs following Anna's rejection of Angus' proposal - and  his reaction. It made me think Doig was as much a master of describing other emotions -  angst and depression, as he was humor and jubilation.
Losing Anna was one thing...but marrying Adair within a month of the rejection, was really difficult to understand, wasn't it?  Angus usually thinks things out before making such decisions.  He really needed more time to come to terms with his loss.

[JoanP]

JoanR - I've been walking through my morning chores, thinking of Angus and Rob and those thousands of sheep - they must have had dogs, don't you think?  Maybe that just goes without saying. Babi - you remember a dog?  Maybe I don't remember them - unless they have names!  

 But with so many sheep, wouldn't they need some ranch hands?  I read on one of his Biography pages, that Doig had been a ranch hand himself.  He must have been aware of their importance.  Did Rob and Angus have money to pay for ranchhands?  They are never mentioned.  Are we left with the impression that they worked tirelessly - without help?  And while Angus was away in the schoolhouse during the week, Rob was tending all those sheep himself?  They expected some of their profits from the wool - surely they needed to hire shearers as so many sheep would overwhelm.

Wow!  A black sheep in the family, JoanR! He founded Bozeman Montana!  Did anyone else in your family follow out to Big Sky country after hearing reports from Jim?  Can anyone top this - in degrees of separation!

[JoanP]

Babi, PatH - JoanR - Anna remains a mystery - none of us are able to "cotton pn"  to her, as JoanR put it.  If you've finished the book, please don't let on - BUT I'm hoping Doig will help us understand her better before the story ends.  If not, we'll have to read the sequel, I guess.

Did you see her - with Isaac - crash the wedding?  All I could think of was that she hadn't explained her relationship with Angus to Isaac, who thought nothing of dropping in to the wedding in Scotch Heaven with his own new bride.

How about Adair?  Did you understand her any better than Anna?

[CallieOK]

Right after the "pair-shearing", there's a section describing the regular shearing.  "Most often I (Angus) was gate man...Behind me, Rob and Allan Frew customarily were the wranglers...The hired crew of shearers who traveled from job to job...Then on the other side of the shearing crew...Archie Findlater...Donald Erskine...Ninian Duff..."

Sounds as if the all the sheepmen, plus a hired crew, worked their way around the ranches getting everyone's sheep sheared in turn.

[Babi]

 I never thought of Isaac and Anna 'crashing' the wedding, JOAN. In those small
communities I expect everyone was 'invited' to anything that was happening.
Actually, the deliberate omission of Isaac and Anna would have raised eyebrows
and caused endless gossip and speculation..and hard feelings.

 I do feel that I understand Adair somewhat better than Anna. Both are strong
characters, but I'm more confidant of Adair's sense of integrity. Adair fully
understood what she was getting in that marriage, and I believe she hopes that
over the years Angus will come to love the woman who is there with him day by day.
 
 Quite right, CALLIE. Everybody pitches in for the big jobs...like the more
familiar 'barn-raising'.  I always enjoyed seeing one of those when they appeared
in a movie of settlers and homesteading.  There was always such a feeling of
camaraderie ad friendship.

[JoanP]

I'm wondering whether the other sheep ranches in Scotch Heaven had as many of the woolies as Rob and Angus - and Lucas?  Rob always wanted more - Lucas wasn't much help out there, with his business in Gros Ventre.  It seems an awful lot of work would fall on Rob since Angus had his days filled with the school house.  Maybe I'm too hard on Rob, but I can't see him doing all of that work by himself, can you? For the "big jobs", like the shearing, I can see everyone pitching in - but aside from that, they must have had others tending the sheep on a daily basis, don't you think?  Where did they keep these sheep when they weren't out in the summer grazing land?  Maybe they don't require as much work when they aren't roaming and grazing?

I remember a trip to Ireland - on my list not to miss was the famous lamb stew.  The first day we took a bus tour in the Irish countryside...it was "lambing" time.  Took so many pictures of the cutest little newborn lambs you'll ever see.  
That night - and for the rest of the trip, I lost my appetite for lamb stew...  

Babi - if in Anna's shoes, knowing how hard Angus took my rejection the month before,  you couldn't pay me to go to that wedding on new husband's arm.  I would have had the most severe migraine headache ever -
To me, it felt as if she "crashed" the wedding - just to get a look at the woman Angus married so shortly after professing his love for me.  There goes her promise to Angus to let him know if she wasn't happy with Isaac.."if ever I see that Isaac and I are not right for each other, I'll know where to turn for better."
Wasn't that the most painful turn-down ever?  Now what is he supposed to do?  Wait?  Wait for her to come to her senses?  And for how long?  I guess she thought she was being kind...

I've got to reread the passage on exactly what Angus said to her that day - and try to figure out who convinced him to hurry up and marry Adair.  Was it Angus' idea - or Rob's?.

[JoanP]

So, was it Lucas?  He tells Angus he will mend.  Angus looks at Lucas' hands and thinks that even Lucas cannot understand the full sum of the damage that he feels.  Rob is less sympathetic than Lucas.  Tells Angus Anna is not the only woman in the world...and three days later, Angus asks Adair to marry him.  Adair knows about Anna - I guess everyone did - it was no secret.  Adair is sorry for him. "She did not know, could not know how thoroughly the love-spell for Anna still gripped me.  The bargain we needed to make could not withstand full truth."

Adair doesn't want to return to Scotland.  "Adair will marry you many times over."  Do you think she loves Angus?

"Lucas was eying me in a diagnosing way.  And so he knew, knew for certain that my tongue had just vowed for one woman but my thoughts still chose another."

Do you wonder how Doig writes so knowingly of what Angus is going through?

[Babi]

 Joan, I didn't think about the so useful, ever available headache. That would have
served nicely..tho' I doubt all of the communities ladies would have been deceived.
  It was Angus' idea to promptly propose to Adair. It was impulsive and, I believe,
born of his pain and wish to put that loss behind him. There was no reason, now, not to meet Adair's hopes and Rob's expectations. Not a lot of thought there and way too much emotion.
 Yes, definitely, Adair loved Angus; had since she was a child. She has come so far
expecting to marry him; she doesn't want to go back, despite her discomfort with
Montana's huge spaces and looming mountains. She would willingly marry him "many times over". They both realize they are striking a bargain.

[JoanP]

Three days after the turn-down, Angus proposed to Adair!  He'd barely time to sober up!  He's hurt beyond belief!  Everyone seems to know about it.  Lucas, Rob... Adair too.  I'm wondering why no one counselled him to wait.  Everyone is in shock - especially Adair.  Doig did a masterful job of describing the wedding ceremony, didn't he?  

"...Dair looked as if I'd taken every bit of breath from her, she looked as if she'd heard a wild rumor come true."

Babi, you have said before that you think she was in love with him.  How old was she when the boys left Scotland? I thought she was twelve.  Just a kid.  A crush maybe, but love?.  What about Angus?  Had he ever felt anything for Adair?  You know what - I don't think they ever even kissed until the minister told them to, after pronouncing them man and wife... And all the while, Angus is hoping Anna will come...

[JoanP]

Have you given much thought to the title of the book - we keep hearing the song...interwoven with names whenever there is a celebration - or a change.  
The most jubilant time - when Anna first visits the schoolhouse and dances with Angus -

Dancing at the rascal fair,
moon and star, fire and air,
choose your mate and make a pair,
dancing at the rascal fair.

The wind and the wind and the wind blows high,
the rain comes scattering through the sky,
He is handsome, she is pretty,
boy and girl of the golden city.

Anna Ramsay says she'll die
if her lover says goodbye -

A bottle of wine to tell his name-
Angus McAsker, there's his fame.

Do you remember the definition of the term "Rascal Fair"  found earlier?
 
Rascal Fair" - the hiring market for those who had not obtained a job at the "Muckle Fair".
"Muckle Friday" - the half-annual hiring market for farm workers.
   Farming in Scotland

So, the Rascal Fair was for the leftovers then, those not chosen at the Muckle Fair.  And now the words of the song change.


"Angus McCaskill, he was there,
paired with a lass named Adair,
dancing at the rascal fair.
Feel the Love;s music everywhere,
fill your heart, fill the air,
dancing at the rascal fair.  

I'm still wondering, this late in the game, whether Angus and Adair will find one another, will have a happy ending.  Has Ivan Doig written a love story - or a story of the struggle to make a life in the wilderness of Montana?

[JoanP]

I was hunting around for some information on raising sheep in Montana today - came across this picture - and just had to share it with you.  Doesn't it match how you picture the summer grazing while reading this book?

If you click this link, you might be able to see the larger image - http://www.flickr.com/photos/baalands/429473524/

If you click this photo again, it gets even larger!

[JoanP]

Good Monday morning!
Week three!  Since the next section, The Steaders, is only 75 pages, we've adjusted, shortened the discussion of this chapter from today to the 20th. Then we can spend the final days on the last two chapters - and general thoughts about Ivan Doig's book.  I was reading last night how surprised he was at the response to this book - much greater than to his earlier ones.  I think he touched a very sensitive chord in this one.  Does one ever get over a first love, such as what Angus felt for Anna?  I think he really wanted to - to move on - when he married Adair, believing that this was the way to get on with his life.
Was he wrong to think that marriage to Adair would be the answer?  What do you think he should have done.

Today we get a glimpse into the life of these two - out there on the homestead.  Do you feel Adair's loneliness?  Does she have any friends that you can see?
Adair and Angus have a "truce" we are told.  Would you say they are friends?

[Babi]

Well, yes, JOANP, Adair was twelve when the boys left, so I guess her feelings
for Angus would be more of a 'crush'. But she is a determined young woman,
isn't she? I don't doubt Angus was fond of Adair. I can only suppose he felt
he might as well do as Rob and Adair wished; that his own hopes in life were
crushed. He does not deceive himself, or attempt to deceive Adair, about his
feelings for Anna. He is a man of integrity, if anything.

 I'm so glad you found that definition of 'rascal fair'.  I looked but was
unsuccessful. I loved  that version you posted for us. It's obviously a lively
tune, and the words were changed to fit any occasion.

  What do you all think of Angus (Doig's) observation that time?  Was that first winter long? "Yes, ungodly so. And no, nothing of the sort. How time can be a commodity that lets both of those be equally true, I have never understood."
 
 Had any of you heard of the custom of 'first-foot' on the New Year? It was completely new to me.

[salan]

I found myself disgusted with Angus because he stubbornly held on to his inner love for Anna.  At first I felt sorry for Adair, then I got aggravated with her for just "tolerating" her life with Angus in Montana.  It seemed like she didn't put forth an effort to adapt to the country or lifestyle.  But I am a "glass half full" person.  My husband was with the Federal Govt. for 20 years and we lived in many places.  Though Texas was always in my heart, I found things and people to love everywhere we lived, and I am so glad I had that experience.
Sally

[JoanP]

Oh Sally.  Can't you put yourself in Adair's place?  She has to know that Angus is  not really there.  She's out there on the homestead for hours alone while Angus is at the schoolhouse or with the sheep.  And then at night - well, they're on two different sleep schedules.  What do you think she should have done?  Dare Adair ask him what is consuming him?   What if he answered her question?  Then what?
You were fortunate to have the ability to adapt to new surroundings.  Adair seems to have no idea where to start.

Angus seems resigned to the fact that he will never get over Anna.  He refers to her as his "own solitary preoccupation."  
I'm torn between thinking that he ought to have "let it go" - as you do -

Babi - he doesn't actually  deceive Adair - but he doesn't seem to make an effort to stop thinking about Anna.
But other times I feel sorry for him - he's not really living a full life - just a life that might-have-been.

Do you find yourself wonderiing what  inspired Doig to write of this tortuous love?

[Babi]

 Adair's refusal to make an effort to adapt to Montana is frustrating, SALLY.
Perhaps it is her personal assertion that she will only go so far in taking
'second place'. She clings to her identity as an individual. She loves Angus,
but she will not throw herself away for him.
  Nights, JOAN, seem to be only time Adair and Angus are truly together and
both getting some good out of their relationship.  There are other benefits, of
course. He does not have to face another lonely winter; she has a home and a
husband who at least cares something for her and respects her.
  I know it seems far-fetched that Angus can't seem to grow beyond this
obsession with Anna. I know there are species that mate for life, but the human
species hasn't shown itself to be one of them.  It makes Angus hard for us to understand.

 The years are flicking past, and Angus(Doig) gives us a nutshell version of
what life is like on a sheep-raising homestead.  "...tasks hurrying at each
other's heels:turn out the last bunch of ewes and their fresh lambs onto new
pasture and the garden needs to be put in; do that and fence needs mending;
mend that and it is shearing time; shear the beloved woolies and it is haying time." 
  Time is flicking past; where is everyone?  We miss your ideas and input.

[JoanP]

Do you think things would have been different if Anna and Isaac were not attending the dances in the Scotch Heaven schoolroom.  Angus hadn't laid eyes on Anna since the wedding - but as soon as she started coming to the dances, he could not forget.
Don't you feel a bit sorry for him?  He says, "I am not inviting any of this, Dair.  I didn't invite any of it."  Can you believe this?

 He says he couldn't not have have come to the dances - Adair wouldn't that stood for that. "To her, the dances were the one time that Montana winter wasn't Montana winter."  She became a different person on that dance floor.  -Why do you think that was?

Also,   - "it was becoming more and more noticeable that she never pitched in with the other wives when they put midnight supper together."    I'm sure you would have noticed, Sally  This is no way to make friends in Scotch Heaven.  

I never thought I'd hear myself say this - but there seems to be only one thing that can keep this marriage together - and that's a child.  With repeated miscarriages, even that doesn't seem to be in the cards.  Do you see her staying on in Scotch Heaven without friends, without family?

[marloh]

I have read & loved all but 2 (I'm saving them for savoring later) of Doig's books & now I am reading his autobiography. In it i can understand how well he understands raising sheep. He couldn't describe the arduous labor involved without living & absorbing it from childhood. My thinking about Adair is two-sided. I have sympathy for knowing she is second choice but get annoyed because she doesn't try hard enough. My theory is that you play the cards you are dealt & make the best of it. You only get one trip through life so why not do it the best way you can? That could and at times does lead to true happiness. Still I agree that Rob probably pressured her into coming to Montana & that's another hurdle.

[Aberlaine]

I thought this discussion began on September 1st.  I just got the book and will try to catch up.  Otherwise, I'll just lurk and read the comments.

Nancy

[JoanP]

Oh Nancy - I don't know why that strikes me so funny!  Thought that the reason everyone was lurking lately was because they'd already finished the book and didn't want to give away the ending.
We'll need all of our lurkers to come out and help us out.  Things have become uncomfortably quiet in here.

Marlo, I know what you are saying.  Still, I don't know how I'd react if I knew my husband was thinking of another woman - for years and years.  I might react as Adair did - and turn to a few games of Solitaire.  At least she's not having affairs...
I am interested  in hearing more about Ivan Doig's autobiography.  As you say, he couldn't write about raising sheep with such authenticity without having the experience himself.  I've been wondering about the way he describes Angus' continuing enthrallment with Anna....so convincingly.  I guess he doesn't refer to that in his autobiography - but would love to know if he says anything about this "romance."  I feel sorry for Adair - it has soured her life.  But I also pity Angus - and his "unled life."  Such a waste.  

Do you suppose Anna is as unhappy as these two?

[CallieOK]

Someone suggested that Adair might leave.

How would she pay for a trip back to Scotland?  She has only seen the part of Montana between the rr station and Gros Ventre/Scotch Heaven and may not have even met anyone from other towns.
Where would she go and what could she do when she got there?

Re: loneliness for the 'Steaders.
The local Historical Society has "'89er files" that contain letters, diaries and accounts from people who made the Land Run in April, 1889.    One letter from Mrs. Ed Childers to her Aunt's family in, I think, Missouri - written on May 11, 1889, says:

"Your letters are so welcome.  The nearest post office is 16 miles from here and that is Oklahoma City.  Ed has gone to the city today for mail but I don't expect he will get back tonight and I will have to stay by myself.  I am lonesome, awful lonesome.  No church or any place to go and no one to come here. (This was only a month after the Run; churches and schools had been built by that Autumn so this part probably changed.)

I tell you girls, if you want to know how you feel when you are lonesome, you must move away from your friends to a new country and be by yourself nearly all day.  It seems to me sometimes as if there were no one in the whole world that cared anything about me and I just couldn't stand it any longer."

Can you imagine how Adair must have felt being clear across the ocean and half a continent away from her home? While it took weeks for letters to go back and forth from Missouri and Oklahoma, it must have taken months for them to go and come from Scotland.

[Mippy]

Good morning, all!   Sorry to be here so seldom, but Aug is a difficult month, with family visiting and lots of time outdoors here on lovely Cape Cod.

I've read ahead, so I'll be very careful not to let spoilers slip in.

Here's a link about wildlife and bears in Montana:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/16/science/16grizzly.html?_r=1

[Babi]

 I really think those dances were both a much-needed change from the harsh
routines of winter, and also a time when Adair could feel like a carefree young
girl once again..for a while.
 MARLOH, welcome. I think you'll find Callie's post interesting, with the excerpt
from an early pioneer woman in Oklahoma. Adair at least had her brother's place
within sight, and the dances to get away to. I really think she is coping as best
she can just now.

 And a good morning to you, Mippy. I think there were bears higher up on the
mountains round about. And of course, coyotes in abundance!

 Let's see, which of you is it that was concerned that Rob was doing more than
his share of sheep-tending?  You'll recall, it was Rob, with Lucas backing, who
wanted to run a larger herd of sheep. Angus declined. Remember: "Angus, you're
thinking small instead of tall. I'm disappointed in you."
Rob always thinks big,and Lucas is from the same Barclay cloth. Angus is unmoved. "Rob, if this is the first time or the last that I disppointed you, you're lucky indeed."