The Pipers on the Island
Aug. 22nd, 2025 06:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shewhomustThe Ellis Peters which I bought from the cats' charity shop in Stromness is The Piper on the Mountain. I had been looking out for it since I plunged down a number of rabbit holes in contemplation of Black is the Colour of my True Love's Heart, the novel which Peters wrote next.
Life being full of coincidences, pipers kept cropping up as we toured the sites of Neolithic Orkney - well, two of them did, and here they are:
On the right, the lady who was playing her recorder to the cows by the path down from the Ring of Brodgar: the cows didn't seem interested, but I stopped to listen. Eventually she gave up. "My cows at home always gather round when I play to them," she complained (giving away that 'home' was the US). On the left, part of the decorative tile surround from the 'Bishop's Bedroom' in Skaill House: there was clearly a musical theme going on, because one of the other figures was playing a stringed instrument, but naturally it was this piper who caught my attention - though, again, not that of the local livestock, who are turning their backs in a pointed manner. (I don't really think they are puffins, though I can see how you might get that impression...)
Anyway, the book: it begins with a man falling off a mountain in Slovakia. His name is Herbert Terrell, and he is on holiday from his job at a quasi-governmental high tech institute. Soon it is suggested that his death was not the accident it appeared, and was related to a brilliant colleague (of Slovak origins) who had previously vanished. A fellow mountaineering enthusiast is sent off to investigate, with the completely unofficial approval of the government So far, so James Bond.
The narrative, though, follows the even more unofficial endeavours of four young people. Twins Christine and Toddy are planning a road trip to continental Europe, and each of them has invited a friend. Christine's choice is Tossa, who is the step-daughter od Herbert Terrell; they were not close, but guilt about this makes her more, rather than less, concerned about what happened to him, and she nudges the party into visiting the mountains of Slovakia. The twins don't seem to notice that they are being manipulated, but the fourth member of the party does: he is Dominic Felse, the son of Peters' series detective, Inspector George Felse, so the novel can be loosely included in that series, although the Inspector appears only in his influence on Dominic's outlook. His inclination is to trust the forces of law and order, which is at odds with Tossa's suspicions, creating a tension which plays alongside his attraction in making him hyper-aware of her. The twins' do not notice anything beyond their jolly holiday, which is odd, but adds to the book's 'Five have fun in Slovakia' flavour.
The book was published in 1966, which must have been a great time to have fun in Slovakia. These are the years before the Prague Spring, and its abrupt suppression. The group skip past Prague in a single day, and head for the mountains: the scenery is enticing, the prices are low, the locals are hospitable. The awareness that this is an Eastern Bloc country adds spice to the trip, but doesn't particularly restrict their movements. If anything, the young people's mistrust of the authorities (Dominic is the lone dissenter) justifies their continued independent action which is essential to the plot.
Considered in the light of its sequel, The Piper on the Mountain underlines just how very new a couple Dominic and Tossa are. There is also the bonus of folk music content. Dominic recognises the tune which he has heard the piper playing on the mountain: it is Bushes and Briars. There is also some interesting ethnomusicological information about Slovakian pipes; the six-finger-holed labial pipe, the end-hole koncovka, the ragman's whistle and more...
Perfect holiday reading, in fact.
Life being full of coincidences, pipers kept cropping up as we toured the sites of Neolithic Orkney - well, two of them did, and here they are:
On the right, the lady who was playing her recorder to the cows by the path down from the Ring of Brodgar: the cows didn't seem interested, but I stopped to listen. Eventually she gave up. "My cows at home always gather round when I play to them," she complained (giving away that 'home' was the US). On the left, part of the decorative tile surround from the 'Bishop's Bedroom' in Skaill House: there was clearly a musical theme going on, because one of the other figures was playing a stringed instrument, but naturally it was this piper who caught my attention - though, again, not that of the local livestock, who are turning their backs in a pointed manner. (I don't really think they are puffins, though I can see how you might get that impression...)
Anyway, the book: it begins with a man falling off a mountain in Slovakia. His name is Herbert Terrell, and he is on holiday from his job at a quasi-governmental high tech institute. Soon it is suggested that his death was not the accident it appeared, and was related to a brilliant colleague (of Slovak origins) who had previously vanished. A fellow mountaineering enthusiast is sent off to investigate, with the completely unofficial approval of the government So far, so James Bond.
The narrative, though, follows the even more unofficial endeavours of four young people. Twins Christine and Toddy are planning a road trip to continental Europe, and each of them has invited a friend. Christine's choice is Tossa, who is the step-daughter od Herbert Terrell; they were not close, but guilt about this makes her more, rather than less, concerned about what happened to him, and she nudges the party into visiting the mountains of Slovakia. The twins don't seem to notice that they are being manipulated, but the fourth member of the party does: he is Dominic Felse, the son of Peters' series detective, Inspector George Felse, so the novel can be loosely included in that series, although the Inspector appears only in his influence on Dominic's outlook. His inclination is to trust the forces of law and order, which is at odds with Tossa's suspicions, creating a tension which plays alongside his attraction in making him hyper-aware of her. The twins' do not notice anything beyond their jolly holiday, which is odd, but adds to the book's 'Five have fun in Slovakia' flavour.
The book was published in 1966, which must have been a great time to have fun in Slovakia. These are the years before the Prague Spring, and its abrupt suppression. The group skip past Prague in a single day, and head for the mountains: the scenery is enticing, the prices are low, the locals are hospitable. The awareness that this is an Eastern Bloc country adds spice to the trip, but doesn't particularly restrict their movements. If anything, the young people's mistrust of the authorities (Dominic is the lone dissenter) justifies their continued independent action which is essential to the plot.
Considered in the light of its sequel, The Piper on the Mountain underlines just how very new a couple Dominic and Tossa are. There is also the bonus of folk music content. Dominic recognises the tune which he has heard the piper playing on the mountain: it is Bushes and Briars. There is also some interesting ethnomusicological information about Slovakian pipes; the six-finger-holed labial pipe, the end-hole koncovka, the ragman's whistle and more...
Perfect holiday reading, in fact.
