I am a coward.
Were I not, I would have died this morning on the Tor with the others, but I fled and hid. The Abbot told me I should be gone to Wales by now, but I hadn’t even the courage for that. My father spoke truer than he knew. He said I would never amount to anything as a monk, and he was right.
I close my eyes and mutter the prayers of protection for the dying.
. . . From the ancient enemy: free and defend their souls, O Lord. . . .
Across the moors three gallows loom atop the Tor. Three bodies swing in the cold November dawn. I draw my cloak about me. The bundle that is my treasure presses against my side, safely wrapped in the wool of my old habit. I try again to pray, but it is the warm baritone of the priest in my old parish in Wales, that fills my mind. More than a year has passed since he chanted those prayers for my mother. The pain still runs deep, and it is for her that I weep.
* * *
The ancient olivewood drinking bowl that young Colin finds in the treasury of Glastonbury Abbey, was disregarded as worthless wood by King Henry VIII’s men when they inventoried the abbey’s treasures. But Father Dunstan, the tortured prior who preaches forgiveness, treasures it. Father Bede, as demanding as the hated father from whom Colin has fled, covets it. Abbot Whiting finds in it the courage to face his enemy, even as monasteries are being dismantled all over sixteenth century England. Will Colin find the personal faith and sense of worth he seeks? Can he ever forgive his father... or himself?
About Writing Glastonbury Tor:
I have always loved all things Arthurian, but on a visit to Glastonbury, Somerset, in England it was the dramatic end of the abbey, rather than the tales of King Arthur and the Isle of Avalon that most struck me.
Research was so much fun. I read more than 30 books about Glastonbury or the historical period. I had lots of notes and a solid outline when I went to stay for two weeks with a lovely family who live six miles from the town on a bike track along one of the many drains that crisscross the Somerset Levels. They graciously took me into their family, loaned me a bike, a map and a pair of Wellington boots and set me loose to explore.
I climbed the Tor in the rain, slipped on the grass, fell in the yellow mud, and felt the wind tug at my clothes. Then I came home and wrote the first draft of the chapter where Colin climbs the Tor. I climbed again in spectacular sunshine on the anniversary of the abbot’s death, and sat on the grass singing, “Knowing you, Jesus. There is no greater thing,” which had become my theme song for the writing of this book. I watched the mists creep out of the drain across my path like a living thing, and stood in awe at the dance of the starlings as they roosted over the bog.
My thanks to the present owner of Sharpham Manor, who patiently answered my questions about the house, and to Otto Dyga, who explained the cutting of turves and the building of ruckles. My hearty recommendation of the cream of mushroom soup served by The George and Pilgrim Inn.
Writing Tip
When you are researching a setting, know as much as you can ahead of time about what you need to see. Take along a digital camera. Not only can you photograph signs with information on them instead of getting writer's cramp taking notes, but a quick snap of the crenellations on a wall or size of the back gate captures the details you might not have thought to write down at the time.
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Things to Talk About
1. In what ways was Colin justified in blaming his father for his emotional pain? In what ways was he wrong?
2. How was Father Bede like or unlike Colin’s father?
3. Which characters needed to forgive? What made forgiveness difficult and how did they overcome that difficulty?
4. What did Father Dunstan mean when he said, “Only those who are forgiven are able truly to forgive. And only those who forgive are free to receive forgiveness”? Was he right?
5. What is the role of the cup in the story? How is it different from a relic or a magic charm?
6. How did Colin’s view of God change over the course of the book?
7. How would your knowledge of God be different if you had no Bible in your own language or could only read it in church?
8. Colin encounters various forms of faith—the established church under King Henry VIII, Brother Fergus and the Pilgrims of Grace who wanted to return to the church of Rome, and the Thatcher’s non-conformist community. How are these groups similar and how are they different?
