History Literature / TheCandlemassRoad

* BadassPreacher: Father Guevara used to be one, given the adventures he had in the Americas and Africa, to say nothing of the Borders themselves. The trope is {{Deconstructed}} in that all the violence he's seen and survived took a heavy toll on his faith, and by the time of the story he's both given up on preaching and very much desires peace.

* BadassPreacher: Father Guevara used to be one, given the adventures he had in the Americas and Africa, to say nothing of the Borders themselves. The trope is {{Deconstructed}} in that all the violence he's seen and survived took a heavy toll on his faith, and by the time of the story he very much desires peace.

''The Candlemass Road'' is a HistoricalFiction novel by Creator/GeorgeMacdonaldFraser. Set on the Scotch-English border described in his nonfiction book ''Literature/TheSteelBonnets'', ''The Candlemass Road'' is about young lady Margaret Dacre, who has just inherited an estate on the border. Her father, Lord Ralph Dacre, known throughout the borderlands and beyond as "The Red Bull" kept his land safe for decades, and no reiver dared despoil Dacre tenants. Now that he is dead, his troopers dispersed to other lords, and there is no one left to hold the manor but a few servants and an aging priest. The Nixons, a famous reiver clan, have come to Geordie Bell to demand the black rent (as protection money is called on the border). Bell calls upon Lady Dacre for help and protection, and she has no one to hold away the reivers but Archie Wait-About-Him, an outlaw and broken man held by her bailiff for stealing bread.

* WorthyOpponent:When the Red Bull is killed, Reivers and March Wardens alike come to his funeral out of respect.

* TheHeretic: Father Guevara is a Roman Catholic priest in Elizabethan England. Technically his very presence in the country is illegal, but the Protestant Lord Dacre liked keeping him around to tend to Dacre's own recusant subjects, and Lady Dacre keeps him in service. Fraser notes that this wasn't actually uncommon on the Borders, where enforcement of religious orthodoxy wasn't high on anyone's list of priorities.

* BadassPreacher: Father Guevara used to be one, given the adventures he had in the Americas and Africa, to say nothing of the Borders themselves. The trope is {{Deconstructed}} in that all the violence he's seen and survived took a heavy toll on his faith, and by the time of the story he very much desires peace and quiet.

* TheHeretic: Father Guevara is a Roman Catholic priest in Elizabethan England. Technically his very presence in the country is illegal, but the Protestant Lord Dacre liked keeping him around to tend to Dacre's own recusant subjects. Fraser notes that this wasn't actually uncommon on the Borders, where enforcement of religious orthodoxy wasn't high on anyone's list of priorities.

* SpiritedYoungLady: Lady Dacre. Her personality particularly shocks people who expected hr to be much more delicate for having been raised at the royal court.

* BadassBoast: "I am Dacre, shift me an ye can"

* SpiritedYoungLady: Lady Dacre. Her personality particularly shocks people who expected to be much more delicate for being raised at the royal court.

* {{Ronin}}: The 'broken men' of the Borders could be understood as a Western equivalent. They're not held in ill regard because they're thieves and cutthroats (those are respected professions on the Borders) but because they're not in the service of any "legitimate" BanditClan or liege lord.

* OutlawTown: Liddesdale is run by and for the Elliots, one of the most powerful reiver clans. Riccarton is the seat of the Nixons, and several other reiver clans have their own towns as well.

''The Candlemass Road'' is a HistoricalFiction novel by Creator/GeorgeMacdonaldFraser. Set on the Scotch-English border described in his nonfiction book ''Literature/TheSteelBonnets'', ''The Candlemass Road'' is about young lady Margaret Dacre, who has just inherited an estate on the border. Her father, Lord Robert Dacre, known throughout the borderlands and beyond as "The Red Bull" kept his land safe for decades, and no reiver dared despoil Dacre tenants. Now that he is dead, his troopers dispersed to other lords, and there is no one left to hold the manor but a few servants and an aging priest. The Nixons, a famous reiver clan, have come to Geordie Bell to demand the black rent (as protection money is called on the border). Bell calls upon Lady Dacre for help and protection, and she has no one to hold away the reivers but Archie Wait-About-Him, an outlaw and broken man held by her bailiff for stealing bread.