Red Deer Venison

It is summer 1700, and the clan chieftain lives with his wife and extended family in a square, six-foot thick walled tower on the edge of a cliff. Through the great front door and up a narrow flight of stone steps is the communal hall where a fire burns in the cooking-hearth and a side of venison roasts on a spit. Slices are carved from the hot roast for the main meal of the day and on the thick oak table are the remains of a salmon, thin, soft barley bannocks, butter, sheep’s milk, cheese and a bowl of wild berries which the children have gathered.