The Icelandic Canadian - 01.12.1959, Blaðsíða 48

46
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Winter 1959
1B®®3S HiUTfUIW
IAN OF RED RIVER
by RAGNHILDUR GUTTORMSSON ’
Ryerson Press
The historical background of this
story is the coming of the advance
guard of the Selkirk settlers to the
Red River in Manitoba. Angus Mc-
Duff, tired of working in a mill, agrees
to go to the new country, spend three
years in Lord Selkirk’s employ, and
get a free grant of land. He expresses
true pioneering spirit when he says
"Across the sea are vast fields lying idle;
fields that could grow enough grain
to fill all the empty flour barrels in
Scotland. And in Scotland are empty
hands with nothing to do. Lord Sel-
kirk is a great man with a dream, and
I’m going to help make it come true.”
The character of Ian, the young son
of Angus McDuff, is admirably drawn.
He is a sensitive boy, thoroughly good,
but ashamed of being known as “soft”.
He soliloquized: “Was he soft, timid?
That is what Granny had called him.
He hated to see people weep; he didn’t
like to see things hurt; and it was al-
most unbearable to see things dead,
when you had once seen them alive.
Was that being soft? Did not other
people feel like that, too?” The manner
in which he tries to show Granny that
he is not soft, is the subject of an inter-
esting incident. The desire to show
courage characterizes him all through
the story.
The way Granny prepares him for
the journey to Red River is reminis-
cent of Iceland, as is indeed the whole
Scottish scene in the story. She takes
out of a mysterious carved wooden
chest a brand new kilt and jacket, with
six silver buttons, that had belonged
Ragnhildur Guttormsson
to his maternal grand-father. She ad-
monishes Ian to keep the buttons al-
ways bright, as they symbolize the
honor of the McLeods, which is now
in his keeping. Out of the same chest
came a flat object called a hornbook,
on which were engraved the Ten Com-
mandments, and which had been in
the McLeod family for over a hundred
years. It was of mahogany, covered
with polished sheep’s horn, and the
writing was on calf’s skin. Ian promises
to keep the honor of the McLeods
bright by keeping the Ten Command-
ments and by keeping the buttons
bright. His mother had taught him
the first four. The fifth he said he
could not bear to talk about—“Thou
shalt not kill. I’ll never do that,” he
said. The hornbook and the silver
buttons were to play a signifciant part
in the life of Ian.
An interesting character in this part
of the story is Ian’s friend and neigh-
bor, Old Alec, whose only two books