And yet they loved their master by reason of his strength and power, for
he was the king's nephew in Arran, and would some day be the lord of
that isle and of the great castle of Brodick.
Landing on the shores of St. Ninian's Bay, he strode with great strides
towards Rothesay, and Lulach the herd boy, seeing him, thought him the
most gallant warrior in all the world, and wondered what his business
might be in Bute, and why he should have come over without a train of
attendants.
It took the knight but a little time to cover the four miles between St.
Ninian's and Rothesay, and on the sloping strand of the bay he found
Earl Kenric busy with his retainers carrying stores down to a great
galley that was moored against a stone pier in the little creek near to
the castle gates.
This ship, which was built in the shipyard of Rothesay, was entirely of
oak and of great dimensions, ornamented with richly-carved dragons
overlaid with beaten gold. It had ten banks of oars, each of the twenty
long oars being rowed by two sturdy islanders. There was also a stout
mast, upon which, when the wind served, a wide-spreading square sail
might be hoisted.
"A gallant bark, by my faith! a gallant bark, Kenric!" said Sir Piers as
he stepped on board and walked towards the high poop. "Would that we had
a dozen such vessels, and manned by as brave a set of islanders as you
have here.
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