She wrote that ‘the spirit of the place got such a hold upon me that before I left I had the whole story planned almost in spite of myself.’ [1] Another influence was Violet Jacob’s 1911 novel Flemington, which also features a close relationship between two men on opposite sides of the 1745 rising.

In July 1745, Ewen Cameron, a young Highland chieftain and ardent Jacobite, learns of Prince Charles Edward Stuart’s arrival in Scotland.

Guthrie brings Ewen as a prisoner to Fort Augustus, where he is threatened with torture; eventually he involuntarily reveals information about Lochiel’s whereabouts by talking in his sleep.

In common with many of Broster’s other works, The Flight of the Heron explores the theme of conflicting loyalties and the incompatible demands placed upon individuals by duty, personal honour and love in the context of wider historical events.

The attraction between Ewen and Keith can be read as homoerotic, the expression of this repressed desire being facilitated by the fantasy element in the plot—the prophecy foretelling their destined meetings through the agency of the heron.

The Westminster Gazette called the book ‘a delightful piece of writing’ and commented that the historical setting was ‘as vivid and attractive as though [the author] were turning virgin soil’,[5] while the Oxford Chronicle and Reading Gazette said that ‘It is a ground which it might have been thought has been a little over-cultivated since Scott published “Waverley,” but in “The Flight of the Heron” it again yields an abundant harvest of romance.’[6] Both these reviews also praised the romantic atmosphere and the interest of the adventure plot, particularly in the portrayal of Ewen and Keith and their relationship.

[7] The first line of the novel, 'The sun had been up for a couple of hours', was used in the Genesis song Eleventh Earl Of Mar, from the 1976 abum Wind and Wuthering, written by Tony Banks.

A six-part adaptation of The Flight of the Heron was broadcast by the BBC Home Service in 1944, dramatised by Catherine M. Barr and starring Gordon Jackson as Ewen and Philip Cunningham as Keith.

[11] In 1976 a second television adaptation was broadcast on BBC Scotland, directed by Alastair Reid and starring David Rintoul as Ewen and Tom Chadbon as Keith.

[12] The novel was adapted for the stage in 1997 by Turtle Key Arts; the production featured traditional Gaelic songs and new music composed by Stephen Nash.