Tour Outlander and Scotland with Me – Part 3

Time for the third installment of my 2016 Scotland Outland Immersion tour. I hope you stay with me because this blog contains gobs of sights and sites! It also uses book quotes but these come from Diana’s first two books which have already aired; thus, they don’t seem like spoilers but there will be alerts if you want to skip. Off we go!

Last blog, The Tour – part 2 (here is Part 1), we were at the Culloden Visitor Centre. Just so you know, Culloden Battlefield occupies the northeast segment of Drumossie Moor, a short 10 km (6 mi) from Inverness. Let’s return to the site.

Inside the Visitor Center a man of arms stood before an impressive array of weaponry (Photo A). Apologies for the blurry photo; hands were shaking – after shock from the square “immersion room” (2016 Scotland Outlander Tour -Part 2)! The table before him held a flintlock musket, small cauldron and ladle for making musket balls, basket-hilted broadsword, targe and dirk. Apparently, 18th century muskets had a variety of firing mechanisms but the one displayed was a flintlock.

The man at arms holds the infamous cat-o-nine-tails used for flogging an unrepentant back (Anatomy Lesson #10, “Jamie’s Back” or “Aye, Jamie’s Back!”). This “cat” definitely wasn’t cuddly! Made of rope, each strand was knotted several times; designed to lacerate skin and tear flesh (Anatomy Lesson #35, “Outlander Owies! – Part One”). Dots on the white wall mark troop locations on the Battlefield.

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Photo A

Tying in with Outlander (always!), Captain Randall’s leather lash bore lead plummets rather than knots; very effective in producing maximum damage (Starz season 1, Opening images)!

BOOK QUOTE: Skip if you don’t want to read the next two book excerpts about Jamie’s flogging. Psst: I know of no one who regrets reading Diana’s fabulous books. Unlike the Starz episode, in Outlander book, Claire hears the awful truth of the scourging from War Chief, Dougal MacKenzie.

A few minutes later, Randall came out, the whip tucked under his arm, and the lead plummets at the tips of the lashes clicking softly together as he walked.

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And, another Outlander book quote and Starz image (Starz episode 106, The Garrison Commander) just to remind us of BJR’s unmitigated cruelty. As if we needed reminding, aye?

BOOK QUOTE:

He had surveyed Jamie coolly then motioned to the sergeant-major to turn the prisoner around to show his back.

Dougal grimaced. “A pitiful sight, it was, too—still raw, no more than half-healed, wi’ the weals turned black and the rest yellow wi’ bruises. The thought of a whip comin’ down on that soreness was enough to make me blench, along wi’ most of those watching.”… “You’ve seen a cat play wi’ a wee mousie?” Dougal asked. “ ’Twas like that.

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We spent some time with the arms man as he proved very knowledgeable. More about weaponry later in this blog.

Hugh Allison, our excellent tour guide, worked at Culloden Visitor’s Center for years and was a fabulous wellspring of information. He believes the Battle of Culloden to be a true civil war.

Why? Because each side was a composite of followers. Jacobites, lead by Prince Charles Edward Stuart, were mostly Scottish Catholics and Episcopalians but also included a detachment of Englishmen as well as Irish and Scots units supplied by the Kingdom of France. These men were committed to restoring the house of Stuart to the British throne. British Government forces, led by the Duke of Cumberland (son of King George II), were mostly Protestants, but also included Scottish Lowlanders and Highlanders, Ulstermen (northern Ireland), German Hessians and Austrians. These were Loyalists to the House of Hanover.

One of the more fascinating displays at the Visitor Center is a large table of Culloden Battlefield. A video display, it offers a birdeye view of troop positions and movements during the confrontation. Loyalist troops are signified by red dots – the Jacobites, by blue. I hope you take the time to watch the battle unfold in this amazing re-telling of that fateful hour!

Did you have trouble following the video? If yes, the next map shows position and distribution of Jacobite and Hanoverian forces at the battle’s start (Photo B). After losing many Jacobites to  cannonade, Prince Charles orders his forces to charge the Loyalist lines.

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Photo B

Dougal, Rupert and Angus demo a Highland charge in Starz episode 209, Je Suis Prest. “I am ready” their body language screams! A charge did scare the be-je suis out of foes!

The Highland charge probably derived from older Celtic fighting styles in which one side rushed forward to break through a foe’s battle line. After the advent of firearms, men at the front were totally commitment because they faced the first volley of musket fire! Speed was also critical, so Highlanders preferred charging downhill on firm ground; they also dropped clothing from the lower body for greater freedom.

Once in musket range (60 yd), Highlanders with firearms discharged their weapons creating a smoke screen. Expecting a return volley, they immediately dropped low to the ground for protection. Firearms were dropped and blades were drawn as men screaming in Gaelic ran the final distance to the enemy line. Face-to-face, Highlanders took sword and bayonet points on the targe while delivering an upward blade into the opponent’s torso.

BOOK QUOTE: If you must, skip the next quote from book two, Dragonfly in Amber. Jamie explains the emotional rush of a Highland charge:

“Ye hear a shout, and of a sudden, you’re running. Slow, for a step or two, while ye free your belt, and then your plaid falls free and you’re bounding, wi’ your feet splashing mud up your legs and the chill of the wet grass on your feet, and your shirttails flying off your bare arse. The wind blows into your shirt and up your belly and out along your arms.… Then the noise takes ye and you’re screaming, like runnin’ down a hill yelling into the wind when you’re a bairn, to see can ye lift yourself on the sound.”

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The sad conflict was over in less than an hour (some claim 40 minutes) during which 1,500 and 2,000 Jacobites were killed or wounded. The Jacobite charge indeed broke through the British lines but odds were against them on that fateful day. Here are the main reasons for their defeat:

  • Hanoverians outnumbered the Jacobites 9,000 to 5,000.
  • Jacobites were poorly armed compared with Redcoat muskets, artillery and horse.
  • Charlie ignored his commander’s advice to stick with guerrilla tactics. This day, he ordered his troops to meet the Loyalists head-on.
  • Jacobites were exhausted following a forced all-night march in full gear to and from Cumberland’s camp near Naim. Their attempt at this night-time raid failed.
  • Hanoverian artillery decimated the Jacobites as they bravely awaited Charlie’s command to charge. Charlie was waiting for government troops to advance first! What was the man thinking?
  • Culloden’s uneven, flat and marshy ground plus hunger and fatigue rendered the Highlanders’ favorite tactic – the Highland charge – unsuccessful.
  • Because Jacobite and Loyalist lines were not parallel (Photo B), the lower flank of the advancing Jacobite line struck the Hanoverian line first. Unfortunately, this gave the remaining Loyalists’ line needed time to deflect the oncoming charge.
  • Redcoat tactics called for each soldier to bayonet the exposed side of the Jacobite to his right instead of firing at the enemy dead ahead. The Jacobites expected one volley of shots and then to take the Redcoats in hand-to-hand combat.

Photo C, a poignant painting of the conflict by David Morier, is titled: “The Highland attack on the Grenadier Company of Barrell’s King’s Own Royal Regiment.” Commissioned in 1746 by the Duke of Cumberland, himself, it reputedly used members of the regiment and Highland prisoners as models.

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Photo C

Leaving the Visitor’s Center, we moved onto the Battlefield (Photo D). The entire field was silent, desolate and imbued with a feeling of futility. A chill wind blew over the moor as we silently walked the finely graveled path. It felt akin to the site of the Battle of the Little Bighorn (Custer’s Last Stand), on the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana, US. Time travelers, indeed! Gulp.

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Photo D

Some distance to the left of of the above pathway, a distant line of blue Scottish flags marks the Jacobite line (Photo E).

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Photo E

Red flags mark the Loyalist’s line (Photo F).

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Photo F

Various memorials dot the landscape such such as this poignant wooden bench with plaque (Photo G).

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Photo G

A wee fresh-water spring easily could have been missed (Photo H).

BOOK QUOTE: In Dragonfly in Amber, Roger and Bree visit Culloden Battlefield. Roger comments on this tiny well of water:

““This is the place they call the Well of Death.” Roger stooped by the small spring. Barely a foot square, it was a tiny pool of dark water, welling under a ridge of stone. “One of the Highland chieftains died here; his followers washed the blood from his face with the water from this spring…””

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Photo H

A nearby stone marker identifies the spring as “Well of the Dead” and the site where chieftain of the MacGillivray Clan fell (Photo I).

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Photo I

Further along the path stands a stone monument commemorating the Jacobite’s attempt to restore their rightful monarch to the British throne (Photo J). Only fitting that Scottish gorse crowns this mighty stone pillar.

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Photo J

A plaque at the base of the monument speaks for itself (Photo K); ‘nuf said:

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Photo K

The same monument appears in Starz, episode 105, Rent, as Claire and Frank visit Culloden Moor; trying to reconnect on honeymoon number two. Different time of year, so the gorse is not in bloom. By tradition, when the gorse is out of bloom, kissing is also out of season. Of course, Jamie isn’t there so Claire doesn’t get any kissy-face time. Sad face.

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The next marker broke my heart. Someone had left a pink tulip honoring the fallen men of Clan Fraser (Photo L). Several such tokens rested at various markers. Tears welled – lungs swelled!

BOOK QUOTE: In Dragonfly in Amber, Bree asks Roger who might have left floral tokens at the stone markers? Roger responds:

“Visitors.” Roger squatted next to her. He traced the faded letters on the stone—FRASER . “People descended from the families of the men who were killed here. Or just those who like to remember them.”

Visitors? That would be you and me! Some friends tease me for being emotional about this story, but I care about these characters. They are my friends. And, I don’t think I have mentioned it before, but I have Scottish ancestors, so the whole experience feels quite personal. This is my final photo of Culloden. Time to go!

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Photo L

Leaving Culloden, we encountered a spectacular railway viaduct spanning the Nairn River (Photo M). Built in 1889, the Nairn (Culloden or Clava) Viaduct is the longest masonry viaduct in Scotland: impressive and graceful!

Viaduct

Photo M

Speaking of Clava, we soon arrived at a large grassy field containing Bronze Age standing stones (Photo N). Properly termed Prehistoric Burial Cairns of Balnuaran of Clava (whew), the name is often shortened to just Clava Cairns. A cairn is a human-made pile or stack of stones and the word comes from the Scottish Gaelic: càrn (plural càirn).

The site includes three cairns erected some 4,000 years ago. Build of countless smaller round stones, the cairn is stabilized by an outer ring of larger stones. Outside each mound is yet a larger ring of individual standing stones. I touched several but, nada. Och, I’m still here!

BOOK QUOTE: Diana writes about the Clava Cairns in Dragonfly in Amber. Here, Roger and Bree speak (Hope ye read the book!):

“I’ll have to go sort this out,” he told Brianna. “I’m afraid it might take a while.” “That’s okay.” She smiled at him, blue eyes narrowing to triangles. “I should go too. Mama will be back by now; we thought we might go out to the Clava Cairns, if there was time. Thanks for the lunch.”

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Photo N

Two of the cairns are passage graves each with an pathway linking inner and outside worlds (Photo O). Both originally had cap stones but these had slipped away leaving the inner chambers exposed. All the stones have settled over the years as the Cairns are now 1-2m (3-6 ft) in height but were originally 3m (10ft) tall. Passage grave cairns are believed to be burial chambers. I won’t use an apropos  quote because it skips far ahead to book seven, An Echo in The Bone. But, suffice it to say, a burial cairn debuts in this volume.

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Photo O

Standing inside one inner chamber, I was struck by the care taken to fill gaps between stones. These were stunning and evocative creations (Photo P)!

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Photo P

The site even has it’s own split standing stone! Our tour guide, Hugh, stands beside split slabs holding a photo of Diana Gabaldon peeking out at us from between the halves of the same stone (Photo Q)!

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Photo Q

That split stone rang a bell (Starz, episode 213, Opening Images)! Yep, we have seen one before. <G>

BOOK QUOTE: Claire describes the split stone at Craigh na Dun. Here, from Outlander book:

The tallest stone of the circle was cleft, with a vertical split dividing the two massive pieces. Oddly, the pieces had been drawn apart by some means. Though you could see that the facing surfaces matched, they were separated by a gap of two or three feet.

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Heading toward Beauly, we stopped by an old graveyard where we photographed the top of Beaufort castle (Photo R) peeking through the greenery. Located in Beauly, the estate was the home of Lord Lovat, Jamie’s grandsire.

BOOK QUOTE: Diana writes about Beauly and Lord Lovat in Dragonfly in Amber!

And in the morning, he had gone first to Charles, to tell His Highness that he and I would ride alone to Beauly, accompanied only by Murtagh, to convey His Highness’s respects to Lord Lovat, and his request that Lovat honor his promise of men and aid.

Beaufort Castle

Photo R

I was enchanted because the old graveyard features it’s own guardhouse! I wrote about these structures in Anatomy Lesson #34 “The Amazing Saga of Human Anatomy”. Erected by families, they housed family members or hired guards to protect deceased loved ones from grave robbers! I was so charmed, I forgot to take a photo but found one of a guard house (sometimes, they were towers) at Kilmorack’s old Kirkyard (Photo S)!

Graveyard

Photo S

Notice the tall, capped stone wall in Photo S? Such walls are pretty common in the Highlands. I thought them very beautiful. Jamie pauses before bounding nimbly over such a wall in Starz episode 211, Vengence is Mine! You know, the episode Diana wrote? Skirts aflying! Caped crusader – Highland style!

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Next, we visited Beauly Priory, the remains of a monastic community probably founded in 1230 by monks devoted to poverty, chastity and obedience (Photo T).

This magnificent ruins was once used by Lord Cromwell, was visited by Mary Queen of Scots and was the ancestral burial ground for chiefs of Clan Lovat (Frasers). The grassy grounds are sprinkled with beautiful trees, one is at least 700 y.o.!

BOOK QUOTE: Claire remarks on the Priory ruins in Dragonfly in Amber:

There was a small chapel in Beaufort Castle, to serve the devotional uses of the Earl and his family, but Beauly Priory, ruined as it was, remained the burying place of the Lovats, and the floor of the open-roofed chancel was paved thick with the flat tombstones of those who lay under them. It was a peaceful place, and I walked there sometimes, in spite of the cold, blustery weather.

Priory 01

Photo T

Color and workmanship of rock and masonry walls were absolutely stunning (Photo U)!

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Photo U

Its peaceful interior appears exactly as Claire describes it (Photo V), complete with stone slates, carvings, and sarcophagi.

BOOK QUOTE: Here, Claire reads from a plaque in the Priory (Dragonfly in Amber); it remains (so to speak) one of my favorite quotes from any of Diana’s books:

Lady Sarah Fraser lay at her feet, the lady’s stone surmounted with a skull atop crossed bones. Hodie mihi cras tibi , said the inscription. Sic transit gloria mundi. “My turn today, yours tomorrow. And thus passes away the glory of the world”.

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Photo V

In Starz episode 208, The Fox’s Lair, Claire unexpectedly encounters Maisri, Lovat’s seer, at a small church. Here, she learns Lord Lovat’s future fate at the hands of a hooded axman and, that upon occasion, individual futures can be changed!

BOOK QUOTE: Claire describes the scene in Dragonfly in Amber although in the book, they meet at the Priory.

One afternoon, a few days after the scene in the study, I walked through a gap in the ruined Priory wall and found that for once, I didn’t have it to myself. The tall woman I had seen outside Lovat’s study was there, leaning against one of the red-stone tombs… I made to turn aside, but she saw me, and motioned me to join her. “You’ll be my lady Broch Tuarach?” she said, though there was no more than a hint of question in her soft Highland voice. “I am. And you’re … Maisri?”

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At day’s start, Hugh met us in full Highland regalia. We didn’t learn the reason for this wonderful transformation until later that afternoon when we arrived at a large white farm house, one that probably looks more like the book version of Lallybroch than did the TV version (Photo W).

Lallybroch

Photo W

As we sipped tea and munched scones at this “Lallybroch”, Hugh treated us to a demonstration of Highland weaponry including pistol, targe, dirk and broadsword. Some historians posit that only officers and gentlemen were equipped with all these weapons. Common Highlanders were more likely to bear pitchforks, Lochaber axes, scythes and pistols. After Culloden, Cumberland reported that there were 2,320 pistols recovered from the battlefield, but only 190 broadswords!

Hugh holds a horse-shoe nail pistol, so named because its inventor, the Flemish blacksmith Thomas Caddell (1646), found the surest metal for barrels was gleaned from horse-shoe nails (Photo X). He melted, hammered, bent, and twisted the metal to form the barrel. These small pistols were made in pairs for each hand. Holy-moly! Two-handed Scottish sharp shooters!

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Photo X

Horseshoe-nail pistols fired 3/4” lead shot…. large enough to leave a major hole (Anatomy Lesson #35, “Outlander Owies! – Part One”)! The lead shot was about the size of this one (Photo Y). After firing the single-shot pistols, Highlanders dropped them and blades were drawn.

Today, surviving 17th and 18th century horseshoe-nail pistols are quite desirable. Christie’s has a Thomas Caddell pistol available – listed price £7,250 ($14,239)!

Musket ball

Photo Y

Hugh demonstrates a magnificent Scottish basket-hilted broadsword (Photo Z). There were different types but this one is double-edged and was wielded with one arm. A metal basket encloses the sword grip. In Scottish Gaelic, broadswords were called claidheamh mor or “claymores.” At close quarters, a broadsword was the ideal weapon for fighting soldiers armed with long, unwieldy muskets.

The basket was not only beautiful, it was functional. The basket protected the hand. Difficult to appreciate, but the basket bears a curved metal hook on one side. A competent swordsman used the hook to halt the descent of an opponent’s blade thus protecting his sword arm.

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Photo Z

I could be mistaken, but such a hook might be visible on Jamie’s broadsword (red arrow) as he surprises Ross at the thatched-roofed kirk (Starz episode 211, Vengence is Mine)! Broadsword in Jamie’s left hand; dirk in his right.

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A piece of red cloth cut from a Redcoat’s garment was stuffed into the basket hilt before battle. This bright flag served as fair warning to other Redcoats: This Highlander has taken down your brothers in battle before (Photo AA). Be afraid! Be verra afraid! (see the metal hook?)

Red fabric in hilt

Photo AA

This is an interesting video demonstrating how the Scottish basket-hilted broadsword was gripped. The demonstrator’s sword has protective bars instead of a hook:

Back to Hugh. The targe is a shield which was a major offensive and defensive weapon for Highlanders (Photo BB). During the 1745-46 Jacobite Uprising, a shieldwright of Perth made hundreds of targes for Charles Edward Stuart’s army, so these were probably plentiful.

Targes are made of two very thin layers of wood (e.g. oak)  joined together with small wooden pegs The grain of one layer was set at right angles to the other forming an early plywood! The front was covered with tough cowhide, and embossed with metal medallions affixed with nails. Medallions were decorative but also functional, adding strength to the targe. While working at Culloden, Hugh experimented with the targe and found the medallions could deflect lead shot and musket balls –  protective as well. Very functional embellishments!

Many targes had a central brass boss into which a long steel spike was screwed; the spike was used to stab or rip an opponent (Photo BB). The back of the targe was covered with deer hide and equipped with sturdy handle grips. Purportedly, some Highlanders also added Redcoat fabric to the back of the targe, a personal reminder of their fierceness.

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Photo BB

In the targe hand, a Highlander also gripped the dirk such that part of its 12-16” blade protruded beyond the rim of the shield to deliver a backslash. Dirks, or dorks (yes, an unfortunate alternate name – haha!), were a long kind of dagger, broad in the back and sharp at the point. Jamie’s dirk is serrated on one side in the above image where he almost skewers puir Ross.

Many dirks bore a metal knob on the hilt end. With a forceable downward thrust, the knob was designed to crack an opponent’s skull.

Dougal and his dirk swore fealty to his Laird although it must have been a challenge; he had to drink some stiff stuff afterwards (Starz, episode 104 The Gathering). Check out the knob on the dirk’s hilted end.

BOOK QUOTE: Outlander book reminds us:

Dougal drew his dirk with a flourish and sank to one knee, holding the dirk upright by the blade. His voice was less powerful than Colum’s, but loud enough so that every word rang through the hall. “I swear…

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Fully armed, the 18th century Highlander was a formidable warrior! Equipped with sword, dirk and targe, he blocked bayonets with the targe, stabbed and ripped with the spike, slashed with the dirk and and then deliver an upward torso thrust with broadsword.

A quote attributed to John Hume (brother of David?), describes such men:

“Thy [the Highlanders] always appeared like warriors; as if their arms [weapons] had been limbs and members of their bodies they were never seen without them; they traveled, they attended fairs and markets, nay they went to church with their broadswords and dirks.”

Go, lads (Starz episode 210, Prestonpans)!

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Go Jamie! Lethal Weapon, Highlander style! (Do you see the dirk in his targe hand?)

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If none of this leaves you impressed, I will close with a quote written by Highland soldier, Donald McBane, who saw nearly half a century of military service in the late 1600s and early 1700s.

His first battle, however, was against other Highlanders:

“The McDonalds came down the hill upon us without either shoe, stocking or bonnet on their head. They gave a shout… then broke in upon us with their Sword and Target, and Lochaber Axes…. Seeing my Captain sore wounded, and a great many more with heads lying cloven… I was sadly affrighted…. I took my heels and run thirty miles before I looked behind me.”

I’m right behind ye, Donald, lad. Skirts aflying!

Next week, Tour’s end. Stay with me!

A deeply grateful,

Outlander Anatomist

Photo creds: Starz, Outlander Anatomy, www.britishbattles.com (Photo C), www.flickrhivemind.net (Photo S), www.secret-scotland.com (Culloden table video), www.unitedcoldsteel.com (Photo AA), www.wikipedia.com (Photo B)

Tour Outlander & Scotland with Me – Part 2

Welcome budding anatomists to my 2016 Scotland Outlander tour, Part 2 (here is Part 1). As before, Starz images and book quotes are sprinkled amid the travelogue. A few  spoilers from Diana’s books are included but I will alert you to major ones so you can skip if need be. Just look for this book kitteh…that’s your major spoiler cue (there are minor ones too).

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Let’s get right to it!

Returning to my travel saga, we visited a memorial (Photo A) in the form of a massive cairn honoring The Black Watch, a.k.a. The Highland Watch or The Watch. The monument is topped with a statue of Private Farquhar Shaw dressed in the original uniform of the Black Watch Regiment.

The Watch was originally commissioned in 1667 by King Charles II who authorized clan chiefs to raise independent companies “to be a constant guard for securing the peace in the Highlands” and to “watch upon the braes.” Members of the Watch wore dark tartans to distinguish them from the redcoats and thus became known the “Freiceadan Dubh” or “The Black Watch.”

Later, The Watch morphed into the 42nd Royal Highlander, a foot company that fought with valor in many conflicts including Culloden, Fort Ticonderoga, Napoleonic Wars, and Waterloo!

Black Watch

Photo A

You recall The Watch, right? We first met them burning a cottage and stealing goods and chickens from suspected redcoat sympathizers (Starz episode 105, Rent).

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BOOK SPOILER: This reference to The Watch does not appear in Outlander episodes. The next quote comes from Outlander book; skip if you do not want to read it:

“It’s the Watch,” he said, nodding back in the direction of the inn. “We’re safe enough, but I thought we’d as soon be a bit further away.” I had heard of the famous Black Watch, that informal police force that kept order in the Highlands, and heard also that there were other Watches, each patrolling its own area, collecting “subscriptions” from clients for the safeguarding of cattle and property.

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The Watch briefly re-emerges at the end of Starz, episode 112, Lallybroch, as leader Taran MacQuarrie holds a pistol to Jamie’s head. They’re baaaack!  Taran, don’t you dare shoot our beloved lad!

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You may also recall that in Starz episode 113, The Watch, Jamie joins Taran and his men on a raid. Instead, horrible Horrocks set up an ambush where Jamie and MacQuarrie are taken prisoner by the redcoats.

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BOOK SPOILER! Starz episodes 112 and 113 deviate in the depiction of The Watch as presented in the books. Skip these next sentences and two quotes if you don’t want to know the alternative reality!

In Outlander book, Jamie is betrayed by his own tenant, Ronald MacNab. The Watch takes Jamie prisoner and turns him over to the redcoats to collect the price on his head. This is how he ends up in BJR’s beastly grasp! Ian explains to Claire and Jenny:

“Jamie,” he gasped. “We met the Watch near the mill. Waiting for us. They knew we were coming.” My stomach lurched. “Is he alive?” He nodded, panting for breath. “Aye. Not wounded, either. They took him to the west, toward Killin.

Claire reflects back on that terrifying moment in this excerpt from Diana’s second book, Dragonfly in Amber:

The hair prickled on the back of my neck, despite the heat of the day. Ronald MacNab was the tenant who had betrayed Jamie to the men of the Watch a year before, the man who had died for his treachery within a day of its being found out.

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Near The Watch monument stands the impressive “General Wade’s Bridge” as it crosses the River Tay (Photo B). An architectural work of art, this stone bridge was built in 1733 by General Wade as part of some 40 bridges and 250 miles of new roads across the Highlands in the aftermath of the 1715 Jacobite uprising. It sports arches, parapets, and obelisks and, given the era, was very expensive to build (over £4,000). The bridges and roads were designed for military purposes to provide improved routes between Highlands and Lowlands, and ensure that government troops could move quickly to suppress any future Jacobite rebellions. Ironically, the new roads were of most use to Bonnie Prince Charlie during the 1745 Jacobite uprising – at least at first.

SORT OF SPOILER! Ever the historian, Diana mentions General Wade’s historic efforts in her fourth book, The drums of Autumn. You might skip the next quote if you haven’t read the book. No spoilers as to who are the “he” and the “she” of the quote!

He had carried her through the summer-green glens and rock-lined gorges without a slip, taking her higher and higher along the good roads made by the English general Wade fifty years before, and the bad roads beyond the General’s reach, splashing through brushy burns and climbing up to the places where the roads dwindled away to nothing more than a red deer’s track across the moor.

The incredible Wade bridge was designed by Scottish architect, William Adam, and some 300 years later, is still used by today’s traffic despite it being designed to bear lighter loads; we drove over it. The bridge was also build mostly by Scots laborers. Pretty amazing engineering feat. Way to go, lads!

Wade bridge

Photo B

Clearly not the same bridge but of similar design, Dougal’s rent party rides over a stone arched bridge near Castle Leoch (Starz episode 109, The Reckoning). Yep, Jamie feels very uneasy after giving Claire a good hiding for not staying put. He thought a sword belt would giver her a clearer understanding of the meaning of keeping hid. But, as a newly minted hubby, he had precious little experience with a wife, especially one as spirited as Claire! Ye misjudged the fallout over that one, Jamie. Only a dirk at your throat and some major TLC is gonna settle that trauma drama! Man up, lad!

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We motored the same day to beautiful Loch Rannoch, a large east-to-west oriented lake of the highlands (Photo C). Not just another pretty face, it also features in a Starz Outlander episode.

Loch Rannoch

Photo C

On the bonny banks of this Loch (Starz episode 105, Rent), Claire and Ned quote verses by the English poet, John Donne (1572-1631):

ABSENCE, hear thou my protestation

Against thy strength,

Distance, and length;

Do what thou canst for alteration:

For hearts of truest mettle

Absence doth join, and Time doth settle.

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Their pastoral poetry recitation is cut short by Dougal’s men encouraging innocent Willie (we miss ye lad!) to engage in Biblical relations with his sister! What? Claire is a bit weirded out by that one but Ned explains: this is Willie’s first time on the road and he sits at the bottom of the pack!

On the bonny banks of this Loch, Claire treats a hacking Ned Gowan – she would have him smoke a pipe for a cough? Well, the pipe contains thornapple (Jimson weed), an herbal treatment for asthma. It helps. Yay, nurse Claire strikes again!

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Our next stop was an 18th century thatched village at The Highland Folk Museum, a large open air preserve of ancient buildings designed to demonstrate life of an earlier Scotland. The museum sits on 80 acres of lush, green land surrounded by the Cairngorm mountains. The village itself is a cluster of various cottages and a stable – peaceful and quiet, radiating the texture of a by-gone era (Photo D).

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Photo D

Based on an ancient settlement (Badenoch of Easter Riatts), the buildings were recreated as accurately as possible. Thatched roofs, structural timbers, stone foundations, and turf and stone walls gave the feeling that we, too, had travelled back through the stones (Photo E). But, the most thrilling fact about this historical settlement: Outlander used the village (2014) to film scenes for Starz episode 105, Rent.

Village 01

Photo E

Stepping into the central green, I was able to get a full view of this large cottage and the central green. Ancient wooden tools stand on display (Photo F). Love the mossy stone walls and the wooden crib in the foreground!

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Photo F

Moving closer, the cottage features a stone foundation, sod walls, and thatched roof (Photo G) typical of crofter’s or cottar’s abodes. Thatching in the Highlands did not use water reed (common in Lowlands and England) but rather employed one of the following materials:

  • Fraoch – heather
  • Luachair – soft rush
  • Muran – marram grass
  • Bun dubh raineach – black foot of bracken
  • Oat straw
  • Bealaidh – Scotch broom (Abundant in my neck of the woods!)

Thatch had to be renewed and repaired fairly often although some materials (heather) were more durable than others (Scotch broom).

Village 03

Photo G

Cottages were typically divided into thirds: one third for livestock, a middle third for living, and a final third reserved for healing, birth, and death – the so-called patch, batch and dispatch area!

The middle living space was compact, dirt-floored, and dim. Furnishings were sparse being limited to plain wooden chairs and tables. A small, peat fire burned in a central rock-lined pit. The pungent smoky air was somewhat relieved by a roof hole to admit rising peat smoke and a little light (Photo H).

SORT OF SPOILER: Skip if you must. Book readers ken that Diana writes about peat fires and cramped living quarters. This quote from Dragonfly in Amber explains living conditions from Claire’s point of view but doesn’t give away plot details:

…While I had been raised under conditions that would strike most people of my time as primitive—often living in tents and mud houses on Uncle Lamb’s field expeditions—still, I wasn’t used to living crowded cheek by jowl with numbers of other people, as was customary here. People ate, slept, and frequently copulated, crammed into tiny, stifling cottages, lit and warmed by smoky peat fires. The only thing they didn’t do together was bathe—largely because they didn’t bathe.

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Photo H (Photo by Jonathan Giacalone – John and his wife, Maria, were tour members)

The living area also included a small wooden box bed in which families slept seated upright (Photo I).  Yes, you read it correctly! Three to four people shared these cramped frames, a far cry from our king-sized, every-kind-of-imaginable-mattress beds! Why in the world did they sleep this way? Well, for two reasons: they slept upright to ease breathing because the constant peat smoke caused lung disease. They slept in multiples to keep warm which also explains the presence of livestock inside human dwellings; the animals produced a good deal of body heat. Talk about reuse, recycle, and repurpose!

Village 06

Photo I

Difficult to see inside the dim “patch, batch, and dispatch” area, but the only furnishing was a primitive birthing chair (Photo J – red arrow). Women sat up-right on this stool to deliver a child, historically a preferable position because gravity assists delivery.

Village 05

Photo J

Outside the cottage stood this knowledgeable interpreter and expert weaver. She kindly and patiently answered questions and responded to comments with droll humor (Photo K). Also, this shot provides a nice close-up view of those early tools leaning against the cottage thatch.

Village 13

Photo K

I was completely charmed by a pair of gorgeous Scots dumpies (Photo L) who responded to the weaver’s call for corn. An ancient breed some 700 years old, Diana includes them in the storyline of her eighth book, Written in My Own Heart’s Blood.

Dumpies carry a recessive gene that results in some offspring with very short legs and hence the name, dumpy. The regal cock was called Eric – the hen went by a somewhat less elegant name, something ignoble, like gimpy. Puir gal. I am happy to say she got her fair share of the ground corn!

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Photo L

Corn? Someone say corn? Corn reminds me of the delightful and bawdy ditty Jamie and the men chanted while traveling the rent-road (Starz episode 105, Rent)! The so-called Miller’s Song, these are the first two stanzas and, yes, it is indeed from the 18th century. The words remind me of Chaucer:

The maid gaed tae the mill by nicht,
Hech hey sae wanton
The maid gaed tae the mill by nicht,
Hech hey sae wanton she,
She swore by moon and stars sae bricht that she would get her corn grund
She would get her corn grund, meal and multure free

Oot then cam the miller’s man,
Hech hey sae wanton
Oot then cam the miller’s man,
Hech hey sae wanton he
He swore he’d do the best he can for tae get her corn grund,
For tae get her corn grund, meal and multure free

Word Translations:

gaed: go

nicht: night

hech: expression of disgust (Jamie and the Rent lads don’t seem all that disgusted)

bricht: bright

oot: out

grund: ground

multure: measure of meal paid to the miller as part of his fee

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Although the angle is shifted to the right and the view more expansive, the Rent scene below was shot in the same area as Photo F. Here, Ned Gowan crossly receives two fat pigs and one fine goat as tribute to the Laird (Starz episode 105, Rent). A bored Claire gloomily sits on bags of grain as Jamie helps load goods into the wagon. The stone walls stand at middle left but I don’t spy Eric!

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Bored Claire takes a walk and I did too! Moving a little uphill, I am standing almost exactly where Amanda Gillquist takes Claire to meet the women waulking (working) wool (Photo M). The grassy mound at mid-right appears directly behind the women in the rent image below.

SORT OF SPOILER! Again, if you don’t want to read anything from later books, please skip this next quote which explains waulking wool – from Diana’s 7th book, An Echo in the Bone. Mum about who is the “he” of the quote.

So he explained what waulking was: “The women all working together, pushing and pulling and kneading the wet wool cloth to make it tight and waterproof…”

Village 08

Photo M

Like Dougal’s men, the womenfolk don’t trust Claire. But, add some hot piss mixed with a wee bit of folk song and they are BFF. OK, a potent cup of “our little secret so don’t-tell-the-menfolk” ale also waulks wonders! Hee, hee.

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One very elegant cottage housed a loom and large gathering area. Beautifully maintained, the thatched roof is neatly trimmed and the interior sports massive wooden beams (Photo N). I was taken with the neat and tidy sod walls.

Village 02

Photo N

The interior of this cottage was purportedly used for the infamous “Dougal-strips-Jamie” scene of Starz, episode 105, Rent. Mayhap this is the moment when Murtagh decides that Dougal needs killin’ sooner rather than later! Dougal was one proper dobber in this scene. Actually, this just gives us another chance to oogle Jamie’s manly chest (Anatomy Lesson #4, “Jamie’s Chest” or “The 8th wonder of the world!”). Whew, that anatomy lesson was written looong ago!

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The village also includes a stable, the site where Lieutenant Jeremy Foster, in disguise, offers Claire his gentlemanly aid. May I assist you, madam? Feisty Angus snarls for Jeremy to butt out and head home to his mam’s paps. No one delivers insults better than Angus (Anatomy Lesson #41, The Sad Demise of Angus Mhor). We miss ye, too, lad!

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Much later, we reunite with a wounded Lieutenant Foster on the Prestonpan battlefield. Dougal praises Jeremy as the only honorable redcoat of Lord Thomas’s staff. Unwisely, the Lieutenant utters a couple of put-Dougal-down comments about the awesomeness of the British army coupled with a war chief should know that and, bingo: Dougal skewers Jeremy with his dirk (Starz episode 210, Prestonpans)! Dougal has a major problem with impulse control. Needs some anger management classes, ASAP!

ep 210 Prestonpans

Leaving the thatched village with renewed memories of past Outlander episodes, we headed for Culloden Moor. Along the way, Highland hills were dotted with numerous small white flowers on thin stalks. Our tour guide, Hugh, explained: the flowers are actually seed heads of bog cotton. Close up, the head is a tuft of fluff that is wonderfully soft and silky (Photo O). In earlier times the silk was used to stuff pillows; 18th century mams sent restless children outdoors to keep them occupied by picking a sackful. The tufts were also used as candlewicks, for paper making, and for wound dressing during World War I.

Bog cotton

Photo O

Moving along a small highway, the Highlands displayed marvelous and varied shades of green. We passed numerous stands of mixed forest, supporting both native and foreign species. There are planted stands of Douglas-fir trees (not really firs), native to my area of the globe. Interestingly, both the common and scientific names for Douglas firs were bestowed in honor of a pair of rival Scottish botanists (David Douglas and Archibald Menzies). Aye, it is true!

I was especially taken with the Scots pine, a native conifer of Caledonia forests. This tree has a flat but rounded top unlike our PNW varieties all of which are tapered. These are the dark green trees in the foreground of Photo P. Hugh called them Caledonian pines.

SORT OF SPOILER! Yes, another quote but this one also doesn’t reveal any plot info. The trees reminded me of Claire’s own poignant description of a Highland forest from Outlander book:

The grove was dark, but not still. The pines roared softly to themselves, millions of needles scouring in the wind. Very ancient trees, pines, and eerie in the gloom. Gymnosperms, cone-bearers, winged-seed scatterers, older and sterner by far than the soft-leaved, frail-limbed oaks and aspens.

Diana paints with words, an artist of language!

Caledonia pines(1)

Photo P

Soon, we arrived at Culloden Moor Visitor’s Center, a beautiful, sleek modern building seated on the open moor. Just looking at the building brought tears to my eyes (Anatomy Lesson #29, “The Eyes Have It” or “the Eyes – Part One.”) and a lump in my throat (Photo Q).

Culloden Moor Visitor Center(1)

Photo Q

The walkway to the Center is made of plaques engraved with names of supporters. Near the entrance is this wonderful tribute to Diana Gabaldon (photo R) from her long time fan group, The Ladies of Lallybroch. A splendid idea, ladies!

Diana plaque(1)

Photo R

The Visitor’s Center was filled with facts and artifacts but I was most impressed with a simple, bare-square room. Visitors quietly filled the room and then the lights dimmed leaving us in total darkness. We waited quietly and then slowly the walls came alive with projections of Jacobites and redcoats before, during, and after the battle. Watching the battle unfold in this manner complete with surround sound  was more than moving.  The effect was immediate and visceral; as if we were time voyagers, witnesses to the carnage! One Highlander was shot in the eye causing me to recall Rupert’s unfortunate injury (Starz, episode 212, The Hail Mary). There was really no way to photograph events in the square room. Not only was I was too overwhelmed to even think about it, events were unfolding on all four walls at once. No way to capture such an immersing experience!

This plaque from outside the Visitor’s Center shows the Jacobite line (blue flags) facing the redcoat line (red flags). Clearly, the lines are not parallel, a fact contributing to the Jacobite’s defeat (Photo S). More about this in the next post.

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Photo S

Let’s end with all things, Diana! One of her latest activities is to lend her gravitas to preserve and protect both Culloden and Rannoch Moor (Photo T). You can read the full article about her commitment at The Press and Journal.

Diana activist(1)

Photo T

A deeply grateful,

Outlander Anatomist

Photo creds: Starz, Outlander Anatomy, Jonathan Giacalone (Photo H), www.highlifehighland.com (Photo D), www.pressandjournal.com (Photo T), www.rias.org.uk (Photo Q)