Happy Birthday Rabbie Burns!

Happy Birthday Rabbie Burns! In 1786, he penned an impassioned poem to Scottish representatives of the House of Commons. Its final stanza:

Scotland, my auld, respected mither!
Tho’ whiles ye moistify your leather,
Till, whare ye sit on craps o’ heather,
Ye tine your dam;
Freedom an’ whisky gang thegither!
Take aff your dram!

Claire shared these words with Jamie who, as Alexander Malcolm, printed them in 1765. Roger traces him to Edinburgh! Way to go Roger and Rabbie!

Starz, Outlander ep. 305, Whisky & Freedom

Starz, Outlander ep. 305, Whisky & Freedom

The deeply grateful,

Outlander Anatomist

Follow me on:

Photo Credit: Sony/Starz

Fun Fact: mentalis

image of Marsali, Fergus and Jamie from Outlander TV show.

Starz episode 309, The doldrums

Anatomy def: Paired mentalis muscles arise from mandible and insert into skin of chin. These elevate and wrinkle chin skin and, when fully contracted, protrude the lower lip.

Outlander def:  The “you-canna-tell-me-and-Fergus-what-to-do” muscles. Marsali is spectacular at wrinkling chin-skin as she glares at her step-father aboard the rocking Artemis. When an immovable object meets an unstoppable force – dinna mess with #defiantmarsali!

Learn about mentalis muscles in Antomy Lesson #26, Jamie’s Chin – Manly Mentus.

Because mentalis muscles wrinkle chin skin and protrude lower lip, these are  sometimes termed the “pouting muscles.” Particularly useful to express doubt or displeasure! (See above: Marsali)  <G> 

Read about chins in Voyager book: pouty, pugnacious, stubbled, stubborn, thoughtful, pointed, expressive… Herself covers all the chin-bits because chins are very expressive facial structures. Aye? A great quote about Marsali’s chin. Pssst…… please lass, dinna address your step-mum this way! We love our Claire and you will, too. Give her a chance!

I was writing in our shared cabin, making surgical notes on a minor amputation—two smashed toes on one of the foredeck hands. I had just completed a drawing of the surgical site, when a shadow darkened the doorway of the cabin, and I looked up to see Marsali standing there, chin thrust out pugnaciously.

“I need to know something,” she said firmly. “I dinna like ye, and I reckon ye ken that, but Da says you’re a wisewoman, and I think you’re maybe an honest woman, even if ye are a whore, so you’ll maybe tell me.”

See Marsali’s pugnacious chin in Starz episode 309, The Doldrums, as she confronts Jamie (and later in the same episode, she confronts Claire). Ruined reputation or no, she will have her Frenchy-Fergus!

The deeply grateful,

Outlander Anatomist

Follow me on:

Photo Credit: Sony/Starz

Fun Fact: adductor

picture of jamie fraser on battle field from outlander

Starz Outlander episode 301, The Battle Joined

Anatomy def: Brought in? Adductor means brought in? How do such words apply to anatomy?

Easy peasy: adductors are muscles whose contraction draws a body part toward the midline or toward another body part. Six adductor muscles draw the thigh toward the midline: gracilis, adductor brevis, adductor longus and adductor magnus, aided by pectineus and obturator externus.

Outlander def: Jamie’s thigh-high kilt <G> reveals powerful left thigh adductors forming a well-defined mass of the inner thigh (red arrow). A grinning Murtagh dispatches a red coat and helps Jamie rise from a seated position: “ye are welcome!” Adductors contract to lend balance and assist Murty’s lift: git up, man, there’s a battle raging!!! 

Learn about the thigh and its powerful muscles in Anatomy Lesson #7, Jamie’s Thighs or Ode to Joy

Read about thighs in all Diana’s works as Herself often writes about them – not specifically about adductor muscles, but about various thigh muscles, sinews, bones, skin and scars! Consider this wonderful bit from Voyager book; takes you right back to that intimate C + J reunion after 20 agonizing years apart:

I reached out and stroked his thigh, touching the long scar that ran down it. “I wish I could have been there to take care of you,” I said softly. “It was the most horrible thing I ever did—leaving you, knowing … that you meant to be killed.” I could hardly bear to speak the word. 

“Well, I tried hard enough,” he said, with a wry grimace that made me laugh, in spite of my emotion. “It wasna my fault I didna succeed.” He glanced dispassionately at the long, thick scar that ran down his thigh. “Not the fault of the Sassenach wi’ the bayonet, either.” 

See Jamie’s adductor muscles in Starz Outlander episode 301, The Battle Joined. They are admirably awesome (red arrow)!

A deeply grateful,

Outlander Anatomist