There’s this thing called The Outlander Effect. It refers to the massive impact the Outlander series of books by Diana Gabaldon and the STARZ series based on the novels on the economy and culture of Scotland. Over the past quarter century, the books and show — largely set in the Highlands at the time of the Jacobite Rising of 1745, then moving to the North Carolina backcountry in the run-up to the American Revolution — have created a measurable increase in tourism in the Scottish Highlands.
My brother John and his wife Roxane were early carriers of The Outlander Effect. They fell in love with the novels in the 1990s and visited Scotland entirely because of them. Thousands, maybe millions, have followed, dropping millions of pounds into the Scottish economy.
Actor Sam Heughan, who plays Gabaldon’s iconic Highlander hero Jamie Fraser in the TV show, noted in an interview in Scottish Field that it’s:
‘Not just tourism and merchandise, Outlander fans have helped fund numerous Charity projects, fitness programs, musicians, Gaelic language courses, film funding, community gatherings, even building restoration.
‘I’ve seen a film studio flourish in the centre of Scotland, complete with workshops, several sound stages, edit suites and an impressive costuming department, employing huge numbers of local staff and benefiting local businesses. I think we grossly underestimate how much influence and enterprise Diana Gabaldon has brought to us, placing the spotlight on our country and celebrating our culture. Not only that, she has written some devilishly good characters and really enthralling books. Keep writing Diana, and thank you.’
I experienced The Outlander Effect — or perhaps more accurately The Gabaldon Effect — for myself last Friday. This happened:
It took me a minute when I sat down with my coffee and opened my laptop to figure out that a flash-bang grenade had just gone off in my cabin. I’m surprised my laptop wasn’t reduced to a smoldering heap of silicon slag. Let’s put it this way: It was like thousands of settlers pouring down the Wilderness Road into Kaintuck in the moccasinprints of Daniel Boone — all compressed into a few hours.
My soundtrack for the morning could only be this:
The happy result of Diana Gabaldon pointing her legion of devoted readers and Facebook followers down the trail to Frontier Partisans is that we have a whole bunch of new folks to welcome to the campfire. So… welcome.
(For those Frontier Partisans who have not yet unfurled the Cross of St. Andrew banner, the first two seasons of Outlander are now on Netflix. For the record, my reading is up through Voyager; The Scottish Prisoner; and the stories in Seven Stones To Stand Or Fall).
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Of course, I felt honored to earn a shoutout from the creator of a Story that my Clan loves unreservedly. More than personal validation though, I see in this episode a reminder of a belief that I treat as my lodestar: Stories matter. Telling them, reading them, singing them, listening to them, watching them. Living them. Diana Gabaldon’s remarkable accomplishment is to have created a story and characters that are as real to those who love them as any flesh-and-blood person, a Story that has led legions to delve into history, to travel — to live in the Story themselves and to create their own.
What we do here at Frontier Partisans is what the ace podcaster Dan Carlin calls “historical storytelling.” Stories from frontier cultures around the globe and across time all the way up to the present. For I am fascinated by continuity in history, the manner in which old, even ancient, modes persist amid the flashy now of modernity and post-modernity.
Frontier stories persist…
Traditions are carried on…
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There’s always music ’round this campfire, and myth and legend are welcomed as honored guests when the darkness encroaches around the circle of light and the wolves howl across the prairies and among the trees. So spread your robes and join us.
”Sunrise, Trappers and Voyageurs at Their Meals of Buffalo Hump Rib.” Art by Alfred Jacob Miller.
Paul McNamee says
Kudos! A well-deserved radar blip for you!
JimC says
Thx Paul.
deuce says
Wow! That’s some high-powered promotion. Congrats, Jim! It should make things interesting…
RLT says
I dig it. “King of Men” is a good post, too. Hey now, maybe some of those folks can help track down the Poe tomahawk…
JimC says
Right? Put everybody to work.
RLT says
It’s not cheating, it’s force multiplication!
JimC says
Exactly.
Karly Lusby says
So great to get recognized by the author for your (always) fine and thoughtful writing. Storytelling ahoy!!
JimC says
Thanks Karly. Figured you’d get a kick out of that…
Alexander Lauber says
Outstanding! Outstanding recognition and an outstanding post.
Norman Andrews says
This is wonderful , Jim you fully deserve this recognition for the work you do here,
Well done Sir.
Norm.
JimC says
Thank you Norm.
John M Roberts says
I’ll be attending Bubonicon this coming weekend. Sadly, it looks like Diana won’t be able to make it this year. I’ve always enjoyed socializing and being on panels with her. That’s the problem when colleagues become celebrities in their own right. They’re in demand somewhere all the time so you see less and less of them.
JimC says
Bummer. She really does seem like a smart, engaging personality.
Kate Ferrell says
She has to stay home a little while to complete the 9th novel!! Please give her a break!
JimC says
Kate has a point there, JMR.
Breaker Morant says
Wow-Congratulations.
J.F. Bell says
…we gonna need a bigger campfire?
JimC says
Nah. There’s room.
Robin Gonsiewski says
Yes, as a new fan of yours I must say I found you through Diana.
JimC says
Welcome to the campfire Robin.
Jean says
What a wonderful happening! Congratulations and well deserved. We love Outlander in my house too!!! The Internet is really wonderful. Thanks for sharing this great story.
JimC says
Thanks jean. We’ll have to compare notes on Outlander over coffee one day.
Caroline says
Yes I found you from Diana’s post – but I wholeheartedly signed up because you blog about things near and dear to my heart! My husband and I re-enact post CW to 1899 period, and I’ve found your blogs interesting and entertaining!
JimC says
Outstanding. What persona(s) do you portray?
Breaker Morant says
JimC-Ran across something that you might find interesting.
Reading a wide-ranging book on the Nile and seemingly everything related to it-“Red Nile” by Robert Twigger.
He mentions that as the Tutsi victims of the Rwanda Genocide were mostly killed by primitive weapons that forensic science learned a lot about historical wounds and so forth.
JimC says
Well that is interesting. Makes sense. I’ll check out Red Nile.
Stephanie Eney says
Diana May have pointed my nose in your direction but it is your astute observations and verbiage that made me sign up. Kudos!
JimC says
Welcome to the campfire Stephanie.
Matthew says
Off topic, but Garth Ennis is returning to the Punisher yet again.
https://www.newsarama.com/46604-ennis-returns-to-punisher-nick-fury-two-new-titles.html
JimC says
Well that’s good news.
wayne says
My wife and I will be hiking in Scotland next summer. I guess I’m gonna have to get busy reading the books. I’ll read your King of Men first!
JimC says
Highlands?
Alysen says
I, too, saw that post on the only Outlander group I belong to ONC. And like a few of your new followers have said, it’s nice to see a male’s opinion about Jamie … uh, I mean Outlander .. and all the others who make up the books & movies .. 🙂
JimC says
Welcome to the campfire Alysen.
joyce says
Just when one thinks the world of those appreciating words has become elusive, Diana points out the door to a undiscovered realm. Having a look around this lovely place…think i will find a toasty seat by the fire and let the warmth soak in while i rest…
JimC says
Welcome to the campfire Joyce.