Hero Complex

“You’re a rifleman, you’re supposed to be fighting from a distance, not hand to hand. Bloody…. Why, you vainglorious, pigheaded, grandstanding…. SCOT!” 

— Claire Fraser, Battle of Freeman’s Farm (First Saratoga), Outlander

Outlander hit its “mid-season finale,” with the watershed Battle of Saratoga. This is one of the most important moments in American history, and it’s great to see the Battle of Bemis Heights (Second Saratoga) vividly portrayed in all its fury. Benedict Arnold gets his due, and an encounter with Mistress Fraser. The boldest of soldiers… making his treason so much more bitter.

The episode hits the major moments of the battle, with Daniel Morgan targeting General Simon Fraser and a rifleman perched in a tree shooting him through the guts. Diana Gabaldon artfully weaves the fictional story into the history. General Fraser is Jamie Fraser’s cousin. The taking of the redoubt by a charge led by Benedict Arnold is also here.

Having — yet again — been put through the trauma wringer of thinking Jaimie dead on a battlefield, Claire lets loose on him and his “stupid hero complex.” It’s one of those jarring intrusions of 20th Century psychology-speak that makes you pause for a beat and think, “Oh, yeah, that’s where Claire comes from.” One of the pleasures of the universe Gabaldon created, and a clever form of mediation for the audience.

One of our readers asked about the glove/brace Jamie wears on his left hand, wondering if there is a historical provenance for such a piece of gear.

It’s not a piece of rifleman’s kit or anything like that. It seems simply to be a field expedient brace for Jamie’s saber-sliced hand (he lost a finger off it in the books). It’s realistic, but there’s nothing about it that is part of the American Revolutionary War rifleman’s loadout.

Must say, though, Sam Heughan would make a fine Simon Kenton!

The episode ends with a rendition of Tha mi sgìth ‘n fhògar seo ( I Am Weary Of This Exile) sung by Griogair Labhruidh. As poignant a Frontier Partisans Ballad as you might hear. Here’s a clip…

I am tired of the strife
This is the tormenting time,
I am weary of this exile.

Although I am an outlaw
No crime could be proven against me.
Only that I stand loyal
To the king, since he had justice on his side.
Bear my greetings across the sea
To the glen where I should be.
Bear my sincere greetings
To Sgùrr Ùrain, I know it well.
And to the Green Mountain facing it,
Its little daisies were clear to me.
Bear my greetings with kindness
To Torr Luinnsich of the thrushes.
Up and down Glen Shiel
I often felled the antlered stag there.

There’s an ironic slip there. He says the song dates back to the American Civil War. In fact, as I’m sure he meant, it dates back to the War of Independence — which in many aspects was the First American Civil War, and a very nasty one at that.

From The People’s Voice, Glasgow:

This song has traditionally been attributed to John MacRae, Iain mac Mhurchaidh, who was born in Lianag a’ Chùl Doire in Kintail. As the son of Murdo, son of Farquhar, 4th son of Alasdair MacRae of Inverinate, he belonged to the MacRae nobility and was employed by the Earl of Seaforth as his ground officer, deer stalker and forester in Kintail and Lochalsh.

After the Jacobite rebellion of 1745-6 and the crushing defeat at Culloden and its bloody aftermath, the relationship between Clan chiefs and their people began to change, leading to increased rents for tacksmen such as Iain mac Mhurchaidh. In the spring of 1770, Bliadhna an t-Sneachda Bhuidhe,(the Year of the Yellow Snow) he lost many cattle in a severe blizzard.

Perhaps unable to see a secure future for himself and his family in Kintail, he emigrated to North Carolina around 1774. When the American War of Independence began in 1775 he and his son Murdo joined the loyalist army, fighting with the Royal Highland Emigrant Regiment. He fought at the battle of Moore’s Creek on the 27^th of February, 1776. The loyalists lost and as he relates in the song, Tha mi sgith ’n fhògar seo, he became an outlaw who was eventually captured and imprisoned.

It was said that, because his songs were so influential among the Carolina Gaels, he was dealt with in a particularly harsh way. According to tradition he suffered an excruciating death at the hands of the rebels.

While Jamie Fraser sided with the American Rebels (not least because of his wife Claire’s knowledge of future events), it must be remembered that most of the Highlanders who emigrated to the American Colonies (Carolina Gaels; love that) were Loyalists.

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More of the Scots…

This lovely lass is tearing it up all across the interwebs with bagpipe covers of classic rock and country tunes.

Ally the Piper, also known as Piper.Ally, is a musician and content creator who has gained a significant following of over 3 million followers on various social media platforms. She is a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, but is best known for her work on the Great Highland Bagpipe.

Who knew that Slash’s solo on Sweet Child o’ Mine was made for the Highland Pipes?

And…

She has a sgian dubh tattooed on her leg, so she does. For the record, I am in favor of this.

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The Youtube Channel, The Munros: A Personal Journey has announced another episode in the series on the Glen Coe Massacre of 1692.

My new documentary film ‘Cruel Is the Snow: Committing the Glen Coe Massacre’ is two-thirds of the way through postproduction. The conclusion to over two years of work, Cruel Is the Snow continues the story told in our extremely popular documentaries ’Fallen Kingdom’, ‘Inglorious Revolutions’, ‘Guardians to Gallows Herd’ and ‘Knives in the Dark’.

Aging alcoholic and closet Jacobite Captain Robert Campbell is reluctantly tasked with a secret mission to destroy the Jacobite resistance. He is to quarter his men upon MacIain of Glen Coe, the Lord of the Gallows Herd – but Robert Campbell does not know what the secret is. Nor do his hosts, the MacDonalds of Glen Coe. When the terrible secret is revealed, it will change the history of the Scottish Highlands forever.

Running around 75 minutes, the chapter titles are:
I. The Quartering
II. The Massacre
III. The Aftermath
IV. The Inquiry

Catch up with the terrible tale…