Outlander’s Scottish History

Season 3 of Outlander is coming to a close, and what a season it has been! Set in historical Scotland, this series always delivers on excitement, and a little bit of science fiction, while still managing to cover factual events. It also has brought many viewers to develop an interest in Scottish history, a topic that we’re pretty big fans of ourselves.

The Outlander series begins when character Claire Randall, a married World War II nurse, finding herself transported back to the Scotland of 1743. Here she discovers the charming Highland warrior Jamie Fraser and becomes wrapped up in the Jacobite risings.

Historically, the Jacobites were a group who believed that the Catholic James VII of Scotland (James II of England)  should be restored to the throne of Scotland and England. James was exceedingly unpopular, and had been forced into exile by the Protestant-leaning Parliament in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. His daughter Mary and her husband William assumed the throne, and together put returned Britain Protestant rule. For a lot of people during this time, it not only became a battle between Catholics versus Protestants, but also the Scots versus the English. Upon the death of James in 1701, his son James Francis Edward gained the Jacobites’ support. The two major Jacobite risings, which happened in 1715 and 1745, became known as “The Fifteen” and “The Forty-Five”, in which Jacobite soldiers fought English Protestant defenders of William and Mary in a series of bloody battles and uprisings.

While Outlander‘s Jamie Fraser is a soldier and a Jacobite supporter, Claire Randall is an Englishwoman – which leads to natural suspicions by those around her.

In addition to the outstanding historical fiction provided in the plot, Outlander is beautifully shot and will make any world traveler feel the urge to visit Scotland. This show is a lot of fun to watch no matter what your ancestry, but it’s especially fun for those with Scottish roots.

If you feel the urge to dig in deeper to your Scottish genealogy after watching this show, our Scottish Genealogy Research Strategies begins on December 4, 2017!

Let the countdown to the Season 3 finale begin!