Map of the Highland clans that rebelled in 1715

The Jacobite risings of 1689, 1708, 1715 and 1719 form the historical backdrop to the early Outlander books. The final and most fierce rising in 1745 forms part of the plots of Dragonfly in Amber and Voyager. Clan Fraser of Lovat is the principal branch of Clan Fraser, to which the character Jamie Fraser is related. The Frasers of Lovat have been strongly associated with Inverness and the surrounding area since the Clan’s founder gained lands there in the thirteenth century. On this map you can see the Fraser lands near the Grants’ above the ‘SHr’ in ‘INVERNESS SHr’ (spelled Frazer – ‘Frazers Followers of Lord Lovatt’). In fact, in the rising of 1715, the real Simon Fraser (11th Lord Lovat, known as ‘The Fox’, a Jacobite sympathiser who appears in Dragonfly in Amber as Jamie Fraser’s grandfather), engaging in some double-dealing, actually supported the Hanoverian cause at the Siege of Inverness (1715) in order to get the Lovat lands back. After hedging his bets, The Fox changed allegiances during the rising of 1745 and supported the Jacobite cause. In his late 70s by then (possibly even 80) and suffering from gout and arthritis, he was captured and subsequently beheaded in 1747. On his journey south to London to meet his fate, the artist William Hogarth captured Simon Fraser’s likeness in this print.

A Description of Part of the Highlands of Scotland [showing clans which rebelled in 1715], John Manson, draughtsman’. Date on map Jan 7 1783; shelfmark: MS.1649 Z.03/41a. National Library of Scotland. With grateful thanks to Chris Fleet, Map Curator – Access, Collections and Research, National Library of Scotland.