Sunday, August 15, 2010

Highland Clans - Fraser

Ho. Ly. COW!!!!!! My Outlander Purgatory bud "L" posted a link to this on the comments section of another post and WOWWY MACWOWWY is it a JACKPOT! You will be thrilled with your knowledge of the Frasers while watching this. And if THAT weren't enough - we get to meet Simon Fraser - the CURRENT Lord Lovat!! And might I say he is one TASTY TUNA! AND he's got a long, straight nose! OutSTANDing!!!!! ENJOY!!!



Wow. Video one got my juices flowing. This one... made me cry. Ethnic cleansing, indeed.



22 comments:

  1. Whoa! Should be REQUIRED watching for anyone who wants to read Dragonfly in Amber... Thanks for posting!

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  2. That was really interesting! Loved it! And is it just me or does Simon sound more British than Scottish? Listening to him and the host talk back and forth - there accents were very different. The hosts' was very clearly Scottish to me but not so much Simon's

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  3. And that wily old fox! LOL - liked seeing those pics of him, it really brings him to life!

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  5. One more thing....if you go on youtube and type in "highland clans" all the episodes of this show come up! Episode 6 is about the MacKenzies.

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  6. I know! It's so cool! I'm on 2 of 3 of the Frasers. I'm going to post it, too. It'll make you cry.

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  7. So much fun to watch and to know about most of what was talked about!
    If you watch closely in the 3rd part at about 6:23, they quickly focus in on the Fraser seal 'Je Suis Prest' which we all know meant so much to clan Fraser and one particular red-haired Fraser.

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  8. Great minds think alike and all that <g> I just found out about these today, too. I posted links to both the Fraser and the MacKenzie videos on my blog earlier today.

    I agree, the videos are terrific!

    Karen

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  9. So not only did I just see Kailah's comment after posting a Je Suis Prest graphic... but Karen posted the videos over at Outlandish Observations today, too! (Although Karen, "L" is the one with the other great mind, not me. She told me about them after finding them yesterday!)

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  10. OMG! Simon Fraser is hot, hot, hot!!!!

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  11. Big thanks to "L" and to Karen for finding these great videos....ah, the scenery, the history, and the burrs! The two portraits of Simon the Fox are so indicative of the man--and portrait 2 is hardly flattering (maybe he was already deceased?)...look at the way his fingers are positioned, like he is thinking over a sticky problem. To answer the question about the current Simon's accent, he was probably educated in England. --Julie

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  12. The second of those two portraits of the Old Fox is pretty famous. Look here:

    Hogarth painting of Lovat

    I'm pretty sure Diana has said that she based her description of Lord Lovat in DRAGONFLY on this portrait, or one very similar to it.

    Karen

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  13. I loved this! The host reminded me of Sting and Simon is very tall and handsome like Jamie! I loved how the woman in the first video (a Fraser) had the red hair like Jamie and Brianna. The scenery and history was wonderful!

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  14. Karen and Carol - Really appreciate your posting these videos. I tracked down the YouTube video on the MacGregor clan, our family's clan. Thanks so much for pointing them out.

    Really liked the Fraser video. Haven't seen the MacKenzie video yet. Scotland may have to my next vacation.

    Thanks again.

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  15. Loved it!!! The 2nd video was sad. It made me sad when I read in Dragonfly that they couldn't wear all their Kilts and stuff.

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  16. LOL I haven't had a chance to watch this yet (will try to do so before chat tonight), but PLEEEEASE don't tell me they're going to make me want to go to Scotland!!! I have just about resigned myself to the fact that the Scotland trip is not going to happen this year--is viewing this going to make me start checking airfares again? ;-)

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  17. Tracey - watching these videos will not only make you want to go to Scotland... you will want to time travel back to 1746 and fight at Culloden. (You can almost understand Geillis!) It's heartbreaking.

    Anonymous - there was actually a Diskilting Act after Culloden which made it illegal to wear a kilt. (Ethnic cleansing indeed). What I find interesting is that members of the military were still allowed to wear kilts - but were made to wear them with red coats. Can you imagine - after what went on at Culloden - as a Highlander and former clansman - sticking one pinky nail into the sleeve of a red coat, let alone putting one on with a kilt? That concept boggles my mind.

    Read about it here - great article on kilts: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/kilt/hd_kilt.htm

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  18. Um...just wondering whether anyone else spent a good 5 minutes rewinding and playing and pausing the bit with the current Lord Lovat and trying desperately to picture what he would look like with broader shoulders and red hair.
    *sigh*
    Ok...so it was more like 10 minutes.

    Josie

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  19. http://www.clanfraser.org/clan-chiefs.html#_self

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  20. Anonymous I'm with ya on that. (I'd be lying if I didn't say I thought he had a bit of a Rob Pattinson thing happening, too.. but that's beside the point and better left for another blog. LOL)

    Simon Fraser - Lord Lovat is truly a dish full of yum.

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  21. Okay, I know I'm waaay late to this discussion but I find stuff like this fascinating. One of the reasons I'm such a big Outlander fan (besides Diana's fabulous writing) is my Scottish heritage. Family lore is that we were Jacobites and had to flee Scotland because the family was going to be exterminated following the "Bonnie Prince Charlie business." The word "exterminated" was consistently used and this certainly rings true with these videos and other historical things I've read about this period.

    I've been researching for years and haven't had much luck with this line of the family, sadly.

    - Jane

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    1. You're never too late, Jane!! :) Your family history is totally in line with the Outlander series! I want to say it's "fascinating" but it's horrific, as well. :( When I sit back and ponder it, I still can't come close to imagining how awful things were for people during that time period in the Highlands.

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