Temeraire—“the Bold One”; a one-armed slave whom Claire accidentally acquires in the slave market in Kingston. [Voyager]
Tewaktenyonh—sister of war chief and sachem in the village where Roger is held captive. An elderly woman who befriends Claire, and tells her the story of Otter-tooth. [Drums]
Mrs. Thomas (m)—proprietor of the bed-and-breakfast where Claire and Brianna stay in Inverness upon their first visit to the Highlands. [Dragonfly]
Horace Thompson—anthropologist who brings a decapitated skeleton for Joe Abernathy to identify. [Voyager]
Tompkins—a seaman on board the Porpoise; he is also discovered to be the one-eyed stranger Young Ian found snooping around the print shop in Edinburgh; a spy for Sir Percival Turner. [Voyager]
†Madame Nesle de La Tourelle—favorite mistress—at one point—of the King of France. [Dragonfly]
†Francis Townsend—a Jacobite commander; took and held Stirling Castle for Charles Stuart. [Dragonfly]
†William Tryon—governor of the colony of North Carolina.
†Tullibardine—an elderly Jacobite; one of Charles Stuarts long-time attendants. [Dragonfly]
Sir Percival Turner—a corrupt government official, who seeks to improve his political standing by the capture of a major smuggler and ex-Jacobite (“Jamie Roy”), while accepting bribes from the minor smuggler Alexander Malcolm, unaware that these are the same person. [Voyager]
Two Spears—war chief of the village where Roger is held captive. [Drums]
U
Ulysses—Jocasta Cameron’s butler; born a freeman, enslaved as a child, Ulysses was so named by the schoolmaster who bought him. Fluent in French and English, able to read both Greek and Latin, he is a talented man who becomes the eyes of his mistress when she loses her sight. [Drums] w
†Mr. Urmstone—a circuit-riding preacher, famous for his outdoor sermons preached on the Bluffs, near Cross Creek. [Drums]
V
Mr. Villiers (m)—a Barbados planter. [Voyager]
Jacques Vincennes (m)—friend of Marie d’Arbanvilles, who sees Jamie meet with Jack Randall in a brothel. [Dragonfly]
Madame Vionnet—Jared’s cook at the house in the Rue Tremoulins. [Dragonfly]
Hanneke Viorst—sister of Hans Viorst; she offers temporary shelter and food to Brianna and Lizzie in Cross Creek. [Drums]
Hans Viorst—a resident of Cross Creek, who makes a living by transporting passengers and cargo by canoe on the Cape Fear River between Cross Creek and Wilmington. He agrees to carry Brianna and Lizzie upriver to Cross Creek, and takes them home with him when Lizzie falls ill en route. [Drums]
M. Voleru—an amateur medico who offers his services at L’Hôpital des Anges. [Dragonfly]
W
Wakatihsnore (“Acts Fast”)—sachem of the Mohawk village where Roger is held captive. [Drums]
Reverend Reginald Wakefield—a Presbyterian minister, friend of Frank Randall. An amateur historian with a preference for the eighteenth century and the instincts of a pack rat, he is great-uncle and adoptive father to Roger MacKenzie Wakefield. [Outlander]
Roger Jeremiah MacKenzie Wakefield (aka Roger MacKenzie)—the Reverend Wakefield’s great-nephew, adopted by the Reverend following the death of Roger’s parents in World War II. Agreeing to help Claire discover the fate of the Highlanders from Broch Tuarach, he finds himself falling in love with Brianna Randall, and being ever more deeply enmeshed in the Randalls’ affairs. [All]
Wakyo’teyehsnonhsa (aka “Emily”)— “Works with her hands”; the Mohawk girl with whom Ian Murray falls in love, and whom he eventually marries. [Drums]
Wallace—Lord Melton’s aide. [Voyager]
Mr. Ambrose Wallace—an Edinburgh lawyer; a passenger in the coach taking Claire to Edinburgh to look for Jamie. [Voyager]
Wally (m)—Jamie’s employee/accomplice; drives a wagon filled with decoy casks, as part of a brandy-smuggling scheme. [Voyager]
Walmisley—butler at Bellhurst (Duke of Sandringham’s estate). [Dragonfly]
†Antoine Walsh (m)—a slave trader; one of the companions who landed with Charles Stuart at Glenfinnan, having supplied the prince with a ship. [Dragonfly]
Wan-Mei—second wife of the Chinese Emperor, who wished to take Yi Tien Cho into her household—forcing him to choose between exile and emasculation. [Voyager]
Mr. Warren—sailing master of the Artemis. [Voyager]
Elizabeth Wemyss—known as Lizzie. The daughter of Joseph Wemyss, sold as an indentured servant to Brianna Fraser. Accompanying her mistress to the New World, she falls sick of malaria upon their arrival, detaining them in Wilmington. Drawing conclusions from a meeting between Brianna and Roger, she later informs Jamie Fraser that Roger is a rapist, and the father of Brianna’s impending child. [Drums]
Joseph Wemyss—a failed shopkeeper from Inverness, forced to sell himself and his daughter Elizabeth as indentured servants. Fearing that Lizzie’s contract will be bought by a man who intends to misuse her, he begs Brianna to buy her instead. [Drums]
White Raven—the name given to Claire by the Tuscarora medicine woman, Nayawenne, the result of a dream. [Drums]
William, Viscount Dunsany, Viscount Ashness, ninth earl of Ellesmere—heir of Lords Ellesmere and Dunsany; illegitimate son of James Fraser and Geneva Dunsany. Assumed by nearly everyone to be the legitimate heir of Geneva’s elderly husband, the eighth Earl. [Voyager, Drums]
†William of Orange (m)—monarch of England; invited to take the throne when the Stuarts were exiled. [Dragonfly]
Judah Williams (m)—proprietor of Twelve-trees plantation, on Jamaica, later burned during a slave revolt. [Voyager]
Marcelline Williams—a woman who befriends Claire at the Governor’s reception in Kingston; sister of Judah Williams, of Twelvetrees. [Voyager]
Mary Walker Willis17 (m)—a woman found dead near one of the Scottish stone circles, mentioned in Gillian Edgars’s grimoire.
the Misses Williams—Jacobite supporters from Edinburgh, who danced with Jamie at one of Prince Charles’s balls held in that city. [Dragonfly]
Mr. Willoughby—Jamie’s Chinese associate, picked up on the docks in Edinburgh. A poet and acupuncturist, with a marked weakness for women’s feet, he inadvertently betrays Jamie to the Excise, but redeems himself by saving Claire from the Reverend Archibald Campbell (aka the Edinburgh Fiend). See “Yi Tien Cho.” [Voyager]
Lt. Wolff—A representative of the British Navy, charged with negotiating lucrative naval stores contracts with the timber owners along Cape Fear. An unfortunate choice for the position, given his dislike of Scotsmen. [Drums]
Felicia Woolam (m)—one of the daughters of John Woolam the miller. Felicia is involved in a confrontation with Gerhard Mueller, settled by Jamie Fraser. [Drums]
John Woolam (m)—Quaker owner of the flour-mill near Fraser’s Ridge. [Drums]
Sarah Woolam (m)—a Quaker, daughter of John Woolam, the mill owner. [Drums]
Wu-Xien (m)—the Mandarin who first recognized Yi Tien Cho’s talent as a poet. [Voyager]
Judith Wylie—Philip Wylie’s sister. A guest at the Governor’s dinner, who makes no secret of her disdain for Claire’s sense of fashion. [Drums]
Phillip Wylie—a prosperous young American plantation owner, who meets Claire at a formal dinner in Wilmington and attempts to flirt with her. [Drums]
Y
Yi Tien Cho (“Leans against Heaven”)— see “Mr. Willoughby.”
Yvonne—Louise de Rohan’s maid at Fontainebleau. [Dragonfly]
Dougal’s men
[Outlander, Dragonfly]
John Whitlow
Willie MacMurty
Rufus and Geordie Coulter
Monks at the Abbey of Ste. Anne de Beaupré
[Outlander]
Brother Bartolome
Brother Polydore
Brother Ambrose
Brother Roger
Brother William
Brother Josef
Brother Eulogius
Parishioners mentioned in Reverend Wakefield’s journals
[Dragonfly]
Derick Gowan
Maggie Brown
William Dundee
Miscellaneous minor characters
[Voyager]
wine seller at
inn patronne at inn in Le Havre
Le Havre port inspector
Le Havre harbormaster
Captain of the Patagonia—captain of the doomed ship, burnt in the harbor at Le Havre
a Portuguese pirate
Tenants on the estate at
Lallybroch
Tom
Willie
Mrs. Willie
Hugh Kirby
Geoff Murray
Young Joe Fraser
Dougal MacKenzie’s men, trapped in the chapel with Claire at Falkirk
Willie Coulter MacKenzie
Gordon McLeod
Geordie
Rupert MacKenzie
Ewan Cameron of Kinnock
English soldiers who take Claire to Bellhurst after Falkirk
[Dragonfly]
Corporal Rowbotham
Captain Mainwaring
Colonel Gordon MacLeish
Campbell
Private Dobbs
Garvie
Jessie
Four officers of the Master of Lovat’s regiment
[Voyager]
William Chisholm Fraser
George D’Amerd Fraser Shaw
Duncan Joseph Fraser
Bayard Murray Fraser
Prisoners at Ardsmuir with Jamie Fraser
[Voyager]
Murdo Lindsay
Kenny Lesley
Johnson
MacTavish
Baird
Gavin Hayes
Ogilvie
Angus MacKenzie
Billy Malcolm
Milligan
Morrison (the healer)
Joel McCulloch
Bobby Sinclair
Edwin Murray
Ronnie Sutherland
MacKay
Prostitutes in Madame Jeanne’s brothel
Dorcas
Peggy
Mollie
Penelope
Sophie
Josie
the second Mary
Offspring of Ian and Jenny Murray
[Voyager]
Young Jamie
Maggie
Kitty
Michael
Janet
Caitlin (deceased)
Young Ian
Smugglers at Arbroath
[Voyager]
Joey
Willie MacLeod
Alec Hays
Raeburn
Innes
Meldrum
Hays
the Gordons
Kennedy
Crew members of the Artemis
[Voyager]
Picard
Grosman
Manzetti
Russo
Stone
Rogers
Sailors on the Porpoise
[Voyager]
Ramsdell Hodges
Holford
Ruthven
Stevens
Attendees at the Governor’s reception in Kingston
[Drums]
Mrs. Hall
Mrs. Yoakum
1Not surprising, given the sheer staggering number of them. I hadn’t realized quite how many characters there were, myself, until I began compiling this list. You’d think these were Russian novels, rather than Scottish ones.
2Named in compliment to Gloria Brame, a poet friend of mine.
3“There ees a quastion as to whether ze man or e’s minkey was brakking ze leaw.”
4M. Forez is a real historical personage; his association with the Fifth Arrondissement is fictional, since in fact I am not positive that Paris had adopted the Arrondissement system of administration at the time in question.
5The Comte St. Germain was a real historical character, an inhabitant of Paris at roughly the time of the story told in Dragonfly. The Comte had a sinister reputation, and was rumored to be heavily involved in the occult, but there is very little definite information available regarding him.
6This name was given to me, courtesy of Barry Fogden, who having graciously allowed me to use his own persona, let me snatch his alias, as well
7While Mr. Linklater is unfortunately not a personal friend (I’ve never met him), he definitely is a real person, and a fairly contemporary person, at that. He is the author of The Prince in the Heather, from which the quote about the Jacobite officers in the farmhouse near Culloden was taken (“After the final battle at Culloden, eighteen Jacobite officers, all wounded, took refuge in the old house and for two days, their wounds untended, lay in pain; then they were taken out to be shot. One of them, a Fraser of the Master of Lovat’s regiment, escaped the slaughter; the others were buried at the edge of the domestic park”).
8Also, alas, not a personal acquaintance of mine— but definitely contemporary.
9While created as a purely fictional character, a Duncan MacDonald (of the Master of Lovat’s regiment) did in fact die at Culloden, as I discovered some time after writing Voyager.
10Also known disparagingly as “Loghead” or “Leg-hair,” by various readers who disapprove of the lady.
11Now and then, a French-speaking reader inquires whether I was aware that this translates to “Mr. Grapefruit.” Yes, I was.
12Harry Quarry appears again, along with Lord John, in the first solo short story (well relatively short; it’s only eleven thousand words or so) I ever wrote professionally. This is a story titled “Hellfire,” which I wrote for an anthology titled Past Poisons: The Ellis Peters Memorial Anthology of Historical Crime published by the U.K. publisher, Headline, in December 1998. While this story is not, strictly speaking, part of the Outlander novels (it doesn’t deal with Claire or Jamie Fraser, though Jamie is mentioned indirectly), it is part of the overall oeuvre.
13By coincidence, my fifth-grade teacher was also named Sister Marie Romaine. Requiescat in pace.
14The founder of the great Rothschild fortune was indeed a traveling numismatist during the latter part of the eighteenth century, but my representation of his age and appearance during this period is fictional, based on general notions of European dress at the time. The history of the Rothschild name is fact, though—or at least is so represented in historical sources.
15I do in fact occasionally take things out of a book. I don’t, however, throw them away, since you never know when something will come in handy. The scene in which Jamie and Claire meet Mayer Rothschild was originally written as part of Dragonfly in Amber, but I removed it, feeling that, while it was a good scene, it wasn’t really necessary to the book. As it was, the scene fit much better—with the small addition of the gold tetradrachms—into Voyager, where it finally appeared.
16The Simpsons, famous swordsmiths, were in fact historical persons of the period. By coincidence, my friend John E. Simpson, who kindly allowed me to use his persona, is also a Jr.
17Coincidentally, this is also the name, rearranged, of a popular mystery novelist whose books I happened to see while writing the scene involving the victims of stone circles. The subconscious is a strange and wonderful thing.
I GET LETTERS …
ince the Outlander novels were first published, I’ve received any amount of mail and other manifestations of interest from readers who find themselves fascinated by the characters, particularly by Claire and Jamie Fraser. By “other manifestations,” I mean that people are sometimes kind enough to send me documents, pictures, and objects that they’ve made, showing me some personal vision of Jamie and Claire, or some special expression of attachment to the books.
Among the items of this sort that I particularly treasure are a) various sketches of Claire, Jamie, or both together, b) assorted pieces of handmade jewelry, approximations of Claire’s pearl necklace, or pieces of Celtic-inspired ornament, c) a picture o
f a racehorse named “Dragonfly in Amber,” d) lots of beautiful small objects made in cross-stitch, e) pictures of a number of tartan-clad teddy bears named “Jamie,” f) pictures of a number of infant children, named (variously) Jamie, Claire, and Brianna (nobody’s named a kid Roger or Ian yet—at least not on my account.),1 g) handmade paper with heather blossoms embedded, h) pressed-flower and photo arrangements, featuring scenes of the Highlands, i) tapes of original songs inspired by the books, j) original poetry, likewise inspired, k) small wooden and pottery objects with a Celtic inspiration, and 1) the occasional Really Unique item.
These last include a small, baked-clay figurine, showing a little girl with brown hair, gazing down into a puddle, a fired, glazed ceramic figure of a black-haired woman sitting in an armchair with a book (this one is titled “Lady Reading”), a book of photographs, showing life-size terracotta heads of Jamie, Claire, and Yours Truly (that was a shock), a hand-carved wooden “kapertlin”’ spoon, made for me by an inmate at a Vancouver prison where I teach a yearly writing class, a cutting board in the shape of the state of Idaho, accompanied by a bottle of potato hand lotion,2 X-ray films of the covers of all my books (accompanied by an X-ray referral sheet for one James Fraser, showing various diagnosed fractures), and last but not least—personal horoscopes and interpretations for Claire and Jamie.
The Outlandish Companion Page 25