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Drums Of Autumn Pre-Revolutionary War Period Season 4 The ONC Gazette Wilmington

The ONC Gazette (12/29/18 Edition)

December 31, 2018
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Covering The Books, The Show, The History & The Places
Of Outlander in North Carolina
Greetings Outlander Fanatics! 

Hey, everyone!  Did you survive it? Christmas, I mean? I barely did. I’ve been pretty much missing in action for a few weeks. Between sickness (the winter crud, ugh!), Christmas shopping plus friend & family get-togethers and a new grandbaby, I’ve barely had time to breathe. I know you won’t believe I’m saying this but I almost wish Outlander had taken a week (or two) break for the holidays as many other television series do. Although, it was a great way for us to pause for an hour and lose ourselves in the 18th century before coming back to the busyness before Christmas.

Enough about me! I hope this newsletter finds you all doing well and getting geared up for Hogmanay! One of our admins, Tara Crawford, shared this recipe from the Outlander Clan Cast Blog for Black Bun, which was served up in Season 3, Episode 8, First Wife. Here in North Carolina, the tradition is…get ready for it…it’s not Black Bun….it’s…
  • Hog jowl
  • Collards
  • Black-eyed peas
  • Cornbread
Yum, yum!!! All of these are supposed to bring good luck in the form of wealth, good health or good things happening in your life. Check out this article about North Carolina’s New Year’s food traditions (or superstitions).  It will give you a little insight into these four specific New Year’s must-eats here in the Tar Heel State.  Do you have any Hogmanay or New Year’s food traditions? Oh, check out these five little known Scottish traditions for Hogmanay plus more information on why the holiday is so important to the Scots!
Episodes 406 through 408
I missed recapping all of these episodes and told my admins to take a break from the ONC Admin Awards as well but I’m very interested in hearing your opinions. So, what did y’all think?

Here are the condensed stand-out moments for me from each episode:
  • Episode 406, Blood of My Blood –  The conversations between and the time spent together with Jamie & Willie were very special. Also, a lot more was revealed to Willie in their time together than in the book so I’m interested to see how this plays going forward. Also, the conversation between Claire and Lord John was very good and a lot of the lines taken straight from the book. 
  • Episode 407, Down The Rabbit Hole – Bree being rescued and then terrorized by Laoghaire. I had begun to think maybe Laoghaire was going to turn over a new leaf but then the Laoghaire we all love to hate came out in full force. I was somewhat disappointed that Bree didn’t go to Lallybroch as written in the books but I understand why those changes had to be made due to Laura Donnelly’s inability to return as Jenny. At least, Bree got to see Lallybroch, courtesy of sweet, sweet Joanie. How did Laoghaire ever have a daughter so sweet?!?! 
  • Episode 408, Wilmington – Roger finding Bree and the handfasting ceremony was WONDERFUL! It was interesting that ALL of the characters were in Wilmington for this episode. And just in case you really want to know, it’s not an easy or fast trip on horseback from Wilmington to New Bern. It’s another one of those times when Diana said we would have to close our eyes but fortunately due to the wonders of television, Fergus was able to save Murtagh from certain doom!  P.S. I thought the rape scene, although not done in flashbacks as in the book, was handled very well. 
Fact Check: Were George Washington & Governor Tryon Acquaintances Before The War?

In the book series, the Frasers don’t meet George Washington until the Revolutionary War has begun, so I was surprised to see him and Martha being entertained by Governor Tryon!  Many people are disputing the show’s writers placing the future General and President in North Carolina at that time, but why not?  George Washington was a surveyor and land owner, and could’ve possibly met with Tryon. We’ll let you decide, but there is a history with Washington and the colony/state of North Carolina.

As mentioned, Washington was a surveyor as a young man.  In 1763, he founded and had a large share in the Dismal Swamp Company.  The company was formed so that the 4,000-acre swamp could be drained, logged, and eventually farmed, but that never happened. Washington surveyed the land there, as well as where the Dismal Swamp Canal was eventually dug to connect the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia with North Carolina’s Albemarle Sound.  The canal is now part of the Intracoastal Waterway and is used year-round by boats of many kinds, sailing the East Coast.  If you’re ever traveling in northeast North Carolina, stop in the Dismal Swamp Welcome Center, walk or bike the trail there, and see a few boats if they’ve docked in the canal by the rest area.

Once George Washington was General of the Patriot forces, officials scurried to name places for him, but little old Washington, on the coast of North Carolina, was the first!  Now the seat of Beaufort County, (pronounced bo-furt), the town had been petitioned to be formed in 1771, but founder James Bonner never called it “Washington” until five years later, and it was incorporated as Washington by the NC General Assembly in 1782.  Even today, it is called “Original Washington” by many, and is also known as “Little Washington” by locals after Washington, D.C. was founded–just so everyone would know that it wasn’t the capital of the country.

Many years later, in 1799, Washington County was formed from the western section of Tyrrell County. Plymouth is the county seat, and the Albemarle Sound borders the northern section of Washington County.  If you’ve ever driven to the Outer Banks via highway 64E, you have driven through the northern section of Washington County and Plymouth.  The downtown area has a nice historical district, and in June, it hosts the annual NC Black Bear Festival.  Washington County is also the home of Somerset Place Historic Site, but just barely–if you cross the canal just a few yards from the main house there, you’ll be in Tyrrell County.

While the line in the Wilmington episode where Gov. Tryon mentioned to Jamie that Washington had surveyed the 10,000 acres that was Fraser’s Ridge isn’t necessarily hard to believe, but it is doubtful. Washington was an aristocrat and politician longer than he was a surveyor.  He didn’t travel the lower Southern Colonies or States until 1791. North Carolina had not ratified the constitution, so he waited until it had been before traveling south from his Virginia home. He eventually traveled and stayed in New Bern and Wilmington, and found them “delightful.”  I am proud to say that Washington also visited my home county of Edgecombe, the town of Tarboro specifically, and spent the night there on April 18, 1791. The Town Common in Tarboro is one of only two remaining original Colonial Town Commons in the United States, with the other being in Boston. Tarboro’s historic Town Common, established in 1760, encompasses 15 acres adjoining the town’s historical district. Five 18th century homes and over two dozens antebellum homes are in the historic district which encompasses 45 blocks. In his diary, Washington remarked that the town of “Tarborough” was “more lively and thriving” than Halifax. You can read more about Washington’s tour of the Southern states at the NCPedia website.

Any relationship that Washington had with Tryon would have been marred by the Revolution.  Tryon, as an appointed–versus elected–official, had a loyalty to England.  Washington, obviously, wanted independence.  So, obviously, they ended up on opposite sides of the political spectrum, and since the Revolution was stirring in 1768, it isn’t likely that Tryon would have Washington as an invited guest, since he was already in the House of Burgesses for his county in Virginia.  

Cool discovery alert: In 1776, Tryon, with other government officials and several of Washington’s trusted bodyguards, plotted to kill him!  Not much has been written about this, and while there is some information available online, there’s a new book, The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington, that will be available in January 2019. (I’m not being compensated for sharing this link.)
London Has Nothing On Us!
Yes, that’s right! Guess who is performing in the London (yes, London, England) New Year’s Day Parade? The Warriors of AniKituhwa! Click HERE to read all about it! Why is that newsworthy, you ask? Well, these very same Warriors will be spending an entire day with us at A Fraser’s Ridge Homecoming~Return to the Ridge 2019. They will be doing demonstrations throughout the day and will perform for us at lunchtime on Saturday. I am so excited about our special guests! 

They’re not the only special guests we’ll be having though. Captain Robert K. Rambo (USA, Ret.) will be performing for us on Sunday morning with a one-hour dramatical presentation of the Reverend Thomas Woolsey. The Reverend just happened to be a frontier Baptist preacher and teacher and also participated in the Battle of Kings Mountain in 1780. A busy man indeed but he will find enough time to come through the stones to share his story with us!

Tickets to the Homecoming~Return To The Ridge 2019 are still on sale. You can click the button below to either purchase the full admission ticket or pay the $150 deposit – it’s up to you. Flexible installments are available and you have until now and June 30, 2019 to pay! If you need more info before you purchase, click HERE. We’d love to meet you at The Ridge!
BUY TICKETS NOW!
Special Discount On Outlander North Carolina Merchandise 

We’re offering a New Year’s discount on all merchanding in the Outlander North Carolina Tee Spring store. Use code 201910OFF at checkout. The beautiful winter pillow below which celebrates Fraser’s Ridge is one of many items available in the Outlander North Carolina Store! Promo Code is good through January 4!
Photo of The Week 
The photo above was taken from Season 3, Episode 8, First Wife. I loved this scene so much and it was so good to see Jamie finally happy again…even though it did end up with him marrying that terrible Laoghaire. I would like to wish each one of you a Very Happy Hogmanay! I pray 2019 brings you many good things and when the bad things comes around, as we know they will, I pray they will only be a momentary inconvenience.

Sláinte from all of us at Outlander North Carolina! Happy 2019!!!

Your crazy Outlander-obsessed friend,

Beth

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Cape Fear River Drums Of Autumn Pre-Revolutionary War Period Season 4 Wilmington

America The Beautiful

November 9, 2018
Post by Contributing Author, Tara Heller

We made it! Well actually, the Frasers made it to North Carolina!!! But we made it through the dreadful Droughtlander! Now we can bask in the glow of North Carolina and Fraser’s Ridge from our TV!

What a packed episode and the second episode is looking to be even more packed or maybe that was an extended version of what’s to come! WOW!

Starting off, I thought the beginning sequence was quite interesting with the EARLY (almost neanderthal like) inhabitants of the Americas and the stone circles.

Then when those words and numbers appeared on the screen ‘NORTH CAROLINA 1767’, I’m pretty sure I heard a collective cheer from every North Carolina Outlander fan! I turned to my husband and said, I’m sure the North Carolinians either squealed or cheered when they finally saw that.

Right off, I thought the set was amazing! Those buildings looked amazing!

It was rough seeing Hayes hung and seeing Jamie and Lesley go through that. Am I the only one who thought Bonnet had some fancy footwork getting out of that town square?

The opening credits blue grassy style is such a good change. Yes, I will miss the bagpipes. I mean, come on who won’t? However, we are in N.C. now. It’s the soon to be Southern style of music so let’s get use to it, aye?

I loved Lesley’s singing in Gaelic, joined by the rest of the family and then the rest of the tavern.

I felt terrible for Ian as he had a PTSD flashback to Geilis. It was nice despite the circumstances for Ian and Jamie to have that moment and connected. Throughout the earlier scenes with Bonnet, I kept shouting “Don’t trust him!”

The moment Jamie and Claire had in the woods was what I think we all needed. We needed to know that they were the same Jamie and Claire we always knew. It has been a long and tough ride since Claire went back through the stones, reunited with Jamie, went on the cross ocean voyage, were separated again and then were shipwrecked. They needed that connection and probably a vacation.

I sighed when Jamie said,

“After you left me, after Culloden I was dead, and all that time I loved you.

When my body dies, my soul will still be yours. Nothing is lost, Sassenach, only changed.”

There’s just something about that statement and how he said it with his Scottish lilt that got me. I can’t describe it, but I will try. It’s spiritual and I don’t know if it’s I wish my husband would whisper sweet nothings like that to me by a campfire or what but it gave me gooseys and continues to every dang time I hear it, thanks to one Sam Hueghan.

I’m sure it was a bit confusing for non book readers as to who were all the dinner guests at Lillington’s but one or two rather that I recognized were Phillip Wylie and his sister, Judith. What a little twit she is! Will we see more from them? Time will tell!

When they were back in the ‘family huddle’ and Fergus revealed that Marsali was expecting, I loved Jamie’s response was so sweet. I’m not sure what was going on with Claire’s response. Fear for her? Was it what they wanted? If you recall, she had mentioned to Claire that she wanted to enjoy being married to Fergus first before having little wee bairns running around. I don’t blame her! But then again that day in age it was almost expected after tying the knot.

On the road again, or down the river rather- Jamie shared a bit about his Aunt Jocasta. To me it was reminiscent of the Wedding Night scene when Jamie the Storyteller told Claire stories about his family. He had his storyteller voice on and it just made me laugh. I sighed when Jamie presented Claire with the medical chest! It was better than I even imagined! And then when he said,

“24 years ago I married ye, Sassenach, I hope I haven’t ever given you cause to regret it.”

Sigh….he had that little twinkle in his eye. Was he getting teary eyed? I don’t know, but it was sweet and special.

And then it happened that night, the invasion. Bonnet that slippery snake! He had heard everything they had planned and knew what possessions they had on them. Just when the American Dream was beginning for them, it turned into a nightmare! At first, the piano caught me off guard. At first I felt like I was on a Louisiana River boat or something. I hadn’t remembered a piano being on board nor thought it could fit! And then it hit or rather they hit! Bonnet and his thieving men! I felt so violated for them. Honestly, I think the music fit. I know, I know, such controversy but honestly would you wanted to totally hear all the punches and sounds of Jamie getting the crap kicked out of him or Claire’s gasps and cries? Not me! Could they have picked another song? Sure! Are we the producers and writers? Nope! We don’t have a say. Sorry!

And the ring! Frank’s ring was left! I heard (SPOILER ALERT) that it will logistically be easier for Brianna to identify Jamie’s ring down the road and try to recover it. Her mom wore that ring her life when she was growing up so she knows what it looks like. It’s distinct. Either that or Jamie could possibly get Claire a ring that looks more so like the book version of the ring. Food for thought….

What a cliff hanger though! I can’t wait to see how things get all sorted out.

I’m so glad to have the show back on the air. It feels like I’m reunited with old friends! It feel so good. Warm and cozy too going into the Fall, Winter and Holiday time! And can I just say, Hot dang the Laird Jacket is back!

Well there you have it, my recap of Season 4 Episode 1, until next time!

Tara Heller is the mother of two boys, who lives in South Central Pennsylvania. However her heart is the South. Although she is fairly new to Outlander, she has truly immersed herself in it. She also loves history, especially the 18th century, genealogy, visiting the coast, spending time with family and blogging atwww.ladyoutnumbered321.com.  You can read about her MPC story here.
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