The Outlandish Companion - Diana Gabaldon [286]
Page 196: “… his heart’s blood staining the same leaves, dyed by the blood of the beast that killed him.” Should read “… his heart’s blood staining the same leaves dyed by the blood of the beast that killed him.”
Page 197: “nasturtium syrup”
My botanical expert informs me that the plant Americans normally refer to as “nasturtium” was not found in Scotland in the eighteenth century, being New World in origin. However, another plant (whose name I forget), also known commonly as “nasturtium” in the Old World was found in Scotland. However, it’s the first kind—Nasturtium spp.—from which one makes a remedy for indigestion; I don’t think the Old World plant has any medical usages.
Page 218: “cherry tree”
Okay, this is what comes of writing scenes out of order and gluing them together. You get people punching flowering cherry trees, when other people were picking cherries off them a month earlier (even if they shouldn’t have been). Damn all cherries, is what I say.
Page 276: “My father was a Fraser, of course; a younger half-brother to the present Master of Lovat.”
This should clearly have been “older half-brother,” since Brian Fraser was considerably older than Simon, Master of Lovat (who is depicted—fairly accurately—as being near Jamie’s own age, in Dragonfly in Amber).
Page 277: “… running side by side from the seacoast.”
This one isn’t precisely an error, it just sounds wrong. It should have read something like, “running side by side from Inverness.” While Inverness is on the Firth of Forth (which in turn is an inlet of the sea), no one would really describe it as “on the seacoast.”
Page 286: “balcony” should be “gallery.”
Page 312: “Brian Dhu” should probably be “Brian Dubh.” There is no such thing as “correct” spelling in Gaelic (since it was largely unwritten for a good long time, there was no major attempt to standardize its orthography until the present day), but some forms are more widely seen and accepted than others.
Gaelic spelling is not all that consistent, especially if you look at older documents (well, neither is English spelling, in all fairness), and I have seen “Dhu” used as a nickname, with that spelling. However, my Gaelic expert says it should be “Dubh,” and he knows lots better than I do.
Page 313: “mo duinne” should be “mo nighean donn.”
This was an attempt on my part to render “my brown one,” using a Gaelic dictionary. My Gaelic expert, Iain Taylor (who graciously volunteered for the job after reading the first two books), informs me that the correct form should really be “mo nighean donn” (my brown-haired girl), and so I used that form in the later books.
Page 316: “Lag Cruime”
I don’t know that this is exactly an error, but it isn’t Gaelic, either. I made it up.
Page 337: “Grants, I supposed. Or Campbells.”
“Campbells” should be “Chisholms.”
Page 366: typo; “chivying” should be “chivvying.”
Page 384: typo; “very” should be “every.” (”I’m tired of having to watch ye every minute.”)
Page 445: “grey” should be changed to “green.”
Page 582: “Fergus nic Leodhas” should be changed to “Fergus mac Leodhas”; “nic” is “daughter of,” while “mac” is “son of.”
Page 584: Young Jamie’s date of birth. Jenny tells her brother that her son turned two years old “last August.” This being at the end of October 1743, Jamie Murray would have been born in August 1741. However, Jenny also says her son was “conceived six months past the time I last saw… Randall.” If she last saw Randall in October 1739, when he took Jamie Fraser to Ft. William, then Jamie Murray would have been conceived in April 1740, and born in January 1741, not August. Oooookay. Change “August” to “January,” then.
Page 586: “mi dhu” should be changed to “mo nighean dubh,” in accordance with correct Gaelic