The Outlandish Companion - Diana Gabaldon [299]
A-sauntering the meadows,
A-sauntering the meadows.
The safeguard of Fionn son of Cumhall be yours, The safeguard of Cormac the shapely be yours, The safeguard of Conn and Cumhall be yours
From wolf and from bird-flock,
From wolf and from bird-flock.
The sanctuary of Colum Cille be yours, The sanctuary of Maol Ruibhe be yours,
The sanctuary of the milking Maid be yours, To seek you and search for you, To seek you and search for you.
The encircling of Maol Odhrian be yours, The encircling of Maol Oighe be yours, The encircling of Maol Domhnaich be yours,
To protect you and to herd you,
To protect you and to herd you.
The shield of the King of the Fiann be yours The shield of the King of the sun be yours The shield of the King of the stars be yours
In jeopardy and distress,
In jeopardy and distress.
The sheltering of the King of Kings be yours,
The sheltering of Jesus Christ be yours,
The sheltering of the Spirit of healing be yours,
From evil deed and quarrel,
From evil dog and red dog.
(Duncan Innes uses portions of this incantation for the protection of the stock, while helping to bless the hearthstone at Fraser’s Ridge.)
[Voyager, p. 954]
THE DEATH BLESSING VOLUME 1, PAGE 119
“God, omit not this woman from Thy covenant, and the many evils that she in the body committed.”
—traditional Celtic invocation, from Carmina Gadelica
BIBLICAL QUOTES7
[Voyager, p. 196]
“O, Lucifer, thou son of the morning…” Lord John is paraphrasing slightly; the correct (and complete) quote is: “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!”
—Isaiah 14:12
[Voyager, p. 815]
“My beloved’s arm is under me, and his hand behind my head. Comfort me with apples, and stay me with flagons, for I am sick of love.” (Note that Claire has—as she now and then does—slightly misquoted this; the actual quote is “Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love.”)
—Song of Solomon 2:5
[Drums, p. 161]
“Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” Matthew 6:34
Frank’s favorite Biblical saying (for good reason), repeated now and then by both Claire and Brianna.
[Drums, p. 224]
“Thy neck is as a tower of ivory; thine eyes like the fishpools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bathrabbim: thy nose is as the tower of Lebanon which looketh toward Damascus.”
Claire and Philip Wylie are trading lines from the Song of Solomon 7:4.
[Drums, p. 242]
“Whither thou goest…”
“And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go: and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:
“Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part thee and me.”
—Book of Ruth 1:16
While often used as a reading in wedding ceremonies—and as Claire uses it here, to proclaim attachment to a mate—this very moving declaration of devotion is in fact the words of a woman for her mother-in-law; the words of Ruth for Naomi.
[Drums, p. 245]
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.”
—The Beatitudes, the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew, 5:7
Dragonfly, p. 944]
“Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have believed.”
—The Gospel According to John 20:29
[Dragonfly, p. 503]
“Remember, man, that thou are dust, and unto dust thou shalt return.”
This is part of the Catholic liturgy, recited during the imposition of ashes on Ash Wednesday, at the beginning of Lent. The original basis is a line from Genesis: “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”
—Genesis 3:19
MISCELLANEOUS ENGLISH, SCOTTISH, AND AMERICAN POETRY
[Outlander, p. 105]
THE SELKIRK GRACE
Some hae meat that canna eat, And some could eat that want it. But we hae meat and we can eat, And so may God be thankit.
—Robert Burns (1759-1796) [See note in Appendix I,