Literary References

Literary references are made throughout the Outlander Series, from well-known works to obscure poetry and prayer, as well as song lyrics when the focus is on the words, rather than the music.

Outlander Novels

Outlander

Chapter	Source	Reference
1	Bible	Joshua 6:26
		Frank quotes the verse while explaining to Claire the practice of burying a sacrifice under a new foundation: "He shall lay the foundations thereof in his firstborn and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it."
		Genesis 19:26
		Claire likens herself to Lot's wife while Frank hugs her, trying to make amends.
	William Shakespeare	The Merchant of Venice, Act IV, scene 1 (ca. 1600)
		Claire quotes the line as she forgives Frank for his accusation: "The quality of mercy is not strain'd, / It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven..."
3	Bible	1 Corinthians 14:34
		A man in the MacKenzie party starts to recite the verse to admonish Claire for her vulgar language: "Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak."
6	Robert Burns (attributed)	"Selkirk Grace"
		Hamish says grace: "Some hae meat that canna eat, / And some could eat that want it; / We hae meat, and we can eat, / And so may God be thankit."
7	William Shakespeare	Hamlet, Act III, scene 4, line 57 (ca. 1599)
		Claire thinks of the line when she meets Auld Alec, who has one eye: "An eye like Mars, to threaten and command ..."
15	Bible	Genesis 27:11
		Claire notes the difference between Jamie's hairy hands and Frank's smooth ones: "For Jacob's skin was smooth, while his brother Esau was a hairy man."
	Geoffrey Chaucer	The Wife of Bath's Tale from The Canterbury Tales (published 1478)
		Claire feels like the Wife of Bath while explaining the finer points of lovemaking to Jamie in their marriage bed.
16	Alexander Carmichael (editor)	(poem fragment) from the Carmina Gadelica, vol. II (1900)
		Jamie recites a poem from the Isles to Claire: "Thou daughter of the kingdom of the regions of the light, / On the night that thy wedding is on us..."
20	Catullus / trans. Richard Crashaw	Catullus 5
		Jamie translates the bit of poetry, which Hugh Munro had written on a piece of paper and wrapped around a chunk of amber: "Da mi basia mille..."
22	Bible	1 Corinthians 7:9
		Jamie recalls the verse to Claire as he explains his involvement with Laoghaire: "...for it is better to marry than to burn."
23	William Shakespeare	Hamlet, Act I, scene 5, line 20 (ca. 1599)
		Claire wakens suddenly, blurting "Horrocks!", which startles Jamie out of sleep and at the ready with his dirk. Claire remarks that he looks like a "fretful porpentine".
24		MacBeth, Act IV, scene 1, line 44 (ca. 1606)
		Chapter title: By the Pricking of My Thumbs
25	Bible	Habakkuk 3:5
		Father Bain denounces Claire during the witch trial, equipped with inflammatory verse: "Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet."
		Proverbs 2:16-18
		Father Bain continues his denunciation: "To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words... For her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead."
		Exodus 22:18
		Father Bain makes his closing argument: "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live."
	Matter of Britain	Arthurian legend
		Claire calls the stones on Craigh na Dun "Merlin's stones" to emphasize the fantastical nature of her very real situation.
26	Sir Arthur Conan Doyle	The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902)
		Claire's first impression of a large dog that greets her and Jamie at Lallybroch calls to mind that tale of a legendary hellish hound.
	Homer	Odyssey (8th century BC)
		Claire makes a remark about Odysseus being recognized by his dog upon returning from the Trojan War. After greeting his own dogs, Jamie continues, quoting in Greek, "In which Odysseus returns to his home, disguised as a beggar..." and makes a comment about dealing with Penelope and her suitors.
	Norman Macleod	Caraid nan Gaidheal = The friend of the Gael : a choice selection of Gaelic writings
		Jamie quotes a few lines of poetry to Claire about the legendary Fingal and his dogs: "Thus Fingal chose his hounds: / Eye like sloe, ear like leaf, / Chest like horse, hough like sickle / And the tail joint far from the head." It is also notable that Jamie's dog, Bran, is named for the legendary Fingal's hound, who is considered a hero in his own right.
39	Bible	1 Samuel 5:9
		Claire peruses the Bible in search of guidance: "...and he smote them with emerods, and they were very sore."
		Psalms 22:6, 22:14, 22:19-20
		Claire peruses the Bible in search of guidance: "But I am a worm, and no man... I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels... But be not thou far from me, O Lord: O my strength, haste thee to help me. Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog."
		Job 14:22, 33:19-25
		Claire chooses to consult the Book of Job, Jamie's favorite: "But his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn... He is chastened also with pain upon his bed, and the multitude of his bones with strong pain... His flesh is consumed away, that it cannot be seen; and his bones that were not seen stick out. Yea, his soul draweth near unto the grave, and his life to the destroyers. If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to shew unto man his uprightness: Then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom. His flesh shall be fresher than a child's: he shall return to the days of his youth."

Dragonfly in Amber

Chapter	Source	Reference
Part I	Bible	1 Corinthians 13:12
		Title of Part I, Through a Looking Glass, Darkly: "For now we see through a glass, darkly ..."
	Lewis Carroll	Through the Looking-Glass (1871)
		Title of Part I, Through a Looking Glass, Darkly
6	Bible	Psalm 146:3
		Jamie explains his caution to Claire, regarding Charles Stuart and the French court: "Put not your trust in princes..."
8	John Donne	Devotions upon Emergent Occasions (1624)
		Claire observes the departure of the Victomtesse de Rambeau in her carriage, and thinks of the slogan, À la lanterne!, which would become popular during the French Revolution. Claire paraphrases a quotation to Master Raymond, substituting the word "tumbril" for "bell": "... and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."
10	Samuel Pepys	His diary (1660-1669)
		Claire dreams of Frank, who mentions Pepys while explaining the rarity of a historical resource that faithfully describes the mundane as well as the noteworthy.
12	W. S. Gilbert	Harlequin Cock-Robin and Jenny Wren (1867)
		Claire compares the sudden appearance of a nun, summoned by Mother Hildegarde's clap of the hands, to Cock-Robin, the title figure of a pantomime who was magically turned from a dead bird into a "little man".
	William Shakespeare	Hamlet, Act I, scene 5, lines 166-167 (ca. 1599)
		Claire paraphrases the lines to Sister Angelique at L'Hôpital des Anges: "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, / Than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
19		Romeo and Juliet (1597)
		Claire observes that Alexander Randall and Mary Hawkins, laying unconscious beside each other, look like Romeo and Juliet "laid out in the public square as a reproach to their relatives".
23	Robert Burns	"To a Mouse, on Turning Her Up in Her Nest with the Plough" (1785)
		Chapter title: The Best-Laid Plans of Mice and Men...
24	Alfred, Lord Tennyson	Lady Clara Vere de Vere (1842)
		Claire quotes the poem to Jamie: "Kind hearts are more than coronets."
	Robert Burns	"The Author’s Earnest Cry and Prayer" (1786)
		Claire quotes the line to Jamie: "Freedom an’ whisky gang thegither!"
28	Bible	Catholic liturgy / Genesis 3:19
		Claire describes Faith to Jamie, and thinks of the lines: "Remember, man, that thou are dust, and unto dust thou shalt return." This is recited on Ash Wednesday as part of the Catholic liturgy, and originates from Genesis 3:19.
31	Robert Louis Stevenson	"Requiem" from Underwoods (1887)
		Claire quotes lines to Jamie: "Home is the sailor, home from the sea, / And the hunter home from the hill."
34	James M. Cain	The Postman Always Rings Twice (1934)
		Chapter title
36	Miguel de Cervantes	Don Quixote (1605)
		Claire asks Jamie if Cervantes has been born yet, and whether he is familiar with the term "quixotic".
	Sir Walter Scott	Marmion, Canto VI, XXX (1808)
		Jamie, having learned the poem from Claire at some previous time, begins to quote the lines when she demands impatiently for him to continue his telling of the battle: "When pain and anguish wring the brow, / A ministering angel thou!"
38	Bible	Exodus 34:7, Jeremiah 11:19
		Claire thinks of the passages, reflecting on her choices that have possibly written Frank Randall out of existence: "For the sins of the fathers shall be visited on the children... and thou shalt destroy him, root and branch, so that his name shall no more be known among the tribes of Israel."
42	L. Frank Baum	The Oz Books (1900-1920 by Baum; later additional volumes by other authors)
		Claire likens Murtagh to the Gnome King.
45	Andrew Marvell	"To His Coy Mistress" (ca. 1650s)
		With Alexander Randall dead, and Mary Hawkins alone on her wedding night, Claire thinks of the lines as a contrast to herself and Jamie, who remain alive and together: "The grave's a fine and private place, / But none, I think, do there embrace."
46	Alexander Carmichael (editor)	"An Cath Nach Tainig (The Battle to Come)" from the Carmina Gadelica, vol. I (1900)
		Claire starts to say the blessing to Jamie before they hear English soldiers approaching the house, on the eve of the Battle of Culloden: "Jesus, Thou Son of Mary, I call on Thy name..."
49	Bible	John 20:29
		Roger thinks of the verse after the harrowing experience of watching Gillian Edgars go through the cleft stone on Craigh na Dun: "Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have believed."

Voyager

Chapter	Source	Reference
Part I	A. E. Housman	"Hell's Gate" from Last Poems (1922)
		Title of Part I: Battle, and the Loves of Men
2	Eric Linklater	The Prince in the Heather (1965)
		Roger shows Claire the passage about a Fraser of the Master of Lovat's regiment who escaped slaughter out of a group of eighteen Jacobite officers.
4	Bible / Pseudepigrapha	Genesis 3 / Life of Adam and Eve (Apocalypse of Moses)
		Jamie explains to Fergus, Rabbie, and Young Jamie than one of the plagues of Adam after the Fall was facial hair, and thus man is cursed with shaving.
5	Bible	1 Timothy 2:14-15
		Mrs. Kirby reads the passage aloud while Jenny's screams can be heard upstairs: "And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding, she shall be saved in childbearing, if she continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety."
		John 11
		Jamie, hidden in the wardrobe during a close encounter with English soldiers, observes that before Mrs. Innes can ask a question, Jenny "shot up from the bedclothes like Lazarus."
6		Romans 5:9
		Chapter title: Being Now Justified by His Blood
	Daniel Defoe	Robinson Crusoe (1719)
		Jamie is reading the novel in the cave when he hears the sound of soldiers: "This violent rain forced me to a new work, viz., to cut a hole through my new fortification, like a sink, to let the water go out, which would else have drowned my cave..."
Part III	John Milton	Paradise Lost, Book IV, line 970 (1667)
		Title of Part III: When I Am Thy Captive
8	Tobias Smollett	The Adventures of Roderick Random (1748)
		Jamie thinks about the stories he would tell the men in prison with him at Ardsmuir.
	Henry Fielding	The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling (1749)
		Jamie thinks about the stories he would tell the men in prison with him at Ardsmuir.
	Daniel Defoe	Robinson Crusoe (1719)
		Jamie thinks about the stories he would tell the men in prison with him at Ardsmuir, of which Robinson Crusoe is their favorite.
10	Jean-Jacques Rousseau	Julie, ou la nouvelle Héloïse (1761)
		Lord John is surprised to find that Jamie enjoys French novels.
	Daniel Defoe	Robinson Crusoe (1719)
		Lord John asks Jamie if he is familiar with the novel.
11	Samuel Richardson	Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded (1740)
		Jamie and Lord John discuss the length of the novel.
12	Bible	Acts 2
		Jamie thinks of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles, and its illustration in his mother's Bible.
14		Isaiah 14:12
		Lord John paraphrases the quotation to himself while looking at Jamie: "O Lucifer, thou son of the morning..."
15	John Cleland	Fanny Hill (1748)
		Jamie is reading the novel when he is summoned to ready the coach to travel to Ellesmere.
21	Robert Burns	"The Author’s Earnest Cry and Prayer" (1786)
		Roger and Brianna show Claire an article they believe to have been written by Jamie: "Freedom an’ whisky gang thegither!"
Part V	Thomas Wolfe	You Can't Go Home Again (1940)
		Title of Part V
22	Joseph Jacobs	"The Sprightly Tailor" from Celtic Fairy Tales (1892)
		Roger quotes the story to Claire, explaining that he can never sleep on All Hallows' Eve because of the scary stories his father told him growing up: "See'st thou this great gray head, with jaws which have no meat?"
27	Alexander Carmichael (editor)	"Fois Anama (Soul Peace)" from the Carmina Gadelica, vol. I (1900)
		Jamie tells Ian to say this prayer after taking a life.
		"An Treoraich Anama (The Soul Leading)" from the Carmina Gadelica, vol. I (1900)
		A shorter prayer for when time is short, as in battle.
28	John Milton	Paradise Lost (1667)
		Claire asks Jamie if it was the archangel Michael who drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden.
29	Sir Walter Scott	Marmion, Canto VI, XVII (1808)
		Claire quotes the lines to Jamie while they wait for Ian to finish going to confession: "Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!"
32	Robert Frost	"The Death of the Hired Man" (1914)
		Claire says the quote to Young Ian as reassurance as they approach Lallybroch: "Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in."
	Bible	Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32)
		Jamie mentions the passage as his own reassurance to Ian. Also used in the chapter title.
33	Tacitus	Agricola (ca. 98)
		Claire recalls the line as something that a contemporary of the Duke of Cumberland ascribed to the Duke's achievement in the aftermath of the Jacobite rising of 1745: "He created a desert and called it peace."
	William Shakespeare	Hamlet, Act II, scene 2, lines 378-379 (ca. 1599)
		Jamie refers to the line to assure Claire he knows the difference between naked women and food: "I am but mad north-north-west: when the wind is / southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw."
37		Romeo and Juliet, Act II, scene 2, line 43 (1597)
		Chapter title: What's in A Name
38	John Arbuthnot	Law is a Bottomless Pit (1712)
		Ned Gowan refers to the title, having finished laying out the settlement between Jamie and Laoghaire.
39	Thomas Wolfe	Look Homeward, Angel (1929)
		Chapter title: Lost, and by the Wind Grieved
40	Robert Louis Stevenson	"Dead Man's Chest" from Treasure Island (1883)
		Claire quotes the fictional song as she and Jamie discuss the possible origins of the silkies' treasure: "Fifteen men on the dead man's chest— ...Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!"
41	Henry Wadsworth Longfellow	"The Building of a Ship" from The Seaside and the Fireside (1850)
		Claire quotes the lines when they set sail from Scotland to rescue Young Ian: "And see! She stirs! / She starts,—she moves,—she seems to feel / The thrill of life along her keel, ..."
42	A. E. Housman	"The rainy Pleiads wester" from More Poems (1936)
		Claire quotes the lines to Jamie while they look at the moon aboard the Artemis: "The rainy Pleiads wester / Orion plunges prone, / And midnight strikes and hastens / And I lie down alone."
		"Because I liked you" from More Poems (1936)
		Claire thinks of another Housman poem while thinking of Jamie's gravestone in Scotland in the 20th century: "Halt by the headstone naming / The heart no longer stirred, / And say the lad that loved you / Was one that kept his word."
50	Samuel Taylor Coleridge	The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1798)
		Claire thinks of the lines when she finds herself washed up on an island covered in mangroves, and inhabited by strange animals: "Water, water, every where, Nor any drop to drink."
52	Bible	Song of Solomon 2:5-6
		Claire paraphrases the passage to Jamie, who is describing his plan for the next time they have sufficient space and time to be alone together: "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."
	Lewis Carroll	The Hunting of the Snark (1874)
		As Fergus and Marsali complete their nuptials, Claire quotes the line to Jamie and kisses him: "What I tell you three times is true."
58	Edgar Allan Poe	"The Masque of the Red Death"
		Chapter title
	A. E. Housman	"Oh Who Is That Young Sinner" from Additional Poems (1937)
		Claire recites the poem to Jamie, who is adding the final touches to his disguise for the governor's ball.
60	Alexander Carmichael (editor)	"Am Beannachadh Bais (The Death Blessing)" from the Carmina Gadelica, vol. I (1900)
		Geillis tells Jamie and Claire the story of her escape from Castle Leoch: "God, omit not this woman from thy covenant..."

Drums of Autumn

Chapter	Source	Reference
8	Petronius (attributed) Ben Jonson (translation)	"Fragmentum Petron. Arbitr." Under-woods. Consisting of Divers Poems (1640)
		Jamie recites the lines in Latin to Claire, after his advances are stymied by the presence of Ian and their other companions: "Foeda est in coitu, & brevis voluptas, / Et taedet Veneris statim per actae." (Doing, a filthy pleasure is, and short ; / And done, we straight repent us of the sport.)
	Homer	Odyssey (8th century BC)
		Jamie recites passages in Ancient Greek, attempting to tutor Ian in Greek and Latin.
	Plautus	Amphitryon, lines 648-653 (ca. 205–184 BC)
		Jamie prompts Ian for the lines in Latin, with less than favorable results.
	Virgil	Aeneid, line 1 (ca. 29–19 BC)
		Claire Fraser admits that the line is all she remembers of her Latin instruction: "Arma virumque cano."
	John O'Keeffe	The Agreeable Surprise (1781)
		Jamie recites a poem, to Claire and Ian's amusement: "Amo, amas, I love a lass..."
9	Bible	Proverbs 31:10
		Stephen Bonnet paraphrases the passage: "A virtuous woman is prized above rubies; her price is greater than pearls."
		Matthew 6:34
		Claire quotes the passage: "Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."
12		Song of Solomon 7:4
		Phillip Wylie quotes the beginning of the line to Claire, who finishes it: "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."
13	Aristophanes	The Frogs (405 BC)
		Jamie quotes the frogs' refrain to Claire: "Brek-ek-ek-ex, co-ax, co-ax. Brek-ek-ek-ex, co-ax!"
	Bible	Ruth 1:16-17
		Claire quotes the lines to Jamie: "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."
		Matthew 5:7
		Jamie quotes the line to Claire in trying to explain why he didn't let Claire attend to a dying man: "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall find mercy."
14	Bible	Luke 3:7
		Chapter title: Flee from Wrath to Come
	Traditional	"The Fause Bride (I Loved a Lass)"
		Claire thinks of the lines while she and Jamie, along with Ian, John Quincy Myers, and Pollyanne, make their way into the mountains: "How many strawberries grow in the salt sea; how many ships sail in the forest?"
15	Bible	Matthew 6:30, Job 5:7, Psalm 103:15-16
		Claire paraphrases a few different verses: "Man is like the grass that withers and is thrown into the fire... He is like the sparks that fly upward... and his place will know him no more."
		Psalm 103:15-16, Matthew 6:30, 1 Peter 1:24-25
		Jamie likewise paraphrases the sentiments of multiple verses: "Man is like the grass of the field: today it blooms; tomorrow it withers and is cast into the oven." These, as well as other verses, lend meaning to their overall conversation – that life on Earth is fleeting, but love (i.e. the word of God) endures forever.
18	Traditional	"Je t'aime un peu, beaucoup, passionnément, pas du tout" (He loves me... he loves me not)
		Roger gives Brianna a bracelet inscribed with the French version of the game.
19	Alexander Carmichael (editor)	"Teisreadh Taighe (House Protecting)" from the Carmina Gadelica, vol. I (1900)
		Jamie blesses the hearth: "God, bless the world and all that is therein..."
	Alexander Carmichael (collector) James Carmichael Watson (editor)	"An Saodachadh (The Driving)" from the Carmina Gadelica, vol. IV (1941)
		Duncan performs a blessing to protect the livestock: "The safeguard of Fionn mac Cumhall be yours..."
20	Marcus Aurelius	Meditations, Book III, passage 16 (170 to 180 AD)
		Jamie recites the translation aloud while he and Ian work on building the cabin: "Body, soul, and mind: the body for sensation, the soul for the springs of action, the mind for principles..."
22	Virgil / Concise Oxford Dictionary of Quotations	Aeneid, Book IV, line 23 (ca. 29–19 BC)
		Chapter title: Spark of an Ancient Flame
23	T. S. Eliot	"Whispers of Immortality" from Poems (1919)
		Chapter title: The Skull Beneath the Skin
	William Shakespeare	Hamlet, Act V, Scene 1, lines 163-164 (ca. 1599)
		Claire quotes the line when she discovers a human skull buried beneath a tree, and ponders how long ago the person may have died: "How long will a man lie i' the earth ere he / rot?"
	John Keats	"Written in Disgust of Vulgar Superstition" (1816)
		Claire recites the poem to the skull.
		"Ode on a Grecian Urn" (1820)
		Claire quotes the line to the skull: "Forever wilt thou love, and she be fair!"
	Percy Bysshe Shelley	"Ode to the West Wind" from Prometheus Unbound (1820)
		Claire recites the ode to the skull.
		Prometheus Unbound, Act I, line 262 (1820)
		Claire thinks of the line while she watches the light draw closer: "Fiend, I defy thee! with a calm, fixed mind."
25	Epicharmus	Thearoi, "Visitors to Delphi"
		Lord John and Jamie make reference to the Greek comic writer, having seen William after his excursion into the privy.
	Pindar	Olympian 1: For Hieron of Syracuse Single Horse Race 476 B. C.
		Claire offers up her own epigram, handing a jar of soap to William: "Water is best."
26	Thomas Aquinas	Tantum Ergo from Pange Lingua Gloriosi Corporis Mysterium (c. 1264)
		Claire sings to the dying Indian man in the corncrib. (See also: Music)
27	Richard Brautigan	Trout Fishing in America (1967)
		Chapter title: Trout Fishing in America
37	Herman Melville	Moby-Dick (1851)
		Roger thinks about Stephen Bonnet's reputation, and reflects that he would have sailed with Captain Ahab, so desperate was he to follow Brianna to North Carolina.
38	William Whiting	"Eternal Father, Strong to Save" (1860)
		Chapter title: For Those in Peril on the Sea
	Traditional / John Gregorson Campbell	Superstitions of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland: Collected Entirely from Oral Sources (1900)
		Roger watches a small girl, Isobeàil, expend pent-up energy on deck, chanting tunelessly: "Seven herrings are a salmon's fill, / Seven salmon are a seal's fill, / Seven seals are a whale's fill, And seven whales the fill of a Cirein Croin!"
40	South Asian parable / John Godfrey Saxe	Blind men and an elephant
		Brianna references the story while she and Roger undress to have sex for the first time: "No, the beast is like a wall... no, the beast is like a rope, like a snake..."
43	William Butler Yeats	"The Lake Isle of Innisfree" from The Countess Kathleen and Various Legends and Lyrics (1892)
		Brianna recalls the poem to Jamie, that Frank would quote it when Claire was in her garden.
62	Timothy Fuller	Three Thirds of a Ghost (1941)
		Chapter title

The Fiery Cross

Chapter	Source	Reference
1	Proverb	"Happy is the bride that the sun shines on; happy is the corpse that the rain rains on."
		Jamie says the proverb to Claire, in light of the overcast sky: "Happy the bride the sun shines on; happy the corpse the rain falls on."
12	Bible	Luke 6:19
		Jamie quotes the verse to Claire, who has been tending to the sick and wounded all morning: "And the whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went virtue out of him, and healed them all."
13	Proverb	"A' are gude lasses, but where do the ill wives come frae?"
		Jamie quotes the proverb to Roger: "All are gude lasses, but where do the ill wives come frae?"
16	Alexander Carmichael (editor)	(poem fragment) from the Carmina Gadelica, vol. II (1900)
		Roger sings for Brianna on their wedding night: "On the night that our wedding is on us, I will come leaping to thee with gifts..."
18	Alexander Carmichael (collector) James Carmichael Watson (editor)	"Beannachdan (Blessings)" from the Carmina Gadelica, vol. III (1940)
		Jamie has a sudden memory of his mother, and says a brief prayer: "May God make safe to me each step..."
25		"Beannachadh Tàimh (Rest Benediction)" from the Carmina Gadelica, vol. III (1940)
		Jamie and Claire pray in bed the night before leaving with the militia: "And bless, O bless to me the angeling of my rest."
36	Julian of Norwich	Revelations of Divine Love (1395)
		Claire quotes the lines to Adso: "All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well."
74	Bible	Mark 6:25-27, Matthew 14:8-11
		At Mrs. Sherston's request, Brianna paints her as Salome. Bree chooses to paint the severed head of John the Baptist with a strong resemblance to Governor Tryon.
78	William Shakespeare	MacBeth, Act IV, scene 1, lines 14-15 (ca. 1606)
		Claire quotes the lines while examining the contents of the amulet pouch that Nayawenne gave to her: "Eye of newt and toe of frog, / Wool of bat and tongue of dog..."
84	Mark Twain	Mark Twain's Letters, Volume 2 (1917)
		Claire says the quote to Jamie after they have survived the lightning strike: "Thunder is good, thunder is impressive; but it is lightning that does the work."

A Breath of Snow and Ashes

Chapter	Source	Reference
2	Bible	Job 19:7-29
		Roger recites the passage as he and the others preside over a funeral for the anonymous Dutch family: "Behold, I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard..."
19	Alexander Carmichael (collector) James Carmichael Watson (editor)	"Achan Ìosa (Prayer to Jesus)" from the Carmina Gadelica, vol. III (1940)
		The folk of Fraser's Ridge finish the haymaking and Jamie says a prayer aloud for the group: "I say the prayer from my mouth, I say the prayer from my heart..."
35	Tobias Smollett	The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle (1751)
		Malva reads aloud from the book while Marsali is in labor.
	Henry Fielding	The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling (1749)
		Malva, Ian and Jamie discuss literature and friendship.
	Ovid	Tristia (I, ix, 5)
		Jamie quotes the poet during their discussion: "So long as you are secure you will count many friends; if your life becomes clouded you will be alone."
72	Reginald Heber	"From Greenland’s icy mountains" (1819)
		Claire quotes the lines to Jamie, observing the beauty of River Run's environs in the wake of Jocasta's revelation about Phaedre's paternity: "Though every prospect pleases, / And only man is vile; ..."
89	William Shakespeare	Julius Caesar, Act I, Scene 2, Line 195 (1599)
		Ian quotes the line to Jamie while they talk about Richard Brown: "He thinks too much: such men are dangerous."
116	Christopher Marlowe	The Jew of Malta (1590)
		Brianna quotes the line to Lord John when they talk of Geneva Dunsany and her father: "But that was in another country,/ And besides, the wench is dead."

An Echo in the Bone

Chapter	Source	Reference
1	Bible	Matthew 27:35 / John 19:24
		Lord John paraphrases the verse: "And for his vesture, they cast lots."
4	Clement Clarke Moore	"A Visit from St. Nicholas" (also known as "The Night Before Christmas" and "'​Twas the Night Before Christmas") (1823)
		Claire quotes the poem at the wake for Mrs. Bug and Grannie MacLeod: "The moon on the breast of the new fallen snow, / Gave the luster of mid-day to objects below..."
	John Donne	Devotions upon Emergent Occasions (1624)
		Jamie and Claire discuss Meditation XVII: "No man is an island, entire of itself..."
	Bible	Psalm 23
		Claire sings the psalm in Gaelic at Mrs. Bug's funeral: "Is e Dia fèin a’s buachaill dhomh" (The Lord is my shepherd.)
11	Alexander Carmichael (editor)	"An Cath Nach Tainig (The Battle to Come)" from the Carmina Gadelica, vol. I (1900)
		Jamie blesses Claire before she leaves to deliver Lizzie's second child.
		"Bride Ban-Cobhair (Bride the Aid-Woman)" from the Carmina Gadelica, vol. I (1900)
		Jamie prays for Lizzie and her unborn child.
	Bible	Job 5:7
		Jamie considers the meaning of the verse while walking to the Beardsleys' cabin: "Yet man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward."
12	William Butler Yeats	"The Lake Isle of Innisfree" from The Countess Kathleen and Various Legends and Lyrics (1892)
		Claire recalls the poem while taking her leave of Fraser's Ridge.
18	Archie Bell & the Drells	"Tighten Up" (1968)
		Claire quotes a line from the song to Jamie: "We don't only sing but we dance / Just as good as we walk."
27	Lewis Carroll	Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865)
		Brianna likens her harrowing journey through the tunnel to Alice falling down the White Rabbit's hole.
29	Samuel Johnson	A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland (1775)
		Roger talks to Mr. Menzies about Jem's punishment for speaking the "barbarous Erse" at school.
30	Henry Wadsworth Longfellow	Tales of a Wayside Inn, Part III, The Theologian's Tale: Elizabeth, IV (1863)
		Chapter title: "Ships That Pass in the Night"
	Rudyard Kipling	"If—" (1895)
		Claire thinks of the first lines of the poem while observing Jamie's ability to keep calm in dire circumstances: "If you can keep your head when all about you/ Are losing theirs and blaming it on you ..."
	Felicia Dorothea Hemans	"Casabianca" (1826)
		Claire quotes the first lines of the poem while Jamie and John Smith consider their options as an unknown ship approaches the Pitt: "The boy stood on the burning deck/ Whence all but he had fled ..."
	Oliver Goldsmith	The Art of Poetry on a New Plan, vol. ii. p. 147 (1761)
		Captain Asa Hickman uses the saying to convey the reasoning for his plan of action regarding Captain Stebbings and the Teal: "For he who fights and runs away/ May live to fight another day"
	Jerome Kern (music) Ira Gershwin (lyrics)	"Long Ago (and Far Away)" (1944)
		Claire quotes the song title when she and Jamie recall Mr. Willoughby.
32	Prayer cycle in the Canonical Hours	Office of the Dead, third Nocturne of Matins
		Lord John quotes the line to Harry Quarry to explain concisely his troubled thoughts: "Timor mortis conturbat me" ("The fear of death disturbs me").
34	Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.	The Constitution of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, "Directory for Worship" (1901)
		Roger quotes the Constitution of the American Presbyterian Church.
	Douglas Adams	The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1978)
		Roger and Brianna use the name of the BBC radio show to refer to the guide to time travel that they start writing.
	Mark M. Boatner III	Encyclopedia of the American Revolution (1966)
		Brianna notices a few new history books that Roger bought.
	Joseph Plumb Martin	A Narrative of a Revolutionary Soldier
		Brianna notices a few new history books that Roger bought.
36	H. Ranger	Harris's List of Covent Garden Ladies (1757-1795)
		William thinks of his copy of the annual directory whilst journeying through the Great Dismal Swamp.
	Aristophanes	The Frogs (405 BC)
		William quotes the frogs' refrain while wandering through the swamp: "Brek-ek-ek-ex, co-ax, co-ax. Brek-ek-ek-ex, co-ax!"
46	Alexander Carmichael (editor)	"Eolas Chnamh Chir (The Cud Chewing Charm)" from the Carmina Gadelica, vol. II (1900)
		Roger reads aloud from the Carmina Gadelica.
		"Eolas A Mheirbhein (The Indigestion Spell)" from the Carmina Gadelica, vol. II (1900)
		Roger reads aloud from the Carmina Gadelica.
		"Duan an Daoil (Poem of the Beetle)" from the Carmina Gadelica, vol. II (1900)
		Roger reads aloud from the Carmina Gadelica.
	Alexander Carmichael (collector) James Carmichael Watson (editor)	"An Eala Bhàn (The White Swan)" from the Carmina Gadelica, vol. IV (1941)
		Roger reads aloud from the Carmina Gadelica.
47	Bible	Song of Solomon 8:6
		The quotation comes to Roger as he feels jealousy hearing Rob Cameron sing: "Love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire"
52	William Shakespeare	Hamlet (ca. 1599)
		Claire compares Mrs. Raven to Ophelia.
57	Bible	Matthew 24:20
		Claire thinks of the verse while considering the refugees from Fort Ticonderoga: "But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day"
58	William Shakespeare	Macbeth, Act IV, Scene i, Line 79 (1606)
		Percy Wainwright uses the line to describe the difference between Lord John and the Baron Amandine, ascribing the quote to the former: "Bloody, bold, and resolute"
59	Bible	Matthew 27:51
		The sentiment of the line comes to William when a letter arrives for General Burgoyne from General Howe: "And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent ..."
61	Laurence Sterne	The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, Vol. I (1759)
		Jamie finds a copy of the first volume, abandoned, and brings it to give to Claire. Jamie reads aloud a sentence from Chapter 3.XVI: "So that the life of a writer, whatever he might fancy to the contrary, was not so much a state of composition, as a state of warfare; and his probation in it, precisely that of any other man militant upon earth,—both depending alike, not half so much upon the degrees of his wit—as his Resistance."
62	Bible	Genesis 18:24
		Jamie quotes the passage to Claire to explain how he feels about the loss of his finger: "Wilt thou not destroy the city, for the sake of fifty just men?"
64	Robert Browning	"Andrea del Sarto" from Men and Women (1855)
		In response to Major General Arnold's question about the philosophy of endeavor, Jamie quotes the lines, which he had heard from Claire: "Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, / Or what's a heaven for?"
	Sir Walter Scott	Tales of a grandfather: being stories taken from Scottish history, Volume 1 (1828)
		Claire references the legend about Robert the Bruce and the spider to illustrate how even some small thing can have a huge influence.
74	T. S. Eliot	"Whispers of Immortality" from Poems (1919)
		Claire quotes the lines to Andy Bell as they see about fixing the leakage of Brigadier General Simon Fraser's coffin: "And saw the skull beneath the skin; / And breastless creatures under ground / Leaned backward with a lipless grin."
	Lewis Carroll	Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865)
		Claire thinks of the line as she struggles to begin writing her book: "Begin at the beginning, and go on till you come to the end: then stop."
75	Bible	Job 7:10
		Claire thinks of the line during Brigadier General Simon Fraser's burial: "And his place will know him no more."
76		Psalm 22:17
		Claire thinks of the line when she sees how the elder Ian's illness has ravaged his body: "I can count all my bones . . ."

Written in My Own Heart's Blood

Chapter	Source	Reference
10	Bible	John 20:29
		Jamie thinks of the line while sitting with George Washington and his men, pondering the odd feeling of meeting someone Claire had already told him about: "Blessed are those who have not seen but have believed."
33	Samuel Beckett	The Unnamable (1954)
		Roger feels calmer after a night's sleep at Lallybroch, and thinks of the line while considering what lay before him: "I can't go on, I'll go on."
40	Bible	Hebrews 13:2
		Buck quotes the passage in Gaelic to Dougal: "Do not forget to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares."
		John 20:29
		Roger thinks of the line after meeting Dougal MacKenzie: "Blessed are those who have not seen but have believed."
48	William Shakespeare	Romeo and Juliet (1597)
		Ian remarks that love is not usually a fatal condition, and Denny agrees, though cites the feuding Montague and Capulet families as an exception.
95	Walt Whitman	"I Sing the Body Electric" from Leaves of Grass, Book IV "Children of Adam" (1855/1867)
		Brianna recites the lines to herself as she contemplates ley lines, the practice of focusing on loved ones for time travel, and Roger: "I sing the body electric, / The armies of those I love engirth me ..." The Body Electric also serves as the chapter title.
128	Alexander Carmichael (editor)	"Beannachadh Seilg (Hunting Blessing)" from the Carmina Gadelica, vol. I (1900)
		Jamie says a verse from the blessing for Germain while he and the other men are fishing and gigging frogs: "Thou shalt not eat fallen fish nor fallen flesh, / Nor one bird that thy hand shall not bring down, / Be thou thankful for the one, / Though nine should be swimming."
134	Alexander Carmichael (collector) James Carmichael Watson (editor)	"An Tuiream Bàis (The Death Dirge)" from the Carmina Gadelica, vol. III (1940)
		Jamie says the prayer in English at Jane's funeral, for the benefit of the non-Gaelic speakers.

Lord John Grey series

"Lord John and the Hellfire Club"

Chapter	Source	Reference
3	Francis Bacon	Essays, XIII. Of Goodness and Goodness of Nature (1612/1625)
		Lord John begins the quote, and George Everett finishes it: "The desire of power in excess caused the angels to fall; the desire of knowledge in excess caused man to fall."

Lord John and the Private Matter

Chapter	Source	Reference
1	William Shakespeare	Romeo and Juliet, Act III, scene 1, lines 96-97 (1597)
		Lord John Grey, having seen what he thinks is a syphilitic sore on Joseph Trevelyan's prick, thinks of the lines to himself, paraphrased: "Not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a door.... But it will suffice."
6	Christopher Marlowe	The Jew of Malta (1590)
		Lord John, while laying beside the whore, Nessie, recalls Jamie Fraser's wife, who had similarly curly hair: "But that was in another country,/ And besides, the wench is dead."
11	Edmund Burke	A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful (1757)
		Benedicta Grey is reading "Edmund's latest" when Lord John asks her about the wine she served at her German party the week before.
	John Cleland	Fanny Hill (1748)
		Benedicta offers the novel as an alternative choice for Lord John. In the following chapter, John finds himself still carrying the copy of Fanny Hill when he meets with Harry Quarry, who is amused by an inscription, addressed to Benedicta, on the title page.

"Lord John and the Succubus"

Chapter	Source	Reference
Epilogue	Bible	Job 39:19-25
		Lord John quotes the passage to himself before the battle to come: "Hast thou given the horse strength? hast thou clothed his neck with thunder? ... He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength: he goeth on to meet the armed men. He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted; neither turneth he back from the sword. ... He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha; and he smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting."

Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade

Chapter	Source	Reference
1	Henry Fielding	The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling (1749)
		Lord John thinks about stepfathers as depicted in fiction, and puts the question to Hal whether their new stepfather will be like Squire Allworthy of Fielding's novel.
	William Shakespeare	Hamlet (ca. 1599)
		Lord John suggests the character of Claudius as another possibility on the question of stepfathers.
	Bible	New Testament
		Lord John remembers Saint Joseph as another famous stepfather of literature.
8	Church of England	Book of Common Prayer (1662)
		Lord John attends Geneva Dunsany's funeral and thinks of passages from the Book of Common Prayer.
	Bible / Henry Purcell	Psalm 130: 1-7
		Lord John hears the lines of the hymn during Geneva's funeral service: "Out of the deep have I called unto Thee, O Lord: Lord, hear my voice"
	Episcopal Church	Book of Common Prayer (1979)
		Lord John hears the lines during Geneva's funeral service: "Give courage and faith to those who are bereaved, that they may have strength to meet the days ahead in the comfort of a reasonable and holy hope, in the joyful expectation of eternal life with those they love."
12	Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus	Epitoma Rei Militaris (ca. 385-450)
		Lord John peruses Melton's library in search of suitable volumes for Percy's military edification, and quotes a line to himself: "Few men are born brave; many become so through care and force of discipline."
	Éléazar de Mauvillon	Histoire de la Dernière Guerre de Bohème (1756)
		Lord John selects the first volume for Percy to read.
	Virgil	Aeneid (ca. 29–19 BC)
		Lord John selects the volume for Percy to read.
19	Matthew Bacon	A new abridgement of the law: by a gentleman of the Middle Temple, vol. IV (1759)
		Percy reads a passage to Lord John about the crime of sodomy.
35	Catullus	Catullus 101
		Lord John reads an unsigned note from Percy, and intones a sentiment similar to Catullus' poem: "Ave atque vale, frater meus." Hail—and farewell.

"The Custom of the Army"

Chapter	Source	Reference
n/a	Bible	Matthew 5:6
		Charles Carruthers quotes the verse to Lord John after entrusting him with what he knows about Gerald Siverly's corruption: "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled."
	Thomas Gray	Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, lines 33-36 (1751)
		General Wolfe intones lines from the poem while he, Lord John, and the other soldiers approach the Plains of Abraham by ship: "The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, / And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave, / Awaits alike the inevitable hour. / The paths of glory lead but to the grave."

The Scottish Prisoner

Chapter	Source	Reference
4	Abbé Prévost	Manon Lescaut (1731)
		Lord John peruses the volume while watching Mr. Beasley at work on Charles Carruthers' testimony against Gerald Siverly.
5	William Congreve	The Mourning Bride, Act III, scene 2, and Act I, scene 1 (1697)
		Jamie thinks of the lines, as well as the full scene, while he drives Lady Isobel into town: "Heav'n has no Rage, like Love to Hatred turn'd, / Nor Hell a Fury, like a Woman scorn'd."
7	Samuel Johnson / James Boswell	Life of Samuel Johnson (1791)
		Chapter title: When a Man Is Tired of London, He Is Tired of Life
9	Barthold Heinrich Brockes	Irdisches Vergnügen in Gott (1721–1748)
		Mr. Frobisher recites a German poem while dining with Lord John, Harry Quarry, and Stephan von Namtzen.
14	Julius Caesar	Commentarii de Bello Gallico, Liber III.18 (58–49 BC)
		Lord John tells Jamie that his nephew, Benjamin, is reciting The Gallic War to Minerva, and he invariably loses his place at a certain passage: "Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt" (Men generally believe what they want to)
18	William Darrell	The Gentleman Instructed in the conduct of a virtuous and happy life (1727, 9th edition)
		Tom Byrd reads aloud from the book while he, Lord John, Jamie, and Tobias Quinn sit round the fire.
	John Arbuthnot	An Essay Concerning the Nature of Aliments, and the Choice of Them, According to the Different Constitutions of Human Bodies (1731)
		Lord John reflects that he would rather listen to Tom's recitation from The Gentleman Instructed than the lad's usual favorite by Arbuthnot.
20	William Shakespeare	Hamlet, Act I, scene 5, line 108 (ca. 1599)
		Jamie thinks of the line as he awaits his meeting with Gerald Siverly: "That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain."
22	Catullus	Catullus 3
		Lord John thinks of the lines while walking to Glastuig to face Siverly: "Qui nunc it per iter tenebricosum / illuc, unde negant redire quemquam." (Now he goes along the dark road, thither whence they say no man returns.)
23	Bible	Proverbs 28:1
		Lord John thinks of the verse while in pursuit of a fleeing Siverly: "The guilty flee where no man pursueth."
24	Homer / Alexander Pope	Iliad, Book XVII (8th century BC, trans. 1715)
		Jamie reads the work in Greek while waiting for Lord John to return from Glastuig. The translation on the page is by Pope: "Not thus the lion glories in his might, / Nor panther braves his spotted foe in fight, / Nor thus the boar, those terrors of the plain; / Man only vaunts his force, and vaunts in vain."
28	Traditional	"The Frog and Mouse"
		Lord John, feeling mildly dazed by the chorus of frogs surrounding him and Jamie, makes reference to the song ("Croakle dum-ho") and promises to sing it to Jamie later.
	Bible	Job 7:10
		Lord John says the verse to himself as he finishes searching Siverly's house: "And his place shall know him no more."
29	Rudyard Kipling	"If—" (1895)
		Lord John thinks of a line that would be good for a poem – "If you can hold on to your stomach when all about you are losing theirs..." – which would seem to be a parodied nod to Kipling's poem, published over a century later.
31	Edmund Burke	A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful (1757)
		Jamie emerges from Hal's library carrying the volume, at the sound of the latter's demand to know where "that bloody Scotchman" is.
	Cicero	Tusculanae Disputationes (45 BC)
		Lord John is relieved that Jamie does not have Cicero's Disputations in hand, these being likely to inflict more damage as a weapon in the hands of the angry Scot.
32	Traditional / Dorothy L. Sayers	"The Three Ravens"
		Lord John thinks of the lines as he readies himself for the duel with Edward Twelvetrees: "God send each noble man at his end / Such hawks, such hounds, and such a friend."