Black Jack Randall Real Or Fiction
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In this alternate universe story, Black Jack Randall sits in his rooms at Fort William and dreams of all the moments they might have shared if things had gone differently. Is it disappointment he feels or is there something he still cannot bring himself to admit? The actor Tobias Menzies, who has portrayed both Frank and Black Jack Randall, shared his post-mortem on the Randalls’ open marriage in a recent phone interview. The following are edited.
Outlander saw its most evil villain Captain Jonathan “Black Jack” Randall (played by Tobias Menzies) perish many seasons ago. Nevertheless, some fans have been wondering about him. He died at the Battle of Culloden at the hands of Highlander Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan). During the three seasons he featured on the Starz show, he proved to be the most dangerous and violent.
Was Captain Black Jack Randall a real person?
WARNING: This article contains spoilers from the Outlander TV series and Diana Gabaldon’s novels
Black Jack was a looming figure in seasons one to three of Outlander as he terrorised Claire Fraser (Caitriona Balfe) and her husband Jamie.
The character’s cruelty and sadistic ways knew no bounds as he used rape and violence to control others.
Season one featured a horrific sexual assault as Black Jack raped and tortured Jamie in a harrowing and prolonged ordeal.
Jamie was left broken and a shell of the man he used to be, loathed to the touch of his wife after Black Jack used psychological means to harm the Highlander as well as physical.
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But how much is the character rooted in reality and how much was borne from US author Diana Gabaldon’s imagination?
According to Screen Rant, Gabaldon didn’t base Black Jack on any real-life historical figures unlike Geillis Duncan (Lotte Verbeek) and other Jacobite Lords.
Captain Black Jack Randall Real Or Fiction
Outlander also featured some real figures including the Duke of Sandringham (Simon Callow) and Bonnie Prince Charlie (Andrew Gower).
The character of Jamie was inspired by an account Gabaldon read with the writer previously telling National Geographic in 2014: “I was reading a book for research called the Prince in the Heather, by Eric Linklater, which described what happened after Culloden.
“It said that, following the battle, 19 wounded Jacobite officers took refuge in the farmhouse by the side of the field.
“There they lay for two days with their wounds, unattended in pain. At the end of that time they were taken out and shot, except one man, a Fraser of the Master of Lovet’s regiment, who survived the slaughter.
“And I was thinking that if I expect Jamie to survive Culloden then his last name better be Fraser.”
The real-life Battle of Culloden did happen was depicted in the show. Historically, there were a number of Redcoats who could fit the bill for Black Jack and his tendencies towards violence and hatred for the Scots.
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Newspaper The Scotsman has suggested several possible candidates who may have been the real-life equivalent of Black Jack.
At the top of the list is Captain Caroline Frederick Scott, who is described by the publication as having a “brutal streak”.
In the book Culloden: Scotland’s Last Battle by historian Trevor Royale, Scott was said to have been led by “visceral dislike of Highlanders” and had a vendetta against Bonnie Prince Charlie.
This Redcoat is said to have roamed the Highlands, pillaging and raping with his men as he went.
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In one account from the laird of Raasay, Scott’s men sexually assaulted a blind woman and two girls.
However, he wasn’t the only one with Captain John Fergusson known for his abuse of prisoners during the 1745 uprising.
In a disquieting account from one prisoner Felix O’Neill, he claimed Ferguson “used me with the barbarity of a pirate”.
The prisoner claims he was stripped and whipped which is reminiscent of the punishment Black Jack inflicted on Jamie.
Black Jack Randall Real Or Fiction Authors
Other Redcoats from history include Major James Lockhart, Colonel Edward Cornwallis and Colonel John Grant.
These figures were known for their partiality for indiscriminate violence both psychical and sexual as well as burning and stealing from their victims.
Outlander seasons 1 to 5 are streaming on Amazon Prime Video now
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