‘Outlander’ Season 6: Sam Heughan Explains Special Meaning of Jamie’s Kilt
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[Warning: This article contains MAJOR spoilers for Outlander Season 6 Episode 3, “Temperance.”]
Sam Heughan is answering some questions about Jamie Fraser’s clothes in Outlander Season 6.
The third episode of the season, “Temperance,” aired March 20 on Starz. It ended with Jamie thwarting Fergus’ attempt on his own life after a prolonged mental health struggle. After the episode aired, fans questioned a small detail about what Heughan was wearing in the scene.
Jamie had just gone fishing when he came upon Fergus. One fan noticed Jamie’s kilt and asked, “I’m also curious…why the return of the kilt…to go fishing?” Heughan explained it was a private moment of pride for the Scot.
“It was still illegal to wear a kilt at that time, punishment would be huge,” Heughan tweeted. “Jamie can’t risk it in the presence of the crown, especially potentially working for them. However, when he’s alone, on his own land with no risk, he can reveal who he really is.”
It was still illegal to wear a kilt at that time,punishment would be huge. Jamie can’t risk it in the presence of the crown, especially potentially working for them. However, when he’s alone, on his own land with no risk, he can reveal who he really is…. https://t.co/elIVp1Xstm
— Sam Heughan (@SamHeughan) March 22, 2022
Scottish tartans were banned after the Battle of Culloden. A flashback to Ardsmuir Prison in the Outlander Season 6 premiere showed Jamie taking the punishment for an elderly man’s possession of his clan’s colors.
Fans in the replies of Heughan’s tweet pointed out there were moments when Jamie wore his kilt in front of redcoat soldiers in Season 5. But Outlander author Diana Gabaldon noted in past tweets that the English forces weren’t as strict about enforcing the tartan law decades after Culloden.
“Nobody cared to enforce a law like that — pointless in the Colonies in 1770-ish,” she tweeted in 2019 in response to a fan questioning Jamie’s kilt. “Neither was there a large force to spare; the British regulars couldn’t cover even a third of the territory — thus the push to enlist Loyalists to militia companies.”
In 2020, Gabaldon explained why tartans were worn despite being banned again. And it lines up with Heughan’s explanation about Season 6 Episode 3.
“Probably not in the Colonies (the Diskilting Act was not, so far as I know, applied there) — and even if it was…nobody was going to take issue with a man wearing what he wanted to in the backcountry or the privacy of his own land,” Gabaldon tweeted.
Since Culloden, Jamie has always challenged laws against honoring his Highland culture. It’s been a balancing act over the years, but he always finds moments to do it. And it’s always a treat when he does.
Outlander, Season 6, Sundays, 9/8c, Starz
