Outlander season 3: Who was the real Dun Bonnet?
Meet James Fraser, the real-life figure who spent 7 years hiding in a Scottish cave from the British forces...
Outlander season 3 sees Jamie Fraser heading off into hiding and being dubbed ‘The Dun Bonnet’ by the locals and British soldiers who are hoping to capture him.
But did you know that there was a real Dun Bonnet by the name of James Fraser? And that his real-life cave inspired Jamie’s new hideout?
Who was the Dun Bonnet and how did he get his name?
The story goes that James Fraser, chief of the Fraser Clan, hid in a cave for around seven years after the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745. The cave was hidden in the area around the village of Foyers on the eastern shore of Loch Ness.
The locals did their best to take care of Fraser, bringing him supplies during his time in hiding. They didn’t want to give away his location to the British troops who’d been sent by the Duke of Cumberland to patrol the area so they took to calling him 'Bonaid Odhair' (Dun Coloured Bonnet). The nickname allowed them to talk about the fugitive without Cumberland's men realising who they were talking about.
Where is the real James Fraser’s cave?
The entrance to the cave you see Jamie hiding out in in season 3 is located in an undisclosed part of Scotland, but the interior is actually built in the Outlander studio. The real James Fraser's cave is thought to be on the eastern shore of Loch Ness, not far from the Falls of Foyers.
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Many bloggers have written about their visits to the cave, and some tour companies run Outlander tours in the area.
New episodes of Outlander are available to stream every Monday on Amazon Prime Video in the UK
