Drums of Autumn

Scottish characters like Jamie and Jocasta feel a strong connection to the mountains in the colonies. For these characters, the mountains symbolize home and the life they had in Scotland. When Jamie treks out into the mountains as he leaves River Run, he feels a sense of peace he hasn’t felt since he reached the colonies. He tells Claire, “How shall I tell ye what it is, to feel the need of a place? […] The breath of the mountains, breathing their own breath in my nostrils […] If I am to live as a man, I must have a mountain” (393).

Jamie’s words show just how important the mountains were to his life in the Highlands, and how much they are intrinsically a part of him. When he and Bree go out hunting, Jamie notices how her body becomes accustomed to climbing as if she, too, has her Highlander genes ready to help her. The mountains serve as a symbol of the wildness and freedom of the so-called “new world,” however, they also serve as a powerful reminder of home to the Highlanders, who feel welcome among the mountains.