Sir Marcus MacRannoch is the owner of Eldridge Manor, located near Wentworth Prison.
Personal History[]
Though he is introduced as Sir Marcus MacRannoch, it is not clear whether he may be a knight or a baronet.
Events of the Novels[]
Outlander[]
One of MacRannoch's woodsmen rescues Claire Fraser from the wolves outside Wentworth Prison, and brings her to Eldridge Manor to be dealt with by Sir Marcus. Though he is sympathetic to her story about Jamie's imprisonment and her failed rescue attempt, he insists there is nothing he can do, until he sees Ellen's pearls. Claire offers them as payment for his help, but instead he tells her that it was he that gave those pearls to Ellen as a wedding present, and he himself had courted her before she chose someone else. Still, Sir Marcus is very reluctant to incur the wrath of the prison's governor.
Eventually, Claire proposes a scheme to rescue Jamie in which Sir Marcus will not be implicated – a plan involving Sir Marcus' prized Highland cattle and a skilled cattle-lifter. MacRannoch is persuaded to help Jamie escape from Scotland, in return for getting his cows back. That night, Rupert's men drive the cattle into the prison through the door Claire escaped from previously. MacRannoch calls on Sir Fletcher Gordon and demands to know why his cows are being concealed on prison property. When he and his men go down to the dungeons to retrieve the cattle, they rescue Jamie and bring him back to Eldridge Manor.
MacRannoch helps Claire reset Jamie's broken hand and applies antiseptic to Jamie's wounds. He tells Jamie that Jack Randall was trampled to death by the cattle. MacRannoch helps Jamie to cut out the mark that Randall branded on Jamie's chest.
Weeks later, MacRannoch sends Jamie and Claire a parcel while they are at the Abbey of Ste. Anne de Beaupré – it contains the skin of the wolf that Claire killed, and a pearl bracelet to match the necklace that he gave Ellen MacKenzie on her wedding day.
Personality[]
MacRannoch is a loud, brash man, though pragmatic and not unsympathetic.
Physical Appearance[]
Described as a large man with silvered black hair, thick-set shoulders and small round eyes like blueberries in his late middle age with a neatly trimmed spade beard and a military bearing.[1]
Name[]
- Marcus is a Roman praenomen, or given name, which was probably derived from the name of the Roman god Mars,[2] possibly related to Latin mas "male" (genitive maris).[3]
- MacRannoch is a patronymic composed from the Gaelic words mac meaning "son" and Raineach or Raithneach meaning "bracken". Rannoch is an area of the Scottish Highlands, where a loch and a moor are also so named.[4]
Trivia[]
- MacRannoch was one of Ellen MacKenzie's suitors and gave her the pearl necklace.
- He is the owner of Eldridge Manor in Outlander however, it is called Eldridge Hall in Cross Stitch.
TV Series[]
Scottish actor Brian McCardie portrays Sir Marcus MacRannoch in the STARZ Outlander television series.
Appearances[]
References[]
- ↑ Outlander, chapter 36
- ↑ Behind the Name: Marcus - accessed 07 July 2016
- ↑ Behind the Name: Mars. Accessed 07 July 2016
- ↑ Rannoch via Wikipedia. Accessed 07 July 2016