I was talking to a "book" friend recently and she asked how many times Dougal attempted to kill Jamie. We weren't sure and could recall only a couple. As one of our resident OL books experts, I figured you would know. It would be cool if you had time to write a post about all the times Dougal tries to kill Jamie, as we surely aren't the only ones wondering. Thanks!
Letâs see â twice that I can find, excluding when Dougal tries to kill Jamie on the eve of Culloden.
We know Dougal tried to kill Jamie with the axe, after he was a mercenary in France, and just a few months before he met Claire. Thatâs why Jamie spent time in the Abbey of St. Anne de Beaupre before he convalesced there after Wentworth (in the care of a Fraser uncle, no less), and itâs why his hair was shorter when he first met Claire - the monks had shaved his head, to tend the wound.
Jamie tells Claire in Outlander that, during the chaos of the raid on the British during the ride back to Leoch, where Claire shared Jamieâs horse and Jamie was shot, he wasnât shot by a redcoat but rather by Rupert, likely on Dougalâs orders. And Dougal stood over Jamieâs prone body, seconds away from killing him - but then helped him up.
Dougal admitted as much to Jamie, as he lay dying by Jamieâs hand, in Culloden House:
âWhat did he say?â My hands were tight on his shoulders, and his face was turned away as my thumbs rose up under his hair to seek the ancient scar again. Â
   âSisterâs son or noâI would that I had killed you, that day on the hill. For I knew from the beginning that it would be you or me.â
