Serenity Valley as Culloden? by Belacgod

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Serenity Valley as Culloden?

POSTED BY: BELACGOD
UPDATED: Monday, November 14, 2005 16:50
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Monday, November 14, 2005 2:18 PM

Are any Browncoats here Scottish History fans? If so, read on:

Firefly is based on the American Civil War. We know that. But there are also intriguing parallels to the Jacobite Rising of the Forty-Five.

The Browncoats, or Jacobites, were fighting for local control against a System- or World-spanning empire controlled by a Parliament. They were heavily outgunned, but individually heroic. The final battle was a single crushing defeat (Serenity Valley is supposed to be like Gettysburg, not Appomattox). After the defeat, the victors engaged in a brutal, systematic persecution (Cumberland burnt the wounded Highlanders to death where they lay after Culloden; the Alliance left the wounded Browncoats to die while they negotiated a peace).

There are many similarities between the Jacobite Rising and the American Civil War. Many former Jacobites fled to the English colonies and settled in the south, where their grandchildren were once again defeated by impersonal Saxon military might. Jacobitism was the original romantic Lost Cause.

As speculators about the world of Firefly, though, the comparison to the Jacobite Rising offers interesting perspectives. When the dust rose, Scotland entered an era of unparalleled prosperity--Glasgow became the second-richest city in Britain off the tobacco trade, and Edinburgh became the intellectual light of northern Europe, home to Adam Smith, David Hume, and countless other influential thinkers. And the English military became predominantly Scottish--the descendants of the Jacobites joined the Black Watch and defeated Napoleon under Wellington. The future George IV set Scottish fashions for a century by appearing at Edinburgh in Stuart tartan and declaring "We are all Jacobites now." Sir Walter Scott's books became best-sellers in England, as did Robert Burns's poetry.

So perhaps these changes might happen to the 'verse in the next 50 years, and Mal might live to see his crew's exploits played on thousands of screens in the Central Worlds. Or perhaps he might, in his old age, lose his ranch on Shadow in the Outer Moons Clearances, the other great 18th-century tragedy of Scotland.

Just a thought.

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Monday, November 14, 2005 4:21 PM

NCBROWNCOAT

Interesting theory. A lot of Scots settled near where I'm from in North Carolina and I grew up so I'm familiar with a bit of the history. It seems Joss took a little from here and a little from there to make his 'verse.

BTW we have great highland games up in the mountains every summer

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Monday, November 14, 2005 4:40 PM

LILKRISTY

A lot of my gradparents people are from the mtns of NC (Valle Crusis and Boone) and most of them are of scotch decent.

As I underdstand it, after the uprising a fair number of scots came to the colonies either by choice or were transported at the end of their prision snetences as indentured servents. Seems likely that other Browncoats would have done had similar futures. Living on the rim, as far from the government that defeated them as possible.

Also as I remember, many scots did not support the American revolution beacuse of bitter memories of the aftermath of Culloden and fears of the same thing happening in the homes they'd just built in the 20 years since Culloden. Such sounds plausible in the firefly verse as well.

I think you could follow this line of thinking to some fascanating speculations.

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Monday, November 14, 2005 4:50 PM

NCBROWNCOAT

You're right about the Scots not supporting the American Revoluation. A big battle between Scots Loyalists and the revolutinaries took place at Moore's Creek in between Wilmington and Fayetteville. The Loyalists were defeated and there was little military action in the area until the end of the Revoluation.

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