Robert Louis Stevenson (RLS)

The Appin Murder 

Kidnapped & Catriona

Statue of Allan Breck & David Balfour

Some Reading

Alexander Stoddart's 'Kidnapped' statue, depicting the novel's characters David Balfour and Alan Breck Stewart at their final parting on Corstorphine Hill - surely a contender for being the most magnificent statue in all Edinburgh. While the location is wholly appropriate, it seems a shame that it does not occupy a more prominent position, to be enjoyed more frequently by city residents and visitors alike. It was unveiled by Sir Sean Connery in 2004.

• Kidnapped - by RLS, published by Penguin Classics ISBN 978-0-141-44179-5. In addition to the main text of the book, this edition has the original map, lots of notes, background to RLS, etc.
• Walking With Murder On the Kidnapped Trail - by Ian Nimmo, published by Birlinn ISBN 1-84158-409-6. Ian Nimmo has walked the Way twice - in 1960 and then 40 years later. Lots of good background and a very useful guide to the route.
• The Scenery of Dreams The true story of RLS's Kidnapped - by Lachlan Munro, published by Deveron Press ISBN 978-1-910601-44-0. There is an incredible amount of background information in this book.
• Kidnapped (Annotated) 2019 Edition  - By Geoffrey Howard ISBN 978-1097310487 Annotated with notes on history and language. It also contains a glossary of 170 Scottish words and expressions.
• Shiaba - Scotland's Potato Famine by Willie Orr, published by Sparsile Books ISBN 978-1-914399-81-7. The fictional story of a family struggling during the potato famine in the mid 1800s. The family live in the village of Shiaba on the Ross of Mull. Do they continue to struggle and stay on the land of their fathers or leave the land and go to Canada?
• The Lamplighter - Hope Shines Brightest In The Dark by Pamela Hanson Ryder, ISBN 978-1-7399591-1-1. A fictional story of lighthouse building, love, human endeavour, desperate poverty and oppressive tradition. A young Robert Louis Stevenson features in the book.
• Robert Louis Stevenson - Dreams of Exile by Ian Bell, published by Headline ISBN 0-7472-4235-6 A biography. Part literary biography, part travel writing this book traces Stevenson's often chaotic progress from continent to continent.
• West Highland Tales from The Dewar Manuscripts Book 1 The Appin Murder ISBN 0-948474-01-7 Published by Stuart Titles Ltd. In the mid 1800s, the Duke of Argyll commissioned John Dewar to write down all the Highland folk tales that he could find. Among them were the stories about the murder of Colin Roy Campbell. This book provides an account of what really happened which was also validated by a Stewart family member on their deathbed only a few decades ago.
• The Appin Murder - The Killing of the Red Fox by Seamus Carney published by Birlinn ISBN 978-1-894158-981-7 This book examines in detail the evidence surrounding the killing of the Red Fox to present the most thorough re-examination yet of Scotland's most famous unsolved murder.
• The Lighthouse Stevensons by Bella Bathurst, published by Harper Collins ISBN 0-00-257006-8 The extraordinary story of the building of Scottish lighthouses by the ancestors of Robert Louis Stevenson. It includes the account of the building of the Dubh Artach lighthouse with details of Robert Louis Stevenson's contribution.