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Kidnapped
Author Robert Louis Stevenson
Country Scotland
Language English, Lowland Scots
Genre(s) Adventure novel
Historical novel
Publisher Cassell and Company Ltd
Publication date 1886
Media type Print (Hardback)
ISBN 0-486-41026-9
Followed by Catriona

Kidnapped is a historical fiction adventure novel by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson (13 November 1850–3 December 1894 was a Scottish novelist poet and travel writer, and a representative of Neo-romanticism in Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States Scots ( The Scots leid) refers to Anglic varieties derived from early northern Middle English spoken in parts of Scotland and Northern The adventure novel is a Literary genre of novels that has Adventure, an exciting undertaking involving risk and physical danger as its main theme An historical novel is a Novel in which the story is set among historical events or more generally in which the time of the action predates the lifetime of the Author Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of Literature or Information &ndash the activity of making information available for public view The year 1886 in literature involved some significant new books A hardcover (or hardback or hardbound) is a Book bound with rigid protective covers (typically of cardboard covered with Cloth For other meanings see Catriona. Catriona (also known as David Balfour) is an 1893 novel by Robert Louis Stevenson An historical novel is a Novel in which the story is set among historical events or more generally in which the time of the action predates the lifetime of the Author The adventure novel is a Literary genre of novels that has Adventure, an exciting undertaking involving risk and physical danger as its main theme Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson (13 November 1850–3 December 1894 was a Scottish novelist poet and travel writer, and a representative of Neo-romanticism in Written as a "boys' novel" and first published in the magazine Young Folks from May to July 1886, the novel has attracted the praise and admiration of writers as diverse as Henry James, Jorge Luis Borges, and Seamus Heaney. Henry James, OM ( –) son of theologian Henry James Sr, brother of the philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James

As historical fiction, it is set around 18th century Scottish events, notably the "Appin Murder", which occurred near Ballachulish in 1752 in the aftermath of the Jacobite Rising. The Appin Murder is a noted unsolved Murder which took place in 1752 in Appin in western Scotland. The village of Ballachulish ( from the Gaelic Baile Chaolais) in Lochaber, Highland, Scotland, is centred around former Slate The Jacobite Risings were a series of uprisings rebellions and wars in the kingdoms of England, Kingdom of Scotland (later the United Kingdom of Great Britain [1] Many of the characters, and one of the principals, Alan Breck Stewart, were real people. Ailean Breic Stuibhairt was an 18th-century soldier and Scottish Jacobite resistance figure The political situation of the time is skilfully portrayed from different viewpoints, and the Scottish Highlanders are treated sympathetically. The Scottish Highlands ( Scottish Gaelic: A' Ghàidhealtachd, Scots: Hielans) include the rugged and Mountainous

Contents

Plot Summary

The central character and narrator is a young man named David Balfour (Balfour being Stevenson's mother's maiden name), callow but resourceful, whose parents have recently died and who is out to make his way in the world. He is given a letter by the minister of Essendean, Mr. Campbell, to be delivered to the ominous House of Shaws in Cramond, where David's uncle, Ebenezer Balfour, lives. Cramond is a seaside Village now part of suburban Edinburgh, Scotland, located in the north-west corner of the city at the mouth of the River Almond On his journey, David inquires to many people where the House of Shaws is, and all of them speak of it darkly as a place of fear and evil.

David arrives at the House of Shaws and attempts to gain entry. His uncle mistrusts him and seems mentally unstable. Ebenezer is also miserly, eating only "parritch" and ale despite his large amounts of money. He offers David a gift of forty guineas to increase the trust between them, and then asks David to get a chest from the top of a tower in the house. The guinea coin of 1663 was the first English machine-struck Gold coin. David is forced to scale the stairs in the dark, and realizes that not only are the stairs uneven, but that they simply end after several steps and fall into the abyss. David thus realizes that his Uncle was planning to kill him so as not to have to give over his inheritance.

David confronts Ebenezer, who becomes silent and again mysterious. A boy arrives the next day, Ransome, who tells Ebenezer that Captain Hoseason of a brig, the Covenant, needs to meet him to discuss business. Ebenezer takes David to the Queen's Ferry, where Hoseason awaits, and David makes the mistake of leaving his Uncle alone with the captain while he visits the docks with Ransome. Queensferry (often referred to as South Queensferry to distinguish it from North Queensferry) originally a Royal Burgh in West Lothian is now part Hoseason later offers to take them on board the brig briefly, and David complies, only to see his uncle returning to shore in a skiff and to be struck over the head by a sailor.

David awakens bound hand and foot in the hull of the ship. He becomes weak with sickness and one of the Covenant's officers, Mr. Riach, convinces Hoseason to move David up to the forecastle. Ransome, the cabin boy on the Covenant, is abused and mistreated by another officer, Mr. Shuan, who later kills him. David is repulsed at the crew's behaviour, and later learns that they have been ordered to sell him into slavery in the Carolinas. An indentured servant is a form of Debt bondage worker The Laborer is under Contract of an Employer for some period of time usually three to The Carolinas is a term used in the United States to refer collectively to the states of North and South Carolina.

David takes over as cabin boy, and the ship strikes a small boat from France. All of its crew are killed except one man, Alan Breck {Stewart}, who is brought on board and offers Hoseason a large sum of money to land in France and drop him off. Ailean Breic Stuibhairt was an 18th-century soldier and Scottish Jacobite resistance figure Clan Stewart of Appin is a west highland branch of the Clan Stewart and have been considered a distinct clan since the 15th century David later overhears the crew planning to kill Alan and take all his money, so he warns him, and the two barricade themselves in the round house where they fight off the crew. Alan kills Shuan, and David wounds Hoseason. Five of the crew are killed.

Alan is a Jacobite Catholic who sides with the French over the battle of Scotland and France. Catholic is an Adjective derived from the Greek adjective '' / 'katholikos' meaning "whole" or "complete".

Hoseason has no choice but to give Alan and David passage back to the mainland. David tells his story to Alan, and Alan explains that the country of Appin where he is from is under the tyrannical administration of the Red Fox, a British official who in fact is a Campbell, Colin Roy of Glenure. Clan Campbell is historically one of the largest and most powerful Highland Scottish clans History Origins of the clan The origins of Clan Alan vows that should he find the Red Fox, he will kill him.

The Covenant soon becomes caught in a reef during a storm, as they attempt to load the skiff and escape, David is cast overboard by a wave and washes up on what he believes to be a solitary island, but after five days realizes that with the tide out he is able to walk from the island onto a second large island, Mull. The Isle of Mull (or simply Mull; Muile in Scottish Gaelic) is the second largest Island of the Inner Hebrides, off the

Once there, he learns from a Scottish man that Alan has survived and has instructed David to go to Torosay. David has two encounters with beggarly guards, one who attempts to stab him with a knife, and another who is blind but an excellent shot with a pistol. David soon reaches Torosay where he is ferried across the river and receives further instructions from Alan's friend Neil Roy McRob, and later meets a Catechist named Mr. A catechism (ˈkætəkɪzəm κατηχισμός is a summary or exposition of Doctrine, traditionally used in Christian religious teaching from New Testament Henderland, who ferries him onto the mainland.

As he continues his journey, David encounters none other than the Red Fox, who is accompanied by a lawyer, servant, and sheriff's officer. When David stops the Red Fox to ask him for directions, someone in the hills fires a gun and the Red Fox is killed. David is incriminated by the lawyer as a conspirator and flees up the hills for his life, where he meets Alan, who proclaims his innocence of the act. Alan and David flee from the redcoats until they reach a friend of Alan, James of the Glens, whose family is burying their hidden store of weapons and burning evidence that could incriminate them. Red Coat or Redcoat is a term often used to refer to a Soldier of the historical British Army, because of the colour of the Military uniforms James tells Alan and David that he will have no choice but to "paper" them, that is, send out wanted posters of them, but provides them with weapons and food.

Alan and David then begin their flight through the heather, hiding from redcoats, dragoons, and navigating great rivers. A dragoon is a soldier intended primarily to fight on foot but trained also in Horse riding and cavalry combat especially They attempt to send a message to James through a bouman named John Breck, but they learn that James has been taken prisoner. As Alan and David continue their journey, they are set upon by rogue highlanders armed with dirks who serve a chief in hiding, Cluny Macpherson. Alan gets Cluny to give them shelter. While staying there, David and Cluny grow to dislike each other, David being a gentleman and Cluny being a gambler. Alan soon loses all his money playing cards and asks David for a loan. Subsequently all of David's money is lost too. Cluny's scouts report that the way is clear after a few days, and David and Alan leave his lair. [2]

As David and Alan continue their flight, David becomes progressively sicker and he and Alan fight over the gambling and Alan's attitude. David in fact challenges Alan to a duel, but Alan is ashamed to fight a friend and a teenager, so he drops his sword. David then stops arguing with him, and Alan helps him find shelter in Balquhidder to heal himself. Balquhidder ( Scottish Gaelic: Both Chuidir) is a small village in the Stirling Council area of Scotland. They are taken into the house of Duncan Dhu, who is a brilliant piper.

While recuperating, Alan meets a foe of his, Robin Oig-son of Rob Roy MacGregor-, who is a murderer and renegade. Robert Roy MacGregor, (baptized March 7, 1671 – December 28, 1734) usually known simply as Rob Roy Alan and Robin nearly fight a duel, but Duncan persuades them to leave the contest to bagpipes. Both play brilliantly, but Alan admits Robin is the better piper, so the quarrel is resolved and Alan and David prepare to pass the Forth and finally return to David's country.

David and Alan pass the Forth with the aid of a lass from Limekilns, and meet a lawyer of David's uncle, Mr. The Firth of Forth ( Scottish Gaelic: Linne Foirthe) is the Estuary or Firth of Scotland's River Forth, where it flows Limekilns, a Village in Fife, Scotland, lies on the shore of the Firth of Forth. Rankeillor, who agrees to help David receive his inheritance. David and Rankeillor hide in bushes outside the Ebenezer's house while Alan speaks to him, claiming to be a man who found David nearly dead and is holding him captive in a castle, and asks the uncle whether to kill him or keep him. The uncle flatly denies Alan's statement that David had been kidnapped, but eventually admits that he paid Hoseason "twenty pound" to take David to "Caroliny". David and Rankeillor then emerge from their hiding places and speak with Ebenezer in the kitchen, where David rightly receives two-thirds of the estate. The novel ends with David and Alan parting ways, Alan going to France, and David going to a bank to settle his money.

Characters

Major themes

The solid historical and environmental background, and the realism with which the physical hardship suffered by Alan and David is described, give the novel an immediacy which perhaps explains the hold it has on some readers, given the simple narrative line and spare plotting. Realism in the Visual arts and Literature is the depiction of subjects as they appear in Everyday life, without embellishment or interpretation Mythos (Aristotle In literature the plot comprises all the events in a story particularly rendered towards the achievement of some particular Artistic or Emotional Indeed, plot only takes a dominant role at the beginning and end of the novel, while the heart of it lies in what Henry James described as the "really excellent" chapters of the flight in the heather. Calluna vulgaris (also known as Ling is the sole species in the Genus Calluna in the family Ericaceae. Some of the Scottish dialogue may be hard going for modern readers, though Stevenson himself admitted that he had applied only a smattering so as not to tax the inner ear of non-Scots. Scots ( The Scots leid) refers to Anglic varieties derived from early northern Middle English spoken in parts of Scotland and Northern

Literary significance and criticism

Kidnapped was well received and sold well while Stevenson was alive, but after his death many viewed it with skepticism seeing it as simply a "boys novel". By the mid-20th century, however, it had regained critical approval and study.

The sequel Catriona was written in 1893 while Stevenson was living on Samoa. For other meanings see Catriona. Catriona (also known as David Balfour) is an 1893 novel by Robert Louis Stevenson Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa, is a country governing the western part of the Samoan Islands Archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean It has in large part a romantic theme, and much less adventure, and has not achieved the popular appeal of Kidnapped. NOTICE TO WOULD-BE-ROMEOS***************

References to actual history

David Balfour is accused of being an accomplice in the Appin Murder, a real life murder. The Appin Murder is a noted unsolved Murder which took place in 1752 in Appin in western Scotland. The characters of Alan Breck Stewart, Colin Roy Campbell, James Stewart, Cluny Macpherson and Robin Oig Macgregor were real people. Ailean Breic Stuibhairt was an 18th-century soldier and Scottish Jacobite resistance figure James Stewart, known as James of the Glen, (b before 1700 - 1752 in Glen Duror Scotland) was a Scotsman famous for being wrongfully accused and hanged

Edinburgh: City of Literature

As part of the events to celebrate Edinburgh being named the first UNESCO City of Literature, three versions of the book will be made freely available (including being left on buses and in other public places) throughout February 2007. Edinburgh ( ˈɛdɪnb(ərə Dùn Èideann) is the Capital of Scotland and is its second largest city after Glasgow. United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on November 16 [3] These three versions are:

References

  1. ^ Stevenson changed the date of the Appin murder from May 1752 to June 1751. Scots ( The Scots leid) refers to Anglic varieties derived from early northern Middle English spoken in parts of Scotland and Northern
  2. ^ Alan is still short of money.
  3. ^ Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature: Projects

External links

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