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Historical novel, by the author of Treasure Island. According to Wikipedia: "Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson (13 November 1850–3 December 1894), was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. He was the man who "seemed to pick the right word up on the point of his pen, like a man playing spillikins", as G. K. Chesterton put it."
Publisher: Seltzer BooksReleased: Mar 1, 2018ISBN: 9781455368020Format: book
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Kidnapped - Robert Louis Stevenson
PREFACE TO THE BIOGRAPHICAL EDITION
While my husband and Mr. Henley were engaged in writing plays in Bournemouth they made a number of titles, hoping to use them in the future. Dramatic composition was not what my husband preferred, but the torrent of Mr. Henley's enthusiasm swept him off his feet. However, after several plays had been finished, and his health seriously impaired by his endeavours to keep up with Mr. Henley, play writing was abandoned forever, and my husband returned to his legitimate vocation. Having added one of the titles, The Hanging Judge, to the list of projected plays, now thrown aside, and emboldened by my husband's offer to give me any help needed, I concluded to try and write it myself.
As I wanted a trial scene in the Old Bailey, I chose the period of 1700 for my purpose; but being shamefully ignorant of my subject, and my husband confessing to little more knowledge than I possessed, a London bookseller was commissioned to send us everything he could procure bearing on Old Bailey trials. A great package came in response to our order, and very soon we were both absorbed, not so much in the trials as in following the brilliant career of a Mr. Garrow, who appeared as counsel in many of the cases. We sent for more books, and yet more, still intent on Mr. Garrow, whose subtle cross-examination of witnesses and masterly, if sometimes startling, methods of arriving at the truth seemed more thrilling to us than any novel.
Occasionally other trials than those of the Old Bailey would be included in the package of books we received from London; among these my husband found and read with avidity:--
THE TRIAL OF JAMES STEWART in Aucharn in Duror of Appin FOR THE Murder of COLIN CAMPBELL of Glenure, Efq; Factor for His Majefty on the forfeited Estate of Ardfhiel.
My husband was always interested in this period of his country's history, and had already the intention of writing a story that should turn on the Appin murder. The tale was to be of a boy, David Balfour, supposed to belong to my husband's own family, who should travel in Scotland as though it were a foreign country, meeting with various adventures and misadventures by the way. From the trial of James Stewart my husband gleaned much valuable material for his novel, the most important being the character of Alan Breck. Aside from having described him as smallish in stature, my husband seems to have taken Alan Breck's personal appearance, even to his clothing, from the book.
A letter from James Stewart to Mr. John Macfarlane, introduced as evidence in the trial, says: There is one Alan Stewart, a distant friend of the late Ardshiel's, who is in the French service, and came over in March last, as he said to some, in order to settle at home; to others, that he was to go soon back; and was, as I hear, the day that the murder was committed, seen not far from the place where it happened, and is not now to be seen; by which it is believed he was the actor. He is a desperate foolish fellow; and if he is guilty, came to the country for that very purpose. He is a tall, pock-pitted lad, very black hair, and wore a blue coat and metal buttons, an old red vest, and breeches of the same colour. A second witness testified to having seen him wearing a blue coat with silver buttons, a red waistcoat, black shag breeches, tartan hose, and a feathered hat, with a big coat, dun coloured, a costume referred to by one of the counsel as French cloathes which were remarkable.
There are many incidents given in the trial that point to Alan's fiery spirit and Highland quickness to take offence. One witness declared also That the said Alan Breck threatened that he would challenge Ballieveolan and his sons to fight because of his removing the declarant last year from Glenduror. On another page: Duncan Campbell, change-keeper at Annat, aged thirty-five years, married, witness cited, sworn, purged and examined ut supra, depones, That, in the month of April last, the deponent met with Alan Breck Stewart, with whom he was not acquainted, and John Stewart, in Auchnacoan, in the house of the walk miller of Auchofragan, and went on with them to the house: Alan Breck Stewart said, that he hated all the name of Campbell; and the deponent said, he had no reason for doing so: But Alan said, he had very good reason for it: that thereafter they left that house; and, after drinking a dram at another house, came to the deponent's house, where they went in, and drunk some drams, and Alan Breck renewed the former Conversation; and the deponent, making the same answer, Alan said, that, if the deponent had any respect for his friends, he would tell them, that if they offered to turn out the possessors of Ardshiel's estate, he would make black cocks of them, before they entered into possession by which the deponent understood shooting them, it being a common phrase in the country.
Some time after the publication of Kidnapped we stopped for a short while in the Appin country, where we were surprised and interested to discover that the feeling concerning the murder of Glenure (the Red Fox, also called Colin Roy ) was almost as keen as though the tragedy had taken place the day before. For several years my husband received letters of expostulation or commendation from members of the Campbell and Stewart clans. I have in my possession a paper, yellow with age, that was sent soon after the novel appeared, containing The Pedigree of the Family of Appine, wherein it is said that Alan 3rd Baron of Appine was not killed at Flowdoun, tho there, but lived to a great old age. He married Cameron Daughter to Ewen Cameron of Lochiel. Following this is a paragraph stating that John Stewart 1st of Ardsheall of his descendants Alan Breck had better be omitted. Duncan Baan Stewart in Achindarroch his father was a Bastard.
One day, while my husband was busily at work, I sat beside him reading an old cookery book called The Compleat Housewife: or Accomplish'd Gentlewoman's Companion. In the midst of receipts for Rabbits, and Chickens mumbled, Pickled Samphire, Skirret Pye, Baked Tansy, and other forgotten delicacies, there were directions for the preparation of several lotions for the preservation of beauty. One of these was so charming that I interrupted my husband to read it aloud. Just what I wanted! he exclaimed; and the receipt for the Lily of the Valley Water was instantly incorporated into Kidnapped.
F. V. DE G. S.
MY DEAR CHARLES BAXTER:
If you ever read this tale, you will likely ask yourself more questions than I should care to answer: as for instance how the Appin murder has come to fall in the year 1751, how the Torran rocks have crept so near to Earraid, or why the printed trial is silent as to all that touches David Balfour. These are nuts beyond my ability to crack. But if you tried me on the point of Alan's guilt or innocence, I think I could defend the reading of the text. To this day you will find the tradition of Appin clear in Alan's favour. If you inquire, you may even hear that the descendants of the other man who fired the shot are in the country to this day. But that other man's name, inquire as you please, you shall not hear; for the Highlander values a secret for itself and for the congenial exercise of keeping it I might go on for long to justify one point and own another indefensible; it is more honest to confess at once how little I am touched by the desire of accuracy. This is no furniture for the scholar's library, but a book for the winter evening school-room when the tasks are over and the hour for bed draws near; and honest Alan, who was a grim old fire-eater in his day has in this new avatar no more desperate purpose than to steal some young gentleman's attention from his Ovid, carry him awhile into the Highlands and the last century, and pack him to bed with some engaging images to mingle with his dreams.
As for you, my dear Charles, I do not even ask you to like this tale. But perhaps when he is older, your son will; he may then be pleased to find his father's name on the fly-leaf; and in the meanwhile it pleases me to set it there, in memory of many days that were happy and some (now perhaps as pleasant to remember) that were sad. If it is strange for me to look back from a distance both in time and space on these bygone adventures of our youth, it must be stranger for you who tread the same streets--who may to-morrow open the door of the old Speculative, where we begin to rank with Scott and Robert Emmet and the beloved and inglorious Macbean--or may pass the corner of the close where that great society, the L. J. R., held its meetings and drank its beer, sitting in the seats of Burns and his companions. I think I see you, moving there by plain daylight, beholding with your natural eyes those places that have now become for your companion a part of the scenery of dreams. How, in the intervals of present business, the past must echo in your memory! Let it not echo often without some kind thoughts of your friend,
SKERRYVORE,
BOURNEMOUTH.
I SET OFF UPON MY JOURNEY TO THE HOUSE OF SHAWS
I will begin the story of my adventures with a certain morning early in the month of June, the year of grace 1751, when I took the key for the last time out of the door of my father's house. The sun began to shine upon the summit of the hills as I went down the road; and by the time I had come as far as the manse, the blackbirds were whistling in the garden lilacs, and the mist that hung around the valley in the time of the dawn was beginning to arise and die away.
Mr. Campbell, the minister of Essendean, was waiting for me by the garden gate, good man! He asked me if I had breakfasted; and hearing that I lacked for nothing, he took my hand in both of his and clapped it kindly under his arm.
Well, Davie, lad, said he, I will go with you as far as the ford, to set you on the way. And we began to walk forward in silence. Are ye sorry to leave Essendean? said he, after awhile.
Why, sir, said I, if I knew where I was going, or what was likely to become of me, I would tell you candidly. Essendean is a good place indeed, and I have been very happy there; but then I have never been anywhere else. My father and mother, since they are both dead, I shall be no nearer to in Essendean than in the Kingdom of Hungary, and, to speak truth, if I thought I had a chance to better myself where I was going I would go with a good will.
Ay? said Mr. Campbell. Very well, Davie. Then it behoves me to tell your fortune; or so far as I may. When your mother was gone, and your father (the worthy, Christian man) began to sicken for his end, he gave me in charge a certain letter, which he said was your inheritance. 'So soon,' says he, 'as I am gone, and the house is redd up and the gear disposed of' (all which, Davie, hath been done), 'give my boy this letter into his hand, and start him off to the house of Shaws, not far from Cramond. That is the place I came from,' he said, 'and it's where it befits that my boy should return. He is a steady lad,' your father said, 'and a canny goer; and I doubt not he will come safe, and be well lived where he goes.'
The house of Shaws! I cried. What had my poor father to do with the house of Shaws?
Nay, said Mr. Campbell, who can tell that for a surety? But the name of that family, Davie, boy, is the name you bear -- Balfours of Shaws: an ancient, honest, reputable house, peradventure in these latter days decayed. Your father, too, was a man of learning as befitted his position; no man more plausibly conducted school; nor had he the manner or the speech of a common dominie; but (as ye will yourself remember) I took aye a pleasure to have him to the manse to meet the gentry; and those of my own house, Campbell of Kilrennet, Campbell of Dunswire, Campbell of Minch, and others, all well-kenned gentlemen, had pleasure in his society. Lastly, to put all the elements of this affair before you, here is the testamentary letter itself, superscrived by the own hand of our departed brother.
He gave me the letter, which was addressed in these words: To the hands of Ebenezer Balfour, Esquire, of Shaws, in his house of Shaws, these will be delivered by my son, David Balfour. My heart was beating hard at this great prospect now suddenly opening before a lad of seventeen years of age, the son of a poor country dominie in the Forest of Ettrick.
Mr. Campbell, I stammered, and if you were in my shoes, would you go?
Of a surety, said the minister, that would I, and without pause. A pretty lad like you should get to Cramond (which is near in by Edinburgh) in two days of walk. If the worst came to the worst, and your high relations (as I cannot but suppose them to be somewhat of your blood) should put you to the door, ye can but walk the two days back again and risp at the manse door. But I would rather hope that ye shall be well received, as your poor father forecast for you, and for anything that I ken come to be a great man in time. And here, Davie, laddie, he resumed, it lies near upon my conscience to improve this parting, and set you on the right guard against the dangers of the world.
Here he cast about for a comfortable seat, lighted on a big boulder under a birch by the trackside, sate down upon it with a very long, serious upper lip, and the sun now shining in upon us between two peaks, put his pocket-handkerchief over his cocked hat to shelter him. There, then, with uplifted forefinger, he first put me on my guard against a considerable number of heresies, to which I had no temptation, and urged upon me to be instant in my prayers and reading of the Bible. That done, he drew a picture of the great house that I was bound to, and how I should conduct myself with its inhabitants.
Be soople, Davie, in things immaterial, said he. Bear ye this in mind, that, though gentle born, ye have had a country rearing. Dinnae shame us, Davie, dinnae shame us! In yon great, muckle house, with all these domestics, upper and under, show yourself as nice, as circumspect, as quick at the conception, and as slow of speech as any. As for the laird -- remember he's the laird; I say no more: honour to whom honour. It's a pleasure to obey a laird; or should be, to the young.
Well, sir, said I, it may be; and I'll promise you I'll try to make it so.
Why, very well said, replied Mr. Campbell, heartily. And now to come to the material, or (to make a quibble) to the immaterial. I have here a little packet which contains four things. He tugged it, as he spoke, and with some great difficulty, from the skirt pocket of his coat. Of these four things, the first is your legal due: the little pickle money for your father's books and plenishing, which I have bought (as I have explained from the first) in the design of re-selling at a profit to the incoming dominie. The other three are gifties that Mrs. Campbell and myself would be blithe of your acceptance. The first, which is round, will likely please ye best at the first off-go; but, O Davie, laddie, it's but a drop of water in the sea; it'll help you but a step, and vanish like the morning. The second, which is flat and square and written upon, will stand by you through life, like a good staff for the road, and a good pillow to your head in sickness. And as for the last, which is cubical, that'll see you, it's my prayerful wish, into a better land.
With that he got upon his feet, took off his hat, and prayed a little while aloud, and in affecting terms, for a young man setting out into the world; then suddenly took me in his arms and embraced me very hard; then held me at arm's length, looking at me with his face all working with sorrow; and then whipped about, and crying good-bye to me, set off backward by the way that we had come at a sort of jogging run. It might have been laughable to another; but I was in no mind to laugh. I watched him as long as he was in sight; and he never stopped hurrying, nor once looked back. Then it came in upon my mind that this was all his sorrow at my departure; and my conscience smote me hard and fast, because I, for my part, was overjoyed to get away out of that quiet country-side, and go to a great, busy house, among rich and respected gentlefolk of my own name and blood.
Davie, Davie, I thought, was ever seen such black ingratitude? Can you forget old favours and old friends at the mere whistle of a name? Fie, fie; think shame.
And I sat down on the boulder the good man had just left, and opened the parcel to see the nature of my gifts. That which he had called cubical, I had never had much doubt of; sure enough it was a little Bible, to carry in a plaid-neuk. That which he had called round, I found to be a shilling piece; and the third, which was to help me so wonderfully both in health and sickness all the days of my life, was a little piece of coarse yellow paper, written upon thus in red ink:
TO MAKE LILLY OF THE VALLEY WATER.--Take the flowers of lilly of the valley and distil them in sack, and drink a spooneful or two as there is occasion. It restores speech to those that have the dumb palsey. It is good against the Gout; it comforts the heart and strengthens the memory; and the flowers, put into a Glasse, close stopt, and set into ane hill of ants for a month, then take it out, and you will find a liquor which comes from the flowers, which keep in a vial; it is good, ill or well, and whether man or woman.
And then, in the minister's own hand, was added:
Likewise for sprains, rub it in; and for the cholic, a great spooneful in the hour.
To be sure, I laughed over this; but it was rather tremulous laughter; and I was glad to get my bundle on my staff's end and set out over the ford and up the hill upon the farther side; till, just as I came on the green drove-road running wide through the heather, I took my last look of Kirk Essendean, the trees about the manse, and the big rowans in the kirkyard where my father and my mother lay.
I COME TO MY JOURNEY'S END
On the forenoon of the second day, coming to the top of a hill, I saw all the country fall away before me down to the sea; and in the midst of this descent, on a long ridge, the city of Edinburgh smoking like a kiln. There was a flag upon the castle, and ships moving or lying anchored in the firth; both of which, for as far away as they were, I could distinguish clearly; and both brought my country heart into my mouth.
Presently after, I came by a house where a shepherd lived, and got a rough direction for the neighbourhood of Cramond; and so, from one to another, worked my way to the westward of the capital by Colinton, till I came out upon the Glasgow road. And there, to my great pleasure and wonder, I beheld a regiment marching to the fifes, every foot in time; an old red-faced general on a grey horse at the one end, and at the other the company of Grenadiers, with their Pope's-hats. The pride of life seemed to mount into my brain at the sight of the red coats and the hearing of that merry music.
A little farther on, and I was told I was in Cramond parish, and began to substitute in my inquiries the name of the house of Shaws. It was a word that seemed to surprise those of whom I sought my way. At first I thought the plainness of my appearance, in my country habit, and that all dusty from the road, consorted ill with the greatness of the place to which I was bound. But after two, or maybe three, had given me the same look and the same answer, I began to take it in my head there was something strange about the Shaws itself.
The better to set this fear at rest, I changed the form of my inquiries; and spying an honest fellow coming along a lane on the shaft of his cart, I asked him if he had ever heard tell of a house they called the house of Shaws.
He stopped his cart and looked at me, like the others.
Ay said he. What for?
It's a great house? I asked.
Doubtless, says he. The house is a big, muckle house.
Ay, said I, but the folk that are in it?
Folk? cried he. Are ye daft? There's nae folk there -- to call folk.
What? say I; not Mr. Ebenezer?
Ou, ay says the man; there's the laird, to be sure, if it's him you're wanting. What'll like be your business, mannie?
I was led to think that I would get a situation, I said, looking as modest as I could.
What? cries the carter, in so sharp a note that his very horse started; and then, Well, mannie, he added, it's nane of my affairs; but ye seem a decent-spoken lad; and if ye'll take a word from me, ye'll keep clear of the Shaws.
The next person I came across was a dapper little man in a beautiful white wig, whom I saw to be a barber on his rounds; and knowing well that barbers were great gossips, I asked him plainly what sort of a man was Mr. Balfour of the Shaws.
Hoot, hoot, hoot, said the barber, nae kind of a man, nae kind of a man at all; and began to ask me very shrewdly what my business was; but I was more than a match for him at that, and he went on to his next customer no wiser than he came.
I cannot well describe the blow this dealt to my illusions. The more indistinct the accusations were, the less I liked them, for they left the wider field to fancy. What kind of a great house was this, that all the parish should start and stare to be asked the way to it? or what sort of a gentleman, that his ill-fame should be thus current on the wayside? If an hour's walking would have brought me back to Essendean, had left my adventure then and there, and returned to Mr. Campbell's. But when I had come so far a way already, mere shame would not suffer me to desist till I had put the matter to the touch of proof; I was bound, out of mere self-respect, to carry it through; and little as I liked the sound of what I heard, and slow as I began to travel, I still
danielstjGo to danielstj's profile
Disappointing and dated.
john257hopperGo to john257hopper's profile
A great story with a good narrative drive involving the betrayal and kidnapping of the central character, David Balfour, his flight across the Scottish landscape and his eventual rescue and restoration to his fortune. There are a number of other colourful and intriguing characters especially David's uncle Ebenezer (similar to his Dickensian namesake) and Alan Breck Stewart. Good stuff, though there are an awful lot of Scots words not recognised in the OED and only a few of which are explained in footnotes in the Delphi Collected Works edition.
jmoncton_1Go to jmoncton_1's profile
The overall story for this book was good, but the strong Scottish dialect made it difficult to follow. Once I gave up on trying to figure out exactly what was going on, the book was more enjoyable.
a9stone5Go to a9stone5's profile
This story grabs the reader's attention through an action packed adventure around Scotland. We follow David Balfour through his travels to find who he is and claim his true inheritance. This story would be suitable for readers in grades 6 and up.
ncgraham_1Go to ncgraham_1's profile
Previously I have ranked Robert Louis Stevenson among my favorite authors simply on the basis of Treasure Island, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and selections from A Child's Garden of Verses. Now I'm pleased to add Kidnapped to that list.In my review of Treasure Island, I called Stevenson a master of atmosphere, and that's true here as well. He has a most miraculous ability to make me feel like I've stepped into a new world and am experiencing it for the first time, side by side with our hero, David Balfour: On the forenoon of the second day, coming to the top of a hill, I saw all the country fall away before me down to the sea; and in the midst of this descent, on a long ridge, the city of Edinburgh smoking like a kiln. There was a flag upon the castle, and ships moving or lying anchored in the firth; both of which, for as far away as they were, I could distinguish clearly; and both brought my country heart into my mouth.But while every page of Treasure Island seems to be bathed in salty air, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in grimy fog, in Kidnapped the atmosphere varies from setting to setting, from scene to scene. There's a Gothic air pervading the encounters with Uncle Ebenezer (truly one of the lowest and most despicable of Stevenson's characters, and not at all similar to his usual Devil-as-Gentleman villain), followed by a nautical section that invokes all of the danger and little of the lightness of Treasure Island. The majority of the tale, however, centers on the romance and mystique of the highlands.The character who best embodies Stevenson's idea of highland honor is Alan Breck Stewart; all the complexity that Stevenson spared in creating Uncle Ebenezer he seems to have kept in reserve for the portrait of this adventurous outlaw, who was a real historical personage. Stevenson's Alan is alternately heroic and petty, friendly and shortsighted. At times he almost seems younger than his juvenile companion, although he's never less than sympathetic.By my calculations, David himself ought to be roughly the same age as Jim in Treasure Island, but David is the more complicated character, and thus Kidnapped reads as an "older" story. Unfortunately, it's also more episodic than Treasure Island, with a weaker plot and an open ending. Still, I enjoyed it, and look forward to reading more Stevenson—including the sequel, Catriona!
the_hibernatorGo to the_hibernator's profile
When 16-year-old David Balfour meets his estranged uncle for the first time, he is shocked by the man's cruelty. Soon, Balfour has been kidnapped and he must rescue himself and travel back to the town of his uncle to claim his inheritance. This is an exciting little book...not quite up to scratch with Treasure Island, but still has quite an adventure. It would probably be a fun book for teenagers to read, if they like classics (or if you want to thrust classics upon them).
nielspeterqmGo to nielspeterqm's profile
At first sight, this work seems disquietingly similar to Stevenson's better known Treasure Island: around the middle of the 18th Century (not Stevenson's own 19th Century), an impoverished, inexperienced, but self-respecting teenage hero is set to sea by circumstance. Here he faces a crew of thugs whom, supported by strong role-models, he valiantly defeats. Then follows a long voyage of wandering & discovery until at last he comes to spiritual & material independence under the wise & watchful eye of his mentors, portrayed as very pillars of a romanticized British Empire.But there the similarity does stop. Kidnapped is exclusively about 18th Century Scotland & its entirely unforgettable inhabitants. Its sea voyage is a circumnavigation of Scotland, no more, no less. The perilous return to the home town takes place across hills & heather. Finally & most important, every character in the novel is as Scottish as its teenage hero - or as Stevenson was himself.You might say that Kidnapped offers all the assets of Treasure Island, plus one: the tense but warm atmosphere of an independence-loving nation during the waning years of its armed rebellion against the English. Stevenson, in loving mastery of his subject yet never as uncritical as he seems, ignores neither politics, intrigues, & clan quarrels, nor the (predictable) homage to bagpipe & tartans. The book is therefore flavoursome in a manner that even Treasure Island, for all its power, never attains. The historical & cultural depth here is simply greater - & the book perhaps as entertaining.
jeffomeGo to jeffome's profile
St. Barts 2017 #7 - Famous Stevenson tale that i have heard about my entire life, and is usually the case, i cannot believe i have not ever read. So off on my vacation it came, and i read it at the same time as a friend. I certainly enjoyed the adventure, but the Scottish dialect language, even with the Stevenson-installed footnotes, and the very confusing political climate at the time of this story left me spinning more than i wanted. Scottish clan battles and English Kings obviously dominated daily lives at the time of this story, and having absolutely zero knowledge of the players and the motives, it was just a lot of distracting clutter to me. Our hero David Balfour does struggle mightily with many things not going his way, and tells this story with a certain charm and self-deprecating style that saves this for me. Lots of swashbuckling sea-faring excitement, some time spent on an island, & a healthy dose of eclectic characters challenge David as he struggles to survive his ordeal. I always thought of this as a children's book, but i think i was either wrong, or I am just way in over my head. Very glad that it is now on the pile of books i have read!
nikkles_1Go to nikkles_1's profile
This is perhaps my favorite adventure novel. The characters are just great and the plot is very quick. In my opinion its much better then Treasure Island. If you want to read a classic that is actually fun, this is the way to go.
dagwood_1Go to dagwood_1's profile
I read this book as a child. It has always been my favorite. I would recommend it for readers of all ages.
nyakyakyanyaGo to nyakyakyanya's profile
This story was a friendship story rather than a kidnapped story. For sure, hero was kidnapped by his uncle but it was just only beginning of the story. after that he met young man who saw him precious person. They ran away and hid from their enemy. The end was a little sentimental happy end.
stuart10er_1Go to stuart10er_1's profile
Two hundred page buildup for a four page payoff. Reminds me of a much shorter "Count of Monte Cristo". All setup for revenge. But with both writers, what a sweet payoff as we see Balfour's uncle get his due. Fantastic. I can read it fairly easily, but the dialect is beyond children now.
fuzzi_1Go to fuzzi_1's profile
Forty plus years after reading "Treasure Island", I have finally completed my second book by Robert Louis Stevenson, "Kidnapped".Protagonist David Balfour is the heir to his uncle's estate, but his uncle doesn't want to share, so he arranges for his nephew to be taken to the Carolinas as a slave. Sometimes plans just don't follow through as we'd like, and David finds himself on the run, trying to survive long enough to get home and enact revenge.Good story, should be interesting and/or readable for youth and up.Note: I gave this book three stars: the story moved along nicely, although the Scottish words used throughout the text had me skipping to the glossary in the back of the book, a lot.
lisa.johnson.jamesGo to lisa.johnson.james's profile
Well, even though this is supposed to be a kids' book, it was pretty engaging even for this Mom. I loved the fact that in my 1948 edition anyway, that even though the author sometimes writes in dialect, he takes the time to do footnotes of unfamiliar Scottish words that he uses in his writing. Most of it is fairly easy to figure out, but I appreciated it.The story itself is of a young man of 17 who's father passes away & leaves him an orphan, since the mother passed years before. David gets instructions from Mr. Campbell, his father's laird, to go seek his uncle Ebenezer, since he is the last of the Balfour family. Uncle Ebenezer, like the other famous character by that name, is not a nice guy. He arranges to have his nephew shanghai'd by a boat crew, to be sold as a white slave in the Carolinas. Well, all manner of mishaps occur, & the boat never makes it because it's wrecked off the coast. David makes his way across Scotland with Alan, who's a bit of a bad guy himself, but, he takes care of David, & that's how that odd friendship develops. Eventually, David makes his way back...I won't give away the ending, you'll just have to read it for yourself
ldobson_4Go to ldobson_4's profile
This adventurous story follows a seventeen year old boy who is told to find his long lost uncle after his parents die. His travels take a dangerous turn and he ends up being in way more than he had bargained for. If you are looking for an adventure that is steeped in Scottish history and culture, this book is for you. Appropriate for ages 5th grade and up.
jillsmith23Go to jillsmith23's profile
This book is appropriate for the upper elementary school grade levels. It is an exciting book of a boy who is kidnapped onto a pirate ship. It is a classic that children will enjoy reading for years to come.
hhornblower_3Go to hhornblower_3's profile
It's been such a long time since I've read this. A ripping good yarn!
leslie398Go to leslie398's profile
I enjoyed Michael Page's narration very much & his Scottish burr seemed spot on to these American ears. Betrayal, friendship and adventure in 1751 Scotland with some Jacobite politics in the background... What fun!
brakketh-1Go to brakketh-1's profile
A young man is dispossessed by his 'evil' uncle and has many challenges on his way back to reclaiming his inheritance. Despite the unrealistic story line the hardships of young David Balfour are portrayed realistically.
kristelh_15Go to kristelh_15's profile
I found it simplistic and believe it's description as a boy's adventure novel fitting. It gives some good lessons for "coming of age" young people. I liked the Scottish dialogue, learning a bit of history and the description of the countryside to be an enjoyable part of the book.
jlcarrollGo to jlcarroll's profile
If you looking for a glimpse into Scottish Highlander hijinks - and don't mind wading through text that's heavy with brogue - then you'll enjoy this classic by Stevenson.
jwhenderson_1Go to jwhenderson_1's profile
"In 1886, Robert Louis Stevenson's Kidnapped began serialization in Young Folks magazine. It was this book, along with the earlier Treasure Island (1883) and A Child's Garden of Verses (1885) which first drew me to Stevenson more than fifty years ago. Along with a handful of other authors these books became the foundation of my early reading and love of books. I still have that feeling for Stevenson as I have gradually explored some of his other novels and essays. While he is considered one of England's most popular writers of "Children's Literature", these novels and his others, especially The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, are worth exploring and enjoying as an adult. Jekyll and Hyde in particular, provoked by a dream and written in a ten-week burst during the writing of Kidnapped, is one of the outstanding examples of the use of the theme of 'the double' in literature, and a classic late Victorian text. Though Stevenson wrote prolifically and in almost every genre, these four books from the mid-1880s are all he would need to be remembered more than a century later. This reader continues to look back a the beginning of his reading as a boy and remember when he first encountered the adventures depicted in Kidnapped and Treasure Island. like"
debnance_1Go to debnance_1's profile
A 1001 CBYMRBYGU.Young David Balfour discovers after his father's death that his family has unexpected wealth and power. David ventures off to meet up with his father's only brother and finds a man who deceives him and sells him off into slavery, sending David off on a ship bound for America. On the ship, David meets lots more bad guys and there is a lot of shooting and fighting. He falls overboard, survives to live for a while on an isolated island, and then gets thrown into a Scottish struggle for power, with more shooting and scavenging. I loved the action in this book. With books like these available, you can see why so many boys read books a hundred years ago. I also loved all the new-to-me words in this book. I could write a whole post on all the new words I discovered while reading this book. Ay, faith, I ken Scotland be a braw place, no sae bad as ye would think, in this bonny tale of a man and a halfling boy, who werenae feared of being laid by the heels, hoot-toot, hoot-toot.
rajivc_18Go to rajivc_18's profile
I must say that, for once, I found a book a bit difficult to follow. He has written the book very well. No doubt about this. There is lots of local flavour when it comes to the language. However, I did not follow the plot as well as I usually do, and was a bit happy when the book finally ended!
cbl_tnGo to cbl_tn's profile
After his father's death in 1751, young David Balfour learns about an uncle he'd never heard of before. David is surprised to learn that he is the heir to an estate, but before he can get used to the idea, his uncle has him kidnapped on a ship headed for the American colonies. En route, he befriends Jacobite Alan Breck Stewart. Although the highland Catholic Alan and the lowland Protestant David make an unlikely pair, they share adventures including shipwreck and pursuit through the highlands. It's an entertaining tail of adventure, and it's worth reading just to get acquainted with David Balfour. I listened to the audio version and I found it difficult to understand the reader's accent and the somewhat archaic Scots dialect.
rochellet_18Go to rochellet_18's profile
This was a great story with often unpredictable events. As I am very lucky to have a version that is of original published dates it made it so much more enjoyable. Highly recommended!
thesmellofbooksGo to thesmellofbooks's profile
The best adventure fiction I have ever read, and one of the most satisfying books on many levels. If I hadn't run out of fiction to read on holiday and found this in the thrift shop, I might never have read it. Talk about close shaves! Definite reread material. Setting, pacing, fascinating historical information, the characters of both the land and the people, and the relationship between the protagonists--a Whig and a Jacobite--absolutely brilliant and utterly thirst-quenching.
celtic_2Go to celtic_2's profile
1751 - Bonnie Prince Charlie and The Jacobite Rebellion still fresh in peoples minds. Sixteen year old, honest and naive David Balfour inextricably linked to fiery, swashbuckling Jacobite Allan Breck. Redcoats chasing them around a Scotland where danger lurks and betrayal is feared for a murder they did not commit. What's not to like?
hankiiiGo to hankiii's profile
I tried, but it just didn't radiate enough interest for me.
edgeworth_1Go to edgeworth_1's profile
"Kidnapped" is the third-most famous of Robert Louis Stevenson's novels, overshadowed by "Treasure Island" and "Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde," but it's the first of his that I've read. If it's anything to go by, I should definitely check out his other works.The novel begins in 1751 with David Balfour, our young and resourceful Scottish protagonist, setting out to the house of the Shaws upon the death of his parents. Here he meets his uncle Ebeneezer, a wheedling little man who, rather than welcoming him with open arms, attempts to murder him to seize the family fortune. When this fails he sells David into slavery aboard a ship bound for the Carolinas.What follows is a swashbuckling adventure of the highest order, containing shipwrecks, gunfights, sword duels, murder, pursuit by the British Army, outlaw hideouts and all manner of boy's adventure tropes. Yet it's a far more serious and polished novel than I make it sound, set against a well-developed political and historical backdrop and featuring several real-life figures - most notably David's friend and mentor Alan Breck, a Scottish Jacobite. I don't quite know what that is! Nonetheless, it grants "Kidnapped" a solid sense of time and place, which drags a little during David's endless flight across the heather but which, on the whole, contributes into making it a more refined novel than the sort of typical adventure tale that any halfway decent writer can churn out (and which, indeed, I have been churning out for many years).It's also, despite being written in the nineteenth century, a remarkably easy book to read. Writers back then often had higher standards of vocabulary and style, which means contemporary readers often have trouble reading them, but "Kidnapped" could easily have been penned in the mid-twentieth century. This is probably the oldest book I've read that I found both enjoyable and worth my time. ("Moby-Dick," written in 1851, was certainly worth my time, but "enjoyable" is not the first word it brings to mind.)Overall "Kidnapped" is a pretty fun read, and I'll check out "Treasure Island" when I get the chance.


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With nearly three months left in the year, statistics show that American GI's are getting into trouble with Okinawa authorities at an alarmingly high rate.
Okinawa Prefectural Police report there've been 18 more cases recorded January through September than in all of 2009, with the largest category increases coming from taxi thefts. Last year there were 54 cases involving American service personnel. A total of 23 cases already this year have involved taxis, taxi driver assaults and thefts of money from taxi drivers. A year ago, only 12 cases involved Americans and taxi drivers by this time; the total for the entire year was 17 cases.
Police say only two investigations of American GI's were of the vicious crime nature so far this year. On the other hand, they say the number of criminal cases has increased five-fold so far this year.