Treasure Island and Argyll

[Keith Livingstone Australia]

A bit of a general insight here. A recent TV series of Treasure Island filmed in the Argyll look-alike Dunedin region of NZ's south island reminded me of how pivotal this region was in our British culture. The hanging of Stewart of the Glen at Ballachulish was a big part of this story, when Alan Breck-Stewart shot Colin Campbell the red fox, and the killing was pinned on his Stewart clansman. Robert Louis Stevenson was a dilettante part-time law student, the original professional uni student, at Edinburgh, loosely in the time of Conan Doyle's medical training there when tutor Dr Bell provided the raw material for Sherlock Holmes.

[Jill Richmond]

Hi Keith, Would this television programme not have dealt with Kidnapped rather than Treasure Island? Kidnapped by R.L.S.is a cracking story and tells of the adventures of Davie Balfour and of his meeting up with Alan Breck Stewart. It is my favourite R.L.S. book. Regards, Jill

[Keith Livingstone Australia]

Quite right! How absent-minded! Anyhow, the real incident heavily involved our kinsmen the Stewarts, and since it occurred in about 1756,(I think!) Culloden and the Campbell treacheries were very recent. Livingstone boys eventually took Stewart's bones off the gibbet where they'd hung for 9 years and gave them a Christian burial, before being pursued across the highlands and being forced to flee. One of them was an ancestor of Dr David according to folklore. The young Bachuil would know. Death was promised to any highlander who dared remove the bones from the gibbet, which was on a little promontory overlooking the ferry crossing at Ballachulish. There's a dirty big road bridge there now, but the site is well-preserved. What year was Kidnapped set in then? Alan Breck Stewart wore a Frenchman's coat and was probably fighting in the King's service, like so many highlanders did. Cheers!

[James Stewart McLay]

Hi Keith, There is an interesting story by P A McNab an noted Mull historian and author, who writes that the remains of James of the Glen were eventually removed by three Livingstone brothers, Niall, Donald and John and transported by rowing boat to Eilea-na-h'Iubraca, where they were laid to rest in a grave dug in a grassy hollow. The remain

[Keith Livingstone Australia]

Thank you. This is of great interest, and gives me something else to look for next time I'm in Scotland! I feel that RLS might have taken literary licence with the original story, but anyhow our Livingstone lads were involved in the original, and our kinsmen certainly were. Cheers, Keith.

[Jill Richmond]

Yes, I have heard the story of Livingstone brothers cutting down the corpse of James of the Glen from the gibbet. The gibbet was guarded by a redcoat. One of the brothers was detailed to get talking to the guard and entice him down to the inn where he proceded to get him drunk. In the meantime the other brother cut down the corpse and made his getaway. The name of the brother who cut down the corpse was John Maconlea. His younger brother Neil, fearful of the consequences of this act fled to Mull. The account that I have does not state whether the other brothers went there as well. Neil was the grandfather of David Livingstone. There is a memorial to James of the Glen and the travesty of justice that was his lot at Ballachulish. It marks the spot where the gibbet stood and is set back off the road A828 near the bridge. The secret of who actually murdered Colin Campbell of Glenure is closely guarded to this day. Jill

[Keith Livingstone Australia]

RLS had Alan Breck Stewart painted as the assasin, and my recall is that he honourably offered himself in exchange for James Stewart of the Glen, in the book. I've been to the spot with its memorial. I've made up my mind to rip off a Campbell in a land deal over here at some stage, just for some clan justice. I wonder who knows the secret: maybe the young Bachuil?

[Bachuil]

Hi Keith, I think that RLS had Balfour thinking that it was ABS - but he firmly denied it.