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A stolen heir crosses sea, rock, and heather to reclaim his name.

9:41

The Cast

David Balfour

Main · Balfour family

A seventeen-year-old heir walks out of Essendean with a sealed letter and no idea what it will cost him.

Locations

Essendean

parish

David walks out of the only home he knows, leaving his parents' graves behind him.

Passage

As Davie leaves home forever, a kindly farewell cannot quiet the unknown ahead.

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The Author’s Pen

The Last Time Home

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.”

Reading

David is telling us this is a beginning, but the phrase "for the last time" turns the morning into an ending he could only recognize looking back. As narrator he already knows that locking his father's door closes off the whole life he grew up in; the boy walking down the road does not. The bright sun and the mist lifting off the valley promise a fresh start, while Mr. Campbell, coming out to walk him to the ford, treats it as a leave taking, holding David's hand under his arm like something he is reluctant to let go.

World Index

The Plot

David leaves Essendean with a letter for the House of ShawsAlan Breck Stewart comes aboard and changes everythingThe Covenant wrecks and David is stranded alone in the HighlandsThe Red Fox is shot and David and Alan become fugitivesThe flight across the heather - David and Alan become friendsThey cross the Firth of Forth and reach QueensferryRankeillor restores David's inheritance - and Alan is gone

The Cast

David BalfourAlan Breck StewartEbenezer BalfourCaptain Elias HoseasonMr. RankeillorMr. CampbellJames StewartColin Campbell / Red FoxCluny MacphersonMr. RiachShuanRansomeJennet CloustonAlexander BalfourGrace PitarrowArdshiel

Locations

AppinBalquhidderBrig CovenantCluny’s CageCramond parishEdinburghEssendeanForth crossingHawes InnHeugh of CorrynakieghHighland heather and moorsHouse of FearHouse of ShawsIsland EarraidIsle of MullManse at EssendeanMorvenMr. Rankeillor’s officeQueen’s Ferry / QueensferryRound-house of the CovenantShaws tower stairTorosayTorran RocksWood of Lettermore

Objects of Note

Alan’s belt of goldAlan’s silver-buttoned coatAlan’s swordAlexander Balfour’s letterDavid’s BibleDavid’s identity papersEbenezer’s blunderbussInheritance agreementLily of the Valley Water paperRankeillor’s paper bookRound-house weaponsStair candle

Core Concepts

Education Through OrdealHome, Belonging, and InheritanceJacobite Scotland After DefeatLegitimacy vs PossessionLowland and Highland ScotlandLoyalty Across DifferenceTrust and Judgment

The Author's Pen

Glad Of The WorkThe Brig Strikes the ReefCast Into the SeaAccused And Driven To FlightRobin Takes the PipesBack in His Own LandThe House of ShawsThe Bare Stone KitchenThe Dark Stair TowerI Felt I Was LostBound in the BellyThe Survivor in Fine ClothesDavid Fires Into Their MidstCast Upon a Barren IsleThe Secret of EarraidThe Lad With the Silver ButtonCrying Out The MurdererRiach Takes Alan's PartLights Below the BraeThe Leap Over The LynnCluny’s CageLeaning Upon AlanA Love Affair ExplainedA Man of MeansWhere Our Ways Parted

Plot point 01

David leaves Essendean with a letter for the House of Shaws

A minister's dying request sends a sixteen-year-old boy down the road to claim his inheritance from an uncle he has never met.

Objects of Note

Alexander Balfour’s letter

A dead father's letter points David toward an uncle who would rather he never arrived.

The Cast

Alan Breck Stewart

Main · Jacobite / Stewart

A small Highland soldier in a silver-buttoned coat steps aboard with gold, pride, and danger at his belt.

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Kidnapped

Robert Louis Stevenson

The cast, locations, objects of note, core concepts, and selected passages in the Author’s Pen - at your own pace.

One of 127 classics in the Literah library

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