Famous Scots - Scots who have made an impact on Scottish and World History - History - http://maxpages.com/scotland/Famous

This week: Robert Louis Stevenson

Stevenson is most famous, amongst his many works, for his two novels "Treasure Island" and "The Strange case of Dr Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde", both of which were best sellers in their time, going on in recent times to be made into a number of different TV and film versions.

Stevenson was born on the 13th November 1850, in Edinburgh.
He attended Edinburgh Academy for about 18 months, often absent because of his ill health, primarily tuberculosis. He attended a private school in Edinburgh where he first took an interest in Writing, by publishing and writing for the school magazine. He enrolled at Edinburgh University, taking Engineering as his father pushed him into pursuing his own profession. Indeed, Stevenson won a silver medal after he had read a paper on the New Form of Intermittent light for Lighthouses. But he was not keen on Engineering and turn to study Law, eventually passing his Final Exams at the age of 25. Although, he set up an office, he never practised law.
Stevenson had tuberculosis as a child and this was to trouble him throughout his life.
He married Fanny Osbourne in 1880. He had first met her in 1877 while on a trip to France. She returned to the US, but upon hearing of her impending divorce from her husband, he travelled to the US to be with her. A journey which almost killed him. His American doctors did not give him much hope of survival. But, he defied the odds to live another 15 years.
He returned to Scotland with his wife and stepson, not knowing if he would be made welcome. However, their daughter-in-law impressed his parents in law, and they set off on a short holiday to the Highlands together.
It was on this short holiday at Braemar, that Stevenson created a story to amuse his son, he named it "Treasure Island". An American editor submitted it on Stevenson's behalf to a boy's magazine "Young Folks" in 1881. It appeared in 17 instalments, but it was a flop due to the slow action at the beginning of the story. Subsequent serials "the Black Arrow" and "Kidnapped" were action packed from the start.
His bad health continued to dog him and over the next 3 years he spent time in Davos and Switzerland and in the South of France. He continued to write, and began compiling "A Child's Garden of Verses".
He returned to Britain in 1884, his play "Deacon Brodie" played in London and the following year "A Child's Garden of Verses" was published and in 1886, "The Strange case of Dr. Jeckyl and Mr Hyde was published. It was an immense hit in Britain and the USA.
In July 1887, his father died, and three weekends later he left with his family and his mother for New York. He never returned to Scotland.
Stevenson was now immensely popular in USA, and was paid $10,000 per annum to publish a short weekly essay in "New York World" .He lived on the shores of Lake Saranac, and during the next few years wrote "Catriona" a sequel to "Kidnapped", and planned another novel "St. Ives and began work on "The Master of Ballantrae"
In June 1888, Stevenson and his family set out for the South Seas on the yacht "Casco".
Stevenson felt at his best and most healthy in this climate. In October of that year they went ashore at Tahiti, were he and his family were treated to a feast, and he write a poem to the wife of his host called "To an Island Princess"
On Christmas day he sailed for Honolulu to pick up his mail, and was he received an equally warm welcome from King Kalakaua. He and his family took up residence in Waikiki, were he finished "The Master of Ballantrae"
His health was still not at it's best, his mother returned to Scotland and he and his family hired an "Equator" Schooner to take him into warmer climbs.
In December 1889, he arrived in Samoa, were he was to live out the last five years of his life, on the Island of Upolu, his home was called "Vailima" (Five Waters". He had his belongings sent out from Edinburgh, and his mother rejoined him also.
Here, in 1893 he wrote "The Weir of Hermiston", but he did not finish St Ives abandoning it after 12 chapters.
His health seemed to be returning, but one morning as he read extracts of "The Weir of Hermiston" to his wife, he suddenly asked "Do I look strange", and lapsed into a coma, he died a few hours later.
He was buried on Mount Vaea near his home in Samoa. His tomb was etched by words he had written years earlier.

Under the wide and starry sky,
Dig the grave and let me lie,
Glad did I live and gladly die,
And I laid me down with a will.

This be the verse that you grave for me,
Here he lies where he longed to be,
Home is the sailor, home from the sea,
And the hunter home from the hill.

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