As I mentioned in one of my social media posts earlier this week, I had the pleasure of meeting Richard Leslie in the harbour as he was about to head out on Sula III for a boat tour.
He is the closest living relative of one of the area's most famous sons, Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-94). Here Richard is standing next to the 1950s vintage barometer in the side wall of the Harbour Granary building. In 2021 Richard funded the barometer's refurbishment and thus kept part of the Harbour's charm alive.
However, as I met one of the author's descendants, I felt that it was only right to spare a thought for Robert Louis Stevenson's many achievements. In spite of only living to 44, he was a successful author, adventurer, gun runner and advocate for Samoan independence. His novels continue to entertain us today and he frequently returned to his boyhood haunts around the Firth of Forth for literary inspiration.
Indeed, one of the first things I learned when we moved to North Berwick was that the nearby island of Fidra (meaning Feathers in Old Norse) was none other than Stevenson's Treasure Island. With the author spending many childhood hours capering around the island, his first edition of Treasure Island is said to feature a map remarkably similar to that of Fidra. Whilst his mother's maiden name of Balfour provided the inspiration for Stevenson's famous David Balfour of Kidnapped and Catriona with the latter seeing Davy imprisoned on the Bass Rock. It is during this incarceration that he is regaled with tales of demonic gannet possession whilst surrounded by thousands of said birds. Except he describes the gannets by their true Scots' name of Solan Geese, a name inspired by the Old Norse name Sula.
Such is the rich vein of information around Robert Louis Stevenson's life that it's impossible to tell a full story in one blog post. But it is something to save for a future date when we can once again look back at the dramatic Forth coastline and its multiple Stevenson storylines!
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