The RLS Club News

Issue No 52 Spring 2019 Happy birthday, Louis

THE 168th birthday of on November 13 was cele- brated in style with a string of events in and around his native . As the Club takes on more responsi- bility for co-ordinating the annual RLS Day celebrations on a near-zero budg- et, it was heartening to find over a dozen events in the 2018 programme. The Club took over part of the Cen- tral Library in Edinburgh for Steven- son In The States, an afternoon of readings featuring Louis’s reports from his emigrant voyage to New York and wild west train journey to California in pursuit of Fanny Os- bourne, plus his Silverado Squatters account of their honeymoon. Each RLS Day sees a special event at Stevenson’s home in Heriot Row, by courtesy of John and Felicitas Macfie, and this time it was a musical treat from folk duo Neil Adam and Judy Turner on a visit from Australia. A life in song: Neil Adam and Judy Turner in Mrs Stevenson’s drawing-room Mrs Stevenson’s drawing-room Ian Logan, while Colinton Communi- (Mrs Jekyll & Cousin Hyde) discuss- echoed to the sound of their singing ty Conservation Trust director Dun- ing Stevenson and the historical novel and stories in a performance telling can Campbell led a less taxing guided at the Writers’ Museum, while at the tale of her son’s life and adven- walk along the RLS Poetry Trail to Blackwell’s Bookshop Lachlan Munro tures from Scotland to . the RLS statue by the parish church. shared his findings about For the energetic there was a fa- Authors again featured in RLS Day in The Scenery of Dreams. vourite Stevenson walk along the events, with Liz MacRae Shaw (No There was also a celebration of Ste- Forth from South Queensferry, led by Safe Anchorage) and Jeremy Hodges venson silliness at Typewronger Books, publisher of a new edition of The Misadaventures of John Nicolson. A Pacific Students again played a part in the celebrations, with an Edinburgh pilgrimage Gothic event at Edinburgh university, AHEAD of RLS Day, while budding actors, directors and Club members Mitchell playwrights at Edinburgh Napier uni- Manson and Rex Homer versity staged an evening of perfor- made a pilgrimage to mances inspired by Songs of Travel. For schools there was an event California and Samoa, based on the poem From A Railway where Stevenson’s birth- Carriage at North Queensferry Prima- day is still celebrated. ry, while for a more international per- They visited his grave spective Jeremy Hodges addressed a on Mount Vaea with Royal Over-Seas League lunch on the our Australian friends subject of Stevenson Overseas. Neil Adam and Judy Overall, RLS Day remains a great Turner, who then gave way to achieve the Club’s objective of furthering interest in Stevenson’s life a concert at Vailima. Graveside gathering: Neil, Mitchell, Rex and Judy and works - and good fun, too.

Inside: RLS in Europe, Club Events, Father and Son, and a Stevenson Sermon 2 The RLS Club News Spring 2019 3

NEWS IN BRIEF Like father, like son? EVENTS Judging the MARCH 9 MEMBERS were treated to a unique insight into raphers been blinded by RLS’s best-selling ce- STEVENSON AND SAMOA the relationship between RLS and his father lebrity status and his vivid life, and have exag- VOYAGE into the Pacific with Appin Murder when Dr Patricia Andrew addressed a lunchtime gerated small, meaningless incidents, taken out Joseph Farrell, Professor Emeritus of MURDER seemed unlikely in the gracious meeting at the Royal Scots Club. of perspective, to give a skewed picture of the Strathclyde University, who will give a talk based on his book about surroundings of Glasgow’s Western Club Dr Andrew based her introduction on the paint- whole Stevenson family? erly GP Nerli portrait of Louis and Sir George Perhaps ultimately Thomas was indeed the Stevenson’s time roaming the Pacific last month, but it was on the agenda when and building a new life for himself the retired Scottish judge Lord Stewart gave Reid’s fine traditional likeness of Thomas Ste- benevolent figure described by Louis, who venson. wrote: ‘Few men were more beloved in Edin- and his family in Samoa. City Arts a talk on the central theme of Stevenson’s We were invited to study the portraits carefully burgh, where he breathed an air that pleased him; Centre, 2 Market Street, Edinburgh, pair of novels, Kidnapped and . to examine father and son in depth, with Dr and wherever he went, in railway carriages or 10.30 for 11am, £4 per person. A longstanding and distinguished RLS Andrew indicating points to better understand hotel smoking rooms, his strange, humorous vein Register by March 4. Club member, Angus Stewart is formidably their characters. of talk, and his transparent honesty, raised him APRIL 10 well qualified to examine the Appin Murder, This resulted in a lively discussion among up friends and admirers.’ PACIFIC PILGRIMAGE in fact and fiction, through his knowledge of members, led by Ian Nimmo. In the end, chairman David Reid had to step in STEVENSON’S presence is still very the law, the history and traditions of Clan Was Thomas, as some biographers suggest, so to end the debate as we had run out of time, but much felt in Samoa, as Club mem- Stewart, and his understanding of Stevenson. utterly unpleasant to Louis, a controlling skinflint one thing was certain – Thomas and RLS were bers Rex Homer and Mitchell Man- Thanks to our committee member Dr Jon embroiled in constant rumbling and sometimes each an enigma. son discovered on a pilgrimage to the Cossar, Club members were invited to join Stevenson & Son: Louis by GP Nerli, Thomas by George Reid thunderous rows with his son? Or have biog- IAN NIMMO Pacific last autumn. They’ll be shar- those of the Western Club to enjoy Lord ing their experiences at 2pm at Stewart’s vivid portrayal of the times and Stockbridge Church Hall, Saxe circumstances of the murder, deepening his Coburg Street, Edinburgh (close by listeners’ sense of the historical context and Edinburgh Academy). Price £2, register by April 1. of the real characters who inspired RLS. But who committed the murder? It still Voyage into MAY 18 remains a mystery. A STEVENSON WALK FOLLOW in the footsteps of RLS on Change the future a guided walk beside the Forth from CHANGING circumstances mean two va- Cramond to South Queensferry. cancies on the Club Committee from July, With on option to book for lunch at including the post of Minutes Secretary, Europe in the Hawes Inn, South Queensferry, and we will welcome interest from any Club scene of David Balfour’s kidnapping member who might like to be involved. in Kidnapped, for those registering The committee meets three times a year, by May 1. Assemble 10am at in addition to the AGM, to organise events Cramond Brig Hotel car park. and activities and to shape the future policy JUNE 15 and development of the Club. Louis’s wake INNERPEFFRAY LIBRARY Joie de vivre: Jean-Jacques Greif and Françoise Sylvestre celebrate Stevenson Any new member will become part of a YOUR chance to visit this hidden friendly and supportive group and the es- IN 1876 RLS undertook a canoe trip from Antwerp to Our hosts arranged an excellent programme of guided gem, escorted by local Club member sential qualification, beyond our shared Pontoise and published his account of the journey as visits including a tour of Noyon Cathedral, of which Denis Frize. Scotland’s oldest (1694 ) enthusiasm for RLS, is a readiness to carry . RLS wrote: ‘I have seldom looked on the east end of a public lending library is in the the Club forward as we enter our second The European Network In the Footsteps of Robert church with more complete sympathy.’ hamlet of Innerpeffray, four miles century with fresh ideas and initiatives. Louis Stevenson followed his trail when we held our In keeping with the Inland Voyage theme we visited from Crieff. and contains an incred- ible collection of Mediaeval and Ear- The role of Minutes Secretary is straight- AGM in Noyon, northern France, in November 2018. the Cité des Bateliers (the Town of the Boatmen) at forward and well supported: to prepare and ly Modern literature. Numbers lim- Club committee members Elizabeth Baird and Ian Longueil-Annel where we learned about the life of the ited to the first 15 persons register- distribute the Agenda of a meeting, draft Gardiner were warmly welcomed by our hosts, the families who lived and traded on the rivers and canals, ing by June 1. Assemble 10am at the Minutes, then circulate them in consul- Communauté des Communes des 2 Vallées, who are described in Stevenson’s little book. Dunblane railway station. tation with the Chairperson. It does not involve dealing with correspondence. part of the Association which promotes the Inland At the museum there the Fontainebleau group plant- JUNE 22 Anyone interested should contact David Voyage route. ed an RLS rose, and we then took a boat trip to historic ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Reid, details below. In addition to workshops on the future development Compiègne, viewing the magnificent facade of the A DATE for your diary. Come along of the Network and the RLS European Cultural Route, town hall which RLS described in detail. and share your views on the Club. we had the pleasure of talks from two authors. This area of France saw action in World War One More details nearer the day. CONTACTS Françoise Sylvestre, who has collaborated with other and we visited a limestone quarry at Carrières de Mon- RLS Club Contact: David Reid, authors to write a book while staying at the Stevenson tigny which served during the conflict as habitation for BOOKING 20 Beveridge Road, Kirkcaldy, Fife, KY1 lighthouse on Bressay in Shetland, spoke about her soldiers, some of whom had carved an altar in the To book an event or for 1UX. Tel: 01592 204645 biography Robert Louis Stevenson, Les Chemins de la stone. more information, contact Email: [email protected] Liberté. Once again it was good to see RLS enthusiasts from Events Secretary RLS Club News Editor: Jeremy Hodges, Jean-Jacques Greif told delegates about his new the network’s member countries – now including Ger- Margaret Wilkie at 21 Russel Street, Falkirk, Stirlingshire, French translation of , inspired by the many – joining together to share their love of the au- [email protected] FK2 7HS. Tel: 01324 613072 or ring 0131 477 6738 need to make the language of the pirates less sophisti- thor and to follow in his footsteps. Email: [email protected] cated than the way they speak in other renditions. ELIZABETH BAIRD Admired by Stevenson: The Town Hall at Compiègne The RLS Club News 4 Spring 2019 Thoughts on RLS’s Sermon at Christmas STEVENSON wrote in his Christmas Sermon: ‘If your morals make you dreary, depend upon it they are wrong. I do not say “give them up”, for they may be all you have, but conceal them like a vice, lest they should spoil the lives of better and simpler people.’ There was nothing dreary when mem- bers attended Stockbridge Church, near St Stephen’s in Edinburgh where the Stevenson family worshipped, for a dis- cussion of the sermon Louis penned at Saranac Lake in the winter of 1886/87. Taking on the mantle of RLS, John Inspired by Shedden delivered the sermon from the pulpit with Club member the Rev John Stevenson Munro supplying an illuminating com- OUR Commemorative Book project mentary. to celebrate the Club’s centenary is The sermon includes words engraved progressing, with impressive contri- on the Portsmouth Square monument to butions received from or promised RLS in San Francisco’s Chinatown: by an international company of ‘To be honest, to be kind – to earn a writers, journalists, figures in pub- little and to spend a little less, to make lic life and Stevenson scholars. upon the whole a family happier for his But just as important are person- presence, to renounce when that shall Sermon and commentary: John al contributions from Club mem- be necessary and not to be embittered, Shedden and the Rev John Munro at bers – all combining to show how to keep a few friends but these without Stevenson is very much alive and Stockbridge Church (Picture: Rev Dr inspirational in our contemporary capitulation – above all, on the same John Cowie) grim condition, to keep friends with imaginative world, as well as re- himself – here is a task for all that a Rex Homer was at the Stevenson flecting the very different pathways memorial in San Francisco which bring readers to him. man has of fortitude and delicacy.’ We are now ready to discuss the project with potential publishers, while retaining the option of self publication. Further contributions A Vailima mystery solved of up to 1,000 words can be sent to WE were intrigued by the mystery David Reid not later than April 30. object found in the grounds of Ste- Creative endeavour venson's last home at Vailima by Club member Neil Adam – a cast THE deadline for entries to our iron plaque depicting a lighthouse. annual Robert Louis Stevenson Various theories were put for- Creative Writing Competition for ward and the Northern Lighthouse senior pupils in Scottish secondary Board in Scotland was contacted as schools is April 18. a link to Stevenson lighthouse Success in the competition, run in builders seemed likely. partnership with Edinburgh Napier But Neil’s fellow musician Cathe- University, offers the unique oppor- rine Strutt recognised the ‘plaque’ tunity to take part in a writers' as a section of a Beacon Light cast Master Class led by the acclaimed iron stove – once a familiar fixture novelist Louise Welsh. in homes across Australia. There are also substantial cash Yet there may still be a Scottish prizes for the best Prose Fiction, connection! The firm of Metters, Poetry, Reflective Writing and piec- which made the stoves, used found- es in Scots. The competition is open ries in Australia, the USA and to any pupil, not restricted to those Scotland – and it was from Scot- studying RLS in class. land that a shipment was unloaded Further details can be found at at Sydney harbour in 1890. Beacon: Neil Adam and Samoan friend www.robert-louis-stevenson.org