Travel Essays · Chapter
Legends explained
Stevenson explores how the character of a place is expressed through its legends and associations, using Edinburgh as a prime example.
What happens
Stevenson explores how the character of a place is expressed through its legends and associations, using Edinburgh as a prime example. He recounts tales of Deacon Brodie, the plague, Major Weir, and the two maiden sisters divided by a chalk line, illustrating how these stories reflect the city's dark, superstitious, and religiously divided nature.
Themes in this chapter
Mortality and the Passage of Time
The chapter dwells on death, plague, executions, and the haunting presence of historical figures, emphasizing the grim legacy of the past.
Human Connection and Community
The story of the two maiden sisters and the religious divisions illustrate fractured human relationships and the failure of community.
National Identity and Patriotism
Stevenson reflects on Scottish identity through its religious history, legends, and the character of Edinburgh as a symbol of the nation.
Characters to notice
- Major Weir
A tall, black man with a grim countenance, known as 'Angelical Thomas,' who was burned with his staff; his house was avoided due to unholy memories.
- Old Edinburgh
The city itself is personified as a character, with its dark passages, tall lands, and superstitious citizens.
- John Knox
Referenced indirectly through the ecclesiastical history and the religious divisions of Scotland.
Key passages
“The character of a place is often most perfectly expressed in its associations. An event strikes root and grows into a legend, when it has happened amongst congenial surroundings.”
A location's true nature is revealed by the stories tied to it; events become legends when they occur in fitting settings.
Stevenson introduces the central idea that legends are born from the harmony between event and environment.
“A chalk line drawn upon the floor separated their two domains; it bisected the doorway and the fireplace, so that each could go out and in, and do her cooking, without violating the territory of the other.”
The sisters divided their shared room with a chalk line, marking boundaries for movement and chores to avoid trespassing.
This vivid detail illustrates the extreme division and silent hostility between the two sisters.
“We are wonderful patient haters for conscience sake up here in the North.”
In Scotland, people are remarkably persistent in their hatreds when they believe it is morally justified.
Stevenson comments on the Scottish tendency toward enduring religious and personal feuds.