Kidnapped (1886) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit

Write a ridiculously simplified synopsis.

Summary edit see section history

Characters edit see section history

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• David Balfour: The main character of the book.
• Mr. Campbell: The minister of Essendean, who sends David off on his travels.
• Ebenezer Balfour: David's uncle, the current resident of the House of Shaws.
• Ransome: The cabin boy for the Covenant, who brings David's uncle a letter.
• Elias Hoseason: The captain of the Covenent.
• Mr. Riach: The docter and first commander upon the brig, The Covenent.
• Mr. Shuan: A seaman upon the Covenent, and rather mean, especially when drunk.
• Alan Breck Stewart: A member of the Stewart clan; a Jacobite and Catholic.
• Hector Maclean: A "rich man" of Mull, who helps David on his way to Torosay.
• Mr. Henderland: A friend of Mr. Campbell of Essendean, the minister.
• Duncan Mackiegh: A blind catechist and highway robber David meets on Mull.
• Colin Campbell: Of Glenure. The Red Fox. Alan's clan's sworn enemy.
• James Stuart: "Of the Glens". Alan's friend and clansman, who helps them in Appin.
• John Breck Maccoll: A bouman of Appin, who helps get money for Alan and David when they are hiding in Corrynakiegh.
• Duncan Dhu Maclaren: A man of Balquhidder who houses David and Alan when David gets sick.
• Robin Oig Macgregor: Son of Rob Roy; a man who challenges Alan in Balquhidder.
• Cluny Macpherson: The chief of the Vourich clan and Alan's friend.
• Mr. Rankeillor: A lawyer in Queensbridge who helps David at the end of the book.
• Torrance: Mr. Rankeillor's assistant.

Quotes edit see section history

• “That is the house of Shaws! Blood built it; blood stopped the building of it; blood shall bring it down. See here! I spit upon the ground, and crack my thumb at it! Black be its fall! If ye see the laird, tell him what ye hear; tell him this makes the twelve hunner and nineteen time that Jennet Clouston has called down the curse on him and his house, byre and stable, man, guest, and master, wife, miss or bairn — black, black be their fall!”

  Jennet Clouston

• “He fetched another cup from the shelf; and then, to my great surprise, instead of drawing more beer, he poured an accurate half from one cup to the other. There was a kind of nobleness in this that took my breath away; if my uncle were certainly a miser, he was one of that thorough breed that goes near to make the vice respectable.”

• “You asked me to speak. Well, then, I will. You own yourself that you have done me a disservice; I have had to swallow an affront: I have never approached you, I never named the thing till you did. And now you blame me, because I cannae laugh and sing as if I was glad to be affronted. The next thing will be that I'm to go down upon my knees and thank you for it! Ye should think more of others, Alan Breck. If ye thought more of others, ye would perhaps speak less about yourself; and when a friend that likes you very well has passed over an offence without a word, you would be blithe to let it lie, instead of making it a stick to break his back with. By your own way of it, it was you that was to blame; then it shouldnae be you to seek the quarrel.”

  David Balfour

Setting & Locations edit see section history

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• Essendean: David's childhood home, which he leaves at the beginning of the story.
• Cramond: The area in Scotland where the House of Shaws is found.
• Shaws: The house which David stands to inherit.
• Forth: The firth where David and Ebeneezer meet Captain Hoseason.
• Earraid: The islet where David washes ashore.
• Mull: The island David crosses to after landing on Erraid.
• Torosay: Where David takes the ferry to Morven.
• Morven: The country David crosses to from Mull.
• Appin: Alan's country; a coastal district of the West highlands.
• Lettermore: Or Lettervore; the wood where David and Alan meet again.
• Corrynakiegh: Site of the cave where Alan and David hide from red-coats.
• Ben Alder: The mountains outside of Appin where Alan and David meet Cluny's men.
• Balquhidder: A village where David and Alan rest when David gets sick.
• Stirling Castle: The castle and bridge where Alan and David try to cross the firth of Forth.

Organizations edit see section history

• Whigs: A faction of the Scottish Covenanters during the 17th-century Wars of the Three Kingdoms, and the original Whigs.
• Jacobites: The political movement dedicated to the return of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland, after the deposing of James II and VII in 1688.

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Glossary edit see section history

• Manse: A mansion; a large and imposing house.
• Redd: To put on order; to make tidy; usually used in reference to a house.
• Dominie: A clergyman; especially a settled minister, schoolmaster or parson.
• Superscrived: Written above something else.
• Risp: To rub together; to rasp or grate.
• Ken: To know or understand.
• Soople: Supple; suitable.
• Muckle: Large, massive; much.
• Laird: A landowner.
• Plenishing: The furniture of a house; stock on a farm or estate.
• Neuk: A corner; a nook.
• Firth: An arm of the sea, extending into the land; a fjord.
• Byre: A barn, especially one used for keeping cattle.
• Bairn: A child or baby.
• Eldritch: Unearthly, eerie, supernatural.
• Cote: A small shelter for domestic animals, such as sheep or pigeons.
• Wroth: Full of anger; wrathful.
• Slocken: To put out or extinguish (as a fire).
• Kyte: Stomach.
• Limmer: A rogue; a promiscuous woman.
• Siller: Money.
• Aumry: Cupboard.
• Phial: A small glass vessel or bottle.
• Burn: A stream or brook.
• Hawser: A large heavy rope for nautical use.
• Swier: Unwilling.
• Lee: Downwind towards the side away from the wind.
• Dearth: An acute insufficiency.
• Trepanned: Forced into emigration for the purposes of being sold into slavery.
• Thwart: A brace, perpendicular to the keel, that helps maintain the breadth of a marine vessel against external water pressure and that may serve to support the rail; a seat that is incorporated into the design of a small boat's thwart.
• Unco: Uncommonly.
• Carbonado: To cook something (usually meat or fish) by scoring and broiling.
• Gliff: Look or view.
• Tow: Rope.
• Sough: Report.
• Tod: Fox.
• Bulwark: A defensive wall or rampart; metaphorically, something that serves a defensive purpose.
• Dunt: Stroke.
• Clour: A lump or swelling caused by a blow.
• Halter: Rope or canvas headgear for a horse, with a rope for leading.
• Variorum: An edition containing various versions of a text or notes by various scholars or editors; a variety or miscellany.
• Trice: A very short time; an instant.
• Frieze: A heavy woollen fabric with a long nap used for coats, etc.
• Bowsprit: A spar projecting from the bow of a vessel.
• Begowk: Befool.
• Midden: A refuse heap usually near a dwelling; a prehistoric pile of bones and shells.
• Raxing: Reaching
• Baulched: Describe this term.
• Feckless: Without skill, ineffective, incompetent.
• Callant: A young fellow; a boy.
• Brae: A slope or hillside.
• Tenty: Careful.
• Larboard: The left side of a ship, looking from the stern; the old term for port.
• Clamber: To climb awkwardly, as if by scrambling.
• Ross: Gaelic for headland.
• Neap: A less than average tide occurring at the first and third quarters of the moon.
• Kine: Cattle; domesticated bovine animals as a group, regardless of sex or age.
• Philabeg: A kilt.
• Rapine: The act of despoiling a country in warfare.
• Sporran: A fur or leather pouch worn at the front of the kilt, as part of the traditional dress of Scottish Highlanders.
• Wame: Womb.
• Fain: Gladly; in a willing manner.
• Howe: A mound of earth, especially one placed over a prehistoric tomb, often shaped like an inverted bowl.
• Argyle: A region in western Scotland, the home of the Campbell clan; its tartan pattern is of diamonds in a diagonal checkerboard arrangement.
• Portmanteau: A large travelling case usually made of leather, and opening into two equal sections.
• Pyat
• Jouk: To move the body quickly downward, to avoid a missile, a blow, or the like; to duck.
• Twine: Part ways.
• Poke: Bag.
• Assoiled: Absolved.
• Taigle: To disarrange, bring into disorder
• Troth: A solemn pledge of fidelity.
• Fash: To worry; to bother or trouble.
• Tint: Proof, indication, testimony.
• Wyte: Blame.
• Mattock: A kind of pick-axe used for digging.
• Gyte: Mad.
• Dirdum: Blame.
• Cruachan: The rallying word of the Campbells.
• Lynn: A waterfall, cataract, or cascade of water.
• Gleg: Quick in movement or perception; bright, clear.
• Gomeral: A fool, a stupid person.
• Birstle: To broil on the fire; to scorch: to warm thoroughly.
• Thole: To suffer, undergo pain; to have to bear or endure.
• Drammach: A simple Scots food made from oatmeal and water.
• Heugh: A steep crag or cliff, especially one with overhanging sides.
• Clachan: A hamlet or small village.
• Bouman: A tenant who takes stock from the landlord and shares with him the increase.
• Muir: Moor.
• Posset: A drink of hot milk curdled with ale or wine, sometimes with sugar, spices or other ingredients added.
• Gloaming: Twilight, as at early morning or (especially) early evening; dusk.
• Collops: Thickish slices of meat minced before cooking.
• Gillies: A male servant, especially an attendant on a Highland chief.
• Dowiest: Sadest, most melancholy or dismal.
• Kelpie: A water demon haunting rivers and fords, generally in the form of a black or white horse, which lured unwary human beings to death by drowning, but which might also be harnessed to drive a mill or perform other work.
• Pirliecue: A second sermon (literally, a flourish or ornament at the end of a hand-written word).
• Doughty: Brave, strong, courageous and stouthearted.
• Sept: Seventh.
• Cadger: A travelling hawker or beggar.
• Kittle: Ticklish; not easily managed; troublesome, difficult.
• Brose: Oatmeal with boiling water added.
• Pibroch: The classical music of the Scottish bagpipe, a piece of pipe-music consisting of a theme and a series of variations, often extempore, arranged in a regular pattern or sequence.
• Dudgeon: A short clay pipe.
• Gibbet: A gallows-type structure from which the dead bodies of executed criminals were hung on public display.
• Harled: Newly rough-cast.
• Claret: A dry red wine produced in the Bordeaux region of France, or a similar wine made elsewhere.
• Trokings: Truckings; dealings.
• Fashious: Troublesome.
• Intromissions: In Scottish law, the assuming of the possession or management of someone else’s property with or without authority.

Series & Lists edit see section history

Followed by Catriona.

Preceded by With Clive in India, or, The Beginnings of an Empire, and followed by Heart: A School-Boy's Journal.

Preceded by The Mayor of Casterbridge, and followed by King Solomon's Mines.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Robert Louis Stevenson (Author)

Other Contributors:

1. Lynd Ward (Illustrator) - Illustrated Junior Library

First Edition edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
• Dewey: 823.8

Notes for Parents edit see section history

My 6th grade daughter is reading this book and it seems to be about the right level. She thinks the vocab is a bit high.

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Children's Books › Authors & Illustrators, A-Z › ( S ) › Stevenson, Robert Louis
• Books › Children's Books › Series › Classics › Scholastic Classics
• Books › Teens › Literature & Fiction › Classics
• Books › Children's Books › Literature › Classics by Age

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

• Kidnapped: Download or read the book online at Google Books.
• Dictionary of the Scots Language: A useful online resource for defining the many Scottish words sprinkled throughout the novel.

Movie Connections edit see section history

• Kidnapped (IMDb)