Robert Louis Stevenson and Scottish Literature

79 ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON AND SCOTTISH LITERATURE By Nathaniel Elliott (College of William and Mary) Although It seems an almost Impossible hiatus, David Craig Is correct In his observation that "In the mld-nlneteenth century the Scottish literary tradition - the writing by Scotsmen of fiction of more than parochial Interest - paused; from 1825 to 1880 there Is next to nothing worth attention."1 It may be supposed that the usual chapbook and periodical writing continued in the popular press through the middle of the century, but It Is true that there is nothing worthy of critical consideration until the advent of Robert Louis Stevenson on the Scottish scene. It was for Stevenson to incorporate in his early work elements found In past literature which gave direct rise to the Kailyard School, and to Incorporate In his very last work elements to be found In future literature which planted the seeds of the School's destruction. The Kailyard School, a group of writers of whom James M. Barrle, S.R. Crockett, and John Watson ("Ian Maclaren") were charter members , was given this name because they wrote of life around the kail, or cabbage patch, and dealt with vernacular-speaking rustic characters. The college work of Stevenson, the period when he characterized himself as a "sedulous ape" In his attempt to understand and copy the style of writers whom he admired. Is full of the posing and self-conscious glides of phrasing one may expect to find In the early work of almost any student who discovers he has a facility for phrase making and Is enraptured with his talent. Such sketches as "An Old Scotch Gardener," "Nurses" and "A Winter's Walk In Carrlck and Galloway" are Stevenson's attempt at being the sophisticate and the seer, roles perpetually aspired to by youth. His pose In fiction at that time was one at a great fcemove from his rustic Scottish subjects, delighting In the qualntness of their garb and tongue just as Scott's English heroes had done while on their northern adventures. Stevenson's point of view In his novitiate Is well Illustrated by this description of a Lowland shepherd from a sketch called "Pastorals": He spoke In the richest dialect of Scotch I ever heard; the words In themselves were a pleasure and often a surprise to me, so that I often came back from one of our patrols with new acquisitions; and this vocabulary he would handle like a master, stalking a little before me, "beard on shoulder," the plaid hanging loosely about him, the yellow staff clapped under his arm, and guiding me uphill by that devious, tactical ascent which seems peculiar to men of his trade. I might count him with the best talkers; only that talking Scotch and talking English seem Incomparable acts. He touched on nothing at least, but he adorned It.2 80 The most revealing phrase Is Stevenson's observation "and this vocabulary he would handle like a master." It Is a subconscious confession that he does not really believe the shepherd can be genuine, but that the language he Is using Is a skilled acquisition which, like a stage actor, he has learned to "handle like a masteri'Whether or not he was conscious of it,Stevenson's descriptions of rustic and lower-class subjects, at this point In his c career, were a continuation of a stereotype already firmly Imbedded In Scottish literature. This stereotype no doubt had Its beginnings In sub-literary Jokes, chapbooks, and the popular press, but It Is first seen In work of any consequence In the novels of John Gait, the Noctes Ambroslanae of Blackwood's Magazine, and, In Its most significant appearance, In the fiction of Walter Scott. It may be called a stereotype because the rustic, vernacularspeaking characters In these works were all treated In much the same way: they were from the lower social classes, usually from the conntry or a small town. Because they spoke In dialect, and because dialect speakers In print had been associated with low Jokes and humorous anecdotes, they were presented as figures designed to amuse, and were treated with condescension and sometimes a slightly disguised contempt...