The Appin Murder - The historical basis of "Kidnapped" and "Catriona"

The Appin Murder took place on 14 May 1752 in Duror, Appin, on the west coast of Scotland. The victim was Colin Campbell of Glenure, nicknamed “the Red Fox”, who served as government factor for the forfeited Stewart estates of Appin (Appin is a coastal district of the Scottish West Highlands bounded to the west by Loch Linnhe, to the south by Loch Creran, to the east by the districts of Benderloch and Lorne, and to the north by Loch Leven) following the Jacobite defeat at Culloden.

 

After Culloden, the Stewarts of Appin—a Jacobite clan—lost their lands under the Forfeited Estates Act. Glenure, a Campbell and a staunch Hanoverian, was appointed to collect rents and evict tenants who could not pay. To the local population, he represented everything bitter about post-Culloden repression: displacement, loss of clan authority, and the imposition of outsider rule.

 

While riding along the shore of Loch Linnhe, Glenure was shot dead by an unknown assassin hiding in the woods. The killer escaped and was never conclusively identified.

 

In the aftermath, the government was desperate to make an example. James Stewart (Seumas a’ Ghlinne), a kinsman of the Appin Stewarts, was arrested—not because there was solid evidence, but because he was associated with suspected Jacobites. His trial ensued.

Key problems with the trial:

• No direct evidence linked James Stewart to the murder
• The jury was packed with Campbells, hereditary enemies of the Stewarts
• The trial took place in Inveraray, deep in Campbell territory
• Key witnesses were unreliable or contradictory

Despite this, James Stewart was convicted as an accessory and hanged in 1752, protesting his innocence. To many Scots—then and now—this was a clear miscarriage of justice, driven by political vengeance rather than law.

 

The story of this murder remained almost entirely a local affair until in 1886 Robert Louis Stevenson published his novel "Kidnapped" and as the author of this account writes "...the World's interest in Seumas was aroused by a mere Edinburgh advocate, who simply seized the tale, without title or permission and sent it flying around the globe with a momentum fit to last for ever."

David Norman Mackay was a Scottish editor of legal history His texts aren't widely covered in literary biography sources and several things remain unclear: His full career outside the trial series (e.g., whether he wrote other kinds of books or worked in academia) Detailed personal biography (education, other professional roles) Influence or reputation in Scottish letters beyond the trial series

His other publications include:

Trial Of James Stewart: The Appin Murder - Published by William Hodge & Company, 1907

Trial Of Simon, Lord Lovat Of The 45 - Published by William Hodge & Co, 1911

Clan Warfare in the Scottish Highlands – Published by Alexander Gardner, 1922

This is a very good copy of this edition with relatively clean coverboards with the odd stain and inside bright and clean pages throughout with just the usual age related tanning. The Authors signature date and dedication can be found on the inside end page(see image).

 

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