Book of the Month, August 2022 - The Merry Men by R L Stevenson
Book of the Month, August 2022 - The Merry Men by R L Stevenson
Posted on - 30th August 2022
Hi, there. Maggie
Shaw here, proud owner of Eregendal and author.
As a lifelong
lover of reading, each month I choose one of my favourite books – and tell you
all about it.
For August’s Book
of the Month I have chosen the novella The Merry Men by Robert Louis
Stevenson (1850 – 1894), first published in 1887. Stevenson is most famous for
writing the Adventure stories Kidnapped!, The Wrong Box, Treasure Island, and
the study of addiction Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. He was a prolific author
and traveller, who studied at Edinburgh University and was called to the
Scottish Bar in 1875. He died of a cerebral haemorrhage at the age of 44 and was
buried on the summit of Mount Vaea on Upolu, Samoa, a long way from his Scottish
roots. For more information about the author, visit https://robert-louis-stevenson.org/.
I came across The
Merry Men in a collection of four of Stevenson’s short stories published in
2004 by Planet Three Publishing Network Ltd, entitled Doctor Jekyll and Mr
Hyde. Despite finding the small font challenging to read, this haunting
tale drew me in enough to persist with the font and finish the story. The title
comes from the name of the reef which causes many of the events in the story, known
as The Merry Men because of the way the water chases over the rocks and seems
to chuckle when the tide and storms make it most deadly.
The person telling
the tale, Charles, visits his closest relatives during a break from his studies
at Edinburgh. His uncle Gordon, his cousin Mary Ellen, and their servant Rorie
live on remote Eilean Aros on the west coast of Scotland, a rocky island
surrounded by reefs which regularly sink any ships blown by the storms into
Sandag Bay. The family normally live by farming and fishing, but when Charles
visits, he discovers Gordon had also looted a recent wreck, the Christ-Anna. Then
a schooner bearing a historian from Edinburgh University arrives, searching for
the wreck of a gold-laden Spanish Amada ship the historian thinks had been blown
off course onto the Aros reefs. His team finds the remains of a more recent body
on the island which Charles fears Gordon had murdered. A storm blows up and destroys
the schooner on the reefs, and just one survivor makes it safely to the shore. When
Gordon sees the survivor, he thinks the man is the ghost of the person he had
slain and drowns himself in the dangerous bay.
The power of the
story lies in its vivid descriptions of the landscape and the seascape, making
the island and the reefs major characters in the narrative. It is also a
haunting study of the dangers of ignoring one’s personal beliefs and succumbing
to ever-increasing greed in a lonely and challenging environment. The evocative
tale lingered in my thoughts for some time after I had finished reading.
So there we have
it, August’s Book of the Month! Be sure to check back in September as I’ll be
revealing another must read.
Take care,
Maggie x

Eregendal Music
Eregendal Music springs out of the same creativity that underpins our books. Modern, traditional, pop, folk, love and protest: our music encompasses many different styles, but always has a story to tell.
Find out more
Contact Eregendal
We love to hear from readers and authors with an interest in Visionary and Inspirational Fiction and our brand. We also welcome requests for author appearances and music performances, both online and in the UK.
Find out more