A “SCOTTISH MARRIAGE”

Dominion, Volume 19, Issue 118, 12 February 1926, Page 2

A “SCOTTISH MARRIAGE”

THE COURTSHIP OF R. L. STEVENSON

An interesting account of the courtship of his kinswoman, Margaret, by R. L. S. is related in the “Sunday Express” by Robert Stevenson. He writes:—

I am Robert Stevenson, the only son of Robert Louis Stevenson, the novelist and poet. I believe that according to Scottish law my mother was legally married to R. L. S.—her kinsman—and that I am the heir to the Stevenson tradition.

My mother—Margaret Stevenson, always known as Maggie—-was born in Portsoy. Pier father, Joseph Stevenson, was a builder and contractor in the north.

She was a charming young girl, bright, intelligent, and attractive. Her people were kinsfolk of the Stevenson family. After a few years in Aberdeen my mother came to Edinburgh and worked as a governess in Castle Terrace, at the house of Mr. Rennie.

As a governess she knew French, Spanish, and German, and played the piano with some skill. She was in

charge of the children who lived in Castle Terrace.

Part of her duties consisted in taking her charges out for daily walks. One afternoon in the later months of 1875 she was driving out in the governess car at Colinton.

It was a bright sunshiny day, and when the car was stopped the children got out and played. They were laughing at the sun rays in a field of corn, jumping about and pretending to chase the fleeting sunbeams. Suddenly they noticed a man sitting On a dyke with a book in his hand, reading in an absorbed and depressed mood. He saw the children and came, down to meet them. After watching them for a few moments he turned to my mother and said: — “I never knew what it was to have such happiness in my early days.” After a few more words with the children he turned to my mother and said, “I should just like to pick a bunch of posies for each of you.” C He then jumped into the field where cornflowers and poppies were growing and brought back some bunches of flowers. He presented them to the children and to my mother, saying:— “Three little posies I've gathered for thee, And in each I place a kiss of memory.” My mother stuck her’s in her breast. From that moment Stevenson nourished an intensive love passion for my mother. Every night he watched outside the house in which she worked. On her first night off after the meeting as she left the house she noticed Stevenson waiting about. He followed her everywhere she went, but did not speak. In the days that followed he bombarded her with letters. My mother's usual . walk . was down Queens ferry Street and over Dean Bridge, round the far side of the Water of Leith, and back to Castle Terrace. On the second night on which she was out Stevenson spoke to her at the door, and accompanied her on her walk. And so began an acquaintanceship which ended in much sorrow .on my mother’s part. Margaret’s liking for Stevenson grew with every meeting; while on Stevenson’s part there was an ungovernable passion.

One day her took Margaret for a walk to see his people at Swanston. She became a welcome visitor, and two or three visits later Stevenson took her before his father and mother at the latter end of 1878, and said, “I would like to marry Margaret; I want to marry her.”

Stevenson’s parents agreed, and on this Margaret, accepting the theory of marriage according to Scottish law, regarded Stevenson in future as her husband.