The Master of Ballantrae

The Master of Ballantrae

Company type	Novel
Industry	Literature
Founded	1889
Founder	Robert Louis Stevenson
Products	Novel

The Master of Ballantrae: A Winter's Tale is a novel published in 1889 by the Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson. It explores the intense rivalry between two brothers from a Scottish noblemen family, whose loyalties are divided by the events of the Jacobite rising of 1745. Stevenson completed this work while recuperating in Tautira.

Variant openings

The original 1889 edition opens directly with Chapter One, titled "Summary of Events During the Master's Wanderings". In the subsequent Edinburgh Edition, Stevenson introduced a preface that presents the narrative as a manuscript provided by an acquaintance, inspired by someone he knew personally. An "Art-Type Edition" features both this preface and an Editorial Note. The preface does not influence the storyline and its inclusion varies among later publications.

The Rising

The story is narrated through the memoirs of Ephraim Mackellar, steward of the Durrisdeer estate, beginning in 1745 amid the Jacobite rising. As Bonnie Prince Charlie mobilizes support for the Stuart claim, the Durie family—comprising the Laird of Durrisdeer and his two sons, James Durie (known as the Master of Ballantrae) and Henry Durie—formulate a plan: one son will back the Jacobite cause while the other supports the Crown, ensuring their noble standing regardless of which side prevails. Although Henry would logically join the rebels, the Master insists on taking that role himself and accuses Henry of harboring ambition. They decide by a coin toss; winning it, the Master joins the Rising while Henry remains loyal to King George II.

Following the defeat of the Rising and with the Master believed dead, Henry inherits the estate but not his brother’s title. At their father’s request, the Master's fiancée weds Henry to protect family assets. Over time, Henry endures social hostility for his allegiance to the Crown and is shunned by relatives mourning his brother. Despite this alienation, he quietly withstands hardship and even provides financial support to his brother’s forsaken mistress and her child, who falsely claim to be related to the Master.

Colonel Burke

In April 1749, Colonel Francis Burke, an Irish officer who had served with Prince Charles, arrives bearing letters from the Master, who is revealed to be alive in France. The narrator, Mackellar, introduces Burke’s account focusing on the Master's experiences. Burke depicts the Master as self-serving, eager for wealth and status, contentious, and sycophantic toward the Prince. The Master abandons the Rising early on, escaping with Burke aboard an old vessel soon overtaken by pirates commanded by Teach—a figure emulating the notorious Blackbeard.

Both Burke and the Master become members of Teach's pirate crew. Eventually, the Master usurps Teach to become captain himself. His ruthless command involves capturing ships and killing their crews to avoid detection. Later, he deserts his ship near North Carolina to fall into Royal Navy custody but escapes alongside Burke and two others with their seized treasure. During their flight through swamps, he kills one companion and leaves another behind to perish. They reach Albany aboard a merchant ship but abandon it upon arrival.

Attempting to find sanctuary among French Jacobite sympathizers in Canada, they hire a guide who succumbs to fever, leaving them disoriented in wilderness terrain. The Master navigates by flipping a coin, mocking rational decision-making. They bury their treasure while Burke records how the Master blames his younger brother for his downfall, accusing him of usurping his position and courting his wife.

After a dispute causes them to part ways temporarily, Burke and the Master reunite at a French fort before returning to France. Burke retains his portion of their pirate loot; meanwhile, the Master secures "the largest pension on the Scots Fund of any refugee in Paris."

The Master in Exile

Henry Durie and Mackellar become aware of the Master's involvement in piracy but deliberately withhold this information from the Laird and Mrs Durie, who continue to regard the Master as a redeemed figure. Henry provides financial support to the Master's mistress and illegitimate offspring, complying with his monetary demands. Despite receiving a pension from the French crown intended for Scots dispossessed after the Rising, the Master persistently accuses Henry of withholding his rightful inheritance and insists on further payments. Perceived as stingy, Henry exhausts the estate's resources to satisfy these demands, transferring approximately eight thousand pounds over seven years without revealing the origins to his family.

Colonel Burke Again

In July 1756, Mackellar obtains word from Colonel Burke stationed in Champagne that the Master's scheming at court resulted in his incarceration in the Bastille. Upon release, the Master loses both his Scots Fund pension and command of his regiment, leaving him impoverished. He then devises an ambitious and costly plan to journey to India. Mackellar views this as a welcome chance to be freed from the Master's burdensome presence, unaware that Henry has already informed the Master that estate funds have been depleted.

The Master Returns

By November 1756, the Master arrives back at Durrisdeer under the pseudonym "Mr Bally." Encountering Henry on a road, he mocks him and blames him for dismissing the India expedition proposal. Reconnecting with his father and Henry's wife—who was once his fiancée—the Master manipulates them through deceit, casting himself as a long-suffering victim while portraying Henry as harsh and unkind. Privately, he revels in his ability to sway their affections despite fabricating truths.

Mackellar discovers that the Master betrayed Jacobite interests by acting as a paid informant for King George II, which accounts for his unharmed return. Nonetheless, even when confronted with this betrayal, both the Laird and Mrs Durie remain oblivious to the Master's true character. The Master pressures the Laird to break the entailment and sell a portion of the estate at a loss to finance his Indian venture; however, the Laird defends him fiercely and reproaches Henry for lacking generosity.

The conflict reaches its peak on 27 February 1757 when the Master asserts that Mrs Durie has always loved him rather than Henry. In response, Henry strikes him, sparking a sword fight during which Henry appears to fatally wound the Master. Mackellar alerts others in the household, but upon returning to where the duel occurred, they find no trace of the Master's body—it has been removed by smugglers—leaving his fate ambiguous.

The Master in India

Surviving his sword injury, the Master uses funds extorted from his father to pursue fortune in India. Meanwhile, with the passing of the elderly Laird at Durrisdeer, Henry inherits the title. Mackellar presents Mrs Durie with letters proving that the Master acted as a paid spy. She reconciles with Henry but destroys these documents to prevent scandal. The couple has a son named Alexander (born 17 July 1757), probably Henry’s child since the Master's return occurred only months earlier. Following a duel, Henry suffers mental instability and neglects both business affairs and estate management. When Mackellar suggests that the Master might still be alive, Henry responds strangely, claiming the Master is "not mortal" and "bound upon my back to all eternity."

When Alexander is about eight years old, Mackellar observes Henry showing him the duelling ground while describing it as a place where a man fought against Devil.

An excerpt from Colonel Burke’s memoir recounts an encounter with the Master in India during a "mellay." Burke and his cipaye take refuge in a garden where they find the Master sitting alongside an Indian servant named Secundra Dass. The Master ignores Burke’s plea for assistance; Secundra Dass warns them off brandishing a pistol. This concludes the embedded narrative.

The Second Return

In the spring of 1764, Mackellar encounters the Master at Durrisdeer alongside Secundra Dass. The new Laird greets him with coldness and firmly states that no financial assistance will be forthcoming. The Master replies sharply: "[S]peech is easily delivered and often misleading... It would be wiser for you to pay up promptly and watch me leave."

Subsequently, the Laird relocates his family to New York, where Mrs Durie owns property. Mackellar remains behind, offering the Master shelter but strictly forbidding any contact with the family or monetary aid. The Master declares:

"Within a week... I shall discover where these fools have fled. I will pursue them; and once I have caught my quarry, I will drive a wedge into that family which will shatter it completely... Then we shall see whether my Lord Durrisdeer... chooses to purchase my absence; and you will all witness whether... I act out of profit or revenge."

New York

The Master follows the Duries to New York, where he poses as a tailor while covertly working to destabilize his brother Henry, whose mental state has deteriorated. He demands funds to recover pirate treasure hidden in the wilderness, promising to leave Henry alone if paid. Henry refuses, skeptical due to his brother’s history of unkept promises. Mackellar offers financial backing for the venture, but the Master declines, revealing his true intention is solely to bring about Henry’s downfall:

"Three times I have been on the brink of the highest rank... I care for only one thing, and that I shall obtain."

A ship arrives from Britain bearing false reports that the Master will receive the Lordship of Durrisdeer and that Henry’s son has been disinherited. Driven insane, Henry secretly hires a smuggler crew to accompany the Master on the treasure hunt with orders to kill him and seize the treasure.

In the Wilderness

Initially misled, the Master soon uncovers their scheme but cannot escape nor turn them against one another. Pretending illness, he eventually reveals where the treasure lies before dying. Secundra Dass inters him; however, as they set out, they are ambushed by hostile Native Americans, leaving only Dass and a man named Mountain alive.

Mountain encounters diplomat Sir William Johnson, Henry, and Mackellar. He reports the Master’s death and burial; Henry insists that the Master is not truly dead:

"He is not of this world... I have struck my sword through his body... Yet he was never truly dead."

They discover Dass exhuming the Master's corpse; Dass discloses that with his assistance, the Master feigned death. Upon being unearthed, the Master briefly revives before dying once more. Henry collapses and dies at that moment. Mackellar buries both brothers beneath a single stone inscribed:

J. D., HEIR TO A SCOTTISH TITLE... LIES HERE FORGOTTEN.
H. D., HIS BROTHER... DIED NEARLY AT THE SAME TIME AND RESTS IN THE SAME GRAVE WITH HIS FRATERNAL FOE.
THE DEVOTION OF HIS WIFE AND ONE LOYAL SERVANT RAISED THIS MONUMENT TO BOTH.

Adaptations

The novel was transformed into a 1953 motion picture starring Errol Flynn as the Master. A theatrical version was staged by the Edinburgh Gateway Company in 1959. Several television adaptations followed, including a 1984 Hallmark Hall of Fame production featuring John Gielgud portraying the Laird. Radio dramatizations were broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2004 and later on BBC Radio 4 Extra in 2020.

A comprehensive catalog of derivative works is maintained on the Robert Louis Stevenson website.

Original manuscript

Approximately fifty percent of Stevenson's original manuscripts—including those for Treasure Island, The Black Arrow, and The Master of Ballantrae—have been lost over time. During World War I, his descendants sold a significant portion of these documents, with many items being auctioned off in 1918.

See also

• Evil twin

Further reading

• Borinskikh, LI. "The genre of The Master of Ballantrae by R.L. Stevenson." Bulletin, Moscow State University, 1990.
• Preobrazhenskaya, L. "Models of Myths in The Master of Ballantrae by R.L. Stevenson." The 4th International Lateum Conference, Moscow, 1997.

External links

• Digitised edition of The master of Ballantrae: a winter's tale published by Cassell and Company, Ltd (1880) available through the National Library of Scotland. Accessible in JPEG, PDF, and XML formats.