Appin Murder and Trial of James Stewart, 1752

On 14 May 1752 Colin Roy Campbell of Glenure, known as the Red Fox, was shot while travelling through the Wood of Lettermore near Ballachulish. As factor for forfeited estates, Campbell had become associated with rent enforcement and planned evictions on lands formerly controlled by Jacobite Stewarts.

Allan Breck Stewart was treated as the principal suspect but escaped. James Stewart of the Glen was prosecuted as an accessory despite evidence that he was elsewhere, convicted by a court dominated by Campbell interests and hanged on 8 November. Responsibility for the shooting remains disputed.

Kidnapped places David Balfour and Allan Breck at the scene of the murder, while Catriona follows David’s effort to expose the weakness of the case against James. Stevenson preserves the historical political tensions but invents David and his role as a suppressed witness.