Catriona

David Balfour

Also known as Dauvit Balfour · Shaws · Davie · Mr. Balfour

The first-person narrator, a young Scottish laird of Shaws. He marries Catriona and tells the story to their children.

Catriona Drummond

Also known as Miss Drummond · Mistress Katrine Drummond · Grey Eyes · Katrine · Cateran · Catriona Macgregor-Drummond · Catriona Balfour

James More’s daughter, who uses the proscribed Drummond name. She loves David and marries him after they reunite in Dunkirk.

Neil of the Tom

Also known as Neil, son of Duncan · Neil Duncanson · Neil · Niel

A short, red-haired Highland follower of Catriona and James More. He shadows David, helps guard him after his capture, and is devoted to Catriona.

James More

Also known as James Stewart · Mr. Macgregor · James of the Glens · James Drummond · James Drummond, alias Macgregor, alias James More · James Macgregor Drummond · Mr. Drummond

Catriona’s father and a Highland prisoner accused of the Appin murder. He escapes to Leyden and later tries to arrange David’s marriage to Catriona; after betraying Alan to the English, he dies sick in Paris.

Bank porter

An unnamed porter who carries David’s money in Edinburgh and guides him through the city. His movements are later investigated by the authorities.

Charles Stewart

Also known as the Writer · Mr. Stewart · Stewart the Writer · Charlie Stewart

A Highland lawyer and Alan Breck’s kinsman and agent. He defends James More and helps David avoid capture.

Alan Breck Stewart

Also known as Alan Breck · Alan

David’s Highland friend, an accused murderer and wanted rebel. He helps David and Catriona reunite, then escapes the trap James More sets for him.

Clerk Robbie

Also known as Robbie · Robin

Charles Stewart’s clerk, who handles smuggling arrangements and advises on ships for Alan’s escape.

William Grant

Also known as Lord Advocate Prestongrange · Prestongrange · the Advocate

Scotland’s Lord Advocate, who questions David about the Appin murder and pressures him to cooperate. He has James executed, arranges James More’s escape, and houses David while helping Catriona remain hidden.

Colin Campbell

Also known as Glenure · Red Colin

A government officer murdered in the Appin woods; David had been speaking with him shortly before the shooting.

Mungo Campbell

A Campbell whose account of the murder is cited as evidence against David and Alan.

Duke of Argyle

Also known as the Duke

The head of the Campbell family and a powerful political figure whose kinship with the murdered Colin Campbell bears on the case. As Justice-General, he addresses James More at sentencing.

Lord President Culloden

Also known as the late Lord President

A former Lord President whom Prestongrange credits with helping save the country during the 1745 Jacobite rising.

James Francis Edward Stuart

Also known as King James

The exiled Stuart claimant to the British throne, mentioned as a political and Jacobite cause.

William, Duke of Cumberland

Also known as Cumberland

The royal commander whose forces fought the Jacobites in 1746, mentioned in Prestongrange’s account of the rising.

Auld Merren

Also known as the old wife · the witch

An old fortune-teller who sits by a gibbet and predicts David’s peril, a bright-eyed young woman, and a hanging.

Hanged man from Broughton

One of two unnamed men hanged in chains for stealing two Scottish shillings from a child belonging to Broughton.

Hanged companion

The second unnamed man hanged in chains beside the man from Broughton for the same theft.

Mr. Balfour of Pilrig

Also known as the laird of Pilrig · David’s kinsman

David’s kinsman, a laird and scholar who writes him a letter of introduction to Lord Advocate Prestongrange. He suggests David take singing lessons and is an apt musician.

Miss Grant

Also known as the Advocate’s sister

Prestongrange’s sister, who keeps his house and is introduced to David.

Prestongrange’s eldest daughter

Also known as Miss Grant · Barbara Grant · my Miss Grant

Barbara, the eldest and most accomplished of Prestongrange’s three daughters, becomes David’s close friend and governess in Edinburgh. She helps Catriona plead for David, keeps the lovers in contact, and arranges their reunion aboard the ship to Holland; she later becomes David and Catriona’s daughter.

Prestongrange’s second daughter

One of Lord Advocate Prestongrange’s three daughters, introduced to David at the family home.

Prestongrange’s youngest daughter

One of Lord Advocate Prestongrange’s three daughters, introduced to David at the family home.

Robert Louis Stevenson

Also known as R. L. S.

The author named in the book’s front matter; he is not a character.

Simon Fraser

Also known as the Master of Lovat · Lord Lovat · Mr. Simon · Fraser · Sim Fraser

The forfeited Master of Lovat and chief of the Fraser clan, serving as an Advocate-Depute in the Appin case. He threatens David with arrest and a false murder charge to make him cooperate.

Lady Allardyce

Also known as Mrs. Ogilvy · the old lady · Catriona’s cousin · Mrs. Drumond-Ogilvy

Catriona’s older kinswoman and guardian, who lives with her at Dean. She distrusts David and blames him for Catriona’s imprisonment, but later welcomes him.

Lieutenant Hector Duncansby

Also known as Mr. Dancansby · the lieutenant · the bravo · Duncansby

A Highland officer whom Simon Fraser sends to provoke David into a duel. After discovering David cannot fence, he refuses to hurt him and testifies to David’s courage.

Sheriff of Perth

Also known as Mr. Erskine · Sheriff Erskine

A sheriff who attends a private meeting with Prestongrange and Simon Fraser about the Appin murder. He receives a note about David’s arrival at the Inverary church.

Andie

Also known as Dale · Andie Dale · Black Andie · Black Andie Dale

A Lothian smuggler who helps take David captive and keep him on the Bass, where he serves as shepherd, gamekeeper, and jailer. He later helps David escape the island and reach the mainland.

Lord Justice Clerk

An unnamed official who responds to Charles Stewart’s petition for access to James More and the imprisoned witnesses in the Appin case.

Commanding officer at Fort William

An unnamed military officer whom the Lord Justice Clerk recommends allow Charles Stewart to visit James More and the witnesses imprisoned at Fort William.

Fleming

Also known as Fleming’s printer

A printer whose printing house is mentioned as the place where a proof of the Appin case libel was found.

Catherine Douglas

A historical heroine whom Catriona admires for putting her arm through broken bolt staples to defend her king.

Prince Charlie

The prince whom Catriona says she kissed on the hand, as she later kisses David’s. She recalls seeing him during the 1745 rising.

Old Lovat

Simon Fraser’s father, whose execution and treacheries are recalled by David and whose role in the Lady Grange affair is mentioned by Charles Stewart.

Lady Grange

A woman whose abduction is cited by Charles Stewart as a precedent for his suspicion that David may be kidnapped.

Alexander Balfour

David’s father, whom David describes as an honest man and the reason he is Alexander’s son rather than Ebenezer’s.

Ebenezer Balfour

David’s uncle, mentioned by Lady Allardyce when she asks whether he has a son. His death makes David laird of Shaws.

Rankeillor

Also known as the doer for Shaws

David’s friend and legal agent for Shaws, whom Lady Allardyce consults about David’s character and prospects. He arranges money and a horse to help David reach the trial.

James More’s father

Catriona’s grandfather, described by Charles Stewart as less disreputable than James and as no friend to the Stewart family.

Prestongrange’s aunt

Also known as the aunt

An unnamed aunt in Prestongrange’s household, seen embroidering while David visits the family.

Unknown Highlandman on the road to Dean

An unnamed Highland man whom David sees pass on the road shortly before Neil of the Tom.

Andie’s father

Also known as Tam Dale

Andie’s father, who served as a soldier and later became keeper of the Bass. Andie recounts his change of allegiance, a dangerous encounter with a solan goose, and his uncanny feud with Tod Lapraik.

Peden the Prophet

Also known as Prophet Peden

A Covenanter preacher imprisoned on the Bass during the Persecution. In Andie’s tale, he rebukes Tam Dale and predicts a woman’s death.

Unnamed woman on the Bass

Also known as the lass

A young woman who lived on the Bass and was involved with Tam Dale. Peden predicts her death, and she is blown from the cliffs by a gust of wind.

Tod Lapraik

Also known as Lapraik

A weaver and rival applicant to Tam Dale for the Bass post. Andie’s story portrays him as uncanny and possibly a warlock; he later dies after being shot with a silver coin.

Andie’s mother

An unnamed woman whom Andie says Tam Dale married after leaving the Bass garrison.

Andie’s three Highland companions

Three unnamed followers of James More who help guard David on the Bass. Neil is one of them; the other two are individually unnamed in the passage.

Captain Palliser

The captain of the Seahorse, a warship that approaches the Bass and fires its guns at the rock. The ship later carries a letter that reveals James More’s betrayal of Alan.

General Cope

Also known as Johnnie Cope

A military commander whose campaigns Alan took part in; Alan says his service taught him the local terrain.

Count Drummond-Melfort

Also known as Lord Melfort

Alan’s colonel in the Royal Ecossais, described by Alan as an educated man who writes books.

Lieutenant-Colonel Stewart of Halkett’s

Also known as Alan’s cousin · Alan’s cousin of the Scots-Dutch

Alan’s cousin and a lieutenant-colonel in a Scots-Dutch regiment. Alan expects him to help secure leave for a visit to David in Leyden.

Black Douglas

Also known as the auld Black Douglas

A historical figure whom Alan recalls as preferring to hear a lark sing rather than a mouse squeak.

Andie Scougal

Also known as Scougal

The man expected to meet Alan at Gillane Sands and arrange his passage. Alan suspects he may have betrayed him, though the text does not establish that he did.

Captain of the skiff

An unnamed man who steers the skiff from the Thistle to collect Alan at Gillane Sands. Alan says the captain was not the person who betrayed him.

Unnamed Gillane pursuers

A band of ragged Highland men from several clans who gather in the dunes to seize David and Alan. They capture and rob David after Alan escapes by boat.

Unnamed Lowland courier

A long, lean, dark-complexioned Lothian man who brings a paper to David’s captors and takes him by horse to Tantallon.

Unnamed lovers on the road

A pair of lovers encountered by David’s captors on the way to Tantallon; they flee, apparently mistaking the party for smugglers.

Goodwife of Musselburgh

Also known as the goodwife

An unnamed innkeeper who serves breakfast to David and Alan. Alan entertains her with a story about his stomach and her remedies.

Goodwife of Cockenzie

Also known as the new luckie · Luckie

An unnamed alehouse keeper at Cockenzie, whom Alan distracts with an invented account of a stomach ailment while he and David travel.

Tam Dale’s quarrelling fellow soldier

Also known as another sodger-lad

An unnamed soldier on the Bass who quarrels with Tam Dale before Peden rebukes Tam.

Tam Dale’s sweetheart

Also known as the lass

An unnamed woman on the Bass who is involved with Tam Dale; Peden foretells that she will die after a gust of wind carries her off the cliffs.

Geordie

One of the four unnamed lads with Tam Dale on the Bass. When Tam comes to after a fall, he orders Geordie to run to the boat and guard it.

Sandie Fletcher

Also known as Sandie

A Castleton fisherman and a renowned shot who spots the dancing figure on the Bass and shoots Tod Lapraik with a gun loaded with his silver tester.

Andie’s grandfather

Also known as Edie

An unnamed fisherman and former sailor, Andie’s grandfather, who recognizes Tod Lapraik on the Bass and advises Sandie Fletcher on how to confront him.

Andie’s maternal grandfather

Also known as my grandfaither

An unnamed fisherman whose boat visits the Bass while he is fishing with his grandchild. He is also described as a former sailor and the captain of a smack lost on the sands of Tay.

Andie’s great-grandfather

Also known as Andie’s grandfaither

The unnamed grandfather Andie recounts as having identified Tod Lapraik and advised Sandie. Andie’s account does not establish whether this is the same grandfather David recalls seeing on the boat.

Four lads with Tam Dale

Four unnamed men on the Bass with Tam Dale when he recovers from his fall. One of them, Geordie, is sent to stand guard by the boat.

Procurator Fiscal

An unnamed local prosecutor whom Andie’s grandfather suggests Sandie may have met before; the men use a harbour flag as a signal to him.

Duncan Dhu

Also known as Duncan

A Highland man who gives David news of James More’s trial and guides him through the storm toward Inverary.

Unnamed hut-dwellers near Inverary

Unnamed people who give David and Duncan food and directions during their night journey to Inverary.

Sheriff Brown of Colstoun

Also known as Colstoun

A lawyer for James More who attends the post-sermon dinner with David. He helps draft the memorial to the Crown and supports a cautious approach to the case.

Sheriff Miller

Also known as Miller

A lawyer for James More, known for his smooth manner and skill at making punch. He argues that David’s story could discredit the government and proposes a memorial to the Crown.

Robert Macintosh

Also known as Mr. Robert Macintosh

One of the four lawyers defending James More, present at the dinner where David’s testimony is discussed.

Stewart younger of Stewart Hall

Also known as Stewart Hall

One of the lawyers defending James More. He warns that legal action over David’s kidnapping could be obstructed, citing the Lady Grange case.

Mr. Hope of Rankeillor

A lawyer who tried unsuccessfully to obtain a warrant in the Lady Grange affair.

King George

Also known as George II

The reigning king, whose mercy is sought for James More and to whom the lawyers address their memorial.

Unnamed Inverary minister

Also known as the minister

A minister who delivers an English sermon at Inverary while the judges and lawyers attend. David and Duncan enter during his sermon, and the sudden commotion distracts him.

Lord Elchies

Also known as my Lord Elchies

A judge at the Inverary assize, present in church during the sermon when David arrives.

Lord Kilkerran

Also known as my Lord Kilkerran

A judge at the Inverary assize, present in church during the sermon when David arrives.

Unnamed juryman

A member of James More’s jury who interrupts the defence, saying the speech should be cut short because the jurors are weary.

Unnamed messenger

Also known as the express

A rider who brings urgent letters to Prestongrange in Glasgow, including news that Catriona has been imprisoned.

Doig

Also known as the faithful Doig

Prestongrange’s plain, self-satisfied private secretary, trusted with his secrets. He tells David that Catriona has been released and later carries her letter to Miss Grant.

Tam Anster

Also known as Anster · Tam

A man from Fife who helps Andie arrange for the Highland prisoners to be brought off the Bass after David’s escape.

Unnamed Castle lieutenant

Also known as the lieutenant

The officer guarding James More in Edinburgh Castle. He admits Catriona, disguised as a cobbler, into her father’s cell and later finds her there in women’s clothes.

Unnamed Castle soldiers

The soldiers guarding James More in Edinburgh Castle, who mock Catriona while she is disguised as a cobbler.

Unnamed cobbler

Also known as the soutar

An unnamed man employed as a cobbler by James More, whose clothes Catriona borrows to disguise herself and enter the Castle.

Catriona’s servant

Also known as the servant-lass

An unnamed servant who tells Miss Grant that Catriona has waited for her for an hour and has been crying.

Miss Grant’s friend

An unnamed friend whose house Miss Grant visits on the night Catriona comes to see her.

Alison Hastie

A young woman David met at the Limekilns alehouse. Miss Grant accompanies David to visit her, and gives her a silver brooch; she had rocked David’s cradle and cared for him as a child.

Young Rankeillor

A young member of the Rankeillor family who accompanies David and Miss Grant by boat to Limekilns and minds the boat while they visit Alison Hastie.

Miss Tibbie Ramsay

Also known as Miss Ramsay

A frail, very blind and witty older gentlewoman who lives in a tall close in Edinburgh and is a friend of Barbara Grant. She entertains David with stories and helps arrange a brief view of Catriona.

Captain Sang

Also known as Sang

The hearty captain of the merchant ship Rose, which carries David and Catriona from Leith toward Holland. He helps them ashore at Helvoetsluys but later behaves offensively toward Catriona while drunk.

Unnamed grave man accompanying Catriona

An unnamed, heavily muffled man who accompanies Catriona by boat to the Rose for her reunion with David.

Mrs. Gebbie

A merchant’s wife aboard the Rose, to whose care Catriona is recommended. Seasickness keeps her confined to her cabin for most of the passage.

Mr. Gebbie

Mrs. Gebbie’s husband, a merchant aboard the Rose. He objects loudly to Catriona’s dangerous transfer to the shore boat but will not accompany her himself.

Unnamed white-faced table boy

An unnamed young boy aboard the Rose who serves at table; he is the only other young person on the ship besides David and Catriona.

Unnamed Hollander passenger

An unnamed Dutch passenger aboard the Rose, returning home.

Unnamed ship’s mate

Also known as the mate

An unnamed officer aboard the Rose who arranges to send David’s chests onward to Leyden.

Patroon of the shore boat

Also known as skipper of the boat

An unnamed Dutch boatman who transfers Catriona and David from the Rose to shore at Helvoetsluys and charges them for the passage.

James More’s uncle

Also known as Uncle Rob · Uncle Robin · Rob

Catriona’s uncle, who marries Jean Kay after she is taken from her friends at Inversnaid. The text does not specify his relationship to James More.

Glengyle

Also known as Glengyle himself

A Highland clan leader who marched with Catriona’s father in the 1745 rising. He kissed Catriona when she was a young girl and the only lady of the clan to join the campaign.

Jean Kay

A widow who marries Catriona’s uncle Rob after being taken from her friends at Inversnaid. She later runs away to her own family.

Unnamed former schoolfriend of David

A boy who was one of the two best pupils at David’s father’s school and whom David once thought his friend. He moves to Glasgow for work, makes new friends, and stops replying to David’s letters.

Unnamed Mr. Campbell, David’s correspondent

Also known as Mr. Campbell

A man who writes David one or two letters while in town at the Assembly. The passage does not identify him further.

Sandie Sprott

Also known as Sprott · Mr. Sprott

A Scottish merchant in Helvoetsluys who has business dealings with James More and says More owes him money. He initially refuses to help Catriona, then agrees to take charge of her luggage.

Unnamed country woman of Delft

Also known as country wife

A woman newly arrived in Delft from the countryside who gives David and Catriona milk during their walk toward the Hague.

Unnamed baker in Delft

A baker who sells David and Catriona hot bread as they travel through Delft.

Unnamed Dutch correspondent in Leyden

Also known as the old Dutchman

A Dutch contact to whom David has a letter of introduction and from whom he seeks credit and lodging in Leyden. He sends his son to guide David to a lodging.

Unnamed son of the Dutch correspondent

Also known as young Hollander

The Dutch correspondent’s son, who guides David to a lodging and is introduced to Catriona. He leaves them after finding a place to stay.

Dr. Heineccius

Also known as Heineccius

A late doctor whose law study-book David buys and reads while trying to keep a proper distance from Catriona.

Guide to Bazin’s Inn

Also known as conductor

An unnamed guide who leads David and Alan through the dark, sandy outskirts of Dunkirk to Bazin’s Inn.

Lord Holderness

An English lord whom James More says he is going to see on a private mission while in England.

Unnamed French nobleman

A French nobleman who employs James More at his horse-breeding establishment. James later claims the man’s avarice forced him to leave.

Unnamed Scots-Dutch cousin of Alan

An unnamed cousin of Alan’s, presented to David in Leyden; David describes him as a heavy drinker and otherwise unremarkable.

Bazin

Also known as man Bazin

A large, ill-looking innkeeper whose isolated Dunkirk establishment serves smugglers and political exiles. James More lodges there with Catriona.

Unnamed officer on the Dunkirk beach

Also known as the officer in charge

An unnamed officer who waits by a boat from the Seahorse on the beach, meets Catriona, and delivers a letter to her.

Unnamed seaman spying by the windmill

Also known as the big fellow with a mahogany face

A large, dark-faced seaman in sailor’s trousers who spies on Alan near the windmill. Alan knocks him down, and he runs into the sandhills.

Unnamed Seahorse seamen

Also known as the seamen

The sailors who converge on Bazin’s Inn and pursue David, Catriona, and Alan after Alan exposes James More’s betrayal.

Macgregor of Bohaldie

Also known as Bohaldie · their own chieftain

Catriona’s Highland chieftain and kinsman in Paris, who receives her kindly, helps arrange her marriage to David, and keeps James More’s betrayal from being made public.

James More’s brother Rob

Also known as Rob

James More’s brother, remembered as a skilled piper. The text does not establish whether he is the same person as Catriona’s Uncle Rob.

Miss Barbara Balfour

Also known as Barbara Balfour

The daughter of David and Catriona, addressed by David as the audience for his story. She is the child of Barbara Grant, David’s former friend and governess.

Alan Balfour younger of Shaws

Also known as Mr. Alan Balfour

The son of David and Catriona, addressed by David as the audience for his story.

Mr. Jamieson

Also known as the Chevalier Stewart

A little, lean, lively gentleman who visits Shaws late at night and asks Alan to drink the king’s health across the water. He is later known in France as the Chevalier Stewart.