In "Kidnapped" (1886) and later fiction such as "The Master of Ballantrae" (1888), Stevenson examined some of the extreme and contrary currents of Scotland's past, often projecting a dualism of both personality and belief.

This dualism is most famous in "Kidnapped", whose two central characters are David Balfour, a Lowland Whig, and Alan Breck Stewart, a Highland Jacobite.

The novel revolves around their friendship and their differences, suggesting a metaphor for Scotland itself.

Stevenson wrote the sequel "Catriona" with the title David Balfour, but during serialisation in England the public became confused, thinking it might be a reprint of "Kidnapped".

At publisher Cassell's request, the title was changed to "Catriona", after Balfour's daughter.