Article: Treasure of Long John Silver; How writer Robert Louis Stevenson found his inspiration for famed pirate and anti-hero in streets of Victorian Edinburgh.

Byline: JEREMY HODGES

HE will always be the most famous pirate to swing a cutlass in the world of fiction. The name of Long John Silver is recognised instantly around the globe, since the 120-year-old classic Treasure Island first turned his villainous presence loose in readers' imaginations.

Like Robin Hood, Peter Pan or Sherlock Holmes, Robert Louis Stevenson's one-legged buccaneer, hopping about with his wooden crutch and evil-tongued parrot, has found a permanent berth in the collective consciousness.

But unlike other classic fictional creations, Silver has no effigy displayed proudly in Edinburgh, the city that spawned him. Peter Pan has a ...

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