Having read Treasure Island recently (as Alastair was reading it at the time) I decided to have a go at Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson. Yes, I did enjoy it more mainly because I knew the setting and the history of this adventure story set in the Scottish Highlands and Edinburgh area.
Alan Breck (left) and David Balfour statue by Jamie Stoddart
There was a short section in the book that struck a chord with me. David Balfour, the hero, comes upon a man, a lawyer, Mr Randkeillor who can help him find his uncle so that he can claim his rightful inheritance.
He tells his story to this man who is not sure he can believe him. David wants to be sure he is talking "to a friend", i.e. someone he can trust. Mr Randkeillor says that he cannot be convinced "until I have heard you" (and he notes that they are 'arguing in a circle'). "I cannot be your friend until I am properly informed. If you were more trustful, it would better befit your time of life. And you know, Mr Balfour, we have a proverb in the country [Scotland] that evil doers are aye evil-dreaders."
In other words those who are up to no good always have to watch their back, dreading what could be done to them!
I see from googling that Sir Walter Scott uses this phrase in The Fair Maid of Perth II. v. "Put me not to quote the old saw, that evil doers are evil dreaders.—It is your suspicion, not your knowledge, which speaks."
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