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“Fifteennmen on the dead man’s chest—
Yo-ho-ho,nand a bottle of rum!
Drinknand the devil had done for the rest—
Yo-ho-ho,nand a bottle of rum!”
“Fifteennmen on the dead man’s chest—
Yo-ho-ho,nand a bottle of rum!
Drinknand the devil had done for the rest—
Yo-ho-ho,nand a bottle of rum!”
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nIsnthis a pirate song courtesy of Walt Disney? n
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Oh,nno, long before the fine people of Disneyland “cute-ified” thenviolence and squalor of piracy, Robert Louis Stevenson wrote thesenwords as the pirates’ song in his book TreasurenIsland.nn
Oh,nno, long before the fine people of Disneyland “cute-ified” thenviolence and squalor of piracy, Robert Louis Stevenson wrote thesenwords as the pirates’ song in his book TreasurenIsland.nnn
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nBornnon this date in 1850, Stevenson was a Scottish writer. He becamenfamous during his life, and at least three of his novels remain wellnknown: TreasurenIsland,nof course, and Kidnapped,nand Strange Casenof Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.nHe also wrote beloved poems gathered in AnChild’s Garden of Verses.
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nGrowingnup in Scotland, Stevenson couldn’t help but notice that the familynbusiness was lighthouse engineering and design. His father,ngreat-grandfather, and uncles were all in the business of designingnand building lighthouses, and his grandfather (also named RobertnStevenson) was famous for his lighthouse designs.
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nStevensonnlearned to read late, but even before he learned to read, he’d beenndictating stories to his mother and nurse. Once he learned to writenon his own, he compulsively wrote stories. He was lucky because hisndad was proud of his writing, and supportive. Stevenson’s dad hadnloved to write, himself, when henwas a kid, but he’dnbeen told by his father to “give up such nonsense.” Luckily fornthe world, Stevenson’s dad didn’t make the same mistake.
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nHisndad even paid for the printing of Stevenson’s first publication, whennhe was just 16 years old.
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Still,nStevenson went to Edinburgh University to study engineering, as if henwere going to go into the family business. When he wrote to hisnparents to tell them that he was going to be a writer instead of annengineer, they were not surprised. n
Still,nStevenson went to Edinburgh University to study engineering, as if henwere going to go into the family business. When he wrote to hisnparents to tell them that he was going to be a writer instead of annengineer, they were not surprised. nn
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nCelebratenRLS today!
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nHeren is the Robert Louis Stevenson website.
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Readn RLS, or watch a movie based on one of his books. Or both! It’sn always fun to read, watch, and compare the two… Heren is a sample of one of the film versions of Treasuren Island. n
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nReadn A Child’s Garden of Verses.n These poems are also featured on Lit2Go;n you can read them while listening to them being read aloud.
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nGarden of Praisen has some links for Stevenson’s three famous books, including onlinen games, lesson plans, and radio dramatizations.
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nHeren is a quote fromTreasuren Islandn that I love: “Sir, with no intention to take offense, I deny yourn right to put words into my mouth.”
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nAlsonon this date:
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nDiwali
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nHarvest Festival on the US Virgin Islands
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nAnniversary of the dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
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nInternational Tongue Twister Day
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