Unique Edinburgh tribute created for Robert Louis Stevenson to mark 170th anniversary

The violin has been created from pieces of wood collected over the last 25 years, in and around Edinburgh, often in places the writer was known to frequent.

An Edinburgh luthier is putting together a unique tribute to Robert Louis Stevenson, to mark his 170th anniversary.

Steven Burnett is putting the finishing touches to a violin he has created in tribute to the Scottish author, who was born in 1850.

The violin has been created from pieces of wood that Mr Burnett collected over the last 25 years, in and around Edinburgh, often in places the writer was known to frequent.

Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson, who was born in Edinburgh

The front of the violin was created from the door of a ruined shepherd's cottage in the Pentland Hills.

The back and sides were made from a sycamore from the banks of the Water of Leith, collected in 1994.

Inside the violin, blocks were made from an old willow tree that stood on the banks of the Union Canal, that was brought down by the millennium storm.

Mr Burnett said: "This unique violin will be played like other historically connected instruments I have made over the years, in public events to celebrate and highlight his literature.

"The violin will also highlight the importance of environmental protection and nature conservation, through the power of music."

Mr Burnett has made a number of unique instruments, including one in tribute to Emily Bronte, with wood from a sycamore that grew in Howarth village, as well as his Sherlock violin from a sycamore that grew in the Edinburgh childhood garden of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Robert Louis Stevenson was well known for his poetry, but also for his novels Treasure Island, and The Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

He died in 1894 in Samoa, aged 44.

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