Jules Verne, Aberfoyle, and the Book with Five Names
- Paul Campbell
- 1 day ago
- 9 min read
Alongside Mary Shelley and H. G. Wells, Jules Verne stands as one of the three founders of Science Fiction, and while you surely know him from some of his most famous titles, such as Around the World in 80 Days, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and The Mysterious Island, not to mention Around the Moon or Five Weeks in a Balloon, we aren't going to talk about any of these—phenomenal though they are. No, we are here to talk about another Jules Verne book that I'm betting you haven't read: Les Indes Noires.
Les Voyages Extraordinaires
Jules Verne was a French novelist, poet, and playwright. Born in 1828, almost two hundred years ago (and depending on how long this blog stays online, possibly more), and yet his stories still captivate us today. While Mary Shelley planted the seed, and H. G. Wells expanded the vision, it is truly Jules Verne who captures real adventure of Science Fiction, and who I would say truly inspired the genre of Action Adventure. Long before Indiana Jones sought the lost ark, before Tarzan of the Apes stumbled upon the lost city of Opar, and even before Allan Quatermain found King Solomon's mines—even before Long John Silver hunted gold on Treasure Island—Jules Verne had already traveled 20,000 leagues under the sea and journeyed to the center of the earth. H. G. Wells looked to discover the new, but it is Jules Verne who looked to discover the old. Of the two, I find myself consistently drawn to Jules Verne.
Of course, each had a few deviations. Both From the Earth to the Moon and Around the Moon fall exclusively in the realm of Science Fiction or “Scientifiction” (as he dubbed it), but a few outliers are hardly surprising from writers as prolific as either Wells or Verne. Jules Verne wrote exclusively in French, but you won't find it difficult to read most of his works in English. In fact, Verne is still one of the most translated authors in the world, following closely behind Agatha Christie and William Shakespeare.
And it is no surprise. Jules Verne stood on the backs of two French literary giants, both born in 1802: Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas. Dumas is my favorite French novelist. Jules Verne is my second. Perhaps it is no coincidence, since Verne met Dumas shortly after the French Revolution and became good friends with his son, Alexandre Dumas Fils, who helped him refine his first published stage play.
Much of Verne's early work focused on educational topics: stories which encapsulated historical, scientific, or geographical elements. Serious publishers wanted stories that were not just idle tales, but that had some educational benefit. This is why, in books like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Moby Dick, or The Swiss Family Robinson, you'll find odd digressions of specific details that seem tedious to modern eyes, but which not only added realism but also provided beneficial knowledge to the reader in the days before Almighty Google and ChatGPT promised a dubious answer to every question.
By 1852, when Verne was only 24, his father had been pressuring him for some time about abandoning literature and becoming a full-time lawyer—for Verne had already earned his law degree. Verne's father made a final offer of giving Verne his entire law practice, but Verne refused, choosing to trust his instincts and pursue a future in writing. It is well for us that he did.
In 1858, Verne traveled outside of France for the first time. One might be surprised that a writer with such a prolific repertoire of stories about travel and adventure traveled so little himself. His visit, first to Liverpool and then Scotland, deeply impressed him, and it is this voyage that likely inspired his book about Aberfoyle, Les Indes Noires.
It was not until five years later that Verne's first real taste of literary success happened. Though he had been writing and researching for years, had rubbed shoulders with other great artists, and had written several articles, short stories, poems, and plays, it was Five Weeks in a Balloon which finally gave him a steady income from writing, securing him a contract with the Magasin d'Éducation et de Récréation, and it is with this magazine that, for the rest of his life, the majority of his works were serialized before being turned into full books.
Verne's publisher, Pierre-Jules Hetzel, might be called the co-founder of the Adventure genre, for it was he who formed the idea of the Voyages Extraordinaires, a series of books designed, through fictional storytelling, to “outline all the geographical, geological, physical, and astronomical knowledge amassed by modern science and to recount, in an entertaining and picturesque format that is his own, the history of the universe.” This incredible undertaking was the first conceptualizing of an “Extended Universe,” equally daring as that done by Marvel in the MCU. And while there were some clearly false assumptions and bizarre leaps of fancy, they contain many of Verne's best and most popular work. Neither can one deny the copious hours which Verne spent researching topics in order to make his novels as factually accurate as possible.
Verne's serialized novels threw him rapidly into popularity and wealth. He later purchased a series of boats that he used to sail around Europe, thus improving his personal knowledge of various locales. However, though widely popular, he was generally denied formal literary status by his peers, who considered his work primarily as mere storytelling for children rather than serious literary works. His skill proved the test of time, however, and his work has since far outpaced that of his peers. Alongside Arthur Conan Doyle—specifically Doyle's character of Sherlock Holmes—Verne was one of the first authors to truly develop a cult following.
It is Verne's book, Around the World in 80 Days, that inspired Nelly Bly to attempt the feat in real life, beating the fictional Phileas Fogg by a full 8 days in circumnavigating the globe. Nelly Bly, (technically Elizabeth Cochrane Seaman), is another truly remarkable figure fully deserving of her own blog. Perhaps one day I will do so, but this blog is not about Nelly Bly nor Around the World in 80 Days, but one of Verne's less popular novels, Les Indes Noires.
Le Livre aux Cinq Noms
Published originally in French under the title of Les Indes Noires, which in English means “The Black Indies,” it was later translated into English under this same name, but also as either Black Diamonds, The Underground City, or the rather unwieldy, The Child of the Cavern, or Strange Doings Underground—later shortened to simply The Child of the Cavern. Though many of his other works have alternate titles—due to frequent translation—it was Les Indes Noires, of all Verne's books, that seems to have been renamed the most. It can still be found under any of these five titles, and though it lacks some of the more epic and sweeping adventures of travel and discovery, it still managed to rivet my attention to a little Scottish town and keep it there for the entirety of the book.
The story takes place in Aberfoyle, Scotland, and though Aberfoyle is very much a real town, the coal mine which Verne describes in Les Indes Noires is entirely fictitious. I had the privilege of visiting the area myself a few years ago, and I instantly saw why Verne became so dazzled by the Scottish Highlands, Aberfoyle included. The book involves a rather mundane mystery when compared to Verne's more fantastical voyages, but still retains the same undercurrent of realism for education's sake and creatively blends information on both old and new methods of coal mining.
The real Aberfoyle, situated about five miles east of Loch Lomond, has no coal mining at all, but it did have several large shale quarries (used primarily for shingles) that ran from the early 1800's into the mid 1900's. Iron factories, sheep farms, and wool processing were the main sources of income for most who lived there. Now, tourism is a large industry.
Situated just a few miles from the West Highland Way (Scotland's longest walking trail, which snakes its way nearly 100 miles from north of Glasgow all the way to Fort William), Aberfoyle claims the title of “The Gateway to the Trossachs.” From my own time walking the West Highland Way, I can affirm the wondrous beauty of the area. Loch Katrine, also mentioned in Les Indes Noires (and Grayhound) is the birthplace of the famous Scottish Outlaw, Rob Roy MacGregor, often called the “Scottish Robin Hood.” The "bonny bonny banks" of Loch Lommond, of course, are also just a few miles away. The breathtaking views from nearby Conic Hill are worth the trip alone.
Aberfoyle has fascinating ties to both fantasy and Christianity in the person of Reverend Robert Kirk, a Christian minister who lived and died in Aberfoyle. Famous for translating the Bible into Scottish Gaelic, but also for crafting a comprehensive study into Scottich folklore called The Secret Commonwealth. Much like Sabine Baring-Gould's book on werewolves (more on that here), Robert Kirk's book examined testimonies and legends surrounding faeries, fauns, and elves, among similar topics. It was not published until over a hundred years after Kirk's death. The Secret Commonwealth has seen many editions since its first publication by Sir Walter Scott, and it remains one of the primary sources for study into the topic. R. Kirk was even partially adopted into the lore after his death, as some claimed he had been taken to fairyland to be the Faerie Queen's minister. Whether or not his body is in it, his grave can still be viewed near Kirkton Church in Aberfoyle, though the inscription is entirely in Latin. The inscription translates to: Here is buried that illustrious and accurate publisher of the Gospel, luminary of the Gaelic language. M. Robert Kirk, Aberfoyle minister, died 14 May 1692, aged 48.
Les Littérateurs Extraordinaires
There is certainly a rich history in Aberfoyle for those interested enough to look. And that is partly why I have included it in the Callahan Chronicles. Much like Verne himself, who used compelling stories to inspire greater interest in geography, history, and science, I want my stories to inspire readers to revisit the great masters of the trade: stories that are worth retelling—stories too great to be forgotten.
Sherlockians (those who study Sherlock Holmes) play “The Great Game,” where they assume the stories of Sherlock Holmes to be true and work backward to fit them into history. I attempt to apply this method to all borrowed characters and places which weave into my novels. So far as the Callahan Chronicles are concerned, these stories are true, and I must treat them as such. The first step in ths process is to consider publication: Since Les Indes Noires was published in 1877, the events must have happened before then. Therefore, New Aberfoyle must already be well-established, and so you will find it in Grayhound.
Another method is by considering what technology is included in the story. Since Dracula mentions a Kodak camera (which debuted in 1888) and was published in 1897, the events must be between 1888 and 1897. Some stories, naturally, have more flexibility than others, but I always attempt to make my stories compatible with already established canon—or at the very least provide specific reasons why the original accounts cannot be trusted at face value. Many authors seem to want to reinvent classic characters, rather than represent them. I always imagined the Callahan Chronicles as weaving itself through an already complex world filled with literary characters that already exist on their own, only briefly touching Nicholas Callahan's story. While you can read the Callahan Chronicles without any knowledge of these earlier stories, I highly recommend doing so—just as I recommend reading the short stories on my Members Page—as they will add color and depth that you might otherwise miss. All these books are now in the public domain, and can easily be found for free through reading apps, libraries, and online.
Rather than Les Voyages Extraordinaires, the Callahan Chronicles focuses on Les Littérateurs Extraordinaires: those authors of history whose stories endure, and it is the primary purpose of these blogs to not only reveal the true history woven into the Chronicles, but also the greater expanse of stories which they rest within—stories that one might consider as canon for the Callahan Chronicles, and that often fill in gaps that are otherwise left unexplained.
It is from Jules Verne, then, and not real history, that the vast mines of Aberfoyle originate, and it is to him you must go to learn their origin. My readers will certainly be familiar with them after reading Grayhound, but the story of their discovery, written almost 150 years ago, is not mentioned. For that story, you must return to the source.
These blogs are designed to give you a brief look at the true history which plays a part in my novels, The Callahan Chronicles.
For more information on this subject or the Callahan Chronicles, check out these links:
The Callahan Chronicles - by Paul Campbell
Grayhound - buy on Amazon
The Black Indies free ebook - Project Gutenberg
The Black Indies free audiobook - Librivox
Visit Aberfoyle - Aberfoyle Tourism Website
Aberfoyle Slate Quarry - Strathord Heritage Website
Robert Kirk - Wikipedia
The Secret Commonwealth free ebook - Project Gutenberg
Walk the West Highland Way - Book with Macs Adventure
Jules Verne - Britannica
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