Freelance Writing Jobs | Today's Articles | Sign In

Stevenson at Play

& The Yallobally Record

Jan 27, 2008 Joseph Allen McCullough

Along with his famous novels, poems, and essays, Robert Louis Stevenson and his stepson Lloyd Osborne are responsible for the first English account of a modern wargame.

Stevenson at Play

In December of 1898, Scribner’s Magazine published an article called “Stevenson at Play” written by Lloyd Osborne, the step-son of Robert Louis Stevenson. The article, which was published some four years after Stevenson’s death, opens with an account by Lloyd Osborne of the wargames that he and his step-father would play in their dusty attic. It was a complex game that involved a giant map, dozens of toy soldiers, and lots of cards that were used for secretly moving units around. To resolve combat, Osborne and Stevenson would throw various projectiles at each other’s soldiers. Robert Louis Stevenson was apparently a terrible shot. Although Lloyd Osborne makes no attempt to fully explain the rules of their game (as H.G. Wells would in Little Wars some years later), the article is the first English language piece written about modern wargaming.

The Yallobally Record

After a few pages of explanation by Osborne, the rest of the article is drawn from one of Stevenson’s notebooks in which he scribbled various newspaper reports about the happenings in their game. Stevenson wrote articles for both sides, and includes pieces from various correspondents who are following around the major armies involved. The little articles are written with the glorious wit and satire for which Stevenson is so famous. He roundly criticises both his own Generals (named Stevenson, Potty, and Piffle) and those of the enemy (commanded by General Osborne).

At one point, he narrates a meeting between General Stevenson and the captured General Napoleon, where Gen. Stevenson is reported to have said, “If you had taken as much trouble to direct your army as your tailor to make your clothes, our positions might have been reversed."

Halfway through the articles, General Osborne ordered the hanging of the editor of the Yallobally Record which had been harshly criticising him. From then on, that half of the story is told by the Yallobally Herald which is much more sympathetic to General Osborne.

The articles end with the closing of the war, which saw Stevenson triumphant. Then, stuck on the end is a poem of some 18 lines called “A Martial Elegy For Some Lead Soldiers”. This is almost certainly the first published English poem about toy soldiers, and perhaps remains the only one by a recognized author.

An excerpt from "A Martial Elegy For Some Lead Soldiers"

“But leaden-hearted, leaded-heeled,

I marked them steadfast in the field.

Death grimly sided with the foe,

And smote each leaden hero low.”

The copyright of the article Stevenson at Play in UK/Irish History is owned by Joseph Allen McCullough. Permission to republish Stevenson at Play in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.