Jules Verne In Scotland

Jules Verne, the famous 19th-century French science fiction author, drew inspiration for some of his work from visits to Scotland. That's according to the BBC.

A recent BBC article by David Henderson notes that Verne traveled to Scotland for the first time in 1859. After recording scenes of everyday life in Glasgow, Verne moved on to Loch Lomond and the Trossachs, "where the striking terrain inspired a novel about a metropolis hidden beneath Loch Katrine, which he called New Aberfoyle," Henderson writes.

"The book, The Underground City, is being republished ... with a foreword by modern-day geographer and Verne scholar Professor Ian Thompson.

"'He liked to think that his geography was authentic,' he said. 'If you examine a lot of his other books, some would say that he is in fact describing Scottish mountains even if he has placed these mountains elsewhere.'

"...'The majority of the book is accurate description, but where he for the purposes of his plot has to set a coalfield underneath the Trossachs, that is pure fiction and imagination.'

"To fuel his imagination Jules Verne certainly did his research, climbing Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh and skinny-dipping in the sea at Portobello.

"Gavin MacDougall, the director of Luath Press, said the writer's experiences left an impression on his later books.

"'Verne saw his first mountains in Scotland, he had never seen mountains in France growing up,' he said.

"The writer made some uncanny prophecies - flying machines, submarines and a journey from earth to the moon. But a vast city under the Trossachs is still an idea ahead of its time."

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