The Library
of Alexandria

A character in Catriona

Who is Catriona Drummond?

By the Library of Alexandria · 2 minute read · Updated 23 Oct 2026

In short

  • Catriona Drummond is James MacGregor's proud daughter and the woman David Balfour loves in Robert Louis Stevenson's Catriona.
  • Her attachment to her father competes with her growing love for David Balfour.
  • She and David struggle to understand each other, sometimes mistaking restraint for rejection.

Who Catriona Drummond is

Catriona Drummond gives her name to a historical adventure novel set in eighteenth-century Scotland. Her father's troubles draw her into a world of prisons, political influence, and competing loyalties.

She is proud, and her growing attachment to David does not remove the demands of family duty. Their courtship brings questions of trust and honesty alongside David's struggle against political authority.

What Catriona Drummond wants

Catriona is torn between devotion to James MacGregor and her growing love for David. Her father's demands place a heavy burden on that loyalty, which David cannot simply brush aside.

Catriona Drummond and the others in the story

David falls in love with Catriona, but his admiration does not mean that he understands her. Both are proud, and each can read the other's restraint as rejection rather than affection.

As the story moves to the Netherlands, their relationship enters unfamiliar territory. Their courtship turns on finding words, judging motives, and learning when to stand firm or yield.

Questions

Who is Catriona Drummond?

Catriona Drummond is James MacGregor's daughter and David Balfour's love interest in Catriona. The novel takes its title from her name.

Why is Catriona loyal to her father?

Her loyalty rests on her attachment to James MacGregor. His troubles and demands put that attachment under pressure as her love for David grows.

Why do Catriona and David misunderstand each other?

Their pride makes it easy for both to mistake restraint for rejection. Love does not spare them the work of understanding each other's loyalties.

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