clipped from: living.scotsman.com   
THE gruesome story of Dr Jekyll and his depraved alter ego Mr Hyde has fascinated readers for more than a century.

A new documentary presented by Edinburgh crime writer Ian Rankin traces the roots of the extraordinary story back to Stevenson's childhood in the Capital. Although the novella is set in London, Rankin tells how the grave-robbers, prostitutes and characters of his home city all helped inspire the disturbing account of Dr Henry Jekyll's double life.

Robert Louis Stevenson was a sickly child who inherited weak lungs from his mother and as a result spent a lot of time indoors being looked after by his nurse. Alison "Cummy" Cunningham would entertain him with thrilling stories in the bedroom of his home in Heriot Row, Edinburgh.

Cummy was a fire and brimstone Free Presbyterian from Fife with a boundless capacity for stories vivid enough to keep the young Stevenson with a ready store of material for his frequent nightmares.