[1] After Jessie Maxwell died in 1910, John married Minnie Borden Desmond in 1914 and the couple moved to Truro.
[5] His character of the cook, who mostly spoke Gaelic but also knew English, was based on John and George Maxwell.
At the time readers of the story expressed disbelief that a black man could speak Gaelic.
[6] The cook, who is not named in the book, is also seen on a fishing boat "riding the jib-boom and shouting Gaelic to a friend as black as himself.
[1] The brothers became the subject of a five-minute documentary, Na Gàidheal Dubha, which made the shortlist for Scotland's FilmG Gaelic short film awards.