The Coral Island by modern scholars and generally considered to be dated in many aspects, in 2006 it was voted one of the top twenty Scottish novels at the 15th International World Wide Web Conference. Robert Louis Stevenson's 1882 novel "Treasure Island" was in part inspired by "The Coral Island", which he admired for its "better qualities", as was J. M. Barrie's character Peter Pan; both Stevenson and Barrie had been "fervent boy readers" of the novel. Novelist G. A. Henty was also influenced by Ballantyne's audience-friendly method of didactism. William Golding's 1954 novel "Lord of the Flies" was written as a counterpoint
Lord William Douglas had three sons, the second of which, Walter, went on to continue the Douglases of Grangemuir. In May 1837, some time after William Douglas's eldest brother succeeded to the Marquessate of Queensberry, he was granted a patent of precedence which gave him the rank and style of a Marquess's younger son ("Lord" William Douglas). Lord William is buried at Dunino, Fife, a village close to his family seat at Grangemuir, near Pittenweem. Lord William Douglas Lord William Robert Keith Douglas (1783 – 5 December 1859) was a British politician and landowner. He was the fourth son of Sir William Douglas,