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Scottish Heroes & Villains

Rob Roy MacGregor (Page 1 of 2)

Like much Scottish history the tale of Rob Roy is shrouded in mystery and intrigue. The people of the time were mostly illiterate and stories of the famous battles and legendary characters were mainly passed down the generations by word of mouth, embellished as they went, to provide the great tales to be told around the roaring log fires of the cottages and Glens of the Highlands.

Many of the stories of Rob Roy’s exploits as an outlaw became Legends as the Scottish nation began to see him as a ‘hero of the common man’ who stood up against the land owners who had often been given the title to their lands in recognition of their assistance to monarchs who lived south of the border. The Macgregors, however, must have had more than their fair share of determination, for in circumstances, almost unparalleled in those savage times, they survived and the name of one of the most famous Scotsmen of all time, was a leader of their Clan – Rob Roy MacGregor, the notorious Scottish freebooter. Rob himself would have had no problem with this, for he was never one to hide the light of his countenance under a bushel. And the clan itself, the Griogair, ‘the Children of the Mist’, would think it only proper that their name should survive and be exalted while their most relentless persecutor, clan Cambell, should be for ever linked – however unfairly – with the Massacre of Glencoe.

Rob RoyRob Roy has been likened to a Scottish Robin Hood, an outlaw who braved the redcoats, laughed at authority and made Glengyle a Sherwood Forest where only his own people felt secure. The reality is grander, for the MacGregors were more than mere outlaws. Is Rioghaid mo Dhream, they claim, ‘Royal is my race’, and boast descent from Griogair, son of Alpin, King of Scots in the early ninth centaury. Malcolm, chief of the clan, fought at Bruce’s side at Bannokburn and followed Edward Bruce on his Irish adventure, retiring wounded from the fatal encounter at Dundalk. The rise of the Campbells, who also supported Bruce meant lean times for MacGregor, although the clan endured for centuries.

The persecuted MacGregors

With Campbell prodding, the Crown ordered letters of ‘fire and sword’ – legal murder and pillage – against the MacGregors, and the Colquhouns of Luss helped in these raids. This led to MacGregor retaliation and the battle of Glen Fruin in 1603. Over a hundred Colquhouns were slain, but so were some luckless Lowlanders who had come to watch the fun. It is difficult to feel sympathy for them, for they left the security of their homes in the expectation of witnessing others being slaughtered, only to become victims themselves.

The outcome, however, was equally grim for the MacGregors; by an act of the Privy Council, dated 3 April 1603, the very name of MacGregor was proscribed; all who had taken part in the battle were prohibited from carrying any weapon other than a knife with its point broken or rounded off and could not meet in groups of more than four. The penalty for breaking any of these rules was death.

Amongst themselves the MacGregors, no doubt, used their own names. To sign documents, or to appear to the world outside their own clan, they used the names of neighbouring peoples. Campbell, Graham, Drummond, Stewart. The clan remained united; some hundreds fought for King Charles I under Patrick MacGregor of Glenstrae. In gratitude, Charles II annulled the statutes of 1633 against them in 1661, but William of Orange reinstated them in 1693. It was in this new era of persecution that Rob Roy came into prominence.

The Birth of Rob Roy

His mother a Campbell, his father Lieutenant – Colonel MacGregor of Glengyle, Rob Roy was the second son so was never chief of the clan, although he was its captain in time of war. Rob Roy was born around 1671 in Glengyle, and seemed to be fairly law-abiding in his youth – for a MacGregor – although this could be disputed. There is a story about the village of Kippen when Rob Roy was supposedly a lawful cattle-drover. This would be around 1691, when William would have just been made king.

Rob Roy driving cattleRob Roy was droving 200 cattle to the tryst (market) at Buchlyvie, crossing the fords of Frew on the way. How he came by the cattle is arguable, but perhaps he was working honestly for his living at the time. When he came to Kippen all that changed, for the temptation of the villagers’ cattle was difficult for any Highlander, brought up on tales of reiving and raiding, to resist. Rob Roy swept through the place, driving everything movable before him.

At the fords of Frew, one of the few places where the huge Flanders Moss was passable, Rob Roy was caught by a party of dragoons from Cardross but he used the land and his MacGregors to panic them. What the good folk of Kippen thought of all this romantic thievery is not mentioned in the legend. No doubt they laughed heartily at the antics of that jolly outlaw, Rob Roy, as they looked at a bleak and hungry future.

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