Most people know Rob Roy from Walter Scott’s 1817 novel and from the 1995 film with Liam Neeson. The man was more complicated than either, and the world that made him was harsher.
The Horror
Rob Roy was born on March 7, 1671 at Glengyle, near Loch Katrine, into Clan Gregor. Being a MacGregor was itself a legal liability: the name had been banned, and Rob sometimes used his mother’s surname, Campbell. In January 1693 he married Mary MacGregor of Comar.
He made his living in cattle, and he borrowed heavily to expand his herd. His chief herder disappeared with the money, and Rob defaulted. His principal creditor was James Graham, 1st Duke of Montrose, who took his lands. Rob’s own account was that Montrose offered to forgive the debt if he gave false testimony against the Duke of Argyll, and that he refused. That version comes from Rob’s side and is unconfirmed. He was declared an outlaw, and his family was evicted from Inversnaid, where the house was burned.
For years he fought Montrose by raiding. His reputation as a man who could not be caught grew with every escape. Clan Gregor was left out of the Indemnity Act of 1717. He was forced to surrender in 1722, was imprisoned, and was pardoned in 1727. A popular account says George I signed the pardon as Rob was about to be transported to the colonies.
He died on December 28, 1734, at his house at Inverlochlarig Beg in Balquhidder, aged 63, in bed.
Legend
The 1995 film gives Montrose’s agent an assault on Rob’s wife to justify the vendetta. That assault is invented. The eviction and the ruin were real. Rob’s role in the 1715 rising is argued over and is not asserted here.
The Modern Relic
Rob Roy’s grave is in the kirkyard at Balquhidder, marked with the motto “MacGregor Despite Them”. The slab also commemorates his wife and two of his sons. Some sources differ about which family members lie there, and the wife’s Christian name is given variously. A sporran and a dirk handle said to have belonged to him are held at Inveraray Castle.
