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 Scotland has a rich historical tapestry that
spans thousands of years. Its also a country that
has nurtured its fair share of heroes like the real MacBeth,
William Wallace and Robert the Bruce. Rob Roy MacGregor,
or Red Rob as he was sometimes known, was another Scottish hero who acquired
legend status despite various discrepancies in the telling and re-telling of
his many exploits and adventures.
Robert MacGregor was born in
1671 in Glen Gyle, Scotland, the son of Donald MacGregor, a soldier who fought in the armies of King
Charles II. After leaving the employ of the King, Donald went into the cattle
business. In those days going into the cattle business sometimes meant
stealing the shaggy black beasts from neighbors and surrounding territories.
Glen Gyle also happened to be a main cattle droving
route so the pickings were often good.
Young MacGregor eventually
took over the business, soon proving more adept at his chosen livelihood than
his father. Sometimes Rob traded legitimately, other times his dealings were
more unofficial. Its said he didnt
shy away from using blackmail, bribery and pay-offs to achieve his goals. A
Highlander of the old school, MacGregor believed
that bribery and blackmail were an age-old and honourable
practice. Even the Black Watch, a Scottish regiment specifically created in
1725 to guard against cattle thieving, looked the other way if paid adequate
protection money.
MacGregor was also a known sympathiser to the
Jacobite cause which extended over a period of
around 50 years, from 1688 to 1745. Jacobites were
supporters of the royal Stuart line, most notably King James II and his
descendants. There were a total of five Jacobite
rebellions, or wars, as they were sometimes known. The movement was
particularly strong in Scotland and Wales. The culmination of the last
rebellion occurred at the battle of Culloden in 1746 where the supporters of
Bonnie Prince Charlie, most of them loyal Scottish clansmen, were killed or
forced into exile.
Despite numerous royal intrigues and machinations
initiated by Jacobite sympathisers,
Rob Roy MacGregor stayed shy of any serious
dealings with the movement during his early years. Instead he married,
started a family and kept his full attention on his cattle business. When a few
hard winters brought his family and kinsmen close to starvation, MacGregor was forced to raid the Lowlands for cattle. Because he was such an
expe rt at secreting entire herds away
under the noses of his neighbors, he was never caught and by 1711, his cattle
business was once more thriving. Impressed with the MacGregors
business acumen, the Duke of Montrose, a rich landowner under whose
protection the MacGregor clan lived, offered Rob a
business deal -- to buy a herd of sturdy cattle, which would be fattened and
then resold for considerable profit.
MacGregor accepted and sent an assistant to collect the money from
Montrose. Unfortunately the man made off with the Dukes 1000 pounds.
Montrose was furious and branded MacGregor
an outlaw and brigand. The Duke seized MacGregors lands
and burned down his home without allowing him to explain what had happened or
to re-pay the stolen funds. Naturally MacGregor
swore revenge.
From 1713-1720 Rob Roy MacGregor lived the
life of an outlaw and soon gained folk hero status among his fellow
Highlanders. Not only did he initiate many successful raids against the Duke
of Montrose, he also took part in various Jacobite
battles and skirmishes. The most
notable was the Battle of Sheriffmuir
in 1715. Some historians have differing opinions on the extent of MacGregors involvement in this battle. One theory
suggests that he returned from a special mission too late to take part in the
fighting. Another theory says that he and
his clan merely watched the battle from a safe distance,
their only interest in whatever plunder might result after the dust settled. MacGregor also played a part in some lesser skirmishes
like the one at Glen Shiel in 1719.
 By 1720 Rob Roy MacGregor
had not only gained considerable notoriety for his open defiance against the
British, hed also escaped their prisons on numerous
occasions. But after a few years of living the life of a brigand and outlaw,
he decided to return home to his family and clansman in Balquhidder.
He was eventually recaptured in 1726 and escorted to the infamous Newgate prison in London, a goal from which he could not
escape. MacGregor was sentenced to transportation
away from his homeland to live the rest of his life as an
bonded servant in Barbados. He was pardon before the order was
carried out and in 1727 returned home to his family and kinsmen. They labelled him their Scottish Robin Hood and Rob Roy MacGregor lived out the rest of his life tending his
family and his cattle and died in 1764 at the age of 63.
After MacGregors death his
legendary status lived on. Sir Walter Scott, Daniel Defoe and English poet,
William Wordsworth, wrote novels, stories and epic poems about Rob Roy MacGregor that are still read and enjoyed today. And in
the Highlands of Scotland, around a lake called Loch Lomond, there are statues and historical
markers that also tell the colorful tales of Rob Roy MacGregor,
Scottish outlaw and hero.
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