Into this terrible legacy, a man was born in 1671 who was destined to become a legend. Robert (the Red) MacGregor, like all MacGregor males, had to assume a pseudonym to escape persecution. He took his mother’s maiden name, Campbell. As the son of a Laird, Rob Roy was well educated in reading, writing and swordsmanship. Legend says he spoke both Gaelic and English.
With his father and many highland clansmen, he fought alongside the Jacobites at the age of eighteen, in the rising that resisted the exile of James II, the dethroned Stuart King.
As a man, Rob Roy lived on land around Loch Lomond and supported his meagre living there by cattle rustling and offering protection to neighbouring farmers. As he was sometimes the one doing the rustling his protection was highly effective! He became a particular thorn in the side of the Duke of Montrose. Rob Roy’s land lay between the rival houses of Argyll (Campbell) and Montrose (Graham).
The story goes that Rob Roy was becoming a successful cattle trader. He borrowed a thousand pounds, a substantial sum, from the Duke of Montrose to finance a deal. But one of his own employees ‘mislaid’ the money. Though Rob Roy offered to pay at least some of the money back, the Duke declared him a thief and had him bankrupted. Rob escaped his imprisonment and fled into the north as an outlaw, where he mustered a loyal following. Meanwhile, his wife and children were thrown out of their home by the Duke’s men.
It is said that Mary Helen MacGregor, Rob’s wife, was raped by the Duke’s men. Rob Roy was given some land by Montrose’s enemy, Earl Breadlabane, and managed to return with his family to a life of protectionism and raiding – mainly aimed at the lands belonging to the Duke of Montrose. He was captured several times, but each time managed to escape. One time it was the prison guards themselves who let him go.
A remarkable fighter, and a charismatic individual, Rob Roy also gained a reputation as a Robin Hood figure, robbing from Montrose or else rich Campbells and giving the spoils to the poor. It was so hard to catch him that even Montrose eventually gave up. Had the MacGregors not been living under Proscription Rob Roy would have been a much higher achiever. As it was he led an uncompromising life as an outlaw.
He ended his life a free man living on his own terms, which was quite a feat for a MacGregor in those days. Some maintain that Daniel Defoe, visiting Scotland in 1723, heard about him and was inspired to write The Highland Rogue, a highly romanticised pamphlet about Rob Roy’s exploits. Whether the pamphlet is actually by Defoe is debatable.
What is certain is that the writer, Sir Walter Scott, then took up the story in a novel entitled Rob Roy (1817). It was this novel which catapulted a much-loved folk hero into wider fame. Robert Louis Stevenson declared it one of his favourite books and it inspired the 1995 Hollywood movie of the same name starring Liam Neeson.
Despite many attempts to curtail his freedom, Rob Roy MacGregor died peacefully in his own bed. He was buried in 1735 at Balquhidder, where later his wife and two of his sons were interred. The headstone, which says ‘MacGregor Despite Them’ was actually a later addition from 1920.