When the author projected this further encroachment on the patience of an
indulgent public, he was at some loss for a title; a good name being very
nearly of as much consequence in literature as in life. The title of _Rob
Roy_ was suggested by the late Mr. Constable, whose sagacity and
experience foresaw the germ of popularity which it included.
No introduction can be more appropriate to the work than some account of
the singular character whose name is given to the title-page, and who,
through good report and bad report, has maintained a wonderful degree of
importance in popular recollection. This cannot be ascribed to the
distinction of his birth, which, though that of a gentleman, had in it
nothing of high destination, and gave him little right to command in his
clan. Neither, though he lived a busy, restless, and enterprising life,
were his feats equal to those of other freebooters, who have been less
distinguished. He owed his fame in a great measure to his residing on the
very verge of the Highlands, and playing such pranks in the beginning of
the 18th century, as are usually ascribed to Robin Hood in the middle
ages,--and that within forty miles of Glasgow, a great commercial city,
the seat of a learned university. Thus a character like his, blending the
wild virtues, the subtle policy, and unrestrained license of an American
Indian, was flourishing in Scotland during the Augustan age of Queen Anne
and George I. Addison, it is probable, or Pope, would have been
considerably surprised if they had known that there existed in the same
island with them a personage of Rob Roy's peculiar habits and profession.
It is this strong contrast betwixt the civilised and cultivated mode of
life on the one side of the Highland line, and the wild and lawless
adventures which were habitually undertaken and achieved by one who dwelt
on the opposite side of that ideal boundary, which creates the interest
attached to his name. Hence it is that even yet,
Far and near, through vale and hill,
Are faces that attest the same,
And kindle like a fire new stirr'd,
At sound of Rob Roy's name.
There were several advantages which Rob Roy enjoyed for sustaining to
advantage the character which he assumed.
The most prominent of these was his descent from, and connection with,
the clan MacGregor, so famous for their misfortunes, and the indomitable
spirit with which they maintained themselves as a clan, linked and banded
together in spite of the most severe laws, executed with unheard-of
rigour against those who bore this forbidden surname. Their history was
that of several others of the original Highland clans, who were
suppressed by more powerful neighbours, and either extirpated, or forced
to secure themselves by renouncing their own family appellation, and
assuming that of the conquerors. The peculiarity in the story of the
MacGregors, is their retaining, with such tenacity, their separate
existence and union as a clan under circumstances of the utmost urgency.
The history of the tribe is briefly as follows--But we must premise that
the tale depends in some degree on tradition; therefore, excepting when
written documents are, quoted, it must be considered as in some degree
dubious.
The sept of MacGregor claimed a descent from Gregor, or Gregorius, third
son, it is said, of Alpin King of Scots, who flourished about 787. Hence
their original patronymic is MacAlpine, and they are usually termed the
Clan Alpine. An individual tribe of them retains the same name. They are
accounted one of the most ancient clans in the Highlands, and it is
certain they were a people of original Celtic descent, and occupied at
one period very extensive possessions in Perthshire and Argyleshire,
which they imprudently continued to hold by the _coir a glaive,_ that is,
the right of the sword. Their neighbours, the Earls of Argyle and
Breadalbane, in the meanwhile, managed to leave the lands occupied by the
MacGregors engrossed in those charters which they easily obtained from
the Crown; and thus constituted a legal right in their own favour,
without much regard to its justice. As opportunity occurred of annoying
or extirpating their neighbours, they gradually extended their own
domains, by usurping, under the pretext of such royal grants, those of
their more uncivilised neighbours. A Sir Duncan Campbell of Lochow, known
in the Highlands by the name of _Donacha Dhu nan Churraichd,_ that is,
Black Duncan with the Cowl, it being his pleasure to wear such a
head-gear, is said to have been peculiarly successful in those acts of
spoliation upon the clan MacGregor.
The devoted sept, ever finding themselves iniquitously driven from their
possessions, defended themselves by force, and occasionally gained
advantages, which they used cruelly enough. This conduct, though natural,
considering the country and time, was studiously represented at the
capital as arising from an untameable and innate ferocity, which nothing,
it was said, could remedy, save cutting off the tribe of MacGregor root
and branch.
In an act of Privy Council at Stirling, 22d September 1563, in the reign
of Queen Mary, commission is granted to the most powerful nobles, and
chiefs of the clans, to pursue the clan Gregor with fire and sword. A
similar warrant in 1563, not only grants the like powers to Sir John
Campbell of Glenorchy, the descendant of Duncan with the Cowl, but
discharges the lieges to receive or assist any of the clan Gregor, or
afford them, under any colour whatever, meat, drink, or clothes.
An atrocity which the clan Gregor committed in 1589, by the murder of
John Drummond of Drummond-ernoch, a forester of the royal forest of
Glenartney, is elsewhere given, with all its horrid circumstances. The
clan swore upon the severed head of the murdered man, that they would
make common cause in avowing the deed. This led to an act of the Privy
Council, directing another crusade against the “wicked clan Gregor, so
long continuing in blood, slaughter, theft, and robbery,” in which
letters of fire and sword are denounced against them for the space of
three years. The reader will find this particular fact illustrated in the
Introduction to the Legend of Montrose in the present edition of these
Novels.
Other occasions frequently occurred, in which the MacGregors testified
contempt for the laws, from which they had often experienced severity,
but never protection. Though they were gradually deprived of their
possessions, and of all ordinary means of procuring subsistence, they
could not, nevertheless, be supposed likely to starve for famine, while
they had the means of taking from strangers what they considered as
rightfully their own. Hence they became versed in predatory forays, and
accustomed to bloodshed. Their passions were eager, and, with a little
management on the part of some of their most powerful neighbours, they
could easily be _hounded out,_ to use an expressive Scottish phrase, to
commit violence, of which the wily instigators took the advantage, and
left the ignorant MacGregors an undivided portion of blame and
punishment. This policy of pushing on the fierce clans of the Highlands
and Borders to break the peace of the country, is accounted by the
historian one of the most dangerous practices of his own period, in which
the MacGregors were considered as ready agents.
Notwithstanding these severe denunciations,---which were acted upon in
the same spirit in which they were conceived, some of the clan still
possessed property, and the chief of the name in 1592 is designed
Allaster MacGregor of Glenstrae. He is said to have been a brave and
active man; but, from the tenor of his confession at his death, appears
to have been engaged in many and desperate feuds, one of which finally
proved fatal to himself and many of his followers. This was the
celebrated conflict at Glenfruin, near the southwestern extremity of Loch
Lomond, in the vicinity of which the MacGregors continued to exercise
much authority by the _coir a glaive,_ or right of the strongest, which
we have already mentioned.
There had been a long and bloody feud betwixt the MacGregors and the
Laird of Luss, head of the family of Colquhoun, a powerful race on the
lower part of Loch Lomond. The MacGregors' tradition affirms that the
quarrel began on a very trifling subject. Two of the MacGregors being
benighted, asked shelter in a house belonging to a dependant of the
Colquhouns, and were refused. They then retreated to an out-house, took a
wedder from the fold, killed it, and supped off the carcass, for which
(it is said) they offered payment to the proprietor. The Laird of Luss
seized on the offenders, and, by the summary process which feudal barons
had at their command, had them both condemned and executed. The
MacGregors verify this account of the feud by appealing to a proverb
current amongst them, execrating the hour _(Mult dhu an Carbail ghil)_
that the black wedder with the white tail was ever lambed. To avenge this
quarrel, the Laird of MacGregor assembled his clan, to the number of
three or four hundred men, and marched towards Luss from the banks of
Loch Long, by a pass called _Raid na Gael,_ or the Highlandman's Pass.
Sir Humphrey Colquhoun received early notice of this incursion, and
collected a strong force, more than twice the number of that of the
invaders. He had with him the gentlemen of the name of Buchanan, with the
Grahams, and other gentry of the Lennox, and a party of the citizens of
Dumbarton, under command of Tobias Smollett, a magistrate, or bailie, of
that town, and ancestor of the celebrated author.
The parties met in the valley of Glenfruin, which signifies the Glen of
Sorrow---a name that seemed to anticipate the event of the day, which,
fatal to the conquered party, was at least equally so to the victors, the
“babe unborn” of Clan Alpine having reason to repent it. The MacGregors,
somewhat discouraged by the appearance of a force much superior to their
own, were cheered on to the attack by a Seer, or second-sighted person,
who professed that he saw the shrouds of the dead wrapt around their
principal opponents. The clan charged with great fury on the front of the
enemy, while John MacGregor, with a strong party, made an unexpected
attack on the flank. A great part of the Colquhouns' force consisted in
cavalry, which could not act in the boggy ground. They were said to have
disputed the field manfully, but were at length completely routed, and a
merciless slaughter was exercised on the fugitives, of whom betwixt two
and three hundred fell on the field and in the pursuit. If the MacGregors
lost, as is averred, only two men slain in the action, they had slight
provocation for an indiscriminate massacre. It is said that their fury
extended itself to a party of students for clerical orders, who had
imprudently come to see the battle. Some doubt is thrown on this fact,
from the indictment against the chief of the clan Gregor being silent on
the subject, as is the historian Johnston, and a Professor Ross, who
wrote an account of the battle twenty-nine years after it was fought. It
is, however, constantly averred by the tradition of the country, and a
stone where the deed was done is called _Leck-a-Mhinisteir,_ the Minister
or Clerk's Flagstone. The MacGregors, by a tradition which is now found
to be inaccurate, impute this cruel action to the ferocity of a single
man of their tribe, renowned for size and strength, called Dugald, _Ciar
Mhor,_ or the great Mouse-coloured Man. He was MacGregor's
foster-brother, and the chief committed the youths to his charge, with
directions to keep them safely till the affray was over. Whether fearful
of their escape, or incensed by some sarcasms which they threw on his
tribe, or whether out of mere thirst of blood, this savage, while the
other MacGregors were engaged in the pursuit, poniarded his helpless and
defenceless prisoners. When the chieftain, on his return, demanded where
the youths were, the _Ciar_ (pronounced Kiar) _Mhor_ drew out his bloody
dirk, saying in Gaelic, “Ask that, and God save me!” The latter words
allude to the exclamation which his victims used when he was murdering
them. It would seem, therefore, that this horrible part of the story is
founded on fact, though the number of the youths so slain is probably
exaggerated in the Lowland accounts. The common people say that the blood
of the Ciar Mhor's victims can never be washed off the stone. When
MacGregor learnt their fate, he expressed the utmost horror at the deed,
and upbraided his foster-brother with having done that which would
occasion the destruction of him and his clan. This supposed homicide was
the ancestor of Rob Roy, and the tribe from which he was descended. He
lies buried at the church of Fortingal, where his sepulchre, covered with
a large stone,* is still shown, and where his great strength and courage
are the theme of many traditions.*
* Note A. The Grey Stone of MacGregor.
** Note B. Dugald Ciar Mhor.
MacGregor's brother was one of the very few of the tribe who was slain.
He was buried near the field of battle, and the place is marked by a rude
stone, called the Grey Stone of MacGregor.
Sir Humphrey Colquhoun, being well mounted, escaped for the time to the
castle of Banochar, or Benechra. It proved no sure defence, however, for
he was shortly after murdered in a vault of the castle,---the family
annals say by the MacGregors, though other accounts charge the deed upon
the MacFarlanes.
This battle of Glenfruin, and the severity which the victors exercised in
the pursuit, was reported to King James VI. in a manner the most
unfavourable to the clan Gregor, whose general character, being that of
lawless though brave men, could not much avail them in such a case. That
James might fully understand the extent of the slaughter, the widows of
the slain, to the number of eleven score, in deep mourning, riding upon
white palfreys, and each bearing her husband's bloody shirt on a spear,
appeared at Stirling, in presence of a monarch peculiarly accessible to
such sights of fear and sorrow, to demand vengeance for the death of
their husbands, upon those by whom they had been made desolate.
The remedy resorted to was at least as severe as the cruelties which it
was designed to punish. By an Act of the Privy Council, dated 3d April
1603, the name of MacGregor was expressly abolished, and those who had
hitherto borne it were commanded to change it for other surnames, the
pain of death being denounced against those who should call themselves
Gregor or MacGregor, the names of their fathers. Under the same penalty,
all who had been at the conflict of Glenfruin, or accessory to other
marauding parties charged in the act, were prohibited from carrying
weapons, except a pointless knife to eat their victuals. By a subsequent
act of Council, 24th June 1613, death was denounced against any persons
of the tribe formerly called MacGregor, who should presume to assemble in
greater numbers than four. Again, by an Act of Parliament, 1617, chap.
26, these laws were continued, and extended to the rising generation, in
respect that great numbers of the children of those against whom the acts
of Privy Council had been directed, were stated to be then approaching to
maturity, who, if permitted to resume the name of their parents, would
render the clan as strong as it was before.
The execution of those severe acts was chiefly intrusted in the west to
the Earl of Argyle and the powerful clan of Campbell, and to the Earl of
Athole and his followers in the more eastern Highlands of Perthshire. The
MacGregors failed not to resist with the most determined courage; and
many a valley in the West and North Highlands retains memory of the
severe conflicts, in which the proscribed clan sometimes obtained
transient advantages, and always sold their lives dearly. At length the
pride of Allaster MacGregor, the chief of the clan, was so much lowered
by the sufferings of his people, that he resolved to surrender himself to
the Earl of Argyle, with his principal followers, on condition that they
should be sent out of Scotland. If the unfortunate chief's own account be
true, he had more reasons than one for expecting some favour from the
Earl, who had in secret advised and encouraged him to many of the
desperate actions for which he was now called to so severe a reckoning.
But Argyle, as old Birrell expresses himself, kept a Highlandman's
promise with them, fulfilling it to the ear, and breaking it to the
sense. MacGregor was sent under a strong guard to the frontier of
England, and being thus, in the literal sense, sent out of Scotland,
Argyle was judged to have kept faith with him, though the same party
which took him there brought him back to Edinburgh in custody.
MacGregor of Glenstrae was tried before the Court of Justiciary, 20th
January 1604, and found guilty. He appears to have been instantly
conveyed from the bar to the gallows; for Birrell, of the same date,
reports that he was hanged at the Cross, and, for distinction sake, was
suspended higher by his own height than two of his kindred and friends.
On the 18th of February following, more men of the MacGregors were
executed, after a long imprisonment, and several others in the beginning
of March.
The Earl of Argyle's service, in conducting to the surrender of the
insolent and wicked race and name of MacGregor, notorious common
malefactors, and in the in-bringing of MacGregor, with a great many of
the leading men of the clan, worthily executed to death for their
offences, is thankfully acknowledged by an Act of Parliament, 1607, chap.
16, and rewarded with a grant of twenty chalders of victual out of the
lands of Kintire.
The MacGregors, notwithstanding the letters of fire and sword, and orders
for military execution repeatedly directed against them by the Scottish
legislature, who apparently lost all the calmness of conscious dignity
and security, and could not even name the outlawed clan without
vituperation, showed no inclination to be blotted out of the roll of
clanship. They submitted to the law, indeed, so far as to take the names
of the neighbouring families amongst whom they happened to live,
nominally becoming, as the case might render it most convenient,
Drummonds, Campbells, Grahams, Buchanans, Stewarts, and the like; but to
all intents and purposes of combination and mutual attachment, they
remained the clan Gregor, united together for right or wrong, and
menacing with the general vengeance of their race, all who committed
aggressions against any individual of their number.
They continued to take and give offence with as little hesitation as
before the legislative dispersion which had been attempted, as appears
from the preamble to statute 1633, chapter 30, setting forth, that the
clan Gregor, which had been suppressed and reduced to quietness by the
great care of the late King James of eternal memory, had nevertheless
broken out again, in the counties of Perth, Stirling, Clackmannan,
Monteith, Lennox, Angus, and Mearns; for which reason the statute
re-establishes the disabilities attached to the clan, and, grants a new
commission for enforcing the laws against that wicked and rebellious
race.
Notwithstanding the extreme severities of King James I. and Charles I.
against this unfortunate people, who were rendered furious by
proscription, and then punished for yielding to the passions which had
been wilfully irritated, the MacGregors to a man attached themselves
during the civil war to the cause of the latter monarch. Their bards have
ascribed this to the native respect of the MacGregors for the crown of
Scotland, which their ancestors once wore, and have appealed to their
armorial bearings, which display a pine-tree crossed saltire wise with a
naked sword, the point of which supports a royal crown. But, without
denying that such motives may have had their weight, we are disposed to
think, that a war which opened the low country to the raids of the clan
Gregor would have more charms for them than any inducement to espouse the
cause of the Covenanters, which would have brought them into contact with
Highlanders as fierce as themselves, and having as little to lose.
Patrick MacGregor, their leader, was the son of a distinguished chief,
named Duncan Abbarach, to whom Montrose wrote letters as to his trusty
and special friend, expressing his reliance on his devoted loyalty, with
an assurance, that when once his Majesty's affairs were placed upon a
permanent footing, the grievances of the clan MacGregor should be
redressed.
At a subsequent period of these melancholy times, we find the clan Gregor
claiming the immunities of other tribes, when summoned by the Scottish
Parliament to resist the invasion of the Commonwealth's army, in 1651. On
the last day of March in that year, a supplication to the King and
Parliament, from Calum MacCondachie Vich Euen, and Euen MacCondachie
Euen, in their own name, and that of the whole name of MacGregor, set
forth, that while, in obedience to the orders of Parliament, enjoining
all clans to come out in the present service under their chieftains, for
the defence of religion, king, and kingdoms, the petitioners were drawing
their men to guard the passes at the head of the river Forth, they were
interfered with by the Earl of Athole and the Laird of Buchanan, who had
required the attendance of many of the clan Gregor upon their arrays.
This interference was, doubtless, owing to the change of name, which
seems to have given rise to the claim of the Earl of Athole and the Laird
of Buchanan to muster the MacGregors under their banners, as Murrays or
Buchanans. It does not appear that the petition of the MacGregors, to be
permitted to come out in a body, as other clans, received any answer. But
upon the Restoration, King Charles, in the first Scottish Parliament of
his reign (statute 1661, chap. 195), annulled the various acts against
the clan Gregor, and restored them to the full use of their family name,
and the other privileges of liege subjects, setting forth, as a reason
for this lenity, that those who were formerly designed MacGregors had,
during the late troubles, conducted themselves with such loyalty and
affection to his Majesty, as might justly wipe off all memory of former
miscarriages, and take away all marks of reproach for the same.
It is singular enough, that it seems to have aggravated the feelings of
the non-conforming Presbyterians, when the penalties which were most
unjustly imposed upon themselves were relaxed towards the poor
MacGregors;--so little are the best men, any more than the worst, able to
judge with impartiality of the same measures, as applied to themselves,
or to others. Upon the Restoration, an influence inimical to this
unfortunate clan, said to be the same with that which afterwards dictated
the massacre of Glencoe, occasioned the re-enaction of the penal statutes
against the MacGregors. There are no reasons given why these highly penal
acts should have been renewed; nor is it alleged that the clan had been
guilty of late irregularities. Indeed, there is some reason to think that
the clause was formed of set purpose, in a shape which should elude
observation; for, though containing conclusions fatal to the rights of so
many Scottish subjects, it is neither mentioned in the title nor the
rubric of the Act of Parliament in which it occurs, and is thrown briefly
in at the close of the statute 1693, chap. 61, entitled, an Act for the
Justiciary in the Highlands.
It does not, however, appear that after the Revolution the acts against
the clan were severely enforced; and in the latter half of the eighteenth
century, they were not enforced at all. Commissioners of supply were
named in Parliament by the proscribed title of MacGregor, and decrees of
courts of justice were pronounced, and legal deeds entered into, under
the same appellative. The MacGregors, however, while the laws continued
in the statute-book, still suffered under the deprivation of the name
which was their birthright, and some attempts were made for the purpose
of adopting another, MacAlpine or Grant being proposed as the title of
the whole clan in future. No agreement, however, could be entered into;
and the evil was submitted to as a matter of necessity, until full
redress was obtained from the British Parliament, by an act abolishing
for ever the penal statutes which had been so long imposed upon this
ancient race. This statute, well merited by the services of many a
gentleman of the clan in behalf of their King and country, was passed,
and the clan proceeded to act upon it with the same spirit of ancient
times, which had made them suffer severely under a deprivation that would
have been deemed of little consequence by a great part of their
fellow-subjects.
They entered into a deed recognising John Murray of Lanrick, Esq.
(afterwards Sir John MacGregor, Baronet), representative of the family of
Glencarnock, as lawfully descended from the ancient stock and blood of
the Lairds and Lords of MacGregor, and therefore acknowledged him as
their chief on all lawful occasions and causes whatsoever. The deed was
subscribed by eight hundred and twenty-six persons of the name of
MacGregor, capable of bearing arms. A great many of the clan during the
last war formed themselves into what was called the Clan Alpine Regiment,
raised in 1799, under the command of their Chief and his brother Colonel
MacGregor.
Having briefly noticed the history of this clan, which presents a rare
and interesting example of the indelible character of the patriarchal
system, the author must now offer some notices of the individual who
gives name to these volumes.
In giving an account of a Highlander, his pedigree is first to be
considered. That of Rob Roy was deduced from Ciar Mhor, the great
mouse-coloured man, who is accused by tradition of having slain the young
students at the battle of Glenfruin.
Without puzzling ourselves and our readers with the intricacies of
Highland genealogy, it is enough to say, that after the death of Allaster
MacGregor of Glenstrae, the clan, discouraged by the unremitting
persecution of their enemies, seem not to have had the means of placing
themselves under the command of a single chief. According to their places
of residence and immediate descent, the several families were led and
directed by _Chieftains,_ which, in the Highland acceptation, signifies
the head of a particular branch of a tribe, in opposition to _Chief,_ who
is the leader and commander of the whole name.
The family and descendants of Dugald Ciar Mhor lived chiefly in the
mountains between Loch Lomond and Loch Katrine, and occupied a good deal
of property there--whether by sufferance, by the right of the sword,
which it was never safe to dispute with them, or by legal titles of
various kinds, it would be useless to inquire and unnecessary to detail.
Enough;--there they certainly were--a people whom their most powerful
neighbours were desirous to conciliate, their friendship in peace being
very necessary to the quiet of the vicinage, and their assistance in war
equally prompt and effectual.
Rob Roy MacGregor Campbell, which last name he bore in consequence of the
Acts of Parliament abolishing his own, was the younger son of Donald
MacGregor of Glengyle, said to have been a Lieutenant-Colonel (probably
in the service of James II.), by his wife, a daughter of Campbell of
Glenfalloch. Rob's own designation was of Inversnaid; but he appears to
have acquired a right of some kind or other to the property or possession
of Craig Royston, a domain of rock and forest, lying on the east side of
Loch Lomond, where that beautiful lake stretches into the dusky mountains
of Glenfalloch.
The time of his birth is uncertain. But he is said to have been active in
the scenes of war and plunder which succeeded the Revolution; and
tradition affirms him to have been the leader in a predatory incursion
into the parish of Kippen, in the Lennox, which took place in the year
1691. It was of almost a bloodless character, only one person losing his
life; but from the extent of the depredation, it was long distinguished
by the name of the Her'-ship, or devastation, of Kippen.* The time of his
death is also uncertain, but as he is said to have survived the year
1733, and died an aged man, it is probable he may have been twenty-five
about the time of the Her'-ship of Kippen, which would assign his birth
to the middle of the 17th century.
* See _Statistcal Account of Scotland,_ 1st edition, vol. xviii. p. 332.
Parish of * Kippen.
In the more quiet times which succeeded the Revolution, Rob Roy, or Red
Robert, seems to have exerted his active talents, which were of no mean
order, as a drover, or trader in cattle, to a great extent. It may well
be supposed that in those days no Lowland, much less English drovers,
ventured to enter the Highlands. The cattle, which were the staple
commodity of the mountains, were escorted down to fairs, on the borders
of the Lowlands, by a party of Highlanders, with their arms rattling
around them; and who dealt, however, in all honour and good faith with
their Southern customers. A fray, indeed, would sometimes arise, when the
Lowlandmen, chiefly Borderers, who had to supply the English market, used
to dip their bonnets in the next brook, and wrapping them round their
hands, oppose their cudgels to the naked broadswords, which had not
always the superiority. I have heard from aged persons who had been
engaged in such affrays, that the Highlanders used remarkably fair play,
never using the point of the sword, far less their pistols or daggers; so
that
With many a stiff thwack and many a bang,
Hard crabtree and cold iron rang.
A slash or two, or a broken head, was easily accommodated, and as the
trade was of benefit to both parties, trifling skirmishes were not
allowed to interrupt its harmony. Indeed it was of vital interest to the
Highlanders, whose income, so far as derived from their estates, depended
entirely on the sale of black cattle; and a sagacious and experienced
dealer benefited not only himself, but his friends and neighbours, by his
speculations. Those of Rob Roy were for several years so successful as to
inspire general confidence, and raise him in the estimation of the
country in which he resided.
His importance was increased by the death of his father, in consequence
of which he succeeded to the management of his nephew Gregor MacGregor of
Glengyle's property, and, as his tutor, to such influence with the clan
and following as was due to the representative of Dugald Ciar. Such
influence was the more uncontrolled, that this family of the MacGregors
seemed to have refused adherence to MacGregor of Glencarnock, the
ancestor of the present Sir Ewan MacGregor, and asserted a kind of
independence.
It was at this time that Rob Roy acquired an interest by purchase,
wadset, or otherwise, to the property of Craig Royston already mentioned.
He was in particular favour, during this prosperous period of his life,
with his nearest and most powerful neighbour, James, first Duke of
Montrose, from whom he received many marks of regard. His Grace consented
to give his nephew and himself a right of property on the estates of
Glengyle and Inversnaid, which they had till then only held as kindly
tenants. The Duke also, with a view to the interest of the country and
his own estate, supported our adventurer by loans of money to a
considerable amount, to enable him to carry on his speculations in the
cattle trade.
Unfortunately that species of commerce was and is liable to sudden
fluctuations; and Rob Roy was, by a sudden depression of markets, and, as
a friendly tradition adds, by the bad faith of a partner named MacDonald,
whom he had imprudently received into his confidence, and intrusted with
a considerable sum of money, rendered totally insolvent. He absconded, of
course--not empty-handed, if it be true, as stated in an advertisement
for his apprehension, that he had in his possession sums to the amount of
L1000 sterling, obtained from several noblemen and gentlemen under
pretence of purchasing cows for them in the Highlands. This advertisement
appeared in June 1712, and was several times repeated. It fixes the
period when Rob Roy exchanged his commercial adventures for speculations
of a very different complexion.*
* See Appendix, No. I.
He appears at this period first to have removed from his ordinary
dwelling at Inversnaid, ten or twelve Scots miles (which is double the
number of English) farther into the Highlands, and commenced the lawless
sort of life which he afterwards followed. The Duke of Montrose, who
conceived himself deceived and cheated by MacGregor's conduct, employed
legal means to recover the money lent to him. Rob Roy's landed property
was attached by the regular form of legal procedure, and his stock and
furniture made the subject of arrest and sale.
It is said that this diligence of the law, as it is called in Scotland,
which the English more bluntly term distress, was used in this case with
uncommon severity, and that the legal satellites, not usually the
gentlest persons in the world, had insulted MacGregor's wife, in a manner
which would have aroused a milder man than he to thoughts of unbounded
vengeance. She was a woman of fierce and haughty temper, and is not
unlikely to have disturbed the officers in the execution of their duty,
and thus to have incurred ill treatment, though, for the sake of
humanity, it is to be hoped that the story sometimes told is a popular
exaggeration. It is certain that she felt extreme anguish at being
expelled from the banks of Loch Lomond, and gave vent to her feelings in
a fine piece of pipe-music, still well known to amateurs by the name of
“Rob Roy's Lament.”
The fugitive is thought to have found his first place of refuge in Glen
Dochart, under the Earl of Breadalbane's protection; for, though that
family had been active agents in the destruction of the MacGregors in
former times, they had of late years sheltered a great many of the name
in their old possessions. The Duke of Argyle was also one of Rob Roy's
protectors, so far as to afford him, according to the Highland phrase,
wood and water--the shelter, namely, that is afforded by the forests and
lakes of an inaccessible country.
The great men of the Highlands in that time, besides being anxiously
ambitious to keep up what was called their Following, or military
retainers, were also desirous to have at their disposal men of resolute
character, to whom the world and the world's law were no friends, and who
might at times ravage the lands or destroy the tenants of a feudal enemy,
without bringing responsibility on their patrons. The strife between the
names of Campbell and Graham, during the civil wars of the seventeenth
century, had been stamped with mutual loss and inveterate enmity. The
death of the great Marquis of Montrose on the one side, the defeat at
Inverlochy, and cruel plundering of Lorn, on the other, were reciprocal
injuries not likely to be forgotten. Rob Roy was, therefore, sure of
refuge in the country of the Campbells, both as having assumed their
name, as connected by his mother with the family of Glenfalloch, and as
an enemy to the rival house of Montrose. The extent of Argyle's
possessions, and the power of retreating thither in any emergency, gave
great encouragement to the bold schemes of revenge which he had adopted.
This was nothing short of the maintenance of a predatory war against the
Duke of Montrose, whom he considered as the author of his exclusion from
civil society, and of the outlawry to which he had been sentenced by
letters of horning and caption (legal writs so called), as well as the
seizure of his goods, and adjudication of his landed property. Against
his Grace, therefore, his tenants, friends, allies, and relatives, he
disposed himself to employ every means of annoyance in his power; and
though this was a circle sufficiently extensive for active depredation,
Rob, who professed himself a Jacobite, took the liberty of extending his
sphere of operations against all whom he chose to consider as friendly to
the revolutionary government, or to that most obnoxious of measures--the
Union of the Kingdoms. Under one or other of these pretexts, all his
neighbours of the Lowlands who had anything to lose, or were unwilling to
compound for security by paying him an annual sum for protection or
forbearance, were exposed to his ravages.
The country in which this private warfare, or system of depredation, was
to be carried on, was, until opened up by roads, in the highest degree
favourable for his purpose. It was broken up into narrow valleys, the
habitable part of which bore no proportion to the huge wildernesses of
forest, rocks, and precipices by which they were encircled, and which
was, moreover, full of inextricable passes, morasses, and natural
strengths, unknown to any but the inhabitants themselves, where a few men
acquainted with the ground were capable, with ordinary address, of
baffling the pursuit of numbers.
The opinions and habits of the nearest neighbours to the Highland line
were also highly favourable to Rob Roy's purpose. A large proportion of
them were of his own clan of MacGregor, who claimed the property of
Balquhidder, and other Highland districts, as having been part of the
ancient possessions of their tribe; though the harsh laws, under the
severity of which they had suffered so deeply, had assigned the ownership
to other families. The civil wars of the seventeenth century had
accustomed these men to the use of arms, and they were peculiarly brave
and fierce from remembrance of their sufferings. The vicinity of a
comparatively rich Lowland district gave also great temptations to
incursion. Many belonging to other clans, habituated to contempt of
industry, and to the use of arms, drew towards an unprotected frontier
which promised facility of plunder; and the state of the country, now so
peaceable and quiet, verified at that time the opinion which Dr. Johnson
heard with doubt and suspicion, that the most disorderly and lawless
districts of the Highlands were those which lay nearest to the Lowland
line. There was, therefore, no difficulty in Rob Roy, descended of a
tribe which was widely dispersed in the country we have described,
collecting any number of followers whom he might be able to keep in
action, and to maintain by his proposed operations.
He himself appears to have been singularly adapted for the profession
which he proposed to exercise. His stature was not of the tallest, but
his person was uncommonly strong and compact. The greatest peculiarities
of his frame were the breadth of his shoulders, and the great and almost
disproportionate length of his arms; so remarkable, indeed, that it was
said he could, without stooping, tie the garters of his Highland hose,
which are placed two inches below the knee. His countenance was open,
manly, stern at periods of danger, but frank and cheerful in his hours of
festivity. His hair was dark red, thick, and frizzled, and curled short
around the face. His fashion of dress showed, of course, the knees and
upper part of the leg, which was described to me, as resembling that of a
Highland bull, hirsute, with red hair, and evincing muscular strength
similar to that animal. To these personal qualifications must be added a
masterly use of the Highland sword, in which his length of arm gave him
great advantage--and a perfect and intimate knowledge of all the recesses
of the wild country in which he harboured, and the character of the
various individuals, whether friendly or hostile, with whom he might come
in contact.
His mental qualities seem to have been no less adapted to the
circumstances in which he was placed. Though the descendant of the
blood-thirsty Ciar Mhor, he inherited none of his ancestor's ferocity. On
the contrary, Rob Roy avoided every appearance of cruelty, and it is not
averred that he was ever the means of unnecessary bloodshed, or the actor
in any deed which could lead the way to it. His schemes of plunder were
contrived and executed with equal boldness and sagacity, and were almost
universally successful, from the skill with which they were laid, and the
secrecy and rapidity with which they were executed. Like Robin Hood of
England, he was a kind and gentle robber,--and, while he took from the
rich, was liberal in relieving the poor. This might in part be policy;
but the universal tradition of the country speaks it to have arisen from
a better motive. All whom I have conversed with, and I have in my youth
seen some who knew Rob Roy personally, give him the character of a
benevolent and humane man “in his way.”
His ideas of morality were those of an Arab chief, being such as
naturally arose out of his wild education. Supposing Rob Roy to have
argued on the tendency of the life which he pursued, whether from choice
or from necessity, he would doubtless have assumed to himself the
character of a brave man, who, deprived of his natural rights by the
partiality of laws, endeavoured to assert them by the strong hand of
natural power; and he is most felicitously described as reasoning thus,
in the high-toned poetry of my gifted friend Wordsworth:
Say, then, that he was wise as brave,
As wise in thought as bold in deed;
For in the principles of things
_He_ sought his moral creed.
Said generous Rob, “What need of Books?
Burn all the statutes and their shelves!
They stir us up against our kind,
And worse, against ourselves.
“We have a passion, make a law,
Too false to guide us or control;
And for the law itself we fight
In bitterness of soul.
“And puzzled, blinded, then we lose
Distinctions that are plain and few;
These find I graven on my heart,
That tells me what to do.
“The creatures see of flood and field,
And those that travel on the wind
With them no strife can last; they live
In peace, and peace of mind.
“For why? Because the good old rule
Sufficeth them; the simple plan,
That they should take who have the power,
And they should keep who can.
“A lesson which is quickly learn'd,
A signal through which all can see;
Thus, nothing here provokes the strong
To wanton cruelty.
“And freakishness of mind is check'd,
He tamed who foolishly aspires,
While to the measure of his might
Each fashions his desires.
“All kinds and creatures stand and fall
By strength of prowess or of wit;
'Tis God's appointment who must sway,
And who is to submit.
“Since then,” said Robin, “right is plain,
And longest life is but a day,
To have my ends, maintain my rights,
I'll take the shortest way.”
And thus among these rocks he lived,
Through summer's heat and winter's snow
The eagle, he was lord above,
And Rob was lord below.
We are not, however, to suppose the character of this distinguished
outlaw to be that of an actual hero, acting uniformly and consistently on
such moral principles as the illustrious bard who, standing by his grave,
has vindicated his fame. On the contrary, as is common with barbarous
chiefs, Rob Roy appears to have mixed his professions of principle with a
large alloy of craft and dissimulation, of which his conduct during the
civil war is sufficient proof. It is also said, and truly, that although
his courtesy was one of his strongest characteristics, yet sometimes he
assumed an arrogance of manner which was not easily endured by the
high-spirited men to whom it was addressed, and drew the daring outlaw
into frequent disputes, from which he did not always come off with
credit. From this it has been inferred, that Rob Roy was more of a bully
than a hero, or at least that he had, according to the common phrase, his
fighting days. Some aged men who knew him well, have described him also
as better at a _taich-tulzie,_ or scuffle within doors, than in mortal
combat. The tenor of his life may be quoted to repel this charge; while,
at the same time, it must be allowed, that the situation in which he was
placed rendered him prudently averse to maintaining quarrels, where
nothing was to be had save blows, and where success would have raised up
against him new and powerful enemies, in a country where revenge was
still considered as a duty rather than a crime. The power of commanding
his passions on such occasions, far from being inconsistent with the part
which MacGregor had to perform, was essentially necessary, at the period
when he lived, to prevent his career from being cut short.
I may here mention one or two occasions on which Rob Roy appears to have
given way in the manner alluded to. My late venerable friend, John Ramsay
of Ochtertyre, alike eminent as a classical scholar and as an authentic
register of the ancient history and manners of Scotland, informed me,
that on occasion of a public meeting at a bonfire in the town of Doune,
Rob Roy gave some offence to James Edmondstone of Newton, the same
gentleman who was unfortunately concerned in the slaughter of Lord Rollo
(see Maclaurin's Criminal Trials, No. IX.), when Edmondstone compelled
MacGregor to quit the town on pain of being thrown by him into the
bonfire. “I broke one off your ribs on a former occasion,” said he, “and
now, Rob, if you provoke me farther, I will break your neck.” But it must
be remembered that Edmondstone was a man of consequence in the Jacobite
party, as he carried the royal standard of James VII. at the battle of
Sheriffmuir, and also, that he was near the door of his own
mansion-house, and probably surrounded by his friends and adherents. Rob
Roy, however, suffered in reputation for retiring under such a threat.
Another well-vouched case is that of Cunningham of Boquhan.
Henry Cunningham, Esq. of Boquhan, was a gentleman of Stirlingshire, who,
like many _exquisites_ of our own time, united a natural high spirit and
daring character with an affectation of delicacy of address and manners
amounting to foppery.*
* His courage and affectation of foppery were united, which is less
frequently the case, with a spirit of innate modesty. He is thus
described in Lord Binning's satirical verses, entitled “Argyle's Levee:”
“Six times had Harry bowed unseen,
Before he dared advance;
The Duke then, turning round well pleased,
Said, 'Sure you've been in France!
A more polite and jaunty man
I never saw before:'
Then Harry bowed, and blushed, and bowed,
And strutted to the door.”
See a Collection of original Poems, by Scotch Gentlemen, vol. ii. p. 125.
He chanced to be in company with Rob Roy, who, either in contempt of
Boquhan's supposed effeminacy, or because he thought him a safe person to
fix a quarrel on (a point which Rob's enemies alleged he was wont to
consider), insulted him so grossly that a challenge passed between them.
The goodwife of the clachan had hidden Cunningham's sword, and while he
rummaged the house in quest of his own or some other, Rob Roy went to the
Shieling Hill, the appointed place of combat, and paraded there with
great majesty, waiting for his antagonist. In the meantime, Cunningham
had rummaged out an old sword, and, entering the ground of contest in all
haste, rushed on the outlaw with such unexpected fury that he fairly
drove him off the field, nor did he show himself in the village again for
some time. Mr. MacGregor Stirling has a softened account of this anecdote
in his new edition of Nimmo's Stirlingshire; still he records Rob Roy's
discomfiture.
Occasionally Rob Roy suffered disasters, and incurred great personal
danger. On one remarkable occasion he was saved by the coolness of his
lieutenant, Macanaleister or Fletcher, the _Little John_ of his band--a
fine active fellow, of course, and celebrated as a marksman. It happened
that MacGregor and his party had been surprised and dispersed by a
superior force of horse and foot, and the word was given to “split and
squander.” Each shifted for himself, but a bold dragoon attached himself
to pursuit of Rob, and overtaking him, struck at him with his broadsword.
A plate of iron in his bonnet saved the MacGregor from being cut down to
the teeth; but the blow was heavy enough to bear him to the ground,
crying as he fell, “Oh, Macanaleister, is there naething in her?” (_i.e._
in the gun). The trooper, at the same time, exclaiming, “D--n ye, your
mother never wrought your night-cap!” had his arm raised for a second
blow, when Macanaleister fired, and the ball pierced the dragoon's heart.
Such as he was, Rob Roy's progress in his occupation is thus described by
a gentleman of sense and talent, who resided within the circle of his
predatory wars, had probably felt their effects, and speaks of them, as
might be expected, with little of the forbearance with which, from their
peculiar and romantic character, they are now regarded.
“This man (Rob Roy MacGregor) was a person of sagacity, and neither
wanted stratagem nor address; and having abandoned himself to all
licentiousness, set himself at the head of all the loose, vagrant, and
desperate people of that clan, in the west end of Perth and Stirling
shires, and infested those whole countries with thefts, robberies, and
depredations. Very few who lived within his reach (that is, within the
distance of a nocturnal expedition) could promise to themselves security,
either for their persons or effects, without subjecting themselves to pay
him a heavy and shameful tax of _black-mail._ He at last proceeded to
such a degree of audaciousness that he committed robberies, raised
contributions, and resented quarrels, at the head of a very considerable
body of armed men, in open day, and in the face of the government.” *
* Mr. Grahame of Gartmore's Causes of the Disturbances in the Highlands.
See Jamieson's edition of Burt's Letters from the North of Scotland,
Appendix, vol. ii. p. 348.
The extent and success of these depredations cannot be surprising, when
we consider that the scene of them was laid in a country where the
general law was neither enforced nor respected.
Having recorded that the general habit of cattle-stealing had blinded
even those of the better classes to the infamy of the practice, and that
as men's property consisted entirely in herds, it was rendered in the
highest degree precarious, Mr. Grahame adds--
“On these accounts there is no culture of ground, no improvement of
pastures, and from the same reasons, no manufactures, no trade; in short,
no industry. The people are extremely prolific, and therefore so
numerous, that there is not business in that country, according to its
present order and economy, for the one-half of them. Every place is full
of idle people, accustomed to arms, and lazy in everything but rapines
and depredations. As _buddel_ or _aquavitae_ houses are to be found
everywhere through the country, so in these they saunter away their time,
and frequently consume there the returns of their illegal purchases. Here
the laws have never been executed, nor the authority of the magistrate
ever established. Here the officer of the law neither dare nor can
execute his duty, and several places are about thirty miles from lawful
persons. In short, here is no order, no authority, no government.”
The period of the rebellion, 1715, approached soon after Rob Roy had
attained celebrity. His Jacobite partialities were now placed in
opposition to his sense of the obligations which he owed to the indirect
protection of the Duke of Argyle. But the desire of “drowning his
sounding steps amid the din of general war” induced him to join the
forces of the Earl of Mar, although his patron the Duke of Argyle was at
the head of the army opposed to the Highland insurgents.
The MacGregors, a large sept of them at least, that of Ciar Mhor, on this
occasion were not commanded by Rob Roy, but by his nephew already
mentioned, Gregor MacGregor, otherwise called James Grahame of Glengyle,
and still better remembered by the Gaelic epithet of _Ghlune Dhu, i.e._
Black Knee, from a black spot on one of his knees, which his Highland
garb rendered visible. There can be no question, however, that being then
very young, Glengyle must have acted on most occasions by the advice and
direction of so experienced a leader as his uncle.
The MacGregors assembled in numbers at that period, and began even to
threaten the Lowlands towards the lower extremity of Loch Lomond. They
suddenly seized all the boats which were upon the lake, and, probably
with a view to some enterprise of their own, drew them overland to
Inversnaid, in order to intercept the progress of a large body of
west-country whigs who were in arms for the government, and moving in
that direction.
The whigs made an excursion for the recovery of the boats. Their forces
consisted of volunteers from Paisley, Kilpatrick, and elsewhere, who,
with the assistance of a body of seamen, were towed up the river Leven in
long-boats belonging to the ships of war then lying in the Clyde. At Luss
they were joined by the forces of Sir Humphrey Colquhoun, and James
Grant, his son-in-law, with their followers, attired in the Highland
dress of the period, which is picturesquely described.* The whole party
crossed to Craig-Royston, but the MacGregors did not offer combat.
* “At night they arrived at Luss, where they were joined by Sir Humphrey
Colquhoun of Luss, and James Grant of Plascander, his son-in-law,
followed by forty or fifty stately fellows in their short hose and belted
plaids, armed each of them with a well-fixed gun on his shoulder, a
strong handsome target, with a sharp-pointed steel of above half an ell
in length screwed into the navel of it, on his left arm, a sturdy
claymore by his side, and a pistol or two, with a dirk and knife, in his
belt.”--_Rae's History of the Rebellion,_ 4to, p. 287.
If we are to believe the account of the expedition given by the historian
Rae, they leapt on shore at Craig-Royston with the utmost intrepidity, no
enemy appearing to oppose them, and by the noise of their drums, which
they beat incessantly, and the discharge of their artillery and small
arms, terrified the MacGregors, whom they appear never to have seen, out
of their fastnesses, and caused them to fly in a panic to the general
camp of the Highlanders at Strath-Fillan.* The low-country men succeeded
in getting possession of the boats at a great expenditure of noise and
courage, and little risk of danger.
* Note C. The Loch Lomond Expedition.
After this temporary removal from his old haunts, Rob Roy was sent by the
Earl of Mar to Aberdeen, to raise, it is believed, a part of the clan
Gregor, which is settled in that country. These men were of his own
family (the race of the Ciar Mhor). They were the descendants of about
three hundred MacGregors whom the Earl of Murray, about the year 1624,
transported from his estates in Menteith to oppose against his enemies
the MacIntoshes, a race as hardy and restless as they were themselves.
But while in the city of Aberdeen, Rob Roy met a relation of a very
different class and character from those whom he was sent to summon to
arms. This was Dr. James Gregory (by descent a MacGregor), the patriarch
of a dynasty of professors distinguished for literary and scientific
talent, and the grandfather of the late eminent physician and
accomplished scholar, Professor Gregory of Edinburgh. This gentleman was
at the time Professor of Medicine in King's College, Aberdeen, and son of
Dr. James Gregory, distinguished in science as the inventor of the
reflecting telescope. With such a family it may seem our friend Rob could
have had little communion. But civil war is a species of misery which
introduces men to strange bed-fellows. Dr. Gregory thought it a point of
prudence to claim kindred, at so critical a period, with a man so
formidable and influential. He invited Rob Roy to his house, and treated
him with so much kindness, that he produced in his generous bosom a
degree of gratitude which seemed likely to occasion very inconvenient
effects.
The Professor had a son about eight or nine years old,--a lively, stout
boy of his age,--with whose appearance our Highland Robin Hood was much
taken. On the day before his departure from the house of his learned
relative, Rob Roy, who had pondered deeply how he might requite his
cousin's kindness, took Dr. Gregory aside, and addressed him to this
purport:--“My dear kinsman, I have been thinking what I could do to show
my sense of your hospitality. Now, here you have a fine spirited boy of a
son, whom you are ruining by cramming him with your useless
book-learning, and I am determined, by way of manifesting my great
good-will to you and yours, to take him with me and make a man of him.”
The learned Professor was utterly overwhelmed when his warlike kinsman
announced his kind purpose in language which implied no doubt of its
being a proposal which, would be, and ought to be, accepted with the
utmost gratitude. The task of apology or explanation was of a most
delicate description; and there might have been considerable danger in
suffering Rob Roy to perceive that the promotion with which he threatened
the son was, in the father's eyes, the ready road to the gallows. Indeed,
every excuse which he could at first think of--such as regret for putting
his friend to trouble with a youth who had been educated in the Lowlands,
and so on--only strengthened the chieftain's inclination to patronise his
young kinsman, as he supposed they arose entirely from the modesty of the
father. He would for a long time take no apology, and even spoke of
carrying off the youth by a certain degree of kindly violence, whether
his father consented, or not. At length the perplexed Professor pleaded
that his son was very young, and in an infirm state of health, and not
yet able to endure the hardships of a mountain life; but that in another
year or two he hoped his health would be firmly established, and he would
be in a fitting condition to attend on his brave kinsman, and follow out
the splendid destinies to which he opened the way. This agreement being
made, the cousins parted,--Rob Roy pledging his honour to carry his young
relation to the hills with him on his next return to Aberdeenshire, and
Dr. Gregory, doubtless, praying in his secret soul that he might never
see Rob's Highland face again.
James Gregory, who thus escaped being his kinsman's recruit, and in all
probability his henchman, was afterwards Professor of Medicine in the
College, and, like most of his family, distinguished by his scientific
acquirements. He was rather of an irritable and pertinacious disposition;
and his friends were wont to remark, when he showed any symptom of these
foibles, “Ah! this comes of not having been educated by Rob Roy.”
The connection between Rob Roy and his classical kinsman did not end with
the period of Rob's transient power. At a period considerably subsequent
to the year 1715, he was walking in the Castle Street of Aberdeen, arm in
arm with his host, Dr. James Gregory, when the drums in the barracks
suddenly beat to arms, and soldiers were seen issuing from the barracks.
“If these lads are turning out,” said Rob, taking leave of his cousin
with great composure, “it is time for me to look after my safety.” So
saying, he dived down a close, and, as John Bunyan says, “went upon his
way and was seen no more.” *
* The first of these anecdotes, which brings the highest pitch of
civilisation so closely in contact with the half-savage state of
society, I have heard told by the late distinguished Dr. Gregory; and the
members of his family have had the kindness to collate the story with
their recollections and family documents, and furnish the authentic
particulars. The second rests on the recollection of an old man, who was
present when Rob took French leave of his literary cousin on hearing the
drums beat, and communicated the circumstance to Mr. Alexander Forbes, a
connection of Dr. Gregory by marriage, who is still alive.
We have already stated that Rob Roy's conduct during the insurrection of
1715 was very equivocal. His person and followers were in the Highland
army, but his heart seems to have been with the Duke of Argyle's. Yet the
insurgents were constrained to trust to him as their only guide, when
they marched from Perth towards Dunblane, with the view of crossing the
Forth at what are called the Fords of Frew, and when they themselves said
he could not be relied upon.
This movement to the westward, on the part of the insurgents, brought on
the battle of Sheriffmuir--indecisive, indeed, in its immediate results,
but of which the Duke of Argyle reaped the whole advantage. In this
action, it will be recollected that the right wing of the Highlanders
broke and cut to pieces Argyle's left wing, while the clans on the left
of Mar's army, though consisting of Stewarts, Mackenzies, and Camerons,
were completely routed. During this medley of flight and pursuit, Rob Roy
retained his station on a hill in the centre of the Highland position;
and though it is said his attack might have decided the day, he could not
be prevailed upon to charge. This was the more unfortunate for the
insurgents, as the leading of a party of the Macphersons had been
committed to MacGregor. This, it is said, was owing to the age and
infirmity of the chief of that name, who, unable to lead his clan in
person, objected to his heir-apparent, Macpherson of Nord, discharging
his duty on that occasion; so that the tribe, or a part of them, were
brigaded with their allies the MacGregors. While the favourable moment
for action was gliding away unemployed, Mar's positive orders reached Rob
Roy that he should presently attack. To which he coolly replied, “No, no!
if they cannot do it without me, they cannot do it with me.” One of the
Macphersons, named Alexander, one of Rob's original profession,
_videlicet,_ a drover, but a man of great strength and spirit, was so
incensed at the inactivity of this temporary leader, that he threw off
his plaid, drew his sword, and called out to his clansmen, “Let us endure
this no longer! if he will not lead you I will.” Rob Roy replied, with
great coolness, “Were the question about driving Highland stots or
kyloes, Sandie, I would yield to your superior skill; but as it respects
the leading of men, I must be allowed to be the better judge.”--“Did the
matter respect driving Glen-Eigas stots,” answered the Macpherson, “the
question with Rob would not be, which was to be last, but which was to be
foremost.” Incensed at this sarcasm, MacGregor drew his sword, and they
would have fought upon the spot if their friends on both sides had not
interfered. But the moment of attack was completely lost. Rob did not,
however, neglect his own private interest on the occasion. In the
confusion of an undecided field of battle, he enriched his followers by
plundering the baggage and the dead on both sides.
The fine old satirical ballad on the battle of Sheriffmuir does not
forget to stigmatise our hero's conduct on this memorable occasion--
Rob Roy he stood watch
On a hill for to catch
The booty for aught that I saw, man;
For he ne'er advanced
From the place where he stanced,
Till nae mair was to do there at a', man.