ROB ROY MACGREGOR
Rob Roy MacGregor was born in the 1650's, the son of Donald MacGregor at Inverlochaig at the head of Loch Doine. His life as an outlaw started when he was unable to repay money he had borrowed from the Duke of Montrose to fund his growing cattle trade. The Duke siezed his land and property, and Rob Roy fled with his debt unpaid.
From this time onward, Rob Roy and the followers he had gathered, at one time as many as 500 men, profited from raiding lands of the Duke and those of his neighbours. Though he releived many of their property it is said that he was never brutal or cruel with his victims, and he never stole from the common man, there was after all no profit from robbing a poor man.
Montrose captured Rob Roy but he made a famous escape, with the aid of a friend in the employ of the Duke at the ford in the river near Balquidder. Rob Roy died in his home in 1734, and was buried in the small churchyard in Balquidder.
THE HISTORY OF ROBERT (ROB ROY) MACGREGOR
ROB ROY (1671-1734) The Robin Hood of Scotland was the highlands Rob Roy. He is the subject of the historical novel "Rob Roy" by Sir Walter Scott. His real name was Robert MacGregor. Because of his red hair, people called him "Roy", the Gaelic word for "red". When the MacGregor clan was outlawed by the Scottish Parliment, he took his mother's surname Campbell.
When Rob Roy was 22 years old he became head of the MacGregor clan and inherited large estates. His lands lay between the rival houses of Argyll and Montrose. The Duke of Montrose entangled him in debt, and Rob Roy became a bandit--chiefly at Montrose's expense. In the Jacobite rebellion of 1715, he plundered both sides. After the rebellion he was put down, he was treated lenienly because of the influence of the Duke of Argyll. Rob Roy continued his exploits against Montrose until 1722, when the Duke of Argyll brought about a reconsiliation.
Later Rob Roy was arrested and confined to Newgate Prison in London, but was pardoned in 1727 and allowed to return home. He died on December 28,1734 in Balquhidder,Scotland. His letters show that he was a well educate man and not a mere brutish highwayman.
