Robert Roy MacGregor

[TheOfficialBren]

Cattle rustler...legend...rebel...hero...scoundrel...Jaco bite...

It seems that all of these describe the bold highlander. We even have a style of sporran named after him.

He supposedly never lost a duel...but afterward died of injuries reveived during is last engagement.

He changed his name to suit his latest racket to avoid the penalty of the law and to dodge his creditors.

He was loyal to his friends and a bane to his foes.

He was quite a larger-than-life character but how much of it is true?

So few details of the REAL Rob Roy. Much of his life, like any legendary figure, seem shrouded in the mists of myth and story.

I would especially like to hear from Woodsheal, Jock, cessna152Towser, and our other gentlemen with historical backgrounds or a goid yarn to spin.

;-)

Thank you.

[cessna152towser]

Rob Roy McGregor really existed and probably was a "larger than life" character, and indeed I have visited his grave in Balquhidder church yard.
Probably the tales of his exploits were exaggerated as they were repeated and much of his life story his been fictionalised by writers such as Daniel Defoe and Sir Walter Scott and more recently by the film (movie).
Much of his true life story will have been lost to history but perhaps this link conveys a more accurate picture than the public perception.
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.u...macgregor.html

[creagdhubh]

http://watchdocumentary.org/watch/th...d0ca48251.html

[TheOfficialBren]

Thank you, guys, for the links.

I was aware that he was a real man and that he has been fictionalised beyond the scope of history but I see very few threads on here about History (odd, since the kilt and its accoutrements are the garb of living history).

I have heard some far-fetched stories about him. Some turned out to be true, some are utter kak.

He seems like a person who always had his wheels turning.

[Woodsheal]

Best book on the subject:
http://www.amazon.com/Rob-Roy-MacGre...+roy+macgregor

[TheOfficialBren]

Thanks, Brian. I will have to check that book out.

[Dale Seago]

Best book on the subject:
http://www.amazon.com/Rob-Roy-MacGre...+roy+macgregor

I've had that one for some years, and I agree.

[TheOfficialBren]

I've had that one for some years, and I agree.

Really? That's two votes from chaps I respect a lot! I must check it out now!

[Jock Scot]

I have never sorted out the fact from fiction over this fellow and on the whole I, like most Scots I think when the subject comes up, just go "yes, yes" and move on to talking about the weather. Very much I imagine, how many Americans think about Wyatt Earp, Billy the Kid, or some such.

[TheOfficialBren]

That makes sense, Jock. We take most of those stories about the Old West with a very large pinch of salt. I suppose that most legends have that in common.