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THE REAL HISTORY OF ROB ROY.
The seventh volume of the new edition of the
“ Waverley Novels” contains the first part of Rob
Roy, and is preceded by an interesting account of
the clan Alpine, (M‘Gregors,) of the hero him-
self, and of his family. It consists of 135 pages,
and affords a striking picture of barbarous oppres-
sion and resistance, and is also full of anecdote and
antiquarian researches connected with the Highlands.
The present volume is embellished with two spirited
engravings, one of which is an admirable represen-
tation of the Baillie’s interview with Rob Roy in
Glasgow gaol.
Sir Walter commences the introduction by stating
that, at the time he wrote Rob Roy, “ he was at
some loss for a title ; a good name being nearly of
as much consequence in literature, as it is in life,”
and that the one he at last fixed on, “ was suggested
by the late Mr. Constable, whose sagacity and ex-
perience forsaw the germ of popularity which it in-
cluded.” He then sketches the history of the Mac-
gregors, who trace their descent from Gregor or Gre-
gorious, third son of Alpine King of Scotland who
flourished about the year 787. Hence their original
patronymic is M‘Alpine, and they are usually termed
the clan Alpine. Of their Celtic descent there can
be no doubt, and it is equally certain that they oc-
cupied at one time very extensive possessions in
Perthshire and Argyleshire. But as they knew little
of law, they continued to hold their lands coir à
glave—that is, by the right of the sword ; and as in
process of time the Earl of Argyle and Breadalbane
managed to get the said lands engrossed in Crown
charters, the Macgregors, in many cases, were for-
cibly dispossessed and compelled, like the Aborigines
of North America, to retreat to solitudes more pro-
found. This was the origin of all their troubles, and
of the lawless character they afterwards acquired.
An interesting account is given of the battle of
Glenfruin (the Glen of Sorrow), where the ancestor
of Rob Roy acquired a bad pro-eminence, and was
known by the name of Dugald Ciar Mhor, or the
great mouse-coloured man. The Laird of Luss, and
the clan Gregor, whose possessions were separated
by the waters of Loch Lomond, had long been at
variance, and as one act of aggression led to another,
the Macgregors, on one occasion, rose en masse, and
made a raid or foray into the enemy’s territory. Sir
Humphrey Colquhoun received notice of the in-
tended incursion, and was not only prepared to meet
the foe, but supported by the Buchanans, Grahams,
and other gentry from Lenox, as well as a party of
the citizens of Dumbarton, headed by a baillie,
Tobias Smollet, ancestor of the celebrated novelist
of the same name. The parties met near the south-
western extremity of Loch Lomond, and though the
adherents of Colquhoun more than doubled their
opponents, victory declared for the Macgregors.
The conflict was fierce, and the pursuit sanguinary.
While the invaders lost only two or three men, the
invaded had to mourn as many hundreds, and their
chief himself, though he escaped from the field, was
afterwards murdered in the Castle of Benechra ;
some say by the Macgregors, and others by the
M‘Farlanes. It is even added, that the fury of the
assailants extended itself to a party of students for
clerical orders, who had imprudently come to see the
battle.
This atrocity is usually ascribed to Ciar Mhor, and
the country people say that the blood of his victims
will never be effaced from the large flag stone where
they were murdered. Be this as it may, the leaders
of the Macgregors was much shocked with the
cruelty of his foster-brother, and easily foresaw that
so revolting a proceeding would draw down on the
clan the utmost vengeance of government. Ac-
cordingly, representations were made to King
James VI. when at Stirling, and to strengthen these,
“ 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 in presence of a monarch peculiarly
accessible to such sights of fear and sorrow, to de-
mand vengeance for the death of their husbands,
upon those by whom they had been made desolate.”
Accordingly, letters of fire and sword were issued
against the Macgregors, and the clan beleaguered
by numorous foes. Nothing, perhaps, but the fast-
nesses they inhabited, saved the race from utter
extinction, and the spirit of their chief, Macgregor,
of Glenstrae, became at last so much broken, that he
offered to surrender to the Earl of Argyle, with his
principal followers, on condition that they should be
sent out of Scotland. He did so, and was deceived ;
the same party that conveyed him to England, took
him back to Edinburgh a close prisoner, where he
was tried on the 20th of January, 1604, and shortly
after executed. From this time till the appearance
of Rob Roy on the scene, a period of more than one
hundred years, the fate of the Macgregors was suf-
ficiently hard ; the severe laws against them, though
repeatedly relaxed, were re-enacted, and though
sometimes favoured on account of their services, or
particular views of policy, they were, upon the
whole, a persecuted and devoted people. Even
their very name was proscribed, and to purchase
protection, they were fain to intermingle so far with
the Drummonds, Campbells, Grahams, Buchanans,
Stewarts, and the like. But the amalgamation was
any thing but complete ; in point of mutual attach-
ment, and all for the purposes of combination, they
remained the clan Gregor, and the author tells us
that “ many a glen in the west and north highlands
retains memory of the severe conflicts in which the
proscribed race sometimes obtained transient ad-
vantages, and always sold their lives dearly.”
The date of Macgregor’s birth is not known. His
first exploit was a predatory excursion into the
parish of Kippen, in Lenox, which took place in the
year 1691. At this period he is supposed to have
been about twenty-five, and during the quiet times
that succeeded, he became a cattle-dealer, or drover,
on a large scale. His father is said to have been
lieutenant-colonel, probably in the service of James
II. and the descendants of Dugald Ciar Mhor lived
chiefly in the now-classical tract of country which
stretches between Ben Lomond and Loch Katrine.
But its proper designation was Inversnaid, one of
the most romantic spots upon earth, and which no
one can forgot that has ever visited the banks of
Loch Lomond. Aftorwards, however, he acquired
a right of some kind to the property of Craig
Royston, “ a domain of rock and forest lying on the
east bank of Loch Lomond, where that beautiful
lake stretches into the dusky mountains of Glen-
falloch," and it is probably to the circumstance that
Wordsworth alludes in the poem he wrote on visiting
the grave :—
“ And thus among his rocks he livid,
Through summer’s heat, and winter’s snow
The eagle he was lord above,
And Rob was lord below.”
At first his droving speculations prospered greatly.
Black cattle formed the staple wealth of the moun-
tains of the west, and as no Lowland grazier would
venture to cross the Highland line, there was ample
scope for the talents of Rob Roy. At this time he
was in great favour with the Duke of Montrose, and
his importance was still further increased by the
death of his father, on which he succeeded to the
management of his nephew’s property, M‘Gregor of
Glengyle. But even in those days the trade in
cattle was liable to the same sudden fluctuations
that have proved so ruinous in our own day and
district, and in consequence of a great depression of
the markets, as well perhaps as the misconduct of a
partner, who decamped, of the name of M‘Donald,
Rob Roy became utterly insolvent. This reverse of
fortune drove him from Inversnaid into the wilds of
Glen Dochart. In other words, he absconded, and
was denounced in an advertisement which appeared
in the Edinburgh Evening Courant of 18th June,
1712, No. 1,058. This curious document, which is
given in an appendix, after inviting all magistrates
to apprehend him, states that he had gone off with
£1,000 belonging to different noblemen and gentle-
men, and which had been given him for the purpose
of purchasing Highland cows. From the time of his
insolvency forward, the Duke of Montrose became
his foe, attacked his property, and even sold his
furniture at Inversnaid, leaving his wife without a
decent home, who felt great anguish at being ex-
pelled from the banks of Loch Lomond, and gave
vent to her feelings “ in a fine piece of music, still
well known to amateurs by the name of ‘ Rob Roy’s
Lament.’ ” It was now, to use the language of the
novel, that he became a “ broken man.” The Duke
of Argyle was so far favourable, that he allowed him
“ wood and water”— in other words, scope for fishing
and hunting, and for the rest he contrived to pick
up a subsistence by levying Black Mail. The nature
of this tribute need not be explained, as it has been
long well known to the public. The exact amount
of the impost has never been accurately ascertained,
though one fact stated by Sir Walter may lead to
the inference that it never exceeded 5 per cent.
The person of the outlaw is minutely described, and
the account agrees in almost every particular with
the picture given of him in the novel. His ideas of
morality were those of an Arab chief, he had many
rodeeming qualities, and frequently acted on the
principle of the Irish brigand.
“ I rob the rich, and I do bestow,
And give to those that are poor and low.”
At the time of the rebellion in 1715, he had been
celebrated for his address and daring, and though
he espoused the Jacobite side of the question, in
opposition to the gratitude and fealty he owed to
his Grace of Argyle, he was rather a lukewarm ad-
herent, and he behaved very strangely at the battle
of Sheriff-Muir. The Earl of Mar, whose camp
“ the Macgregor” joined, despatched him to Aber-
deen to raise recruits among the remnant of his
clan, settled in the North ; and while there, he be-
came acquainted with a distinguished clansman, Dr.
James Gregory, the patriarch of a dynasty of learned
men, and grandfather of the celebrated Dr. Gregory
of Edinburgh. The professor was very kind to the
outlaw, invited him to his house, and awakened a
feeling of gratitude in his bosom that threatened to
prove highly embarrassing in the end. The pro-
fessor had a son, a fine lively boy about nine years
of age, and the cataran, after pondering deeply on
the matter, told his father that he had “ a spirited
son that he was cramming with his useless book
learning, and that he was determined to take him
with him, and make a man of him !” The doctor
excused himself on the score of his son’s health, and
was careful not to offend his kinsman. This anecdote
will remind the reader of Baillie Jarvie’s proposi-
tion to make his cousin Rob’s sons weavers, and is
most probably the circumstance that suggested the
idea originally to the author.
After the rebellion had been suppressed, Rob
Roy, though included in the Act of Attainder,
found means to pacify the local authorities, and,
pitching his tent at Craig-royston, on the banks of
Loch Lomond, took every opportunity of annoying
his old enemy, the Duke of Montrose. With this
view he organized a little army of guerilla soldiers,
and never stirred from home without a body guard
of ten or twelve picked men. Montrose, on his
part, let the military loose on his troublesome
neighbour, and ordered three different parties of
soldiers to penetrate his fastnesses by different
routes, and thus cut off every means of escape.
But the expedition miscarried, from bad manage-
ment and bad weather, and though the nest was
discovered, the bird had flown. And here again
we may trace the origin of an expedition which
makes such a conspicuous figure in the novel, and
which, no doubt, suggested the high doings in the
Pass and Clauchan of Aberfoyle. Mr. Graham of
Killearn, the Duke of Montrose’s factor, accompa-
nied the party that burnt and razed the dwelling at
Craig-royston, and for this outrage the outlaw took
speedy vengeance. In the middle of November,
1716, while Mr. Graham, the gentleman just
named, was collecting his master’s rents at a place
called Chapel Erock, Rob Roy and his followers
suddenly burst on him, seized his books and papers,
and about £300 in money, and carried the factor
along with them to a small island in Loch-katrine
which is still called Rob Roy’s prison. In the first
instance, a ransom of 3,400 merks was placed on
Mr. Graham’s head, but the other tired of detaining
him as a hostage, sent him back to his master
with his books and papers, and a receipt for the mo-
ney. At the period alluded to, part of the Duke’s
rents were paid in kind, and the outlaw made many
sly visits to the granaries in which the corn was
stored. To repress those and similar mal-practices,
a small fort was erected at Inversnaid, which was
as often repaired ; and what is not a little curious,
the celebrated General Wolfe commanded in it sub-
sequent to the troublesome times of 1715-6. Sir
Walter adds the following note. “ About the year
1792, when the author chanched to pass that way,
while on a tour through the Highlands, a garrison,
of a single veteran, was still maintained at Inver-
snaid. The venerable warder was reaping his bar-
ley crop in all peace and tranquillity, and when we
asked admittance, he told us we would find the key
of The Fort under the door.”
As Rob Roy advanced in years, he became more
peaceable in his habits, and his nephew and clan
renounced their enmity to the Duke of Montrose.
Though he had been bred a Protestant, he became
a Catholic in his latter years, out of compliment,
as has been supposed, to the Duke of Argyle. He
did not, however, we are told, “ pretend to justify
all the tenents of Catholicism, and acknowledged
that extreme unction always appeared to him a great
waste of ulzie or oil.” Shortly before his death, a
person with whom he had an ancient feud proposed
to visit him. When the day arrived, and the visi-
tor approached, “ raise me,” he said, “ from my
bed, throw my plaid around me, and bring my
claymore, dirk, and pistols—it shall never be said
that a foeman saw Rob Roy Macgregor defenceless
and unarmed.” While the other paid his compli-
ments, he maintained a cold civility, and as
soon as he had left the house—“ Now,” he said,
“ all is over, let the piper play Ha till me tulidh (we
return no more,)” and he is said to have expired be-
fore the dirge was finished.
His decease is supposed to have taken place in
1738, and if he was a youth of 25 in 1691, ho must
have exceeded the term of three-score and ten
years. He left five sons, three of whom seem to
have been common-place characters. James and
Robin Oig were the chief actors in a villainous case
of abduction, undertaken to repair their broken for-
tunes. The story is well known, and is recorded
with great calmness and impartiality in the volume
before us. After a troubled and adventurous career,
James retired to France, and was reduced to such
straits, that he wrote to his patron Bohaldie, re-
questing his interest to procure him employment as
a breeder of horses, or hunter and fowler. His last
request is of a touching nature, namely, that his
patron would lend him his bagpipes, that he might
play over some of the melancholy tunes of his na-
tive land. His letter is dated in October 1754, and
he died in the course of the same month. His bro-
ther, Robin Oig, was tried the same year at Edin-
burgh for the abduction of Jean Key or Wright, and
publicly executed. Some of his friends ventured to
Edinburgh, received the corpse, and were joined by
a large body of their countrymen at Linlithgow, who
conducted it “ with the coronach and other wild em-
blems of Highland mourning, to Balquhidder.”
___________________________________________
THE PAPER-MAKING INSECT.—The wasp is a
paper-maker, and a most perfect and intelligent one.
Wliilo mankind were arriving, by slow dogroes at
the-art of fabricating this valuable substance, the
wasp was making it before thoir eyes, by very much
the same process as that by which human hands
now manufacture it, with the best aid of chymistry
and machinery. While somo nations carved their
records on wood, and stone, and brass, and leaden
tablets, others, moro advanced, wrote, with a style,
on wax, others employed tho inner barks of trees,
and othors tho skins of animals, rudely prepared
tho wasp was manufacturing a firm and durable
paper. Even when tho papyrus was rendered more
fit, by a process af art, for the transmission of ideas
in writing, tho wasp was a better artisan than tho
Egj'ptians ; for tho early attempts at paper
making were so rude, that tho substanco produced
was utmost useloss, from their being extremely
friablo. The paper of tho papyrus was formed of
tho loaves of tho plant, dried, pressod, and polished ;
the wasp alone know how to reduco vegetable fibres
to a pulp, and then unite them by a suoorgluo,
spreading tho substance out into a smooth and
delicate leaf. This is exactly the process of paper
making. It would seem that the wasp knows, as
tho modern papor-makers now know, that the fibres
of rags, whether linen or cotton, aro not tho only
materials that can be used in tho formation of
paper ; sho employs other vegetable matters, con-
verting them into a proper consistency, by her as-
siduous exertions. lu some respects she is more
skilful even than our paper-makers, for she takes
caro to retain her fibres of sufficient length, by
which she renders her ' papor as strong as she re-
quires. Many manufacturers of tho present day
cut their malorials into small bits, and thus produce
a rottou article. Ono great distinction between
' good aud bad paper is its toughness ; and this dif-
ference is invariably produced by the fibre-of which
it is composed being long, and therefore tough ; or
short, and therefore friable, Tho wasp has been
labouring at her manufacture of paper, from her
last creation, with precisely the same instruments
and the same materials ; and her success has been
unvarying. Her machinery is very simple, and,
therefore, it is never out of order. She learns no-
thing, and she forgets nothing.-Library of Enter-
taining Knowledge.
The Mii.ch Cows or Ants.-The ants keep
and feed certain other insects, from which they ex-
tract a sweet and nutritious liquid, in'the same
manner as wo obtain milk from cows. There aro
two species of insects from which the ant tribe
abstract this juice-the aphides, or plant-lice, and
the gnll-insocts. Linnieus, and after him other na-
turalists, have called these insects the milch cattlo
of the ants ; and the term is not inapplicable. In
the proper season, any person, who may ohoose to
bo at the pains of watching thoir proceedings, may
seo, as Linuams suys, the ants ascending trees that
they may milk their cows, the aphides. Tho sub-
stance which is hero called milk is a saccharine
fluid, which those insecto secrete ; it is scarcely in-
ferior to honey in sweetness, and issues in limpid
drops from the body of the insect, by two little
tubes placed one on each side just above the ab-
domen. The aphides insert their suckers iuto the
tender bark of a tree, and employ themselves with
out intermission in absorbing its sap ; which, having
passed through the digestive, system of the insect,
is discharged by the organs just described. When
no ants happen to bo at hand to receive this trea-
sure, the insects eject it to a distance by a jerking
motion, which at regular intervals they give their
bodies. ' When the ants, however, are in attendance,
they carefully watch the emission 'of this precious
fluid, and immediately suck it down. The ant not
only consume this fluid when voluntarily ejected by
tho aphides, but, what is still moro surprising, they
know how to make thom yield it at pleasure , or, in
other terms, to milk them. On this occasion, the
attounaî of the ants discharge the samo functions
us the fingers of a milk-maid ; wbon theso organs
move very rapidly, they put tho abdomen of an
aphis first on one side and then on the other ; a
little drop of the much covoted juice immediately
issues forth, which the ant eagerly convoys to its
mouth. Tho milk of ono aphia having been thus
exhausted, the ant proceeds to treat othors in the
same manner, until at length it is satiated, when it
returns to its nest. Some spocics of ants go in
search of theso aphides on the vegetables where thoy
load ; but there are others, as the yellow ant, which
collect a large herd of a kind of aphis, which derives
its nutriment from the roots of grass and other
plants. Theso milch-kino they removo from their
native plants and domesticate in thoir habitations,
affording, as Lubor justly observes, an example of
almost human industry and sagacity. On turning
up tho nest of the yollow ant, this naturalist one
day saw a variety of aphides either wandering about
in tlie different chambers,or attached to the roots of
plants which peuotrated into the interior. The ants
appeared- to bo oxtromoly jealous of their slock of
cattlo ; they followed t)iem about, and caressed
them, whonover thoy wished for the honied juice,
which the aphis never refused to yield. On the
slightest appoaranco of dauger they took them
up in their mouths, and gontly removed them to a
moro sheltered and more secure spot. They dis-
pute with other ants for. thom, and, in short, watch
them as keenly as any pastoral peoplo would guard '
the herds which form their wealth. Other species,
which do not gather the aphides together in their
own neat, grill seem to loot ou them as private pro-
perty ; they sot sentinel* to protect their places of
resort and drive away other ants ; und, what is still
moro extraordinary, thoy incloso thom not only
from rival ants, but also from tho natural enemies of
tho aphis. If tho branch on'which tho nphidos
feed bo conveniently situated, tho ants havo re-
course to a yory effectual expedient for Tteoping off
all trespassers ; thoy construct around the branch
containing the aphides a tube of earth, or some
other material, and in tho inclogure, formed noar tho
nost, and generally communicating with it, thoy
secure their cattle against all interlopers.-Murray»
Family Library,
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