Rob Roy

There are names and deeds that have echoed for centuries across the wild and rugged beauty of the Scottish landscape. Rob Roy is one of those names, and these pages bring together stories both legendary and historical, concerning some of the deeds that formed an extraordinary life. Fighting as part of the Jacobite Uprising of the 17th century, then becoming an outlaw and subsequently a folk hero, Rob Roy MacGregor has earned his place in the rich fabric of Scottish culture and identity.

Edinburgh-born author James Grant would have known all about this. Writing a little over a century after Rob Roy’s death, Grant was one of a number of writers who kept the flame of MacGregor’s legacy burning throughout the 19th century and beyond. While not the best-known entry into the Rob Roy legend — that accolade is reserved for the novel by Grant’s Scottish compatriot and distant relative, Sir Walter Scott — James Grant’s writing is a vital part of the Scottish folk tale canon. Today, Rob Roy’s name is mentioned in the same breath as medieval heroes like William Wallace and Robert the Bruce, and this is at least partly down to the work of writers like James Grant.