Historical Memoirs of Rob Roy and the Clan

* ? / National Library of Scotland ill I! UN I II II III I II *B000380401 ROB ROY THE CLAN MACGREGOR. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from National Library of Scotland http://www.archive.org/details/historicalmemoirOOmacl HISTORICAL MEMOIRS OF ROB ROY AND THE CLAN MACGREGOR; INCLUDING (Drigittal itotkes of 3Jab|) dttfttgc. WITH AN INTRODUCTORY SKETCH, ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE CONDITION OF THE HIGHLANDS PRIOR TO THE YEAR I 745. BY K. MACLEAY, M.D. EDINBURGH : WILLIAM BROWN, 149 PRINCES STREET. 18S1. PREFACE. The previous editions of the following interesting and authentic account of the Times, the Family, and the Exploits of the celebrated Rob Roy have now been out of print for many years. It has therefore been increasingly difficult to obtain copies of a work which throws much light, not only upon the romantic career of the outlaw, but upon the state of the Highlands prior to the Rebellion of 1745. The present publisher has for these reasons issued this third edition, which he trusts will meet with acceptance alike from those interested in Scottish history, and those who may be curi- ous to learn more of the life, character, and Vlll PREFACE. adventures of the hero of one of Sir Walter Scott's greatest novels. The story of the abduction of Lady Grange, which is added, as in the previous editions, forms an appropriate sequel to the memoirs of Rob Roy, having all the charm of a romance, while well illustrating the utter lawlessness at one time prevailing within the Highland bor- ders. The author makes the following remarks in his preface to the second edition of the book, published in 1819. The historical incidents that are introduced, and the various anecdotes given throughout the volume, have been collected from written docu- ments and many sources of oral tradition, where the concurring testimonies of different respect- able individuals seemed to establish a genuine conclusion. To Mr Buchanan of Arden, who permitted him to take a likeness of his hero from the only PREFACE. IX original painting, it is believed, in existence, he must beg to offer his grateful acknowledgments. The picture has long been in the possession of his family, and proofs of its being an accurate por- trait have been transmitted to the present day. In publishing the letters of James Macgregor, the son of Rob Roy, included in this volume, the author conceives himself fully justified. He received them in a manner that did not place him under any restraint ; nor does he imagine that they contain expressions that may be hurt- ful to the feelings of any person, as they have no allusion to the character, title, or preten- sions of any one now living. 5 CONTENTS. PAGE SKETCH OF THE CONDITION OF THE HIGHLANDS I HISTORICAL MEMOIRS OF THE CLAN MACGREGOR 43 MEMOIR OF ROB ROY . I 1 STORY OF THE ABDUCTION OF LADY GRANGE . 247 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH, ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE CONDITION OF THE HIGHLANDS, PRIOR TO THE YEAR 1 745. The wild and magnificent scenery of the High- lands of Scotland, when viewed in connexion with the peculiar habits and manners of the inhabitants, has always been regarded as an object of interesting curiosity to the natives of Southern Great Britain ; and, in modern times, has excited the investigation of the natural historian, and claimed the attention of the moral philosopher. Secluded by the formidable aspect of their mountains, and the dissonance of their language, from intercourse with the rest of the world, they formed of themselves an original nation, regulated by customs and laws exclusively their own. The deep obscurity which, for a series of ages, enveloped the Northern States of Europe, A 2 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. affected, in a particular degree, the still more impenetrable and cloudy regions of Caledonia. The general rudeness of manners inseparable from the darkness of those primeval periods, was not calculated to restrain the irregular propensity of fierce communities, nor to over- awe the conduct of their individual members, so that they were free to become virtuous or vicious, as best suited their inclination or pur- pose. The total ignorance of domestic arts to guide and facilitate the operations of rural economy, rendered their subsistence precarious and miserable, and led the way to that system of necessary rapine and pillage, which fre- quently desolated their country, and added acts of violence, injustice, and inhumanity to the catalogue of their errors ; but in the occasional prosecution of their feuds they considered themselves guiltless, because practice had sanctioned such enormities. Before the Highlanders emerged from this condition of barbarism, they were a wild and unpolished race, destitute of political institu- tions, and despising subordination. Their minds being wholly unenlightened by religious truths, or the influence of literature, they appear to have practised scarcely any other estimable INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 3 quality than that of personal courage. Possess- ing neither acquired embellishments, nor useful knowledge, they were in no respect different from other untutored nations of the same age. This state of ignorance will account for the prevalence of superstition and its concomitant prejudices among them, even to a more recent period than could have been imagined, after the universal progress of civilization. So late as the breaking out of the last civil commotion in Scotland, the Highland peasantry were held in abject dependence by their chiefs, and kept in dark subjection to the sanctimonious artifices of their priesthood, for the success of whose machinations, an unlettered mind seems to have been an indispensable quality. During this remote antiquity, their oral history, for they had no other, declares an unsettled state of society, where the passions, unrestrained by the influence of principle or example, did not confine the wandering inclination to moderate bounds, and where equitable laws did not curb the indulgence of extravagant habits. Being almost destitute of jurisprudence, or sanctioned rules to enforce rectitude, or repress evil practices, the High- landers unavoidably became rapacious and 4 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. ungovernable, not considering themselves amenable to any legal authority. The pride of family distinction which latterly infatuated the minds of many chieftains, and inclined them to arrogance, was, in older times, in a great measure overlooked, as a considera- tion beneath the notice of men whose consequence depended often upon more estimable, though less pacific, qualifications, than the frivolous and empty honours of a name, which some of their more distant successors attached to themselves, without the merit of obtaining or deserving such marks of superiority. Though the Highlanders were shut up within the confines of their own country, and for many years remained separate from the other provinces of the island, they felt, like all European kingdoms, the effects of the allodial, and the feudal systems. The chiefs were generally, indeed, desirous of exerting undue powers over their followers, and some- times did so with unjustifiable austerity ; but though they were inclined to be arbitrary themselves, they could never be induced, either by threats or by flattery, to apply for regal charters, submission to any degree to the throne being incompatible with their feelings, as they con- INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 5 ceived that they had an unquestionable right to govern their own properties ; and that to hold them by a tenure under the king or government was dishonourable to the consequence of which they believed themselves possessed. Down to the period of the last attempt of the Stewarts, the same sentiments prevailed, and a chieftain of the Clandonell publicly declared, that such condescension was unworthy of Highlanders, and that he would never hold his lands by a sheep's skin, but by the sword, whereby his ancestors had acquired them. In the unfruitful and stubborn soil of the Highlands, subject to a variable and rigorous climate, the benefits of agriculture were formerly almost unknown, so that their means of subsistence were precarious and miserable, and consisted chiefly of what hunting, fishing, and the pasturage of a few tame animals afforded them : they were thus constrained to adhere to that pastoral state to which their country is naturally more adapted. In this situation we may believe that sagacity and artifice were exerted to overcome individual hardships ; but those practices were often unavailing, as strength of arm alone determined the right of property. Associations for the reciprocal pro- O INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. tection and safety of the members, hence became essential, to check the encroachments of rapacious tribes, or as the means of pro- secuting pillage. Fidelity to each other became a sacred duty, and a violation of it was considered base, and punished with severity. The appointment of a chief, or leader, to regulate the management of such discordant societies, early became necessary, so that in this way must have originated the system of clan- ship, which gradually arose to be a source of monstrous oppression in those regions, and latterly met with a just and total overthrow. As the strength of a clan grew formidable, the power of the individual chiefs seemed also to become more extensive and overbearing, and was exercised with haughty importance, and profound arrogance ; and whether they were chosen or had assumed the dignity, their vassals were equally submissive, and dared not disobey them in the pursuit of any feud, how- ever cruel or unjust. For the security of the chief, castellated habitations were erected in the most inaccessible places, where his followers were always entertained ; and the more numerous they grew, his importance increased in the same degree, so that the chief whose INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. J clan was most powerful, and capable of the most desperate achievements, was considered most exalted.

Load more