Scottish outlaw Rob Roy dies - December 28th, 1734

On this day in 1734, Rob Roy MacGregor, a Scottish bandit turned folk hero, died at his home in the village of Balquidder.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This Day in History Class is a production of I
Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class,
a show that flips through the pages of history to
deliver old news in a new way. I'm Gabe Louzier
and today we're exploring the life and times of Rob Roy,

(00:20):
a real life Scottish bandit who became one of the
world's most enduring literary legends. The day was December seventeen
thirty four. Rob Roy MacGregor, a Scottish bandit turned folk hero,

(00:43):
died at his home in the village of Balwinder. He
was many things throughout his life, including a soldier, a businessman,
a cattle rustler, and an extortionist. Today, he's best remembered
as a daring, romantic hero, kind of like the Robin
Hood of Scotland. That perception is largely due to the

(01:07):
many fictionalized novels, plays, comic books, and movies that have
been made about him since his death. However, Rob Roy
actually became a legend within his own lifetime. Eleven years
before his death, the first written account of his life
was published, a fictionalized biography by Daniel Defoe titled Highland Rogue.

(01:34):
The book changed rob Roy's life and ensured that history
would remember him as far more than a violent bandit.
Robert MacGregor was born in early sixteen seventy one at
Glen Gile, at the head of Loch Katrine in the
southern Highlands of Scotland. He was the third son of

(01:54):
Donald McGregor, a landholder and chieftain of Clan MacGregor. Rob
inherited red hair from his mother, Margaret Campbell. This trait
later inspired his nickname Raybert Rued, which means Robert the
Red in Gaelic. The reference to his red hair was

(02:15):
later lost in translation when rob Ruda was anglicized into
rob Roy. The McGregor's were Jacobites, a predominantly Catholic group
that supported the exiled King of Scotland, James the Seven,
and opposed his Protestant usurper King William the Third. In

(02:38):
sixty nine, a Scottish Convention of Parliament recognized William the
Third and his wife Mary as the joint Monarchs of Scotland.
The result was an immediate uprising among the Jacobites, culminating
in the Battle of Killie Cranky in late July of
that year. The Jacobites one a day, but their leader,

(03:02):
Viscount Dundee, was among the casualties. Without his leadership, the
Jacobite uprising fell apart fast. Rob Roy and his father
both fought in the rebellion, alongside the rest of Clan MacGregor.
As a result, when the Jacobites were defeated, the MacGregor
name was banned by law. Discouraged by the loss, Rob

(03:26):
gave up on politics and warfare. He adopted his mother's
maiden name of Campbell and married his cousin Mary in
January of sixteen ninety three. The former soldier settled into
domestic life. He started a business driving cattle to the
market town of Crief, on the border between the Scottish

(03:47):
Highlands and Lowlands. The business succeeded thanks in large part
to the financial backing of the Duke of Montrose, a
wealthy landowner who invested heavily in Roy's business. Sadly, all
that good fortune went to ruin in seventeen eleven. Late
that year, Rob borrowed money from the Duke to pay

(04:09):
for cattle for the next year's market. Rob made the
purchase and then sent his head drover or cattle driver
to pick up the order. However, the employee never returned.
After picking up the cattle, he sold them to someone
else and then disappeared with the money. Despite his best efforts,

(04:30):
rob failed to track down the thief. He pledged to
repay the loan himself in time, but the Duke of
Montrose wasn't having it. The powerful Duke declared Robin outlaw.
He then seized all of his lands and even evicted
his wife and four sons in the dead of winter.
Now on the run is a wanted man, rob Roy

(04:53):
set his sights on revenge. He launched an ongoing campaign
against the Duke of Montrose, stealing his cattle and robbing
his employees every chance he got. Over time, rob began
targeting other wealthy landowners as well. He extorted money and
property from them in exchange for protection against other cattle rustlers,

(05:17):
and if a farmer refused to pay up, then he
just stole their animals himself. The feud went on for years,
partly because Rob's efforts were aided by the Duke's enemies,
and partly because the public's admiration emboldened Rob Roy. He
frequently shared his ill gotten loot with the poor, especially

(05:39):
those who had been mistreated by the Duke as he
had been. This earned him a reputation as a champion
of the people. In seventeen fifteen, another Jacobite rebellion broke out,
but this time Rob didn't join the fight. In fact,
he plundered both sides, and when the rebellion was defeated again,

(06:00):
he just went right back to robbing Montrose. The revenge
campaign continued for another seven years. It finally came to
an end in seventeen twenty two, when a different duke
helped arranger reconciliation between Rob and Montrose. However, even though
he and the Duke mended fences, Rob was later arrested

(06:23):
for his crimes and sent to Newgate Prison in London.
He spent the next four years behind bars. While in
the outside world, his legendary status began to take shape.
With the release of Daniel Defoe's book Highland Rogue, Rob's
popularity with the public reached an all time high. Finally,

(06:44):
in seventeen twenty seven, King George the First of Great
Britain was persuaded by the public to part in Rob
for his many crimes. The reprieve came through just in time,
as the outlaw was just about to be transport it
to a penal colony in Barbados. Instead, the fifty six
year old outlaw was released and allowed to spend the

(07:08):
remaining years of his life and the peaceful village of Balwadre.
He died there seven years later on December seventeen thirty four.
He was buried on New Year's Day and was survived
by his four sons. His grave still stands, and in
the twentieth century an inscription was added to the stone

(07:30):
in tribute to his defiance. It reads quote mac gregor.
Despite them, the legend of Rob Roy has only grown
since his death. His exploits, both real and imagined, have
been the subject of countless adaptations for the page and screen.
Outside of stories, fans can visit Scotland and toward the

(07:53):
real life locations that featured in Rob Roy's life. Many
of these sites are even linked by a law distance
trail called the Rob Roy Way. There's even a famous
cocktail named after him. It's said to have originated at
the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City. In a

(08:14):
Broadway production of an operetta based on Rob Roy's life
premiered at a theater down the street from the hotel.
At the time, it was common practice for the hotel
bar to name drinks after current Broadway shows. The rob
Roy was a simple spin on a much more popular drink,
the Manhattan. The only difference a Manhattan uses American whiskey,

(08:39):
while a rob Roy is made with you guessed at Scotch.
I'm Gaye Loouisier and hopefully you now know a little
more about history today than you did yesterday. You can
learn even more about history by following us on Twitter, Facebook,
and Instagram at t d i AHC show, and if

(09:01):
you have any comments or suggestions, feel free to send
them my way at this Day at I heart media
dot com. Thanks to Chandler May's for producing the show,
and thank you for listening. I'll see you back here
again tomorrow for another day in History class. For more

(09:28):
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