Sir Walter Scott, Rob Roy  (1817)

A love of ballads and legends helped direct Scott's literary activity. His translations of German Gothic romances in 1796 gained him some note, but he first achieved eminence with his edition of ballads, The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, in 1802-1803. His first narrative poem, The Lay of the Last Minstrel (1805), brought him huge popularity. Following this success, he wrote a series of romantic narrative poems, which included Marmion (1808), The Lady of the Lake (1810), The Bridal of Triermain (1813), and The Lord of the Isles (1815). In 1813, he was offered the poet laureateship of England, and declined, recommending Robert Southey for the post.

Scott's declining popularity as a poet, in part caused by the competition of Lord Byron, led him to turn to the novel.  In his novels Scott arranged the plots and characters so the reader enters into the lives of both great and ordinary people caught up in violent, dramatic changes in history.  After the publication of Waverley (1814), more than 20 novels followed in rapid succession, including Guy Mannering (1815), The Bride of Lammermoor (1819), Kenilworth (1821), and The Fair Maid of Perth (1828).  Although he published this fiction anonymously, his identity became an open secret (Scott did not acknowledge authorship of the Waverley novels until 1827).

 

Scott's work shows the influence of the 18th century enlightenment. He believed every human was basically decent regardless of class, religion, politics, or ancestry. Tolerance is a major theme in his historical works. The Waverley Novels express his belief in the need for social progress that does not reject the traditions of the past. He was the first novelist to portray peasant characters sympathetically and realistically, and was equally just to merchants, soldiers, and even kings.

 

Waverley (1814) and its successors draw on the social and cultural contrasts and the religious and political conflicts of recent Scottish history to illustrate the nature and cost of political and cultural change and the relationship between the historical process and the individual.  Scott wrote frequently about the conflicts between different cultures. Ivanhoe (1791) deals with the struggle between Normans and Saxons, and The Talisman (1825) describes the conflict between Christians and Muslims. The novels dealing with Scottish history are probably Scott's best. They deal with clashes between new commercial English culture and an older Scottish culture. Many critics rank Old Mortality (1816), The Heart of Midlothian (1819), and St. Ronan's Well (1824) as Scott's best novels. Other works in the Waverley series include Rob Roy (1817), A Legend of Montrose (1819), and Quentin Dunward (1823).

 

Scott's amiability, generosity, and modesty made him popular with his contemporaries. he used his enormous profits to construct a baronial mansion called Abbotsford.  In 1820 he was made a baronet.  Scott died in September 1832.

 

Background:

Scott is the first major historical novelist. In his portraits of Scotland, England, and the Continent from medieval times to the 18th century, he showed a keen sense of political and traditional forces and of their influence on the individual.  Although his plots are sometimes hastily constructed and his characters sometimes stilted, these works remain valuable for their compelling atmosphere, occasional epic dignity, and clear understanding of human nature. James Fenimore Cooper in America, Honoré de Balzac in France, and Charles Dickens and William Makepeace Thackeray in England were among the many who learned from Scott's panoramic studies of the interplay between social trends and individual character. In Great Britain, he created an enduring interest in Scottish traditions, and throughout the Western world he encouraged the cult of the Middle Ages, which strongly characterized romanticism.

 

Rob Roy follows the adventures of a businessman's son, Frank Osbaldistone, who is sent to Scotland and finds himself drawn to the powerful, enigmatic figure of Robert "Rob Roy" MacGregor (1671-1734), the romantic outlaw who fights for justice and dignity for the Scots.  But MacGregor in not the protagonist of this novel; he is the man behind the scenes.

 

The story is told by Osbaldistone, writing to his friend Tresham.  This narrative technique emphasizes the primacy of the sender / receiver relationship.  It also sets up a surrogate reader situation (where the reader is expected to identify with a character who asks questions or stimulate discussions to present information necessary to understand the background of the story).  Also, notice how when Scott uses dialogue time ceases to be past; it functions as a means of resurrecting the past.  Within this novel, dialect is a political device.  For the Scots, language is a mark of ancestry, of birth.  Through language Scott gives (English) readers a character sketch of the native Scot.

 

Scott believed history was founded in oral tradition; history is created not by the event itself, but by how it is known and told.  The significance occurs in how history is constructed after the event occurs.  Thus, history for Scott was not so much a recollection of the past as a re-creation.  Combining this idea with the importance of dialect, notice how the sound of the historical names serve a double function:  sound and reference.

 

Given all this, it is not surprising that Scott, as he often does, manipulates Scottish history in Rob Roy to suit his purpose.  According to more traditional sources, the MacGregors, including Rob Roy, had continued to support the deposed King James VII against William of Orange and Queen Mary. When John Graham of Claverhouse, Viscount Dundee (also known as "Bonnie Dundee"), raised an army in support of James (and his Jacobite cause), the MacGregors joined him. Rob Roy and his father fought at the Battle of Killiecrankie on 27 July, 1689, and although both sides lost many men, Rob and Donald Glas survived.

With the Jacobite cause at a stand still, the Secretary of State agreed in 1691 that there would be an armistice--if the clan chiefs agreed to sign an Oath of Allegiance. (It was the late signing of this Oath that led to the massacre of the MacIans, a sept of the clan Donald, in Glen Coe in the following year). Initially, Donald Glas, Rob's father, refused to sign but did so after the death of his wife. But after signing, the Privy Council demanded that he pay the cost of his imprisonment. To help pay the money, Rob undertook a raid to steal some cattle from around the village of Kippen. The men from there resisted and one was killed in the ensuing fight.

 

Rob was married to Helen Mary MacGregor (a cousin from Comer) on 1 January 1693 at Corryarklet, between Loch Katrine and Loch Lomond. The designated MacGregor chief died the following month without legitimate heir. He had been somewhat weak and had been chief in name only--Donald Glas had been the real leader.

 

During a visit to Glasgow in December 1695, Rob was arrested for an earlier misdemeanor and was sentenced to be sent to Flanders. But he escaped and returned home.  Despite hard times, he managed to prosper and at least five sons survived to manhood. During this time his reputation as a swordsman was enhanced by winning a number of duels-- his long arms were said to give him an advantage.

 

As a cattle dealer, Rob was making money buying stock in Scotland and selling them at a profit after taking them to England. But after a number of years of success, in 1712 he borrowed £1,000 from the Duke of Montrose to finance a deal. His chief drover, however, appears to have run off with the money. But Montrose believed that Rob was involved in the loss and although he offered to pay back as much as possible immediately, he was taken to court and declared a bankrupt and a thief. Rather than face imprisonment, Rob head north. Montrose demanded the seizure of Rob's property. It is said that Rob's wife Mary was raped and branded when the soldiers carried out the eviction.

 

 Rob remained at large in the Highlands, evading capture and eventually the Campbell Earl of Breadalbane (an enemy of Montrose) gave him land in Glen Dochart. Rob returned to his previous mixture of lawful "protection" and raids upon the unwary.  During this time he earned a reputation for helping poor people who had financial problems with Montrose--earning him a "Robin Hood" reputation.

 

Rob Roy and his men were a part of the 1715 Jacobite Revolt, and although he and his men arrived too late for the main battle of the campaign at Sheriffmuir which, marginally, the Jacobites won. But hesitation on the part of the Jacobite leaders and the late arrival of James VIII from France led to the withering of the Uprising. Rob Roy was named in the list of those accused of treason for their part in the Uprising but an amnesty was offered to all if they surrendered. Rob Roy eventually gave up some rusty weapons to the Duke of Argyll--who gave him a house in Glen Shira.

 

Rob Roy continued to raid the lands of the Duke of Montrose, who tried on many occasions to capture him. Montrose obtained letters of "Fire and Sword" against Rob Roy MacGregor and did manage to capture him at Balquhidder, but on the journey back Rob escaped. Then the Duke of Atholl tricked Rob, breaking a promise of safe conduct in the process.  Rob was captured but while in prison in Dunkeld he bribed the guards and escaped yet again.

 

In 1720 Rob Roy moved back near Balquhidder (both Montrose and Atholl had given up trying to capture him by this time) and resumed his previous life. In 1723, Daniel Defoe was in Scotland as an English Government spy and he wrote an embellished account of Rob's adventures entitled "Highland Rogue."  This, like the later novel by Sir Walter Scott, helped to enhance his reputation.

 

Rob died on 28 December 1734 after a short illness.  His gravestone has a sword carved on it. The gravestone with "MacGregor Despite Them" was added in the 1920s.

 

For a good overview of the history behind the novel visit Pemberly Press's page on the Georgian Era.

 

Electronic Sources:

A good resource is the Lucid Cafe web site.  If you are interested in a the viewpoint of one of Scott's contemporaries, look at Alexander Campbell's tribute to Scott (1833).  Andrew Crumey's page on Scott provides a good biography.  Jack Lynch's Literary Resources Page provides one of the best general resources, including background information, information on Romanticism, and a number of related links.  You can find an electronic version of the novel at http://www.clangregor.com/ebooks/robroy/contents.htm.

---

Study Questions:

As you read Rob Roy and think about the novel, here are some helpful hints to move you from just summarizing the text to analyzing what it is all about.  If you understand these issues, you have a very good understanding of the novel.

 

1.  One of the most common complaints about Scott is his use of dialect.  How justified are the complaints?  The Scots dialect would have been equally strange to his English readers almost 200 years ago.  Why do you think he uses it?

 

2.  How does Scott's development of character differ from other novelists that we have read?  What about his use of characters?

 

3.  Does this novel have a theme?  What is it?  How is it developed?

 

4.  What influences of earlier (eighteenth century) writers do you see in Scott?  We know he considered Edgeworth a model.  Where do we see this? Do you think Austen may have been an influence? How?

---

http://www.utm.edu/~lalexand/brnovel/scott.htm

Alexander May 2001

Return to British Novel