For Better or Worse - Rob Roy and the Baillie, John Watson, Nicol, 1886
Birthday Rob Roy
Mar 7
Other Scottish Country Dances for this Day
Today's Musings, History & Folklore
"Rob Roy, frae the high Highlands,
Came to the Lawlan border;
It was to steal a lady away,
To keep his Highland house in order."
~ Traditional Ballad
Rob Roy MacGregor, revered as Scotland's Robin Hood, was an infamous outlaw and folk hero of the early 18th century. Born into the Clan MacGregor, his life was one of both respectability and notoriety. Rob Roy's exploits were many, but he is best remembered for his adeptness as a cattle rustler, his prowess in clan skirmishes, and his cunning ability to evade capture by the authorities. His reputation was that of a man who championed the Scottish Highlands' cause against the encroachment of landlords and the government. Despite being declared an outlaw, Rob Roy remained a figure of enduring Scottish pride, immortalized in folklore and literature, most notably by Sir Walter Scott's romanticized narrative, which painted him as a man of honor despite his outlaw status. This namesake reel in which each couple starts 4 bars after the previous and after setting, performs a unique figure is a favorite challenge dance and a thrill to complete successfully! âď¸ đ´ó §ó ˘ó łó Łó ´ó ż â¤ď¸ đ¤ đ đ đ
Rob Roy
March 7th marks the birthday/baptism of Rob Roy MacGregor.
Robert Roy MacGregor (Gaelic: Raibeart Ruadh MacGriogair; baptised 7 March 1671 â died 28 December 1734) was a Scottish outlaw, later immortalized as a folk hero.
A fictionalised account of his life, The Highland Rogue, published in 1723, helped to him a legend in his own lifetime, perhaps influencing George I to issue a pardon for his crimes just as he was about to be transported to the colonies!
A subsequent publication, "Rob Roy," by Sir Walter Scott in 1817, further added to his fame and gave more detail to his biography.
Adaptations of his story have also been told in film including the 1922 silent film Rob Roy, a 1953 film from Walt Disney Productions "Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue" and the more recent 1995 Rob Roy.
And in 1894, a bartender at the Waldorf Hotel in New York City created the Rob Roy cocktail in honor of the premiere of Rob Roy, an operetta by composer Reginald De Koven and lyricist Harry B. Smith. The Rob Roy cocktail is similar to a Manhattan but made exclusively with Scotch whisky.
See below for a video of the dance performed by the Eagle Rock Class of the San Gabriel Branch of the RSCDS.
And for more on the life of Rob Roy, click the statue residing on the rocky bank of Culter Burn. Statues have sat on this site since around 1850, at the west of the village of Peterculter, just outside Aberdeen, Scotland. The Rob Roy Preservation Trust, which is a non profitable organisation, commissioned sculptor David J Mitchell to create this new replacement statue for 2017.
Click the dance cribs or description below to link to a printable version of the dance!
