Rob Roy (novel)

Rob Roy
A Dalziel Brothers engraving. Rob Roy (left) gives a mysterious warning to Francis Osbaldistone (right) in the crypt of Glasgow Cathedral, promising to tell him more if he meets him later on. This leads to Francis being pulled in with the rebels. Frontispiece to an 1886 edition of the novel.
Author(s)	Sir Walter Scott
Country	Scotland and England simultaneously
Language	English, Lowland Scots, anglicised Scottish Gaelic
Series	Waverley Novels
Genre(s)	Historical novel
Publisher	Archibald Constable, Edinburgh; Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown, London
Publication date	1817
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages	501 (1995 edition)
ISBN	NA
Preceded by	The Antiquary
Followed by	Ivanhoe

Rob Roy (1817) is a historical novel by Walter Scott. It is narrated by Frank Osbaldistone, the son of an English merchant who travels first to the North of England, and subsequently to the Scottish Highlands to collect a debt stolen from his father. On the way he encounters the larger-than-life title character of Rob Roy MacGregor. Though Rob Roy is not the lead character (in fact the narrative does not move to Scotland until half way through the book) his personality and actions are key to the development of the novel.

Plot introduction

The story takes place just before the 1715 Jacobite Rising, with much of Scotland in turmoil.

Frank Osbaldistone, the narrator, quarrels with his father and is sent to stay with an uncle, Sir Hildebrand Osbaldistone, in Northumberland. Frank falls in love with Diana Vernon, Sir Hildebrand's niece, whose father has been forced to go into hiding because of his Jacobite sympathies. Frank's cousin, Rashleigh, steals important documents vital to the honour and economic solvency of Frank's father, William, and Frank pursues Rashleigh to Scotland. Several times his path crosses the mysterious and powerful figure Robert Roy MacGregor, known as Rob Roy, an associate of Diana's uncle Sir Hildebrand. There is much confusion as the action shifts to the beautiful mountains and valleys around Loch Lomond. A British army detachment is ambushed and there is bloodshed. All Sir Hildebrand's sons but Rashleigh are killed in the Jacobite Rising, and Rashleigh too meets a bloody end. Following this, Frank inherits Sir Hildebrand's property and marries Diana. The plot has been criticised as disjointed.^{[citation needed]} Robert Louis Stevenson, however, who loved it from childhood, regarded Rob Roy as the best novel of the greatest of all novelists.

The novel is a brutally realistic depiction of the social conditions in Highland and Lowland Scotland in the early 18th century. The Highlanders were compared with American Indians, as regards to their primitive, isolated lifestyle.^{[citation needed]} Some of the dialogue is in broad Scottish, and the novel includes a glossary of Scottish words.

Background

Rob Roy was written from the spring of 1817 and published on Hogmanay of that year. Like the original Waverley novel it was published anonymously and came in three volumes. The demand for the novel was huge and a whole ship from Leith to London contained nothing but an entire edition of it^{[citation needed]}. Furthermore, Rob Roy was written at a time when many Europeans started regretting colonialism and imperialism as reports circulated back of horrendous atrocities towards "primitive" cultures. It was also a time when debates raged about the slave trade, the British occupation of India, and, more relevant to the novel, the disastrous effect of the Highland Clearances. Many writers would praise pre-commercial cultures and their defiance against the corrupting influence of commercial imperialism and "civilized" values. William Wordsworth wrote The Conventions of Cintra, praising Spanish and Portuguese resistance to Napoleonic force; Byron would go on to praise Amazonian women in Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, inverting the "polite" norms of femininity that the modern "civilized" world placed on them; and, finally, Walter Scott would write about similar events in The Visions of Don Roderick. What was evidently being championed before Scott wrote Rob Roy was a pre-commercial culture's primitive resistance. The term "guerrilla" came about during this period, due to the influence of the Peninsular War.

Significant Characters in Rob Roy

(In order of occurrence)

Crane Alley, London

• Francis "Frank" Osbaldistone, narrator and protagonist
• William Osbaldistone, Frank's father, self-made merchant, active partner in the House of Osbaldistone and Tresham
• Owen, head clerk of Osbaldistone and Tresham

The Road to Osbaldistone Hall

• Morris, government agent and courier
• Campbell, a.k.a Robert "Rob Roy" MacGregor, Highland gentleman and cattle dealer

Osbaldistone Hall, Northumberland

• Miss Diana "Die" Vernon, niece of Sir Hildebrand Osbaldistone
• Sir Hildebrand Osbaldistone, younger brother of William Osbaldistone and lord of Osbaldistone Hall
• Rashleigh Osbaldistone, Sir Hildebrand's youngest son
• Squire Inglewood, local Justice of the Peace
• Joseph Jobson, legal clerk to Justice Inglewood
• Andrew Fairservice, Scottish gardener at Osbaldistone Hall, subsequently guide and servant of Frank

Glasgow

• Dougal, Rob Roy's man, turnkey at Glaswegian prison, subsequently guide to British patrol in the Highlands
• Bailie Nicol Jarvie, magistrate (bailiff) and merchant, client of Osbaldistone and Tresham, kinsman of Rob Roy

Clachan of Aberfoyle

• "Garschattachin", Major Duncan Galbraith, Lowland gentleman, leader of Lennox militia
• Captain Thornton, officer of the English army

The Highlands

• Helen MacGregor, Rob Roy's wife
• the Duke, leader of the British Army in Scotland

Return to Osbaldistone Hall

• Sir Frederick Vernon, father of Diana

Cultural references

• A brand of blended Scotch whisky, Bailie Nicol Jarvie, is named after a character from the book.
• The Rob Roy cocktail is similar to a Manhattan cocktail. It first appeared in New York City around 1890.

References and footnotes

Notes

Citations

External links

• Rob Roy at Project Gutenberg