A RARE AUTOGRAPH LETTER FROM ROB ROY MACGREGOR
Oct 20th 1724
£14,000
Antiquarian Books, Maps & Manuscripts
Auction: 23 September 2000 from 12:00 BST
Description
to Bailie Alexander Buchanan of Dullater, expressing surprise that recipient is delaying the payment of some unspecified sum; 'if yow have a mind that we will be concerne[d] with the Keeping of the country yow may sen[d] and I will meet yow at Imerraich any day yow please to appoint where the tennan[t]s may be present'; together with a later envelope inscribed 'Rob Roy's l[et]tre to Baillie Buchanan' (2). The letter is signed 'Ro: Roy', an exceptionally rare form for him to use as virtually all Rob Roy's known letters and contracts bear his formal signature 'Ro: Campbell'.
the letter approx 15.5cm x 9.5cm (folded once)
Footnote
Rob Roy Macgregor needs little introduction. Born in 1671 he was a cattle drover and man of not inconsiderable property, being the son of a Clan Gregor chief. A lifelong Jacobite he lived his life under the protection of the Campbell clan, including the Duke of Argyll, who he refused to betray after the 1715 uprising, and the Earl of Breadalbane, on whose estates he passed the twilight of his life. Rob Roy's notoriety dates from 1712, when he defaulted on contracts with the Duke of Montrose, and others, to deliver cattle for which he had already been paid. It is still not clear what went wrong with Roy's business affairs at this time but he found himself in debt to the tune of £30,000 Scots. He maintained that 'what came upon me was partly designed' by others, and that he would eventually 'get a grip of them' especially if they remained in Scotland, as 'all the highlands has Such a kindnes for me in general that they will assist me' [GD220/5/77]. Roy initially maintained his intention to 'do all justice to my creditors' and especially the principal one the Duke of Montrose, but refused to face them in court, famously avoiding arrest and living the life of an outlaw and thorn in the Duke's side (kidnapping his factor at one point) for many years. He eventually died peacefully at Balquhidder in Perthshire at the end of 1734, and was buried there on New Year's Day.
Rob Roy was not noted for his epistolary style as a life spent either as a rearer and drover of cattle, or an outlaw, cannot have given him much time to write in a largely oral environment. Nevertheless, contracts for sale of cattle do exist and are always signed Ro: Campbell as are most of his other surviving letters. After all when you are a proscribed Macgregor settled on the lands of a Campbell it makes sense to adopt this style, especially when the Campbell in question is John, 1st Earl of Breadalbane, not a man to cross if it could be avoided. All the letters from Rob Roy in the Breadalbane collection in the National Archives of Scotland [GD112] are signed thus. The only surviving one to Breadalbane himself dated 12th November 1707 [GD112/78/1] is also signed Ro: Campbell. However, as both Rob Roy and Breadalbane were Jacobites there must have been others, probably included in the bonfire made by the cautious and safely Hanoverian heir, Lord Glenorchy, at Taymouth in 1715-16 when it became obvious that the rising was a failure. When other letters in the National Archives refer to him in the third person they generally talk of 'Rob Roy', or 'the villain Rob', or in similar denigratory terms. Bonds registered in the Register of Deeds describe him as Rob Roy Campbell of Inversnaid or Rob Roy Campbell in Glengyle, but he also signs them simply as 'Ro: Campbell'. What these signatures establish is that the hand and particularly the 'Ro:' part of the signature are identical to this example.
Nevertheless, there are several letters in the National Library of Scotland and two of these, or at any rate the lithograph of one and a xerox of the other, are signed 'Ro: Roy' in the same hand as this specimen. The facsimile [MS 901ff.141-2] is from a letter then stated to be in the possession of David Haig, Advocates' Library, from Rob Roy to the Duke of Montrose, and sent via Patrick Anderson at Hay on the 16th April 1719. Here there was no need for Rob Roy to adopt a Campbell cover, and the other letter, addressed 'Sir' and written from Auchinchiallan on the 2nd April 1714 [or 1719] bears the same signature [MS 8494 ff.198-9]. What is clear is that surviving letters signed Rob Roy are extremely rare. It has not been possible to trace Baillie Alexander Buchanan of Dullater to whom this specimen is addressed but as a non-Campbell there would have been no need to claim kinship with that body in this instance.
Another reason for believing that this letter is genuine is the content. A definitely fake letter in the NLS, apart from being in straggly and totally different hand, is given away by the more dramatic content. This one is apparently mundane, simply concerned with the non-payment of a bond, an unlikely topic for a faker. Rob Roy had been employed by Breadalbane as chamberlain and thus was in a position to demand payment of rents from tenants. However, he would also regularly demand a sum from his neighbours to keep their cattle safe, which would be paid with resignation by them as insurance. Is there then perhaps a subtext to this letter? It is very possible that the phrase 'keeping the Country' may refer to such an arrangement.
When it comes to transcription the envelope presents more problems that the letter. Mary Murray, daughter of Sir William Murray of Ochtertyre, married Mungo Graeme of Gorthie, Montrose's factor, so it seems likely the the Ochtertyre mentioned is the Murray one near Crieff, rather than that in Stirlingshire. Dullatur is in the parish of Cumbernauld and Immeraich is in Strathyre, very near Rob Roy's burial place at Balquidder. The letter has been very well repaired, and if the British Museum [BM] did it for sixpence it seems money well spent. The monogram on the envelope is hard to decipher but could be DL or other variations.
Sir att Corrs the 20th
of october
1724
I Received yours
and I strenge [for 'strange' i.e. to wonder] very much that
yow did not send your Letter
[erasure] ampeler [i.e. more amply] obliging your
self to pay such a sume
and to make a day for paying
the same If yow have a mind
that we will be concerne with the
Keeping of the country [next word inserted above the line] yow may
sen and I will meet yow att
Immeraich any day yow please
to appoint where the tenanns
may be present
this is all
from your assured friend
Ro: Roy
[endorsed] For Alexr: Buchanan of Duileter for present att M[ - - - ]etal
the envelope inscribed:
Ro. Roy's Ltre to Baillie Buchanan - indorsed by J. R. & p[oste]d at Ochtertyre rep[aire]d by Sackett[?] at B M & p[ai]d (6d) for 27/8th Decr. 1856. D.
Provenance
By descent through a Scottish family, who have traditionally associated it with their ancestor William MacKenzie, 5th Earl of Seaforth. The Jacobite Seaforth fought with Rob Roy at the ill fated battle with General Wightman at Glen Shiel in 1719.
Bibliography
Rosemary Gibson The Real Rob Roy Scottish Record Office Publications 1995
A Murray MacGregor History of Clan Gregor Edinburgh 1901
AH Millar History of Rob Roy Dundee 1883
WH Murray Rob Roy MacGregor Edinburgh 1993
Walter Scott Rob Roy
We would like to thank Dr BLH Horn, formerly of the National Archives of Scotland, for her great help in the compilation of this catalogue entry.