October Group Read - Rob Roy, by Sir Walter Scott

I can follow ye nae farther, even if ye suld founder and perish from the way for lack of guidance and counsel. To gang into Rob Roy's country is a mere tempting o' Providence.
-- Sir Walter Scott, Rob Roy

This thread will provide guidance and counsel aplenty (and perhaps some thematically appropriate cocktails) should you wish to "tempt Providence" and join us in the Scottish Highlands with Sir Walter Scott’s Rob Roy!

First published in 1817, it begins just before the 1715 Jacobite Rising and is narrated by an Englishman named Frank Osbaldistone, who travels to Scotland and encounters Rob Roy MacGregor, who was considered the Scottish equivalent of Robin Hood. (However, Rob Roy was an actual person, whereas Robin Hood is slightly more of a legend.) The book covers the period from the Jacobite Rising itself to the Battle of Glen Shiel, which took place in 1719.

The Battle of Glen Shiel:


Wikipedia calls Rob Roy “a brutally realistic depiction of the social conditions in Highland and Lowland Scotland in the early 18th century”. It notes that some of the dialogue is in Scots, and a glossary of Scottish words is provided. It would be interesting to see if the glossaries differ from one edition to another, and which editions use endnotes or footnotes to provide more detailed explanations.

Robert Louis Stevenson is said to have considered Rob Roy “the best novel of the greatest of all novelists.” So no pressure!

If you're looking for a public-domain copy, it's available on Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/7025

About Rob Roy MacGregor

A famous man is Robin Hood,
The English ballad-singer's joy!
And Scotland has a thief as good,
An outlaw of as daring mood;
She has her brave Rob Roy!
- William Wordsworth, “Rob Roy’s Grave”

Robert Roy MacGregor was born in 1671 at Glen Gyle, Loch Katrine. The name "Rob Roy" is Anglicized from the Gaelic Raibeart Ruadh, or Red Robert. (He had red hair, "ruadh" being Gaelic for "red-haired," though it darkened to auburn in later life.) At 18 he fought at Killiecrankie under Viscount Dundee, in support of the Stuarts. He married in 1693, became a clan leader, and became a prosperous cattle dealer.

He was accused of embezzlement after one of his men absconded with the Duke of Montrose’s money following a legitimate business transaction; he was subsequently evicted from his lands on Loch Lomond. However, he did have friends who provided him with land afterwards, from which he was able to continue his cattle dealing and help out neighbouring tenants.

He led the MacGregors during the Jacobite Rising of 1715, after which he was accused of high treason, and his house was burned down by government mercenaries. George I granted him a royal pardon in 1727, and he died in 1734.

(biographical information from http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/content/help/index.aspx?1161)
(information about the Gaelic origin of his name from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Roy_MacGregor)

His statue at Stirling Castle:


Film adaptations of the Rob Roy story:
- Rob Roy (1922) - silent film
- Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue (1953) - Walt Disney production
- Rob Roy (1995) - the Liam Neeson version

Gratuitous picture of Liam Neeson:


When posting comments, be sure to mention the name or number of the chapter you're referring to. (I don't have my copy of the book on hand so haven't had time to check whether the chapters are named.)
If you want to provide a spoiler warning, you can either shout SPOILER WARNING at the beginning of your post, or use LibraryThing's spoiler tags to hide your spoiler. If you're unfamiliar with how to use the spoiler tag or want a refresher, here's an illustration:



Simply replace "SHERLOCK LIVES" with your spoiler.

See you in the Highlands!

Thanks for setting up the thread and the introductory information. I knew none of this, and only became interested in the book after reading, and enjoying, Ivanhoe last year. Interesting that you mentioned Robin Hood, as nearly every Robin Hood scene I've ever seen on film was in Ivanhoe. Now I'm looking forward even more to the story of the real-life Scottish version. (And I enjoyed the Liam Neeson picture - gratuitous or not!)

>2 sjmccreary: Yes, I didn't know that he was considered a Robin Hood sort of figure! It was interesting to find all of this out.

I also discovered that Scottish historical novelist Nigel Tranter has written a trilogy about Rob Roy MacGregor and his clan. The books are MacGregor's Gathering, The Clansman, and Gold for Prince Charlie.
Strangely enough, I have the whole trilogy already, but for some reason didn't connect it with Rob Roy until a couple of hours ago when I happened to see it on the bookshelf.

Oh, those sound interesting. I've decided to include a category for Scotland & Ireland in next year's challenge. These would be just the thing - except that my library only has 2 books by Nigel Tranter, and neither of them are any of these. I've got time to look elsewhere for something, or I could just read one of the books that are available.

And I'm very glad you started this thread early - by thinking about this book and talking about it, I just realized that my library hold had vanished and was able to call and find out what happened, and do another request. I'm hopeful that it will still come in time.

Oh I will definitely be checking out your Scotland/Ireland category! I have a Scottish category next year as well. :)

In a pinch, Rob Roy is available on Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/7025
(I'm also going to put this up top)

I have this on order from the library, so hope to join you at some point...

Hurray! :) I will probably be starting it next week; this weekend I want to clear some long-standing books from my "currently reading" pile.

I just saw this thread and went immediately and successfully ordered the book from the library. Had no one in line ahead of me so should have it in a few days. Looking forward to the October group read!

Count me in!

My copy of Rob Roy arrived and I've picked it up from the library, so guess I'm ready to proceed.

I've started. One chapter in and it's more readable than I expected.

Here is a little info on the edition I am reading in case anyone is inclined to be interested in that sort of thing.

The edition that I was able to get from the library is 1912, Currant Literature Publishing, New York, Library Edition. It has an introduction of about 55 pages that doesn't disclose the author so presumably would be Scott himself. In the back of the book there are seven appendices to the introduction, a postscript, notes to Rob Roy, a glossary of words, phrases, and allusions, a section of Scotch Proverbs and Familiar Phrases Appearing in Rob Roy, and an Index. The chapters are numbered and not titled but have those familiar famous author quotes at the heading...sorry can't recall what those are called. The whole book is done in a very small size font that makes me fear that this could turn out to be awfully slow going.

I'm reading a Penguin edition, and it leapt straight at page 1 - no preamble, which is unusual.
I'm at chapter 16, taking in a chapter or so at a time. It's quite densely written, and at times he surmise that this is a story being written to his friend - and the asides to his friend - seem to interrupt the flow of the story. There's a shape to it already; I suspect we've met the main cause of trouble & I don't like him one bit.

I'm up to Chapter 9. Started early and haven't resumed yet, but will do this weekend.

>13 Helenliz: Helen, mine starts right off the bat as well. No intros or glossaries or end material. It was a bit disconcerting.

Observations so far... most of these are just tidbits of information I had to look up, and not necessarily plot spoilers, but I'm putting them behind the tag anyway.

Chapter 2:
- Osbaldistone Senior would probably not like Ogden Nash; he says of his son's attempts at poetry, "I know no reason why orthography should give place to rhyme."
- I also find it interesting that the book mentions Cornwall and Falmouth, when I've just read Jamaica Inn. Isn't it weird when books link up like that?

Chapter 3:
- Frank Osbaldistone's line about "the days of the 'mad Prince and Pons'" is a reference to Henry IV, Part 1, which I was very proud of myself for identifying.

Chapter 4:
- I looked up Wilkes and Liberty, and this is a catchphrase associated with the North Briton newspaper. Its April 23, 1763, edition criticized a speech by George III praising the Treaty of Paris (the one ending the Seven Years' War). Wilkes, who ran the paper, was charged with libel and imprisoned in the Tower of London. "Wilkes and Liberty!" was a rallying cry during the libel trial to show support for freedom of speech and resistance to power.

Somewhere between Chapters 4 and 8:
- Diana seems like an early feminist. "Endeavour to forget my unlucky sex, call me Tom Vernon, if you have a mind, but speak to me as you would to a friend and companion; you have no idea how much I shall like you."
- I laughed at how Frank thought that Diana thought he was attractive and that she therefore has good taste in companions!

I'm in chapter 5 so won't read the last spoiler. Since I didn't know about the framing of the story, at first I was like: "did I upload the wrong file? Who is this Frank fellow?".

Couple of observations: I liked the depiction of the conflict between father and son: timeless and universal. Also, the writing isn't as dry as I feared; I chuckled a couple of times.

I'm a bit over half way and I find that I'm still having to concentrate on the dialect. It's quite slow going from that regard.

There are still a few phrases I have to slow down for too. I have been enjoying slowing down for the dialect though, and just letting it be heard in my head as if hearing the actual voice and of course getting the image to go along with the speaker. Scott seems to be skillful with getting the dialect across. I am also enjoying making the history connections as I go along even though that has slowed me down as well. I have had to stop and sift and sort mentally to keep things straight a few times.

But I must say I am just so much savoring this whole read and delighted that I had the good luck to stumble upon it.

I'm about halfway. Chapter twenty today.

I am just 60 pages in, it is slow going and some of the dialects take some effort to understand. So far so good though.

I'm up to about Chapter 16 and kind of wishing that Rob Roy would hurry up and get here already!. But I am enjoying Andrew Fairservice's Scottish dialect, and Diana continues to impress me with her forthright attitude.

Finished a couple of days ago. Enjoyed it even though if someone could explain to me the nefarious plot of Raleigh and how Rob Roy was involved, preferably without using Scottish dialect, that would be great!

I'm on Chapter 26 and am relieved that Rob Roy has FINALLY showed up.

Enjoying the fact that they're in Glasgow, and am trying to figure out whereabouts everything is. I've been to Glasgow Cathedral, and I'm assuming the "college" they refer to is the University of Glasgow...'

>20 paruline: Haha yes the dialect is quite abundant!
My understanding is that Rashleigh is jealous of Frank (because Diana likes Frank) and so Rashleigh decides to get his revenge by ruining Frank's father's business. Frank would then be dragged down with him and thus out of the Diana Suitor Sweepstakes.
Rob Roy seems to be a friend of Diana's somehow; he occasionally uses the alias of Campbell, as he did when he first met Frank at the magistrate's place. I don't know how they met, but maybe it will be explained later.

Somewhere in the Chapter 20s, a character mentions the island of "Inch Cailleach", which is today known as Inchcailloch. Located in Loch Lomond, it's part of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park: http://www.lochlomond-trossachs.org/visiting/welcome-to-inchcailloch/menu-id-98....