Rob Roy (novel)


Rob Roy is a historical novel by Walter Scott, one of the Waverley novels. It is probably set in 1715, the year of the first Jacobite uprising, and the social and economic background to that event are an important element in the novel, though it is not treated directly. The depiction of Rob Roy bears little relation to the historical figure: 'there are two Rob Roys. One lived and breathed. The other is a good story, a lively tale set in the past. Both may be accepted as "valid", but they serve different needs and interests.'
Frank Osbaldistone narrates the story. He is the son of an English merchant who parted from his family home in the north of England near the border with Scotland when he was a young man, being of different religion and temperament than his own father or his younger brother. Frank is sent by his father to live at the long unseen family home with his uncle and his male cousins, when he refuses to join his father's successful business. In exchange, his father accepts Frank's cousin Rashleigh to work in his business. Rashleigh is an intelligent young man, but he is unscrupulous, and he causes problems for the business of Osbaldistone and Tresham. To resolve the problems, Frank travels into Scotland and meets the larger-than-life title character, Rob Roy MacGregor.

Composition and sources

, Scott's literary agent, drew up a contract for Rob Roy on 5 May 1817 with Archibald Constable and Longman who had published the first three Waverley novels, the author having lost confidence in the publishers of his most recent fictional work Tales of my Landlord, John Murray and William Blackwood, who had turned out to be insufficiently committed to that project. Scott seems to have begun writing the novel immediately, but it was not completed until late December, partly because of illness.
The Rob Roy of Scott's novel is largely fictitious, with an input from stories he had heard, handed down over the generations. As is his wont he adjusts historical chronology freely for his narrative purposes. A number of printed sources were valuable for different components of the work. Thus, for business matters he used The Universal Dictionary of Trade and Commerce by Malachy Postlethwayt, of which he owned the third edition published in 1766. The depiction of Justice Inglewood and his clerk draws directly on The Justice of the Peace and Parish Officer by Richard Burn, the 13th edition of 1776 being in Scott's library. And Bailie Jarvie was suggested by another book he owned, The Highland Rogue: or, the Memorable Actions Of the Celebrated Robert Mac-gregor, Commonly called Roy-Roy .

Editions

The first edition, in three volumes, dated 1818, was published in Edinburgh on 30 December 1817 by Archibald Constable and Co. and in London on 13 January 1818 by Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown. As with all the Waverley novels before 1827 publication was anonymous. The print run was 10,000 and the price £1 4s. Scott was involved in only two of the subsequent editions of the novel. In 1823 he made significant changes to the text for the 18mo Novels and Tales, though that was essentially a textual dead end. At the end of 1828 he revised the text, somewhat sporadically, for the 'Magnum' edition and provided notes and a very long introduction: it appeared as Volumes 7 and 8 in December 1829 and January 1830.
The standard modern edition, by David Hewitt, was published as Volume 5 of the Edinburgh Edition of the Waverley Novels in 2008: this is based on the first edition with emendations principally from Scott's manuscript; the new Magnum material is included in Volume 25a.

Plot summary

Francis "Frank" Osbaldistone tells his tale, beginning with his return to his father William's merchant house of Osbaldistone and Tresham in Crane Alley, London, from an apprenticeship in a French associate's business. There, he meets with his business-minded father's anger and disappointment, since he has been more preoccupied with writing poetry than learning the business, much to his father's disgust.
William was originally disinherited in favour of his younger brother Sir Hildebrand Osbaldistone, who has inherited both the family fortune and the family seat of Osbaldistone Hall instead. William, turned out at the age of his own son, has built a successful business with his trading company in the City and is a dissenter in religion, unlike his brother.
Owen, the Head Clerk of Osbaldistone and Tresham and a long time friend of the family, attempts to persuade Frank to follow his father's wishes. Frank is not swayed. Instead, William sends him to stay with his uncle Hildebrand in Northumberland, near the border with Scotland. Frank sets out on horseback, meeting some travellers on the way. He observes that one of the travellers is nervous and protective of a box that he carries. Frank begins to tease the traveller, Morris, pretending to assume an interest in the mysterious box.
At an inn, they are joined by a confident and sociable Scottish "cattle dealer” Campbell. They eat and drink and discuss politics together at an inn and then part ways, when Morris entreats Campbell to travel with him to provide protection, since Campbell has recounted how he thwarted two highwaymen singlehandedly.
After Frank parts from the company near his destination, he encounters a fox hunt in progress. A lovely young huntress, dressed in riding habit, greets him and guesses his identity. Frank is smitten by the young woman, noting her intelligence and beauty along with her independent manner. She is Diana "Die" Vernon, a relative by marriage of Sir Hildebrand. They proceed to Osbaldistone Hall, a large, rambling and run-down old manor-house, filled with massive old furniture, rusted suits of armour, hunting trophies, marking the interests of his uncle and cousins.
Frank meets old Sir Hildebrand, a former Cavalier, and his five older sons, each described by Die as given entirely to drinking and sport. At dinner, he meets the youngest brother, Rashleigh, who, unlike his father and brothers, is sober, charming and erudite. Frank notes a connection between Die and Rashleigh. Die explains that Rashleigh, a scholar intended for the priesthood, is her tutor.
The next day, after encountering Andrew Fairservice the gardener, a loquacious Scotsman, Diana tells Frank that he has been charged with robbery and that the local Justice of the Peace Squire Inglewood, has a warrant for his arrest. Rather than flee to Scotland, he determines to protest his innocence. Die guides him and they encounter Rashleigh, who claims to have been pleading Frank's case. After declaring his innocence to the Justice, Frank confronts his accuser, who is none other than Morris. Morris, a government paymaster, has been robbed of his mysterious box, which contained gold specie with which to pay the English troops in the area. Frank's prior light-hearted interest in Morris' box on the journey north is the basis for the charge.
Upon Frank's vehement declaration of innocence, and the Justice's sympathetic acquittal, Morris abandons his suit against Frank. Jobson, the Squire's pedantic and officious clerk, wants to pursue the matter on legal principle. After diverting Jobson by sending him on, Rashleigh departs and quickly returns with the cattle-dealer, Campbell. Campbell witnesses truthfully that he was at the scene of the robbery and did not see Frank.
Freed by the Squire from the charge, Frank returns to Osbaldistone Hall. He is consumed with jealousy after discovering that Rashleigh was in serious consideration for Die's hand in marriage; the usually sober Frank gets drunk with the family after Die exits, and strikes Rashleigh during an argument. In the morning, Frank apologises sincerely but Rashleigh's too-quick forgiveness rings false.
Rashleigh travels to take Frank's place at Osbaldistone and Tresham. Diana warns Frank that Rashleigh is a subtle and dangerous conniver, and has her under his power.
Frank begins to tutor Die and falls even more deeply in love with her. In between hours in the library with Die or in hunting with his cousins, he converses with Andrew Fairservice and learns much about goings on at the Hall: there are suspicious visitations by shadowy persons unknown; the servants fear a ghost that haunts the library; and a mysterious Catholic priest, Father Vaughan, visits the hall.
Frank receives a letter from Tresham asking him to meet Owen in Glasgow and, only then, realises that none of his letters have reached London, including one warning his father of Rashleigh's dubious character. Die informs him that while William has been on the continent, Rashleigh has absconded with financial instruments vital to Osbaldistone and Tresham's solvency.
Frank determines to help his father's business. He parts with Diana. She is destined to live in a convent due to a family compact, as she refuses to marry any of Sir Hildebrand's sons. He enlists Andrew Fairservice as his servant and guide and hurries to Glasgow to find Owen and catch Rashleigh, who is now understood to be a Jacobite agent and agitator.
. Frontispiece to an 1886 edition of the novel, engraving by Dalziel Brothers.
They lodge in Glasgow, and at services in a famous kirk in the religious town, an unseen stranger presses a note into Frank's hand telling him he is in danger and to meet him on a well-known bridge at midnight for information. Frank meets the stranger, who conveys him to the tolbooth, which they enter unchallenged. Inside they find Owen, who is overjoyed to see Frank. Osbaldistone and Tresham's favoured Scottish trading partner, MacVitie, maliciously made Owen a debtor on behalf of his now insolvent employer and imprisoned him.
Bailie Nicol Jarvie, a Glasgow magistrate who is also a Scottish partner of Osbaldistone and Tresham, arrives at the jail after midnight, when Sabbath is over. The mysterious stranger is Campbell, whom Jarvie recognises as his kinsman, Rob Roy McGregor. On Rob's promise to repay Jarvie 1000 Scots pounds that he owes him, Jarvie never says his name. Jarvie frees Owen, and allows Frank and Campbell to leave. The absent turnkey, who has let them pass in and out freely, is Rob Roy's man, Dougal. Before disappearing with Dougal, Rob tells Frank to meet him in his Highland home and suggests that Bailie Jarvie should accompany him to collect his gold.
While Jarvie and Owen discuss finances, Frank takes a walk to the University grounds, where he spies Rashleigh walking with Morris and MacVitie. Frank confronts Rashleigh and they duel. Rob Roy breaks it up. After Rob sends Rashleigh away, he tells Frank to meet him at the Clachan of Aberfoyle in the Highlands. Frank now realises that Rob's affairs are entwined with his own and that Rob has had a long association with Rashleigh and Die.
Frank, Jarvie and Andrew ride to the Clachan, where they find a rude country inn. Tired, cold and hungry, they enter over the objections of the landlady and the three men in plaids, drinking brandy at a table. A brief brawl ensues between the two parties, which is broken up by a fourth Highlander who has been sleeping on the floor. This man disappears, as Frank recognises him as Dougal, Rob's man. Frank and Jarvie converse with the men in plaid, and find they are the leaders of bands of armed men. Two are Highlanders; the second is a Lowland chief, Duncan Galbraith, who heads the Lennox militia. All have been enlisted by the English army to find and arrest Rob Roy. Thus Rob Roy does not meet them at the inn, but sends a note to Frank to meet at his home.
Suddenly, an English patrol enters the inn, dragging Dougal with them. Frank and Jarvie are arrested as they fit the descriptions of the two people whom the patrol seeks. The soldiers force Dougal to lead them to Rob's lair, bringing Frank, Jarvie and Andrew along. They are ambushed by Highlanders, and the patrol is disarmed. Dougal, playing the fool, has led the patrol into a trap.
The leader of the Highlanders is Helen, Rob's wife, a fierce, proud noblewoman, fully armed. Her band is composed mostly of old men, women and children. After declaiming the wrongs done to her and her clan, she produces the unfortunate Morris, now a hostage, and he is callously thrown into the nearby loch. The fighting men of the band, armed for battle, and led by Rob's two sons arrive. They report that Rob has been captured by the Duke's army.
After Jarvie successfully appeals for clemency for them from Helen, pleading kinship, Frank is sent as emissary to the Duke's camp. He finds Rob is tied up for execution. The Duke's army sets off, but Rob escapes in crossing the river. Frank lays low in the confusion that ensues. Then he walks in the dark night along a path through the forest back to the Clachan. He meets Diana and a stranger, an older nobleman, riding on the path. Die gives him the missing bills that Rashleigh had taken and bids him adieu.
Frank sadly assumes that the man is Diana's husband. Frank is overtaken by Rob, who takes him to his home, after expressing anger at Morris' murder. There, Jarvie and Andrew are already ensconced. Jarvie reviews the recovered bills and declares Osbaldistone and Tresham to be cleared of debt. Rob repays Jarvie with 1000 pounds of gold louis d'or.
During the night, Rob tells Frank of how he and Rashleigh robbed Morris – a lark for Rob as an accomplished cattle-thief and blackmailer, but serious business for Rashleigh as a Jacobite agent. By now, Rashleigh has become a turncoat to save his skin and flees to Stirling as a traitor to the Jacobite cause.
Frank and Jarvie are sent on their way homeward to Glasgow, after an emotional farewell from Rob, Helen, and their clansmen. In Glasgow Frank is greeted with warmth and forgiveness by his father, who has prospered while on the continent. In gratitude for his assistance and even-handedness, William rewards Bailie Jarvie with the commercial accounts that he has stripped from MacVitie.
While finishing up their business in Glasgow, a rebellion of Jacobites breaks out. Frank, his father, and Owen, escape to London, where Frank levies a company of soldiers and rides north to support King George's cause. The rebellion is quickly suppressed, and back in London, Frank learns of the downfall of Sir Hildebrand and deaths of Sir Hildebrand's five older sons through misfortune or battle. Frank is heir to Osbaldistone Hall by his uncle's last will. Rashleigh, the surviving son, has been disinherited in favour of Frank as punishment by his father.
Frank travels to claim the property. He meets with Justice Inglewood to review his uncle's will and learns from him that Diana and her father are thought to be out of England now; she is single and her father was deeply involved with the Rebellion, and he had visited Die in the role of Father Vaughan. This was the secret that Rashleigh held over her. With Andrew Fairservice, Frank takes possession of Osbaldistone Hall. Nostalgically selecting the library to sleep in, he finds Diana and her father hiding there. They request sanctuary as they are being hunted due to the failure of the Jacobite uprising. They tell Frank how Sir Frederick had been hidden at the Hall during his earlier stay.
They plan to leave, but Rashleigh arrives with Jobson and the local constables, bringing a warrant to take possession of the Hall and arrest the Vernons and Frank. They are easily captured and taken away in a carriage. Still on the property, Rob Roy springs an ambush, freeing them all and killing Rashleigh. Rob Roy and his men bring Diana and her father to safety in France. Not many months later, after Frank begins working with his father, they learn that Diana's father is dying in France, and allows his daughter to make her own choice of the convent or marriage. Frank tells his father of his love for Diana. He gains his father's approval to marry a Catholic, as startling to him as his son owning Osbaldistone Hall.

Characters

principal characters in bold
William Osbaldistone, of the firm of Osbaldistone and Tresham
Frank, his son
Mr Owen, his head clerk
Morris, a government agent
Andrew Fairservice, Frank's servant
Sir Frederick Vernon, a Jacobite
Diana Vernon, his daughter
Sir Hildebrand Osbaldistone, her maternal uncle
Archie, Perceval, Thorncliff, John, Dick, and Wilfred, six of his sons
Rashleigh, his youngest son
Anthony Syddall, his butler
Squire Inglewood, a Justice of the Peace
Joseph Jobson, his clerk
Dougal Gregor, jailor at the Glasgow tolbooth
Bailie Nicol Jarvie, a Glasgow merchant
Jean MacAlpine, landlady of the inn at Aberfoil
Major Duncan Galbraith of Garschattin
Allan Stuart of Iverach and Invershalloch, two Highlanders
Captain Thornton, an English officer
Rob Roy MacGregor
Helen, his wife
Robert and Hamish, their sons

Chapter summary

Volume One
Ch. 1: Frank Osbaldistone is summoned home from France by his father to discuss his letter declining to take up his destined place in the family financial business Osbaldistone and Tresham.
Ch. 2: In site of the best efforts on his son's behalf of his head clerk Owen, Frank's father makes plans for one of his Northumberland nephews, the sons of Sir Hildebrand Osbaldistone, to fill the place in the firm and sends Frank north to assist in the procedure.
Ch. 3: On the road Frank encounters a traveller with a particularly heavy portmanteau and teases him by encouraging his fears that he might be intending to rob him.
Ch. 4: The travellers are joined in the inn at Darlington by a Scottish gentleman called Campbell with a shrewd manner of speaking who declines to accompany Morris as a protector.
Ch. 5: Approaching Osbaldistone Hall, Frank encounters his spirited cousin Die out hunting and they ride together to the hall.
Ch. 6: At dinner Die comments caustically on five of her surviving cousins and tells him that the sixth, Rashleigh, is to leave home for a career with Osbaldistone and Tresham. Escaping from the circulating bottle, Frank encounters the gardener Andrew Fairservice who expresses his disapproval of the family's Roman Catholicism and Jacobitism.
Ch. 7: Die tells Frank that Morris, who is a government agent, has alleged before the local Justice of the Peace, Squire Inglewood, that Frank has robbed him of money and dispatches, and advises him to flee to Scotland, but he insists on appearing before Inglewood.
Ch. 8: Arriving at Inglewood-Place, Frank and Die encounter Rashleigh who claims to have been putting in a word for Frank. The hearing before the incompetent Inglewood and his clerk Jobson descends into farce.
Ch. 9: Campbell arrives to testify that he was present at the robbery and that Frank was not involved. Frank and Die plan a meeting with Rashleigh.
Ch. 10: Die introduces Frank to the library, her sanctuary. Rashleigh arrives and gives an explanation of how he had persuaded Campbell to testify in Frank's behalf. Over coffee and cards Frank finds Rashleigh fascinating.
Ch. 11: During a boring Sunday at Osbaldistone Hall Rashleigh tells Frank that, following a decree by her late father, Die is destined to marry Thorncliffe, the second oldest of the brothers, or to enter a cloister. Frank is unconvinced by Rashleigh's assertion that he himself is only a friend of Die's.
Ch. 12: Frank gets drunk at dinner and assaults Rashleigh. The next morning Sir Hildebrand smooths the matter over.
Ch. 13: Die tells Frank of Rashleigh's improper advances towards her as her tutor. Rashleigh leaves for London and Frank writes a warning letter to Owen before taking over the role of tutor.
Volume Two
Ch. 1 : Fairservice tells of news conveyed by a pedlar of concern in Parliament about the theft of Morris's portmanteau. Frank sees from a distance two figures in the library window.
Ch. 2 : Frank suspects his letter to Owen has not arrived. Fairservice suggests that the second person in the library was probably the Roman Catholic priest Fr Vaughan.
Ch. 3 : Die advises Frank to go to London, where Rashleigh has been put in charge and will further his own ambitions. He confesses his love for her, but she rejects him, citing her dedication to the cloister.
Ch. 4 : Frank surprises Die in the library, having learned that Fr Vaughan is away from the area, but she is alone and proves evasive. She asks that they continue as friends and hands him a letter from his father's partner Tresham announcing that Rashleigh has left for Scotland with large bills payable to individuals there. Frank resolves to go to Glasgow to investigate.
Ch. 5 : Fairservice offers to accompany Frank as his servant, and they leave for Glasgow.
Ch. 6 : After disposing of a horse stolen by Fairservice, Frank and his servant arrive in Glasgow and approach the cathedral.
Ch. 7 : Frank and Fairservice attend a service in the cathedral's Laigh Kirk, during which Frank receives a whispered warning and a summons to meet on the bridge.
Ch. 8 : After overhearing Fairservice talking about him in unflattering terms to an acquaintance Frank meets his summoner on the bridge and is conducted to the tolbooth where they are admitted by Dougal Gregor when Rob identifies himself in Gaelic.
Ch. 9 : Frank finds Owen in the tolbooth, committed at the behest of a firm which had worked closely with Osbaldistone and Tresham until made aware of its problems. Bailie Nicol Jarvie arrives and agrees to stand surety for Owen's appearance.
Ch. 10 : Jarvie and Rob, who are cousins, engage in good-natured verbal sparring. After receiving a letter from Die, Rob indicates that if Frank and Jarvie come to see him in the glens he may be able to help with the problem created by Rashleigh, the bills falling due in ten days' time. Jarvie takes Frank to his house.
Ch. 11 : Fairservice persuades Frank to continue to employ him. Jarvie suggests expedients for Owen to adopt in the meantime.
Ch. 12 : Frank encounters Rashleigh in the College-yards and Rob interrupts a duel between them.
Ch. 13 : Jarvie fills Frank and Owen in on Rob's background and Rashleigh's likely aim of fomenting Jacobitism in the Highlands.
Volume Three
Ch. 1 : As they journey towards the Highlands Jarvie advises Frank and Fairservice how to conduct themselves.
Ch. 2 : At the inn known as the Clachan of Aberfoil the travellers become involved in a skirmish with two Highlanders who are in possession. A third Highlander, Dougal Gregor, fights on Jarvie's behalf until the Lowlander Duncan Galbraith of Garschattachin intervenes to calm things down.
Ch. 3 : Frank receives a letter from Rob postponing their meeting, and Fairservice is worried about becoming involved with him. Jarvie defends Rob against the opposition of the two Highlanders, now identified as Inverashalloch and Allan Stuart of Inverach, and Galbraith. An English officer arrives with a body of infantry to arrest a couple, whom he takes Frank and Jarvie to be, for correspondence with the outlawed Rob.
Ch. 4 : Guided reluctantly by Dougal, who has been captured, the infantry party is routed by Highlanders under Rob's wife Helen.
Ch. 5 : The survivors of the skirmish are brought before Helen whose sons James and Robert arrive and announce that Rob has been taken captive by Galbraith with his Lennox militia. Helen orders that Morris, who had been kept by her sons as a hostage for Rob's safety, be drowned.
Ch. 6 : Frank carries a defiant message from Helen to the Duke who holds Rob, but the Duke declines to release him. After news is received that his Highland allies have deserted him the Duke interviews Rob.
Ch. 7 : Rob escapes on the march. Frank, accused of helping him, flees and receives a packet containing Rashleigh's bills from Die whom he encounters in company with an unknown gentleman.
Ch. 8 : After Die and the gentlemen have left Frank is joined by Rob who indicates that she is now united with 'his Excellency'. They rejoin the clan and Rob, after indignantly rejecting Jarvie's offer to oversee his sons as apprentice weavers, repays a substantial loan from his cousin.
Ch. 9 : Rob expresses to Frank his conflicted feelings about his sons' futures. The next morning, on the road, he defends his clan's behaviour and indicates that Rashleigh has switched to the government side. Helen hands Frank a ring as a parting gift from Die.
Ch. 10 : Frank and Jarvie leave the Highlands for Glasgow, where Frank is reunited with his father and business matters are sorted.
Ch. 11 : The 1715 rebellion breaks out and Frank and his father return to London. Five of Sir Hildebrand's six surviving sons die in rapid succession, followed by their father. Frank goes north to take possession of Osbaldistone Hall and learns from Inglewood that Die's companion was actually her father, Sir Frederick, who had been publicly declared dead.
Ch. 12 : Frank is joined in the library by Die and her father, who are fugitives from the government, but their presence is carelessly divulged by Fairservice to Clerk Jobson's spy.
Ch. 13 : During the night government officials arrive at the Hall. Die and her father attempt to escape but are captured by Rashleigh. As the prisoners are removed Rashleigh is run through by Rob and expires laying a curse on his patrimony. The Vernons leave for France where Sir Frederick dies, leaving Die free to return to Britain and marry Frank who lived long and happily with her until her eventual death.

Historical setting

The story takes place just before the Jacobite rising of 1715, with much of Scotland in turmoil. A British army detachment is ambushed and there is bloodshed. The eponymous Rob Roy is badly wounded at the Battle of Glen Shiel in 1719, in which a British army of Scots and English defeat a Jacobite and Spanish expedition that aimed to restore the Stuart monarchy.

Literary and cultural setting at time of publication

Rob Roy was written at a time when many Europeans started regretting colonialism and imperialism, as reports circulated back of horrendous atrocities towards indigenous 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. During this era, William Wordsworth wrote The Conventions of Cintra, praising Spanish and Portuguese resistance to Napoleonic force; Lord 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, Scott would write about similar events in The Vision of Don Roderick. The term "guerrilla" came about during this period, due to the influence of the Peninsular War.

Reception

Rob Roy met with a generally enthusiastic reception from the reviewers. Only three, were predominantly hostile. The characters were generally admired, though a degree of caricature was sometimes detected: several reviewers pointed out that some of them bore a distinct resemblance to characters in the preceding novels but they mostly noted significant variations which meant they were not mere repetitions. Although one or two reviewers were surprised by the failure of Rob to live up to his prominence in the title he was generally judged a success. The Highland landscape descriptions and striking individual scenes also attracted much praise. Most reviewers found the story rather weak, as usual with this author, with improbable coincidences and a hurried conclusion.

Adaptations

Although there have been several heavily fictionalised feature films featuring a heroic Robert Roy MacGregor over the years, none of them to date has been directly adapted from Walter Scott's novel, in which MacGregor plays a lesser role than Osbaldistone. For example, though a 1995 film is based on the same eponymous hero, Rob Roy, starring Liam Neeson, Tim Roth, and Jessica Lange, has no other connection with the novel. The same is true of the 1953 film Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue.

Beverages