outlaw to be that of an actual hero, acting uniformly and consistently on
such moral principles as the illustrious bard who, standing by his grave,
has vindicated his fame. On the contrary, as is common with barbarous
chiefs, Rob Roy appears to have mixed his professions of principle with a
large alloy of craft and dissimulation, of which his conduct during the
civil war is sufficient proof. It is also said, and truly, that although
his courtesy was one of his strongest characteristics, yet sometimes he
assumed an arrogance of manner which was not easily endured by the
high-spirited men to whom it was addressed, and drew the daring outlaw
into frequent disputes, from which he did not always come off with
credit. From this it has been inferred, that Rob Roy w as more of a bully
than a hero, or at least that he had, according to the common phrase, his
fighting days. Some aged men who knew him well, have described him also
as better at a _taich-tulzie,_ or scuffle within doors, than in mortal
combat. The tenor of his life may be quoted to repel this charge; while,
at the same time, it must be allowed, that the situation in which he was
placed rendered him prudently averse to maintaining quarrels, where
nothing was to be had save blows, and where success would have raised up
against him new and powerful enemies, in a country where revenge was
still considered as a duty rather than a crime. The power of commanding
his passions on such occasions, far from being inconsistent with the part
which MacGregor had to perform, was essentially necessary, at the period
when he lived, to prevent his career from being cut short.

I may here mention one or two occasions on which Rob Roy appears to have
given way in the manner alluded to. My late venerable friend, John Ramsay
of Ochtertyre, alike eminent as a classical scholar and as an authentic
register of the ancient history and manners of Scotland, informed me,
that on occasion of a public meeting at a bonfire in the town of Doune,
Rob Roy gave some offence to James Edmondstone of Newton, the same