their laird. Rob's mother having died in his house, preparations were going forward for the funeral, which was to take place that day; and on this occasion he could have dispensed with such unlooked for guests. He knew the purpose of their visit, and to escape seemed impossible; but, with strength of mind and quickness of thought, he buckled on his sword, and went out to meet the earl. He saluted him very graciously, and said, that he was much obliged to his lordship for having come, unasked, to his mother's funeral, which was a piece of friendship he did not expect; but Athol replied, that he did not come for that purpose, but to desire his company to Perth. Rob, however, declined the honour, as he could not leave his mother's funeral, but after doing that last duty to his parent, he would go if his lordship insisted upon it. Athol said the funeral could go on without him, and would not delay. A long remonstrance ensued; but the earl was inexorable, and Rob, apparently complying, went away amidst the the cries and tears of his sisters and kindred. Their distress roused his soul to a pitch of irresistible desperation, and breaking from the party, several of whom he threw down, he drew his sword. Athol, when he saw him retreat, and his party intimidated by such resolution, drew a holster pistol and fired at him. Rob fell at the same instant, not by the ball, which never touched him, but by slipping a foot. One of his sisters, the lady of Glenfallach, a stout woman, seeing her brother fall, believed he was killed, and making a furious spring at Athol, seized him by the throat, and brought him from his horse to the ground. In a few minutes that nobleman would have been choked, as it defied the by-standers to unfix the lady's grasp, until Rob went to his relief, when he was in the agonies of suffocation.

Several of our hero's friends, who observed the suspicious haste of Athol and his party towards his house, dreading some evil design, speedily armed and running to his assistance, were just arrived as Athol's eye-balls were beginning to revert into their sockets. Rob declared, that had the earl been so polite as allow him to wait his mother's burial, he would have then gone along with him; but this being refused, he would now remain in spite of all his efforts; and the lady's embrace having much astonished the earl, he was in no condition to renew his orders, so that he and his men departed as quickly as they could. Had they staid till the clan assembled to the exequies of the old woman, it is doubtful if either the chief or his companions had ever returned to taste Athol brose.

Though Rob Roy Macgregor was conscious how little the personal virtues of the Stewart family entitled them to support, he yet considered their right to the crown as hereditary, and consequently indefeasible; and from this conviction, he resolved that his exertions should be directed to their cause. When the clans, therefore, began to arm in favour of that house, in 1715, he also prepared the clan Gregor for the contest, in concert with his nephew, Gregor Macgregor of Glengyle.

A large body of Macgregors were at this time collected, and became very formidable. They marched into Monteith and Lennox, and disarmed all those whom they considered of opposite principles. Having secured all the boats on Loch Lomond, they took possession of an island in it, from whence they sent parties over the neighbouring countries to levy contributions, and extort such penalties as they judged proper. But serious apprehensions being entertained of their disposition for mischief, great crowds of military, lairds and their tenantry, assembled, and they were dislodged, and forced to join a camp of Highlanders from other quarters in Strathfillan, but not till after several struggles with the king's troops, different detachments of which they defeated. The progress of the earl of Mar with his army of disaffected Highlanders, greatly alarmed the government, and immediate orders were transmitted to Edinburgh, to secure such suspected persons as were thought inimical to the king, and among others, Rob Roy Macgregor was specially named. He, however, conducted himself with some caution on this occasion, and waited to observe the complexion of matters before he should proceed farther, as his friend Argyll had espoused the part of king George, a circumstance which greatly distressed him. In a state of considerable indecision, he proceeded to the Lowlands, and hovered about both armies prior to the battle of Sheriff-muir, without making any declaration or offer to join either; and upon that event he remained an inactive spectator. This unexpected conduct arose from two motives equally powerful,-a wish not to offend his patron, the Duke of Argyll, should he join the earl of Mar, and that he might not act contrary to his conscience, by joining Argyll against his expatriated king.

Though the undecided issue of this trial eventually brought about the dispersion of the Highland army, the Macgregors continued together; but unwilling to return home without some substantial display of conquest, they marched to Faulkland, and garrisoned the ancient palace of that place; where, without much ceremony, they exacted rigorous fines from the king's friends. Here they remained till Argyll arrived at Perth, when they retired to their own country with the spoils they had acquired; but they continued in arms for several years thereafter, to the no small disturbance of their neighbours, in the pursuit of their usual compulsatory habits.

Those daring practices seem to have been the reason why, in the subsequent act of indemnity, or free pardon, the Macgregors were excluded from mercy in these words:-" Excepting all persons of the name and clan of Macgregor, mentioned in an act of parliament made in Scotland in the first of the late king Charles I. instituted anent the clan Macgregor, whatever name he or they may have, or do assume, or commonly pass under;" and consequently our hero's name appeared attained, as "Robert Campbell, alias Macgregor, commonly called Robert Roy."

In raising the tax of black-mail, Rob Roy was in some measure sanctioned, if not by act of parliament, at least by statutes of local institution, as he was for some time a contractor for assisting the police of different districts in collecting duties somewhat similar to the other. These affairs of police were nearly the same, though not constituted under like regulations as the succeeding blackwatch, the origin of the now gallant 42d regiment.

Rob, who was in a great degree thus supported, openly demanded his dues, and took strong measures to enforce payment -his attack on Garden Castle was of that description. The owner was absent when Rob went to claim his right, which had long been withheld on pretences not to be allowed. He, however, took possession of the fortress; and when the owner returned he was refused admittance, until he would pay the reward of protection: but he refused; and Rob having ascended the turrets with a child from the nursery, threatened to throw it over the walls; which speedily brought the laird, at the intercession of his lady, to an agreement, when our hero restored the keys of the castle and took his leave.

Whether Rob Roy had ever paid respect to religious duties, or what might have been the extent of his creed during the more prosperous part of his life, is not certain, though he was by birth a Protestant; but he was at one period reduced so low in his finances, that he left his farm, and lived in a small hut in a distant glen. In this humble abode, whether affected by remorse for his past irregular life, or whether he had seriously come to the persuasion, that he might overcome all his errors by the interposition of Catholic priests, from their declared power of ab solving all species of sin, has not been transmitted to us; but Rob had taken the resolution of becoming Roman Catholic, and he accordingly went to a Mr. Alexander Drummond, an old priest of that faith, who resided at Drummond Castle. What the nature of Rob's confessions were, or the penance which his sins required, has been concealed; but if we may judge from the account he himself gave of his interview with this ecclesiastic," that the old man frequently groaned, crossed himself, and exacted a heavy remuneration,"-Rob's crimes must have been of difficult expiation: "It was a convenient religion, however," he used to say, "which for a little money could put asleep the conscience."

But whatever amendment this apostacy from the tenets of his fathers might have effected on our hero's principles of morality, which were previously loose and unsettled, certain it is, that the restless and active temper of his mind did not long allow him to remain the quiet votary of his new faith; and a desperate foray into the north Highlands having been projected by his nephew, he was requested to take the command. Tired of inactive life, to which he had never been accustomed, and willing to do any thing to retrieve his decayed circumstances, he readily consented, and set out at the head of twenty men. It has been affirmed upon good authority, that these Macgregors, with other Highlanders, joined

some Spaniards who landed on the north west coast in 1719, and were with them at the battle of Glensheil; and that Rob and his party afterwards plundered a Spanish ship after being in possession of the English, which so enriched Rob that he again began farming, and returned to the braes of Balquhiddar.

For a considerable period after the reformation the establishment of Prebyterian clergy was very precarious, particularly in the Highland districts, where the Romish persuasion long struggled for predominance. Their settlement was often resisted by the parishioners, and their stipends being ill paid, it being customary for the lairds to fix the payment of them on their tenants, who were also made liable for any augmentation of stipend the incumbent might afterwards obtain. In the days of our hero, a Mr. Ferguson had been appointed to the parish of Balquhiddar; but his introduction was opposed by the whole body of the people, and he would not be admitted until he promised not to apply for an increase of salary. Finding, however, that he could not live on so small a sum, he subsequently took the usual legal steps for procuring an addition; but Rob Roy put a speedy termination to the business. He got hold of the minister, forced him into a public house near his own church, made him drink profusely of whisky, and caused him to sign a paper renouncing every future claim of augmentation; but he gave, at the same time, his own obligation, binding himself to send the minister, every year, half a score of sheep and a fat cow, which, during his life, was regularly done.

In his trade of dealing in cattle, Rob Roy often required to travel to different parts of the Lowlands, and the last time he visited Edinburgh was to recover a debt due him by a person who was reputed opulent, but who had taken refuge in the sanctuary of the abbey. There Rob went and saw his man; but the sacredness of the place did not protect him; and although he was a strong man, Macgregor laid hold of him, dragged him across the line of safety, and, having some officers of the law in waiting, gave over his charge to them, by which means he got his money.

The power which Macgregor possessed in his arms was very uncommon. It was scarcely possible to wrench any thing out of his hands, and he was known to seize a deer by the horns and hold him fast. His arms were long, almost to deformity, as when he stood erect he could touch his knee-pans with his fingers. Some of his neighbours might indeed say that he had long arms; but in all his private transactions he was honourable, and was much respected by the gentlemen of his country, with whom he constantly associated; and though it may appear that he did not, in his partial warfare, act in conformity to the nicest principles of justice, the greater number of his errors were yet venial, and, in his own estimation, the fair and justifiable requital of injury which he or others had

sustained.

With the family of Montrose he had been at enmity for more than thirty years; but he considered the hurt they had done him to be an inexpiable offence, which he never forgave: but the animo

sity and rivalship' which had existed betwixt Montrose and Argyll, was probably a strong incentive to instigate Rob to that course which he had so long pursued against the former, as there is much reason to believe that Argyll took Rob by the hand merely to make him an instrument of opposition to Montrose.

The fame of Rob Roy Macgregor had travelled far and over many countries. His achievements were every where extolled as the matchless deeds of unconquered Caledonia; and though his prowess could not be said at all times to have been displayed upon occasions strictly meritorious, yet the general tenor of his conduct was admired in his own country, as it accorded with an ancient Gaelic saying, which marked the well known character of the Highlander, that he would not turn his back on a friend nor an enemy: yet he neither boasted of his strength nor his courage, and he did not look on his past exploits with the pride of a victor, but with the honest exultation of having supported the valour of his clan, and opposed the devouring tide of oppression. Steady in these principles, he never wantonly took up a quarrel; and, from a consciousness of his own powers, he was unwilling to adopt personal contention; yet he was often challenged to single combat, which he never refused; but on the last two trials he was worsted, when he threw down his sword and vowed he would never take it up again, for then he was nearly blind, and his strength had suffered the decay of years.

At length, worn out with the laborious vicissitudes of a restless life, he sunk calmly to his end, at the farm of Inverlocharigbegi among the braes of Balquhiddar, in 1740. His remains rest in the church yard of that parish, with no other monument to mark his grave than a simple stone, on which some kindred spirit has carved a sword—the appropriate emblem of the man:

"Clan-Alpine's omen and her aid."

ART. X.-The Tomb of Warren.

THERE is a solemn, though sweet satisfaction, in contemplating the tomb of the brave. The recollection of their deeds arises to supply the ardour of curiosity, and to elevate the mind with noble sentiments. But, how many proud reflections are aroused, when we regard the turf that covers the remains of the honoured dead, martyrs to freedom's cause?-patriots, who fell gloriously contending for whatever could bind a cause to themselves and their posterity; at the price of whose blood, our independence-all the rights, privileges, and blessings we enjoy as freemen, were greatly, though dearly won.

Their merit survives the frail memorials of the tomb. Their fame is enshrined in the memory of their countrymen. Distant generations shall recount the gallant resistance of a handful of undisciplined volunteers, to the tried veterans who disputed the victory of that day, when the triumph of native valour-the spontaneous burst of patriotic enthusiasm, was memorably asserted over mercenary regulars.