1954 - Special Collections

44 YEAR BOO K A MERICA N CLAN GREGOR SOC IETY
on the lad to such a pitch that one day he voiced a vow that John MacLaren,
head of their foes, should die by his hand. "I will shoot him," said Robin, "w hen
I can get my father's gun back from Doune." It had been under repair there.
On the mornin g of March 4, Robin took it out loaded and found his enemy
plowing on disputed land. He fired and MacLaren fell mortally wounded. T he
hue and cry raised for his capture was widespread ; but neither that nor the
rewa rd of £50 could find him. T wo of his brothe rs were hailed before the cour ts
accused of being accomplices. But the evidence fa iled, and they came home with
the verdict "Not proven ," and a caution to keep th e peace. Robin Dig vanished;
but he had many adventures subsequently. He enlisted in the Black W atch , was
captured by the F rench at Fontenoy, spent some time in a French prison ; and was
then exchanged and discharged from Hi s Majesty's service. He even married,
through th e machinations of his brot her, the wily James, who was determined
th at Robin Dig should marry money. T hey selected a young widow of nineteen,
Mrs. J ean Key, with a fortune of some 17000 merk s, Scots; and eventually she
was kidn apped and a form of marriage gone through. But the law stepped in;
and James who had engineered the affai r was caught in the hills and brought down
to Stirling. H e was tried and found guilty; but escaped from the To lbooth in
disgu ise; and somehow got over to France, where he died penniless in 1754.
As for Robin Dig, "the gentleman from the Highlands", as he was called,
he was apprehended in the Spring of 1753, tried and sentenced to be hanged in the
Gras smark et in Edinburgh. Whic h he duly was on February 6, 1754, "behaving
with great decency and very genteely dr essed". Hi s body was cut down after
a half hour's swinging, and handed over to his friends. T hey bore it off to the
Highland s. T here the coronach sounded for him ; and with every sign of Highland
mourning the corpse of Robin Dig was brought home to Balquidder and there
buried. That was one of the last notorious affai rs in the Hi ghlands that involves
MacGregors ; for by that time th e influences of law and order were mak ing themselves
felt throughout the land.
So much for highlight s of the luri d tale of bloodshed, vengea nce and rapine
which for centu ries spread over th is land of sta tely hillsides and fore sts, surrounding
lochs unsurpassed in loveliness. Now we will direct our attention to th e natura l
beauty and the delightful serenity of th e country side; and it is hard to picture the
strife and violence which these woods and hills migh t echo if one's ears were
attu ned. It is that qua lity of peaceful serenity that one notices most when visiting
th at histor ic section today ; and its charm is felt by all who come, whether or
not they happen to be dr awn by the lure of family tr adition to these ancestral
haunts, or are perh aps ordinary tourists Cook-booked.
So let us appr oach agai n thi s land of th e MacGregor s, loved and lost; and
yet never lost to those who claim birthright and inheritance to be cherished, if
only in memory. This time we will enter by the highr oad from Glasgow, which
passes through picturesque Aberfoyle with its inn perpetuating the name of Walter
Scott's Baillie Nicol Jar vie. From there we follow along the climbing mountain
road until , over the crest, we look on the charming chain of lakes, the pr incipa l
one of which, Loch Ka trine, contains, not far from its mouth , immorta l Ellen's Isle
mirrored on its surface. From th e landing at the end of Loch Katrine one makes
th e thrilling though gentle approach over the highroad to Loch Lomond's shore
at charming Inversnaid. Before you is the broad and inspirin g sweep of that