Famous Highlanders
This page is about famous people from the Scottish Highlands.
Robert Roy MacGregor (Rob Roy)
Robert Roy Macgregor, also known as Rob Roy and Red Macgregor, was a famous outlaw in Scotland. People considered him a hero because he stole from the rich and gave to the poor. He was essentially a Scottish Robin Hood. He was born at Glengyle around 1671 to Donald Macgregor and Margaret Campbell. At eighteen, Rob Roy and his father joined the Jacobite rising led by Viscount Dundee. After their leader was killed and the rebellion put down, Rob's father was jailed for treason. Rob Roy became a well-known and respected cattleman — this was a time when cattle rustling and selling protection against theft was a commonplace means of earning a living. Rob Roy borrowed a large amount of money to increase his own herd, but due to the disappearance of his chief herder, who was entrusted with the money to bring the cows back, Rob Roy lost his money and livestock, and wasn't able to pay back his loan. As a result, he was branded an outlaw, and his wife and family were evicted from their house at Inversnaid, which was then burned down. After his main source of loans, James Graham, 1st Duke of Montrose seized his lands, Rob Roy waged a private blood feud against the duke until 1722, when he was forced to surrender. During this time, he helped the poor whenever he could. Later imprisoned, he was finally pardoned in 1727. He died in his house at Inverlochlarig Beg, Balquhidder, on 28 December 1734. He has had multiple books and poems and two movies written about him and has had a drink named after him.
James Augustus Grant
Grant was born in Nairn in 1827 and was educated at Marischal College, Aberdeen. He joined the British army in 1846, serving in India during the Sikh Wars in 1849 and the Indian Mutiny and was wounded during the releif of Lucknow. He returned to England in 1858 and searched for the source of the Nile with John Hanning Speke from1860 to 1863 and together they traced the river to Lake Victoria in modern-day Uganda. He kept a record of his journey and published these as A Walk Across Africa, a supplement to Speke's account, in 1864. Grant died at his home in Nairn in 1892.