could not legally be borne. Attempts
were made to restore the appellation of clan Alb, but nothing was
decided; when, at length, all necessity for such an alteration was done
away by an Act of Parliament abolishing forever the penal statutes
against the clan.

Whilst the Macgregors were still a proscribed race, Robert Macgregor
Campbell, or Robert Roy, so called among his kindred, in the adoption of
a Celtic phrase, expressive of his ruddy complexion and red hair,
appeared as their champion. At the time of his birth, to bear the name
of Macgregor was felony; and the descendant of King Alpin adopted the
maiden name of his mother, a daughter of Campbell of Fanieagle, in order
to escape the penalty of disobedience. His father, Donald Macgregor of
Glengyle, was a lieutenant-colonel in the King's service: his ancestry
was deduced from Ciar Mohr, "the mouse-coloured man," who had slain the
young students at the battle of Glenfruin.

After the death of Allaster Macgregor of Glenstrae, the last chieftain,
the office of chief had ceased to be held by any representative of the
scattered remnant of this hunted tribe. Various families had ranged
themselves under the guidance of chieftains, which, among Highlanders,
signifies the head of a branch of a tribe, in contradistinction to that
of chief, who is the leader of the whole name.[103] The chieftain of
Glengyle lived in the mountainous region between Loch Lomond and Loch
Katrine; his right to his territories there might or might not be legal;
it was far more convenient to his neighbours to waive the question with
any member of this fierce race, than to inquire too rigidly into the
tenure by which the lands were held.

Rob Roy, though he deduced his origin from a younger son of the Laird of
Macgregor, was one of a family who had, within the preceding century,
been of humble fortunes. His great-grandfather had been a cotter; from
his grandfather he inherited the generous temper and the daring spirit
which, more or less, characterized the clan. Callum, or Malcolm, had
been outlawed for an attempt to carry off an heiress, but obtained his
pardon for saving the life of his enemy, the Duke of Argyle. The date of
Rob Roy's birth is uncertain, but is supposed to have taken place about
the middle of the seventeenth century; consequently, after the period
when his clan had endured every variety of fortune, from the cruel
edicts of James the Sixth to the consolatory acts of Charles the Sec