Rob Roy

Melody -

Left: from Child, Vol. 6, early edition; right: from reader submission

Rob Roy from the Highlands cam,
Unto the Lawlan' border,
To steal awa a gay ladie
To haud his house in order.

2. He cam oure the lock o' Lynn,
Twenty men his arms did carry;
Himsel gaed in, an' fand her out,
Protesting he would many.

3. O will ye gae wi' me, he says,
Or will ye be my honey?
Or will ye be my wedded wife?
For I love you best of any.

4. I winna gae wi' you, she says,
Nor will I be your honey,
Nor will I be your wedded wife;
You love me for my money.

5. But he set her on a coal-black steed,
Himsel lap on behind her,
An' he's awa to the Highland hills,
Whare her frien's they canna find her.

6. Rob Roy was my father ca'd,
Macgregor was his name, ladie;
He led a band o' heroes bauld,
An' I am here the same, ladie.

7. Be content, be content,
Be content to stay, ladie,
For thou art my wedded wife
Until thy dying day, ladie.

8. He was a hedge unto his frien's,
A heckle to his foes, ladie,
Every one that durst him wrang,
He took him by the nose, ladie.

9. I'm as bold, I'm as bold,
I'm as bold, an more, ladie;
He that daurs dispute my word,
Shall feel my guid claymore, ladie.

Rob Roy's from the highlands come
Unto our Lowland border,
And he has stolen a lady away,
To keep his house in order.

2. I will not go with you, she said,
Nor will I be your honey;
I neer shall be your wedded wife,
You love me for my money.

3. But without consent they joined their hands;
By law ought not to carry;
The priest his zeal it was so hot
On her will he would not tarry.

4. Oh Rob Roy was my father called
But MacGregor was his name, lady
In all the country far and near,
None did exceed his fame, lady.

5. My father he has stats and ewes
And he has goats and sheep, lady
But you and twenty thousand pounds
Makes me a man complete, lady.

The abductors of the widowed young heiress of Edenhelly were Rob's sons, Robin Oig, who went through a form of marriage with the girl, and James Mohr, a good soldier, but a double-dyed spy and scoundrel. Robin Oig was hanged in 1753. James Mohr, a detected traitor to Prince Charles, died miserably in Paris, in 1754.

Readers of Mr. Stevenson's CATRIONA know James well; information as to his villanies is extant in Additional MSS. (British Museum). It occurs in several variants, some of which, copied out by Burns, derive thence a certain accidental interest. In Mr. Stevenson's CATRIONA, the heroine of that name takes a thoroughly Highland view of the abduction. Robin Oig, in any case, was "nane the waur o' a hanging," for he shot a Maclaren at the plough-tai l, before the Forty-Five.

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