Original subtitles

This programme contains some scenes which some viewers may find upsetting

For centuries,

the Scottish Highlands have been a law unto themselves,

beyond the rule of any king.

A world where ruthless clans scheme...

You are being abducted.

..and slaughter...

They'll cut you into bits!

..in a violent struggle for dominance.

Issue powder and shot. Now!

The country's mightiest clan, the Stuarts,

hold the crowns of Scotland and England.

But for how long?

Soon, the loyalty of their fellow clansmen

will be tested to destruction.

We must make a stand in the Highlands.

With 20,000 men at arms,

the clans are now Britain's mightiest fighting force.

In this world of gunpowder, broadswords, and treason,

the clans have a new-found power

to make or break a kingdom.

God in heaven.

Trust me, blood will be spilt.

I'm not quite sure how I got into this...

..but I'll get out of it somehow.

Och, you know how it is, you wake up one morning

and find yourself facing a duel...

..staring down the broadsword of a huge, hairy-arsed Highlander.

Welcome to the amazing world of Rob Roy MacGregor,

the Highland rogue.

Public enemy number one.

For 30 years, by any means available,

Rob's got right up the powdered noses of dukes and kings.

The most powerful men in Great Britain have come to despise him.

Is there any other way we can settle this?

He might not be ferocious but Rob Roy has always,

ALWAYS been dangerous.

Rob is now 62.

He's had to fight all his life.

Ask him, he'll tell you tales of Scotland's most tempestuous times.

Stories of the country's unhappy marriage with England.

Stories of his part in the bloody Jacobite risings.

Stories from a time that changed Britain and the clans forever.

We'll come back to that duel.

Meantime, rewind a generation or so.

Great Britain is just three years old.

Rob's not yet 40,

raising a family and a business on the bonnie banks

of Scotland's most famous loch.

It's a frontier land,

a fault line between two competing versions of Scotland...

..Highland and Lowland.

From here, head north towards old Scotland,

ruled by chieftains,

inaccessible mountain passes,

scary.

Or go south, towards new Scotland,

where merchants trade, where there's roads,

coffee houses, a sense of safety.

Rob lives just a day's journey from Glasgow.

He's no stranger to cobbled streets and shops...

..but at heart, he's a Highlander.

Rob Roy is in Gaelic Raibeart Ruadh -

red-haired Robert.

His people are the Clann Dhughaill Leith -

the clan of the sort of grey-haired Dugald.

The MacGregors are very proud of their clan's ancient

and noble history...

..all the way back to Scotland's first-ever king,

Kenneth MacAlpin.

But the last century was not one of their best.

The MacGregors attacked their neighbours,

the Colquhouns, in 1603...

..attracting the fury of King James,

the first Stuart monarch of Scotland and England.

He had MacGregor women branded with a name on their forehead.

He demanded that MacGregor heads be sent down to London

so the King could examine them.

Just to own the name MacGregor earned you a death sentence.

They were refugees

spread across the Highlands.

They are landless in a system where your identity

is tied up with your land.

What the Gaels call your duthchas - your inherited territory.

Some clans have huge territories, mighty castles.

The MacGregors don't.

To make a living, Rob and his kinsmen buy and sell cattle.

Not always their own cattle.

To their neighbours, the MacGregor clan are nothing more

than common cattle thieves.

They're bandits, and worse.

John, I've been looking for you.

I hear you had three beasts lifted last night.

That's an outrage.

Forget what you think you know about Rob Roy.

He can be a right nasty piece of work.

Whoever these bloody brigands are,

we can make sure they won't steal from you again.

I'll speak plainly.

It'll cost you.

It'll cost me five pound a year.

The old Scottish word for tax is "mail".

What Rob's suggesting to one of his neighbours

is a particular kind of mail -

blackmail.

Protection money.

Aye, it's a pinch, aye.

But the knowledge that your livelihood is properly protected...

..you and your wee girls will sleep that bit better.

Extortion rackets, cattle thieving,

it's accepted round here.

No-one is sending officers to Rob's door.

They're more likely to write songs about it.

But like most Scots, Rob and his wife Mary

have noticed that the union with England

has made everything that wee bit more expensive.

These days, every penny counts.

Five pounds a year so I stop lifting the man's beasts.

Could you not have gotten more?

I might have,

but he was near enough ready to pee his breeks as it was.

Are you saying he was feart of you?

I am a savage and fierce MacGregor.

Of course he's feart of me.

Rob's proud of his clan.

He's desperate to rebuild its reputation

and its fortunes.

He's bought up a few small pieces of land,

but most of his territory is rented.

His landlord is one of the most powerful clan chiefs in the country.

He's James Graham, the 1st Duke of Montrose.

His Grace's great-grandfather was a warrior chief

who led a clan army into battle,

and swung for it as an enemy of the state.

Things have changed.

This chap has swapped swords for secateurs.

Like many clan chiefs, he backed the union of Scotland and England,

and in return got a shiny new dukedom.

This clan chief has even got an accountant.

One is not insensitive to your labours of the accounts, Killearn,

but we insist that you list our income

in both Scots AND English pounds.

How else is one to impress one's worth at court in London, hm?

Yes. Yes, your Grace.

Montrose is an extremely ambitious character.

His eye is on the heights of power,

not just in Scotland, but in the British state.

It's maybe also worth noting that Montrose is filthy rich,

an attribute that's all too tempting to a man on the make like Rob Roy.

Rob's in town on business.

Cattle trader by appointment to the great and the good.

He's closing a deal with Montrose

in the person of his stony-faced accountant, Killearn.

My estimation for His Grace and for his continued patronage

of a humble drover of cattle,

I should be honoured to settle at 200.

Would that be the hint of a smile on your face, Killearn?

Rob's a smooth operator.

His clients trust him to take their money to the lawless Highlanders

to buy cattle that can then be driven to the markets in the south.

You have my word, the beasts shall be delivered to Crieff by July.

Except, well, they won't.

There won't be any cattle delivered by Rob this year.

He's planning to do a runner.

Get this to Mary. £200, my man.

But this is Montrose's money, not some would-be Lowland lairdie.

Tell the boys we go to ground soon.

Rob has just stolen a small fortune

from one of Scotland's most powerful men,

begging the question, what is he up to?

What we do know is that, by the end of 1711,

his cattle droving activities have got into a whole bunch of problems.

He's probably overbought, or he's misread the market.

So Rob makes sure that his property is safe

by quietly palming them off

on his family and friends.

Then he collects what is a hefty amount of money

from other dealers,

and says that he's going up north to buy cattle with the money,

and he will return, of course he will.

And then he disappears.

There are, of course, consequences.

Rob's name is read out at the Mercat Cross in Edinburgh.

He's publicly disgraced.

Rob is now officially an outlaw,

and the man shouting loudest for his capture is of course Montrose.

For His Grace, it's not just about the £200 he's lost -

that's pocket change. This is personal.

Rob needs protection,

a hideout where Montrose can't get at him.

But who can give him that?

Well, maybe the man who hates Montrose

more than anyone else alive.

Maybe this chap out pestering the wildlife.

He's John Campbell, Duke of Argyll,

chief of Clan Campbell.

He's a war hero in the British Army.

He and his clan are doing rather well

out of all this new Great Britain business.

Born in England, educated there,

aristocrat, sense of entitlement.

Also a soldier, not a politician.

You won't hear Argyll boasting about it,

but he's a distant relation of Rob Roy MacGregor.

And the news of Rob's activities is spreading fast.

200 he took Montrose for?

His Grace is a prancing pony.

200 means nothing to him.

But the word is out...

..the Duke has been duped.

Clan chiefs have long memories.

Argyll's great-grandad fought Montrose's great-grandad

60 years earlier in the brutal civil wars,

so, for Argyll, anyone who can put Montrose's nose out of joint

is someone worth a wee favour.

Find the man a bolthole hereabouts

in one of the hidden glens.

Keep it supplied.

Rob and his men are given refuge in remote Glen Orchy.

There's no police force or national army brave enough

to seize Rob from Campbell territory.

He's untouchable.

But down south, his reputation is in the gutter.

He needs to spin this whole unfortunate affair.

Rob chooses to tell the world a story.

It's a tactic he'll return to.

It was all, he writes, a saga of treachery.

Not his treachery.

We were but three days' walk from Skye

when we were approached by two men from the Uists.

We travelled with them a way...

Rob weaves a ripping Highland yarn,

absolving him and his gang of any blame

in the matter of Montrose's money.

On the second morning, we woke to discover that they had made off

with all the currency we had.

I will never return to my own country

till I have these people taken.

Duncan.

Take this letter to a writer in Glasgow toon.

Tell him to lodge and publish.

This is our tale.

Two big boys did it and ran away.

No-one's buying this stuff.

Rob's no-one's victim,

but he's looking for an opportunity to rebuild his reputation.

Well, he's about to catch a break.

Momentous news is in the air.

"Her Majesty Queen Anne is dead.

"It is confirmed that her successor will be George,

"the Elector of Hanover, 51st in line to the throne."

Queen Anne looks set to be the last Stuart monarch...

..the last of a clan dynasty stretching back 300 years.

The new king is a European import...

..George. He doesn't speak English...

..but he is the right religion.

The new country of Great Britain isn't exactly

an equal opportunities employer.

In creating the Union,

Scotland accepted the English rules of succession.

For the top job, Protestants only need apply.

The Stuart king in waiting, James, is a devout Catholic,

but rules are rules.

The new king of Great Britain has to be George,

the Elector of Hanover, whatever that is.

The Jacobites, the followers of the Stuarts, they know the rules.

They're just amazed that they're actually being applied.

that their man has to be usurped by a wee German.

That's a kick in the proverbials, and a call to arms.

Across Scotland, time to pick your side.

Choose the government,

choose to keep the union of Scotland and England,

or choose the Jacobite rebels, choose to overthrow the King...

..and choose to rip apart what's now a deeply unpopular union.

Nobody likes it.

Scotland has been reduced to an impoverished region.

Well, certainly the Highlands have. They are irrelevant politically.

I mean, most Scots would break the union, wouldn't they?

For every one Scot that voted for the union,

99 didn't like it.

Already, clansmen are gathering

into a rebellion that will come to be called the 1715 Jacobite Rising.

For Rob, it brings the hope that a future Stuart king

will reward MacGregor loyalty.

The rising is oor chance, you and I.

Play it right, and there will be good lands in it for us.

No more lifting cattle, no more blackmailing for pennies.

I like you well enough as an honest thief, Robert.

You get away with that.

You won't get away with being a rebel

when this all goes wrong, will you?

Rob and Mary might not know it,

but this already feels like a big moment.

Britain is only seven years old.

It's fragile. Its future is under a very real threat.

This could go either way.

The stakes are as high as they can possibly be in the '15 rising.

The entire future of the United Kingdom is at stake.

The Highland clans are crucial.

Their support and what they do

is going to determine whether one side wins or the other.

The 1715 rising is both a huge opportunity

for clans on both sides, and indeed families across Scotland,

but if it's a huge opportunity, it's also a huge risk.

Rob leaves behind the security of his Campbell refuge

and makes his way to the Perthshire market town of Crieff...

..where he learns of the coronation of King George I.

Loudly, publicly, dangerously,

Rob makes a great spectacle of proclaiming his allegiance

to the new king's deadly Jacobite enemies.

Rob's fame is growing.

People know who he is.

He might have had a drink or two,

but he's consciously telling the world what side he's on.

Now, he's not just an outlaw, he's a rebel.

He's a Jacobite rebel.

In my view, Rob Roy is always a Jacobite,

despite the fact they have not been treated particularly well

by Stuart governments,

though they weren't particularly nice themselves, suffice to be said.

The MacGregors generally supported the Stuart dynasty,

but the interesting thing about Rob Roy is that

at no point does he have a strong, noble protector who is a Jacobite.

So, from a strategic and a practical point of view,

Rob is walking a very fine line.

At Braemar in September 1715,

the Jacobite standard is raised.

Within just a month, a 20,000-man army under the Earl of Mar

controls all of Scotland north of the River Forth.

All that's stopping their march on Edinburgh and London

is a smaller 6,000-man government army in Stirling.

Arriving in the Jacobite camp, Rob is given the rank of colonel.

He and his men are ordered into action,

joining a raid on the village of Inveraray...

..the seat of the government's army commander, the Duke of Argyll.

We met His Grace earlier. He's Rob's great protector.

Now Rob has to attack his clan.

So, what to do? What to do?

There is a high farcical moment where Rob himself

manages to get into the centre of town, fire off a few shots,

and then disappears back over the horizon.

The result is, you end up with, in a way, a performative scene...

..where Rob Roy and his forces go through the motions

of investing or beginning to lay siege to Inveraray,

there's a couple of shots fired, but it only lasts a couple of days.

High farce, which, it has to be said,

does nothing for Rob's reputation,

or, for that matter, for the Duke of Argyll's reputation either.

It looks like neither of them are taking the business

entirely seriously.

They have no intention of harming Inveraray or anything about it,

so, in a sense, I think a lot of that firing of the pistols

is a bit of sabre rattling,

and they're trying to get the Campbells to back off, back down,

and maybe submit to what they see as the inevitable,

which is that the '15 is going to succeed.

Rob has made a great deal of his loyalty to the Jacobites.

But, behind-the-scenes, and in deadly secrecy,

a network of go-betweens allows Rob to trade Jacobite intelligence

with the government side.

And in particular, their commander and Rob's protector,

the Duke of Argyll.

Unsurprisingly, some of the letters are discovered,

and Rob is accused of being a spy for the British army.

Somehow, he talks his way out of it, but those letters -

a thing like that can come back to haunt you.

A month after Rob's Inveraray adventure,

a 12,000-strong Jacobite army prepares for battle.

The Duke of Argyll's British army in Stirling is half that size.

At Sheriffmuir, on November 13th, 1715...

..the battle begins.

The stage is set for Scotland's most famous rebel,

but where is he?

The fighting rages for five hours

before Rob and his men get anywhere near the battlefield.

The news isn't good.

Despite their superior numbers,

the Jacobites are failing to break through.

But a retreating Jacobite chief tells them

that the enemy commander, Argyll, is close by and vulnerable.

Halt. You MacGregors, we need you in the field.

So, will Rob Roy hunt down his great protector?

No.

Man, what battle there was is done, lost.

Your lot are in full flight.

You would throw us to the wolves for what?

Rob's men and the remnants of the Jacobite army

disappear into the wilderness.

GUNFIRE

Both sides claim victory.

But, whoever has won, it's the end of the '15 rising.

There is no doubt that Sheriffmuir is a great disaster

so far as the Jacobites are concerned.

GUNFIRE

Almost everything they planned went hopelessly wrong.

There had never been such a shower of puddens.

And was there any bigger pudden than Rob Roy MacGregor?

People remember Rob's less than heroic conduct

at the Battle of Sheriffmuir for many years afterwards.

He is not somebody to be trusted.

He's hunted for every single reason possible.

Financial, military, political, everything.

Now Rob is Britain's most wanted man.

The government army pursues him deep into the Highlands.

Nowhere is safe.

Rob's Highland refuge, and later his family home, were set ablaze.

The rebellion crushed, he was one of 49 Scots convicted of high treason.

You, a named traitor now?

If they find you, they're not going to hang you,

they'll cut you into bits!

It's not just Rob who suffers after Sheriffmuir.

His protector, the Duke of Argyll,

is accused of going soft on escaping Jacobites.

He loses command of the government army.

Damn it all to hell.

Argyll's enemy, Montrose, is delighted,

but wants Argyll to fall even further.

He knows that his troublesome tenant, Rob Roy,

has information that could prove deadly.

If Montrose can get his hands on Rob,

he'll get hold of the letters that Rob has been exchanging

with the Duke of Argyll.

Not a good look for a British Army general.

In cahoots with a Jacobite?

MacGregor must not fall into the hands of Montrose.

I'll not have him used to put some treason on me.

Get word to MacGregor.

Make him put a face on it.

Let's say he surrenders to me and we grant him sanctuary

and safety from the noose,

on the expressed condition that he keeps his nose clean.

If that is at all possible.

Rob graciously accepts Argyll's offer of a hideout,

but rejects any thought of keeping his nose clean.

He continues to steal cattle from Montrose's land,

but it's not enough.

Rob believes that he's being cruelly persecuted by Montrose.

He wants a far greater revenge.

So, in the Stirlingshire village of Drymen,

Rob tries a new and ruthless tactic...

..the kidnap of Killearn, accountant to the Duke of Montrose.

I've always found it uncomfortable

sitting with one of these stuck in your belt.

Now, in answer to the question you're too feart to ask,

aye, you are being abducted.

I've chosen you to assist me in a negotiation.

Now, if you would kindly pick up your writing implement,

and together we shall compose an opening salvo

to His Grace, your employer.

Rob Roy's kidnapping of Killearn in November 1716

is a sensation.

Big news in the Highlands and outside it as well.

The Duke of Montrose's principal employee

has been lifted as if he were a cow.

And the ridiculous terms of release.

Cancel all my debts,

compensate me for the fact you torched my house,

and just negotiate with me,

and basically take me back into the fold.

It is crazy. It's crazy.

He's got no boundaries.

He's always going to go careering off at some point, isn't he?

He probably did it because it really humiliated Montrose,

but it also sent political messages.

It showed that Montrose's claim

to control the territories he's responsible for -

he's made Sheriff of Stirlingshire in 1715 -

aren't worth the paper they're written on.

Damn MacGregor's verminous hide!

"We'll not release Killearn until all debts are cancelled,

"compensation for the burning of my houses.

"If payments and promises to be left in peace are not forthcoming,

"Killearn will see hard usage."

God in heaven, the impudence!

Rob holds Killearn for six days...

..before plundering rent money he's collected for Montrose.

3,227 Scots pounds,

two shillings and eight pence.

Had I known how much coin you carried,

we could have resolved matters earlier.

It massively inflates Rob's reputation

as being able to have a pop at anybody at all,

even the highest in the land.

In this sense, I think it really reinforces his emerging reputation

as a folk hero.

Not quite Robin Hood, but somebody who can defy wealth and power.

3,000?!

Scots pounds, Your Grace.

The Duke of Montrose himself makes sure

that news about this appalling occurrence

is spread far and wide,

even to the extent that he goes to the Prince of Wales himself

in London and tells him.

The Prince of Wales, of course, is rightly appalled by this behaviour

of this notorious cattle thief.

MacGregor wouldn't have the mettle to perform this outrage

without Argyll's protection.

He thinks himself untouchable.

But I will see that brigand hanged from 30 feet of rope!

If MacGregor wants coin...

..let us see what price he puts on his protector's head.

The chap pacing nervously on the bridge is Adam Cockburn of Ormiston.

He's one of Scotland's most senior judges.

He's a close ally of Montrose,

who has somehow persuaded him to come here and talk to Rob Roy alone.

Montrose can't get to Rob while he's protected by Argyll,

so today he's trying plan B.

Something new - money.

2,000 sterling and a pardon for incriminating letters from Argyll

you think I possess?

That is a pretty tale.

Rob's not taking the bait.

To abandon Argyll, he has to have complete faith in Montrose,

and I just don't think he does.

Tell His Grace I have an earnest suggestion

as to where he can place his filthy silver.

Good day to you, sir.

So much for plan B.

But Montrose isn't for quitting.

Onward, then, to plan C.

If money won't work, what's the next way forward for Montrose?

He could find someone with Jacobite connections

and manipulate those connections.

Someone like the Duke of Atholl.

He's a supporter of the government,

but three of his sons,

well, they turned out for the Jacobites,

and that's proved a bit embarrassing.

He will do whatever it takes to win his way back into favour.

Forgive my indelicacy.

The unfortunate Jacobite taint on your great family -

it may help you win the trust of a certain brigand,

an enemy of the King.

Now, were you to bring him to justice,

well, said taint would be washed clean in the eyes of the King.

Would it not?

Atholl agrees.

He'll exploit his sons' Jacobite connections

to lure Rob out of the wilderness.

An invitation is sent...

..and, on June 3rd, 1717,

Rob arrives at Atholl's home in Dunkeld.

He's alone.

He's vulnerable.

The Duke of Atholl had given his word

that this was just to be a wee chat, a dram, a scone.

Instead, he has Rob taken captive and thrown in his private jail.

It's very hard to imagine that Rob would believe

any of his noble friends sufficiently

to go into the heart of their power and say,

"Here I am. What would you like to talk about?

"What a lovely day we're having."

Therefore I suspect that the two sides came to some sort of agreement

that Atholl...

..would supposedly "capture" Rob Roy,

and use this as a bargaining counter

to show his loyalty to the government.

At the same time, Rob Roy could rely upon Atholl

to make sure that he got as lenient a treatment as possible

from the authorities.

For three days, Rob is held in Atholl's private prison.

The first time in his life that he's been captured.

But it's not all grim.

Wherever Rob goes, he makes friends.

So I said, "I'll take these three head of cattle",

and he said, "Robert, that's my wife and daughters."

LAUGHTER

Robert!

Now, if you'll indulge me, gentlemen,

I must go and have a word with my servant at the door.

Please, make free with the bottle.

Your good health, gentlemen.

I promise I won't do anything so vulgar as to escape.

He escapes.

Atholl is embarrassed, but Montrose is livid.

Another scheme bites the dust.

Rob and his family go into hiding with clansmen at Balquhidder,

from where, once again, he tries to write his way out of trouble.

In fact, he writes the greatest tale he'll ever tell.

The persecution of a humble, honest cattle dealer

by the country's most powerful men.

Mary, listen to this.

"A declaration to all true lovers of honour and honesty.

"Honour and conscience urge me to detest the assassins

"of our country and countrymen..."

He says he hates Montrose and he hates the Duke of Atholl.

"..whose unbound malice pressed me to be the instrument

"of matchless villainy by endeavouring to make use

"of false evidence against a person of distinction."

Uh-huh.

Rob closes his Balquhidder declaration with a challenge

to Montrose to a duel.

Come and have a go if you think you're hard enough.

I think the Balquhidder declaration of June 1717

is the most interesting aspect of his entire career.

He makes a judgment call.

He judges the risk. Where should he align himself?

He has no credit of any sort with Montrose, Atholl and Ormiston,

and so he decides to let them go,

and he comes clean and makes this declaration,

which will endear him to Argyll

because it completely discredits Argyll's political competitors.

He projects, erm...

..an image of a politically manipulative,

unprincipled series of lords

that are deliberately setting out to manipulate the courts and finance

to destroy a good, honest tradesman and trader like himself.

Rob is 47 and he's famous.

He's Britain's most wanted man.

King George offers £200 of his own money

to anyone with any information,

but all too soon, George will have more to worry about.

Four years after their last uprising, the Jacobites are back.

But this time, they can muster only a fraction of the force

they had at Sheriffmuir.

At Glen Shiel, a 1,000-man Jacobite army prepares to battle

a British army of similar size.

Within the Jacobite ranks is Rob Roy,

leading a company of 40 men.

He's paid, so he almost acts like a mercenary

and takes money to join the Jacobites.

Well, he's not trusted, is he?

His troops are described as auxiliaries,

not, you know, soldiers.

At Sheriffmuir, the great Rob Roy turned up late.

Now, four years on, he's the most famous Jacobite in the world.

This is his stage to be a hero,

to hit back at Montrose and Atholl, and, yes, even at that German king.

And does he take that chance?

Aye, right!

The day doesn't go with the Jacobites.

They start getting pushed back, they ask Rob Roy for help,

and it rather looks as if, for the second time in his life,

Rob Roy takes one look at the situation,

decides that everything is lost, and takes to his heels.

Yet again, he turns up at a battle and doesn't fight.

By now, surely to goodness,

even the Jacobites have had it with him completely.

He is just...

..a total frustration.

We do know that, after the battle, he plundered the baggage train,

so there's something to be said,

he certainly got some sort of profit out of the battle,

but in terms of his reputation, just as with Sheriffmuir,

no, it's another no-show, no-go from Rob Roy MacGregor.

A year after Glen Shiel, Rob's hopes of restoring

the MacGregor clan's fortunes now hang by a thread.

Since the time of his first theft for Montrose,

Rob had been hiding away ownership papers of his own properties.

Uncovered by the authorities, they were now listed for public sale.

Prospective bidders were told that the auction would start at 10.00am,

when an hourglass would be turned over.

They would then have until the sands ran out to make the highest bid.

The property sold for 820 English pounds.

The buyer?

Well, you've probably guessed. The Duke of Montrose.

His Grace paid a bit over the odds, but who was counting

when he could humiliate the man he truly despised?

I suppose Montrose has won,

but the cost has been enormous.

How much energy, time and resources,

when he could have been climbing to the top of the pole,

has he wasted on pursuing Rob Roy MacGregor for his debts?

Victory for Montrose, but it's a seriously qualified one.

He's not captured him, he's not had him executed, which he would like,

and which, in a way, large amounts

of the British establishment would like.

Rob Roy is a defeated man.

He's had to leave his own lands.

He's basically a refugee.

Nevertheless, something quite unexpected happens.

Rob had always loved a good tale.

And, at the age of 52,

it was a story that would come to his rescue.

It was his first biography,

published to great acclaim in London in 1723.

The work of an unknown author.

That first biography reveals a warm and cuddly Rob Roy.

He gives money to poor farmers,

then steals it back from their horrible landlords.

He's a social worker. He's adorable.

Here's a man, defeated in real life, made a legend for the ages.

Rob might be a celebrity,

but he can't be seen in his former territories...

..so it falls to Mrs MacGregor to take charge of the gang

and the family extortion business.

We can take your ear, John, or six pounds.

You decide.

20 years since the Act of Union,

Highland Scotland is as lawless as ever.

A government report claims 12,000 armed men ready to rise

in favour of the Jacobites.

Here's the author of that report.

General Wade.

To quieten the Highlands, he builds new roads,

orders new patrols,

and offers pardons to a number of recovering Jacobites...

..some of them household names.

The good general is meeting a man he's only ever read about

in the pages of his biography.

Rob Roy MacGregor, good-hearted Highland legend.

It's an honour to meet you, General, sir.

Your ambitions for this country are to be applauded.

As to the late rebellion, my hand was forced.

Had I not joined the rebel forces,

I would yet be languishing in a prison for an unfair debt.

In truth, I desired for nothing more than to be a loyal soldier

for King George.

It could not be.

Rob comes in, submits, and makes a big show of submitting,

and he kind of gives power to Wade by doing that.

He knows what he's doing, Rob.

This is a very traditional way to gain someone's favour,

is to acknowledge them as the silverback.

This is the power in the land now.

I know you may have heard that I handed over intelligence

from the rebel forces, for whom I never lifted a weapon.

I humbly ask forgiveness from His Majesty,

and endeavour to live peaceably from this day forward.

Now, we can be fairly sure as well

that it was not just allegiance that he was pledging,

but he was also promising Wade some top-secret information

about Jacobite intrigues that were going on during this time.

Wade falls for this hook, line and sinker.

On December 2nd, 1725,

the King gave his pardon.

More than a decade after toasting the Stuarts at Crieff,

Rob was no longer a rebel.

His story was almost, but not quite, over.

And so, cast your mind back.

Remember that duel where this story began?

Maybe you thought that the 62-year-old Rob

was fighting some epic, romantic clan battle.

He's not.

This is a shabby quarrel with a neighbour about a pocket of land.

For Rob, all his real battles are already lost.

But there's a twist.

The name of his clan had once been outlawed.

Now it's celebrated...

..across the land.

The legend of Rob Roy MacGregor, charming Highland rogue,

a work of fiction that will endure centuries after his death.

Highland rules.

The winner is the first to draw blood.

Rob has lost, and that wound...

..that won't get better.

Let me have a look.

His final months he spends at home with Mary...

..where they are continually disturbed by visitors

desperate to meet the most famous man in Scotland.

Ready?

I can manage.

Just give me a minute, Mary.

I'm not as sprightly as this Rob Roy fella

they're all writing stories about.

Despite his age and injuries,

Rob insists on wearing full Highland dress when visitors call.

Show them in.

Rob Roy is perhaps the most successful social bandit

of all time,

after Robin Hood.

He has a reputation...

..perhaps unearned,

for robbing the rich and helping the poor.

He is someone who would have been great company to be around.

Entertaining, outrageous.

You never knew what he would do next. He almost seemed fearless.

A nasty piece of work in some respects,

but he's probably the sort of person

that you would have a dram with, and you could have great stories.

But he doesn't get what he wants.

If he wants to re-establish Clan Gregor, he fails to do that.

If he wants to leave a legacy and an inheritance,

he doesn't do that.

He exists in mythology,

he exists as a type.

He would have been remarkably pleased to know that Queen Victoria

would make a special pilgrimage to his grave in Balquhidder in 1869,

so much had he come to symbolise

the core of Scottish Highland wiliness,

wit, hospitality, generosity, and integrity,

nearly all of which virtues were not conspicuous in Rob's own life.

Good day to you.

I am Rob Roy MacGregor.

Scotland's most famous Highland rogue

dies in his bed in December 1734

at the age of 63.

The long process of pacifying the Highlands

continues for years after Rob's death.

General Wade's new militias and new roads will, they say,

bring much-needed order to the Highlands.

The good people of Edinburgh and London can settle back

with a modest refreshment,

delighted that the Highland problem is finally solved.

Surely that's the end of all that nastiness from the clans,

isn't it?

They'll be lucky.

Next time, Bonnie Prince Charlie marches on London

with a clan army to reclaim the throne for the House of Stuart.

Forward march!

But the clans are more divided than ever.

Some are loyal to the Stuarts.

Some, it seems, are not.

The young pretender is a mad, unaccountable gentlemen.

And whilst one clan chief is a redcoat, his wife is a rebel.

Your servant, Captain.

Your servant, Colonel.