Outrage as Rob Roy is dubbed 'a villain'
VisitScotland has angered historians and descendants of the freedom-fighter by describing him as a “notorious outlaw”.
Inviting foreign tourists to visit the West Highlands and Islands, Stirling and the Trossachs, MacGregor’s birthplace, the VisitScotland website states: “You can trace the footsteps of heroes like St Columba, William Wallace, Robert the Bruce and Mary Queen of Scots and villains like the notorious outlaw Rob Roy.”
It also claims the MacGregor clan had “a centuries-old reputation for wrong-doing” and describes its most famous son as a “cattle dealer and freebooter”, challenging the heroic image portrayed by Liam Neeson in the 1995 biopic.
VisitScotland’s portrayal of MacGregor as a brigand has angered the Clan Gregor Society, which accused VisitScotland of “playing fast and loose with historical facts”.
“To the vast majority of Scots Rob Roy is rightly regarded as a hero and an iconic figure,” said a spokesman.
“VisitScotland would be better served to portray Rob Roy as a true champion of the common people.”
Rob Gibson, the Nationalist MSP and historian, also challenged VisitScotland’s claims.
“The reality is that Rob Roy was as complicated as the times that he lived in,” he said.
“To label him a villain is to needlessly malign his character and his reputation. This kind of crass oversimplification is as naive as it is hasty and simply does not measure up to reality.”
MacGregor was the son of a Highland chieftain who allied himself with the Jacobite cause.
After fighting in the battle of Killiecrankie he found his lands repossessed and was declared an enemy of the Hanoverian crown.
While on the run from his arch-enemy the Duke of Montrose, MacGregor’s generosity towards the poor made him a folk hero.
His popularity with the public led to George I offering him pardon just before he was due to be transported to the colonies.