Historical memoirs of Rob Roy and the Clan Macgregor

MEMOIR OF ROB ROY. 22 1
Roy were to be sharers of the booty collected
by these banditti, they did not always accom-
pany them on their excursions for depreda-
tion. They had a leader, Walter Buchanan of
Machar, who had wholly abandoned himself
to a dissolute life, and commanded the gang,
chiefly composed of lawless ruffians from dis-
tant parts.
These plunderers were a source of great
terror to the neighbourhood, and frequently to
travellers who fell in their way, although they
committed no personal cruelties on those who
quietly submitted. The ruins they occupied
were not far from the road, and had often, by
the hospitality of those men, sheltered the
traveller, when benighted or overtaken by the
violent storms that suddenly visit those moun-
tainous regions ; and on such an occasion did
the unfortunate Lady Grange and her escort
find refuge there, when on her way to be con-
fined in the distant isle of St Kilda.*
By the death of their father, which happened
soon after they had betaken themselves to
those disorderly courses, they were deprived of
that sage and prudent counsel which used to
keep them free from many difficulties in which
* See the subsequent notices of that lady.