The Scottish Highlands
In 2012, I embarked on a road trip across the Scottish Highlands. I arrived in Edinburgh and departed from Inverness two weeks later. I had a rental car but no reservations anywhere, nor an itinerary. The main goals were to experience the lands of my ancestors and sample as many great Scottish whiskies as possible.
I could write 6 months worth of posts from this trip alone. But today, let’s focus on one story in particular – discovering the gravesite of Rob Roy MacGregor.
On the Road
I spent the night along the shores of Lake Lomond. By morning I turned the car north, crossing the central highlands towards Glencoe – ground zero for the Clan Donald massacre. The sky was heavy and colorless. A soft mist pressed the narrow road to a ribbon of saturated green.
Then a small sign flashed by.
Faded white wood with a point cut into one end. Hand painted black letters, read:
Rob Roy’s Grave.
It took only a second to register the words. And in that second, I had already passed the turnoff.
Rob Roy’s Grave!
Foot on the brake.
Balquhidder Glen
Balquhidder is a quiet glen at the eastern edge of the Highlands. Home to a few scattered hillside farms overlooking lush green pastures and forest. At the bottom of the glen sits the long and narrow Loch Voil.
The old Kirk and churchyard are nestled softly in the landscape a few miles from the main road. There’s no visitor center, no velvet rope, no docents or interpretive panels.
Balquhidder Kirk
In 1603, The MacGregor name was outlawed in the Highlands after defeating a rival clan aligned closely with the Crown. The proclamation stated that the name MacGregor was abolished. Anyone bearing the name must renounce it or be killed. They were forbidden to assemble, keep arms, or claim kinship. Anyone harboring them faced the same punishment.
For nearly 150 years the MacGregors carried on by taking the last names of friends, neighbors, and relatives. But this was only words on paper. The families in the glen knew who was who. Generations were raised on a whispered lineage. A fractured and dispersed clan from afar. Hardened and determined from within.
The Grave
At the gravesite, you will notice three flat stones and three markers. This is not a monument to Rob Roy – it was never meant to be. This is a family plot. Here, Robert MacGregor is remembered as a husband and a father.
The stone on the left is for his wife, Helen (Mary Helen) MacGregor. Her date of death is unknown. The center stone is for Robert. He died December 28, 1734 at about the age of 63. The stone on the right is a shared remembrance of their two sons. Coll died 1738 and Robert Jr. died 1754.
Why this matters
This was never meant to be a shrine to Rob Roy the legendary rebel. Those stories and myth-making came much later. This gravesite makes a more personal statement. Although Helen lived much longer than Robert, she chose to be laid to rest beside her outlawed husband. She did this instead of being buried in her own family’s plot. The marker for the two sons doesn’t just give their names and dates. It proudly announces, “Sons of Rob Roy.”
MacGregors Endure
In 1774, after 171 years, the MacGregor name was officially restored. Later, a headstone was erected on the gravesite reading “MacGregor Despite Them.”
There are no records of who commissioned the headstone. No ownership is needed. The answer is implicit: those who endured long enough to reclaim their name – The MacGregors.
The government tried to impose its will with a pompous decree. To eliminate a family’s identity by putting ink on paper. Instead, it created one of Scotland’s most enduring symbols of resistance.
MacGregors Gathering
Poem by Sir Walter Scott
The moon's on the lake, and the mist's on the brae,
And the Clan has a name that is nameless by day;
Then gather, gather, gather, Grigalach!
Gather, gather, gather, &c.
Our signal for fight, that from monarchs we drew,
Must be heard but by night in our vengeful haloo!
Then haloo, Grigalach! haloo, Grigalach!
Haloo, haloo, haloo, Grigalach, &c.
Glen Orchy's proud mountains, Coalchuirn and her towers,
Glenstrae and Glenlyon no longer are ours;
We're landless, landless, landless, Grigalach!
Landless, landless, landless, &c.
But doom'd and devoted by vassal and lord.
MacGregor has still both his heart and his sword!
Then courage, courage, courage, Grigalach!
Courage, courage, courage, &c.
If they rob us of name, and pursue us with beagles,
Give their roofs to the flame, and their flesh to the eagles!
Then vengeance, vengeance, vengeance, Grigalach!
Vengeance, vengeance, vengeance, &c.
While there's leaves in the forest, and foam on the river,
MacGregor, despite them, shall flourish for ever!
Come then, Grigalach, come then, Grigalach,
Come then, come then, come then, &c.
Through the depths of Loch Katrine the steed shall career,
O'er the peak of Ben-Lomond the galley shall steer,
And the rocks of Craig-Royston like icicles melt,
Ere our wrongs be forgot, or our vengeance unfelt!
Then gather, gather, gather, Grigalach!
Gather, gather, gather, &c.
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