FeR Miniatures: Icons of Literature - Rob Roy
Material: Resin
Number of parts of the kit: 8
Scale: 75 mm
Figure requires assembly and painting.
Robert Roy MacGregor is one of those legendary characters in which history intertwines with folklore and facts get mixed with myth.
The historical character was born at Glengyle, Scotland in 1670 or 1671. When he was only eighteen years old, he joined his father and other clans of the Highlands in the Jacobite revolt of 1688. Some years after, he again participated on the revolt of 1715, being severely wounded on the Battle of Glen Shiel of 1719. After that, he became a well-known and respected cattleman, but peace was not going to last too much. He borrowed money to expand his cattle herd and was scammed by the overseer in charge of it, who fled with the money. He lost his properties and defaulted the payment to his debtor, the Duke of Montrose, situation that branded him as an outlaw. He finally got imprisoned, later was pardoned in 1727 and finally died in 1734. Some sources indicate that the origin of his feud with the Duke started when he bought in open purchase Rob Roy’s properties, which had been seized because of his participation on the 1715 revolt.
Interest in this fascinating character started quite early, actually while the historical Rob Roy was still alive, with the publishing of an account of his life in 1723 titled “The Highland Rogue: or, the memorable actions of the celebrated Robert Mac-gregor, commonly called Rob-Roy”. Soon, other authors started to write about the subject, which became enormously famous with “Rob Roy”, published by Sir Walter Scott in 1817. Today, Rob Roy is the quintessential romantic character that rebels against superior forces after being wronged.
The figure is inspired on the main character from Walter Scott’s story, using actual reference from the historical character and period, like the MacGregor tartan, a plain leather sporran based on actual surviving examples, or some classic weapons of the Jacobites of the period, a basket hilt broadsword and an all-metal Highland pistol.