Rob Roy's sporran

Rob Roy's sporran

Highlands

This heavy brass sporran cantle with an incised pattern once belonged to the legendary Highland outlaw Rob Roy MacGregor (1671 - 1734). Tradition has it that this sporran was given to him by a wee girl who brought him food while he was in hiding during his years as an outlaw. MacGregor was a staunch Jacobite, a soldier, businessman, cattle-rustler and outlaw. But, above all he was a folk hero, whose transformation into a larger-than-life figure began with Daniel Defoe's fictionalised biography "Highland Rogue". This was published while Rob Roy's was still alive and led to his Royal Pardon in 1726 that allowed him to live out his final years quietly, literally a legend in his own lifetime.

Scottish

objects,highlandlife

18th century

eulac3d

Physical Object

46

24/12/2020

L 152 mm x 102 mm

Leigh Bequest

find,56.2859776,-4.6085948;

West Highlands Museum

TEXT

138

brass

2343