Rob Roy was a traitor

last updated 8 January 2015

Glasgow, U.K.

Scotland’s most beloved folk hero, Rob Roy MacGregor, spied for England, according to the first academic inquiry into his life. MacGregor is revered in Scotland as a kind of Robin Hood who stole from the rich, gave to the poor, and led a clan uprising against English rule in the early 18th century. His derring-do was immortalized for the current generation a few years ago in a popular film starring Liam Neeson. But that film was based on legend, not fact, says historian David Stevenson, author of the new book Rob Roy: The Man and the Myth. The real MacGregor embezzled from his own clan and sold information to the head of the English army. MacGregor’s heirs are outraged at the allegations, but Stevens stands by his research. “I did not intend to denigrate a national hero,” Stevens said. “In fact, I was surprised at the extent of his double-dealing and criminality.”