With an Introduction & Notes by David Blair From its first publication in 1816 Rob Roy has been recognised as containing some of Scott's finest writing & most engaging fully realised characters The outlaw Rob Roy Mac Gregor was already a legendary disputed figure by the time Scott wrote
- a heroic Scottish Robin Hood to some an over-glamorised unprincipled predator to others Scott approaches Rob Roy indirectly through the adventures of his fictional hero Frank Osbaldistone amid the political turmoil of England & Scotland in 1715 With characteristic care Scott reconstructs the period & settings so as to place Rob Roy & the Scotland he inhabits amid conflicting moral economic & historical forces This edition features besides a new critical introduction & extensive explanatory notes an essay outlining clearly the novel's historical context & a glossary of Scottish words & phrases used by Scott's colourful vernacular characters