I may here mention one or two occasions on which Rob Roy appears to have
given way in the manner alluded to. My late venerable friend, John Ramsay
of Ochtertyre, alike eminent as a classical scholar and as an authentic
register of the ancient history and manners of Scotland, informed me,
that on occasion of a public meeting at a bonfire in the town of Doune,
Rob Roy gave some offence to James Edmondstone of Newton, the same
gentleman who was unfortunately concerned in the slaughter of Lord Rollo
(see Maclaurin's Criminal Trials, No. IX.), when Edmondstone compelled
MacGregor to quit the town on pain of being thrown by him into the
bonfire. "I broke one off your ribs on a former occasion," said he, "and
now, Rob, if you provoke me farther, I will break your neck." But it must
be remembered that Edmondstone was a man of consequence in the Jacobite
party, as he carried the royal standard of James VII. at the battle of
Sheriffmuir, and also, that he was near the door of his own
mansion-house, and probably surrounded by his friends and adherents. Rob
Roy, however, suffered in reputation for retiring under such a threat.