Walter Scott "Rob Roy"
Walter Scott
The events of the novel Rob Roy take place in 1715, the year in which the Scots rebelled against England. The Scottish nobles wanted to put James Stuart, known as “The Old Pretender”, back on the throne of the United Kingdom. They were called Jacobites (because they supported James II) and were predominantly Catholic. The Old Pretender was the son of James II, the last Stuart king to rule Britain (1685-1688). He was a Catholic at a time when the law dictated that only Protestant princes could rule the country. For this reason, in 1688 Parliament forced him to give up the throne and go into exile. His daughter Mary' and her Protestant husband, William of Orange, succeeded him and a period of relative peace and prosperity followed. However, Mary and William died without heirs. Queen Anne - Mary’s sister, who succeeded them - was also childless. Therefore the British crown passed to the German prince George I of Hanover, a distant descendant of the Stuart House. Many people were unhappy with this situation. In 1715 the Old Pretender led a revolt against George I of Hanover, mainly with the help of Scottish nobles loyal to the Stuart dynasty.
Rob Roy (1671-1734) was the nickname of Robert MacGregor, a real figure in Scottish history who belonged to the MacGregor Clan. He was a cattle merchant and a supporter of the Old Pretenders cause against the Hanovers. He lived around Loch Earn in central Scotland, the area where the Highlands begin. Persecuted by the strict laws imposed by the English against the Highlanders, he became a well-known outlaw, blackmailer, and cattle thief. From just inside the border with the Highland area he led his men on raiding parties into the rich lands of southern Protestants (many of whom were supporters of the English and the Hanovers) to steal their cattle and their money.
Text Analysis: Unique words: about 2,000 Total words: about 8,210
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