The booty for aught that I saw, mon;
For he ne’er advanced
From the place where he stanced
Till nae mair was to do there at a’, mon.
It is impossible to give even an account of all Rob’s pranks, some of which are doubtless mythical, and others which do not greatly redound to his credit. He had certainly that picturesque personality which has attracted romancers in all ages, and he formed a very fitting subject for Scott’s pen.
In the end he turned Roman Catholic, and died, as already stated, at Balquhidder.
The road drops very steeply down to Lomond, and passes the earthworks which mark the site of a fort built by William III. to overawe the rebels. The fort, being on the great outlaw’s property, was an object of peculiar hatred. Twice it was surprised and taken—once by Roy himself and once by his nephew. It is said that at one time General, then Captain, Wolfe was in command of it.
The Highland Girl
The little stream Arklet dances and brawls over its bed, in its descent accompanying the road, and at length leaps into the lake by a splendid waterfall thirty feet in height. Close by this is the palatial hotel at Inversnaid, a brother to the one at the Trossachs. When the Wordsworths arrived here the first time, after having with great difficulty got across Loch Lomond in a row-boat, they found only a miserable ferry-house, with a mud floor, and rain coming in at the roof. It was here that Wordsworth saw the prototype of his “sweet Highland girl.”