WELCOME TO An Entertainment Site for Scottish Country Dancers - Enjoy the curated selection of theme-related dances for celebrations and holidays, or find a dance associated with a special calendar day, or EVEN your own birthday!
For Better or Worse - Rob Roy and the Baillie, John Watson, Nicol, 1886
Rob Roy's Birthday!
Mar 7
Other Scottish Country Dances for this Day
Today's Musings, History & Folklore
"Rob Roy, frae the high Highlands,
Came to the Lawlan border;
It was to steal a lady away,
To keep his Highland house in order."
~ Traditional Ballad
Happy Birthday, Rob Roy MacGregor, baptized this day on March 7, 1671! Find enough rustled cattle or those with the heart of a cattle rustler to make a 5 couple set and dance this fun fugal birthday dance!
Rob Roy MacGregor, often hailed as Scotland’s Robin Hood, was a legendary outlaw and folk hero of the early 18th century. Born into Clan MacGregor, he lived a life that straddled both respectability and rebellion.
Renowned for his skill as a cattle rustler, his fearlessness in clan skirmishes, and his uncanny ability to outmaneuver the authorities, Rob Roy became a symbol of Highland defiance against encroaching landlords and government forces. Though branded an outlaw, he remained a proud figure in Scottish history, immortalized in folklore and literature—most notably in Sir Walter Scott’s romanticized tale, which cast him as a man of honor despite his reputation.
Much like the legend himself, this namesake 5 couple reel is a thrilling test of skill and memory. As each couple begins four bars apart, they navigate variations of figures and setting steps, making it a favorite challenge dance—both demanding and exhilarating to complete! ⚔️ ❤️ 🖤 🐂 🐂 🐂
Rob Roy
March 7th marks the birthday/baptism of Rob Roy MacGregor.
Robert Roy MacGregor (Gaelic: Raibeart Ruadh MacGriogair; baptised 7 March 1671 – died 28 December 1734) was a Scottish outlaw, later immortalized as a folk hero.
A fictionalised account of his life, The Highland Rogue, published in 1723, helped to him a legend in his own lifetime, perhaps influencing George I to issue a pardon for his crimes just as he was about to be transported to the colonies!
A subsequent publication, "Rob Roy," by Sir Walter Scott in 1817, further added to his fame and gave more detail to his biography.
Adaptations of his story have also been told in film including the 1922 silent film Rob Roy, a 1953 film from Walt Disney Productions "Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue" and the more recent 1995 Rob Roy.
And in 1894, a bartender at the Waldorf Hotel in New York City created the Rob Roy cocktail in honor of the premiere of Rob Roy, an operetta by composer Reginald De Koven and lyricist Harry B. Smith. The Rob Roy cocktail is similar to a Manhattan but made exclusively with Scotch whisky.
See below for a video of the dance performed by the Eagle Rock Class of the San Gabriel Branch of the RSCDS.
And for more on the life of Rob Roy, click the statue residing on the rocky bank of Culter Burn. Statues have sat on this site since around 1850, at the west of the village of Peterculter, just outside Aberdeen, Scotland. The Rob Roy Preservation Trust, which is a non profitable organisation, commissioned sculptor David J Mitchell to create this new replacement statue for 2017.
Click the dance cribs or description below to link to a printable version of the dance!
