John MacGregor (1825 – 1892), nicknamed
Rob Roy after a
renowned relativeRobert Roy MacGregor, usually known simply as Rob Roy or alternately Red MacGregor, was a famous Scottish folk hero and outlaw of the early 18th century, who is sometimes known as the Scottish Robin Hood. Rob Roy is anglicised from the Scottish Gaelic Raibeart Ruadh, or Red Robert...
, was a
ScottishScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
explorer, travel writer and
philanthropistA philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
. He is generally credited with the development of the first
sailing canoesCanoe sailing refers to the practice of fitting a Polynesian outrigger or a Western canoe with sails.See also log canoe, a type of sailboat used in the Chesapeake Bay region.-Polynesian sailing canoes:...
and with popularising
canoeingCanoeing is the activity of paddling a canoe for the purpose of recreation , sport, or transportation. It usually refers exclusively to using a paddle to propel a canoe with only human muscle power...
as a
middle classThe middle class are any class in the middle of a social schema. In Weberian socio-economic terms they are the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socioeconomically between the working class and upper class. In Marxist terms, middle class commonly refers to either the...
sport in
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
and the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. He founded the
EnglishEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
Royal Canoe ClubThe Royal Canoe Club , founded in 1866, is the oldest canoe club in the world and received royal patronage in the 19th century. The clubhouse is based at Trowlock Island on the River Thames in Teddington near central London. The club promotes canoeing and kayaking, focusing on flatwater, sprint and...
(RCC) in 1866.
MacGregor worked as a
barristerA barrister is a lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions that employ a split profession in relation to legal representation. In split professions, the other types of lawyers are mainly solicitors...
in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
, and was an accomplished artist and drew all the art in his travel books.
The son of General Sir Duncan MacGregor, he was introduced to canoeing in the course of a trip to the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in 1858.
John MacGregor (1825 – 1892), nicknamed
Rob Roy after a
renowned relativeRobert Roy MacGregor, usually known simply as Rob Roy or alternately Red MacGregor, was a famous Scottish folk hero and outlaw of the early 18th century, who is sometimes known as the Scottish Robin Hood. Rob Roy is anglicised from the Scottish Gaelic Raibeart Ruadh, or Red Robert...
, was a
ScottishScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
explorer, travel writer and
philanthropistA philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
. He is generally credited with the development of the first
sailing canoesCanoe sailing refers to the practice of fitting a Polynesian outrigger or a Western canoe with sails.See also log canoe, a type of sailboat used in the Chesapeake Bay region.-Polynesian sailing canoes:...
and with popularising
canoeingCanoeing is the activity of paddling a canoe for the purpose of recreation , sport, or transportation. It usually refers exclusively to using a paddle to propel a canoe with only human muscle power...
as a
middle classThe middle class are any class in the middle of a social schema. In Weberian socio-economic terms they are the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socioeconomically between the working class and upper class. In Marxist terms, middle class commonly refers to either the...
sport in
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
and the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. He founded the
EnglishEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
Royal Canoe ClubThe Royal Canoe Club , founded in 1866, is the oldest canoe club in the world and received royal patronage in the 19th century. The clubhouse is based at Trowlock Island on the River Thames in Teddington near central London. The club promotes canoeing and kayaking, focusing on flatwater, sprint and...
(RCC) in 1866.
MacGregor worked as a
barristerA barrister is a lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions that employ a split profession in relation to legal representation. In split professions, the other types of lawyers are mainly solicitors...
in
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
, and was an accomplished artist and drew all the art in his travel books.
Early life
The son of General Sir Duncan MacGregor, he was introduced to canoeing in the course of a trip to the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in 1858. .
Boat designer
MacGregor was a champion
marksmanA marksman is a person who is skilled in precision shooting, using projectile weapons, such as with a rifle but most commonly with a sniper rifle, to shoot at small long-range targets. In the military, marksmen are sometimes attached to an infantry squad where they take accurate long-range shots at...
but turned to boating when a railroad accident left him unable to hold a rifle steady.
The boat he designed was 'double-ended', (modeled after Indian canoes), but built in
LambethLambeth is a place in the London Borough of Lambeth, although the area is now more commonly known as Waterloo, after the railway station whose viaduct separates the former centre of the village from the River Thames...
of lapstrake oak planking, decked in cedar covered with rubberized canvas with an open cockpit in the center. It measured 15 feet long, 28 inches wide, nine inches deep and weighed 80 pounds (36 kg) and was designed y to be used with a double-bladed paddle.
He named the boat
Rob Roy after the celebrated Scottish outlaw of the same name, to whom he was related.
During the 1860s, he had at least seven similar boats built and he sailed and paddled them in
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
, the
BalticThe Baltic Sea is a brackish inland sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and the...
and the
Middle EastThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, southeastern Europe, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East...
.
Writings
In 1866, he published
A Thousand Miles in the Rob Roy Canoe, which popularised the design and, more importantly, the concept:
"in walking you are bounded by every sea and river, and in a common sailing-boat you are bounded by every shallow and shore; whereas, ...a canoe [can] be paddled or sailed, or hauled, or carried over land or water".
The book was internationally successful; with subsequent books and public appearances, it earned MacGregor more than ten thousand pounds. Scottish author
Robert Louis StevensonRobert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. Stevenson was greatly admired by many authors, including Jorge Luis Borges, Ernest Hemingway, Rudyard Kipling, Marcel Schwob, Vladimir Nabokov, J. M. Barrie, and G. K...
's 1876 voyage by canoe through the canals and rivers of France and Belgium, published in 1878 as
An Inland VoyageAn Inland Voyage is a travelogue by Robert Louis Stevenson about a canoeing trip through France and Belgium in 1876. It is Stevenson's earliest book and a pioneering work of outdoor literature....
, used "Rob Roy" canoes.
Published works
- Three Days in the East (1850)
- Our Brothers and Cousins: A Summer Tour in Canada and the States (1859)
- A Thousand Miles in the Rob Roy Canoe (1866)
- The Voyage Alone In The Yawl 'Rob Roy (1867)
- The Rob Roy on the Baltic (1867)
- The Rob Roy on the Jordan, Nile, Red sea, & Gennesareth, &c (1869)
External links
- Our Brothers and Cousins: A Summer Tour in Canada and the States. London, Seeley, Jackson, and Halliday, 1859. First edition, illustrated. From Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is a nonprofit organization dedicated to building and maintaining a free and openly accessible online digital library, including an archive of the World Wide Web....
.
- A Thousand Miles in the Rob Roy Canoe on Rivers and Lakes of Europe. London: S. Low and Marston, 1866. First edition, illustrated. From Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is a nonprofit organization dedicated to building and maintaining a free and openly accessible online digital library, including an archive of the World Wide Web....
.
- A Thousand Miles in the Rob Roy Canoe, text.
- The Rob Roy in the Baltic, from Harper's New Monthly Magazine, 1867.
- The Rob Roy on the Jordan, Nile, Red sea, & Gennesareth, &c. London: John Murray, Albemarle Street 1874. Fourth edition, illustrated. From Google Books.
- The Voyage Alone In The Yawl 'Rob Roy. London: S. Low and Marston, 1880. Fourth edition, illustrated. From Google Books.
- "Rob Roy", biography in Dictionary of National Biography
The Dictionary of National Biography is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published from 1885...
, 1897. From Google Books.
- Hodder, Edwin (1894). John MacGregor, a biography. London Hodder Bros. From Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is a nonprofit organization dedicated to building and maintaining a free and openly accessible online digital library, including an archive of the World Wide Web....
.
- John MacGregor: A Victorian-era Paddler Sea Kayaker Magazine 1999 by Brian Kologe