Gilderoy

**Patrick McGregor** , best kent as **Gilderoy** (the Englified version o his Gaelic ok-name ***Gille Ruadh***, meanin *reid-haired laddie*) wis a Scots criminal an blackmailer wha herried the launds o Strathspey (en), Braemar, Cromarty, an ither pairts aroun o Aiberdeen durin the ring of Charles I (1600–1649) til his execution in 1636. He is muckle kenspeckled an remembered bi Scots in published stories, ballants, tuins, expressions; Rabbie Burns used a version of the melody *Gilderoy* far the sang *[[From Thee Eliza]]*.

## Life an chairacter
A murtherer, cou-thief an blackmailer, Gilderoy wis the heid o a menyie of limmers. He's kent bi the ok-name 'Bonnie Lad', an is bytimes compared an confuised wi ither siclike kenspeckled Scots criminals, fur ensample Rab Roy MacGregor (1671–1734).

The rock formation at Burn o'Vat (nearby Ballater on Deeside) wis said tae be Gilderoy's hiddle. A shallow depression aback the main watterfaw is kent as "Gilderoy's Cave" (*Gilderoy's Gloup*) as he's ance said tae hae hid fae pursuers ahint the watterfaw. In Juin 1636 Sir James Grant o Freuchie an Sir Alexander Irvine of Drum an his wife Magdalene Scrimgeour war censured fur hairbouring Gilderoy in thair launds. He wis executed in 1636.

### Details o the trial an his execution
Archibald Campbell (Lord Lorne), heritable justiciar o the Sooth an North Isles an the Sheriffdom of Argyll, finally caucht Gilderoy an on 7 Juin 1636 in Edinburgh his trial began. The trial records a leet o his crime:

Gilderoy uised muckle violence tae steal fuid an drink fae the tenants o Sir Robert Innes o Balvenie. In 1635 he an his associates robbed fower hens fae the househauder o Culquharnie. William Dougat of Auchihove an some o his men war taen prisoner an demanded a ransom o twa hunder merks. A muckle nummer o ither offences ur recorded involvin common fowk, lairds an e'en ministers. He wis involved in sindry "crewall slauchters" (murthers) forby.

Gilderoy was fun guilty an the dempster o the coort pronounced the doom (verdict); that Gilderoy on Friday 29 July wis tae be "drawin backwardis upone upone ane cairt or hurle, fra the tolbuth or wairdhous, to the mercat cross of Edinburgh*.*" He, alangside John Forbes, haed the distinction that they war tae be hanged til deid on a gibbet that was muckle heicher than that o thair associates.  Gilderoy an Forbes war tae hae thair "... heidis be strukin af from thair bodies, with their richt handis, and the said Gilroy his heid and richt hand to be affixit on the eist or netherbow poirt of Edinburgh, and the said John Forbes his heid and richt hand to be put upone the wast poirt thairof."**

His menyie ur registrated as haein herried the landwart for muckle time efter his deith.

## Popular versions o his life
Muckle kenspeckle versions o his life war published, siclike *Lives and Exploits of English Highwayman, Pirates and Robbers*. The speel o his activities is aft muyt forrit an his hangin date gien as 1658, wi sindry fause an heichly exaggerated pairts eikit. Gilderoy hae been pit in the same steid as Robin Hood, Twm Siôn Cati an the aforementioned Rab Roy MacGregor.

Gilderoy wis said tae hae been o guid breed, heir tae an estat in Perthshire upon his faither's deith at twinty-ane yeir auld. Despite advice fae kith an kin, he glegly bankrupts the estat wi his deil-ma-care attitude. At the hinder end, his mither refuses him ony mair monie, so he cuts her creg, rapes his sister an servand, an havin robbed all her remainin valuables, brent duin her huis.

A muckle reward is then offerit far his captur, an Gilderoy flees tae Fraunce, whaur he coft braw claes an finds hissel ane day in a cathedral near Pairis whaur Cardinal Richelieu is preachin wi the king in attendance. He then robs money fae the cardinal's purse whilk he left on his seat. The king notices this, but Gilderoy gies a sign tae say that it is a prank, the king later findin oot that wis a sittin-duck o joukerie. Fleeing Fraunce, Gilderoy enters Spain, commitin a muckle amount o stouth whaure're he gang. In Madrid, he robs vailuable siller plate fae the Duke o Medinaeceli.

Efter gaun intae hidin for three year, Gilderoy gaes back tae Scotland. Althou Gilderoy wis really kilt in 1636, in these mythologies he is said tae hae taen vantage o the baise o the Inglis Civil War (1642–1651) an assemmled a menyie thit terrorised fowk outthrou the coonties o Athol, Lockable, Angus, Mar, Baquahan, Moray an Sutherland, demandin mony victims tae haund ower their kye tae the bridands tae be protectit. The Earl o Linlithgow (en) is recorded as a victim, wi Gilderoy robbin a diamant ring, a gowd watch an echty gowd coins fae him.

Oliver Cromwell is brocht intae the story; Gilderoy is said tae hae discovered that Cromwell wis passin thru the Gallowa efter having landed at Portpaitrick on his return fae Ireland an tries tae commit a stouth on him. Altho Cromwell has only twa servands wi him, he opts to fecht wi Gilderoy, upon whilk Gilderoy shuits an eventually pretends tae flee. Efter a lang chase he suddenly halts, shuits an kills one of his pursuers, injures the other an shuits Cromwell's horse fae under him, resultin in him breakin his leg. Gilderoy grants Cromwell his life, mounts him on a cuddie an sends him on his way.

Three o Gilderoy's men ur captured an hanged; in revenge, he kidnaps the judge responsible, murthers his servands, cuts up his coach, kills aw his horse an hangs him on the gey identical gibbet upon whilk his men aye dangle. Efter carrying oot mony ither atrocities, a reward o 1000 merks is shored fur his capture, deid or alive. His mistress, Margaret Cunningham, decides tae betray him as she didnae think he cuid provide fur her ony langer. She arranges fur forty sodgers tae tak him at her hame, however Gileroy murthers her wi muckle barbarity afore managing tae murther echt o the sodgers afore they eventually overwhelm him.

Gilderoy is securely chained by his haunds, waist an feet an efter three days so attired in the Edinburgh Tollbooth he is hung fae a thirty-fit heich gibbet in April 1658 huvin expressed nae remorse. His bodie, still hung in chains, is exhibited on another gibbet placed between Edinburgh an Leith as a dire warning tae others. He is said tae hae been thirty-four year auld at his deith.

## In poetry, music an sang
Below is the foremaist stanza fae the 1783 publication o *Select Scotish Ballads* bi John Pinkerton showing that despite the harsh an brutal reality o Gilderoy's life, he hud a romantic appeal. The original is said tae hae bin composed shortly efter his execution by *a young woman who unfortunately was attached to him.* Miss Halket, efter Miss Wardlaw, is kent tae hae *softened, expunged, and added, as necessity might require.*

A black letter copy 1650 shows that it wis weel-kent in England at that time an in 1702 it appeared in Playford's *Wit and Mirth* forby. John Niven, a Jacobite sympathiser, transumed the tuin *The Flowers of Scotland Gilderoy* in the 1760s.

The tuin *Gilderoy* appears in Thomas D'Urfey's *Pills to Purge Melancholy* (1707), an in *Tea Table Miscellany* (1726) forby. It appeared in *Orpheus Caledonius* of 1733 an aw.

The ''Wordsworth Dictionary of Phrase and Fable'' o 1870 records the expression "To be hung higher than Gilderoy's kite", meaning tae receive a punishment that is mair severe than that forordinar meted oot tae even the maist despicable o criminals. Rudyard Kipling's *The Lesson*, screived in 1901 anent the Boer War, uises the phrase an aw: ("*Were all our most holy illusions knocked higher than Gilderoy’s kite. / We have had a jolly good lesson, and it serves us jolly well right!*").

Ane o the maist recent daursayd memorials tae Gilderoy is that bi Thomas Campbell (1777–1844) wha wrate the ballant *Roslin Gilderoy.* However this likelie relates tae a different bodie wi the identical ok-name, wha in th 18t-century wis hanged in Edinburgh fur stealing sheep, kye, an sindry items forby. This is the first stanza :-

## References
;Notes

;Sources

* Brewer, Ebenezer Cobham (1870). *The Wordsworth Dictionary of Phrase and Fable*. Wordsworth.
* Brewer, Ebenezer Cobham (1892). *Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama, Volume 2*.
* Donaldson, Gordon & Morpeth, Robert S. (1977). *A Dictionary of Scottish History*. Edinburgh : John Domald. .
* Pinkerton, John (1783). *Select Scotish Ballads*. London : J. Nichols.
* Prichard, Thomas Jeffrey Llewelyn (1828). *The Adventures and Vagaries of Twm Shon Catti, Descriptive of Life in Wales*. Aberystwyth : Prichard.
* Spalding, John (1850). *Memorialls of The Trubles in Scotland and In England. A.D. 1624 - A.D.1645*. Vol. 1. Aberdeen : Spalding Club.

## Articles outwith
*The Newgate Calendar - ''A most barbarous Murderer of his Mother and Sister, who led a bloodthirsty Gang of Outlaws in Scotland and hanged a Judge. Executed in April, 1658.''
*The Ballad of Gilderoy by Thomas Campbell.
*Historical records of the trial of Patrick McGregor
*"Gilderoy" the folk song.
*Burn O'Vat & the Outlaw Gilderoy video