Alpin's third son, Gregor, founded a family line, the descendants of which would be known by the family name MacGregor. This, according to legend, was the origin of the notorious and indomitable Clan Gregor of history and folklore.

Down through the ages, the many different clans of Scotland struggled—some simply for survival, others for supremacy. Among the latter clans were the Campbells, whose leaders were wise in the ways of politics in a way rarely if ever equalled by their rivals, and indeed many times their wiles proved the better of the kings themselves. Over time the Campbells became almost universally feared and hated, sort of a medieval Scottish version of Microsoft. As they expanded in Argyll and into Breadalbane, one of the more down-to-earth clans to feel the squeeze was our own Clan Gregor.

The MacGregors held to the old clan custom of defending their name and possessions by the sword, and did not seek royal charters to their lands—charters they did not think the kings were empowered to give or withhold. Eventually they found themselves limited to small holdings at Loch Lomond, and in the glens of Orchy, Strae and Gyle.

King James VI, deceived by an enemy of the MacGregors, issued in 1603 an Act of Proscription, denying anyone bearing the name MacGregor the protection of the law. The clan's chief and a number of its leaders surrendered on condition they be given safe passage from Scotland, but as soon as they had crossed over into England they were treacherously turned about and taken to the Tolbooth in Edinburgh, where they were executed. Afterward, for more than 170 years it was literally against the law in Scotland to be a MacGregor—except for an interlude between 1661 and 1693.

For this reason, Robert Roy MacGregor, the famed Highland outlaw, adopted the surname of his mother—Campbell—and thus was able to secure some measure of protection from the Campbell chief, the Duke of Argyll. Rob Roy's ongoing feud with the Duke of Montrose (not Marquis, as given in the movie) ended in Rob's favor, with Rob dying of old age at home.

In the 1770s the proscription was lifted, but the clan's lands, lost in the meantime, have not been restored. The present Clan Chief is Major Sir Malcolm MacGregor, Bt., who succeeded to the Chiefship on March 30, 2003. Sir Malcolm is the 7th Baronet of Lanrick and Balquhidder, and 24th Chief of Clan Gregor.

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