Rob Roy Macgregor, or Auld Lang Syne

Rob Roy Macgregor, or Auld Lang Syne is a musical drama in three acts by Isaac Pocock (1782 – 1835)[1], with music by John Davy. Often referred to simply as Rob Roy.

The original text

The work is based on the novel Rob Roy (1817)[2] by Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832)[3], and incorporating songs and verses from Robert Burns (1759-1796)[4] and Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834)[5], and music by John Davy (1763–1824)[6], drawing heavily on traditional Scottish folk songs.

It was first played at Covent Garden on 12 March 1818, with William Charles Macready in the title role.

The play was published in 1818.

Performance history in South Africa

1823: Performed (and announced as Rob Roy MacGregor Campbell) on 15 November by the English Theatricals company in the African Theatre Cape Town , with The Mock Doctor (Fielding) as afterpiece.

1823: Performed again on 20 December by the English Theatricals company in the African Theatre Cape Town , with All the World's a Stage (Jackman) as afterpiece.

1824: Performed on 11 August by the English Theatricals company in the African Theatre Cape Town , with The Weather-Cock (Forrest) as afterpiece.

1861: Performed as Rob Roy Macgregor, or Auld Lang Syne by Sefton Parry and his company in the Theatre Royal, Harrington Street, Cape Town, on 4 July, with Thomas Brazier as "Rob Roy". Ici on Parle Français (Williams) performed as an afterpiece.

1861: Performed by Sefton Parry and his company in the Theatre Royal, Harrington Street, Cape Town, on 8 July, with The Loan of a Lover (Planché) as an afterpiece.

1862: Performed by Sefton Parry and his company in the Theatre Royal, Harrington Street, Cape Town, on 28 March, with The Dancing Barber (Selby) as an afterpiece. The evening a benefit for T. Brazier.

Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Pocock

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Scott

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Roy_(novel)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Burns

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Taylor_Coleridge

Gordon Goodwin. "Davy, John (1763-1824)", Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 14. [7]

D.C. Boonzaier, 1923. "My playgoing days – 30 years in the history of the Cape Town stage", in SA Review, 9 March and 24 August 1932. (Reprinted in Bosman 1980: pp. 374-439.)

F.C.L. Bosman, 1928[8]: 197, 199

F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1912. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: pp.98, 106, 111, 180, 212, 214-5, 219, 324, 342, 346, 349, 386

Go to the ESAT Bibliography