Rob Roy can refer to the popular novel by Sir Walter Scott, published in 1817, as well as the shortened name for a number of stage dramatizations of the novel from 1818 onwards.

While the authors of the adaptations are not always credited (the play even credited to Scott in some instances), recognized stage versions which appeared in 1818 alone include:

Rob Roy Macgregor; or, Auld Lang Syne! by Isaac Pocock (1782–1835)[1], with music by John Davy (1763-1824)[2].

Rob Roy MacGregor by William Henry Murray[3]

Rob Roy, The Gregarach by George Soame

Translations and adaptations

Performance history in South Africa

A play called Rob Roy MacGregor Campbell, or simply referred to a Rob Roy, said to be based on Scott's novel, was performed a number of times in the African Theatre, Cape Town by the amateur company English Theatricals in the years 1823-24. It is most likely that this was the widely known and published Pocock musical version of 1818, but it may have been the William Henry Murray version, entitled Rob Roy Macgregor, which had been devised in association with Scott and was performed in Edinburgh in 1818.

Performances of all versions of Rob Roy in South Africa

1823: Performed as Rob Roy MacGregor Campbell "with the original Overture and Music, new Scenery, Dresses, etc." by the company English Theatricals on 15 November, in the African Theatre, Cape Town. Repeated on 20 December, with All the World's a Stage (Jackman)

1824: Performed as Rob Roy , now called a "melodramatic opera", in the African Theatre, Cape Town, by the English Theatricals on 11 August.