When it first came out, I didn’t yet have the internet to research some of the words that whooshed past me and apparently didn’t have the inclination to head to the library. But watching it now with the web handy has remedied that for me. Most of the words I could glean from context but for pedantry’s sake…
dirk (the back of a sword)
breeks (trousers)
tug the forelock (a salute, like tipping a cap)
wheesht (quiet)
bairn (child)
Fun film. Better than Braveheart IMO, which was released the same year.
Better than Braveheart? Hardly!! Just because Mel Gibson turned into a buffoon later in life doesn’t diminish the awesomeness of his greatest movie. *Braveheart *was the best successor yet to Orson Welles’ Chimes At Midnight.
I thought it was better, also standingwave altho I like Braveheart too. I’ve been reading a lot of Morgan Llewellyn again and her books are loaded with Irish words whose definitions are woven into the story. I say that because sometimes knowledgable writers don’t bother to explain.
Count me in as another one who thought Rob Roy was better than Braveheart, and I saw them both the year they came out. And I like Braveheart - a lot! But Rob Roy was just a better movie IMO.
To be clear, the words and phrases mentioned by the OP are in the Scots language (Lallans), which is a Germanic language and is closely related to English (sometimes considered a dialect of English).
Irish (Irish Gaelic, Gaeilge, Erse) is a Gaelic language. Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig) is closely related to Irish, but both are Celtic languages, not Germanic like Scots and English.
I loved Braveheart in '95, and had barely heard of Rob Roy.
I finally saw Rob Roy on DVD in '02, and immediately thought that it is the better movie.
Better villains, better story (just a tighter, more focused story; much less grand/sprawling than Braveheart).
Tim Roth, John Hurt, and Brian Cox all take turns stealing the show in delightful wickedness.
Plus, Liam Neeson is a much better actor than Mel Gibson, and Jessica Lange brought an earthy strength to Rob Roy through-and-through, while Sophie Marceau’s Isabella in Braveheart only really had the one “bad-ass” scene during Edward’s death.
This is pretty much what I think, too. The teenager me that saw both movies at the time loved Braveheart far more, but it’s very easy to like – and at the time I thought it was terribly inspiring. The adult, more skeptical and slightly cynical me can’t appreciate Braveheart quite as much.
Rob Roy is, in my opinion, pretty underappreciated. The casting and performances are really quite outstanding, Liam Neeson and Jessica Lange in particular, plus of course Tim Roth is an amazing villain. As a movie it oozes history in just the right way, without getting in the way of the story but without getting fanciful beyond reason the way Braveheart did.
I still enjoy Braveheart but really, Rob Roy is, in nearly every way, the superior film.
Maybe historically more accurate but that’s relative. The part where RR jumps off the bridge and the rope loops around the bads guys neck is a little ridiculous. That would have broken his neck or cruched his larynx, if not pulled his head completely off. And grabbing a sword blade so tightly so that your opponent can’t pull it back? I don’t know about that, either. I did like it when RR whacked with the villian with his sword, practically cutting him in half. I could see that happening.
The only inaccurate historical point was that the Scots all wore shoes, which most of them would have sneered at in real life. Other than that, damn near perfect picture.
Full disclosure: I own one of the kilts worn in the movie.
