The events of the novel unfold in early eighteenth-century Scotland, against the backdrop of the confrontation between the Scottish feudal nobility, dreaming of the restoration of the Stuart dynasty, and the English bourgeoisie supporting the reigning king.
The fate of the main character, Frank Osbaldistone, the son of a London merchant, unexpectedly turns out to be closely connected with one of the episodes of the struggle for power — the Jacobite uprising of 1715. Arriving at his uncle’s castle in Scotland, he finds himself at the center of preparations for a conspiracy. The participation in Frank’s fate of the Highland leader Rob Roy MacGregor (a noble robber nicknamed the Scottish Robin Hood), who appears at decisive moments and offers miraculous help, emphasizes the connection of an individual life with history.