How can Walter Scott's politics be explored by studying Rob Roy and its themes?

Though Scott, a conservative and a Tory, functionally supported Scotland's union with England, he nonetheless lamented the loss of Scotland's independence. Much of his writing explores the period in history in which Scotland fought for independence from England, and Rob Roy, with Jacobite risings central to its plot, is no different. In some ways, Rob Royromanticizes the era; simultaneously, however, the novel seems to relegate the violence and upheaval of the period firmly...

Though Scott, a conservative and a Tory, functionally supported Scotland's union with England, he nonetheless lamented the loss of Scotland's independence. Much of his writing explores the period in history in which Scotland fought for independence from England, and Rob Roy, with Jacobite risings central to its plot, is no different. In some ways, Rob Roy romanticizes the era; simultaneously, however, the novel seems to relegate the violence and upheaval of the period firmly to the past, reinforcing the concept that these have no relevance or place in modern Britain. Scott explored the confusing nature of his own feelings for his native country -- longing for the days of an independent national identity, while fully supporting a union with England going forward -- through the world of his fiction.