Glen Coe's main claim to infamy, the Glencoe massacre, took place nearby at 5am on the morning of 13 February 1692. MacIain was getting out of bed to investigate the noise outside when he was shot twice and fell dead on the spot. In the early hours of the 13th February 1692, Scottish Government soldiers under the command of Robert Campbell of Glenlyon carry out the Massacre of Glencoe on their MacDonald hosts.. They had orders for ‘free quarter’, claiming that there was no room at Fort William due to the large number of soldiers stationed there, and requested hospitality, which the MacDonalds granted. “Letters of fire and sword,” authorizing savage attacks upon recalcitrants, were drawn up in anticipation of widespread refusals; the chiefs, however, took the oath. The signed order for the Massacre of Glencoe will be unveiled along with nine other artefacts at the National Library of Scotland to mark the end of the Year of Homecoming. In 1692 Alexander MacDonald of Glen Coe…, …refusal of the Macdonalds of Glencoe to join in the submission to him that he organized a terrible massacre that made his name notorious. When MacIain arrived at Fort William on the 31st, the governor, an old Cromwellian and friend of the Glencoe MacDonalds, Englishman Colonel John Hill, explained that he could not administer the oath and that only the appointed magistrate in Inveraray, Sir Colin Campbell, could do so. Neil Ritchie is the founder and editor of ScottishHistory.org. The nation of Scotland, although used to war and murder in its many forms, was outraged by the callousness of the massacre of Glencoe. For many it is wrongly perceived as just one more savage episode in an age-old blood feud between the Campbells and Macdonalds. In August 1691 the government offered an indemnity to all chiefs who should take an oath of allegiance before January 1, 1692. The Glencoe Massacre. The order to carry out the killings would have come as a terrible shock to Glenlyon and most of his troops. All rights reserved. However, they serve to demonstrate how the Glencoe massacre has wormed its way into Scottish national consciousness. Planned and ordered by the Secretary of State of Scotland, approved by the Scottish Privy Council and carried out by elements of the Scots Army, the Massacre of Glencoe was not a clan feud, it was state policy from Edinburgh. The infamy of the massacre of Glencoe is not so much in the numbers killed, but in the way it was carried out. Many Scottish clans had remained loyal to King James II after he was replaced on the English and Scottish thrones by William III in 1689. The National Trust for Scotland Visitor Center, off the A82, is a good place to start, with interactive displays that explain the development of the landscape, the local flora and fauna and this history of Glencoe, including all the complicated developments that led to the massacre. Despite the reputation the event has retained, contemporaries seem to have viewed it less seriously. The exhibition at the visitor centre includes a 15 minute video presentation about the massacre. Dalrymple was keen to impress King William and to show that he was the man that could effectively deal with the troublesome highlands. Scottish History. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). The Massacre of Glencoe in Scotland is one of Scotland's greatest pieces of History, a sad story in Scottish history dated 13th of February 1692 Glenlyon and two companies of Argyll’s Regiment marched into Glencoe on 1st February. Sir John Dalrymple, William’s secretary of state for Scotland, thereupon issued an order under the king’s signature for military punishment of the MacDonalds. This was because MacIain, leaving it to the last minute, had travelled to Fort William instead of Inveraray to swear the oath. Some accounts say the massacre began with Glenlyon’s men firing their muskets, possibly in the hope that the noise would alert their hosts, giving many time to escape. There are reports that some of the soldiers got a number of people to safety, with others shouting warnings, however, 38 MacDonald men were killed by the troops and dozens more MacDonalds, including women and children, would later perish in the freezing blizzard conditions sweeping the glen after they had fled, their houses having been set on fire. Nearby memorials sites are the Celtic cross at the Massacre of Glencoe Memorial, and plaque at Henderson Stone (Clach Eanruig). The Massacre of Glencoe is one of the most talked about and least understood episodes in Scottish history. The massacre was to begin simultaneously in three settlements along the glen (Invercoe, Inverrigan, and Achacon) although the killing took place all over the glen as the fleeing MacDonalds were pursued and slain. Corrections? Many of the clan escaped, but the chief, 33 other men, 2 women, and 2 children were killed. The true story of the events leading up to the infamous massacre of the Macdonalds by the Campbells in February of 1692. Glencoe is a village located in the Scottish Highlands about 90 miles north of Glasgow. I think to plunder their cattle and burn their houses would only make them desperate men, who would live outside the law and rob their neighbours but I know you will agree that it will be a great advantage to the nation, when that thieving tribe is rooted out and cut off.“, “When it comes the time to deal with Glencoe, let it be secret and sudden. Glencoe Massacre Memorial (Kim Traynor via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY SA-3.0) For nearly two weeks, the 100 or so soldiers lived amicably alongside the MacDonalds. In 1696 he was made a lord of the treasury, and his political services were rewarded in 1701 by his being created duke of Argyll. Peter R wrote a review Oct 2020. According to Tripadvisor travelers, these are the best ways to experience The Glencoe Massacre Monument: Loch Ness, Glencoe and the Highlands Private Day Tour from Edinburgh (From $600.57) 3-Day Isle of Skye and Scottish Highlands Tour from Edinburgh, Including "Hogwarts Express" Ride (From $609.68) Fort William and Glencoe (From $111.10) Perhaps the delay was on purpose and the orders designed as a false reassurance to Glenlyon that he wasn’t going to be acting on his own. In 1691, King William the Third, recognising the resurgence of the Jacobite cause, ordered all the clan chiefs to sign an oath of allegiance by 1st January 1692. 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