The Treachery of the 1692 Glencoe Massacre
Though far from unique, Glencoe has become particularly notorious
Nov 19, 2008
The Betrayal of Highland Trust
The main reason for Glencoe’s notoriety was the underhanded way in which the violence was perpetrated. Age-old principles of trust and hospitality were violated.
Religious Warfare in 17th Century Britain
The background to the massacre was a period of religious turmoil. Throughout northern Europe the Reformation had swept the traditional but often corrupt Catholic establishments aside in favour of Protestantism. The Catholic King James VII of Scotland (James II of England and Ireland) had been defeated at the Battle of the Boyne in Ireland in 1690 by the Dutch Prince, William of Orange. William had been invited to assume the throne to guarantee the Kingdom of Scotland, England and Ireland would remain a Protestant realm.
Swearing of Allegiance to King William III
The Scottish Highlands were a traditional hotbed of support for the old Catholic royal line, known as ‘Jacobites’. So one of William’s first acts of power consolidation was to order the Highland clan chieftains to swear allegiance.
Alistair MacIain, the 12th Chief of Clan MacDonald of Glencoe, was to fatefully delay making his peace until the deadline’s last day. On the 31 December 1691 he made for the government barracks at Fort William and asked the governor, Colonel Hill, to administer the oath. Hill refused, stating that he lacked the authority. MacIain was ordered to make haste to Inveraray and make his oath before Sir Colin Campbell, the sheriff of Argyll.
Due to the severe weather it took MacIain three days to make the journey. More time lapsed while MacIain waited for Campbell to return from new year celebrations.
The Anti-Jacobite Plot is Hatched
MacIain’s oath, through no fault of his own, missed the deadline. These few days were to have a catastrophic effect. A plot was set in motion. Elements in the government saw a way of teaching a lesson to any lingering pro-Jacobite sentiment, as well as neutering a clan that had been at the forefront of hostility to the Edinburgh parliament.
In late January 1692 around 120 soldiers of the first and second companies of the Earl of Argyll’s Regiment of Foot arrived in the glen, taking advantage of traditional cross-clan hospitality to shelter from the wild west Highland winter. While these men were recruited from Clan Campbell territory around the Argyll peninsula, few actually bore the Campbell surname. Having been briefed about collecting taxes it is unclear if the foot-soldiers would have known their mission’s ultimate goal at this stage,
A fortnight later, on 12 February 1692, Captain Drummond of the regiment’s 1st Company arrived with orders from his own superior, Major Duncanson. Ultimately sanctioned with the King’s signature, this command was brutally plain: ‘You are hereby ordered to fall upon the Rebels, the McDonalds of Glenco, and putt all to the sword under seventy’.
The Massacre of Glencoe
At 5am in the morning of 13 February, the Argyll militia turned on their sleeping hosts. But some of the victims were warned of what was to happen. Many of the Argyll men would have been aware of the MacDonald’s own capacity for waging war on their neighbours over the years, but the wanton killing of civilians who had been sharing food and shelter went against the grain.
Nevertheless, enough soldiers were prepared to put duty first and the final body count was 38 men, women and children, including the elderly chieftain, killed as he was putting on his trews. A further 40 women and children died of exposure after the homes were torched.
More government soldiers had been ordered to seal the exits from the glen, but the hostile weather and reluctance to participate in murder of civilians meant the escape routes remained open. Two lieutenants, Francis Farquhar and Gilbert Kennedy, broke their swords rather than carry out their inhuman orders. Imprisoned for insubordination they were later exonerated, released and subsequently gave evidence for the prosecution against their superiors.
Aftermath of the Mass Murder
Scots Law specifically stated that ‘murder under trust’ was particularly heinous and was considered an even more atrocious crime than basic murder. The massacre may have allowed some score-settling amongst the centuries-ols MacDonald versus Campbell bloodletting, but it was a propaganda coup for the Jacobite cause.
The incident eventually became romanticized throughout the Victorian era, and was celebrated in literature, including the works of Sir Walter Scott.
The main reason Glencoe has been mythologized is that it wasn’t widely seen in the context of a government action. It was a continuation of an ancient clan rivalry – one that was far from unique amongst the patchwork of clan territories at that time – but one which involved one faction feigning friendship only to stab their hosts in the back.
To this day, the Clachaig Inn in Glencoe, popular with climbers, bears a sign on its door. ‘No Hawkers or Campbells’.
