Notes |
- "In the beginning of the year 1692, an action of unexampled barbarity
disgraced the government of William in Scotland. In the August preceding,
a proclamation had been issued, offering an indemnity to such insurgents
as should take the oaths of allegiance to the king and queen on or before
the last day of December; and the chiefs of such clans as had been in
arms for James soon after took advantage of the proclamation. But
MacDonald of Glencoe was prevented, by accident rather than design, from
tendering his submission within the limited time. In the end of December
he went to Colonel Hill, the Governor of Fort William, and tendered to
him his oath of allegiance. But this officer had no power to receive it.
Sympathizing, however, with the distress of the old chieftan, he
furnished him with a letter to Sir Colin Campbell, Sheriff of
Argyleshire, requesting him to receive McDonald's submission, and to
administer the oath to him, that he might have the advantage of the
indemnity. MacDonald hastened from Fort William to Inverary with such
eagerness, that though the road lay within half a mile of his own house,
he stepped not aside to visit his family. But the way to Inverary lay
through almost impassable mountains, the season was extremely rigorous,
and the whole country was covered with snow. In consequence of these
obstructions, the ill-fated chief did not reach Inverary till after the
prescribed time had elapsed. The Sheriff, however, in the circumstances
of the case, yielding to the importunities and even tears of MacDonald,
administered to him the oath of allegiance, and sent off an express to
the Privy Council certifying the fact, and explaining the cause of the
delay.
But MacDonald had unfortunately rendered himself obnoxious to Sir John
Dalrymple, afterwards Earl of Stair, secretary of state for Scotland, and
to the powerful Earl of Breadalbane, whose lands the Glencoe men had
plundered, and whose plans for the pacification of the Highlands the
chieftan himself had thwarted and exposed. He was now made to feel the
weight of their vengeance. The Sheriff of Argyle's letter was
treacherously kept back, and the certificate of MacDonald's having taken
the oath was blotted out from the books of Privy Council. The king was
persuaded that the MacDonalds were the main obstacles to the pacification
of the Highlands; and sanguinary orders for proceeding to military
execution against the clan were in consequence obtained. The warrant was
both signed and countersigned by the king's own hand, and the secretary
urged the officers who commanded in the Highlands, to execute their
orders with the utmost rigor.
Campbell of Glenlyon, a captain in Argyle's regiment, and two
subalterns, were ordered to repair to Glencoe, on the 1st of February,
with a hundred and twenty men. Campbell being uncle to young MacDonald's
wife, was received by the chief and his followers with the utmost
friendship and hospitality. The men were lodged at free quarters in the
houses of the clan, and received the kindest entertainment. Till the 13th
of the month, the troops lived in the utmost harmony and familiarity with
the people, and on the very night of the massacre, Glenlyon passed the
evening at cards in his own quarters with MacDonald's sons. In the night,
Lieutenant Lindsay, with a party of soldiers, called in a friendly manner
at the chieftan's house, and was instantly admitted. MacDonald, while in
the act of dressing himself, and giving orders for refreshments to be
procured for his visitors, was shot dead at his own bedside. His aged
wife had already dressed, but she was stripped naked by the soldiers, who
tore the rings off her fingers with their teeth. The slaughter now became
general, and neither age nor sex was spared. In one place, nine persons,
as they sat enjoying themselves at table, were butchered by the soldiers.
At the hamlet where Glenlyon had his own quarters, nine men, including
his landlord, were bound by the soldiers, and then shot one by one.
Thirty-eight persons in all were massacred by the troops, and several who
fled to the mountains perished by famine and the inclemency of the
season. Those who escaped owed their lives to a tempestuous night.
Lieutenant Colonel Hamilton, who had received the charge of the execution
from the secretary of state, was on his march with a hundred men to guard
the eastern passes from the valley of Glencoe, but he was prevented by
the severity of the weather from reaching the scene of the massacre till
the survivors of the unfortunate clan had made their escape. He entered
the valley next day, laid the houses in ashes, and carried away the
cattle and spoil, which were divided among the officers and soldiers.
It has been a question whether or not King William ever knowingly gave
the barbarous order for the massacre of the MacDonalds of Glencoe, and an
attempt has been made to throw the odium on his minister, the Earl of
Stair. For the bloody work at Glencoe, the Highlanders never forgave King
William, against whom they besides cherished a hatred for placing his
troops and garrisons in their country, and for turning his arms against
his father-in-law, for which last offense they considered him a monster
of filial ingratitude."
Black's Picturesque Tourist of Scotland, 13th Edition, Edinburgh: Adam
and Charles Black, 6 North Bridge. 1857 (MDCCCLVII)
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