Pitiless Glencoe in words and pictures

Press, 13 November 1982, Page 16

Pitiless Glencoe in words and pictures

Massacre: The story of Glencoe. By Magnus Linklater. Photographs by Anthony Gascoigne. Collins, 1982. 151 pp. Bibliography appendices, index. 528.95. (Reviewed by Joan Curry) What seemed at first to he just another . bloodv skirmish between Campbells and MacDonalds took place nearly 300 years ago. but it is still remembered as one of the more dramatic and controversial episodes in Scottish history. William and Marv were on the throne of England at the time; they were feeling insecure and threatened at home and abroad. James 11. Marys father, was bumbling about in France, a focus for Jacobite intrigues. Mary herself was beseiged bv rumours of plots against her life. William was fretting about the conduct of his Continental wars and he was irritated by persistent reports of the quarrelsome tribes in Scotland who could have been reinforcing his regiments in Flanders instead of fighting each other in the glens north of the border. The MacDonalds, especially, had a reputation for being troublesome; they stole cattle, they squabbled with their neighbours, and even judged by the uncouth standards of the time, they were considered to be thugs and ruffians. Nevertheless they had friends, and they were proud, hardy and independent. They were also Jacobites who. through a series

of unfortunate circumstances, were

prevented from transferring their oath of allegiance to William and Mary until six days after the deadline set by the authorities. The opportunitv to punish the MacDonalds of Glencoe and rid the Highlands of a tribe of bandits was snatched bv those who had old scores to settle or whose political ends might be served by such an action. Responding to pressure from some venomous advisers. King William signed orders that virtually sanctioned the extermination of a group of his own subjects, and the massacre of the MacDonalds was carefully planned in a series of letters and documents that survive today. The date was Saturday, February 13. 1692. The scene was the remote valley of the Scottish Highlands where members of the Clan MacDonald lived in cottages huddled in small settlements along the banks of the River Coe. The weather that dav was atrocious. At five o'clock on that bitter winter’s morning the MacDonalds were attacked as they slept. What made the action so contemptible was the fact that the men who carried out the assault were men of a company of soldiers, many of them Campbell men and

led bv a Campbell, who had been billeted on the MacDonalds in the glen. For 12 davs before they received orders to "fall upon the Rebells, the MacDonalds oi Glencoe and putt all to the sword under seventy." these men had received MacDonald hospitality and friendship, shared their houses, their food, their leisure hours.

For all the planning, however, the result was disappointing for the conspirators. Instead of murdering the 500 members of the clan as ordered, the soldiers managed to kill only 38 MacDonalds. The rest of the clan escaped the slaughter in the glen, although some perished later in the bleak Highland hills from wounds and exposure to the weather. It seems that at least some of the soldiers revolted against their orders and either warned their hosts to escape or spared lives where they could. The historical background to the Glencoe massacre, and the outrage which greeted the news when details began to filter through after the event, are also described in this book. The photographs, showing the pitiless, magnificent setting of the tragedy, heighten the emotional response of the reader to the story of Glencoe.