The Massacre of Glencoe, 1692: Murder Under Trust

This was a massacre, not a battle

It was the killing of unarmed hosts by soldiers they had sheltered — its infamy is moral and political, not military.

Background

To pacify the Highlands after 1689, chiefs were required to swear allegiance to William and Mary before 1 January 1692. MacIain of Glencoe left it late, went first to Fort William (which could not take the oath) and was sent on to Inveraray, where he swore it about 6 January — a few days late. The oath was received — but the Secretary of State, the Master of Stair, seized on the lateness to make an example of the small, ill-regarded Glencoe MacDonalds.

What happened

In early February about 120 soldiers of Argyll’s Regiment under Robert Campbell of Glenlyon were billeted in the glen, and the MacDonalds fed and housed them for some twelve days under the Highland code of hospitality. On 12 February written orders came — “put all to the sword under seventy” — and at about 5am on the 13th the soldiers turned on their hosts. MacIain was shot; houses were fired; and many who fled into the snow-covered mountains died of exposure.

Outcome & significance

Killing hosts under their own roof broke the sacred code of hospitality — it fell under the Scots crime of “murder under trust.” Public outcry forced a 1695 inquiry that found it murder; yet the fallout was mild — Stair was dismissed but later restored and made an earl. Note it was a state act, authorised at the top, not simply a clan feud — though it is remembered along Campbell–MacDonald lines. Glencoe endures as a symbol of state treachery.

The site today

The MacDonald / Massacre Monument — a Celtic cross (1883) at Carnoch in Glencoe village — is the focus of an annual commemoration each 13 February. The National Trust for Scotland visitor centre interprets the massacre and the glen; the original written orders survive at the National Library of Scotland.

The clans & people involved

• Clan Donald (MacDonald of Glencoe) — the victims.
• Clan Campbell — the officers of the government regiment — though the true authors were the ministers of state, Stair and Hamilton.

Sources

• Massacre of Glencoe — Wikipedia; National Trust for Scotland; Glencoe Folk Museum; Britannica.