Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
elling slowly through winter mud and rain to Inveraray, where he was three days late in taking the oath before the
Sheriff of Argyll.
The secretary of state for Scotland, Sir John Dalrymple, decided to use the fact that MacIain had missed the
deadline to punish the troublesome MacDonalds, and at the same time set an example to other Highland clans,
some of whom had not bothered to take the oath.
A company of 120 soldiers, mainly from the Campbell territory of Argyll, were sent to the glen under cover of
collecting taxes. It was a long-standing tradition for clans to provide hospitality to travellers and, since their com-
manding officer was related to MacIain by marriage, the troops were billeted in MacDonald homes.
After they'd been guests for 12 days, the government order came for the soldiers to 'fall upon the rebels the
MacDonalds of Glencoe and put all to the sword under 70. You are to have a special care that the Old Fox and his
sons do upon no account escape'. The soldiers turned on their hosts at 5am on 13 February, killing MacIain and
37 other men, women and children. Some of the soldiers alerted the MacDonalds to their intended fate, allowing
them to escape; many fled into the snow-covered hills, where another 40 people perished in the cold.
The ruthless brutality of the incident caused a public uproar, and after an inquiry several years later Dalrymple
lost his job. There's a monument to MacIain in Glencoe village, and members of the MacDonald clan still gather
here on 13 February each year to lay a wreath.
Activities
There are several short, pleasant walks around Glencoe Lochan , near the village. To get
there, turn left off the minor road to the youth hostel, just beyond the bridge over the
River Coe. There are three walks (40 minutes to an hour), all detailed on a signboard at
the car park. The artificial lochan was created by Lord Strathcona in 1895 for his home-
sick Canadian wife Isabella and is surrounded by a North American-style forest.
A more strenuous hike, but well worth the effort on a fine day, is the climb to the Lost
Valley , a magical mountain sanctuary still haunted by the ghosts of the murdered
MacDonalds (only 2.5 miles round trip, but allow three hours). A rough path from the car
park at Allt na Reigh (on the A82, 6 miles east of Glencoe village) bears left down to a
footbridge over the river, then climbs up the wooded valley between Beinn Fhada and Ge-
arr Aonach (the first and second of the Three Sisters). The route leads steeply up through
a maze of giant, jumbled, moss-coated boulders before emerging - quite unexpectedly -
into a broad, open valley with an 800m-long meadow as flat as a football pitch. Back in
the days of clan warfare, the valley - invisible from below - was used for hiding stolen
cattle; its Gaelic name, Coire Gabhail, means 'corrie of capture'.
The summits of Glen Coe's mountains are for experienced mountaineers only. Details
of hill-walking routes can be found in the Scottish Mountaineering Club's guidebook Cent-
ral Highlands by Peter Hodgkiss, available in most bookshops and outdoor equipment
stores in the area.
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