The Massacre of Glencoe, 1692

Scottish Highland clans were required by January 1 1692 to sign an oath of loyalty to the new London government of William and Mary. The aged MacIan of Glencoe, chief of a small branch of the mighty Clan Donald, left his move too late. When news of this reached Edinburgh, it was seen as providing a pretext for government intervention. Two companies of the Campbell Earl of Argyll’s Regiment were quartered on Glencoe families, where they were hospitably received. Soon the soldiers were ordered to execute the ‘rebels’: 38 were killed, many others fleeing into the mountain snows.
Could the massacre be justified in any way? Could it have been an inter-clan act of vengeance?
We explore critically the historical data, and illustrate the event through images, song and music.