10. A Slow Death

Threats and Warnings!

I hope you all realise I am not writing a Historical text, so if the detail is scanty, you can pull more up on the internet. I don't want to give you all historical indigestion.

Also, most of the pics are our happy snaps, and if you have better ones, please oblige.

When James VI of Scotland went South to London to become James I of England, the writing was on the wall. Even the Scottish Parliament was united with that of England in 1707, mainly by bribing those involved. It was actually not a loss, but from now on, Scotland's interests would be subordinated to those of England. More infuriating, far heavier taxes were levied on Scotland, without much money being spent on improving a very poor country.

Scotland's sons and daughters went forth to populate (often unwillingly) the British Empire, and laid their bones in some strange places. On a hill in Magersfontein outside Kimberley there is a monument to those of the Black Watch and Seaforth Highlanders who died in the first trench battle recorded, near Kimberley in the Boer War. Below the hill, the African sun bleaches the veld, the springbok wheel away in the evening, and I wonder if the MacDonald who died there was one of ours.

Northern Cape Scenery: Lots of Thorn Trees



Black Watch and Seaforth Highlanders Memorial: Magersfontein



Black Watch Gathering Their Dead and Wounded:Magersfontein




The divide between the Celtic Highlands and the largely Saxon Lowlands remained and grew. The language barrier was not the only one! The Lowlands were largely Protestant, and the Highlands mostly Catholic. Until General Wade came along and started road building in 1724, only tracks and drove roads carried traffic.

A few lines from Mcgonigall, Scotland's most famous poet after Burns, and one of the worst poets, poetically speaking, that any country can boast of:

Had you seen these roads before they were made
You would lift up your hands and bless General Wade.

General Wade

No self-respecting cattle thief would agree with him! 400 kilometres of road and forty bridges ensured there was no place to hide.

And here we have an interesting verse added to the National Anthem:

Lord grant that Marshall Wade
May by thy gracious aid
Victory bring.
And like a torrent rush
Rebellious Scots to crush.
God save the King.

Four garrisons of soldiers at Fort Augustus, Fort George, Fort William and Ruthven were supposed to keep the Highlands in order.

In addition, he set up some Highland Regiments, one of which was the famous Black Watch. They are still based at Fort George, and have done duty in Afghanistan.

Our ancestors were not a peaceful lot, clans and septs of clans warring against one another, and stealing each other's cattle. It was a way of life which was not in the least romantic, and something had to be done. Done, it was, after the accession of "Dutch William", otherwise known as William of Orange to the throne in 1688. Son of a Stewart, and married to another, he was mainly interested in Holland.

Handing over several thousand pounds to pay the Clan chiefs to be good boys was a great idea, but most of it stuck to sticky fingers, so the next best thing was to teach them a lesson they would never forget.

So it was that one rainy summer day, my granddaughter Shayna and I drove into a valley. Eying the torrents of water rushing down the mountains, she said: " Gran, it looks as if the mountains are crying."

We had reached Glencoe, the Glen of the Weeping.

On a winter night in 1692, the Campbells of Glenlyon attacked the MacDonalds of Glencoe, whose guests they had been, and massacred as many as they could, women and children included. Many died in the cold when they fled to the mountains.

It caused a scandal throughout Britain, and William was even more unpopular than before.  For a monarch to be implicated in the death of 38 of his subjects was bad enough, but it was a cover-up of the revenge of the Campbells for the stealing of their cattle by the MacDonalds.

It is said that the haunting song, Crodh Chailein, or Colin's Cattle originates from a raid by the Macdonalds of Glencoe on the territory of Colin Campbell of Glenlyon when the cattle were carried off.

I heard my sister Shiela singing it in Glasgow at a competition once, long ago. What a lovely voice she had! She and I sang it together when our sister Peggy died.



 Eventually Shayna and I ended up in Fort William where I drove the wrong way down a one-way street. The police woman who pointed this out to me had nothing on what my granddaughter said. They had this wonderful conversation about senile old women, I had a finger wagged at me, and got let off.

Then Shayna wanted a trip on the loch. It was a beautiful afternoon, so we went up in the loch in the direction of Glencoe. The company was exclusively foreign (south of Hadrian's Wall etc. The young man guide piloting the boat asked if I knew anything about the area. when he learned I was a Macdonald, he changed course.

"Let me take you to the MacDonald burial island," he said. So I spent a lovely half hour exploring this beautiful place, while the amiable furriners ate sandwiches and spotted birds.



Glencoe, and the MacDonald Burial island

 And all because he had grown up in the Lundavra Road where my Uncle John lived! Thanks, Uncle John.