Editing Massacre of Glencoe (section)

== Background ==
{{Location map many|Scotland Highland
 |caption = Scottish Highlands: key locations mentioned in article 
 |width   = 250
 |float   = left
 |relief  = yes
 |label1  = Fort William |lat1_deg = 56.8198|lon1_deg = -5.1052|pos1 = right
 |label2  = Glencoe|lat2_deg = 56.667778|lon2_deg = -4.986667|pos2 = left
 |label3  = Invergarry Castle|lat3_deg = 57.065833|lon3_deg =-4.780833|pos3 = top
 |label4  = Achallader|lat4_deg=56.5599|lon4_deg=-4.7316|pos4=right}}

Some historians argue the late 17th-century [[Scottish Highlands]] were more peaceful than often suggested, the exception being [[Lochaber]], identified as a refuge for cattle raiders and thieves by government officials, other chiefs and Gaelic poets.{{sfn|MacInnes|1986|pp=174–176}}  Much of this instability was blamed on the questionable legal status of lands ostensibly leased from [[Clan Mackintosh]] and occupied by [[Clan MacDonald of Keppoch]], though the later disputed this claim.{{sfn|Hopkins|1998|p=380}} Four Lochaber clans were consistently identified as prone to lawlessness, the Keppoch and [[MacDonald of Glencoe|Glencoe MacDoanlds]], the [[MacGregors]], and [[Clan Cameron|Camerons]].{{sfn|MacInnes|1986|pp=174–176}} 

Levies from all four served in the [[Independent Highland Companies]] used to suppress the [[Conventicle#Scotland|Conventicles]] in 1678–80. They also took part in the raid led by the [[John Murray, 1st Marquess of Atholl|Marquess of Atholl]] that followed [[Argyll's Rising]] in 1685. Primarily directed against Lowland migrants settled in [[Cowal]] and [[Kintyre]], the damage inflicted by Atholl's raid destabilised large parts of the central and southern Highlands. In September 1688, [[James VII and II]] outlawed the Keppoch MacDonalds, shortly before he was deposed by the November 1688 [[Glorious Revolution in Scotland|Glorious Revolution]].{{sfn|MacInnes|1986|pp=193–194}}

In March 1689, James landed in [[Williamite War in Ireland|Ireland]] in an attempt to regain his kingdoms, with Camerons and Keppoch MacDonalds among those who joined [[John Graham, 1st Viscount Dundee|Viscount Dundee]] for a [[Jacobite rising of 1689|supporting campaign in Scotland]]. Victory over a government army at [[Battle of Killiecrankie|Killiecrankie]] on 27 July cost the lives of Dundee and 600 Highlanders, while organised [[Jacobitism|Jacobite]] military resistance largely ended after [[Battle of Cromdale|Cromdale]] in May 1690.{{sfn|Lenman|1980|pp=37–38}} However, the ongoing need to police the Highlands used resources needed for the [[Nine Years' War]] in [[Flanders]], while close links between Western Scotland and [[Ulster]] meant unrest in one country often spilled into the other.{{sfn|Lang|1912|pp=284–286}} Since peace in the Highlands required control of Lochaber, achieving this had wider strategic importance than might appear.{{sfn|MacInnes|1986|p=195}}