Editing Massacre of Glencoe (section)

==The Massacre==
In late January 1692, approximately 120 men from the [[Earl of Argyll's Regiment of Foot]] arrived in Glencoe. Their commander was [[Robert Campbell of Glenlyon]], an impoverished local landowner whose niece was married to one of MacIain's sons.{{efn|John MacDonald, who along with his brother Alistair served in the Jacobite defeat at [[Battle of Cromdale|Cromdale]] in May 1690{{sfn|Prebble|1967|p=185}}}} Campbell carried orders for 'free quarter', an established alternative to paying taxes in what was a largely non-cash society.{{sfn|Kennedy|2014|p=141}} The Glencoe MacDonalds had themselves been similarly billeted on the Campbells when serving with the Highland levies used to police [[Argyll]] in 1678.{{sfn|Lenman|Mackie|1991|pp=238–239}}

[[File:Glencoe winter2.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.2|Glencoe in winter; conditions would have been similar at the time of the Massacre]]

On 12 February, Hill ordered Lieutenant Colonel James Hamilton to take 400 men and block the northern exits from Glencoe at [[Kinlochleven]]. Meanwhile, another 400 men under [[Robert Duncanson (Army officer)|Major Duncanson]] would join Glenlyon and sweep northwards up the glen, killing anyone they found, removing property and burning houses.{{sfn|Somers|1843|p=538}} Later that evening, Glenlyon received orders from Duncanson carried by Thomas Drummond, who commanded the Argylls' [[Grenadier]] company and was thus Glenlyon's superior. His presence appears to have been to ensure the orders were enforced, since witnesses later claimed he shot two people who asked Glenlyon for mercy.{{sfn|Somers|1843|p=536}}

In letters written on 30 January to Hamilton and Hill, Stair expresses concern that the MacDonalds would escape if warned, and emphasises the need for secrecy. This correlates with evidence from James Campbell, one of Glenlyon's company, stating that they had no knowledge of the plan until the morning of 13 February.{{sfn|Somers|1843|p=537}} MacIain was killed, although his two sons escaped, and the 1695 Commission was given various figures for the number of casualties. The often-quoted figure of 38 dead was provided by Hamilton's men, who were at the opposite end of the glen from where the killing took place,{{efn|As below, none of the Argyll regiment were in Scotland when the Commission heard evidence in 1695}} while the MacDonalds themselves claimed 'the number they knew to be slaine were about 25'.{{sfn|Cobbett|1814|pp=902–903}} Modern research estimates deaths resulting from the Massacre as 'around 30', while claims others died of exposure cannot be substantiated.{{sfn|Campsie}}

[[File:GlencoeOrder.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|left|Duncanson's written orders to Glenlyon{{efn|You are hereby ordered to fall upon the rebells, the McDonalds of Glenco, and put all to the sword under seventy. you are to have a speciall care that the old Fox and his sones doe upon no account escape your hands, you are to secure all the avenues that no man escape. This you are to putt in execution att fyve of the clock precisely; and by that time, or very shortly after it, I’ll strive to be att you with a stronger party: if I doe not come to you att fyve, you are not to tarry for me, but to fall on. This is by the Kings speciall command, for the good & safety of the Country, that these miscreants be cutt off root and branch. See that this be putt in execution without feud or favour, else you may expect to be dealt with as one not true to King nor Government, nor a man fitt to carry Commissione in the Kings service. Expecting you will not faill in the full-filling hereof, as you love your selfe, I subscribe these with my hand &nbsp;att Balicholis &nbsp;Feb: 12, 1692.}}]]

Since he arrived two hours late at 7:00 am, Duncanson joined Glenlyon only after most of the killings had been carried out, then advanced up the glen burning houses and removing livestock. Hamilton was not in position at Kinlochleven until 11:00; his detachment included two lieutenants, Francis Farquhar and Gilbert Kennedy, who often appear in anecdotes claiming they 'broke their swords rather than carry out their orders.' This differs from their testimony to the Commission and is unlikely since they arrived hours after the killings, which were carried out at the opposite end of the glen.{{sfn|Howell|2017|p=903}}

In May, fears of a French invasion meant the Argylls were posted to [[Brentford]] in England, then [[Flanders]], where they served until the end of the [[Nine Years' War]] in 1697 when the regiment was disbanded. No action was taken against those involved; Glenlyon died in Bruges in August 1696, Duncanson was killed in Spain in May 1705, while Drummond survived to take part in another famous Scottish disaster, the [[Darien scheme]].{{sfn|Prebble|1968|p=103}}