Glencoe
The most beautiful glen in Scotland is a collapsed supervolcano, and it is also the scene of a massacre in which the hosts were murdered by their guests.
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Quick Facts
- Location
- Glencoe, Scottish Highlands, on the A82 between Rannoch Moor and Loch Leven
- Origin
- The remains of a volcano that collapsed about 420 million years ago, later carved by glaciers
- Highest peak
- Bidean nam Bian, 1,150 metres
- Famous ridge
- Aonach Eagach, among the narrowest mountain ridges on the British mainland
- The massacre
- 13 February 1692
- Memorial
- Celtic cross in Glencoe village, erected in 1883
- Conservation
- The National Trust for Scotland bought much of the glen in 1935
- On screen
- Skyfall (2012) and the Harry Potter films
A volcano turned inside out
The glen looks as if a giant dragged a thumb through the mountains, and in a sense one did. Around 420 million years ago a huge volcano collapsed in on itself and left a caldera. Geologists rate it among the best-preserved volcanic landscapes in the world. The ice finished the job. During the Ice Ages glaciers gouged the valley into the steep, U-shaped trench you drive through today, leaving the cliffs and buttresses that give Glencoe its look of a place built for drama. The skyline is made of famous names. The Three Sisters rise on the south side, and Buachaille Etive Mòr stands guard at the eastern end. The highest summit, Bidean nam Bian, tops out at 1,150 metres.
Murder under trust
On the morning of 13 February 1692, soldiers rose and turned on the MacDonalds who had been feeding and sheltering them. The troops, led by Captain Robert Campbell of Glenlyon, had been billeted in the glen for about twelve days. The background was an oath. After the Glorious Revolution the government of William III demanded that Highland chiefs swear allegiance by 1 January 1692. Alasdair MacIain, chief of the Glencoe MacDonalds, left it late, went first to the wrong place (Fort William) and swore days after the deadline. The government's Secretary of State, John Dalrymple, Master of Stair, saw a chance to make an example of a clan he thought troublesome. The orders came with the king's signature on them. Around 38 people were killed directly. Many more fled into a winter storm, and a number of them are believed to have died of exposure. What shocked Scotland was not the killing itself but the betrayal of hospitality. Killing under trust was treated as an especially foul crime, and an official inquiry in 1695 condemned the affair.
The Campbell myth, and what really happened
Many visitors leave thinking that the Campbells did it, and that the feud explains it. The truth is more awkward. The soldiers were government troops under a Campbell officer, and the instruction came from Edinburgh and London. The Clachaig Inn still keeps up a joke about the clan with its famous sign banning hawkers and Campbells. That is pub humour rather than policy. The other popular name, the Glen of Weeping, is a romantic gloss on the massacre. The glen's name comes from the River Coe that runs through it, though the sad name has stuck because it fits the mood so well.
Hideaways, ridges and cattle thieves
The Lost Valley, Coire Gabhail, is a hanging valley tucked between two of the Three Sisters. Tradition says the MacDonalds hid stolen cattle there, which makes sense, as the entrance is invisible from the glen below. Above the village, the Aonach Eagach ridge is a different proposition. It is a narrow scramble along exposed rock that experienced hillwalkers rate as one of the great days out on the mainland, and one that demands a head for heights. In the village of Glencoe, the memorial cross put up in 1883 commemorates the dead. Nearby, the Glencoe Folk Museum in a row of thatched cottages tells the human story of the glen.
Bond, Hagrid and a glen saved
Film-makers love the place. Skyfall used the glen's bleak grandeur in 2012, with Bond's Aston Martin driving through the landscape on the way to the Scottish finale. The Harry Potter films also used it for some of their Highland scenes. The landscape nearly went a different way. In 1935 the National Trust for Scotland bought a large part of Glencoe, its first major mountain purchase, helping to protect the wild places from development. If you visit, stop at the viewpoints along the A82 and look for Buachaille Etive Mòr, the famous pyramid-shaped peak at the eastern gate. Take a waterproof as well. The weather here changes quickly, and the glen looks wonderful in cloud and rain.
Notable people
- Alasdair MacIain of Glencoe
- Robert Campbell of Glenlyon
- John Dalrymple, Master of Stair
- William III
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