GLENCOE REUNION
The Glencoe Massacre is remembered not so much for the number of dead, about 30 out of about 450 residents, but because it was betrayal of an unwritten law of the Highlands regarding hospitality. Some of the soldiers of the Campbell-dominated Argyll Regiment, which carried out the 1692 massacre, had little stomach for the plan to scare the Highland clans into accepting the overthrow of the Stuarts.
There are several stories of Argyll soldiers dropping hints about what was about to happen to the families who had played host to them in the days leading up to the massacre.
Among those who fled after the killing started were a woman and her baby. The family dog followed. But the baby’s cries attracted the attention of one of the Argyll officers. He sent a soldier to investigate and kill whoever he found. The soldier quickly discovered the woman and baby huddling under a bridge. But instead of killing them, he bayoneted the dog. He then showed the bloodied bayonet to the officer as proof that he’d obeyed his orders. The officer was suspicious and ordered further proof that the source of the cries was dead. So the soldier returned to the bridge and cut off one of the baby’s little fingers. The finger was enough to satisfy the officer.
Years later, the soldier was passing through Glencoe and stopped for the night with a local family. The man of the house had more reasons than most not to extend traditional Highland hospitality, but nonetheless he did. Next morning at breakfast the soldier noticed his host was missing a little finger. He realised they’d met years before in far less auspicious circumstances. The two Highlanders, saviour and saved, parted as friends.
Next Week - SEX SHOCKER