Sunday, February 8, 2009

Murder in Glencoe

Does everyone know the story of the MacDonalds and the Campbells? The MacDonalds invited a neighboring clan, the Campbells, to a festive dinner party one cold, winter night at their dwelling in majestic Glencoe. Glencoe is surrounded by snow-laced peaks and bitter air, and when the Campbells arrived they were counting on this cold weather to act in their favor, and so came the tradgedy. The Campbells slaughtered the MacDonalds, using their hospitality and open doors against them to savagely betray their neighbors. The MacDonald women and children fled to a nearby cave that was meant for the most dire of circumstances, and the men stayed and battled. As their men were being slaughtered above the women and children hid in the cave, knowing they would need to stay there for many months. After the Campbells claimed victory they realized there were missing members of the clan, but decided to let those women and children fend for themselves in the freezing, barren land and perish in their own manner. So the rest of the MacDonalds stayed in the cave for one year, and as they finally peaked their heads out, realized their enemies were gone, but surely not far. The rest of the MacDonalds fled to Northern Ireland, where they stayed in a castle by the sea, where on a rare clear day they could see thier ravished homeland of Scotland only seventeen miles away.
This story sits so heavily with so many Scottish people that in 2002 they had a reconciliation with both clans where they forgave one another for the acts that occured hundreds of years ago. It is said that if your surname is Campbell, to this day, you will be treated differently in school.

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