Glen Coe

Volcanic eruptions and collapse formed a great ancient hollow hundreds of millions of years ago. Much later glaciers followed and deepened the weakness, cutting the steep trough and corries between Bidean nam Bian and Aonach Eagach. Frost, burns, scree and landslips continue to shape the exposed sides.

The MacDonalds farmed in scattered townships through the glen. After chief Alasdair MacIain submitted his oath to William and Mary several days late, about 120 government soldiers under Robert Campbell of Glenlyon were quartered among the families. Before dawn on 13 February 1692 they attacked under orders; about 38 people were killed directly and others died after fleeing into winter weather. A later inquiry called it murder under trust.

The massacre endures because the soldiers had eaten and slept under the protection of the people they were ordered to kill. Blame was often simplified into a Campbell-against-MacDonald feud, although the command came through government officers and only some soldiers were Campbells. Coire Gabhail, the Hidden Valley, is also traditionally remembered as a place where cattle were concealed.

The glen's volcanic rocks, glacial walls, waterfalls, corries and high ridges remain plain. Archaeology has traced former townships such as Achtriachtan, and a recreated turf-and-timber house helps explain ordinary life before the clearances. The memorial in Glencoe village and the visitor centre preserve the massacre story.

Glen Coe shows geological change on a vast readable scale, but its human meaning centres on state power breaking the protection owed by guests to hosts. Public anger damaged the new government's reputation and fixed the event in Scottish memory. Surviving settlement evidence prevents the glen from being reduced to scenery or a single night of killing.