82 SCOTLAND ILLUSTRATED. 



Hill's letter, be immediately forwarded to the Privy Council in Edinburgh. 

 On receiving these, the clerk took the precaution to consult one of the council, 

 who advised him not to lay these documents before the council, as the oath 

 had not been taken within the time prescribed, and was therefore null. Colonel 

 Hill's letter, nevertheless, would have been sufficient evidence as to the intention 

 of Glenco, and showed that his not having taken the oath within the given 

 period was no fault of his, but caused by circumstances over which he could 

 have had no control. This justice, however, was denied him; neither the 

 letter nor the certificate were presented to the Council. The impression of 

 rebellious disaffection on the part of Glenco was suffered, without one palliating 

 word in his favour, to kindle into speedy vengeance against the unhappy chief 

 and his people. 



Within five days from the taking of the oath, namely, on the llth of January, 

 the officers then at the head of the various detachments stationed in this part 

 of the Highlands, received peremptory orders to " proceed with fire and sword" 

 against all those who had not taken the benefit of the indemnity. By additional 

 instructions, signed by the king, under date of the 16th of January the day 

 marked by the secretary Stair it was commanded that the rebels should be 

 received only upon mercy ; and that, " if the tribe of Glenco could be separated 

 from the rest of the Highlanders, it would be proper for the vindication of 

 public justice to extirpate that set of thieves !"* For the execution of this 

 barbarous edict, care was taken to employ a detachment from the regiment of 

 Argyll, who were known to be well disposed for such a service, from the bitter 

 feud that had long subsisted between the Campbells and the people of Glenco. 

 About the end of January, in pursuance of strict orders, a strong body of militia, 

 under the command of Campbell of Glenlyon, marched from their winter quarters, 

 and, on the 1st of February, entered the doomed valley. Their sudden appear- 

 ance naturally caused some degree of alarm, but on being questioned as to 

 their object, they professed the most friendly intentions, and all suspicion was 

 dropped. For twelve days they were entertained with all the kindness and 

 hospitality which the unsuspecting chief and his people even at their own 



* It is obvious that the only distinction that could justly be made between the Glenco men and the 

 Highlanders who had not taken the benefit of the indemnity, was, that the former stood in a much more 

 favourable situation, their chieftain having actually taken the oath. . . The secretary, however, although 

 aware of this fact, entirely overlooked the qualifying words or, rather, took it for granted that the Glenco 

 men might be separated from the rest of the Highlanders for extirpation. And in his letters to the mili- 

 lary officers, with an outrageous zeal urges the execution of the scheme in the manner and at the season 

 best calculated to render the massacre complete. " This,'* says he, " is the only season when they cannot 

 escape us" " This is the time to maul them, in the long cold nights." Campbell. Garnett, 8fC. 



