THE ISLES AND WILLIAM OF ORANGE. 389 



The writer entirely gives his case away by the virulence 

 of his animosity against the Highlanders. They are 

 " barbares " ; a people " without any principle of religion 

 or honour " ; always ready to strike a blow " without 

 ; caring what they have promised, if they are not disarmed," 

 I " Religion," he declares, " serves here (in Scotland) some- 

 times as a pretext ; or else they are generally poor, and 

 I having to fish in troubled waters, gold and silver, or the 

 hope of obtaining some, is always the principal motive 

 which moves them." After these unflattering statements, 

 we are prepared for the policy which is proposed. " The 

 only way of feeling sure of them" (the Highlanders) "is 

 by restraining them by means of small garrisons." Three 

 garrisons, supported by two regiments of foot and two of 

 dragoons, would be sufficient to subdue them. According 

 to the memorial now quoted, the chiefs had told Bread- 

 albane openly, when negotiating with him, that they would 

 have no compunction about breaking their word in the 

 event of a rising in Scotland, or an invasion from abroad, 

 taking place.* But there is reason to believe that their 

 attitude was secretly encouraged by Breadalbane himself, 

 who, judging by subsequent events, was quite capable of 

 luring the unsuspecting Jacobites to their ruin. 



The part taken by Breadalbane and the Master of Stain 

 in effecting the destruction of the Macdonalds of Glencoe, 

 is well known. The result of the inquiry which was held 

 on the infamous massacre, is detailed in Somers' Collection 

 of Tracts (pp. 529-561), and it would be foreign to the 

 scope of this work to attempt to apportion the blame, or 

 discuss the painful subject in any way. But recent research 

 has brought to light the interesting fact, that far from 

 Macdonald of Glencoe being the only one of the Highland 

 chiefs who had neglected to take the oath of allegiance 

 before the ist of January, 1692 (as is generally believed), 

 we have the authority of King William himself for stating, 

 that by the nth of January, "all of them" had refused 



* Cal. of State Papers (Nov., 1691 -Dec., 1692), p. 62. 



