I was married to a MacDonald who was a direct descendant of a family which was warned by one of the English lieutenants who had taken of their hospitality. The story and his cryptic words of warning had been passed down through the generations. After he died, I made a pilgrimage up to Glencoe and scattered my husband's ashes on the burial island of Eilean Mundi in Loch Leven.
I had 2 drs., one named Dalrymple and another McPhail. I also have a friend named Jim Campbell and knew a McCallum whose father was from Sterlingshire. My family's mostly Irish, but I've got English, German, and Scottish roots too and live in the USA, in Ga. I first heard about the song and the Corries in my British Folklore class in college. Such a sad song, but the two singers were fantastic!
I sat on a hill in Glencoe and listened to the Corries sing this song of betrayal. A deed which still haunts the mountains and glens. Sung by the Corries it is truly moving.
A black day for king william it all came from a late oath in bad weather my mcdonalds are from near glencoe it was a horrific crime rule and divide tactics again us scots must learn from the past
I had an old school friend ( since passed ) who used to go camping up to Glencoe every year and set up his tent on the moor. He told me there`s an atmosphere there you can slice up and sell on a street corner. You can feel it too, just by being there whether, on foot, in a car or, on a coach. A haunting feeling that when on your own, you have a distinct feeling you`re being watched. There is also an atmosphere at Cullodin, up on the moor where the battle took place.
I remember visiting Scotland last summer. We were on a sightseeing tour of the highlands. While driving through the breathtaking landscape of Glencoe, our tour guide told us the story of the Glencoe massacre and played this song. Probably the greatest travelling moment of my life... Thank you Scotland and greetings from Finland
The most heinous crime you could commit in the Scottish Highlands was: ‘murder under trust’, this is what caused the outrage at the time. I was born in Glencoe and one day I will be buried there.
James Wilkins 'murder under trust'..well ...would never trust a sheep ..horse.. cattle thieving McDonald....trust..you must be joking what a laugh...they were 'all as bad' but hey... 'blinkers' are an amazing thing especially for the romantically created highlands...
+onemexican1 I think you will find that people in Scotland, have a great deal of sympathy for the Macdonalds of the Western Seaboard and the Glens of Antrim, wether in Antrim, Islay, Kintyre, Uist, Benbecula, Skye, Moidart, Knoydart, Morar, Arisaig, Ardnamurchan, Glengarry, Glencoe, Glenaladale or Keppoch in the Braes of Lochaber, where ever they came from, people today, very thankfully, are aware of the History of the Highlands and of the great custodians of gaelic culture the Macdonals. So, yes people are very proud to be associated with the Macdonalds, and also the name Campbell, in the Scottish syche, it is a disgraced name, forever associated with treachery, and wether that is a shortbread tin notion or not is irrelevant, that is just the way it is in Scotland and the Highlands, the name Campbell is synonamous with Treachery and Untrustworthiness.... Up the Macdonalds of Dunivaig and the Glens
Wrong. The clearances were caused by the hereditary chiefs realising they could make more money out of sheep than they got from their clansmen. Nothing English about it. Apparently, at the time, the highlanders evicted from their homes ,bamed the chiefs new "four footed clansmen "
Ray Lumley think you'll find the english were involved. granted, some Scots were paid by the english to turn judas. however, was still english soldiers of the time that raped, pillaged and murdered Scottish clans who opposed the english crown. they spared no one in the Highlands, man woman or child. pisses me off when i hear the brits talking about ethnic cleansing when they are guilty of the same crime.
hello, there was many a bloody episode in my Country's history. The thing that distinguishes this bloody episode from the others is the betrayal of the hospitality. A shame upon them all and a curse to the many who prefer Brutania to Scotland. Our day will come. Saor Alba
Such an emotional song 😢. We visited Scotland not long ago via Rabbies tour to the Highlands and we went past the village while listening to this song. Scotland is such a beautiful place to see it exceeded our expectations! Its a must if you haven't visited yet.
Scotland will certainly exceed your expectations as long as you are not expecting sunshine and/or warm temperatures, we get those about 2 days each year
History is there for us to remember how not to repeat the mistakes made yesterday. This song will always remind us how not to think, be or act. Haunting, Historical and Beautiful.
My mother was a McDonald, my husband and I visited Scotland and went to Glencoe from Australia last year, I have to say there is a very eerie feeling in the atmosphere
+Ann Murrell Been there several times Ann and felt the chilling presence in the glen you experienced, so have a few others I have spoken to over the years.
+Ann Murrell ..the first time I was in Glencoe, I had fallen asleep in the car it was a snowy December day, I woke up, and within seconds, I felt that we were in a strange land ....the strangeness was over and above a bleak winters day, it was over and above the loneliness of the narrow winding road that had only us and our little tiny Mini ...a fence, perhaps there was a tumbling down stone shelter for a shepard, and a burn winking through now and again ....perhaps it was just waking suddenly to an unfamiliar road ....( I am from California) but I think it was my Celtic blood responding to the place itself ...... the second time I was in Glencoe, I was awake when we arrived, early spring day ...and still the eerie silence of the land, the utter emptyness of the landscape....the lack of most signs of human occupancy, and the lack of other humans, ( both times there, we were the only car on the road ....the length of the glen .....) ..... it was a while ago now, back in the early/mid 80s,.....but as you can tell, the place made a deep impression on me, one that I remember vividly to this day .....
I visited Glencoe on a bus tour --(we had a McDonald AND a Campbell on the bus as well) I'm Aussie with Scottish ancestory - and eventhough I knew a little bit about the killings from the stories my Nanna told me, I was't prepared at all for how I felt when I got off the bus. I lasted about 3 minutes and had to get back on, hair on the back of my neck & arms standing up & feeling sick to my stomch. I swear I could hear the cry's & screams of the murderd. Probably one of the most heartbreaking places I've ever been , apart from Culloden
So many people have died in cold-blood .... the singer's voice so aptly brings out the pain of those who were massacred and the tribute to them for their bravery.
I live in the US and my great grandmother said we were from the Isle of Skye. I just built my family tree up in her line and it led to Alistair MacDonald, a victim of Glencoe. I always wondered why our family left Scotland. So sad. Amazing our tree goes back so far.
Ballad of Glencoe Chorus Oh, cruel was the snow that sweeps Glencoe And covers the grave o' Donald. Oh, cruel was the foe that raped Glencoe And murdered the house of MacDonald They came in a blizzard, we offered them heat, A roof for their heads, dry shoes for their feet. We wined them and dined them, they ate of our meat And they slept in the house of MacDonald. Chorus They came from Fort William with murder in mind. The Campbell had orders King William had signed. "Put all to the sword"- these words underlined, "And leave none alive called MacDonald." Chorus They came in the night when the men were asleep, This band of Argyles, through snow soft and deep, Like murdering foxes amongst helpless sheep, They slaughtered the house of MacDonald. Chorus Some died in their beds at the hand of the foe; Some fled in the night and were lost in the snow; Some lived to accuse him who struck the first blow; But gone was the house of MacDonald. Chorus
i visited Glen Coe with my daughter and mother last August. It was the most beautiful part of Scotland that we visited. I was amazed by the majesty. That something so horrid happened there is beyond my comprehension. Very much worth visiting!!!
I joined a day tour to Glencoe and the guide played this song along the road, I enjoyed both visual and hearing pleasure. A beautiful land. Greetings from HK
This was my great-great… grandparents. I am a Macdonald of Glencoe. There are very few left, even several centuries later. Every one of my known ancestors was a soldier, as was I. Some even fought for the Crown. In America we pay Indians because we "massacred" them. I have been to Glencoe. And to Culloden Moor, where the last of the Donalds stood and died for freedom. We cannot go back. But let us not forget the past, where men fought and died for freedom. - Douglas McDonald
+Douglas McDonald re-read your history books. Scottish "freedom" was only a factor later in the jacobite rising under the young pretender. catholic supremacy across Britain was their aim. most of Scotland was Presbyterian and loathed the highlanders. they have supported a French invasion of England and the lowlands. Catholicism, not Scotland was their inspiration.
+Liam Cunliffe You fuckin clown, depends what history books your reading, probably the two biggest clowns in England, David Starkey and Simon Schma, the English aristocracy just didnt want a Catholic about the place, also, those dirty bastards, what they feared most, which is also what the loved most, was a loss of power and privellage,
+Liam Cunliffe The Crown of England was the main aim of the Young Pretender, sure he said to John Macdonald of Glenaladale, that if he enjoyed his own again, he would meet his in St James yet.
Love Scottland!! Heard this tragic song live, in Inverness a couple of years ago!! I sang it in the bus as we passed Glencoe. In Denmark The Crownprincess Mary (Donaldson)McDonald is very loved!!
I am French I have never been to Scotland and yet your country and your history fascinate me. I hope one day to visit your beautiful country with the brave people
Being from America, I never knew any of this until a bagpiper of MacDonald descent refused to shake my hand when I complimented him for his skillful music at a funeral I conducted. He said, "You have a bad name, don't you Campbell?" and asked me to look up the history of the massacre and I found this song a few years ago. I studied some of the history but can't say that I understand all of the political issues between the English monarchy and the clans. Since then, I've been confronted by both McGregors and Sinclairs and had one piper play this song at another funeral I conducted in my 'honor'. I want to come to Scotland one day...guess I'd better be careful about which area. By the way, my smile is crooked.
IM a Campbell and am actually related to a number of MacDonalds - just as the two clans were at the time - its why the Campbells of Argyll were ordered by the king to carry out the massacre . It had as much to do with religion as politics or anything else ! Not Many Scots these days are as hard as the expats you have met !!!
re Neil Campbell lmao Try renting a room from my uncle John MacDonald if yer name is Campbell, even if every room is vacant ye'll no get a bed for the night.
I'm actually from the Argyles who really killed the McDonalds, because McDonald swore allegiance to William, but latter recanted and turned on William of Orange for Bonnie prince Charlie.
Me too visited Scotland in August/Sept 2023 tourguide also play this song and told us the heartbreaking story. It was very emotional 😢 I am from Cape Town South Africa
Indeed. Being from the MacDonald clan (dads side) and Campbell (mums side) it's great having this on here! Reminds us of our roots. Thanks for posting!
I am a MacDonald and I am proud that my family/clan has always stood proud against many injustices and overwhelming odds. And yes, my ancestors were at Culloden and paid the penalty for that. Suas Alba!
In my Croatian culture... we have the same tradition.. when you break bread with someone... they become family... so you end up protecting them like your own blood... you go without to help them in their need. Another tradition, if someone strikes you... you hit him back with a piece of bread. God bless you Scotland... lovely people!
Yeah, and in my tradition, any son of a bitch, grinning at you stupidly ought to be shot. So, How's that for goddamn traditions? Yeah, your all peace lovin' do rights to every one around you, no matter their behaviour.
My family were first registered as living there since 1747after the battle of culloden a census of land oni NG families and we have lived within 30miles of there ever since apart from me who lives in England for a while but we always go home as a child I wS not allowed to play with a campbell
hawker mean traveler, iam a traveler and i can go way back in my history, the person who owns that hotel is most probably english, reason being the highlanders are not racist people, the travelers used to have great respect in the highlands
The word campbell means crooked mouth ( liar), or so I've been led to believe. As is so often the case, the traitor within can do more harm than a declared (honest ) enemy outwith.
Love Scotland.....Whenever i visit Scotland , i just love the beautiful nature in Scotland, it's so relaxing and peaceful, the village people are so welcoming ,caring and Hospitable.
Thank you for uploading this song. The song is haunting, as I'm sure the battlegrounds must be.I cannot visit battlegrounds because the spirits seem to still dwell there. Our Civil War battlegrounds and places like Wounded Knee are some of the most haunted grounds in the US. When I lived and worked for six months in Poland, within 50 miles of Auswitz (not sure how to spell it) I never visited it.I didn't want to feel the suffering of those helpless people.
hi I am from glasgow originally, lived in MK for the last 30 years, left Galsgow because of the bigatory, we used to have a great Saturday afternoon session here where both sides sang along with each other, and never a bad word said against each other, long gone sadly missed.. Friday nights in the Anchor Bar, saucihall Street would never be the same without flower Of Scotland..
I did just a bit of reading about the massacre at Glencoe, and I remember reading the lyrics to this song. But I have never heard it sung until just tonight. All I can say is, wow...
my uncle is macdonald , his Dad and my late Mum would not buy Campells soup . we (ME and my brother / sister and cousins all told Never trust a Cambell . i however visit Glencoe often great place .
I went with Paddy and Maggie Williamson to watch the Corries perform this song in Elgin in 1969. Wonderful music, truly wonderful and an unforgettable night.
just sitting listening to this beautiful song the night when the orange parades where marching today in glasgow knowing the orders from the massacre came straight from william of orange shame on them..
@ Izaak. Bookwater ..here are the lyrics to the song which should explain everything for you. Oh cruel is the snow that sweeps Glencoe And covers the grave o' Donald And cruel was the foe that raped Glencoe And murdered the house o' MacDonald (chorus) They came through the blizzard, we offered them heat A roof ower their heads, dry shoes for their feet We wined them and dined them, they ate o' our meat And slept in the house O' MacDonald (chorus) They came from Fort William with murder mind The Campbell had orders, King William had signed Pit all tae the sword, these words underlined And leave none alive called MacDonald (chorus) They came in the night when the men were asleep That band of Argyles, through snow soft and deep. Like murdering foxes, among helpless sheep They slaughtered the house o' MacDonald (chorus) Some died in their beds at the hands of the foe Some fled in the night, were lost in the snow. Some lived to accuse him, what struck the first blow But gone was the house of MacDonald
A thought provoking song that shames the Clan and perpetrator of the henious crime. On visiting the area have been reminded that the animosity still runs deep to this day. Or does it?
I visited Glen Coe a week ago for the first time and I could barely hold back tears myself. Somehow that massacre just resonates with me. I can barely imagine how one from the McDonald clan must feel.
I am english, the more I hear and read what happened to the Scots the more I hate being english, It was and will always be your country, we had no right to take it from you or murder your people. I hope one day your country is free again.
I am an Englishman who served in a Hjghland Regiment for five years,my Wife was a MacDonald and even today there is still a lot of resenment over the Glencoe Massacre.
Ironically, the government wanted a new directory of the Glencoe Museum. They picked a Campbell and that didn't go over very well with the public. They quickly retracted that.
@Grouter12 I am from clan MacMillan. I live in the U.S. I remember my grandfather telling me when I was a little boy to never trust a Campbell. I remember him speaking Gaelic to my Grandmother when I was very small, and wondered where he learned to speak this foreign tongue. It is only recently that I have come to appreciate my heritage and to learn the history of my ancestors that migrated from Scotland to Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. This song is a reminder of my grandfathers words.
Why would the Campbells obey an order from King William in 1692? The Act of Union didn't take place until 1707. Until then the Scottish Parliament still had autonomy.
I am a MacDonald, from the macDonnells of Glengarry,my grandfather was a MacDonald of Glaster in that part of the highlands,the whole thing was political and old scores got settled,in the song King William is villified as having actually signed the document that led to the attack,not the case.Sir John Dalrymple ,master of stair and the secretary for Scotland,he is the bad guy,he held a grudge and he was determined to get back at the MacDonalds.
It never ceases to amaze me, the back stabbing of the Campbells during this era. To accept the hospitality of their hosts, then slaughter them. It goes against the grain of decency. After all these years they're treachery has never really been forgotten, and rightly so. The song ,as others, has been well put over by the Corries, they've been my favorite folk group for years. Well delivered as always, many thanks.
What ye are all forgetting is that the problem is not what was done (that happened often) but HOW it was done - the murderers where offered hospitality from the winter as happened in those days (still does in places) and they took it, the term "ate his salt" covers it - they then slaughtered the people who had offered this hospitality - THAT WAS THE CRIME that goes against everything the highlander stood for!
It was a small museum in Glencoe, when I visited it, twenty years ago, it was inscribes: "Opened to any but forbade to the Campbells." It is really horrible the manner of which the MacDonalds were wiped out on this place and I regret how some boys of my clan were at sides of the Campbells.
A beautiful song about a tragic event. It makes me proud to be Scottish. @ MrLeatherbelt, if you're proud of this then really words can not describe you.
Just like to say thanks to the uploader for the song and the collection...luv it.. BTW i thought ya know i just to say that i think ppl should keep their bigitry comments to theirselves. Come on enough is enough. My partner is from Glasgow and im from London. We are both proud of who we are and wher we came from. Leave the past in the past.
Lindsay Ross played the Massacre of Glencoe as the bridal waltz at our wedding, till someone told him it was a Campbell wedding, has anyone else tried waltzing to Maries Wedding?
I just knew this story when i came to live to Scotland a few months ago. I think that i dont know all the details but i think that its pretty beautiful that someone sings about these kind of stories. In my country this is bery unusual and i really love this kind of things
Lol. I watched a Campbell and a MacDonald looking at the same exhibit of Glencoe in Scotland. They both seemed nice people. I find it hard to hate people for what their ancestors did 250 years ago.
It's history and cannot be changed along with many other tragedies including slavery, wars and where all man made. We must learn by the past and not revenge.
@@mistyblude16They were allies. Campbells & MacDonalds traditional enemies were used to killing each other. The difference here was accepting hospitality & then doing it - breaking/betraying the rules. A time of social dislocation.
been a Corrie fan since 1965 when I worked the Limes (Spotlights) at the Caley Picture House Edinburgh at their Festival shows thanks for bringing back many happy memories....
It was not the 'Campbell clan' who were sent. It was the Earl of Argyll's Regiment of Foot, regular soldiers not a clan militia. Very few of them actually bore the Campbell name. The leader was Captain Robert Campbell of Glenlyon, an unpleasant character, but strong MacDonald tradition suggests that the Campbell soldiers warned many in good time. Again, according to tradition, the family of Campbell of Airds at Castle Stalker helped many of the fugitives.
This is true a lot of mcdonalds were forewarned it was not Campbell clan fund it was a late oath there is a henderson stone at glencoe as I am related to both families
For thosr that dont understand the meaning or the basis behind this song...the single best Point of reference for you young types is the House of Frey in Game of Thrones. Its an unforgiveable Folly to shed blood in the house where you have borken bread together, whether hosts killing guests or vice versa...and many would damn the name of the offending house forever. The sanctity and hospitality of home should never be desecrated.
instead of being taught our scottish history at school we were taught about waterloo and francis drake etc, this stuff is much more relevant to scots, sadly most scottish people couldn't even tell you what happened at the massacre of glencoe if you asked them.
I'm an American, Welsh and English in blood, but we're looking into it and finding Scottish. Even before I knew any of that, I have had a lifelong thirst for folk songs and the history of the British Isles. It saddens me, culture and history is slowly fading away to a world of lust and leisure, what once was a world of true pride and work. (Edit: In America, we don't even learn about the Barbary Wars)
The Barbary Wars, in the time of truly understanding what islam is about. Wake up USA and many others before too late, as the intentions of islam has not changed. History will be repeated more savagely if it is not learned.!
GARY MCGOWAN I went to secondary school in the 1970's (in Scotland) and we were taught Scottish history all the way back to the Picts. Unification of Scottish and English crowns with King James VI becoming James I of England. William Wallace, the Battle of Stirling Bridge, etc. (so many things in the movie "Braveheart" are just absolute rubbish, to put it mildly.) Robert the Bruce, the Battle of Bannockburn, etc. The two Jacobite Rebellions. The Glencoe Massacre. The Battle of Culloden. The only preunification English history we learned was in relation to the invasion by the Roman Empire -- Boudicca, Julius Caesar, Hadrian's Wall, etc. After that it was British history (and some European.) I live in Canada now, and I have no idea what they are teaching in Scottish schools these days, but I'm very glad I to have learned what I did then.
We lived in the north of Scotland and often travelled through those glenco mountains, to visit family , it was , to me anyway , very very quiet ! Just sad, not creepy just dreadfully sad ! Growing up in Scotland we were not taught Scottish History in schools! It was all about the English, not a Royalist didn’t do much for me ! I didn’t live far from Culloden yet never knew of that History until I was an adult ! I never got to visit it either Funnily enough I’ve learned more about Scottish History since emigrating here! We were Lowlanders, Now more and more in Scotland gladly wear the kilt and celebrate our Scottish History !
The Callands are a sept of the MacFarlanes (so Jacobite) and one of my best friends is a Campbell. In her own words, she's "a bit ashamed" of the fact that the Campbells fought for the English. Moral of the story: 1/ don't hold grudges, and: 2/ don't do other people's dirty work. (allusions to the Massacre at Glencoe are entirely intentional)
There is a joke that is told in Cape Breton Island about the massacre. A MacDonald walks into the Whycocomagh Legion and goes over and punches a Campbell in the mouth. The Campbell says What was that for?, the MacDonald says for Glencoe. The Campbell says that 400 years ago, the MacDonald says I only heard about it last night.
