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Further particulars respecting the massacre of Glenco-Anecdote of the Glenco men in 1745-Loch Leven-Road from Glenco to the ferry of Ballichelish-Natural wood— Slate mountain and quarry-Argyleshire, the chief slate county of Scotland-Division of Lorn-Milk, potatoes, and herrings, the chief food of the people on the western coast--Ballichelish ferry--Division of Morven--Loch Linne-Road from Ballichelish ferry to Inverlochy-Natural wood-Herring fishing with the rod-Approach to Lochaber-Wry mouths and wry noses distinguished-Clans -Brief notice of the nature of the old Clanish system of government.

THE conduct of the King himself seems to have been questioned, in this instance, rather more directly than was strictly reconcileable

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with the constitutional maxim that the king can do no wrong. It was, however, of essential importance, with reference to the conduct of the minister and officers, that it should be decided whether his Majesty's instructions contained sufficient warrant for the massacre. It was voted in the negative; but the King himself seems to have been conscious that he was not perfectly clear, and that the proceedings of the military officers did not substantially exceed the rigour of the instructions, signed by himself. Probably further proceedings might have shown, that some were concerned in the transaction, whom the state of the times rendered it impolitic to prosecute. But whatever were the motives, notwithstanding the address and earnest recommendation of parliament, no steps were ever taken to bring any of those concerned in the massacre to justice, and some of the chief actors in it were even preferred; so that the transaction must ever remain a foul and indelible stain on King William's government. This monstrous act of wholesale murder, under trust, perpetrated" all of a sudden," in the darkness and silence of night, upon the unsuspecting natives by their guests, who had for many days experienced the utmost kindness and hospitality, and received it in a manner and for a length of

time calculated to banish every idea of suspicion and distrust-rooted the aversion of the highlanders to the revolution establishment; and was one powerful cause of the subsequent rebellions, the last of which, in defiance of all probability, and ordinary calculation, appeared at one time seriously to threaten the ruin of that establishment, and the expulsion of the reigning family.

A sum of 20,000l. had been advanced by government to Lord Braidalbane, to distribute among the highland chiefs and chieftains, to purchase their submission; and it was said, that the project of the massacre was suggested and prompted by his Lordship, to settle the chieftain of Glenco in that manner, in order to retain his share of the money; and it was also currently reported, that when Lord Braidalbane was afterwards called upon to account for the money, he replied, "The highlands are quiet, the money "is spent, and that is the best way of account“ing among friends." Whatever might have been his Lordship's concern with the massacre, the story seems to be unfounded as far as respects the misapplication of the money, which, according to Burnet, the general accuracy of whose information is now admitted, was honestly accounted for. A second-sighted seer is said to

have warned the old chieftain, three months before the massacre, that he would be murdered in his own house in the night-time. Predictions were in this manner hazarded, from probabilities connected with the times and circumstances; and if one in twenty happened to be right, the credit of the seer was established. The Glenco men were in the rebellion of 1745, and were on one occasion accidentally quartered near the house of the Secretary Stair's son. When the circumstance came to be adverted to, some apprehension was entertained that the men might seize the opportunity to avenge the massacre; and orders were given to remove them to another situation. The Glenco men prepared to return home; and, when asked the reason, re plied that they were insulted, since they were thought capable of making an innocent man suffer for the crime of his father.

It is only when looking at the wild aspect of this glen, and observing how difficult it must have been to escape, that one feels the full force of the cool blood-thirstiness of that earnest anxiety, which appears in the Secretary's letters, to have the passes well guarded, and the work done in the depth of winter; and understands the deliberate barbarity of a transaction in which the deed, horrible as it was, came far

short of the intention. But in Glenco, the sound of harps and din of arms are now equally unheard, and the traveller, as he traverses the dreary solitude, might almost fancy that he saw the consequences of the slaughter. With the exception of some cottages at the lowest extremity of the glen, which, it is said, still belong to the representative of the old Glenco family, a substantial sheep farm-house at the point where it turns to the north, and where several persons were murdered in 1692, is the only vestige of human habitation. The sheep-farming system has done the work of extirpation more effectually than the secretary's massacre; and but slight traces now remain of the warlike tribe of this little valley, once the object of so much public concern, and ministerial apprehension.

From the lower extremity of Glenco, the road bends to the west for about five miles along the side of the arm of the sea, called Loch Leven, to the line of the great glen of Scotland, and the ferry of Ballichelish, at the point where that lake branches off from Loch Linne, penetrating inland for twelve miles, and at its eastern point almost touching the line of the general ridge of Scotland. The lake is from a mile and a half to a quarter of a mile in breadth, and is inclosed

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