On this day in 1578
Massacre at the Battle of Spoiling Dyke
The first Sunday of May 1578 saw a bloody massacre carried out by the MacDonalds of Uist on the Clan MacLeod in revenge for a separate massacre conducted by the MacLeods on Eigg the previous year.
It has been claimed – and disputed – that in 1577 a group of MacLeod men were on Eigg where they became rather more interested in the local women than their menfolk were comfortable with. They cast the MacLeod men out into the strait that separates the north-west Highlands and Inner Hebrides from the Outer Hebrides. Fortunately for the MacLeods, but unfortunately for the locals on Eigg, they were rescued, and came back to exact their revenge.
Cave of Frances
The locals took refuge in the Cave of Frances, which still exists on Eigg’s south coast where, after several days’ searching, they were discovered. In a prevalent version of what happened next, the MacLeods got their revenge for having been cast adrift by building a fire at the mouth of a cave, such that nobody could escape, but allowing a waterfall to stifle the flames. Their aim was not to burn everyone alive, but to suffocate them by filling the cave with smoke. Almost 400 are said to have died.
Battle commences
Thus, in early May 1578, the Clan MacDonald of Uist approached Trumpan, on the Isle of Skye, in eight boats, under cover of a heavy fog and, finding the Clan MacLeod in the church there, they boarded up the exits and set it on fire. Only one girl is said to have escaped, who managed to alert other clan members, who were not in the burning church, before dying of her injuries.
A battle broke out between the MacDonalds of Uist and Clan MacLeod before the MacDonalds had a chance to escape the island, resulting in the death of almost every MacDonald on the battlefield. The bodies were buried on site and the church remains derelict. Lady Grange, who was kidnapped in Edinburgh and held hostage until her death is also buried at the site.
...and on this day in 2015
Mhairi Black becomes Britain’s youngest MP
When the SNP’s 20-year-old Mhairi Black was elected to represent Paisley and Renfrewshire South, she became the youngest ever member of the House of Commons. She was studying Politics and Public Policy at the University of Glasgow at the time of her election, when she unseated the sitting Labour MP, Douglas Alexander, who was then Shadow Foreign Secretary on the opposition front bench.
Yesterday…
East Kilbride becomes Scotland’s first New Town
East Kilbride was the first area in Scotland designated a New Town following the Second World War. It was followed by Glenrothes.
Tomorrow…
Cancer pioneer Henry Littlejohn is born
Henry Littlejohn was the first to explicitly link the consumption of nicotine with the subsequent development of lung cancer.
Biological weapons tests begin in the Outer Hebrides
Operation Cauldron saw the British government releasing bubonic plague into the air off the Outer Hebrides in the search for new weapons.