On this day in 1692

The Catholic James VII of Scotland (simultaneously James II of England and Ireland) was deposed in the Glorious Revolution of 1688 by his Protestant daughter, Mary II, and her husband William III.

The failed Jacobite rising of 1689 sought to return James to the throne, after which many supporters of James’ right to the crown were bought off. But not all of them: many highlanders still supported his cause. The government was not prepared to put up with this indefinitely and, in 1692, it sent more than 900 troops to Glencoe.

Government makes its move

The northern exit from Glencoe was blocked, while government forces swept in from the south with orders to kill anyone they encountered and to burn houses. Their primary targets were the MacDonalds. Around 30 people lost their lives in the ensuing massacre, although nobody knows the exact number. Some sources put the number dead at closer to 40.

Accounts of the massacre are gruesome. The MacDonalds had hosted the soldiers that would eventually turn on them, recounts The Scots Magazine of 6 March 1758. “A boy of eight years, who fell at Campbell’s feet, imploring mercy, and offering to serve him for life, was stabbed to the heart by one Drummond, a subaltern officer. Eight and thirty persons suffered in this manner; the greater part of whom were surprised in their beds and hurried into eternity before they had time to implore the divine mercy.”

Many targets escape

It could have been much worse. The Scots Magazine continued, “the design was to butcher all the males under seventy that lived in the valley, the number of whom amounted to 200: but some of the detachments did not arrive soon enough to secure the passes; so that 160 escaped.”

Many of those who had survived the immediate massacre died of exposure: it was midwinter, snow was falling, and their houses had been burned to the ground. They had nowhere to shelter in the valley.

The order for the massacre to take place, which was signed in Fort William, was sold at auction in 1907. The Dundee Evening Telegraph of 30 May reported that it “is rather a gruesome relic for anyone to possess, and it is a little surprising that, interesting as a historical document though it may be, anyone should have been willing to pay such a price as £1400 for it… its historical significance is not great, and its proper place… is in a chamber of horrors.”

 

...and on this day in 858

Kenneth MacAlpin reigned from around 843 until his death in 858. Naturally, being so long ago and at a time when records were not so scrupulously kept as they are today, there is some debate as to the exact dates of his reign. He was buried in his birthplace, Iona.

 

...and on this day in 1839

William Arrol was responsible for some of the most important bridges of his day. In particular, he worked on the Forth Bridge and the new Tay bridge, which replaced the original railway bridge that collapsed in the storm of December 1879. His work on these two bridges earned him a knighthood.

He featured on the £5 note issued by Clydesdale Bank in 2015.

Engineer and Parliamentarian

As well as being a renowned engineer, William Arrol was a member of parliament for South Ayrshire, where he triumphed in the general election of 1895, and for which he continued to serve, as a member of the Liberal Unionist Party, until 1906. He was hardly prolific in his contributions to national debates, being recorded in Hansard, the official record of the London Parliament, as having spoken only six times in the House of Commons between 1896 and 1905. However, when he did speak or ask questions his contributions show a keen focus on Scottish issues.

In a 1905 debate concerning land taxation, he reminded other members that “they had heard a great deal about garden cities around their larger industrial centres, but in his opinion there were no better lungs for a city than large works, with extensive open spaces, and if the Glasgow Corporation would try to reduce the rates so as to accommodate large works within the boundaries instead of driving them out, it would be a great deal better for the citizens and for the working population”.

Jobs for all

It may seem contrary to argue in favour of heavy industry in the city centre, rather than beyond the city limits, but his argument made sense when Arrol explained that “he was interested in a concern employing about 2,000 hands. It was about ten miles outside the city, and houses were built for the workpeople, though most of them preferred to live in the city. The reason why the men were willing to work outside and yet live in the city of Glasgow was in order to get employment for the girls and women left in it. He knew a case where a man was content to live in Glasgow and get 5s. less weekly than he would have had living in Dumbarton where he worked, simply because in the former place he had better facilities for finding employment for the female members of his family.”

Arrow was born in Renfrewshire, trained as a blacksmith, and joined a Glasgow bridge building company in his 20s. He died in Ayr on 20 February 1913.