Good evening and Failte! Valley of hate, valley of tears..... This is Gleann Comhann in the old gaelic language, today better known as Glen Coe... This was in the old days the land of the clan McDougall. After 1308 gave Robert the Bruce this territory to clan MacDonald who had fought at his side. The MacDonald family was very poor and took often cattle from their neighbors and so their reputation was on a low level. In 1688 revolted the english parliament against the scottish king Jacob II. (he was king of England and Scotland at the same time) and prefered Wilhelm II. of Oranien as new king. The scottish parliament accepted Wilhelm of Oranien, too, after a long while of thinking, but not the highlanders. They opened up a war and were beaten at last.... Parts of the MacDonald clan and their nephews plundered the land of Robert Campbell of Glenlyon on their way home. Robert of Campbell, a gambler, got so much financial trouble after the robbery that he had to accept a function in the english army... What a shame in these days!. The new king Wilhelm gave order that all scottish clan chiefs have to swear by his name and he gave them absolution for their lost war. Somme accepted, others not. The last of the chiefs was Alastair MacDonald, chief of the MacDonalds of Glen Coe.... King Wilhelm, his secretary John Dalrymple and others decided to give an example to others, and the chief of the Campbells, Robert Campbell of Glenlyon, was ordered to do the job.... Campbell of Glenlyon with 120 men settled down in the houses of the MacDonald clan here in Glen Coe and got hospitality as it is the tradition in the Highlands. After 14 days of living side by side Robert Campbell got order to kill the MacDonalds. At 13th February 1692 Alastair McDonald was murdered when he stand up from his bed; men, women and children were killed in three different small villages at the same time, they were hunted like rabbits.... 38 people were killed, more then 40 persons lost their lives in the rough and icecold winter..... This massacre shocked Scotland to the bones, and many Scots believe till today, that it was the deepest fall in the clan`s history. Not the massacre was the criminal act, but the violation of the hospitality. Nobody could imagine that the murderers and their victims had lived together 2 weeks under the old tradition of hospitality and then one side massacred the other..... This is the sad story of this valley. It is a very beautiful place and Mother Nature created a great frame around this bloody ground... Friends, this is a novel. Hope you enjoy this pic as my older ones. Thanks for all of you who gave comments, took favorites or spent their time here. Have a nice weekend - till tomorrow.... billcody, Berlin