The Valley of Glencoe/Scotland/Ancestors

The Valley of Loss – Glencoe/ ancestors

Even if you don’t have Scottish ancestors, this part of Scottish history is worth learning about and the children in schools are told about the massacre which took place in Glencoe on 12 February 1692 when Campbell troops ordered by the British king to kill every MacDonald in the valley. This was when the rivalry between the MacDonalds and Campbells took a dark turn.

My granny used to tell me – don’t date a lad from south of the border (England) or a Campbell. Remember lass, the only good Campbell is soup in a tin.

The Clachaig Inn which lies on the west end of the glen, has a sign in the bar “No hawkers or Campbells”.

Good place to stay, smashing food. One of the best pubs in the land. Don’t crake on if you have Campbell blood in you. Ask for a pint before you say where you are from.

This is a lovely part of Scotland. Visit the Glencoe Folk Museum, well worth an hour of your time. glencoemuseum.com

Visit the Massacre Memorial, a short walk from the village. The visitors center is also a good place to go see nt.org.uk/visit/places/glencoe

The Burial island of Eilean Munde, Loch Leven and visit the resting place of the clan chiefs – canmore.org.uk

If you do have Scottish ancestors, you might want to visit one of the 900 kirks (Church of Scotland parishes)) which all have records of births, marriages and deaths of information in the parish for several hundred years. An invaluable website of the National Records is - nrsscotland.gov.uk/research/guides/old.parish.registers/list.of.old.parish.registers

You may find information such as the father’s occupation, the area where the parents lived, the number of the child born to them (e.g. their second son) and possible witnesses at the baptism. In an area where record keeping was poorer you may find a date and a basic report such as “on this day Ian MacDonald had a lawful son” without the child’s name recorded. If a child being baptized was noted as “lawful” this means that its parents were married but if noted as “born in uncleanness” this means the children as illegitimate. If the parents subsequently married, and they had been free to marry prior to the birth of the children, then the child would subsequently become legitimate following their marriage

Take advantage of this travel lock down and plan your future trip to Scotland. As of now, the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo will take place (we hope) the first three weeks of August, 2021. Often cited as the oldest Highland Games in the world, the original Ceres Games was held in 1314 in the small Fife village, not far from St. Andrews. Date set is 26 June, 2021.

I am seeing people book for 2022, especially for a group, on a cruise, or a specific hotel in a popular destination. Airline flights can be handled closer to the date of departure.

Enjoy your planning

Maureen Jones

All Horizons Travel/Frosch

825 Santa Cruz Ave

Menlo Park, CA 94025

650-961-2340 direct

www.froschvacations.com