Within the heartlands of Scotland’s rugged west coast, an archaeology scholar unearthed a trove of Seventeenth-century artifacts, together with an “worldwide coin hoard.” Believed to have been hidden after the Glencoe bloodbath, the cash illustrate probably the most haunting chapters within the nation’s historical past.

The somber occasions of this darkish chapter in Scottish historical past unfolded on the fateful morning of 13 February 1692, in Glencoe. The MacDonald clan had beforehand aided the 1689 effort to revive the Catholic James II of England, Eire, and VII of Scotland to the throne. This loyalty to the Catholic monarchs, in distinction to the Protestant ascendancy, made them a major goal.

Following the primary Jacobite rising, in an try to reinstate King James, authorities forces deceitfully posed as friends in Glencoe. In a brutal and treacherous act, they mercilessly murdered round 80 members of the MacDonald clan, violating the sacred Scottish hospitality code. Among the many victims have been clan chief Maclain, and his spouse. The mindless slaughter shocked the nation, igniting a profound and lasting rage.

Now, in line with a report in BBC, “a hoard of 36 cash,” linked with this horrific occasion has been found beneath a hearth that after belonged to the Macdonald Clan chief.

Stashing the Glencoe Hoard and Operating

The gathering of cash was discovered by scholar archaeologist, Lucy Ankers, throughout a University of Glasgow dig in August. She recognized the stash in what was at one time a big stone fire inside Maclain of Glencoe’s summerhouse. Ankers advised The Guardian “I don’t suppose I’ll ever beat the sensation of seeing the cash peeking out of the filth within the pot.”

Lucy Ankers, the college scholar who unearthed the Glencoe hoard, learning the cash in a laboratory on the College of Glasgow. (©Gareth Beale/University of Glasgow)

A report in The Guardian says that alongside the silver and bronze cash courting from the 1500s to 1680s, the staff of researchers discovered “European pottery, pottery from England, Germany and the Netherlands, a musket and fowling shot, and the flint and gunpowder from a rifle.”

Among the many foreign money have been cash from the reigns of “Elizabeth I, James VI and I, Charles I, the Cromwellian Commonwealth, and Charles II – in addition to France and the Spanish Netherlands and the Papal States was additionally discovered.”

Dr Michael Given, the co-director of the College of Glasgow’s archaeological mission in Glencoe, speculates that whoever hid the cash, was killed in the course of the bloodbath, and didn’t return for them.

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Glimpsing a Historic Bloodbath

In January 1692, led by Robert Campbell of Glenlyon, round 120 troopers from the Earl of Argyll’s Regiment marched to Glencoe from Invergarry. Glasgow College archaeologists have speculated that the cash could have been buried two weeks later, on the morning of the bloodbath, “by survivors fleeing up a facet glen throughout a blizzard,” the place they discovered “Maclain” of Glencoe’s summerhouse.

Dr Michael Given stated the cash and different finds, provide “a uncommon glimpse” into this historic bloodbath. Furthermore, Given stated it’s “actually thrilling” to think about these cash “are not any later than the 1680s,” confirming they have been buried in a rush, because the bloodbath began on the morning of 13 February 1692. Dr Given stated it’s identified a number of the survivors escaped up facet glens by way of a wild blizzard, due to this fact, these cash “witnessed the dramatic story”.

The Workings of Scotland’s Elites

Whereas the cash communicate of betrayal and spiritual violence, in a bigger context, the invention of Maclain’s Glencoe summer time residence [hunting lodge] permits the researchers to higher perceive how the uplands served Scotland’s Seventeenth-century societal elites. Upland searching lodges have been strategically situated in distant, elevated areas, the place they served as bases for searching expeditions. Furnished with primary facilities and staffed, they have been central to expedition planning and supplied a spot to unwind and strategize after a day of searching, producing a way of group amongst searching fans.

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The Bloodbath of Glencoe by James Hamilton, 1853–1894. (Glasgow Museums /CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0)

The Glencoe Bloodbath of 1692 stands as a horrifying testomony to political betrayal and violence. Authorities troopers, exploiting belief and hospitality, brutally slaughtered dozens of harmless members of the MacDonald clan. Within the aftermath, Scotland was shocked, and tensions soared, and the betrayal fueled deep-resentment, leaving an open wound on the nation’s conscience that might form its historical past and politics over the previous two centuries.

Prime picture:  The Glencoe hoard of cash consists of European pottery in addition to silver and bronze cash. Supply: ©Gareth Beale/University of Glasgow

By Ashley Cowie