Travel
The Valley of Loss - Glencoe/Ancestors
A place in Scotland which is essential if you want to learn some of its history
The Valley of Loss – Glencoe
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.
The Clachaig Inn which lies on the west end of the glen, has a sign in the bar “No hawkers or Campbells”.
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I remember my granny saying - the only good Campbell is in a tin (soup)
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.
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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 (churches) 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 near scotland.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.
By wandering in some of the village church yards you will learn a lot. Great food in the local pub, do have a shandy..... half beer and half lemonade.
Maureen Jones
All Horizons Travel/Frosch
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