An estimated 30 members and associates of Clan MacDonald of Glencoe were killed by Scottish government forces, allegedly for failing to pledge allegiance to the new monarchs, William III and Mary II.

Some historians argue the late 17th-century Scottish Highlands were more peaceful than often suggested, the exception being Lochaber, identified as a refuge for cattle raiders and thieves by government officials, other chiefs and Gaelic poets.

Primarily directed against Lowland migrants settled in Cowal and Kintyre, the damage inflicted by Atholl's raid destabilised large parts of the central and southern Highlands.

[4] In March 1689, James landed in Ireland in an attempt to regain his kingdoms, with Camerons and Keppoch MacDonalds among those who joined Viscount Dundee for a supporting campaign in Scotland.

Victory over a government army at Killiecrankie on 27 July cost the lives of Dundee and 600 Highlanders, while organised Jacobite military resistance largely ended after Cromdale in May 1690.

[10] In early October, the Jacobite chiefs asked the exiled James II for permission to take the oath unless he could mount an invasion before the deadline, a condition they knew was impossible.

While his reasons for the delay are unclear, one suggestion attributes it to an internal power struggle between Episcopalian MacDonalds like Glencoe, and the Catholic minority headed by Glengarry.

[14] Stair's letter of 2 December to Breadalbane shows the decision to make him an example was taken well before the deadline for the oath, originally as a much bigger operation; '...the clan Donell must be rooted out and Lochiel.

The last, on 11 January, states; '...my lord Argile tells me Glenco hath not taken the oaths at which I rejoice....'[16] The Scottish Parliament passed a Decree of Forfeiture in 1690, depriving Glengarry of his lands, but he continued to hold Invergarry Castle, whose garrison included the senior Jacobite officers Alexander Cannon and Thomas Buchan.

After two years of negotiations, Stair was under pressure to ensure the deal stuck, while Argyll was competing for political influence with his kinsman Breadalbane, who also found it expedient to concur with the plan.

[18] Glengarry managed to eliminate an internal rival, was pardoned and had his lands returned by the Williamite government, while enhancing his reputation with the exiled court in Saint-Germain by being the last to swear.

The often-quoted figure of 38 dead was provided by Hamilton's men, who were at the opposite end of the glen from where the killing took place,[d] while the MacDonalds themselves claimed 'the number they knew to be slaine were about 25'.

Hamilton was not in position at Kinlochleven until 11:00; his detachment included two lieutenants, Francis Farquhar and Gilbert Kennedy, who often appear in anecdotes claiming they 'broke their swords rather than carry out their orders.'

[27] In May, fears of a French invasion meant the Argylls were posted to Brentford in England, then Flanders, where they served until the end of the Nine Years' War in 1697 when the regiment was disbanded.

No action was taken against those involved; Glenlyon died in Bruges in August 1696, Duncanson was killed in Spain in May 1705, while Drummond survived to take part in another famous Scottish disaster, the Darien scheme.

The result was a huge increase in the number of political pamphlets published in London, among them Gallienus Redivivus, or Murther will out, &c. Being a true Account of the De Witting of Glencoe, Gaffney.

Written by Jacobite activist Charles Leslie, it focused on William's alleged complicity in the 1672 death of Johan de Witt, with Glencoe and other crimes as secondary charges.

[40] He sought to exonerate William from every one of Leslie's charges, and is the origin of the claim that the Massacre was simply part of an ongoing feud between the MacDonalds and Clan Campbell.

[51] Examples in literature include "The Masks of Purpose" by Eric Linklater, and the novels Fire Bringer by David Clement-Davies, Corrag (known as Witch Light in paperback) by Susan Fletcher and Lady of the Glen by Jennifer Roberson.

A Song of Ice and Fire author, George R. R. Martin, cites the Glencoe Massacre as one of two historical influences on the infamous "Red Wedding" in his 2000 book A Storm of Swords.

[56] In 2018, a team of archaeologists organised by the National Trust for Scotland began surveying several areas related to the massacre, with plans to produce detailed studies of their findings.

[57] Work in the summer of 2019 focused on the settlement of Achadh Triachatain, or Achtriachtan, at the extreme end of the glen; home to an estimated 50 people, excavations show it was rebuilt after 1692 and still occupied in the mid-18th century.