No Great Mischief

Understanding of History

Massacre of Glencoe• The massacre occurred at Glencoe in

1692. The Macdonald clan was set upon by troops when they were in their quarters. The decision to massacre the Macdonald clan was made because three years earlier there were a number of clans that fought against William who was now being named king. All who fought against William three years earlier were required to take an oath of allegiance to the Crown before midnight of January 1, 1692. Mac Ian, the head of the Macdonald clan, was deemed late in proclaiming his allegiance (he had apparently tried a number of times to take the oath on time) and as a result, it was decided that the Crown would make an example of them. Thirty-eight Macdonalds were murdered that morning, February 13, 1692.

Glencoe

Bonnie Prince Charlie• In 1707, Scotland officially joined with

England and Wales. There were some uprisings to try and re-establish Scot independence in 1715 and 1745, otherwise known as the ’15 and the ’45 which is mentioned a number of times. The ’45 was the more serious. It is implied the patriarch, Calum Ruadh, was 21 when he fought with Charlie. Bonnie Prince Charlie was actually Prince Charles Edward Stuart who landed in England from France hoping to gain the English throne.

• Charlie was able to recruit a number of Highland clans, including the MacDonald’s to make war on the British. Charlie never was able to attract many followers outside of the Highlanders and therefore, the rebellion never really had a chance without the help of the French. The French ships, as we find out in the novel, never arrived with the reinforcements. Charlie’s forces were routed from England at Culloden, also mentioned in the novel.

Why they emigrated

• Many of the Highlanders were raised to fight. When the fighting was over, there was little to do because they had no training. The landscape was not conducive to farming large areas. This is the time period where many Highlanders, including Calum Ruadh, immigrated to Canada. Those who did not emigrate stayed and worked for the English, who were formerly their enemy. Ironically, England and France go to war and the Highlanders fight against their former allies.

General Wolfe• Wolfe was sent to capture Quebec City

from the French. He laid siege against the city for two months. He prepared his English forces for attack by planning to scale the cliffs surrounding Quebec City-the very element that had protected the French for so long. The Battle of the Plains of Abraham soon followed which lasted approximately one hour. Montcalm and Wolfe were killed but England won the battle and inevitably won the battle for Canada (grade 7 History Class, remember)

• The irony here is that Wolfe had probably fought against the Highlanders in the earlier battles mentioned, and now had them working for him.

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