Glencoe

[albaman]

I'm researching the history of Glencoe and the surrounding area, not just the massacre. I'm looking for stories and any information that you may be willing to share with me. Did you or your Family come from this area? Do you know any folk stories about the Glen? All information will be gratefully recieved. I can be contacted at albaman70@hotmail.com Many thanks.

[crying-charlie]

THE SONS OF GLENCOE
(Massacre, 13th Feb., 1692) As sung by MacGregor Kennedy

Ye loyal MacDonalds awaken, awaken,
Why sleep ye sae soundly in face of the foe?
The clouds pass away and the dawn it is breaking,
But when shall awaken the sons of Glencoe?

Ye lay down to rest with your thoughts on the morrow,
Nor dreamt that lives visions were melting like snow,
But daylight has dawned on the silence of sorrow,
And ne'er shall awaken the sons of Glencoe.

The winds howl a warning, the red lightning flashes,
They heap on the faggots a welcome to show,
But traitors are brooding on death o'er the ashes,
Now cold are the hearths of the sons of Glencoe.

O dark was the omen that brought to our sheiling,
The Black-hearted Campbell wi' treacherous smile,
We gave them our food with a brother's own feeling,
For when we believed there was truth in Argyle.

My clansmen strike boldly, let none of you count
On the mercy of cowards who wrought us such woe.
The wail of their spirits when heard on the mountain,
Must surely awaken the sons of Glencoe.

O cruel as adders, ye struck us while sleeping,
But vengeance shall haunt ye wherever ye go.
Our loved ones lie murdered, no sorrow nor weeping
Can ever awaken the sons of Glencoe.

The Sons of Glen Coe survived despite the machinations of English politicians and their Scottish tools and appeared in arms for Scotland in 1715, 1719, and in the Forty-five. Today their descendants still work for a free and independent Scotland.

[crying-charlie]

The name Henderson or MacKendrick (Henry's son) is the same as Henryson or in Gaelic MacEanruig. The legendry ancestor of the Hendersons is Eanruig Mor Mac Righ Neachtan "Big Henry, son of King Nectan", said to be a Pictish King who reigned from A.D. 700 to 720. Unfortunately, it is impossible to substantiate this claim and it is more probable that the clan is descended from one Dughald MacEanruig who flourished in the 1300's. The principal family came from Glencoe, and were hereditary pipers to Clan Abrach. However, the male line came to an end when the heiress of Clan MacEanruig married into the MacDonalds of Glencoe through Iain Abrach of the MacIains of Glencoe. This clan of MacIain is long remembered as being the clan who was massacred at Glencoe in 1692. Another branch of the Hendersons in the north was a sept of Clan Gunn descending from Henry, a son of the chief George Gunn who was coroner of Caithness. There were also Hendersons of Fordell who resided at Fordell Castle near Inverkeithing in Fife. The castle was built in the 16th Century after the lands were acquired by James Henderson in 1511. The most distinguished of this branch was Alexander Henderson, leader of the Reformation who, with Archibald Johnstone, drew up the historic National Covenant of protest in 1638. This branch of the Hendersons is now the chiefly line although the present-day chief no longer lives in Scotland but in Queensland Australia.

Thanks to James Pringle Weavers for the following information

HENDERSON: In Scotland, this name is of multiple source and 'clan loyalty' should be based on evidence of one's genealogical or geographical origins. Of the Highland Hendersons, (mostly anglicised from 'MacEanruig' or MacKendrick), those of Glencoe claim a descent from Eanruig Mor Mac Righ Neachtan, son of the Pictish King Nechtan (AD.700-720), who is said to have settled in Lochaber. By 1314 a Dughall MacEanruig was the principal person in Glencoe whose heiress carried their lands to the progenitor of the ill-fated 'MacIain' MacDonalds of Glencoe. Further North, a branch of the Clan Gunn also bears the name, such being descendants of Henry, a younger son of their 15th century chief, George Gunn, 'Crowner' of Caithness. As the result of a family feud with surviving brothers, (after their father and other brothers had been slaughtered by the Keiths), Henry left and settled in the lowlands of Caithness. A few Hendersons claim kinship with the MacNaughtons, but the link is obscure, and such circumstance might equally apply to other clans where there was a traditional use of 'Henry' as a baptismal name. It will be evident therefore, that the various Highland Hendersons and MacKendricks are not of common stock and may not be truly termed a 'Clan'. Elsewhere in Scotland, Henryson, from which source many Hendersons derive, was known from an early date, particularly in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Dumfriess-shire, and the root name 'Henry' was common in Ayrshire and Fife. James Henderson, 1st of Fordell in Fife, Lord Advocate, acquired these lands about 1500, but fell in Battle at Flodden in 1513 along with his eldest son. The 4th Laird was knighted by James VI - as was his son John, by Charles I. His grandson, also John, was created a baronet by Charles II in 1664, but this honour became dormant with the death of the 6th Baronet in 1833.