In the night Lieutenant Lindsay, with a party of soldiers,
called in a friendly manner at his door, and was instantly admitted.
Macdonald, while in the act of rising to receive his
guest, was shot dead through the back with two bullets. His
wife had already dressed ; but she was stripped naked by the
soldiers, who tore the rings off her fingers with their teeth.
The slaughter now became general, and neither age nor infirmity
was spared. Some women, in defending their children,
were killed; boys, imploring mercy, were shot dead by
officers on whose knees they hung. In one place nine persons,
as they sat enjoying themselves at table, were butchered by
the soldiers. In Inverriggon, Campbell's own quarters, nine
men were first bound by the soldiers, and then shot at intervals,
one by one. Nearly forty persons were massacred by the
troops; and several who fled to the mountains perished by
famine and the inclemency of the season. Those who escaped
owed their lives to a tempestuous night. Lieutenant-Colonel
Hamilton, who had received the charge of the execution from
Dalrymple, was on his march with four hundred men, to
guard all the passes from the valley of Glencoe; but he was
obliged to stop by the severity of the weather, which proved
the safety of the unfortunate clan.
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