Archaeology of a Glencoe township
The archaeology of Achtriachtan township in Glencoe
Excavation work of settlement remains at Achtriachtan
Derek Alexander of NationalTrust for Scotland reports on an archaeological survey and excavation work of settlement remains at Glencoe
Glencoe is probably the most famous glen in Scotland. It is synonymous both with the massacre of 13 February 1692 and with its awe-inspiring mountainous scenery.While the history of the glen has been studied in detail, the physical remains of settlement in the landscape have only recently been the focus of investigation. Archaeologists from the National Trust for Scotland have been surveying and excavating at a number of locations throughout the glen. The stone ruins and enclosures that are so obvious to the thousands of cars that travel through the glen mostly date to the 19th century and are remains of the later sheep farms.Where are the remains of the earlier settlements, the houses that belonged to the 17th and 18th centuries?
The earliest detailed map of Glencoe is the military survey undertaken by General William Roy between 1747 and 1755. On this map, the major townships along the length of the glen are clearly marked. The map shows small clusters of between six and eleven buildings at each of the named locations and marks the settlement foci in the glen in the 18th century, around 60 years after the infamous massacre of 1692.
Of the seven named settlements shown on Roy’s map, three fall into the area owned by the National
Trust for Scotland: Inverigan, Achnacon and Achtriachtan. As these are further from the mouth of the river and the focus of the current village, there is potential that some of the early structures may survive. Over the last few years, the Trust’s archaeology team have undertaken some detailed mapping/survey work at these three settlement sites, coupled with some limited excavation and historical research.
Exploring Glencoe’s historic townships
The two seasons (2018-19) of survey and excavation at Achtriachtan have produced the first detailed plans and recovered historic artefacts from the best-preserved of Glencoe’s historic townships.
Of the eight structures marked on Roy’s map of the mid-18th century, on the north side of the old road, five have been located. Three of the structures are positioned along the contours, parallel to the road, and could be houses. The other two structures are terraced platforms, at right angles to the road and could be barns or byres, although only further excavation would be able to confirm this.The presence of four stone and earth-banked enclosures containing remains of rigs indicate that crops were being grown in the immediate vicinity. The presence of a grain-drying kiln to the east of the settlement supports this interpretation.
Excavation of the complete area of Structure 1 provided a plan for one of the township buildings. It is believed that this would have been a house. Unfortunately, it was apparent quite quickly that the remains had been heavily disturbed by stone robbing. It seems likely that the ruins would have been used as a quarry for stones for the upgrading of the trackway through the glen to a military road in the 1780s (after the route over the Devil’s Staircase was abandoned) and then the subsequent upgrading, widening and repairing that would have continued until the new line of the A82 was constructed in the 1930s. It also seems likely that stones would also have been removed from this site in the mid 19th century to help build the sheep farm and enclosures that lie to the south of the old road. Given that the flagstone paving survives over quite an extensive area just below the turf, it is possible that the building must have at least fallen into an advanced state of disrepair and collapse before it was robbed – the floor must have been covered or it too surely would have been stripped out.
From what does survive it appears that the house is 10.5m long internally, west to east, by 4m wide.The exact width and form of the walls remains unknown, as no external facing stones survived in situ. It seems likely that the walls would have been 0.8-1.0m wide. It is likely that the walls would have at least been formed by a foundation
of stone, although the small scale of the two surviving segments at the eastern end do not appear particularly well-built or substantial. Indeed, the incorporation of a large squarish boulder close to the northwest corner might again suggest the construction was of very random rubble rather than neat courses.
Within the interior, the evidence suggests that there was a paved central passageway leading in from the single doorway in the southern side.The width of the stepped paving leading into the interior suggests the doorway may have been up to 1.2m wide.The collapsed nature of some of this paving suggests that there may have been a drain exiting out the doorway. On entering the house, the left-hand side (western end) appears to have been paved, or certainly the southern side of the house does.The incorporation of the base of a quern stone into this paving and the distribution of flecks and lumps of charcoal in the centre of the structure could indicate that this was where a central hearth was located, surrounded by a kitchen area.The discovery of an iron lock (SF38), which might be from a dresser, close to the north wall, seems to support this interpretation. However, the discovery of two horseshoes in this area and the general scarcity of other domestic material (ceramic and glass) at this end of the building might argue against this.
The eastern end of the building appears to have been unflagged beyond the central passage and there may have been a wattle screen or partition separating off this end.The majority of the green bottle glass shards came from the entranceway and the eastern end of the building. Most of the pottery sherds, including sherds of trailed slipware and a saltglazed plate, also came from this end. A single sherd of finer, manganese mottled ware came from below the rubble and wall core.
The recovery of material culture, both from Structure 1 and the surrounding trial trenches and test pits, is a rare addition to our understanding of the types of artefacts used on sites in the late 17th and 18th centuries, but who lived there?
The MacDonald clan
The township at Achtriachtan was held by members of the MacDonald clan. Indeed, the MacDonalds of Achtriachtan were tacksmen of the MacDonalds of Glencoe and their chief MacIain, and came to be considered as a cadet branch of the main Glencoe clan. The names of the people who lived at Achtriachtan from the late 17th century into the mid 19th century can be traced through a number of sources: documents relating to the massacre, Jacobite muster rolls, religious confirmation lists and the census in 1841.
At the time of the massacre in 1692, we know that John MacDonald of Achtriachtan, the tacksman of the township, and his servant, Kennedy, stayed the night of 12 February with his brother at Achnacon. Both John and his servant were shot by Sergeant Robert Barber’s men in the morning, although the brother managed to escape.
At Achtriachtan township itself, the soldiers billeted there turned on their hosts but it is unclear how many were killed. Many seem to have escaped to the east and gone down Lairig Gartain, escaping before the blocking troops arrived at 11am, delayed by the snows over the Devil’s Staircase. According to Prebble the cottages at Achtriachtan were then burnt and an old man was shot as he ran from the ruins towards the river.
Following the massacre, some of the MacDonalds of Glencoe returned within a few days to bury the dead – their chief MacIain was buried on Eilean Munde in Loch Leven and presumably the other 37 victims were interred there too.When the sons of MacIain were accepted back into the peace of King William, the families eventually returned to the glen and presumably rebuilt any of the burnt and destroyed houses and other buildings at Achtriachtan and the other townships.
In the 18th century, the Glencoe MacDonalds came out in support of the Jacobite cause, both in 1715 and 1745, fighting at Sheriffmuir and Culloden. The 1745 muster
roll for the Jacobite army lists 120 men from Glencoe who fought for Prince Charles Edward Stuart. This includes twelve men from Achtriachtan: eleven MacDonalds and one MacStalker.What is also interesting about this list is that it gives the occupations of three people. One Alexander MacDonald is listed as a change keeper, suggesting there was a change house or small inn at Achtriachtan. Another Alexander MacDonald is listed as a drover, while Archibald MacDonald is described as a merchant. It is also recorded that the second in command of the Glencoe men was Angus MacDonald of
Achtriachtan, who must have been around 70 when he was killed at the battle of Prestonpans. Being the tacksman of Achtriachtan was obviously a hazardous position!
Following the crushing defeat at Culloden in 1746, British government troops were stationed around the highlands. These men were posted not only in the large well-known forts at Inverness, Fort William, Fort Augustus and the other smaller barracks, but also out in the community they were to suppress. These cantonments and posts of the British army in Scotland during 1745-53 are listed on the Stennis Historical Society website: https://sites.google.com/site/ stennishs. The database lists that at Achtriachtan, Glencoe (named Auchtrischtan in Cantonment Register) on 8 June 1751 there was a post manned by one corporal and five privates. So almost 60 years after the massacre the township of Achtriachtan was used to billet redcoated soldiers.
In the 19th century the townships fell into decline and settlement tended to focus on the village of Invercoe at the mouth of the glen, by Loch Leven. By the 1870s when the Ordnance Survey were mapping Glencoe, the sheep farms that replaced the township at Achtriachtan were already marked as unroofed and ruined.The archaeological survey and excavation work undertaken by the National Trust for Scotland has only just started to uncover the detailed history of settlement in the glen and more work will undoubtedly be undertaken. As part of the project to improve the interpretation for visitors, the Trust is building a replica house at the visitor centre using the evidence recovered from the excavations at Achtriachtan. This project was delayed by the COVID19 pandemic but hopefully will go ahead this year and will be the subject of further articles.
Listen to the National Trust for Scotland’s Glencoe podcast: http:// scot.sh/glencoepodcast