In an age of slaughter, religious intolerance and bloody clan feuds, what makes Glen Coe stand out above the many other massacres in the Highlands? Should a soldier unconditionally follow orders, even if those orders are to murder children? Was it “the Campbells”… or is that just what the real villains wanted people to think?
These questions and more are at the heart of our new film, ‘Cruel Is the Snow: Committing the Glen Coe Massacre’. The conclusion to over three years of work, ‘Cruel Is the Snow’ continues the story told in our extremely popular documentaries ’Fallen Kingdom’, ‘Inglorious Revolutions’, ‘Guardians to Gallows Herd’ and ‘Knives in the Dark’.
Aging alcoholic and closet Jacobite Captain Robert Campbell is reluctantly tasked with a secret mission to destroy the Jacobite resistance. He is to quarter his men upon MacIain of Glen Coe, the Lord of the Gallows Herd - but Robert Campbell does not know what the secret is. Nor do his hosts, the MacDonalds of Glen Coe, or, indeed, the majority of his men.
When the terrible secret is revealed, it will change the Scottish Highlands forever, and mark the beginning of the end for the Gàidhealtachd.
INDEX:
00:00 Introduction
02:21 I. The Quartering
27:57 II. The Massacre
48:23 III. The Aftermath
1:05:19 IV. The Inquiry
1:21:41 Epilogue
1:22:37 CREDITS AND SOURCES
Check out our ‘Tales of the Gàidhealtachd’ playlist for all the films mentioned: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHciVjPIfhPpxYI8PJAm-CrfsxnN8tGrp