The Washington herald., 1922-11-26
ANCIENT CURSE OF GLENCOE
RECALLED BY DIVORCE SUIT

drink and Highland s.mes ana
the frssdom Of stream and voods.
Then cAnpbeu -of oienlyon, dis-
regarding circumstances. ignorins
the evidences of friendship that
he'd prevailed. struck the blow
which he. had been sent TO de-
liver. They killed Macdonald in
cold nood ere he knew what fate
faced him. They slew his soldiers.
~ they stood unarmed. They
burned every, house. they laid
waste every fieid. until the Valley
Of Glencoe was q desoaate sham
bles.
So over the smoking ernbers OF
their homes. over the bodies Of the
Highland women and children. over
the desolation that had been q few
days before the pride OF MacDon-
AIDS heart the curse Of Glencoe
was flung. Who uttered Il first is
no longer known. save that Il
was an old woman and the enact
terms Of ft have been made un-
certain through the mists Of ira
dition m the years that have
passed.
Doubtless. IL was uttered a hun
dred times. repeated. enlarged.
made more venomous and compre-
hensive. What the clan had suf.
fered. the curse demanded, should
be repeated q hundred fold on
those to blame.
AZ William III had ordered the
massacre. the curse was directed
against him and his house. As the
Earl Of Stair had counter signed
the order, the curse called for the
destruction Of this line, and
against Campbell, OF Glenlyon, the
imprecation was directed as the
master OF the massacre.
What happened to william III.
and the Earl OF Stair is history.
William had married Mary, the
daughter Of James IL. whom he
succeeded Mary died in 1884, and
eight years after william was
killed by a fall from his horse and
the succession was broken. the
crown passing to Mary's sister.
who became Queen Anne.
As the terms Of the Scottisa
imprecation. modified. perhaps, in
tensified more likely. came over
the border. the specifications raa
that no successor Of the first
earl should ever possess threc
sons. The Earl Of Stair, the re.
puted evil genius Of the massacre.
was elevated and honored by
Queen Anne. and he scoffed at
the imprecation. To show his
contempt for Il he tied UP his
estate 80 that a large part of Il
could not be Inherited by any
but his own third son. or a third
son OF the earl who succeeded
him.
The tenth Earl Of Stair was the
first OF the line to possess three
sons. and through the years the
original estate set aside for the
first third son Of a ruling earl had
been accomplishing and increasing
at interest and compound interest
through the centuries.
THE THIRD SON APPEARS.
The first third son is Col. lew
Hamilton Dalrymple, now an aged
man and q confirmed bachelor.
who. lacking the titles. Possesses
enough wealth to make the present
Earl OF Stair. his nephew. appear
poverty stricken. So that the first
Earl Of Stair, IN Withholding tn
mass of wealth for q third son,
, simply succeeded in inturine his
own direct heirs by jettisonins a
fortune.
The father Of the present earl
was frightfuliy disfigured by be
ing flung from a horse onto the
iron spikes Of a fence.
He was sued by his wife for al.
vorce-they were chfidiess-and
he won the divorce. whereupoa
the divorced lady married the 60
respondent he had named and
the correspondent. Lord Mensies.
died soon after.
The second Earl of Stair mar
ried mysteriouaiy the widowed Wis.
countess Primrose, fmmortslipsd
I'm Scott's Aunt Margaret's Mir.
ror." The seventh earl. on hts
honeymoon with the beautiful
Countess Dysart, was forced 20
submit to the annuiment Of the
marriage At the bshest Of q wem.
an Of evil reputation. when he
had compromised.
bride OF LAMMERMoon,
The Glencoe Earis eldest sister.
Janet balrympis, was the heroine
, Of 6cetta Bride Of Hammer.
meor," which was later dene into
the opera Lucia" II IN histery.