1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:05,800 This programme contains some scenes which some viewers may find upsetting 2 00:00:07,680 --> 00:00:09,360 For centuries, 3 00:00:09,360 --> 00:00:13,320 the Scottish Highlands have been a law unto themselves. 4 00:00:14,320 --> 00:00:16,800 Beyond the rule of any king. 5 00:00:17,800 --> 00:00:20,440 A world where ruthless clans scheme... 6 00:00:20,440 --> 00:00:23,040 You would throw us to the wolves, for what? 7 00:00:23,040 --> 00:00:25,640 ..and slaughter. They'll cut you into bits! 8 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:29,840 ..in a violent struggle for dominance. 9 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:33,880 Issue powder and shot now! 10 00:00:33,880 --> 00:00:36,040 But in this new era, 11 00:00:36,040 --> 00:00:39,520 a king of Scots is on England's throne. 12 00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:42,440 Two kingdoms, one king. 13 00:00:42,440 --> 00:00:47,520 And the clans, they've become Britain's mightiest fighting force. 14 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:49,480 GUNFIRE 15 00:00:50,600 --> 00:00:54,200 We must make a stand in the Highlands. 16 00:00:55,200 --> 00:00:59,280 In this world of gunpowder, broadswords and treason, 17 00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:02,240 the Highland clans have a new-found power - 18 00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:05,760 to make or break the kingdom. 19 00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:07,200 God in heaven. 20 00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:10,600 Trust me, blood will be spilt. 21 00:01:26,120 --> 00:01:28,360 1644. 22 00:01:28,360 --> 00:01:31,480 All hell has been unleashed in Scotland. 23 00:01:31,480 --> 00:01:36,040 An army of wild clansmen rampage through the Highlands. 24 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:39,960 They make war in the name of King Charles I, 25 00:01:39,960 --> 00:01:43,120 raining down fire and sword upon his enemies. 26 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:48,040 The King's greatest enemy in Scotland is Archibald of Argyll, 27 00:01:48,040 --> 00:01:50,040 chief of Clan Campbell. 28 00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:54,760 He fights for parliament in alliance with the English. 29 00:01:56,200 --> 00:01:59,040 Archie's cause is the will of the people, 30 00:01:59,040 --> 00:02:01,520 or at least that's what he tells himself. 31 00:02:01,520 --> 00:02:04,360 There's a dark place in Archie's soul 32 00:02:04,360 --> 00:02:07,840 that just wants to be rid of the King in Scotland. 33 00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:14,080 This is a story of old world loyalty versus new world politics. 34 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:21,200 An epic conflict that will kick off a century of clan warfare and chaos 35 00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:25,760 in Scotland and threaten the future of the emerging British state. 36 00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:31,360 The explosive events to come were triggered six years earlier 37 00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:33,080 in London. 38 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:48,760 Charles I is King. 39 00:02:48,760 --> 00:02:52,040 He is the grandson of Mary, Queen of Scots... 40 00:02:53,520 --> 00:02:58,360 ..the second Stuart monarch to rule both Scotland and England. 41 00:02:58,360 --> 00:03:02,400 Headstrong, and with no time for subtle politics, 42 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:06,040 Charles is trying to align his northern kingdom of Scots 43 00:03:06,040 --> 00:03:09,760 with his southern one to create a one rule fits all 44 00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:14,520 nation of Great Britain, but the Scots aren't having it. 45 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:18,000 His Majesty was born in Scotland, 46 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:20,920 but he's spent precious little time there. 47 00:03:20,920 --> 00:03:24,280 The truth is, he doesn't really understand the place. 48 00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:27,320 His reforms have made him wildly unpopular. 49 00:03:27,320 --> 00:03:30,040 There's even talk of a rebellion. 50 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:34,280 What he needs is someone from a powerful clan 51 00:03:34,280 --> 00:03:38,280 to act as an enforcer by Royal appointment. 52 00:03:41,040 --> 00:03:43,680 And Charles is assuming that this guy 53 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:46,280 will be up for doing the King's dirty work. 54 00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:49,040 Archibald of Argyll. 55 00:03:50,040 --> 00:03:54,040 He runs the strongest clan in Scotland - the Campbells. 56 00:03:55,760 --> 00:04:00,520 Archie Campbell, or squint-eyed Archibald, as he's known in Gaelic, 57 00:04:00,520 --> 00:04:03,760 in many ways, he's a typical Campbell. 58 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:07,520 There's a ruthlessness about him, there's a pride about him 59 00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:11,080 which is very much what we expect from the clan. 60 00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:16,040 Archie Campbell is probably the most powerful person in Scotland 61 00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:20,520 in around 1638, 1640. 62 00:04:20,520 --> 00:04:22,880 Apart from the King, of course. 63 00:04:23,880 --> 00:04:28,480 But will Archie actually agree to enforce the King's reforms? 64 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:36,760 The Campbells have always backed the Stuart kings and queens 65 00:04:36,760 --> 00:04:40,760 and the Stuart kings and queens have been most generous in return. 66 00:04:40,760 --> 00:04:44,520 But this particular Campbell is a thoroughly modern man. 67 00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:46,680 He just doesn't buy this nonsense 68 00:04:46,680 --> 00:04:50,040 about a king having the divine right to do as he pleases, 69 00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:52,680 so this wee chat could be a bit awkward. 70 00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:04,520 I am a humble servant of your kingdom of Scots. 71 00:05:04,520 --> 00:05:07,760 A kingdom you are absent from. 72 00:05:08,760 --> 00:05:13,520 Your Majesty knows it not, nor our minds. 73 00:05:15,080 --> 00:05:20,040 We do not uphold that a king has divine rights. 74 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:27,440 It may well be your will, sire, to raise taxes, gift lands, 75 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:30,040 dictate what is uttered in prayer... 76 00:05:31,040 --> 00:05:33,720 ..but it is not the will of your people. 77 00:05:35,280 --> 00:05:38,920 I cannot in good conscience aid Your Majesty 78 00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:41,000 in executing these, your... 79 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:44,280 ..despotic policies. 80 00:05:47,040 --> 00:05:49,480 Tell it like it is, Archie, why don't you? 81 00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:52,760 It's one thing to turn down the King of Scots and England, 82 00:05:52,760 --> 00:05:55,280 quite another to call him a tyrant. 83 00:05:55,280 --> 00:05:58,040 He's got balls, you've got to give that to Archie, 84 00:05:58,040 --> 00:06:01,040 but for such talk, people lose their heads. 85 00:06:03,760 --> 00:06:05,840 Charles could have Archie arrested, 86 00:06:05,840 --> 00:06:09,080 but believes he can punish him in a more painful way. 87 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:17,200 He makes a royal decree and grants a vast tract of Campbell territory, 88 00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:19,040 the lands of Kintyre, 89 00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:22,520 to the clan's great rivals, the MacDonalds. 90 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:29,440 Taking land from the Campbells and giving it to the MacDonalds? 91 00:06:29,440 --> 00:06:33,280 If you want to start a fight in the Highlands, that's how you do it. 92 00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:40,040 The Campbell MacDonald feud goes back to about the 14th century 93 00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:43,040 and it came about because the MacDonalds had, 94 00:06:43,040 --> 00:06:46,720 for a long period of time, been the top dogs in Highland politics. 95 00:06:46,720 --> 00:06:48,760 At the height of MacDonald power, 96 00:06:48,760 --> 00:06:51,520 they stretch across much of the Hebrides 97 00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:55,760 and into mainland Scotland and even across to Ireland as well. 98 00:06:55,760 --> 00:07:00,280 By the 1600s, this dominance is really on the out. 99 00:07:00,280 --> 00:07:03,520 Their lands are greatly diminished and we start to see, 100 00:07:03,520 --> 00:07:07,520 rising from the ashes, this new power, and that is Clan Campbell. 101 00:07:08,520 --> 00:07:12,440 The lands of Kintyre were once an ancient MacDonald heartland - 102 00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:14,760 part of the clan's origin story. 103 00:07:14,760 --> 00:07:18,040 The Campbells took it from them in the ongoing power struggle 104 00:07:18,040 --> 00:07:19,760 for Highland dominance, 105 00:07:19,760 --> 00:07:23,040 and this remote peninsula lies right in the heart 106 00:07:23,040 --> 00:07:25,760 of the Campbell territory of Argyll. 107 00:07:27,320 --> 00:07:31,920 Archie is not the kind of guy that gives up anything very easily 108 00:07:31,920 --> 00:07:36,520 so he is absolutely incensed by this development. 109 00:07:36,520 --> 00:07:39,040 It's very bad news indeed 110 00:07:39,040 --> 00:07:44,600 and it makes him really question what is the Crown doing. 111 00:07:49,040 --> 00:07:51,920 By granting Kintyre back to the MacDonalds, 112 00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:54,680 Charles is trying to demonstrate who is boss 113 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:58,040 and bring Archie to heel, but he's failed to realise 114 00:07:58,040 --> 00:08:01,920 that it's always been the Campbells who have enforced his royal will 115 00:08:01,920 --> 00:08:05,040 in Scotland, especially in the Highlands. 116 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:10,640 In these parts, the Campbells are the law. 117 00:08:10,640 --> 00:08:14,280 No other single clan is going to be brave enough or daft enough 118 00:08:14,280 --> 00:08:16,360 to come here and challenge them. 119 00:08:16,360 --> 00:08:18,760 They're not going to surrender Kintyre 120 00:08:18,760 --> 00:08:21,040 on the say-so of a distant king. 121 00:08:21,040 --> 00:08:23,680 Charles? He can go whistle. 122 00:08:35,760 --> 00:08:38,760 Six years have passed since Archibald Campbell 123 00:08:38,760 --> 00:08:40,600 first defied the King. 124 00:08:41,600 --> 00:08:43,920 In that time, the chief of the Campbells 125 00:08:43,920 --> 00:08:47,080 has made his opposition to Charles formal. 126 00:08:48,080 --> 00:08:51,760 Gradually, he's taken complete control of the Scottish parliament 127 00:08:51,760 --> 00:08:55,680 and forcibly curbed the King's power north of the border. 128 00:08:57,040 --> 00:08:59,760 Any who've opposed him have been imprisoned, 129 00:08:59,760 --> 00:09:01,520 even tortured. 130 00:09:03,040 --> 00:09:07,520 And not one MacDonald has dared make a claim on Kintyre. 131 00:09:08,520 --> 00:09:10,440 Remember down in London, 132 00:09:10,440 --> 00:09:13,520 Archie called Charles a despot, a tyrant. 133 00:09:13,520 --> 00:09:18,040 Well, nowadays, some people are talking about pots and kettles. 134 00:09:18,040 --> 00:09:21,680 Some people are labelling Archie Campbell King Campbell 135 00:09:21,680 --> 00:09:24,760 and it seems like there's only one man with enough bottle 136 00:09:24,760 --> 00:09:26,520 to take him on. 137 00:09:34,040 --> 00:09:39,520 Step forward Jamie, chief of Clan Graham and Earl of Montrose. 138 00:09:40,640 --> 00:09:43,520 A daring general with an impressive war record, 139 00:09:43,520 --> 00:09:46,680 Jamie is a leader that men will follow into battle. 140 00:09:47,680 --> 00:09:51,040 He thinks himself a warrior poet. 141 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:54,280 Jamie has an old sword over his fireplace 142 00:09:54,280 --> 00:09:59,000 that one of his ancestors used to fight alongside William Wallace. 143 00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:03,760 His friends say Jamie himself is like a character from a bygone age. 144 00:10:03,760 --> 00:10:05,680 He's loyal, chivalrous. 145 00:10:06,680 --> 00:10:09,040 He's a knight in shining armour. 146 00:10:10,680 --> 00:10:13,040 James Graham, like other royalist 147 00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:16,280 and indeed like other moderate parliamentarians, 148 00:10:16,280 --> 00:10:19,760 sees the King's authority as divinely ordained 149 00:10:19,760 --> 00:10:24,040 and that there needs to be a balance between the power the King has 150 00:10:24,040 --> 00:10:26,760 and the power that parliament and the Church have. 151 00:10:28,040 --> 00:10:30,520 Jamie is really suspicious of Archie. 152 00:10:30,520 --> 00:10:33,520 He sees the power he has, he sees the dominance he has 153 00:10:33,520 --> 00:10:37,760 over parliament, and he thinks that Archie is aiming for something more. 154 00:10:37,760 --> 00:10:40,040 Whether that's dominance of Scotland, 155 00:10:40,040 --> 00:10:42,760 whether he wants to see himself as King Campbell, 156 00:10:42,760 --> 00:10:46,040 Jamie is concerned and he sees the only way to counter 157 00:10:46,040 --> 00:10:49,440 what Archie is doing is to secretly cooperate with the King. 158 00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:52,520 He did not totally approve of that king, 159 00:10:52,520 --> 00:10:55,520 he thought the king made many mistakes, 160 00:10:55,520 --> 00:11:00,040 but his belief was that as a nobleman, 161 00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:02,520 he had to defend the King, 162 00:11:02,520 --> 00:11:04,520 so that's the issue. 163 00:11:04,520 --> 00:11:07,520 And that is the issue that he has to follow through. 164 00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:12,920 But if Jamie is going to take on Archie Campbell 165 00:11:12,920 --> 00:11:16,760 in support of his sovereign king, then he'll be risking everything, 166 00:11:16,760 --> 00:11:19,000 including the safety of his family. 167 00:11:23,040 --> 00:11:26,520 His relationship with his wife, Magdalene, is beginning to suffer 168 00:11:26,520 --> 00:11:30,040 as he gets deeper into the politics and plotting. 169 00:11:31,520 --> 00:11:34,520 Magdalene knows that she and the couple's children 170 00:11:34,520 --> 00:11:38,160 would become targets if her husband gets in too deep. 171 00:11:39,160 --> 00:11:43,040 And right now, Jamie is torn between loyalty to his king 172 00:11:43,040 --> 00:11:44,760 and his loved ones. 173 00:11:47,040 --> 00:11:49,760 But his hand is about to be forced. 174 00:11:55,280 --> 00:11:59,040 Archie Campbell has put Scotland on a war footing. 175 00:12:01,040 --> 00:12:05,280 Charles I, politically naive as ever, has made no secret of 176 00:12:05,280 --> 00:12:09,040 his intentions to regain authority over Scottish affairs. 177 00:12:10,760 --> 00:12:16,360 We desire all men at arms be mustered by forenoon of the morrow. 178 00:12:16,360 --> 00:12:18,680 None to be levies or conscripts. 179 00:12:20,520 --> 00:12:23,520 Only those who've stood shot and horse. 180 00:12:26,040 --> 00:12:27,680 Tighter, man. 181 00:12:31,040 --> 00:12:34,280 And now Archie is sending a massive Scottish army 182 00:12:34,280 --> 00:12:37,520 over the border into England to fight against Charles 183 00:12:37,520 --> 00:12:40,040 in the name of parliamentary freedom. 184 00:12:43,520 --> 00:12:46,760 Archie is fired up against the King, no question, 185 00:12:46,760 --> 00:12:49,520 but is he fighting for Scotland's parliament 186 00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:52,520 or is he fighting for Clan Campbell? 187 00:12:56,040 --> 00:13:00,040 Archie has been angered by the potential loss of Kintyre, 188 00:13:00,040 --> 00:13:03,520 he's angry about what Charles I is doing 189 00:13:03,520 --> 00:13:07,520 in terms of trying to bring about uniformity across his kingdoms. 190 00:13:07,520 --> 00:13:12,040 He sees the King as wanting to bring Scotland into line with England. 191 00:13:12,040 --> 00:13:15,680 Now, that offends him in national terms 192 00:13:15,680 --> 00:13:20,040 because he thinks Scotland should retain its ancient laws 193 00:13:20,040 --> 00:13:24,280 and liberties, but it also offends him in his position of clan chief. 194 00:13:24,280 --> 00:13:28,280 It questions his autonomy as clan chief over his people 195 00:13:28,280 --> 00:13:30,520 and he doesn't like that. 196 00:13:30,520 --> 00:13:34,600 He very much believes in this ideal of the almost semi-mythological 197 00:13:34,600 --> 00:13:38,040 Scottish constitution whereby parliament has the power 198 00:13:38,040 --> 00:13:41,760 to constrain the King, but this allegation is made against him 199 00:13:41,760 --> 00:13:45,040 that he's going too far and that he's seizing political power 200 00:13:45,040 --> 00:13:48,120 for himself, and there's even allegations that he plans 201 00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:50,760 to make himself the dictator of Scotland. 202 00:13:53,280 --> 00:13:57,040 But Archie is not alone in sending troops against the King. 203 00:13:59,520 --> 00:14:03,280 Charles stands accused of tyranny south of the border too 204 00:14:03,280 --> 00:14:06,520 and the English parliament has also declared war on the King 205 00:14:06,520 --> 00:14:08,760 and his royalist supporters. 206 00:14:09,760 --> 00:14:11,520 Jumping on the bandwagon, 207 00:14:11,520 --> 00:14:14,520 Archie has turned the whole thing into a crusade. 208 00:14:16,520 --> 00:14:18,760 There's even been a document published 209 00:14:18,760 --> 00:14:22,040 legitimising this anti-royalist enterprise. 210 00:14:23,040 --> 00:14:25,360 As a massive PR exercise, 211 00:14:25,360 --> 00:14:28,760 thousands of copies of this document are being printed 212 00:14:28,760 --> 00:14:33,040 with the undeniably pompous title of The Solemn League And Covenant, 213 00:14:33,040 --> 00:14:36,680 full of righteous declarations about the kingdom of Christ 214 00:14:36,680 --> 00:14:38,680 and the grace of God. 215 00:14:38,680 --> 00:14:42,520 There was also a key passage concerning preserving the rights 216 00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:45,040 and privileges of parliament. 217 00:14:46,280 --> 00:14:50,280 Now, as Archie Campbell leads his Scots army into England 218 00:14:50,280 --> 00:14:52,520 to make war on the King, 219 00:14:52,520 --> 00:14:55,280 Jamie Graham enters the fray. 220 00:15:02,040 --> 00:15:05,760 Jamie seeks permission from King Charles to raise an army 221 00:15:05,760 --> 00:15:07,280 to make war on 222 00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:09,320 the Campbell-controlled Scottish parliament. 223 00:15:10,240 --> 00:15:14,360 He has one aim - to bring this troublesome northern kingdom 224 00:15:14,360 --> 00:15:16,280 back under royal command. 225 00:15:16,280 --> 00:15:20,280 Charles offers no resistance, but harbours little hope. 226 00:15:20,280 --> 00:15:24,520 In fairness, he has no idea of the detail of Jamie's plan. 227 00:15:24,520 --> 00:15:27,760 The chief of the Grahams is about to raise an army 228 00:15:27,760 --> 00:15:30,520 the like of which Scotland has never seen. 229 00:15:34,520 --> 00:15:39,280 Alone, the chief of the Grahams heads north into the Highlands. 230 00:15:40,520 --> 00:15:43,520 This is where he will find an army for the King. 231 00:15:43,520 --> 00:15:45,120 A clan army. 232 00:15:46,120 --> 00:15:49,840 Part of clan DNA is loyalty to the chief. 233 00:15:50,840 --> 00:15:54,520 For many, the Stuart king, with his own clan lineage, 234 00:15:54,520 --> 00:15:56,520 is the ultimate chief. 235 00:15:59,280 --> 00:16:03,040 It's all in a noble cause, the cause of the Stuart king, 236 00:16:03,040 --> 00:16:07,040 but Jamie Graham is about to do a deal with the devil himself. 237 00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:20,520 Meet Alasdair Mac Colla, the demon warrior of Clan Donald. 238 00:16:22,040 --> 00:16:25,520 He's been in Ireland taking up arms and bloodying his sword 239 00:16:25,520 --> 00:16:27,680 for any cause that will have him. 240 00:16:29,520 --> 00:16:32,280 He's returned to Scotland with a war band 241 00:16:32,280 --> 00:16:34,520 of Irish MacDonald mercenaries. 242 00:16:39,520 --> 00:16:44,040 Decades ago, the Campbells took his ancestral lands of Kintyre, 243 00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:48,040 the very lands the Stuart king granted back to Clan Donald. 244 00:16:49,920 --> 00:16:52,720 Now Alasdair is here to make good on that claim. 245 00:16:55,760 --> 00:16:58,920 This chap kept the Gaelic ports in business. 246 00:16:58,920 --> 00:17:01,040 They wrote that when he was born, 247 00:17:01,040 --> 00:17:04,520 all the swords in his father's house leapt out of their scabbards, 248 00:17:04,520 --> 00:17:07,040 the mares gave birth, and there's more. 249 00:17:07,040 --> 00:17:11,040 Mac Colla, they said, eats toads and can twist the legs off cows. 250 00:17:11,040 --> 00:17:13,040 That's quite the CV. 251 00:17:14,520 --> 00:17:21,040 These stories are told to really accentuate his warrior status. 252 00:17:21,040 --> 00:17:23,760 They allow people to be fearful of him. 253 00:17:23,760 --> 00:17:27,920 They don't want to face such a legendary figure in combat. 254 00:17:27,920 --> 00:17:31,760 And they also give him this aura of invincibility 255 00:17:31,760 --> 00:17:35,120 that perhaps also emboldens his own followers. 256 00:17:35,120 --> 00:17:39,040 This is a man that they would like to follow into battle. 257 00:17:39,040 --> 00:17:42,280 And he brings a united Highland Irish force 258 00:17:42,280 --> 00:17:44,520 into Scotland at this time 259 00:17:44,520 --> 00:17:47,760 in an attempt to regain his ancestral lands. 260 00:17:47,760 --> 00:17:49,680 That's what he wants to do 261 00:17:49,680 --> 00:17:53,040 and that has a huge anti-Campbell agenda attached to it. 262 00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:02,040 Alasdair had hoped that other clans would flock 263 00:18:02,040 --> 00:18:04,040 to his anti-Campbell cause. 264 00:18:04,040 --> 00:18:08,280 A handful of MacDonalds from the wild west Highlands have joined him, 265 00:18:08,280 --> 00:18:12,520 so, before marching on Kintyre, he heads to the central Highlands, 266 00:18:12,520 --> 00:18:16,520 into Clan Stewart and Clan Robertson territory. 267 00:18:16,520 --> 00:18:19,040 They're no friends of the Campbells 268 00:18:19,040 --> 00:18:22,760 but the reception he receives is not warm. 269 00:18:22,760 --> 00:18:26,520 The truth is, most are scared of Alasdair Mac Colla 270 00:18:26,520 --> 00:18:30,040 and terrified of his Irish MacDonald mercenaries. 271 00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:35,760 Even to the wild Highlanders, 272 00:18:35,760 --> 00:18:39,720 the Irish branch of Clan Donald are mad, bad and dangerous to know, 273 00:18:39,720 --> 00:18:43,040 to be feared and defended against. 274 00:18:44,760 --> 00:18:47,760 There are clans out there who might just be persuaded 275 00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:50,520 to join Jamie's fight against the Campbells, 276 00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:54,040 but for now, they're running around absolutely terrified 277 00:18:54,040 --> 00:18:57,920 that Mac Colla's Irish are going to chop them up and roast their babies. 278 00:18:57,920 --> 00:18:59,760 This could all end badly. 279 00:19:06,240 --> 00:19:09,840 Alasdair and his McDonald mercenaries soon find themselves 280 00:19:09,840 --> 00:19:14,040 confronted by heavily armed Stewart and Robertson clansmen, 281 00:19:14,040 --> 00:19:18,640 out to defend their lands against those they take to be Irish raiders. 282 00:19:18,640 --> 00:19:21,760 Just as it seems bloodshed is inevitable, 283 00:19:21,760 --> 00:19:25,760 a lone figure walks between the two opposing groups. 284 00:19:25,760 --> 00:19:28,280 He's dressed as an ordinary Highlander, 285 00:19:28,280 --> 00:19:30,720 but the Stewarts and Robertsons know him. 286 00:19:31,720 --> 00:19:35,760 His name goes from man to man and they let out a cheer. 287 00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:37,200 CHEERING 288 00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:39,280 It is Jamie, chief of the Grahams, 289 00:19:39,280 --> 00:19:42,760 and he is quick to introduce himself to Alasdair Mac Colla, 290 00:19:42,760 --> 00:19:44,760 addressing him in Gaelic. 291 00:20:13,520 --> 00:20:17,240 Basically, Alasdair needs Graham. 292 00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:23,040 Alasdair has got some very, very powerful battle-hardened veterans 293 00:20:23,040 --> 00:20:26,040 in his army from the Irish wars, 294 00:20:26,040 --> 00:20:28,920 but he lacks legitimacy. 295 00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:31,760 He lacks respectability. 296 00:20:33,040 --> 00:20:36,040 He needs to show the rest of Scotland 297 00:20:36,040 --> 00:20:41,040 that he's just not leading an Irish invasion into the country. 298 00:20:41,040 --> 00:20:45,600 On the other hand, Graham needs men, 299 00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:50,520 and he gets that aplenty with Alasdair's soldiers. 300 00:20:50,520 --> 00:20:55,040 It was a very unlikely alliance between Jamie and Alasdair 301 00:20:55,040 --> 00:20:58,520 and you've kind of got two sections of a force 302 00:20:58,520 --> 00:21:01,040 that have completely different agendas. 303 00:21:01,040 --> 00:21:04,280 Jamie really wants to restore Scotland, 304 00:21:04,280 --> 00:21:06,600 restore Charles's position, 305 00:21:06,600 --> 00:21:09,520 Alasdair wants to restore his clan lands 306 00:21:09,520 --> 00:21:11,880 and fight an anti-Campbell agenda, 307 00:21:11,880 --> 00:21:15,800 so Jamie has to try and somehow keep that force united 308 00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:20,280 when there's very disparate agendas at play, and that's not easy. 309 00:21:25,760 --> 00:21:27,760 That'll be a yes, then. 310 00:21:37,040 --> 00:21:41,120 Knowing he's got no time to lose, Jamie wheels his little clan force 311 00:21:41,120 --> 00:21:45,760 away from Campbell territory and south towards the Scottish Lowlands. 312 00:21:47,760 --> 00:21:50,520 But already the Scots parliament has got word 313 00:21:50,520 --> 00:21:54,720 of this newly-raised royalist force and the alarm has been sounded. 314 00:21:58,040 --> 00:22:01,760 The royalist clans make for Perth, the nearest town. 315 00:22:03,280 --> 00:22:06,520 If they can take it, they can get food and ammunition. 316 00:22:08,040 --> 00:22:11,040 But blocking Jamie's path on the plain of Tippermuir 317 00:22:11,040 --> 00:22:14,760 is an army hastily assembled by the Scottish parliament. 318 00:22:17,360 --> 00:22:21,280 The cream of the Scots army is south of the border with Archie Campbell, 319 00:22:21,280 --> 00:22:24,680 joining up with English Roundheads to take on King Charles. 320 00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:28,280 This Scottish parliament force is composed of conscripts, 321 00:22:28,280 --> 00:22:30,280 cow herders and farm hands, 322 00:22:30,280 --> 00:22:34,280 but they're heavily armed with muskets, gunpowder and ammunition. 323 00:22:34,280 --> 00:22:38,040 Jamie's mob, though, only have enough powder for one shot each, 324 00:22:38,040 --> 00:22:41,040 but the royalists now have a secret weapon - 325 00:22:41,040 --> 00:22:44,960 Alasdair Mac Colla and his MacDonald mercenaries. 326 00:22:47,560 --> 00:22:51,040 Alasdair and Jamie Graham's army 327 00:22:51,040 --> 00:22:56,080 looks as if it's going to be on the losing side. 328 00:22:56,080 --> 00:23:01,520 They're outnumbered, it seems, by government forces. 329 00:23:01,520 --> 00:23:04,640 The auspices aren't good. 330 00:23:06,280 --> 00:23:08,520 The royalist army is low on ammunition 331 00:23:08,520 --> 00:23:12,040 so they can't afford to have a prolonged firefight. 332 00:23:12,040 --> 00:23:15,760 So their flanks, which are normally meant to be six deep, 333 00:23:15,760 --> 00:23:18,760 they've only deployed three, and that is simply to match 334 00:23:18,760 --> 00:23:21,000 the frontage of the government army. 335 00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:24,320 They then advance very quickly towards the government line. 336 00:23:25,760 --> 00:23:28,520 In fact, it's said that Mac Colla would tell his men 337 00:23:28,520 --> 00:23:31,840 to wait until they could fire into the beards of the enemy. 338 00:23:33,920 --> 00:23:36,240 We're talking 25, 30 metres away. 339 00:23:41,280 --> 00:23:44,040 They unload a single volley and then they charge. 340 00:23:44,040 --> 00:23:45,680 Fire! 341 00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:47,200 GUNFIRE 342 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:52,920 So when the fire actually happens, there's noise, there's smoke, 343 00:23:52,920 --> 00:23:55,840 and you can't even really see what's then coming at you 344 00:23:55,840 --> 00:23:59,080 as Highlanders and Irish charge in with their broadswords. 345 00:24:02,040 --> 00:24:05,760 The Battle of Tippermuir is warriors against farm hands. 346 00:24:07,240 --> 00:24:08,920 It's a rout. 347 00:24:10,760 --> 00:24:15,040 We have a thousand parliamentary soldiers dead by the end of the day 348 00:24:15,040 --> 00:24:18,520 but Mac Colla, the Highlanders and the Irish are chasing them 349 00:24:18,520 --> 00:24:21,520 until 9pm at night, so it's really the rout 350 00:24:21,520 --> 00:24:24,880 that causes the mass casualties that we see at Tippermuir. 351 00:24:27,280 --> 00:24:30,040 Never turn your back on a broadsword. 352 00:24:36,280 --> 00:24:40,040 Afterwards, they say you could walk the four miles into Perth 353 00:24:40,040 --> 00:24:41,920 standing on corpses. 354 00:24:44,760 --> 00:24:47,280 Hell has indeed been unleashed. 355 00:24:52,040 --> 00:24:54,520 But one victory, no matter how total, 356 00:24:54,520 --> 00:24:56,920 will not win Scotland for the King. 357 00:24:58,040 --> 00:25:00,040 Archie Campbell has returned, 358 00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:02,760 furious at the news of Jamie's uprising. 359 00:25:05,040 --> 00:25:07,920 Having left his Scots army to fight in England, 360 00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:12,000 Archie is here to crush this royalist threat on his home turf 361 00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:14,040 by whatever means he can. 362 00:25:16,480 --> 00:25:19,680 Bear in mind, Archie Campbell is a ruthless operator. 363 00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:21,760 When he fights, he fights dirty, 364 00:25:21,760 --> 00:25:24,760 attacking his enemy where he'll be most vulnerable, 365 00:25:24,760 --> 00:25:28,920 and that includes going after his enemy's family, and Jamie knows it. 366 00:25:38,760 --> 00:25:42,280 The Clan Graham family home is at Auchterarder, 367 00:25:42,280 --> 00:25:45,280 just ten miles from the scene of Jamie's victory, 368 00:25:45,280 --> 00:25:48,760 so immediately after the battle, he races for home. 369 00:25:50,080 --> 00:25:53,280 He tells his wife, Magdalene, that he's going to take 370 00:25:53,280 --> 00:25:57,520 their 14-year-old son John with him on his campaign to protect him, 371 00:25:57,520 --> 00:26:00,760 to keep him safe from kidnap or worse. 372 00:26:05,040 --> 00:26:08,280 All that Magdalene feared about Jamie's playing the hero 373 00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:10,040 is coming true. 374 00:26:11,520 --> 00:26:15,280 It's one thing for her husband to hurl himself into war, 375 00:26:15,280 --> 00:26:17,680 but to drag their son into it too? 376 00:26:28,760 --> 00:26:32,520 With Archie Campbell now raising a fresh parliamentary army, 377 00:26:32,520 --> 00:26:34,760 Jamie speed-marches his force 378 00:26:34,760 --> 00:26:38,040 towards the ancient university borough of Aberdeen. 379 00:26:39,040 --> 00:26:42,280 Take Aberdeen, and he can win the north-east. 380 00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:47,680 Aberdeen, though, is garrisoned by parliament troops 381 00:26:47,680 --> 00:26:50,760 under orders to hold out against the royalists, 382 00:26:50,760 --> 00:26:54,280 so Jamie is going to try a spot of negotiation. 383 00:26:59,040 --> 00:27:03,520 A drummer boy is sent to the city's defences to issue an ultimatum. 384 00:27:05,280 --> 00:27:09,040 All women, children and elderly are ordered to leave. 385 00:27:10,040 --> 00:27:12,880 Any men can surrender and come to the King's side. 386 00:27:13,880 --> 00:27:17,840 Those who stay to fight will be given no quarter. 387 00:27:19,520 --> 00:27:23,080 A trigger-happy soldier manning the walls of Aberdeen 388 00:27:23,080 --> 00:27:25,040 takes offence at the threat. 389 00:27:27,040 --> 00:27:28,680 GUNSHOT 390 00:27:34,040 --> 00:27:37,280 Shooting dead the drummer boy, it's cold-blooded, 391 00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:40,760 heartless insanity, but there's worse to come. 392 00:27:40,760 --> 00:27:44,520 The troops defending Aberdeen haven't heard about Tippermuir. 393 00:27:44,520 --> 00:27:48,520 They think they're being attacked by some half-cocked Highland rabble. 394 00:27:48,520 --> 00:27:51,040 They rush out and they're wiped out. 395 00:27:53,760 --> 00:27:56,040 Now Aberdeen is undefended. 396 00:27:59,520 --> 00:28:02,760 What happens next will be justified as revenge 397 00:28:02,760 --> 00:28:05,760 for the cold-blooded killing of a drummer boy. 398 00:28:07,280 --> 00:28:10,120 But if that was a war crime, then the behaviour 399 00:28:10,120 --> 00:28:15,080 of Jamie and Alasdair's army now is pure bloody mass murder. 400 00:28:17,040 --> 00:28:20,040 Mac Colla allows his mad, bad MacDonald mercenaries 401 00:28:20,040 --> 00:28:22,280 a free hand to plunder Aberdeen. 402 00:28:24,040 --> 00:28:27,280 For three days, they pillage, murder, rape. 403 00:28:31,280 --> 00:28:34,040 Men are forced to strip before being shot 404 00:28:34,040 --> 00:28:36,760 so that their blood doesn't soil their clothes, 405 00:28:36,760 --> 00:28:38,760 which are then taken as booty. 406 00:28:43,280 --> 00:28:46,080 The dead are not permitted to be buried. 407 00:28:47,080 --> 00:28:49,520 They must rot where they lie. 408 00:28:50,520 --> 00:28:55,040 Any woman who dares wail for her dead husband or son is abused. 409 00:28:56,040 --> 00:28:58,280 This is now total war. 410 00:29:02,520 --> 00:29:06,280 The supposedly gallant and chivalrous Jamie Graham 411 00:29:06,280 --> 00:29:08,280 does nothing to stop it. 412 00:29:09,280 --> 00:29:11,520 Or perhaps he can do nothing. 413 00:29:15,040 --> 00:29:17,960 It should never have been looted for three days. 414 00:29:17,960 --> 00:29:21,760 There should never have been all these casualties, right down to 415 00:29:21,760 --> 00:29:26,160 washer women and a student at the university who were killed. 416 00:29:26,160 --> 00:29:29,520 Jamie was really out to lunch on this one 417 00:29:29,520 --> 00:29:32,760 and I think it got to him, he really felt it. 418 00:29:33,760 --> 00:29:35,760 It was very, very sad. 419 00:29:39,040 --> 00:29:41,920 This is about much more than avenging the death 420 00:29:41,920 --> 00:29:43,560 of the drummer boy. 421 00:29:43,560 --> 00:29:46,520 Could it be that Jamie is thinking about his own son? 422 00:29:46,520 --> 00:29:49,360 Could it be that he's feeding the legendary bloodlust 423 00:29:49,360 --> 00:29:51,280 of Mac Colla and his men? 424 00:29:51,280 --> 00:29:54,760 Whatever the motivation, his reputation is forever tarnished. 425 00:29:54,760 --> 00:29:59,720 He's the man who stood by while an entire town was put to the sword. 426 00:30:01,520 --> 00:30:04,760 News spreads of the Aberdeen atrocities. 427 00:30:04,760 --> 00:30:08,040 Church ministers across Scotland preach that Jamie Graham 428 00:30:08,040 --> 00:30:10,680 is the Antichrist, in league with Satan. 429 00:30:11,680 --> 00:30:15,280 Archibald comes after the royalist army with a parliament force 430 00:30:15,280 --> 00:30:18,040 but loses them in the Cairngorm Mountains. 431 00:30:18,040 --> 00:30:19,920 Better still for Jamie, 432 00:30:19,920 --> 00:30:23,760 more Highlanders are flocking to his royalist banner. 433 00:30:24,760 --> 00:30:28,520 After the victory at Aberdeen, Jamie and Alasdair are joined 434 00:30:28,520 --> 00:30:31,520 by the MacDonalds of Glencoe, the MacDonald's of Keppoch 435 00:30:31,520 --> 00:30:33,080 and of Glengarry. 436 00:30:33,080 --> 00:30:37,760 So it's as if the victory there has developed some kind of momentum 437 00:30:37,760 --> 00:30:41,080 and so more clans join the cause. 438 00:30:41,080 --> 00:30:45,200 The question is now, what shall we do with the army? 439 00:30:45,200 --> 00:30:48,040 Jamie Graham has got very clear plans. 440 00:30:48,040 --> 00:30:51,360 He wants to take the army south and then he wants the army to 441 00:30:51,360 --> 00:30:54,520 support the royalist cause, possibly even in England, 442 00:30:54,520 --> 00:30:57,680 in order to get King Charles back in power, 443 00:30:57,680 --> 00:31:00,840 but Alasdair has other ideas. 444 00:31:00,840 --> 00:31:04,280 We have to remember that Mac Colla and a lot of the Highlanders 445 00:31:04,280 --> 00:31:07,760 and the Irish within his following are really here 446 00:31:07,760 --> 00:31:10,440 to try and take the fight to the Clan Campbell, 447 00:31:10,440 --> 00:31:15,240 so Mac Colla actually suggests what to Graham seems an audacious move, 448 00:31:15,240 --> 00:31:17,760 which is to launch a winter campaign - 449 00:31:17,760 --> 00:31:19,640 a raid into Argyll. 450 00:31:26,280 --> 00:31:30,280 But as far as Jamie's concerned, Argyll is a deathtrap. 451 00:32:27,040 --> 00:32:29,680 Jamie really has to think hard about this 452 00:32:29,680 --> 00:32:33,120 because nobody has ever tried this before. It's preposterous. 453 00:32:33,120 --> 00:32:35,680 They say, actually, that the number of hurdles 454 00:32:35,680 --> 00:32:38,040 they've got to go through are like a comb. 455 00:32:38,040 --> 00:32:40,040 You went one after the other. 456 00:32:40,040 --> 00:32:44,280 And that each one was more dangerous than the last. 457 00:32:44,280 --> 00:32:48,920 And, of course, the final thing that you have to deal with is Campbells. 458 00:32:49,920 --> 00:32:53,040 I think this is where you start to see the first cracks 459 00:32:53,040 --> 00:32:55,040 in this partnership. 460 00:32:55,040 --> 00:32:58,760 Even though he knows that it's a straight route to an early grave, 461 00:32:58,760 --> 00:33:02,120 at least for Jamie, he really questions how far he can go 462 00:33:02,120 --> 00:33:05,520 without Mac Colla and his men. Really, what choice does he have? 463 00:33:09,040 --> 00:33:12,680 Jamie Graham isn't the only one who thinks that the Campbell territory 464 00:33:12,680 --> 00:33:15,640 of Argyll is an impenetrable mountain fortress. 465 00:33:17,520 --> 00:33:21,040 When Archie Campbell failed to catch up with Jamie and Alasdair 466 00:33:21,040 --> 00:33:23,960 in the north-east of Scotland, he retreated west 467 00:33:23,960 --> 00:33:26,280 to his castle in Argyll, 468 00:33:26,280 --> 00:33:28,880 to brood, plot his next move 469 00:33:28,880 --> 00:33:33,280 and mutter the odd prayer with his pious wife Margaret. 470 00:33:33,280 --> 00:33:37,520 Archie knows Mac Colla is mad and that he'd give his right arm 471 00:33:37,520 --> 00:33:41,040 to take back the old MacDonald lands in Kintyre, 472 00:33:41,040 --> 00:33:45,360 but is he actually mad enough to attack the mighty Campbells 473 00:33:45,360 --> 00:33:47,280 on their home patch? 474 00:33:50,040 --> 00:33:52,280 Archie doesn't think so. 475 00:33:53,280 --> 00:33:56,760 No-one has ever dared attempt an assault on Argyll. 476 00:33:57,760 --> 00:34:00,280 Besides, the last Archie heard, 477 00:34:00,280 --> 00:34:03,600 the royalist army was 100 miles away to the east. 478 00:34:04,600 --> 00:34:06,040 Amen. 479 00:34:08,040 --> 00:34:10,040 But then news comes. 480 00:34:10,040 --> 00:34:12,760 News that Archie can hardly believe. 481 00:34:16,040 --> 00:34:19,040 Turns out Mac Colla and Jamie do fancy their chances. 482 00:34:19,040 --> 00:34:22,760 They've swept across the country, they're swarming through Argyll, 483 00:34:22,760 --> 00:34:25,120 and they've caught mighty Clan Campbell 484 00:34:25,120 --> 00:34:27,400 with their plaids around their ankles. 485 00:34:28,400 --> 00:34:30,760 Issue powder and shot now! 486 00:34:32,640 --> 00:34:35,320 Margaret, you must take to the cellars. 487 00:34:35,320 --> 00:34:37,360 Keep the doors bolted throughout. 488 00:34:37,360 --> 00:34:40,120 I'll take what men I have here and hold the gates. 489 00:34:40,120 --> 00:34:42,280 Archie, you must not. 490 00:34:44,040 --> 00:34:45,760 You will fall. 491 00:34:46,760 --> 00:34:50,320 And if you fall, Clan Campbell falls with you. 492 00:34:50,320 --> 00:34:52,520 You must run now. 493 00:34:58,040 --> 00:35:01,040 And so Archie Campbell takes to his heels... 494 00:35:04,280 --> 00:35:07,760 ..leaving Mac Colla, the avenger, to sweep through Argyll 495 00:35:07,760 --> 00:35:09,960 and burn everything in his path. 496 00:35:11,040 --> 00:35:15,040 To drive off cattle and put any who resist to the sword. 497 00:35:18,040 --> 00:35:21,520 To the Campbells, Alasdair Mac Colla would be known evermore 498 00:35:21,520 --> 00:35:23,400 as "the destroyer". 499 00:35:25,760 --> 00:35:29,080 His name, one to terrify children with. 500 00:35:40,520 --> 00:35:44,040 It may be that Alasdair had hoped to press on through Argyll 501 00:35:44,040 --> 00:35:48,040 to Clan Donald's old heartland of Kintyre and lay claim to it. 502 00:35:50,760 --> 00:35:54,520 But for now, that's an audacious step too far. 503 00:35:56,920 --> 00:36:00,920 Archie Campbell is marshalling 3,000 of his clansmen against them. 504 00:36:00,920 --> 00:36:02,840 Just as Jamie predicted, 505 00:36:02,840 --> 00:36:07,520 there's a terrifying danger that his army won't get out of Argyll alive. 506 00:36:11,040 --> 00:36:13,760 Mac Colla and the MacDonalds have had a taste 507 00:36:13,760 --> 00:36:17,280 of what they came for, but now it's their turn to flee. 508 00:36:17,280 --> 00:36:20,280 With captured boats, they cross loch after loch, 509 00:36:20,280 --> 00:36:23,040 move out of Argyll and into the Great Glen. 510 00:36:24,920 --> 00:36:29,760 But this great canyon cutting Scotland in half is another trap 511 00:36:29,760 --> 00:36:33,040 and the royalists have stirred a hornet's nest. 512 00:36:34,880 --> 00:36:37,760 Hot on their heels and hellbent on revenge, 513 00:36:37,760 --> 00:36:40,760 Archie positions his army at Inverlochy Castle, 514 00:36:40,760 --> 00:36:43,520 blocking the Great Glen's southern end. 515 00:36:45,040 --> 00:36:48,760 Not only that, he's called out his clan allies in the north, 516 00:36:48,760 --> 00:36:51,040 the Frasers and the Mackenzies. 517 00:36:51,040 --> 00:36:54,120 Their orders? March on the royalists with all haste, 518 00:36:54,120 --> 00:36:57,280 drive them down the Great Glen towards me. 519 00:36:57,280 --> 00:37:00,520 Archie has got every reason to think this is checkmate. 520 00:37:00,520 --> 00:37:03,040 He's got his enemy trapped, hasn't he? 521 00:37:04,960 --> 00:37:07,760 Jamie and Mac Colla's forces have made it to the middle 522 00:37:07,760 --> 00:37:11,040 of the Great Glen, so they're on the southern tip of Loch Ness, 523 00:37:11,040 --> 00:37:14,520 and they find out that Archie Campbell is on the move 524 00:37:14,520 --> 00:37:16,320 and he's out for revenge. 525 00:37:16,320 --> 00:37:19,040 So he's got a force of about 3,000 men 526 00:37:19,040 --> 00:37:21,520 at the southern end of the Great Glen, 527 00:37:21,520 --> 00:37:24,760 but then, obviously, marching down from the north is his allies, 528 00:37:24,760 --> 00:37:28,280 so the Frasers and the Mackenzies, and Jamie and Mac Colla 529 00:37:28,280 --> 00:37:31,200 are right there in the middle with nowhere to go. 530 00:37:32,200 --> 00:37:36,040 It looks as if they're going to be ground 531 00:37:36,040 --> 00:37:39,920 between these two armies, pulverised into dust. 532 00:37:41,280 --> 00:37:44,680 That's where the masterstroke comes in. 533 00:37:44,680 --> 00:37:48,720 Jamie Graham had seen what Highland armies could do. 534 00:37:49,720 --> 00:37:53,040 They were able to move quickly over mountains, 535 00:37:53,040 --> 00:37:55,280 which would be impossible 536 00:37:55,280 --> 00:37:58,520 for regular armies of the time. 537 00:38:01,040 --> 00:38:04,880 So Mac Colla suggests a daring strategy. 538 00:38:05,880 --> 00:38:10,200 He tells Graham that his Highlanders can show them the way 539 00:38:10,200 --> 00:38:14,040 through the mountain passes just to the east of the Great Glen. 540 00:38:15,280 --> 00:38:20,200 So they conduct this insane march over the mountains. 541 00:38:22,000 --> 00:38:26,840 They travel in 36 hours 50km through difficult terrain in the winter... 542 00:38:27,840 --> 00:38:30,360 ..and come out just near Inverlochy. 543 00:38:33,040 --> 00:38:37,520 It is possibly the greatest military manoeuvre in Scottish history. 544 00:38:42,280 --> 00:38:45,520 24 hours earlier, at Inverlochy Castle, 545 00:38:45,520 --> 00:38:48,040 Archie Campbell was told by his scouts 546 00:38:48,040 --> 00:38:51,760 that Graham and Mac Colla had vanished somewhere near Loch Ness. 547 00:38:56,040 --> 00:38:59,680 Now his enemy has suddenly appeared as if from nowhere 548 00:38:59,680 --> 00:39:01,680 right on his doorstep. 549 00:39:04,520 --> 00:39:07,720 Before Campbell troops can be properly positioned, 550 00:39:07,720 --> 00:39:11,760 the royalist clansmen are already priming muskets and lining up, 551 00:39:11,760 --> 00:39:15,520 preparing to launch their now infamous Highland charge. 552 00:39:17,040 --> 00:39:18,320 Fire! 553 00:39:18,320 --> 00:39:20,040 GUNFIRE 554 00:39:21,040 --> 00:39:22,760 Charge! 555 00:39:22,760 --> 00:39:24,800 CLANSMEN BELLOW 556 00:39:27,280 --> 00:39:29,760 The Battle of Inverlochy has begun 557 00:39:29,760 --> 00:39:32,760 but maybe somebody should have told Clan Campbell. 558 00:39:32,760 --> 00:39:35,440 Once again, they've been caught napping. 559 00:39:37,040 --> 00:39:40,760 In their proud 400-year history, this will be their biggest 560 00:39:40,760 --> 00:39:42,760 and bloodiest defeat. 561 00:39:48,280 --> 00:39:52,760 And the scene of slaughter is immortalised in a Gaelic poem. 562 00:40:42,760 --> 00:40:45,760 For the second time, Archie Campbell flees. 563 00:40:46,760 --> 00:40:49,760 This time, it'll be all the way to Edinburgh. 564 00:40:52,040 --> 00:40:55,120 The crushing of the Campbells at the Battle of Inverlochy 565 00:40:55,120 --> 00:40:57,960 is a sweet victory for Mac Colla and his MacDonalds. 566 00:40:59,520 --> 00:41:02,960 But for Jamie Graham, it's come at a dreadful cost. 567 00:41:03,960 --> 00:41:08,040 His teenage son John has fallen fatally ill. 568 00:41:11,520 --> 00:41:15,520 The 200-mile trek from Aberdeen to Argyll, 569 00:41:15,520 --> 00:41:18,280 the frantic escape out of Campbell country, 570 00:41:18,280 --> 00:41:21,520 the forced march through the mountains from Loch Ness 571 00:41:21,520 --> 00:41:25,800 to Inverlochy, it's all taken a terrible physical toll on the boy. 572 00:41:27,280 --> 00:41:29,520 John won't see tomorrow. 573 00:41:37,520 --> 00:41:41,520 When Jamie's wife, Magdalene, learns of her son John's death, 574 00:41:41,520 --> 00:41:45,520 she will become increasingly estranged from her absent husband. 575 00:41:49,520 --> 00:41:53,280 Soon, she will apply to the Scots parliament for sole custody 576 00:41:53,280 --> 00:41:57,280 of the couple's remaining children and they'll grant it. 577 00:42:01,040 --> 00:42:05,520 With the death of his son, a fatalism consumes Jamie Graham. 578 00:42:07,280 --> 00:42:10,040 If his sacrifices are to have any meaning, 579 00:42:10,040 --> 00:42:13,040 he must win for his king at all costs. 580 00:42:14,840 --> 00:42:17,520 Soon, all Europe will talk of Jamie Graham 581 00:42:17,520 --> 00:42:20,040 and his army of invincible Celts... 582 00:42:21,040 --> 00:42:25,760 ..as they continue to sweep aside all and any that dare face them. 583 00:42:29,520 --> 00:42:34,040 After Inverlochy, Graham and Mac Colla decide to strike north 584 00:42:34,040 --> 00:42:36,520 and they go to Nairnshire and Aberdeenshire, 585 00:42:36,520 --> 00:42:39,560 where they win two more battles in quick succession. 586 00:42:40,560 --> 00:42:44,040 We've got the Battle of Auldern and the Battle of Alford. 587 00:42:45,520 --> 00:42:50,040 So they head south, and the last force ready to oppose them 588 00:42:50,040 --> 00:42:53,760 starts to gather at Kilsyth near Falkirk. 589 00:42:55,440 --> 00:42:59,520 Mac Colla seizes the opportunity, orders a Highland charge, 590 00:42:59,520 --> 00:43:02,760 and this is followed up in force by Graham's whole army 591 00:43:02,760 --> 00:43:04,840 and it leads to a complete rout, 592 00:43:04,840 --> 00:43:07,640 and, again, thousands are killed at Kilsyth. 593 00:43:07,640 --> 00:43:10,760 This, of all the battles in the Year of Victories, 594 00:43:10,760 --> 00:43:13,200 is perhaps the greatest victory of all. 595 00:43:13,200 --> 00:43:15,520 It's certainly the most decisive. 596 00:43:16,520 --> 00:43:20,280 After Kilsyth, the royalist army is in full command of the field. 597 00:43:20,280 --> 00:43:25,280 There are no other government forces available to oppose them in Scotland 598 00:43:25,280 --> 00:43:28,200 and this leaves James Graham in control of the kingdom 599 00:43:28,200 --> 00:43:30,000 for the first time. 600 00:43:32,280 --> 00:43:35,040 But now, a year into his campaign, 601 00:43:35,040 --> 00:43:37,800 Jamie Graham's cause begins to falter. 602 00:43:39,040 --> 00:43:43,280 Once again, the conflicting agendas of his bigger picture mission 603 00:43:43,280 --> 00:43:48,040 to restore King Charles, and that of his clan army, come to the fore. 604 00:43:49,520 --> 00:43:52,240 The kingdom of Scotland belongs to Jamie. 605 00:43:52,240 --> 00:43:56,040 These last 12 months will be forever remembered as the Year of Victories. 606 00:43:56,040 --> 00:43:57,840 But there's a problem. 607 00:43:57,840 --> 00:44:01,360 Now Jamie wants to march into England and save the King, 608 00:44:01,360 --> 00:44:04,520 but his great ally, Alasdair Mac Colla, isn't so keen. 609 00:44:04,520 --> 00:44:09,040 He's out to get what he came for - his ancestral lands in Kintyre. 610 00:44:12,760 --> 00:44:15,240 Alasdair's timing couldn't be worse. 611 00:44:15,240 --> 00:44:17,840 Things are going badly for King Charles 612 00:44:17,840 --> 00:44:20,200 and the royalist cause down south. 613 00:44:20,200 --> 00:44:24,760 If Jamie could only unleash his invincible clan army in England, 614 00:44:24,760 --> 00:44:27,040 then he might turn the tide of war. 615 00:44:28,040 --> 00:44:29,840 But it's not to be. 616 00:44:30,840 --> 00:44:32,840 The army splits in half. 617 00:44:32,840 --> 00:44:35,480 Alasdair takes off for Kintyre... 618 00:44:36,480 --> 00:44:39,040 ..Jamie, the Scots English border. 619 00:44:40,760 --> 00:44:44,760 Even now, the King's champion thinks himself unstoppable. 620 00:44:44,760 --> 00:44:48,040 This will prove his greatest mistake. 621 00:44:48,040 --> 00:44:51,200 That, and underestimating the determination 622 00:44:51,200 --> 00:44:53,280 of Archibald Campbell. 623 00:44:56,520 --> 00:45:00,040 Jamie has forgotten that Archie still has an army 624 00:45:00,040 --> 00:45:01,760 in his back pocket. 625 00:45:01,760 --> 00:45:05,520 The battle-hardened Scots troops that he sent across the border 626 00:45:05,520 --> 00:45:08,760 to fight with the English parliament against King Charles. 627 00:45:08,760 --> 00:45:11,760 Well, Archie has called them home to Scotland 628 00:45:11,760 --> 00:45:14,040 with orders to get a move on. 629 00:45:15,760 --> 00:45:19,520 Archie knows that there's still a chance to turn things around here. 630 00:45:19,520 --> 00:45:22,360 Although he's not really got the strength in Scotland 631 00:45:22,360 --> 00:45:25,360 to support him, as he does that, he knows there is an army 632 00:45:25,360 --> 00:45:28,120 in England that he can call back to support him here 633 00:45:28,120 --> 00:45:30,840 and that's exactly what he does, he puts the call out, 634 00:45:30,840 --> 00:45:34,200 and they march back up to Scotland with frightening speed, really, 635 00:45:34,200 --> 00:45:36,360 and Jamie just has no idea that they're coming. 636 00:45:36,360 --> 00:45:39,760 Graham seems to lose quite a lot of his military acumen here. 637 00:45:39,760 --> 00:45:43,760 He fails to scout this vast approaching parliamentary army 638 00:45:43,760 --> 00:45:47,200 so he's not fully prepared when the actual battle ensues 639 00:45:47,200 --> 00:45:50,040 and he's really lucky to escape with his life. 640 00:45:50,040 --> 00:45:53,280 The same cannot be said for the vast majority of his army. 641 00:45:53,280 --> 00:45:55,760 They are massacred, almost to a man. 642 00:46:00,520 --> 00:46:03,480 Jamie has snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, 643 00:46:03,480 --> 00:46:06,040 but there's worse news to come. 644 00:46:06,040 --> 00:46:09,520 King Charles Stuart has surrendered to the parliamentarians 645 00:46:09,520 --> 00:46:13,520 and commanded Jamie to stand down, to give up the fight. 646 00:46:13,520 --> 00:46:15,040 It's over. 647 00:46:21,040 --> 00:46:24,200 Archie Campbell offers Jamie an ultimatum. 648 00:46:25,200 --> 00:46:27,040 Exile or death. 649 00:46:27,040 --> 00:46:28,840 There is no choice. 650 00:46:29,840 --> 00:46:32,800 The King's champion must flee the country. 651 00:46:34,760 --> 00:46:39,120 Across the North Sea, Sweden offers him sanctuary. 652 00:46:39,120 --> 00:46:42,040 After all the humiliating defeats, 653 00:46:42,040 --> 00:46:44,760 all the running away to save his skin, 654 00:46:44,760 --> 00:46:47,040 Archie Campbell is triumphant. 655 00:46:48,040 --> 00:46:50,920 He has Charles Stuart's capitulation, 656 00:46:50,920 --> 00:46:53,280 Jamie Graham out of the way. 657 00:46:53,280 --> 00:46:55,360 King Campbell is back. 658 00:46:57,040 --> 00:47:00,440 But there's one thing left on Archie's to-do list. 659 00:47:00,440 --> 00:47:02,360 Just one wee thing. 660 00:47:02,360 --> 00:47:05,280 He wants Alasdair Mac Colla's head on a plate. 661 00:47:16,280 --> 00:47:21,680 After he left Jamie Graham, Alasdair did indeed march into Kintyre. 662 00:47:27,040 --> 00:47:30,040 Finally, the MacDonald warrior was back 663 00:47:30,040 --> 00:47:32,520 in his clan's ancient heartland. 664 00:47:34,280 --> 00:47:36,400 The moment was sweet. 665 00:47:36,400 --> 00:47:39,280 The prophecy of Alasdair Mac Colla had come true. 666 00:47:39,280 --> 00:47:43,560 The great hero of Clan Donald restoring his people to greatness. 667 00:47:44,560 --> 00:47:46,280 But for how long? 668 00:47:46,280 --> 00:47:49,760 News arrives that his former ally Jamie is defeated, 669 00:47:49,760 --> 00:47:53,040 King Campbell is on the march towards Kintyre 670 00:47:53,040 --> 00:47:55,360 with the Scots army at his back. 671 00:47:58,520 --> 00:48:01,520 Now it's Alasdair Mac Colla's turn to flee, 672 00:48:01,520 --> 00:48:03,840 all the way back to Ireland. 673 00:48:04,840 --> 00:48:07,760 On arrival in Kintyre, King Campbell's army 674 00:48:07,760 --> 00:48:11,160 find that Alasdair has vanished like the demon he is. 675 00:48:13,280 --> 00:48:15,040 Or, rather, was. 676 00:48:18,760 --> 00:48:23,280 Rumours soon reach Archie Campbell that Alasdair Mac Colla is no more. 677 00:48:23,280 --> 00:48:25,040 He's been slain. 678 00:48:26,520 --> 00:48:29,600 After leaving Kintyre in May 1647, 679 00:48:29,600 --> 00:48:32,520 Alasdair flees eventually to Ireland 680 00:48:32,520 --> 00:48:38,040 and he ends up at the very other extremity of the Gaelic world, 681 00:48:38,040 --> 00:48:41,280 in the south of Ireland, in Munster, 682 00:48:41,280 --> 00:48:47,120 where he's fighting for the Irish against government troops. 683 00:48:47,120 --> 00:48:50,040 How he actually died, I don't think we'll ever know. 684 00:48:50,040 --> 00:48:52,040 There's various interpretations. 685 00:48:52,040 --> 00:48:54,840 Some suggest that it's a Highland charge gone wrong - 686 00:48:54,840 --> 00:48:58,040 he gets too far ahead of his forces and he's cut down in battle. 687 00:48:58,040 --> 00:49:02,040 Others suggest that he surrendered 688 00:49:02,040 --> 00:49:06,360 and then was subsequently murdered by his captors. 689 00:49:06,360 --> 00:49:10,280 Whatever way he died, all of them seem to suggest 690 00:49:10,280 --> 00:49:13,520 something of the legend of Alasdair Mac Colla - 691 00:49:13,520 --> 00:49:18,280 that how he died is exactly how he would have killed someone else. 692 00:49:18,280 --> 00:49:20,920 He wouldn't have hesitated about killing somebody 693 00:49:20,920 --> 00:49:22,440 who had surrendered, 694 00:49:22,440 --> 00:49:25,440 he wouldn't have hesitated about cutting somebody down. 695 00:49:25,440 --> 00:49:28,720 He died as he lived, essentially. 696 00:49:28,720 --> 00:49:33,520 And we don't even know really where he was buried. 697 00:49:33,520 --> 00:49:35,240 It's a mystery. 698 00:49:38,280 --> 00:49:39,840 The details? 699 00:49:39,840 --> 00:49:41,840 No-one knows the details. 700 00:49:41,840 --> 00:49:44,520 But there's no question, the man is dead. 701 00:49:47,120 --> 00:49:50,760 The great warrior hope of Clan Donald's revival is gone 702 00:49:50,760 --> 00:49:54,000 and the Stuart king that he and Jamie had fought for, 703 00:49:54,000 --> 00:49:55,760 he's met his end too, 704 00:49:55,760 --> 00:49:59,040 executed by order of the English parliament. 705 00:50:12,760 --> 00:50:16,040 When Jamie Graham received the news in exile 706 00:50:16,040 --> 00:50:19,280 that King Charles I had been tried and then beheaded 707 00:50:19,280 --> 00:50:22,400 by the English parliament, he returned to Scotland. 708 00:50:23,400 --> 00:50:27,040 Vowing revenge, he set out to raise the clans once again 709 00:50:27,040 --> 00:50:30,520 and visit another year of miracles on the disloyal. 710 00:50:31,520 --> 00:50:34,040 But he was betrayed, captured, 711 00:50:34,040 --> 00:50:37,040 taken to Edinburgh and put on trial. 712 00:50:39,520 --> 00:50:43,760 Jamie is counting down the moments to his dreadful fate. 713 00:50:43,760 --> 00:50:47,480 He'll be hanged and then he'll be cut apart, 714 00:50:47,480 --> 00:50:51,040 his limbs sent to be displayed in Scotland's towns, 715 00:50:51,040 --> 00:50:54,320 his torso buried in a pit. 716 00:50:54,320 --> 00:50:58,760 Payback for all the hell he and Mac Colla unleashed on Scotland 717 00:50:58,760 --> 00:51:01,960 and the hell they unleashed on Clan Campbell. 718 00:51:05,280 --> 00:51:09,040 Archie has the power to stop it, but he says nothing. 719 00:51:09,040 --> 00:51:12,040 Instead, King Campbell is going to watch. 720 00:51:14,040 --> 00:51:18,040 Jamie, chief of the Grahams, is going out in style, though. 721 00:51:19,280 --> 00:51:23,040 He's going to get strung up in his best suit of clothes 722 00:51:23,040 --> 00:51:25,520 and make sure his hair looks good. 723 00:51:25,520 --> 00:51:28,520 His captors query why a man about to die 724 00:51:28,520 --> 00:51:31,520 would take so much care over his looks. 725 00:51:31,520 --> 00:51:34,120 Today, mine head is mine own, 726 00:51:34,120 --> 00:51:36,280 tomorrow, it will be yours. 727 00:51:37,280 --> 00:51:39,280 Do what you please with it. 728 00:51:42,320 --> 00:51:45,040 As Jamie Graham nears his end, 729 00:51:45,040 --> 00:51:49,040 Archie Campbell's heavily pregnant wife goes into labour. 730 00:51:49,040 --> 00:51:51,080 MARGARET MOANS 731 00:51:56,760 --> 00:52:00,280 As he's led out to the gallows on Edinburgh's high street, 732 00:52:00,280 --> 00:52:02,040 security is tight. 733 00:52:02,040 --> 00:52:06,360 Concerns that someone might attempt to rescue Jamie reach his ears. 734 00:52:21,280 --> 00:52:23,520 When a criminal comes to suffer... 735 00:52:24,520 --> 00:52:26,760 ..he may not forget the crime. 736 00:52:29,000 --> 00:52:31,040 MARGARET MOANS 737 00:52:33,040 --> 00:52:36,640 Jamie Graham doesn't flinch as the noose is placed around his neck. 738 00:52:36,640 --> 00:52:39,520 He's not permitted a final speech. 739 00:52:39,520 --> 00:52:44,040 At a prearranged signal, the hangman pushes him off the ladder. 740 00:52:53,280 --> 00:52:58,520 As Jamie dies, Margaret gives birth to a new Campbell heir. 741 00:52:58,520 --> 00:53:01,040 BABY CRIES 742 00:53:03,880 --> 00:53:06,040 One life ends in suffering. 743 00:53:08,040 --> 00:53:10,040 Another begins with it. 744 00:53:15,040 --> 00:53:17,520 Can we measure who suffers the most? 745 00:53:20,280 --> 00:53:24,680 That symbolism, that's not lost on Archie. 746 00:53:24,680 --> 00:53:28,280 They look for such symbolism, it's important to them, 747 00:53:28,280 --> 00:53:31,520 and Archie will have really taken that on board, 748 00:53:31,520 --> 00:53:34,760 that Jamie's life has come to an end 749 00:53:34,760 --> 00:53:37,640 as his succession is being continued, 750 00:53:37,640 --> 00:53:41,760 and, to him, that speaks of Campbell dominance that will continue. 751 00:53:43,760 --> 00:53:47,280 The tarred head of the King's champion is stuck on a spike 752 00:53:47,280 --> 00:53:49,560 above Edinburgh's main gate, 753 00:53:49,560 --> 00:53:53,040 a warning to any and all who would ever think to challenge 754 00:53:53,040 --> 00:53:55,040 King Campbell again. 755 00:54:08,800 --> 00:54:11,760 It's been a colourful and tragic tale. 756 00:54:12,760 --> 00:54:15,720 Jamie Graham failed to save the Stuart king. 757 00:54:16,720 --> 00:54:19,520 Alasdair Mac Colla failed in his quest 758 00:54:19,520 --> 00:54:21,920 to restore Clan Donald to greatness. 759 00:54:26,040 --> 00:54:29,320 But where they succeeded was in giving Scotland's clans 760 00:54:29,320 --> 00:54:32,280 a sense of their own power - that they could sweep aside 761 00:54:32,280 --> 00:54:35,040 their enemies and defy the will of parliament, 762 00:54:35,040 --> 00:54:38,360 and I'll bet you any money, the clans will rise again. 763 00:54:41,040 --> 00:54:45,640 The Year of Victories, which was also a year of bloody atrocities 764 00:54:45,640 --> 00:54:50,520 as well, we have to remember, proves to the outside authorities 765 00:54:50,520 --> 00:54:55,880 how significant Highland clan armies could be. 766 00:54:57,520 --> 00:55:00,880 They were fast, they were hardy, 767 00:55:00,880 --> 00:55:04,280 they had this astonishing new tactic, the Highland charge, 768 00:55:04,280 --> 00:55:09,040 which could cause devastation in opposing armies. 769 00:55:09,040 --> 00:55:13,520 It creates a myth of the Highland clans, 770 00:55:13,520 --> 00:55:18,440 both outside the Highlands and also within the Highlands. 771 00:55:21,040 --> 00:55:23,760 It alerted the establishment at large 772 00:55:23,760 --> 00:55:27,280 to the threat posed by the Highlanders. 773 00:55:27,280 --> 00:55:30,760 If they ever got organised again, perhaps under a rebellion 774 00:55:30,760 --> 00:55:33,280 and a cause that they truly believed in, 775 00:55:33,280 --> 00:55:36,720 they could potentially pose real danger to the state. 776 00:55:46,280 --> 00:55:49,280 40 years on from the death of Jamie Graham, 777 00:55:49,280 --> 00:55:52,480 the clans are still proving to be a problem. 778 00:55:54,040 --> 00:55:58,200 They still represent a military threat to the will of parliament. 779 00:56:00,040 --> 00:56:03,000 And one clan is made an example of. 780 00:56:06,040 --> 00:56:09,440 Rumours began reaching Edinburgh a few days ago 781 00:56:09,440 --> 00:56:13,040 the MacDonalds of Glencoe have been massacred by government troops. 782 00:56:13,040 --> 00:56:17,040 Word is the soldiers accepted food and shelter from the MacDonalds 783 00:56:17,040 --> 00:56:21,040 before killing them, men, women and children, in cold blood. 784 00:56:21,040 --> 00:56:22,760 An unforgivable act, 785 00:56:22,760 --> 00:56:26,040 breaching the ancient code of Highland hospitality. 786 00:56:26,040 --> 00:56:28,040 And who led this massacre? 787 00:56:28,040 --> 00:56:29,920 A Campbell, that's who. 788 00:56:38,640 --> 00:56:42,040 Robert Campbell of Glenlyon, commander of the red-coated troops 789 00:56:42,040 --> 00:56:44,600 responsible for the killing spree in Glencoe, 790 00:56:44,600 --> 00:56:46,640 now tours the taverns of Edinburgh, 791 00:56:46,640 --> 00:56:50,040 drunkenly trying to tell his side of the story. 792 00:56:51,040 --> 00:56:54,440 He was just carrying out government orders. 793 00:56:54,440 --> 00:56:57,040 The soldiers were indeed obeying orders, 794 00:56:57,040 --> 00:57:01,520 but no government official will ever be found guilty of issuing them. 795 00:57:01,520 --> 00:57:05,520 Events in Glencoe will, over time, be conveniently blamed 796 00:57:05,520 --> 00:57:08,760 on the old feud between Campbells and MacDonalds, 797 00:57:08,760 --> 00:57:12,280 and if the massacre was supposed to suppress the rebellious spirit 798 00:57:12,280 --> 00:57:14,760 of the clans, then it failed. 799 00:57:16,480 --> 00:57:21,040 A generation from now, the bitter memory of the Glencoe atrocity 800 00:57:21,040 --> 00:57:24,760 will be exploited to rally the clans again. 801 00:57:24,760 --> 00:57:27,680 It will be an uprising that will shake the foundations 802 00:57:27,680 --> 00:57:30,040 of a newly united Britain. 803 00:57:31,040 --> 00:57:34,560 At its heart, a man whose name will become legend. 804 00:57:34,560 --> 00:57:39,040 From the Gaelic Raibeart Ruadh, meaning Red Rob, 805 00:57:39,040 --> 00:57:41,760 comes the English Rob Roy. 806 00:57:41,760 --> 00:57:43,520 He's just a boy now, 807 00:57:43,520 --> 00:57:47,040 but in a few years, he'll be known as Rob Roy MacGregor, 808 00:57:47,040 --> 00:57:48,760 the Highland rogue, 809 00:57:48,760 --> 00:57:51,560 so we'll be keeping an eye on him. 810 00:57:59,240 --> 00:58:01,040 Next time, 811 00:58:01,040 --> 00:58:04,760 the story of the most infamous of Highlanders. 812 00:58:06,480 --> 00:58:08,560 A cattle thief, 813 00:58:08,560 --> 00:58:10,280 a conman... 814 00:58:10,280 --> 00:58:12,800 Damn MacGregor's verminous hide. 815 00:58:12,800 --> 00:58:14,280 ..a rebel... 816 00:58:14,280 --> 00:58:15,760 GUNSHOT 817 00:58:15,760 --> 00:58:17,160 ..a rogue... 818 00:58:17,160 --> 00:58:20,000 I'm not quite sure how I got into this... 819 00:58:21,000 --> 00:58:23,160 ..but I'll get out of it somehow. 820 00:58:23,160 --> 00:58:26,280 ..who became a legend in his own lifetime. 821 00:58:26,280 --> 00:58:29,040 I am Rob Roy MacGregor.