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Unsolved case · 1854
Also known as Isle of Eigg · Egg
Celtic Cross - geograph.org.uk - 396903Credit: John Craig·CC BY-SA 2.0·Source
The short answer
Clan tradition holds that in 1577 nearly 400 members of Clan MacDonald hiding in a sea cave on Eigg were suffocated when Clan MacLeod set fire to the cave entrance in retaliation for an earlier killing of MacLeod men; historians note significant doubts about the tale's date and accuracy.
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Suggest coverage for Massacre Cave of EiggThe case file
Eigg is an island in the Scottish Inner Hebrides with a long and complex history, including a violent episode traditionally dated to 1577 known as the Eigg Massacre or the massacre at Uamh Fhraing (the "Cave of Francis," also called the Massacre Cave or Ribbed Cave). According to Clan MacLeod historians, a MacLeod galley was forced ashore near Eilean Chathasteil by bad weather. A group of around 30 MacLeod men reportedly roasted cattle belonging to the islanders and "molested" young girls who were tending them. Local men then arrived and killed most of the MacLeod party, sparing only a few leaders whose limbs were broken before they were cast adrift in the Minch; some were said to have been rescued or drifted back to Dunvegan. A rival, MacDonald-derived version of events describes the girls as having been raped and the MacLeods being asked to leave rather than killed outright.
In retaliation, a larger MacLeod force led by Alasdair Crotach is said to have landed on Eigg. Most of the island's inhabitants hid in the cave known as Uamh Fhraing, located on a raised beach on the island's south coast, with an entrance roughly 60 metres long and 6 metres wide. The MacLeods reportedly conducted a search of the island, sparing only an elderly woman found at the singing sands, and were on the point of leaving after three days when a scout was spotted near the cave. Footprints in snow are said to have led the MacLeods to the cave entrance, where they piled thatch and heather and set the material alight. A nearby waterfall dampened the flames, filling the cave with smoke and reportedly asphyxiating 395 people inside. Human remains have been reported inside the cave repeatedly over the following centuries, with most removed and reburied by 1854, though further bones have occasionally been found since.
Significant historical doubt surrounds the traditional account. Antiquarian Norman MacPherson, writing in 1878, noted the difficulty of establishing the date of the massacre or determining responsibility for it. Both Alasdair Crotach and his son Uilleam are recorded as having died before 1577, undermining the traditional dating. Similar massacre stories are also told about the neighbouring islands of Coll and Ardnamurchan. Additionally, Privy Council records from 1588 describe a separate set of massacres across the Small Isles, attributed to Lachlan MacLean of Duart together with around 100 Spanish soldiers from a wrecked Spanish Armada vessel. Historians have questioned whether two such large-scale massacres plausibly occurred on Eigg within an eleven-year span, leaving the precise circumstances, date, and casualty count of the Massacre Cave episode unresolved.
4 dated entries · 1577–1878
Traditional date given by Clan MacLeod historians for a shipwreck, an altercation, and a subsequent massacre at Uamh Fhraing (the Massacre Cave) on Eigg, in which clan tradition states approximately 395 islanders were asphyxiated by smoke.
Privy Council papers reportedly describe a distinct set of massacres across the Small Isles attributed to Lachlan MacLean of Duart and shipwrecked Spanish Armada soldiers, raising doubts about the dating of the Eigg cave massacre tradition.
Most human remains previously reported inside Uamh Fhraing had been removed and reburied by this date, according to historical accounts.
Antiquarian Norman MacPherson published notes on Eigg antiquities questioning the reliability of the traditional massacre account, including its date and attribution.
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