Representatives of Clan Gregor were invited to a ceremony in Glen Fruin on 1 June 2018 to mark improvements in the area around the memorial cairn.
Helensburgh Heritage Trust, in conjunction with Luss Estates, have installed steps, a seating area, and an information board on the battle. The cairn is by the roadside at the head of the glen and commemorates the battle of 1603 which resulted in almost 200 years of proscription of Clan Gregor.
Peter Lawrie and Ross MacGregor attended and were greeted by Sir Malcolm Colquhoun of Luss, chief of Clan Colquhoun, and Helensburgh Heritage Trust chairman, the Reverend David Clark.
The significance of the battle is huge, not only for Clan Gregor, but for Scotland and the United Kingdom as it took place literally days before the Union of the Crowns when King James VI of Scotland moved to London to become monarch of Great Britain.
Sir Malcolm Colquhoun was polite, witty, and welcoming. The battle was a massive defeat for the Colquhouns but he gamely spoke of going to the local ironmonger to buy a hatchet so that both sides could bury it (he couldn’t get one, but promised to make another attempt for our next meeting).
Peter was equally polite, but pointed out that the information board had been prepared without involving Clan Gregor and that we differ in important aspects such as the numbers of Colquhouns killed and the actual conduct of the battle.
Notwithstanding the above, the ceremony went very well with Sir Malcolm keen to hear about the Clan Gregor Society and what we do.
Sir Malcolm’s piper played the pibroch The Rout of Glen Fruin. Somewhat appropriately, this was accompanied by the sound of gun fire (some vehicles full of tough looking police in flak jackets drove into the nearby Ministry of Defence restricted area, mid ceremony, and moments later the air was full of automatic weaponry).
Pictured from left above are the Reverend David Clark, Bill Freeland, Simon Miller CEO Luss Estates, Sir Malcolm Colquhoun, Ross MacGregor and Peter Lawrie of the Clan Gregor Society, and John Low, Pipe Major, Helensburgh Clan Colquhoun Pipe Band.
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