Latest / The Story of Scotland: Clans, Crowns, and the Fight for Identity — Fexingo History / The Siege of Dún Beag: A Forbidden Highland Wedding
Transcript
- Lucas: So, we’ve covered the big Jacobite rising of ’45 and the Clearances, but there’s a story from a few decades earlier that ties directly into both. It’s the siege of Dún Beag in 1689 — a clash between the MacDonalds and the Campbells that starts with a forbidden wedding. Luna: A forbidden wedding? Tell me more. Lucas: Right. So, after the Glorious Revolution of 1688, the Catholic James VII is deposed, and the Protestant William of Orange takes the throne. The Highlands are in turmoil. Many clans, especially the MacDonalds, are Jacobites — loyal to James. The Campbells, as ever, side with the government. Lucas: In the spring of 1689, a young MacDonald chieftain named Alasdair MacDonald falls in love with Enya Campbell, the daughter of a rival Campbell lord. Against all warnings, they decide to marry. The wedding is held at Dún Beag, a small MacDonald stronghold in Lochaber. Luna: How did the Campbells react? Lucas: They were furious. The Campbell chief, Sir John Campbell of Glenorchy, saw it as a betrayal and a chance to crush MacDonald power. He gathered a force of 500 men and marched on Dún Beag. The newlyweds and about 80 MacDonald clansmen were inside. Lucas: The siege began on a misty May morning. The Campbells demanded Alasdair surrender his bride and swear loyalty to William. He refused. So they attacked. But Dún Beag was well-positioned on a rocky outcrop, and the MacDonalds were fierce defenders. Luna: Did they have any hope of relief? Lucas: Yes. Word reached John Graham of Claverhouse, Viscount Dundee — the Jacobite commander. He was raising an army in the north. He sent a message: hold out, and he’d come. But Dundee was busy skirmishing with government forces near Inverness. Lucas: The siege dragged on for weeks. Inside, food and water ran low. Enya, surprisingly, became a symbol of defiance. She helped tend the wounded and even loaded muskets. The Campbells tried to breach the walls with a battering ram, but the MacDonalds poured boiling water and rocks down on them. Luna: That’s incredible. What happened in the end? Lucas: Dundee finally arrived in late June with 300 Highlanders. The Campbells, caught between the fortress and Dundee’s force, were routed. Sir John barely escaped. But the victory was bittersweet — Dundee was killed a month later at the Battle of Killiecrankie. Lucas: And the newlyweds? They survived. But the feud deepened. The government saw the MacDonalds as rebels. That bitterness directly fed into the Massacre of Glencoe just three years later, where Campbell soldiers murdered MacDonald hosts under trust. Luna: So a love story ended in a massacre. Lucas: Exactly. And it shows how personal these clan conflicts were. Every marriage, every slight, every siege had a ripple effect. The siege of Dún Beag might be obscure, but it encapsulates the tragedy of the Highlands: love caught between loyalty and power. Luna: What happened to Alasdair and Enya after the siege? Lucas: They lived quietly for a few years, but the Campbells never forgave them. In 1692, after the Glencoe massacre, they fled to France under assumed names. Their descendants later returned, but the family line faded. It’s a haunting footnote. Lucas: The siege itself is barely remembered, even in Scotland. No major monuments. But local folklore keeps it alive — especially the story of Enya Campbell loading muskets in her wedding dress. It’s a powerful image of a woman defying her own clan for love. Luna: That’s the kind of history that sticks with you. Lucas: And it’s a reminder that the Jacobite story isn’t just about Bonnie Prince Charlie. It goes back decades. The 1689 rising under Dundee set the stage for the ’15 and ’45. And the clan system was already fraying under the strain of these personal vendettas. Luna: So the siege of Dún Beag is a microcosm of the whole Highland conflict. Lucas: Precisely. It has everything: love, betrayal, siege tactics, clan rivalry, and the brutal politics of the Scottish Highlands. It’s a story that deserves to be told.