Cave of Frances
(Uamh Fhraing; Massacre Cave)

Located on the south coast of Eigg, in the Inner Hebrides, Frances' Cave (Gael: Uamh Fhraing, also known as Massacre Cave) lies a half-mile (1 km) southwest of Galmisdale. In 1577 the gave was the site of a massacre of the MacDonalds by the MacLeods of Skye. The MacDonalds - some 195 individuals, representing the entire population of Eigg - were hiding in the cave and were suffocated by the MacLeods who tried to smoke them out. The cave was surveyed in the 19th century by the geologist and antiquarian Hugh Miller (1802-56) who relates the tale of the massacre in his book The Cruise of the Betsey (1857).

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