The extirpation planned by the Master of Stair was of a different kind.  His design was to butcher the whole race of thieves, the whole damnable race.  Such was the language in which his hatred vented itself.  He studied the geography of the wild country which surrounded Glencoe, and made his arrangements with infernal skill.  If possible, the blow must be quick, and crushing, and altogether unexpected.  But if Mac Ian should apprehend danger and should attempt to take refuge in the territories of his neighbours, he must find every road barred.  The pass of Rannoch must be secured.  The Laird of Weems, who was powerful in Strath Tay, must be told that, if he harbours the outlaws, he does so at his peril.  Breadalbane promised to cut off the retreat of the fugitives on one side, Mac Callum More on another.  It was fortunate, the Secretary wrote, that it was winter.  This was the time to maul the wretches.  The nights were so long, the mountain tops so cold and stormy, that even the hardiest men could not long bear exposure to the open air without a roof or a spark of fire.  That the women and the children could find shelter in the desert was quite impossible.  While he wrote thus, no thought that he was committing a great wickedness crossed his mind.  He was happy in the approbation of his own conscience.  Duty, justice, nay charity and mercy, were the names under which he disguised his cruelty; nor is it by any means improbable that the disguise imposed upon himself.231

Hill, who commanded the forces assembled at Fort William, was not entrusted with the execution of the design.  He seems to have been a humane man; he was much distressed when he learned that the government was determined on severity; and it was probably thought that his heart might fail him in the most critical moment.  He was directed to put a strong detachment under the orders of his second in command, Lieutenant Colonel Hamilton.  To Hamilton a significant hint was conveyed that he had now an excellent opportunity of establishing his character in the estimation of those who were at the head of affairs.  Of the troops entrusted to him a large proportion were Campbells, and belonged to a regiment lately raised by Argyle, and called by Argyle’s name, It was probably thought that, on such an occasion, humanity might prove too strong for the mere habit of military obedience, and that little reliance could be placed on hearts which had not been ulcerated by a feud such as had long raged between the people of Mac Ian and the people of Mac Callum More.

Had Hamilton marched openly against the Glencoe men and put them to the edge of the sword, the act would probably not have wanted apologists, and most certainly would not have wanted precedents.  But the Master of Stair had strongly recommended a different mode of proceeding.  If the least alarm were given, the nest of robbers would be found empty; and to hunt them down in so wild a region would, even with all the help that Breadalbane and Argyle could give, be a long and difficult business.  “Better,” he wrote, “not meddle with them than meddle to no purpose.  When the thing is resolved, let it be secret and sudden."232 He was obeyed; and it was determined that the Glencoe men should perish, not by military execution, but by the most dastardly and perfidious form of assassination.