Glen Coe Coire Gabhail (corrie of the "bounty", or "hollow of capture") refers to former times when the corrie was used by members of Clan Macdonald to hide cattle and other livestock, whether their own or stolen from others. The wide flat glen is well suited for this purpose since from Glen Coe it appears to be a normal v-shaped glen approached only by a steep narrow gorge. Summits in the Bidean nam Bian massif include Stob Coire Sgreamhach, Stob Coire nan Lochan and Aonach Dubh (the third "sister"). By contrast the north side of the glen is a stark wall of
Clan Stirling when Prince James, son of James II of Scotland rebelled against his father and Sir William Stirling of Keir was one of his supporters. Sir William Stirling's descendant, Sir Arhibald Stirling of Keir was a prominent lawyer who supported the king during the Scottish Civil War and on the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660. The Stirling of Garden branch of the clan descend from this Sir Archibald Stirling. He was also appointed to the Supreme Court with the title Lord Garden. His third son, James Stirling (1692 – 1770), was a prominent mathematician. During both the Jacobite rising of