'An Army uprising, a battle, a ravaged community, a conspiracy, an assassination, a hanging: to mark the 250th anniversary of one of history's more notorious killings, a definitive account of why this happened'. it's May, 1752. On a hill track near Ballachulish in the mountainous West Highlands of Scotland, a rider is shot dead by a hidden gunman. The murdered man is Colin Campbell. He's the government appointed manager of the Arsheil estate of nearby Duror. When killed, Campbell is on his way to evict Duror's farming tenants and to replace them with his own relatives. Despite a Scotland-wide manhunt, the man the local authorities say is Colin Campbell's killer escapes abroad. But politicians in London and Edinburgh insist someone must pay for Campbell's death. The sacrificial victim is James Stewart who, from his Duror home, has been organising resistance to the dead man's planned evictions. James is arrested, a show trial follows and James is hanged close to the murder scene. His body is left suspended there for several years a grim warning to anyone else thinking of challenging the state responsible for James Stewart's execution.