Robertsons or Clan Donnachie--Macfarlanes--Campbells of Argyll and
offshoots--Royal Marriage--Campbells of Breadalbane--Macarthur
Campbells of Strachur--Campbells of Cawdor, Aberuchill,
Ardnamurchan, Auchinbreck, Ardkinglass, Barcaldine, Dunstaffnage,
Monzie--The Macleods of Lewis and Harris--Macleods of Rasay.
ROBERTSON.
[Illustration: BADGE.--Fern or Brackens.]
Besides the clans already noticed, there are other two which,
according to Skene, are set down by the genealogists as having
originally belonged to the Gallgael or Celts of the Western Isles;
these are the Robertsons or clan Donnachie, and the Macfarlanes.
Tradition claims for the clan Donnachie a descent from the great
sept of the Macdonalds, their remote ancestor being said to have
been Duncan (hence the name _Donnachie_) the Fat, son of Angus
Mor, Lord of the Isles, in the reign of William the Lion. Smibert
thinks this is certainly the most feasible account of their origin.
Skene, however, endeavours to trace their descent from Duncan, King
of Scotland, eldest son of Malcolm III., their immediate ancestor,
according to him, having been Conan, second son of Henry, fourth and
last of the ancient Celtic Earls of Athole. This Conan, it is said,
received from his father, in the reign of Alexander II., the lands
of Generochy, afterwards called Strowan, in Gaelic _Struthan_--that
is, streamy. Conan’s great-grandson, Andrew, was styled of Athole,
_de Atholia_, which was the uniform designation of the family,
indicative, Mr Skene thinks, of their descent from the ancient Earls
of Athole. According to the same authority, it was from Andrew’s son,
Duncan, that the clan derived their distinctive appellation of the
clan _Donnachie_, or children of Duncan. Duncan is said to have been
twice married, and acquired by both marriages considerable territory
in the district of Rannoch. By his first wife he had a son, Robert de
Atholia.
As it is well known that Mr Skene’s Celtic prejudices are very
strong, and as his derivation of the Robertsons from Duncan, king
of Scotland, is to a great extent conjectural, it is only fair to
give the other side of the question, viz., the probability of their
derivation from the Celts of the Western Isles. We shall take the
liberty of quoting here Mr Smibert’s judicious and acute remarks on
this point. “There unquestionably exist doubts about the derivation
of the Robertsons from the Macdonalds; but the fact of their
acquiring large possessions at so early a period in Athole, seems to
be decisive of their descent from some great and strong house among
the Western Celts. And what house was more able so to endow its
scions than that of Somerled, whose heads were the kings of the west
of Scotland? The Somerled or Macdonald power, moreover, extended into
Athole beyond all question; and, indeed, it may be said to have been
almost the sole power which could so have planted there one of its
offshoots, apart from the regal authority. Accordingly, though Duncan
may not have been the son of Angus Mor (Macdonald), a natural son of
the Lord of the Isles, as has been commonly averred, it by no means
follows that the family were not of the Macdonald race. The proof
may be difficult, but probability must be accepted in its stead. An
opposite course has been too long followed on all sides. Why should
men conceal from themselves the plain fact that the times under
consideration were barbarous, and that their annals were necessarily
left to us, not by the pen of the accurate historian, but by the
dealers in song and tradition?”
Referring to the stress laid by Mr Skene upon the designation _de
Atholia_, which was uniformly assumed by the Robertsons, Mr Smibert
remarks,--“In the first place, the designation _De Atholia_ can
really be held to prove nothing, since, as in the case of _De
Insulis_, such phrases often pointed to mere residence, and were
especially used in reference to large districts. A gentleman ‘of
Athole’ is not necessarily connected with the Duke; and, as we now
use such phrases without any meaning of that kind, much more natural
was the custom of old, when general localities alone were known
generally. In the second place, are the Robertsons made more purely
Gaelic, for such is partly the object in the view of Mr Skene, by
being traced to the ancient Athole house? That the first lords of
the line were Celts may be admitted; but heiresses again and again
interrupted the male succession. While one wedded a certain Thomas
of London, another found a mate in a person named David de Hastings.
These strictly English names speak for themselves; and it was by the
Hastings marriage, which took place shortly after the year 1200, that
the first house of Athole was continued. It is clear, therefore, that
the supposition of the descent of the Robertsons from the first lords
of Athole leaves them still of largely mingled blood--Norman, Saxon,
and Gaelic. Such is the result, even when the conjecture is admitted.
“As a Lowland neighbourhood gave to the race of Robert, son of
Duncan, the name of Robertson, so would it also intermingle their
race and blood with those of the Lowlanders.”[172]
It is from the grandson of Robert of Athole, also named Robert,
that the clan Donnachie derive their name of Robertson. This Robert
was noted for his predatory incursions into the Lowlands, and is
historically known as the chief who arrested and delivered up to
the vengeance of the government Robert Graham and the Master of
Athole, two of the murderers of James I., for which he was rewarded
with a crown charter, dated in 1451, erecting his whole lands into
a free barony. He also received the honourable augmentation to his
arms of a naked man manacled under the achievement, with the motto,
_Virtutis gloria merces_. He was mortally wounded in the head near
the village of Auchtergaven, in a conflict with Robert Forrester of
Torwood, with whom he had a dispute regarding the lands of Little
Dunkeld. Binding up his head with a white cloth, he rode to Perth,
and obtained from the king a new grant of the lands of Strowan. On
his return home, he died of his wounds. He had three sons, Alexander,
Robert, and Patrick. Robert, the second son, was the ancestor of the
Earls of Portmore, a title now extinct.
The eldest son, Alexander, was twice married, his sons becoming
progenitors of various families of Robertsons. He died in, or shortly
prior to, 1507, and was succeeded by his grandson, William. This
chief had some dispute with the Earl of Athole concerning the marches
of their estates, and was killed by a party of the earl’s followers,
in 1530. Taking advantage of a wadset or mortgage which he held over
the lands of Strowan, the earl seized nearly the half of the family
estate, which the Robertsons could never again recover. William’s
son, Robert, had two sons--William, who died without issue, and
Donald, who succeeded him.
Donald’s grandson, 11th laird of Strowan, died in 1636, leaving an
infant son, Alexander, in whose minority the government of the clan
devolved upon his uncle, Donald. Devoted to the cause of Charles I.,
the latter raised a regiment of his name and followers, and was with
the Marquis of Montrose in all his battles. After the Restoration,
the king settled a pension upon him.
His nephew, Alexander Robertson of Strowan, was twice married. By his
second wife, Marion, daughter of General Baillie of Letham, he had
two sons and one daughter, and died in 1688. Duncan, the second son
by the second marriage, served in Russia, with distinction, under
Peter the Great.
Alexander, the elder son of the second marriage, was the celebrated
Jacobite chief and poet. Born about 1670, he was destined for the
church, and sent to the university of St Andrews; but his father
and brother by the first marriage dying within a few months of each
other, he succeeded to the family estate and the chiefship in 1688.
Soon after, he joined the Viscount Dundee, when he appeared in
arms in the Highlands for the cause of King James; but though he
does not appear to have been at Killiecrankie, and was still under
age, he was, for his share in this rising, attainted by a decreet
of parliament in absence in 1690, and his estates forfeited to the
crown. He retired, in consequence, to the court of the exiled monarch
at St Germains, where he lived for several years, and served one or
two campaigns in the French army. In 1703, Queen Anne granted him a
remission, when he returned to Scotland, and resided unmolested on
his estates, but neglecting to get the remission passed the seals,
the forfeiture of 1690 was never legally repealed. With about 500 of
his clan he joined the Earl of Mar in 1715, and was taken prisoner
at the battle of Sheriffmuir, but rescued. Soon after, however, he
fell into the hands of a party of soldiers in the Highlands, and was
ordered to be conducted to Edinburgh; but, with the assistance of
his sister, he contrived to escape on the way, when he again took
refuge in France. In 1723, the estate of Strowan was granted by the
government to Margaret, the chief’s sister, by a charter under the
great seal, and in 1726 she disponed the same in trust for the behoof
of her brother, substituting, in the event of his death without
lawful heirs of his body, Duncan, son of Alexander Robertson of
Drumachune, her father’s cousin, and the next lawful heir male of the
family. Margaret died unmarried in 1727. Her brother had returned to
Scotland the previous year, and obtaining in 1731 a remission for his
life, took possession of his estate. In 1745 he once more “marshalled
his clan” in behalf of the Stuarts, but his age preventing him from
personally taking any active part in the rebellion, his name was
passed over in the list of proscriptions that followed. He died in
his own house of Carie, in Rannoch, April 18, 1749, in his 81st year,
without lawful issue, and in him ended the direct male line. A volume
of his poems was published after his death. An edition was reprinted
at Edinburgh in 1785, 12mo, containing also the “History and Martial
Achievements of the Robertsons of Strowan.” He is said to have formed
the prototype of the Baron of Bradwardine in “Waverley.”
The portion of the original estate of Strowan which remained
devolved upon Duncan Robertson of Drumachune, a property which his
great-grandfather, Duncan _Mor_ (who died in 1687), brother of Donald
the tutor, had acquired from the Athole family. As, however, his
name was not included in the last act of indemnity passed by the
government, he was dispossessed of the estate in 1752, when he and
his family retired to France. His son, Colonel Alexander Robertson,
obtained a restitution of Strowan in 1784, and died, unmarried, in
1822. Duncan _Mor’s_ second son, Donald, had a son, called Robert
_Bane_, whose grandson, Alexander Robertson, now succeeded to the
estate.
The son of the latter, Major-general George Duncan Robertson of
Strowan, C.B., passed upwards of thirty years in active service, and
received the cross of the Imperial Austrian order of Leopold. He was
succeeded by his son, George Duncan Robertson, born 26th July 1816,
at one time an officer in the 42d Highlanders.
The force which the Robertsons could bring into the field was
estimated at 800 in 1715, and 700 in 1745.
Of the branches of the family, the Robertsons of Lude, in
Blair-Athole, are the oldest, being of contemporary antiquity to that
of Strowan.
Patrick de Atholia, eldest son of the second marriage of Duncan
de Atholia, received from his father, at his death, about 1358,
the lands of Lude. He is mentioned in 1391, by Wyntoun (Book ii.
p. 367) as one of the chieftains and leaders of the clan. He had,
with a daughter, married to Donald, son of Farquhar, ancestor of
the Farquharsons of Invercauld, two sons, Donald and Alexander. The
latter, known by the name of _Rua_ or Red, from the colour of his
hair, acquired the estate of Straloch, for which he had a charter
from James II. in 1451, and was ancestor of the Robertsons of
Straloch, Perthshire. His descendants were called the Barons Rua.
The last of the Barons _Rua_, or _Red_, was Alexander Robertson of
Straloch, who died about the end of the last century, leaving an
only son, John, who adopted the old family _soubriquet_, and called
himself Reid (probably hoping to be recognised as the chief of the
Reids). John Reid entered the army, where he rose to the rank of
General, and died in 1803, leaving the reversion of his fortune
(amounting to about £70,000) for the endowment of a chair of music,
and other purposes, in the University of Edinburgh. This ancient
family is represented by Sir Archibald Ava Campbell, Bart.
Donald, the elder son, succeeded his father. He resigned his lands
of Lude into the king’s hand on February 7, 1447, but died before
he could receive his infeftment. He had two sons: John, who got the
charter under the great seal, dated March 31, 1448, erecting the
lands of Lude into a barony, proceeding on his father’s resignation;
and Donald, who got as his patrimony the lands of Strathgarry. This
branch of Lude ended in an heiress, who married an illegitimate son
of Stewart of Invermeath. About 1700, Strathgarry was sold to another
family of the name of Stewart.
The Robertsons of Inshes, Inverness-shire, are descended from Duncan,
second son of Duncan _de Atholia, dominus de Ranagh_, above mentioned.
The Robertsons of Kindeace descend from William Robertson, third
son of John, ancestor of the Robertsons of the Inshes, by his wife,
a daughter of Fearn of Pitcullen. He obtained from his father, in
patrimony, several lands about Inverness, and having acquired great
riches as a merchant, purchased, in 1615, the lands of Orkney,
Nairnshire, and in 1639, those of Kindeace, Ross-shire; the latter
becoming the chief title of the family.
The Robertsons of Kinlochmoidart, Inverness-shire, are descended
from John Robertson of Muirton, Elginshire, second son of Alexander
Robertson of Strowan, by his wife, Lady Elizabeth, daughter of the
Earl of Athole.
The fifth in succession, the Rev. William Robertson, one of the
ministers of Edinburgh, was father of Principal Robertson, and
of Mary, who married the Rev. James Syme, and had an only child,
Eleonora, mother of Henry, Lord Brougham. The Principal had three
sons and two daughters.
MACFARLANE.
[Illustration: BADGE.--Cloudberry bush.]
Of the clan Macfarlane, Mr Skene gives the best account, and we shall
therefore take the liberty of availing ourselves of his researches.
According to him, with the exception of the clan Donnachie, the clan
Parlan or Pharlan is the only one, the descent of which from the
ancient earls of the district where their possessions were situated,
may be established by the authority of a charter. It appears, indeed,
that the ancestor of this clan was Gilchrist, the brother of Maldowen
or Malduin, the third Earl of Lennox. This is proved by a charter of
Maldowen, still extant, by which he gives to his brother Gilchrist
a grant “de terris de superiori Arrochar de Luss;” and these lands,
which continued in possession of the clan until the death of the last
chief, have at all times constituted their principal inheritance.
But although the descent of the clan from the Earls of Lennox be thus
established, the origin of their ancestors is by no means so easily
settled. Of all the native earls of Scotland, those of this district
alone have had a foreign origin assigned to them, though, apparently,
without any sufficient reason. The first Earl of Lennox who appears
on record is _Aluin comes de Levenox_, who lived in the early part
of the 13th century; and there is some reason to believe that from
this Aluin the later Earls of Lennox were descended. It is, no doubt,
impossible to determine now who this Aluin really was; but, in the
absence of direct authority, we gather from tradition that the heads
of the family of Lennox, before being raised to the peerage, were
hereditary seneschals of Strathearn, and bailies of the Abthanery of
Dull, in Athole. Aluin was succeeded by a son of the same name, who
is frequently mentioned in the chartularies of Lennox and Paisley,
and who died before the year 1225. In Donald, the sixth earl, the
male branch of the family became extinct. Margaret, the daughter of
Donald, married Walter de Fassalane, the heir male of the family;
but this alliance failed to accomplish the objects intended by it,
or, in other words, to preserve the honours and power of the house
of Lennox. Their son Duncan, the eighth earl, had no male issue; and
his eldest daughter Isabella, having married Sir Murdoch Stuart, the
eldest son of the Regent, he and his family became involved in the
ruin which overwhelmed the unfortunate house of Albany. At the death
of Isabella, in 1460, the earldom was claimed by three families; but
that of Stewart of Darnley eventually overcame all opposition, and
acquired the title and estates of Lennox. Their accession took place
in the year 1488; upon which the clans that had been formerly united
with the earls of the old stock separated themselves, and became
independent.
Of these clans the principal was that of the Macfarlanes, the
descendants, as has already been stated, of Gilchrist, a younger
brother of Maldowen, Earl of Lennox. In the Lennox charters, several
of which he appears to have subscribed as a witness, this Gilchrist
is generally designated as _frater comitis_, or brother of the earl.
His son Duncan also obtained a charter of his lands from the Earl of
Lennox, and appears in the Ragman’s roll under the title of “Duncan
Macgilchrist de Levenaghes.” From a grandson of this Duncan, who was
called in Gaelic _Parlan_, or Bartholomew, the clan appears to have
taken the surname of _Macfarlane_; indeed the connection of Parlan
both with Duncan and with Gilchrist is clearly established by a
charter granted to Malcolm Macfarlane, the son of Parlan, confirming
to him the lands of Arrochar and others; and hence Malcolm may be
considered as the real founder of the clan. He was succeeded by his
son Duncan, who obtained from the Earl of Lennox a charter of the
lands of Arrochar as ample in its provisions as any that had been
granted to his predecessors; and married a daughter of Sir Colin
Campbell of Lochow, as appears from a charter of confirmation granted
in his favour by Duncan, Earl of Lennox. Not long after his death,
however, the ancient line of the Earls of Lennox became extinct; and
the Macfarlanes having claimed the earldom as heirs male, offered a
strenuous opposition to the superior pretensions of the feudal heirs.
Their resistance, however, proved alike unsuccessful and disastrous.
The family of the chief perished in defence of what they believed
to be their just rights; the clan also suffered severely, and of
those who survived the struggle, the greater part took refuge in
remote parts of the country. Their destruction, indeed, would have
been inevitable, but for the opportune support given by a gentleman
of the clan to the Darnley family. This was Andrew Macfarlane, who,
having married the daughter of John Stewart, Lord Darnley and Earl
of Lennox, to whom his assistance had been of great moment at a time
of difficulty, saved the rest of the clan, and recovered the greater
part of their hereditary possessions. The fortunate individual in
question, however, though the good genius of the race, does not
appear to have possessed any other title to the chiefship than what
he derived from his position, and the circumstance of his being
the only person in a condition to afford them protection; in fact,
the clan refused him the title of chief, which they appear to have
considered as incommunicable, except in the right line; and his son,
Sir John Macfarlane, accordingly contented himself with assuming the
secondary or subordinate designation of captain of the clan.
From this time, the Macfarlanes appear to have on all occasions
supported the Earls of Lennox of the Stewart race, and to have also
followed their banner in the field. For several generations, however,
their history as a clan is almost an entire blank; indeed, they
appear to have merged into mere retainers of the powerful family,
under whose protection they enjoyed undisturbed possession of their
hereditary domains. But in the sixteenth century Duncan Macfarlane
of Macfarlane appears as a steady supporter of Matthew, Earl of
Lennox. At the head of three hundred men of his own name, he joined
Lennox and Glencairn in 1544, and was present with his followers at
the battle of Glasgow-Muir, where he shared the defeat of the party
he supported. He was also involved in the forfeiture which followed;
but having powerful friends, his property was, through their
intercession, restored, and he obtained a remission under the privy
seal. The loss of this battle forced Lennox to retire to England;
whence, having married a niece of Henry VIII., he soon afterwards
returned with a considerable force which the English monarch had
placed under his command. The chief of Macfarlane durst not venture
to join Lennox in person, being probably restrained by the terror
of another forfeiture; but, acting on the usual Scottish policy of
that time, he sent his relative, Walter Macfarlane of Tarbet, with
four hundred men, to reinforce his friend and patron; and this body,
according to Holinshed, did most excellent service, acting at once
as light troops and as guides to the main body. Duncan, however, did
not always conduct himself with equal caution; for he is said to have
fallen in the fatal battle of Pinkie, in 1547, on which occasion also
a great number of his clan perished.
Andrew, the son of Duncan, as bold, active, and adventurous as his
sire, engaged in the civil wars of the period, and, what is more
remarkable, took a prominent part on the side of the Regent Murray;
thus acting in opposition to almost all the other Highland chiefs,
who were warmly attached to the cause of the queen. He was present
at the battle of Langside with a body of his followers, and there
“stood the Regent’s part in great stead;” for, in the hottest of the
fight, he came up with three hundred of his friends and countrymen,
and falling fiercely on the flank of the queen’s army, threw them
into irretrievable disorder, and thus mainly contributed to decide
the fortune of the day. The clan boast of having taken at this battle
three of Queen Mary’s standards, which, they say, were preserved
for a long time in the family. Macfarlane’s reward was not such as
afforded any great cause for admiring the munificence of the Regent;
but that his vanity at least might he conciliated, Murray bestowed
upon him the crest of a demi-savage _proper_, holding in his dexter
hand a sheaf of arrows, and pointing with his sinister to an imperial
crown, _or_, with the motto, _This I’ll defend_. Of the son of
this chief nothing is known; but his grandson, Walter Macfarlane,
returning to the natural feelings of a Highlander, proved himself
as sturdy a champion of the royal party as his grandfather had been
an uncompromising opponent and enemy. During Cromwell’s time, he
was twice besieged in his own house, and his castle of Inveruglas
was afterwards burned down by the English. But nothing could shake
his fidelity to his party. Though his personal losses in adhering
to the royal cause were of a much more substantial kind than his
grandfather’s reward in opposing it, yet his zeal was not cooled by
adversity, nor his ardour abated by the vengeance which it drew down
on his head.
Although a small clan, the Macfarlanes were as turbulent and
predatory in their way as their neighbours the Macgregors. By the
Act of the Estates of 1587 they were declared to be one of the clans
for whom the chief was made responsible; by another act passed
in 1594, they were denounced as being in the habit of committing
theft, robbery, and oppression; and in July 1624 many of the clan
were tried and convicted of theft and robbery. Some of them were
punished, some pardoned; while others were removed to the highlands
of Aberdeenshire, and to Strathaven in Banffshire, where they assumed
the names of Stewart, M’Caudy, Greisock, M’James, and M’Innes.
Of one eminent member of the clan, the following notice is taken by
Mr Skene in his work on the Highlands of Scotland. He says, “It is
impossible to conclude this sketch of the history of the Macfarlanes
without alluding to the eminent antiquary, Walter Macfarlane of that
ilk, who is as celebrated among historians as the indefatigable
collector of the ancient records of the country, as his ancestors had
been among the other Highland chiefs for their prowess in the field.
The family itself, however, is now nearly extinct, after having held
their original lands for a period of six hundred years.”
Of the lairds of Macfarlane there have been no fewer than
twenty-three. The last of them went to North America in the early
part of the 18th century. A branch of the family settled in Ireland
in the reign of James VII., and the headship of the clan is claimed
by its representative, Macfarlane of Hunstown House, in the county of
Dublin. The descendants of the ancient chiefs cannot now be traced,
and the lands once possessed by them have passed into other hands.
Under the head of Garmoran, Mr Skene, following the genealogists,
includes two western clans, viz., those of Campbell and Macleod. We
shall, however, depart from Mr Skene’s order, and notice these two
important clans here, while treating of the clans of the western
coasts and isles. Mr Skene,[173] on very shadowy grounds, endeavours
to make out that there must have been an ancient earldom of Garmoran,
situated between north and south Argyle, and including, besides the
districts of Knoydart, Morar, Arisaig, and Moydart (forming a late
lordship of Garmoran), the districts of Glenelg, Ardnamurchan, and
Morvern. He allows, however, that “at no period embraced by the
records do we discover Garmoran as an efficient earldom.” As to
this, Mr E. W. Robertson[174] remarks that “the same objection may
be raised against the earldom of Garmoran which is urged against the
earldom of the Merns, the total silence of history respecting it.”
ARGYLL CAMPBELL.
[Illustration: BADGE--Myrtle.]
The name CAMPBELL is undoubtedly one of considerable antiquity, and
the clan has for long been one of the most numerous and powerful
in the Highlands, although many families have adopted the name who
have no connection with the Campbells proper by blood or descent.
The Argyll family became latterly so powerful, that many smaller
clans were absorbed in it voluntarily or compulsorily, and assumed
in course of time its peculiar designation. The origin of the name,
as well as of the founder of the family, remains still a matter
of the greatest doubt. The attempt to deduce the family from the
half-mythical King Arthur, of course, is mere trifling.
The name is by some stated to have been derived from a Norman knight,
named de Campo Bello, who came to England with William the Conqueror.
As respects the latter part of the statement, it is to be observed
that in the list of all the knights who composed the army of the
Conqueror on the occasion of his invasion of England, and which is
known by the name of the Roll of Battle-Abbey, the name of Campo
Bello is not to be found. But it does not follow, as recent writers
have assumed, that a knight of that name may not have come over
to England at a later period, either of his reign or that of his
successors.
[Illustration: ARGYLL CAMPBELL. (Tartan)]
It has been alleged, in opposition to this account, that in the
oldest form of writing the name, it is spelled Cambel or Kambel, and
it is so found in many ancient documents; but these were written
by parties not acquainted with the individuals whose name they
record, as in the manuscript account of the battle of Halidon Hill,
by an unknown English writer, preserved in the British Museum; in
the Ragman’s Roll, which was compiled by an English clerk, and
in Wyntoun’s Chronicle. There is no evidence, however, that at
any period it was written by any of the family otherwise than as
_Campbell_, notwithstanding the extraordinary diversity that occurs
in the spelling of other names by their holders, as shown by Lord
Lindsay in the account of his clan; and the invariable employment
of the letter _p_ by the Campbells themselves would be of itself a
strong argument for the southern origin of the name, did there not
exist, in the record of the parliament of Robert Bruce held in 1320,
the name of the then head of the family, entered as Sir Nigel de
Campo Bello.
The writers, however, who attempt to sustain the fabulous tales of
the sennachies, assign a very different origin to the name. It is
personal, say they, “like that of some others of the Highland clans,
being composed of the words _cam_, bent or arched, and _beul_, mouth;
this having been the most prominent feature of the great ancestor of
the clan, Diarmid O’Dubin or O’Duin, a brave warrior celebrated in
traditional story, who was contemporary with the heroes of Ossian.
In the Gaelic language his descendants are called Siol Diarmid, the
offspring or race of Diarmid.”
Besides the manifest improbability of this origin on other grounds,
two considerations may be adverted to, each of them conclusive:--
First, It is known to all who have examined ancient genealogies,
that among the Celtic races personal distinctives never have
become hereditary. Malcolm _Canmore_, Donald _Bane_, Rob _Roy_, or
Evan _Dhu_, were, with many other names, distinctive of personal
qualities, but none of them descended, or could do so, to the
children of those who acquired them.
Secondly, It is no less clear that, until after what is called
the Saxon Conquest had been completely effected, no hereditary
surnames were in use among the Celts of Scotland, nor by the chiefs
of Norwegian descent who governed in Argyll and the Isles. This
circumstance is pointed out by Tytler in his remarks upon the early
population of Scotland, in the second volume of the History of
Scotland. The domestic slaves attached to the possessions of the
church and of the barons have their genealogies engrossed in ancient
charters of conveyances and confirmation copied by him. The names are
all Celtic, but in no one instance does the son, even when bearing a
second or distinctive name, follow that of his father.
Skene, who maintains the purely native origin of the Campbell, does
so in the following remarks:--
“We have shown it to be invariably the case, that when a clan claims
a foreign origin, and accounts for their possession of the chiefship
and property of the clan by a marriage with the heiress of the old
proprietors, they can be proved to be in reality a cadet of that
older house who had usurped the chiefship, while their claim to the
chiefship is disputed by an acknowledged descendant of that older
house. To this rule the Campbells are no exceptions, for while the
tale upon which they found a Norman descent is exactly parallel to
those of the other clans in the same situation, the most ancient
manuscript genealogies deduce them in the male line from that very
family of O’Duin, whose heiress they are said to have married, and
the Macarthur Campbells, of Strachur, the acknowledged descendants of
the older house, they have at all times disputed the chiefship with
the Argyll family. Judging from analogy, we are compelled to admit
that the Campbells of Strachur must formerly have been chiefs of the
clan, and that the usual causes in such cases have operated to reduce
the Strachur family, and to place that of Argyll in that situation,
and this is confirmed by the early history of the clan.”
We shall take the liberty of quoting here some ingenious speculations
on the origin of the name and the founder of the clan, from the pen
of a gentleman, a member of the clan, who, for several years, has
devoted his leisure to the investigation of the subject, and has
placed the results of his researches at our disposal. He declares
that the name itself is the most inflexible name in Scotland. In
all old documents, he says, in which it occurs, either written by a
Campbell, or under his direction, it is spelled always Campbell, or
Campo-Bello; and its southern origin he believes is past question.
It has always seemed to him to have been the name of some Roman,
who, after his countrymen retired from Britain, had settled among
the Britons of Strath-Clyde. “I am not one,” he continues, “of those
who suppose that the fortunes of Campbell depended entirely on the
patrimony of his wife. As a family who had been long in the country,
the chief of the name (it is improbable that he was then the sole
owner of that name, although his family is alone known to history),
as a soldier, high in his sovereign’s favour, was likely to have
possessed lands in Argyle before his marriage took place. Men of
mark were then necessary to keep these rather wild and outlandish
districts in subjection, and only men high in royal favour were
likely to have that trust,--a trust likely to be so well rewarded,
that its holder would be an eligible match for the heiress of Paul
In-Sporran.
“It is also quite likely that Eva O’Duin was a king’s ward, and on
that account her hand would be in the king’s gift; and who so likely
to receive it as a trusted knight, connected with the district, and
one whose loyalty was unquestioned?
“Again, we put little stress on the Celtic origin of the name,--from
the crooked mouth of the first chief, as if from _cam_, bent or
crooked, and _beul_, mouth. No doubt this etymology is purely
fanciful, and may have been invented by some one anxious to prove
the purely Celtic origin of the family; but this seems really
unnecessary, as a Celtic residence, Celtic alliances, and Celtic
associations for nearly 800 years, is a Celtic antiquity in an almost
unbroken line such as few families are able to boast of; indeed, no
clan can boast of purer Celtic blood than the Campbells, and their
present chief.”
The conclusion which, we think, any unprejudiced reader must come to,
is, that the question of the origin of the Campbells cannot, until
further light be thrown upon it, be determined with certainty at
the present day. It is possible that the story of the genealogists
may be true; they declare that the predecessors of the Argyll[175]
family, on the female side, were possessors of Lochow or Lochawe in
Argyleshire, as early as 404 A.D. Of this, however, there is no proof
worthy of the name. The first of the race, who comes prominently into
notice is one Archibald (also called Gillespie) Campbell, as likely
as not, we think, to be a gentleman of Anglo-Norman lineage, who
lived in the 11th century. He acquired the lordship of Lochow, or
Lochawe, by marriage with Eva, daughter and heiress of Paul O’Duin,
Lord of Lochow, denominated Paul Insporran, from his being the king’s
treasurer. Another Gillespic is the first of the house mentioned in
authentic history, his name occurring as a witness of the charter of
the lands of the burgh of Newburgh by Alexander III. in 1246.
Sir Colin Campbell of Lochow, the real founder of the family, sixth
in descent from the first Gillespic, distinguished himself by his
warlike actions, and was knighted by King Alexander the Third in
1280. He added largely to his estates, and on account of his great
prowess he obtained the surname of Mohr or More (“great”); from him
the chief of the Argyll family is in Gaelic styled Mac Chaillan
More.[176]
Sir Colin Campbell had a quarrel with a powerful neighbour of his,
the Lord of Lorn, and after he had defeated him, pursuing the victory
too eagerly, was slain (in 1294) at a place called the String of
Cowal, where a great obelisk was erected over his grave. This is said
to have occasioned bitter feuds betwixt the houses of Lochow and Lorn
for a long period of years, which were put an end to by the marriage
of the daughter of the Celtic proprietor of Lorn, with John Stewart
of Innermeath about 1386. Sir Colin married a lady of the name of
Sinclair, by whom he had five sons.
Sir Niel Campbell of Lochow, his eldest son, swore fealty to Edward
the First, but afterwards joined Robert the Bruce, and fought by his
side in almost every encounter, from the defeat at Methven to the
victory at Bannockburn. King Robert rewarded his services by giving
him his sister, the Lady Mary Bruce, in marriage, and conferring
on him the lands forfeited by the Earl of Athole. His next brother
Donald was the progenitor of the Campbells of Loudon. By his wife Sir
Niel had three sons,--Sir Colin; John, created Earl of Athole, upon
the forfeiture of David de Strathbogie, the eleventh earl; and Dugal.
Sir Colin, the eldest son, obtained a charter from his uncle,
King Robert Bruce, of the lands of Lochow and Artornish, dated at
Arbroath, 10th February 1316, in which he is designated _Colinus
filius Nigelli Cambel, militis_. As a reward for assisting the
Steward of Scotland in 1334 in the recovery of the castle of Dunoon,
in Cowal, Sir Colin was made hereditary governor of the castle, and
had the grant of certain lands for the support of his dignity.
Sir Colin died about 1340. By his wife, a daughter of the house of
Lennox, he had three sons and a daughter.
The eldest son, Sir Gillespic or Archibald, who added largely to the
family possessions, was twice married, and had three sons, Duncan,
Colin, and David, and a daughter, married to Duncan Macfarlane of
Arrochar. Colin, the second son, was designed of Ardkinglass, and of
his family, the Campbells of Ardentinny, Dunoon, Carrick, Skipnish,
Blythswood, Shawfield, Rachan, Auchwillan, and Dergachie are branches.
Sir Duncan Campbell of Lochow, the eldest son, was one of the
hostages in 1424, under the name of Duncan, Lord of Argyll, for the
payment of the sum of forty thousand pounds (equivalent to four
hundred thousand pounds of our money), for the expense of King James
the First’s maintenance during his long imprisonment in England, when
Sir Duncan was found to be worth fifteen hundred merks a-year. He
was the first of the family to assume the designation of Argyll. By
King James he was appointed one of his privy council, and constituted
his justiciary and lieutenant within the shire of Argyll. He became
a lord of parliament in 1445, under the title of Lord Campbell. He
died in 1453, and was buried at Kilmun. He married, first, Marjory
or Mariota Stewart, daughter of Robert Duke of Albany, governor of
Scotland, by whom he had three sons,--Celestine, who died before him;
Archibald, who also predeceased him, but left a son; and Colin, who
was the first of Glenorchy, and ancestor of the Breadalbane family.
Sir Duncan married, secondly, Margaret, daughter of Sir John Stewart
of Blackhall and Auchingown, natural son of Robert the Third, by whom
also he had three sons, namely, Duncan, who, according to Crawford,
was the ancestor of the house of Auchinbreck, of whom are the
Campbells of Glencardel, Glensaddel, Kildurkland, Kilmorie, Wester
Keams, Kilberry, and Dana; Niel, progenitor, according to Crawford,
of the Campbells of Ellengreig and Ormadale; and Arthur or Archibald,
ancestor of the Campbells of Ottar, now extinct. According to some
authorities, the Campbells of Auchinbreck and their cadets, also
Ellengrieg and Ormadale, descend from this the youngest son, and not
from his brothers.
The first Lord Campbell was succeeded by his grandson Colin, the son
of his second son Archibald. He acquired part of the lordship of
Campbell in the parish of Dollar,[177] by marrying the eldest of the
three daughters of John Stewart, third Lord of Lorn and Innermeath.
He did not, as is generally stated, acquire by this marriage any part
of the lordship of Lorn (which passed to Walter, brother of John,
the fourth Lord Innermeath, and heir of entail), but obtained that
lordship by exchanging the lands of Baldunning and Innerdunning, &c.,
in Perthshire, with the said Walter. In 1457 he was created Earl of
Argyll. In 1470 he was created baron of Lorn, and in 1481 he received
a grant of many lands in Knapdale, along with the keeping of Castle
Sweyn, which had previously been held by the Lord of the Isles. He
died in 1493.
By Isabel Stewart, his wife, eldest daughter of John, Lord of Lorn,
the first Earl of Argyll had two sons and seven daughters. Archibald,
his elder son, became second earl, and Thomas, the younger, was the
ancestor of the Campbells of Lundie, in Forfarshire. Another daughter
was married to Torquil Macleod of the Lewis.
Archibald, second Earl of Argyll, succeeded his father in 1493.
In 1499 he and others received a commission from the king to let
on lease, for the term of three years, the entire lordship of the
Isles as possessed by the last lord, both in the Isles and on the
mainland, excepting only the island of Isla, and the lands of North
and South Kintyre. He also received a commission of lieutenancy,
with the fullest powers, over the lordship of the Isles; and, some
months later, was appointed keeper of the castle of Tarbert, and
bailie and governor of the king’s lands in Knapdale. From this period
the great power formerly enjoyed by the Earls of Ross, Lords of the
Isles, was transferred to the Earls of Argyll and Huntly; the former
having the chief rule in the south isles and adjacent coasts. At
the fatal battle of Flodden, 9th September 1513, his lordship and
his brother-in-law, the Earl of Lennox, commanded the right wing of
the royal army, and with King James the Fourth, were both killed.
By his wife, Lady Elizabeth Stewart, eldest daughter of John, first
Earl of Lennox, he had four sons and five daughters. His eldest son,
Colin, was the third Earl of Argyll. Archibald, his second son, had
a charter of the lands of Skipnish, and the keeping of the castle
thereof, 13th August 1511. His family ended in an heir-female in the
reign of Mary. Sir John Campbell, the third son, at first styled
of Lorn, and afterwards of Calder, married Muriella, daughter and
heiress of Sir John Calder of Calder, now Cawdor, near Nairn.
According to tradition, she was captured in childhood by Sir John
Campbell and a party of the Campbells, while out with her nurse
near Calder castle. Her uncles pursued and overtook the division of
the Campbells to whose care she had been intrusted, and would have
rescued her but for the presence of mind of Campbell of Inverliver,
who, seeing their approach, inverted a large camp kettle as if to
conceal her, and commanding his seven sons to defend it to the death,
hurried on with his prize. The young men were all slain, and when the
Calders lifted up the kettle, no Muriel was there. Meanwhile so much
time had been gained that farther pursuit was useless. The nurse,
just before the child was seized, bit off a joint of her little
finger, in order to mark her identity--a precaution which seems to
have been necessary, from Campbell of Auchinbreck’s reply to one who,
in the midst of their congratulations on arriving safely in Argyll
with their charge, asked what was to be done should the child die
before she was marriageable? “She can never die,” said he, “as long
as a red-haired lassie can be found on either side of Lochawe!” It
would appear that the heiress of the Calders had red hair.
Colin Campbell, the third Earl of Argyll, was, immediately after
his accession to the earldom, appointed by the council to assemble
an army and proceed against Lauchlan Maclean of Dowart, and other
Highland chieftains, who had broken out into insurrection, and
proclaimed Sir Donald of Lochalsh Lord of the Isles. Owing to the
powerful influence of Argyll, the insurgents submitted to the regent,
after strong measures had been adopted against them. In 1517 Sir
Donald of Lochalsh again appeared in arms, but being deserted by
his principal leaders, he effected his escape. Soon after, on his
petition, he received a commission of lieutenancy over all the Isles
and adjacent mainland.
For some years the Isles had continued at peace, and Argyll employed
this interval in extending his influence among the chiefs, and
in promoting the aggrandisement of his family and clan, being
assisted thereto by his brothers, Sir John Campbell of Calder,
so designed after his marriage with the heiress, and Archibald
Campbell of Skipnish. The former was particularly active. In 1527
an event occurred, which forms the groundwork of Joanna Baillie’s
celebrated tragedy of “The Family Legend.” It is thus related by
Gregory:--“Lauchlan Cattanach Maclean of Dowart had married Lady
Elizabeth Campbell, daughter of Archibald, second Earl of Argyll,
and, either from the circumstance of their union being unfruitful,
or more probably owing to some domestic quarrels, he determined
to get rid of his wife. Some accounts say that she had twice
attempted her husband’s life; but, whatever the cause may have been,
Maclean, following the advice of two of his vassals, who exercised
a considerable influence over him from the tie of fosterage, caused
his lady to be exposed on a rock, which was only visible at low
water, intending that she should be swept away by the return of the
tide. This rock lies between the island of Lismore and the coast
of Mull, and is still known by the name of the ‘Lady’s Rock.’ From
this perilous situation the intended victim was rescued by a boat
accidentally passing, and conveyed to her brother’s house. Her
relations, although much exasperated against Maclean, smothered their
resentment for a time, but only to break out afterwards with greater
violence; for the laird of Dowart being in Edinburgh, was surprised
when in bed, and assassinated by Sir John Campbell of Calder, the
lady’s brother. The Macleans instantly took arms to revenge the
death of their chief, and the Campbells were not slow in preparing
to follow up the feud; but the government interfered, and, for the
present, an appeal to arms was avoided.”[178]
On the escape of the king, then in his seventeenth year, from the
power of the Douglases, in May 1528, Argyll was one of the first to
join his majesty at Stirling. Argyll afterwards received an ample
confirmation of the hereditary sheriffship of Argyleshire and of
the offices of justiciary of Scotland and master of the household,
by which these offices became hereditary in his family. He had the
commission of justice-general of Scotland renewed 25th October 1529.
He died in 1530.
By his countess, Lady Jane Gordon, eldest daughter of Alexander,
third Earl of Huntly, the third Earl of Argyll had three sons and
a daughter. His sons were, Archibald, fourth Earl of Argyll; John,
ancestor of the Campbells of Lochnell, of which house the Campbells
of Balerno and Stonefield are cadets; and Alexander, dean of Moray.
Archibald, the fourth Earl of Argyll, was, on his accession to the
title in 1530, appointed to all the offices held by the two preceding
earls. A suspicion being entertained by some of the members of the
privy council, which is said to have been shared in by the king
himself, that many of the disturbances in the Isles were secretly
fomented by the Argyll family, that they might obtain possession
of the estates forfeited by the chiefs thus driven into rebellion,
and an opportunity soon presenting itself, the king eagerly availed
himself of it, to curb the increasing power of the Earl of Argyll in
that remote portion of the kingdom. Alexander of Isla, being summoned
to answer certain charges of Argyll, made his appearance at once, and
gave in to the council a written statement, in which, among other
things, he stated that the disturbed state of the Isles was mainly
caused by the late Earl of Argyll and his brothers, Sir John Campbell
of Calder, and Archibald Campbell of Skipnish. The king made such an
examination into the complaints of the islanders as satisfied him
that the family of Argyll had been acting more for their own benefit
than for the welfare of the country, and the earl was summoned
before his sovereign, to give an account of the duties and rental
of the Isles received by him, the result of which was that James
committed him to prison soon after his arrival at court. He was soon
liberated, but James was so much displeased with his conduct that he
deprived him of the offices he still held in the Isles, some of which
were bestowed on Alexander of Isla, whom he had accused. After the
death of James the Fifth he appears to have regained his authority
over the Isles. He was the first of the Scotch nobles who embraced
the principles of the Reformation, and employed as his domestic
chaplain Mr John Douglas, a converted Carmelite friar, who preached
publicly in his house. The Archbishop of St Andrews, in a letter to
the earl, endeavoured to induce him to dismiss Douglas, and return to
the Romish church, but in vain, and on his death-bed he recommended
the support of the new doctrines, and the suppression of Popish
superstitions, to his son. He died in August 1558. He was twice
married. By his first wife, Lady Helen Hamilton, eldest daughter
of James, first Earl of Arran, he had a son, Archibald, fifth Earl
of Argyll. His second wife was Lady Mary Graham, only daughter of
William, third Earl of Menteith, by whom he had Colin, sixth earl,
and two daughters.
Archibald, fifth Earl of Argyll, was educated under the direction
of Mr John Douglas, his father’s domestic chaplain, and the first
Protestant Archbishop of St Andrews, and distinguished himself
as one of the most able among the Lords of the Congregation. In
the transactions of their times the earl and his successors took
prominent parts; but as these are matters of public history, and as
so much the history of the Highlands, in which the Argylls took a
prominent part, has been already given in the former part of this
work, we shall confine our attention here to what belongs to the
history of the family and clan.
The earl had married Jean, natural daughter of King James the Fifth
by Elizabeth daughter of John, Lord Carmichael, but he does not seem
to have lived on very happy terms with her, as we find that John
Knox, at the request of Queen Mary, endeavoured, on more occasions
than one, to reconcile them after some domestic quarrels.[179] Her
majesty passed the summer of 1563 at the earl’s house in Argyleshire,
in the amusement of deer-hunting.
Argyll died on the 12th of September 1575, aged about 43. His
countess, Queen Mary’s half-sister, having died without issue, was
buried in the royal vault in the abbey of Holyrood-house; and he
married, a second time, Lady Johanna or Joneta Cunningham, second
daughter of Alexander, fifth Earl of Glencairn, but as she also had
no children, he was succeeded in his estates and title by his brother.
On the 28th of January 1581, with the king and many of the nobility,
the sixth earl subscribed a second Confession of Faith. He died in
October 1584, after a long illness. He married, first, Janet, eldest
daughter of Henry, first Lord Methven, without issue; secondly, Lady
Agnes Keith, eldest daughter of William, fourth Earl Marischal, widow
of the Regent Moray, by whom he had two sons, Archibald, seventh
Earl of Argyll, and the Hon. Sir Colin Campbell of Lundie, created a
baronet in 1627.
In 1594, although then only eighteen, the seventh Earl of Argyll was
appointed king’s lieutenant against the popish Earls of Huntly and
Errol, who had raised a rebellion. In 1599, when measures were in
progress for bringing the chiefs of the isles under subjection to the
king, the Earl of Argyll and his kinsman, John Campbell of Calder,
were accused of having secretly used their influence to prevent Sir
James Macdonald of Dunyveg and his clan from being reconciled to the
government. The frequent insurrections which occurred in the South
Isles in the first fifteen years of the seventeenth century have also
been imputed by Mr Gregory to Argyll and the Campbells, for their own
purposes. The proceedings of these clans were so violent and illegal,
that the king became highly incensed against the Clandonald, and
finding, or supposing he had a right to dispose of their possessions
both in Kintyre and Isla, he made a grant of them to the Earl of
Argyll and the Campbells. This gave rise to a number of bloody
conflicts between the Campbells and the Clandonald, in the years
1614, 1615, and 1616, which ended in the ruin of the latter, and for
the details of which, and the intrigues and proceedings of the Earl
of Argyll to possess himself of the lands of that clan, reference may
be made to the part of the General History pertaining to this period.
In 1603, the Macgregors, who were already under the ban of the law,
made an irruption into the Lennox, and after defeating the Colquhouns
and their adherents at Glenfruin, with great slaughter, plundered
and ravaged the whole district, and threatened to burn the town of
Dumbarton. For some years previously, the charge of keeping this
powerful and warlike tribe in order had been committed to the Earl of
Argyll, as the king’s lieutenant in the “bounds of the clan Gregor,”
and he was answerable for all their excesses. Instead of keeping them
under due restraint, Argyll has been accused by various writers of
having from the very first made use of his influence to stir them up
to acts of violence and aggression against his own personal enemies,
of whom the chief of the Colquhouns was one; and it is further
said that he had all along meditated the destruction of both the
Macgregors and the Colquhouns, by his crafty and perfidious policy.
The only evidence on which these heavy charges rest is the dying
declaration of Alister Macgregor of Glenstrae, the chief of the clan,
to the effect that he was deceived by the Earl of Argyll’s “falsete
and inventiouns,” and that he had been often incited by that nobleman
to “weir and truble the laird of Luss,” and others; but these charges
ought to be received with some hesitation by the impartial historian.
However this may be, the execution of the severe statutes which
were passed against the Macgregors after the conflict at Glenfruin,
was intrusted to the Earls of Argyll and Athole, and their chief,
with some of his principal followers, was enticed by Argyll to
surrender to him, on condition that they would be allowed to leave
the country. Argyll received them kindly, and assured them that
though he was commanded by the king to apprehend them, he had little
doubt he would be able to procure a pardon, and, in the meantime,
he would send them to England under an escort, which would convey
them off Scottish ground. It was Macgregor’s intention, if taken
to London, to procure if possible an interview with the king; but
Argyll prevented this; yet, that he might fulfil his promise, he sent
them under a strong guard beyond the Tweed at Berwick, and instantly
compelled them to retrace their steps to Edinburgh, where they were
executed 18th January 1604. How far there may have been deceit used
in this matter,--whether, according to Birrel, Argyll “keipit are
Hielandman’s promise; in respect he sent the gaird to convey him out
of Scottis grund, but thai were not directit to pairt with him, but
to fetch him bak agane;” or whether their return was by orders from
the king, cannot at the present time be ascertained.
In 1617, after the suppression by him of the Clandonald, Argyll
obtained from the king a grant of the whole of Kintyre. For some
years Argyll had been secretly a Catholic. His first countess, to
whom Sir William Alexander, afterwards Earl of Stirling, inscribed
his “Aurora” in 1604, having died, he had, in November 1610, married
a second time, Anne, daughter of Sir William Cornwall of Brome,
ancestor of the Marquis Cornwallis. This lady was a Catholic, and
although the earl was a warm and zealous Protestant when he married
her, she gradually drew him over to profess the same faith with
herself. After the year 1615, as Gregory remarks, his personal
history presents a striking instance of the mutability of human
affairs. In that year, being deep in debt, he went to England; but as
he was the only chief that could keep the Macdonalds in order, the
Privy Council wrote to the king urging him to send him home; and in
his expedition against the clan Donald he was accompanied by his son,
Lord Lorn. In 1618, on pretence of going to the Spa for the benefit
of his health, he received from the king permission to go abroad; and
the news soon arrived that the earl, instead of going to the Spa,
had gone to Spain; that he had there made open defection from the
Protestant religion, and that he had entered into very suspicious
dealings with the banished rebels, Sir James Macdonald and Alister
MacRanald of Keppoch, who had taken refuge in that country. On the
16th of February he was openly declared rebel and traitor, at the
market cross of Edinburgh, and remained under this ban until the
22d of November 1621, when he was declared the king’s free liege.
Nevertheless, he did not venture to return to Britain till 1638, and
died in London soon after, aged 62. From the time of his leaving
Scotland, he never exercised any influence over his great estates;
the fee of which had, indeed, been previously conveyed by him to his
eldest son, Archibald, Lord Lorn, afterwards eighth Earl of Argyll.
By his first wife he had, besides this son, four daughters. By his
second wife, the earl had a son and a daughter, viz., James, Earl of
Irvine, and Lady Mary, married to James, second Lord Rollo.
Archibald, eighth Earl and first Marquis of Argyll, after his father,
went to Spain, as has been above said, managed the affairs of his
family and clan. So full an account of the conspicuous part played
by the first Marquis of Argyll, in the affairs of his time, has been
already given in this work, that further detail here is unnecessary.
Suffice it to say, that in 1641 he was created Marquis, and was
beheaded with the “Maiden,” at the cross of Edinburgh, May 27, 1661;
and whatever may be thought of his life, his death was heroic and
Christian. By his wife, Lady Margaret Douglas, second daughter of
William, second Earl of Morton, he had three daughters and two sons.
The eldest son Archibald, became ninth Earl of Argyll, the second was
Lord Niel Campbell, of Ardmaddie.
On the death of the eighth earl, his estates and title were of course
forfeited, but Charles II., in 1663, sensible of the great services
of Lord Lorn, and of the injustice with which he had been treated,
restored to him the estates and the title of Earl of Argyll. The
trivial excuse for the imprisoning and condemning him to death, has
been already referred to, and an account has been given of the means
whereby he was enabled to make his escape, by the assistance of his
step-daughter, Lady Sophia Lindsay. Having taken part in Monmouth’s
rebellion, he was taken prisoner, and being carried to Edinburgh,
was beheaded upon his former unjust sentence, June 30, 1685. Argyll
was twice married; first to Lady Mary Stuart, eldest daughter of
James, fifth Earl of Moray; and secondly, to Lady Anna Mackenzie,
second daughter of Colin, first Earl of Seaforth, widow of Alexander,
first Earl of Balcarres. By the latter, he had no issue; but by the
former he had four sons and three daughters. He was succeeded by
his son Archibald, tenth Earl and first Duke of Argyll, who was an
active promoter of the Revolution, and accompanied the Prince of
Orange to England. He was one of the commissioners deputed from the
Scots Parliament, to offer the crown of Scotland to the Prince, and
to tender him the coronation oath. For this and other services, the
family estates, which had been forfeited, were restored to him. He
was appointed to several important public offices, and in 1696, was
made colonel of the Scots horse-guards, afterwards raising a regiment
of his own clan, which greatly distinguished itself in Flanders.
On the 21st of June 1701, he was created, by letters patent, Duke
of Argyll, Marquis of Lorn and Kintyre, Earl of Campbell and Cowal,
Viscount of Lochow and Glenila, Baron Inverary, Mull, Morvern, and
Tiree. He died 28th September, 1703. Though undoubtedly a man of
ability, he was too dissipated to be a great statesman. He married
Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Lionel Tollmash, by whom he had two sons,
the elder being the celebrated Duke of Argyll and Greenwich.
John, second Duke of Argyll, and also Duke of Greenwich, a steady
patriot and celebrated general, the eldest son of the preceding,
was born October 10, 1678. On the death of his father in 1703, he
became Duke of Argyll, and was soon after sworn of the privy council,
made captain of the Scots horse-guards, and appointed one of the
extraordinary lords of session. He was soon after sent down as high
commissioner to the Scots parliament, where, being of great service
in promoting the projected Union, for which he became very unpopular
in Scotland, he was, on his return to London, created a peer of
England by the titles of Baron of Chatham, and Earl of Greenwich.
In 1706 his Grace made a campaign in Flanders, under the Duke of
Marlborough, and rendered important services at various sieges and
battles on the continent, and on December 20, 1710, he was installed
a knight of the Garter. On the accession of George I., he was made
groom of the stole, and was one of the nineteen members of the
regency, nominated by his majesty. On the king’s arrival in England,
he was appointed general and commander-in-chief of the king’s forces
in Scotland.
At the breaking out of the Rebellion in 1715, his Grace, as
commander-in-chief in Scotland, defeated the Earl of Mar’s army at
Sheriffmuir, and forced the Pretender to retire from the kingdom.
In March 1716, after putting the army into winter quarters, he
returned to London, but was in a few months, to the surprise of
all, divested of all his employments. In the beginning of 1718 he
was again restored to favour, created Duke of Greenwich, and made
lord steward of the household. In 1737, when the affair of Captain
Porteous came before parliament, his Grace exerted himself vigorously
and eloquently in behalf of the city of Edinburgh. A bill having
been brought in for punishing the Lord Provost of that city, for
abolishing the city guard, and for depriving the corporation of
several ancient privileges; and the Queen Regent having threatened,
on that occasion, to convert Scotland into a hunting park, Argyll
replied, that it was then time to go down and gather his beagles.
In April 1740, he delivered a speech with such warmth against the
administration, that he was again deprived of all his offices. To
these, however, on the resignation of Sir Robert Walpole, he was soon
restored, but not approving of the measures of the new ministry,
he gave up all his posts, and never afterwards engaged in affairs
of state. This amiable and most accomplished nobleman has been
immortalised by Pope in the lines,
“Argyle, the state’s whole thunder born to wield,
And shake alike the senate and the field.”
He was twice married. By his first wife, Mary, daughter of John
Brown, Esq. (and niece of Sir Charles Duncombe, Lord Mayor of London
in 1708), he had no issue. By his second wife, Jane, daughter of
Thomas Warburton of Winnington, in Cheshire, one of the maids of
honour to Queen Anne, he had five daughters. As the duke died without
male issue, his English titles of Duke and Earl of Greenwich, and
Baron of Chatham, became extinct, while his Scotch titles and
patrimonial estate devolved on his brother. He died October 4,
1743; and a beautiful marble monument was erected to his memory in
Westminster Abbey.
Archibald, third Duke of Argyll, the brother of the preceding, was
born at Ham, Surrey, in June 1682, and educated at the university of
Glasgow. In 1705 he was constituted lord high treasurer of Scotland;
in 1706 one of the commissioners for treating of the Union between
Scotland and England; and 19th October of the same year, for his
services in that matter, was created Viscount and Earl of Isla.
In 1708 he was made an extraordinary lord of session, and after
the Union, was chosen one of the sixteen representative peers of
Scotland. In 1710 he was appointed justice-general of Scotland,
and the following year was called to the privy council. When the
rebellion broke out in 1715, he took up arms for the defence of the
house of Hanover. By his prudent conduct in the West Highlands, he
prevented General Gordon, at the head of three thousand men, from
penetrating into the country and raising levies. He afterwards
joined his brother, the duke, at Stirling, and was wounded at the
battle of Sheriffmuir. In 1725 he was appointed keeper of the privy
seal, and in 1734 of the great seal, which office he enjoyed till
his death. He excelled in conversation, and besides building a very
magnificent seat at Inverary, he collected one of the most valuable
private libraries in Great Britain. He died suddenly, while sitting
in his chair at dinner, April 15, 1761. He married the daughter of Mr
Whitfield, paymaster of marines, but had no issue by her grace.
The third Duke of Argyll was succeeded by his cousin, John, fourth
duke, son of the Hon. John Campbell of Mamore, second son of
Archibald, the ninth Earl of Argyll (who was beheaded in 1685), by
Elizabeth, daughter of John, eighth Lord Elphinstone. The fourth
duke was born about 1693. Before he succeeded to the honours of
his family, he was an officer in the army, and saw some service in
France and Holland. When the rebellion of 1745 broke out, he was
appointed to the command of all the troops and garrisons in the west
of Scotland, and arrived at Inverary, 21st December of that year,
and, with his eldest son joined the Duke of Cumberland at Perth, on
the 9th of the following February. He died 9th November 1770, in the
77th year of his age. He married in 1720 the Hon. Mary Bellenden,
third daughter of the second Lord Bellenden, and had four sons and a
daughter.
John, fifth Duke of Argyll, born in 1723, eldest son of the fourth
duke, was also in the army, and attained the rank of general in March
1778, and of field-marshal in 1796. He was created a British peer,
in the lifetime of his father, as Baron Sundridge of Coomb-bank in
Kent, 19th December 1766, with remainder to his heirs male, and
failing them to his brothers, Frederick and William, and their heirs
male successively. He was chosen the first president of the Highland
Society of Scotland, to which society, in 1806, he made a munificent
gift of one thousand pounds, as the beginning of a fund for educating
young men of the West Highlands for the navy. He died 24th May 1806,
in the 83d year of his age. He married in 1759, Elizabeth, widow of
James, sixth Duke of Hamilton, the second of the three beautiful Miss
Gunnings, daughters of John Gunning, Esq. of Castle Coote, county
Boscommon, Ireland. By this lady the duke had three sons and two
daughters.
George William, sixth Duke of Argyll, was born 22d September 1768.
He married, 29th November 1810, Caroline Elizabeth, daughter of the
fourth Earl of Jersey, but had no issue. His Grace died 22d October
1839.
His brother, John Douglas Edward Henry (Lord John Campbell of
Ardincaple, M.P.) succeeded as seventh duke. He was born 21st
December 1777, and was thrice married; first, in August 1802, to
Elizabeth, eldest daughter of William Campbell, Esq. of Fairfield,
who died in 1818; secondly, 17th April, 1820, to Joan, daughter and
heiress of John Glassel, Esq. of Long Niddry; and thirdly, in January
1831, to Anne Colquhoun, eldest daughter of John Cunningham, Esq. of
Craigends. By his second wife he had two sons and a daughter, namely,
John Henry, born in January 1821, died in May 1837; George Douglas,
who succeeded as eighth duke; and Lady Emma Augusta, born in 1825.
His Grace died 26th April 1847.
George John Douglas, the eighth duke, born in 1823, married in 1844,
Lady Elizabeth Georgina (born in 1824), eldest daughter of the
second Duke of Sutherland; issue, John Douglas Sutherland, Marquis
of Lorn (M.P. for Argyleshire), born in 1845, and other children.
His Grace has distinguished himself not only in politics, but in
science; to geology, in particular, he has devoted much attention,
and his writings prove him to be possessed of considerable literary
ability. He is author of “An Essay on the Ecclesiastical History of
Scotland since the Reformation,” “The Reign of Law,” &c. He was made
Chancellor of the University of St Andrews, 1851; Lord Privy Seal,
1853; Postmaster-general, 1855-8; Knight of the Thistle, 1856; again
Lord Privy Seal, 1859; Secretary of State for India, 1868. The Duke
of Argyll is hereditary master of the queen’s household in Scotland,
keeper of the castles of Dunoon, Dunstaffnage, and Carrick, and
heritable sheriff of Argyleshire.
It has been foretold, says tradition, that all the glories of the
Campbell line are to be renewed in the first chief who, in the hue
of his locks, approaches to Ian Roy Cean (John Red Head, viz., the
second duke). This prophecy some may be inclined to think, has been
royally fulfilled in the recent marriage of the present duke’s heir,
the Marquis of Lorn, with the Princess Louise, daughter of Her
Majesty Queen Victoria. This event took place on the 21st March 1871,
amid the enthusiastic rejoicings of all Scotchmen, and especially
Highlandmen, and with the approval of all the sensible portion of Her
Majesty’s subjects. Her Majesty conferred the honour of knighthood on
the Marquis of Lorn, after the ceremony of the marriage, and invested
him with the insignia of the Order of the Thistle.
There are a considerable number of important offshoots from the
clan Campbell, the origin of some of which has been noticed above;
it is necessary, however, to give a more particular account of the
most powerful branch of this extensive clan, viz., the BREADALBANE
CAMPBELLS.
BREADALBANE CAMPBELL.
[Illustration: BADGE.--Myrtle.]
As we have already indicated, the ancestor of the Breadalbane family,
and the first of the house of Glenurchy, was Sir Colin Campbell, the
third son of Duncan, first Lord Campbell of Lochow.
In an old manuscript, preserved in Taymouth Castle, named “the Black
Book of Taymouth” (printed by the Bannatyne Club, 1853), containing
a genealogical account of the Glenurchy family, it is stated that
“Duncan Campbell, commonly callit Duncan in Aa, knight of Lochow
(lineallie descendit of a valiant man, surnamit Campbell, quha cam to
Scotland in King Malcolm Kandmoir, his time, about the year of God
1067, of quhom came the house of Lochow), flourisched in King David
Bruce his dayes. The foresaid Duncan in Aa had to wyffe Margarit
Stewart, dochter to Duke Murdoch [a mistake evidently for Robert], on
whom he begat twa sones, the elder callit Archibald, the other namit
Colin, wha was first laird of Glenurchay.” That estate was settled
on him by his father. It had come into the Campbell family, in the
reign of King David the Second, by the marriage of Margaret Glenurchy
with John Campbell; and was at one time the property of the warlike
clan MacGregor, who were gradually expelled from the territory by the
rival clan Campbell.
[Illustration: BREADALBANE CAMPBELL. (Tartan)]
In 1440 he built the castle of Kilchurn, on a projecting rocky
elevation at the east end of Lochawe, under the shadow of the
majestic Ben Cruachan, where--now a picturesque ruin,--
“grey and stern
Stands, like a spirit of the past, lone old Kilchurn.”
According to tradition, Kilchurn (properly Coalchuirn) Castle was
first erected by his lady, and not by himself, he being absent on a
crusade at the time, and for seven years the principal portion of the
rents of his lands are said to have been expended on its erection.
Sir Colin died before June 10, 1478; as on that day the Lords’
auditors gave a decreet in a civil suit against “Duncain Cambell, son
and air of umquhile Sir Colin Cambell of Glenurquha, knight.” He was
interred in Argyleshire, and not, as Douglas says, at Finlarig at the
north-west end of Lochtay, which afterwards became the burial-place
of the family. His first wife had no issue. His second wife was Lady
Margaret Stewart, the second of the three daughters and co-heiresses
of John Lord Lorn, with whom he got a third of that lordship, still
possessed by the family, and thenceforward quartered the galley of
Lorn with his paternal achievement. His third wife was Margaret,
daughter of Robert Robertson of Strowan, by whom he had a son and
a daughter. Sir Colin’s fourth wife was Margaret, daughter of Luke
Stirling of Keir, by whom he had a son, John, ancestor of the Earls
of Loudon, and a daughter, Mariot, married to William Stewart of
Baldoran.
Sir Duncan Campbell, the eldest son, obtained the office of bailiary
of the king’s lands of Discher, Foyer, and Glenlyon, 3d September
1498, for which office, being a hereditary one, his descendant,
the second Earl of Breadalbane, received, on the abolition of the
heritable jurisdiction in Scotland, in 1747, the sum of one thousand
pounds, in full of his claim for six thousand. Sir Duncan also got
charters of the king’s lands of the port of Lochtay, &c. 5th March
1492; also of the lands of Glenlyon, 7th September 1502; of Finlarig,
22d April 1503; and of other lands in Perthshire in May 1508 and
September 1511. He fell at the battle of Flodden. He was twice
married. He was succeeded by Sir Colin, the eldest son, who married
Lady Marjory Stewart, sixth daughter of John, Earl of Athole, brother
uterine of King James the Second, and had three sons, viz., Sir
Duncan, Sir John, and Sir Colin, who all succeeded to the estate.
The last of them, Sir Colin, became laird of Glenurchy in 1550, and,
according to the “Black Book of Taymouth,” he “conquessit” (that
is, acquired) “the superiority of M’Nabb, his haill landis.” He was
among the first to join the Reformation, and sat in the parliament
of 1560, when the Protestant doctrines received the sanction of the
law. In the “Black Book of Taymouth,” he is represented to have been
“ane great justiciar all his tyme, throch the quhilk he sustenit the
deidly feid of the Clangregor ane lang space; and besides that, he
causit execute to the death many notable lymarris, he behiddit the
laird of Macgregor himself at Kandmoir, in presence of the Erle of
Athol, the justice-clerk, and sundrie other nobilmen.” In 1580 he
built the castle of Balloch in Perthshire, one wing of which still
continues attached to Taymouth Castle, the splendid mansion of
the Earl of Breadalbane. He also built Edinample, another seat of
the family. Sir Colin died in 1583. By his wife Catherine, second
daughter of William, second Lord Ruthven, he had four sons and four
daughters.
Sir Duncan Campbell of Glenurchy, his eldest son and successor, was,
on the death of Colin, sixth Earl of Argyll, in 1584, nominated by
that nobleman’s will one of the six guardians of the young earl,
then a minor. The disputes which arose among the guardians have been
already referred to, as well as the assassination of the Earl of
Moray and Campbell of Calder, and the plot to assassinate the young
Earl of Argyll. Gregory expressly charges Sir Duncan Campbell of
Glenurchy with being the principal mover in the branch of the plot
which led to the murder of Calder.
In 1617 Sir Duncan had the office of heritable keeper of the forest
of Mamlorn, Bendaskerlie, &c., conferred upon him. He afterwards
obtained from King Charles the First the sheriffship of Perthshire
for life. He was created a baronet of Nova Scotia by patent, bearing
date 30th May 1625. Although represented as an ambitious and grasping
character, he is said to have been the first who attempted to
civilise the people on his extensive estates. He not only set them
the example of planting timber trees, fencing pieces of ground for
gardens, and manuring their lands, but assisted and encouraged them
in their labours. One of his regulations of police for the estate
was “that no man shall in any public-house drink more than a chopin
of ale with his neighbour’s wife, in the absence of her husband,
upon the penalty of ten pounds, and sitting twenty-four hours in the
stocks, toties quoties.” He died in June 1631. He was twice married;
by his first wife, Lady Jean Stewart, second daughter of John, Earl
of Athole, Lord High Chancellor of Scotland, by whom he had seven
sons and three daughters. Archibald Campbell of Monzie, the fifth
son, was ancestor of the Campbells of Monzie, Lochlane, and Finnab,
in Perthshire.
Sir Colin Campbell, the eldest son of Sir Duncan, born about 1577,
succeeded as eighth laird of Glenurchy. Little is known of this Sir
Colin save what is highly to his honour, namely, his patronage of
George Jamesone, the celebrated portrait painter. Sir Colin married
Lady Juliana Campbell, eldest daughter of Hugh, first Lord Loudon,
but had no issue. He was succeeded by his brother, Sir Robert, at
first styled of Glenfalloch, and afterwards of Glenurchy. Sir Robert
married Isabel, daughter of Sir Lauchlan Mackintosh, of Torcastle,
captain of the clan Chattan, and had eight sons and nine daughters.
William, the sixth son, was ancestor of the Campbells of Glenfalloch,
the representatives of whom have succeeded to the Scottish titles of
Earl of Breadalbane, &c. Margaret, the eldest daughter, married to
John Cameron of Lochiel, was the mother of Sir Ewen Cameron.
The eldest son, Sir John Campbell of Glenurchy, who succeeded, was
twice married. His first wife was Lady Mary Graham, eldest daughter
of William, Earl of Strathearn, Menteith, and Airth.
Sir John Campbell of Glenurchy, first Earl of Breadalbane, only son
of this Sir John, was born about 1635. He gave great assistance
to the forces collected in the Highlands for Charles the Second
in 1653, under the command of General Middleton. He subsequently
used his utmost endeavours with General Monk to declare for a free
parliament, as the most effectual way to bring about his Majesty’s
restoration. Being a principal creditor of George, sixth Earl of
Caithness, whose debts are said to have exceeded a million of marks,
that nobleman, on 8th October 1672, made a disposition of his whole
estates, heritable jurisdictions, and titles of honour, after his
death, in favour of Sir John Campbell of Glenurchy, the latter
taking on himself the burden of his lordship’s debts; and he was in
consequence duly infefted in the lands and earldom of Caithness,
27th February 1673. The Earl of Caithness died in May 1676, when Sir
John Campbell obtained a patent, creating him Earl of Caithness,
dated at Whitehall, 28th June 1677. But George Sinclair of Keiss,
the heir-male of the last earl, being found by parliament entitled
to that dignity, Sir John Campbell obtained another patent, 13th
August 1681, creating him instead Earl of Breadalbane and Holland,
Viscount of Tay and Paintland, Lord Glenurchy, Benederaloch, Ormelie,
and Weik, with the precedency of the former patent, and remainder
to whichever of his sons by his first wife he might designate
in writing, and ultimately to his heirs-male whatsoever. On the
accession of James II., the Earl was sworn a privy councillor. At
the Revolution, he adhered to the Prince of Orange; and after the
battle of Killiecrankie, and the attempted reduction of the Highlands
by the forces of the new government, he was empowered to enter into
a negotiation with the Jacobite chiefs to induce them to submit to
King William, full details of which, as well as of his share in the
massacre of Glencoe, have been given in the former part of the work.
When the treaty of Union was under discussion, his Lordship kept
aloof, and did not even attend parliament. At the general election
of 1713, he was chosen one of the sixteen Scots representative
peers, being then seventy-eight years old. At the breaking out of
the rebellion of 1715, he sent five hundred of his clan to join the
standard of the Pretender; and he was one of the suspected persons,
with his second son, Lord Glenurchy, summoned to appear at Edinburgh
within a certain specified period, to give bail for their allegiance
to the government, but no further notice was taken of his conduct.
The Earl died in 1716, in his 81st year. He married first, 17th
December 1657, Lady Mary Rich, third daughter of Henry, first Earl
of Holland, who had been executed for his loyalty to Charles the
First, 9th March 1649. By this lady he had two sons--Duncan, styled
Lord Ormelie, who survived his father, but was passed over in the
succession, and John, in his father’s lifetime styled Lord Glenurchy,
who became second Earl of Breadalbane. He married, secondly, 7th
April 1678, Lady Mary Campbell, third daughter of Archibald, Marquis
of Argyll, dowager of George, sixth Earl of Caithness.
John Campbell, Lord Glenurchy, the second son, born 19th November
1662, was by his father nominated to succeed him as second Earl of
Breadalbane, in terms of the patent conferring the title. He died at
Holyrood-house, 23d February 1752, in his ninetieth year. He married,
first, Lady Frances Cavendish, second of the five daughters of Henry,
second Duke of Newcastle. She died, without issue, 4th February 1690,
in her thirtieth year. He married, secondly, 23d May 1695, Henrietta,
second daughter of Sir Edward Villiers, knight, sister of the first
Earl of Jersey, and of Elizabeth, Countess of Orkney, the witty but
plain-looking mistress of King William III. By his second wife he had
a son, John, third earl, and two daughters.
John, third earl, born in 1696, was educated at the university of
Oxford, and after holding many highly important public offices, died
at Holyrood-house, 26th January 1782, in his 86th year. He was twice
married, and had three sons, who all predeceased him.
The male line of the first peer having thus become extinct, the
clause in the patent in favour of heirs-general transferred the
peerage, and the vast estates belonging to it, to his kinsman, John
Campbell, born in 1762, eldest son of Colin Campbell of Carwhin,
descended from Colin Campbell of Mochaster (who died in 1678),
third son of Sir Robert Campbell of Glenurchy. The mother of the
fourth Earl and first Marquis of Breadalbane was Elizabeth, daughter
of Archibald Campbell of Stonefield, sheriff of Argyleshire, and
sister of John Campbell, judicially styled Lord Stonefield, a
lord of session and justiciary. In 1784 he was elected one of the
sixteen representative peers of Scotland, and was rechosen at all
the subsequent elections, until he was created a peer of the United
Kingdom in November 1806, by the title of Baron Breadalbane of
Taymouth, in the county of Perth, to himself and the heirs-male of
his body. In 1831, at the coronation of William the Fourth, he was
created a marquis of the United Kingdom, under the title of Marquis
of Breadalbane and Earl of Ormelie. In public affairs he did not
take a prominent or ostentatious part, his attention being chiefly
devoted to the improvement of his extensive estates, great portions
of which, being unfitted for cultivation, he laid out in plantations.
In the magnificent improvements at Taymouth, his lordship displayed
much taste; and the park has been frequently described as one of
the most extensive and beautiful in the kingdom. He married, 2d
September 1793, Mary Turner, eldest daughter and coheiress of David
Gavin, Esq. of Langton, in the county of Berwick, and by her had two
daughters and one son. The elder daughter, Lady Elizabeth Maitland
Campbell, married in 1831, Sir John Pringle of Stitchell, baronet,
and the younger, Lady Uary Campbell, became in 1819 the wife of
Richard, Marquis of Chandos, who in 1839 became Duke of Buckingham.
The marquis died, after a short illness, at Taymouth Castle, on 29th
March 1834, aged seventy-two.
The marquis’ only son, John Campbell, Earl of Ormelie, born at
Dundee, 26th October 1796, succeeded, on the death of his father, to
the titles and estates. He married, 23d November 1821, Eliza, eldest
daughter of George Baillie, Esq. of Jerviswood, without issue. He
died November 8th, 1862, when the marquisate, with its secondary
titles, in the peerage of the United Kingdom, became extinct, and
he was succeeded in the Scotch titles by a distant kinsman, John
Alexander Gavin Campbell of Glenfalloch, Perthshire, born in 1824.
The claim of the latter, however, was disputed by several candidates
for the titles and rich estates. As we have already indicated, the
title of Glenfalloch to the estates was descended from William,
sixth son of Sir Robert Campbell, ninth laird and third baron
of Glenurchy. He married, in 1850, Mary Theresa, daughter of J.
Edwards, Esq., Dublin, and had issue two sons, Lord Glenurchy and the
Honourable Ivan Campbell; and one daughter, Lady Eva. This the sixth
earl died in London, March 20, 1871, and has been succeeded by his
eldest son.
Of the MACARTHUR CAMPBELLS of STRACHUR, the old Statistical Account
of the parish of Strachur says:--“This family is reckoned by some the
most ancient of the name of Campbell. The late laird of Macfarlane,
who with great genius and assiduity had studied the ancient history
of the Highlands, was of this opinion. The patronymic name of this
family was Macarthur (the son of Arthur), which Arthur, the antiquary
above-mentioned maintains, was brother to Colin, the first of the
Argyll family, and that the representatives of the two brothers
continued for a long time to be known by the names of _Macarthur_
and _Maccaellein_, before they took the surname of Campbell. Another
account makes Arthur the first laird of Strachur, to have descended
of the family of Argyll, at a later period, in which the present
laird seems to acquiesce, by taking, with a mark of cadetcy, the arms
and livery of the family of Argyll, after they had been quartered
with those of Lorn. The laird of Strachur has been always accounted,
according to the custom of the Highlands, chief of the clan Arthur
or Macarthurs.” We have already quoted Mr Skene’s opinion as to the
claims of the Macarthurs to the chiefship of the clan Campbell; we
cannot think these claims have been sufficiently made out.
Macarthur adhered to the cause of Robert the Bruce, and received,
as his reward, a considerable portion of the forfeited territory
of MacDougall of Lorn, Bruce’s great enemy. He obtained also the
keeping of the castle of Dunstaffnage. After the marriage of Sir Neil
Campbell with the king’s sister, the power and possessions of the
Campbell branch rapidly increased, and in the reign of David II. they
appear to have first put forward their claims to the chieftainship,
but were successfully resisted by Macarthur, who obtained a charter
“Arthuro Campbell quod nulli subjicitur pro terris nisi regi.”
In the reign of James I., the chief’s name was John Macarthur, and
so great was his following, that he could bring 1,000 men into the
field. In 1427 that king, in a progress through the north, held
a parliament at Inverness, to which he summoned all the Highland
chiefs, and among others who then felt his vengeance, was John
Macarthur, who was beheaded, and his whole lands forfeited. From
that period the chieftainship, according to Skene, was lost to the
Macarthurs; the family subsequently obtained Strachur in Cowal,
and portions of Glenfalloch and Glendochart in Perthshire. Many of
the name of Macarthur are still found about Dunstaffnage, but they
have long been merely tenants to the Campbells. The Macarthurs were
hereditary pipers to the MacDonalds of the Isles, and the last of the
race was piper to the Highland Society.
In the history of the main clan, we have noted the origin of most of
the offshoots. It may, however, not be out of place to refer to them
again explicitly.
The CAMPBELLS of CAWDOR or CALDER, now represented by the Earl of
Cawdor, had their origin in the marriage in 1510, of Muriella heiress
of the old Thanes of Cawdor, with Sir John Campbell, third son of the
second Earl of Argyll. In the general account of the clan, we have
already detailed the circumstances connected with the bringing about
of this marriage.
The first of the CAMPBELLS of ABERUCHILL, in Perthshire, was Colin
Campbell, second son of Sir John Campbell of Lawers, and uncle of the
first Earl of Loudon. He got from the Crown a charter of the lands
of Aberuchill, in 1596. His son, Sir James Campbell, was created a
baronet of Nova Scotia in the 17th century.
The CAMPBELLS of ARDNAMURCHAN are descended from Sir Donald Campbell,
natural son of Sir John Campbell of Calder, who, as already narrated,
was assassinated in 1592. For services performed against the
Macdonalds, he was in 1625 made heritable proprietor of the district
of Ardnamurchan and Sunart, and was created a baronet in 1628.
The AUCHINBRECK family is descended from Sir Dugald Campbell of
Auchinbreck, who was created a baronet of Nova Scotia in 1628.
The CAMPBELLS of ARDKINGLASS were an old branch of the house of
Argyll, Sir Colin Campbell, son and heir of James Campbell of
Ardkinglass, descended from the Campbells of Lorn, by Mary, his
wife, daughter of Sir Robert Campbell of Glenurchy, was made a
baronet in 1679. The family ended in an heiress, who married into the
Livingstone family; and on the death of Sir Alexander Livingstone
Campbell of Ardkinglass, in 1810, the title and estate descended to
Colonel James Callander, afterwards Sir James Campbell, his cousin,
son of Sir John Callander of Craigforth, Stirlingshire. At his death
in 1832, without legitimate issue, the title became extinct.
The family of BARCALDINE and GLENURE, in Argyleshire, whose baronetcy
was conferred in 1831, is descended from a younger son of Sir Duncan
Campbell, ancestor of the Marquis of Breadalbane.
The CAMPBELLS of DUNSTAFFNAGE descend from Colin, first Earl of
Argyll. The first baronet was Sir Donald, so created in 1836.
The ancient family of CAMPBELL of MONZIE, in Perthshire, descend, as
above mentioned, from a third son of the family of Glenurchy.
We have already devoted so much space to the account of this
important clan, that it is impossible to enter more minutely into
the history of its various branches, and of the many eminent men
whom it has produced. In the words of Smibert, “pages on pages
might be expended on the minor branches of the Campbell house, and
the list still be defective.” The gentry of the Campbell name are
decidedly the most numerous, on the whole, in Scotland, if the clan
be not indeed the largest. But, as has been before observed, the
great power of the chiefs called into their ranks, nominally, many
other families besides the real Campbells. The lords of that line,
in short, obtained so much of permanent power in the district of the
_Dhu-Galls_, or Irish Celts, as to bring these largely under their
sway, giving to them at the same time that general clan-designation,
respecting the origin of which enough has already been said.
The force of the clan was, in 1427, 1000; in 1715, 4000; and in 1745,
5000.
Although each branch of the Campbells has its own peculiar arms,
still there runs through all a family likeness, the difference
generally being very small. All the families of the Campbell name
bear the oared galley in their arms, showing the connection by
origin or intermarriage with the Western Gaels, the Island Kings.
Breadalbane quarters with the Stewart of Lorn, having for supporters
two stags, with the motto _Follow Me_.
MACLEOD.
[Illustration: BADGE.--Red Whortleberry.]
The clan LEOD or MACLEOD is one of the most considerable clans of the
Western Isles, and is divided into two branches independent of each
other, the Macleods of Harris and the Macleods of Lewis.
To the progenitors of this clan, a Norwegian origin has commonly
been assigned. They are also supposed to be of the same stock as the
Campbells, according to a family history referred to by Mr Skene,
which dates no farther back than the early part of the 16th century.
The genealogy claimed for them asserts that the ancestor of the
chiefs of the clan, and he who gave it its clan name, was Loyd or
Leod, eldest son of King Olave the Black, brother of Magnus, the last
king of Man and the Isles. This Leod is said to have had two sons:
Tormod, progenitor of the Macleods of Harris, hence called the Siol
Tormod, or race of Tormod; and Torquil, of those of Lewis, called
the Siol Torquil, or race of Torquil. Although, however, Mr Skene
and others are of opinion that there is no authority whatever for
such a descent, and “The Chronicle of Man” gives no countenance to
it, we think the probabilities are in its favour, from the manifestly
Norwegian names borne by the founders of the clan, namely, Tormod
or Gorman and Torquil, and from their position in the Isles, from
the very commencement of their known history. The clan itself, there
can be no doubt, are mainly the descendants of the ancient Celtic
inhabitants of the western isles.
Tormod’s grandson, Malcolm, got a charter from David II., of
two-thirds of Glenelg, on the mainland, a portion of the forfeited
lands of the Bissets, in consideration for which he was to provide
a galley of 36 oars, for the king’s use whenever required. This
is the earliest charter in possession of the Macleods. The same
Malcolm obtained the lands in Skye which were long in possession of
his descendants, by marriage with a daughter of MacArailt, said to
have been one of the Norwegian nobles of the Isles. From the name,
however, we would be inclined to take this MacArailt for a Celt. The
sennachies sometimes made sad slips.
MACLEOD of HARRIS, originally designated “de Glenelg,” that being the
first and principal possession of the family, seems to have been the
proper chief of the clan Leod. The island, or rather peninsula of
Harris, which is adjacent to Lewis, belonged, at an early period, to
the Macruaries of Garmoran and the North Isles, under whom the chief
of the Siol Tormod appears to have possessed it. From this family,
the superiority of the North Isles passed to the Macdonalds of Isla
by marriage, and thus Harris came to form a part of the lordship
of the Isles. In the isle of Skye the Siol Tormod possessed the
districts of Dunvegan, Duirinish, Bracadale, Lyndale, Trotternish,
and Minganish, being about two-thirds of the whole island. Their
principal seat was Dunvegan, hence the chief was often styled of that
place.
The first charter of the MACLEODS of LEWIS, or Siol Torquil, is
also one by King David II. It contained a royal grant to Torquil
Macleod of the barony of Assynt, on the north-western coast of
Sutherlandshire. This barony, however, he is said to have obtained
by marriage with the heiress, whose name was Macnicol. It was held
from the crown. In that charter he has no designation, hence it is
thought that he had then no other property. The Lewis Macleods held
that island as vassals of the Macdonalds of Isla from 1344, and
soon came to rival the Harris branch of the Macleods in power and
extent of territory, and even to dispute the chiefship with them.
Their armorial bearings, however, were different, the family of
Harris having a castle, while that of Lewis had a burning mount. The
possessions of the Siol Torquil were very extensive, comprehending
the isles of Lewis and Rasay, the district of Waterness in Skye, and
those of Assynt, Cogeach, and Gairloch, on the mainland.
To return to the Harris branch. The grandson of the above-mentioned
Malcolm, William Macleod, surnamed _Achlerach_, or the clerk, from
being in his youth designed for the church, was one of the most
daring chiefs of his time. Having incurred the resentment of his
superior, the Lord of the Isles, that powerful chief invaded his
territory with a large force, but was defeated at a place called
Lochsligachan. He was, however, one of the principal supporters of
the last Lord of the Isles in his disputes with his turbulent and
rebellious son, Angus, and was killed, in 1481, at the battle of the
Bloody Bay, where also the eldest son of Roderick Macleod of the
Lewis was mortally wounded. The son of William of Harris, Alexander
Macleod, called Allaster _Crottach_, or the Humpbacked, was the head
of the Siol Tormod at the time of the forfeiture of the lordship
of the Isles in 1493, when Roderick, grandson of the above-named
Roderick, was chief of the Siol Torquil. This Roderick’s father,
Torquil, the second son of the first Roderick, was the principal
supporter of Donald Dubh, when he escaped from prison and raised
the banner of insurrection in 1501, for the purpose of regaining
the lordship of the Isles, for which he was forfeited. He married
Katherine, daughter of the first Earl of Argyll, the sister of Donald
Dubh’s mother. The forfeited estate of Lewis was restored in 1511 to
Malcolm, Torquil’s brother. Alexander the Humpback got a charter,
under the great seal, of all his lands in the Isles, from James IV.,
dated 15th June, 1468, under the condition of keeping in readiness
for the king’s use one ship of 26 oars and two of 16. He had also a
charter from James V. of the lands of Glenelg, dated 13th February,
1539.
With the Macdonalds of Sleat, the Harris Macleods had a feud
regarding the lands and office of bailiary of Trotternish, in the
isle of Skye, held by them under several crown charters. The feud was
embittered by Macleod having also obtained a heritable grant of the
lands of Sleat and North Uist; and the Siol Torquil, who had also
some claim to the Trotternish bailiary and a portion of the lands,
siding with the Macdonalds, the two leading branches of the Macleods
came to be in opposition to each other. Under Donald Gruamach
(“grim-looking”) aided by the uterine brother of their chief, John
Mactorquil Macleod, son of Torquil Macleod of the Lewis, forfeited
in 1506, the Macdonalds succeeded in expelling Macleod of Harris
or Dunvegan from Trotternish, as well as in preventing him from
taking possession of Sleat and North Uist. The death of his uncle,
Malcolm Macleod, and the minority of his son, enabled Torquil, with
the assistance of Donald Gruamach, in his turn, to seize the whole
barony of Lewis, which, with the leadership of the Siol Torquil, he
held during his life. His daughter and heiress married Donald Gorme
of Sleat, a claimant for the lordship of the Isles, and the son and
successor of Donald Gruamach. An agreement was entered into between
Donald Gorme and Ruari or Roderick Macleod, son of Malcolm, the last
lawful possessor of the Lewis, whereby Roderick was allowed to enter
into possession of that island, and in return Roderick became bound
to assist in putting Donald Gorme in possession of Trotternish,
against all the efforts of the chief of Harris or Dunvegan, who had
again obtained possession of that district. In May 1539, accordingly,
Trotternish was invaded and laid waste by Donald Gorme and his allies
of the Siol Torquil; but the death soon after of Donald Gorme, by an
arrow wound in his foot, under the walls of Mackenzie of Kintail’s
castle of Ellandonan, put an end to his rebellion and his pretensions
together. When the powerful fleet of James V. arrived at the isle of
Lewis the following year, Roderick Macleod and his principal kinsmen
met the king, and were made to accompany him in his farther progress
through the Isles. On its reaching Skye, Alexander Macleod of
Dunvegan was also constrained to embark in the royal fleet. With the
other captive chiefs they were sent to Edinburgh, and only liberated
on giving hostages for their obedience to the laws.
Alexander the Humpback, chief of the Harris Macleods, died at an
advanced age in the reign of Queen Mary. He had three sons, William,
Donald, and Tormod, who all succeeded to the estates and authority of
their family. He had also two daughters, the elder of whom was thrice
married, and every time to a Macdonald. Her first husband was James,
second son of the fourth laird of Sleat. Her second was Allan MacIan,
captain of the Clanranald; and her third husband was Macdonald of
Keppoch. The younger daughter became the wife of Maclean of Lochbuy.
William Macleod of Harris had a daughter, Mary, who, on his death in
1554, became under a particular destination, his sole heiress in the
estates of Harris, Dunvegan, and Glenelg. His claim to the properties
of Sleat, Trotternish, and North Uist, of which he was the nominal
proprietor, but which were held by the Clandonald, was inherited by
his next brother and successor, Donald. This state of things placed
the latter in a very anomalous position, which may be explained in Mr
Gregory’s words:--“The Siol Tormod,” he says,[180] “was now placed
in a position, which, though quite intelligible on the principles
of feudal law, was totally opposed to the Celtic customs that still
prevailed, to a great extent, throughout the Highlands and Isles.
A female and a minor was the legal proprietrix of the ancient
possessions of the tribe, which, by her marriage, might be conveyed
to another and a hostile family; whilst her uncle, the natural leader
of the clan according to ancient custom, was left without any means
to keep up the dignity of a chief, or to support the clan against
its enemies. His claims on the estates possessed by the Clandonald
were worse than nugatory, as they threatened to involve him in a
feud with that powerful and warlike tribe, in case he should take any
steps to enforce them. In these circumstances, Donald Macleod seized,
apparently with the consent of his clan, the estates which legally
belonged to his niece, the heiress; and thus, in practice, the feudal
law was made to yield to ancient and inveterate custom. Donald did
not enjoy these estates long, being murdered in Trotternish, by a
relation of his own, John Oig Macleod, who, failing Tormod, the only
remaining brother of Donald, would have become the heir male of the
family. John Oig next plotted the destruction of Tormod, who was at
the time a student in the university of Glasgow; but in this he was
foiled by the interposition of the Earl of Argyll. He continued,
notwithstanding, to retain possession of the estates of the heiress,
and of the command of the clan, till his death in 1559.” The heiress
of Harris was one of Queen Mary’s maids of honour, and the Earl of
Argyll, having ultimately become her guardian, she was given by him
in marriage to his kinsman, Duncan Campbell, younger of Auchinbreck.
Through the previous efforts of the earl, Tormod Macleod, on
receiving a legal title to Harris and the other estates, renounced
in favour of Argyll all his claims to the lands of the Clandonald,
and paid 1000 merks towards the dowry of his niece. He also gave his
bond of service to Argyll for himself and his clan. Mary Macleod, in
consequence, made a complete surrender to her uncle of her title to
the lands of Harris, Dunvegan, and Glenelg, and Argyll obtained for
him a crown charter of these estates, dated 4th August, 1579. Tormod
adhered firmly to the interest of Queen Mary, and died in 1584. He
was succeeded by his eldest son, William, under whom the Harris
Macleods assisted the Macleans in their feuds with the Macdonalds
of Isla and Skye, while the Lewis Macleods supported the latter. On
his death in 1590, his brother, Roderick, the Rory Mor of tradition,
became chief of the Harris Macleods.
In December 1597, an act of the Estates had been passed, by which it
was made imperative upon all the chieftains and landlords in the
Highlands and Isles, to produce their title-deeds before the lords
of Exchequer on the 15th of the following May, under the pain of
forfeiture. The heads of the two branches of the Macleods disregarded
the act, and a gift of their estates was granted to a number of Fife
gentlemen, for the purposes of colonisation. They first began with
the Lewis, in which the experiment failed, as narrated in the General
History. Roderick Macleod, on his part, exerted himself to get the
forfeiture of his lands of Harris, Dunvegan, and Glenelg, removed,
and ultimately succeeded, having obtained a remission from the king,
dated 4th May, 1610. He was knighted by King James VI., by whom he
was much esteemed, and had several friendly letters from his majesty;
also, a particular license, dated 16th June, 1616, to go to London,
to the court, at any time he pleased. By his wife, a daughter of
Macdonald of Glengarry, he had, with six daughters, five sons, viz.,
John, his heir; Sir Roderick, progenitor of the Macleods of Talisker;
Sir Norman of the Macleods of Bernera and Muiravonside; William of
the Macleods of Hamer; and Donald of those of Grisernish.
The history of the Siol Torquil, or Lewis Macleods, as it approached
its close, was most disastrous. Roderick, the chief of this branch
in 1569, got involved in a deadly feud with the Mackenzies, which
ended only with the destruction of his whole family. He had married
a daughter of John Mackenzie of Kintail, and a son whom she bore,
and who was named Torquil _Connanach_, from his residence among his
mother’s relations in Strathconnan, was disowned by him, on account
of the alleged adultery of his mother with the breve or Celtic judge
of the Lewis. She eloped with John MacGillechallum of Rasay, a
cousin of Roderick, and was, in consequence, divorced. He took for
his second wife, in 1541, Barbara Stewart, daughter of Andrew Lord
Avondale, and by this lady had a son, likewise named Torquil, and
surnamed _Oighre_, or the Heir, to distinguish him from the other
Torquil. About 1566, the former, with 200 attendants, was drowned in
a tempest, when sailing from Lewis to Skye, and Torquil Connanach
immediately took up arms to vindicate what he conceived to be his
rights. In his pretensions he was supported by the Mackenzies.
Roderick was apprehended and detained four years a prisoner in the
castle of Stornoway. The feud between the Macdonalds and Mackenzies
was put an end to by the mediation of the Regent Moray. Before being
released from his captivity, the old chief was brought before the
Regent and his privy council, and compelled to resign his estate into
the hands of the crown, taking a new destination of it to himself
in liferent, and after his death to Torquil _Connanach_, as his son
and heir apparent. On regaining his liberty, however, he revoked
all that he had done when a prisoner, on the ground of coercion.
This led to new commotions, and in 1576 both Roderick and Torquil
were summoned to Edinburgh, and reconciled in presence of the privy
council, when the latter was again acknowledged as heir apparent to
the Lewis, and received as such the district of Cogeach and other
lands. The old chief some time afterwards took for his third wife, a
sister of Lauchlan Maclean of Dowart, and had by her two sons, named
Torquil Dubh and Tormod. Having again disinherited Torquil Connanach,
that young chief once more took up arms, and was supported by two
illegitimate sons of Roderick, named Tormod _Uigach_ and Murdoch,
while three others, Donald, Rory Oig, and Neill, joined with their
father. He apprehended the old chief, Roderick Macleod, and killed a
number of his men. All the charters and title deeds of the Lewis were
carried off by Torquil, and handed over to the Mackenzies. The charge
of the castle of Stornoway, with the chief, a prisoner in it, was
committed to John Macleod, the son of Torquil Connanach, but he was
attacked by Rory Oig and killed, when Roderick Macleod was released,
and possessed the island in peace during the remainder of his life.
On his death he was succeeded by his son Torquil Dubh, who married a
sister of Sir Roderick Macleod of Harris. Torquil Dubh, as we have
narrated in the former part of the work, was by stratagem apprehended
by the breve of Lewis, and carried to the country of the Mackenzies,
into the presence of Lord Kintail, who ordered Torquil Dubh and his
companions to be beheaded. This took place in July 1597.
Torquil Dubh left three young sons, and their uncle Neill, a bastard
brother of their father, took, in their behalf, the command of the
isle of Lewis. Their cause was also supported by the Macleods of
Harris and the Macleans. The dissensions in the Lewis, followed by
the forfeiture of that island, in consequence of the non-production
of the title-deeds, as required by the act of the Estates of 1597,
already mentioned, afforded the king an opportunity of trying to
carry into effect his abortive project of colonisation already
referred to. The colonists were at last compelled to abandon their
enterprise.
The title to the Lewis having been acquired by Kenneth Mackenzie,
Lord Kintail, he lost no time in taking possession of the island,
expelling Neill Macleod, with his nephews, Malcolm, William, and
Roderick, sons of Rory Oig, who, with about thirty others, took
refuge on Berrisay, an insulated rock on the west coast of Lewis.
Here they maintained themselves for nearly three years, but were
at length driven from it by the Mackenzies. Neill surrendered to
Roderick Macleod of Harris, who, on being charged, under pain of
treason, to deliver him to the privy council at Edinburgh, gave him
up, with his son Donald. Neill was brought to trial, convicted, and
executed, and is said to have died “very Christianlie” in April
1613. Donald, his son, was banished from Scotland, and died in
Holland. Roderick and William, two of the sons of Rory Oig, were
seized by the tutor of Kintail, and executed. Malcolm, the other
son, apprehended at the same time, made his escape, and continued to
harass the Mackenzies for years. He was prominently engaged in Sir
James Macdonald’s rebellion in 1615, and afterwards went to Flanders,
but in 1616 was once more in the Lewis, where he killed two gentlemen
of the Mackenzies. He subsequently went to Spain, whence he returned
with Sir James Macdonald in 1620. In 1622 and 1626, commissions of
fire and sword were granted to Lord Kintail and his clan against
“Malcolm MacRuari Macleod.” Nothing more is known of him.
On the extinction of the main line of the Lewis, the representation
of the family devolved on the Macleods of Rasay, afterwards referred
to. The title of Lord Macleod was the second title of the Mackenzies,
Earls of Cromarty.
At the battle of Worcester in 1651, the Macleods fought on the
side of Charles II., and so great was the slaughter amongst them
that it was agreed by the other clans that they should not engage
in any other conflict until they had recovered their losses. The
Harris estates were sequestrated by Cromwell, but the chief of the
Macleods was at last, in May 1665, admitted into the protection of
the Commonwealth by General Monk, on his finding security for his
peaceable behaviour under the penalty of £6,000 sterling, and paying
a fine of £2,500. Both his uncles, however, were expressly excepted.
At the Revolution, MACLEOD of MACLEOD, which became the designation
of the laird of Harris, as chief of the clan, was favourable to the
cause of James II. In 1715 the effective force of the Macleods was
1,000 men, and in 1745, 900. The chief, by the advice of President
Forbes, did not join in the rebellion of the latter year, and so
saved his estates, but many of his clansmen, burning with zeal for
the cause of Prince Charles, fought in the ranks of the rebel army.
It has been mentioned that the bad treatment which a daughter of
the chief of the Macleods experienced from her husband, the captain
of the Clanranald, had caused them to take the first opportunity of
inflicting a signal vengeance on the Macdonalds. The merciless act of
Macleod, by which the entire population of an island was cut off at
once, is described by Mr Skene,[181] and is shortly thus. Towards the
close of the 16th century, a small number of Macleods accidentally
landed on the island of Eigg, and were hospitably received by the
inhabitants. Offering, however, some incivilities to the young women
of the island, they were, by the male relatives of the latter,
bound hand and foot, thrown into a boat, and sent adrift. Being met
and rescued by a party of their own clansmen, they were brought to
Dunvegan, the residence of their chief, to whom they told their
story. Instantly manning his galleys, Macleod hastened to Eigg. On
descrying his approach, the islanders, with their wives and children,
to the number of 200 persons, took refuge in a large cave, situated
in a retired and secret place. Here for two days they remained
undiscovered, but having unfortunately sent out a scout to see if
the Macleods were gone, their retreat was detected, but they refused
to surrender. A stream of water fell over the entrance to the cave,
and partly concealed it. This Macleod caused to be turned from its
course, and then ordered all the wood and other combustibles which
could be found to be piled up around its mouth, and set fire to, when
all within the cave were suffocated.
The Siol Tormod continued to possess Harris, Dunvegan, and Glenelg
till near the close of the 18th century. The former and the latter
estates have now passed into other hands. A considerable portion
of Harris is the property of the Earl of Dunmore, and many of its
inhabitants have emigrated to Cape Breton and Canada. The climate
of the island is said to be favourable to longevity. Martin, in his
account of the Western Isles, says he knew several in Harris of 90
years of age. One Lady Macleod, who passed the most of her time
here, lived to 103, had then a comely head of hair and good teeth,
and enjoyed a perfect understanding till the week she died. Her son,
Sir Norman Macleod, died at 96, and his grandson, Donald Macleod of
Bernera, at 91. Glenelg became the property first of Charles Grant,
Lord Glenelg, and afterwards of Mr Baillie. From the family of
Bernera, one of the principal branches of the Harris Macleods, sprung
the Macleods of Luskinder, of which Sir William Macleod Bannatyne, a
lord of session, was a cadet.
The first of the house of RASAY, the late proprietor of which is the
representative of the Lewis branch of the Macleods, was Malcolm Garbh
Macleod, the second son of Malcolm, eighth chief of the Lewis. In
the reign of James V. he obtained from his father in patrimony the
island of Rasay, which lies between Skye and the Ross-shire district
of Applecross. In 1569 the whole of the Rasay family, except one
infant, were barbarously massacred by one of their own kinsmen,
under the following circumstances. John MacGhilliechallum Macleod of
Rasay, called _Ian na Tuaidh_, or John with the axe, who had carried
off Janet Mackenzie, the first wife of his chief, Roderick Macleod
of the Lewis, married her, after her divorce, and had by her several
sons and one daughter. The latter became the wife of Alexander Roy
Mackenzie, a grandson of Hector or Eachen Roy, the first of the
Mackenzies of Gairloch, a marriage which gave great offence to his
clan, the Siol vic Gillechallum, as the latter had long been at feud
with that particular branch of the Mackenzies. On Janet Mackenzie’s
death, he of the axe married a sister of a kinsman of his own, Ruari
Macallan Macleod, who, from his venomous disposition, was surnamed
_Nimhneach_. The latter, to obtain Rasay for his nephew, his sister’s
son, resolved to cut off both his brother-in-law and his sons by
the first marriage. He accordingly invited them to a feast in the
island of Isay in Skye, and after it was over he left the apartment.
Then, causing them to be sent for one by one, he had each of them
assassinated as they came out. He was, however, balked in his object,
as Rasay became the property of Malcolm or Ghilliechallum Garbh
Macallaster Macleod, then a child, belonging to the direct line of
the Rasay branch, who was with his foster-father at the time.[182]
Rasay no longer belongs to the Macleods, they having been compelled
to part with their patrimony some years ago.
The Macleods of ASSYNT, one of whom betrayed the great Montrose in
1650, were also a branch of the Macleods of Lewis. That estate,
towards the end of the 17th century, became the property of the
Mackenzies, and the family is now represented by Macleod of Geanies.
The Macleods of Cadboll are cadets of those of Assynt.
FOOTNOTES:
[172] Smibert’s _Clans_, pp. 77, 78.
[173] _Highlanders_, ii. 266.
[174] _Early Kings_, i. 75.
[175] In March 1870, the present Duke, in answer to inquiries, wrote
to the papers stating that he spells his name _Argyll_, because it
has been spelled so by his ancestors for generations past.
[176] This, through the mis-spelling, intentional or unintentional,
of Sir Walter Scott, is often popularly corrupted into Maccallum
More, which, of course, is wrong, as the _great or big_ ancestor’s
name was _Colin_, not _Callum_.
[177] In 1489, by an act of the Scottish parliament, the name of
Castle Gloom, its former designation, was changed to Castle Campbell.
It continued to be the frequent and favourite residence of the family
till 1644, when it was burnt down by the Macleans in the army of
the Marquis of Montrose. The castle and lordship of Castle Campbell
remained in the possession of the Argyll family till 1808, when it
was sold.
[178] _Highlands and Isles of Scotland_, p. 128.
[179] _Calderwood_, vol. ii. p. 215.
[180] _History of the Highlands and Isles_, p. 204.
[181] _Highlanders_, vol. ii. p. 277.
[182] _Gregory’s Highlands and Isles of Scotland_, p. 211.