Campbell of Argyll
Gaelic Name: Caimbeul
Motto: Na obliviscaris
Badge: Wild Myrtle, Fir Club Moss
Lands: Argyll
Origin of Name: Gaelic, Camshron from ‘Cam’ (wry) and ‘Beul’ (mouth)
Associated Names and Septs (with spelling variations):
Campbell
History
The name Campbell seems to come from the Gaelic Cam Beul, which translates as Crooked Mouth. The users of this name are known to have been around as a powerful family even in the time of the ancient kingdom of Dalriada, though the earliest Campbell to be found in written records is Gillespie of east-central Scotland, who had lands in this area granted to him in 1263.
Descent is claimed to be from the comely Ossianic fighter Dairmaid, and so the Campbells are called Clan Dairmaid. The Dalriadan lands in which they lived evolved into Argyll and Lorne.
In 1296 the Campbells were under the jurisdiction of the MacDougal Lords of Lorne. The MacDougals killed the Campbell chief and founder of the Argyll family, Sir Cailean Mor of Loch Awe. Since then, all Campbell chiefs have taken the patronymic of ‘MacCailean ‘.
When his son Sir Neil so greatly supported Robert the Bruce, a marriage with Bruce’s sister was allowed. Sir Neil had his revenge for his father’s murder when he was given, for his patriotism, extensive lands taken from the Lords of Lorne and others in Argyll who had been Bruce’s enemies, and the increases in Campbell power and supremacy accelerated from here.
The family home had been the strong castle covering an entire, small, Loch Awe island called Innis Chonaill. Behind it climbs the peaks of Cruachan Beann, the hills from which the Campbells took their war cry. The 1st Earl of Argyll, however, moved in 1474 to Inveraray on Loch Fyne. He was instrumental in destroying the power of his long-time rivals the MacDonalds, Lords of the Isles.
By the time of the 8th Earl the Campbells were aiding the Calvinists in their persecution of Highland Catholics. Then in 1644 Montrose arrived, and with the Catholics, MacLeans, MacDonalds and other victims of the Campbells behind him, turned the tables for a time.
At Inverlochy the following year, the clan suffered its greatest single defeat in history. William of Orange, brought in by 1688, restored the family estates and raised the 10th Earl to dukedom.
The present chief is the twenty-sixth, and the twelfth Duke of Argyll.
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