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CAMPBELL,
a surname of great antiquity in Scotland, and of frequent occurrence in
Scottish history. It is stated by Pinkerton 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 of that his successors. Mr. Pinkerton has
associated with this account of the origin of the name a theory that the
Campbells were not only not Celts but Goths, in which, however, he is
assuredly mistaken.
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 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 o the great ancestor of the clan, Diarmid
O’Dwbin, or O’Dwin, 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 Even 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 Argyle
and the Isles. This circumstance is pointed out by Tytler in his remarks
upon the early population of Scotland, in the chapter in his 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.
According to the
genealogists of the family of Argyle, their predecessors, on the female
side, were possessors of Lochow, in Argyleshire, as early as 404. In the
eleventh century, Gillespic (or Archibald) Campbell, a gentleman of
Anglo-Norman lineage, acquired the lordship of Lochow, by marriage with
Eva, daughter and heiress of Paul O’Dwin, lord of Lochow, denominated Paul
Insporran, from his being the king’s treasurer.
Sir Colin
Campbell of Lochow, sixth in descent from this personage, distinguished
himself by his warlike actions, and was knighted by King Alexander the
Third in 1280. In 1291 he was one of the nominees on the part of Robert
Bruce in the contest for the Scottish crown. He added largely to his
estates, and on account of his great prowess he obtained the surname of
More or great; from him the chief of the Argyle family is in Gaelic styled
Mac Chaillan More.
According to the
universally received opinion for several centuries, the distinctive Mac is
understood to imply son, or the son of, and Mac Chaillan would accordingly
imply the son of Chaillan. But it is not anywhere said or supposed that
Sir Colin’s father or any of his immediate ancestors bore the name of
Chaillan. He is described as Dominus Colinus Campbell Miles, filius
Dominus Gileaspec Camp-bel, in an acquisition referred to in a charter
of the monks of Newbattle abbey of the lands of Symontoun in Ayrshire, the
reddendo of which Sir Colin made over to that abbey in 1293. The father of
this Gillespic is said to have been Duncan Campbell, married to a lady of
the name of Sommerville, of the house of Carnwath, and the father of
Duncan, an Archibald Campbell, but there is no authentic instance of their
being styled of Lochow. Other instances occur where the prefix Mac is used
without signifying son, as, for example, in Macbeth, who is not known to
have been the son of Beth, and whose son Madoch did not bear that name;
and also in the genealogies of the Celtic slaves already referred to
quoted by Tytler in his history, where the word Mac occurs in the name of
a son which is not the same as that of his father. It is also found in
compound words, as Macpherson, Macfarquharson, &c., where the English word
son is also incorporated. We are therefore led to look for another
explanation of this frequent prefix. It is not found in Welsh names. In
the few Irish names in which it appears, a Scotch origin can frequently be
traced, and it is often used in the form of Mag, as Maguire, Maginnes, as
it is also along with the C in the Scotch names MacGlashan, MacGillivray,
&c. In the oldest Irish records the word Mic occurs, and is translated
son, and this mic is frequently found combined with Mac, as Mic Mac. There
is a curious instance in Irish history of the prefix Mac being employed to
signify great or big, as in a chief in the reign of Elizabeth, who is said
to have been called Mac Manus, great hand, from the length of his
arms. It is not therefore improbable that the word mac or mag may have
originally been a contraction of Magnus, great or big, employed in the
first instance by the priests, the only chroniclers and namegivers in the
corrupted Latin of those ages, either as an independent personal
distinctive, or to designate, among several of the same name, the
individual of greatest size and strength, and which in later ages, when
surnames came into use, might be continued by their descendants to
distinguish them from the children of others of the same name, on whom
such a personal distinctive had not been bestowed. It may be remarked,
that in this sense it sometimes occurs in British or Welsh, as well as in
Celtic or Irish, topography, as Mackinleith, the great place on the
Leath, a hundred and town of great antiquity in Montgomeryshire;
Maginnis, the great island, the ancient name of the peninsula
between Lough Strangford and Dundrum; also, corrupted into Muck or Mug, as
Mucross, the great cross; and in composition as Carrickmacross,
the rock of the great cross. It is probable that it has been used in
other countries in composition of names, as Magellan, or Magalhaen, the
great stranger, the name of the discoverer of Capt Horn.
On this
supposition also the word Mac Chaillan appears to be the Celtic
orthography, according to their pronunciation of Mag Allan, or Alaine, the
latter a word which is not only a frequent name in the Romance
language (with which the Norman-French, as spoken in Scotland in the
twelfth century is nearly identified), but was also used in that language
to signify what that word actually meant, viz., aleanus, stranger,
or alien, and Mac Caillane would thus imply the tall or large-bodied
stranger. The appellative mor or more, although frequently used in
modern Celtic, in a physical sense, as great, was in earlier times
more properly a distinctive of superior rank, as maormor, the ancient name
for the Pictish chiefs, viz., chief of the heads (maors, or mayors,
a corrupted Gotho-Latin term,) of the tribes. This term mor is
still preserved in the Spanish and Portuguese languages, which are
descended from the Romance, to express such a distinction of rank or
order, as alcayde mor, the head alcade; captain mor, head
captain, an officer equivalent to commander-in-chief of the military force
in Portuguese colonies; thesaureiro mor, head treasurer, &c. The
identity of many of the Romanceiro terms preserved in peninsular
languages, with those occurring in the earliest forms of Celtic words,
presents matter of speculation to the philologist and antiquary, but may
perhaps be accounted for by the earlier prevalence of that tongue and its
larger use also in the north of Scotland than even the Saxon itself, as
the conquerors under Canmore and his descendants were chiefly of that
race, and in mixing with the natives, they may have retained a number of
these Gotho-Latin terms whilst adopting along with them in the course of
that amalgamation, the general idiom of the conquered people.
It is therefore
suggested that the Celtic name Mac Ghaillan Mor, is in reality a compound
of corrupted Latin and Romance words implying the great or tall
stranger chief, a suggestion which singularly aids the opinion which,
after considerable attention to the matter, we have formed, viz. that the
first of the Campbells or Campobellos was a military knight, one of whose
ancestors may have assisted Alexander the Second in his conquest of
Argyle, and received, along with the Steward of Scotland, who obtained all
Bute and Cowal on the same occasion, the adjacent lands of Lochow as his
fee or reward, when these were forfeited by the rebellion or death of the
original possessor, probably receiving the hand of the daughter of the
latter as a further security for his acquisition. Whether this latter
circumstance occurred or not, it was not until a later age, when the
fourth earl of Argyle had acquired the jurisdiction over that region, that
the Norman bearing gyronny of eight for Campbell, came to be quartered in
the armorial bearings of the family, with the galley having furled sails,
oars in action, and flag and pendants flying for the lordship of the
Isles. The surrounding people, compelled to acquiesce in this arrangement,
would naturally describe a knight, or the son of a knight, so injected
into their midst, by the appellation of the great stranger chief.
In the account given of the origin of the name Campbell, by Jacob in his
English peerage, under their English title of Sundridge, vol. ii. p. 698,
London, 1767, there is a statement apparently contradictory of the
foregoing theory, viz., that the name Mac Chaillan, or as rendered by him
Mac Callan, is that of Sir Colin himself, “so called by the Irish.”
Admitting this to be the case, although its similarity is not apparent,
its only effect would be that instead of the great stranger chief,
the distinctive Mac Caillan More would mean Colin the great or tall
chief.
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, he was
slain (in 1294, according to Jacob in the account referred to) 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 Ergadia, 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 Athol. Sir Niel, who was also styled Mac chaillan More, was one of the
commissioners sent to York in 1314, to negotiate a peace with the English.
His next brother Donald was the progenitor of the Campbells of Loudon.
[See LOUDON, earl of.] His three younger brothers, Dugal, Arthur, and
Duncan, all swore fealty to King Edward in 1296, but also became devoted
adherents of Robert the Bruce, and shared his favours. By his wife, the
Lady Mary Bruce, Sir Niel had three sons, Sir Colin; John, created earl of
Athol, upon the forfeiture of David de Strathbogie, the eleventh earl,
[see ATHOL, earl of,] and Dugal.
Sir Colin, the
eldest son, obtained a charter from his uncle, King Robert Bruce, of the
lands of Lochow and Ardscodniche, dated at Arbroath, 10th
February, 1316, in which he is designated Colinus filius Nigelli Cambel,
militis. In 1316, he accompanied King Robert to Ireland to assist in
placing his brother, Edward Bruce, on the throne of that kingdom. Sir
Colin assisted the steward of Scotland in 1334, in the surprise and
recovery of the castle of Dunoon, in Cowall, belonging to the Steward, but
held by the English and the adherents of Edward Baliol, and put all within
it to the sword, a feat which gave the first turn of fortune in favour of
King David Bruce. As a reward Sir Colin was made hereditary governor of
the castle of Dunoon, and had the grant of certain lands for the support
of his dignity. Syntoun states that it was his brother Dugal who did this
service, but Crawford has shown that this is wrong. Sir Colin died about
1340. By his wife, a daughter of the house of Lennox, he had three sons
and a daughter; namely, Sir Gillespic or Archibald; John, from whom the
Campbells of Barbreck and Succoth, and other families of the name, are
said to be descended; Dugal, who joined Edward Baliol, and in consequence
his estates in Cowal were forfeited by King David the Second, and given to
his eldest brother; and Alicia, married to Alan Lauder of Hatton.
The eldest son,
Sir Gillespic or Archibald, who added largely to the family possessions,
was twice married, first to a lady of the family of Menteith, and
secondly, to Mary, daughter of Sir John Lamont, and had a son, Sir Colin
Campbell of Lochow, who married Margaret second daughter of Sir John
Drummond of Stobhall, sister of Annabella, queen of Robert the Third. He
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 Argyle, for the payment of the sum of forth
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 Argyle. By King James he was appointed one of his privy
council, and constituted his justiciary and lieutenant within the shire of
Argyle. 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. In Pinkerton’s Scottish Gallery, there are portraits of both the
first Lord Campbell and his wife, of which the following are woodcuts:
[portraits of Lord
Campbell and his wife]
By
the first wife 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, [see
BREADALBANE, earl and marquis of.] 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. It is said that the
Campbells of Auchinbreck and their cadets, also Ellengreig and Ormadale,
descend from this the youngest son, and not from his brother.
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, 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 exchange of the lands
of Baldoning and Innerdoning, &c. in Perthshire, with the said Walter. In
1457 he was created earl of Argyle. He was one of the commissioners for
negotiating a truce with King Edward the Fourth of England, in 1463, and
in 1465 was appointed, with Lord Boyd, justiciary of Scotland, which
office he filled for many years by himself after the fall of his
colleague. In 1470 he was created baron of Lorn, and in the following year
he was appointed one of the commissioners for settling the treaty of
alliance with King Edward the Fourth of England, by which James, prince of
Scotland, was affianced to Cecilia, Edward’s youngest daughter. He was
also one of the commissioners sent to France to renew the treaty with that
crown in 1484, and he eventually became lord-high-chancellor of Scotland.
In 1475 this nobleman was appointed to prosecute a decree of forfeiture
against John, earl of Ross and lord of the Isles, 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.
The manner in which the lordship of Campbell and Castle Campbell in the
parish of Dollar came into the possession of the family of Argyle, is
detailed in the New Statistical Account of Scotland with considerable
research, Isabella Stewart, supposed to be the eldest daughter of John
third Lord Innermeath, and first countess of Argyle, inherited about 1460
one-third of the lands of Dollar and Gloom, supposed to be the unentailed
portion of the estate of Innermeath, as heir-portioner with her two
sisters, – Margaret, married to Sir Colin Campbell of Glenorchie, ancestor
of the marquis of Breadalbane; and Marion, married to Arthur Campbell of
Ottar. The third belonging to Lady Campbell of Glenorchie, was ceded to
the Argyle family by her son Duncan in a deed of renunciation still
extant. How the third portion passed into the Argyle house does not
appear; but it is all included in a charter of confirmation by James the
Fourth of a charter by the bishop of Dunkeld, dated 11th May
1497. Muckartshill, a barony to the east of Dollar, appears about the same
period (1491) to have been feued by Shivaz bishop of St. Andrews to the
earl of Argyle. 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, along with every house in Dollar and Muckart, – two houses only,
and these by mistake, escaping their savage fury. It was at Castle
Campbell that Knox tells us in his history he visited Archibald the fourth
earl of Argyle, and preached during successive days, to him and his noble
relatives and friends. Although never repaired, the castle and lordship of
Castle Campbell remained in the possession of the Argyle family till 1808,
when it was sold.
[woodcut of Castle
Campbell]
By
Isabel Stewart, his wife, eldest daughter of John, lord of lorn, the first
earl of Argyle 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. One of his daughters was married to
Angus the young lord of the Isles, and was believed by the islanders to
have been the mother of Angus’ son, Donald Dubh, who was imprisoned in the
castle of Inchconnell from his infancy. Another daughter was married to
Torquil Macleod of the Lewis. Having acquired the principal part of the
landed property of the two sisters of his wife, the first earl of Argyle
entered into a transaction with Walter Stewart, Lord Lorn, their uncle, on
whom the lordship of Lorn and barony of Innermeath, which stood limited to
heirs-male, had devolved, in consequence of which Walter resigned the
lordship of Lorn in favour of the earl of Argyle, who thereupon added the
style and designation of Lord to his other titles, Walter retaining the
barony of Innermeath, had the title of Lord Innermeath. [See ATHOL, earl
of.]
Archibald, second earl of Argyle, succeeded his father in 1493, and is
designed lord-high-chancellor of Scotland, in a charter to him by
Elizabeth Menteith, Lady Rusky, and Archibald Napier of Merchiston, her
son, of half of the lands of Inchirna, Rusky, &c., in the county of
Argyle, 28th June, 1494. The same year he had the office of
master of the household. Crawford, in his Peerage, page 17, says he was
lord-chamberlain in 1495, but his name does not occur as such in
Crawford’s Officers of State, and he is not designed lord-chamberlain in
any of the charters granted to him, which were numerous, under the great
seal, from 1494 to 1512. 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 lieutenandry, 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. In 1504, when the insurrection of the
islanders under Donald Dubh, who had escaped from prison, broke out,
Argyle, with Huntly, Crawford and Marischal, the Lord Lovat, and other
powerful barons, were charged to lead the royal forces against the rebels;
but the insurrection was not finally suppressed till 1506. From this
period the great power formerly enjoyed by the earls of Ross, lords of the
Isles, was transferred to the earls of Argyle and Huntly; the former
having the chief rule in the south isles and adjacent coasts [Gregory’s
Highlands and Isles of Scotland.] 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 in that sanguinary engagement, so disastrous to
Scotland. By his wife, Lady Elizabeth Stewart, eldest daughter of John,
first earl of Lennox, he had four sons and five daughters. His eldest,
Colin, was the third earl of Argyle. Archibald, his second son, had a
charter of the lands of Skipnish, and the keeping of the castle thereof,
&c., 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, as previously
mentioned. [See CALDER, surname of.]
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 Muriella
was there. Meanwhile so much time had been gained that farther pursuit was
useless. The nurse, at the moment 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 Argyle
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!” From this it
would appear that the heiress of the Calders had red hair. The earl of
Cawdor is the representative of Sir John Campbell and his wife Muriella,
(see CAWDOR, earl of,) and the Campbells of Ardchattan, Airds, and Cluny
are their collateral descendants. Donald, the fourth son of the second
earl of Argyle, was abbot of Cupar, and ancestor of the Campbells of
Keithock in Forfarshire.
Colin
Campbell, the third earl of Argyle, 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. This he was enabled to do the more effectually, as in
anticipation of disturbances among the islanders, he had taken bonds of
fidelity from the vassals and others who had attached themselves to the
late earl his father. Owing to the powerful influence of Argyle, the
insurgents submitted to the regent, after strong measures had been adopted
against them; and, upon assurance of protection, he prevailed upon them to
appear at court, and arrange in person the terms of pardon and restoration
to favour; in consequence of which considerable progress seems to have
been made in the pacification of the Isles. Argyle and his followers took
out a remission for ravages committed by them in the isle of Bute in the
course of the insurrection, and rendered necessary, it may be supposed,
from some of the rebels having there found shelter and protection. In 1517
Sir Donald of Lochalsh again appeared in arms, but being deserted by his
principal leaders, he effected his escape. His two brothers, however, were
made prisoners by Maclean of Dowart and Macleod of Dunvegan, who had
submitted to the government. The services of the earl of Argyle had mainly
contributed to this state of matters in the Isles. He had, early in that
year, presented to the regent and council a petition, requesting “for the
honour of the realm and the commonweal in time coming,” that he should
receive a commission of lieutenandry over all the Isles and adjacent
mainland, on the grounds of the vast expense he had previously incurred,
of his ability to do good service in future, and of his having broken up
the confederacy of the islanders; which commission he obtained with
certain exceptions. He also claimed and obtained authority to receive into
the king’s favour, all the men of the Isles who should make their
submission to him and become bound for future good behaviour, by the
delivery of hostages and otherwise; the last condition being made
imperative, “because the men of the Isles are fickle of mind, and set but
little value upon their oaths and written obligations.” Sir Donald of the
Isles, his brothers, and the Clandonald were, however, specially excepted
from the benefit of this article. The earl likewise demand and received
express power to pursue and follow the rebels with fire and sword, to
expel them from the Isles, and to use his best endeavours to possess
himself of Sir Donald’s castle of Strone in Lochcarron [Gregory’s
Highlands and Isles of Scotland, pages 119, 120.] It would appear,
however, that Argyle’s services were not treated with that consideration
at the capital which he thought they were entitled to receive, as in 1519,
on his advice to the council that Sir Donald should be forfeited for high
treason, meeting with some opposition, he took a solemn protest before
parliament that neither he nor his heirs should be liable for any
mischiefs that might in future arise from rebellions in the Isles; as,
although he held the office of lieutenant, his advice was not taken as to
the management of the districts committed to his charge, neither had he
received certain supplies of men and money, formerly promised him by the
regent for carrying on the king’s service in the Isles.
In the
parliament which met at Edinburgh 25th February 1525, Argyle
was appointed one of the four governors of the kingdom, the duke of
Albany’s regency, from his continued absence in France, having been
declared at an end. In January 1526, he accompanied the young king, James
the Fifth, against the queen-mother and the rebel lords, and was a member
of the new secret council appointed in that year. For some years the Isles
had continued at peace, and Argyle 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,’ acted at the Theatre Royal, Edinburgh, with great
success in 1810. It is thus related by Gregory: “Lauchlan Cattanach
Maclean of Dowart had married Lady Elizabeth Campbell, daughter of
Archibald, second earl of Argyle, 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.” [Highlands and Isles of Scotland, p 128.]
On the
escape of the king, then in his seventeenth year, from the power of the
Douglases, in May 1528, Argyle was one of the first to join his majesty at
Stirling. He accompanied the king to Edinburgh on the 6th of
the following July, and on the confiscation of the vast estates of the
Douglas family, he obtained, 6th December 1528, a charter of
the barony of Abernethy, in Perthshire, forfeited by Archibald, earl of
Angus. The same year he was appointed lieutenant of the borders and warden
of the marches. On the refusal of the earl of Bothwell to lead the royal
army against the earl of Angus, who had appeared in arms, and repeatedly
defeated the king’s forces, the task of the expulsion of this formidable
rebel from Coldingham, where he had taken up his quarters, was committed
to the earl of Argyle, who, with the assistance of the Homes, compelled
him to fly into England, whence he did not return till after the death of
James. Argyle 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. In his last years he was
engaged in endeavouring to suppress a formidable insurrection in the South
Isles, headed by Alexander of Isla and the Macleans, who readily seized
the opportunity to revenge the death of their late chief. The combined
clans made descents upon Roseneath, Craignish, and other lands belonging
to the Campbells, which they ravaged with fire and sword, killing at the
same time many of the inhabitants.. The clan Campbell retaliated, by
laying waste great part of the aisles of Mull and Tiree and the lands of
Morvern. He had demanded extraordinary powers from the king to enable him
to reduce the Isles once more under the dominion of the law, but James
suspecting his motives, resolved upon trying conciliatory measures, and
offered pardon to any of the island chiefs who would submit to the
government, in which he was successful.
By his
countess, Lady Janet Gordon, eldest daughter of Alexander, third earl of
Huntly, the third earl of Argyle had three sons and a daughter, the latter
married, first, to James earl of Moray, natural son of King James the
fourth, and had a daughter; and, secondly, to John, tenth earl of
Sutherland, without issue. His sons were, Archibald, fourth earl of
Argyle; 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 Argyle, was, on his accession to the title
in 1530 (not 1533, as stated by Douglas in his Peerage as the date of his
father’s death) appointed to all the offices held by the two preceding
earls. In 1531 he commanded an expedition against the South Isles, while
the earl of Moray, natural brother of the king, proceeded against the
North Isles; but in both districts order was soon restored by the
voluntary submission of the insurgent chiefs. A suspicion had begun to be
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 Argyle family, that they might
obtain possession of the estates forfeited by the chiefs thus driven into
rebellion, and an opportunity soon presented itself, which the king
eagerly availed himself of, to curb the increasing power of the earl of
Argyle in that remote portion of the kingdom. Finding that the timely
submission of Alexander of Isla, Maclean of Dowart, and the lesser chiefs,
placed them beyond his interference, the earl presented a complaint to the
council against the first of those named, charging him with various
crimes. Alexander being summoned to answer the charges made his appearance
at once; but Argyle absenting himself, the island chief gave in to the
council a written statement, denying the crimes laid to his charge, and
offering, if commission were given to himself or any other chief, for
calling out the array of the Isles, in the event of war with England, or
any part of the realm of Scotland, to bring more fighting men into the
field than Argyle, with all his influence, could levy in the Isles; also,
in case Argyle should be disposed at any time to resist the royal
authority, to cause the earl to quit his own country of Argyle, if he had
the king’s commands to that effect, and compel him to dwell in another
part of Scotland where “the king’s grace might get reason of him,” and
concluding by stating that the disturbed state of the Isles was mainly
caused by the late earl of Argyle and his brothers, Sir John Campbell of
Calder, and Archibald Campbell of Skipnish. In consequence of this appeal
of Alexander of Isla the king made such an examination into the complaints
of the islanders as satisfied him that the family of Argyle 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. [Gregory’s
Highlands and Isles, page 141.] On Marcy 17, 1532, a remission was
granted to the earl and eighty-two others for their treasonable
fire-raising, with his standard unfurled, in the islands of Mull, Tiree,
and Morvern, as already stated in the end of the notice of his father. In
August 1541, five thousand pounds were given to him out of the king’s
treasury, on his resignation of Makane’s lands in the isles to the crown.
In a charter to him of the king’s lands of Cardross in Dumbartonshire,
dated 28th April 1542, he is designed master of the king’s
wine-cellar, “cellae regis vinariae magister.” After the death of James
the Fifth he appears to have regained his authority over the Isles, having
appeared in arms there, at the head of several of the clans, the earl
prepared to defend his insular acquisitions; but in 1543 Donald, with a
force of fifteen hundred men, invaded Argyle’s territories, slew many of
his vassals, and carried off a great quantity of plunder. Argyle was one
of the peers who, in July of that year, entered into an association to
oppose the marriage of the young queen Mary and the youthful prince
Edward, afterwards King Edward the Sixth of England, and the consequent
union of the two crowns, “as tending to the high dishonour, perpetual
skaith, damage and ruin of the liberty and nobleness of the realm.” In
1544 an expedition was sent by Henry the Eighth to aid the earl of Lennox
in his claim to the regency, to harass the coasts of Scotland, and thus
put down the opposition to the proposed royal marriage. An attempt on the
part of the earl of Lennox, who was in the command of the English forces,
with eighteen vessels of war and eight hundred men, to seize the castle of
Dumbarton failed, and on his ships passing down the Clyde they were fired
at by the earl of Argyle, who, with a large body of his vassals, and some
pieces of artillery, had taken post at the castle of Dunoon. On his
arrival at Bute, Lennox determined to attack Argyle in turn. the latter,
with seven hundred men, attempted to oppose the landing of Lennox’s troops
at Dunoon, but was unable to withstand the superior artillery of the
English vessels. After a skirmish in which Argyle lost eighty men, many of
them gentlemen, the village of Dunoon was burnt and plundered by the
invaders, Argyle sustaining further loss in attempting to harass their
retreat. Four or five days thereafter Lennox, with five hundred men,
landed in another part of Argyle, and laid waste the surrounding country.
At the disastrous battle of Pinkie, 10th Sept. 1547, the earl
of Argyle had the command of a large body of Highlanders and Islanders,
and he also distinguished himself at the siege of Haddington in the
following year. In June 1555 a commission was given to the earls of Argyle
and Athole over the Isles, and on the queen regent (Mary of Guise)
proceeding to the north, in July 1556, to hold justice-courts for the
punishment of great offenders, the earl of Argyle was one of those who
accompanied her. He was the first of the Scots 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 Argyle. 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. Lady Margaret Campbell, the elder daughter married James Lord
Down, ancestor of the earls of Moray. Lady Janet, the younger, became the
wife of Hector Maclean of Dowart; Gregory says of James Macdonald of Isla,
the great rival of the Argyle family in the Isles.
Archibald, fifth earl of Argyle, 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 December 1557, when styled
lord of Lorn, with his father and the earls of Glencairn and Morton,
Erskine of Dun, and other leading reformers, he had subscribed at
Edinburgh the first bond entered into in Scotland for the support of the
gospel and the maintenance of faithful ministers, but for some time he
adhered to the party of the queen-mother. In November 1558, soon after his
accession to the title, he and Lord James Stuart, prior of St. Andrews,
afterwards the regent Moray, – the one, as Douglas remarks, the most
powerful, and the other the most popular leader of the protestant party, –
were appointed to go to Paris, with the crown and other ensigns of
royalty, to crown Francis, dauphin of France, as king of Scotland, on his
marriage with the young Queen Mary; “that they, being employed abroad,
matters of greater importance, namely anent religion, might be overturned
at home in their absence. The consideration of the death of Mary, queen of
England, who ended her life the seventeenth day of this same month of
November, stayed them altogether; for it was thought that the queen and
her husband the king, would assume to themselves greater titles.” [Calderwood,
vol. i. page 422.] And indeed Francis and Mary did soon after assume
the title of king and queen of England, as well as of Scotland and France.
On the
occurrence of the memorable riot at Perth, in May 1559, when the “rascal
multitude,” as Knox called them, after destroying the popish altars and
images, proceeded to level with the ground several of the monasteries and
other religious houses, the queen regent, then at Stirling, enraged at the
tumult, hastened to Perth, at the head of seven thousand men, chiefly
French auxiliaries commanded by D’Oysel, with the purpose of inflicting
signal vengeance on the inhabitants. By deceitful promises she had induced
the protestant leaders to dismiss their armed followers, and she hoped to
surprise the town before any new or effective force could be collected to
oppose her; but, on reaching the neighbourhood of Perth, she found that
the Reformers had assembled from all parts to the assistance of their
friends. The gentlemen of Fife, Angus, and Mearns, with their followers,
had formed a camp near Perth, where they were speedily joined by the earl
of Glencairn, with two thousand five hundred men from the west country.
Instead, therefore, of attacking the town, the regent sent the earl of
Argyle and the Lord James Stuart, to enter into a negotiation with the
protestant leaders, having, with her usual duplicity, persuaded these two
noblemen, reformers themselves, that the reformation of religion was a
mere pretence with those who opposed her authority, and that they meant
nothing but rebellion. Ultimately, on the 28th of May, a treaty
was concluded, principally through the means of the earl and the Lord
James Stuart, whereby it was agreed that the two armies should return
peaceably to their homes, that the town of Perth should be evacuated by
the protestant party and the queen regent allowed to enter it; that no
molestation should be given to those in arms, nor to the protestants
generally, that no French garrison should be stationed in Perth, that no
Frenchman should come nearer that city than three miles, and that in the
approaching assembly of the three estates, the work of the reformation
should be finally established. The leaders of the Congregation subscribed
this agreement, but under strong apprehensions that it would not be
adhered to, and before they separated, a new bond was entered into for the
defence of each other and the maintenance of the true religion, which was
signed by Argyle, the Lord James Stuart, the earl of Glencairn, Lords Boyd
and Ochiltree, and Mathew Campbell of Taringhame. As they feared, the
regent very soon violated the treaty. She entered Perth on the 29th,
attended by French soldiers, some of whom, firing their hackbuts on the
stair of Patrick Murray, who was known to be a reformer, killed his son, a
boy about twelve years of age. This being told to the regent, she said in
mockery, “It is pity it chanced on the son, and not on the father; but
seeing it hath so chanced, me cannot be against fortune.” the inhabitants
generally were harassed with every kind of outrage, and not only were the
magistrates dismissed and creatures of her own put in their place, but the
popish service was restored, with all its rites and ceremonies. On being
remonstrated with on this infraction of the treaty, she answered that she
was not bound to keep faith with heretics, and that “princes were not to
be strictly held to their promises;” adding, “I myself would make little
conscience to take from all that sort their lives and inheritances, if I
might do it with as honest an excuse.” Disgusted at her perfidy, and
having no further confidence in her word, the earl of Argyle and the Lord
James Stuart deserted the queen regent, and at once went over to the
Congregation, as the great body of the reformers were called, with whom
their sympathies had been all along. The queen sent a charge to them,
under the pain of her highest displeasure to return, but they answered
that with safe consciences they could not. When she departed from Perth
she left in it a garrison of four hundred soldiers.
In the
meantime the earl of Argyle and the lord James Stuart proceeded to St.
Andrews, and on the way sent missives to Erskine of Dun, the laird of
Pittarrow, Halyburton, provost of Dundee, and other leading reformers, to
meet them in that city, on the 4th of June, to take measures
for the promotion of the Reformation. John Knox, after preaching at Cupar
in Fife, at Crail, and at Anstruther, in all which places, as at Perth,
the people had demolished the altars, the images, and all other monuments
of idolatry, proceeded to St. Andrews, where he had agreed to meet the
earl of Argyle and Lord James Stuart. the popish archbishop came to the
town, accompanied with a hundred soldiers, and sent a message that if Knox
offered to preach in his cathedral church, he would have him shot with a
dozen hackbuts; his friends, anxious for his safety, endeavoured to
dissuade him from preaching, but he would not be prevented. The subject of
his discourse was the ejection of the buyers and sellers from the temple,
which “the provost and bailies with the commonality” of the town applied
to the circumstances of the times, and straightway proceeded to pull down
and destroy their splendid cathedral, with the other churches, razing the
monasteries of the Black and Grey friars to the ground, and destroying all
the monuments of antiquity within the city. The archbishop hastened to
Falkland, where the regent was, with her French troops, and gave her the
first intimation of the outrages that had been committed. The regent
immediately issued a proclamation summoning her troops and adherents to
assemble at Cupar next day. The lords of the Congregation, on their part,
despatched earnest representations to their friends for assistance, and
though only attended by a hundred cavalry and the same number of infantry,
instantly marched for Cupar. Their adherents hastened to their aid, and by
the following morning they were joined by an army of three thousand men.
Lord Ruthven brought some horsemen to them from Perth; the earl of Rothes,
hereditary sheriff of Fife, also came with a goodly company; the towns of
St. Andrews and Dundee sent their most effective men, and Cupar poured
forth its population, to defend itself and aid the general cause. The army
of the regent, on the morning of the 13th June, encamped upon
an eminence in the neighbourhood of Cupar, called the Garliebank. It
consisted of two thousand Frenchmen under General D’Oysel, and about one
thousand Scots under the duke of Chatelherault, (Lord Hamilton, second
earl of Arran.) The troops of the Congregation, the command of which had
been assigned to Halyburton, provost of Dundee, were stationed on the high
ground called Cupar muir, to the west of the town, and their ordnance was
so posted as to command the surrounding country. Astonished both at the
strength of their opponents and the skilfully-selected position which they
occupied, and from which, by twice feigning a retreat, they endeavoured in
vain to draw them, and knowing that they could not depend on the Scots in
their own ranks, should a battle take place, the commanders of the royal
forces recommended to the regent, who had remained at Falkland, to enter
into a negotiation with the lords of the Congregation. Yielding to
necessity, she consented, and a truce for eight days was, after
considerable discussion, agreed upon between the duke of Chatelherault and
D’Oysel, for the regent, and the earl of Argyle and the Lord James Stuart
for the Congregation, on condition that the French troops should
immediately be transported to Lothian, and that the regent should send
certain noblemen to St. Andrews, to adjust finally the articles of an
effectual peace. The lords of the Congregation then dismissed their
troops, and retired to St. Andrews; but though the regent so far kept her
word as to send her French troops and artillery across the Forth, the
reformers waited in vain for the appearance of her commissioners. At this
time, in a letter form the earl of Argyle and the Lord James Stuart, the
regent was respectfully but earnestly entreated to withdraw the garrison
which she had left at Perth, but no attention was paid to their request.
It was, therefore, resolved to expel the garrison by force. The lords of
the Congregation again appeared in arms at the head of their followers,
and on the 24th of June marched upon Perth. The earl of Huntly,
chancellor of the kingdom, with the Lord Erskine, and Mr. John Bannatyne,
justice-clerk, hastened to entreat the lords to delay besieging the town
for a few days. They were told that it would not be delayed even for an
hour, and that if one single protestant should be killed in the assault,
the garrison should be put indiscriminately to the sword. The garrison
were twice summoned to surrender, but as they refused to do so, the
batteries of the Congregation were opened upon the town; and on the 26th
of June, the garrison capitulated. The burning of the royal palace and
abbey of Scoon followed. The earl of Argyle and Lord James Stuart, with
Knox and the provost of Dundee, exerted themselves to save them, but in
vain. Being apprized that the regent intended to seize and garrison
Stirling castle, and to fortify the bridge over the Forth, so as to
prevent their passage, the earl and the lord James Stuart left Perth at
midnight, and appeared at Stirling, with their forces, in the morning. On
this occasion they were accompanied by three hundred inhabitants of Perth,
who had joined the standard of the Congregation, and to indicate their
zeal and resolution they wore ropes about their necks, that they might be
ignominiously hung with them if they deserted their colours. A picture of
the march of this resolute body is still preserved in Perth, and the
circumstance of their substituting ropes for neckerchiefs or ribbons is
the subject of the popular allusion to “St. Johnstone tippets.”
The two
convents of the Black and Grey friars of Stirling and the venerable abbey
at Cambuskenneth in its neighbourhood, were laid in ruins, and after
remaining three days at Stirling, the army of the Congregation on the
fourth proceeded to Linlithgow, where they destroyed the churches and
monastic houses. The earl of Argyle and the lord James Stuart then
directed their march upon Edinburgh, which they entered on the 29th
of June, on which the regent retreated to Dunbar. the force which the
confederates had with them was not very great, but wherever they went they
were joined by the populace, and the popish party were so effectually
daunted that they could make no head against them. The efforts of the
magistrates to preserve the churches and religious houses of the capital
were energetic, but they were in vain. Upon the first rumour of the
approach of the earl of Argyle, the mob attacked both the monasteries of
the Black and Grey friars, and left nothing but the bare walls standing.
when the earl entered the capital they proceeded to still further
“purification.” Trinity college church and its prebendal buildings were
assailed and some parts of them pulled down. The altars in St. Giles’
church and St. Mary’s or the Kirk of Field, were removed, and the images
destroyed or burnt. At Holyrood abbey also the altars were overthrown, and
the church otherwise defaced. Preachers were, at the same time, appointed
to expound to the people the pure gospel. The mint, with the instruments
for coining, was seized, as the stamping of base money had raised the
price of the necessaries of life; but though it was alleged against them
that they had possessed themselves of large sums of money, this does not
appear to have been the case.
During
these proceedings, the regent issued a proclamation against the
Congregation, declaring that under the pretence of religion they sought to
overturn the government, commanding them to leave Edinburgh in six hours,
and enjoining all good subjects to avoid their society under the pain of
treason. This proclamation had its effect to a certain extent, as many of
the Congregation retired to their homes. The lords, in a letter to the
queen regent, dated 2d July (1559) were careful to exculpate themselves
from the charges brought against them, and offered to explain all their
views and wishes in presence of the regent, if they were permitted free
access to her. After several communings, the regent requested that the
earl of Argyle and the Lord James Stuart might be sent to her; but as some
treachery was suspected, it was deemed expedient that they should not go
near her. The duke of Chatelherault had been persuaded that the object of
the Congregation was to deprive Mary of her crown, and also the duke and
his heirs of their right of succession; but in a proclamation thy showed,
as the preachers did in their sermons, that their real motive was the
reformation of religion and complete liberty of conscience. Recourse was
then had to negotiations, and after a conference at Preston, which led to
no result, the queen dowager left Dunbar, and with her troops took
possession of Leith, and approached within two miles of Edinburgh. On
being informed by the governor of the castle (Lord Erskine) that he would
fire if her entrance was opposed, a treaty was entered into, on the 25th
July, by which the Congregation agreed that the town of Edinburgh should
be open to the regent; that Holyroodhouse, the mint, and the instruments
of coinage should be delivered up to her; and that they should be obedient
to her authority and the laws, and should abstain from injuring the
papists, or employing violence against the churches or religious houses,
till the 10th of the ensuing January, when a parliament was to
meet. The regent, on her part, agreed that the inhabitants of Edinburgh
should adopt what religion they thought proper; that their preachers would
not be molested, nor themselves troubled in their persons or their goods;
that no French garrison or Scottish mercenaries should be stationed within
the city; and that, in other places of the kingdom, similar toleration
should be given to the protestants and their preachers. These conditions
Chatelherault and Huntly, at a subsequent private interview with the lords
of the Congregation, held at the Quarry Holes near Calton Hill, declared
their resolution to see observed, or else to leave the queen dowager’s
party. On the following day the lords of the Congregation left Edinburgh
and proceeded to Stirling, where they held a council, and on the first of
August entered into a third league or bond for mutual defence.
When at
Glasgow, on his return to his own district, Argyle and Stuart received an
invitation from the duke of Chatelherault, to visit him at Hamilton, where
they remained a night, and met the duke’s eldest son, the earl of Arran,
newly arrived from Paris, having escaped death or imprisonment from the
Guises on account of his protestant principles [See HAMILTON, duke of.]
The duke had become dissatisfied with the violent and arbitrary measures
of the queen regent, and convinced of her perfidy, he and Arran, his son,
had now resolved upon joining the lords of the Congregation. Arran
accordingly, on the 10th of September, accompanied Argyle and
Lord James Stuart to a convention of the lords of the Congregation held at
Stirling, which resulted in the principal chiefs accompanying these two
lords in a second visit to the residence of the duke, there to mature
their further proceedings, of which the convention entered into shortly
thereafter, for the entrance of English troops into Scotland, was the most
important.
In the
subsequent transactions the earl of Argyle acted a principal part. When,
at the commencement of the siege of Leith, on the last day of October
1559, the French soldiers, in a sally from the fort, drove the troops of
the Congregation back to Edinburgh, after capturing their ordnance, and
pursued them to the middle of the Canongate and up Leith Wynd, Argyle,
with his Highlanders, was the first to stop the flight, and give a check
to the pursuers. His name appears the fifth of the noblemen who signed the
Contract of Berwick, which led to the introduction of the English army,
under the Lord Grey, to the assistance of the Congregation, and the
expulsion of the French from Scotland. In this Contract occurs the
following clause personal to the earl: “And also, the erle of Argile, lord
justice of Scotland, being presentilie joyned with the said duke (of
Chatelherault) sall imploy his force and good will where he sall be
required by the queen’s majestie (Elizabeth) to reduce the north parts of
Ireland to the perfyte obedience of England, conforme to a mutuall and
reciprock contract to be made betwixt her majestie’s lieutenant or deputie
of Ireland, being for the time, and the said erle, wherin sall be
conteaned what he sall doe for his part, and what the said lieutenant and
deputie sall doe for his support, iom case he sall have to doe with James
Makconneill, or anie other of the iles of Scotland, or realme of Ireland.”
The Makconnel here referred to is supposed to be a miswriting for James
Macdonald of Isla, who had been stirred up by the queen regent to attack
the lands of Argyle. For performance of his part of this contract Argyle
gave as a hostage his cousin Colin Campbell. On the 27th of
April, the lords of the Congregation entered into a fourth bond, for their
mutual protection and assistance, and in this they were joined by the earl
of Huntly, who had hitherto opposed their proceedings.
On the
10th of June 1560, the queen regent died in the castle of
Edinburgh, which put an end to hostilities for the time. Before her death
she expressed to Argyle and other lords, in an interview she asked with
them, her deep regret for her conduct, which she attributed to the
counsels of her relatives on the continent. The earl of Argyle’s name
appears the third of the nobility who subscribed the First Book of
Discipline; and soon after, when the lords passed an act that all
remaining monuments of idolatry should be destroyed, he was ordered with
the earl of Glencairn to assist the earl of Arran in the west in seeing
this done in that district.
The earl
of Argyle was of the cortege that received Queen Mary on her landing at
Leith 19th August 1561. He was immediately thereafter sworn a
privy councillor. Early in 1562 he was one of the lords engaged in making
provision for the ministers, against the inadequacy of which Knox
appealed. On the 13th of September, the queen went to Stirling,
and on the Sabbath a riot took place in that town, in consequence of an
attempt being made to perform mass. “The earl of Argyle,” says Randolph,
the English ambassador, in a letter to Cecil, “and the lord James Stuart
so disturbed the quire that some, both priests and clerks, left their
places with broken heads and bloody ears.” On the 26th May
1563, the queen opened parliament with extraordinary splendour. On this
occasion the duke of Chatelherault carried the crown, Argyle the sceptre,
and Moray the sword.
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 had been employed, on
more occasions than one, to reconcile them after some domestic quarrels.
In 1563, at the third conference between Queen Mary and Knox, her majesty
requested him again to use his good offices on behalf of her sister, the
Lady Argyle, who, she confessed, was not so circumspect in everything as
she could wish; “yet,” she added, “her husband faileth in many things.” “I
brought them to concord,” said Knox, “that her friends were fully content;
and she promised before them she should never complain to any creature,
till I should first be made acquainted with the quarrel, either out of her
own mouth, or by an assured messenger.” “Well,” said the queen, “it is
worse than your believe. Do this much for my sake, as once again to
reconcile them, and if she behave not herself as becometh, she shall find
no favour of me; but in no case let my lord know that I employed you.”
Knox, in consequence, wrote to the earl on the countess’s behalf,
exhorting him “to bear with the imperfections of his wife, seeing that he
was not able to convince her of any crime since the last reconciliation,
but his letter was not well received.” [Calderwood, vol. ii. p.
215.] Her majesty passed the summer of the same year at the earl’s house
in Argyleshire, in the amusement of deer-hunting.
His
lordship was against the marriage of the queen with Lord Darnley, and in
the midst of the preparations for that ill-fated union, he and the earl of
Moray appeared at Edinburgh with a body of five thousand horsemen,
ostensibly for the purpose of attending a court to which the earl of
Bothwell had been cited, but really, as the queen considered, more to
overawe herself than to frighten that nobleman. She, therefore, ordered
the justice-clerk to adjourn the court. Two months previous to the
marriage, she created Darnley earl of Ross, when the duke of Chatelherault,
and the earls of Argyle, Moray, and Glencairn, immediately retired from
the court, and began to concert measures for opposing the match by force
of arms. After the marriage, when the discontented lords took refuge in
England, the earl retired to Argyle, but after the murder of Rizzio, on
the 9th of March 1566 (the countess of Argyle being then with
the queen at supper), the banished lords were received into favour, and
the processes of treason against them discharged. In the ensuing April the
queen sent for the earls of Argyle and Moray, and reconciled them to the
earls of Huntly, Bothwell, and Athole; and in June, when her majesty went
to the castle of Edinburgh to be confined of James the Sixth, she ordered
lodgings to be provided for the earl next her own, probably that her
sister the countess might be near her. His lordship, however, was not
present at the baptism of the young prince in Stirling castle, on account
of the popish ceremonies, but his countess stood sponsor for Queen
Elizabeth, and held the child at the font.
The earl
of Argyle’s name appears second on the famous bond subscribed by some of
the nobility in favour of the queen’s marriage with Bothwell, and the
ratification of it afterwards signed by the queen was committed to his
care, in case her majesty should repent of the match. At this time he
seems to have played a double part. On the marriage taking place, he was
one of the noblemen who entered into the bond of association for the
defence of the young prince, but the day after he revealed all their
designs to the queen. He carried the sword of state at the coronation of
James the Sixth, 29th July 1567, and attended the convention at
Edinburgh the 15th August, at which the regency of the earl of
Moray was confirmed. In the General Assembly which met in the following
December the earl and his countess were censured, he for separation from
his wife, although he alleged that the blame was not in him, and she for
assisting at the baptism of the king “in papistical manner.” Afterwards,
deeming the queen very ill used in being kept a prisoner, he entered into
the association for procuring her liberty on reasonable conditions, and
signed the bond to that effect 8th May 1568. He was created her
lieutenant, and was chief commander of her forces at Langside on the 13th
of the same month; but just as the hostile armies were about to take their
ground, he was seized with an apoplectic fit, which delayed the advance of
Mary’s troops and contributed not a little to her defeat. After this he
retired to Dunoon, and refused to submit to the regency of his old friend
and confederate the earl of Moray, but twice appeared in arms at Glasgow,
to concert measures with the Hamiltons for the restoration of Mary. He was
in consequence summoned to St. Andrews in the following April, when he
took an oath to remain quiet, and made his peace on easy terms.
On the
assassination of the regent Moray, Argyle and other noblemen of the
queen’s party assembled at Linlithgow, 10th April 1570, and
with the duke of Chatelherault and the earl of Huntly, was constituted her
majesty’s lieutenant in Scotland. In 1571 he was prevailed on by the
regent Lennox to submit to the king’s authority, and to appear in the
parliament at Stirling in September of that year. Lennox being murdered on
the 4th of that month, Argyle was a candidate for the regency,
but the choice fell on the earl of Mar, and Argyle was sworn a privy
councillor. On Morton becoming regent in November 1572, Argyle was
appointed lord-high-chancellor, and on the 17th January 1573 he
obtained a charter under the great seal of that office for life. That same
day he carried the sceptre, on the regent going in state to the low
council house of Edinburgh, to choose the Lords of the Articles. He died
of the stone, 12th September 1575, aged about 43, and is
celebrated by Johnston in his Heroes. His countess, Queen Mary’s half
sister, having died without issue, was buried in the royal vault in the
abbey of Holyroodhouse; 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
titles by his brother.
Colin,
sixth earl of Argyle, previous to succeeding to the earldom was styled Sir
Colin Campbell of Boquhan. He early engaged in the quarrel against the
regent Morton, arising out of the following circumstances: In 1576, as
hereditary justice-general of Scotland he claimed that a commission of
justiciary, formerly given by Queen Mary to the earl of Athole over the
territory of the latter, should be annulled. This Athole resisted, and not
only refused to surrender for trial two of the Athole Stewarts against
whom Argyle alleged various crimes, but seized two of the Camerons charged
with the murder of the late chief of that clan, whom he detained in
prison, although claimed by Argyle as his vassals. The two earls collected
their retainers in arms, to settle the dispute between them in the field,
when the regent interposed, and obliged them to disband their forces.
Having obtained secret information that Morton intended to prosecute them
for treason, they agreed to forget their private quarrels, and unite for
mutual defence. They disregarded the citation of the regent to appear
before a court of justice, and as he dreaded their joint power, he was
forced unwillingly to abandon his project. In the end of the following
year the earl of Argyle was still farther incensed against Morton, by his
sending for the jewel called the H, because the precious stones were set
in the form of that letter, signifying Henrie, and which it was supposed
had been given by Queen Mary to her sister the late countess of Argyle. He
was not inclined to comply with the request, but on being charged by an
officer to deliver it up, as it belonged to the king, he at once resigned
it. About this time the laird of Glengarry presented a petition to the
privy council, complaining that the earl of Argyle, who, since his rupture
with Morton, had been living in his own country, was collecting a large
force, ostensibly with the view of punishing some disturbers of the public
peace, but really, as he alleged, to attack and harass him, the said
laird, on which proclamation was made, prohibiting the earl from
assembling any of the lieges in arms, and from troubling Glengarry, under
the pain of treason. Various other complaints were made against Argyle for
oppressive and illegal conduct; particularly by John, the son and heir of
James Macdonald of Castle Camus in Skye, and John Maclean, the uncle of
Lauchlan Maclean of Dowart, who were both kept prisoners in Argyle’s
castle of Inchconnell in Lochow, without warrant; and by Lauchlan Maclean,
the young chief of Dowart, whose isle of Loyng was invaded and plundered
by a party of Campbells sent by Argyle. [Gregory’s Highlands and Isles
of Scotland, p. 216.]
On 4th
March 1578, the earls of Argyle and Athole, with other noblemen, assembled
at Stirling, and advised the king to deprive Morton of the regency, and to
take the government into his own hands, which was accordingly done. On
this occasion Argyle was made a member of the new council chosen to direct
the king, who was then only twelve years of age. A few weeks thereafter,
however, Morton again got possession of the king’s person, when Argyle and
Athole took up arms to rescue his majesty, and issued a proclamation
against the late regent. The forces on both sides gathered at Stirling,
the earl of Argyle alone bringing two thousand five hundred Highlanders to
the assistance of those who opposed Morton’s return to power. By the
mediation, chiefly, of Bowes, the English ambassador, an accommodation was
brought about between the hostile factions, and on the 10th
August 1579, Argyle was appointed lord-high-chancellor of the kingdom.
After this he was apparently reconciled to Morton’s administration. On the
28th of January 1581, with the king and many of the nobility,
he subscribed the second Confession of Faith. He was one of the jury on
the trial of Morton, 1st June of that year. At the opening of
the parliament held the following October, he bore the sword, and on the
last day of November, when the king went again in state to the Tolbooth,
he carried the sceptre. 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 Argyle, and the Hon. Sir Colin Campbell of
Lundie, created a baronet in 1627.
Archibald, seventh earl of Argyle, was under age when he succeeded his
father. The dissensions among his guardians, and the assassination of
Campbell of Calder, one of them, have been already related [ante,
ART. BREADALBANE, earl and marquis of.] The conspiracy among the chiefs of
the western Highlands, having for its object the death of the young earl
of Argyle, as well as that of the “bonnie earl of Murray,” is likewise
there alluded to. The principal person interested in his death was his
kinsman Archibald Campbell of Lochnell, one of his guardians, and the next
heir to the earldom; a dark and ambitious spirit, who never relinquished
his designs against the lives of the earl and his brother, that he might
succeed to the title and estates. In 1592, when little more than sixteen
years of age, the earl married Lady Anne Douglas, fifth daughter of
William first earl of Morton of the house of Lochleven. “There is reason
to believe,” says Gregory, “that the conspirators, notwithstanding the
refusal of Ardkinglass (Sir James Campbell, another of the young earl’s
guardians) to join them, continued for some time their machinations for
the murder of the earl; and that, during a severe illness with which he
was attacked at Stirling, soon after his marriage, in the year 1594, some
of his household were bribed to poison him; if indeed, the disease itself
was not caused in the first instance by poison. Argyle, however, escaped
all the attempts of his enemies, and lived to exercise, for many years, an
overpowering influence in the affairs of the Highlands and Isles.” [Gregory’s
Highlands and Isles of Scotland, p. 251.] At the ‘riding of the
parliament,’ 29th May 1592, he bore the sword. In the same year
he and the earl of Athole, and the laird of Grant, plundered and laid
waste the earl of Huntly’s lands, for the slaughter of the earl of Murray,
till the earl of Angus was sent by the king, as lieutenant to the north,
for the purpose of preventing farther spoliation. At the ‘riding of the
parliament,’ 16th July 1593, he carried the sceptre.
In
1594, although then only eighteen, Argyle was appointed king’s lieutenant
against the popish earls of Huntly and Errol, who had raised a rebellion.
With Argyle were associated the earl of Athole and Lord Forbes. Having
raised an army of six thousand men – some accounts say twelve thousand –
partly among his own vassals, and partly among other clans, particularly
the Macleans, Macneills, Macgregors, Macintoshes, and Grants, Argyle
marched into Badenoch, and thence towards Strathbogie, after having in
vain attempted, in his way, to reduce the castle of Ruthven, which was
gallantly held out for Huntly by the Macphersons. On his arrival near
Glenlivet, he found that Huntly and Errol were in the vicinity, with about
fifteen hundred men, principally cavalry; and, in consequence, he took up
a strong position on the declivity of a hill, betwixt Glenlivet and
Glenrinnes, in two parallel divisions, until he could be joined by Lord
Forbes, who was at no great distance with eleven hundred men. His
opponents, however, had in their ranks a number of brave gentlemen, well
mounted and armed, who were anxious to be led to the attack, and a
communication from a traitor in Argyle’s camp, Archibald Campbell of
Lochnell, already mentioned, commander of one of the divisions of his
army, encouraged them to attempt it. By a private message which he sent to
Huntly he promised to go over to him, with his division, as soon as the
battle commenced, and suggested that some pieces of artillery possessed by
Huntly, should be fired at Argyle’s banner, hoping thus both to get rid of
that nobleman by an apparent chance shot, and to discourage the
Highlanders, who were unacquainted with the use of artillery. The advice
of Lochnell was followed. The assault was made on Argyle’s forces while
they were at prayers, but, – just reward of treachery, – with fatal effect
on Lochnell himself. As Huntly approached, the guns were fired at the
yellow standard of Argyle, who escaped unhurt, whilst his treacherous
kinsman Lochnell, a brother of the latter, and the son of Macneill of
Barra, were slain on the spot. After a severe conflict, both parties
fighting with great bravery, the one, says Sir Robert Gordon, “for glorie,
the other for necessitie,” Huntly succeeded in routing Argyle’s forces,
who, from the mountainous nature of the country, which impeded pursuit,
escaped with a loss comparatively trifling. The success of Huntly was
mainly owing to the treachery of Lochnell, and of John Grant of Gartinbeg,
one of Huntly’s vassals, who retreated with his men as soon as the action
began, by which act the centre and the left wing of Argyle’s army were
completely broken. Among the trophies found on the field was the ensign
belonging to Argyle, which was carried with other spoils to Strathbogie,
and placed on the top of the great tower. The conduct of Lachlan Maclean
of Dowart, one of Argyle’s officers, was worthy of all praise. It was his
division which inflicted the principal loss on the rebels, and, at the
close of the battle, he retired in good order with them. It is said that
after the battle, he offered, if Argyle would give him five hundred men in
addition to his own followers, to bring the earl of Huntly prisoner into
Argyle’s camp. The proposal was rejected, but having come to the ears of
Huntly, incensed him greatly against Maclean, whose son afterwards,
according to tradition, lost a large estate in Lochaber, through the
animosity of that powerful nobleman. [Gregory’s Highlands and Isles,
p. 259.[
This battle was fought, 3d October 1594. Weeping with indignation at his
defeat, the young but high-spirited earl of Argyle was carried out of the
field by his friends, and hastened to inform the king at Dundee of his
discomfiture. His majesty immediately marched against the rebels, who
dispersed at his approach. In the Scottish poems of the sixteenth century,
edited by Dalzel, Edinburgh 1801, there is, at page 136 of vol. i. ‘A
faithful narrative of the great and miraculous victory obtained by George
Gordon, earl of Huntly, and Francis Hay, earl of Errol, catholic noblemen,
over Archibald Campbell, earl of Argyll, lieutenant, at Strathaven, 3d
Oct. 1594.’ – the battle being sometimes called the battle of Glenrinnes,
Strathaven, or Altconlachan, as well as of Glenlivet. Early in the
following year, for oppression alleged to be committed by his clan, the
earl was put in ward in the castle of Edinburgh. “This,” says Calderwood,
“was the rewaird he gott for his good service in the North.” [Church
History, vol. v. page 361.] He was soon, however, liberated, and in
the summer of the same year he and the duke of Lennox were employed to
reduce Huntly’s vassals to obedience. After “killing and burning in the
north,” as Calderwood phrases it, Argyle sent deputies to Huntly’s lands
to obtain their submission. On November 14, 1598, Argyle with some others
was charged to produce certain persons of the name of Campbell and
Macgregor, for whom he was responsible, as the king’s lieutenant of the
bounds or district within which these Campbells and Macgregors resided; in
which capacity he had found security for the lawless tribes over whom he
had command; they in their turn becoming liable to him in relief, under
separate bonds. In 1599, when measures were in progress for bringing the
chiefs of the Isles under subjection to the king, the earl of Argyle 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, with what degree of truth
cannot now be ascertained, to Argyle and the Campbells, for their own
purposes. It seems difficult, however, to understand what means could be
employed by them to influence their inveterate and hereditary enemies to
adopt such a course of conduct. The proceedings of these clans were,
however, so violent and illegal, that the king became highly incensed
against the Clandonald, and finding he had a right to dispose of their
possessions both in Kintyre and Islay, he made a grant of them to the earl
of Argyle 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 Argyle to
possess himself of the lands of that clan, reference may be made to
Gregory’s ‘History of the Highlands and Isles of Scotland,’ chapters seven
and eight.
In
the meantime, on the 23d February, 1603, the king, previous to his
departure for England, succeeded in reconciling the earls of Argyle and
Moray to the earl of Hunty, an object which he had long laboured to
effect. In that same month 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
Argyle, 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, Argyle 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 mediated the destruction of both the Macgregors and the Colquhouns,
by his crafty and perfidious policy. The only evidence on which these
heavy charges rests is the dying declaration of Allester Macgregor of
Glenstrae, the chief of the clan, to the effect that he was deceived by
the earl of Argyle’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 as these charges were not believed at the time, they ought to
be received with some hesitation by the impartial historian now. Indeed,
it is difficult to believe that the earl of Argyle would, for his own
sake, have counselled the perpetration of such outrages as the Macgregors
committed, and still less that the Macgregors, who detested his authority,
would have carried them into effect to please him. The enmity alleged to
have existed between the Colquhouns and Argyle is assumed without proof of
any sort, and is not supported by any probability, whereas the hatred
between the Macgregors and Colquhouns was an hereditary feud, and a war of
races. 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 Argyle and Athole, and their chief, with some of
his principal followers, was enticed by Argyle to surrender to him, on
condition that they would be allowed to leave the country. Argyle 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
Argyle 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, Argyle “keipit ane 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. This at least is certain, that so many families were
bereaved of their sons by the atrocities of the Macgregors that there was
no probability of a pardon having been obtained from James.
In
the decreet of ranking of the Scots nobility, 5th March 1606,
the earl of Argyle was placed second in the list of earls. In 1608 he and
the Marquis of Huntly were sent against the proscribed Macgregors, and
almost totally extirpated that persecuted and unfortunate clan. In 1617,
after the suppression by him of the Clandonald, Argyle obtained from the
king a grant of the whole county of Kintyre, which grant was ratified by a
special act of parliament the same year. At this time he seems to have
been in high favour at court, and on the visit of King James to Scotland
in that year, he was one of those who, at the command of the king,
repaired to Holyroodhouse on Whitsunday the 8th of June, and
partook of the communion, then and there celebrated after the English
form; he and those with him, says Calderwood, “communicated kneeling, not
regarding either Christ’s institution or the ordour of our kirk.” But this
need not have surprised the worthy chronicler had he known that for some
years Argyle had been a concealed papist. His first countess, to whom Sir
William Alexander, afterwards earl of Stirling, inscribed his ‘Aurora’ in
1604, having died, his lordship 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. On the 17th of June 1617, he carried the crown,
at the opening of the parliament, and this seems to have been his last
public appearance in his native country. 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
Allaster MacRanald of Keppoch, who had taken refuge in that country. The
king, upon this, wrote to the privy council at Edinburgh, recalling the
license given to Argyle to go abroad, and directing that nobleman to be
summoned to appear before the council in the following February under the
pain of treason. In the meantime, various efforts were made to make the
barons and gentlemen of Argyle answerable for the good rule of that
extensive earldom. The result was that in December 1618, twenty of these
barons and gentlemen appeared in presence of the council and made an
arrangement for effecting the desired object, Campbell of Lundy
undertaking the principal charge. On the 16th of February, the
earl of Argyle having failed to make his appearance, he was, with sound of
trumpets, and two or three heralds at arms, openly declared rebel and
traitor, at the market cross of Edinburgh, and he remained under this ban
until the 22d of November 1621, when, by open proclamation at the same
place, with sound of trumpet and Lyon heralds, he was declared the king’s
free liege. Nevertheless, he did not venture to return to Britain during
the reign of James the Sixth, nor, indeed, till 1638; and he died in
London soon after his return, in that year, aged 62. While on the
continent he distinguished himself in the military service of Philip the
Second of Spain, against the states of Holland. 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 or Argyle. By his
first wife he had a son, Archibald, eighth earl, and four daughters,
namely, 1st, Lady Anne, married in 1607, to George, second
marquis of Huntly; 2d, Lady Annabella, married to Robert, second earl of
Lothian, of the house of Cessford; her eldest daughter, Lady Anne,
inherited the title of Lothian, and carried it into the house of
Fernyhirst; 3d, Lady Jane, married first to the first Viscount Kenmure,
and, secondly, to the Hon. Sir Henry Montgomery, of Giffen, second son of
the sixth earl of Eglinton; and 4th, Lady Mary, who became the
wife of Sir Robert Montgomery of Skelmorly. By his second wife, the earl
had a son and a daughter, viz., James, earl of Irvine, [see IRVINE, earl
of,] and Lady Mary, married to James, second Lord Rollo [See ROLLO, lord.]
His first countess was introduced by Lord Walpole into his Appendix, for
having collected and published in Spanish, a set of sentences from the
works of St. Augustine. Her portrait will be found in Walpole’s ‘Royal and
Noble Authors,’ Park’s edition, 1806, vol. v. p. 71. Douglas says, and it
seems likely, that the portrait may be that of Lady Anne Douglas, but the
authoress must have been Anne Cornwallis, his second wife, as the latter
was in Spain with him, but the former died many years before he went to
that country. The following cut is taken from that portrait of the
countess of Argyle.
[portrait of the
countess of Argyle]
Of the
more illustrious personages of the family of Argyle, memoirs are
subsequently given in larger type. The conspicuous figure which they made
in the history of their country, and the prominent part which the family
has always acted in Scottish affairs, entitle its more celebrated members
to separate biographies.
CAMPBELL, ARCHIBALD,
eights earl and first marquis or Argyle, an eminent patriot and statesman,
was the son of Archibald, seventh earl, by his first wife Lady Anne
Douglas, daughter of the earl of Morton. He was born in 1598, and educated
in the protestant religion, according to the strict rules of the Church of
Scotland, as it was established at the Reformation. After his father went
to Spain, as already narrated, he managed the affairs of his family and
clan in his absence. In 1626 he was sworn a privy councillor, and in 1634
appointed one of the extraordinary lords of session. On the death of his
father in 1638, he succeeded to his titles. The estates he had held
previously. He attended the General Assembly at Glasgow, that year, at
which presbyterianism was declared to be the established religion of
Scotland. In 1639, when Charles prepared for the invasion of Scotland,
Argyle raised nine hundred men to oppose the Macdonalds of the Isles and
the earl of Antrim, who were to attack the kingdom on the west. In June
1640 he marched to the north against the earl of Athol and the Ogilvys,
who had taken up arms for the king, and forced them to submit.
Of
Argyle’s ascendancy in the senate the marquis of Montrose at this time
became particularly jealous, and he transmitted an accusation against him
to court, of having declared in the presence of Athol and others that the
states intended to depose the king. The fact was denied by all the
witnesses, said to have been present, and Stewart, commissary of Dunkeld,
the informer, who retracted his statement, was convicted and executed;
while Montrose was committed prisoner to the castle of Edinburgh. In 1641,
when Charles the First came to Scotland, his majesty created him marquis
of Argyle.
In
1644, after the marquis of Huntly, whom the king had appointed his
lieutenant-general in the north of Scotland, had taken Aberdeen, Argyle
was, by the convention at Edinburgh, commissioned to raise an army to
oppose him. He, accordingly, assembled at Perth, a force of five thousand
foot and eight hundred horse, with which he advanced on Aberdeen. Huntly
fled to Banff, where he disbanded his army, and retired to Strathnaver.
Argyle, after taking possession of Aberdeen, proceeded northward and took
the castles of Gight and Kellie. The lairds of Gight and Haddo he made
prisoners and sent to Edinburgh, where the latter was afterwards beheaded.
In July 1644, Alexander Macdonald, who had been despoiled of his patrimony
by Argyle’s father, landed in the west from Ireland, with fifteen hundred
men, with the purpose of joining the marquis of Montrose, on the side of
the king. Argyle collected an army to oppose his progress, and to cut off
his retreat to Ireland he sent some ships of war to Loch Eishord, where
Macdonald’s fleet lay, which captured or destroyed them.
After the battle of Tippermuir, Montrose’s victorious army proceeded
through Angus and the Mearns to Aberdeen, where he again defeated the army
of the Covenanters. On the 4th of September, four days after
the battle of Tippermuir, Argyle, who had been pursuing the Irish forces
under Macdonald, had arrived with his Highlanders at Stirling, where, on
the following day, he was joined by the ear of Lothian and his regiment.
With an increased force, amounting to three thousand foot and two regular
cavalry regiments, besides ten troops of horse, Argyle arrived at Aberdeen
on the 19th, and issued a proclamation, declaring the marquis
of Montrose and his followers traitors to religion, and to their king and
country, and offering a reward of twenty thousand pounds Scots, to any
person who should bring in Montrose dead or alive. Spalding, vol. ii. page
271, laments with great pathos and feeling the severe hardships to which
the citizens of Aberdeen had been subjected by the frequent visitations of
hostile armies at this period, but forgets to add how much the citizens of
Aberdeen had done to bring it on themselves by their sympathy with
Montrose. Three days after his arrival in Aberdeen, Argyle put his army in
motion in the direction of Kintyre. On hearing of his approach, Montrose
concealed his cannon in a bog, and marched his army into the forest of
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