Clan Campbell

Profile managers: Scotland Project WikiTree [send private message] and Amy Gilpin [send private message]

Scotland Project > Scottish Clans > Clan Campbell

Welcome to Clan Campbell

Clan Chief: Torquhil Ian Campbell - MacCailein Mor ('Son of Colin the Great').

Crest: On a boar's head erased fessways erased Or, armed Argent, langued Gules

Motto: Ne Obliviscaris (Latin for Forget Not)

Slogan/War Cry: Cruachan! (from the mountain north of Loch Awe, overlooking the bulk of the Campbell lands in Argyll)

Region: Highland

Historic Seat:Castle Campbell is a medieval castle situated above the town of Dollar, Clackmannanshire, in Argyllcentral Scotland

Plant badge: Bog Myrtle or Moss

Pipe music: known in Scottish Gaelic as "Baile Inneraora", which translates as "The Town of Inveraray"

Gaelic name: Clann Diarmaid

Clan Team

Team Goals

The focus of this team's work is to identify, improve and maintain profiles associated with the Lairds and Chiefs of Clan Campbell together with members bearing the name Campbell, the related families and those recognised as septs of Clan Campbell.

Team To Do List

This list will be developed by the Team. If you are working on a specific task, please list it here:

• Add [[Category:Clan Campbell]] to profiles bearing the name Campbell on Wikitree, where they can be traced back to Scotland.
• Review Campbell profiles on Wikitree to ensure they are as accurate as possible, correcting mistakes once spotted.
• Add maintenance categories to profiles that are orphaned, need research, need sources, etc. as needed.
• Summarize the History section of our Team page and add any detailed information to a separate: Clan Campbell - History space page. This page needs to be set up with the Scotland Project as a manager.
• encouraging interest in and study of Clan Campbell.

Septs

Information on the Septs of the Clan Campbell has been extracted from Volume I of The History of the Clan Campbell by Alastair Lorne Campbell of Airds.

Clan History

Please reduce this section to a brief summary and create a free space page for the History.

The current Clan Chief is Torquhil Ian Campbell, 13th Duke of Argyll, Marquess of Kintyre and Lorne, Earl of Argyll, Campbell and Cowal, Viscount Lochawe and Glenyla, Lord Campbell, Lorne, Kintyre, Inveraray, Mull, Morven and Tyrie in the peerage of Scotland, Baron Sundridge of Coombank and Baron Hamilton of Hameldon in the peerage of Great Britain, 6th Duke of Argyll in the peerage of the United Kingdom, Baronet of Nova Scotia, Hereditary Master of the Royal Household in Scotland, Hereditary Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland, Hereditary Keeper of the royal castles of Dunoon, Carrick Castle, Dunstaffnage Castle and Tarbet, Admiral of the Western coasts and isles, and Chief of the Honourable Clan Campbell.

The chief's Gaelic title is MacCailein Mor ('Son of Colin the Great'). His Grace is also the hereditary High Sheriff of Argyllshire, Member Queen's Body Guard for Scotland and Member Royal Company of Archers.

The Campbells arrived in Argyll as part of a royal expedition in c.1220. They settled on Lochaweside where they were placed in charge of the King's lands in the area.

MacCailein Mor

Colin Mor Campbell (‘Colin The Great') was their Chief and his name ‘MacCailean Mor' is still used by the chief of the Clan Campbell, The Duke of Argyll, today.

Colin Mor Campbell was killed in 1296 and was succeeded by his son Sir Neil Campbell, companion and brother-in-law of King Robert the Bruce. The family headquarters were the great castle (now a ruin) at Innischonnell on Loch Awe, and remained so until 1450 when Sir Duncan Campbell (great grandson of Sir Colin) moved to Inveraray and built the first castle there. He was created Lord Campbell and thereafter a steady string of titles were awarded to the family. His grandson, Colin, was created 1st Earl of Argyll in 1457.

Master of the Royal Household

Archibald, the 2nd Earl of Argyll was granted the appointment of Master of the Royal Household in Scotland, a privilege still held by the Duke today. He was killed at Flodden fighting the English along with many of his Clan.

The 5th Earl, Archibald, was another military hero commanding a force of his own people which was more powerful than the existing armies of France and England. He was a power of international importance and only fell in defeat when in command of the army of Mary Queen of Scots in 1568.

The 8th Earl became the 1st Marquess of Argyll but his devotion to the Presbyterian religion led him reluctantly to enmity with King Charles I. The Earl led the Covenanters opposed to the King and was subsequently executed. The fortune of the House of Argyll was down until the Glorious Revolution in 1688.

Ending the Rebellion

The 10th Earl was very much in favour and was granted the Dukedom in 1701, together with a string of titles. Before that, however, he had raised a regiment know as the Earl of Argyle's Regiment of Foot, the unit tasked with the notorious Massacre of Glencoe, an episode inaccurately classed as an act of clan vengeance by the Campbells. The 2nd Duke was a famous soldier who commanded the Government Army at the Battle of Sheffifmuir which put paid to the Jacobite Rebellion of 1715 and was one of the first officers in the British Army to be promoted to the rank of Field Marshal. He instructed Vanbrugh to design a new Inveraray Castle befitting his elevated status. The Duke was created the Duke of Greenwich alongside the Argyll Dukedom, but the title lapsed without a direct male heir. His brother became the 3rd Duke of Argyll; another distinguished soldier who subsequently became the Lord Justice General of Scotland. He was responsible for developing the garden and surrounding poilicies in Inveraray, building the bridges, canalizing the river to enhance its beauty through the grounds and building the watch tower overlooking the castle today.

On the brink of economic disaster

The 4th and 5th Dukes were both renown soldiers and the far seeing efforts of the 5th Duke were almost destroyed by the 6th, a charming but dissolute playboy who left a string of debts and illegitimate children.

His brother, the 7th Duke, fought hard to avoid disaster and the family fortunes were, to an extent, restored by the time of the 8th Duke who was a successful politician, a Cabinet Minister and Renaissance Man.

It was the 8th Duke's son and heir who married Queen Victoria's daughter, Princess Louise, thereafter serving as Governor General of Canada before succeeding as 9th Duke. They had no children and the title went to a nephew.

Niall, 10th Duke, was a scholarly recluse and an expert on Scottish History and the Clan Campbell. He never married and the title passed to his cousin.

Clan Branches

Other Names Associated with the Clan

Allied Clans

Clan Bruce,Clan Grant,Clan Drummond,Clan Leslie,Clan Maitland,Clan Malcolm Clan Scott,Clan Forbes,Clan Stewart of Balquhidder,Clan Menzies,Clan MacInnes,Clan MacEwen,Clan MacCallum,Clan MacLeod,Clan MacLachlan,Clan Buchanan,Clan MacFarlane,Clan Wallace

Rival Clans

Clan Gordon, Clan MacDougall, Clan MacDonald,Clan MacArthur,Clan Lamont,Clan MacGregor,Clan MacLaren,Clan MacLean,Clan MacKinnon Clan MacAlister,Clan MacLea,Clan Sinclair,Clan Calder,Clan MacNaghten

Clan Research and Free Space Pages

Source Material

• Family History Taken From Inveraray Castle
• Clan Campbell - Information about Septs
• Account of the depredations committed on the Clan Campbell

Image Credits and Acknowledgements

News/Updates

First things first, if you are in any way related to clan Campbell you may want to watch this! Its a show that airs in Europe, and unfortunately not here in the U.S.A.

Its called Highland Clans, and guess what? Episode four is about the Campbell clan! Their Rise to power and fall into blood soaked conquests.

Update: Sorry for my lack of updates. Kids broke the computer. I did however get my hands on some interesting books for the clan Campbell that I hope to use as a source for more information in regards to the family tree. As far as updates go, I have completed the facts you now see below. I have also started providing links to resources, things of interest and what not (the history sources will be there as well Once I get that section complete}.

Clan Societies

• Clan Campbell Society of North America

DNA Studies

List of known DNA studies associated with Clan Campbell.

• Campbell Y-DNA Study at FamilyTreeDNA