Clan Campbell

The Campbells rose to power in Argyll, on Scotland’s west coast. The earliest securely recorded bearer of the name appears in the 1260s, and from a base at Loch Awe the family built one of the greatest lordships in Scotland. Cailean Mór, killed in 1296, gave the chiefs their Gaelic patronymic Mac Cailein Mòr, still used today. Sir Neil Campbell’s support for Robert the Bruce brought lands and a royal marriage; Colin Campbell was created Earl of Argyll in 1457, and the 10th Earl became the 1st Duke in 1701.

The Campbells generally took the Protestant and later the Hanoverian side. The 9th Earl was beheaded in 1685 after Argyll’s Rising, the 2nd Duke commanded government forces at Sheriffmuir in 1715, and Campbell companies served at Culloden in 1746. In 1692 Captain Robert Campbell of Glenlyon commanded the soldiers who killed thirty-eight MacDonalds at Glencoe, although most of the men under him were not Campbells.

The Campbell tartan

The tartan sold simply as Campbell is the dark blue, green and black Government sett, the same pattern worn by the Black Watch. That regiment was formed from the Independent Highland Companies under a royal warrant of 25 October 1739 and first mustered near Aberfeldy in May 1740. Clan Campbell treats this sett as the clan tartan, with Breadalbane, Cawdor and Loudoun as branch patterns.

Campbell of Argyll differs from it by a white line, added by the 6th Duke to distinguish himself as chief. A Campbell of Argyll specimen was certified to the Highland Society of London by the chief in 1821.

One point of honesty: tartan historians disagree over whether the Campbell and Government setts share a common origin, or whether the Campbells adopted an existing military pattern. No evidence has been found for a separate Campbell sett older than the Government one, and the clan’s traditional descent from Diarmuid the Boar is legend rather than documented fact.

Clan facts

References

1. Campbell tartans — The Scottish Register of Tartans
2. Clan Campbell Timeline — Clan Campbell Society (North America)
3. Chief of Clan Campbell — Clan Campbell Society (North America)
4. The establishment of the Black Watch — Scottish History