Hi, Folks,
This message was intended to be in answer to one by Linda Merle about
Campbells and MacDonalds/MacDonnells and their relationship in Ireland in
the 16th century, but got sent in error to the return path instead of the
List. Please contact me if your Campbell-L messages have a return path
of campbell-l-request(a)emcee.com -- the correct return path is
campbell-l(a)emcee.com.
Please post messages intended for subscribers to read to
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Thanks,
Chris Gaunt, Campbell-L listowner
cgaunt(a)umich.edu or gaunt(a)genealogy.org
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: 21 Sep 1997 17:59:46 -0700
From: Diarmid Campbell <diarmid(a)EAZY.NET>
To: campbell-l-request(a)emcee.com
Subject: Campbells and MacDonnels in N.Ireland
Linda Merle,
You ask about Campbells and MacDonalds/MacDonnels in the 16th century in
terms of expeditions to Northern ireland from the Highlands and Islands.
A member of my family, John (Ian) 'dubh' (black haired) MacConnachie (sons
of Duncan) Campbell, Tutor (guardian of the heir) of Inverawe (in Argyll)
led a force of combined Campbells and MacDonalds to Ireland in the second
half of the 16th century (15 hundreds) to assist the Earl of Tyrone agains
the forces of Elizabeth of England. I seem to remember that his colleague
among the Islemen was one Angus 'og' (the younger) MacDonald who I assume
was of the Islay family.
John dubh's elder half brother Dugald Campbell of Inverawe's wife and
children had been killed while he was away - his castle of Fraoch Eilean on
Lochawe burned and his wife and children hung at the gate by one Alan 'nan
sop' (of the straw) a pirate from Mull who had some MacLean connection it is
thought. So Dugald had married again to young Christian, daughter of John
Carswell, Biship of Argyll and the Isles, and had one son Archibald who was
born about when Dugald died in or before 1583. John 'dubh' may have had to
come home from Ireland to take up his duties as Tutor in that year.
Certainly in the 1580s and 90s there were efforts on the part of the Cecils
(Lord Burleigh and his son - ministers in turn to Elizabeth of England) to
have Bowes, the English ambassador to the Scottish court, enlist John 'dubh'
to return to Ireland in the guise of assisting Tyrone but then lead the
Irish and Scots forces into an English ambush. Mercifully for the
reputation of our family he did not do this, although he did lead the
schemers along until he had milked them of all the advantage in payments he
thought he oculd get from them.
Most of this information came from the Calendar of Scottish Papers at the
PRO in London. John 'dubh' was one of the wildest of characters but his
leadership among the Highlanders and Islemen (including MacDonalds) was
clearly highly prized. It is interesting that later in his life (before he
was killed by his nephew Archiblad in self defence circa 1607) he was
appointed by the Earl of Argyll (Campbell Chief) with MacDonald (MacIain) of
Glencoe to be the two leaders of an official Scots expedition to Ireland.
This was a part of James VII's (King of Scots) attempt to make sure he was
appointed as heir to the throne of England by Elizabeth and would have put
John 'dubh' and Glencoe against the Irish. Again, mercifully, Elizabeth
died in 1603 before they went to Ireland and the expedition was cancelled.
There was another combined MacDonald-Campbell expedition in the late 17th
century, an attack on the MacLeans in Mull, but that is another story and it
was not much resisted.
I think that you can see from this that the image of the MacDonalds and
Campbells being eternal enemies - while a view held by most Scots and many
overseas Scots for their entertainment - is also often total hogwash when it
comes to historical rather than emotional fact.
They did fight together to support Robert Bruce (although both had some
members of the family on the opposite side as Highland families often did as
an insurance) and it was after Bruce that both rose to power in Argyll on
the ruin of teh MacDougall princes of Argyll and the Isles who had been
obliged to oppose Bruce who had murdered their in law the Red Comyn.
The MacDonald 'Lords of the Isles' (a title they adopted in 1350) rose first
and fastest but they kept changing sides in relation to the crown and the
final blow was their treaty with the English (treaty of Ardtornish Feb-March
1462) which, when discovered by the King of England to the King of Scots,
led to the forfeiture of their Chief the Earl of Ross in 1476 after which
the cooperation of the various branches of Clan Donald disintegrated into
rivalries and their great strength was depleted.
Meanwhile the Campbell kindred had more slowly grown in power - mostly due
to their consistent loyalty to their kin of the royal house (Robert Bruce
had been a cousin and this loyalty was reinforced my a number of Stewart
marriages in subsequent generations), so that when another family such as
MacDougall or later MacDonald had lands forfeit to the crown, the Earls of
Argyll were often given the overlordship - which could in some cases later
be turned into actual ownership. The thing was that the Scots Kings were
cash poor, so rewards for loyalty tended to be granted in lands.
The continued slow enlargement of Campbell lands meant that more younger
sons could be set up with their own farm. In those times the land was not
as important as the people on the land and so therefore the number of men
who could be brought to the field of battle (potentially) from each farm or
estate.
This enlargement of the lands though grants snowballed so that by the second
half of the 16th century an unusual character like 'black' Sir Duncan
Campbell of Glenorchy (also spelt Glen Urchy) could have adequate funds to
purchase extensive lands, further increasing the power of his branch of the
Campbells - which eventually became the Campbells of Breadalbane. Another
tactic used by him and later by the 17th century Marquis of Argyll (8th
Earl) was to buy up debts and then forclose if the local Chieftain was
unable to pay. The Campbell and MacDonald invasion of Mull mentioned above
was on government warrant obtained as a result of enlarging such a debt.
I think it likely that this last tactic by those two men, Sir Duncan and
later the Marquis, produced the Campbell reputation we have today - "the
greed of the Campbells..." etc. although all Campbells are always "tarred
with the same brush" by the ignorant.
However I have not yet found an example of such financial tactics (as
practiced today by the large financiers in milking first the oil industry
and then the savings and loan industry in the US though artificially created
crises - is the Stock Market next?) being practiced by the Campbells against
the MacDonalds - more the MacLeans and MacGregors (although I am not certain
of the latter?).
The most ruthless act of the Campbells, both Glenorchy and Argyll, was
against their kinsfolk of Clan Gregor - a highly complex issue of which I
have much to learn. Incidentally the Lamonts were not of Clan Gregor but
kin to the MacSweens, MacLachlans, MacGilchrists - all descended of the
Irish prince Anrothan (pron. 'UN-ruhun') who came to Argyll in circa 1050.
His elder brother 'the ox' was ancestor of the O'Neils and remained in
Ireland. Despite the traditions about King Alpine, the origins of Clan
Gregor appear more likely to have been from the lay Celtic Abbots of Glen
Dochart.
I realize that I have strayed a bit from the Irish issue, but without this
sketch background the Irish expeditions don't make much sense in terms of
teh alliance of MacDonald/MacDonnell and Campbell fighting with Tyrone.
If it would help to post this on your Irish List, please do. I would like
advice on how to find out more on when John 'dubh' MacConnochie was in
Ireland before 1583 and any Irish sources anyone has to suggest to learn
more about his time in Ireland. Incidentally some think that the Irish
macConaugheys were descended from the Scottish MacConnachies of Inverawe
(Campbells) since they likely went to Ireland before (or because of) the
reformation of 1560 and so were Catholics.
All best, Diarmid