Argyll

“ Of this committee Argyll was not a member, but he was ‘major potestas,’ and ‘all knew that it was his influence that gave being, life, and motion to the new-modelled governors.’ On 12 June a commission of ‘fire and sword’ was issued by the committee of estates to Argyll against the Earl of Atholl and the Ogilvies, who had taken up arms in behalf of the king. With a force of four thousand men he swept over the districts of Badenoch, Atholl, and Mar, according to the hostile chroniclers stripping the fields of the sheep and cattle. ”

“ Argyll is my name.
[Attributed to the celebrated John, Duke of Argyll and Greenwich, who figures so favourably in the "Heart of Midlothian" as the patron of Jeanie Deans. He died in 1743, at the age of sixty-three. A modified version of the song, by Sir Alex. Boswell, Bart. of Auchinleck, is given in the 3d. vol. of George Thomson's collection.—Air, "Bannocks o' barley."]
Argyll is my name, and you may think it strange,
To live at a court, yet never to change ”

“ The energetic measures undertaken by him against Argyll, and the closeness with which he dogged his movements, caused the gradual dispersion of his followers, and on 18 June Argyll was captured at Inchinnan (for various particulars see ib. pp. 17-24) . After Argyll's capture Atholl displayed great severity in harassing and plundering his territories (Wodrow, iii. 310) . In July he captured Argyll's second son, Charles, who had sent round the fiery cross to raise the clan, and had also garrisoned a house in Argyll. ”

“ Argyll was frequently consulted by the government in the more important matters relating to Scotland, and there are a large number of his letters in the Carstares ‘State Papers.’ By letters patent dated at Kensington 23 June 1701, he was created duke of Argyll, marquis of Lorne and Kintyre, earl of Campbell and Cowal, viscount of Lochow and Glenisla, lord Inverary, Mull, Morven, and Tyree. ”

“ A suspicion being 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 Argyll family, that they might obtain possession of the estates forfeited by the chiefs thus driven into rebellion, and an opportunity soon presenting itself, the king eagerly availed himself of it, to curb the increasing power of the Earl of Argyll in that remote portion of the kingdom. ”

“ Between Argyll and Airlie.
Argyll has raised an hunder men,
An hunder harnessd rarely,
And he's awa by the back of Dunkell,
To plunder the castle of Airlie.
Lady Ogilvie looks oer her bower-window.
And oh, but she looks weary!
And there she spy'd the great Argyll,
Come to plunder the bonny house of Airlie.
'Come down, come down, my Lady Ogilvie,
Come down, and kiss me fairly:'
'O I winna kiss the fause Argyll,
If he should na leave a standing stane in Airlie.'
He hath taken her by the left shoulder,
Says, Dame where lies thy dowry? ”

“ On his way to join them, Argyll, with a body of highlanders, was surprised by the Earl of Lanark while dining with the Earl of Mar at Stirling, but galloping across Stirling bridge he reached North Queensferry, and crossed the Firth in a small boat to Edinburgh, where the ‘Whigamores,’ as they were afterwards called, had already arrived. The incursion known as the ‘Whigamore Raid’ dealt the final blow to the cause of the king. At Edinburgh a new committee of estates was formed with Argyll at its head. ”

“ This, according to Lauder of Fountainhall, was 'to please him, seeing he lost the chancellor's place, and to perfect Argyll's ruin' (ib. p. 547) . Argyll had fled to Holland, and Atholl having entered Argyllshire with about a thousand men, apprehended Lord Neill Campbell, Campbell of Ardkinglass, and others, disarmed the inhabitants, and brought their arms to Inverness, and prohibited the 'indulged' ministers from officiating from that time forth (see especially Hist. MSS. Comm. 12th Rep. App. pt. viii. pp. 12-13) . ”

“ The Countess Peggy smiled.
“Ye are the first Argyll, cousin,” she said, “who has disliked Inverary Castle, and as for pulling down Kilchurn, we’re no’ intending it. Jock is ower busy building up what the Macdonalds destroy.”
Argyll drew closer to the fire, balancing his tea-cup with the anxiety of a man to whom a slop in the saucer would be a disaster.
“I’m weary of the name of Macdonald, cousin,” he said. “I marvel Breadalbane hath let them gain such an upper hand; they should be hanged and done with.” ”

“ For some reason or other the confession was not immediately revealed to Argyll, and when, in the autumn of the same year, he was appointed king's lieutenant against the Earls of Huntly and Erroll, Campbell of Lochnell had command of one of the divisions of the army. With an army of six thousand men Argyll marched towards Strathbogie, and at Glenlivat fell in with Huntly and Erroll, in command of fif teen hundred men, mostly trained soldiers. ”

“ But his son, lord Lorn, had been a steady and zealous opponent of Cromwell and the commonwealth, and he was one of the first to congratulate Charles on his restoration. To lay hold on Argyll in his mountains was no easy matter, but if he could be beguiled from his fastnesses to court, he might be at once punished. No symptoms of the remembrance of the past, therefore, escaped the king or his ministers, and Argyll, deceived by this, and by the friendly reception of his son, wrote, proposing to pay his Respects to his sovereign in the capital. ”

“ From this time the supremacy of Argyll in the affairs of Scotland terminated both in name and reality. For some months, though retaining his place at the helm of affairs, he had been helplessly drifting at the mercy of contending factions. As the extreme covenanters now held aloof from the king, Argyll, at the parliament which met at Perth on 13 March, found his counsels completely overruled, and from this time the struggle of Charles II against Cromwell was directed by the Hamilton faction. ”

“ Pre-eminently Argyll is the shire of the sportsman. The lovely Western Isles provide endless enjoyment for the yachtsman; the lochs and rivers abound with salmon and trout; the deer forests and grouse moors are second to none in Scotland. ”

“ The men of the Argyll grew serious-minded, and while the artisan class labored to elevate the trunnions of a six-inch gun-mount on the superstructure—the Argyll's preparation for the chip—the rest read old letters, wrote new ones, or entered up journals, and Old Man Finnegan, as was usual with him under conditions that would impel the average toper to heavier drinking, forswore his peculiar privilege and took the pledge. ”

“ In South Argyll, on the other hand, the native lords appear to have submitted to the king, as the family of Dubhgal, the eldest son of Somerled, the great Celtic Lord of Argyll, seem to have remained in possession of the extensive district of Lorn; and it is at this time that we may fairly place a grant which appears to have been made of the lands in the interior which afterwards formed the lordship of Lochow to Duncan Mac Duine, the ancestor of the Campbells, a clan the head of which appears in the following reign as a close adherent of the Crown. ”

“ The villages and cottages were burnt down, the cattle destroyed or driven off, and the people slain wherever found with arms in their hands. This lasted from the 13th of December to the end of January.
Argyll by that time had mustered the clan Campbell, and lord Seaforth the mountaineers of Moray, Ross, Sutherland, and Caithness, to bear down on the invaders. Montrose, therefore, led forth his Highlanders and Irish to encounter them, and came first on Argyll and his army at Inverlochy Castle, in Lochaber. There he totally defeated Argyll, and slew nearly fifteen hundred of his people. ”

“ Colin Campbell, the third Earl of Argyll, 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, [180] and proclaimed Sir Donald of Lochalsh Lord of the Isles. Owing to the powerful influence of Argyll, the insurgents submitted to the regent, after strong measures had been adopted against them. In 1517 Sir Donald of Lochalsh again appeared in arms, but being deserted by his principal leaders, he effected his escape. ”

“ They had always maintained that he was the lawful son of Angus of the Isles, by his wife the Lady Margaret Campbell, daughter of the first Earl of Argyll, but his legitimacy was denied by the government when the islanders combined to assert by arms his claims as their hereditary chief. His liberation he owed to the gallantry and fidelity of the men of Glencoe. Repairing to the isles of Lewis, he put himself under the protection of its lord, Torquil Macleod, who had married Katherine, another daughter of Argyll, and therefore sister of the lady whom the islanders believed to be his mother. ”

“ Through the interposition of Argyll and Lord James Stuart, who had joined the forces of the regent, in order, as they affirmed, to moderate her counsels, hostilities were for the time averted, both armies agreeing to disperse. Before departing Glencairn, with Argyll, Lord James Stuart, and others, on the last day of May subscribed a bond, in which they obliged themselves to ‘spare neither labour, goods, substances, bodies, or lives in maintenance of the liberty of the whole congregation’ (Knox, Works, i. 345) . ”

“ But it is clear that if the plotters slew Charles and James, the hour had struck for the Dutch deliverer’s appearance. If we describe the Rye House Plot as aiming merely at “the exclusion of the Duke of York from the throne,” we shut our eyes to evidence and make ourselves incapable of understanding the events. There were plotters of every degree and rank, and they were intriguing with Argyll, and, through Carstares who knew, though he refused a part in the murder plot, were in touch at once with Argyll and the intimates of William of Orange. ”

“ It is matter of history that Argyll did not escape in the long run. In 1685, three years before the dawn of the Revolution, he made that unfortunate expedition to Scotland which ended in failure, capture and death on the old charge. One of his associates was Sir John Cochrane of Ochiltree; he also was captured and as a “forefaulted traitor” was led by the hangman through the streets of Edinburgh bound and bareheaded. ”

“ On Sunday morning, 13 Nov., they formed on Sheriffmuir, to the left of the road leading to Dunblane, in full view of Argyll and his staff, whose troops had now advanced beyond Dunblane, but, owing to the configuration of the ground, were partially concealed from Mar and his officers. The forces of Mar numbered about twelve thousand to the four thousand under Argyll; and Mar's chance of victory was completely thrown away through the entire absence of common precaution, or even any definite arrangements. He called a council to debate the expediency of risking a battle. ”

“ The fugitives were welcomed back to the capital with the assurance that they were honest men, loyal subjects, and good patriots. Argyll on his return carried all before him. The offices of State were filled with his nominees. The Privy Council was carefully weeded to make room for his friends. The unfortunate King, to [Pg 122] fill the cup of his humiliation full, scattered titles with a lavish hand. Argyll was raised to a marquisate; Almond was created Earl of Callendar; bluff old Leslie took his seat among the peers of Scotland as Earl of Leven. ”

“ Argyll and the Covenanters rose into the ascendant. Argyll soon after this seized a ship containing ten thousand stand of arms, which had been sent from Denmark for Hamilton's expedition. He invited Cromwell to Edinburgh, where he was received with great distinction, and was honoured by the thanks of the Scottish ministers as the preserver of Scotland under God. The members of the faction of Hamilton were declared enemies to religion and the kingdom, and incapable of serving in Parliament or the Assembly of the Kirk. ”

“ But on approaching Edinburgh Mackintosh found Argyll with 500 dragoons ready to welcome him; Mar took no advantage of Argyll’s absence from Stirling, and Mackintosh, when Argyll returned thither, joined Kenmure and Forster, occupied Kelso, and marched into Lancashire. The Jacobite forces were pitifully ill-supplied, they had very little ammunition (the great charge against Bolingbroke was that he sent none from France) , they seem to have had no idea that powder could be made by the art of man; they were torn by jealousies, and dispirited by their observation of Mar’s incompetence. ”

“ It was about this time that William Cecil, afterwards Lord Burghley, referred to Argyll as “a goodly gentleman universally honoured of all Scotland.” Owing to his friendship with Mary, Argyll was separated from the party of Knox, but he forsook the queen when she determined to marry Lord Darnley; he was, however, again on Mary’s side after Queen Elizabeth’s refusal to aid Murray in 1565. Argyll was probably an accomplice in the murder of Rizzio ”

“ This patronimic of the noble family of Argyll has been strangely changed by Sir Walter Scott, and others, into MacCallum More. The true orthography and reading of it is Mac Chailein, that is, the son or descendant of Colin. Mòr signifies great; and when used in the genitive case as above, it is written Mhoir—pronounced Vòr, or rather Vore—having much the same sound as More in English.
Mac Chailein Mhoir, the son of the Great Colin, or Mac Chailean, is synonymous in Gaelic with Argyll; and Mòr, great, makes it, in fact, the Great Argyll. ”