Please contact me (Kyle Brodie Campbell) at kylevet@gmail.com with any corrections or additional information. Enjoy!
"Tell me, what is it you plan to do
With your one wild and precious life?"
Mary Oliver
"The mark of a Scot of all classes is that he remembers and cherishes the memories of his forebears, good or bad; and here burns alive in him a sense of identity with the dead even to the twentieth generation." Robert Louis Stevenson
"... the story of Wallace poured a Scottish prejudice into my veins which will boil along there till the flood-gates of life shut in eternal rest." Robert Burns
"Cuimhnich air na daoine o’n d’ thàinig thu" - "Remember the men from whom you sprang"
"What we do in life - echoes in eternity"
Maximus Decimus Meridius
"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
Gandalf the White
“Death smiles at us all, all a man can do is smile back.”
Marcus Aurelius
This website presents an attempt to trace the Campbell Genealogy from the Campbell Boys of Ithaca, New York back through the centuries in Scotland. I make no claim to the authenticity or accuracy of any relations or historical events claimed herein, and it's a wonder I didn't list Prince William and Spare Harry as siblings...
My interest in genealogy springs from my strong desire to sit on a throne, anywhere's fine, with jesters and supplicants and concubines easing my passage through a lordly existence. Actually, my curiosity was piqued at Christmas dinner 2006 when my brother Rory and I were reviewing the family history and embellishing our primary school accomplishments when he informed me that our grandfather had many siblings, whilst for years I was under the impression that Grandpa Charles "Champagne Charlie" Campbell had one twin brother and no more. Have you ever had a seismic paradigm shift in your perception of the world? Well I haven't either, but I was surprised to discover that the familial DNA had splashed over the rim of the small gene pool I thought I had been swimming in since old enough to misremember these things...
...and as improbable as it seems, the descendancy from Irish and Scottish Kings to the Campbell boys of Ithaca may in fact exist, and if you subscribe to the theory that we're all descended from monkeys then perhaps this doesn't tax the imagination to any great extent...
The connection is through my great-grandmother ("The Duchess") Grace McIntyre's great- great grandmother Margaret Buchanan. The original Buchanan ancestor to arrive on the west coast of Scotland was a displaced Irish King, Dermod Buidh O'Cathan (O'Kyan), King in Ulster, who was forced to flee Ireland in 1016 A.D. by the invasion of Danes into Ireland. Dermod is the great-great-great-great-great-great- great grandson of Aodh mac Domhnaill O'Neill, King Of Ireland. The interceding antecedants were regional Kings and Princes of various districts in Ireland. Dermod O'Cathan landed near Lennox, on the northern coast of Argyllshire, and on at least two occasions assisted our 27x great-grandfather King Malcolm the Second ("The Destroyer" - I ask you) in repelling Viking invasions into western Scotland, for which he was granted lands in Scotland. Dermod's son, Anselan, thus became Anselan Buidh O'Cathain, 1st of Buchanan. King Malcolm II and the Campbell destinies nearly intersected eleven years earlier, when in 1005 A.D. Malcolm murdered his cousin Kenneth III (King of Alba 997-1005), and for good measure Kenneth's son Giric, on the north shore of Loch Monzievaird at the Battle of Monzievaird, to gain access to the throne of Scotland. The battlefield is abutted on all sides by the farmsteads Glenturret, Brae of Monzievaird, Locherlour and Currochs - all farms
that Campbells and Gordons worked in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. Malcolm the Destroyer discouraged the aspirations of his relatives and ruled for 29 long years largely by force of sword - and in keeping with Scottish tradition, he relinquished his crown when he was murdered at Glamis in 1034. Ah, the Scots.
Further consolidation of the Campbell Boys claim to a throne, somewhere, is our descendency from Robert Bruce, King of Scots (1274-1329). We are descended from two of his daughters. Marjory Bruce, who married Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland in 1315 and produced one child, a son, who would become Robert II, King of Scots. King Robert II's birth was remarkable in that he was delivered by caesarian section on March 2, 1316 after his mother Marjory was thrown from a horse and died as a result of her injuries (or perhaps a hasty caesarian section). Robert II was the first Stewart King of Scots, and reigned from 1371-1390. From this lineage Robert the Bruce is our 20x great grandfather, and his grandson Robert II is therefore our 18x great grandfather. We are also descended through a different line from his daughter Elizabeth Bruce.
The surname "Campbell" is believed to have originated with Dugald Campbell b. 1182 Lochawe, Argyll, Scotland. Dugald Campbell is thought to be the first of this family to be called "Cam Beul", Gaelic for curved mouth, an appellation he earned for his habit of speaking out of the side of his mouth. By the time his grandson Great Colin and his great grandson Neil served with Robert the Bruce the spelling of the surname was "Cambel". Sir Cailean Mor (Great Colin) Campbell of Lochawe and his son Sir Neil 'MacCailen Mor' Campbell were warrior knights who fought alongside the Bruce at Bannockburn and in the Wars for Scottish Independence with England. The Campbells' allegiance to Bruce is in part explained by the fact that they are thought to be cousins: Great Colin's maternal grandfather is the brother of Robert the Bruce's paternal grandfather. Great Colin was slain by an archer in a clan battle with the MacDougalls at the Battle of Red Ford, Lorn in 1294. The battle was a consequence of a feud over coastal lands between the two clans. At the time the MacDougalls were the rising power on the West coast of Scotland, but their enmity with both the Campbells and Robert Bruce resulted in several battles with the MacDougalls engaged against a Bruce army populated with a large number of Campbells. The MacDougalls were ultimately defeated at the Battle of Pass of Brander in 1308, and Bruce rewarded the Campbells for their allegiance by granting them most of the confiscated MacDougall lands. Great Colin's son Sir Neil was rewarded for his loyalty with land - and the Bruce's younger sister Mary's hand in marriage. The Campbells' loyalty to Bruce and Sir Neil's sensible marriage were the genesis for the rise to power of Clan Campbell in the western Isles and central Southern Highlands in the late 1200's through the 1500's.
Another favorite son of Scotland, Robert Roy MacGregor (1671-1734), has a connection to the Campbell Clan through his mother, Margaret Campbell. Clan MacGregor was proscribed by King James VI in 1603 - Rob Roy adopted his mother's surname and was known throughout Balquhidder as Robert Campbell (the name was restored in 1774). Rob Roy's mother also happens to be the sister of Captain Robert Campbell - yes THAT Capt. Robert Campbell, who in February 1692 distinguished himself for the ages by leading an unfortunate misadventure at Glencoe.
I was really impressed to discover that I am a regal sproutling sprung from royal loins, until I fiddled with the math and discovered that I have roughly 1,048,000 20x great grandparents. Impossible! In 1600 A.D. the population of Scotland was only about 800,000 so how can I possibly have over 1 million 20x g-grandparents in 1300 A.D.? Simple - inbreeding! As you wander backwards in time and ascend your ancestral tree a single person can occupy a position in multiple ancestral lineages - so your 20x great grandfather through your mother's line may be your 18x great grandparent through your father's lineage - and if you peruse our relatives in the 18th and 19th centuries you will note at least two sets of first cousins marrying - ergo they share the same grandparents - interesting to contemplate, and surprising that we're not all six-fingered and cycloptic...
The earliest confirmed Campbell ancestor I am able to verify is Duncan Campbell c.1739, a farmer at Coishavachan in Glen Lednock, who moved his family to Braefordie about 1790. I also suspect that our Campbells are related to the Campbells of Glenlyon that resided in and around Lawers, on the north side of Loch Tay. These Campbells sold the land they owned in that area of Lochtayside in 1637 to John Campbell of Edramuckie, collected some of the soil from there and relocated to Strathearn, between Comrie and Crieff. They deposited the soil on their newly acquired land and dubbed the location "Lawers". If you peruse an old map of that area of Perthshire you will see two "Lawers" roughly 10 miles apart and separated by Loch Tay. The Campbell origins in this region that are confirmed from as early as ~1730 lead me to believe that we are descended from the Breadalbane Campbells...
The surnames McNaughton and McIntyre also figure prominently in the last three hundred years of the Campbells of Monzievaird, and we are direct descendants of the Glenlyon McNaughtans and the McIntyres that married into the McNaughtan Clan.
There are four branches of the McNaughton Clan: McVicars, Mackays, Mcintaylors and Urchy McNaughtons. We are descendants of the Mcintaylor McNaughtons, as evidenced by the listing of my GGGGG-grandfather John McNaughtan, who is listed as "John McNaughtan alias Mcintaylor" on his daughter Katrine's OPR birth record in 1748.
From ‘In Famed Breadalbane’ (chapter 30, pps 353-74) by the Rev William A Gillies (Second edition, 1980; reprinted 1987): MCNAUGHTON. This is one of the oldest, if not the very oldest Breadalbane surname. There were four branches of the clan on Lochtayside, namely, the McVicars, the Mackays, the Mcintaylors, and the Urchy McNaughtons.The Mcintaylor McNaughtons have occupied lands in the district of Eddergoll for many centuries. Their names appear in the earliest Crown rentals. 1480, Donald McNachtan occupied the Forty-shilling Land, or Balnacnaughton; 1541, Laggan and Mill of Eddergoll let to John Tailyemoir, alias McNachtane; 1582, Mill of Eddergoll let to Malcolm McNachtane and Donald Mcintailyemoir's wife; 1597, Duncan McOnill VcEan, Balmacnaughton; 1623, Duncan McDonald, Balmacnaughton; 1627, John McEntailyeour, Balnaskiag; 1769, John, Portbane; Daniel, Tomgarrow.
• From Chronicles. of Fortingall - " 1556, John Challar Moyr died at Eddergooyllyt on 27th of September, and was buried at Inchaden, on the eve of St. Michael the Archangel."
Alexander McNaughton, son of John, tenant in Portbane, took over the Waulkmill at Remony in. succession to William Murray about 1780. He also began the dyeing of cloth, and thus he and his descendants came to be styled locally as "An Dafhadair" "The Dyer."
There is a notable dearth of the members of Clan McDonald and Clan MacDougall...
Our ancestors from Aberdeen include many members of the families of Gordon, Wallace and Innes. (MORE)
There have been other surprises - at least five of gggxgrandfather Duncan Campbell's (c.1739) thirteen children emigrated from Perthshire to New York State in the early and mid 1800's. Son Daniel Campbell was apparently the first Campbell to emigrate from Scotland to America in 1797, when he left Perthshire for Upstate New York. Son Duncan (b. 1790), a physician and Presbyterian minister, returned to Lochlane, Perthshire from Caledonia, New York in 1860, twenty years after he emigrated from Scotland to the United States in 1839. Henry, John and Daniel farmed in Madison, Montgomery, Herkimer and Schenectady Counties in upstate New York, and sister Christian was a nurse in New York City. Henry and Christian died without marrying or producing offspring, but John has many desdendants farming that area to this day. Another son, Peter, was a wine merchant in London. Our great-great-grandfather Samuel Campbell, the youngest of the 13 children, farmed in Perthshire his entire life, and consequently Dad was born in Perthshire and not New York State.
The following excerpts are from "The Black Watch - The Formation" at www.electricscotland.com:
"We can boast no Battle Honours for our part in the American War of Independence, because it was rightly decreed that Battle Honours should not be granted for a war with our own kith and kin."
-- The Black Watch
The design of rendering such a valuable class of subject available to the state by forming regular military corps out of it, seems not to have entered into the views of the government till about the year 1729, when six companies of Highlanders were raised, which, from forming distinct corps unconnected with each other, received the appellation of independent companies. Three of these companies consisted of 100 men each, and were therefore called large companies; Lord Lovat, Sir Duncan Campbell of Lochnell, and Colonel Grant of Ballindalloch, were appointed captains over them. The three smaller companies, which consisted of 75 each, were commanded by Colonel Alexander Campbell of Finab, John Campbell of Carrick, and George Munro of Culcairn, under the commission of captain-lieutenants. To each of the six companies were attached two lieutenants and one ensign. To distinguish them from regular troops, who, from having coats, waistcoats, and breeches of scarlet cloth, were called Saighdearan Dearg, or Red soldiers; the independent companies, who were attired in tartan consisting mostly of black, green, and blue, were designated Am Freiceadan Dubh, or Black Watch, from the somber appearance of their dress. While the regular British soldiers wore brilliant red coats, the Scotsmen of the Independent Companies wore a sombre tartan of dark colours and because of this had been dubbed the "Black Watch". It is similar to the Clans Campbell tartan, which formed most of the original Black Watch.
As the services of these companies were not required beyond their own territory, and as the intrants were not subjected to the humiliating provisions of the disarming act, no difficulty was found in forming them; and when completed, they presented the singular spectacle of a number of young men or respectable families serving as privates in the ranks. "Many of the men who composed these companies were of a higher station in society than that from which soldiers in general are raised; cadets of gentlemen's families, sons of gentlemen farmers, and tacksmen, either immediately or distantly descended from gentlemen's families, - men who felt themselves responsible for their conduct to high-minded and honorable families, as well as to a country for which they cherished a devoted affection. In addition to the advantages derived from their superior rank in life, they possessed, in an eminent degree, that of a commanding external deportment, special care being taken in selecting men of full height, well proportioned, and of handsome appearance.
The duties assigned to these companies were to enforce the disarming act, to overawe the disaffected, and watch their motions, and to check depredations. For this purpose they were stationed in small detachments in different parts of the country, and generally throughout the district in which they were raised. Thus Fort Augustus and the neighboring parts of Inverness-shire were occupied by the Frasers under Lord Lovat; Ballindalloch and the Grants were stationed in Strathspey and Badenoch; the Munros under Culcairn, in Ross and Sutherland; Lochnell's and Carrick's companies were stationed in Athole and Breadalbane, and Finab's in Lochaber, and the northern parts of Argyleshire among the disaffected Camerons and Stewarts of Appin. All Highlanders of whatever clan were admitted indiscriminately into these companies as soldiers; but the officers were taken, almost exclusively from the whig clans.
The independent companies continued to exist as such until the year 1739, when government resolved to raise four additional companies, and to form the while into a regiment of the line. For this purpose, letters of service, dated 25th October 1739, were addressed to the Earl of Crawford and Lindsay, who was appointed to the command of the regiment about to be formed, which was to consist of 1000 men. Although the commissions were dated as above, the regiment was not embodied till the month of May 1740, when it assembled on a field between Taybridge and Aberfeldy, in Perthshire, under the number of the 43d regiment, afterwards changed to the 42d, but still bearing the name of the Black Watch. "The uniform was a scarlet jacket and waistcoat, with buff facings and white lace, - tartan plaid of twelve yards plaited round the middle of the body, the upper part being fixed on the left shoulder ready to be thrown loose, and wrapped over both shoulders and firelock in rainy weather. At night the plaid served the purpose of a blanket, and was sufficient covering for the Highlander. These were called belted plaids from being kept tight to the body by a belt, and were worn on guards, reviews, and on all occasions when the men were in full dress. On this belt hung the pistols and dirk when worn. In the barracks, and when not on duty, the little kilt or philibeg was worn, a blue bonnet with a border of white, red and green, arranged in small squares to resemble, as is said, the fess chque in the arms of the different branches of the Stewart family, and a tuft of feathers, or sometimes, from economy or necessity, a small piece of black bear-skin. The arms were a musket, a bayonet, and a large basket-hilted broadsword. These were furnished by government. Such of the men as chose to supply themselves with pistols and dirks were allowed to carry them, and some had targets after the fashion of their country. The sword-belt was of black leather, and the cartouch- box was carried in front, supported by a narrow belt round the middle".
The following excerpts are from the Clan Campbell Society of North America's website:
THE HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND
Geographers divide Scotland into two main regions, "Highland" and "Lowland" calling the border between the two areas the "Highland Line". The line runs roughly from Dumbarton on the Clyde in the southwest and follows the edge of the high country northeast into Aberdeenshire. The Highlands lie west and the Lowlands east of that line. All of Argyll, the county in which the Campbell family came to have the seat of their power, lies within the Highlands.
The difference between the cultures of the two areas increased with time as Lallans, or Lowland English, replaced the Gaelic (pronounced by Gaelic speakers as "Gahlic") as the common language in the Lowlands. Today the Gaelic survives in some of the outer islands but few speakers remain on the mainland.
Generally the Lowlands have richer farmland and all the industrial towns. In the Highlands the majority of the land is above the timber-line, with poor grazing among the heather and higher tundra. Much land in the valleys is wet or rocky and weather conditions are harsh. For social and political reasons much is made of early 19th century "clearances" from the Highlands and Islands, however certainly in Argyll, most people with initiative, even if little means, left of their own free will as richer lands overseas became available for settlement.
CAMPBELLS ANCESTORS IN ARGYLL
Argyll is a county of about 100 miles in length north to south and slightly less in width. Including the inhabited islands, the coastline is over 1,000 miles in length. Tradition holds that the first of the Campbell ancestors (still not yet called Campbell) who came into Argyll married Eva, daughter of Paul an Sporran and the heiress of the O'Duibne tribe on northwestern Lochawe. This ancestor may well have first been established in Argyll as a follower of the Earl of the neighboring Lennox when Alexander II, king of Scots, marched into Argyll to ensure the loyalty of its people. Alexander is said by Fordun, a Medieval writer, to have visited Argyll in 1222, and this period for a Campbell ancestral arrival on Lochawe is supported by the Gaelic genealogies and later charters. The first of the name Cambel (the original spelling) who can be found in the surviving records was one who owned lands near Stirling in 1263. The earliest written date for a Cambel in Argyll is that for Duncan Dubh, landowner in Kintyre in 1293. The first date which survives for the Cambels on Lochawe is that for the killing of Sir Cailein Mor (Great Colin) of Lochawe in 1296 when he was attacked by men of the Clan Dougall on the Stringe of Lorne. His family had been long established on Lochawe and at that time at least two other Cambels owned land in Argyll; Sir Duncan Dubh and Sir Thomas in Kintyre.
ORIGINS OF THE CAMPBELLS
Like most Europeans, the Scots are a blend of races: Neolithic survivors mixed with Celtic "Pict", Britonic Celt incomers, Celtic "Scots" invaders from Ireland, Viking and Norse raiders and settlers, Norman and Flemish knights and even some few Angles in the south. All these joined to add their genes to this sturdy race of people. Until cures for Scurvy (vitamin deficiency) and Smallpox were discovered in the 18th century, the people's hardiness was ensured by the survival of the fittest.
Like most Scots, all Campbells are a blend of races through maternal ancestry, although there were times from the 16th through the 18th centuries when, among some leading families in Argyll and Perthshire, they had grown so numerous as frequently to intermarry, intensifying their characteristics as a kin. Many also share the Scots Gaelic blood of the Dalriadic O'Duibne people whose heiress their ancestor married on Lochawe in the 13th century.
Their paternal ancestry is apparently from the Britonic Celts of Strathclyde, sometimes called the "Romano British" from the northwestern part of the early "Kingdom of Strathclyde".
The capital of Strathclyde was Al Cluit or DunBriton (now Dumbarton Rock) in the area known as the Lennox. According to legend, here in An Talla Dearg, the Red Hall of Dun Briton, was born the first ancestor of the Campbells who appears in all three of the early Gaelic genealogies; Smervie or Mervyn, son of an Arthur, who became known as "the Wildman of the Woods", perhaps being a notable hunter. If the legend is based upon a real character, he likely lived in the eleventh or twelfth century. However those names at that period can have absolutely no actual connection with the legendary Arthur, whose possible existence is said to have been many centuries earlier. The name Campbell did not come into use until several generations later.
THE CAMPBELL NAME
It was Sir Cailein Mor Campbell's grandfather Dugald on Lochawe who is said to have been the first given the nickname "Cam Beul" since he apparently had the engaging trait of talking out of one side of his mouth. Cam beul means curved mouth in the Gaelic. This Duncan was so much loved by his family that they took his nickname as their family name and held to it even beyond Argyll.
The spelling of the surname (family name) was originally Cambel. Then when Robert the Bruce's son King David came to the throne as King of Scots he brought with him a number of Norman knights to whom he gave lands in an attempt to introduce Norman efficiency in administration. David had been at the English court and admired the Norman system of feudalism. The use of the spelling "Campbell" may perhaps have been as a result of Norman rather than Gaelic scribes attempting to write the Gaelic name.
The name Cambel was first used by the family in the 13th century. The first chief of the clan to appear on record as "Campbell" may well have been Sir Duncan of Lochawe when he was created Lord Campbell in 1445
THE CLAN CAMPBELL
Clan means family group in the Gaelic. There came to be roughly three uses of the word clan: for the large clans like Clan Campbell, Clan Donald and Clan Gordon; for the smaller clans like Clan Callum or Clan Lachlan; for the sub-clans or name groups within the larger clans like Clan Tavish or Clan Arthur (the McTavishes of Dunardry and McArthurs of Tirevadich).
The idea of all members of a clan being of one name is a Victorian misconception. Clans begin to emerge as recognizable units in the 12th and 13th century. Initially the Chief and the Chief's close kin were the leaders of the clan while their followers were the local people who were their tenants or who looked to them for leadership in defense. So while the Clan Campbell were led by Campbells, until about the 18th century, many of their followers, and sometimes even they themselves often used patronymics or father's names.
Patronymics lie behind many modern Scottish family names, particularly those now beginning with the 'Mac' or 'Mc' prefix, meaning 'son of'. Further, in early records these sometimes appear with 'Vic', meaning 'grandson of'. For example Archibald MacDougall V'Gillespic (Gaelic for Archibald) was Archibald son of Dougall son of Archibald. Sometimes, such as in the 16th century, such names might even appear followed by 'alias Campbell'. In modern times families who were not of Campbell origin yet who had long given their allegiance to the Chief of the clan have come to be called "septs".
CAMPBELL TARTAN
An excellent and authoritative book has been written on Campbell tartans and every Campbell family should have one in their reference library. The Campbell tartan authorized by the Chief as appropriate for all of Clan Campbell is known in the clan as Campbell tartan and in the trade by various names; "ancient Campbell", "Black Watch", "ancient Black Watch". The colors are ONLY green, black and blue. The shades or tones of the colors may vary from different weavers but the choice of these is a matter for your taste.
Almost all published books on Scottish clans and Tartans, with the exception of the second edition of that by the late Sir Ian Moncreiffe, have errors in their illustrations for Clan Campbell. The confusion results from asking the weavers instead of the Chiefs about which is their clan's tartan.
There are other specific tartans authorized for descendants of the Loudoun, Breadalbane and Cawdor branches of Clan Campbell. The trade has not created the same deliberate or thoughtless confusion about these, although they may be hard to find.
"Argyle", with white and yellow lines, and "Dress", with areas of white, are NOT authorized tartans, although the Argyle is heavily promoted by the trade. Those who already posess non-authorized tartans should not hesitate to wear them. However if innocently stuck with those, you may like to wear a tie, plaid or scarf of authorized tartan so as to show your loyalty to the authority of Clan Campbell and in order to be able to show others the right tartan to buy. That is for you to choose.
Flower of Scotland
(Written by Roy Williamson of "The Corries")
Although "Flower of Scotland" is not a traditional song, it has been adopted as Scotland's de facto national anthem, along with "Scotland the Brave"
O Flower of Scotland,
When will we see
Your like again,
That fought and died for,
Your wee bit Hill and Glen,
And stood against him,
Proud Edward's Army,
And sent him homeward,
Tae think again.
The Hills are bare now,
And Autumn leaves
lie thick and still,
O'er land that is lost now,
Which those so dearly held,
That stood against him,
Proud Edward's Army,
And sent him homeward,
Tae think again.
Those days are past now,
And in the past
they must remain,
But we can still rise now,
And be the nation again,
That stood against him,
Proud Edward's Army,
And sent him homeward,
Tae think again.
0 Flower of Scotland,
When will we see
your like again,
That fought and died for,
Your wee bit Hill and Glen,
And stood against him,
Proud Edward's Army,
And sent him homeward,
Tae think again.
I would like to thank my uncle, Brian Craik,
who has done extensive research on the Craik/Dowey/Tinsley/Kelly side of the family - almost all my information is borrowed directly from his efforts - thank you, Brian!
I would like to acknowledge Mary Payne, a Campbell relation presently living in Tennessee, for all the information she has provided in connecting the Campbell relatives, particularly more recent Campbells and the descendents of Duncan Campbell (b.1742) - thank you!