Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll (26 February 1629 – 30 June 1685) was a Scottish peer and soldier.

The hereditary chief of Clan Campbell, and a prominent figure in Scottish politics, he was a Royalist supporter during the latter stages of the Scottish Civil War and its aftermath. During the period of the Cromwellian Protectorate he was involved in several Royalist uprisings and was for a time imprisoned.

Despite his previous loyalty, after the Restoration of Charles II, Argyll fell under suspicion due to his hereditary judicial powers in the Highlands and his strong Presbyterian religious sympathies. Condemned to death in 1681 on a highly dubious charge of treason and libel, he escaped from prison and fled into exile, where he began associating with Whig opponents of the Stuart regime. Following the accession of Charles' brother to the throne as James II in 1685, Argyll returned to Scotland in an attempt to depose James, organised in parallel with the Monmouth Rebellion. Argyll's Rising failed, and Argyll was captured and beheaded.

Early life

thumb|right|Argyll's birthplace: Newbattle Abbey, Dalkeith.

He was born in 1629 in Dalkeith, Scotland, the eldest son of Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll, and Lady Margaret Douglas, the daughter of William Douglas, 7th Earl of Morton.

At the age of four, an agreement was made, in accordance with a custom common amongst the Scottish nobility of the time, for young Archibald to be fostered with

Colin Campbell of Glenorchy, one of his father's kinsmen. At his parents' insistence he was raised bilingually in English and Gaelic. He enrolled at Glasgow University in 1643, and between 1647 and 1649, his father sent him to travel in France and Italy, mainly to protect him from the political upheavals taking place in Scotland at the time. In the letter he also reiterated his father's loyalty, and defended him against accusations that he had approved of Charles's trial and execution, but added that he would serve the King even against his father, if the latter really meant otherwise than he professed.

Glencairn's Rising

After Worcester, in the winter of 1653, Lorne joined William Cunningham, 9th Earl of Glencairn, who was in arms in the Highlands with a Royalist force of 700 soldiers and 200 horses. Lorne's father, who had attempted to make peace with Cromwell's regime, warned him against becoming involved, leading to an estrangement.

Glencairn's irregular forces prepared to invade the Lowlands, but efforts were hampered by constant quarrels between Glencairn's junior commanders. Lorne and Glengarry fell out to the point of drawing swords on each other and remained at odds. Kenmure thought that Lorne treated them too leniently, and complained to Glencairn. In March Lorne argued with James Graham, 2nd Marquess of Montrose, and came close to being killed.

Earl of Argyll

Although he had finally regained the title of Earl and much of his inheritance, Argyll's affairs were still encumbered by debt. His harsh treatment of his own debtors and apparently unscrupulous use of his hereditary and other offices gave him a poor reputation amongst some contemporaries. His plan was to stock the gardens themselves with fruit trees, and to thickly plant ornamental trees around so that the house had the appearance of rising out of a wood: he had a particular fondness for elms.

On 28 January 1670, Argyll married for the second time, to Lady Anna Mackenzie, dowager Lady Balcarres. This caused a brief souring of his relationship with Lauderdale, who thought that his godson, the young earl, would be adversely affected by the marriage.

By this point, Argyll was in a difficult position: not only did his Presbyterian sympathies (not to mention those of his late father) make him suspect to the Court party, but his heritable jurisdictions and personal power in the west of Scotland, as the head of Clan Campbell, made him a constant threat to the King's authority. Matters came to a head when in 1680, James, Duke of York replaced Lauderdale as High Commissioner in Scotland. A parliament was held in 1681, Argyll bearing the crown at the opening on 13 August. James told Argyll that the king thought him an over-mighty subject: Argyll, finding himself isolated, assured James of his loyalty, and signed a letter of the council to Charles confirming the divine right of kings. The same month, James paid a solemn visit of ceremony to Argyll at Stirling, and directly asked him if he would convert to Catholicism, promising him great influence in Scotland if he did. Argyll complained about the substance of the Act, noting its internal contradictions in that it upheld Presbyterianism while committing subjects to follow the monarch's authority in religion, and concerned that the Royal Family themselves – given their Catholic leanings – were not obliged to take it. He then prevaricated over taking the test himself, despite being warned that his earlier complaints had put him in a dangerous position. Argyll seems to have been under the belief that this qualified version of the oath had been cleared with the Duke of York, but it was enough for an exasperated James, backed by Argyll's enemies, to have him arrested on 9 November and charged with treason, assuming the legislative power, perjury, and the old Scottish capital offence of "leasing making" (i.e. libelling the king, his family, or court, with the intention of sowing dissension between the king and his subjects). George Savile, 1st Marquess of Halifax told Charles that in England they would not "hang a dog" on the pretext under which Argyll had been sentenced in Scotland. It was given out – at least by pro-Royal sources – that Charles and James were merely hoping to ensure Argyll was humbled and stripped of his judicial powers, rather than actually executed.

On 22 December, the king's letter reached the council; and, questionably, sentence of death as well as of forfeiture was pronounced in Argyll's absence on the 23rd. His estates were confiscated, and his hereditary jurisdictions assigned to Atholl.

In London, Argyll was sheltered by Ann Smith, wife of a rich sugar-baker. He also found refuge with Major Abraham Holmes, who had arrested him in 1656–7. After a delay of some time, Smith took him to her country house at Brentford. No real steps were taken to recapture him, and his subsequent movements are opaque. In 1682, he was supposed to be in Switzerland, but Arthur Forbes, 1st Earl of Granard received a message from him in London, and held a meeting with him. In the autumn of 1682 the government received information that he was involved in treasonable activities: efforts to locate him were renewed, and he fled to Holland, where many Whig exiles were gathering.

The "Argyll expedition"

Planning

While in Holland, Argyll had become associated with the Duke of Monmouth. On the news of Charles II's death and the accession of James VII as king, he moved from Friesland to Rotterdam, and was present at a meeting of Scots in Amsterdam on 17 April 1685, at which an immediate invasion of Scotland was decided on. Argyll made great efforts to convince Monmouth of the viability of a joint plan of invasion, claiming he could count on a large number of men from among his tenantry in Scotland, although he was among those who insisted that Monmouth should promise never to declare himself king. He funded the invasion preparations with £7,000 given by his supporter Ann Smith, and £1,000 from John Locke. Argyll sailed from the Vlie on 1 or 2 May 1685 with about 300 men in three small ships, accompanied by Sir Patrick Hume, Sir John Cochrane, Spence, and several other Scots exiles. Two English conspirators, John Ayloffe and Richard Rumbold, also went with Argyll. Monmouth had promised that he would start his own attempt, the Monmouth Rebellion, within a few days, though in the event he did not set sail for several weeks.

Landing in Kintyre

The expedition was dogged by bad luck and divisions amongst its leadership. They anchored off Orkney on 6 May: Spence went ashore to obtain a pilot, but was arrested, and the authorities were alerted to the invasion.]]

In a poor situation, Argyll took up the lowland enterprise. Near Dumbarton, he encamped in an advantageous position in the face of the royal troops; but his proposal to fight was overruled, and the rebels retreated without any engagement towards Glasgow. It crossed to the south side of the River Clyde at Renfrew by Kilpatrick ford, dwindling from two thousand to five hundred men; and after one or two skirmishes with the troops commanded by Rosse and William Cleland, Argyll found himself alone with his son John and three personal friends. To avoid pursuit they separated, only Major Fullarton remaining with Argyll. On the scaffold he gave a speech reiterating his opposition to "Popery", and finally joked that the guillotine, as his "inlet to glory" was "the sweetest maiden he had ever kissed".

Character

There are few personal descriptions of Argyll, and the polarized political landscape of the time lends itself to widely varying descriptions. John Lauder, Lord Fountainhall said that he was "witty in knacks" (i.e. clever in small inventions) and was "so conceitly" he had about twenty pockets in his coat and breeches. However, Argyll had, like his father, made many enemies in his lifetime, and other sources give a far more favourable impression of him. Airy noted that Argyll's correspondence on the death of his first wife was "touching", adding that his conduct at his execution demonstrated great personal bravery.

Family

On 13 May 1650, at the Canongate Kirk, he married Lady Mary Stewart, daughter of the 4th Earl of Moray, with whom he had seven children:

  • Archibald Campbell, 1st Duke of Argyll
  • John Campbell of Mamore, Commissioner for Argyllshire, and later MP for Dunbartonshire; father of John Campbell, 4th Duke of Argyll
  • Charles Campbell, Commissioner for Campbeltown
  • James Campbell (c. 1660–1713?)
  • Mary Campbell,
  • Anne Campbell, married 1st Richard Maitland, 4th Earl of Lauderdale; 2nd, to Charles Stuart, 6th Earl of Moray
  • Jean Campbell, married William Kerr, 2nd Marquess of Lothian

He married again, in 1670, the widow Lady Anne Mackenzie, Countess of Balcarres. She survived her husband, being spared execution, and died of old age in 1707.

See also

  • Cromwell's Act of Grace

References

Further reading

Primary

  • Dalrymple, John, Memoirs of Great Britain and Ireland, 1771.
  • Erskine, John, Journal, 1893.
  • Fountainhall, John, Chronological Notes of Scottish Affairs, 1822.
  • Hume, Sir Patrick, Narrative of the Earl of Argyle's Expedition, in Marchmont Papers, vol. III, 1831.
  • A Letter Giving a Short and True Account of the Earl of Argyls Invasion in the year 1685, 1686.

Secondary

  • Fox, C. J. A History of the Early Part of the Reign of James the Second, 1807.
  • Hopkins, P. Glencoe and the End of the Highland War, 1986.
  • Macaulay, T. B., History of England from the Accession of James II, 1985 reprint.
  • McKerral, A., Kintyre in the Seventeenth Century, 1948.
  • Paterson, R. C., The Forgotten Rebellion, in BBC History Magazine, June 2003.
  • Wilcock, J., A Scots Earl in Covenanting Times, 1907.

Attribution