Governed Scotland during Wars of the Three Kingdoms
Archibald Campbell, Marquess of Argyll, 8th Earl of Argyll, Chief of Clan Campbell
(March 1607 – 27 May 1661) was a Scottish nobleman, politician, and peer. The
de facto
head of Scotland's government during most of the conflict of the 1640s and 1650s known as the
Wars of the Three Kingdoms
, he was the main leader of the
Covenanter
movement that fought for the
Establishment
of
Presbyterianism
in opposition to the preference of
King Charles I
and the
Caroline Divines
for instead Establishing both
High Church Anglicanism
and
Bishops
. He is often remembered as the principal
antagonist
to the
Royalist
general
James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose
.
Early life
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]
Archibald Campbell, Marquess of Argyll, was the eldest son of
Archibald Campbell, 7th Earl of Argyll
, by his first wife
Agnes Douglas
, daughter of
William Douglas, 6th Earl of Morton
, and was educated at
St Andrews University
, where he matriculated on 15 January 1622. He had early in life, as
Lord Lorne
, been entrusted with the possession of the
Argyll
estates when his father renounced Protestantism and took arms for
Philip III of Spain
; and he exercised over
Clan Campbell
an authority almost absolute, disposing of a force of 20,000 retainers, being, according to Baillie, "by far the most powerful subject in the kingdom".
Argyll was said to be of above average height, but slight in build. He had reddish hair, which darkened in later life ? among the Highlanders he was often called "red Argyll" ? and a pronounced squint.
Contemporaries said he had a very charming and persuasive manner,
although early in life he developed a habit of abruptly leaving the room if a conversation took a turn he did not like.
Clarendon
said that "
his wit was pregnant, and his humour gay and pleasant, except when he liked not the company or the argument
".
In the Covenanter movement
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On the outbreak of the religious dispute between the king and
Scotland
in 1637, Lord Lorne's support was eagerly sought by
Charles I
. He was made a
privy councillor
in 1628. In 1638, the king summoned him, together with the earls of
Traquair
and
Roxburgh
, to London, but he refused to be won over, warned Charles against his despotic ecclesiastical policy, and showed great hostility towards
William Laud
. In consequence, a secret commission was given to the
Randal MacDonnell, Earl of Antrim
to invade
Argyll
and stir up the
MacDonalds
against the Campbells. Argyll, who inherited the title at the death of his father in 1638, originally had no preference for
Presbyterianism
, but now definitely took the side of the
Covenanters
in defence of national religion and liberties.
Argyll continued to attend the meetings of the
General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
after its dissolution by the
Marquess of Hamilton
, when
Episcopacy
was abolished. In 1639, he sent a statement to Laud, and subsequently to the king, defending the General Assembly's action.
During what became known as the
First Bishops' War
, Argyll raised a body of troops and seized Hamilton's castle of
Brodick
in
Arran
. After the
Pacification of Berwick
, he carried a motion, in opposition to
James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose
, by which the estates secured to themselves the election of the lords of the articles, who had formerly been nominated by the king. This was a fundamental change to the Scottish constitution, whereby the management of public affairs was entrusted to a representative body and withdrawn from the control of the crown.
An attempt by the king to deprive Argyll of his office as justiciary of Argyll failed, and on the prorogation of the parliament by Charles, in May 1640, Argyll moved that it should continue its sittings and that the government and safety of the kingdom should be secured by a committee of the estates, of which he was the guiding spirit. In June, as part of what became known as the
Second Bishops' War
, he was trusted with a
Commission of fire and sword
against the royalists in
Atholl
and
Angus
, which, after succeeding in entrapping
John Murray, 1st Earl of Atholl
, he carried out with completeness and cruelty.
It was on this occasion that the
Bonnie Hoose o' Airlie
was burned. By this time, the personal dislike and difference in opinion between Montrose and Argyll led to an open breach. The former arranged that on the occasion of Charles's approaching visit to Scotland, Argyll would be accused of high treason in the parliament. The plot, however, was disclosed, and Montrose, among others, was imprisoned. Accordingly, when the king arrived, he found himself deprived of every remnant of influence and authority. It only remained for Charles to make a series of concessions. He transferred control over judicial and political appointments to the parliament, created Argyll a
marquess
in 1641, and returned home, having, in
Clarendon's
words, made a perfect deed of gift of that kingdom. Meanwhile, there was an unsuccessful attempt to kidnap Argyll, Hamilton, and Lanark, known as
The Incident
. Argyll was mainly instrumental in this crisis in keeping the national party faithful to what was to him evidently the common cause, and in accomplishing the alliance with the
Long Parliament
in 1643.
English and Scottish Civil Wars
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In January 1644, he accompanied the Scottish army into England as a member of the
Committee of Both Kingdoms
and in command of a troop of horse, but was soon compelled, in March, to return to suppress Royalists in the
Scottish Civil War
and to defend his own territories. He forced
Huntly
to retreat in April. In July, he advanced to abet the Irish troops now landed in Argyll, which were fighting in conjunction with Montrose, who had put himself at the head of the Royalist forces in Scotland. Neither general succeeded in obtaining an advantage over the other, or even in engaging in battle. Argyll then returned to
Edinburgh
, threw up his commission, and retired to
Inveraray Castle
. Montrose unexpectedly followed him in December, compelling him to flee to
Roseneath
, and devastating his territories. On 2 February 1645, while following Montrose northwards, Argyll was surprised by him at
Inverlochy
. He witnessed, from his barge on the lake to which he had retired after falling from his horse, a fearful slaughter of his troops, which included 1,500 of the Campbells.
He arrived at Edinburgh on 12 February and was again present at Montrose's further great victory on 15 August at
Kilsyth
, whence he escaped to Newcastle. Argyll was at last delivered from his formidable antagonist by Montrose's final defeat at
Philiphaugh
on 12 September.
In 1646, he was sent to negotiate with the king at
Newcastle
after his surrender to the Scottish army, when he endeavoured to moderate the demands of the parliament and at the same time to persuade the king to accept them. On 7 July 1646, he was appointed a member of the
Assembly of Divines
.
Up to this point, Argyll's statesmanship had been highly successful. The national liberties and religion of Scotland had been defended and guaranteed, and the power of the king in Scotland reduced to a mere shadow. In addition, these privileges had been still further secured by the alliance with the English opposition, and by the subsequent triumph of the Parliament and Presbyterianism in the neighbouring kingdom. The king himself was a prisoner in their midst. But Argyll's influence could not survive the rupture of the alliance between the two nations on which his whole policy was founded. He opposed in vain
the Engagement
, concluded in December 1647, between Charles I and the Scots against the English Parliament.
James, Duke of Hamilton
commanded an Engager army that marched into England and was defeated by
Cromwell
at
Preston
the following August. Argyll, after a narrow escape from a surprise attack at the
Battle of Stirling
in September 1648, joined the
Whiggamores
, a body of Covenanters at Edinburgh; and, supported by
John Campbell, 1st Earl of Loudoun
and
Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven
, he established a new government, which welcomed
Oliver Cromwell
on his arrival there on 4 October 1648.
War with the English Parliament and personal ruin
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This alliance, however, was at once destroyed by the execution of Charles I on 30 January 1649, which excited universal horror in Scotland. In the series of tangled incidents which followed, Argyll lost control of the national policy. He describes himself at this period as "a distracted man ... in a distracted time" whose "remedies ... had the quite contrary operation".
Argyll supported the invitation from the Covenanters to
Charles II
to land in Scotland, and gazed upon the captured Montrose, bound on a cart to execution at Edinburgh. When Charles II came to Scotland, having signed the Covenant and repudiated Montrose, Argyll remained at the head of the administration. After the defeat of
Dunbar
, Charles retained his support by the promise of a dukedom and the
Garter
, and an attempt was made by Argyll to marry the king to his daughter, Lady Anne.
On 1 January 1651, he
placed the crown
on Charles's head at
Scone
. But his power had now passed to the
Hamiltonian
party.
Argyll strongly opposed, but was unable to prevent, the expedition into England. In the subsequent reduction of Scotland, after holding out in Inveraray Castle for nearly a year, he was at last surprised in August 1652 and submitted to the
Commonwealth
. His ruin was then complete. His policy had failed, his power had vanished. He was hopelessly in debt, and on terms of such violent hostility with his eldest son and heir
Archibald
as to be obliged to demand a garrison in his house for his protection.
Later life and writings
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During his visit to
Monck
at Dalkeith in 1654 to complain of this, Argyll was subjected to much personal insult from his creditors, and on visiting London in September 1655 to obtain money due to him from the Scottish Parliament, he was arrested for debt, though soon liberated. In
Richard Cromwell
's
Parliament of 1659
Argyll sat as member for
Aberdeenshire
.
At the
Restoration
, Argyll presented himself at
Whitehall
, but was at once arrested by order of Charles II and placed in the
Tower of London
(1660), before being sent to Edinburgh to stand trial for
high treason
. He was acquitted of complicity in the death of Charles I, and his escape from the whole charge seemed imminent, but the arrival of a packet of letters written by Argyll to Monck showed conclusively his collaboration with Cromwell's
Protectorate of England
, particularly in the violent suppression of
Glencairn's Royalist rising
in 1652. He was found guilty and sentenced to death,
his execution by beheading on the
'Maiden'
taking place on 27 May 1661,
[10]
before the death warrant had even been signed by the king. He was attended in his final hours by Rev Archibald Hutchison of Tolbooth Parish (contained in
St Giles Cathedral
) which oversaw the Tolbooth prison.
[11]
His head was placed on the same spike upon the west end of the Tolbooth, as that of Montrose, who had previously been exposed there, and his body was buried at
Kilmun Parish Church
near the
Holy Loch
, where the head was also deposited in 1664. A monument was erected to his memory in
Church of St Giles
in Edinburgh in 1895.
Works
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While imprisoned in the Tower he wrote
Instructions to a Son
(1661). Some of his speeches, including the one delivered on the scaffold, were published and are printed in the
Harleian Miscellany
.
Family
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Argyll married Lady Margaret Douglas, second daughter of
William Douglas, 7th Earl of Morton
, with whom he had two sons, the elder of whom,
Archibald
, succeeded him as the 9th Earl,
and four daughters.
Ancestry
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Ancestors of Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll
|
---|
| | | | | | | | | 16.
Colin Campbell, 3rd Earl of Argyll
| | | | | | | 8.
Archibald Campbell, 4th Earl of Argyll
| | | | | | | | | | 17. Jean Gordon
| | | | | | | 4.
Colin Campbell, 6th Earl of Argyll
| | | | | | | | | | | | 18.
William Graham, 3rd Earl of Menteith
| | | | | | | 9. Lady Margaret Graham
| | | | | | | | | | 19. Margaret Moubray
| | | | | | | 2.
Archibald Campbell, 7th Earl of Argyll
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | 20. Robert Keith, Master of Marischal
| | | | | | | 10.
William Keith, 4th Earl Marischal
| | | | | | | | | | 21. Elizabeth Douglas
| | | | | | | 5.
Agnes Keith, Countess of Moray
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 11. Margaret Keith
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1.
Archibald Campbell, Marquess of Argyll
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 12. Sir Robert Douglas of Lochleven
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 6.
William Douglas, 6th Earl of Morton
| | | | | | | | | | | | 26.
John Erskine, 5th Lord Erskine
| | | | | | | 13.
Margaret Erskine
| | | | | | | | | | 27. Lady Margaret Campbell
| | | | | | | 3.
Agnes Douglas, Countess of Argyll
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 14.
George Leslie, 4th Earl of Rothes
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 7.
Agnes Leslie, Countess of Morton
| | | | | | | | | | | | 30. William Crichton, 3rd Lord Crichton
| | | | | | | 15. Margaret Crichton
| | | | | | | | | | 31. Margaret Stewart
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
|
Notes
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References
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]
- Cruwys, Elizabeth; Riffenburgh, Beau (1995). Hicks, Penny (ed.).
Explore Britain's Castles
. Basingstoke, UK: AA Publishing.
ISBN
978-0-7495-1048-0
.
- Fraser, Antonia (1979).
King Charles II
. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. pp. 89, 99?100.
- Henderson, Thomas Finlayson (1886).
"Campbell, Archibald (1598?1661)"
. In
Stephen, Leslie
(ed.).
Dictionary of National Biography
. Vol. 8. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 319?329.
- Roberts, John Leonard (2000).
Clan, king, and covenant: history of the Highland clans from the Civil War to the Glencoe Massacre
. Edinburgh University Press. pp.
68
?69.
ISBN
978-0-7486-1393-9
.
- Stevenson, J.H., ed. (1896).
Scottish Antiquary or Northern Notes and Queries
. Vol. XI. Edinburgh: T. and A. Constable. p.
101
-102.
- "This Day in Presbyterian History · February 7: Archibald Campbell, Marquis of Argyle"
.
This Day in Presbyterian History
. 7 February 2017
. Retrieved
3 July
2019
.
- Willcock, J. (1903).
The Great Marquess
.
Attribution:
-
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
public domain
:
Yorke, Philip Chesney; Chisholm, Hugh (1911). "
Argyll, Earls and Dukes of
". In
Chisholm, Hugh
(ed.).
Encyclopædia Britannica
. Vol. 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 483?486.
Endnotes:
- Life and Times of Archibald Marquess of Argyll
(1903), by John Willcock, who prints for the first time the six incriminating letters to Monk
- Eng. Hist. Review
, xviii. 369 and 624
- Scottish History Society
, vol. xvii. (1894)
- Charles II. and Scotland in 1650
, ed. by
S. R. Gardiner
, and vol. xviii. (1895)
- History of Scotland
, by
A. Lang
, vol. iii. (1904)
Further reading
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