Archibald Campbell, Marquis of Argyll

 

Ever since our post on St Giles' we've been looking forward to covering the two men who shed the most blood there. Pretty awful we know, but it makes for very interesting reading, especially if you remember how dramatic it all was.

So as it was, the first one out of Campbell and Graham to have a date to report on was Campbell and he was the one who had murdered Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose. He was executed this very day in 1661.

Archibald Campbell was the eldest son of the 7th Earl of Argyll who was also Archibald Campbell and his first wife Agnes Douglas. He was entrusted with the Argyll estates early in his life when his father renounced Protestantism and took up arms for Philip III of Spain. He then grew from this to being made a privy councillor in 1628 as Charles I eagerly wanted his support when the religious dispute broke between himself and the rest of Scotland. 10 years later the king summoned him again along with the earls of Traquair and Roxburgh, but Campbell refused whatever was offered and warned Charles against his religious policy. This obviously didn't go down well, especially as Campbell was hostile against William Laud, and so Randal MacDonnell, Earl of Antrim was commissioned to invade Argyll and cause trouble between the MacDonalds and the Campbells.

Now Campbell had inherited his father's title that same year following his death and wasn't really bothered about Presbyterianism like his father was, but after this he took the side of the Covenanters against the king and so defended national religion and liberties. Following the dissolution of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland by the Marquess of Hamilton, Campbell continued to attend its meetings even going so far as to send a message to Laud, and in turn the king in defence of them. 

Interestingly, Campbell wasn't exactly an intimidating man to be playing a game such as this. He was described as having reddish hair which earned the nickname with the Highlanders of Red Argyll, and was only average height and slight build. He even had a squint! He was noted as very charming and persuasive but gained a reputation for abruptly leaving a room when a conversation didn't go his way. We'd have been interested to know if this happened while he was in company of the king.

Anyway, in what ended up as the First Bishops' War, Campbell raised troops and seized Hamilton's castle in Arran and then carried a motion against James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose which is where their story and feud started. The motion was that the management of public affairs was entrusted to a representative body, such as the lords of the estates, and were then withdrawn from the control of the crown.

The king then attempted to deprive Campbell of his office as justiciary of Argyll, and in 1640 Campbell then moved that sittings should be continued and the government and safety of the kingdom should be secured by a committee of the estates. The Second Bishops' War then came and Campbell was trusted with a Commission of Fire and Sword against Royalists in Atholl and Angus which he carried out in its entirety and quite cruelly once he entrapped John Murray, 1st Earl of Atholl.

This was how the Bonnie Hoose o' Airlie was burned, but that wasn't all. Tension had been growing between Campbell and Graham and had finally come to a head in 1641. Graham arranged for Campbell to be accused of high treason in the parliament when the king visited Scotland. Unfortunately, details of the plot reached Campbell who captured Graham and his supporters. When the king turned up he found himself without any supporters and very much in danger and so had to make some concessions. This included transferring control of judicial and political appointments to parliament and making Campbell Marquess of Argyll. He was allowed to return home but while doing so there was an attempt to kidnap Campbell along with Hamilton and Lanark which was then referred to as 'The Incident'. 

January 1644 brought more conflict. He went to England with the Scottish Army as a member of the Committee of Both Kingdoms but ended up having to return to Scotland in order to defend his land as the Royalists had reared up again during the Scottish Civil War. He managed to force a retreat in April but by July the Irish had landed in Argyll and were battling him as well as the Royalist forces which were now headed by his arch enemy, Graham.

Both forces continued to fight but couldn't manage to gain an advantage over the other, and Campbell and Graham didn't even manage to fight each other. So Campbell decided to return to Edinburgh, release himself from his commission, and retired to Inveraray Castle where he was hunted down by Graham which forced him to retreat to Roseneath. A cat and mouse game then continued between the two as Campbell had begun to follow Graham northward but the Royalist forces doubled back and surprised them in Inverlochy and slaughtered a great number of his troops which was witnessed by Campbell as he rested on a barge after falling from his horse. He then witnessed Graham gain another victory at Kilsyth in August of 1945 and so managed to escape to Newcastle. Luckily for him his issues were soon over as Graham was defeated in Philiphaugh in September which allowed him a rest bite. 

Campbell went back to Newcastle in 1646 when he was sent to negotiate with the King following his surrender to the Scottish army. He dealt with the demands of parliament and persuaded the king to accept them, later that year he was made a member of the Assembly of Divines. Campbell and his campaign had been successful up until this point, and his influence even overshadowed the King, but this wasn't to last.

When the Engagement put together the Scots and Charles I against the English Parliament, Campbell lost his power. The Engagement concluded in December of 1647 and the Duke of Hamilton commanded the Engager army into England, although this was defeated by Cromwell in August of 1648. A month later, by some miracle, Campbell escaped a surprise attack at the Battle of Stirling and ended up joining the Whiggamores which were a group of Covenanters in Edinburgh. He then garnered support from John Campbell, 1st Earl of Loudoun and Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven to establish a new government that welcomed good ol' Ollie Cromwell in October 1648.

By January of the following year Campbell's luck had officially run out. His new government's alliance with Cromwell went south when Charles I was executed and Scotland was horrified. As a result Campbell again fell from power and lost control of the new government. He tried to remedy this by supporting the Covenanters' invitation for Charles II to come to Scotland, meanwhile having finally captured Graham and sending him on his way to be executed at St Giles. Charles II arrived in Scotland, signed the Covenant, rejected Graham thus securing his fate, and allowed Campbell to lead the new administration. Although they were then defeated at Dunbar, Charles II bought support by promising dukedoms and the Garter, meanwhile Campbell tried to arrange for Charles II to marry his daughter, Lady Anne. Two years later Campbell was the one to place the crown on Charles II, but his power had been taken and passed to the Hamiltons.

Campbell was to be expedited to England, something which he fought very hard, going so far as to hide out in Inveraray Castle for nearly a year. A surprise attack was launched and he was captured in 1652 and submitted to the Commonwealth. He was now nothing, worse than that he was an Earl in debt and now that he was out of favour he was on his own. 

Between 1654 and 1659 he was arrested for debt, liberated, and then sat as a member for Aberdeenshire in Richard Cromwell's Parliament. However the Restoration then came and he presented himself at Whitehall but was promptly arrested by order of the king and held in the Tower of London. He was then sent to Edinburgh to stand trial for high treason after his role in Charles I's execution. He was acquitted and about to escape punishment for his crime until a packet of letters was submitted to the king which were written by Campbell to Monck and detailed his involvement with Cromwell's Protectorate of England. He was found guilty for his violent involvement against the Royalists and put to death, the death warrant hadn't even been signed by the king before he was beheaded. 

Following his execution on the Maiden outside St Giles, Campbell's head was purposefully put on the same spike that had held Graham's head in a spiteful swings and roundabouts situation. His body was then taken and buried at Kilmun Parish Church and his head later joined him. His elaborate memorial was placed in St Giles as it was argued one was needed to contrast that of Graham's in all fairness.

So although Archibald Campbell died after his enemy, what goes around soon came around and he too was put to death for acting against Scotland. Interesting stuff!