| Notes |
- See profile in the Journal of the CCSNA, Vol. 48, No. 4, Fall 2021
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He broke up the Macgregor Clan as described below.
Archibald 7th Earl of Argyll, son of Colin, 6th Earl. In 1594, although then only eighteen, he was appointed king's lieutenant against the popish Earls of Huntly and Errol, who had raised a rebellion. In 1599, when measures were in progress for bringing the chiefs of the Isles under subjection to the king, the Earl of Argyll and his kinsman, John Campbell of Calder, were accused of having secretly used their influences to prevent Sir James Macdonald of Dunyveg and his clan from being reconciled to the government. He reduced the MacGregors, who were already under the ban of law, under their Chief Alasdair Macgregor of Glenstrae in 1603. The latter had made an irruption into the Lennox, and after defeating the Colquhouns and their adherents at Glenfruin, with great slaughter, plundered and ravaged the whole district, and threatened to burn the town of Dumbarton. Archibald had long before become the king's lieutenant in the "bounds of the clan Gregor", and he was answerable for all their excesses. It is said that instead of controlling them he to stirred them up to acts of violence and aggression against his own personal enemies, of whom the chief of the Colquhouns was one thus preparing the destruction of both clans. However, this may be, the execution of the severe statutes which were passed against the Macgregors after the conflict at Glenfruin, was intrusted to the Earls of Argyll and Athole, and their chief, with some of his principle followers, was enticed by Argyll to surrender to him, on condition that they would be allowed to leave the country. Argyll received them kindly, and assured them that though he was commanded by the king to apprehend them, he had little doubt he would be able to procure a pardon, and, in the meantime, he would send them to England under an escort, which would convey them off Scottish ground. It was Macgregor's intention, if taken to London, to procure if possible and interview with the king; but Argyll prevented this; yet, that he might fulfil his promise, he sent them under a strong guard beyond the Tweed at Berwick, and instantly compelled them to retrace their steps to Edinburgh, where they were executed 18th January 1604. How far there may have been deceit used in this matter, - whether, according to Birrel, Argyll "keipit ane Hielandman's promise; in respect he sent the gaird to convey him out of Scottis grund, but thai were not directit to pairt with him, but to fetch him bak agane"; or whether their return was by orders from the king, cannot at the present time be ascertained.
In 1607 Archibald was granted the Crown tenancy of Kintyre forfeited by the MacDonalds. He also received Jura and at once set about hunting down and evicting any MacDonalds still remaining there. He forced Sir James MacDonald of Islay to surrender to the Crown in 1614. In 1616 his younger son became Lord of Kintyre. The frequent insurrections which occurred in the South Isles in the first fifteen years of the seventeenth century have also been imputed by Mr Gregory to Argyll and the Campbells, for their own purposes. The proceedings of these clans were so violent and illegal, that the king became highly incensed against Clan Donald, and finding, or supposing he had a right to dispose of their possessions both in Kintyre and Isla, he made a grant of them to the Earl of Argyll and the Campbells. This gave rise to a number of bloody conflicts between the Campbells and the Clan Donald, in the years 1614, 1615, and 1616, which ended in the ruin of the latter, and for the details of which, and the intrigues and proceedings of the Earl of Argyll to possess himself of the lands of that clan.
He was married to (First) Agnes a lady, to whom Sir William Alexander, afterwards Earl of Stirling, inscribed his "Aurora" in 1604, after her death and (Second) Anne.
Anne, daughter of Sir William Cornwall of Brome, ancestor of the Marquis Cornwallis. This lady was a Catholic, and although the earl was a warm and zealous Protestant when he married her, she gradually drew him over to profess the same faith as herself. After the year 1615, as Gregory remarks, his personal history presents a striking instance of the mutability of human affairs. In that year, being deep in debt, he went to England; but as he was the only chief that could keep the MacDonalds in order, the Privy Council wrote to the king urging him to send him home; and in his expedition against the Clan Donald he was accompanied by his son, Lord Lorn. In 1618, on pretence of going to the Spa for the benefit of his health, he received from the king permission to go abroad; and the news soon arrived that the earl, instead of going to the Spa, had gone to Spain; that he had there made open defection from the Protestant religion, and that he had entered into very suspicious dealings with the banished rebels, Sir John Macdonald and Alister MacRanald of Keppoch, who had taken refuge in that country.
On the 16th of February he was openly declared rebel and traitor, at the market cross of Edinburgh, and remained under this ban until the 22nd November 1621, when he was declared the king's free liege. Nevertheless, he did not venture to return to Britain during the reign of James VI. and died soon after his arrival in London, 1638 aged 62. From the time of his leaving Scotland, he never exercised any influence over his great estates; the fee of which had, indeed, been previously conveyed by him to his eldest son, Archibald, Lord Lorn, afterwards, eighth Earl of Argyll. By his first wife he had, besides this son, four daughters. By his second wife, the earl had a son and a daughter, viz, James, Earl of Irvine, and Lady Mary, married to James, second Lord Rollo.
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In Electric Scotland they write:
Earl Colin was succeeded by his eldest son, Archibald, seventh Earl, who was then little more than eight years of age. In 1592, when he was in his seventeenth year, the young Earl married Lady Anne Douglas, fifth daughter of the Earl of Morton. Shortly after he became the object of a nefarious plot, which was directed also against his cousin, the
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Abt 1575 - 1638 (63 years)
