The above words and phrases are written in Scottish Gaidhlig (Gaelic). This is the language spoken by the
Scottish and the Irish long ago. This language is not used as much today
and hard to find someone that does have a working knowledge of the language.
The surname Campbell, most probably derived from the Gaelic Cam-beul (twisted mouth), is one of the oldest in the Highland, and a crown charter of 1368 acknowledges Duncan MacDuihbne as founder of the Campbells, who were estabished as Lords of Loch Awe. The founder of the Argyll line was Cailean Ṃr (d. 1294), whose descendant, Colin Campbell (d. 1493), 1st Earl of Argyll, married Isabel Stewart of Lorne. To this day the eldest son of the family has borne the title of Marquis of Lorne, and the marriage in 1877 of the Marquis, later 9th Duke of Argyll, to HRH Princess Louise, fourth daughter of Queen Victoria, is recalled by the two tartans bearing their names. Throughout the fifteenth century the Campbell's gave steady support to the Crown in an area where royal influence was under severe pressure, first from the rival crown of Norway and then from the descendants of Somerled, former Lord of the Isles, with the eventual emergence of the Crown's most powerful Rival in the MacDonald Lordship of the Isles. The Lordship of the Isles was broken by the Crown by the end of the fifteenth century, leaving the Campbell's the main power in the area. Thereafter they continued to act as the chief instrument of central authority in the region. This long struggle for supremacy, and with it, the headship of the Gael, may be said to be the real cause for the ancient enmity between the Campbell's and the MacDonald's.
May those who love us love us,
And those that don't may God turn their hearts,
If he can't turn their hearts may he turn their ankles
so we will know them by their limping.
This page last edited on May 09, 2002 07:14:16 PM
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