Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Campbell, Archibald (d.1513)

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1339871Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 08 — Campbell, Archibald (d.1513)1886Thomas Finlayson Henderson

CAMPBELL, ARCHIBALD, second Earl of Argyll (d. 1513), eldest son of Colin, first earl of Argyll [q. v.], and Isabella, eldest daughter of John, lord of Lorne, succeeded his father in 1493. In a charter of 30 June 1494 he is designated Lord High Chancellor of Scotland, and in the same year he was appointed master of the household. In 1499 he and others received from the king a commission to let on lease for the term of three years the entire lordship of the Isles as possessed by the last lord, both in the Isles and on the mainland, with the exception of the island of Isla and the lands of North and South Kintyre. He also received a commission of lieutenancy over the lordship of the Isles, and some months later was appointed keeper of the castle of Tarbert, and baillie and governor of the king's lands in Knapdale. Along with the Earl of Huntly and others he was in 1504 charged with the task of suppressing the rebellion of the islanders under Donald Dubh; and after its suppression in 1506 the lordship of the Isles was shared between him and Huntly, the latter being placed over the northern region, while the south isles and adjacent coast were under Argyll. From this time till his death the western highlands were free from serious disturbance. At the battle of Flodden, 9 Sept. 1513, Argyll, along with the Earl of Lennox, held command of the right wing, composed wholly of highlanders, whose impetuous eagerness for a hand-to-hand fight when galled by the English archers was the chief cause of the defeat of the Scots. Argyll was one of the thirteen Scottish earls who were slain. By his wife, Elizabeth Stewart, eldest daughter of John, first earl of Lennox, he had four sons and five daughters. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Colin, third earl of Argyll [q. v.] His fourth son, Donald (d. 1562) [q. v.], is separately noticed.

[Register of the Great Seal of Scotland; Douglas's Scotch Peerage, i. 90; Donald Gregory's Hist of the Western Islands.]

T. F. H.