The Glencairn Uprising, 1653-54 Helen Baker Department of ...

1653, Glencairn wrote to Charles II’s agent, Major Strachan, demanding that, above
all, he desired a royal warrant declaring Argyle a traitor. He requested, in addition, a
number of unaddressed letters intended for various clan chiefs, “assuringe them that
his Majesty will deliver them from under those bonds and yoakes which Argyle has
purchased over their heads.” 112
Within Argyle’s own clan, Campbell of Glenorchy was one of the chief clansmen
who chose to follow his chief’s lead in accepting English rule and appears to have
suffered from Royalist looting as a result. On 14 September 1653, Lilburne ordered
that Glenorchy should have his assessment abated for a further six months – in
addition to a previous six months of abatement – to reward him for not acting against
the Commonwealth. 113 On 21 July 1653 Argyle informed Lilburne that most of the
inhabitants of Argyllshire were following his policy towards the English rather than
that of his son. However, he did acknowledge that Lorne’s ‘desperate designes’ had
convinced a handful of gentlemen, namely McNaughton, Colin Campbell of Strachur
(Straquhurre), Ardchattane, and most prominently, Sir Dugald of Auchinbreck. 114
High-ranking Campbells were not the only prominent figures in Scotland who faced
such a dilemma. Many members of the gentry and nobility found themselves in a
similar no-win situation. If they supported the rebels, their property might be
sequestered by the English or devastated by English troops. If they co-operated with
the English authorities, their lands and houses faced potential plunder by resentful,
desperate bandits. 115 It seems, therefore, that personal ideological commitments were
often less motivating than the protection of material interests.
Even men who were later viewed as some of the most determined supporters of the
King showed signs of hesitation in the first year of the rebellion. For instance, in mid-
June when Glencairn summoned members of the Highland nobility to a meeting at
111 Firth, C.H. Scotland and the Commonwealth, p.203.
112 It seems that Glencairn’s attempts to vilify the Marquis of Argyle may have been part of an attempt
to quell conflict among the rebel leaders by focussing all hatred on the Campbells. Of course, this had
the double effect of dismissing Lorne’s contribution to the cause. See Stevenson, D. Alasdair MacColla
and the Highland Problem in the Seventeenth Century (Edinburgh: John Donald Publishers, Ltd.,
1980), p.273 and Firth, C.H. Scotland and the Commonwealth, pp.308-309.
113 Firth, C.H. Scotland and the Commonwealth, p.222.
114 Ibid., pp.168-169.
115 Dow, F.D. Cromwellian Scotland, p.90.