April 4th 1781

The Curse of Glencoe on the Glenlyon Campbells

He was lucky in that he enjoyed the friendship of both the Duke of Atholl and the Breadalbanes, to both of whom he owed money. Soon after his father’s death the Duke of Atholl agreed to excamb Kilmorlich for the estate of Fortingall, a very favourable swap from Glenlyon’s point of view. Also, at his mother’s request, he applied to Breadalbane for the return of the famous Clach-Buadha (Stone of Victory). This stone though belonging to the Campbells of Glenlyon had been in the possession of the Breadalbanes all through Robert Campbell’s lifetime and his wife, Iain’s mother, believed that many of the misfortunes that had befallen the family could be traced back to the loss of the stone. It was said that good fortune attended Iain Campbell from the time he recovered the stone though this is perhaps open to question. He had the misfortune to choose the wrong side at the time of Mar’s rebellion.

He fought at Sherriffmuir and after the collapse of the rising he was fortced to flee to France. Some six years later, largely through the help of Lord Glenorchy, he was allowed to return home. Once back he built himself a new house at Fortingall (Previous to this time the family all lived with their mother at Chesthill in Glenlyon.) and set about improving his estate. He had eight children of which only one, a daughter, ever married.

There is no indication that Iain Buidhe ever felt shame at his father’s conduct at Glencoe or that the family was treated with anything but respect and affection by the people of Glenlyon. However, Iain’s eldest son named John but with the nickname An Coirneal Dubh (The black Colonel) was very different from his father. He was a tall serious young man with no sympathy for the Jacobite cause. He possessed a strain of melancholy and believed that the ‘Curse of Glencoe’ lay both upon himself and the rest of the family. He joined the Black Watch and served with distinction in Europe; but his stern authoritarianism, his rigid moral code and his strongly held Hanovarian sympathies served to cause an irreparable breach between him and his father.

After 1745 Iain Buidhe went into hiding, though he was probably never in too much danger. He had been too old to fight himself but had used his influence to obtain recruits for the Prince in Glenlyon and Breadalbane. Again friends in high places pleaded his case and he was allowed to return to Fortingall later in the year. He died soon afterwards.

The aftermath of the Rebellion was a sad time for young John Campbell as he and his men were ordered to burn the houses and remove the cattle from the Jacobite lairds of Perthshire, most of whom he had known personally. He felt more and more that this was part of his unhappy destiny. One person who knew him commented “A man by himself was the Black Colonel; for he ever believed that the evil spell of the curse of Glencoe was upon him.”  In 1748 he transferred into the Marines and from then until 1769 he was always on active service. It was almost as if he did not wish to return to Glenlyon though he kept in close touch and often remitted money home.

Soon after returning to Glenlyon he went shooting with his younger brother, Archie, who fired at a hare. Unfortunately John was in the line of fire and the attendant cried, “You have shot your brother.”  The two of them ran up to the Coirneal Dubh who showed them his cloak, riddled with shot, saying “Don’t be afraid. I am not touched. The curse of Glencoe is a spell upon me. I have been in mortal strife many a time and remained untouched while friends and foes were falling around me. I must drie my weird.” 

With the revolt in America, John was recalled but once again the curse of Glencoe travelled with him. General Stewart of Garth relates the story “In 1771 Colonel Campbell was ordered to superintend the execution of a soldier of marines condemned to be shot. A reprieve was sent, but the ceremony was to proceed until the criminal was on his knees with a cap over his eyes. It was then he was to be informed of his pardon. No person was to be told, even the firing party who were warned that the signal to fire would be the waving of a white handkerchied by the commanding officer. When all was prepared, Colonel Campbell put his hand in his pocket for the reprieve, and in pulling out the packet, the white handkerchief accompanied it and the unfortunate prisoner was shot dead. The paper dropped through Colonel’s fingers and clapping his hands to his forehead he exclaimed. ‘The curse of God and Glencoe is here: I am a ruined man.’ Soon after he retired from the service though great efforts were made to persuade him to change his mind.” 

He came back to Glenlyon and set about trying to regain the lands that had been lost by his grandfather. In this he was helped by his two brothers Archibald and David. David had been trained as a doctor. He went to Jamaica and remained there until 1782. Archibald, the youngest of the three, joined the army and saw service in Canada where he was wounded. He returned to Scotland and became chamberlain to the Earl of Breadalbane.

John was never prepared to marry because of his belief in the curse of Glencoe. However, he felt that his brothers who were of a more sanguine disposition should, if possible marry to perpetuate the family line. It was not to be. Archiebald who had promised to marry when he met ‘a lassie he liked and whom he could get to like him in return’ died suddenly of his old war wound at the age of 51. David, when he eventually came back to Scotland, felt that he was too old for such an undertaking.

John, Coirneal Dubh, Campbell died in 1781. Shortly before his death on April 4th he signed a deed entailing his estate. He appointed David Campbell and others to invest his money in the purchase of property, beside or near to his entailed estate. To the very last he tried to win back the old Glenlyon lands but perhaps the old Glencoe curse did indeed pursue him to the end. As none of the brothers had married the estate eventually went to Francis Garden, a grand nephew, who assumed the surname of Campbell to become Francis Garden Campbell of Troup and Glenlyon. There were three more Francis Campbells. Finally, the fourth Francis Campbell sold the property in 1885 to Sir Donald Currie.

By this time the curse of Glencoe had surely run its course, but by this time too, the Campbells of Glenlyon were no more.