Alastair Campbell of Airds, Chief Executive of Clan Campbell, has
written:
"Clans as we know them today seem to appear first as effective units in
the 13th century, although in many cases the genealogy of their leaders
is claimed to go back for centuries earlier...the essence of clanship is
loyalty, - to the Chief upwards - and from the Chief downwards - that is
the one thing which has made and still makes a clan."
Diarmid Campbell, editor of the Journal of the Clan Campbell Society (NA)
writes,
"Since Alastair was asked to write the chapter on Clans for the Scottish
Encyclopaedia, he is likely the foremost expert. In terms of loyalty to
a Clan Chief, the idea of 'loyalty' to an hereditary individual is
contrary to American culture, until you realize that it is not so much
to an individual but symbolic, just as when a soldier salutes an
officer, he is not saluting that person but the symbolic authority of
the nation who commissioned that officer.
The origins of the Campbells has been traced to the O'Duibne, a Britonic Celt family from Strathclyde who came into Argyll in the eleven hundreds and later made that area their base of power. First to be named 'cam beul' was Dougald O'Duibne (circa 1250) who was given the name 'curved mouth' (cam beul in the Gaelic) and whose descendants in the next two generations adopted this as a family name.
Our Chief is His Grace, Ian Campbell, the 12th Duke of Argyll. The Duke and Duchess and live in Inveraray Castle in Argyll in Scotland (pron. InverAIRah and Argyll is pronounced arGYLL, not like the socks ARGyll.) They have an adult son and daughter. Inveraray has been the hereditary home of the Campbell Chiefs since the 15th century. The Gaelic title of the Chief, which he prefers, is 'Mac Cailein Mor', meaning son of big Colin (who was grandson of Dougald 'cam beul' and was killed by a MacDougall arrow in 1296) and pronounced macALAN more.
The Chief personally encourages and participates in the world-wide activities of the Clan Campbell Societies. While the Clan is a family, a network of kinship and not an organization in itself, the Clan Campbell Societies are organizations within the Clan as part of the Clan authorized the the Chief. Those in North America are run on a democratic basis."
Last update: December 27, 1995 by Chris Gaunt, cgaunt@umich.edu.