Argyll's Rising


Argyll's Rising or Argyll's Rebellion was a 1685 attempt to overthrow King James II and VII of England and Scotland by a group of Scottish exiles. Led by Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll, the rising was intended to tie down Royal forces in Scotland while a simultaneous rebellion under James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth began in England. Both rebellions were backed by dissident Protestants opposed to the accession of the Roman Catholic James to the throne.
Argyll, the chief of Clan Campbell, had hoped to raise several thousand tenants, while it was expected that many Presbyterians in southern Scotland would join the rebels. He sailed from Holland on 2 May with around 300 men, but on landing in Scotland attracted few recruits. Hampered by Argyll's inexperience as a commander and disagreements amongst the rebel leaders, and pursued by government militia under the Marquess of Atholl, the rebels began to disperse in mid June after an abortive invasion of Lowland Scotland. Most of their leaders were captured, including Argyll, who was executed on 30 June.

Background

In February 1685, the Catholic James II & VII came to power with widespread support in both Scotland and England. The Wars of the Three Kingdoms meant many feared the consequences of bypassing the 'natural heir', especially as James was in his 50s, and the heir was his Protestant daughter Mary. Although the Church of Scotland, or kirk, strongly opposed Catholicism, the desire for stability meant most argued there was no religious or legal justification for taking up arms.
Nevertheless, there remained a significant minority who opposed both James, and those who had regained control of the kirk under the Rescissory Act 1661, which restored bishops. It also required all ministers to renounce the 1638 Covenant; around 270 refused and lost their positions, the majority based in Southwest Scotland, an area dominated by the Campbell Earls of Argyll. These dissidents held religious services in the open fields, known as conventicles, which often attracted thousands of worshippers, and were subject to increasing persecution.
Despite his father's leading role in the 1638 to 1651 Covenanter government, Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll was reconciled with Charles II and became a leading figure in his Scottish administration. However, Argyll's protection of the conventicles and immense power in the West Highlands was perceived as undermining Royal authority, as well as income. In 1679, a failed conventicle rebellion resulted in the fall of his political ally John Maitland, 1st Duke of Lauderdale. This left him vulnerable to attack, which was led by Lord Advocate Rosehaugh, chief prosecutor of the 1679 rebels.
He was particularly mistrusted by James, who clumsily asked him to convert to Catholicism as a personal favour, which he refused. After objecting to inconsistencies in the 1681 Scottish Test Act, he was convicted of treason and sentenced to death, a charge widely regarded as driven by James's vindictiveness. Although Charles wanted to destroy Argyll's power base, he had little desire to see him executed: he escaped, or was allowed to escape from prison, and went into hiding in England. He eventually fled to the Dutch Republic after being accused of implication in the 1683 Rye House Plot, an alleged attempt to assassinate both Charles and James.
Here he joined a group of English and Scottish political exiles, who were protected by James' daughter Mary and her husband William of Orange. United by little more than opposition to the current regime, they included Whigs opposed to James's succession, associates of Charles's illegitimate Protestant son Monmouth, and republican radicals. Among the most prominent were the moderate Whig Lord Melville, Sir Patrick Hume, who defended many of the 1679 rebels, Sir John Cochrane of Ochiltree, and former Cromwellian soldier Richard Rumbold, instigator of the Rye House Plot. While Monmouth and Argyll did not meet personally, a plan was gradually formed to synchronise a joint attack on the Stuart regime.

Planning

Argyll began planning an insurrection in Scotland in early 1684. He raised funds among the exiles and other supporters, notably Ann Smith, Patience Ward, William Rumbold and John Locke. The money was used to purchase military equipment in Amsterdam, concealing it as destined for the Venetian Republic.
Preparations became more urgent following the death of Charles II in February 1685, and the accession of James. Argyll worked to convince Monmouth of the feasibility of a joint plan, arguing he would be able to raise 3000-5000 tenants, as well as securing the support of disaffected Scots Presbyterians. The Scottish government were likely informed of Argyll's plans; a militia force under the Marquess of Atholl was ordered to occupy his proposed recruiting area of Argyllshire.
In early March 1685, Monmouth came to Amsterdam to speak with the exiles. They were joined by Argyll, who was reportedly anxious to start the rising. They eventually agreed that Monmouth would take responsibility for England, the south of Ireland, and foreign relations, while Argyll would deal with Scotland and northern Ireland. Argyll revealed that he had secured £10,000 in financial support, was purchasing three ships and could be ready to sail in as little as two weeks, though he agreed to postpone in order to coordinate with Monmouth's planned invasion of England.
Cochrane chaired a further meeting in April at which Argyll and his son Charles were present. The conspirators voted that Argyll should lead the Scottish expedition but against his wishes demanded all major decisions be approved by their committee. One of the leading Scots exiles, Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun, agreed to accompany Monmouth to England, while two prominent English rebels, Rumbold and John Ayloffe, were to accompany Argyll.

Voyage to Scotland

After an initial few days in the Zuider Zee, Argyll's forces eventually set sail on a favourable wind from Amsterdam at about 7 o'clock in the evening on 2 May. The three boats, Anna, David and Sophia, carried around 300 men, mainly Scots serving in the Dutch military, and a stock of modern weapons sufficient to arm 20,000.
With the assistance of a gale the vessels arrived off the Moray Firth early on the morning of 5 May, intending to reach the western coast by passing north of the Orkneys. However the wind died away, a sea fog descended, and the vessels missed the passage between Orkney and Shetland. They anchored in Swanbister Bay on Orkney's south coast and Argyll's chamberlain William Spence, who had an uncle living in Kirkwall, got permission from Argyll to go ashore to obtain a pilot.
Disaster struck when Spence and his companion Dr. Blackader were arrested in Kirkwall, alerting the authorities to the rebels' presence. There was a heated argument among the leaders; Hume proposed rescuing their colleagues, while Argyll and Cochrane suggested taking some local hostages. After a majority supported the latter plan, a party landed and took 7 local gentry prisoner. Argyll wrote to the Bishop of Orkney proposing a prisoner exchange, but received no response, so the rebels continued to the west coast, reaching the Sound of Mull by the evening of 11 May.
On arrival off Mull, Argyll's son Charles was sent ashore to Lorne attempting to raise local heritors under their feudal obligations to his father. In the interim, the main invasion force sailed southwards to Islay; Argyll decided to land the majority of his troops by night and surprise Atholl's militia, disembarking at one o'clock in the morning of the 17th.

The rising begins

Atholl's men escaped to Kintyre some three hours earlier and the rebels landed at Kilarrow unopposed. Although the well-equipped rebel soldiers made a good impression, Argyll only secured 80 local recruits rather than the 600 he had expected. On 20 May the fleet crossed over to Kintyre and landed at Campbeltown, centre of Argyll's regional influence.
The rebel leaders had a formal Declaration read out at Campeltown's Market Cross; drawn up by Whig advocate James Stewart of Goodtrees, it attacked the "misgovernment" of Charles and James without clearly specifying an alternative, reflecting divisions within the rebel leadership. The dilemma they faced was that Presbyterian dissidents wanted to overthrow the kirk establishment, not just James, thereby guaranteeing opposition from the moderate majority. The Declaration compromised by omitting any mention of the National Covenant, severely limiting its appeal to their most likely supporters.
Argyll mustered his forces in Kintyre on 22 May. Three understrength companies of recruits had followed from Islay; more were formed using new volunteers from Kintyre, who were issued with Dutch weapons, and given colours written with the mottoes "For the Protestant Religion" and "Against Popery, Prelacy and Erastianism". Rumbold and Ayloffe were both given colonelcies of regiments, of horse and foot respectively, formed from recruits enlisted in Campbeltown.

Divisions amongst the leadership

The original plan was for a quick descent on the Lowlands to mobilise Covenanter support before Government opposition was fully organised. The idea seemed validated when George Barclay arrived from the Presbyterian heartland of Ayrshire, claiming hundreds of potential recruits. It was even more attractive as some of the Islay men had already deserted.
Argyll however ordered his forces to Tarbert, where they would link up with Campbell clan levies. On 27 May, they were joined by another 1,200 men under his son Charles and Sir Duncan Campbell of Auchinbreck, bringing their total strength to around 2,500. The rebel infantry were organised into three regiments, with Ayloffe, Campbell of Auchinbreck and Robert Elphinstone of Lapness as colonels. One of Auchinbreck's officers was Robert Duncanson, later notorious for his role in the Glencoe Massacre, whose father was minister at Kilmartin.
Lacking confirmation of Monmouth's landing, divisions emerged within the rebel leadership. With their estates occupied by Atholl's militia, Argyll was unable to raise his tenants, and felt the Campbell levies would not fight while their homes remained at risk. He first decided to march on Inveraray, but under pressure from his Council agreed to send a smaller force to the Lowlands by sea to begin recruiting there. To general frustration, he abandoned this plan the next day; an enraged Cochrane said he would land on the Ayrshire coast "even if he were alone and had nothing but a hayfork in his hand".
Colleagues later complained of Argyll's "peremptory" style, while he accused them of being deliberately obstructive, although he established a good relationship with Rumbold. Unlike Monmouth, Argyll was not widely popular; his own tenants considered him a harsh landlord, and many served only in return for having their debts written off. In all, his army never numbered more than 2,500, a disappointing figure given over 8,000 turned out for the poorly organised 1679 rebellion.

Bute and Eilean Dearg

The rebels crossed to Bute seeking manpower and supplies, wasting three days due to a lack of sufficient boats. An attempt by Hume to requisition more on Great Cumbrae failed when a group of Government soldiers crossed from Largs and staved the boats in. Few men were recruited on Bute after Argyll's Highlanders plundered the island's farms.
Argyll and Hume argued violently over whether the rebels should make for the Lowlands, Argyll insisting they deal with Atholl first. Cochrane took a party of 200 to land in Renfrewshire, routing a small troop of militia near Greenock, but again found a discouraging response to the rebel call to defend "religion and liberty": on his return he supported Argyll's view.
on Bute. It was burned by Argyll's forces when they left for the mainland.
In order to deal with Atholl, Argyll decided to establish a base at the old castle of Eilean Dearg, Loch Riddon, while the rebels built an earthen fort to improve the defences. A Royal Navy squadron comprising the frigates Kingfisher, Falcon, Mermaid and several smaller ships took control of the sea outside the loch, isolating the garrison.
With the fort completed and ships unloaded, Argyll sent Rumbold and his cavalry, along with 300 infantry under Major Henderson, to hold Glendaruel, which ran into Loch Riddon from the north. Rumbold pushed on and seized Ardkinglas Castle on the shore of Loch Fyne, close to Inveraray. Seeing an opportunity to take control of Argyllshire, Argyll was determined to throw the entire rebel force into battle in order to force the issue, but much to his discouragement other members of the Council vetoed the decision.
On 11 June, the same day that Monmouth finally landed in Dorset, the Council decided to begin a march to the Lowlands, leaving a garrison at Eilean Dearg under Elphinstone of Lapness. Near Loch Long, however, they were overtaken by the Eilean Dearg garrison, who had fled after Government frigates got close up to the castle. They had abandoned 5000 weapons, 300 barrels of gunpowder, their standard, and the hostages from Orkney; this new disaster had a serious effect on the rebels' morale, and desertion increased.

March to the Lowlands

The rebels decided to make for the strongly Whig city of Glasgow. They were low on supplies, Atholl was in pursuit, and the Earl of Dumbarton was stationed near Glasgow in readiness with a force of militia and regulars. Argyll was still in favour of forcing a single pitched battle, while Hume suggested that the rebels should be divided: the Highlanders should return to Argyllshire via Glen Croe, while the Lowlanders and volunteers from Holland should travel down Loch Long and the Gare Loch in two groups. Unknown to the rebels, there had been Covenanter gatherings in Wigtownshire with the intention of joining them; however, the preacher Alexander Peden reminded them that Argyll and Monmouth had been persecutors of Covenanters in the recent past and claimed that the rebels would be defeated before they could reach them.
On 16 June the rebels crossed the Leven near Dumbarton; desertion had reduced them to less than 1,000 men. On the road between Dumbarton and Stirling they spotted a group of Government forces marching without protective artillery cover. Argyll, Cochrane and Ayloffe were in favour of an immediate surprise attack, hoping a victory would rally the district to their support. Hume, however, argued against it, pointing out that their men were now exhausted, and advocated continuing to Glasgow. In the event, a disastrous night march on 17th June resulted in the dispersal of the remaining forces, despite Rumbold and Argyll's efforts to keep order; Rumbold became separated from the main group of insurgents, and most of the remaining Highlanders deserted.
Argyll and Cochrane had a final conference at an inn in the village of Old Kilpatrick; Argyll was apparently agitated and "scarcely able to speak". He asked Cochrane's advice as to whether he should return to Argyllshire or go over the River Clyde with the others, Cochrane suggesting that he would be better returning with his own clansmen. Argyll's own account of the rising's end stated that his Lowland colleagues had stolen several boats and abandoned his party.
Argyll set off north with a small group of associates, but after a few miles the group broke up; Campbell of Auchinbreck tried to continue to Argyllshire to raise further men. Argyll, however, turned south again, accompanied only by Major Fullarton. He disguised himself as a countryman acting as Fullarton's guide: he obtained a farmer's clothing and had already grown a long beard during his previous exile. The two men were accosted by militia while trying to ford a river near Inchinnan, and Argyll was taken prisoner.

The Battle of Muirdykes

Cochrane, accompanied by Hume, Major James Henderson and about 150 men, had forced a crossing of the Clyde near Old Kilpatrick. After futher desertions and driving off a group of militia, a remaining group of 75 reached a place called the Muirdykes, or Muirdykes Mount, near Lochwinnoch, on the afternoon of 18 June. They drew up in a small close protected by low stone walls and were attacked by a troop of dragoons led by Cochrane's relative William, Lord Ross. Cochrane rejected Ross's offer of quarter and successfully defended their position until nightfall; the regulars took several casualties including their commander Captain William Cleland. On moving off under cover of darkness the rebels discovered that the dragoons had fled towards Kilmarnock. Hume later wrote "wer I to choose 75 men upon my life’s hazard; I would not reject one of that 75 that came of that night".
On 20 June Cochrane received word that Argyll had been taken prisoner, and released the remaining rebels from service, telling them to escape as best they could. Cochrane was captured a week later in his uncle's house in Renfrew. Ayloffe was also taken prisoner, unsuccessfully attempting suicide shortly afterwards. Rumbold was taken, fighting hard, near Lesmahagow. On being called to surrender he was supposed to have said that he "came there to fight for death, not for life", killed one assailant and wounded two, and was only captured when his horse was shot from under him: he was brought to Edinburgh seriously wounded.

Aftermath

While it had been feared that "Argyll might have given much trouble", the ease with which the rising was defeated surprised contemporaries. Lord Fountainhall commented on the "sillinesse" of the rising's end, noting that "every one reputed Argile valiant and witty, and Sir John Cochrane neither, and yet Argile sneaks away from the hazard, and Sir John fights stoutly like a man; only, the greatest coward when straitned will fight desperately eneugh".
As Argyll was technically incapable of committing further offences since his dubious 1681 treason conviction, he was hurriedly beheaded on 30 June under the 1681 charge, despite acts committed in the interim. Most observers commented on his good humour while awaiting execution, spending much of the time petitioning that his tenants were not penalised for their involvement.
The injured Rumbold was sentenced to be hanged, cut down, have his heart cut out and exhibited, then to be beheaded and quartered as a traitor; the sentence was carried out on 26 June. His speech on the scaffold, in which he stated that "were every hair in this head and beard of mine a life, I should joyfully sacrifice them", was widely printed and quoted afterwards. Argyll, who sharply criticised Hume and Cochrane in his final letters, wrote that "Poor Rumbold was a great support to me and a brave man and died Christianly." Some time later Mark Kerr, the baillie at Lesmahagow who had captured Rumbold, was accosted on his doorstep by two men claiming to be Rumbold's "sons": they took the sword Kerr had taken from Rumbold, ran Kerr through, and cut out his heart. The locals made little or no effort to find the perpetrators, which was widely taken as a sign of sympathy with the rebels' aims.
Ayloffe was brought to London and personally interviewed by James, who had family connections with him. When James reminded Ayloffe that he had the power to pardon him, Ayloffe was said to have responded "It is in your power but not in your nature to pardon". He was executed on 30 October at the Inner Temple along with Richard Nelthorpe, a fellow Rye House conspirator.
Cochrane was said to have saved himself by agreeing to support James, though a more probable explanation is that his father agreed to pay £5000. Several prominent rebels were pardoned, including Argyll's nephew Archibald, who went on to become Bishop of Aberdeen and a non-juror. Campbell of Auchinbreck escaped and went into hiding. In 1690 he petitioned the parliament claiming that after the defeat Royalist Maclean clansmen had burnt Carnasserie Castle, driven off 2000 cattle, hanged Dugald Mactavish the fiar of Dunardry, and "barbarously murdered" his uncle Alexander Campbell of Strondour.
Of the rebel rank and file, 177 of Argyll's followers were transported to Jamaica and 100 to New Jersey. Amongst those who suffered most from the effects of the Rising were hundreds of Covenanters already held in Government prisons: although they had not taken part in the rebellion, their treatment became substantially worse, and many were also transported. However, the Rising was generally less severely punished than the Monmouth Rebellion, possibly as the authorities recognised that many of Argyll's men had been bound by feudal obligations to follow him.
Despite the defeat of Argyll's Rising, many of those involved in it would a few years later come to be involved in the Glorious Revolution.