| Notes |
- Also called Nigel Campbell.
From the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (citation details below):
Campbell family (per. c. 1300–1453), nobility, was important in the history of the western highlands, and especially Argyll, in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Recorded from about the middle of the thirteenth century, the family first came to prominence in the person of Sir Neil Campbell (d. 1315?), who was noted for his active military and political support for the cause of King Robert I in the period after February 1306. He was later identified by John Barbour as one of the small band which accompanied Robert during his desperate flight from English and Scottish foes in the winter of 1306–7, and contemporary evidence seems to confirm that he was in the king's personal entourage at this time, in particular the band into which he entered about 1308, along with Thomas Hay and Alexander Seton, to defend to the death their king and the liberty of the realm. In 1309 and 1314, moreover, he represented Robert in negotiations with the English crown. Sir Neil's loyal service resulted in a number of gains for his family and kinsmen at the expense of King Robert's enemies in the west, most notably the Macdougall lords of Argyll.
The most striking confirmation of the closeness of the links between Campbell and the king came in the form of Sir Neil's prestigious marriage with Robert's sister Mary Bruce, which took place either just before Mary was captured by the English in 1306 or, more probably, following her release in 1312. Shortly after Bannockburn (24 June 1314) Sir Neil, his spouse, and their son John received a grant of the earldom and other lands which had belonged to David Strathbogie, tenth earl of Atholl. Then, on 10 February 1315, Colin Campbell, who was filially Sir Neil's eldest son, was granted his father's lands of Lochawe and Ardskeodnish in free barony. Sir Neil was probably still alive when the charter was issued, but seems to have died shortly afterwards; since Colin may have been technically illegitimate, the Lochawe charter was probably intended to ensure his succession to the lands and Campbell chieftainship. The name of Colin's mother is unknown. His father was, however, apparently married to Alice, one of the two daughters and coheirs of Sir Reginald Crawford, about 1302–3, after he and his brother Donald had allegedly abducted Alice and her sister. If the marriage took place it cannot be shown to have produced any children, and had in any case ended no later than 1312–14, when Sir Neil married Mary Bruce.
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Nielsen Hayden genealogy
- Abt 1315
Siblings
d. Abt 1296, String of Lorne, Argyllshre, Scotland