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The Great Feud: The Campbells & the Macdonalds
This is an account of the rivalry and sometimes-bloody conflict between two families from the west coast of Scotland, the Campbells and the McDonalds. Starting with the violent death of the Campbell chief in 1297, the feud then went on for 450 years in Scotland and Northern Ireland with numerous cullings and clashings inflicted by both sides, amongst which the incident at Glencoe just happens to be the best publicized. Despite the mutual antipathy, both families continued to grow, to scatter over the world and to produce a large number of talented descendants including two British Prime Ministers (Campbell Bannerman and Ramsay MacDonald) and the first Canadian Prime Minister. The second half of the book charts this more peaceful period after 1745 when large numbers of both clans spread rapidly around the transported as criminals, evicted in clearances, or simply seeking their fortune in peace or war.
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
224 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2000
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About the author
Oliver Thomson
27 books9 followersOliver Thomson read history at Cambridge and later added a PhD at Glasgow University where he has been a part-time lecturer for many years. Though his main career was in advertising he has written twelve books, one of which was also published in Japanese and two in Portuguese. His books include The Great Feud: The Campbells and the MacDonalds, The Impossible Bourbons and The Other Kaisers.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 30, 2025
I have a MacDonald way back in my family tree, and this was a fantastic overview of the history of the family.
June 15, 2019
The story of the 500 year Scottish clan feud between two powerful family clans, and how members of both clans have achieved fame, fortune, and in a few cases, notoriety in the years since the feud ended, as they migrated around the World. The Civil War events were merely a middle ground chapter in a much more complex web of intrigue and violence.
The feud originates from 1296. The Campbells owned Dunstaffage Castle, a reward for their support for Robert The Bruce. The MacDonald’s descended for The Lord Of The Isles, or Lord Somereld, a descendant of the Vikings who had settled in Ireland and Hebridean Scotland. Big Colin Campbell approached the MacDonald’s to negotiate territorial and patriotic issues. The MacDonald’s killed him. Campbell oppression of the MacDonald’s now had royal approval. In 1515 The MacDonald’s destroyed Mingary Castle. The 3rd Earl of Argyll gained permission from the royal regent for retaliation attacks.
By the mid 16th century post-Reformation Protestant and Catholic divisions tore Scotland into schism. The MacDonald’s supported the Stuart line and the Catholic Mary Queen Of Scots, while the Campbells stayed loyal to Elizabeth. In Ireland, infighting eventually gave the Macdonald clan leadership in Ireland to Sorley Boy. He took over Ulster’s Dunluce Castle, but the English snatched it back in 1586. After much fighting, Sorley begged so movingly that he would be loyal to Elizabeth that he was promptly handed back the castle. Sorley's sons became important too. With the rise of Archibald the Grim (7th Earl of Argyll), the Campbells were eager to oust MacDonalds from the isles of Islay and Colonsey. They snatched Dunyveg Castle from the MacDonald’s in 1609, but the MacDonald’s snatched it back and left in the control of Col Keitach, (Colkitto), later to become the father of Alastair MacDonald. When the Campbells came to retake Dunyveg, Colkitto saved himself by betraying his allies, who were all executed, and he became a fugitive, pirate and cattle rustler. The Civil War period of the feud is well documented of course, though Thomas fuddles the dates, having Alastair Macdonald and Montrose uniting in arms two years early in 1642.
It is the post-Civil War period that gets really interesting. The clan system was itself now under serious threat. Gradually, the two clans moved into a wider circle of activity; leaving one another alone to face greater challenges. The Campbells were among the first recruits of the Black Watch Regiment formed in 1725 (named after its dark tartans). The last direct serious conflict between the clans came when the MacDonald’s supported Bonnie Prince Charlie in the campaigns that led up to Culloden. 40% of his force consisted of MacDonald’s. Recognizing that this was a fight against the government for the rights of clans to settle their own differences with private armies and feuding, many Campbells also fought for the Bonnie Prince. They lost, and like the MacDonald’s, they paid the price in execution, imprisonment, forfeit of their lands and in some cases exile or slavery. Many also fought for the King. However, just as many in both clans refused to serve him, recognizing rightly, how badly organized his expedition force was.
Overseas expansion of the populations of both clans increased dramatically through forced exile. By 1762 Scots owned two thirds of Jamaica. Most of these Scots ran plantations, and owned slaves, which is why so many black people are now descended from people with Scottish surnames. (I.e., today’s newsreader Trevor MacDonald, and supermodel, Naomi Campbell))
Both clans served the British in the Napoleonic Wars, though surprisingly a few Scots also fought for Napoleon. Jaques Etienne MacDonald, descended from exiled Scots who had fled after Culloden, was ordered by Napoleon to take an army through the Alps at the height of Winter. He succeeded. Napoleon became intensely jealous of a man whose heroism and leadership proved to many to be comparable to his own and refused to talk to him ever again. However, at the Battle of Wagram in 1809, when Macdonald saved the day despite heavy losses, Napoleon was the first to congratulate him and made it clear that his long-standing grudge was forgotten. Macdonald declined to re-serve Napoleon after his escape from Elba, so he was not at Waterloo.
In 1867, John Alexander MacDonald became the first Prime Minister Of Canada.
In 1785, John Campbell. Of Languine, Scotland, discovered that sheep could graze more efficiently than cattle on certain pastureland, so fifty Languine families were evicted to make room for more sheep. Other landlords followed suit. It was the beginning of the deeply hated Highland Clearances. Thousands of people lost their homes and livelihoods.
Both clans produced an English prime Minister, Ramsey MacDonald, and Henry Campbell-Bannerman. In 1948, brothers Dick and Maurice MacDonald opened a restaurant in San Bernardino. The MacDonald’s fast food Franchise was launched. The Campbells had launched Campbell's Soup as early as 1869.
Ian Douglas Campbell, 11th Duke Of Argyll, sued his wife for divorce for her affairs with 88 different men, including, allegedly, the actor, Douglas Fairbanks Junior.
Admiral J. MacDonald led the US invasion of Grenada in 1983 on behalf of Ronald Reagan. Today, both clans are widely represented globally, i.e.; Menzies Campbell, Liberal MP; Alistair MacDonald, the Labour Party spin Doctor. A fascinating catalogue that moves from atrocity to achievement with some optimism for the future of two proud and strong families who have always stood at the heart of Scottish history.
Arthur Chappell
The feud originates from 1296. The Campbells owned Dunstaffage Castle, a reward for their support for Robert The Bruce. The MacDonald’s descended for The Lord Of The Isles, or Lord Somereld, a descendant of the Vikings who had settled in Ireland and Hebridean Scotland. Big Colin Campbell approached the MacDonald’s to negotiate territorial and patriotic issues. The MacDonald’s killed him. Campbell oppression of the MacDonald’s now had royal approval. In 1515 The MacDonald’s destroyed Mingary Castle. The 3rd Earl of Argyll gained permission from the royal regent for retaliation attacks.
By the mid 16th century post-Reformation Protestant and Catholic divisions tore Scotland into schism. The MacDonald’s supported the Stuart line and the Catholic Mary Queen Of Scots, while the Campbells stayed loyal to Elizabeth. In Ireland, infighting eventually gave the Macdonald clan leadership in Ireland to Sorley Boy. He took over Ulster’s Dunluce Castle, but the English snatched it back in 1586. After much fighting, Sorley begged so movingly that he would be loyal to Elizabeth that he was promptly handed back the castle. Sorley's sons became important too. With the rise of Archibald the Grim (7th Earl of Argyll), the Campbells were eager to oust MacDonalds from the isles of Islay and Colonsey. They snatched Dunyveg Castle from the MacDonald’s in 1609, but the MacDonald’s snatched it back and left in the control of Col Keitach, (Colkitto), later to become the father of Alastair MacDonald. When the Campbells came to retake Dunyveg, Colkitto saved himself by betraying his allies, who were all executed, and he became a fugitive, pirate and cattle rustler. The Civil War period of the feud is well documented of course, though Thomas fuddles the dates, having Alastair Macdonald and Montrose uniting in arms two years early in 1642.
It is the post-Civil War period that gets really interesting. The clan system was itself now under serious threat. Gradually, the two clans moved into a wider circle of activity; leaving one another alone to face greater challenges. The Campbells were among the first recruits of the Black Watch Regiment formed in 1725 (named after its dark tartans). The last direct serious conflict between the clans came when the MacDonald’s supported Bonnie Prince Charlie in the campaigns that led up to Culloden. 40% of his force consisted of MacDonald’s. Recognizing that this was a fight against the government for the rights of clans to settle their own differences with private armies and feuding, many Campbells also fought for the Bonnie Prince. They lost, and like the MacDonald’s, they paid the price in execution, imprisonment, forfeit of their lands and in some cases exile or slavery. Many also fought for the King. However, just as many in both clans refused to serve him, recognizing rightly, how badly organized his expedition force was.
Overseas expansion of the populations of both clans increased dramatically through forced exile. By 1762 Scots owned two thirds of Jamaica. Most of these Scots ran plantations, and owned slaves, which is why so many black people are now descended from people with Scottish surnames. (I.e., today’s newsreader Trevor MacDonald, and supermodel, Naomi Campbell))
Both clans served the British in the Napoleonic Wars, though surprisingly a few Scots also fought for Napoleon. Jaques Etienne MacDonald, descended from exiled Scots who had fled after Culloden, was ordered by Napoleon to take an army through the Alps at the height of Winter. He succeeded. Napoleon became intensely jealous of a man whose heroism and leadership proved to many to be comparable to his own and refused to talk to him ever again. However, at the Battle of Wagram in 1809, when Macdonald saved the day despite heavy losses, Napoleon was the first to congratulate him and made it clear that his long-standing grudge was forgotten. Macdonald declined to re-serve Napoleon after his escape from Elba, so he was not at Waterloo.
In 1867, John Alexander MacDonald became the first Prime Minister Of Canada.
In 1785, John Campbell. Of Languine, Scotland, discovered that sheep could graze more efficiently than cattle on certain pastureland, so fifty Languine families were evicted to make room for more sheep. Other landlords followed suit. It was the beginning of the deeply hated Highland Clearances. Thousands of people lost their homes and livelihoods.
Both clans produced an English prime Minister, Ramsey MacDonald, and Henry Campbell-Bannerman. In 1948, brothers Dick and Maurice MacDonald opened a restaurant in San Bernardino. The MacDonald’s fast food Franchise was launched. The Campbells had launched Campbell's Soup as early as 1869.
Ian Douglas Campbell, 11th Duke Of Argyll, sued his wife for divorce for her affairs with 88 different men, including, allegedly, the actor, Douglas Fairbanks Junior.
Admiral J. MacDonald led the US invasion of Grenada in 1983 on behalf of Ronald Reagan. Today, both clans are widely represented globally, i.e.; Menzies Campbell, Liberal MP; Alistair MacDonald, the Labour Party spin Doctor. A fascinating catalogue that moves from atrocity to achievement with some optimism for the future of two proud and strong families who have always stood at the heart of Scottish history.
Arthur Chappell
June 12, 2008
An entertaining account of the Campbells and the MacDonalds, probably the most famous feuding families in Scottish,
if not world history. The photographs and the list of historic sites for tourists is impressive, but the narrative
bogs down in the last section, that takes the rival families into the larger world beyond their Scottish roots, with a almost endless list of notable persons, such as superstar model Naomi Campbell and JFK mistress Judith Campbell, who happened to have either surname or variation thereof. Thomson also repeatedly misuses the term 'ethnic cleansing' in referring to the Highland clearances. The Scottish Highlands were not cleared of people based upon their ethnicity but to make way for the mass introduction of sheep farming. This could be termed 'people cleansing' but not ethnic cleansing, especially since the clan chiefs removed their own people, whose welfare they betrayed in favor of profit and greed. Finally, the far too numerous date and factual errors reveal poor editing. For example, King Henry VIII of England died in January of 1547 and so was not involved with the Battle of Pinkie fought in 1547 (p. 54), the Battle of Dettington was fought in 1743 not 1742 (p. 97), the famous 'Khaki' election took place in 1900 not 1906 (p. 146), and Frank Sinatra and his cronies were known as the 'Rat Pack' not the 'Brat Pack' (p. 159).
if not world history. The photographs and the list of historic sites for tourists is impressive, but the narrative
bogs down in the last section, that takes the rival families into the larger world beyond their Scottish roots, with a almost endless list of notable persons, such as superstar model Naomi Campbell and JFK mistress Judith Campbell, who happened to have either surname or variation thereof. Thomson also repeatedly misuses the term 'ethnic cleansing' in referring to the Highland clearances. The Scottish Highlands were not cleared of people based upon their ethnicity but to make way for the mass introduction of sheep farming. This could be termed 'people cleansing' but not ethnic cleansing, especially since the clan chiefs removed their own people, whose welfare they betrayed in favor of profit and greed. Finally, the far too numerous date and factual errors reveal poor editing. For example, King Henry VIII of England died in January of 1547 and so was not involved with the Battle of Pinkie fought in 1547 (p. 54), the Battle of Dettington was fought in 1743 not 1742 (p. 97), the famous 'Khaki' election took place in 1900 not 1906 (p. 146), and Frank Sinatra and his cronies were known as the 'Rat Pack' not the 'Brat Pack' (p. 159).
September 7, 2008
How was such an interesting story made so incredibly boring? The Campbells and MacDonalds were a soap opera of betrayal, murder and adultery, yet somehow this book made it into a laundry list of "so and so did this, then so and so did that".
December 21, 2024
This book is a quick entertaining read though at the last three chapters are lists of the accomplishments of Campbells and McDonalds. The major conflicts between the two clans could have used more detail. It is a better read than The Gale and the Heather.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews