Hello again and failte, as the galic would say... I was very busy the last da, so excuse. And my special thanks for your interest, your comments and your favorites. This is ver helpful to make things going on... Welcome to Loch Awe, at the ruin of castle Kilchurn, an old stronghold of the Campbell family, the clann camp beul. The castle is situated at an area that just was owned or controlled by the MacGregor clan. Once situated on a small isle, the castle was built by Colin Campbell, 1st Lord of Glenorchy in around 1450. At first constructed as an armed tower with 5 floors, the castle got some other buildings around later, a dining hall at first and quarters for troopers later. In the years from 1715 till 1745, after a short interlude at a MacGregor stronghold, in the time of the Jacobite wars, troops of the English government lived in this stronghold, because the Campbells were comrades of the English king of the house Oranien. The stronghold held 200 men in its walls in this time. In 1740 the Campbells changed place to Perthshire and built the very rich decorated and luxurious Taymouth castle, recent a very fine hotel. Back to Kilchurn: The Campbell family tried to sell their castle to the English crown, but the king was not interested. In 1760 a lightning hit Kilchurn castle and set it on fire. The castle was very heavy damaged and was given up. At 28th December 1879 a big storm (the same who destroyed the railroad bridge upon the Forth of Tay) destroyed the old tower and it broke down. In 1817 the water level of Loch Awe was lowered, so Kilchurn castle is no longer situated on an island. Today it is under care of HISTORIC SCOTLAND. The origin of the Campbells: The origin of the Campbell family is uncertain. The earliest written name of a Campbell ancestor dates from 1267, as Gillespaig of Menstry bought land in Strathclyde. Gillespaig means in modern English “Gillespie”, often translated as “Archibald”, too. Gillespaigs son was named Cailein with the second name Mor, that means in modern English nothing else than “Colin, the Great (warrior)” Colin was a brief supporter of the later king Robert the Bruce, and after winning the crown of Scotland, Bruce benefited his comrade with great areas of land, titles and a good marriage with his own sister. This is the basis of the up growing Campbell family, who rose up to the most powerful family of Scotland…. Cailean Mor(or Colin) had a handicap: His mouth was crooked; maybe he had a facial paresis or a wound from fightings or something: His handicap gave him a gaelic nickname: “Chaim Beul” or “cam beul“, what means “crooked mouth” in English; a normannic writer at the court of Robert the Bruce wrote this name down as “Campbell”. This is the origin of the name: From Cailean “Chaim Beul” to “Colin Campbell, the Great“, the friend and partner of king Robert of Scotland…. This was the way the Campbells got land at the Loch Awe; land that was in origin a territory of the MacGregor’s. In the following 300 years the Campbell family grew up to the mighty Earls of Argyll with influence till the Mull of Kintyre and the Outer Hebrides. The MacGregors, who didn’t fought with Robert the Bruce, lost influence and territory and became a clan of cattle thieves , mostly totally dominated by the Campbells…. The Campbells motto is: NE OBLIVISCARIS - You should not forget, and their slogan is "CRUACHAN". The clans crest shows a boars head. The recent clan chief is His Grace Torquhil Ian Campbell, the 13th Duke of Argyll, situated in Inveraray Castle (Argyll, of course…) He has a proud gaelic title till today: Mac Cailein Mor - Son of Colin, the Great! Source: Wikipedia, English and german version Again a novel, was very interesting to do this recherche. Hope you enjoy the story as I enjoyed to write it. Thanks for your interest; comments are welcome everytime! Till tomorrow, billcody