Argyll's Rising, June 1685, was an attempt to overthrow James II and VII in Scotland led by Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll. Planned to coincide with the Monmouth Rebellion in England, both were backed by Protestants who opposed James due to his Catholicism.
Argyll expected to raise several thousand men from Clan Campbell, as well as additional support from Presbyterian dissidents. He landed in Scotland with around 300 men, but attracted few recruits. Hampered by disagreements amongst their leaders, the rebels began to disperse in mid June, while Argyll was captured and executed on 30 June.
Background
Despite widespread opposition to Catholicism in the predominantly Protestant kingdoms of Scotland and EnglandCatholicism, in February 1685 James II and VII came to power with widespread support, despite being a Catholic himself. This was driven by a desire for stability, especially as James had yet to produce a legitimate son, and the legal heir was his Protestant daughter Mary.
As a result, most members of the Church of Scotland argued there was no justification for taking up arms. Nevertheless, a significant minority had been expelled from the church under the Rescissory Act 1661, primarily in Southwest Scotland, an area dominated by the Duke of Argyll. These dissidents held religious services in the open fields, known as conventicles, which often attracted thousands of worshippers.
Despite his father's role in the Covenanter government of 1638 to 1651, Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll became a leading figure in Charles II's Scottish administration. However, by the 1670s his power in the West Highlands was seen as a threat to royal authority, as well as royal income. In 1679, a failed conventicle rebellion left him vulnerable to attack by Lord Advocate Rosehaugh, chief prosecutor of the 1679 rebels. As a result, his objections to the 1681 Test Act, he was convicted of treason and sentenced to death, a charge widely regarded as driven by James's vindictiveness.
Charles allowed Argyll to escape, and he eventually reached the Dutch Republic after being accused of complicity in the 1683 Rye House Plot. Here he joined a group of English and Scottish political exiles, who were protected by James' daughter Mary and her husband William of Orange. They included Whigs opposed to James's succession, supporters 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, a leading member of the Rye House Plot.
Planning
Argyll began planning an insurrection in Scotland in early 1684, initially aimed at regaining his lands and titles. Although he sought funding of £30,000, he was only able to raise £10,000, most of it supplied by English sympathisers, including Ann Smith, Patience Ward, William Rumbold and John Locke. This was used to purchase military equipment in Amsterdam, concealed as destined for the Venetian Republic; these precautions proved of little value, since the Scottish government were kept informed of the plot from its beginning.
Preparations became more urgent following the death of Charles II in February 1685, and the accession of James. It made sense to co-ordinate with Monmouth, but Argyll was deeply suspicious of his fellow exile, and had to be persuaded to meet him by Hume and Robert Ferguson. In early March 1685, Monmouth came to Amsterdam; they agreed he would take responsibility for England, the south of Ireland, and foreign relations, while Argyll would deal with Scotland and northern Ireland. To ensure co-ordination between the two, a leading Scots exile, Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun, agreed to accompany Monmouth, while the English rebels Rumbold and John Ayloffe went with Argyll.
Most significantly, Monmouth undertook not to declare himself king unless proposed by Parliament, and to depart no more than six days after Argyll. The Scottish landing was intended to be a diversion, the main thrust being Monmouth's invasion of England, but in the event, he did not sail until nearly a month later. This allowed James to focus on Argyll, while a militia force under the Marquess of Atholl was ordered to occupy his proposed recruiting area of Argyllshire. Cochrane chaired a further meeting in April attended by Argyll and his third son Charles. While it was agreed Argyll should lead the expedition, he was forced to accept a Council that would approve all major decisions.
Voyage to Scotland
Weapons to equip 20,000 men were loaded on three ships, Anna, David and Sophia, along with around 300 men, mainly Scots serving in the Dutch military. After waiting several days in the Zuider Zee for a favourable wind, Argyll's forces eventually left Amsterdam at about 7 o'clock in the evening on 2 May. Blown by a gale, they arrived off the Moray Firth early on the morning of 5 May, intending to reach the western coast by passing north of Orkney. 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; Hume proposed rescuing their colleagues, while Argyll and Cochrane suggested taking hostages. After this was eventually agreed, a landing party took 7 local gentry prisoner; Argyll wrote to the Bishop of Orkney proposing an exchange, but received no response. The rebels and their hostages continued west, reaching the Sound of Mull by the evening of 11 May. On arriving at the Isle of Mull, Charles Campbell was sent ashore to Lorne, where he attempted to raise local heritors who held their land from 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; here he had two manifestos read out, the first claiming he wanted only to retrieve his estates.
Drawn up by James Stewart of Goodtrees, the second Declaration was a lengthy recital of grievances that failed to specify an alternative. This reflected the dilemma faced by the rebel leadership; the Presbyterian dissidents, or Cameronians, who were their most likely recruits wanted to overthrow the kirk establishment, thereby guaranteeing opposition from the moderate majority. The Cameronians were already deeply suspicious of Argyll, who had been part of the administration that persecuted them in the 1670s, and since the Declaration omitted any mention of the 1638 Covenant, they withheld their support.
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 troops could prevent it. The idea seemed validated when George Barclay arrived from the Presbyterian heartland of Ayrshire, claiming to have hundreds of potential recruits, while some of the men recruited on Islay had already deserted. Argyll ordered his forces to Tarbert, Kintyre, to link up with Campbell clan levies, where on 27 May they were joined by 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 even among his own tenants, whose land rents quadrupled between 1665 and 1685; his Campbell rival Breadalbane raised 800 men to fight for the government. His army never numbered more than 2,500, with some estimates placing it under 1,500, a disappointing figure given the 8,000 who turned out for the 1679 rebellion.
Bute and Eilean Dearg
The rebels crossed to Bute seeking manpower and supplies, an exercise which proved of little value. They wasted three days looking for boats to transport them, attempts to requisition more on Great Cumbrae failed when Government soldiers crossed from Largs and destroyed them, while looting restricted the number of recruits. Hume wanted to make for the Lowlands, while Argyll insisted they deal with Atholl first; they compromised by sending Cochrane to Renfrewshire with 200 men. Despite routing a troop of militia near Greenock, he found little support for the Rising, and on his return supported Argyll's view.
Argyll established a base at the old castle of Eilean Dearg, Loch Riddon, which was strengthened by additional earthworks; once completed, his ships unloaded their weapons and supplies. Rumbold and his cavalry, plus 300 infantry under Major Henderson, were sent to hold Glendaruel, which ran into Loch Riddon from the north. Rumbold also seized Ardkinglas Castle near Inveraray; Argyll saw this as an opportunity to capture the whole of Argyllshire, but other members of the Council vetoed the idea.
On 11 June, the same day 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. Shortly after, Elphinstone was attacked by a Royal Navy squadron including the frigates Kingfisher, Falcon, Mermaid. The garrison abandoned the fort, along with their supplies and the hostages from Orkney, rejoining their colleagues near Loch Long. News of this disaster had a serious effect on morale, and desertions increased.
March to the Lowlands