My Wilkie (McQuilkan) family came to Canada from Skipness, Argyllshire. According to a Clan's map of Scotland, Skipness was Campbell country. Does this mean the Campbells were Royalty representives ie were they the landlords.Yes I'm confused so a brief explanation would be appreciated. Also searching the Cairns name from Argyllshire Thankyou Barrie at bwilkie@dunmac.com Nova Scotia Canada

Hi Barrie Scottish history is fascinatingly complex. :-) Simplifying things greatly, clans (such as the Campbells) were originally akin to tribes, each occupying and controlling its own lands, and each with its own leading families who were, to all intents and purposes, royalty themselves. They fought and feuded, formed alliances and broke them, and raided and skirmished along the borders of their territories. Scottish kings were originally regarded as "high kings", ruling over the emerging country of Scotland only through the consent and approval of the "low kings" or clan chiefs. Obviously, through the centuries, things shifted and changed as other concepts of royalty and kingship were introduced as a result of dealings with England and countries in Europe, but the original concept of areas of Scotland being the traditional lands of particular clans remained. The clan chiefs adopted or were granted other titles which had meaning outside of the Scottish clan system, and while many of these titled families owned (and continue to own) large tracts of land in Scotland, the reference to "Campbell country" is more likely to be a reference to it being in an area of Scotland linked historically with the Campbell clan (in this case the Campbells of Argyll), and not necessarily an indication that it is or was actually owned by the clan's ruling families. Hope that helps, and in addition to Jim's suggestion, a search on Google for "history of scottish clans" will turn up some useful references, including one to a book available on amazon.com which looks interesting and which you could try to get from your local library - "Highlanders: A History of the Scottish Clans". Regards, Donna ----- Original Message ----- From: "Barrie and Mae Wilkie" <bwilkie@dunmac.com> To: <SCT-ARGYLL-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, June 30, 2003 11:50 AM Subject: [ARGYLL] Clan info request, > My Wilkie (McQuilkan) family came to Canada from Skipness, Argyllshire. According to a Clan's map of Scotland, Skipness was Campbell country. Does this mean the Campbells were Royalty representives ie were they the landlords.Yes I'm confused so a brief explanation would be appreciated. > > Also searching the Cairns name from Argyllshire > > Thankyou > Barrie at bwilkie@dunmac.com > Nova Scotia Canada > > > ==== SCT-ARGYLL Mailing List ==== > ********************************************************************** > Need an LDS film number to order a film at your local LDS library? Try > http://geocities.com/Heartland/Garden/1311/13300-scottishreference.htm > >