Series 5 > Campbell Letters 1559-1583

INTRODUCTION
55
In the autumn of 1570 Grey Colin was more worried about upsetting
the neutral Atholl than about offending his clan chief. The Glenorchys
were in the middle of delicate negotiations for a marriage alliance with
the Atholl Stewarts (see above, pp. 32-6). The ‘mischance’ at the end of
July 1570, when Glenorchy’s troops had accidentally slaughtered Atholl’s,
had severely strained relations between the two men. Although this proved
only a temporary problem, a further tension was created by the
negotiations to settle the MacGregor feud. Both men needed to reach
their own agreement with the MacGregors and this was taking Atholl
considerably longer than Grey Colin. The earl had not aligned himself
fully with either the queen’s or the king’s parties which probably
encouraged Grey Cohn to copy his stance and avoid meeting Regent
Lennox. It is not clear if Grey Cohn was playing a double game in 1570,
but if he was then he certainly succeeded.
For Glenorchy himself the most significant outcome of the tangled
politics of 1570 was the final settlement with the MacGregors. He had
managed to remain uncommitted in the national struggle, at the same
time as exploiting the regent’s authority for his own ends. Grey Colin’s
tortuous behaviour was a consequence of his basic assumption that
regional disputes took precedence over national ones.
The MacGregor feud
The struggle between the MacGregors of Glenstrae and the Campbells
of Glenorchy was essentially a fight for control over the manpower, lands
and other resources of Breadalbane and Lorn. It was particularly intense
because the two clan groups had previously been close allies. Together
they had successfully expanded from their neighbouring glens in Lorn
into Breadalbane and had settled side by side upon these new lands.1
Marriage alhances had cemented the links between the MacGregors, the
Campbells and other Argyll kindreds, such as the MacNaughtons (see
Appendix C, no. 3). The feud cut across these ties leaving many with
hard decisions over their conflicting loyalties.
By the early 1560s, when Gregor MacGregor was old enough to lead
his clan in person, the struggle between Clan Gregor and the Campbells
of Glenorchy was bound to intensify.2 As early as October 1560, Grey
As Grey Colin complained on 9July 1565,‘the Clangregor allegis that makle of the
rowmis that I have suld be thairis’ (43). For a general discussion of the joint expansion,
see MacGregor,‘MacGregors’, ch. 3.
E.g. the tough conditions of the bond by Grey Colin to infeft Gregor MacGregor
with the lands of Glenstrae, 24 Nov. 1562: GD 112/1/122; MacGregor,‘MacGregors’,
309-10,316.