Grey Colin

The third son of Colin, 3rd laird of Glenorchy, Grey Colin was not expected to succeed to the main Glenorchy inheritance, and as such, was expected to make his own way.

Grey Colin was probably born c 1505 rather than 1499 as implied by his portrait in the Black Book of Taymouth which gives his age as 84 when he died in 1583. He was the third son of Colin, 3rd laird of Glenorchy (1513-23), and Margaret, daughter of John Stewart, 1st earl of Atholl, who died on 26 July 1524 a year after her husband. During the lairdship of his grandfather, Sir Duncan, 2nd laird (1480-1513), Grey Colin had been fostered with the Fearnan branch of the MacGregors who were based by Loch Tay a few miles west of Balloch Castle.

Since he was not expected to succeed to the main Glenorchy inheritance, Grey Colin had been given the lands of Crannich, half way along the north shore of Loch Tay and would have been expected to make his own way. He married Margaret, daughter of Alexander Stewart, bishop of Moray (1532-7) who was the son of the duke of Albany (d. 1485), and grandson of James II, thereby giving Margaret distant royal blood, though as a cleric's daughter she was born out of wedlock.

Margaret was the widow of Patrick Graham of Inchbrakie and had several daughters already. Grey Colin and Margaret had two daughters: Beatrix, who wed John Campbell, 3rd laird of Lawers, in 1559, and Margaret, who married Allan MacDougall of Raray in 1570. Grey Colin's wife Margaret had died before 1550.

Why 'Grey' Colin?

Colin's portrait in the Black Book of Taymouth shows his white hair and long flowing beard which gained him the Gaelic by-name of Cailean Liath or Grey Colin. He is also wearing plate armour and leaning upon a great double-handed sword conforming to the classic self-image of the nobility as warrior leaders.

As John's health failed, Grey Colin took more responsibility and in 1548 he brought the Breadalbane troops to the 4th earl of Argyll's muster at Dunstaffnage Castle (GD112/39/1/1 & 2). John died eighteen months later leaving three daughters but no male heir. After this series of dynastic failures, on 5 July 1550 Grey Colin became 6th laird in his late 40s.

Within six months of succeeding he made an advantageous marriage to Katherine Ruthven, by whom he had eight surviving children (see Kate). For 33 years Grey Colin was laird, dying on 11 April 1583 and being buried at the Campbell chapel at Finlarig. His will was registered with the Edinburgh commissary court on 3 April 1584 (NAS CC8/8/13 fos. 133r-38r).

• he produced a large family and was succeeded by an adult male heir
• he 'conquesit' (acquired) many lands
• he built or enlarged several castles
• he was 'ane great justiciar'

He could also be a hard, grasping and bad-tempered man. His tenants, who had fled into mid-Argyll in the winter of 1563-4 after they had been burnt out of their lands in Glen Orchy by MacGregor’s raiding, believed the rumour that Grey Colin would still expect to receive full rents from them (GD112/39/3/4). When Grey Colin was ‘ewill content,’ he did not hesitate to berate his subordinates (e.g. GD112/39/10/1).

In 1570 Grey Colin retaliated against his enemy Gregor MacGregor of Glenstrae and, 'beheiddit the laird off McGregour himselff at Kandmoir in presens of the Erle of Atholl, the Justice Clerk, and sundrie uther nobillmen. By taking the executioner's role himself, Grey Colin showed he was prepared to extract personal revenge upon MacGregor, and thereby vindicate his honour.

The lighter side

There are only occasional glimpses in the letters of Grey Colin as a caring husband, father, friend and laird. The fragments of his Letters to his wife Kate contain some personal touches amidst matters of business. Grey Colin also showed genuine concern and generosity to Gregor MacAne after his MacGregor kinsmen's raid upon Kilchurn Castle (GD112/39/9/20). Gregor's reply was full of gratitude and expressions of undying loyalty and service (GD112/39/15/18). In a less dramatic setting, Atholl's P.S. (GD112/39/6/7) revealed the earl valued Grey Colins friendship and his company.

The key to his success lay in the geographical spread of his contacts since his network stretched far beyond Breadalbane along a broad corridor from the Argyll coast in the west to Perth in the east and, crucially, south to the royal court. Despite the expansion of the Glenorchy Campbells into Breadalbane, their interest in their ancestral lands of Glen Orchy and in Lorn affairs never flagged. To preserve his influence in the Argyll heartland, Grey Colin relied upon the MacDougalls of Dunollie (GD112/39/2/4; 7/18; 10/1) and to a lesser extent upon the Stewarts of Appin (GD112/39/6/16 & 7/19). As well as political and military power in the area, Grey Colin wanted to keep ecclesiastical patronage within his grasp and he made an agreement with the 4th earl of Argyll in 1553 dividing the ecclesiastical patronage of Lorn between them (25 Mar 1553, GD112/1/837).

Amassing a network

Kate and Colin's close relationship with John Carswell, superintendent of Argyll and bishop of the Isles, was important (GD112/39/10/5 and see Kate). Grey Colin also employed the Lorn learned orders and clergy as his servants and agents, especially the medical family of the MacLachlans of Craiginterve (GD112/39/6/27; 12/16; 14/2). In one case the parson of Lochawe, Neil Malcolm, appears to have been spying on his behalf (GD112/39/12/3).

His Lorn base made Grey Colin's interested in events in the Isles, particularly the Inner Hebrides. He was on good terms with the MacLeans of Duart and received news of happenings on the West Highland coast and Isles (GD112/39/1/4; 5/19). Lochaber was especially significant for Grey Colin’s contacts and political manoeuvrings. Despite tensions with the Stewarts of Appin and the Camerons of Lochiel, he employed a cadet branch, led by Donald McEwan Cameron, as a military captain (GD112/39/9/2; 12/15). When he was at feud with the MacGregors, Grey Colin cast his net wider for military assistance and hired the MacDonalds of Keppoch and of Glencoe (GD112/39/5/21).

Tensions with neighbours

Grey Colin's relations with his immediate neighbours were tense and sometimes hostile because he was trying to increase his hold over Breadalbane and the letters are full of the problems he encountered. The long-running rivalry with Menzies of Weem added an abrasive edge to his letters to James Menzies (GD112/39/2/5 & 12/5) and their hostility turned into a bitter dispute which went to the Privy Council in 1580 (GD112/39/15/1; 15/5; 15/7). However, because there was regular personal contact between the parties, there are few letters in the collection from Breadalbane's inhabitants.

Expanding his territory

The Glenorchy Campbells push eastwards had brought them to the borders of Atholl's influence. Through his mother, Grey Colin was Atholl's cousin german and the two men became personal friends and most of the time worked amicably together. Blood and marriage ties brought Grey Colin into contact with other Perthshire lairds, such as the Murrays both of Tullibardine and of Tibbermuir.

These links were reinforced by his marriage to Kate which brought an alliance with the extensive Ruthven family (see Kate). With its combination of Highland and Lowland territories, acceptance into the regional politics of Perthshire gave Grey Colin strong Lowland connections.

The national stage

Friendships cemented during the Reformation crisis proved important in widening his links with figures of national importance. Moray, Morton and the duke of Châtelherault were warm correspondents of Kate and Grey Colin (GD112/39/1/5 & 6; 3/3; 4/16&17; 4/22; 5/14; 10/8). The personal friendship between Kate and William Maitland of Lethington, the Queens Secretary, is striking.

At a lower social level, court officials such as John MacGill of Nether Rankeillour, Clerk Register (GD112/39/3/1), John Fentoun, Comptroller Clerk (GD112/39/15/9), and John Wood, Moray's secretary (GD112/39/4/7), were all willing to provide information or assistance to Kate or Grey Colin.

The written link with the royal court was particularly vital for Grey Colin because, unusually for an ambitious laird, Glenorchy was a reluctant traveller to Edinburgh. He relied instead upon the visits to the royal court of his wife or his older sons, Black Duncan and Colin of Ardbeich (GD112/39/15/5 & 8). He was also dependent upon the news and help he received from Argyll, Atholl, Ruthven and other friends. Without such assistance at the centre, Grey Colin's local influence would have been severely diminished.