1685 - Glendaruel - The Valley of the River Ruel

[This is part of  a series of articles on the year 1685.  You might want to read the Overview first.]

June 1, 1685

In the Highlands of Scotland a quiet river runs through a green valley.  Like many Highland glens, it is much quieter than it was 300 years ago.  Small villages lie abandoned.  Large estates have vanished except for their gates and burial plots.  Cattle and sheep roam the soggy soil near the river flats.  Deer hide in the tall grass on the valley walls.  The sound of a tractor or car on the valley road is rare.  This is Glendaruel, the valley of the river Ruel.

Glendaruel

Glendaruel lies on the Cowal Peninsula in Argyll.  The Ruel river flows south through the valley and exits into Loch Riddon, a sea loch.  This sea inlet is where Eilean Dearg is located, the 9th Earl's headquarters in 1685.

Glendaruel in Cowal.  The Ruel river empties into Loch Riddon.

In May of 1685 the area of Cowal was in chaos.  Word had spread that the 9th Earl had returned to Scotland from exile in the Netherlands.  He was raising an army from protestant Scots to depose the catholic King.  His recruiting was heaviest in the Highlands where his clan resided.  

Cowal was "Campbell Country."  Loyal forces were deployed to Cowal to intimidate the residents of Cowal.  The King's men under the command of John Murray, the 1^st Marquess of Atholl, drove off their cattle, confiscated their possessions, and set fire to their homes.  Those that had warning buried their valuables and fled into the hills.

The 9th Earl's son, Charles, entered Cowal to recruit in the end of May 1685.  On June 1st he and about one hundred of his "men" were "...surprised in their quarters by the Athollmen.  Atholl had heard of their arrival in Cowal to recruit and had sent a party under Captain Mackenzie of Suddie who had caught them napping.  Mr. Charles and his men had retreated to their boats, followed by the Athollmen who wounded four of the party and took several prisoners.” [A History of Clan Campbell,  Alastair Campbell p. 45]

My ancestor, Robert Campbell, was likely "recruited" during this period.  He may have been in the party that quickly retreated to the safety of their boats in Loch Riddon.