Niall mac Cailein also known as Sir Neil Campbell, was a nobleman and warrior who spent his life in the service of King Robert I of Scotland

Robert I of Scotland

Robert I , popularly known as Robert the Bruce , was King of Scots from March 25, 1306, until his death in 1329.His paternal ancestors were of Scoto-Norman heritage , and...

, His Gaelic name means "Niall, Colin's son" since he was the son of Cailean Mór

Cailean Mór

Cailean Mór Caimbeul, also known as Sir Colin Campbell , is one of the earliest attested members of Clan Campbell and an important ancestor figure of the later medieval Earls of Argyll....

. His services to the King elevated the Campbells into the higher ranks of the Scottish nobility.

Master Niall

By later Campbell

Clan Campbell

Clan Campbell is a Highland Scottish clan. Historically one of the largest, most powerful and most successful of the Highland clans, their lands were in Argyll and the chief of the clan became the Earl and later Duke of Argyll.-Origins:...

 tradition, Niall was the elder son of Cailean Mór; however, contemporary evidence seems to suggest that his brother Domhnall enjoyed this distinction. Niall's earliest appearance in the sources occurs in 1282 on a witness list to a royal charter in favour of Cambuskenneth Abbey

Cambuskenneth Abbey

Cambuskenneth Abbey is a ruined Augustinian monastery located on an area of land enclosed by a meander of the River Forth near Stirling in Scotland. The abbey is largely reduced to its foundations. The neighbouring modern village of Cambuskenneth is named after it.Cambuskenneth Abbey was founded...

. Niall disappears for 20 years, unless the "Master Niall" active in the service of the then Earl of Carrick, Robert, in the 1290s can be identified with Niall mac Cailein. This seems likely, because one official source styles him Mestre Neel Cambell. Another of the sources for "Master Niall" tells us that he came from the "county of Ayr"; this would tie in with the known background of the Campbells of the era, and with Niall's later affiliation with King Robert. In 1293, Niall was sent to Norway to deliver personal items to Robert's sister, Isabella Bruce, Queen of Norway. In 1296, this Master Niall swore fealty to King Edward I of England

Edward I of England

Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...

.

Wars of Independence

The Niall mac Cailein who appears again in the source in 1302 was still in the service of the English crown. Until 1306, he remained on the side of the officially Bruce-backed English regime. Niall served in the warband of Richard Og de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster

Richard Óg de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster

Richard Óg de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster and 3rd Baron of Connaught , called The Red Earl, was one of the most powerful Irish nobles of the late 13th and early 14th centuries.-Early life:...

 and in the "English" army which besieged Stirling Castle

Stirling Castle

Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most important castles, both historically and architecturally, in Scotland. The castle sits atop Castle Hill, an intrusive crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill geological formation. It is surrounded on three sides by steep...

 in 1305. Niall and his brother Domhnall were rewarded for their services. In 1302, Niall was given lands in Cumberland. In the same year, Niall and his brother Domhnall received the guardianship of the heiresses of Andrew de Crawford, lord of the Baronies of Loudoun

Loudoun

Loudoun is an area of East Ayrshire, Scotland, east of Kilmarnock. The word Loudoun is a derivative of the Celtic Pagan God name Lugus.Loudoun is a parish and is named after the former village which stood north of Galston. The area is commonly referred to as the "Irvine Valley", for the River...

, Lochmartnaham and Draffan. However, Niall and Domhnall, like their lord the Earl of Carrick, were drifting towards rebellion. Niall was at Westminster in 1305, because his rights were being challenged by a knight called Robert Keith. In Spring 1305, Edward decided in favour of Keith, judging "to allow [Keith] to have these children and to distrain Sir Dovenald Chambel and Sir Nel Chambel by their lands and bodies". In the same year, Edward granted some Campbell lands to an English knight, Sir John Dovedale. Such judgments were both a cause and effect of deteriorating relations with the English crown.

So when Robert decided to rebel in 1306, it is not surprising that Niall and Domhnall were among the would-be king's first adherents. Niall was present at Scone

Scone, Scotland

Scone is a village in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. The medieval village of Scone, which grew up around the monastery and royal residence, was abandoned in the early 19th century when the residents were removed and a new palace was built on the site by the Earl of Mansfield...

 in March 1306 when Robert was crowned King of Scots. After the defeats Robert suffered at the Battle of Methven

Battle of Methven

The Battle of Methven took place at Methven in Scotland in 1306, during the Wars of Scottish Independence.-Comyn's Death:In February 1306, Robert Bruce and a small party of his followers killed John Comyn, also known as the Red Comyn, before the high altar of the Greyfriars Church in Dumfries...

 and Battle of Dalrigh, Niall was one of the men who stuck by Robert, as John Barbour testified later in the century. All the evidence suggests that Niall remained in Robert's warband for the years to come, fighting both the English-side generally and the MacDougalls in the west of Scotland. Niall even acted as a representative of Robert in negotiations with the English crown, on two occasions, in 1309 and 1314.

Marriage and family

As a reward for his loyal services to King Robert, Niall received his sister, Mary Bruce

Mary Bruce

Mary Bruce was the younger sister of Robert the Bruce, King of Scots. During the First War of Scottish Independence, she was captured by the English and imprisoned in a cage at Roxburgh Castle for about four years...

, in marriage. By this marriage, Niall and Mary parented a son, Iain. Robert granted the couple the lands confiscated from David Strathbogie

David II Strathbogie, Earl of Atholl

Sir David II Strathbogie was Earl of Atholl, Constable of Scotland, and Chief Warden of Northumberland.The eldest son and heir of John Strathbogie, Earl of Atholl by his wife Marjory daughter of Donald, 10th Earl of Mar, Sir David was a prisoner in England in 1300...

, almost certainly so that Iain would eventually become the Earl, which is indeed what happened. This was part of a general policy by Robert of redistributing lands and titles to his extended kin. Niall, however, had been married previously, to an unknown woman, by whom he had at least two sons, Cailean and Dubhghall. In 1315, King Robert granted the barnonies of Loch Awe

Loch Awe

Loch Awe is a large body of water in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It has also given its name to a village on its banks, variously known as Loch Awe, or Lochawe. There are islands within the loch such as Innis Chonnell and Inishail.- The loch :It is the third largest freshwater loch in Scotland with...

 and Artscotnish to Cailean for the service of a 40-oared galley for 40 days per annum. This grant, in the view of the most recent historian of the subject, is the real beginning of the Campbell lordship of Lochawe.

Niall probably died in 1316, leaving a strong legacy of heroism and royal favour, from which his offspring would benefit enormously.