Robert Campbell, 5th Laird of Glenlyon (1630 – August 2, 1696), was a minor member of Scottish nobility and is best known as one of the commanding officers at the Massacre of Glencoe

Massacre of Glencoe

Early in the morning of 13 February 1692, in the aftermath of the Glorious Revolution and the Jacobite uprising of 1689 led by John Graham of Claverhouse, an infamous massacre took place in Glen Coe, in the Highlands of Scotland. This incident is referred to as the Massacre of Glencoe, or in...

.

Life

Robert Campbell inherited Meggernie Castle

Meggernie Castle

Meggernie Castle is a castle in the heart of Perth and Kinross, in central Scotland. It is located halfway up Glenlyon, where the river Lyon flows through on its way to join Loch Tay...

, in Glenlyon, from his father and set about improving it in a line with current fashions. He roofed it with slates instead of thatch, he enlarged it very substantially and in the process created one of the stately homes of Perthshire. This, along with heavy drinking, gambling and a string of unwise investments, pushed him to the brink of bankruptcy

Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....

. Though he borrowed from his friends, his relatives and his tenants, he still could not meet his debts.

In a last effort to clear his debts, he sold all the woods of Glenlyon which were part of the old Caledonian forest

Temperate coniferous forests

Temperate coniferous forest is a terrestrial biome found in temperate regions of the world with warm summers and cool winters and adequate rainfall to sustain a forest. In most temperate coniferous forests, evergreen conifers predominate, while some are a mix of conifers and broadleaf evergreen...

. Workmen arrived from the lowlands to fell the trees, which were sent floating down the Lyon, choking the river, causing widespread flooding and consolidating his financial position.

While Robert Campbell was still unable to satisfy his creditors, his own tenants offered him half their cattle to pay off his debts but he refused, and sold almost all of the estate to the Earl of Tullibardine

Duke of Atholl

Duke of Atholl, alternatively Duke of Athole, named after Atholl in Scotland, is a title in the Peerage of Scotland held by the head of Clan Murray...

 in 1684.
All that he retained was Chesthill, a house and small estate between Glenlyon and Fortingall

Fortingall

Fortingall is a small village in highland Perthshire, Scotland, in the glen of the River Lyon. Place-name Gaelic Fartairchill, 'church at the foot' . Its nearest sizable neighbours are Aberfeldy and Kenmore.According to legend it was the birthplace of Pontius Pilate...

, which belonged to his wife.

In 1689, on their return from the Battle of Dunkeld

Battle of Dunkeld

The Battle of Dunkeld was fought between Jacobite clans supporting the deposed king James VII of Scotland and a government regiment of covenanters supporting William of Orange, King of Scotland, in the streets around Dunkeld Cathedral, Dunkeld, Scotland, on 21 August 1689 and formed part of the...

, the MacIains of Glencoe

Glen Coe

Glen Coe is a glen in the Highlands of Scotland. It lies in the southern part of the Lochaber committee area of Highland Council, and was formerly part of the county of Argyll. It is often considered one of the most spectacular and beautiful places in Scotland, and is a part of the designated...

 (a sept of Clan MacDonald), together with their Glengarry cousins, looted Glenlyon, stole his livestock, and razed Campbell's last remaining holdings, increasing his financial problems from gambling debts.
In his subsequent appeal for compensation, Campbell showed he clearly believed the Glengarry men to be the more culpable, making no mention of Glencoe.
In a final effort to support his wife and family, Robert Campbell, at the age of fifty nine, joined the Earl of Argyll's Regiment of Foot

Earl of Argyll's Regiment of Foot

The Earl of Argyll's Regiment of Foot was a 17th century Scottish infantry regiment, raised from the men of Argyll, and based at Fort William. The Colonel in Chief was the Earl of Argyll, although this was a nominal appointment, and he did not exercise his command or take part in the regiment's...

 and came to play his part in the Glencoe massacre.
The fact of the stolen cattle and Glenlyon's involvement in the massacre were used by the English in an attempt to thinly veil the massacre as simply the outcome of thievery and clan rivalry.
The available evidence, including the aforementioned appeal for compensation, shows that this was not the case.

The Argyll Regiment was sent to fight in Flanders

Flanders

Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...

, in the War of the Grand Alliance

War of the Grand Alliance

The Nine Years' War – often called the War of the Grand Alliance, the War of the Palatine Succession, or the War of the League of Augsburg – was a major war of the late 17th century fought between King Louis XIV of France, and a European-wide coalition, the Grand Alliance, led by the Anglo-Dutch...

, but was defeated by the French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 armies at Diksmuide

Diksmuide

Diksmuide is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Diksmuide proper and the former communes of Beerst, Esen, Kaaskerke, Keiem, Lampernisse, Leke, Nieuwkapelle, Oostkerke, Oudekapelle, Pervijze, Sint-Jacobs-Kapelle,...

 in 1696, and Campbell died in poverty in Bruges

Bruges

Bruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located in the northwest of the country....

on August 2, 1696.

Family

Campbell married (contract dated 1 October 1663) Helen, the daughter of Sir Alexander Lindsay of Evelick. Their children included:

• John Campbell (born c. 1675), 6th of Glenlyon;
• Robert Campbell, who married Sarah Wood;
• Alexander Campbell, who married Mary Stewart;
• James Campbell;
• Elizabeth Campbell, who married Alexander Campbell, 1st of Ardeonaig;
• Janet Campbell, who married Robert Campbell, 1st of Borland; and
• Jean Campbell, who married Robert MacNab, 14th of Bovaine.