Clan MacArthur

History

The MacArthurs, or Clan Arthur, are an Argyll family. Clan accounts set them beside Loch Awe and rank them among the county's most ancient families. Their name means 'son of Arthur', and how far back that goes is a matter of tradition. The clan's own history argues that the Arthur patronym is older than MacCailein Mòr, the style of the Campbell chiefs. Other writers are less sure.

The link with the Campbells is the most disputed part of the story. Some accounts say the two families share a common origin, and that the MacArthurs once claimed seniority. The University of Strathclyde's genetic-genealogy page finds no support for it, and blames much of the muddle on the Campbells of Strachur, a distinct line. We would treat the Campbell connection as unproven either way.

What most accounts agree on is a sharp fall in 1427. Iain MacArthur of Strachur is reported to have been executed on the orders of James I. The family is said to have lost nearly all its lands after that, keeping Strachur and some holdings in Glenfalloch and Glendochart in Perthshire. Their earlier position was never recovered.

Branches of the name found other roles in the Hebrides. On Islay, the Proaig MacArthurs are said to have been armourers by inheritance to the MacDonalds of the Isles. On Skye, a MacArthur family held the post of pipers to the MacDonalds, passed down by descent, though sources differ over which MacDonald line they served.

The chiefly line is another area of doubt. The clan's account puts the original chiefly seat at Tirivadich on Loch Awe, and says it later moved to Tiricladdich after violent events in the 1560s. The clan society tells of Duncan MacArthur, his eldest son and their boatmen drowned in Loch Awe in 1567 in a dispute with the Campbells of Inverawe, and treats the details as tradition rather than proven fact; it points to a charter pardoning the Inverawe Campbells as evidence that something happened. Accounts say the chiefly line failed in the eighteenth century, and the chiefship lay empty for generations.

It was revived in the modern era. Genealogical research by Hugh Peskett, building on earlier work by the 10th Duke of Argyll, supported a petition to the Lord Lyon. The petition asked two questions: whether the Arthurs or MacArthurs should be treated as a clan in their own right, and whether the petitioner was the rightful heir. By an interlocutor dated 28 August 2002, the Lord Lyon recognised a chief of the name. A formal inauguration followed in 2003, and the chiefship has since passed within the same family. We have not seen the Standing Council's own listing, so check that for the current holder.