Hereditary lords · Argyll and the southern isles · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Mid-Argyll and Cowal

The mainland heart of Argyll, from Loch Awe and the Crinan to Cowal and the Kyles of Bute, held by lesser kindreds under the overlordship of Somerled's heirs.

Dunadd, the old capital of Dal Riata, lies here.

Who he is

Name
Not pinned: the ancestors of the later Lamonts in Cowal, of the MacSweens in Knapdale (Suibne, after whom Castle Sween is named, is placed about 1200), and of the Campbells round Loch Awe
Title
Lesser kindreds of Argyll
Since
Not pinned
Born
Not pinned
Family
Not pinned.
Confidence
low

These families appear in the record only in the 1230s and later. Castle Sween in Knapdale, one of the oldest stone castles in Scotland, is dated to the late twelfth or early thirteenth century.

Overlord

Clann Somairle (thin); the king of Scots claims Argyll

What it holds

  • Mid-Argyll (Glassary, Kilmartin, Craignish, Lochawe)
  • Knapdale (Castle Sween)
  • Cowal

How it was acquired

Native lordship.

Allies and rivals

The Stewart presses on Cowal from Bute and Renfrew; the earl of Lennox across Loch Long.

Wealth

Cattle. No figures.

Military

Kindred levies. No numbers.

Threats

  • The Stewart

Places of note

  • Castle Sween: Early stone castle of Knapdale (date about 1200, not pinned)

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Included so the ground is not left blank; names not pinned.

On the map: Very approximate.

Primary sources for Argyll

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

  • Chronicle of the Kings of Mann and the Isles, Anonymous (monks of Rushen abbey, Mann) (about 1257, with continuations to 1316). The only native record of the kingdom of Mann and the Hebrides. Read online
  • Early Sources of Scottish History, Various; collected and translated by A. O. Anderson (sources of the 6th to 13th centuries; collection published 1922). The quickest way to every non-English witness to Scotland and the Isles in 1200, in translation and in date order: the Irish annals on the Isles and Galloway, Orkneyinga saga and the Norwegian sagas on Harald Maddadsson of Orkney and Caithness and his war with William the Lion, the Chronicle of Mann on Ragnall and the Hebrides, Melrose and Holyrood, and Scottish charters. Read online

Sources and studies

  1. R. A. McDonald, The Kingdom of the Isles (1997)

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.