John Calder Thane Of Cawdor

My Muse's Musings: Exploring Scotland 1 Castle at a Time, Part 23 ...

The first Thane of Cawdor (Calder) was created in 1180 by William I. A Thane was the equivalent of a Baron and a traditional Scottish title. Thane Cawdor was appointed sheriff of the royal castle at Nairn. Soon after the original Cawdor castle was built on a marshy piece of ground about a mile from the current Cawdor castle. There is nothing left of it. In 1370 the third Thane Cawdor, William, began a search for a location for a new castle. He had a dream that led him to load gold on the back of a donkey and follow it as it roamed the area. The donkey finally stopped and lay beneath a tree and went to sleep. That became the site of the current castle. But the most unusual aspect of the story is, the castle was built around the tree where the donkey slept. It protrudes from the floor of the cellar today though it died in 1372 from lack of sunlight. It is said to possess magic qualities that have protected the castle since its construction. Thus, it wasn’t surprising to learn that Archibald Campbell, the 2nd Earl of Argyll, ordered Muriel to be kidnapped and held at Inveraray Castle. She was held there for 10 years where at the age of 12 she was married to Archie’s youngest son, Sir John Campbell in 1510. With a beginning like that, you wouldn’t think the marriage would be either happy or productive, but in fact it was. Talk about fodder for a romance novel. In 1520  John’s sister, Catherine, was married to a man named Lachlan Cattanach Maclean of Duart Castle. In 1522, blaming her for the lack of children in their marriage, Maclean rowed her out into the bay at Mull to Lady’s Rock and marooned her there to die. Lucky for Catherine, passing fishermen saw her and came to her rescue. She made her way back to Inveraray Castle. Lachlan rose the next day and seeing the rock empty, assumed she had drowned. He sent a message to her brother Archibald, the 4th Earl, that his sister had drowned and he would be bringing the body to Inveraray for burial.  Of course he didn't even go out to see if there was a body to recover.  John Campbell was suspected of the murder and he and his wife Muriel moved to Cawdor Castle, out of sight of those interested in the crime. Immediately, Muriel’s four uncles decided that no Campbell was going to take over and they laid siege to the castle. Two of them were killed and the other’s withdrew and the Campbell Clan settled in.

Burke's landed gentry of Great Britain, together with members of the titled and non-titled contemporary establishment

The Scottish nation, or The surnames, families, literature, honours, and biographical history of the people of Scotland

The book of the Thanes of Cawdor, a series of papers selected from the charter room at Cawdor

History of the Campbell family

The baronage of Angus and Mearns