Today kicks off Blue Bells of Scotland’s two-month virtual book tour, with guest posts, interviews, spotlights, and reviews around the web. The complete schedule and trailer can be found at Pump Up Your Book! Today, the novel is featured at The Virginia Beach Publishing Examiner.
Keep an eye open, later in September, for guest posts by authors Jeri Westerson and Joan Szechtman.
Today, I feature facts on Clan Campbell.
Clan Crest Badge
The crest badge is taken from the top of the coat of arms, and is what men may wear on their bonnets. Clan Campbell’s badge features a boar’s head and the chief’s motto, Ne Obliviscaris, Latin for Do Not Forget, a charge to remember the great deeds of those who went before. The boar’s head comes from an old Campbell story that Diarmid–a Campbell ancestor and Fingallian hero–killed an animal that had been ravaging the district of Glenschee in Perthshire. Other versions place the incident in Beinn-an-Tuire or in the mountain of Kyntyr. In more general terms, a boar’s head represents courage and fierceness in battle.
Clan Tartan
Clan Campbell has as its tartan what is often known as the Black Watch. To be more precise, there are four variations on the Campbell Tartan: “ancient” or plain Campbell; Campbell of Breadalbane; Campbell of Cawdor; and Campbell of Loudoun. The ancient Campbell tartan is the Black Watch, due to the fact that the Black Watch was a Campbell regiment, raised in 1739 by the Duke of Argyll.
Coat of Arms
This is only one of over 200 Campbell coats of arms. It is one of the more involved ones I’ve found in my research, but all bear clear similarities. It has the motto and boar’s head at the top. The shield features the black and gold gyronny–typically, but not always, meaning a field divided into eight triangular sections, alternating between two colors.
A side note on the colors of heraldry:
- Or means gold and stands for generosity.
- Argent means silver or white and stands for sincerity or peace.
- Gules is red, and stands for a martyr, warrior, or military strength.
- Azure, blue, stands for strength and loyalty.
- Vert is green–hope, or loyalty in love.
- Sable, black, stands for grief or constancy.
The Name
The name Campbell comes from the Gaelic cam beul–crooked mouth. The byname is first recorded in the late 1200′s. As is so common when searching back many centuries, there are multiple theories. (Even that the name is Gaelic is only one–other sources suggest the name is derived from the French de Campo Bello.) However, sticking with the Gaelic theory, two ideas are put forth: either that ‘crooked mouth’ refers to one who is dishonest, or to the language of Brythonic wanderers–probably middle Welsh–and there is some evidence that the early Campbells were of Brythonic stock.
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