The Clan History

The Clan MacArthur is one of the oldest of Argyll and its age is referred to in the proverb, "There is nothing older, unless the hills, MacArthur and the devil". The MacArthurs themselves claim descent from Arthur, that early resistance fighter who may have fought against the expansionist English for the Scots. The MacArthurs supported Bruce and were rewarded with grants of extensive lands in Argyll including those of the MacDougalls and the chief was appointed Captain of the Castle of Dunstaffnage. This was indeed the peak of their fortunes for when James I returned from exile in England, in his launch to regain power he executed Iain MacArthur chief of the clan from which the clan never recovered. From thereafter it was the name of Campbell rather than MacArthur that flourished in the region. A family of MacArthurs held land in Skye granted to them by MacDonalds of the Isles as part of their rights as hereditary pipers to the MacDonalds. Clan descendants however have brought fame particularly in America and Australia. John MacArthur of the principal family of Strachur was deemed "father" of New South Wales. He arrived in 1790 and laid the foundations to the wool industry introducing the cross Bengal with the Irish sheep and the Merino. He also planted the first Australian vineyard in 1817, and in America, a grandson of a Strathclyde emigrant became General Douglas MacArthur, the conqueror of Japan during the Second World War