Ient Campbell don semi...

ding marble fireplaces and the wall papered with ng Archie Campbell was confined to bed with a bout of views to Islay, Jura, Gigha, and the Mull of Kintyre.

been captured and held in a Turkish prison from which he escaped with the aid of a beautiful Turkish lady he wanted to bring home and marry – but while he was in prison the British consul in Genoa, a Mr Crowe, embezzled all his prize money so he couldn’t rescue his ‘fair Turk’. His career at sea was closely aligned with his cousin ‘Great Daniel of Shawfield and Islay’ who became one of the richest and most influential Scots of the 18th century.

The castle burned down in 1773 during the time of Colin Campbell of Kilberry. He was controversially involved in a duel/murder on the island of Martinique with ensign McHarg. He fought in the battle of Culloden with the Argyll militia. He was lampooned in later life in Kays book of Edinburgh worthies. He assumed the title of Lord Berners of which he had some justification.

The castle then lay semi-derelict until 1843 when John Campbell ninth of Kilberry restored the ruins and added the tower and northern extension. The last total renovation was undertaken in 1873 by John Campbell 10th Kilberry using his wife’s dowry. The heyday of the estate lasted until his death in 1908. He kept a daily diary of life on a West Highland estate.

A poignant piece of family history remains on the top floor of the castle. In 1885 a young Archie Campbell contracted scarlet fever and was confined to his room for several months. To keep him entertained he and his nurse papered the walls with pages from the London Illustrated News, mostly political cartoons. One wall remains virtually intact today. His unfortunate sister did not survive the outbreak and is buried in the mausoleum.

After retiring as an Indian High Court judge, he became one of the giants of 20th century piping and his famous Kilberry book of Ceol Mor, although the subject of some controversy when it was first published, has since gone on to be the biggest selling piobraireachd book of all times.

The original 16th century Kilberry estate stretched from Loch Stornoway in the south, all the way north to Achahoish and included the present Ormsary estate. It consisted of 20-30,000 acres. Over the years family sub-divisions and sales reduced the estate to approximately 10,000 acres in the middle of the 19th century.

Finally, in the 1950s Marion Campbell sold off the remaining five farms and all that remained was the castle and its immediate policies. Marion Campbell, the Argyllshire author and archaeologist, lived at Kilberry Castle all her life. She was a landowner, farmer, politician, district councillor and historian. She helped to set up the local antiquarian society and she was a leading figure in the formation of the Kilmartin museum and the Auchendrain township. The present owner inherited Kilberry Castle from her.