Cameron

Clan Cameron
  • Clan Territory:

    Lochaber
  • Clan Chief:

    In 2004 Donald Angus Cameron of Lochiel became the 27th Chief of the Clan Cameron.
  • Clan Castle:

    AchnacarryThe first Cameron seat was Tor Castle, built by the 13th chief, Ewen Cameron, in the early 15th century. His great, great, great grandson Sir Ewen Cameron of Lochiel, the 17th chief started building Achnacarry Castle around the middle of the 17th century.



    Thomas Macaulay, author of History of England and Lays of Ancient Rome, whose father hailed from Inverary, called this Ewen Cameron the Highland Ulysses because of his power, size and strength, which was celebrated by Sir Walter Scott in Canto V of The Lady of the Lake.
    Hanoverian forces burned Achnacarry Castle to the ground after the Battle of Culloden in 1746. In 1802, the 22nd chief Donald Cameron paid a British Government fine and regained the estates that were confiscated after Culloden and built the present house at Achnacarry.

  • Clan History:

    Clan Cameron Tartan

    Sir Ewen Cameron of Locheil - the 17th Chief and Highland Ulysses - was the last Highland chief to hold out for Charles 1 when Oliver Cromwell and his Roundheads invaded Scotland. In the 1650s he led a guerrilla campaign against the Cromwellian forces. And though he received nothing but a knighthood for his loyalty, in 1689, when Sir Ewen Cameron was 60, he fought for King Charles' son James VII at the Battle of Killiecrankie in the first Jacobite Rebellion. He sent his Cameron Highlanders in to fight at the Battle of Sheriffmuir in 1715 and died four years later in his 90th year.


    Of an August afternoon in 1745, Sir Ewen's grandson, Donald Cameron of Locheil, was planting an avenue of beech saplings at Achnacarry when news came that Prince Charles Edward Stewart had landed in Arisaig. Locheil heeled in the saplings, intending to plant them out later, then he hurried off to meet the prince. This was the start of what was to become the last and bloodiest Jacobite rebellion. Left to grow in bunches the beech trees became a living reminder of the tragedy and turmoil that was about to unfold.


    No clan paid so high a price for its place in history as Clan Cameron. Their loyalty to the Bonnie Prince's cause allowed the dream of a Stewart restoration to become - for a few months at least - a palpable reality. In what became known as the Jacobite Rebellions, the exiled Stewart monarchy tried to regain their throne by reaching back to Scotland and enlisting the support of the Highland clans like the Camerons, a clan that in many ways was defined by its loyalty to the Jacobite cause.


    Clan Cameron Illustration by RR Maclan
    Clan Cameron
    Illustration by R.R. Maclan


    Lochiel advised the prince to return to France, but Charles thought otherwise and looked set to begin his rebellion with around 200 MacDonals till Cameron of Lochiel brought almost 1,000 clansmen to Glenfinnan, where the prince raised his standard. Donald Cameron became known as the Gentle Lochiel. He ordered that prisoners taken at the Battle of Prestonpans should be cared for and later ensured neither Edinburgh nor Glasgow suffered reprisals for their oppostion to the prince. To this day city bells are rung when Cameron of Locheil enters Glasgow.


    Bonnie Prince Charlie by John Pettie
    Bonnie Prince Charlie
    by John Pettie


    Camerons shared every Jacobite victory and charged with suicidal courage at Culloden. Lochiel was carried from the field with wounds in both legs. He was hidden in the mountains, joined the prince in his flight through the heather and the flight to France, where Lochiel died less than two years after the Battle of Culloden.
    On Friday, September 12, 1873, Queen Victoria visited Achnacarry House. And that night she wrote in her Journal: As you approach Achnacarry ... the luxuriance of the tangled woods, surmounted by rugged hills, becomes finer and finer." Her Majesty was obviously unaware how the trees came to be planted.


    An incident in the rebellion of 1745 David Morier
    An incident in the rebellion of 1745
    David Morier


    The story of the Camerons, their origins and centuries long feud with Clan Mackintosh, the highland Ulysses and his grandsons, the Gentle Lochiel and his brother Dr. Archie, the last Jacobite to be hung, drawn and quartered, the story of Culloden and its aftermath is told in the Galloglas DVD, Clan Cameron. Filmed on location to the highest standards Clan Cameron features unique stories that interweave romance, adventure, bravery and betrayal, set against a stunning landscape. (Coming Soon)


    Famous Camerons:

    James Cameron, Canadian director, producer, screenwriter and financially one of the highest grossing directors of all time.

    David Cameron, elected Prime Minister of a coalition British government in 2010.

    Cameron Crowe, American screenwriter and film director.

  • And finally:

    The oak is the plant badge of Clan Cameron. MacUlric, MacWalrick, MacOnie, Krywonis, Lokcick, MacChlerich and MacOstrich are among almost 50 of the Clan Cameron septs." Clan septs are families or groups of families who lived in the clan's territory. They paid a tax to the clan chief - usually in the form of food - and sometimes fought alongside the ruling clan.

Follow Great Scottish on You TubeFollow us on YouTube
Follow Great Scottish Clans on FacebookFollow us on Facebook
Follow Great Scottish Clans on TwitterFollow us on Twitter
RSS feed of new releasesRSS feed of new releases