Otterinverane takes its name from the Gaelic Oitir an Bharain. ‘An Otir’ is a long low promontory; in this case the sandbank that juts out more than halfway across Loch Fyne, extending from the burn of Kilfinan to the burn of Largiemore. ‘Bharain’ means baron and Otterinverane is ‘the baron’s otter’, and the barony has been referred to throughout history as ‘the Otter.’
From the present day the descent of the Barony of Otterinverane can be traced back for more than half a millennium along the line of the Campbells of Lochow who became first the Earls of Argyll and later Dukes. The line has been broken only once in that time, when after their treason in the seventeenth century the family had their lands and titles briefly taken from them. The Campbells in the fifteenth century in turn had the barony granted to them by Sween MacEwen [died c.1450]. Sween was the last MacEwen Baron of Otter and also the last chief of that clan after which they became ‘broken’ and scattered across Scotland. The early demise of Clan MacEwen has meant that their story has not been well recorded and though the area was likely known as Otter anciently, long before there were barons, at what point Otter became Otterinverane is uncertain. While we cannot be sure who held the barony before Sween MacEwen we can begin to trace the origins of ‘Otterinverane’ using the few historical records we have, archaeology and legend.
The MacEwens trace their lineage through Gaelic legend, and oral and written history, from the Irish prince Ánrothán Uí Néill [died c.1080]. He was of the line of the kings of Ailech, over-kings of north-western Ireland, who in turn descended from famous High Kings of Ireland including Niall Glundubh [died c.920] and the legendary Niall of the Nine Hostages [died c.450] from whom Afraig [died c.1270] the mother of Cailean Mór ancestor of the Campbells is also meant to descend. Ánrothán was the grandson of Flaithbertach an Trostáin or ‘of the Pilgrim’s staff’ [died c.1036] so called as he had undergone a pilgrimage to Rome. Supposedly after falling out with his elder brother Ánrothán crossed the sea in the early eleventh century and married an heiress of the Cineal Comngall, the kings who held what is now known as the Cowal peninsular, and from where it gets its name. By legend then, the MacEwens are descended from the kings who supposedly ruled the area that became known as Otter, back into the first millennium.
There are many myths and oral traditions passed down surrounding Ánrothán and his descendants, and though the exact truth is lost to the mists of time, a fifteenth century manuscript from around 1467 recording the genealogies of the clans was found by the eminent Victorian historian Skene. His rough translations of a difficult to read document were long taken as definitive, though the manuscript has recently been re-examined, along with the help of modern technology and comparison with other sources. Using this we can trace the supposed lineage of Walter MacEwen, father of Sween, [died c.1420] who lived in the early fifteenth century when the manuscript was first complied, back to Ánrothán. The lineage is only of the direct line from Walter and does not say which of these men were barons, lords or chiefs so it is likely that the chieftainship and barony of Otter passed to brothers and nephews as well in between those noted historically in writing.
From Ánrothán we have next in line his son Aodh, called the ‘Buirce’ or handsome [died c.1120]. Aodh’s son was Baron Dunnshléibhe [died c.1160]. He is called ‘baron’, likely because he was Lord of Knapdale. He was a powerful figure and is said to have been the ancestor of the Lamonts as well as the MacEwens. Next in line is an unnamed man just referred to as ‘this son’. This is likely Suibhne [died c.1200] who is said to have founded and given his name to Castle Sween Loch Sween in the late twelfth century. The phrase ‘this son’ may have been used in Gaelic to signify that he was illegitimate. Suibhne is considered the founder of Clan MacEwen and by the time Castle Sween is said to have been built the MacLachlan, Lamont, and MacEwen cousins had control of the greater part of the Cowal between them. Legend has it that Suibhne called ‘Ruadh’ or ‘the red’ had a daughter who married Cailean Mór Campbell of Lochow by whom he became the father of Iver and Taus, the respective ancestors of the Clan Iver and Clan Tavish, and that then in order to make a more powerful alliance he repudiated her, and that this was the origin of a long feud between the MacSweens and the Campbells.
From Suibhne we pass through a succession of men who seem to have left little mark on history; his son Duncan [died c.1240], his son Eoghan, his son Gillespic, his son Eoghan, his son John and his son Walter. Walter lived around 1400 and was the father of Sween, the first baron of Otter for whom we have record. If we consider the lineage in the 1467 manuscript to be correct, then one of these men between Suibhne and Sween was likely the first MacEwen baron of Otter. Using an understanding of the wider history of Argyll and some recent academic research it would seem that Otter was taken up by a branch of the MacSween clan who became the chiefs of their own clan, the MacEwens.
It was during the thirteenth century that the power of the Stewarts came to be exerted in Argyll and the clans who were already established suffered for it. The MacSweens were the most badly effected and lost the lordship of Knapdale and Arran in the middle of the century. Some of the clan joined with King Haakon of Norway in the 1260s along with other clans in an attempt to regain their lands. They were likely led by the former Lord of Knapdale and probable chief of the clan Murchadh [died c.1270] who commanded a band of mercenary Gallowglasses but ended up dying in the prison of the Earl of Ulster, so the legend goes. Murchadh does not appear in the fifteenth century lineage so he must have been a cousin or brother of the MacEwen line that descended. The MacSweens, formerly a leading regional power were therefore reduced in their holding and by 1300 were one of around a dozen families of equal standing in Argyll. Not only were their lands reduced but the family lost Castle Sween. At this time of great upheaval a branch of the family supposedly relocated to Ireland where they became Clan Sween.
According to the 1467 manuscript Suibhne’s grandson was Eoghan or ‘Ewen’. Eoghan would have lived in the early to mid-1200s around the time the clan lost many of their lands. The myths point to a Ewen around this time who founded the clan. It seems likely that this Eoghan was able to set up around the time of the troubles with the Stewarts a holding of his own at Otter where he built a castle and established a clan as his grandfather had done. Castle MacEwen was located on a rocky point of the loch at Ardghaddan about a mile below Kilfinan, the ruins of which are still present to this day. Archaeological excavations have shown there to have been a prehistoric dun on the site and during the medieval period a palisaded enclosure had been built before being succeeded by a promontory fort enclosed by a timber-laced rampart to defend a medieval homestead. Eventually a stone rampart was added.
Eoghan was probably the first MacEwen of Otter but was not necessarily the first formal baron as a barony was granted directly from the king and had its own status conferring certain rights and privileges, with barons ruling their own people in their own courts. At the time of Eoghan (1200s), the Scottish Kings firmly asserted their sovereignty and control over the Cowal Peninsula, and it is highly unlikely that any Clan would have been allowed to formally exert power there without the King’s consent and grant. There is a mound close to Otter House near Castle MacEwen called Dùn Mhic Eoghainn which it is believed was the original site of their baron courts. Unless a record is uncovered, we cannot be certain which MacEwen was the first baron, though they descended from a long line of people to hold the area going back many hundreds of years. It may indeed have been Eoghan, who built the castle who was the first, but it may have with any one if his descendants that the holdings around Otter were formally reconfigured into a barony granted by the King.
While discussing the technicalities of baronies is worth noting that often in later years powerful families became barons over several places over generations. Baronies in turn could be given to younger branches of the family or even to other trusted families to hold as tenant caretakers. In some cases these “client’s” families passed down the care and holding of the barony through several generations but the barony itself remained formally held by the main Family line. The Campbells were one such family who did this, and after they acquired Otterinverane they often had clients hold it on their behalf. So occasionally there appears in the historical records a ‘Campbell of Otter’, being an extended Family member “client” who held the barony for the Campbells of Argyll. In other cases, Scottish Baronies were passed to “cadet” branches of the family, through marriage, or through assignation. Unlike English “Peerages” Scottish Baronies could be transferable through both male and female line, or to extended family, so long as the King granted consent. Primogeniture was not a Gaelic construct, and passage of the Barony outside of it, through a form of extended family Tanistry was not unusual in certain areas. Such is the case with the Barony of Otterinverane, as historically, it has always passed to, and been held by, Barons sharing a common Familial ancestry.
Historically under Scots law when real property and associated Titles passed to a son, this was known as an ‘heir of tailzie’, similar to “fee tail” in common law. Inheritance could also be decreed to follow an arbitrary course by a ‘deed of tailzie’ which would for example make clear that if a son died then a younger brother was to inherit, and then his eldest son and so on. With law and custom the details of this changed over time and the English term ‘entail’ came to be used. The term ‘Conqeish’ or “Conquest” was used in the past to denote the transference of a barony by simple purchase.
A barony could also be taken by the Monarch and regranted to another Barony holder at their sole discretion, which occurred with Otterinverane in one instance, and was subsequently returned in the same fashion to the Campbells. This often occurred during the Wars of Independence and the Jacobite Risings. Historically, each Baronial succession had to be approved by the Reigning Scottish Monarch, as well as by a jury of local landowners who heard the pleas of the prospective heir and determined the succession upon them via the system of Retours. In modern times, since the Abolition of Feudal Tenure Act, a Barony is transferred legally via deed of Assignation.
The present Baron is the 10th Baron in the history of Otterinverane to have succeeded via assignation, as opposed to via “heir”. In the case of Otterinverane, an “heir” has always been the direct male line descendant of their Father or Grandfather, who was a prior Baron. As is the case with the present Baron, on numerous historical occasions the Family line went back more generations to prior Barons, and then down alternative Family lines of their descendants, for Baronial succession. These successions were then facilitated legally through “assignation”. In two other cases: when the Barony was transferred from the MacEwen Clan to the Campbell; and secondly when the first Campbell Duke briefly lost the Barony in 1686 to Sir Alexander Maclean due to rebellion and then had it returned shortly thereafter by the new King, assignation passed the Barony outside the immediate Families that held it. Due to the paternal and maternal ancestry of the present Baron, he either descends directly from, or is related by common ancestry to, every prior Baron of the Barony, however they may have succeeded to the Title historically.
