Dear Editor,
Ian McDonald’s reflection’s on Sir Jock Campbell’s younger brother, that Colin being quintessentially English in his Sunday column. Firstly let me say that his “Ian on Sunday” articles are always a delight to read and his love of poetry and literature is always the highlight of my week. I am weighting in on Ian’s statement that the Campbells were: quintessentially English. Now the name Campbell is that of the clansmen in Scotland with the Duke of Argyle being the clan chief with Inverary Castle being the ancestral home of the Argyles. The Campbells lived in Eskan, Dumbartonshire, Scotland and Jock and his younger brother’s mother was of Irish aristocracy. Of course the family was as Scottish as the highland heather. Now, London at that time was the world centre of banking and finance. So, as one can see, there was the commercial drift from Scotland to London with the added attractions, of course, of Eton, Oxford & Cam-bridge. Their grandfather was the Governor of The Bank of England and the family moved to the South East of England – adjacent to London. Jock was a declaration to the world that I am Scots. It maybe that John was on his birth certificate, but either way it was a statement of his nationality – as Jock is the Scottish version of John in English. So the statement that the Campbells’ were quintessentially English does not reflect the actual heritage of the Campbells.
Sincerely,
Peter Douglas
