Campbell of Cawdor

Gaelic: Cambeul (Wry mouth)
Badge: A swan with a ducal crown on it's head
English Motto: Be Mindful
The origin of the name is thought to be both Celtic and Norman French. The Celtic source is from Dairmid O'Duine, called wry mouth, an Irish warrior chief.

The Norman connection is that Dairmid as a widower is thought to have travelled to France and married an heiress called Beauchamp whose name he adopted. The Latin of Beauchamp is Campobello and Campbell came from this. In the middle ages the Campbells became established in the Highlands and Hebrides growing into a major clan.

The Cawdor branch of the Campbells was established by the marriage (1510) of Sir John Campbell, second son of the Earl of Argyll to the daughter of the 7th Thane of Cawdor. In the nineteenth century the family was involved in English politics.

The tartan was originally a numbered pattern in the records of Wilsons of Bannockburn, acquiring the name 'Argyle' in 1798 and 'Argylle' in 1819. It is not until W & A Smith's work of 1850 that the full title is given, 'Campbell of Cawdor'.