From Debra
Managers of Matthew "The Rebel" Reagh,
I am contacting you about this profile: Matthew "The Rebel" Reagh
Hi All!
Im writing about the profile of Matthew the Rebel. There appears to be lots of confusion and though i am still trying to sort it out, ive found several things of interest.
Walter Campbell of Skipness, b 1630 appears to have been married 3 times, not twice. First marriage was 1650. There were twin boys born in 1654, who died not long after birth. Angus born around 1659 and then Matthew (Matthew of Oag/Ogaig) around 1660. His first wife died in 1660. Listed as Ann Stuart daughter of James of Ardlovich but i have a feeling she was the daughter of Duncan of Oag. Still trying to figure that out.
Walter married Jean in 1660 and fhey had more children. He then married another Anne or Anna, also listed as Stewart, in 1681. She was the widow of a Ronald McDonald and had children of her own. Her and Walter also had a child i think.
If we go with this lineage for a minute, this would put Matthew of Oag of an age to sire his own child. That could be the Matthew born in 1682, not 1672, who stayed in Scotland and married Magdalen Kinloch in 1710. In 1710, that Matthew, Captain Matthew, would have been 28 if born in 1682.
With respect to the rebellion, i was able to locate court documents from the trials post rebellion which gives credence to the story of Matthew the rebel and his escape.
First, the court talks of more than 1700 rebels taken prisoner and held for months. About 1,000 in an open churchyard in Edinburgh and the rest in "other places". So the tebels were imprisoned for quite some time before trail and sentencing.
Second, The legend says Matthew escaped Peel castle, which is on Isle of Man but i believe it was in fact Piel Castle, a couple hours south of Edinburgh. Piel (not Peel) was an old abbott in horrible shape and had belonged to the crown until 1660 when it was gifted to an English soldier, who was a duke. A simple spelling issue that gives a different viewpoint.
Third, the court documents list 1500 names of those who were executed, sold into slavery,fined, flogged, or pardoned. With the exception of the Duke of Argyll,there is not a single name of Campbell on that list. Given Argyll was a Campbell, you cant tell me none of his family participated.
Fourth, the document further states that 200 rebels were in the bottom of a ship post rebellion before it was surrendered and the captain, crew and at least 50 rebels escaped near the Orkneys.
If you add a little possibility, Matthew could have been at Piel castle, which is an island, the ship to bring them to shore to go to trial could have instead sailed off, filled with escaping rebels, including missing Campbells from the court roster, before surrendering.
There is documentation of post rebellion, the crown was going to raze the castle at Skipness because of Campbell participation in the rebellion which would make no sense if no Campbells are on the prisoners list and if there was no Matthew Campbell who took part. Walter convinced the crown he was a loyalist so the castle was saved. Could it be that Matthew of Oags son was in the household and his being only a child that helped convince the crown no Matthew Campbell took part in the rebellion so the claim was a lie? Conjecture of course on that but, what made the crown target Skipness and how did Walter convince them he was loyal? Thats a hard thing to do.
There was also a DNA project done about the Jews of Scotland and apparenty several of the subjects of the Campbell/Rhea/Ray line in America matched the Campbells of Scotland ancestry. In looking at my own DNA natches, i have over 150 Campbell matches in Nova Scotia, Virginia, Tennessee areas. Most are 5th to 8th generation. A couple dozen Rays as well.
That this tale has been told about Matthew by variuos families in the USA, distantly related through that line has to mean something.
All of this gives credence to Matthew the rebels story.
