Smervie Mor

[Also Known As: Smerviemore, Mervyn, Clach-Smior, Llachau, Smervie the Great, Myrddin, Mervin, MacDuibne, Meirbi, Smerbi, Smeirbe] was the “natural son of Arthur, d 570. Duke of Argylle.” Legendary ancestor of the MacArthur and Campbell clans.

Notes

From Robert Duncanson, "Ane Accompt of the Genealogie of the Campbells" (17th centiury):

"For our purposes, however, it will suffice to begin with Arthur. Arthur is given a son Smerevie or Merevie (called Mervin by Buchanan), described as “a great and famous person of whom diverse and strange things are spoken in the Irish traditions; it is said that he was born in Dumbarton on the south syde thereof, in a place called the redd hall or in Irish (Gaelic) Tour in Talla Dherig ... he was a wild undauntoned person."
Once the MacEwan/Colville account has been purged of Diarmid O'Duibne, of the Norman descent ... we are left with a basic pedigree remarkably like that in the 1467 MS. However, some additional information remains:". .... "The information that Smerevie or Merevie figured in various tales and was born at a place called the Red Hall in Dumbarton; and the belief that the MacNaughtons, ‘the Clanuilins', and the Drummonds, were of the same stock as the Campbells."

From Clan Campbell

The capital of Strathclyde was Al Cluit or DunBriton (now Dumbarton Rock) in the area known as the Lennox. According to legend, here in An Talla Dearg, the Red Hall of Dun Briton, was born the first ancestor of the Campbells who appears in all three of the early Gaelic genealogies; Smervie or Mervyn, son of an Arthur, who became known as "the Wildman of the Woods", perhaps being a notable hunter. If the legend is based upon a real character, he likely lived in the eleventh or twelfth century. However those names at that period can have absolutely no actual connection with the legendary Arthur, whose possible existence is said to have been many centuries earlier.

Comments & Issues

Last updated June 2018

• Not a known “wife” of Diarmait Ó Duibhne, lord of Lochow
• Does not appear in http://cadair.aber.ac.uk/dspace/bitstream/handle/2160/6516/TABLES%2... as a child of Athrwys ap Mor, King of the Pennines
• if he’s a son of Arthur mac Aedan, he married his great aunt (Arthur mac Aedan is Princess Nn of Dal Riata's nephew)
• Diarmaid Ua Duibhne, {Mythological, Fenian Cycle} seems to be the same as Diarmaid Ua Duibhne, {Mythological, Fenian Cycle}, the latter a mythological figure from the Fennian Cycle

Links

• Wikipedia “There is a tradition that Arthur had a Scottish son called Smervie More.”
• “Another Account of the Clan” (MacArthur) The Red Book of Argyll declares the ancestor of the race to have been Smervie Mor, son of King Arthur of the Round Table, and the statement is supported by the fact that the badge of the clan is the Lus mhic righ Bhreatainn—" the plant of the son of the King of Britain," wild thyme.
• In understanding the reference to ‘Welsh’ it should be remembered that the Strathclyde and Welsh Britons were Celts who may have moved to the periphery of the Roman occupied lands in Britain so as to retain their freedom during the Roman occupation. The ‘Mabinogion’ ballads describe the life of one group of these peoples who moved from Scotland to Wales. ... Sellar then adds, "although the particular descent from King Arthur is, of course, incredible." The word ‘incredible’ is used here in the same sense as ‘not credible’ i.e., unbelievable.“King Arthur and Drumchapel”
• Sellar then quotes the Craignish history as mentioning another 17th century writer of a Campbell genealogy called Mr. Robert Duncanson, who died as minister of Campbeltown. This, Sellar found, was a more convenient version for the purposes of his discussion than that of Colvin (or Colville). Duncanson's version was titled "Ane Accompt of the Genealogie of the Campbells" and he began his pedigree several generations before a man named Arthur whom he called a Briton. link to Highland papers Vol ll. Author MacPhail, J. R. N. (James Robert Nicolson), 1858-1933. Page 76-77. “Married to a sister of King Aiden, the 49 King of Scotland, son of Coranus ...”
• “1467 MS: The Campbells” 2012
• “The British Genealogy of the Campbells”
• Page 125 of King Arthur's Children: A Study in Fiction and Tradition. By Tyler R. Tichelaar. “Smervie and the Clan Campbell.”
• “Origins of the Campbells” David Sellar, the eminent Scottish lawyer and historian, wrote a paper in the 1970s titled "The Earliest Campbells - Norman, Briton or Gael?". Published by the School of Scottish Studies at Edinburgh University, the paper has since been widely quoted and accepted as a authoritative work. Sellar's effort was primarily an academic style analysis of the three surviving Gaelic pedigrees of the Campbells and of later accounts derived from them. His paper offers the most recent conclusions and conjectures about the descent and provenance of the early Campbell ancestors.Sellar begins by listing all the different theories about the origins which had been outlined or hinted at by earlier writers, many of them clearly apocryphal. Among these was the most patently fabricated tale of a Norman origin born of earlier political trends which derived Campbell from “de Campo Bello” even although this was not Norman French.
• Page 458 of Celtic Scotland : a history of ancient Alban Vol lll. Author Skene, William Forbes, 1809-1892. “Legendary Descent of the Highland Clans - Appendix Vlll - according to Irish MSS.”
• “The Earliest Campbells - Norman, Briton, or Gael?” David Sellar, 1973
• Page 1326 of Celtic Culture: A-Celti
• Geneanet.org tree
• “Children of Arthur” MacFirbis: IOBHAR | ARTHUR | SMEIRBE | FERADOIGH | DUIBNE | MALCOLM | DUNCAN | EOGHAN | DUGALD | GILLESPIC | COLIN
• Legends and Myths of Scotland “King Arthur had a Scottish son called Smervie More.”
• Page 24 of Miscellanea Scotica: Memoirs of the ancient alliance between France and Scotland. Account of the Earl of Glencairn's expedition into the Highlands of Scotland, in the years 1653-4, written by Graham of Deuchrie. Life and death of King James the Fifth of Scotland. Buchanan's inquiry into the genealogy and present state of ancient Scottish surnames; with the history of the family of Buchanan. Monro's (High Dean of the Isles) genealogies of the clans of the isles 1820 - Scotland
• Page 214 of King Arthur Conspiracy: How a Scottish Prince Became a Mythical Hero. Simon Andrew Stirling. The History Press, Feb 29, 2012. Identifies Smervie the Great as Llachau. Identified his father Arthur as son of Aeden, King of the Dal Rialta Scots. Review: “This is a fascinating look at the real Arthur, son of Aeden (King of the Dal Riata Scots). Stirling knits together information from a wide variety of sources, including mythic poetry, tales, and early chronicles, then makes numerous speculative leaps to get to his conclusion that Arthur mac Aeden was the "King Arthur" of legend.”
• Arthur’s Three Sons “Three Well-Endowed Men of the Island of Britain: Gwalchmai son of Gwyar, and Llachau son of Arthur, and Rhiwallawn Broom-Hair.”
• Page 425 of The British Chronicles, Volume 2 David Hughes Heritage Books, 2007 - Great Britain. “Smervie, natural son of Arthur, d 570. Duke of Argylle.” [Llachau is listed separately as murdered at age 9]
• King Arthur, Scottish Legend
• Page 31 of Quest for King Arthur. Roger M Daniel B.Ed (Hons)Lulu.com, Jul 29, 2016 - History - 164 pages
• “Arthur, King of Scots: Historians claim King Arthur was Scottish” Hugh McArthur, the Seannachie (Historian) of Clan Arthur, said: “Artair MacAedan. son of Aedan MacGabhran, King of Scots, Lord of Aberfoyle and Prince of Forth was the most successful Northern British leader of the period.“
• http://corpas.ria.ie/index.php?fsg_function=3&fsg_id=2375 “Dhá Sgéal Artúraíochta”
• link to " Artúr mac Aedan of Dalriada" by Michelle Ziegler Belleville, Illinois Among the men proposed as the historical King Arthur is a young Dalriadan prince named Artúr or Artuir.1 Before discussing his merits as a potential King Arthur,2 the known facts of his life will be reviewed. I hope to show, based on these facts, that there is no reason to believe this prince was the historical King Arthur.

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Research suggests that this person may never have existed.

Smervimore Amid Coslidh ab Arthur (510-570)

Born: 510 [location unknown], Scotland Died: 570 (Age 60) [location unknown], Scotland

ANCESTORS:

• Parents: He is sometimes shown as the son of the legendary King Arthur and his wife Igraine.

Since these persons existed only in legend, they cannot have parents or children.

• Sibling(s): [unknown]

SPOUSE:

• Adarian

CHILDREN (2):

• Father of Ferither Our 'Dun (591-620) and Oilliol ab Smerviemore of Leinster.

Ferither Our, born 591 in Dumbarton, Scotland, is sometimes shown as his son. Ferither apparently was his successor, but could not have been his son, as he was born 21 years after the death of Smervimore.

BIOGRAPHY:

Smervie Mor [Also Known As: Smerviemore, Mervyn, Clach-Smior, Llachau, Smervie the Great, Myrddin, Mervin, MacDuibne, Meirbi, Smerbi, Smeirbe] was the “natural son of Arthur, d 570. Duke of Argylle.” Legendary ancestor of the MacArthur and Campbell clans.

Notes

From Robert Duncanson, "Ane Accompt of the Genealogie of the Campbells" (17th centiury):

"For our purposes, however, it will suffice to begin with Arthur. Arthur is given a son Smerevie or Merevie (called Mervin by Buchanan), described as “a great and famous person of whom diverse and strange things are spoken in the Irish traditions; it is said that he was born in Dumbarton on the south syde thereof, in a place called the redd hall or in Irish (Gaelic) Tour in Talla Dherig ... he was a wild undauntoned person."

Once the MacEwan/Colville account has been purged of Diarmid O'Duibne, of the Norman descent ... we are left with a basic pedigree remarkably like that in the 1467 MS. However, some additional information remains:". .... "The information that Smerevie or Merevie figured in various tales and was born at a place called the Red Hall in Dumbarton; and the belief that the MacNaughtons, ‘the Clanuilins', and the Drummonds, were of the same stock as the Campbells."

From [Clan Campbell https://www.ccsna.org/clan-campbell-history#CAMPBELL%20ANCESTORS%20...]

The capital of Strathclyde was Al Cluit or DunBriton (now Dumbarton Rock) in the area known as the Lennox. According to legend, here in An Talla Dearg, the Red Hall of Dun Briton, was born the first ancestor of the Campbells who appears in all three of the early Gaelic genealogies; Smervie or Mervyn, son of an Arthur, who became known as "the Wildman of the Woods", perhaps being a notable hunter. If the legend is based upon a real character, he likely lived in the eleventh or twelfth century. However, those names at that period can have absolutely no actual connection with the legendary Arthur, whose possible existence is said to have been many centuries earlier.

Smervie Mor Amid Coslidh, {Fictional, Early Scottish Genealogies}

SOURCES:

http://fabpedigree.com/s052/f833131.htm

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https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Coslidh-1