Archibald was the son of Sir Colin Og Campbell of Lochawe and his wife Helena, a possible daughter of John de Menteith.
In 1342, King David II granted Archibald the forfeited lands of his brother Dougall as well as the barony of Melfort.
[6] In 1382, he and his son, Colin, were appointed the hereditary position of King's Lieutenants and Special Commissioners in the Sheriffdom of Argyll, which would provide them income in exchange for performing various bureaucratic duties.
[7] According to Ane Accompt of the Genealogie of the Campbells, Archibald married Mary or Isabella, daughter of John Lamont.
Duncan earned his honorific Skeodanasach for having been raised by Clan Malcolm in Ardscotnish; the MacConnochie Campbells of Inverawe are said to descend from him.