Lord of Argyll

The sovereign or feudal lordship of Argyle was the holding of the senior branch of descendants of Somerled (Somhairle), this branch becoming soon known as Clan MacDougall Construction of the Lordship of Argyll-Lorne essentially started with Donnchadh mac Dubhgaill, son of Dubgall mac Somairle.

During Donnchadh's time the great feuds that had been causing war on the western seaboard of Scotland since Somhairle mac Gille Bhrighde were coming to an end.

Donnchadh remained a strong supporter of the Scottish crown against the interests of Ruaidhri mac Raghnaill and Amhlaibh Dubh.

Around 1225, Donnchadh de Argadia ("of Argyll") appeared in a charter of Maol Domhnaich, Earl of Lennox (d. 1250) made to Paisley Abbey; this appearance is notable because it is the first attestation of the locative family name "of Argyll", the name that Donnchadh and his descendants would use to identify themselves among the higher nobility of Scotland.

The Norwegian expedition, led by Óspakr-Hákon, probably Donnchadh's brother, ravished Kintyre and in 1230 attacked the Stewart controlled Isle of Bute.

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The arms of the Lord of Argyll depicted in the fourteenth-century Balliol Roll . [ 2 ] [ note 1 ]