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Clan Campbell eNewsletter
April, 2015
Their Graces the Duke and Duchess of Argyll and
family at Inveraray, July 2014
The Mac Cailein Mor: A definitive
ruling on the translation of the
Campbell chief’s title
by Carl Guilford, CCSNA vice-president, region 10
commissioner, and Gaelic scholar
According to Alastair Campbell of Airds in "A History of
Clan Campbell," Vol. 1, p. 53:
"So fell Cailean Mor who was to give his name to the
title of future Chiefs of the Clan Campbell who take their
title of Mac Cailein Mor from him. (The name is Cailean
in Gaelic which becomes Cailein in the genitive.) Gaelic
speakers point out that in that form it means 'Great
Son of Colin' rather than 'Son of Colin the
Great'. This is technically correct; as it happens we do
not know if Colin was ever so named for being 'the
Great' or merely for being large in size, in which case
Cailean Mor would merely mean 'Big Colin'. From the
scanty record of his doings it is not easy to see why he
should merit the compliment 'the Great', but that is at
least as likely to be due to lack of record of the period as
to any lack of worth on his part."
For two reasons it is important that we correct
our long mistranslated title so that we always note that
Mac Cailein Mòr [with a space between each word, as
Airds has it] means Great Son of Colin: 1) It is the
correct translation from the Gaelic. 2) It describes our
<<<<<current Chief as Great, not merely his ancient
ancestor. Like many of you, I have met our current
Chief, and I can attest that he is Great: he's a Great
Guy with a Great Family, and they all live in a Great
Castle. And he carries well the Great Responsibility of
being our Clan Chief. So, let's give credit where credit is
due: Mac Cailein Mòr means Great Son of Colin. To
this end, I have edited the Commissioner Handbook to
give a closer phonetic pronunciation of the Gaelic and
the correct translation.
This is akin to correcting the origin of the name
Campbell, which The Journal article notes was once
attributed to the Latin "Campo Bello," but later corrected
to the Gaelic "caim beul." It also reminds me of the slow
but steady
campaign to
rid ourselves
of the
unauthorized
"Campbell of
Argyll" tartan
(with the
gold/white
stripes), which
has been a
resounding
success. It is
important that
we get our
Clan history
and our
Society
symbols
right. Thank
you for your
help with these ongoing tasks!
Above, Scotland contributing JOURNAL
editor Duncan Beaton shows the visiting American
Campbells the gravestone (decorated with his
broadsword) of Cailein Mor (Big Colin), who was
ambushed and slain in 1296 and buried in the
church at Kilchrennan.
We welcome new CCSNA Commissioners:
Tom Newsome from Henderson, NV as Nevada
Commissioner
Jesse Campbell of Portland, OR as Oregon
Commissioner with Jim Silverson of Gresham,
OR as Deputy Commissioner for Oregon
The CCSNA/CCEF challenge coins
are ready for sale!
They are 1 3/4 inch in diameter and sell at $10 each +
postage. The postage, will vary according to number of
coins purchased. For now, I will charge $5.00 postage
per coin, as I have to purchase the padded envelope for
the coin, plus postage. So, the total will be $15 per
coin. If you wish to purchase several coins at once,
contact me and I can find out a more exact amount for
you. ALL PROCEEDS GO TO CCSNA!!
Contact Vice-President Carl Guilford at
vicepresident@ccsna.org for purchase.
JOURNAL four times a year, and access to the members’
area of the Clan Campbell Society Web site: CCSNA.org.
Your dues make possible the presence of Campbell
tents at Highland games in your area. Please support
us…To join online, go to the CCSNA.org Website and fill
out the forms. Or join at the games!
We very much appreciate those who volunteer to cover
games and serve the Campbell tents and so share
information with our Scottish-American Campbell
clansmen and the public about our great worldwide
Campbell family. Why not offer to help your kinsmen at
a games tent, and get involved. You will help us while
learning a great deal about your heritage!
The national leadership meets twice each year in
different parts of the United States and Canada. When
we are local to you, please come meet your officers and
board members whose names are printed in the
JOURNAL each issue. Our next AGM is in Pleasanton,
CA, Sept. 4-6, 2015. You might contact a state or
regional commissioner near you for more information
about managing a tent. Campbells welcomed!!!
TARTAN DAY IN PHILADELPHIA
The Clan Campbell JOURNAL is a main benefit of
membership in the Clan Campbell Society (North
America). It is also very appreciative of your articles…
The 60-page JOURNAL is mailed out four times a year
with deadlines for contributions February 1, May 1,
August 1, and November 1. The JOURNAL appreciates
articles about Clan Campbell in particular and also
about Scots and Scotland and its history and culture.
Please submit articles to the editor, Rick Campbell, at
editor@ccsna.org. Additional articles that have been
published are Campbell family reunions or gatherings,
meetings of Scottish societies where Campbells are
shown together, articles about Campbell ancestors, and
memories of growing up/living/travel in Scotland.
Articles to be considered must be submitted digitally
and pictures must also be submitted digitally.
PLEASE SUPPORT YOUR CLAN… Join the Clan Campbell
Society (North America) if you have not already done
so! Dues are only $25 and benefits include 10%
discounts on membership to the National Trust for
Scotland (through HERITAGE TRUST), opportunities to
travel to Scotland under expert Campbell leadership,
free admission to Inveraray Castle, a fabulous 60-page
Saturday, April 4, was a brilliant blue day, with the sky
the color of The Saltire flag of Scotland. On this day
members of Philadelphia’s St. Andrew’s Society
gathered at Penn’s Landing for the chaplains to bless
the tartans not only of Scotland but also of the Irish,
Welsh and English societies. The Society pipers in their
new red doublets played and two groups of dancers
performed before the National Monument to Scottish
Immigration. Afterwards the crowd of folks learned the
history of tartan. CCSNA past president, Ed Cattell
(above), current president of the St. Andrew’s Society
spoke briefly, new flags were raised, and many joined to
drink the health of the tartan at the nearby City Tavern.
The Campbell Apartment in Grand
Central Station NYC
Formerly the luxury office and salon of ‘20’s mogul
John W. Campbell
15 Vanderbilt Ave.
Entrance between 42nd and 43rd streets
NYC 10017 212 953 0409
After Campbell’s death in 1957, the rug and other
furnishings disappeared from his office and the space
eventually became a signalman’s office and later a
closet at Grand Central, where the transit police
stored guns and other equipment. It also became a
small jail, in the area of the present-day bar.
After falling into disrepair, the space was restored and
renovated in 1999. The walls and ceiling were brought
back to their former glory and the original steel safe,
once hidden behind a wall, now sits in the massive
fireplace as a reminder of Campbell's wealth. The
new bar is done in the same quatre-foil mahogany
style as the balcony. The renovation cost an
estimated $1.5 million. A 2006 renovation replaced a
largely blue palette with a largely red one, including
new carpet, bar stools and chairs. To avoid closing for
even one night it took place in less than 12 hours and
cost $350,000. Some reviews:
Zagat Survey “Grand Central’s jewel is this chi chi bar
hidden in the former offices of a ‘20’s tycoon; expect plush
seats, dark wood, a beautiful Florentine ceiling, lots of single
malt Scotches and good looking people; though pricey, the
place is so stunning you’ll be happy to miss your train”
The Campbell Apartment is a public bar and
cocktail lounge located in a corner of Grand
Central Terminal in New York City. It faces
Vanderbilt Avenue. Contrary to its name, the space
was never an apartment, but was once the office of
American financier John W. Campbell, who served on
the New York Central's Board of Directors.
The 3,500-square-foot (330 m 2) space was first
leased in 1923 by John Campbell from William
Kissam Vanderbilt II, whose family had built Grand
Central Terminal. The space was a single room 60
feet (18 m) long by 30 feet (9.1 m) wide with a 25-foot
(7.6 m) ceiling and an enormous faux fireplace in
which Campbell kept a steel safe. At that time, it was
the largest ground floor space in Manhattan.
Campbell commissioned Augustus N. Allen, an
architect known for designing estates on Long
Island and town houses in Manhattan, to build an
opulent office, transforming the room into a 13thcentury Florentine palace with a hand-painted plaster
of paris ceiling and leaded windows. It also featured
a quatrefoil designed mahogany balcony, that still
exists today.[1] One of the most striking features was a
Persian carpet that took up the entire floor and was
said to have cost $300,000 at the time, or roughly
$3.5 million today. Campbell added a piano and pipe
organ, and at night turned his office into a reception
hall, entertaining 50 or 60 friends who came to hear
famous musicians play private recitals. He had a
permanent butler named Stackhouse.
City Guide “One of the Best Bars in America…and one of
the Big Apples classiest places to linger over a drink” “Chic.
Elegant. Sophisticated. The Campbell Apartment is all of
these things and more…”
The New Yorker “One part history, one part fantasy, this
beautiful lounge is as smooth as a perfect Manhattan…Each
evening a crush of sophisticates stops by to reclaim a little of
New York’s faded glamour”
IN NY "The Campbell Apartment, a lavish bar that inhabits
the space, lets you enter the world of yesteryear’s elite –
dressed to impress – and sip classic cocktails amid intricate
woodwork, decorative beamed ceilings, and towering paned
windows. Seated by the stone fireplace, it’s all too easy to slip
into another era."
Balcony
http://www.hospitalityholdings.com/#/establishments/
the_campbell_apartment
Balcony
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