The thumb-screw or thumbscrew (also known as thumbikins) was an old instrument of torture designed to slowly break the victim's thumb joint. Thumb-screws were much used by the Spanish Inquisition and in Scotland during the persecutions of the Covenanters for extracting confessions or recantations. Macaulay reports that a thumb-screw was often effective in wringing confessions when a bootikin had failed.
The last person in Britain to be officially tortured with thumb-screws was Principal Carstairs who suffered for half an hour at Holyrood by order of the Scotch Privy Council before writing a confession of the secrets of the Argyll and Monmouth parties. Research Thumb-Screw
The Campbells of Argyll are a historic Scottish family, raised to the peerage in the person of Sir Duncan Campbell of Lochow, in 1445. The more eminent members are: Archibald 2nd Earl, killed at the battle of Flodden, 1513.
Archibald , 5th Earl, attached himself to the party of Mary of Guise, and was the means of averting a collision between the Reformers and the French troops in 1559; was commissioner of regency after Mary's abdication, but afterwards commanded her troops at the battle of Langside; died in 1575.
Archibald, 9th Earl, son of the preceding, served the king with great bravery at the battle of Dunbar, and was excluded from the general pardon by Oliver Cromwell in 1654. On the passing of the Test Act in 1681 he refused to take the required oath except with a reservation. For this he was tried and sentenced to death. He, however, escaped to Holland, from whence he returned with a view of aiding the Duke of Monmouth. His plan, however, failed, and he was taken and conveyed to Edinburgh, where he was beheaded in 1685.
Archibald, 10th Earl and 1st Duke, son of the preceding, died in 1703 and took an active part in the Revolution of 1688-1689, which placed William and Mary on the throne, and was rewarded by several important appointments and the title of Duke.
John, 2nd Duke and Duke of Greenwich, son of the above, born in 1678, died in 1743; served under Marlborough at the battles of Ramilies, Oudenarde, and Malplaquet, and assisted at the sieges of Lisle and Ghent. He incurred considerable odium in his own country for his efforts in promoting the union. In 1712 he had the military command in Scotland, and in 1715 he fought an Indecisive battle with the Earl of Mar's army at Sheriffmuir, near Dunblane, and forced the Pretender to quit the kingdom. He was long a supporter of Walpole, but his political career was full of intrigue. He is the Duke of Argyll in Scott's Heart of Midlothian.
George DouglasCampbell, K.T., K.G, etc., 8th Duke (of United Kingdom, 1892), was born in 1823. He early took apart in politics, especially in discussions regarding the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. In 1852 he became lord privy seal under LordAberdeen, and again under LordPalmerston in 1859; postmaster-general in 1860; secretary for India from 1868 to 1874; again lord privy seal in 1880, but retired, being unable to agree with his colleagues on then-Irish policy. He died in 1900. He wrote The Reign of Law, Scotland as it Was and as it Is, etc. His eldest son, then Marquis Of Lorne, married the Princess Louise, daughter of Queen Victoria, in 1871. Research Campbells of Argyle
The Earl of Stirling (William Alexander) was a Scottish poet and statesman. He was born in 1567 at Menstrie, near Stirling and died in 1640. Educated at Glasgow and Leiden he became tutor to Archibald the 7th earl of Argyll and afterwards to the young king James, whom he accompanied to England in 1603. In 1621 he was rewarded with the grant of Nova Scotia and a vast hinterland and in 1631 he received the monopoly for printing the new version of the Psalms. From 1626 onwards he was secretary of state for Scotland, and on the coronation of Charles I was made Earl of Stirling. Research Earl of Stirling
Highland Regiments is a term applied to regiments in the British army originally raised in the Highlands of Scotland. Their origin is found in certain companies of Highlanders armed by government about 1725-1730, for the purpose of keeping order in the Highlands, and called the Black Watch from the sombre colours of their tartans. These were embodied as a regiment of the regular army in 1739, the first Highland regiment being the 43rd, afterwards the 42nd, which bore a distinguished part in almost all the wars in which Britain had been engaged.
Seven other regiments were raised at different times, the 71st and 72nd in 1777; the 74th in 1787; the 78th or Rossshire Buffs in 1793; the 92nd or Gordon Highlanders in 1796; the 93rd or Sutherland Highlanders in 1800; and the 79th or Cameron Highlanders in 1805. The Highland Regiments and the old corresponding regiments consisted of the Black Watch (Royal Highlanders), 1st battalion 42nd Foot, 2nd battalion 73rd Foot, 3rd battalion Royal Perth Militia; The Highland Light Infantry, 1st battalion 71st Foot, 2nd battalion 74th Foot, 3rd and 4th battalions. 1st Royal Lanark Militia; the Seaforth Highlanders (Rossshire Buffs, Duke of Albany's), 1st. battalion 72nd Foot, 2nd battalion 78th Foot, 3rd battalion Highland (Rifle) Militia; the Queen's own Cameron Highlanders, 1st battalion. 79th Foot, 2nd battalion Highland Light Infantry Militia; the Gordon Highlanders, 1st battalion 75th Foot, 2nd batralion 92nd Foot, 3rd battalion Royal Aberdeenshire Militia; Princess Louise's (Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders), 1st battalion 91st Foot, 2nd battalion 93 Foot, 3rd battalion Highland Borderers Militia, 4th battalion Royal Renfrew Militia. Each regiment had its own distinctive tartan, some retaining the kilt, others wearing trousers. There were also several Highland volunteer regiments which were brigaded with the various corps mentioned. Research Highland Regiments
In 1881 the 91st Argyllshire Highlanders and the 93rd Sutherland Highlanders were amalgamated to form The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (Princess Louise's). After the amalgamation the battalions of the regiment served in: South Africa (Zululand), the Boer War, India and the Far East The Regiment had twenty-six battalions in the Great War and nine in the Second World War.
HMS Argyll is a British Type 23 Duke Class frigate of 3500 tons displacement launched in 1989. HMS Argyll is powered by two Rolls-RoyceSpey SM1A gas turbines and four Paxman Valenta 12 RPA 200 CZ diesel engines providing a top speed of 28 knots on gas power and a range of 7800 miles at 15 knots. She carries a crew of 169 and has accommodation for 185. Armaments consist of two quad arranged McDonnell Douglas Harpoon surface-to-surface missile launchers; one British Aerospace Seawolf GWS 26 Mod 1 VLS surface-to-air missile launcher; one Vickers 4.5 inch/55 Mk 8 dual-purpose gun; two Oerlikon/DES 30 mm/75 GCM-AO3 dual-purpose guns and four J & S Marine 324 mm fixed torpedo tubes in two twin arrangements taking the MarconiStingraytorpedo. Research Argyll
Abbreviations
Research Thumb-Screw
