Cousins Through the Fire: What Bear Grylls and I Found in the Blood
While taking my lunch break — a brief truce in the daily battle with email programs and other internet hooligans — I decided to unwind with the latest episode from the Ancestry YouTube channel. It was Who Do You Think You Are, featuring none other than Bear Grylls. At first, I was just watching out of curiosity. But then they mentioned his mother’s maiden name: Ford. A familiar name. One of our Irish surnames. Something inside me stirred. By the time they finished talking about his great-grandfather, Lionel Ford, it wasn’t just curiosity anymore — it was something deeper. A quiet knowing, rising from a place beyond memory. “We’re related,” I whispered. And somehow, I knew it was true.Bloodlines and Kilt Threads
Grylls, like me, seemed especially curious about the Ford side — a name that echoes through our own Irish roots. But the show chose a different path, tracing his great-grandmother Mary Katherine Tolbert instead. At first, I felt a pang of disappointment… until I saw the name. Archibald Campbell. They hadn’t even said it yet, but I knew. My eyes caught it on the page before the narrator spoke — and something in me recognized it. Not just as a historical figure, but as family. And then came the title: The 1st Marquis of Argyll. A man whose courage cost him his life. A man who signed the National Covenant in defense of his faith. A man whose bloodline now stood in the same room with Bear — and through another branch, with me.
The Marquis Who Would Not Bow
Bear’s 10th great-grandfather, Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquis of Argyll, wasn’t just a name in a dusty scroll. He is my 2nd cousin, 13× removed. He was a man of fire and faith — one of the earliest signers of the National Covenant of 1638, a Scottish declaration resisting the king’s push toward a more Catholic-sounding Church of Scotland. “You’ve got to admire his faith,” Bear said. “Most of us mere mortals would be struggling a bit then…” When Charles II came to power, the Marquis was sentenced to death. He faced it with grace and unflinching courage:“Let the will of the Lord be done. I pray the Lord to preserve our present king.”He didn’t curse. He didn’t beg. He blessed. A warrior of spirit, not just sword.
Robert the Bruce and the Warrior’s Flame
Bear’s journey — our journey — traced even farther back, through the Campbell line to Duncan, Lord of Lochawe, and his wife Marjorie Stewart — daughter of the Duke of Albany, and granddaughter of King Robert II of Scotland. And beyond them… stood Robert the Bruce. “Robert the Bruce is your 21-times great-grandfather,” the historian said. “He was a cool guy,” Bear said. “A very cool guy,” she replied. They spoke of the spider — the one he watched rebuild its web over and over through Scottish winters. The image of persistence. The reason he rose again. The flame in the cave that lit a revolution.And So, We Rise
When Bear stepped into Inveraray Castle, ancestral seat of the Campbells since 1746, he was greeted by the current Duke — Torquhil Ian Campbell, the 13th Duke of Argyll — who gently revealed:“Your mother is my ninth cousin.”I stared at the screen. The two of them looked like brothers. The same calm fire. The same jawline. The same unshakable presence. And I realized: this wasn’t just his journey. It was mine too.
