Unlike the surrounding area, it was not until near the end of the 17th century that our part of Glassary fell to the possession of the Campbells. By then the old lordships had disappeared – as lordships: but Lochow had become the Parish of Glenaray, and the Lordship of Glassary was now the Parish of Glassary. Furnace (not called Furnace, then) was to be divided between the two parishes until the middle of the 19th century, and between the two landowners for much longer.
Colin Campbell, the upwardly mobile Sheriff-clerk of Argyll, acquired the part of Glassary where we now live: the rest of Glassary Parish, and a lot of lands in Cowal across the loch, were in the possession of the powerful Campbell of Auchinbreck family, who had a castle at Loch Gair.
Colin called his property Ederline, although his first acquisition had been the farm of Inverae (the border with Auchinbreck lands was the burn that runs through the centre of Minard, the village a few miles south of Furnace). The Campbells of Ederline were an unfortunate family, although after four generations their financial problems were helped by a marriage to the comparatively wealthy heiress of the Strachur estates. This meant they could divide and sell Ederline: the portion around the “big house” near Ford went to another Campbell family, and the portion where Furnace stands was sold to John Tait of Harvieston, near Dollar (now the site of a successful real ale brewery, but that’s another story). Tait’s wife’s family came from Cumloden, near Minnigaff in Dumfriess-shire, so he named his new estate Cumlodden (note different spelling).
Cumlodden, with the farm of Goatfield, on which lands part of Furnace was built, was inherited by Crawford Tait, son of John, who had married Susan Campbell of Succoth on the 17th June 1795. In 1825, after about 26 years of his family’s ownership, Crawford Tait sold Cumlodden to his brother-in-law, Sir Archibald Campbell, 2nd Baronet of Succoth. The estate is still today in the possession of this family through Sir Archibald’s direct descendant, Sir Ilay Mark Campbell, 7th Baronet.