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Clan MacNeacail, sometimes known as Clan MacNicol, is a Scottish clan long associated with the Isle of Skye. Traditions states that, early in its history, the clan held the Isle of Lewis, as well as mainland lands. Further traditions, however, state that the clan lost its lands to the MacLeods of Lewis through the marriage of a MacNeacail heiress. The earliest member of the clan on record is one 14th century John "mak Nakyl", who is recorded amongst Edward I of England's powerful West Highland supporters during the Scottish Wars of Independence. The next record of the clan appears hundreds of years later, in the 16th century, when the clan was seated on Skye. In the 17th century, members of the clan began to Anglicise their surname from the Scottish Gaelic MacNeacail to various forms, such as Nicolson. Today the English variants of the Gaelic surname are borne by members of the clan as well as members of unrelated Scottish families, including the Lowland Clan Nicolson.
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The heartland of the clan has been for centuries in Trotternish, on Skye.[1] The earliest record of a MacNeacail in Trotternish occurs in 1507.[2] Hugh MacDonald's 17th century History of the MacDonalds shows that the clan was seated on Skye even earlier, as it states that "MacNicoll in Portree" was a member of the council of the Lords of the Isles. There are several pedigrees which document the earliest line of the clan. One such pedigree is contained within the 15th century MS 1467. This pedigree concerns a certain Ewen who must have flourished in the 15th century; he is presented as the son of John, the son of Nicol. Although further successive generations are given, the names following Nicol tend to be garbled and cannot be taken back with any confidence. Nicol appears to have flourished at the turn of the 14th century, and was likely the eponymous ancestor of the clan. The garbled names further past Nicol tend to be a mixture of Gaelic and Norse names, which suggests that the clan's claim to a Scandinavian origin is not unlikely. During the High Middle Ages, Skye formed a part of the Norse-Gaelic Kingdom of the Isles, before being incorporated into the Kingdom of Scotland through the Treaty of Perth in 1266.[3]
The first MacNeacail on record is likely a 14th century John "mak Nakyl" or "Macnakild". This man may well be the 'John son of Nicol' who appears in the MS 1467. John is recorded in three English documents which associate him with the leading West Highland supporters of Edward I of England during the Scottish Wars of Independence. One document records that, in 1306 letters were delivered from Edward to his supporters, William I, Earl of Ross, Lachlan MacRuairi, his brother Ruairi, and John "mak Nakyl". In 1314 and 1315, Edward II of England, ordered his principle West Highland supporter John MacDougall of Argyll to receive Donald de Insula, his brother Godfrey (both likely MacDonalds), Sir Patrick Graham, and John "Macnakild" into the king's peace. The three records suggest that John was a prominent West Highland or Hebridean leader, much like the other men the records associate him with. It is also possible that John may be identical to the unnamed MacNicol who appears in John Barbour's late 14th century poem The Brus. The part of the poem which mentions this MacNicol recounts how he took part in Edward Bruce's siege of Carrickfergus Castle in 1316. As the poem associated this MacNicol with ships, it may be further evidence that John was a leading Hebridean.[4]
According to various traditions, the MacNeacails once had possession of Lewis before losing their lands to the MacLeods through the marriage of a MacNeacail heiress.[5] In the 17th century, John Morison of Bragar stated as much when he wrote: "... Macknaicle whose onlie daughter Torquill the first of that name (and sone to Claudius the sone of Olipheous, who likewise is said to be the King of Noruway his sone,) did violentlie espouse, and cutt off Immediatlie the whole race of Macknaicle and possessed himself with the whole Lews ...".[5][6] Similarly, the garbled Bannatyne Manuscript indicates that the MacNeacails held Lewis from the Kings of Mann, and that the clan's possession of the island terminated though the marriage of an heiress to a MacLeod. The manuscript also states that a branch of the MacNeacails held Waternish on Skye before the MacLeods. Other traditions associate the MacNeacails with the mainland in Assynt and Coigach; the ruins of Caisteal Mhic Neacail ("MacNeacail's Castle") near Ullapool may well corroborate such traditions of the mainland.[5]
The History of the MacDonalds may well refer to a member of the clan, when it states that a "MacNicoll" was killed on North Uist by Olaf the Red. Olaf ruled the Kingdom of the Isles until his death in 1153. Since the reference to MacNicoll appears after an account of Godfrey Donn, during an episode which took place in about 1223, the story of MacNicoll's death may actually refer to Olaf the Black, rather than his grandfather Olaf the Red. Another tradition which may refer to the MacNeacails concerns the coat of arms of the MacLeods of Lewis. In the 17th century, the Earl of Cromartie recounted the traditional explanation of the arms: that the Kings of Norway had the MacLeods man two beacons, one on Lewis and one on Skye, to guide the king's ships safely through the islands. Since the MacLeods appear to have gained Lewis long after the Hebrides was incorporated into the Kingdom of Scotland, the tradition may well refer instead to the MacNeacails. If this is the case, then the MacLeods of Lewis not only inherited their lands from the MacNeacails, but also aspects of their heraldry.[5] The actually heraldry borne by the medieval clan is, however, unknown.[7]
The Reverend Donald Nicolson of Scorrybreac, head of the clan at the end of the 17th century, is reputed to have had 23 children, through whom he is a common ancestor of many Skye families.[8] Donald's attachment to the Episcopalian faith, and refusal to swear allegiance to William III after 1689 seems to have resulted in his being driven from his parish as a Non-juror and Jacobite some time after 1696. The MacDonalds of Sleat avoided action in the 1745 rebellion, and the Nicolsons did not rise as a clan for Charles Edward Stuart, but tradition maintains that a band of Nicolsons fought at Culloden in the Jacobite ranks. As a cousin of the intensely Jacobite MacLeods of Rassay, the chief, John Nicolson, appears to have assisted in the concealment of Charles Edward in a cow byre on his estates: John's descendants preserved a lock of the prince's hair, and the cup out of which he drank on his night on Scorrybreac lands. Another man of the clan, Donald Nicolson from Raasay, also helped to protect the Young Pretender during his flight after the defeat, and was recorded by Bishop Robert Forbes in The Lyon in Mourning as suffering torture for his refusal to reveal the whereabouts of the prince after arrest by government troops. Alexander Mackenzie, in his history of Clan Mackenzie, claims that Angus Nicolson of Stornoway raised 300 men from the island of Lewis for Jacobite service, only to be ordered back by a furious Earl of Seaforth when they landed on the mainland.
During the 19th century the clan was badly affected by the Highland Clearances in which many of the clansfolk were forced to emigrate from Scotland. In 1826, the sons of chief left Skye and settled in Tasmania.[9]
In 1934, Norman Alexander Nicolson, heir to the chiefship of the clan, was granted a coat of arms by the Lord Lyon King of Arms emblazoned Or, a chevron between three hawks' heads erased Gules, with the crest: a hawk's head erased Gules, with the mottoes: SGORR-A-BHREAC and GENEROSITATE NON FEROCITATE. In 1980, Norman Alexander's son, Ian, petitioned the Lord Lyon to be recognised as chief of the clan, and was duly recognised as "Iain MacNeacail of MacNeacail and Scorrybreac, Chief of The Highland Clan MacNeacail".[10] The current clan chief is John MacNeacail of MacNeacail and Scorrybreac, who resides in Ballina, NSW, Australia.[11] In 1987, The Clan MacNeacail Trust was formed, and the Ben Chracaig estate in Scorrybreac was purchased "for preservation and public enjoyment".[10]
On Lewis the ravine separating Dùn Othail from the mainland is called "Leum Mhac Nicol", which translates from Scottish Gaelic as "Nicholson's Leap". Legend was that a MacNeacail, for a certain crime, was sentenced by the chief of Lewis to be castrated. In revenge he ran off with the chief's only child to the ravine and leaped across the chasm. MacNeacail threatened to throw the child into the sea unless the chief himself agreed to be mutilated as well. Attempts at rescuing the child failed and the chief finally agreed to the mans terms. Just as the chief consented MacNeacail leaped over the cliff and into the sea with the child crying out in Gaelic. "I shall have no heir, and he shall have no heir".[12]
A tradition from Skye is that a chief of the MacNicol clan, MacNicol Mor, was engaged in a heated discussion with Macleod of Raasay. As the two argued in English a servant, who could speak only Gaelic, imagined that the two leaders were quarrelling. The servant, thinking his master in danger, then drew his sword and slew MacNicol Mor. To prevent a feud between the two septs, the clan elders and chiefs of the two septs then held council to decide how to appease the MacNicols. The decision agreed upon was that the "meanest" of Clan Nicol would behead Macleod of Raasay. Lomach, a lowly maker of pannier baskets, was chosen and accordingly cut off the head of the Laird of Raasay.[13]
Scorrybreac is the land that the clan occupied for 800 years, and was seat of the Clan MacNeacail chief until 1826. The MacNeacails emigrated from Scorybreac during the Highland Clearances. In 1987, the clan purchased the Ben Chracaig estate, which makes up part of the original Scorrybreac lands. Today, this land is governed by the Clan MacNeacail Trust. The land is just north of Portree, and very rugged. The Portree Circuit is a footpath that goes through Scorrybreac and is open to the general public.
Today members of Clan MacNeacail may show allegiance to their clan and chief by wearing a Scottish crest badge. This badge contains the chief's heraldic crest and heraldic motto. The motto which appears on the crest badge is SGORR-A-BHREAC, which refers to the ancestral lands of the clan chiefs.[11] The crest itself is a hawk's head erased Gules.[14] The heraldic elements with the crest badge are derived from the Arms of MacNeacail of MacNeacail and Scorrybreac, the chief of the clan. The arms of the chiefs of the clans MacNeacail and Nicolson are in fact very similar: the arms of the MacNeacail chief are subordinate to those borne by the Nicolson chief.[15] According to Robert Bain, Clan MacNeacail's clan badge is a trailing azalea.[16]
The MacNicol/Nicolson tartan that appears in the 1845 work The Clans of the Scottish Highlands, by James Logan and illustrated by R. R. McIan, represents a woman wearing a tartan shawl.[17] Logan even admitted they had never encountered a tartan for the MacNicols/Nicolsons, and that "it is probable they adopted that of their superiors" - the MacLeods.[17]
Today many members of Clan MacNeacail bear the surname Nicolson (and variations). This is because in the late 17th century members of the clan began to Anglicise their Gaelic name (Modern Scottish Gaelic: MacNeacail) to Nicolson.[18] The surname Nicolson means "son of Nicol". The personal name Nicol is a diminutive of Nicholas, derived from the Greek Νικόλαος meaning "victory people". The personal name Nicol was first brought to the British Isles by the Normans.[19] Nicholas was a very common mediaeval name and is found in many different forms as a surname.[20] The surname and its variations are associated with other clans such as Clan Macfie and Clan Nicolson; and also as sept names for Clan Macleod of The Lewes.[21]
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