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Clan MacNicol (Tartans, Crest) and The Story Behind

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MacNicol

Gaelic Name: MacNeacai

Clan Crest: A hawk’s head erased Gules

Clan Motto: Sgorr A Bhreac

Lands: Skye

Historic Seat: Scorrybreac Castle

Clan Chief:J ohn MacNeacail of MacNeacail and Scorrybreac

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MacNicol Clan History

Clan MacNicol has a proud 800-year history in the Hebrides and Western Highlands. The Chief of Scorrybreac, MacNeacail (MacNicol or Nicholson), got his name from his land near Portree on the Isle of Skye. Until 1266, the islands of Lewis and Skye were part of the Scandinavian kingdom of Mann (the Isle of Man) and the Isles, which was ruled by Norway. The MacNicols, like the MacLeods of Dunvegan, appear to be of mixed high Norse and Celtic ancestry. According to ancient record sources, clan MacNicol was the first celtic clan to settle in the northern Hebrides.

The Clan's name-father, Nicail or Nicholas, a popular name in Scandinavia, must have flourished in the mid-13th century. In the 14th century, the MacLeods of Lewis appear to have inherited or confiscated their considerable possessions through marriage with a MacNicol heiress. As a result, the ancestral Nicail most likely lived in Lewis, where he and his ancestors served the kings of Mann and the Isles in a mixed Norse and Gaelic environment.

John, son of Nicail, is the first MacNicol on record, dating from the early 14th century. He appears with the MacDonald, MacDougall, and MacRuairi descendants of Somerled (d. 1164), who had wrested control of the southern Hebrides from the king of Mann. John was possibly the most powerful man on Lewis.

MacNicol and his spearmen aided Edward Bruce, brother of Robert the Bruce and High King of Ireland, during the siege of Carrickfergus Castle in Ireland in 1316.

The majority of the MacNicol lands passed to the Lewis MacLeods in the following generation, but the male line of the MacNicols survived, settling on Skye's Trotternish peninsula.

Later in the Middle Ages, the MacNicols served on the council of the MacDonald Lords of the Isles. During a naval expedition in 1540, James V, King of Scots, landed at Portree, and legend has it that he was entertained at Scorrybreac. Another legend holds that after the defeat of the Jacobites at Culloden, Bonnie Prince Charlie was hidden overnight in a cowshed by the then-chief.

The Nicolsons were severely impacted by the Highland Clearances in the nineteenth century. When speaking in English in the mid-17th century, MacNeacail was anglicized to Nicolson. When the Chief was forced to leave Scorrybreac, he and his family relocated to Tasmania, where the current Chief was born. Clansmen were forced to leave their crofts and sought refuge in emigration, with Prince Edward Island being a popular destination.

Clan MacNicol has given the world many poets and preachers, writers and warriors, historians and heraldists over the centuries. Sorley MacLean, the greatest Gaelic poet of the modern era, was a Nicolson on his mother's side. Some Nicolson songs of considerable antiquity and great beauty have been preserved through oral tradition in his family.

Isle of Skye and Ben Chracaig

Part of our original clan property was for sale in 1987. Within nine months, the global Clan had raised enough money to purchase the 130-acre Ben Chracaig (ben crak-aig) property. The breathtakingly beautiful spit of land juts out into the Sound of Skye, just above Portree. It includes the fabled Piper's or MacCoiter's Cave.

The Clan has continued to raise funds to rebuild the cliffside nature trail and improve the property as park land. The property and funds are now held in perpetual trust by Urras Clann MacNeacail, with a group of Clan members living on Skye serving as property managers. The Scorrybreac Fund, Inc. was established by the North American membership to continue the fund raising effort, not only for Ben Chracaig, but also for other projects of historical significance to the Clan.

The clan also ran a campaign to replant some tree groves on Ben Chracaig, and the funds we raised were matched by the Scottish Countryside Commission. We have helped to improve access to and restore St. Columba's Isle, an ancient center of the Church in the west of Scotland about 6 miles from Portree, where many Chiefs of the clan are said to be buried.

The Slogan

Scorrybreac was the clan motto, as well as the clan war cry. It was the prominent land feature on the clan lands where the Chief's home and great hall were for over 800 years on the Isle of Skye near Portree, like the MacFarlanes. Speckled Rocky Upland is the exact translation into English. Other mottos are taken from various Gaelic translations, such as Generositate non Ferositate, which is exactly translated as The Nicolson/MacNicols are not vengeful in the Gaelic proverb about the clan. Remember but Look Ahead is the motto beneath the clan shield.

Clan history is provided by the Clan MacNicol Society.

MacNicol Places & People

People of Clan MacNicol (MacNeacail)

Andrew Douglas Nicol (born 1971).

As captain of Bath Rugby, he was the first British player to lift the Heineken Cup. He also captained Scotland's national rugby union team from scrum half on the memorable occasion in 2000 when Scotland defeated England 19-13 at Murrayfield, preventing England from completing the Grand Slam that year. He was capped 23 times by Scotland. Andy retired at the end of the 2002/3 season, but he remains active with Glasgow Rugby.

MacNicol Tartans

Nicholson the Elder

Nicholson Contemporary

Nicholson's Ancient Hunt

Weathered Nicholson Hunting

MacNicol Crest & Coats of Arms

Clan MacNicol Crest

Crest Description: Gules, a hawk's head erased

Coats of Arms of MacNicol

A word about Coats of Arms:

A coat of arms is granted to an individual under Scottish heraldic law (with the exception of civic or corporate arms). A 'family coat of arms' does not exist. With the exceptions noted above, the arms depicted below are personal arms. Only the person who has been granted these weapons has the right to use them.