THE MACNICOL CLAN OF SCOTLAND

My Y DNA goes back to the MacNicol Clan of Scotland which means that part of me is a highlander. At some point in time someone in the clan changed their last name and one of their descendants, probably Simon Nicholls moved to Maryland and was my immigrant ancestor. That is my story and i am sticking to it...

MACNICOL CLAN OF SCOTLAND

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.^[7] 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 Claudiusthe 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 ...".^[7][8] 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 these links.^[7] . Producing a description of Assynt to accompany the Statistical Account of 1794, Rev William Mackenzie drew upon a local tradition that the district had been granted by the Thane of Sutherland to one 'MacKrycul', in recognition of his service against Viking cattle-raiders. The local belief that MacKrycul was the 'potent man' from whom the MacNicols descended is seemingly backed up by the MS. 1467, in which the first of two Nicails - living approximately in the mid-twelfth century - is listed as the son of 'Gregall'.

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.^[7] The actually heraldry borne by the medieval clan is, however, unknown.^[9]

WIKIPEDIA




If you need more info on the MACNICOL CLAN...

CLAN MACNICOL FEDERATION
CLAN MACNICOL DNA PROJECT
CLAN MACNICOL FB GROUP
CLAN MACNICOL FTDNA GROUP
CLAN MACNEACAIL WIKI