Clan MacNicol/Nicolson
History:
From Scotland to Canada
Clan MacNeacail
(MacNicol) has a long proud history of over 700 years in the Hebrides
and Western Highlands. The Chief MacNeacail (MacNicol or Nicolson) of
Scorrybreac, took his designation from his land near Portree on the Isle
of Skye. The Island of Lewis and Skye remained part of the Scandinavian
kingdom of Mann (the Isle of Man) and the Isles, under the suzerainty of
Norway, until 1266. It seems possible that, like the Macleods of Dunvegan,
the MacNicols are of high Norse descent, however strong new evidence
points towards a celtic origin. One thing is for certain however and
that is that strong elements of both Celtic and Norse blood lines mixed
into the clan through the centuries.
The name-father
of the Clan, Nicail or Nicholas, a name popular in Scandinavia, must
have flourished in the mid-13th century. The MacLeods of
Lewis appear to have inherited their considerable possessions through
marriage with a MacNicol heiress in the 14th century. The
ancestral Nicail, therefore, probably lived in Lewis, where he and his
ancestors would have served the kings of Mann and the Isles in a mixed
Norse and Gaelic environment.
The first
MacNicol on record, early in the 14th century, is John, son
of Nicail. He appears in the company of leading Hebridean Chiefs, 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 perhaps the leading man on Lewis.
At the siege of
Carrickfergus Castle in Ireland in 1316, MacNicol and his spearman
supported Edward Bruce, brother of Robert the Bruce and High King of
Ireland, against the English.
In the next
generation, most of the MacNicol lands passed to the Lewis MacLeods, but
the male line of the MacNicols continued, finding a home in the
Trotternish peninsula of Skye.
Later in the
Middle Ages the MacNicols followed the MacDonald Lords of the Isles and
sat on their council. In 1540, James V, King of Scots, landed at Portree
during a naval expedition, and tradition maintains he was entertained at
Scorrybreac. Another tradition is that Bonnie Prince Charlie, fleeing
after the defeat of the Jacobites at Culloden, was hidden overnight in a
cow-shed by the then Chief.
In the 19th
century, the Nicolsons were badly affected by the Highland Clearances. (MacNeacail
was anglicized to Nicolson in the mid-17th century). The
Chief was forced to abandon Scorrybreac, and his family (prior to
passing through the Canadian Maritimes) settled in
Tasmania , where the present Chief was born. Clansmen were evicted from
their crofts and also sought refuge in emigration, Prince Edward Island
and Nova Scotia being a favoured destinations.
Over the
centuries, Clan MacNicol has given the world numerous poets and
preachers, writers and warriors, historians and heraldrists. The
greatest Gaelic poet of modern times, Sorley MacLean, was a Nicolson on
his mother’s side. Oral tradition in his family has preserved some
Nicolson songs of considerable antiquity and great beauty.
Canadian, and
North American Nicholsons in general, have had the "h" added
to the name as the result of the fact that early Gaelic Nicolsons could
not write in English, only in Gaelic, thus English Canadian census
takers and immigration officers added the "h" to the spelling
to simulate the hard guttural sound of the Gaelic letter "c"s
pronunciation.
The saviour of
many highland clans folk, Thomas Douglas, otherwise known as Lord
Selkirk, transported many Nicolsons to P.E.I. Selkirk out of pity and
compassion for the destitute and starving clansmen of the highlands
decided to purchase land in P.E.I. and transported three shiploads of
highlanders there to their new lease on life. The majority of
Nicolsons came over on Selkirk’s ship named the Polly. Orwell Bay,
P.E.I. being a noted location for these Nicolson clan’s folk.
Other
Nicholsons of course came over in a flood of immigrant ships from
Scotland. With the closing of the new USA to British emigrants after the
American War of Independence, the outflow of highland emigrants to
Canada from the Isles began to cause some worries to the landlords of
estates in Scotland-too few poorly compensated highland workers meant
reduced profits from kelp harvesting.
The British
Government was persuaded to pass the Ships’ Passenger Act in 1803,
which increased the passage cost beyond the means of all but the most
affluent would-be emigrants. Thus, the emigration of many Nicolson clan’s
folk to Canada went unrecorded as they went "underground" on
Timber merchant ships that were crossing the Atlantic to Britain and
returning ostensibly empty, with plenty of space for cheap fare illegal
emigrants. Few passenger lists were made for these emigrants as it was
in nobody’s interest to keep a record of an illicit trade.
Subsequently,
Nicholson clan’s folk scattered throughout Canada succeeding and
thriving in the new country. The accomplishments of some can be seen as
recorded in the Clan’s North American Newsletter "Scorrybreac".
