Clan Nicolson
MacNeacail
The Nicolsons, Gaelic MacNeacail, are best known from Trotternish on Skye, where the chiefs were of Scorrybreac near Portree. Since the 1980s the name has had two recognised chiefly lines, one Highland and one Lowland.
History
Nicolson is the usual English form of the Gaelic MacNeacail, 'son of Nicol'. Clan sources say the Anglicised spelling spread in the seventeenth century, when the chief's family were using it. Many unrelated Nicholson and Nicol families took the name from the personal name Nicholas, so the surname alone proves little.
Tradition holds that the clan were once lords of Lewis, and that the island passed to the MacLeods of Lewis in the fourteenth century through the marriage of a MacNicol heiress. Some Hebridean accounts call the marriage forced. The male line is said to have settled in Trotternish, in the north of Skye. We treat the detail as tradition, not proven fact.
Around 1450 the MacNeacails appear as a settled Trotternish family with a seat on the Lordship of the Isles' council. A seventeenth-century history of the MacDonalds names 'MacNicoll in Portree' among that council. After the Lordship fell, the clan followed the MacDonalds of Sleat. Accounts of how Scorrybreac became the chiefly seat differ. One gives a royal gift in 1263 after the Battle of Largs, while another credits a Malcolm MacNeacail in the fourteenth century.
The Reverend Donald Nicolson of Scorrybreac, an Episcopalian minister at Kilmuir who died between 1698 and 1702, is a well-documented chief. The fortunes of the line later declined. Clan accounts blame debt, rising rents and falling cattle prices after a chief succeeded in 1813. The lands were lost, the family left Skye, and by 1841 the chief was living in Tasmania. One account dates the departure to 1826, so the dates are not settled.
The twentieth century brought a dispute over the chiefship. The Lord Lyon recognised the Baron Carnock of the day as chief of the Lowland Clan Nicolson in 1984 or 1985, depending on the source. A Highland claimant petitioned too. In 1988 (one source says 1989) the Lyon recognised Iain MacNeacail of MacNeacail and Scorrybreac as chief of the Highland Clan MacNeacail, on condition that he change his surname from Nicolson. Iain died in 2003 and his son succeeded him as chief of the Highland clan. One source describes the Nicolson chiefship as currently vacant, so we do not name a holder.
Today the Highland clan's land at Ben Chracaig is held in trust by Urras Clann MacNeacail, with members on Skye acting as managers. The fullest scholarly account is The Highland Clan MacNeacail (MacNicol) by David Sellar and Alasdair Maclean, published in 1999.
Clan Nicolson tartans
Names and reference numbers follow the Scottish Register of Tartans. Mills sell most setts in modern, ancient and weathered colourways. The pattern is the same; only the shades change.
NicolsonClan tartan · Register ref. 3139The Register says the earliest documented evidence is McIan's drawing of a woman in a tartan shawl, made in 1845-7. It admits that drawing is inconsistent and open to several readings. The count comes from a Scottish Tartans Society sample close to, but not the same as, one recorded by D.C. Stewart in 1950.
Nicolson (Lochcarron)Other sett · Register ref. 3137The Register says this is the Lochcarron version of Nicolson, and that its count is very close to one printed in The Highlander, which is undated. It is also close to the main sett above. The 1845 date is the Register's, and the sett's real age is unclear.
Nicolson Green HuntingHunting tartan · Register ref. 4809The Register says this was taken from a kilt held by the Aberdeen kiltmakers Alex Scott and Company, and that the count matches one recorded by James MacKinlay of Aberdeen. It is also known as Cunningham Hunting, so the name is shared with another family.
Get the kilt
When you order a kilt, ask for the tartan by its full name — for example “Nicolson” — and say which colourway you want. “Modern” is dark and strong, “ancient” is lighter, “weathered” is muted. The sett is the same in each.
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Wear the colours
Our own Nicolson range is on its way: the name, the tartan and the motto on a heavyweight tee, a hoodie and a mug. About the shop.
Lands and seats
- Scorrybreac. Near Portree on Skye. The chiefs took their designation from it, and the lands were lost in the nineteenth century. Clan members later raised money to secure land at Ben Chracaig.
Surnames
The clan name and its spellings
- Nicolson
- MacNeacail
- MacNicol
- MacNicoll
- Nicol
- Nicoll
- Nichols
- Nicholson
“Associated” means the name appears in published sept lists for this clan. It does not prove descent, and many names are linked to more than one clan. Where your family lived is often the better clue.
Questions people ask
What is the Nicolson tartan?
The Scottish Register of Tartans lists Nicolson/MacNicol as the main clan sett, with no date given. Its earliest evidence is a drawing of 1845-7 that the Register calls inconsistent, so the sett's provenance is uncertain.
What is the Nicolson motto?
The Highland chief's motto, as given by the clan society, is Meminisse sed providere, 'Remember, but look ahead'. The Lowland Nicolson line may use a different motto, which we have not confirmed.
Where are the Nicolsons from?
The best-known line comes from Trotternish on Skye, where the chiefs were of Scorrybreac near Portree. Tradition adds earlier lands on Lewis.
Is there one Clan Nicolson or two?
Two chiefly lines were recognised in the 1980s. The Lowland Clan Nicolson had Lord Carnock as chief, and the Highland Clan MacNeacail has its own chief of MacNeacail and Scorrybreac.
Sources
- Nicolson/MacNicol (ref. 3139) — Scottish Register of Tartans
- Nicolson (Lochcarron) (ref. 3137) — Scottish Register of Tartans
- Nicolson Green Hunting (ref. 4809) — Scottish Register of Tartans
- History of Clan MacNicol — Clan MacNicol (clanmacnicol.org)
- Re-Establishment of Clan MacNeacail — Clan MacNicol (clanmacnicol.org)
- Clan Lands — Clan MacNicol (clanmacnicol.org)
- Arms of the Chief — Clan MacNicol (clanmacnicol.org)
- The Clan — Clan MacNicol (clanmacnicol.com)
Clan histories are contested and sources disagree. If you can correct something here with a source, write to hello@tartanflag.com. Last updated 9 October 2026.