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MOTTO
TO CONQUER OR DIE |
CLAN TARTAN
MacNEIL TARTAN |
The Macneills consisted of two independent branches, the Macneills of Barra and the Macneills of Gigha, said to be descended from brothers. Though the MacNeils of Barra have invariably been declared by tradition to be the chiefs of the clan, the MacNeils of Gigha were, from an early time, owing to the distance and the stormy seas separating Gigha and Barra, forced to fend for themselves, and the Gigha family made a claim to independent chiefship.
Like the other supporters of the Lords of the Isles, the MacNeil chiefs were the subjected to many attempts at suppression and control by the Stewart kings, but, secure in their western stronghold, they continually flouted royal commands. For a century after the downfall of the last Lord of the Isles the MacNiels of Barra continued this disregard of the royal mandate. As an instance of their tradition has it that when the Laird of Barra had dined, a herald used to sound a horn from the battlements and make proclamation: “ Hear, O ye people, and listen, O ye nations! The great MacNiel of Barra having finished his meal, the princes of the earth may dine!
Roderick MacNiel of Barra, chief of the clan in the reign of James VI, was so well known for his rebellious nature that he was named “ Rory the Turbulent.” He even went so far as to seize an English ship. When Queen Elizabeth complained to the Scottish king of the act of piracy MacNiel was summoned to Edinburgh to answer for his act. His estate was forfeited and given to Kintail.
The MacNiels of Barra intermarried with the families of Clan Ranald, MacLeod, Cameron, Duart, and other prominent families in the West and the Isles. The present head of the house of the Barra family is the forty-fifth chief. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and has his home in the United States of America.
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Clan Crest © Art Pewter Silver Ltd, East Kilbride, Scotland |
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