66 HISTORY OF THE OUTER HEBRIDES. 



acknowledged as chiefs of the clan in Scotland. Nisbet, 

 quoting from James Espline, Marchmont-Herald in 1630, 

 calls Macneill of Barra " of that ilk." The Macneills of 

 Gigha are said to be descended from Torquil Macneill 

 filius Nigelli who, in the early part of the fifteenth 

 century, received from the Lord of the Isles a charter of 

 the lands of Gigha and Taynish, with the constabulary 

 of Castle Sweyn in Knapdale. The progenitors of the 

 Macneills of Barra and Gigha, it is alleged, were brothers, 

 but there is abundant evidence to show that the two 

 families were distinct from one another, and were not 

 descended from a common ancestor. The local impor- 

 tance of the chiefs of the Barra Macneills is humorously 

 alluded to by James Wilson, in his Voyage Round the 

 Coasts of Scotland and the Isles, published in 1842. It 

 is related, says Wilson, that in ancient times it was 

 customary for a herald to sound a horn from the battle- 

 ments of the castle, and proclaim aloud in Gaelic: "Hear, 

 oh ye people, and listen, oh ye nations! The great 

 Macneill of Barra having finished his meal, the princes 

 of the earth may dine ! " A good story, which the sceptic 

 should leave undisturbed. In 1750, according to the 

 author of the document published by Mr. Lang,* the 

 pride and the poverty of the Barra Macneills were 

 alike a byword among their neighbours. During the 

 clan period, they figure as " part-takers " of the 

 Macleans of Duart. The close relations which existed 

 between the two families is perhaps suggested by the 

 frequency of the name " Gilleonan "t among the Mac- 

 neills, as well as by the similarity of their armorial 

 bearings with those of the Macleans. 



* The Highlands of Scotland in 1750. 



f This name may possibly be related to the Maclennans rather than to the 

 Macleans. 



