Clan Nicolson
Encyclopedia
Clan Nicolson is a Lowland Scottish clan
. The clan claims descent from an Edinburgh
lawyer who lived in the 16th century and from a disinguished line of Aberdeen merchants who preceded him. During the mid-1980s David Nicolson, 4th Baron Carnock
was recognised by the Lord Lyon King of Arms
as the chief
of Clan Nicolson. Around the same time, a Nicolson who claimed descent from the Highland clan of "Nicolsons" historically centred on Skye
, petitioned the Lord Lyon King of Arms to be recognised as chief of his own clan. The Lord Lyon King of Arms accepted this man's petition on the condition he took the surname MacNeacail. In consequence there are two Scottish clans with similar names—the lowland Clan Nicolson and the highland Clan MacNeacail
.
Nicolson
means "son of Nicol". The personal name
Nicol
is a diminutive
of Nicholas
, derived from the Greek
Νικόλαος meaning "victory people". The personal name Nicol was first brought to the British Isles
by the Normans
. Nicholas was a very common mediaeval name and is found in many different forms as a surname. The surname is shared by two Scottish clans—the lowland Clan Nicolson and the unrelated Clan MacNeacail
of Skye. This is because in late 17th century members of Clan MacNeacail
began to Anglicise their Gaelic name to Nicolson.
line of Clan Nicolson claims descent from James Nicolson, an Edinburgh lawyer who died around 1580. His ancestors had been burgesses of Aberdeen in the 15th century. He had two sons, John and James
. James entered the Church and became Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
in 1595. By 1606 he was appointed Bishop of Dunkeld
, though died in 1607. James's older brother, John, acquired the lands of Lasswade from Sinclair of Dryden in 1592. In 1629, his son was created a Baronet in Nova Scotia as Nicolson of that Ilk and Lasswade
. His titled was succeeded by his grandson who became a Commissioner of Parliament for Edinburgh in 1672. The direct male line however died out by 1826, and the titles were claimed by a descendant of the branch descending from Nicolson Bishop of Dunkeld.
The title Baron of Carnock passed to another cousin Major General Sir William Nicolson, who was an only son of George Nicolson of Tarviston. The general saw service in the Americas
, India
, Ireland
and Mauritius
. He died in 1820 to be succeeded by his son, Admiral Sir Frederick Nicolson. In 1879, the admiral's eldest son, Frederick, was killed fighting the Zulus
, so the title was passed to the second son, Arthur
, in 1899. In June 1916 Arthur was created Baron Carnock
of Carnock.
In the 1980s, David Nicolson, 4th Baron Carnock
petitioned the Lord Lyon King of Arms to be recognised as the chief of Clan Nicolson, in virtue of his ancestor—John Nicolson of that Ilk, 1st Baronet of Lasswade (d. 1651). At around the same time another Nicolson was in the process of putting forward a petition to became chief of the Highland Nicolsons. In 1985, after matriculating arms, David Nicolson, 4th Baron Carnock was recognised by the Lord Lyon King of Arms as chief of the name Nicolson. The position of chief of clan Nicolson is currently vacant, although Adam Nicolson, 5th Lord Carnock, could legitimately claim it.
. This badge contains the chief's heraldic crest and heraldic motto. The motto which appears on the crest badge is GENEROSITATE, which translates from Latin
as "by generosity". The crest itself is a lion issuant Or
armed and langued Gules
. The heraldic elements with the crest badge are derived from the Arms of Nicolson of that Ilk. These arms are blazoned Or
three falcon
s' heads erased
Gules
armed Argent
. Note that the arms of the chiefs of the clans Nicolson and MacNeacail are very similar. In fact, the arms of the MacNeacail chief are subordinate to those borne by the Nicolson chief.
Scottish clan
Scottish clans , give a sense of identity and shared descent to people in Scotland and to their relations throughout the world, with a formal structure of Clan Chiefs recognised by the court of the Lord Lyon, King of Arms which acts as an authority concerning matters of heraldry and Coat of Arms...
. The clan claims descent from an Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
lawyer who lived in the 16th century and from a disinguished line of Aberdeen merchants who preceded him. During the mid-1980s David Nicolson, 4th Baron Carnock
David Nicolson, 4th Baron Carnock
David Henry Arthur Nicolson, 4th Baron Carnock was a British peer and solicitor.The son of the 3rd Baron Carnock and Hon. Katharine Frederica Albertha Lopes, he was educated at Winchester College and Balliol College, Oxford. Nicolson served in the Royal Devon Yeomanry, reaching the rank of major...
was recognised by the Lord Lyon King of Arms
Lord Lyon King of Arms
The Lord Lyon King of Arms, the head of Lyon Court, is the most junior of the Great Officers of State in Scotland and is the Scottish official with responsibility for regulating heraldry in that country, issuing new grants of arms, and serving as the judge of the Court of the Lord Lyon, the oldest...
as the chief
Scottish clan chief
The Scottish Gaelic word clann means children. In early times, and possibly even today, clan members believed themselves to descend from a common ancestor, the founder of the Scottish clan. From its perceived founder a clan takes its name. The clan chief is the representative of this founder, and...
of Clan Nicolson. Around the same time, a Nicolson who claimed descent from the Highland clan of "Nicolsons" historically centred on Skye
Skye
Skye or the Isle of Skye is the largest and most northerly island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate out from a mountainous centre dominated by the Cuillin hills...
, petitioned the Lord Lyon King of Arms to be recognised as chief of his own clan. The Lord Lyon King of Arms accepted this man's petition on the condition he took the surname MacNeacail. In consequence there are two Scottish clans with similar names—the lowland Clan Nicolson and the highland Clan MacNeacail
Clan MacNeacail
Clan MacNeacail, sometimes known as Clan MacNicol, is a Scottish clan long associated with the Isle of Skye. The clan is closely associated with Clan Macleod, with whom the MacNeacails have been aligned since around the 14th century...
.
Origin of the name
The surnameSurname
A surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...
Nicolson
Nicolson
Nicolson is a patronymic surname meaning "son of Nicholas". There are alternate spellings. Nicolson may refer to:- People :* Adam Nicolson, British writer, son of Nigel Nicolson* Adela Florence Nicolson, British poet writing as "Laurence Hope"...
means "son of Nicol". The personal name
Personal name
A personal name is the proper name identifying an individual person, and today usually comprises a given name bestowed at birth or at a young age plus a surname. It is nearly universal for a human to have a name; except in rare cases, for example feral children growing up in isolation, or infants...
Nicol
Nicol
Nicol is a given name and a surname, and may refer to:* Nicol David, Malaysian squash player* Nicol Williamson, Scottish actor* Abioseh Nicol, Sierra Leonean diplomat* Alex Nicol, American actor* Andy Nicol, Scottish rugby player* C. W...
is a diminutive
Diminutive
In language structure, a diminutive, or diminutive form , is a formation of a word used to convey a slight degree of the root meaning, smallness of the object or quality named, encapsulation, intimacy, or endearment...
of Nicholas
Nicholas
Nicholas or Nikolas is a male given name, derived from the Greek name Νικόλαος , a combination of the words for "victory" and "people" . The name can be understood to mean victory of the people or "power of the people"...
, derived from the Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
Νικόλαος meaning "victory people". The personal name Nicol was first brought to the British Isles
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
by the Normans
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
. Nicholas was a very common mediaeval name and is found in many different forms as a surname. The surname is shared by two Scottish clans—the lowland Clan Nicolson and the unrelated Clan MacNeacail
Clan MacNeacail
Clan MacNeacail, sometimes known as Clan MacNicol, is a Scottish clan long associated with the Isle of Skye. The clan is closely associated with Clan Macleod, with whom the MacNeacails have been aligned since around the 14th century...
of Skye. This is because in late 17th century members of Clan MacNeacail
Clan MacNeacail
Clan MacNeacail, sometimes known as Clan MacNicol, is a Scottish clan long associated with the Isle of Skye. The clan is closely associated with Clan Macleod, with whom the MacNeacails have been aligned since around the 14th century...
began to Anglicise their Gaelic name to Nicolson.
History of the clan
The chieflyScottish clan chief
The Scottish Gaelic word clann means children. In early times, and possibly even today, clan members believed themselves to descend from a common ancestor, the founder of the Scottish clan. From its perceived founder a clan takes its name. The clan chief is the representative of this founder, and...
line of Clan Nicolson claims descent from James Nicolson, an Edinburgh lawyer who died around 1580. His ancestors had been burgesses of Aberdeen in the 15th century. He had two sons, John and James
James Nicolson (bishop)
James Nicolson was Bishop of Dunkeld in 1607. The second son of James Nicolson, He received a grant of a pension of £60 per annum on 6 February 1571, from Robert, Bishop of Caithness, payable from the Priory of St Andrews, "becaus he hes bene twyis schorne of the stane, and is continewallie...
. James entered the Church and became Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
The Moderator of the General Assembly of Church of Scotland is a Minister, Elder or Deacon of the Church of Scotland chosen to "moderate" the annual General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which is held for a week in Edinburgh every May....
in 1595. By 1606 he was appointed Bishop of Dunkeld
Bishop of Dunkeld
The Bishop of Dunkeld is the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Dunkeld, one of the largest and more important of Scotland's 13 medieval bishoprics, whose first recorded bishop is an early 12th century cleric named Cormac...
, though died in 1607. James's older brother, John, acquired the lands of Lasswade from Sinclair of Dryden in 1592. In 1629, his son was created a Baronet in Nova Scotia as Nicolson of that Ilk and Lasswade
Nicolson Baronets
There have been four Baronetcies created for persons with the surname Nicolson, all in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia. two of the creations are extant as of 2008....
. His titled was succeeded by his grandson who became a Commissioner of Parliament for Edinburgh in 1672. The direct male line however died out by 1826, and the titles were claimed by a descendant of the branch descending from Nicolson Bishop of Dunkeld.
The title Baron of Carnock passed to another cousin Major General Sir William Nicolson, who was an only son of George Nicolson of Tarviston. The general saw service in the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
and Mauritius
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
. He died in 1820 to be succeeded by his son, Admiral Sir Frederick Nicolson. In 1879, the admiral's eldest son, Frederick, was killed fighting the Zulus
Zulu Kingdom
The Zulu Kingdom, sometimes referred to as the Zulu Empire or, rather imprecisely, Zululand, was a monarchy in Southern Africa that extended along the coast of the Indian Ocean from the Tugela River in the south to Pongola River in the north....
, so the title was passed to the second son, Arthur
Arthur Nicolson, 1st Baron Carnock
Arthur Nicolson, 1st Baron Carnock , known as Sir Arthur Nicolson, 11th Baronet, from 1899 to 1916, was a British diplomat and politician through the last quarter of the 19th century to the middle of World War I...
, in 1899. In June 1916 Arthur was created Baron Carnock
Baron Carnock
Baron Carnock, of Carnock in the County of Stirling, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1916 for the former Permanent Under-Secretary in the Foreign Office, Sir Arthur Nicolson, 11th Baronet....
of Carnock.
In the 1980s, David Nicolson, 4th Baron Carnock
David Nicolson, 4th Baron Carnock
David Henry Arthur Nicolson, 4th Baron Carnock was a British peer and solicitor.The son of the 3rd Baron Carnock and Hon. Katharine Frederica Albertha Lopes, he was educated at Winchester College and Balliol College, Oxford. Nicolson served in the Royal Devon Yeomanry, reaching the rank of major...
petitioned the Lord Lyon King of Arms to be recognised as the chief of Clan Nicolson, in virtue of his ancestor—John Nicolson of that Ilk, 1st Baronet of Lasswade (d. 1651). At around the same time another Nicolson was in the process of putting forward a petition to became chief of the Highland Nicolsons. In 1985, after matriculating arms, David Nicolson, 4th Baron Carnock was recognised by the Lord Lyon King of Arms as chief of the name Nicolson. The position of chief of clan Nicolson is currently vacant, although Adam Nicolson, 5th Lord Carnock, could legitimately claim it.
Heraldry
Today members of Clan Nicolson may show allegiance to their clan and chief by wearing a Scottish crest badgeScottish crest badge
A Scottish crest badge is a heraldic badge worn to show allegiance to an individual or membership in a specific Scottish clan. Crest badges are commonly called clan crests, but this is a misnomer; there is no such thing as a collective clan crest, just as there is no such thing as a clan coat of...
. This badge contains the chief's heraldic crest and heraldic motto. The motto which appears on the crest badge is GENEROSITATE, which translates from Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
as "by generosity". The crest itself is a lion issuant Or
Or (heraldry)
In heraldry, Or is the tincture of gold and, together with argent , belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". In engravings and line drawings, it may be represented using a field of evenly spaced dots...
armed and langued Gules
Gules
In heraldry, gules is the tincture with the colour red, and belongs to the class of dark tinctures called "colours". In engraving, it is sometimes depicted as a region of vertical lines or else marked with gu. as an abbreviation....
. The heraldic elements with the crest badge are derived from the Arms of Nicolson of that Ilk. These arms are blazoned Or
Or (heraldry)
In heraldry, Or is the tincture of gold and, together with argent , belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". In engravings and line drawings, it may be represented using a field of evenly spaced dots...
three falcon
Falcon
A falcon is any species of raptor in the genus Falco. The genus contains 37 species, widely distributed throughout Europe, Asia, and North America....
s' heads erased
Erasure (heraldry)
Erasure, in the language of heraldry, is the tearing off of part of a charge, leaving a jagged edge of it remaining. In blazons the concept is usually met with in the form of the adjective erased....
Gules
Gules
In heraldry, gules is the tincture with the colour red, and belongs to the class of dark tinctures called "colours". In engraving, it is sometimes depicted as a region of vertical lines or else marked with gu. as an abbreviation....
armed Argent
Argent
In heraldry, argent is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures, called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it...
. Note that the arms of the chiefs of the clans Nicolson and MacNeacail are very similar. In fact, the arms of the MacNeacail chief are subordinate to those borne by the Nicolson chief.
See also
- Baron CarnockBaron CarnockBaron Carnock, of Carnock in the County of Stirling, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1916 for the former Permanent Under-Secretary in the Foreign Office, Sir Arthur Nicolson, 11th Baronet....
- Nicolson BaronetsNicolson BaronetsThere have been four Baronetcies created for persons with the surname Nicolson, all in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia. two of the creations are extant as of 2008....
- Clan MacNeacailClan MacNeacailClan MacNeacail, sometimes known as Clan MacNicol, is a Scottish clan long associated with the Isle of Skye. The clan is closely associated with Clan Macleod, with whom the MacNeacails have been aligned since around the 14th century...
, the Highland "Nicolsons" historically centred on the Isle of Skye.