The Famous Faces of Clan MacNeil

Let's begin this blog right back at the beginning of the creation of Clan MacNeilwith High King Niall. Niall was a semi-mythical king and founder of the most powerful Irish royal dynasty as his descendants ruled Ireland for 6 centuries after his death. Niall did not have an easy start to life which was expected of leaders at the time which makes him even more exceptional. When Niall was born his mother left him on the ground as she was afraid of what Mongfind, the first wife of Eochaid Mugmedon, would do to the baby. A poet called Torna finds Niall and raises him. He returned to Tara and became popular with nobles who wished him to succeed Eochaid as king despite the fact that the king had four other male children. When Eochaid, Niall’s father died, tensions rose within the family until a feast was organised to make peace. At the feast, Mongfind was sneakily attempting to poison her brother, however he would not drink unless she did as well, which led to both of their deaths. This story does sound suspiciously like the Game of Thrones plot, maybe we should be asking George Martin a few questions? Back to the story, with parts of his family dead, Niall took leadership of the clan and consolidated power in the Northern region of Ireland and created the aforementioned Ui Neill dynasty. He continued to grow the clan by conducting a series of raids on Britain, France and the Roman Empire, and is also believed to have been involved in the creation of a Gaelic kingdom in the north of Wales. During these raids in Wales Niall captured a young slave and brought him to Ireland. That slave would later escape and go to become Ireland’s patron saint, St Patrick. The legacy of King Niall of the Nine Hostages is still strong today as a 2006 genetic study conducted by Trinity College Dublin showed that 3 million Irishmen are descended from Niall! A busy man in every sense.

From Irish heritage to Scottish heritage we are going to continue to the MacNeil clan's long founded success within the piping industry. Most famous being Archie MacNeil otherwise known as the blind piper. Archie was born in Glasgow but spent most of childhood in the village of Rue (near Helensburgh on the east short of the Gare Loch). He lived a normal childhood until he had an accident while playing a game with friends which led to him becoming progressively more blind from the age of 18. Archie was the eldest out of 6 siblings thus was destined for the ministry but this was not his dream. His true destiny was discovered one day when his mother sent him to a friend's house to pick up some messages when he accidentally sat on a half set of Bagpipes. This is where his fascination began but he was still living in a small town so there were no musicians for miles. So whilst he was working in a book shop in Helensburgh his fascination was realised when he met Roderick Fraser who promised to teach him how to play. He began to play in highland games with his first appearance being in Luss (check out Emily's review of the recent Luss Highland Games on YouTube), and began competing in competitions. Sadly at the age of 21 his eyesight finally went and thus he lost all his income. This forced a move to Glasgow to start a Brushmaking apprenticeship at the blind asylum. This did not stop him as in due course Archie became a piping teacher, and some of his pupils went on to become the best known pipers in the country. A prolific and highly regarded composer, this tenacious and talented MacNeil is regarded as the 'grandfather' of the College of Piping in Glasgow. Archie's well known music includes Donald MacLeans Farewell to Oban, the Detroit Highlanders, David Ross of Rosehall, The Islay Ball, Verna Leith‟s Wedding March, and a waltz called Gareloch.

Ruari the Turbulent had a fascinating life that could only be described using a movie title, the “The Pirates of Barra'', which isn’t quite as good as “the Pirates of the Caribbean” but it still works. Ruari lived in the late 16th century in KisimulCastle and gained this turbulent name because he caused so much trouble for the Scottish government. From his island castle he raided merchant ships up and down the west coast, even hunting in the Irish Sea. No nationality was safe from the pirate laird, but his speciality was ships from south of the border. Ruari was so proficient at piracy that he became famously rich. KisimulCastle was rumoured to be decorated with fine silks from the Far East, the cellar was filled with European wine and even his horses were shod with golden shoes. He might have been a pirate but for the local people, Ruari was a hero who brought wealth to Barra and a clan chief who looked after them. With Ruari’s success so came a sort of fame as even Queen Elizabeth came to know him. The Queen put an enormous price on his head but those who were close with the laird wouldn’t dream of betraying him. Ruari seemed safe and comfortable behind the strong walls of KisimulCastle, and the Monarchs had no way of getting to him, so they set up a trap using Ruari's favourite thing, wine! Mackenzie of Kintail arrived at the castle with French wine tempting Ruari aboard his ship and so the party began. The celebrations were so good that the next thing Ruari could remember was waking up in chains on a ship on his way to Edinburgh. The great pirate had finally been caught and could never possibly get away with another trick, or could he? Ruari was facing execution and never one to be beaten used his ability to scheme. His excuse played to the sympathies of the King and the court. He felt duty bound to avenge the execution of James’ mother, Mary Queen of Scots and pirating English ships was the only way he knew how. Ruari had done it again; getting away with it however not without any repercussions, his lands were taken away until he managed to convince the new owner to lease them back to him. I loved unravelling this truly amazing and unknown piece of Scottish history.

Our next famous face is one of the 19th century’s greatest artists who changed the way colours are used in art forever. James Abbott McNeill was a complicated man who lived a complicated life which began in Lowell, Massachusetts. James always hated Lowell and rejected this birthplace and preferred St Petersburg to be his birthplace as he stated, "I shall be born when and where I want, and I do not choose to be born in Lowell". I wish I could just change where I was born because I would definitely wish to be somewhere with a nicer climate than Glasgow! Anyway, James preferred the life in St Petersburg when he moved there at the age of 11 due to his father's job as an engineer. This is where James began art lessons and his brilliance was immediately spotted with his teacher stating 'Your little boy has uncommon genius”. Sadly James’s father passed away which forced the family to move back to America. With the main source of income for the family gone this forced James to apply to West Point military school. James struggled to fit into the rules of this school and was eventually kicked out when he failed in a chemistry exam. Asked to describe silicon James began by saying "Silicon is a gas." As he himself put it later: "If silicon were a gas, I would have been a general one day”. James was glad to be out of military school and decided to move to Paris to pursue art school at Ecole Imperiale, despite his preference for self teaching. Soon his lavish lifestyle caught up to him as he racked up serious debt which forced him to begin to sell his work. In this short amount of time he created principles for the rest of his career which were: "The line is more important than colour", and "black is the fundamental colour of tonal harmony". For the rest of his career James lived in many different places such as London, Paris, Venice and Cuba. He produced some truly amazing pieces such as Nocturne, Symphony in White, No. 1: The White Girl, and Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket. In his later career McNeill founded an art school in 1898, but his poor health and infrequent appearances led to its closure in 1901. This McNeill genius passed away in London on July 17th 1903, but will always be remembered.