To establish the antiquity of this pattern of the Mac Neill it is but
necessary to mention that it occurs in many old collections, including
those of Craignish, Moy Hall, the Highland Society of London, and
Messrs Romanes and Paterson. Several branches of the clan have other
designs, but none is found in the ancient repositories either so early
or so often as that now illustrated. A hitherto unnoticed reference to
what is possibly the distinctive tartan of the Mac Neills appears in
_The Grameid: an Historic Poem descriptive of the Campaign of Viscount
Dundee in 1689, by James Philip of Almerieclose, 1691_, translated by
the Rev. Alexander D. Murdoch, F.S.A. Scot., for the Scottish History
Society, 1888. It reads: “The illustrious son of warlike Mac Neill
comes from the winding shore of Barra’s isle, around whom, as their
chief, a great company of the youth of his name presses on the right
hand and on the left. Carrying his battle-axe, he advances on foot,
panting as he goes, leading his tall clansmen, himself the tallest,
and his shoulders covered with a Tyrian mantle. He displays as many
colours woven into his plaid as the rainbow in the clouds shows in the
sunlight.” Whether or not the tartan here presented was that worn by
the chief in Dundee’s campaign cannot be determined, but, at least,
it is the sole pattern associated with the name having any trace of
red. The writer of the poem was a close observer, and many of his
descriptions of dress and arms are highly valuable; while the allusion
to “the winding shore of Barra’s isle” evinces an intimate knowledge of
the peculiarly indented character of that island.
[Illustration: XXV. MAC NEILL]