| Clan Makgill | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Motto | Sine Fine (Without end)[1] |
| Profile | |
| Region | Lowland |
| Chief | |
 | |
| Ian Arthur Alexander Makgill[1] | |
| 14th Viscount of Oxfuird[1] | |
Clan Makgill is a LowlandScottish clan.[2]
The historian George Fraser Black suggested in his workSurnames of Scotland that the surname Makgill is derived fromMac an ghoill which meansson of the lowlander orson of the stranger.[2] The name was established inGalloway before the thirteenth century.[2] In 1231 Maurice Macgeil witnessed a charter ofMaldouen, Earl of Lennox to the church of St Thomas the Martyr ofArbroath.[2]
During the reign ofJames V of Scotland, James Makgill, a descendant of the Galloway family was a prominentEdinburgh merchant and later becameProvost of Edinburgh.[2] He supported the reformed religion and the eldest of his two sons, SirJames Makgill, purchased the estate of Nether Rankeillour inFife.[2] James studied law at Edinburgh and was recognised as an able scholar.[2] He became a member of theCollege of Justice in June 1554, and in August of the same year he became a Lord of Session.[2] James Makgill bought the estate of Nether Rankeillour and took the judicial title "Lord Rankeillor". He became a friend and supporter of the religious reformer,John Knox.[2] In 1561 whenMary, Queen of Scots returned toScotland from widowhood inFrance, Makgill became one of her Privy Councillors.[2] However he was also heavily implicated in the murder of the queen's secretaryDavid Rizzio and as a result was deprived of his judicial rank and was forced to flee from Edinburgh.[2] He was later pardoned but was ordered to stay north of theRiver Tay.[2] In December 1567, through the influence of theRegent Moray, Makgill was restored to his offices.[2] He later attended as one of the regent's commissioners who attended the regent on his journey toYork to present accusations of the queen who was then in exile.[2] He was also later an ambassador to the court ofElizabeth I of England in 1571 and 1572, however while he was absent his house in Edinburgh was attacked by supporters of Queen Mary and his wife was killed.[2] He died in 1579 and was succeeded by his younger brother who held the lands of Cranston-Riddell and who had been appointed to the Court of Session in 1582.[2] He took the title "Lord Cranston-Riddell" and was succeeded in 1594 by his son, David, who followed him onto the Bench.[2]
He was succeeded by yet another David, the third Laird of Cranston-Riddell, who died in 1619 without male issue.[2] His brother was James Makgill who in 1627 was created aBaronet of Nova Scotia.[2] He was appointed a Lord of Session in 1629 and in 1651 was elevated to the peerage asViscount of Oxfuird.[2] He died in 1663 and was succeeded by his son, Robert Makgill, second Viscount Oxfuird.[2]
Robert Makgill, second Viscount Oxfuird had a son named Thomas who died in 1701, five years before his father, Robert and left no issue.[2] William Maitland son of Christian Makgill, daughter of the second viscount then claimed the viscountcy but this was challenged in 1734 by James Makgill of Nether-Rankeillor who was sixth in descent from Lord Rankeillor.[2] The House of Lords refused to accept the claim of either James Makgill or Christian Makgill's son, William Maitland.[2] As a result, the title became dormant although Christian's younger sister, Henrietta, later assumed the title of Viscountess of Oxfuird but without establishing the legal right to the title and she died in 1758 without issue.[2]
The Nether-Rankeillor estates later passed through an heiress to Frederick Maitland, sixth son of theEarl of Lauderdale.[2] The family then assumed the surname Maitland Makgill.[2] Later David Maitland Makgill became heir to the Crichton viscountcy of Frendraught and styled himself Maitland Makgill Crichton.[2] It was a member of this family who established the right to the chiefship of theClan Crichton in 1980 and abandoned his additional surnames as required by theLord Lyon King of Arms.[2] In 1986 his kinsman,George Hubbard Makgill was recognised as the thirteenthViscount of Oxfuird and chief of Clan Makgill.[2]
The current Chief of Clan Makgill is Ian Arthur Alexander Makgill, 14thViscount of Oxfuird.[1]
