Morrison territory”. A Separate and Distinct Line? With Clan Mackay A sept of the Clan Mackay by the surname of Polson who are also known as Siol Phail are, according to Sir Robert Gordon, 1st Baronet, descended from Neil, son of Neil, son of Donald Mackay, 5th of Strathnaver, chief of Clan Mackay. Although one of their ancestors, Neil Neilson Mackay, died fighting against his own Strathnaver kinsmen at the Battle of Drumnacoub in 1433, the Polsons later gravitated back towards their Strathnaver kindred. In 1497, 1506 and 1511, Sir John Polson who was presbyter and later chanter of Caithness acted for Iye Roy Mackay, 10th of Strathnaver. At the Battle of Torran Du in 1517, the Polsons supported the Clan Mackay against the Murrays of Aberscross. In a list of men in Sutherland capable of carrying arms during the Jacobite rising of 1745, a number of Polsons appear in the parishes of Loth and Kildonan. However, according to historian Angus Mackay writing in 1906, the sept was no longer numerically strong and many of them had adopted the surname MacPhail or were now signing themselves as Mackay. Other Complexities Mac and Mc prefixes were also dropped by many Highland Gaelic families as they moved south to urban areas such as Glasgow and Edinburgh in their attempts to try to fit in. There was a level of discrimination especially in the aftermath of the Jacobite Rebellion where the more anglicized south had largely supported the government. MacPhail became Phail or even Paul. The derived surnames Paul and Paull was also one of considerable antiquity in the parish of Daviot, Inverness-shire and also occurs in the parish of Fintry, Stirlingshire in 1654. It was also found in the Lothians and in Fife. Examples include Robert Paule, a member of the council of the burgh of Stirling in 1528, Patrick Paule, witness at Tuliboil in 1546, Janet Paule in Edinburgh in 1659, Alexander Paull, mercator in Elgin in 1696. Numerous MacPhail families migrated or were transported during the Highland Clearances to the colonies of America and Australia and their records have become difficult to trace. Not all Scottish Paul families however can trace their origins to Gaelic or Highland clan origins. Some Pauls around the Glasgow area appear to have a Flemish origin. A John Paul, arrived around 1512 to manufacture garments for the Scottish Court of James IV. Status Today MacPhails