The Nicolson's are of Norse descent, perhaps derived from the personal name Olsen, ‘Nic’ in Gaelic signifying ‘daughter of’. It could also be a corruption of Nicolassen. The Norse raided all round the coasts of Scotland and north England, and during the centuries of conquest, they established many permanent settlements. The name Nicolson can be found all through Tyneside and Yorkshire. Some sought fresh pillage on the northern coast of France, whence came their Norman descendants, who invaded England again in the eleventh century, and settled in Scotland during the reign of King David I of Scotland. The Macneacails who settled in the Hebrides first populated Lewis, but eventually made their home and chief seat at Scorrybreac in Skye. Although the Clan MacNeacail or Macnicols of the west Highlands and islands are, according to their heraldry, apparently linked to the Nicolson's of that Ilk, there is little genealogical evidence available to explain this.
The chiefs of both clans bear gold shields charged with the heads of birds of prey, with red hawks for Macneacail and red falcons for Nicolson
King Haakon IV of Norway was the last Norse king to invade Scotland. He sent an advance party under Anders Nicolassen, his foster brother and one of his chief barons. Nicolassen plundered the Isle of Bute before joining the main fleet off Largs. However the Battle of Largs then took place in 1263 where the Norsemen were defeated by the Scottish. There is a persistent tradition that Nicolassen eventually settled in Scotland after he was sent as an envoy from Norway to conclude the Treaty of Perth, which finally ceded sovereignty over the isles to the Kings of Scots.

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