Dail ghil is
Gaelic for "white meadow", from which comes the name of the lands of Dalzell,
and of Hugh de Dalzell, Sheriff of Lanark in 1288. Since 1259, over two hundred different
forms of the name have been recorded, including the abbreviation "D.L.", which
approximates to its proper pronunciation.
Margaret Johnson has found William 1165. Father of John, grandfather of Hugh, High Sherriff of
Lanark, Territorial Baron of Dalzell. DALZELL, DALYELL: First mentioned in 1259, this name is derived from the old Barony of Dalziel in Lanarkshire. In 1296 Thomas de Dalielle swore loyalty to Edward I of England. From Robert Dalzell of that Ilk in 1446, descended the Laird of Dalzell who fought for Mary, Queen of Scots, at Langside in 1568. His son Lord Dalzell purchased the Carnwath estate from the Earl of Mar in 1630, and was made Earl of Carnwath by Charles I in 1639. The first and only matriculation of arms in Lyon Court was in 1672. The renowned Thomas Dalzell, founder of the oldest cadet branch of Dalzell of Binns, derived from an uncle of the 1st Earl. He became a General in the Russian army and later established the Royal Scots Greys Regiment in 1678. The estate of the Binns in West Lothian was erected into a barony in 1685. Carnwath was sold by the 4th Earl to Sir George Lockhart in about 1684, and on the death of his son John the title passed to the 3rd Baronet of Glenae. This branch sprang from Sir John of Glenae and Newtown, 2nd son of the 1st Earl. On the death of the 13th
[Burke claims 15th] and last Earl of Carnwath, Arthur Edward Dalyell, in 1941, this peerage became either dormant or extinct. The ancient seat of the chiefs of this House is Dalzell Castle by the River Clyde, in Lanarkshire. This name appears in many forms, and an old Galloway rhyme concerning the Dalyells of Glenae runs: "Deil an Da'yell begins wi yae letter; Deil's no gude, and Da'yells's nae better." |