!SOURCE: Rev. Dr. Donald MacKinnon and Alick Morrison, THE MACLEODS:
THE GENEALOGY OF A CLAN, Section III, "Cadet Families", Edinburgh, The
Clan MacLeod Society, 1970, pp. 288-289.
He succeeded his father at Gesto in 1787 and entered on a military
career, becoming a Lieutenant on the 15th February 1794 in the 116th
Regiment of Foot (Col. Alexander Campbell''s) and later became a Captain
of Independents. He was Justice of the Peace and attended a J.P. meeting
of the County of Inverness on 18th November 1788. In 1792 he was given
a new lease of Gesto to last for 19 years. He entered upon a lawsuit
with MacLeod of MacLeod about boundaries and though he actually won
the case, when his lease expired in 1825, he was given notice to quit.
Captain Neil now had to rent a house in Waternish for himself and his
family. He spent much time in Edinburgh doing research where he earned
the sobriquet "Ghost of the Register House." He also became an
enthusiastic collector of bagpipe music and in 1828, he published the
GESTO COLLECTION OF PIPE MUSIC which contained 20 pibrochs to
illustrate the MacCrimmon system of notation. It is dedicated to his
MacLeod ancestors. He died at Stein in Waternish on the 21st December
1836 and is buried in old Struan churchyard. By his wife, Flora
MacKinnon of Corry, he had issue.