Dalziel


Dalziel, Dalzell or Dalyell is a Scottish surname.

Pronunciation

The unintuitive spelling of the name is due to it being an anglicisation of Scottish Gaelic Dail-gheal, meaning bright dale. The sound now spelled with a or is historically a lenited slender, which in Gaelic is pronounced . The English/Scots form of the name was originally spelled with a yogh as Dalȝiel; this was later replaced with either a, the letter of the modern alphabet which most looks like yogh, or a, which more closely represents the sound.

History

The name originates from the former barony of Dalzell in Lanarkshire, in the area now occupied by Motherwell. The name Dalzell is first recorded in 1259, and Thomas de Dalzell fought at Bannockburn. The Dalzell lands were forfeited later in the 14th century, but regained through marriage in the 15th. Sir Robert Dalzell was created Lord Dalzell in 1628, and his son was further elevated in the peerage as Earl of Carnwath, in 1639. In 1645 the Dalzell estates were sold to the Hamiltons of Orbiston, who held them until the 20th century. Scottish emigration has dispersed the Dalziel family across the English-speaking world.
The Dalziel coat of arms is sable, a man's body proper, i.e. the flesh-coloured silhouette of a man against a black background. The origin of this peculiar arms was written about by Sir Robert Douglas, 6th Baronet, in 1764:

People

People with this surname include:
Dalyell
Dalzell
Dalziel
Fictional people
People with the given name:
still contains Dalziel Parish, a congregation of the Church of Scotland, as well as the Dalzell Steelworks, now owned by Liberty House. The estate of Dalziel House, the former home of the Baron Hamilton of Dalzell, is now a country park on the south side of the town. Dalziel Rugby Club play at Dalziel Park in nearby Carfin. The name is also used by several Motherwell-based institutions, including Dalziel High School and the former Dalziel Co-operative Society. Dalziel Park Stadium was a nineteenth-century football stadium that was the home of the town's football team Motherwell F.C..