One of the most beloved characters in the novel is Dr. MacNeill.
David counseled Christy who found her first introduction to the good doctor troublesome:
Don’t be fooled about the Doc because he doesn’t wear a white shirt and a collar and tie. I’ve spent some evenings with him, talking. Good talk, too. His ancestors were as distinguished a family as ever came out of Scotland—the MacNeills of the Island of Barra. Their ancestral castle is still there. Pry the story out of the doctor some time –or get Alice Henderson to tell you.
In Catherine Marshall’s library, there is a book titled, The Clan Macneil, published in 1923, written by The Macneil of Barra, Chief of the Clan. The frontispiece includes a poem, or perhaps a stanza of a song:
From the lone sheiling on the misty island,
Mountains divide us and a waste of seas;
Yet still the blood is strong, the heart is Highland,
And we, in dreams behold the Hebrides.
The hunger for the Scottish Hebrides and the love of their ancestral land ultimately led some of the Macneil Clan who came to America to settle in East Tennessee, which reminded them of home.
Later Christy learns the details from Miss Alice of this journey from the Isle of Barra to Cutter Gap and the surrounding area. When asked about it, Miss Alice shares:
“It’s a good story all right. And you don’t really understand the mountain people until you’ve heard…”
We made our way back to the fire. I relaxed, curled up on the rug near the hearth. The red chair set off Miss Alice’s light hair, and there was a faraway look in her eyes. As the story unfolded, it carried us both out of the quiet, firelit room in Cutter Gap, Tennessee, back… back across space, through time to the summer of 1745 in Scotland…
The Scottish highlander spirit is alive and well in Cutter Gap and in the character of Dr. Neil MacNeill.
— Excerpts from Christy by Catherine Marshall.