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The Sinclair lineage
Dear Paul,
It is good to know I've been able to touch a chord with you; that we are
on the same wavelength. Words
are only pale shadows of the things they represent and this is
particularly the case whenever one has
to delve into the spiritual dimension of Man or in trying to explain the
esoteric; the symbolism of heraldry
or the meaning of the myriad of carvings within Rosslyn Chapel.
These things can be felt rather than
explained.
At a time when books could be banned or burned Earl William Sinclair
wanted to leave a message for
posterity. He had this chiselled out in stone in Rosslyn
Chapel. We have still to find the key - the Rosetta
stone - which will allow us to decipher the symbolism which appears on
each side of the hundreds of cusps
or cubes which hang from the underside of the various arches.
Experts cracked the runes of the Vikings, the
ogham of the Celts, the hieroglyphics of the Egyptians. It is to be
hoped that someone will realise the importance
of the symbolism of Rosslyn and address the need for its 'interpretation'
with due urgency. Alas, at the moment,
there is no interest being shown. I am reminded of the following
lines:
The notice reads:
"Do not pluck these blossoms"
But it is useless
Against a wind that cannot read.
For 'wind' read 'academics' because, with a few notable
exceptions, they would rather live in everlasting ignorance
than face the prospect of having to change a single line of their
stereotyped teaching.
At Rosslyn, I unearthed the oldest known 'floor' in Midlothian. I
was ordered to cover it up again although I had only
'scratched the surface' of what could have been a major find going
back to Roman times.
The official line seems to be:
"On no account must history be re-written". Children are
still being taught (in Scottish schools, as elsewhere) that
"Christopher Columbus discovered America" although he never
set foot on the Continent of North America;
never claimed to have done so because he went to his grave still
believing that he had reached the Indies - hence we
call a place the West Indies which has nothing to do with the Indies and
we call people "Indians" who are NOT Indians.
Similarily, we are told that Speke (1827-1864) 'discovered' the source of
the Nile although Ptolemy (A.D. 90 - 168) had
already drawn a map showing the Nile rising from two lakes in Central
Africa. A book in my possession (published in
1990) still tells us that Speke 'discovered' the source of the
Nile. I know differently. I, too, have travelled the whole
length
of the River Nile but, before doing so, I researched its history -
factual and mythological.
One could go on and on about the regurgitation of historical untruths
long after these untruths have been laid to
rest in the light of 'so-called fresh discoveries' which, on examination,
have been known for countless centuries.
All this may seem to be something of a digression. My aim is to
demonstarte that we often hold (however inadvertently)
preconceived ideas about ourselves and about our history. Ameriacn
history did not begin with the Declaration of
Independence or even with the Pilgrim Fathers. The cultural
diffusiuon between the old World and the new has been
going on for thousands of years just as the history of the Sinclairs goes
back thousands of years i.e. long before we
'assumed' the name of St Clair. In writing to King John of Denmark,
Henry, Lord Sinclair wrote on the 12th July,1507
"...even in relation to the Earldom of Orkney and Hietland
(Shetland) which lands for certain service to be done to the
kings of Norway were alienated heritably to my progenitors even before
the birth of Christ"
Elsewhere we are told: "No family in Europe beneath the
rank of royalty boasts a higher antiquity, a nobler illustration
or a more romantic interest than that of St Clair"
And from "The St Clairs of England" we read: "The
hill of Danbury, Essex , by the Thames, beneath London, is a
landmark
and a tower to this lineage, as it has been for ages to the World's
greatest city, and its chapel will always stand fixed to
memory as something notable that has been".
It goes on: "All that was highest in marriage, lands and
office they had in England for nearly a Century after the Conquest,
and the glow of their fame and their physical and intellectual
powers kept them high for centuries afterwards in a way
rare to any one particular lineage".
All of this may seem to be a bit over the top but when one finds a
Professor at the Moscow State University stating that
the Sinclairs were one of the two most important families in Europe you
have a truly objective opinion from a truly independent
source untainted by the need to butter anyone up!
In reply to your query about my visit to the United States: that will be
centred on Massachusetts.
Niven Sinclair
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